FATAL ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT

Shattered Memories

Chapter One: Who are you?

A/N:

Hey, it looks like I finally finished the first chapter of arc two! This actually didn't take as long as I thought it would, considering my average update speed nowadays. Oddly enough, this chapter was typed up in less than a collective hour of editing time, which is pretty damn good for me. I just got stuck about halfway through, then took a break for a couple of weeks.

As I said, this is the sequel to another story of mine, namely, FATAL ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT. If you're new to the plotline and want to know what's going on, I suggest you read that story first. Before you do, however, I implore you to trudge past the first couple chapters, as they're kind of messy in terms of quality.

Also, there will be a new character introduced in this chapter! I won't spoil who it is, but I will tell you that this character is not an OC.

Well, I guess that's all you need to know for now! Have a good read!

I'll see you at the bottom!

"You idiot!" Asuna shouted, enveloping him in a tight embrace. "I was so worried, and it turns out you were asleep?! Why did you lie to Liz just for that?!"

"What are you talking about?" Kirito queried with an irritated tone, pushing Asuna away. "Wait… where am I?"

Something's really wrong! Wait, don't tell me he—

"And for that matter…" Kirito started.

What he said next confirmed all my suspicions and fears. He looked at both of us inquisitively.

"Who are you?"

I awoke to the light shaking of my shoulders. When I opened my eyes, I found a girl with long, chestnut hair that cascaded down onto my body. She had tears in her eyes, making me feel bad for reasons unknown to me.

When I looked to my side, I found a girl with short, pink hair, looking at me with a concerned expression. Her eyes didn't have tears in them, but she certainly seemed just as concerned as the chestnut-haired girl.

Who are these people…? I thought, my mind still fuzzy from whatever happened to me. That's right! The last thing I remember was my last day of the beta. Well, it looks like I'm on the eighth floor, so maybe they extended the beta another day. But then… why don't I remember logging on…?

It was then that I found myself being pulled into a tight hug by the chestnut-haired girl. She hugged me so tightly that it almost enacted the system's «Criminal Infraction Code» and turned her cursor orange, then began shouting in an angry, yet fearful, voice.

"You idiot!" she shouted, relaxing her hold slightly. "I was so worried, and it turns out you were asleep?! Why did you lie to Liz just for that?!"

I pushed the girl away from me, an irritated look crossing my features. "What are you talking about?" I asked her, voice raised slightly. "Wait…" I looked around, finding that I didn't recognize my location. I could tell I was on the eighth floor by the terrain, but I had no idea where I actually was. "Where am I?"

I could feel the chestnut-haired girl flinch in my grasp, as I was still holding her at arms' length. I then looked over to the pink-haired girl, who looked as if she were terrified of me.

What did I do?

"And for that matter…" I started, trying to ignore the looks of shock, fear and pain on their faces as I looked from one to the other. "Who are you?"

The chestnut-haired girl got up, backing away slightly. "This can't be real…"

The pink-haired girl walked towards my sitting form, extending a hand. I took it gingerly, and she pulled me up to my feet. When I let go of her hand, I said, "Thanks… um…"

"Lisbeth," she said, smiling sadly. "But you always called me 'Liz.'"

"What…?" I queried, looking her over. "I don't remember ever meeting you before."

"Sorry to ask, but what's the last thing you remember?" Lisbeth queried, making me inwardly question her sanity.

I then looked over at the chestnut-haired girl, seeing that she still had tears in her eyes. For some reason, those tears made me feel horrible, but I didn't know what I could do.

I tried to remember what I did before falling asleep, to no avail. When I looked back to Lisbeth, I decided to ask an honest question. "Hey, did they extend the beta test another day?"

"What?" she queried, looking at me incredulously.

I looked at her as if she were an idiot before continuing. "Well, yesterday was supposed to be the last day of the beta, right? This is floor eight of «Aincrad», and if the beta was supposed to end yesterday, then they must have extended it another day."

"But… this isn't the beta," Lisbeth said, he tone fearful. "It's been several months since the official launch of SAO. You really don't remember any of our time together?"

I frowned, giving the irritated response of, "Like I said, I don't know who you are. If we did spend time together, I wouldn't remember it."

Then, the implications of what she had said finally registered in my brain. "Wait… you mean that this isn't the beta? Then why are we on floor eight of «Aincrad»? Wait… several months?! Then why don't I remember anything that happened in between?!"

"That's what we want to know!" the chestnut haired girl said, walking up to me with an enraged expression on her face. "How could you forget about us?!"

