Chapter 15

November 7th, 2024

"Ooof!" I grunted as a stamping leg slammed into my side. I glanced at my health in the top left corner of my vision; it was falling, but stopped halfway. I grimaced, glaring at the angry red mark on my torso - I hated getting hit. It was just another reminder of the all too real danger we were all in. I swore at The Skull Reaper, telling it just where to shove the offending leg, and limped away to the safe area guarded by several of the tanks. As I passed them, I heard the sound of a player shattering behind me. I didn't bother to look as I heard the tanks swear and mutter under their breath.

I caught one of them glancing at me with anger in her eyes, as if she was disgusted I couldn't come up with a better plan than 'everyone attack and try not to die.' I ignored the glare; my social standing with others didn't matter. It wasn't as if I had to worry about the opinions of others - at any rate, my reputation was about to be destroyed when I exposed Kayaba. I knew others would hate me for keeping the secret, but I didn't mind. The only two people who mattered when the truth came out were Kirito and Asuna. I had kept the secret from them, and I hoped they would understand. Anyway, Kirito had already drawn everybody's hate once. It was my turn.

After healing with a crystal, I sat down cross-legged, resting my elbows on my knees. It was a relatively relaxed position, allowing me to sit comfortably for long periods of times. I often played my instruments while sitting like that. I rested my chin in my hands, gazing at The Skull Reaper and watching it struggle against the attacking players, trying desperately to kill us as we tried desperately to kill it. Small explosions of colored light filled the air occasionally, signaling the successful execution of a Sword Skill. I tried to find any patterns I could; swipe-scuttle-swerve-tail-swipe-swipe-rear-tail-scuttle... There was nothing I could find. Occasionally, I felt like there might be a correlation between its movements and our attacks, but nothing more could be found beyond the basic reaction of flinching away from pain and swiping with its tail when players got too close.

A shadow fell over my face. I blinked, coming out of my half-trance –a pair of large armored figures stood over me. "Can I help you, gentlemen?" I asked. I usually tried to be at least nominally polite at first - I only started with the biting comments after people proved they weren't worthy. Of course, that usually happened after they started talking.

"You're that guy they call the Diamond Tactician, right?" the player on the left asked. I shifted my focus to him, taking him in at a glance. Typical heavy armor coupled with the large two-handed sword on his hip told me that he either didn't have much imagination, choosing the typical build as an easy way to find equipment, or that he was part of a team. The typical counterpart to a faster, weaker attacker such as myself was the slower and armored player. His job would be to draw aggro using certain skills, keeping the monster's attention off of the major damage dealer.

I didn't particularly like that title. It was so… not cliché, but it wasn't exactly impressive. "That would be me, yes," I said. "Now unless you've got an issue, could you please leave me alone?" So much for being polite; I was starting to lose my temper. They were distracting me from focusing on the boss, and any time spent discussing things with them was time I could be examining the patterns. "Unless you've got some insight on its patterns, I'd prefer to be studying the boss."

"That's what we wanted to talk to you about," snarled the second player. I glanced at him; he seemed to fit the role of lancer perfectly. He carried a long spear and a small shield, as well as the typical light metal armor. If I had to guess, they were partners and part of a larger team. I studied their faces closely - both held the same sort of emotion I had seen on several players that had committed suicide at the beginning of the game. The closest name I could give it was crushing despair - all hope was lost, and there was no real reason to live - which told me that these two standing in front of me had lost someone recently. I assumed it was the missing part of their team, the main attacker. Lances were good for guiding monsters with their long reach, but they were relatively weak when compared to the damage output a good sword or dagger user could claim.

"Oh? Please, tell me. I'm all -" The rest of my words were cut off in surprise as the large armored player grabbed me by the front of the shirt and lifted me. My feet dangled in the air, and I blinked in surprise. "No, I don't think being higher will help me see anything. Good try, though." A small part of me recognized that I was being an ass to someone who probably didn't deserve it, but the majority of me didn't care.

His face twisted in anger. "Cut the bullshit. If you were better at your job, Kadi would still be..." He choked on his anger and sorrow. "She'd still be alive, you bastard." I was starting to become annoyed. Why was it my fault that their friend died? If anything, it was his fault; it was the tank's job to protect his weaker comrades from danger, after all.

The lancer pointed his spear at me. "You have to answer for her death. I should kill you right now!" Suddenly, it all became clear to me. Kayaba had somehow learned - or guessed - that I would be trying something. He was too good at manipulating those around him to fail to notice my emphasis on trust and keeping one's word; he would have been expecting something. My lips compressed into a thin line. Bringing those Knights of the Blood members into the conspiracy had turned out to be a mistake. Ah well, I figured, nothing ever went perfect. These two players were probably Kayaba's method of removing me from the equation, somehow. I glanced at the spear-wielding player, and I noticed his hands trembling slightly on the shaft of his weapon. He wasn't entirely confident he could go through with his threat, I realized.

Slowly, calmly, I smiled. It was a small smile, but it had a devastating effect on the two players standing in front of me. I let the desire to kill raging deep within me bubble to the surface, stopping it only with the barest threads of self-control. All the rage and suppressed anger boiled suddenly, rising up in sharp jagged crystals; I was still in control, but barely. By the faces of the two players, I knew my red eyes held more than a trace of madness and bloodlust. When I finally spoke, my voice was incredibly calm, as if I was doing nothing more than answering a question in class, although it shook slightly. "But it seems you haven't killed a player before. That's a big difference between us, isn't it." My eyes narrowed slightly. "Now let go of me." There was no threat, there was no shouting; but trembling, the large player let go of me. He knew that, at that instant, I would have had no problem killing him. I dropped to my feet and walked forward, as if walking down the streets of Selmburg. The tanks guarding the rest area turned around and took a few steps away from me, reacting unconsciously to the bloodlust and madness in my eyes. As easily as I had called forth the bloodlust, I dismissed it, forcing the anger back down to rest - immediately, they shuddered and stepped back to their original positions, probably telling themselves they had just shifted their positions or thought they say something they hadn't. Once more, I was just a normal player. I rolled my shoulders, cracked my knuckles, and got ready to fight.

I saw an opening show itself as I closed to the boss. A pair of sword wielders had just struck the leg of the boss; if the pattern held, the tail would be striking at their average location in a few seconds. I dashed forward, trusting my patterns. I leapt into the air, charging a Skill in midair; if I was wrong, the stun time from the Skill would hold me in place as a very large target. If I was late, the tail would knock me away; if I was early, the tail would kill me. I hoped I wasn't early. With a cry, I unleashed the Skill - a blur of white passed in front of me just before my fist collided with the boss's spine. My fist impacted on the moving tail as it passed, releasing a shockwave and blue sparks. I liked the effect of the Power Fist skill, especially the blue effects that looked like lightning sparks after the collision; it was an incredibly strong move with a long stun time. If I had missed, I would have been a sitting duck. As I had managed to strike the tail, however, it was shifted from its path just enough to slam into the ground, missing the two swordsmen. They stammered thanks, but I was already moving. No sense in staying in one place, after all.

"Everyone! Attack!" Heathcliff shouted. I spared a second to glance at the heath bar of the boss; it was low in the red. I hadn't realized we had done that much damage, but it had taken over an hour by that point. Everyone that could still fight charged in, screaming various cries of anger and defiance. I took my attack vertical, jumping up and slamming blow after blow at the base of The Skull Reaper's skull. In a human enemy, that kind of attack would be very dangerous; rabbit punches like that could disconnect the brain stem from the nerves, leading to paralysis or worse. I only knew that thanks to a habit of surfing the Internet for random topics occasionally, as well as the tendency to read books that were... somewhat violent in nature.

The constant barrage of blows took its toll on The Skull Reaper. It tried desperately to stand, but enough legs had been snapped off that it couldn't do more than prop itself up with its scythes. As its health drained further and further, it lost more ability to stand, eventually lying almost flat and barely moving. Our combined attacks had finally robbed it of the danger, leaving it as nothing more than a bony punching bag. I didn't see who landed the final blow; it wasn't me, as I was occupied with jumping away from the boss. It reared back, twisting unnaturally and roaring. It glowed a brilliant blue, half-blinding me, and burst into light. The usual congratulations message appeared, along with the rewards screen. I didn't pay much attention to it; neither money nor experience would save me from what I was going to do.

Despite the fact that we were three quarters of the way through the game, nobody celebrated; we were too exhausted from the fight to do more than weakly cheer and find allies that were still alive. I searched the players from where I was standing; only a few members of my small conspiracy were still standing, though only one needed to be alive for it to succeed. Agil and Klein were still alive, naturally – I hadn't expected them to die, and it was pleasing to see my expectations rewarded. Several players were dead, including the two I watched die. About eight players were alive from where I was standing; the four from the Knights of the Blood, Agil and Klein, and two others from various groups. Satisfied that my attack would continue as planned, I turned to look for Kirito and Asuna.

