No one's POV

Two PM, Saturday, August 1st, 2026. A typhoon had passed over the Kanto region the previous night, and blue skies abruptly returned when the morning came. At Roppongi Hills Arena in Minato Ward, media companies of all kinds from within and outside of Japan had gathered, waiting for their now-delayed payoff.

TV variety shows and online live streams were already covering the press conference. Reporters and commentators breathlessly spoke over the murmuring of the crowd. The talking heads' tone was skeptical.

Reporter 1: You see, no matter how close you get to the real thing, a fake can never be real. It's like alchemy in the Middle Ages. No matter how you burn or boil iron and steel, you can never turn it into gold!

Reporter 2: But, sir, according to their press release for this conference, they've succeeded at re-creating the structure of the human brain itself...

Reporter 1: And I'm telling you that what they're saying is impossible! Listen, our brains are made up of tens of billions of brain cells. Do you think that a piece of electronics, or some computer program, can re-create that kind of complexity? Do you?

Ryutaro: Pshh, listen to this guy...acting like he knows what he's talking about before he's seen it in action.

Klein sneered, nursing a midday gin and tonic, his tie loose around his neck. The coffee shop and bar known as Dicey Café, located in a back alley of Okachimachi in Taito Ward, was so packed that there almost wasn't any standing room. They didn't need the CLOSED FOR PRIVATE PARTY sign out; nobody would want to squeeze in anyway.

Sitting at the counter, across from Agil, the proprietor, were Kirito, Asuna, Sinon, Leafa, Lisbeth, Silica, and Klein. The six tables were packed with ALO and GGO leaders, like Sakuya, Alicia, and Eugene; the Sleeping Knights, like Yuuki, Siune and Jun; team LLENN, Kureha, and Zeliska; and former SAO players, like Thinker, Yuriel, and Sasha.

Every person had their own beer, cocktail, or soft drink as they watched the large TV on the back wall. Lisbeth sighed as Klein continue to kvetch. She told him.

Rika: I don't blame the guy. I didn't even believe it until I saw it for myself. How could I believe that those people were artificial intelligences and that world was just a virtual creation on some server?

Kirito murmured.

Kazuto: I know. The smell of the air, the texture of the ground—in a sense, it was almost more real than real life.

Sinon, Asuna, and Leafa nodded in agreement, and Silica winced.

Keiko: That's only because you had the privilege of diving with those...STLs? Those machines. We were stuck using our AmuSpheres, so to us, the environment and items were just normal polygonal models.

Andrew: But nobody ever believed that the Underworlders themselves were just NPCs, did we?

Agil said, the most crucial point of all. Just then, the sound of the newscaster's voice on the TV rose in pitch.

Asuna: Ah, it looks like the conference is about to start! We're going to return you to the media center so you can watch it live!

The building went quiet. Over a dozen VRMMO players held their breath as the camera flashes went off at the conference. They were about to witness the moment that the thing they'd worked so hard to protect was revealed to the public at last. The first person to appear before the rows of TV cameras and photographers was a woman in her late twenties wearing a relaxed pantsuit. Her makeup was reserved, and her hair was tied back in a ponytail.

She came up to the podium and the dozens of microphones arrayed there, where a placard read DR. RINKO KOUJIRO, OCEANIC RESOURCE EXPLORATION & RESEARCH INSTITUTION. She squinted at the flood of light from the flashing cameras but bowed firmly to the crowd before speaking.

Rinko: I appreciate your time in the midst of your busy schedules. Today, our institution announces the birth of what we believe is the world's first true artificial general intelligence.

Rinko said, getting right to the point. The crowd buzzed. The scientist lifted a hand to point to the other side of the stage and coolly announced.

Rinko: And now I would like to introduce you...to Alice.

Into a maelstrom of attention both hopeful and skeptical, a figure emerged from behind a silver partition set up on the stage. It was a girl in a navy blazer. She had long, shining golden hair. Skin whiter than snow. Long legs and a slender build.

On the TV, there were so many flashes going off that the image was practically blanked out. The girl didn't even turn to the reporters, much less bow to them. She just walked forward, her back straight, looking proud. The stream of shutter sounds and the murmuring of the crowd drowned out the faint mechanical whirring that her steps produced.

She crossed the stage smoothly and came to a stop next to Dr. Koujiro. It was at this point that the girl finally turned. Her blond hair gleamed as it swayed in the spotlight.

The girl stared down at the reporters in silence. Her eyes were a brilliant crystal blue. Her beauty had an almost unearthly quality, not quite Western and not quite Eastern. The crowd steadily began to fall silent.

The intuition of everyone at the conference and of the countless viewers at home said that this was not the appearance of an organic human being. It was most definitely something created by humans—a robot with a metal skeletal structure covered in silicone skin. You could go to the closest theme park or event hall to see similar feminine robots.

But the smoothness of her walk and the perfect posture, plus something about that golden hair, shocked the audience into silence for some reason no one could articulate.

Or perhaps it was the deep brilliance that illuminated those blue eyes. It was a sign of intelligence, something that could not reside in a simple optical lens.

When the reporters fell completely silent, the girl's mouth curled into a suggestion of a smile, and she performed a strange gesture. She made a soft fist with her right hand, then touched it level to her left breast. Her left hand hung down and brushed her side, as though resting atop the hilt of an invisible sword.

Then she returned to a neutral posture, swept the hair off her shoulders and over her back, and parted her light-pink lips. A clear, clean voice with a hint of sweetness traveled over the speakers in the hall and those of countless television sets.

Alice: It's a pleasure to meet you, people of the real world. My name is Alice. Alice Synthesis Thirty.

Keiko: Oh...hey, that's our school uniform!!

She looked from her own blazer to the one Alice was wearing on the screen, stunned.

Rika: She asked for it specifically.

Lisbeth noted, tweaking the ribbon of her own uniform.

Asuna: She wanted to wear the uniform of the knight brigade that came to the aid of the Human Guardian Army, apparently. But her first choice was the same golden armor that she was used to wearing over there.

Sugu: Even Rath can't make something like that happen.

Leafa said, sending chuckles through the room. On the screen, Alice had taken a seat just behind Dr. Koujiro's podium. In front of her was another nameplate, reading A.L.I.C.E. 2026—ALICE SYNTHESIS THIRTY.

Shino:...The level of detail in her re-creation is amazing. I only spoke with her a bit in the Underworld, but I can barely tell the difference, looking at her now.

Sinon remarked. Dr. Koujiro cleared her throat and addressed the crowd.

Rinko: Now, while this might seem a bit exceptional, I would actually like to start with a question- and-answer demonstration.

Hands shot up from the reporters' seating area; they had been briefed on this already. The first man Dr. Koujiro called on was from a major newspaper.

Reporter 1: Well, uh...I'd like to ask you something basic, er...Alice. How are you different from other programming-dependent robots?

Dr. Koujiro stepped in to answer that one.

Rinko: At this conference, Alice's physical appearance is not the primary concern. It's her brain...or what we're calling her brain. Her consciousness, which is stored in the photonic brain contained inside her skull, is not a program that is compiled from binary code, but in essence works the same way that human brains do. That is the absolute difference that separates her from existing robots.

Reporter 1: In that case...it would be nice to have that demonstrated for us and our viewers in an easy-to-understand way...

Dr. Koujiro's eyebrows knit in annoyance.

Rinko: I believe you have the Turing test results in the materials we distributed.

Reporter 1: No, ma'am, I'm referring to her head...If you could open her skull and show us this photonic brain you're talking about.

The scientist looked stunned for a moment, and she would have said something rather cross if Alice had not answered for herself with a natural smile.

Alice: Of course. I don't mind. But before I do that, can you prove to me that you are not a robot?

Reporter 1: Huh...? I-I'm a human being, of course...I don't know how to prove that.

Alice: It's simple. Just open your skull so you can show me your brain.

Kazuto: Oh, wow...Alice is pissed!

Kirito giggled, his shoulders shaking. All the players at Dicey Café had already had a chance to interact with Alice in ALfheim Online, so they understood her dignified and sometimes acerbic personality. Naturally, because Alice needed to generate a new ALO account, her avatar's appearance was a bit different from how she looked now. But she still had her superhuman technique with the sword, and her innate knight's pride and honor struck fear and awe into the hearts of many players. On the TV, the reporter sat back down with a disgruntled look, giving the next person a chance to stand.