These people are so annoying! I thought angrily as I turned to the chestnut-haired girl, fury in my eyes. "Why the hell are you getting mad?! If anything, I should be the one getting mad here! You people shake me awake, tell me that several damn months of my life are missing from my memories, and then practically demand that I remember you?!

"Well, guess what? Maybe I don't want to remember people like you!" I shouted, watching with sick satisfaction as their faces donned looks of shock and pain. "This kind of shit is exactly why I left Kamiko on floor seven near the end of the beta! And you know what? I think I'll do it again!"

I turned away from the girls before me, beginning to run in a random direction. I ignored their screaming pleads for me to come back, only running faster. Surprised at my own speed, I decided to check my stats once I had gotten far enough away.

I panted heavily, exhausted from my constant abuse of the «Sprinting Skill». I had been running for at least an hour, trying to avoid any and all cities, lest I be confronted by another player who 'knew' me.

"Huh… I wonder if any of my friends from the beta are in this game," I wondered absentmindedly, opening up my menu and starting to go into my friends—

Wait a second… what's this? I thought as I looked at my current weapon skill equipped, finding an unfamiliar name.

«ShockBlades»

Deciding to investigate further, I went into my equipment menu. In my right hand slot, I had what I remembered to be the seventh floor boss drop, the «Lunar Blade», and in my left hand slot, I had an «Executioner's Tantō».»

Wait, that's a dagger! How could I even have a dagger in my left-hand slot?! Is it some kind of «Extra Skill»?

I closed out of my equipment menu, then went back into my skill menu. I touched the «ShockBlades» skill icon, then read the description that appeared to the left.

Allows the user to wield a one-handed straight sword and one-handed short sword simultaneously.

Stat modifiers: Attack Speed x 1.40, Cooldown x 1.35, Post-Motion Delay x 0.90, Crit. Rate when using dagger x 1.60, Crit. Rate when using sword x 1.30, Crit. Damage x 1.10, Weapon Defense x 0.85, 10 sec Post-Parry Attack Bonus [Post-Parry Attack Bonus: base attacking power x 1.50]

"This skill seems like it would be really good if you can use it properly, but using two weapons at once requires a lot of control…" I muttered, closing out of my skill window for the moment. "Now then, let's see if I can find any friends from the beta on my friends list."

I went into my friends list, finding a girl named Asuna at the top. I briefly wondered who she was (I checked her gender on the list), then resumed my search for my beta friends. I found the name of my favorite info broker, Argo, right below Asuna.

"Couldn't hurt to give her a PM," I said to myself, hitting the 'compose message' button. I began typing out a message for her.

"Hey, Argo. I need your help with something, and it's pretty urgent. Can you come to where I am alone?

-Kirito"

I closed out of my menu, looking around for a place to sit. Due to me being on her friends list, I knew that she would find me by going to her map, so I didn't bother giving her a location.

I took a look at my surroundings. A vast, thick forest surrounded the clearing where I stood, its serene BGM giving the illusion that there were no mobs there.

But I know better… I thought. There are always mobs in places like this.

It was then that I heard the sound of some kind of monster closing in on me from the bushes to my right, confirming my suspicions. I quickly drew my sword, unsure of whether to draw my dagger as well. In the end, I chose to unsheathe it, remembering that daggers generally had high crit. bonuses by themselves.

No sooner than when I drew my dagger, a large, tiger-like beast come rushing out of the bushes, coming towards me at an alarming speed. My incredibly fast reaction time came to my aid, allowing me to jump out of the way of its giant claws just in time to avoid their deadly double slash. But of course, nothing is ever that clean-cut.

Just after I jumped, the tiger-like mob moved its leg to the side, cutting a gash in my abdomen. I felt an intense, burning pain course through my entire body just from that one attack, and I saw my HP drop by five percent. I immediately knew something was wrong.

I shouldn't be able to feel pain! What the hell is going on?!

My train of thought didn't have long to develop, seeing as the beast's next attack sent me flying into a tree. I just barely manage to keep my grip on my weapons as the pain once again shot through my body.

Damn it…! I've gotta get it together!

"Move it!" a voice I didn't recognize shouted from behind me, urgency evident in its tone.

I did as I was told, then watched in awe as a golden-haired girl clad in blue ran past me, stopping behind me and drawing a dagger from her clothes. She immediately set to work, activating a skill on the mob before us. Her blue-glowing dagger slashed through its virtual flesh with alarming speed, and after four strokes, the mob shattered into hundreds of polygons.

The golden-haired girl turned around to face me, an analytical look in her eyes. It seemed as if she was assessing my combat strength, almost like she wanted to fight me. "Who are you?" she queried, looking me over once more.

