The neighboring room that was isolated by the thick glass wall had two giant rectangular objects that were nearly reaching the ceiling at the top. The outside was aluminum that was not dyed, and the dark grey silver glow gave it a much more mechanical feel. It was several times larger than the high-tech machine Medi-Cuboid that was used for medical treatment, let alone the Nerve Gear.
Of course, the logo of the manufacturer was there, just the simple English words «Soul Translator» on the side and the large number on the top. The machine on the left side had the number 4, while the right one had 5. I finally get to see the real «Soul Translator» Rinko stared at it for more than 10 seconds, frowned and muttered,
“4...this is the 4th machine...right, then the 5th machine there...?”
The numbers could only be explained in such a way, but the clean room on the other side of the glass wall had no such machines here. She tilted her head slightly and heard the soft explanation from the right side.
“Experimental model 1 is in the main office in Roppongi and is connected to the satellite. Models 2 and 3 are in the Ocean Turtle, but as you can see with the machines here, they're placed in the lower shafts. To put it...these latest models 4 and 5 could not be kept there due to a lack of space and were sent out of the upper shafts, I should say.”
The one who spoke was the one who brought Rinko and Asuna over. It was not Kikuoka, Higa nor Lieutenant Naganishi, nor was it a man this time. The pure white uniform covered the long and slender body, her footwear was low-heeled slippers, and her head had a nurse's cap—a female guardian.
For some inexplicable reasons, she wondered why there would be a guardian here in such a place, but after considering that this place was such a large ship, there would be a medical crew, and there would be such staff here.
The nurse had hair that was tied in three layers of braids and was wearing rimless glasses. The tablet terminal in her hand was quickly tapped and showed to Rinko. What was shown should be the layout map of the Ocean Turtle. She used her fingertip that had nice trimmed fingernails to draw on the large ship.
“The central area of the pyramid has a stabilizing pipe that's 20m in diameter and 100m tall called the «Main Shaft». This is the pillar that supports every floor in this ship and also the layer that protects important facilities. The insides are all the Control Systems of the ship itself, the backbone of the Alicization plan...the place where the 4 STLs and the main frame «Light Cube Cluster» is.”
“Fuun...that's for the upper area, right? Then what about the lower areas?”
“It's a construct that's divided into top and bottom at the central area. The middle is a wall-like titanium compartment. What's above it is the upper shaft, while the bottom is the lower shaft. Right now, we're at the «Second Control Room» in the upper shaft. The staff calls it the «Sub-Con».”
“I see. So the first place we were brought to, the First Control room in the lower shaft is the «Main-Con», right?”
“That's an outstanding answer, Professor Koujiro.”
Rinko gave a wry smile to the nurse who smiled as she said that, and turned to the left.
The girl who was standing there silently—Yuuki Asuna had her hands leaning on the glass wall, watching the 4th machine on the other side intently. To be precise, it was a certain boy who was lying on a bed and attached to that 4th machine.
There were many monitor electrodes attached under the white patient gown, and there was a micro-injector attached to the left arm. The area above the shoulders were all covered by the STL and could not be seen, but Asuna realized that he was the Kirigaya Kazuto she had been looking for.
Asuna continued to stare at Kirito without noticing Rinko's stare, and her long eyebrows finally closed slightly as she whispered something silently. Tears welled up in her eyes, and swayed aside before it landed.
Rinko really wanted to comfort Asuna who was in such a state, and right before her—
“It's alright, Asuna-san. Kirigaya-kun will definitely come back.”
The nurse with glasses said that with a slightly surprised tone. She walked beside Asuna, taking over Rinko who took a step back, and reached her hand out to the girl's shoulders. However, Asuna turned her body suddenly as if to dodge them and used her fingertips to wipe away her tears, answering with a taunting tone for some reason,
“Of course. But...why are you here, Aki-san?”
“Eh...? Both of you know each other?”
