November 6th, 2022
Another cold day in Japan, surrounded by grey skies and freezing winds. If I didn't know any better, snow would've started to fall and surround the houses that surrounded my own. Luckily, Mother Nature was kind enough to not cover the Earth with her frozen white blanket. The alarm on my nightstand softly buzzing, informing me to wake up. Slowly, I pushed myself to sit up and silence my phone which was causing the buzzing alarm. My muscles were sore, my back tight and my vision slowly adjusting to the bright grey lights entering my bedroom window. Once I could properly see, I stretched my body until the tightness in my back was released by a pop. Relieved by the absence of pressure in my back, I stood up and walked to my closet to pick the clothes I would wear for the day. Today was a special day, so wearing my standard hoodie and jeans wouldn't be acceptable. Picking out a business suit that my father had purchased for me, I walked out of my room and into the restroom. Looking at myself in the mirror, my bed hair was fluffed all over the place. I laughed at my rugged state as I turned the hot water on for the shower and began to brush my teeth. As I cleaned my teeth, I looked up and saw my different colored eyes. I always thought they were cool, but I have been made fun of because of them. All throughout college and even at the company, I was asked very personal questions about my eyes such as "Were you born with a defect?" or "Did your dad sleep with another woman?". These questions never bothered me, but I was concerned with the fact that my peers only asked these questions because of my eye colors. My mind shifted as the room had completely steamed over. I rinsed my mouth and hopped in the shower.
?- Kazzu? Hurry up there or we will be late for the server launch.
I smiled at my father's statement. He has been waiting to release this project for quite some time now. I share his excitement. The project we've worked on for months is finally coming to the public. The project we called: Sword Art Online. Sword Art Online is the first Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, VRMMORPG for short, produced by my father's company: Argus. My father, Kayaba Akihiko, is the development director of the game and the device it was meant to be played on, the NerveGear. Even though my father created both the NerveGear and Sword Art Online, he had brought me along to help him design, improve and create the systems needed to run the game on the NerveGear. I would've never thought that he would invite me, his fifteen-year-old son, to help him create this big of a project. He must have seen the capabilities I had from a very early age, considering I graduated college when I was thirteen. I wanted to follow in his footsteps and help create virtual worlds to bring joy and wonder to the public and to share a story through creating a virtual world.
?- Kazzu!? Please, hurry or I will leave without you!
Shaking myself out of my self-induced trance, I turned off the water and dried myself off. After speedily combing my hair, I quickly made sure I looked the part and joined my father downstairs. His choice of clothing made him look like a scientist heading to a secret government lab, with a white long coat and a black tie right above his white collared shirt. He looked at my choice of clothing and chuckled.
Kayaba- Kazzu, you know we are just opening the servers today, right? Not going to an important business meeting.
"What's wrong with me looking professionally on an important day?"
Kayaba- Nothing. I just want you to know that this amount of professionalism is unnecessary today. Don't worry, I picked out some spare clothes for you. They are waiting in the car. Let's get a move on, you can change on the way there.
I sighed and followed him as we walked away. Try to look nice for once and it gets shut down immediately. I guess it's for the best. I never liked looking fancy anyway. We both entered the car, me hopping in the back seat to change out of my formal attire and into something I preferred to wear casually. A grey t-shirt, black hoodie and a pair of black jeans later, I was comfortably sitting behind my father waiting to arrive at our company building. While waiting I decided to check my phone for the profit that the game had produced. We had only made 10,000 copies and most of them went out instantly. 1000 copies went out to the beta testers who had played our game back when the beta was released in August. The beta had resulted in a mass surge of media popularity and increased our sales exponentially. Because of that, every copy of the game released to the public was bought. As far as I was concerned, with me and my father each keeping a copy, there will be 10,000 players entering the world of Sword Art Online. The thought alone made me excited. I was happy that so many people would be enjoying the hard work me, and my father had put forth into making this game and getting to experience a whole new world for themselves. My thoughts were once again halted as the car pulled up to a spot and parked. I looked out the back window and saw the giant plaque that presented itself on the front of the building: "Argus: Express Your Vision.".