As players sank down to the floor, completely exhausted from the fight, it became easier to find them. I searched for the closest patches of black and white, and smiled when I found them resting against each other. I walked over and collapsed on the ground beside them, flopping over onto my back. Closing my eyes, I breathed deeply until my heart rate was back to normal. "Hey, you two."

"Hey, Rythin," Kirito responded. His voice was drained of energy. I cracked an eye open to look at him - he was sitting down, drawing strength from Asuna beside him. His head hung low, but he didn't seem to be too badly injured. His health was in the yellow zone, but almost everybody's was. I didn't need to look at Heathcliff to know that he was still green. Asuna didn't reply, only giving a half-hearted wave in response to my greeting.

"Just wanted you to know that neither of you won the wager," I said. Despite my tiredness, I pushed myself up to a sitting position. "Bad luck, right?"

Asuna had the grace to blush. "Neither of us won?"

"The bets you laid with Argo. You should be able to extrapolate from there, unless you and Kirito have multiple bets regarding me."

"Oh, that." She shook her head with a small smile on her face. "You're an idiot, Rythin."

"What of my many actions could possibly give you that idea?"

"Do you want the list alphabetically or chronologically?"

Our banter was, while tired and weak, something to make us feel better. I found myself smiling again. I was going to continue, but Klein spoke up from a few feet away. "How many did we lose?"

I watched as Kirito swiped open his menu and quickly counted the dots of light on the map. He grimaced. "Fourteen of us died."

"Oh my god," Agil muttered. I heard various whispers and mutterings start through the room as the news spread like wildfire. I found the two players who had threatened me earlier and locked gazes with them. I smiled; they shuddered and turned away. Insanity and those standing on the brink of it could be terrifying.

"And we've still got twenty-five floors left to go..." said Klein.

"Twenty-five more floors... How are we gonna make it that far?" asked Agil. He was lying flat on his back, resting. He had done a lot of fighting, and I could tell he hadn't been ready for the amount of effort it had been. He was by no means out of shape, but there was a large difference between spending six months behind a counter and spending those six months out fighting.

"Like we have so far, I guess," I said. "One at a time." I didn't mention that I was planning on killing Kayaba in the room. That was best left to be a surprise. I didn't want Kayaba to know I was coming to kill him until either my dagger was in his back or his throat was being crushed by my hands. I knew I could ambush him; part of the emotional control I had mastered was the ability to hide my real intentions until I needed to show them.

I eyed Kayaba out of the corner of my eye, careful to only glance at him while turning my head. If he guessed I was intending on exposing his secret, my plan would be destroyed - and so would I. He stood calmly in a circle of other players, the only one standing; he gazed off into the distance as if searching for something. I wasn't sure what he was looking for; perhaps he was simply looking around to see who was still standing. I couldn't believe he cared about others, naturally, but he could be gauging our remaining strength and comparing it to the expected parameters. I was wrapped in my own thoughts, trying to plan move and countermove against someone better than me. I could still win, but it would take everything I had.

I was so wrapped in my own thoughts, though, that I didn't notice Kirito preparing to strike until he had lunged. The only warning I had was the blast of wind from his lunge forward. I whipped my attention toward him; he was using a Sword Skill to lunge straight towards Kayaba. My jaw dropped while I swore mentally with a viciousness and variety that would put a sailor to shame; somehow, he had figured out Heathcliff's true identity. I knew he would figure it out eventually, mind - he was smart. But this new development threw all of my plans into disarray; I had planned to confront Kayaba after resting, when everyone was about to celebrate the victory against the boss. A surprise attack like this would only result in one thing...

Kirito's blade stopped only a few inches from Kayaba's throat, halted by a purple glow. Several people in the crowd gasped as a purple hexagon appeared in the air. I didn't even need to look at it to know what it said.

Immortal Object.

I forced myself to my feet, thinking quickly. I needed to retake control of this situation somehow; my best bet would be to make it look like Kirito was only following my orders. If I took the blame for this, he would be safe. Besides, he had already taken on everybody's hate before - this time, it was my turn. Not that it really mattered, anyway; after this, I was probably going to be dead thanks to Kayaba. Asuna rushed over to see what he was doing. "Kirito! What are you..." She stopped. She was likely remembering the last time we saw that same purple hexagon. Kirito took a few steps back, sheathing his sword. I walked up beside him, lending my presence as support. By being there, I silently gave his actions the stamp of veracity; everyone present knew of my reputation. They would assume that this was all part of the plan, and not some spur-of-the-moment creation with little thought and less chance of success. Granted, that's what it was, but I didn't want people to think that. The purple hexagon disappeared as whispers started filling the room again. "An immortal object..." Asuna said in disbelief. "Commander Heathcliff, wh-what's going on?"

"I think I've got the answer to that," said Kirito. His voice rang out through the silent room, filling it. "The reason why the commander's HP never hits yellow is because he's protected by the system." Players gasped at this revelation. I was impressed; he followed my exact train of thought. "You know, ever since day one, something's always bugged me about this whole thing." He looked up toward the ceiling, thinking out loud. "I was always wondering, 'Where is he hiding while he watches us and controls everything in this world?'. Well, the answer's pretty simple."

I snorted. "Video game psychology 101. One of the most boring things to do is watch someone else play an RPG. Every kid knows that." I gazed at Kayaba calmly. "Don't they, Akihiko Kayaba?" Gasps rang out through the room as I finally exposed his farce.

I was going to continue, reveal that I had kept the secret for several weeks until today, but Kayaba beat me to the punch. "Kirito, just for my curiosity's sake, would you mind telling me how you figured it out?" he asked, smashing my hopes of being able to take all the blame. His voice was subtly different again, lacking the false emotions that he had been hiding behind previously. He was calm and full of contempt for the players surrounding him - in his place, I would be as well, so I couldn't blame him.

"The first time I knew something was up was during our duel," Kirito said. "Remember when you turned the tables on me? That move was way too fast."

Kayaba chuckled and nodded. "Yes, I thought so. It was a mistake to think that would go unnoticed by you. But you were so strong and so fast, the only choice I had was to engage the system's assist mode." The smug bastard wasn't even apologetic about it; however, it didn't surprise me. Kayaba was likely in his immortal state during that duel - if Kirito had landed that final blow, the charade would have been over. Kayaba looked around at the stunned faces of the various players, and smiled coldly. "Yes, I am Akihiko Kayaba. And now that my identity's been revealed, it should come as no surprise that I am the final boss on the top floor."

That bit of news sent shockwaves through the players as they all babbled to each other, trying to understand what was going on. Asuna clung to Kirito's arm as he stared coldly at Kayaba. I grinned humorlessly. "The strongest player is the final boss. That's a bit of an overused twist, isn't it?"

Kayaba shrugged. "Actually, I kinda like that angle." He stared at Kirito. "One thing's for sure. I always thought you'd be the one standing before me at the very end. You know, Dual Wielding is a rare skill." I couldn't help but focus on how abnormally measured his voice was - if it were me in his position, I would be somewhat unnerved by the quick destruction of my plans. I was scrambling to piece my own plans together after Kirito had neatly shattered them. "The kind that's only given to the player with the fastest reaction time." Part of me wondered why I was given Future Step, if there was a criteria for who was given what skill. "He is the hero of this story, the one who rises up to challenge the Demon King." He glanced at me briefly, as if weighing whether or not to mention anything about me, then turned his attention back to Kirito. "But you...the power you displayed exceeded my expectations." He chuckled. "I guess these unexpected twists and turns are what make MMORPGs so thrilling to play."

I was starting to get angry, although I didn't show it at all. Kayaba was standing there so confidently, talking about expectations and twists and turns as if the people involved didn't even matter. I realized that I did the same thing occasionally, dismissing people and only focusing on their actions. I told myself that I also took their motivations into account, but it was really only rationalizing my own actions. I could deal with that later, I decided, and focused on Kayaba again. I locked eye contact with one of my agents in the Knights of the Blood and nodded – he wouldn't be able to do much, given that Kayaba was still immortal, but it would buy us time and give me a hint on how Kayaba would react to threats. He grasped his sword; it rattled from his shaking. "Our loyalty... our hope...how dare you. How dare you!" he shouted, leaping into the air to attack Kayaba. "How dare you!"

As quick as thought, Kayaba swiped open his menu and pressed several buttons. The attacking player's image shook for a second before clearing. He crashed to the ground, unable to move. As the dust cleared, it was easy to see why he hadn't finished his attack. He had been paralyzed. "Paralysis..." whispered Kirito. I had a feeling I knew what was coming next, so I braced myself. The expected shock of being unable to move fell over my body. Thanks to my preparations, I didn't fall and remained standing beside Kirito, albeit stunned and frozen where I stood. Certain stances were rock-solid even when I couldn't control my muscles well; the stance I had chosen was one of them. I mentally reminded myself to thank my old karate instructor; he had been right.

