Sword Art Online - Volume 18 - Chapter Ep4

Epilogue Part 4
My eyes flew open.

I felt a spasm of disquiet, as per usual. Disquiet — about where I was, or when it was.

But the unease seemed to have slowly dampened with time, which probably represented how irreversible it was, flowing on like water. It was a dismal, lonely thing.

Still lying on the bed, I looked up at the wall clock.

4:00 PM. I’d napped for about an hour and a half after lunch, rehab, and a shower.

The setting sunlight poking through the ward’s white curtains drew a sharp contrast against the room. If I paid attention I could hear the cry of cicadas from somewhere far away. And the citywide hustle and bustle of an assortment of machines and people.

I took a large gulp of the sun-soaked air smelling of disinfectant and slowly exhaled. Then, I stepped down from the bed.

Crossing the somewhat cramped room, I approached the south-facing window. I pushed the curtains apart with both hands.

My eyes squinted against the glaring twilight as I gazed unconcernedly down at the vast swath of city below. The Real World, with its astronomical consumption of resources and cacophony of sophisticated and intense activity. The world where I was born.

Aside from a powerful awareness that I’d was back at last, in my mind there was also a impulse to return to that world. That homesickness might eventually disappear too.

As I hovered beside the window, my ears picked up a soft knocking. Turning my head with a “Come in”, I watched as the door slid aside to reveal the visitor behind it.

Chestnut hair fastened into twintails. A white cutsew and an icy blue flared skirt that gave off a summery vibe. She was wearing mules that were also white.

I couldn’t help but blink as she stood there. Speckled sunlight seemed to endure upon her figure.

Asuna, who had been discharged three days earlier, waved a small bouquet in her right hand and beamed.

“Sorry, I’m a little late.”

“Oh no, I just woke up.”

I returned the smile as Asuna stepped into the ward, and tenderly embraced her.

Whereupon her left hand leapt to my arms and back, feeling them.

“Hmm, you’re only back at 90% of the normal Kirito-kun. Have you been eating properly?”

“Yeah, I really have. Can’t help it, I was in bed for two months after all.”

I gave her a strained smile as I moved away and shrugged.

“More importantly, my discharge date has been fixed. They told me it’s three days from now.”

“Really?!”

Her face lighting up at once, Asuna walked towards the vase on the bedside table and continued:

“Well, we need to properly celebrate your recovery. In ALO first, and then in the Real World.”

With nimble hands she changed the vase’s water, removed the wilted flowers, replaced them with two light purple roses she’d brought, and replaced the vase on the desktop.

I stared at the roses for a moment, which looked to be desperately trying to attain pure blue, before replying, “Mhmm.”

I sat down on the bed, and Asuna gently followed suit beside me.

I was seized again by homesickness. But there was no more of the fiery, jagged pain in my chest from before.

Asuna leaned over. I hugged her shoulder and allowed my mind to wander through my distant memories.

On that day—

After Asuna and I were left behind in Underworld as the maximum acceleration phase began, we flew away from the flowering «World End Altar» and crossed the coal-black desert and crimson rocks. Our first stop was a rendezvous with the Human Empire Defense Army, who were still positioned at the ancient ruins battlefield.

Klein, Agil, Lisbeth, and the rest of the real world reinforcements were no longer there. They had all been logged out exactly when the acceleration started.

After comforting a sobbing Tiese and Ronye, I was introduced to young Integrity Knight Renri by Sortiliena-senpai. He and I both reorganized the troops and started back along the northbound path towards the «Great Eastern Gate».

There, after my palpably tense meeting with those who had stayed behind — Integrity Knight Order Vice Commander Fanatio, Knight Deusolbert, along with Knights-in-Training Fizel and Linel — Integrity Knight Sheyta (whom I’d never seen before) delivered to me a message from the acting commander of the Dark Realm army, Iskahn.

The Dark Realm army was planning on first returning to their imperial palace in the far east, completing post-war processes with their other generals, and beginning peace talks with the Human Empire army in a month’s time. Sheyta volunteered to be their ambassador; after seeing her off as she flew eastwards on her gray dragon, all units of the Human Empire Defense Army began the long trek back to the Central Capital Centoria.

For some reason the town and village residents along the way already knew of the war’s end and the return of peace. Everyone cheered great welcomes to the Defense Army.

The return to Centoria marked the beginning of day after exhausting day.

Beset with a barrage of tasks, including helping Fanatio (who was now the highest ranking Knight after Bercouli’s death) restructure the Axiom Church and compensate the families of Guardians who perished in the war, and suppressing the four imperial families and high nobles who took advantage of the post-war turmoil to try and broaden their influence, a month had passed in no time at all—

When we returned to the Great Eastern Gate ruins to attend peace talks, Asuna and I had a chance meeting with Iskahn, who was now the official supreme commander of the Dark Realm army.