Kayaba- Ready to change the world son?
"I haven't been more ready in my entire life."
I hopped out of the car with a giddy smile, practically jumping out of my shoes. As my father was exiting his car, I rushed over to the front door and entered the complex. Not wanting to stop for anything, I rushed past security and towards the elevator. After a few minutes, my father joined me and pressed the button to call the elevator.
Kayaba- Next time you rush past security, you might get detained.
"Apologies father. I'm just really excited."
A chuckle escaped his breath. He placed his arm on my shoulder, patting it and gently pushed me in the elevator, joining me in the process. He pressed the button that led to the basement of the company, where all the server rooms of the company were. Cliché elevator music kicked in as we were slowly carried down, heading deeper into the foundation of the company until the elevator stopped, dinged and opened its doors to us. We both walked out to the many servers, monitors and wires running rampant around this floor of the building until we reached a huge setup filled with multiple monitors. I knew this station as the Main World Server as it had access to all of the Sword Art Online data. I sat down and began to run systems check on the monitor to make sure we were in the clear. Doing so, three small, bubbled programs began to float around the screen. I smiled as I knew the programs in front of me. I chuckled as I continued to run my check.
"Morning Cardinal, Yui and Strea. How are my lovely programs doing today?"
The bubbles continued to float around in silence, occasionally bumping into the sides of the screens or running into each other. My father walked up to the monitor checking the progress.
Kayaba- So far so good?
"Yes sir. The systems are operating at 100%. All systems are a go. Just wanted to run a quick diagnostic to see if there were any last-minute bugs, breaks or glitches in the system. Plus, I wanted to say hi to the programs."
Kayaba- You really enjoy those three, don't you?
"Aside from the fact that one of them is basically the main core system needed for the game, yes. I'm proud to have created these three. Cardinal will keep the game on the right path while Yui and Strea will be there to listen to players who are struggling, whether it be in Aincrad or the real world."
Kayaba- Cardinal I understand, but the mental health programs sound a bit over the top.
"Well, think about it. If a player is having a hard time in the real world yet doesn't have the courage to face it in the real world, having the mental health programs help them to gain that confidence and offer advice on how to better improve themselves. Sword Art Online is, by all accounts, an escape from reality."
After that small talk, Kayaba stepped away from me and the Main World Server. A few more commands and inputs later and the server was ready to be activated, thus officially releasing Sword Art Online to the public. I stood up and backed away from the Main World Server, offering the chair to my father.
"We are all clear. All it needs is your input and admin codes."
He looked at me with a smile, but this smile seemed false. Almost as if it was being faked. I thought nothing of it as Kayaba sat down and began typing into the server. I took a minute to walk around the room and examine each and every server. Every single one contained something new, something exciting to be found in the world of Sword Art Online, better known as Aincrad. Aincrad was a floating castle made of iron and stone, consisting of 100 floors filled with different environments, landscapes and monsters to encounter. The goal of the game is to climb all 100 floors and reach the top of Castle Aincrad. No one has done it, even the beta testers could only make it so far before the beta closed. I was one of those testers. Even with my skills and knowledge of the game, I was only able to make it a quarter of the way. But after the beta and learning more about the in-game systems, I can guarantee I can reach the fortieth floor without breaking a sweat. Once more my thoughts were interrupted as the surroundings of the server room had switched to emergency power, covering the entire room with a bright red light. Alerted, I rushed back over to the Main World Server only to find most of the monitors destroyed, except for the main terminal containing the three floating programs. My father looked down at the keyboard, ready to execute a command I had never seen before. I looked at my father confused and worried about the emergency lighting.
"Father? What is this? What have you done?"
Kayaba- I have done what I have intended for this world to begin with.
"What do you mean?"
I looked over at the command, rather commands, my father was about to execute. The first command was to imprison the mental health programs so they could not interfere or interact with other players. The second command was for something labeled Death Parameters.
