Sword Art Online - Volume 28 - Chapter 3

3

“Dad, please! Take me to Roppongi!”

Asuna clapped her hands together in front of her face. Her father—Shouzou Yuuki, chairman of the RCT Group—stopped in the act of removing his golfing jacket and lifted one eyebrow with concern and another with skepticism.

“Roppongi? At this hour? Asuna…you’re not getting into any sketchy entertainment over there, are you?”

“Noooo!” she protested. Then she considered that the base layer of the Underworld was constructed from the Seed program, like so many other VRMMOs, so to her father, it probably seemed like it was just a game anyway. But the people who lived there were real people with souls just like her own, and the Soul Translator she used to dive into the Underworld was a distant descendant of the NerveGear, which RCT had helped develop.

Still, it was already eleven thirty at night. Any parent whose teenage daughter was begging to go to a hangout area at this hour would either stop her or scold her. She needed to leave as soon as humanly possible, but first she had to explain herself to him.

Asuna sucked in a deep breath of chilly air at the doorway and said, “Dad, you know I’ve been doing a test internship at the Roppongi branch of Rath…the Marine Research Facility, right?”

The frown on Shouzou’s face deepened when he heard the name. “So it has to do with that place? Your mother told me about the observation period there, but if you’re looking for a job, I’m against it. That place put you and Kirigaya through enough hell already.”

It made sense that he bore a grudge against them. In early July, Asuna and Kirito had fallen into comas while on a dive into the Underworld and did not emerge for nearly a month. If not for the arguments of Kazuto’s parents and Asuna’s mother, Kyouko, Shouzou would have pressed for criminal and civil charges against Rath.

Now that two months had passed, his attitude toward Rath was showing signs of softening slightly. Asuna had reminded him again and again that it had been her idea to travel to the Ocean Turtle. But there was another reason for this: A.L.I.C.E.

Alice, who belonged to Rath, was the first and most likely only “strong” AI in the world. With classic AI being so widely adopted in not just industrial processes, but also education, entertainment, and even government services, Rath’s technology had the capability to revolutionize modern industry and social systems. They were the target of intense worldwide interest. Naturally, RCT was no exception, but at the moment, Dr. Rinko had ordered no further authorization of press events or interviews for Alice.

So the RCT Data Science Laboratory (RDSL), RCT’s AI research division, took aim at the publicized friendship between Alice and Asuna, and asked Shouzou if they could gain a connection to Rath from that. Asuna had heard about this not from her father, but from her brother, Kouichirou. Shouzou had apparently spurned the suggestion, but RDSL persisted, and there was a widespread belief among all—not just Shouzou—that the next generation of AI could either sink or float the company’s future. He was trapped between a rock and a hard place.

It pained her, knowing the difficult position her father was in, but there was no helping it at that exact moment. Alice was normally so strict when it came to protocol. That she had said, “We need your help, Kirito and Asuna,” at that hour was a sign of how big an emergency was taking place in the Underworld.

“…Listen, I understand you have negative feelings toward Rath, and I don’t blame you,” she said, doing her best not to jabber, “but I think that’s because you don’t really know what kind of group Rath is, or the research they perform.”

“Well…I can’t deny that,” he grunted reluctantly.

Asuna nodded and continued, “Well, um…I’m helping Rath investigate the Underworld right now. There’s no one who knows it better than me and Kazuto.”

“And the Underworld is the virtual world stored on that research vessel, right? The one that has tens of thousands more AI, just like Alice…It’s just so hard to believe it all…”

Shouzou’s understanding of the situation was 90 percent correct but 10 percent mistaken. The only true artificial general intelligence that had conquered the weakness of artificial fluctlights—that they could not disobey rules or orders—was Alice. No one else had reached her level yet. Interacting with Eolyne, Ronie, Tiese, and Airy didn’t make you think their thoughts were limited in any capacity, but that was only because they weren’t bound by the majority of the rules and laws that existed in their world. This would all take too much time to explain, however, so she just went along with his statement.

“That’s right. The Ocean Turtle is off-limits now, though, so we can’t bring any other AIs to the real world. And there’s a problem in the Underworld…”

“A problem? It’s not under attack from more miscreants, is it?”

“No, no, it’s all within the virtual world. It’s a complicated situation, though, so it’s hard to explain…but I just got a message from Alice, who dived in a little while earlier, and she’s asking for rescue at once.”

