|Sword Art Online, Floor 50, City of Algade|
|Jan. 17th, 17:01|
A few hours had passed since the ordeal against the Blueite Golem 00, during this time, Argo didn't leave Nagi's side, the pair working on updating the guide for any players that ventured this far for the recourse boon. Around this time, Nagi had a realization. "Uh, Argo?"
"Mm?" She raised her head from her menus, eyes glancing between her work and Nagi beside her on the bed.
"We... kinda forgot about Bevel in the dungeon... didn't we?" He winced a bit, her own typing slowing down as she too blinked, perplexed.
"Ah, yeah, we did, oopS," Sticking tongue out with a smile, Argo scooted over to the edge, closing her menu. "Guess we ought to pull her outta there encase she dieS,"
"Good call, I think my legs are sore from sitting here too long," Nagi chuckled, then was caught off guard when Argo's lips pressed to his, holding for a few seconds. "Y-you seem better,"
"Mmhm, never betteR!" She grinned with rosy cheeks, reequipping her regular clothing for work as she stretched. Then, she spun around, fingertip against Nagi's nose causing him to go cross eyed. "And I don't want anymore reckless stunts without me, got thaT?"
Nagi hummed a laugh, grabbing her hand delicately to draw her closer until they were an inch apart, seeing her face heat up a little more from the unexpected action. "I promised as much, Hosaka, but I will do whatever I can to keep you safe too," That was irrefutable. Leaning closer, he captured her lips too, feeling her arm relax against his shoulder, squeezing it a bit as they lingered longer than planned.
Argo pulled back with a cheeky grin, pressing two fingers to his lips. "Someone's darin' today, almost makes me wanna skip out work until tomorroW," She giggled mischievously, seeing his flustered gaze fall. Patting his cheek, Argo hopped back. "No rest for the wicked, you know thaT,"
"Right as always," Sighing a bit, Nagi stood up, dawning his own gear once more with NightSky. "Let's get to work,"
|Jan. 17th, 17:20|
Going back to the golem factory and back to the workshop with Bevel didn't take them long while avoiding the golems that were docile. The Doctor didn't seem bothered by the fact she's been saying the exact same line for the past several hours, the duo having passed Liten and Shivata out grinding but also keeping watch so no one stumbled into the boss' chamber, the young couple had also shared similar thoughts on the matter.
Now back at her workshop, Argo and Nagi didn't have much else to do other than waiting. Leaning back on her chair, Argo stared at the ceiling. "It should take her a while to decipher those papers you snatched up last time, let's go grab a bite while we-"
"Impossible! Impossible. But could it...? No, no, no, no, that's impossible. Impossible! Why? Could it govern such an impossible discrepancy?" Bevel muttered the same word about five times by Argo's count, swivelling around to her assistance with a look of genuine panic. "This is terrible, my assistants! We must let them know at once about the situation!"
Quickly, Nagi held her shoulders to ease her frantic moments, "Hey, breathe, doctor, explain what you found,"
"My investigations have taught me a great deal, culminating in a sudden hypothesis regarding the reason for the golems' increased activity," Bevel went on to explain, tapping Bolt's Journal and then her own notes. "Even I found it hard to believe, but they're reacting to something. To something that caused even these cutting-edge machines to feel fear. It's possible that the golem that turned on humanity that the elder elf told you about is trying to return. Not just possible... likely,"
She waved a finger to punctuate her point, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Those golems all sprung into action in preparation. You could say they've been readying themselves for war," Their eyes widened a bit, following Bevel's rant while she paced a bit, hand to her chin. "The state of readiness explains the reason they attacked the moment we approached them - in a sense, they were on edge. Incidentally, the pages you provided me contained blueprints for the golem that attacked us,"
"The golem shares a lineage with the dangerous machine trying to make its return. A sibling, or the youngest child, developmentally," Bevel waved her hand a bit to quicken her results. "Of course, it's development seems to have stopped prior to completion. You were able to stop it because it only had an axillary Heart Core,"
"...right, the Heart Core acts like an A.I core, it's not just what keeps it running, it's the mind too," Nagi surmised, again, all from video game logic which was very much apparent here.
"Precisely! It's true strength cannot be used without the primary core, but that is also why its judgement erred and it attacked those it should defend," Bevel reinforced. "It is different in that regard from its 'elder brother', the dangerous golem known as, 'Blueite Golem the Tenth'. He has the proper core and should have learned through many battles and repeated self-modification. This is only my hypothesis, but..."