The fiery-haired warrior was a bit younger than me. He had said to me:

—You’re the older brother of «Leafa the Green Swordswoman»? Heard you killed Emperor Vector.

—Not that I doubt you, but let’s you and I have a go.

So, for reasons unknown to me, while we were at the conference Iskahn and I both decided to throw a fist as hard as we could at the other’s face. After which he nodded as though in agreement, and declared:

…You really are stronger than both me and the Emperor. So, I don’t really wanna admit it, but… you’re the… first…”

And around there, my memories suddenly cut off.

The next thing I knew, I was coming to in the STL’s gel bed, and Higa from RATH was telling me: “Your memories have been successfully deleted.”

According to Dr. Koujiro Rinko, ever since day Asuna and I achieved peace, we continued our activities within Underworld for 200 years, well past the Fluctlight capacity limit. But I couldn’t remember a single thing I did in that eternity of time, and I had no idea how I avoided my own Fluctlight collapsing. Even more disturbingly, I completely forgot every little detail of the conversation I’d had with Higa and Kikuoka after waking up in RATH’s Roppongi branch.

Asuna seemed to be in the same boat.

But she assured me with a characterisically warm smile:

—Since it’s you, Kirito-kun, you must have taken care of a lot of troublesome things and escaped many different girls from different places.

When I heard her say this, I was spared the urge to recall the specifics, but I was ultimately unable to rid myself of that burning loneliness.

At this very moment, Fanatio, Renri, and the other Integrity Knights; Iskahn and the other lords of the Dark Realm; along with Ronye, Tiese, Sortiliena-senpai, Sister Azurica and the others, were no longer living within Underworld, which even now continued to run in real-time…

Asuna gave an unexpected murmur, as though she knew exactly what I was thinking.

“Don’t worry. Even if our memories are gone, our recollections will never disappear.”

—That’s right, Kirito. Don’t cry… stay cool.

An indistinct, wistfully emotional voice echoed somewhere deep in my ears.

Yes. Memories weren’t just stored in the cerebral cortex. It was beyond question that they were etched into the Fluctlight network, scattered in every nook and cranny of every cell in the body.

Blinking back tears that threatened to spill over, I caressed Asuna’s hair and replied.

“Yeah. Someday… we’ll see each other again for sure.”

Several motionless, tranquil minutes followed.

The hue of the setting sun grew deeper still upon the alabaster wall. On occasion I would spot the shadow of a bird flitting over it, returning to its nest.

The silence was broken by another round of knocking.

I tilted my head slightly. There shouldn’t be anyone come to visit at this hour. Reluctantly, I pulled my hand away from Asuna’s shoulder and called: “Come in.”

The door slid open with a flourish and in rang a voice I’d dearly missed, yet which caused me to feel rather annoyed.

“Goodness gracious, Kirito, finally leaving this place?! We must properly celebrate… Oh dear, am I interrupting something?”

I sighed and replied: “…I’ll spare you the effort of explaining how you knew that Aki-san just told me when I’m leaving, Kikuoka-san.”

Originally an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Virtual Division, as well as a Lieutenant Colonel and commander of the front organization RATH, Kikuoka Seijirou had slipped into my ward dressed in something completely unlike the tasteless shirts he was once so fond of.

Apparently, midsummer had not stopped him from donning a swanky suit complete with a tie. His short hair was carefully slicked down and there wasn’t a trace of sweat on his face, upon which sat a pair of slim, frameless glasses.

The familiar grin he wore and the cheap-looking paper bag he was clutching utterly ruined his otherwise flawless impression of an elite businessman belonging to some foreign-owned enterprise.

Kikuoka raised the paper bag: “A little present. I agonized for quite a while over what to bring you since we have to build your strength back up, and Dr. Rinko practically growled at me to only bring something store-bought. But since you’re recovering, the best stuff for that is something fermented, and I think that’s true no matter what, so I brought you a lot of it. I’ve got Biwa lake funazushi2, and you can’t catch nigorobuna3 right now so it’s hard to buy even if you’re looking for it. I’ve also got Okinawan fermented tofu, which really pairs amazingly with aged awamori4. Best of all, though, I have this cheese, and it’s not just any cheese. It’s Epoisses, directly imported from France, the crown jewel of washed rinds that’ll shut up any wailing kid! Washing it with alcohol everyday and long-term aging prevents the surface from breaking out in these awesome microbes and giving off this irresistible aroma…”

“The fridge is over there.” I swiftly ended Kikuoka’s dreamy, combo-hit of a tirade and pointed straight to a corner of the ward.

“Huh? What?”

“Thank you for the present, sir. The fridge is over there.”

“Heeey, at least open it.”

“Those windows are bolted shut! What d’you think will happen if I open it in here?”

