Kirito’s body floated in the air, kept aloft by his wings. The severed left arm have been regrown some time before he noticed it. He was sad that the part of Eugeo within the Blue Rose Sword have burned itself into nothing when Eugeo parried Gabriel’s attack. (Flere821 note: This was retcon-ed when WEB Final comes around, Eugeo was still in the sword like a guardian angel for Kirito. Seems more likely than Kirito not noticing Eugeo's presence anyway...)
Kirito sheathed his swords, and the night sky went back into daytime. Though the sky now was not the blood red as typical of DT, but clear blue. Kirito doesn’t know if this was because of the absolute acceleration, or a miracle caused by the thoughts of over 100,000 people. Kirito closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened his eyes to look over at the World End Altar. The marble staircase has started to crumble away from the bottom.
Kirito then flew over to where the Altar was. There were flowers everywhere, birds and bees flew around in a carefree manner, and the building was made of white marble. It was a picturesque sight. Kirito murmured to himself that guess Asuna and Alice had both made it on time to leave. He thought Alice has a tough road ahead of her, fighting for Fluctlights to be accepted by humans in RW, but was confident she can do it. Kirito gazed up towards the sky, praying for Alice and wishing her best of luck.
Kirito understood that he will have to spend 200 years in UW now. If he dies before then, he’d spend the remaining time before 200 year is up in total darkness. Kirito doesn’t know whether he will perish because his natural lifespan runs out, or he can’t take the loneliness and make himself disappear before that time is up. Kirito thought about his parents, Suguha, Sinon, Klein, Liz, Silica; friends at school, friends in ALO; Alice; and finally Asuna – Kirito understood that he would never see them again. Kirito’s legs gave out on him, and he knelt down onto the marble floor. Kirito felt that he deserves a chance to cry right now, just for now. Cry for important people and things he has lost, and would never come back to him. He did so, and quiet tears began to fall onto the floor drop by drop.
Then, tapping sounds, footsteps, began to approach him. A new aroma, different to the flowers’ ones, reached his nose. The sound stopped in front of him, and a voice called out his name.
Scene change to Ocean Turtle. Alice’s LightCube, 6cm x 6cm x 6cm size, have reached Rinko. Rinko told Asuna urgently to log out, she has 30 seconds left. After a moment of silence, Asuna apologized, saying she’ll stay in UW with Kirito. Asuna said she’d never forget how Rinko had helped her. She requested Rinko to not use Alice for warfare; Alice is loved by countless people, is a gentle soul, and for Kirito’s sake please don’t let Alice be used for war. Rinko was speechless at this development. Asuna’s final words was asking Rinko to pass on her message: “Please tell everyone: Sorry… goodbye… and thank you.”
Then, the countdown reached zero.
Higa and Kikuoka and going down the ducts. It took 8 minutes just to secure Higa onto Kikuoka. Higa contacted Rinko, asking how things were going, and Rinko choked out Alice was fine but Asuna decided to stay in UW. A few seconds after Rinko hung up, Higa passed on her words to Kikuoka.
Kurittaa found out Alice has been retrieved by Rath. Ultimately after all their efforts, a battle worthy of Hollywood movies, and tricking nearly 100,000 VRMMO players from China, Korea and US into fighting for them, they still lost. Kurittaa wants to check the Ocean Turtle schematics to see if there’s a way to retrieve Alice’s LightCube from Rath. The other members were still arguing about the legitimacy of the outcome of that last bet and just shoved the schematics to him. After looking at it for a while, Kuritta found the duct Higa and Kikuoka is coming down from.