Reporter 2: Uh, this question is for Dr. Koujiro. We've heard concerns from some labor unions about a side effect of advanced artificial intelligence in the industrial space leading to a rise in unemployment...

Rinko: Those suspicions are unfounded. Our institution has absolutely no intention of providing true AI for use in simple labor.

The reporter mumbled for a moment but regained her poise and continued.

Reporter 2: It seems as though the financial world has its hopes fixed on this, however. The stocks of industrial-robot manufacturers shot upward on the news. Any comment about that?

Rinko: Unfortunately, these true AIs—or 'artificial fluctlights,' as we call them in the notes you've been provided—are not the kind of thing that is mass-produced on a short turnaround. They are born as infants, as we are, and grow into unique individuals under the care of their parents and siblings as they age from children to adults. We believe that it would be wrong to place intelligence of this kind into industrial robots to force them to perform repetitive labor.

The conference hall went silent. Eventually, the reporter asked, more than a little harshly.

Reporter 2: Doctor, are you saying...you acknowledge this AI as having human rights?

Rinko: I'm well aware that this is not the kind of topic that can be argued to a conclusion in a day.

Her voice was soft and even, but there was the firmness of resolute purpose at its core.

Rinko: But we must not commit the mistakes of the past again. That much is very clear. Years ago, many of the developed countries we called the Great Powers used colonization to impose their will on undeveloped countries, selling their people as products and forcing them into labor. Even now, a hundred, two hundred years later, this history casts a long shadow on international relations. I'm sure the majority of people listening right now would take umbrage at the suggestion that we should immediately accept artificial fluctlights as human and give them full rights. But in one or two hundred years, we will live in an equal society that accepts them as ordinary. We will interact with them, even marry and start families with them. That is my personal view, but I am certain of it. Will we need to experience the same bloodshed and sorrow that came with the process the last time? Do you want human history to contain another chapter that no one wishes to remember—that we try to hide?

Reporter 2: But, Doctor!

The reporter cried, unable to help herself.

Reporter 2: Their existence is too different from ours! How are we supposed to accept a common humanity with something that has a mechanical body without warmth of its own?!

Rinko: Earlier I said that Alice's physical body is not the point. We are different beings with bodies that work on different mechanisms. But that is only here, in this world. We already have a place where we and the artificial fluctlights can entirely accept one another as equals.

Reporter 2: What...place is this?

Rinko: The virtual world. A very large percentage of general-use VR spaces that we use in society today are shifting over to the system of standards supported by The Seed Package. In fact, much of the press requested that we conduct this conference today in a VR environment, but at our institution's insistence, we held it here in the real world. That is because we wanted you first to be aware of the differences between the artificial fluctlights and us. In virtual reality, it will not be this way. The photonic brains of artificial fluctlights like Alice are built to be perfectly compatible with The Seed's VR spaces.

The conference room buzzed again. Many of the reporters understood correctly that if an AI could dive into a virtual space, then there would be no way to tell the difference between a human and a sufficiently advanced AI. The reporter sat down at last, speechless, and a third person rose. The man wore lightly tinted sunglasses and a flashy jacket. He was a well-known freelance journalist.

Reporter 3: First, I'd like to confirm something. I'd never heard of your Oceanic Resource Exploration & Research Institution—I assume this is an independent entity within the Ministry of Internal Affairs? Meaning that the funds you used to complete your research came from taxpayers' pockets. Wouldn't that make the product of your research, that...artificial fluctlight... the property of the citizens of this country? Why is it your institute's decision whether to use this true AI for industrial robots, and not up to the people?

Dr. Koujiro had handled all the previous questions with grace, but this was the first point at which her mouth pursed with displeasure. She leaned into the microphone, but a pale hand stopped her. It was Alice, who was ready to break her long silence. The girl with the mechanical body bobbed her head, making her long blond hair shift.

Alice: I accept that you real-worlders are our creators. I am grateful to you for creating us. But another person born in my world once said, 'What if the real world is also just a creation? What if there is yet another creator behind it?'

Lightning flashed in the depths of her cobalt-blue eyes. The journalist pulled back, intimidated. Alice stared at him and the other members of the press and rose to her feet. She puffed out her chest and folded her hands in front of her, looking for all the world like the knight she was, despite her high school girl's uniform. Her eyes were downcast, and in a clear, crisp voice, the world's first true AI continued.

Alice: What if one day, your creator appeared to you and ordered you to become their property? Would you place your hands upon the ground, pledge your allegiance, and beg for mercy?

Then the fierce look in her eyes subsided, and a hint of a smile appeared on her lips.

Alice:...I have already spent time with many real-worlders. They have helped encourage and support me as I find myself all alone in a strange world. They've taught me many things and taken me places. I like them. And not just that...There is one real-worlder whom I love. The fact that I cannot see him now...is a thought that tears even this metal breast apart...

Alice paused, closed her eyes, and hung her head. Although her body wasn't equipped with the function, many people swore they could see a drop run down her cheek. Then her golden eyelashes swiftly rose, and her gentle gaze pierced the conference room. The golden knight smoothly lifted her hand and said.

Alice: I have a right hand, as you can see, for reaching out to the people of the real world. But I do not have knees meant to fall upon or a forehead for grinding into the dirt. I am a human being.

(Elsewhere)

Takeru Higa watched the conference from Rath's Roppongi office, not far from the building where it was being held. His gunshot wound from the attack on the Ocean Turtle was healing up at last, and his cast had come off. But he still had an ugly scar from where the pistol bullet had passed through his shoulder. Another round of plastic surgery would get rid of that, apparently, but Higa was planning to leave it the way it was. The TV station switched from their live feed back to the studio, where the newscaster began to deliver an explanation of the "incident."

Newscaster:...The Oceanic Resource Exploration & Research Institution in question was conducting research with autonomous submersibles for exploring the sea floor on the Ocean Turtle megafloat, but in recent days it's been much more famous for the reporting on the attempted armed takeover that happened there.

The commentator nearby nodded and added.

Commentator: Yes, and according to some, the purpose of that invasion was to steal this artificial intelligence. It's very hard to say what the truth is, however, when the invading group hasn't even been identified...

Newscaster: Also, the state-of-the-art defense ship Nagato was roaming that stretch of sea at the time, which raises the question of why it did not rush to help for an entire twenty-four hours. The minister of defense claimed that they were prioritizing the safety of the hostages, but apparently that did not save the life of one security member who perished in the attack...

The program displayed a photograph of a man. He was dressed in the pristine primary formal wear of the Japan Self-Defense Force. With his hat pulled low and his black-framed glasses, it was hard to make out his expression. Next to the photo was a caption. Killed in the attack: Seijirou Kikuoka.

Higa let out a long breath and murmured.

Higa: It's hard to believe that if there was going to be a single casualty...it would be you, Kiku...

The person standing next to him shook his head.

Kikuoka: Yeah, no kidding...

The man wore sneakers, cropped cotton pants, and a hideous patterned shirt. His hair was cut short, and a fine layer of stubble covered his face from his ears to his chin. He wore reflective sunglasses to hide his eyes. The mystery man pulled a cheap little plastic tin of hard candies out of his shirt pocket, popped one in his mouth, and grinned.

Kikuoka: This was for the best, Higa—it really was. Either they were going to haul me in front of a court to put everything on me, or they were going to make sure I was never seen again. Plus, having an official casualty as a result of the attack is what allowed us to put so much public pressure on the domestic forces trying to sabotage our goal. Though I didn't expect that it would go all the way up to the administrative vice-minister of defense.

Higa: Sounds like he was getting quite a lot of money from the American weapons companies. But...that aside.

Higa said, shrugging and looking at the screen again.

Higa: Are you sure it's a good idea to announce the artificial fluctlights this publicly? This is totally going to screw up Rath's ultimate plan of putting them on drone weapons, Kiku.

Kikuoka: It's fine. The real point is that we want the Americans to know that we can do it.

Kikuoka grinned. Rath's commanding officer had taken an assault rifle bullet through the side of his protective vest but had recovered sooner than anticipated, because he'd luckily avoided any organ damage.