I could already detect a vague aroma wafting from the paper bag. Asuna was inching backwards with a complicated look on her face.

“I think it smells fantastic… —Also, I’ve told you a million times that you don’t need to be that polite with me. Feels all wrong to have you calling me ‘sir’, Kirito.”

After sticking the present into the fridge as he yammered on about things of no relevance, he quickly plopped down into the guest chair.

His normal smile was back on his face in an instant; his fingertips were locked together over his crossed legs.

“But, come on, this is excellent. And to think, Kirito, that your physical body has been unconscious ever since you got ambushed by that accomplice of the «Death Gun incident» back at the end of June. Young people really are something. You’re looking spry after only one week of recovery.”

“Ahh… Well… It really just meant more trouble for you…” I grunted, arms folded across my chest.

It was all thanks to the STL’s Fluctlight stimulation therapy that I was able to recover to this extent after my heart stopped during the attack. But to achieve that, this man had removed me from the hospital in a disguised ambulance and airlifted me far away to the Ocean Turtle in a patch of sea near the Izu islands.

I understood their dilemma of being unable to go through with the proper formalities. My STL therapy couldn’t tolerate a second’s delay, and RATH was a secret organization that had to remain secret. As a matter of fact, I wanted to fully thank Kikuoka for taking such a huge risk to rescue me.

—However.

“………Kikuoka-san. Was it really an accident that when I dived into Underworld a second time, I awoke in the northern part of the Human Empire with my memories intact?”

“Of course it was.” Kikuoka nodded, his smile fading a bit.

“At the time there was no point in throwing your real world self straight into Underworld, because it would contaminate the simulation. But honestly, you helped us fix a world that Yanai had been contaminating for quite a while…”

“I wasn’t expecting RATH to be infiltrated by one of Sugou’s lackeys…”

I shot Asuna a sideways glance.

With a look of repugnance unlike the one just before, she gently massaged her upper arm with her palm while muttering, “I get goosebumps all over when I remember that I dived for several hours in a room adjacent to the one that slug of a man was in. And he shot you, Kikuoka-san… I was hoping for us to catch him and give him a taste of his own medicine before he faced justice…”

“Perhaps that would have been less cruel of a death for him, though.” Kikuoka said quietly.

“If Yanai had met up with the attackers as originally planned and fled to the US, I don’t think their clients, the NSA and Glowgen Defense Systems, would be so quick to honor their promise. They’d weasel everything he knew about the STL and Artificial Fluctlights out of him and eliminate him. The dark side of American military companies isn’t something one man can deal with.”

“Is that why you’re publicly dead, Kikuoka-san?”

“Yeah.”

Even as he said it, this man who nevertheless continued to battle a tremendous enemy by himself broke into a wide grin and waved his hands.

Looking alarmed by his carelessness, Asuna spoke: “…What now? Dr. Koujiro’s been officially delegated to RATH’s supervisor, so you won’t really be able to show up at the Roppongi branch anymore, right?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of things to do. For now, it’s full steam ahead on ensuring the safety of Ocean Turtle and Underworld.”

I couldn’t help but lean forward at his sudden mention of the news I was most interested in.

“Yeah, that’s it. What’s going to happen to Underworld now…?”

“…It doesn’t look good.”

Kikuoka rearranged his long feet as he glanced outside the window.

“For the time being, the Ocean Turtle’s been moored on the sea near the Izu islands and placed on lockdown. Only a skeleton crew for maintenance and reactor security is left on the ship. It’s under heavy surveillance by an escort vessel nearby… which sounds nice until you realize we’re essentially suspended. The government can’t come to a decision either.”

“Suspended…?”

“To be brutally honest, I think the government is pretty set on immediately dissolving RATH — or rather, the Marine Resource Assessment Survey, and placing Artificial Fluctlight-related technology under its own control. All they’ve got to do is mass-produce them and they’ll have unlimited low-cost labor. The thing is, if they do that, then even the truth behind that raid incident’s going to be thrust into light. The fact that the culprits behind the whole thing were the NSA and an American military company, that the sitting Vice Minister of Defense took a bribe to have the Aegis destroyer standby for up to 24 hours; it’ll be a scandal of epic proportions. Some of that money ended up in party legislators’ pockets too. Those guys are all in deep with big-shot Japanese arms manufacturers. If all of this gets out, it’ll send ripples through the administration’s support network.”

Kikuoka spoke energetically, but his face was full of concern.

“Ripples… is that all?”

“It is. There’ll be ripples but not necessarily a turnover… The administration will eventually decide to toss out the Vice Minister and a couple of legislators. Simultaneously, RATH will be dissolved and all related technology will be taken by huge zaibatsu corporations5. Alice will be seized and we won’t be able to avoid the Light Cube Cluster in the Ocean Turtle getting formatted…”

“W…What?!” Asuna cried shrilly. Sparks of rage flashed through her dark brown eyes.