It was then that I looked over the player's head at her cursor, and found it—

"Orange?" I wondered out loud. Her look intensified into one of barely-restrained anger, and I knew I had struck a nerve.

"It's not my fault," the girl replied in an irritated tone. "Those guys were attacking me, so I fought back. That's all there is to it."

"Ah," I said, trying to stay calm. Even though it was merely a game, my fear of death seemed a little over the top that day. "Well, where are they now?"

"They're still chasing after me," she responded, her angry tone lightening slightly. "Hey, can you fight humans well?"

"Well, yeah…"

Does she want me to fight whoever is chasing after her?

"Good, 'cause we love it when our victims put up a fight!"

We both turned to the source of the new voice, finding two men in cloaks looking our way. One held a one-handed curved sword in his right hand, and the other carried an axe in both of his. They both sported orange cursors, and the looks on the parts of their faces I could see about them just screamed, 'I'm going to kill you!'

These guys are PKers… the orange cursors prove it. Why do I feel so scared? It's just a game, right? I'll just respawn on the first floor if they kill me.

"Interesting," I said, feigning calmness. I held my weapons at my sides, a smirk appearing on my features. Of course, it was fake, but they didn't need to know that. "So you two think you can kill me? Think again, guys."

The one with the curved sword started to back away when I finished speaking. I could faintly see him trembling. "A sword and a dagger… almost all black clothes… you're the «Black Sword»!"

The man next to him started to back up as well at his partner's words, then turned to flee. "Let's get out of here!"

Both of the player-killers fled the scene, disappearing into the forest.

"«Black Sword»?"

I turned around to face the blonde-haired player, responding with, "I'm just as confused as you are."

We stared at each other for a few moments. And a few more… and a few more… and a few more…

God, this is awkward! I thought, averting my gaze.

She finally decided to break the silence, a smile growing on her face. "I'm Philia. I don't know why they were so scared of you, but you must be well-known. What's your name?"

"Kirito," I said, outstretching my hand. She took it, and we shook. "But to be honest, I don't know why they were scared of me either. Where they got the idea to call me «Black Sword» is anyone's guess."

After all, I was known as the «Black Edge» in the beta, not the «Black Sword». They couldn't have known my beta title anyway, so I wonder where they got that name…?

"Wait, what do you mean?" Philia queried, looking at me perplexedly.

I looked down at the ground, debating on whether to tell her or not.

She seems trustworthy, but… she's an orange player. She could take advantage of my memory loss and lead me into a trap. I don't know why, but I feel way more afraid of dying than I should. It's just a game, right? I shouldn't be so afraid.

In the end, I decided to tell her. After all, she did tell me why her cursor was orange, and if what she said was true, then there was nothing to worry about. "Well… I lost my memories of all my time in SAO's official release. The last thing I remember is my last day in the beta, and then waking up here a few hours ago."

Philia stared at me with wide eyes, her mouth agape as she tried to articulate what was on her mind. Eventually, she took a deep breath, and then she finally began speaking. "So we're the same…"

"What do you mean?" I asked the blonde, eyeing her suspiciously. "Are you from the beta, too?"

She shook her head. "No, but we're the same in another way. I don't remember anything that happened after putting on my «Nerve Gear» on SAO's official launch, and it seems like I lost my memories around the same time you did."

We stared at each other for a few moments, before I decided to speak. "Well, what do you say we try to figure out what happened to us? I'm pretty sure that the same thing must have caused amnesia for both of us, so I say that we should both help each other in finding out what."

Philia smiled widely. "I'm in. I look forward to working with you!"

I opened up the party menu, sending her an invite that she quickly accepted. When I saw her level, my eyes widened considerably.

Level forty-seven?! That's only one level below me! I thought, mind racing.

"Man, you're really high-leveled, aren't you?" I queried, eyes still wide.

She looked to the side of her field of vision before replying. "I could say the same about you."

"Fair enough…" I said. "So, I propose we start our search for answers by talking to my info broker friend from the beta, Argo."

As if on cue, I heard the sound of something lunging at me from the bushes to my left. I sidestepped instantly, allowing my cloaked assailant to go sailing past me. When she got up, the cloaked player turned around, pulling her hood down to reveal her face.

Wait a second… that doesn't look like Argo! The only similarity is the whiskers on her face! Well, I guess she must have changed her avatar for the official release… weird.

"Why did you call me out here?" Argo queried. "It doesn't seem like you're in urgent need of help from me."

"That one's a toughie, Argo," I responded. "Before I tell you about it, I'd like to introduce you to a new friend of mine who's in the same predicament."