Rinko was drained after telling Higa of Asuna’s choice. She was moved by Asuna’s decision, and asked herself what herself would have done if Kayaba had offered her the chance to follow him into Aincrad, or destroying her brain like he did with the STL prototype. Rinko wondered if UW was the end result for Kayaba’s dream, a completely new world. She decided it can’t be, there were a lot more functions in The Seed that people haven’t cracked yet. Rinko also wondered why Kayaba would want to have all the VR environments (since there was no way people wouldn’t use The Seed program for making VR environments considering how easily accessed and potent the program is, so all VR worlds in SAOverse would be based off of Kayaba’s coding) be linked together with the Transfer function of The Seed worlds. Rinko was woken from her reverie by her colleagues saying they’re ready to release the lockdown once more, so Kikuoka and Higa can go through. A minute has passed by now, and Rinko thought it was astonishing by this point Kirito and Asuna is now older than she is. She urged Higa and Kikuoka to hurry in her mind, as they have 12 minutes before Asuna and Kirito die of reaching the limit of their soul’s lifespan.
Kikuoka is going down the duct with Higa. Higa was surprised Kikuoka was going this far for Kirito and Asuna; going by the Alicization project, all they have to do now is dissect Alice’s AI and create unmanned weapons from there. Rath goal, and by extension Kikuoka’s dream, was achieved. Everything Kikuoka had done, such as making a ALO account, was for this end goal. Even if Rinko protested at leaving Kirito and Asuna to die, she could be restrained by the soldiers. Kikuoka interrupted Higa’s thoughts, predicting Higa would be surprised by his actions. Kikuoka explained what he’s doing right now is also making sure the US team won’t be able to just grab Alice by this point. They reached the lockdown barrier, and asked Rinko to release the lockdown.
Kurittaa saw the lockdown being released, and sent most of the team over to the main route. He grabbed a guy, Brigg (ブリッグ), and told him they’ll be heading to the ducts instead as that’s probably where the actual attack will come from. They ran past STL room #1, and Kurittaa wondered why was Vassago taking so long in logging out – was he having a smoke in there and lazing off or something? The two of them reached the ducts, and found Yanai; Yanai was dead by this point. They recognized Yanai as the spy within Rath for them. Brigg looked up to see how far Yanai had fallen, and he got shot dead by Kikuoka. Kurittaa hastily pulled a retreat; he was a hacker, not a soldier. Kurittaa wondered why the K organisation was attacking right now, it wasn’t like the US side had a way to make Rath suffer a worse end than stayed locked down and wait until the Japanese navy attacks. Then, Kurittaa realized yes, they do have a way; the ‘last resort’ as outlined by the mission to be able to kill everyone in Ocean Turtle. Kurittaa rushed back to ask Gabriel what to do, as he doesn’t want to give the command that will haunt his dreams for the rest of his life.
Before Brigg died he shot back at Kikuoka. Kikuoka got shot somewhere, and complained maybe he should have worn a bulletproof vest when he came down. Higa snarked that should have been obvious, who goes into a firefight wearing just a Hawaiian shirt on his torso? Kikuoka lied he didn’t get hit, and Higa began to work at the STL acceleration rate.
Kurittaa rushed into the #1 STL room to ask Gabriel about what to do next, though Kurittaa fully expected Gabriel and Vassago to give the orders to blow up the Ocean Turtle. Mid-sentence in reporting to Gabriel that Alice has been taken, Kurittaa nearly screamed out in fright. Gabriel’s current expression was something Kurittaa had never seen on a person, alive or dead. Gabriel’s eyes were opened so wide it looked like it might fall out. His jaws were as wide as it was humanly possible, and lopsided. On one side his tongue hanged out, making Gabriel look little like a human. If Gabriel’s eyes moved Kurittaa would have screamed. He tentatively reached out to check for a pulse, and found none – Gabriel’s dead, despite no visible wounds. Kurittaa rushed to where Vassago is to try and tell him Gabriel’s dead, and this time Kurittaa really did scream in fright. Vassago’s hair turned white like an old man’s, and he looked like he died in his sleep. Kurittaa ran, back to their main holdings. He also correctly guessed the cause of death for Vassago and Gabriel was something that had happened in UW. After bringing the rest of the team up to date on the events, Brigg’s mercenary partner Hans forced the last-resort measure out of Kurittaa:
Tamper with the power generator of this structure, which is nuclear powered.