Kikuoka: Now their weapons manufacturers won't be able to force us to hand over our tech under the guise of 'joint development'. We've already perfected the artificial fluctlights, so we don't need their help. They'll have to give up after this press conference...and my word, but Alice's beauty goes beyond that of any human being's...

His narrow eyes squinted through the sunglasses when Alice showed up on the TV screen again.

Higa: That's true...She truly is the jewel of Project Alicization...

They said nothing for a time after that, giving Higa a chance to think. Their finished project was code-named A.L.I.C.E. after the specific kind of highly adaptive artificial intelligence Rath was hoping to bring into existence. Was it just a miraculous coincidence that the girl who ended up fitting that definition was given the name Alice as a child in the Underworld? If it wasn't sheer coincidence, there must have been a reason for it. Was it the result of some staff member secretly interfering with the project, the way Yanai had? Or was it someone not on the staff...like the one man who had logged into the Underworld all alone...

Higa turned to look at the two Soul Translators at the back of the spacious lab room. Resting on the very same unit he'd used for a three-day dive just two months ago was none other than Sora Yatagami. There was a drip-feed catheter in his left arm. EKG electrodes were stuck to his chest. During the three weeks of his comatose state since being shipped here from the Ocean Turtle, his face had become even more sunken than before.

But his sleeping face was peaceful. It even looked like he was smiling with satisfaction, maybe. The same could be said of the girl sleeping next to him: Kotone Takemiya. The STLs were continually monitoring their fluctlight activity. Not all brain signals had vanished. If their fluctlights were totally destroyed, they ought to stop breathing entirely. But their mental activity was at an extreme minimum and hopes of a recovery were dying out.

It wasn't a surprise. Sora and Kotone had experienced an unbelievable two hundred years before the maximum-acceleration phase ended. Higa had lived for only twenty-six years; he couldn't imagine that length of time. It was already a biological miracle that their hearts were still beating after they had long since passed the theoretical life span of the fluctlight.

Higa and Dr. Koujiro had gone to explain and apologize to Sora's and Kotone's parents as soon as the two had been transferred to Roppongi. They'd told the parents what they considered to be the truth—all except for the part where Rath was partly staffed by elite researchers connected to the SDF and the national defense industry.

Sora Kirigaya's step parents cried, but they did not fly out of control. They'd already heard most of the story from his brother and sister. The real problem was the father of Kotone Takemiya. His anger was considerable, to the point of threatening to take them to court that very day. Surprisingly, it was Kotone's mother who stopped him. The college professor had stroked her sleeping daughter's hair and said.

Kotone's mother: I believe in my daughter. She would never simply get up and leave without telling us. I know that she will come back to us safe and sound. Let's wait a little longer, dear.

Their parents were probably watching the press conference now, seeing the new form of humanity that their children had fought so hard to protect. It wouldn't be right for this momentous day, the first step for Alice and all future artificial fluctlights into the real world, to be crowned with sadness.

Higa(mind): Please, Sora, Kotone...just open your eyes.

Higa prayed, lowering his head. Suddenly, Kikuoka elbowed him.

Kikuoka: Hey, Higa.

Higa:...What, Kiku? I'm focusing on something right now.

Kikuoka: Higa. Higa. Look...look at that.

Higa: The conference is basically over. I can already guess what all the questions will be.

Higa grumbled, looking up. Then he saw that Kikuoka was gesturing with the candy container not to the TV screen but to the little sub-monitor to the right. The two windows on the screen were displaying real-time data from the two STLs. A faint, white ring was floating against a black background. That unmoving, faint shape gleamed with the light of the sleeping boy's and girl's souls... Bink. A little tiny peak rose from a part of the ring and vanished. Higa's eyelids blinked violently, and he gurgled as something caught in his throat.

(Elsewhere)

Dr. Koujiro's voice filled the vast conference hall again.

Rinko:...It will require a tremendous amount of time. There is no need to rush to a conclusion. We want you to get to know the artificial fluctlights who will be born through new processes and methods in the future. Interact with them in the virtual world. Feel and think. That is all this institute truly wants the people of the world to do.

She took her seat at the end of this speech, but there was no rousing round of applause. If anything, the reporters looked even more concerned than before.
The next person promptly raised a hand and stood.

Reporter 4: Doctor, what can you tell us about the potential dangers of this development? Can you guarantee that these AIs will never attempt to wipe out humanity and take over the planet?

Dr. Koujiro stifled an exhausted sigh.

Rinko: It absolutely will not happen, outside of one possibility. And that would be the case that we attempt to exterminate them first.

Reporter 4: But it's been a longtime trope in books and movies...

The reporter protested, until Alice suddenly shot to her feet. The man backed away in alarm. Alice's blue eyes were wide and staring at nothing, as though she were listening to some faint, far-off sound.

Alice: I must go. I will leave you now.

Then she spun, golden hair swaying, and made her way to the edge of the stage and vanished at the maximum speed her mechanical body could manage, leaving behind a speechless room full of reporters and a national TV audience.

What could be more important to Alice than this very conference, her introduction to the world? Even Dr. Koujiro seemed to be alarmed by the interruption, but she quickly altered her expression, coming to an apparent understanding. She inhaled, then exhaled, and not one of the reporters noticed the faint smile on her lips.

(Elsewhere)

It was no trick of the eyes. There was a pulse in both Sora's and Kotone's fluctlights, happening at distinct intervals of about ten seconds and getting slightly higher each time.

Higa: K...Kiku!

Higa exclaimed, turning around to look at the STLs. There was no change in their sleeping faces. Except... Even as he was watching them, the blush of blood seemed to be coming back to their cheeks. Their pulses were growing stronger. The monitoring equipment was indicating that their internal temperatures were rising slowly, too.

Could he dare hope? Through some miracle, they were waking up. Their souls were being resurrected from the dead.

The ten minutes from that point on felt as long to Higa as the maximum-acceleration phase had while it'd been happening. He summoned spare staff from around the office and checked the monitors frequently to ensure that the fluctlights were returning to a normal condition while they made preparations. It felt like the pulsating rainbow ring was going to vanish like some vision in the desert if he didn't keep an eye on it at all times.

They got oral rehydration solution, nutrient-replenishing gels, and whatever else they might need ready. Then, when there was nothing left to do but wait, the entrance door slid open, and a person no one expected to see entered the lab. Higa and Kikuoka yelped in unison.

Kikuoka and Higa: A...Alice?!

The young blond woman was supposed to be in the middle of the press conference of the century at Roppongi Hills. But here she was, actuators whirring as she hurried to the two STLs.

Alice: Zora!...Philia!

Alice called out, her voice just a bit tinny and electronic. She knelt beside the gel beds. Higa swiveled to the TV screen, dreading what he might see there. The program had cut to the studio, where the newscaster was breathlessly describing how the star of the conference had suddenly vanished.

Kikuoka:...Well...I'm sure Dr. Koujiro will manage for us.

Kikuoka said with a stiff grin. He turned off the TV. It wasn't the time to be watching the conference. Higa checked on Sora's and Kotone's vitals first, then watched Alice as she performed what seemed to be a prayer for the two.

While she'd hibernated within her lightcube package, Alice had been taken from the Ocean Turtle to the Roppongi office. They had produced a modified version of Niemon that was meant to approximate Alice's appearance called Number Three and had loaded her in, and that was when she woke up in the real world.

As she had said at the press conference, the shock of suddenly waking up in an unfamiliar world must have been great. The fact that she'd adapted so well to a dramatically different environment in just three weeks was surely due to the single powerful drive that possessed her: to see Zora and Philia again. And now that time had come.

Alice's hands rose, motors whirring faintly, until they enveloped Sora's right hand where it lay on the gel bed. His bony fingers curled slightly. His eyelashes twitched. His lips opened a bit, closed, opened again... Then his eyelids slowly, slowly rose. His dark blue eyes reflected the dimmed lights of the room, but there was no conscious focus to them.

Higa(mind): Speak—just say something.

Higa prayed. A breath escaped through his parted lips, almost like a sigh. In time, the vibration of his vocal cords gave it voice.

Sora:...I...til...

A sudden chill colder than ice ran up Higa's spine. The sound he made was eerily similar to the creepy utterances made by fluctlight copies shortly before they collapsed. But this time...different sounds followed.