"Father, why are you imprisoning the mental health programs? And what are the Death Parameters? Why are you granting these commands?"
He took a deep sigh and pressed down on the keyboard, executing the commands. The next thing I knew, the Cardinal program had engulfed both Strea and Yui into her own programing, trapping them. My father then proceeded to walk around the room, gently caressing the servers.
Kayaba- I'm about to make those players experience a world that they believe is fake, but in actuality, it's a reality. They will feel exhausted when staying awake for long periods of time, they will grow hungry when they haven't consumed food, thirsty when they feel parched and most importantly, they will be killed by the monsters inside if they aren't prepared.
My eyes widened in shock at his last statement. The very fact that he had initiated essentially a Death Game program into Sword Art Online's server had surprised me enough, but now he was talking about trapping thousands of players in a virtual reality game and keeping them there, pitting them against the many challenges of the game with the chance of death coming around any corner to take their lives. For what reason did he have for doing this? Why was this even a thought in his head?
Kayaba- A world made of my own image. Where my floating castle sits in the sky just waiting for the one heroic challenger to climb all one hundred floors and conquer it all. Merging virtual and actual reality into one single entity, I will be a god!
"A god? You'd be murdering thousands of people!"
Kayaba- Not all of them have to die. And if they do, that just means my world was too much for them. I would be the victor.
"The victor? That's just sick! You'd be nothing but a murderer!"
Kayaba- Of course you wouldn't see my perspective on this. You developed a game that held players' hands when my dream was to plunge them into a different reality where consequences still exist. Should those consequences mean death then so be it!
I rushed past my father and tried to reverse the commands given, each attempt was greeted with an access denied screen. I turned back to my father, screaming and begging at the top of my lungs.
"Father! You have to stop this! This is madness!"
Kayaba- I will do no such thing. My world will see its creation and if you plan on stopping me, I will kill you.
My eyes widened further, and my heart stopped. His words made my hands shake and tears stream down my face. He was willing to kill his own flesh and blood just to see his monstrosity come to life. I couldn't handle it; I couldn't dare look him in the eyes after those words left his lips. With a heavy heart, I rushed towards the elevator and left Argus behind. I just kept running. Running through the streets, through the sidewalks and alleys just to get back home. All the while, my head kept repeating my father's words and imagining the serious expression on his face. He was going to kill people, and he didn't care. He was placing people in a death trap, and he didn't care. He had threatened the life of his son, and he did not care. Not one single bit. The tears streaming down my face were met only with small droplets of rain starting to fall from the gloomy sky above. Light rain slowly turned to a shower. My clothes were drenched in water but all that mattered was that I returned home. It took me a longer time on foot but after what felt like hours, I made it home and bolted back up to my room. Shutting the door behind me and locking it, I sank to the floor. My knees close to my face, my hands shaking from the cold, pure shock and fear, and my heart close to leaping out of my chest. I had helped my father build a game set on killing those who weren't ready to take on its challenges. I couldn't just sit aside and let that happen, could I? But if I joined the game, what could I do? What chance did I have against the creator? These questions filled my head until I started to answer them myself. While my father was the creator of the game, I helped build it. I helped design its levels, its monsters, its bosses. If anyone could stand a chance against his madness it was me, wasn't it? Standing up, I grabbed my NerveGear helmet and held it close to me. I knew the stakes. Either I let my father continue on his quest to enslave all of Aincrad or put on the NerveGear and jump into the world of Sword Art Online, with no guaranteed survival and the possibility of letting down all of the players trapped inside. I looked at the helmet one more time and took a deep breath.
"I won't let him win. I won't let him get away with this. Even if it does nothing to help them, I have to try."
Connecting my NerveGear to my monitor, setting it on my head and laying down on my bed, I took one last look at the room I was raised in. One last look at the reality I was leaving behind. One last look at my life as I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply once again and spoke the words:
"Link Start!"