"Kirito..." whispered Asuna as she fell. He gasped and knelt down to check on her status. I looked around; every player other than Kirito had been paralyzed by Kayaba's console.

"What's the plan now, huh?" demanded Kirito. "You gonna kill everyone here and cover it up or something?" I snorted. There was no way Kayaba would manage to cover up anything that happened in this room. We had managed to box him into a corner; if he didn't kill us, we'd go out and spread the word. If he did kill us, Argo would spread the word for us. My paranoia had managed to trap him between a rock and a hard place, even if he didn't know it.

Kayaba chuckled. "Oh god, no. That wouldn't be sporting of me, now would it? No, I have a better idea. I'm going to head to the top floor and wait for all of you there. I'll be inside the Ruby Palace." He turned and looked at the various players lying on the floor. "It's a shame I have to leave you all so soon. I've spent lots of time developing the Knights of the Blood and other elite players. Oh well." He chuckled. "You're all strong, so I'm sure you'll reach me. Eventually."

"But before I go..." Kayaba slammed his tower shield into the ground. "Kirito. As Rythin did, you receive some sort of reward for discovering my identity."

Kirito looked up at me. "You knew?"

I grinned sadly. "I've known for a while. Sorry for keeping it a secret, Kirito, but he wasn't going to let you and Asuna go otherwise." I didn't mention that I had kept them in the dark for the plan I had created. I hadn't wanted them to press me for information; I wouldn't have been able to keep a secret from them if directly asked. They were the few people I would never lie to if asked directly.

"I understand." Kirito smiled in return. "Thank you, Rythin." I was filled with an immense feeling of relief. My fears that Kirito would hate me for keeping the secret had been groundless; I realized with a small amount of chagrin that I had failed to trust him. I would never make that mistake again.

Kayaba coughed loudly to recapture our attention. "I'll give you a chance."

"Chance for what?"

"To fight me one-on-one, right here, right now," Kayaba said. "Oh, and... my immortality will be deactivated." It was a good deal; if Kirito could win, we would clear the game on the 75th Floor and escape. I had seen him fight Kayaba before and almost win. Without his System Assist, Kayaba would be at a disadvantage against Kirito. Kirito was faster and stronger; I had already plotted the likely course of events the last time the two had fought. "Defeat me and you clear the game, and all the players will be able to log out from this world, no strings attached. What do you say?"

Kirito gasped. Asuna turned her head. "Don't do it, Kirito. I don't like it, we should fall back!" I couldn't see Kirito's expression from where I was standing, but I could guess. He was a good person at heart, and devoted to helping others, no matter what his actions might seem at the time. I could hear him breathing harshly, and I knew he was thinking of the various experiences in the game. The panicking and riots at the beginning; the first boss fight; the death of his first guild. So many people had died since the start of this death game, and I knew what his answer would be. I knew what his answer had to be.

"I have to..." he muttered. Asuna gasped. Kirito looked up at Kayaba. "Okay. Let's finish it." His voice was calm and deadly. He knew that only one of them was going to walk away from the fight.

"Kirito..." whispered Asuna.

He smiled at her. "I'm sorry. I can't run away if it means ending this." The burden of the mighty.

"You better not die, you hear me?"

"No. I'm gonna win." He smiled. "I promise I'm going to end this world.

I smiled. "You already know everything I'm going to say, so I'm not even going to bother. Just make sure you kill this son of a bitch."

He nodded. "Of course, Rythin. And don't worry. I'm coming back." He carefully laid Asuna down on the ground, making sure she was comfortable. He unsheathed his twin blades and slowly walked forward - I watched him go with a calm smile. There went the hero we all deserved.

"Kirito!" shouted Agil. "Don't!"

"Kirito!" shouted Klein. Everyone was concerned for his well-being – how touching.

Kirito stopped in front of Kayaba and faced him. "Agil. Thanks for supporting all the players in the game, since day one." He turned and grinned. "Yeah, I knew. You act like you're all about the money, but I know you spent every penny you had on helping the intermediate players level up." Agil gasped, and then chuckled. "Klein... I'm sorry I bailed on you that day." He turned away. "I think about it all the time."

Klein started to cry. "Damn it, Kirito, don't you apologize! Don't you dare apologize now! I won't accept it! I'll never accept it until we're on the other side and you're buying me dinner, god damn it!"

"You got it." Kirito smiled and waved his sword in a salute. "See you on the other side." He gazed at Asuna, smiling sadly, before turning to Kayaba. "If it's okay, I have a final request to make."

"What is it?"

"I'm not planning on going down easy," said Kirito. He was determined to win. "So if I die today, I want your word that you'll fix it so that Asuna doesn't kill herself."

Kayaba stared at him, momentarily at a loss. He couldn't comprehend why someone would care for another's well-being, I realized. That was a weakness that could be exploited. He nodded slowly. "As you wish."

"No, Kirito, that's not fair!" cried Asuna. "You can't do that, it's not fair!" Kirito didn't respond, only raising his swords. Kayaba tapped on his menu briefly. "No!" A small hexagon popped up, displaying the message that told us Kayaba was no longer invincible. He could be killed, just like any other player. Unfortunately, none of my plans would work. I had prepared to be able to take actions against Kayaba, not stand by helplessly. In hindsight, I mused, I should have been ready for a situation like this.

Kirito looked over his shoulder at me. "Rythin. If something does happen, take care of Asuna for me."

I grinned wryly. "You better not make me take you up on that. I've got other plans, most of which involve both of you."

He chuckled before turning back to Kayaba. Kayaba unsheathed his large sword and dropped into a fighting stance. Kirito stood ready as well. I studied the two; they were both excellent fighters, and I couldn't find anything I would have been able to use against either of them. Their stances were picture perfect, and I knew from experience their fighting styles were almost perfect. This would be a fight to remember, no matter who won. I wanted Kirito to win, though. The two combatants faced each other, neither moving a muscle. I felt my heart start to race in response to the sudden aura of danger that filled the air - this was going to be a fight to the death, not a duel.

I studied the situation thoughtfully - not that there was much else I could do, given my current immobility. I watched Kayaba closely, searching for any minute tell that would give away his inner thoughts. I knew I wouldn't find one - he was much too good at controlling himself - and shifted to Kirito. To my albeit low amount of surprise, Kirito's stance and control were equally as good. I couldn't find either players' wrinkle. The wrinkle was the small tell in every person's body that showed they were trying far too hard at being nonchalant; it was the exact same as with a poker player. Everybody had one; it got its name from the small wrinkle in the forehead caused by intense concentration. Granted, the wrinkle didn't have to be an actual wrinkle in the forehead - it could be any number of things, ranging from the shifting of weight to a small tic in the right eye. Anything could be the wrinkle, and part of winning a duel was finding your opponents and successfully hiding your own. It appeared the instant the opponent shifted from defense to offense and committed themselves to making an attack; thus, the other part of the game was forcing your opponent on the offensive. A clash of will would ensue, and the victor would dominate the loser, forcing them to strike out. The wills of the two players squaring off in front of me were almost palpable, and I could sense each player's struggle. I sighed, hoping that Kirito remember what I had told him about Kayaba's fighting style back when they were only dueling for Asuna and not their lives.

Suddenly, Kirito pushed off and lunged forward, preparing to strike. He screamed with rage, slicing wildly. His blows had a lot of power behind them, but nothing could break Kayaba's guard. Kirito slashed with his Elucidator, but it was parried by Kayaba's sword. Kayaba thrust, but Kirito dodged out of the way. They fought back and forth, both landing only scratches on the other. Kirito could react fast enough to get out of Kayaba's way, and Kayaba had the advantage of a large shield that could block anything. I noticed that neither player was using Sword Skills, and my eyes widened with comprehension. Kayaba had developed this game by himself; that meant he was the one who designed the Sword Skills. He knew what the moves were and where the next attacks would be, which meant that he could block any skill perfectly. Kirito evidently knew or had guessed that and was only using regular attacks. It helped that the two of us had trained extensively together; he had learned to fight without the Sword Skills thanks to my Future Step. That would be interesting if that were the entire reason for my skill - to provide a training dummy for the Dual Blade wielder.