Sora:...be...all...rie.

It'll be all right. That was what Sora said. It had to be. There was utter silence in the lab room until another quiet voice replied.

Kotone: Sure.

That one belonged to Kotone in the other STL. Her lids were rising slowly. Their eyes met, and their heads tilted. Then Sora turned to face the other direction and smiled at Alice, who was holding his hand.

Sora: Hi...Alice. It's been a long time.

Alice:...Zora...

She whispered, smiling back at him. She blinked furiously—almost like she was chagrined that her body did not have a crying function. Sora gave her a benevolent look.

Sora: Alice, your sister, Selka, chose to go into Deep Freeze to wait for your return. She's still sleeping even now, atop that hill on the eightieth floor of Central Cathedral.

Alice:...!!

Higa didn't understand any of that, but Alice's body jolted with shock, and her blond hair fell onto her shoulders, hiding her expression. She placed her face against the sheet. Sora rested his hand on her back —and looked at Kikuoka and Higa for the first time. At that exact moment, Higa experienced a very mysterious feeling somewhere deep in his consciousness. It wasn't emotion. It wasn't fascination. It was...awe? Two hundred years. A soul that had

experienced almost endless time. Sora told the frozen man.

Sora: Go on, Mr. Higa. Delete our memories. Delete the memories of the last two hundred years since the start of the maximum-acceleration phase. Me and the Queen's roles have ended.

(Timeskip)

Sora's eyelids rose. Like always, he was hit by momentary hesitation—where and when was he? But that strange feeling was growing weaker by the day. Like flowing water, the past was drifting further and further away from him. It was a sad, lonely thing.

Sora looked up at the clock on the wall across from his bed. Four in the afternoon. He'd finished his after-lunch rehab session, showered, and fallen asleep for about an hour and a half.

The sunlight filtering through the white hospital curtains cast a clear contrast on the room's interior. If Sora listened hard enough, he could hear the buzzing of cicadas in the distance—as well as the dull roar of the city, with all its machines and humans.

Sora breathed in deep the scent of sunny linen and disinfectant, slowly exhaled, and got out of the bed. The room wasn't very large, so it took him only a few steps to reach the southern-facing window. Sora spread the curtains with his hands. The western sun was blinding. Sora squinted and beheld the massive city below him. The real world, which continued to function in complex and turbulent ways, consuming vast resources. The world where Sora was born.

It filled him with a feeling of return and wholeness yet also a wish to go back to the other world. Would there ever come a time when Sora wasn't grappling with homesickness of some kind again?

Sora: Come in.

There was a faint knock at the door behind him. Sora called out an invitation to open the door, turning around to see it slide open and reveal his visitor. She had short brown hair collected into two bundles. She wore an ice-blue flared dressed and skirt, and purple mules. Sora couldn't help but stare. She looked like the summer sun, lingering in the air.

Three days ago, Kotone had left the hospital ahead of him. She carried a small bundle of flowers and grinned.

Kotone: Sorry, I'm a bit late.

Sora: Actually, I just woke up.

Sora said, returning her smile. Kotone walked into the room, and they embraced. She rubbed Sora's arms and back with her free hand.

Kotone: Hmm, still only about ninety percent of the normal Sora. Are you eating enough?

Sora: I am. Tons. It's just going to take a while; I was bedridden for two whole months.

Sora said with a wince and a shrug.

Sora: In better news, I've got a leave date now. Three days from today.

Kotone: Really?!

Kotone's face lit up. She walked over to the flower vase on the side cabinet.

Kotone: Then we'll have to celebrate. First in ALO, then in real life.

She deftly changed the water in the vase, took out the wilted flowers, and added the two new pale-purple roses she'd brought before putting the container back on the cabinet. The roses seemed to be doing their best to reach a pure-blue color, but they weren't quite there yet. Sora murmured his agreement, staring at the flowers.

Sora: Yeah.

Sora sat on the bed, and Kotone plopped down next to him. Another wave of homesickness hit him. But it didn't have the same sharp pain that he'd felt moments ago. Kotone leaned against him, so Sora put his arm around her shoulder and let his mind wander through distant memories.

On the day they'd been left behind in the Underworld as it plunged into the maximum-acceleration phase, they'd flown off the World's End Altar with its abundance of flowers, crossed the black deserts and strange reddish rocks, and first rejoined the Human Guardian Army at the ancient ruins where the last battle had taken place.

Already Asuna, Yuuki, Klein, Agil, Lisbeth, Silica, and the other players from the real world were gone. They'd been booted off the simulation when the acceleration resumed.

Sora calmed down the weeping Tiese and Ronie, then got an introduction to the young Integrity Knight named Renly, courtesy of Sortiliena. Renly and Sora reformed the group, then led them back north along the path until we reached the Eastern Gate again. Vice Commander Fanatio, Deusolbert, and the apprentice knights Fizel and Linel were still stationed there at the gate. They shared a nervous reunion, and Sora also met the knight named Sheyta for the first time. She gave him a message from a man called Iskahn, who was the champion of the pugilists and temporary commander of the Dark Army.

He said that the Dark Army would be pulling back to the Imperial Palace far to the east, and once the surviving generals had finished cleaning up and reorganizing after the war, they would come seeking peace with the human army in one month's time. Sheyta volunteered for the role of envoy. Once she had left on her gray dragon for the east, the remaining members of the Human Guardian Army resumed marching back to Centoria.

Somehow, the people at the towns and villages on the return trip already knew that peace had arrived. They received great cheers and welcomes from local residents wherever they went.

When the trip to Centoria was finished, the days passed in a blur. They helped Fanatio, now the highest-ranking Integrity Knight in the wake of Bercouli's passing, to rebuild the Axiom Church, offer reparations to the families of the soldiers who had died in the war, and rebuff the attempts of the four imperial families and other high nobles to seize power in the chaos and vacuum of the postwar order. A month passed by in a flash.

When they returned to the site of the Eastern Gate for the peace talks, Kotone and Sora were introduced to Iskahn, who was now the official commander of the Dark Army. The warrior was a bit younger than Sora was, with fiery-red hair.

Iskahn: You're the brother of Kirito and Leafa, the Black and Green Swordswoman? I hear you cut Emperor Vecta in two. Not that I doubt your story...but let me test you with just a single punch.

And for some reason, Iskahn and Sora decked each other in the cheek, right there in the midst of peace talks. He seemed satisfied by it, though. Then he said.

Iskahn: Yeah...you're tougher than the emperor...and even me. I hate to admit it, but I will...You're the...first...

That was where his memory cuts off. The next scene Sora could recall was waking up on the STL's gel bed as Takeru Higa announced.

Higa: I've finished the process of deleting your memory.

According to Dr. Rinko Koujiro, from the day that they established peace in the Underworld, Kotone and Sora had apparently remained active for two hundred years, well beyond the capacity of the fluctlight. But Sora couldn't recall a thing about what they did during all those years or how they avoided the destruction of their fluctlights. Even more frightening, Sora had completely forgotten the conversation he'd had with Higa and Kikuoka right after waking up in Roppongi.

The same was true for Kotone. But she just gave him one of her usual fluffy smiles.

Kotone: Knowing you, I'm sure you stuck your head into all kinds of squabbles and had to go on the run from the advances of girls everywhere.

That sapped any interest Sora had in trying to remember, but no matter what, the painful sense of loneliness never went away. That was because as the Underworld ran (in real time) to this very moment, Fanatio, Renly, and the other Integrity Knights; Iskahn and the dark lords; and Ronie, Tiese, Sortiliena, and Miss Azurica were no longer alive... Kotone sensed what Sora was thinking and whispered.

Kotone: It's all right. Your memory might have vanished, but the memories still linger.

Eugeo: That's right, Zora. Don't cry...Stay cool.

Said a tiny, familiar voice deep in his ear. The voice was right. Memories weren't saved only in the areas of the brain dedicated to storing information. They were a part of the fluctlight network that spread across all the cells of the body. Sora blinked to blot away the tears in his eyes and caressed Kotone's hair.

Sora: Yes. I'm sure...I'm sure we'll see them again someday.