Ten minutes have passed after acceleration, and Rinko thought it would have been over a hundred years inside UW. She then received word from the guards the US team is retreating. Then, after a BOOM shook the place and checking the data, Rinko and others at Rath figured out they meddled with the reactor. The control rods are down, and C4 are attached to the mechanism to bring it up. Nuclear meltdown won’t happen, but it would crack the reactor and create a steam explosion powerful enough to kill everyone in Ocean Turtle. They have ten minutes to disarm the bomb, but even so the temperature within the reactor room was beyond what a human can handle.
Then, the Robot #2 began to move by itself. The robot made a voice, volunteering to go himself. Rinko smelled the scent of wax and oil she had smelled on her first day here in her room. She stood up slowly, approached the robot, and asked hoarsely if it was Kayaba speaking to them right now. The robot nodded, and Rinko hugged the robot. Kayaba apologised for leaving Rinko behind, and then got to the point as there was no time for emotional scenes. Kayaba entrusted his dream to Rinko, where VR and ‘real world’, reality, are connected and no longer separated. Kayaba then left to defuse the bomb, and Rinko stayed in the control room to act as mission control.
Higa heard the machinery being operated, and realized the reactor have been tampered with. Kikuoka told Higa to just focus on fixing the STLs. Kikuoka then went on ahead, chasing after the US team, after seeing Higa can continue to work by himself. After Kikuoka left Higa finally realized Kikuoka was injured, he was bleeding onto Higa.
Rinko and the rest of Rath personnel is in the control room watching Kayaba make his way to the reactor on the camera feeds, and Rinko brought up the video onto a big screen. Nobody wanted to retreat to the back of the structure where it’s marginally safer. Just like how Rinko is toying with the memento Kayaba gave her (the dud bomb), everyone here is praying in some form for this to work. Most people here doesn’t know robot #2 is Kayaba right now. Rinko realized the AIs aren’t only for unmanned weapons, and UW isn’t just a simulation of society – these are the beginning of a revolution. Rinko thought Kayaba have noticed the potential of VR during his stay in Aincrad, and he’s working to protect the VRMMO players that had flourished in such a environment. Rinko wished for Kayaba to finish this and return to her.
Step by step, Kayaba is moving towards the reactor. Rinko wondered when exactly Kayaba got into that robot. Though she was sure this Kayaba is the real one, as copies of the same person tend to break down once they realize they’re not the original. Rinko also feared Kayaba has decided to meet his end here, having entrusted his dream to her and sacrifice himself for his goal even at this state. As Kayaba was walking to the reactor one of the US team members jumped out and shot Robot #2 – this robot doesn’t have a titanium frame. Robot #2 staggered, but then Kikuoka came up from behind the robot and shot the US team member. Then, Kikuoka fell down as well, having lost too much blood. One of the JSDF soldiers ran out of the control room to help him.
Rinko was told by one of the technicians that Robot #2 can still move, and Kayaba continued on to operate the controls. Half way through, the intense heat blew out the circuits, and Robot #2 was on the verge of shutting down. The only thing left to do now is to disarm the C4, and Kayaba made his way there. His movements are impaired, and he’s reduced to a crawling speed. With every step more parts began to fall out of the robot. Finally, when there were only 3 metres left to the C4… Robot #2’s chest sparked and fried from the accumulation of damage, and the machine went silent. All output from the robot blanked out.
Rinko got a flashback to when SAO was cleared, and Kayaba woke up after being defeated by Kirito. Kayaba said back then “I don’t believe in Miracles”, but then continued on with a small smile saying he had saw a miracle for the first time; when Kirito went against the system, and stabbed him after Kirito’s HP went to 0. Kayaba said then “Maybe… I was just waiting for that moment to come all this time…”
Back to present, Rinko shouted out for Kayaba to work a Miracle as well, wasn’t he ‘Heathcliff’, the <<Holy Sword>> wielder, and rival to <<Dual-Wielder>> Kirito? The robot sparked a few times, and then became active once more. The technicians cried out with relief that Robot #2 is back at full operating capacity. Kayaba continued on, with everyone back at the control room cheering for ‘Robot #2’. Slowly, inch by inch, Robot #2 finally managed to latch on to the C4’s fuse and took it off of the reactor. A flash whited out the screen, but after that they saw only Robot #2’s arm being blown off and the robot blown backwards from the impact, the reactor was safe. Cheers went up at this outcome.