From the glimpses I could catch, I could see that Kirito's face was twisted in rage. He fought with skill, parrying, dodging, and flipping over Kayaba's blows. His blows picked up speed due to his rage and desire to win - some blows left ripples in the air from the wind caused by the speed of the swing. Dust was stirred by the vicious fighting between the two. It cleared just in time for me to see Kirito's cheek sliced by Kayaba's sword; he must have been momentarily blinded by the dust, I thought. Kirito let out a scream of pure anger and his swords started glowing with the mark of a Sword Skill. I swore viciously, knowing that Kayaba had been waiting for just that. Kirito didn't have the self-control I did; getting hit would fill him with rage entirely. Anybody in a fight to the death needed to be composed and controlled at all times - a single loss of focus would lead to instant failure, and with failure came death. Kayaba stopped moving entirely, letting Kirito waste his energy on the shield. He barely even shifted the shield, only moving just enough to block the blow. Kirito executed the Sword Skill masterfully, striking out time and time again with the same level of power behind it. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, and I saw him close his eyes at the end of the combo. He knew he had failed.

The final thrust of the skill struck Kayaba's shield in the center. With a sickening crack, Kirito's sword broke, the tip flying backward. He was thrown off balance by the sudden lack of resistance and stumbled forward. "Game over, Kirito!" Kayaba raised his sword, preparing to end Kirito's life. As the sword gleamed red, I closed my eyes, not wanting to see my friend die. I couldn't save him, no matter how much I desperately wanted to. I tried to reach forward, but the paralysis fought me, preventing me from helping my friend. The anger within me woke and started surging, but even the strength I pulled from that couldn't help me move.

I heard a dull thud - the sound of a sword biting through flesh, and despite myself, I opened my eyes and looked. My eyes widened, and I felt cold at what I saw. Asuna had taken the blow meant for Kirito, somehow overcoming the paralysis and dashing in front of him just in time. An angry red line crossed from her shoulder to her hip; she lay in Kirito's arms unmoving. He could only stare at her body, motionless. I heard the beep that signified her HP reaching zero, but it didn't register. I stared at her, uncomprehending. How could she be there, dying? It didn't make any sense. Her body started glowing a bright light. I saw the two exchange several words, but they didn't reach me. They were probably private anyway. She closed her eyes one last time and her body shattered into polygons.

Kirito sank to his knees, completely broken.

I had a different reaction.

Instead of becoming despondent, I felt the rage burn inside me, hotter and hotter, blazing higher and higher and burning away every other emotion before it passed beyond anger and I delved into a strangely calm zone. I stood at the center of a lake of cold hate and rage, untouched by the anger and devoid of every emotion. I could think clearly, without the drive for release normal anger held. I didn't - couldn't - feel anything; I was utterly calm and prepared to kill without a shred of remorse. This wasn't the normal type of anger, the type where my face became red and my body trembled with the effort of controlling myself; no, this was the type of anger characterized by calm, thought-out actions and ice-cold clarity, and expressed by tearing the opposing party to shreds without so much as blinking. Killing Kayaba for the express purpose of revenge was my only goal. It had been a one-on-one fight, and a bystander had been hurt. The rules were broken, and now I could act. Slowly, calmly, I walked forward. I knew the madness was burning in my pale grey eyes and I didn't care - I had surrendered to the killing desire. My lips curved into a small smile. My manner would appear to be completely normal, so long as a bystander couldn't see my eyes and ignored the sudden aura of violence. My anger and desire for killing had been awakened by this man, and he was going to pay.

Kayaba studied me as I slowly approached him, fighting the paralysis every step of the way. "How are you doing that?" he asked calmly, as if the answer was of no importance.

"Sheer determination and the desire to cut you apart," I answered just as calmly. Asuna had moved faster than this, but I was pushing the limits of what the system would allow. If anything, I had already broken the system by still moving though paralyzed.

"How admirable," Kayaba remarked. "But you must accept that you can't win."

I nodded. "We'll see if that's the case. But really, I should thank you for this." I drew the Nightblade. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have discovered my talents." I swung, forcing protesting muscles to fight past the paralysis. Kayaba only chuckled and knocked it aside with his shield. My blow didn't have the speed or strength I normally had, but that didn't matter. My talents didn't lie in a straight-out fight, after all; I had too little HP to survive a one-on-one with any sufficiently skilled fighter, and my skills lied in planning and sneak attacks. But I still had to try. With little effort, Kayaba slammed his shield into my gut, sending me flying back. Painfully and slowly, I forced myself to my feet again, continuing to approach despite the paralysis. I kept the small smile on my face the entire time - I simply had no other feelings to show other than my killing desire.

Time after time, I stood, approached, and swung. Time after time, he blocked and knocked me back down. He frowned as I approached yet again. "Why do you keep standing? You can't win."

"Because you hurt Asuna and Kirito." My smile didn't falter. I needed to try a different tactic, as what I was trying didn't work. I remembered something I had read once while surfing various sites. I had managed to stumble onto a sumo wrestling page that explained some of the tricks they used and why they worked. One in particular had caught my eye - it involved shattering the opponent's concentration with a loud clap. It seemed nonsensical - why would a wrestler just clap randomly - but that was why it worked. By doing something completely unexpected, the opponent would be momentarily blank and confused; that would create an opening. It could be adapted to my needs. I stood up straight, Nightblade hanging at my side in my hand. I walked forward slowly and calmly, letting the tension build. The closer I got, the more of Kayaba's attention would be focused on the dagger. I approached with the same small smile on my face and the madness and killing desire dancing in my eyes.

I raised the Nightblade slowly, forcing all of his attention toward the blade. The instant Kayaba's attention was entirely focused on my dagger, I let go. It dropped and I immediately brought my other hand up, fighting the game. I clapped, once. The sound rang out dully - it wasn't a good clap, and it wasn't a natural motion. It worked precisely because it wasn't natural; it was so unexpected that Kayaba jerked back, momentarily at a loss. That gave me the opening I needed, and I lunged forward, hand grasping for his neck. If I could get at his neck, I could kill him. It only took a small amount of pressure to crush the windpipe, after all. Even if he killed me, I'd be able to squeeze hard enough to collapse it. Even a virtual avatar needed to be able to simulate breathing, which was why it was possible to drown in this game.

Suddenly, my body stopped moving forward. I blinked in surprise, the emotionless state broken. Why had I stopped, I wondered. The paralysis wouldn't do that – I had been fighting it long enough to know what it felt like. I looked down in confusion and realized exactly why I had stopped. Kayaba's sword was piercing my chest, holding me in place and quickly draining my life. I looked back up at him, and there was no expression on his face. He wasn't killing a human - he was just removing an obstacle from his path. He pulled out the sword and I crumpled to my knees. The only thing that I could think of as I watched my health drain was that I had broken my word to Argo - by dying, I'd hurt her. "Sorry...Argo..." I murmured. "I tried."

My health bar reached zero and disappeared. In its place was a system notification, the only words on it 'You are dead'. Feebly and with the last of my energy, I spat at Kayaba's feet. My one last gesture of defiance – it was ridiculous and useless, but it made me feel better. That done, I slumped down, chin on my chest, and my vision went pure black. The last thing I heard was my body shattering into polygons.

Sound. Wind. Pressure on my body.

I slowly opened my eyes. Light poured in, and I raised my hand to provide shade. That was not the expected outcome after being dead. I coughed once, confused. I sat up. I was still wearing my armor from Sword Art Online. My Nightblade was sheathed on my wrist. I chuckled weakly. "I can't tell if this is a reward or a punishment. Dying sucks." I stood up, ignoring the various aches and pains of exhaustion. I realized that I could move freely - the paralysis was gone. I took a few steps in a direction picked at random before stopping. Asuna was standing in front of me, looking off into the distance. I approached her, while following her gaze.

As far as temporary stops before I died forever went, this one wasn't bad. It was relatively peaceful, with clouds floating through the sky. We stood on some sort of glass pane. The color of the sky reminded me of sunset.

I stopped beside her, and Asuna turned. "Rythin?"

I shrugged with a small smile. The bloodlust and battle madness were gone now. I had no real reason to keep fighting. "Hey." That was all that needed to be said. I swiped open my menu and was greeted by what appeared to be some sort of progress bar. It was at 53 percent and counting up. As I watched, it ticked up to 54 percent. "Peaceful, isn't it?"

"Yeah." We stood in silence for a bit. Finally, Asuna turned to me. "Rythin?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you here?"

I smiled. "I was too slow." I chuckled at her expression and elaborated. "After you... you know, it was my turn to fight. I tried my best and came close to getting him, but..." I gestured to myself. "I wasn't fast enough thanks to the paralysis."

"Did Kirito...?" Her voice trailed off, but I knew she was asking if he had killed Kayaba.

I shrugged. "Probably. If we're here right now, that means Kayaba is probably dead. Otherwise, we wouldn't be having this conversation." I was remarkably calm about the entire situation, especially given that the status of my life was rather nebulous. I heard the sound of another menu opening and smiled. "I think that's for you, Asuna."

She turned around, searching for where the sound came from. "Kirito?"