A few minutes of gentle, silent tranquility passed. The sunlight began to color and darken against the white wall. Every now and then, the shadows of birds returning to the nest crossed its surface. It was another knock on the door that broke the silence. Sora looked over, curious; there weren't any scheduled visitors at this hour. Eventually, Sora let go of Kotone's shoulder.

Sora: Come in.

The door slid open, right as a familiar—and obnoxious—voice said.

Kikuoka: Well, well, I hear you're going to be released soon, Zora! We'll have to throw you a party— Oh! Oops! Am I interrupting something?

Sora sighed.

Sora: I'm not going to demand you tell me how you already know my discharge schedule when Miss Aki just told me about it... Mr. Kikuoka.

The former Ministry of Internal Affairs Virtual Division official, former Ground SDF lieutenant colonel, and former commanding officer of the fake company Rath was thankfully not wearing the same hideous shirt he'd had on the other day. Seijirou Kikuoka slipped into the hospital room.

He was dressed in a sharp, expensive suit with a necktie, despite the summer heat. His short hair was in perfect order, and there wasn't a drop of sweat on the skin behind his narrow, frameless glasses. From every angle, he was an elite businessman working at a foreign capital firm—if not for his usual smirk and the cheap paper bag he was carrying. Kikuoka lifted the bag.

Kikuoka: This is for you. We need you to build up your strength again. I was really thinking hard about what to get you, but Dr. Rinko demanded that I bring you proper store-bought products. At any rate, to get your energy back, you need fermented food—that's a must. So I've got a grab bag here. First is some salted and fermented goldfish sushi from Lake Biwa, and they're hard to find, because they don't catch many anymore. Then there's some fermented tofu from Okinawa. That's perfect with some aged awamori to drink. But the best is the cheese—and it's no ordinary cheese. This is super-fancy washed-rind cheese straight from France called Époisses! They wash it in marc every day during a long aging process, until it begins to support a wonderful array of microorganisms on its surface, giving it the most stunning bouquet of—

Sora: The refrigerator's over there.

Sora said, pointing to the corner of the room to stop Kikuoka from going on.

Kikuoka: Huh? Why?

Sora: Thanks for the souvenirs. The fridge is over there.

Kikuoka: C'mon—let's open them up.

Sora: The windows are sealed! What do you think will happen if you open all that stuff in here?

There was already a peculiar fragrance coming from the paper bag, and Kotone began to inch away with a look of terror on her face.

Kikuoka: I think it smells nice...Also, I know I keep saying this, but you don't have to be so stuffy around me. It feels awkward.

Kikuoka said casually, sticking his food in the refrigerator and moving to the chair for guests. The grin returned to his face. He crossed one leg over the other and steepled his fingers atop them.

Kikuoka: I'm really very glad about all of this. I mean, you were in a physically comatose state ever since the Death Gun accomplice attacked you at the end of June. I suppose it's a sign of your youth that you're doing this well after just a single week of PT.

Sora: Well...uh...I suppose I should thank you for the help.

Sora admitted, crossing his arms. It was the STL's fluctlight-stimulation therapy that had helped heal him when Sota fell into cardiac arrest after the attack. This man had used a falsified ambulance to ferry him from the hospital to a helicopter that took him all the way to the Ocean Turtle, out at sea near the Izu Islands.

Sora understood why Kikuoka couldn't use official methods. Sora needed STL treatment at the soonest possible moment, and Rath was a secret organization that couldn't be made public. If anything, Kikuoka deserved Sora's full gratitude for going to such dangerous lengths to save his life. And yet...

Sora:...Mr. Kikuoka, when I dived into the Underworld the second time, and I woke up in that little northern village without having my memory blocked— was that really an unexpected accident?

Kikuoka: Of course.

Kikuoka said, his smile waning.

Kikuoka: There would have been no point to dropping the real-world you into the Underworld. It would have contaminated the simulation. In reality, of course, Yanai had already corrupted it, and you ended up putting the world back on the proper track...

Sora: To think that someone who worked for Sugou was hiding in plain sight at Rath.

Sora said, glancing over at Kotone. She was rubbing the back of her arms with disgust, this time over something other than smells.

Kotone: It gives me chills to think that I was in a dive for hours while that man was in the next room over. And then he shot Mr. Higa...I wish that we could have arrested him and forced him to admit to all his crimes...

Kikuoka: It may have been for the best that he died that way, actually. If Yanai had met up with the attackers like they planned and managed to flee to America, I can't imagine that his clients in the NSA and Glowgen Defense Systems would have kept their agreement with him. If anything, they'd probably use whatever means necessary to make him spill everything he knew about the STL and artificial fluctlights, and then they'd dispose of him. No one man can hold his own against the darker side of the American military business.

Kotone: Is that why you're officially dead, Mr. Kikuoka?

Kikuoka: You could say that.

He said, admitting that when it came to facing a massive enemy alone, playing possum was the obvious choice. Kotone was concerned about his aloof manner, given the very serious topic.

Kotone: What are you planning to do next? Dr. Rinko's been put in charge as Rath's public face. You can't really hang out around the Roppongi office anymore, can you?

Kikuoka: No need to worry. There are still many things for me to do. For now, I need to pour all my efforts into securing the Ocean Turtle and the Underworld.

That was the topic Sora wanted to know about most, and he leaned forward with interest.

Sora: Yes, that! What's going to happen to the Underworld now...?

Kikuoka: We can't be too optimistic about the current momentum.

Kikuoka said, rearranging his legs and looking out the window.

Kikuoka: The Ocean Turtle is still in the Izu Islands, anchored and locked down. There are only a few people on board to maintain and protect the reactor. There are defense ships patrolling the area constantly...which all sounds good, but that's just a holding pattern. The country doesn't know what to do next. In all honesty, the government would love to immediately shut down Rath, or the 'Oceanic Resource Exploration & Research Institution,' and assume control of all artificial fluctlight tech. If you mass-produced them, you could create all the ultra-low-cost labor you would ever need. Even the biggest factories on mainland Asia couldn't keep up. But if they do that, it will retroactively reveal the truth of the assault on the float. It would be a massive scandal—an attack by the NSA and American military contractors, with the acting administrative vice-minister of defense taking dirty money to delay a military response for twenty-four hours. That money also trickled to Diet representatives of the ruling party—men who have financial connections to major domestic weapons companies. If all of this goes public, it will rattle the current administration to its core.

But despite the force of his words, Kikuoka's expression was anxious.

Sora: Rattle...That's it?

Kikuoka: Exactly. It will rattle them but probably not be enough to overturn them entirely... The party will simply decide to cut loose the vice-minister and a few Diet members. Rath will be dismantled, and its property will be absorbed by one of the major zaibatsu conglomerates. Alice will be taken, and there's no way they won't reinitialize the Lightcube Cluster on the Ocean Turtle...

Kotone: No...no, they can't!

Her dandelion eyes flashed with righteous fury. Sora pressed his fingers against her arm and urged Kikuoka to continue.

Sora: You've got a plan in mind for how to head this situation off, don't you?

Kikuoka: It's not a plan...as much as a hope.

Kikuoka said. His smile had a rare honesty to it.

Kikuoka: The hope is that while the government grapples internally with the decision, we are able to formulate an effective public argument...That's it. In other words, to convince people that artificial fluctlights deserve human rights. And to do that, we need as many real people in the real world as possible to have as much contact with artificials as possible. That, in fact, is the very purpose of The Seed Nexus, you might say.

Sora:..Yeah...I see.

Kikuoka: But for that to be feasible, the Underworlders will need high-capacity connections to The Seed Nexus first. The government shut down the satellite connection on the Ocean Turtle. I'm going to try to get that restored next. We took the initiative with that press conference. That's given us a bit of time to work with for now.

Sora: The connection...

Sora murmured, gazing at the orange sky outside the window. Beyond the sunset were countless communication satellites, each traveling its own orbit. But only a few of them would have the kind of throughput needed to communicate with the Underworld. Sora didn't have to think about it very hard to understand that Kikuoka's plan was going to be tremendously difficult.

But now that it had come to this, there was nothing that a mere high school student like Sora could do. His only option was to have faith and leave it in more-capable Sora I turned away from the window, took a step forward, and bowed his head.

Sora: Mr. Kikuoka...please. Please save the Underworld.

Kikuoka: You don't need to ask me.