Now, Bevel looked paler than a ghost. "The Tenth is at least many times more powerful than the golem you fought in the secret depot. I don't see how you'd be a match for it..."
"That's... hrm..." Argo paused, clearly mulling this over in her head for a bit. "In any case, we gotta do somethin' fasT,"
"Agreed, we need to evacuate everyone from the Quarry and all other dig sites," Bevel didn't leave room for argument, not that either of the players wanted to refuse. "Unlike the golems going berserk in response to a powerful enemy's return, this one will attack humans with unwavering malice,"
"Then we're heading out now!" Nagi didn't hesitate to turn and sprint for the door. "Argo!?"
"Gotcha, already notified A-Chan to clear out the quarry, we'll explain when we're therE!" Argo sprinted and dove out the open door first, both kicking their heels off into the approaching night.
They needed to hurry before the Tenth finally awakened. This time had to be different, neither Nagi nor Argo wanted anyone else to die so harshly to a quarter point again!
|Floor 50,Magical Gem Quarry|
|Jan. 16th, 17:32|
The pair stumbled to a halt outside the main encampment for the quarry, the ruins that led into the magic arsenal within view a couple minutes away. Immediately, Asuna spotted them with a worried frown on her face. "Argo, Nagi, what was with the message you sent, I've gotten some to start moving but without a valid reason, a lot are still-"
"Super biG! GoleM! Much stronger than dungeon onE! Wakin' uP!" Argo spat out between breaths.
"You need... to get... them out, now!" Nagi gasped out his plea, so Asuna became far more serious.
"I understand... I'll have everyone gather now, thank you for coming to warn me, both of you," Flashing a quick smile, Asuna quickly messaged a few key people, same for Nagi and Argo their own guild.
After a few minutes, Klein's and Agil's teams arrived, same with Nautilus, Lizbeth, as well as Artorias, Daora, and Mito, including Yuuki and Ran with the Sleeping Knights. A few other KoB members standing around, as well as some players, Nagi and Argo explaining roughly what this story event may do to the area. Asuna nodded afterward, waving her arm wide. "Nautilus, everyone, spread the message to everyone still in the quarry to evacuate, pass the message along that this area is going to become extremely hazardous! After that, we'll-"
As if on cue with nightfall's approach, the last streaks of sunlight illuminating the entrance to the Magic Arsenal, a heavy march of stone sent tremors through the earth, forcing all of them to steady themselves and turn. "Woah! What the heck was th-" But Klein cut himself off, staring down into the quarry.
"Golems...! A ton of golems are exiting the factory all at once and heading somewhere!" Agil pointed down.
"Oh God, it really is the Terminator movies, isn't it?" Artorias bemoaned, eyeing Nagi and Argo. "What in the Goddamn did you two pick as a questline?"
If things couldn't get worse, the fires of the torches placed around the entrance down into the quarry flickered in a harsh updraft, and their pupils all shrank to see the ground in the wide, flat area of the quarry erupt outward with the aid of a single, thick club. The onyx arm slammed into the solid earth, another long pillar of stone hoisting the rest of the body out from the earth with a grinding noise akin to a stomach growl. The dust slowly dispersed to reveal the navy-stoned golem that towered above all others, erosion repaired with thick clumps of yellow crystal, turning the tiki-like face into a sickly yellow glow as it roared, now properly in view of the whole quarry. A name dipped in dark red, nearly turned black.
/Blueite Golem the Tenth - Lv. 92\
"H-hey, c'mon, you gotta be kidding me... H-How can something like that really exist!?" Klein was locked in a cold sweat.
"I-It's beyond any of our levels... e-even Kirito's," Sachi paled with fear.
"It tore itself out from the ground like a damn mole," Artorias grimaced, glancing to Agil. "If we didn't get a heads up, we'd be stuck in the middle with it, you would've been sent flying."
"Hey-hey, look, the other smaller golems are all moving in!" Yuuki waved her hand down.
Soon after, both variants of the golems met in the dungeon began to pummel and take swings at the legs of the Tenth as it stood there, surrounded by the two armies. "Aw yeah, kick his ass!" Jun cheered.
"I expected many events in SAO, a robot revolution ain't one of 'em," Nori clicked her tongue.