A warm wind blew and I lifted my face to the sky, enjoying the breeze. After it died down, I turned to see Kirito standing there. He bowed his head. "I'm sorry. I guess I ended up dying too."

Asuna sniffed. "Dummy." A single tear rolled down her cheek. She ran forward into his waiting arms. They embraced and I turned back to study the sky that surrounded us. They had earned their privacy, even if I didn't care about their actions in any context outside of academic curiosity. After a few seconds, I turned back to see them staring into each other's eyes. I smiled to see my friends happy.

I walked over to hear Kirito ask if we knew where this place was. I stood next to him and shook my head. "No clue." Something caught my eye and I studied it. "Of course, we could always look down." Far below us was the floating city of Aincrad. It was falling apart, crumbling to pieces and disappearing into the darkness below the clouds.

"A stunning view, isn't it." The unexpected voice made me turn. I recognized the timbre of the voice; I would be hard-pressed to forget the sound of his voice. I had a small feeling I would remember his voice for the rest of my life. An older man dressed in a lab coat stood there, enjoying the view. I recognized him from the pictures I had seen. He had granted several interviews about his work - they had been useful in surviving the Death Game.

"Akihiko Kayaba," whispered Kirito.

"At Argus Headquarters, the SAO mainframe is in a room, five floors below street level," he said. I studied his profile - I felt like I should be angry, but I didn't care at all. It was as if every bit of my anger with him had disappeared when I died. I didn't feel anything other than admiration, strangely; there was simply no more reason to care. Kayaba was brilliant; even his detractors couldn't deny that. More or less alone, he had built the NerveGear and Sword Art Online. He was a lot like what I wanted to be when I grew up. For that reason alone, I admired his work. The man himself, however, was irrelevant. "And right now it's deleting all the data from its drives." That explained the progress bar on my menu. "In about ten minutes, everything in this world will disappear forever."

"And all the players?" whispered Asuna. "What happens to them?"

"You don't have to worry about them," replied Kayaba. He swiped open his menu. "The six thousand, one hundred, forty-seven players who survived the game up to now were logged out a few seconds ago." That was good; he kept his word. That was another reason to admire the man, strangely. Even when beat at his own game, he played fairly and kept his word.

"And what about the four thousand people who died?" asked Kirito. "What about them?"

Kayaba was silent for a second. "They'll never return. In any world, real or virtual, once you're dead, you're gone."

"What about us?" I asked. "Why are we here, speaking with you?"

He shrugged. "A reward of sorts, I suppose. You three have earned a chance to say goodbye."

"Why?" asked Kirito. "Why did you do this?"

"That's... a good question. It's been so long I've forgotten the reason," replied Kayaba. He looked up to watch several birds flying. "Isn't that strange? Even before I developed the system for the FullDive environment, I dreamed of this. A castle in a world that wasn't governed by Earthly laws and restrictions. I poured my work into making that life and world a reality." Kirito and Asuna were silent, watching him. I didn't say anything either. "I created this world, and I got to see something that surpassed anything I could have imagined for it." Another breeze kicked up. Kayaba turned slightly to gaze at us. "My steel castle, floating in the sky. I don't remember how old I was when I became obsessed with it. I wanted to leave the earth, to fly to that castle..." Somehow, Kayaba's intentions made sense. He just didn't care who he hurt in the fulfilment of his dream. To be fair, that was how it was with everybody's dream. They would pursue their own goals while paying lip service to others. "I wanted that more than anything else. For as long as I can remember." I'd never wanted anything that much or that badly. "You know, Kirito? I want to believe it's still out there. That somewhere, in some other world, the castle is still standing, taller than ever."

"Yeah..." Kirito said. "Maybe it still is."

I turned to stare at the crumbling castle. Pieces fell apart and were destroyed by the system before they could fall beneath the clouds. Kayaba spoke up again. "Before I forget, congratulations on clearing the game, Kirito. Asuna. Rythin." I blinked slowly, not really anticipating my own name to be among the list. If we had cleared the game, then that meant... my thoughts died as Kayaba turned to face us. "Well then, I should probably get going now."

"Before you go..." I said. Kayaba looked at me, inviting me to continue. "Why did I receive Future Step?" It was something that bothered me. Kayaba had received the Divine Blade skill because he lost the least health overall; Kirito had the fastest reaction times and as such received the Dual Blades skill. But me? I wasn't the fastest player, the strongest, or even the smartest, despite my boasts to the contrary about the latter. I couldn't see any reason why I would have been given Future Step.

Kayaba chuckled. "Future Step? That was a gift to the player with the most promise; the calmest and most calculating player in the game. The person most like me, I suppose." My jaw dropped slightly; ignoring my amazed stare, Kayaba turned and walked away, coat fluttering in the wind. I watched him leave, feeling slightly lost. My past two years had been spent reinventing myself as a person, learning to deal with the challenges presented to me. Now, I would have to return to the real world and go through that process all over again. I turned to see Aincrad finally crumbling, the Ruby Palace at the top of the world cracking apart.

Kirito and Asuna sat down at the edge of the platform and kissed. I stood beside them, watching the sunset. I didn't have to reinvent myself again, because this time I had friends. They would stand by me when I needed help, and I would help them when they needed it. I didn't have to be strong alone again - I didn't have to prove anything. I smiled slowly as I realized that.

"Guess this is goodbye," murmured Kirito after they separated from their embrace.

Asuna shook her head. "This isn't goodbye at all. We're gonna be together when we finally disappear. So, we're gonna be together forever."

I grinned. "Looks like you're stuck with us, Kirito." I pretended to shudder. "I'm forever going to be a third wheel. What a terrible fate."

Asuna smiled. "Hey, Kirito, you never told me your real name. Come to think of it, neither did you, Rythin. Would you please tell me before you go?"

I made a mock bow. "Standing proud and tall at eighteen, the name is Nick. Nick Weyr."

"Nick?" repeated Kirito. "Isn't that an..."

"I figured you'd have guessed from my appearance by now. I was born in America, after all." I shrugged. "The family moved when I was little - something to do with my dad's job, I think. I don't even remember America, really. They said I was two or three. Anyway, your turn, Kirito."

Kirito smiled. "Kazuto. Kazuto Kirigaya. And last month, I turned sixteen." I chuckled when he gave his age. He was the youngest out of the three of us, but somehow he seemed older. It was his manner, I thought.

"Kazuto Kirigaya…" repeated Asuna. "So you're younger than me, huh..." She smiled and blushed slightly. "My name is Asuna Yuuki. I'm seventeen now." She had used her real name for her avatar - that was strange, but I attributed it to her naivety when it came to games. She had mentioned that she wasn't the gamer in her family, and in fact had only put on the NerveGear that fateful day because her brother couldn't play.

"Asuna Yuuki..." said Kirito - Kazuto, I told myself. He bent forward, hiding his face. "I'm sorry..." I could tell by his voice that he had started to cry. "I swore... I promised I'd save you. Get you back to the real world. But I... I couldn't..." He couldn't continue; the tears were too thick.

I rested a hand on his shoulder as Asuna covered his hand with hers. She smiled. "It's okay. It's okay." She smiled, tears in her own eyes. "I'm happy I got to meet you, Kazuto. And to be with you, and to live with you. This is the happiest I've ever been in my whole life." She smiled. "Thank you for that. And I love you."

Through muffled sobs, Kazuto embraced Asuna. I smiled and stood beside them, staring off into the sunset. I was happy, I realized. Even though I was about to die, I was happy. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but I liked it. At least I'd be happy in my final moments, I thought. A bright light started glowing, filling my vision. I stood facing the sunset as the glow filled my vision. The white light was so much better than the darkness from before. With a sigh, I felt my body disappear into the light and everything went black.

Sound - a rhythmic beeping. Wind - a small breeze from my right. Pressure on my body - everything felt heavier.

Groaning, I tried to open my eyes. Light stabbed into my eyes, and I quickly shut them again. I tried to move my hand to block the light, but it was too heavy. I started to struggle to breathe - my chest felt too heavy to rise. With a concentrated effort, I forced my lungs to work, drawing in air. I cracked my eyes open again to find that they had adjusted to the light.

Several sets of what appeared to be fluorescent lights were sitting in the ceiling. Confused, I looked to the right. A window was open, the curtain blowing in the breeze. The beeping was to my left, and I turned my head in that direction. For some reason, I was extremely tired already - I felt weak and exhausted. I focused on what seemed to be causing the beeping, and saw that it was a machine. I recognized it, of course; I had seen it before when I was in the hospital for another reason. It was a heart rate monitor. I looked up at the ceiling again and lifted my hand. I no longer wore the diamond gloves that had saved my life so many times. Instead, I saw a thin, bony hand, the veins and bones standing out in sharp relief. My hand. My tired mind slowly put two and two together to get four. I was back in the real world somehow, although I didn't question it - I was too tired. I caught myself straining to hear the ubiquitous background music that was omnipresent; the only thing I could hear was the rhythmic beeping of the monitor. The lack of the background music more than anything else convinced me I was really and truly back among the real world.