Rinko asked in a very puzzled manner, and Asuna nodded slightly,
“Un. This Aki-san here is a nurse working at the Chiyoda Hospital. As for why this person is at the waters off Izu Islands, I don't know.”
“Of course, I'm here to take care of Kirigaya-kun.”
“Then, what's your occupation? Or is it like Kikuoka-san? Are you also disguised as a nurse?”
The nurse called Aki never showed any signs of fear as she took Asuna's intense stare, and showed slight smile as she gently put down her shoulders.
“How can that be? I'm not like that oji-sama, I'm a real nurse. I do have national qualifications too. However, the school I graduated from was the «Tokyo Self-Defense Senior Nurse Academy».”
“...I can believe it somewhat.”
Asuna nodded somewhat, and Rinko continued without any care.
“Well, I don't understand at all...who is this Aki-san in the end?”
“A real nurse, I suppose, but that's not all.”
Asuna turned to face Rinko again and said fluently,
“If she's a nurse who graduated from the Nursing Academy that's affiliated to the Self-Defense Forces, she technically should be working in the Self-Defense Forces' Hospital. However, Aki-san was a nurse at the Chiyoda Hospital during the SAO incident, which means that this was Kikuoka-san doing...am I right?”
“That's an outstanding answer, Asuna-san.”
Nurse Aki repeated what she said to Rinko as she smiled. Asuna continued to stare at the tall and skinny nurse before quipping,
“Also, there's also one more thing. I read through the data that those who enroll in Self-Defense Forces' Nursing Academy would be treated the same as recruits entering the army under the academy's promotion guidance. In that case, Aki-san is a nurse and also...”
Don't tell everyone. Nurse Aki said as she used her right hand to cover Asuna's mouth. She raised her hand to her head, bsh, got into a standard salute—
“PETTY OFFICER SECOND CLASS AKI NATSUMI! I SHALL PERSONALLY TAKE CARE OF KIRIGAYA-KUN'S LIFE!...there.”
The nurse and Self-Defense Officer gave a final decisive wink, and Asuna stared at her face in a half-doubtful manner before sighing and lowering her head slightly, saying,
“Please take care of me.”
She then again turned to look at the 4th STL machine that was separated from her by the glass wall, giving a strong yearning look at the boy that was lying on the gel bed that was 3m long,
“...You definitely must come back, Kirito-kun.”
She muttered as each tear dripped, and Nurse Aki nodded heavily, this time putting her left hand on Asuna's shoulders.
“Of course. Even if this is the case, Kirito-kun's Fluctlight is actively working in the treatment process. The neural network has successfully regrown, and he should soon wake up. Also...that boy is the «hero» who cleared SAO, right?”
These words left a sharp pain in Rinko's chest. She took a deep breath, swallowed it, stood beside Asuna and stared at the large machine through the glass.
8pm.
Rinko lifted her head from the watch in her left hand and raised her right hand in a determined manner as she pressed on the metallic button that had the 'call' word engraved on it. Several seconds later, the speaker installed beside the door gave a simple answer,
“...Yes.”
“It's me, Koujiro. Can I say some things to you for a moment?”
“Of course, I'm opening the door now.”
As the voice rang, the internal phone panel's indicator changed from red
to green, and with the sound of a motor, the door slid open.
Rinko entered the room, and Asuna, who was standing beside the bed, nodded slightly as she controlled the master control remote in her right hand. The door behind her shut, and a small locking sound could be heard.
The cabin was of a completely identical design to Rinko's room that was opposite the passageway. The space that was of 6 tatamis was formed by off-white resin, and there were only a fixed bed, and table, a sofa and a small terminal that could access the ship's network. Lieutenant Naganishi, who led both of them here, said 'this is a first class cabin'. Rinko could not help but imagine the luxurious passenger cabin of those cruisers, but it seemed that a personal room equipped with a personal bathroom was already a first class room.