"Nice job, Golem Gang! Put the beatdown on that pebble!" Klein hollered too.
"Beat it to a pulp, hahaha!" Daora cackled. "Hey, this is kinda fun watching a boss get beaten for us!"
This put many at ease, witnessing the highly levelled Tenth being wailed on by its own kind. "If what Nagi said is true, the golems have been waiting for this moment. If all goes well, they might be able to destroy it," Agil commented, smirking a bit. "Guess even machines have a hard time getting out of bed, it's way outnumbered too. At this rate, it won't even get to counterattack." However, not everyone shared this optimistic lens.
Nagi bit his cheek, golems like these didn't have any bloodlust, so it was hard to use his nose to tell, but the likes of the Blueite Tenth below? It had a Heart Core, it had festered hatred and resentment for humanity, and it stunk of stale blood constantly. Kirito was watching the battle with analytical eyes, same for Artorias and Nagi. "Would it honestly be so kind of Kayaba to give us all dinner and a show on the halfway point of all things?" Artorias cut the Sleeping Knights' banter in half, adjust his buckler a little. "Not a chance..."
"That's it! Take that! Right hook... into a straight!" Klein copied the golems, as if to shadow box. "Alright, you know, I think we can go help them ou-"
"Wait, something's strange!" Agil warned, and any banter was smothered when most of the golems started to spark and seize up around the Tenth who hadn't moved a muscle this whole time. Suddenly, all of the smaller golems turned to their partners and began wailing on them instead, completely forgetting the larger one stood there.
"What's going on!? The golems just stopped out of nowhere, and now they're beating on each other, why!?" Klein gawked, seeing his stone army crumble before his eyes.
Then it flashed in Argo's eyes. "The Heart Core... it must've taken control of 'eM," She realized. "In modern terms, that Tenth golem's hacked into the trash golems' inferior Heart Cores, the A.I core, so now they're all listening to the stronger one's every commanD,"
Though, a number of the smaller golems hadn't been infected by the Tenth, continuing to fight, pushing back their corrupt counterparts, something caused the Tenth to stir, its chest began to split and glow, the yellow pigment caused the crystals turning a familiar, blinding white glare at the core. "T-that's...!" Nagi gasped.
"Hit the deck!" Artorias hollered too.
"This is bad, everyone get dowN!" Argo screamed, everyone either pushing each other or diving themselves onto the dirt in an instant until the build-up of energy was released.
Within a blink of an eye, a wide laser stripped through in a circuit around the Tenth as it drew its beam across the wall of the quarry to the sky, nearly grazing where the players all dove for cover or ran out of view. The beam's impact lines then erupted in a chain of smaller, white blazes briefly as they illuminated the quarry in their pale haze, a cascade of blue polygons showering the earth and sky around the Tenth that basked in the deaths of dozens of golems.
"Are you serious...?" Klein shook out, hands atop his head while peeking down at the quarry fearfully. "There were so many of them... all those golems, vaporized in the blink of an eye!?"
"Wiped out everything caught too close in an instant, it's like the one on the 20th floor but ten times as powerful," Mito grimaced, even the one down in the dungeon they rescued Nagi from wasn't nearly as powerful.
Then, the Tenth began its march towards the path that led out of the quarry, straight towards the players. "Everyone, run! That stupid pebble's headed this way now! If you get hit by that thing, you're a goner for sure!" Klein rallied fast
"You heard him, retreat to town immediately, warn every player in the area!" Asuna threw her hands wide as everyone got up and ran for their lives.
"Hey boss...?" Nagi looked to Artorias, Mito, and Daora, all of them were watching the golem's march, the fires at its back making it appear far more monstrous than a mere machine. "If this is the field boss, then..." The light-brunette's visible eye loomed over the labyrinth in the distance. "...what exactly is waiting up topside?"
"I..." Then, Nagi heard a similar noise emanate from the Tenth as the Dual Zero model. Some of them turned and saw the collosal golem fall onto its backside, head slumped forward as if to rest.
"It... stopped? Stupid thing just... sat down..." Even Klein couldn't make sense of it.
"You mean to tell me we're worried about a machine that runs on double AA batteries?" Artorias, back to his usual self, deadpanned, facepalming. "Ugh, and here I thought we were screwed..."
"You totally freaked out just now," Mito pointed out.