The realization that I was back in the real world woke up the rest of my brain. I reached up slowly, grasping at where my NerveGear would have been. My searching fingers found something hard. I forced myself to sit up, ignoring the pain from protesting muscles, and pulled it off. My hair fell down to my shoulders; it didn't surprise me, of course. Hair grew, and after two years without being cut I was surprised it wasn't longer. I laid the NerveGear in front of me and lay back down. My mind, the only part of me that had been active, threw off the fog of exhaustion and started working again. If I was alive, then Kazuto and Asuna would be alive as well. They'd have a presence on the Internet, naturally; I stayed mostly anonymous but there were still things like birth records and school records. I'd be able to find them eventually.

I looked around the room. There seemed a small table by the wall with several colorful shapes on it, which I assumed were get-well-soon cards although I couldn't see them due to my vision being blurred without my glasses. I was surprised that I had received any in the first place; I wasn't exactly what people would call popular. I briefly considered getting up to look at them, but immediately told myself not to be stupid. I was lucky to be able to move at all, considering that my muscles had been atrophying for two years. I looked around, searching for the Call Nurse button. I spotted it and calmly pushed it. After accomplishing my goal, I sat back and waited, examining my NerveGear. Before long, a nurse came by, extremely confused; she wouldn't have been expecting me to be awake. When she walked in, I smiled. "Good..." Out of habit, I almost tried to swipe open my menu to look at the time - instead, I caught myself and looked out the window. "...afternoon. Can you get me my glasses? They're probably on the table over there." Instead of getting me my glasses, she rushed out of the door. I sighed. "No, no, that's fine. I can wait." My voice was deeper than it had been; I pondered the difference briefly before realizing that I was, in fact, 18. There were some things to be said for being in an extended coma; I got to sleep through puberty, for one.

Before long, a doctor walked into the room. I calmly and patiently answered his questions, though I did demand a glass of water and my glasses before I talked. He only asked a few questions, most of which dealt with any physical discomfort I was experiencing. I quickly grew tired, however, as actually moving around with my physical body was still hard. When he realized I was exhausted, he picked up his clipboard and left the room. I quickly fell asleep, drained from the day's ordeals. It wasn't every day that I watched one of my friends die and then died myself.

November 11th, 2024

The next several days passed rather quickly, especially since I was sleeping almost half of the day when I wasn't going through preliminary physical therapy. When I wasn't working with the doctor, I was left alone. The only visitors I had were my parents – they visited separately, as apparently they had separated while I was in Sword Art Online, not that I particularly cared – and a doctor that asked me several questions about the events I experienced and my psychological state. I answered him as best I could, without holding anything back. I wasn't sure if I would get in trouble for killing several players, but I didn't particularly mind. Whatever the outcome was, I was prepared to accept it.

I was occupied surfing the Internet on my phone - my mother had brought it with her when she visited - when the door opened, catching my attention. I immediately looked up; whenever somebody entered the room, I looked up if I was awake, and woke up if I was asleep. I had changed slightly thanks to my time in Aincrad. It wasn't anything permanent, the doctor had assured me, but my time in Aincrad had apparently given me a hair-trigger whenever someone came near me. While it did make resting somewhat difficult at times, those wire-thin nerves had kept me alive.

The person entering the door was most definitely not a doctor. He was relatively thin and tall, with black hair and glasses. He wore a relatively nice shirt and tie. I studied him briefly, examining his posture. He stood with confidence but not arrogance, telling me that he had power, it was relatively new, and he exercised caution in its use. Probably someone who joined a task force to deal with the Sword Art Online incident. If that were true, then he probably knew who I was. That told me he sought me out for a reason, not just as a random visit. Given that he must have been able to access hospital records, he likely had the authority to get me the email addresses of my friends and acquaintances. As strange as it was, I wanted to stay in contact with them. I would have been doing the research on my own, but I didn't have my laptop in the hospital room.

"Can I help you?" I asked. I tried to be as calm and collected as possible, but I could tell my voice was still relatively weak. I disliked sounding weak; it put me at a disadvantage in any discussions. Fortunately, my vocabulary and ready wit could make up for any loss of image my voice caused.

"I hope so, Mr. Weyr." He took a seat on the visitor's chair beside the bed. I watched him carefully - he was very comfortable standing, but his position while seating would tell me much about him. He sat with a straight back but leaning slightly forward, as if he were leaning on an invisible desk. I nodded mentally; that told me he was a desk agent. That raised my estimate of his importance - and mine - extremely. If a desk agent was making a trip out to a hospital, there was something he wanted from me. He opened a folder and studied it briefly, flipping through several pages. Occasionally he glanced up at me and back down at his folder, as if ensuring that he had the right person. Before long, he looked up at me. "My name is Seijirou Kikuoka, and I'm part of the SAO Case Victims Rescue Force. I do hope you're doing alright, Mr. Weyr. After all, being trapped in a game for two years... I can't imagine what it must have been like."

"Cut the crap." I grinned humorlessly. "I'm in no mood to deal with bureaucratic pleasantries. What do you want?" He had wasted his chance for me to be polite to him, though to be fair most people did.

He chuckled. "As expected from the Diamond Tactician." I was right - he knew who I was. I recognized the logical fallacy I had missed - just because he knew I had been trapped in SAO didn't mean that he would know who exactly I was, but he did know my reputation in the game. That meant he spoke to someone about me. "I was hoping you could tell me about what happened in the game."

"People fought, people died, people survived." I was deliberately being glib. If he wanted more, he'd have to offer me something.

"Is that all you can tell me?"

"For now. Quid pro quo, Agent. Give me some information in exchange."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Names, conditions, and email addresses." I had practiced the back and forth against someone much more skilled at bartering than this Kikuoka. "The email address and condition of a Kazuto Kirigaya and an Asuna Yuuki, as well as the name, email address, and condition of Argo the Rat's player." He would know who she was, given that he was well-enough informed to know my title in the game. "Maybe after that I can tell you more."

He pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to me wordlessly. I took it, raising an eyebrow, but didn't say anything either. He was better at his job than I had expected - I hadn't answered any questions about emotional relationships to anybody other than the doctor, and patient confidentiality should have prevented the doctor from telling Kikuoka. That meant he had spoken with one of my three friends before coming to me. I scanned the sheet, noting down Kazuto's important information and copying it into my phone. I would ask him for a mobile number later. I moved to the next set of information and was about to copy Asuna's email address when her medical status caught my eye. "What exactly does this mean, 'Still in a coma'?"

"Exactly that. She hasn't woken up yet," he said.

"Hm." That was troubling news, but not unexpected. It would take different lengths of time for people to wake up. I copied down her email address and moved to Argo's information. It only had her email and status. "I see your information is incomplete, Agent Kikuoka. That's quite the shame, isn't it?"

He chuckled. "I'm afraid that only close relations to Ms. Argo are allowed to have her name. Privacy laws and all that." What he didn't say was that I wasn't considered close to her – I supposed that was my own fault, after all, although it didn't really matter all that much. It would have been nice to have a name to put to her identity as Argo, but I could always ask later.

I nodded. "Protecting their privacy. I understand." I studied the sheet for a few seconds before placing it on the bed and turning back to Kikuoka. "So what did you want to know?" I had gotten what I wanted, so he could have what he wanted.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here."

"I'm really not."

He chuckled. "Well, if you were, I'd tell you that I was forming a... network of sorts, a network of SAO veterans."

I eyed him. "Reluctantly, I'm intrigued. Continue."

"Well, your friend Kazuto has agreed to join this network." That explained how he knew so much about what I was going to ask. Kazuto had likely told him his part of the story, and I had a feeling Agent Kikuoka was no fool. "He suggested that I talk to you. I'd need to hear your story first, of course."

I shrugged. Might as well. "I'll hope I don't contradict Kazuto, although my interpretation of events might be slightly skewed from his perspective. I was just like everyone else, logging in when the servers went live..." I told him my story; it took several hours, and I only gave him the cliff notes, but the gist of it was there. I slightly skated around my various mental issues, sure that Kazuto had already told him what he needed to know. "...and so then I died. The end."

Kikuoka had nodded in all the right places, and I had a feeling he knew what I had left out. "That's terrible. You went through a lot."

"I appreciate your concern, but I thought we agreed to cut the bullshit," I said dryly.

"Indeed." He chuckled. "I have a few reservations." He flipped through his folder and pulled out a page. I noticed it was a medical file. "I think you might recognize this."

"I will neither confirm nor deny any accusations you have about any deaths related to the game," I stated promptly.

