Floor 20 - Chapter 4 - A Cardinal Error

The atmosphere that surrounded the group as they were received on their return back to the clearing group was a strange one. On one hand, there was an air of jubilation to their return, and some members of various guilds began to almost clamber over each other to extoll the benefits they could offer, if the group were to join their guild - not even the larger ones, but some mid level guilds too, and one wasn't even a guild, but two people looking to form a guild themselves.

Whilst Jet took it in his stride, and had no doubts that most of the offers were made in good faith, he couldn't help but wonder how they'd have been treated after they joined them. Would they have kept treating them like VIPs, which he would've absolutely hated, or would they have just become a part of the guild, players who may have been stronger, but just people in their own rights, rather than objects attached to the swords, and now the reputation that they wielded?

All of it was hypothetical, mind you, as he wasn't planning to join any guild, and from the looks on the girls' faces, nor were they. Maybe forming a guild themselves could be a possibility one day, but not any time soon...

The other thing that was playing on his mind was just how calm everyone was about Sanya. He couldn't help but think that, considering the near riot that her mere presence had caused only a few hours earlier, the clearers seemed oddly calm about her presence... and that worried him.

''Now, whadda we do wit' ya?'' Kibaou came onto the subject that was the silver haired Russian elephant in the room, and the mood of jubilation seemed to almost immediately deflate. ''An' before any of ya smartarses say it, she stays alive and untortured!''

Much to anyone's surprise, Lind seemed to be the first person to defend Sanya, despite him having been her target. He did wonder if the blue haired knight had an ulterior motive, but exactly what that was, he really had no idea. ''Kibaou, despite her treachery... she was instrumental in our rescue, and she certainly isn't unskilled...''

Strea looked towards him with a look that told him exactly what his sister was thinking - ''She also can't be trusted either.'' - and for once, he would concede. Whilst it hadn't been Sanya's fault that they'd been led into a trap, there was certainly a question that still lingered around her, regarding her true loyalties...

''I cannot give an assessment on that, Lind, but she deliberately and knowingly sent you into a trap. I can't understand why you, of all people, would defend her...'' Diavel stated, an almost confused look being exchanged with Kibaou as he did so.

''She has shown remorse for her actions, and without her, a number of us would almost certainly be dead by now. I believe that counts some way towards her redemption, does it not?'' The mutterings from members of all three guilds seemed to be a pretty good indicator of the disconnect between their leaders and the people of the guilds...

''That may be so, but...'' As the leaders continued to argue their cases for and against her freedom, he looked out into the crowd. Most of them seemed focused on the matter at hand, but a few of them seemed to be leaving. The red haired woman from earlier, and a man in a leather mask were the two that seemed in the biggest hurry to get out of there, and he reminded himself that the woman had been instrumental in whipping up discontent earlier... whilst the man wore a mask that just screamed ''serial killer''. Or that he was a gimp, he supposed, but it was probably more likely to be the former than the latter...

He turned to Koharu, and whispered in her ear. ''Ko, you're in charge. I've got a hunch on something... I'll see you later.'' She gave him a concerned look, before sighing in resignation.

''Just be safe, please...'' She asked, almost pleading with him against doing something stupid...

''I'll try.'' He whispered back, before pushing his way through the throngs of people gathered in the town, whilst ducking down slightly. At 183cm, he did stand out above the crowd somewhat, and when you were tailing someone, that wasn't an ideal situation to find yourself in. Luckily for him, they either weren't expecting to be followed, or weren't paying attention to their surroundings.

Hopefully, it was the latter, he thought, as it would make life a little bit easier for him outside of the massed crowds...

/-/

Koharu watched tensely, hoping that the crowd would simply wear themselves down, and Sanya wouldn't be in the firing line again. It wasn't a particularly likely option, she knew that, but it was the best outcome for everyone.

Despite her actions, Koharu wasn't even disappointed in Sanya. She had been, when her betrayal had been made public, and she'd initially wondered if her boyfriend had taken leave of his senses for taking her with them, but throughout their journey, she'd had chance to think about it more thoroughly, and she couldn't say she'd have done much different, had it been herself in place.

Maybe Jet had a point, that she could've given someone a clue about her being under duress, but it really wasn't so easy as slipping someone a note, and it had appeared that Sanya had made a concerted effort to keep herself away from anyone who could've gotten caught in the crossfire.