“…Hrmm…”

Shouzou’s gaze traveled to the analog clock fixed into their natural rock accent wall. It was 11:35… Her mother would be returning soon, and then she’d have to start her explanation all over again.

“Please, Papa! Alice is a precious friend of mine!”

Asuna put her hands together, acting like this was her last attempt and she would give up if he resisted. Inwardly, though, she knew she would just have to find a way to sneak out later instead.

Shouzou was a man who valued personal connections—it was how Nobuyuki Sugou had managed to take advantage of him, in fact—and he had always instructed Asuna and Kouichirou to treasure their friends. It was also why he couldn’t ignore the RDSL’s demands, as the person in charge of the overall group. On top of that, Asuna was bringing out the biggest gun she had: the magic “Papa” word. He sighed heavily.

“I haven’t driven a car myself in half a year, so don’t complain if it feels unsteady.”

“Thank you, Dad!” Asuna cried, pulling the Chesterfield coat off the hanger he’d just placed it on and putting it back over his shoulders. She had her own Saxony peacoat to wear, and she slipped on some sneakers.

It was 11:25 when Kirito told her about Alice’s call for help in Unital Ring. She had prepared herself in three minutes, activating the taxi app on her phone, and she was rushing down the stairs when she ran into her father, who was coming in the door after being out at golf.

It took seven minutes to explain and persuade him, but it would have taken longer than that for a taxi to arrive even if she’d called for one instead, so all was well that ended well…not that anything had ended yet. For now, the main concern was to rush to Roppongi.

Inside the Yuuki family garage was her father’s SUV, her mother’s hatchback, and her brother’s two-seater. Asuna walked over to the still-warm SUV, but her father grabbed her shoulder and said, “Let’s use Kouichirou’s car. A full-size vehicle is going to be tough for the driving I need to do.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, I know you’re tired.”

“I’m fine. We only did a half course today.”

“What was your score?”

“Don’t ask.”

Shouzou grinned and pressed the unlock button on the key fob.

A pure gas engine sports car was getting rarer by the year. It was a little bit bumpy, but it accelerated nicely as they rushed down Setagaya Road and got onto Route 246.

They were going in the reverse direction of the road Seijirou Kikuoka had driven her down six hours earlier. The car made its way under the Yamanote Line bridge in Shibuya; the traffic in that direction late on a Saturday was clear, and her father seemed relaxed in the driver’s seat.

The leather seat was comfy, and the warm air from the AC was pleasant, but she strangely didn’t feel sleepy. Maybe that was just because of the adrenaline coursing through her veins, but she didn’t think Alice’s emergency request was the only reason.

In the world of Unital Ring, she had done battle alongside some therians from the VRMMO called Apocalyptic Date—though it was Kazuto who had done almost all the fighting—and gotten Yui back. The other AD players who had been kidnapped along with her revealed some shocking information.

Their group had ascended to the second tier of the three-tiered Unital Ring map from the south, but the AD players, who came up from the west, were ambushed by an NPC group in the dark of the forest and had to run for their lives.

And those NPCs were dark-skinned elves who wielded bows with perfect accuracy and called themselves “Lyusula.”

Lyusula Kingdom: the name of a country of dark elves that existed on a different continent, long in the past. Along with the forest-elf kingdom of Kales’Oh, they had a flourishing magical civilization until the two countries were torn apart and plunged into war, right before they were separated from the land entirely and banished into the distant skies.

After losing their magic, the elves sought a way to return to their landmass. They sent their most talented knights out on dangerous search missions. Many of them perished.

“Kizmel…”

Unconsciously, she murmured the name etched into her memory. Thankfully, it did not rise above the engine noise to reach her father’s ears. She told herself now was the moment to focus on rescuing Alice, and she stared through the windshield.

Eventually, Roppongi Crossing came into view ahead. Shouzou followed the old-fashioned car navi and turned left. In less than a minute, the destination icon appeared on the map.

“Just a minute, I’ll get the parking garage entrance opened,” Asuna said. Shouzou turned on his hazard lights and pulled over on the left.

Thankfully, Rinko was still in the office, so she saw the message and opened the shutter to the basement garage from up there. The car rolled down the darkened slope and stopped in the guest spot on the second level. Asuna thanked her father and opened the door.