(TL (RKL) note: These above scenes made me more fired up than when Kirito attacked Gabriel with his Starburst Stream)
(Flere821 note: Sorry, my summarizing skill can't portray that level of suspense and hotbloodness for this part >.<)
Over at Higa, he has finished 70% of the work on the STLs. 17 minutes had past, which meant 170 years in UW. Logically speaking, Kirito and Asuna are dead now. However, Higa admitted he didn’t understand Fluctlights and UW at all, not when Kirito brought them up to new and unexpected heights. Kirito understood that world better than anyone, and had strength beyond all four Super Accounts put together. Kirito had treated UW and its residents as humans and protected them, and UW had accepted Kirito as well. Higa believed in the possibility, or rather the miracle that Kirito would be able to come back after 200 years of experience. Higa believed Kirito to be a necessary fixture for the VR world to flourish, and said to himself Kirito needs to return back to RW. There was only a few per cent left until completion.
Rinko was the only person left in Control Room #2. Everyone else had run off to secure control of Control Room #1 or to help Kikuoka. Kirito and Asuna are going to wake soon, and Rinko want to be there when they wake up, let them hold Alice’s LightCube and tell them it’s thanks to them that Alice is fine right now. Because of this, even if she wanted to go after Robot #2 and see if Kayaba is alright she could not do so.
Rinko also wanted to tell Asuna and Kirito about Kayaba’s deeds, even though she admits they’re not going to just accept Kayaba so easily after all he did in making SAO into a death game. Higa told Rinko there’s 30 seconds left before Kirito and Asuna wakes up. Before Rinko went to see Kirito and Asuna, a urgent message reached her and told her Robot #2 had went missing.
Kurittaa saw the countdown went to 0, and Ocean Turtle didn’t blow up. Hans, who stayed behind, was to manually blow the place up if the signal failed, so if it still hadn’t blown up it meant Hans is dead too. Even though apart from Gabriel they’re all mercenaries and would be willing to back stab each other, apparently Hans had enough of a bond with Brigg to want to die in the same place as him. The rest of them left alive aren’t looking forward to report back to their bosses, chances are they’ll all be eliminated to ensure silence. Kurittaa copied a disk full of data to bring back with him, though he’s sure without Alice at most this disk can only ensure a quick death for him. Though Kurittaa consoled himself no matter how he’ll be killed off by the US it can’t be worse than how Gabriel or Vassago died.
19 minutes and 40 seconds after it started, the acceleration is over. Rinko waited anxiously for Kirito and Asuna to wake up.
They didn’t.
Fluctlight activity is only at the bare minimum level to survive. Rinko held their hands, desperately called out to them and asked them to wake up. The only response she got was the slight smiles on both their faces as they continued to sleep.
Scene change; back to Kirito right after Gabriel’s defeat, weeping at World End’s Altar. A voice called out Kirito’s name, and said she figured if Kirito is all alone he becomes a crybaby. Kirito looked up, and found Asuna was here with him. He thought this must only be an illusion in his head; that if he touches her she’d vanish. Though after thinking about it, if it was the other way around, if there was any chance of her not making it out in time there was no way he’d just leave without Asuna.
Kirito can’t think of anything to say, but there was no need to say anything right now either. He got up and embraced Asuna, who returned the hug. Asuna buried her face in Kirito’s chest, and commented when they get out Alice would be furious at them. Kirito promised her that they wouldn’t forget Alice, or anyone else in RW. Asuna and Kirito held hands, gazed out at the (now inactive) marble Altar, the flowers, then at UW spread out beyond them and into the horizon. Asuna asked Kirito how long would they be staying in UW. Kirito said at minimum 200 years. Asuna replied even if it was a thousand years it would not be too long, as long as she’s with Kirito; she then asked Kirito to set out together. Kirito agreed; there were plenty of things to do, and this world has only just started to grow.
They held hands, activated Kirito’s wings, and took the first steps into the open blue sky.
Alicization WEB 8 – End