"No, no, nothing like that." He handed me the file. I scanned it, and felt my face grow cold. It was the list of 'mental issues' the doctor had decided I exhibited. I slammed down my masks immediately – him knowing that much about me was not a good thing. Anybody - except those I opened up to - knowing that much about me was not a good thing.

"Interesting," I noted. "I was under the impression that doctor-patient confidentiality was, well, a thing that existed."

"Not when you can claim it's for national security," Kikuoka said. He was evidently capable of being just as dry and snarky as I was. Despite myself, I grinned. I enjoyed good banter at any time.

"Touché, sir. I suppose I've been boxed into a corner, so I'll answer your questions." I shrugged. "Hit me."

"It says here you've experienced chronic depression and self-loathing."

"I joke about it, so wouldn't that be classified as self-deprecation?" I grinned wryly. "Those two issues have been summarily been disposed of. Having people that you can trust helps, it seems."

He nodded. "It usually does. The sociopathic tendencies noted in your interactions with Kazuto and others?"

I stared at him. "I've found that it doesn't pay to care about many people - if you do, the world tends to let you down. With a rare few exceptions, I care for myself and myself alone - so long as it's in my interest to give you information, you'll get information. Oh, and if you're worried about the potential for…leaking secrets for personal gain, let's say, don't be." I adjust my glasses slightly with my left hand, shifting them to sit slightly more comfortably. "Trust is very important to me, after all."

"Your rather... peculiar sexual orientation?" He glanced at the paper as if uncertain whether or not it fell under something that would affect my operation as any sort of informant before shrugging minutely.

I caught the microexpression easily; it was surprising how much information gave away through their body language. "Really? That's a stumbling block?"

"You'd be surprised at what people can find offensive," Kikuoka chuckled. "Or perhaps not, from what you've told me."

Despite myself, I chuckled. "Honestly, it just frees up most of my time. I don't have to worry about that kind of stuff, so I have more time to focus on more important matters."

He leaned forward slightly, glasses catching the light and becoming shining mirrors. I deliberately adjusted my own pair of glasses so that they hopefully caught the same light, mirroring his expression. Two could play at that game. "And the obsession over becoming strong?" That was the question he had been waiting to ask. His voice was calm and I instinctively knew that my answer to this question would make or break me for the position in the network. Despite myself, I wanted in. Part of it was that Kazuto had agreed, of course, but part of it was the drive to be intellectually stimulated.

I narrowed my eyes slightly, although they were still hidden by my glasses. "If you're referring to the drive for excellence, I fail to see how that detracts from anything. And if you're referring to the desire for superiority, I survived. It's as simple as that." I had definitely learned things during my time in SAO - most of them involved my mental state and acceptance for who I was. I was secure in myself, and I didn't need to feel like I had to prove anything anymore; I had friends that accepted me for who I was, hatred for everything and all. I knew I was messed up, they knew I was messed up, I controlled myself for them, a good time was had by all. With Argo, Asuna, and Kazuto, I could be myself, without any need for masks or shields. "I do believe I've answered your questions regarding my various mental and social deviances."

Kikuoka leaned back in the seat, closing his folder. "You have indeed, Nick." For a brief instant, my eyes grew hard before returning to the half-lidded state I normally affected. I didn't like people using my first name unless I was willing to use theirs. Probably another reason I enjoyed the relative anonymity of the Internet. "Do you have any questions?"

"Just a few." I watched him carefully before continuing. "Would it be possible to have a personal copy of the SAO source code as well as a good laptop with a camera and a microphone? And..." I hesitated briefly. "I'd like to keep the NerveGear. For a keepsake, I guess." I would need those for a nebulous idea that had been floating around in my head. I had plenty of time to think about it, given my relatively forced idleness, and I had already started writing down pseudo-code for what I planned to do.

"May I ask why you want these items?"

"No." My voice was cold and hard. My project was mine and mine alone, and I didn't want to explain what I was doing. It was possible they stop me, and I would not allow that to happen.

"Hm..." Kikuoka's brow furrowed. "I don't see why not. We managed to copy the source code from the servers just before they self-destructed. Will that be sufficient?"

I couldn't stop the broad smile that spread onto my face. "Yes. Yes it will."

He stood up, brushing himself off. "Well, in that case I shall leave you to your rest." He started heading for the door. He placed his hand on the doorknob before turning back. "Welcome to the team, Rythin."

"Rythin, huh?" I murmured as I watched the door close behind him. I lay back down on the pillow and stretched, basking luxuriously in the warmth of the sun and the feeling of being able to control my body again. I clenched my fist, seeing in my mind's eye the fingerless gloves gleaming in the light. "It's good to be back."

Rythin's attempt to focus the attention on withholding Kayaba's identity was supposed to be analogous to Kirito's actions in Chapter 2, where he pulls the whole Beater stunt. I hope it came out that way.

Many thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, or left a review. It'd be nifty if a few people could help out with the TvTropes page, by the by. It's got a little bit of information, but not much.

Hey, we did it! Thanks to everyone for sticking around to the end of the story. I figure I'll take some time to talk about this story, its characters, etc., before wrapping this up for good.

Info Dump 1: The OC

Ah, the original character. Pretty much my entire goal this story was "Make Rythin a believable character". Hopefully, I've succeeded.

It's a fine line between 'character who is powerful in his own right' and 'overpowered character'. I've seen so many stories with promising original characters go bad when the author decides that they need to have their character more in the limelight. It's something I struggled hard to show – Rythin grows in ability and power as well as growing as a person, but I needed to make sure he never got TOO powerful.

Rythin's character development was interesting to write. I modeled a lot of the events that happened to him off of my own life, drawing from my own experiences and feelings to understand what happened and how Rythin would react. I did have the advantage of only having to write from Rythin's perspective, of course, which made the scenes a lot easier to write when he was struggling with personal issues. Rythin did grow as a person from start to finish – if you start at the beginning, he was self-absorbed and cruel to everyone except Kirito. He didn't care who he hurt, so long as he would come out on top. His fatal flaw, as it were, was his obsession over strength. It didn't help that he misunderstood the meaning of it, treating it as though it only applied to him and his abilities. He believed that relying on others made you weak, leading to his further isolation from others. Through the two years of SAO and being forced to rely on others enough, he did manage to get over that particular hang-up, though he still doesn't work well with others. He still wants to be considered useful, but is content to ask for help when he needs it. In my opinion, Rythin was stronger than he considered himself to be, just because he had no other metric than himself. His confession at the end of Chapter 13/ beginning of Chapter 14 was supposed to emphasize that – he knew what he felt and he had the courage to get it out there. He didn't see it that way, naturally, instead viewing it as the logical and rational course of action to take.

As I wrote the story, Rythin started out being relatively inactive. He'd stand on the sidelines, help out with whatever Kirito needed him to do, follow orders, etc, etc. He never took the initiative. Somewhere around Chapter 3, when he started developing boss fight plans, he started getting more proactive – giving orders instead of taking them. He finally started doing things on his own, doing his own thing instead of following Kirito or Asuna. Between Chapter 8 and 9, he developed fully into his own agency, going on his own adventures and doing things behind people's back. I think the defining moment was when he dashed forward to save Asuna in Chapter 8.

Future Step was one of the biggest decisions I had to make. I went back and forth for about a week, trying to figure out how I wanted to do this. I wanted Rythin's fighting style to differ from Kirito or Asuna's just so he could stand out in fighting segments; Kirito was all about strength and Asuna speed, so I chose to make Rythin fight like an acrobat, dodging and slicing when he could. The first decision I had to make was whether or not to give him a Unique Skill at all. That was the hardest decision to make; I actually put that off to the last moment. I developed Future Step fairly easily, actually; I asked myself 'what is he good at?' and got back 'finding patterns'. From there, it was a fairly easy leap to 'seeing those patterns' and thus the concept of seeing System Assist motions was born. The biggest sticking point was fitting Future Step into the canon and making sure it wasn't overpowered. It needed to have a visible tell, so I made the eyes glow slightly red to serve as both an indicator of its effect on Rythin's vision and the tell to the outside world. Everything else just kinda fell into place after that. After Future Step was fully developed, I had to decide whether or not to include it in the story. I knew I wanted Rythin to be good at dodging things, and so I figured I'd throw caution to the wind and give it a shot.

Rythin was me, in essence, so most of his character traits were exaggerated from mine. Several things weren't exaggerated at all, though – asexuality was one of those things. His handling of that situation was almost exact to mine.

The strangest thing was that Rythin took on a life of his own about halfway through the story. The question I asked myself was less often 'how would I react to this?' and more 'how would Rythin react to this?' He had his own reactions to situations that weren't perfectly analogous to mine, though as his base personality was still similar to mine most of the reactions were the same.