Had she tried to message someone, she knew that left a trail, and that trail could've gotten her killed when her overseers noticed it, and leaving a paper note would've been just as noticeable. In fact, she hadn't seen anyone but Jet and a number of NPCs use paper communications so far, which made it a rather unusual method of communication in Aincrad, and unusual things tended to attract unwanted attention...

''Err, Koharu? You are aware that Jet is currently following another woman, right?'' Strea asked, having noticed her brother's sudden absence, and where he'd gone.

''I know, he thinks she's suspicious.''

''I dunno, but something about her feels off. Something about all of this feels off...'' Strea admitted, and for once, Koharu found herself agreeing with her. It almost felt like the red players were two or three steps ahead; killing Lind and Shivata was never the plan, but the distrust that the ''betrayal'' of Sanya had sowed would cause a rift amongst the clearers, and that rift could be catastrophic, if it was unaddressed.

Her brief thoughts on the problem were interrupted when the conversation turned to them. ''Jet, you and your group- wait, where is he?''

''He's chasing up a lead on something, so I'm in charge.'' Koharu did her best to answer confidently, standing as tall as she could with her voice as clear as possible. ''Sanya was with us when we got ambushed. They wanted us alive though, and I don't think she betrayed us then. I think she was just a pawn for those red players to use, someone predictable. She isn't a bad person, so... I think we let her make her own choice. You say we can't trust her, right?''

''Yeah?''

''Then let her choose which guild she joins, so someone can keep a watchful eye on her.'' She offered her solution to the group, and waited for the inevitable outrage from the clearing group. Other than the odd mumbles and grumbles, very little discontent was forthcoming...

''I'm not...'' Diavel seemed almost anxious at the prospect, whilst Kibaou was almost silent; his face telling of his feelings on the matter as he grimaced.

''If she was only used by the red players, then I believe we should be showing a united front!'' Lind seemed the most enthusiastic at the prospect, being the only leader to show support for the idea.

''Then we do! Let her choose where she goes!'' Kibaou responded, evidently not wanting to be outdone by the DKB...

''I suppose I'm outvoted then...'' Diavel seemed resigned. ''As you suggest, we let Sanya choose where she wishes to go.''

The crowd all looked toward Sanya, and for once, the usually brash silver haired girl almost shrunk into her own shoulders as she considered her own future. She couldn't blame her for looking apprehensive, whatever option she picked, no doubt people would treat her differently.

Diavel evidently didn't want her in the HOA, and she wasn't sure Sanya would mesh well with them. Many of the guild were even more bombastic than Jet, and she knew just how well that pair got on... they didn't.

Kibaou seemed to be neutral on the idea, and the ALS were a considerably more regimented operation; at least from what Liten had told her, and Sanya seemed to be the type to throw the rulebook to the wall when a more effective way existed, so she wasn't sure how well Sanya would fit in there.

Lind was the most vocal supporter of the idea, that much was true, but she wondered just how forgiving the normal members of the DKB would be to her, especially after what had happened. Even if she had been manipulated into it, that wasn't the kind of action that was simply swept under the carpet...

''Koharu, you are the de facto leader of the group, are you not?'' She supposed she was, at least at the moment anyway. ''I understand that you are not a guild, per se, but you are indeed trusted in the eyes of the leaders... and I suppose I can... tolerate certain members too. ''

The looks on the other leaders faces suggested that, of the three of them, two of them had predicted exactly this outcome... only Lind seeming shocked at it, which put something into perspective for her; his actions were to recruit her, hence seeming like a reasonable person...

''Umm, if everyone else is fine with it, then... welcome to the group Sanya!'' Two thoughts went through her mind: the first, was going to be her boyfriend's reaction to this news, and their new ''guild'' member. The second thought... they really needed a name now, they couldn't keep on calling themselves just ''the group''...

/-/

Nearly half an hour had passed, and Jet was still tailing the suspicious players, having followed them back to the swamp on the Sixth Floor. He reminded himself that he was trying to be stealthy, and that this was important... so if he could stop squelching as he moved, that would help massively! Luckily for him though, the redheaded woman seemed to be as unhappy at this situation as he did, her incessant moaning and berating of her ally causing enough noise to mask his movements, and the fog providing just enough visual cover that the only camouflage he really needed was to pull his hood up over his hair.