"Thank you for summing up the obvious, Reaper!" He countered to her smirk. "But seriously, I guess given it's the same model as the dungeon variant, did that beam attack drain it? Rat? Thoughts?"
"Out o' gas, I reckon, petered out using that full-powered beaM. Anyway, that'll give those stuck inside, and us, a chance to get to safetY!"
"She's right, everyone, forget the boss and continue with the evacuation!" Nagi yelled over the crowd, those remaining didn't hesitate to do so.
And so, the Magical Gem Quarry became a known hazard across Floor 50, not a brazen soul in Aincrad daring to venture down to the mines or the dungeon, those that remained, quickly fled to town themselves...
|Floor 50, City of Algade|
|Jan. 17th, 20:10|
|Time Before Rampage - 2 Days, 21 Hours, 40 Minutes|
The meeting held with the Frontrunners was left ambiguous on how to best handle Blueite the Tenth, everyone seemed to agree that with the golem in its slumbering state, Klein's plan to attack at once may be their only winning goal, even if they had no idea how large its health pool was. Putting that aside, Kirito had invited the duo to join him with a talk with Asuna of all people, given how awkward things were still between them, even with Sachi's attempts to repair their relationship. The trio didn't stand around long enough to chat when Asuna appeared with a small greeting.
"I have to say, I'm impressed you convinced him to come, thanks, Asuna," Kirito tried to keep a semi-friendly attitude about it.
"No need to thank me; to be honest, I'm a little surprised myself he was willing to go along with this," Asuna pursed her lips in thought.
"Same here, but... why are we meeting at the entrance to an alleyway?" Nagi raised his hand a bit to ask.
"Yeah, we're heading to a place that's chaotic, even by this town's standards. Sachi suggested to meet further away first," Kirito explained.
"Sounds like yer finally wisin' up a little, Kii-BoU," Argo teased, nudging his side as he strained a smile.
"You just couldn't help but make a remark, Rat..." Coughing, Kirito spun to behind Asuna. "And speak of the devil!"
Instantly, Asuna went into her professional appearance before the red-robed commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath. "Forgive me for the summons, Commander! These individuals insisted on it, you see..."
"Aw, come on A-Chan, yer treatin' us like strangerS," Argo whined with a faux expression of sadness.
"Well, I was planning on eating dinner myself. It's not often I get the opportunity to be treated by Kirito the Black Swordsman himself, alongside Argo the Rat and Nagi the Water Shinobi," Heathcliff replied politely with a small grin of surprise and gratitude. "There are still matters I have to attend to later tonight but I have some time,"
With that, Kirito led the charge, bringing them down the alleyway to cut out into a street with a small restaurant situated across from them. It was open with a bold red fabric overhang. Inside were a few tables before a bar stand where an NPC cook worked away silently. There were a few people here but a free table for the five of them to sit around. It had the style and ambience of a traditional Chinese establishment. Red ceiling lamps, the redwood contrasting with the black furniture.
Once seated, Kirito waved over to the NPC cook. "Five orders of Algade soba noodles, please,"
The clerk just looked sombre as they worked. "Almost feels like we're having a consolation party..." Asuna muttered at the awkward air around them.
"Sure know how to pick 'em, Kii-BoU," Argo gave him a strange look.
"Just your imagination. Anyway, let's cut your busy commander a break and get to business," Kirito began as their food was set before them in mere seconds. Then again, cooking done by an NPC would put fast-food to shame. The steamy bowls set made Nagi's eyes widen with Argo's own plesant smile.
"Now I get iT..." Argo licked her lips with anticipation.
Wheat noodles served in a dark miso broth, served with thinly-cut pork, with typical toppings including sliced pork, peeled nori, and diced scallions, topped with menma. All in all, it was a dish that Nagi hadn't had in a very long time. "Ramen! T-Thank you for the meal, Kirito,"
"Don't worry about it, we should eat first anyway before the noodles get soggy. I'll explain the situation in full while we eat." Kirito gestured for them all to dig in, himself included as the group discussed everything at the meeting to the Commander to catch him up to speed on current events.
By the time they had concluded everything, their bowls were empty, and all of them wore various expressions of concern and doubt over the whole ordeal. "...and so I apologize for the hassle, but I was hoping to receive some advice from you on the matter, Commander..." Asuna requested, knowing this was her role to fulfil, she simply had no other options presented to her. "We still do not have much time before the golem reboots itself in Three Days, but after hours of debating, we haven't found a better strategy,"
"Well, got anything to add, Commander?" Kirito inquired, seeing the man close his eyes briefly in displeasure.