However, Asuna's room was different from Rinko's room as there was a long and narrow window on the other side of the bed. In other words, this would be the outermost area of the Ocean Turtle, the area that was linked to the generator panel level. She deliberately took the elevator up to enjoy the beautiful ocean sunset from the window, but right now, only a pitch black darkness spread around, and unfortunately, the cloudy sky meant that stars could not be seen at all.
“Please do as you please. I don't mind.”
Asuna said. Rinko placed the plastic-bottle of Oolong Tea she bought from the vending machine at the corner of the elevator onto the table before sitting down on the hard sofa. 'Hold on' she uttered accidentally before shutting up immediately. She herself was still young, but after seeing Asuna's glamorous beauty in a T-shirt and short pants, she finally realized that her voice was nearly 30 years old.
“Drink if you want to.”
Asuna took up a bottle as she smiled and lowered her head,
“Thank you very much. I was just feeling thirsty.”
“Have you tried the dispenser's water?”
Asuna gave a teasing smile as she heard that and rolled her eyes.
“The canal waters in Tokyo might taste better.”
“Well, it seems to be purified seawater. I suppose there won't be any trihalomethanes mixed in. Unexpectedly, it might be more nutritious than the desalinated water those companies sell.”
She took off the cap of the Oolong Tea and took a large gulp of the icy cold liquid. She really wanted to drink beer, but gave up as she would have to head to the cafeteria in the lower shaft to buy it.
Exhaling hard, Rinko stared at Asuna again.
“...It's a pity that you couldn't see Kirigaya-kun.”
“But I feel really motivated for some reason, so happy that I was dreaming.”
Asuna smiled, and one could see that the threads of anxiety that were clinging on her had snapped.
“Such a troublesome boyfriend; suddenly disappearing to the middle of a Southern sea like this. You better leash him up with a rope around his neck.”
Asuna kept her smile once she realized that it was seen, and lowered her head deeply.
“I really, really want to thank you, Koujiro-sensei, for accepting such an unreasonable request...I really don't know how to thank you.”
“No need for that. Just call me Rinko...also, this alone has not lightened my guilt to you and Kirigaya-kun at all.”
Rinko shook her head, made up her mind, and continued to stare at Asuna,
“...I have something I have to say to you. Un, it's not just to you...but also to all the players of the old SAO...”
“...”
Rinko tried her best to accept this as she continued to stare at Asuna's eyes. She took a large deep breath and exhaled it, removing two buttons on her cotton shirt. She opened her collar out wide, took out a thin silver necklace, showing a scar slightly to the left of her sternum.
“Do you know anything...regarding this scar...?”
Asuna continued to stare right above Rinko's heart, and finally nodded slightly in agreement.
“Yes. That is the place the long-distanced micro-bomb was buried into. So sensei...Rinko-san was threatened by the Guild Leader...Kayaba Akihiko for two years.”
“That's right...I was forced to take part in that terrifying plan and take care of that person's body as he dived in for a long time...—to the world, that would be the case. That was why I wasn't sued, my name was not disclosed, and I escaped to America on my own...”
Rinko put her shirt and her necklace back on and continued to try her best as she said,
“But that's not the truth. It's true that the bomb was taken out at the police hospital, and there was a chance of it being triggered, but I knew that it would definitely not explode—it was just a cover. Once the incident ended, I never pursued matters further as the fake weapon that person buried was the only gift he gave to me.
Even after hearing that, Asuna's expression never showed any change. The pure, clear eyes that seemed as if they could see through her inner heart continued to stare at Rinko intently.
“—Kayaba-kun and I started dating during the year I entered university, and including the time we spent in our further studies, we were lovers for 6 years...but I was the only one who thought that way. I am definitely older than you, but I'm far more stupid than you since I could not see Kayaba-kun's heart at all. What he wanted was simply one thing, and I didn't detect it at all.”
As she looked out at the vast endless ocean in the night, Rinko started talking about the 4 years-worth of words she wanted to say little by little. She unexpectedly said the name which would normally cause a sharp pain in her head the moment she started thinking about it successfully.