Kikuoka said, standing and smiling.

Kikuoka: The Underworld is a dream I'm willing to put my life on the line for, too.

(Timeskip)

Former lieutenant colonel Seijirou Kikuoka left as quickly as he arrived, leaving behind his tempting bag of delicacies. Kotone exhaled and said.

Kotone: His statements and attitude are very bold and reassuring...but I guess it wouldn't be Mr. Kikuoka if I didn't feel like there was something else behind it...

Sora: Oh, I'm sure there's more. Several layers.

Sora chuckled, sitting back down on the bed.

Sora: Despite what he says, I'm sure that he hasn't given up on the idea of giving the SDF domestic jet fighters with artificial fluctlights for pilots.

Kotone: Wh-what?!

Sora: Of course, he wouldn't think of forcing AI to operate them without free will—not anymore. But what if the Underworlders voluntarily agree to serve? The Integrity Knights and dark knights are born to be warriors, for example.

Kotone: Oh...that's true...Hmm.

While Kotone pondered that, Sora got to thinking as well. What was Seijirou Kikuoka's true intention? It was probably something Sora couldn't even imagine at this point. Something vast and distant beyond the boundaries of government and national defense, something like Akihiko Kayaba's vision...

Kotone: Ah! Oh no! Look at the time!

Sora: Hmm? Visiting hours don't end soon...

Kotone: No, I mean...it's today! The meeting of the nine fairy leaders of ALO!

Sora: Oh...that's right.

Sora said, clapping his hands together.In the invasion of the Ocean Turtle last month, about two thousand Japanese VRMMO players had attempted to fight back against PoH's plot to insert a large number of foreign players into the Underworld, by converting their own avatars in a suicide rescue operation. Except for a few hundred survivors, all the rest of those characters had died.

Today there was going to be a major meeting within ALO for the purpose of revealing the full truth to those players who had served as heroic volunteers. Since Kotone and Sora were in the center of that whole situation, they had to be in attendance, of course.

Kotone: Hmm, I don't think I have time to get all the way home.

Kotone said, rather unconvincingly, and pulled an AmuSphere unit right out of the tote bag she was holding.

Kotone: Guess I'll just have to dive from here.

Sora:...

Sora blinked a few times and noted.

Sora: Um, Kotone my dear...it would seem to me that you fully intended to do this...

Kotone: Oh, no, this was just a precaution. Let's not get hung up on minor details!

Then she smiled and suddenly flopped onto the bed on top of him. Despite being alarmed at the thought of what would happen if Miss Aki came in to take Sora's temperature, he put his arm around her waist and squeezed.

The only sound in the silence was their breathing. There was no way for them to know how they'd gotten through two hundred years in the Underworld—longer than the supposed limit of the fluctlight itself. Perhaps, like Administrator, they'd spent a very long time sleeping, or perhaps they'd been able to manipulate the STL from within to continually organize their memories. But one thing Sora could say for certain: he made it back to the real world only because Kotone was at his side.

Sora thought he could hear her voice through their skin contact. No matter what world they're in or how much time passes...they'll always be together...

Sora: Yeah...that's right.

Sora said out loud, stroking Kotone's hair as she beamed. He placed the AmuSphere over her head. Once the harness was locked, Sora did the same with his own. They shared a look, nodded, and spoke our command together.

Sora and Kotone: Link Start!

(Timeskip)

Rio: Papa!!

A small person leaped onto me the moment Zora logged in to ALO. He caught her with both hands, lifting her high up first, then clutching her to his chest. She rubbed her cheek against him, purring like a cat. Rio was an advanced AI of the top-down variety—and his adopted daughter with Philia. Since Zora had been allowed to use an AmuSphere for a week now, he'd been seeing her every day. It seemed like she was more needy and affectionate each time he saw her. Zora wasn't going to scold her for that, of course. Both Rio and Yui had helped track down his location after he vanished, predicted that the people who attacked the Ocean Turtle were going to use VRMMO players from other countries, and helped set up countermeasures. They'd played a massive role.

Once she had gotten her fill of physical contact, her childlike form in the pink dress vanished in a burst of light, replaced by a palm-sized pixie. She fluttered translucent wings and rose to alight on his left shoulder, her favorite seat.

Zora took another look around Kirito and Asuna's house: the log house on the twenty-second floor of New Aincrad within ALO. This place, too, Zora had visited every night, and the wave of nostalgia it gave him hadn't dimmed yet.

Perhaps it was because it was a bit similar to the cottage on the outskirts of Rulid in the Underworld where Zora had lived with Alice for half a year. At the time, he was in a largely unconscious state, so his memories of it were vague, but the gentleness of that period of time still lingered in his heart.

Alice's sister, Selka, had come with food just about every day. Apparently, she had chosen to be frozen long-term so that she could see Alice again one day, and that was the one thing Zora had told Alice before his memories were deleted.

Since then, Alice had been awaiting an opportunity to return to the Underworld, although she did not speak of this. Zora wanted to make it come true for her. But as of this moment, the Ocean Turtle was on lockdown near the Izu Islands, and there was no satellite connection to reach it. They could only wait for Kikuoka's plan to bear fruit.

Zora sighed, putting the thought out of his head, and turned around, Rio still sitting on his shoulder. Philia met his gaze with a gentle, all-knowing smile. The black-haired girl took his hand and led him out of the house.

Alfheim's curtain of night was beginning to fade. They spread their fairy wings and took flight into the first rays of sun peeking through the outer aperture. Many players were already together at the open space before the massive dome at the roots of the World Tree. Zora spotted a group of familiar faces and sped over to land among them.

Kirito: There he is.

Klein: You're late, Zora!

Zora lifted his fist to strike Kirito and Klein's incoming knuckles, which shot at them the moment he made contact with the ground. The black swordsman was smiling while the katana user was grinning, wearing his usual ugly bandana.

Klein: You can't go teleporting around here, so you gotta give yourself more time for travel, hero!

Zora: That wasn't teleportation. It was ultra-high-speed flight.

Klein: Same damn thing!!

He smacked Zora on the back. Next to him, Agil unfolded his arms and extended a huge fist toward Zora. Zora gave him a knuckle salute, and the bearded man smirked and added.

Agil: Did you get too used to that superpowered character, and now you've gone on us? We can give you a little refresher after the meeting.

Zora: Ugh.

Zora grunted guiltily. If he fought in ALO now, Zora would probably forget he didn't have Incarnation attacks and element generation, and Zora would end up trying to block sword blows by yelling at them.

Zora: A-actually, you'd better prepare yourself, because I've got some Underworld tricks you haven't seen yet.

Zora bluffed back. Then Zora turned and saw Asuna, with her beautiful blue hair gush under the wind, Leafa, her long ponytail glimmering in the morning sun, and Sinon, who was smiling with a huge bow slung over her shoulder. They traded quick high fives and hugs.

Zora'd seen all three of them several times since waking up, too, of course. Leafa—Suguha—told Zora how she and Kirito saved Lilpilin, chief of the orcs, and fought at his side. Zora rubbed her head and told her she did well, and she scrunched up her face and cried. It was hard for Zora to reconcile that with the mental image of the furious Black and Green Swordswoman whom the Dark Territory soldiers would go on to speak of in legend. But at the same time, Zora could totally buy it. Suguha was the one who'd continued with kendo long after Kirito had dropped out. She was a true devotee of the sword, unlike him.

At the peace talks, the orcs announced that they would wait eternally for the return of the one they called the Black and Green Swordswoman. Zora was certain that even now, two hundred years later, that tradition was continuing strong.

Sinon described her one-on-one combat with Gabriel Miller in brief terms and revealed that he was none other than Subtilizer, who'd defeated her in the fourth Bullet of Bullets tournament. Gabriel's Incarnation attacks numbed her and nearly sucked her mind away, except that her good-luck charm protected her—and she wouldn't tell him what that was when Zora asked.

Zora told her about the path of his battle with Gabriel, too, as well as the fate of the man in the real world. After the attackers fled in their submersible, Gabriel and the other enemy—PoH, leader of Laughing Coffin—were not found in the STL room, but the STL logs told some of the story.

After Gabriel Miller's duel with Zora, the majority of his fluctlight was lost in the pressure of a tremendous flood of information. His heart stopped immediately after that; he was surely dead.