"This is not ramen, I am certain of that," Heathcliff replied, and strange as it was, Nagi did agree with him. It was delicious, but some subtle differences in the ingredients used to mimic the real life counterparts stuck out to him a bit.
Kirito only smiled as the girls raised their brows a little. "Yeah, I agree."
"Then I will give you an answer worthy of this false ramen's flavour. I'm only speaking as a regular player here, but..." Trailing off, Heathcliff mulled over his thoughts some more. "If this Bolt was as talented a technologist as you say, he'd have not only known the threat would return, he'd have had a plan for it,"
Asuna raised her hand with a concern of her own, "May I interrupt, Commander? Since the golem's awakening, we've held an exhaustive cross-guild search but found nothing like that, even prior to current events,"
"Don't assume something is true if you've only seen it from the surface or from a single angle," Heathcliff lectured her lightly. "If I were in his position, I'd give the technology I developed the chance to redeem its honour. Skilled engineers that create technology that fails both rarely and in non-catastrophic ways. That is what innovation requires of you,"
"He should have predicted the ways in which is invention would spread and be used for both good and evil, if he was as great as you say," The older man detailed furrowly, as though he himself understood Bolt better than most, like a kinship. "If I were him, any methods used to prevent catastrophe would not be obvious in nature. Perhaps it would require an outside party's help. Technology is truly tested only once it is released into the world."
"While I can see where yer goin' with this, Commander, I gotta point out, all Bolt's notes point to him droppin' his research after the rampage began, so how'd he come up with a countermeasure in such a short space of timE?" Argo inquired, wanting to see where this hypothesis of the KoB leader's was going.
He pressed his hands together on the table. "It may seem that way on the surface, but try looking at it from another angle. Did he really run out of time? He should have predicted the order to stop if he really was talented. Would he have ignored that fact? I find that hard to believe," Shaking his head, Heathcliff then stood up with a smile. "Sorry, but it's about time for me to leave. This was quite an interesting discussion. Thank you for the meal, Kirito, I'll be going now."
After leaving, the four remaining all sat in their chairs, dumbfounded on how best to take any of this intel to properly apply it to their investigation. Less than three days was a good amount of time, but without proper leads, it was fruitless. "That was like Zen philosophy or something..." Kirito made a strange face, somewhere between curiosity and utter confusion.
"It seemed like the Commander empathized with this Bolt character. That's pretty unusual for him, I have to say," Even Asuna felt she saw an entirely different side to her leader.
"His scent-" They glanced at Nagi. "-it was one of familiarity or maybe deep understanding towards Bolt's character and motivations as a whole,"
"Really? He seemed to me like the calm and collected Commander I've seen him as," Kirito shrugged, chuckling a bit toward Nagi. "Then again, your nose is never really misleading,"
"Aim to please!" Nagi waved a hand sheepishly.
"Nagi may be onto somethin' therE. Who knows, perhaps the strikin' man in red and white a real deal scientist in the real worlD," Argo suggested the intriguing idea. While they found the prospect of Heathcliff's identity funny, Nagi had gone quiet, his face appearing troubled as he placed a hand to his chin. "Hm? What's with the long face, HerO?"
"That's it..." He muttered, suddenly kicking back off his chair to stand and grab Argo's hands, startling her. "You're a genius yet again, Argo!"
"Eh? T-thanks... what's got you all grabby suddenlY?" She stared up at him, and realized, his onyx eyes were glimmering with that same, infectious spark Nagi had when an idea came to mind.
"We need to go see the Doctor right now!" Then, he bowed his head to Kirito and Asuna. "Thank you for the meal and the pleasant company! We'll talk in the early morning with everyone at the meeting, but we need to do our own research!"
"W-woah, hold on, N-NagI~!" And Argo was quickly dragged away with him, leaving Asuna to giggle behind her hand, and Kirito to blinked in utter bewilderment at their immediate exit.
To Be Continued...
And the proper field boss awakens, but it's level is through the roof compared to everyone else. Oh, what comes next is gonna be awesome~! But more on that later; I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; see ya in the next chapter, Misfits!
062 - Building Towards Infinity
With less than three days before Blueite Golem the Tenth awakens, Nagi and Argo pull through with some help on a solution like no other...