During the time she enrolled in the famous Industrial University in Japan, Kayaba Akihiko was already the head of the 3rd developing branch in Argus Corporation. Kayaba signed a licensed agreement in high school as a game programmer, and Argus rose from a weak 3rd rate maker to a top game maker worldwide, so it was not inexplicable for him to be granted a management position after he entered university.
It was said that Kayaba had an annual salary of more than 100 million when he was 18, and after including the license fees, it would reach a shocking level. Naturally, numerous girls in the campus approached him in all sorts of ways, but there were many who backed away after receiving his colder-than-ice stares as he was completely uninterested.
Therefore, Rinko could not understand why Kayaba never rejected her, a year younger and not outstanding. Perhaps it was because she had never heard of him before that? Maybe it was because she had such a sharp brain that she was allowed to enter and exit the Shigemura lab? One thing that was certain was that he was not attracted by her looks.
The first impression Rinko had of Kayaba when she hugged him was that he was a malnourished beansprout. The usual pale face, the crumpled white clothes on him, the inspection device that was always on him like a necessity; she remembered the incidents clearly as if it was yesterday, about how he dragged her to Shounan on a rented light car.
“If you don't occasionally come out to sunbathe, the idea of coming out will not appear!”
Rinko told him off in a completely unexpected manner, and Kayaba, who was in the passenger seat, looked surprised as he stared back. Eventually after some time, you will not think of sensing the emulation of natural light on your skin. he finally said, causing Rinko to be thoroughly shocked.
A while later, she realized the other side to the fame that came to the young Kayaba; so one could say that there was no effective way to change him socially. He was always a malnourished beansprout, and whenever she went to his room, she would chide him and make him eat some of her native cuisines.
That person never rejected me. Maybe he was trying to ask me for help, but I didn't realize it, perhaps? Rinko asked herself that for god knows how many times, but she never got an answer. The man Kayaba Akihiko never relied on anyone other than himself until the end. He wanted only one thing, «a world that was not here», he wanted to head toward a door that was forbidden to humans who were not gods.
Many times, Kayaba had talked about the giant castle floating in
mid-air that appeared in his dreams. That castle was made of multiple levels, and each level had streets, forests and grasslands reaching out throughout the place. One would have to use the long stairs at the side, and the sky had a dreamlike beautiful palace—
“Is there anyone there?”
The moment Rinko asked this, Kayaba smiled and answered, I don't know.
—When I was very young, I always dreamed of heading to that castle every night. Every night, I would climb up the steps one by one and head towards the sky. But one certain day, I couldn't reach that castle again in my dream. I almost forgot that useless dream.
However, the day after Rinko handed in her Bachelor's Thesis, he went on a trip to the castle in the sky and never came back. He merely used his hands to turn the floating castle into reality, took 10,000 players away, and left Rinko alone on the ground—
“I knew about the SAO incident through the news and saw Kayaba-kun's name and photo. I could not believe it, but once I took the car to his mansion, I realized that it was true when I saw many patrol cars parked there.”
Rinko felt the slight aching in her voice that hadn't happened for a long time, and continued on in an interrupted manner,
“That person never said a single word to me until the end. It was the same when he started his journey. He never sent a single mail to me. Un...I was really a big idiot. I helped in the basic design of the Nerve Gear as well, and I knew that he was making games in Argus. However, I never detected what he was thinking of at all...when Kayaba-kun disappeared without a trace, I ran around Japan looking for him. I managed to think of it successfully. It was something weird I thought about; in the past, there was a marker in the mountains of Nagano in his car navigation log. My instincts told me that it was there. If I had told the police about that place, the SAO incident might have headed down a different path...”
Perhaps if the police had entered that mountain villa, Kayaba might have killed all the players like he had declared. However, he himself said that he wouldn't allow it. Rinko thought.
Sword Art Online - Volume 10 - Alicization Running Page 9