As a character, Rythin had (and has) plenty of flaws. He was cruel to people who didn't deserve it (especially those two at the start of this chapter), he was a thoroughly unpleasant person most of the time, and he was an insufferable asshole to people who did deserve it – though that last one might not be considered a flaw at times. He's human; he has strengths and weaknesses. He is smart, good at reading people, and skilled at planning; he's antisocial and doesn't make friends easily. He's at a loss at how to deal with anything he hasn't encountered before (like emotions), but if it's a situation he's encountered before he's very good at controlling it.

Oh, and as for his real name? Names have indeed been changed to protect the privacy (and anonymity) of those they represent. Namely, me.

INFO DUMP 2: Argo

Argo was a character that I felt was underused in the show. She had plenty of potential to be a recurring character instead of a one-off appearance; a character who's entire goal is the collection of information would be useful in exposition if nothing else. I decided to have her role increased in this story, giving her more time in the limelight and showing off how resourceful she was. It helped that she was similar to Rythin and the two could play off each other well. The two's interactions in the early chapters helped develop Rythin as a character, showing his admittedly ruthless method of dealing with people he wasn't particularly close to. Rythin's decision to go into partnership with her regarding the rumors between him and Asuna was probably the start of their real interactions. After that, he went to her more often regarding rumors about himself, Kirito, and Asuna.

In the later chapters, when Rythin discovered Heathcliff's true identity, Argo was the only one he could trust, strangely enough. She'd proven to be able to keep a secret (when she was paid and the other person didn't offer more) before, so he could trust her with his secret. He didn't particularly intend on having an emotional breakdown while she was there, but it helped that she was there. It would have been about ten times worse had she not been there.

Really, I just wanted Argo to have more time in the story. Pretty much everything that happened was somewhat unexpected. That thing that happens occasionally, where the story just comes alive and writes itself? Yeah, that happened.

INFO DUMP 3: Relationships

First off, Kirito and Asuna. Those two deserve each other, and I have absolutely no intention of ever breaking them up. Mainly because they're both awesome.

That out of the way, I'd like to talk about Asuna and Rythin. Rythin has trouble making friends due to his antisocial and sociopathic tendencies, so he tends to cling tightly to the people he's genuinely fond of. Those two spent quite a lot of time together during the end of the first year of SAO due to mutual concern over Kirito's condition and entertainment found in each other's company. Rythin had no intention of anything aside from friendship, but he was actually nice to her. Given that his default emotion is distaste for everyone and everything, that would seem strange and different. I thought it was entirely believable that Asuna would notice that and think it to mean something completely off the mark. Of course, Rythin knew he was asexual even though he hadn't told anybody, so he shut her down, not entirely kindly.

Kirito and Rythin are bros. That is all. Nothing else. Ever. The bromance is real.

Finally, we get to the big one. Rythin and Argo. Hm… Well, Rythin was emotionally vulnerable that night, and Argo stayed with him. Given that he dropped every single one of his shields (not willingly, mind, but there was nothing he could do about it), that immediately catapulted her into one of his few friend spots and probably kick-started the attraction. It took him a bit to realize that he cared about her that way – he wasn't really expecting to ever feel that way about another person, of course – but when he did, he realized just how much he cared about her. From there, the events of the story took place. Argo, I figured, would have interacted with him enough to care for him in at least a platonic sense. She probably wouldn't have stuck with him that long if that was all – she would probably have just stayed around until Rythin was relatively stable again – so the affection was more than that.

As with most of the events that weren't covered in the anime, these segments have a root in real life. Both the part with Asuna and the part with Argo have their basis firmly planted in my own experiences. I did get asked out by a female friend whom I then turned down; this was my senior year of high school. This was the story in the previous chapter, about me and the friend of mine; she still liked me somewhat (despite my best efforts, apparently) and she asked me to one of the high school dances. She was a friend of mine – she still is, taking one of my own few friend slots – and I regretted having to turn her down. Fortunately, a mutual acquantaince asked her to the dance. She said yes, and I only had to threaten him a little bit about what would happen if he hurt her.

As for the analogue to Argo, it's actually a bit of a weird story. Another friend of mine (taking a second friend slot) and I hadn't spoken for about a year after she had… well, let's not get into that. In any event, I finally forgave her and we started chatting. The more we talked, the more I realized that I was deeply infatuated with her, possibly even more than that. I waited until I was sure I wasn't just having a reaction to finally reconnecting with a good friend, then told her. She knows that I care deeply for her, and that I'm refusing to let myself act on it. The last I knew, she had found someone else – he is in her grade (I'm a year ahead of her and in college while she's in high school, so that's another reason nothing would happen) and as far as I know he cares for her in return. I wished her the best of luck when she told me, and while it is a little painful, I'm happy she's happy.

Getting away from my own personal drama and back on topic, I pulled heavily from my own experiences and emotions when writing those scenes. That gave me the basic expected reactions that everyone would have, which let me manipulate them slightly to match their personalities a little better. I found it remarkably easy to write Rythin's responses – far easier than I would have expected.

INFO DUMP 4: Musical Selections

When no special information is given, it's probably just some melodic piece. Find something you like to listen to and assume that's it. For the harp, I usually had something like Canon in D by Pachelbel or A Tiny Love. The fiddle probably played an upbeat piece like The First Town most of the time, or At Nightfall if it was a more melancholic moment. The lute could be Gracefully. The SAO soundtrack's pretty good, isn't it? If you don't like any of those, feel free to imagine your own songs.

Named songs in Chapter 3: Shadow Lover by Mercedes Lackey; Advice to Would-Be Heroes by Mercedes Lackey

Named songs in Chapter 14: After Midnight by Mercedes Lackey

All her songs are really great and you people should listen to them. Also read her books, because they're fantastic too.

INFO DUMP 5: Wrapping it Up

I really enjoyed writing this – as you may no doubt guess by the fact that I updated once a week. It was a whole lot of fun and I'm glad a bunch of you enjoyed it. Speaking of…

Special thanks to 00CoralStar00, 7Annabelle43, Aiden Red 8, Aki Akiyama, Allycat826, Antex- The Legendary Zoroark, Arbl A-17, Blazingtegero, BunnyStaf, C. , Camryn C, Canoe, Cavalyn, Coren24, DarkReaver724, Death is Hollow, DoctorWhoXX, EwaNightmare, Eyes of Truth, FBSandro, Flibbly Moonbeam, HarrowedBow1, Heart0fSt33l, Inkkistune15, JdkLeBleau728, JessiexDKuroNeko, Jin-Rimu, Jo-jo1325, KarelDLC, LinkVslke, Lobsterdude611, Loerem, M4RKL4R, Marronn, Nagara Otuki, Neku Touches the Wall, Nukem, OfTheFlame, Opacare, PartyParrot, Reverb117, Ring of Rosies, RomanceDagger, Samanthaswiftwalker, ScarletShad0w, Shade314, ShadowHighlord, Story Reader 97, Thatonekidnobodylikes, TheDelta724, TheLoneCenturion, Tig3rzhark, UndyingKarma, ViennaxSky, Yippee9877, , angelic kitsune 11, cavefish, dch448, demigodrk, kyunaru, my Little Dreamer, shadowmwape, shiro rose, silverhawk88, skyrumen818, thingfishy, wargman, wingsofeagle, xaero, xbamsod, zapros for following the story;

Special thanks to 00CoralStar00, Aiden Red 8, Aki Akiyama, Antex- The Legendary Zoroark, Arbl A-17, Blazingtegero, BunnyStaf, Camryn C, Cirno the Genius, Death is Hollow, EwaNightmare, FBSandro, Flibbly Moonbeam, HarrowedBow1, Inkkistune15, JdkLeBleau728, JessiexDKuroNeko, JPVE, KarelDLC, KennHyrulian, LinkVslke, Loerem, M4RKL4R, Marronn, Nicki Fowl, OfTheFlame, Opacare, Reverb117, Samanthaswiftwalker, SilverFlameHaze, SkullOverlord, TheDelta724, UndyingKarma, ViennaxSky, angelic kitsune 11, foxsadist712, furaiz, lioncousin, littleman10, monkeykingsaru, morgaroth, my Little Dreamer, shadowmwape, shiro rose, silverhawk88, wargman, xbamsod, zapros for favoriting the story;

Special thanks to Heart0fSt33l, Densho, Inkkistune15, realisticFantasy, ViennaxSky, furaiz, Antex- The Legendary Zoroark, Kanade, TheDelta724, Shioon, JPVE, DoctorWhoXX, a dude, SilverFlameHaze, UndyingKarma, silverhawk88, KarelDLC, kevc19, Thatonekidnobodylikes, JdkLeBleau728, Guest, Arbl A-17 for leaving a review.

All of you are totally awesome people!

P.S. This story might be finished, but Rythin's not done quite yet...