PoH's situation was a bit more complex. His mental activity was retained for about ten years of internal time after the maximum-acceleration phase began. From that point on, his fluctlight activity lowered over time, until he essentially lost all conscious thought around the thirty-year mark.

It was frightening to consider, but after Zora had defeated PoH, Zora transformed the structure of PoH's avatar into a simple tree, to prevent him from logging back in to use it, and left him there. In other words, he spent decades with no sensory inputs beyond the sensation of "skin." Of course his fluctlight would break down; Higa said that even if he was physically alive, his mind would no longer be present.

Although it was only an indirect consequence in each case, Zora was clearly responsible for taking their lives. He could accept that sin, but he did not want to regret it. To do so would be an insult to Administrator, whom Zora had also killed, and the many Underworlders who'd died in the course of acting on their beliefs.

Asuna: I'm so glad you return to us.

Zora: It's good to be back.

Asuna: It wouldn't be the same without you.

Out of the 4 whom used the Ropponggi STL, Asuna was the one who wanted to spent time with Zora the most. She said that she'd missed the time where she could truly be experienced the joy of being an older sister. And she could spent with the boy whom help her so much at SAO. After greeting Asuna, Sinon and Leafa, Zora shook hands with Yuuki, Lisbeth and Silica next.

Zora: I heard you were the one who recruited the Japanese players, Liz? I wish I could've heard that speech.

Lisbeth just chuckled nervously.

Lisbeth: Speech? Oh, gosh, it wasn't anything that fancy. Honestly, I wasn't even conscious of what I was saying...

Silica: It was amazing!

Silica interjected.

Silica: Her speech was masterful!

Yuuki: And so passionate!

Lisbeth grabbed their ears and pulled.

Zora: Thank you, too, Silica. And you too, Yuuki. I heard from Siune it was your idea to try and communicate with the Korean players.

Zora said, bowing to the little imp and beast-tamer. They grinned, revealing small, sharp fangs.

Silica: Um, in that case, give me a present.

She said, rushing to hug him. Her little blue dragon, Pina, trilled and leaped off her shoulder to land on his head.

Yuuki: Hey! I want to hug him too!

Lisbeth: Hey, you two! What do you think you're doing?

Lisbeth demanded, pulling Silica's tail this time. While Siune grabbed Yuuki's hand. The smaller girl let out a bizarre yelp like "Hgyuh!" sending the others into fits of laughter.

There were several groups of players nearby, in fact. Lady Sakuya and the sylphs. Alicia Rue and the cait siths. Eugene and the salamanders. Plus Siune, Jun, and the Sleeping Knights.

Zora(mind): I'm back.

It was the strongest Zora had ever felt that statement to be true since waking up in Rath's Roppongi office. This wasn't a complete and total happy ending, not at all. The route back to the Underworld was unclear at best; repairing the damage in online relations with American, Chinese, and Korean VRMMO players was crucial; and there were other problems beyond that.

Lisbeth hung on Zora's other arm in playful competition with Silica. He asked her quietly.

Zora: Do you think there's any way to get back the items that were lost in the Underworld?

Lisbeth: Oh...um...

Her cheerful face clouded over a bit. Thankfully, the accounts of the players who'd converted over from ALO, GGO, and other Seed worlds hadn't been totally lost after death, and they were able to convert back to their original VRMMOs. Unfortunately, however, their weapons and armor that were destroyed or stolen in the battle did not come back. As they'd gone in with their finest gear, these were items that could not be easily replaced, and Lisbeth was leading a group of players negotiating with the operators of the different VRMMOs to try to find a way to restore that data.

Lisbeth: Most of the developers have a hands-off stance that says, if you lost items as a result of conversion, it's your own responsibility. But Mr. Higa from Rath says that if the data is still on the Underworld server, it might be recoverable, so I asked him to check that out when he can. That just means waiting for the connection to come back online...

Zora: I see...I'm sure Higa will find a way to work it out. And...what about the Chinese and Korean players...?

Yuuki: It's a very bad situation.

Yuuki said, looking gloomy.

Yuuki: It was a really awful battle...But people are agreeing that we bear some responsibility for things being that bad before the incident. I mean, The Seed Nexus cuts off all connections from outside Japan. There's some discussion about opening ALO as a means of facilitating talks with them. I'm sure it'll be a topic of debate today.

Zora: That sounds good. Walls can make relations worse, but the reverse is never true.

Zora replied, thinking of the End Mountains, which had separated the human realm and the dark realm in the Underworld for hundreds of years. He gazed at the hazy horizon of Alfheim for a while, then turned back to the roots of the World Tree. The marble gates were wide open now, ushering the players into the dome within.

Zora: C'mon—let's go.

Zora said to my friends. But before he could take a step toward the doors, he noticed a flashing icon that indicated Zora was getting a voice-chat signal from outside ALO.

Zora: Oops, I'm getting a call. You guys go ahead.

Philia and the others continued onward while Zora took a few steps in the other direction and tapped the icon.

Zora: Hello?

A very familiar voice answered.

Alice(Phone): Zora...it's me...Alice.

Zora: Alice! Hey...it's been a while. I heard that you were coming to the meeting in Alfheim, too...

Alice(Phone): I'm sorry...I can't. This party isn't going to be ending anytime soon... Tell everyone that I'm sorry.

Zora:...Okay.

Zora murmured. But he was a bit perturbed. As the first true artificial general intelligence, Alice was put on a busy schedule that had her in attendance at receptions and parties every single day in an attempt to place her at the forefront of society's attention. Dr. Koujiro apologized for it, and Alice seemed to

know that she didn't really have a choice anyway, but Zora knew there was no way the proud knight would enjoy being treated like some sideshow.

Zora: All right, I'll let everyone know. Don't hold it in too much, Alice. If you don't like something, let them know.

Alice(Phone):...I am a knight. I exist to fulfill my duty.

She said rigidly, although not with her usual crispness. Still, there was very little that Zora could do for her at this point in time.

Alice(Phone): Well, Zora...until later.

Zora: All right...talk to you then.

Zora replied, waiting for her to disconnect the call. Instead, there was a brief silence, and then he heard her say faintly.

Alice(Phone): Zora...I feel...as though I may wither away.

The voice chat disconnected before Zora could answer.

(Timeskip)

Takeru Higa spent the better part of an hour racked with indecision. An aged keyboard rested on his knees. The question was whether to hit the smooth, worn-down ENTER key at the end of it.

His apartment in the Higashi-Gotanda district was stuffed full of electronics that he'd been collecting since his student days. The room was miserably humid, the air conditioner unable to keep up with all the heat exhaust. He kept the lights off to limit whatever sources of heat he could, meaning that he sat in darkness, surrounded by red, green, and blue LEDs flickering in different patterns.

Across from Higa and his padded floor chair was a glowing thirty-two- inch monitor placed atop his kotatsu, a low table covered by a blanket with a heater underneath for the winter. Nothing was happening on the desktop— just a single plain window displaying nothing.

Higa sighed, something he'd done dozens of times without moving, and leaned back into the chair. Its rusty frame creaked. He'd told his coworkers that he was going home to get a change of clothes, so he'd have to go back to the Roppongi office in thirty minutes. Dr. Koujiro was busy handling all the external business, now that Lieutenant Colonel Kikuoka was officially "dead." Higa was now, for all intents and purposes, the one in charge of Project Alicization.

But if anyone found out that he'd abused his position to take something out of the office, he would certainly be scolded, if not demoted entirely. The thing he'd taken was now resting on the right end of the kotatsu, connected to an extremely complex and strange device. The device's handmade frame was stuffed with boards and wires—and was easily the most expensive and advanced piece of tech in the room. It was something that could not be found anywhere outside of the Ocean Turtle, except in Alice's machine body: a lightcube interface.

And the object connected to that device was a metal package two and a half inches to a side. Higa stared at its cold, gleaming surface and muttered.

Higa: Of course it's not going to work.

He withdrew his index finger from the space above the ENTER key.

Higa: It's going to fall apart at once, obviously. That's what happened to the copies of Kiku and me. Human souls saved onto lightcubes cannot bear the knowledge that they are replicas. Even if...even if they're...