I poked her arm with my fingertip and urged Kikuoka to continue.

“You ought to have a plan to prevent that from happening, right?”

“I wouldn’t call it a plan… it’s more of a wish.”

The corners of Kikuoka’s mouth curled into a rare, frank smile.

“My wish is that the government’s internal negotiations going on right now reach a consensus beneficial to us… that’s all I can say. Basically, that they go in the direction of acknowledging human rights for Artificial Fluctlights. To reach that goal, we have to facilitate longer contact between more real world people and Artificial Fluctlights. That’s also the reason The Seed Nexus exists.”

“…You’re… right.”

“However, the biggest prerequisite to this is having a high-bandwidth uplink that allows people of Underworld to connect to The Seed Nexus. The government’s cut the Ocean Turtle’s satellite uplink. My next goal is to restore that. I’ve already set the plan in motion during the press conference two days ago. We should have a bit of time at the moment.”

“Uplink…”

I glanced at the expanse of vermillion sky outside the window.

Untold numbers of communications satellites were soaring along their own orbits beyond the dusk and setting sun. But only a few were capable of dealing with the throughput required to communicate with Underworld. It didn’t take much thought to realize that Kikuoka’s plan was about as simple as rocket science.

But with things having developed up to this point, this was no longer something I, a high school student, could participate in. All I could do was believe and leave everything to him.

I looked back towards him, took a step forward, and bowed my head:

“Kikuoka-san… I’m counting on you. Please protect Underworld.”

“I would even if you didn’t ask.” Kikuoka stood too, grinning in reply. “Underworld to me is now a dream I’d put my life on the line for.”

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Leaving behind nothing but that captivating brown bag, Lieutenant Kikuoka Seijirou left just as he had come: like a gust of wind.

Asuna exhaled whew and spoke: “His words and attitude sound wonderful and trustworthy… But I keep feeling that there’s a hidden side to him. I guess that’s what makes him Kikuoka-san…”

“Of course there is; probably two or three sides at that.” I laughed shortly and sat onto the bed.

“He talks like that, but I don’t think Kikuoka-san’s given up. On things like allowing the JSDF to load Artificial Fluctlights into Japanese fighter jets.”

“W… What?!”

“Of course, he’s not going to insert another self-unaware AI again. But what about letting the people of Underworld take the jobs of their own accord? If you think about it, Integrity Knights and Dark Knights are natural-born warriors.”

“Ah… Right… Yeah…”

Asuna seemed to be considering something. I turned over my own bleary thoughts.

Kikuoka Seijirou’s true goal. It has to be something I would never imagine. Something not limited to politics or national defense; perhaps a goal just as great at that of Kayaba Akihiko…

“Oh, damn! It’s time already!”

“Huh? But visiting hours are still…”

“Not that, I mean today. The nine race joint summit in ALO!”

“Ah… Right.” I also clapped my hands together.

On the Ocean Turtle raid incident last month.

Around 2,000 VRMMO players leveraged account conversion to execute a fearless rescue in a counterattack against enemy commander PoH’s plan of inserting huge numbers of foreign VRMMO players. Only a couple hundred people survived; everyone else was slaughtered.

In order to report the truth to these players — who you could say had joined a «volunteer army», we were hosting a grand summit. Asuna and I were the most important people of concern, so our attendance was, of course, essential.

“Hmm… No time to get back home and log in.”

Muttering somewhat on purpose, Asuna pulled out an Amusphere that just barely fit into her tote bag.

“No other way, let’s dive from here.”

“……”

“…Umm, Asuna-san, anyone could tell you were planning this from the start…”

“No way, I was just being prepared. Don’t sweat the details!”

She pouted for a moment, then beamed widely and fell back onto the bed as though she were laying on top of me.

There would be trouble when Nurse Aki came to take my temperature, but I encircled my arm around Asuna’s slender waist anyway and pulled her firmly against me.

Only the sound of our breathing could be heard for a short silence.

Having been left in Underworld, Asuna and I no longer had any way of knowing exactly how we had survived 200 years — far exceeding Fluctlight capacity.

Perhaps we had spent it in long-term sleep like Highest Minister Administrator, or continuously reorganized our own memories by controlling our STLs from inside. But there was only one thing I could be sure of: only with Asuna by my side could I have returned to this world as the same person I was before.

Through our contacting skin, I felt like I could almost hear Asuna’s voice.

—No matter what kind of world. No matter for how long.

—I will always be together with you…

“…Yeah, that’s right.”

I murmured aloud, smiling and caressing Asuna’s hair. Then, I placed the Amusphere on her petite head without a word.

After helping her secure the safety strap, I donned my own Amusphere.

We exchanged a look, gave each other a tiny nod, and recited the command at the same time:

“Link Start.”