After all, there weren't many plants that grew with orange flowers, in a swamp...

Still though, he was getting some useful intelligence from the pair's bickering: first, their boss, a man named PoH (and if that wasn't a completely daft name, he didn't know what was...) had been trying to disrupt the frontlines for months now, and that hadn't been close to the first salvo; not by a long margin. Even as far back as the Third Floor, when Morte had been playing the double agent, he had been in control...

Which forced him to consider more questions, the most worrying of which being, why had he had that nightmare of PoH executing everyone back then? He knew the theory that every face you saw in a dream existed in reality, but he hadn't seen PoH's face - he'd seen an almost maniacal grin, obscured by a poncho of some kind.

The next being just how many ''agents'' did this PoH have? Sanya clearly wasn't the only one, and Mito had told them about him attempting to recruit her back on the Fourth Floor, which suggested there was a pattern to who they tried to recruit, but finding everyone who fit that pattern was neither possible, nor a good idea.

The last being the obvious question: why was he doing this? Did he harbour a grudge against the clearers for some reason, or was he just another madman, hell bent on chaos and suffering?

''If you have to ask yourself all of these questions, then you do not understand the bigger picture here... Jet.'' If it were possible to leap out of his skin, he would've done so.

The voice that spoke to him was very clearly female, sounded older by some margin and had an unusually husky tone to it. The person that accompanied said voice certainly fit that appearance; only slightly shorter than he was, with lavender hair long enough to approach the water beneath them. In that hair were two feathers, that were shaped in such a way to almost resemble angel wings, whilst she wore a grey-ish purple dress that looked more like a nightgown than it did battle wear. Looking at her face, he'd guess she was in her early thirties, but the most unusual thing about her was her eyes - they were a shade of purple that looked as if it matched his coat perfectly, and if he looked into them briefly... he couldn't hold that gaze for more than a second; it was too much like staring into an abyss, a gaping hole into eternity... and having it stare back at you.

''Who are you?'' He mouthed, not wanting to get caught by the players he was tailing.

''Call me an ally for now. We have similar goals, after all...'' She replied, somehow answering nothing whilst giving him yet more questions to ask...

''How long have you been following me?''

''I'm afraid I can't tell you that...''

''Whoever's there! Come out!'' The redheaded woman shouted towards the tree they hid behind, evidently having heard her evasion of the questions, before they began to close on them both. If they kept quiet enough, they could ambush them as they reached the tree, and whilst he had no idea as to the strength of this woman, he reckoned he could make enough of a gap for them to escape... if she kept still and quiet, that was.

Sadly for him, she chose to go out and confront them. ''Ne'er-do-wells, you would do well to understand the magnitude of the situation you find yourself in...''

He was just as clueless as they were on that one. Other than the disconcerting feeling he noticed when looking into her eyes, he couldn't say she looked particularly powerful... but then again, looks could be very deceiving. To take his sister for example, Strea looked to be one of the most approachable people in the game... and he most certainly knew that wasn't the case!

''Eh, the boss said nothin' about any prissy eavesdroppers, just those frontliners... she's disposable, 'less Johnny needs anymore test subjects for his pills an' potions. The last lot of NPCs are nearly dead now, anyway...'' The gimp stated, and the affable look on the lavender haired woman's face became one of pure malice. The air around her changed in an instant, and Jet noticed her cursor - she had a blue cursor?

In the entire time he'd been in this game, he'd never seen a blue cursor on anything; player, NPC or object. He wondered what it meant, briefly, before the woman retrieved a sword from her back and advanced towards the players. The retrieved weapon was just as ornately decorated as its wielder, a rapier with significant ornamental areas on its hilt, even extending partially along the blade.

''Ya really think that's gonna scare us sweetheart?'' The leather masked man asked, a tone more expected of a school teacher than a bandit, given the level of patronising it was... ''Don't worry, we'll only rough you up a little bit...''

''Oh alright then, she wasn't the one following you; I was.'' He walked out from behind the tree, to a somewhat surprised reaction.

''You?! How!'' The gimp asked.

''Rumours of my injury were greatly exaggerated. Besides, should know better than to assume Morte can actually finish a job, by now...''