He couldn't finish that sentence. Higa sucked in a deep breath, held it in— then stretched out his finger again and tapped the ENTER key. A program sprang to life. The large fan in his PC tower picked up in intensity. In the middle of the dark window on the screen, a radiating circle of rainbow-gradient color appeared, like the birth of a star.

Many little spikes jabbed out into the darkness surrounding it. It shook, quivered, sparkled. Eventually, out of the speakers to the sides of the monitor emerged a quiet, familiar voice.

Zora:......Mr. Higa, I presume?

He swallowed and replied.

Higa: Th...that's right.

Zora: So you didn't delete me. You just...copied me, I suppose.

Higa: I couldn't...I couldn't delete you!!

Higa cried, arguing in defense of his own actions.

Higa: You're the first fluctlight to survive a span of two hundred years! I mean...you're the longest-living person in human history! I couldn't delete you...I couldn't be the one to do that, Zora!!

Higa felt sweat dampen his palms. In the upper part of the window, a digital timer that measured the time from activation was spinning rapidly. Thirty-two seconds...thirty-three. Sora Yatagami—or at least, the copy of his fluctlight after awakening following a two-hundred-year stay in the Underworld during its maximum- acceleration phase—was aware that he was a replica.

In these experiments, every copy faced with that fact quickly lost rationality, falling into madness and emitting bizarre squeals as they collapsed. Without exception. Higa gritted his teeth and waited for an answer from the speakers. Seconds later...

Zora:...I had a feeling that something like this might happen...

Said the voice, almost muttering to itself.

Zora: Mr. Higa...was it only my fluctlight you copied?

Higa: Y...yeah. Yours was the only one I could sneak out from under Kikuoka's and Dr. Koujiro's noses while I was performing the memory-deleting operation...

Zora: I see...

There was another silence. The replicated consciousness within the lightcube remained gentle and in control.

Zora: I've talked to Her Majesty...to Philia about this. About what we would do if something like this happened. Philia said if it was just she who was replicated, she would want it deleted at once. If both of us were replicated, we would use our limited time remaining for the purpose of harmony between the real world and the Underworld...

Higa: And...if it was just you? What would you do then?

Higa asked, unable to stop himself. The answer chilled him.

Zora: Then I would fight only for the Underworld. I am the protector of that world, after all.

Higa: F...fight...?

Zora: The Underworld is currently in an extremely precarious state. Isn't that right?

Higa: Well...that's true...

Zora: In the real world, it is tragically powerless. The energy costs, hardware, maintenance, network...It is utterly dependent on real-world people to keep its infrastructure intact. There is no way to ensure long-lasting stability and safety.

The conversation had already lasted two minutes. But the replica's manner was very calm and showed no hints of disaster. Higa leaned back in the chair and, without really intending to, argued back.

Higa: There's no way around that, though. The actual Underworld—the Lightcube Cluster—can't even be moved out of the Ocean Turtle. The ship is under government supervision now. The government could order the power cut tomorrow and wipe the entire cluster clean...

Zora: How long will the reactor fuel last?

Said the voice, rather unexpectedly. Higa blinked in surprise.

Higa: Uh...well, that's a pressurized water reactor for submarines, so...if it's just maintaining the cluster, another four or five years, maybe...

Zora: Then roughly speaking, for that time, there is no need to replenish the fuel. In other words, as long as we prevent interference from the outside, the Underworld will continue to exist, correct?

Higa: P-prevent interference...? The Ocean Turtle doesn't have any weapons systems to begin with!

Zora: I said that I would fight.

Said the voice, quiet and gentle, but with a steel edge.

Higa: F...fight...? But the satellite connection is down, and we can't even contact the Ocean Turtle...

Zora: There is a line. There must be.

Higa: Wh-where?!

Higa said, leaning forward. The answer was not what he expected to hear.

Zora: Heathcliff...Akihiko Kayaba. We need his power. First we must search for him. I trust...we'll have your help, Mr. Higa?

Higa: K...Kayaba...?!

That man was dead now...In fact, he'd died twice. The first time was at the retreat in Nagano. The second time was in the engine room of the Ocean Turtle. But Niemon's mechanical body, where Akihiko Kayaba's thought-mimicking program was lurking, had vanished from the ship.

Higa: He's still...alive...?

Higa gasped. He was in a daze—he had completely forgotten about checking on the timer at the top of the window.

Higa(mind): What's going to happen? Former archenemies, a copy of Akihiko Kayaba and a copy of Sora Yatagami. If these two ever came into contact...what would happen? Maybe...I've actually opened some kind of horrible Pandora's box...

But the trepidation lasted for only a moment in his mind before it was pushed out by a cavalcade of excitement.

Higa(mind): I want to see that. I want to know what will happen.

Higa inhaled deeply, exhaled, then said.

Higa: All right. I've got a few old contacts...I'll try sending out some encrypted messages...

There was no going back now. Higa squeezed his eyes shut, wiped his sweaty palms on his T-shirt, then began to type furiously at his keyboard. On the monitor, the massive glowing cloud that stretched beyond the boundary of the window frame flickered and pulsed periodically, gently observing the movements of Higa's fingertips.

Higa: Let's get to work, Zora.

Zora: No. I am no longer, Zora.

Higa's eyes blink a few time in confusion.

Higa: Then who are you?

Then in a quiet voice, Sora Yatagami's copied fluctlight answered.

Star King: I am the Star King.

(Timskip)

Sora looked around his room for the first time in two whole months. A very plain computer desk and wall rack. A pipe-frame bed and simple curtains. Sora would have found it nostalgic...if he hadn't been put off by how barren it all was. In subjective terms, it had actually been two years and eight months since Sora was last in here—he'd spent two and a half years in the Underworld.

Sora's room at the North Centoria Imperial Swordcraft Academy had had heavy wooden furniture, beautiful carpet, painting frames, flower arrangements, and all manner of pleasing and comfortable details. And of course, he'd always had Ronie, Tiese...and Eugeo's smile nearby. Though they were just memories now, a painful and vivid sting hit his chest and put a lump into his throat.

Sora dropped his bag full of clothes onto the floor and walked a few steps to sit down on the bed. He lay down on his side and smelled the fresh linen of the sheets. They must have just been cleaned. Sora closed his eyes. He heard a faint voice.

Eugeo: If you're going to nap, you should finish your sacred arts lesson first. Or are you going to copy mine again? Oh, listen, I added a wrinkle to that technique you taught me. Let's go to the training hall later. Hey, you snuck out to buy sweets again! You'd better have some for me! C'mon, wake up, Zora. Zora...

Sora rolled over slowly and buried his face in the pillow. Then Sora did something he'd been resisting ever since he woke up in the Roppongi lab. Sora clutched his sheets, gritted his teeth, and cried. He bawled like a baby, the tears coming and coming, his body shaking.

Sora: Why...? Why couldn't I have had all my memories removed?! All of those two and a half years, starting from waking up in the forest, walking along the brook, hearing the ax, and meeting Eugeo at the foot of the great black tree!

Sora cried and cried and cried, and still the tears wouldn't stop. At last, there came a soft knocking on his door. Sora didn't reply. The knob turned, and he heard quiet footsteps. His face was still pressed into the pillow. Then the bed sank a little. Fingers hesitantly stroked his hair. Sora didn't want to lift his head. Two voice spoke that was gentle and soft but with a firm insistence at its core.

Suguha: Tell us, Big Brother.

Kazuto: All of it. Tell us what happened there—the fun things, the sad things, all of it.

Sora:.........

Sora held his silence for a few moments more. Eventually, he turned his face to the right and, through teary vision, saw Kazuto and Suguha—his step brother and step sister—smiling at him. Zora was back. Back home. With his family. The past gets further away, and the present continues. Onward and forward. Sora shut his eyes, wiped the tears, and through trembling lips said.

Sora: When I first met him...right at the start, in the deepest part of the woods...he was just a lumberjack. It's impossible to believe, but they'd spent generations—over three hundred years—trying to cut down a single cedar tree...

It was August 16th, 2026, when Sora finished his physical therapy and returned home to Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture. He spent that entire night telling Kazuto and Suguha about the things that had happened in the Underworld. The next morning, Sora was awakened by a phone call. It was an alert that Alice had vanished from Rath's Roppongi office.