Shouzou got out of the car, too, looking like he was ready to charge into enemy territory. Asuna nearly told him to stay cool, but she knew he wasn’t the type of person to start trouble, and she headed toward the automatic doors.

She had access to unlock all the doors in the building aside from the classified areas, so a phone code and facial scan were enough to get them inside. They took the elevator to the fifth floor, passed through another security door, and then saw Rinko walking at the end of the hall ahead of them.

“Good evening. I’m sorry to bother you so late,” Asuna said, bowing.

Rinko shook her head. “I’ve heard a bit about the situation from Alice. I’m so sorry you had to come in at this time of…”

She trailed off when she noticed Shouzou; her eyes went wide, and she bowed deeply and formally.

“It is a pleasure to see you again, Chairman Yuuki.”

“I’m the one who should be apologizing for the late visit, Dr. Koujiro. My daughter was insistent, but I couldn’t just let her go out alone this late at night.”

“Of course. I apologize for our lack of forethought that led to this situation,” Rinko said, lowering her head yet again.

Shouzou held out his hands. “Please, please. This was all my daughter’s selfish request; it’s not your fault.”

“Father, I’m not being selfish, I’m…,” Asuna started, but reconsidered. This argument wasn’t important. “May I use the STL, Rinko?”

“Yes, I’ve got the one you usually use powered on and in standby mode.”

“Thank you so much!”

She trotted down to the end of the hallway. She was curious about what Shouzou and Rinko would talk about, but at least it didn’t seem like it would be a hostile conversation, based on the current interaction.

She burst into the STL room and noticed Alice on the reclining chair in the center. Naturally, her clothing and even position were exactly as when Asuna had left this room earlier in the evening.

The STLs on either side of the chair were unoccupied. Kazuto’s home over in Saitama Prefecture was at least an hour away, whether by taxi or his motorcycle, so she’d just have to hold out until he arrived, whatever was happening in the Underworld.

Asuna removed her peacoat, placed it on a hanger, eschewed the usual wardrobe change into a clinical gown, and then lay down on the right Soul Translator. She didn’t like diving in her school uniform, but she was in a cotton knit top and stretchy jeans, so a little wrinkling of her clothes wasn’t a big deal.

She placed her head on the lower block of the inactive STL, and the upper block automatically began to lower. The inside of the groove in the blocks sparkled with an ultra-dense light-node matrix made of the same material as the lightcubes. It was a beauty that belonged more to a work of art than to a precise machine.

RCT had been the leader of the consumer XR device market, but it had lost some of its ground to Kamura, which had entered the market with its Augma AR device. Now RCT was trying to win back its share with the AmuSphere 2, its third-generation device. Naturally, research was proceeding toward even more advanced tech; the current directions were an ultra-small unit that promised even more wearability than the Augma and a large unit with greater fidelity and expression than the NerveGear.

The former would require many innovations still, and the latter already existed in the form of the STL. It might be too big to fit in the average home, but the mnemonic visuals created by the STL, which were fundamentally different from the classic polygonal graphics in other virtual worlds, would have at least as much of an impact on the public as the original full-dive revolution in the early 2020s. In other words, between the artificial general intelligence and the Soul Translator, Rath had two revolutionary technologies that promised to be the future cornerstones of world commerce.

So was Rath—Rinko Koujiro, Takeru Higa, and their founder, Seijirou Kikuoka—planning to keep both of these things under lock and key forever? According to Kikuoka, their reason for developing a small cat-shaped robot was to “acquire an independent cash flow,” but if they wanted money, they could make astronomical fortunes by licensing and partnering with a major tech company on either the AGI or STL.

The thing was, Rath was half-public, half-private, so Kikuoka couldn’t decide to partner with businesses on his own. Maybe the situation would change if the battle for control over Rath ever settled between the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Defense. If they were lucky, it would be sold off to a private company. At worst, the Underworld could be shuttered and scrapped for good, which was a very real possibility…

Asuna exhaled, trying to release that pessimistic thought from her mind.

The upper block of the STL reached its standard position, and the motor stopped whining. It was replaced by a mysterious and melodious vibraphone sound that caressed her head—no, her soul itself.

Buoyed by the sound and the easing of Earth’s gravity, Asuna uttered a silent message to the void.

I’m on my way, Alice.