The woman looked considerably less impressed, before pulling out a Teleport Crystal. ''Pre-programmed Teleport Crystal. Any closer, and we're both gone. You can't follow us then...'' The scowl became a smirk, as she assumed she had the upper hand... ''Teleport!''

Nothing happened, as Jet just looked at them blankly. The woman in purple gave an unsettling smile as she advanced on them again. ''Teleport! Teleport! Why... why isn't it working!''

''You chose your opponents poorly. As these are your final moments on this mortal plane, I shall reveal my identity to you... I am Justice Program-001. Quinella, for short. For crimes against Aincrad, I sentence you.'' For what felt like a second, the world stopped as Jet processed that. This woman, she wasn't a human being, and she wasn't like Kizmel either; she wasn't an NPC that had become sentient... she was part of Aincrad, no, part of Sword Art Online. She was a part of the Cardinal System given a human visage...

The blue cursor must've been an administrator's cursor then, now relegated to the history books for obvious reasons...

''Oh yeah, sentence us to what? The Blackiron Palace?'' The red haired woman retorted, reaching for her spear. ''We aren't going.'' She stated defiantly, as Quinella looked her over, her smirk getting ever wider...

''Uhh, I don't think you should do that...'' He almost pleaded with them to be just be smart. To put their weapons down, and go voluntarily without a fight. If Quinella was what she said she was, and all evidence did seem to point that way... they wouldn't stand an earthly chance anyway.

Not that his protestations were taken heed of, as the spear skill grazed against Quinella. Interestingly, he thought, she wasn't an immortal object - she had a health bar as per any other player, and despite the lack of armour, that dress of hers clearly offered its fair share of protection; her health bar was monstrous...

As dust cleared, Quinella stood there, thoroughly unimpressed by the attack. ''Perhaps you should have heeded my ally's warnings... your sentences have both been raised. Player services will be terminated with maximum prejudice...'' He realised exactly what that meant... she was about to execute them both. During that brief moment, she had closed the distance, and with an almost surgical efficiency, her blade struck the two players. Only seconds had passed, but the onslaught felt considerably longer to any onlooker, as angry and pixelated red gashes covered both of them. Snapped out of his shock, and with little in the way of hesitation, he found himself thrown into the path between Quinella and the red players...

''Quinella, let them live... please.'' He pleaded as her rapier stopped short of impaling him. Idly, he wondered whether the universe was telling him something, considering he'd been, or nearly been, stabbed twice in the space of a few hours...

''State your case.''

''Because... killing them is the easy way out. An eye for an eye doesn't sate anyone's demand for justice; it just makes them blind! The best way to make them mull over their actions, that'll be to throw them in the deepest, darkest hole you can think of, and leave them with their own thoughts. That is a far more effective punishment, is it not!?'' Considering he had a rapier not far from his throat, he felt that was a reasonable defence! After all, how many lawyers have to defend their client whilst under threat of death, he thought to himself.

''Very well. Beginning punishment protocol...'' Both players disappeared into crystals behind him, and he felt the pit in his stomach open up as the crystals faded... ''Players Joe and Rosalia have been punished.''

''You didn't have to kill them, you know...'' He muttered, looking morosely away from her.

''I did not terminate them. They are in the Prison Area.'' She told him as she put her blade back in her inventory.

''The Blackiron Palace?'' He asked.

''The Blackiron Palace is not the Prison Area.'' Quinella answered, before offering a smile as she walked away into nothingness... ''I shall be off now, I hope we are still allies when we next meet... Knight of the Wind.''

Now left completely alone in the swamp, with just his thoughts for company, he thought about the chain of events that had led him here: Sanya's ''treachery'', the ambush from the red players, the rescue of Lind and Shivata, returning to the clearers with the leaders in tow, then following them into the swamp, only to be assisted by a fragment of SAO's system as it ''dealt'' with the pair of suspicious players...

If he hadn't been there, and seen it with his own eyes, he had to admit... he wouldn't have believed it either. The next thought he had was a rather more complicated one - how did he plan to explain all of this!?

Still, if there was one person who might know what he'd just seen, he knew exactly who it was and began to type out a message to him...

From: Jet
To: Kirito

We need to talk about Cardinal.