I pointed over to Philia, watching as Argo turned her head over to the blonde. "Her name is Philia. We just figured out that we have the same problem, and we were hoping that you might be able to shed some info on it."

As soon as I finished talking, Argo's eyes widened as she presumably saw Philia's cursor color. "Ki-bou, her cursor! It's orange!"

I saw Philia start to glower, so I immediately responded for her. "Calm down, Argo. She was defending herself against real PKers. They were chasing her, but when they saw me, they ran for some reason."

"Well, you are the strongest player in SAO right now, and leader of the «Luminous Swords» to boot," Argo said, waving her hand dismissively. "It's no wonder they ran when they saw you."

At this, my eyes bulged, and my jaw dropped. When Argo looked over at me, she took note of this, and asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

When I didn't respond, she kept calling my name, though I still wouldn't respond. I was just too shocked. The name she mentioned sounded like a guild name, and I had never even thought of associating with any guilds during the beta.

"I'm… in a guild?"

"Ki-bou…" Argo said nervously. "You're starting to scare me. Please don't tell me…"

When she left her sentence hanging, I decided to finish it for her. "I can't remember anything past the last day of the beta."

"No…" Argo whispered, backing away slightly. Her mannerisms at that moment reminded me of the chestnut-haired girl's. "No way… you're joking, right?"

"Afraid not," Philia said, entering the conversation when she knew that I couldn't respond. "Actually, that was what we wanted to ask you about. We both have that problem. I don't remember anything past when I put on the «Nerve Gear» on SAO's launch date."

Argo took a few deep breaths, and soon enough, she looked calm once more. "Okay, then. If both of you really have lost your memories of SAO, then I have some serious explaining to do. But first, let's go to the guild house so that we can talk without worrying about monsters attacking. It's not in a town, so your friend won't be attacked by guard NPCs for having an orange cursor."

"You mean the guild house for the one I supposedly lead?" I queried, receiving a nod in return. I sighed, turning to Philia. "Are you okay with coming with us?"

The blonde smiled at me, giving me a thumbs-up. "I want answers, and it looks like Argo has them. Let's go."

I searched my inventory for any «Teleport Crystals», hoping to get answers faster by getting to the guild house faster. Of course, it was only after I found a «Teleport Crystal» and took it out of my inventory that I realized—

"I don't actually know where the guild house is…" I said softly.

"Oh, we just got it about a week ago," Argo said cheerily. "So it's right on this floor. It's actually only a little ways away, so we don't need to use any «Teleport Crystals» to get there."

"All right, then," I said, putting my «Teleport Crystal» away. "Lead the way, Argo."

"Right," Argo said, all traces of her old, teasing self from the beta gone with the wind. "Follow me."

I turned my gaze to Philia, who only nodded in response. She was ready.

All right… I thought, beginning to follow the now-walking Argo. It looks like I'll be meeting my guild mates soon… whoever they are. I doubt that Argo is the only one of my beta friends in the guild, but… she was the only one who I didn't leave on bad terms with. If Kamiko or Cirdan are part of my guild, then I won't know how to face them.

About twenty minutes later, we found ourselves nearing a large, western-styled house with two floors. It looked large enough to support around six or seven people, so I figured that my guild must have been a small one.

"Well, here we are!" Argo said, walking up to the door. Philia and I followed suit, and when she opened it, I was greeted with the worst scenario possible.

There stood Cirdan, Kamiko, and the two girls I had met earlier, all of them sporting grim expressions.

A/N:

So, what do you think of my sequel? I know it's a little dialogue-heavy at times, and I apologize for that, but I hope you were able to look past that! Well, I guess you had to if you're reading this note… but still…

Anyway, that character I just introduced? She's one of the female heroines of Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment, and she has quickly invaded my heart as my new favorite SAO girl! That isn't to say that she'll be part of the pairing in this story, but I might make an alternate version of this story with that pairing. It would go on at the same time as this story, but it would focus on different things, and probably end up going in a different direction than this one in the end due to the pairing difference.

Ah, speaking of pairings, I'm not going to lie to you when I say this: most, if not all, of this arc will focus more on plot than romance. There will still be Kirisuna subtext (eventually), but I don't see any full-on romance blooming in the foreseeable future of this story. Sorry, but that's just how it is.

Well, I guess that's all for now! It's time for the despicable disclaimer!

I don't own the Sword Art Online light novel series, any of its adaptations, or anything I use from them! (Though I finally own a digital copy of the Taiwanese version of Hollow Fragment with English subtitles! Hooray!)

I'll see you in the next chapter!