Alicization: Steel and Lycoris

Project ALICE

July 5th, 2026, Ocean Turtle

"Kazuto…" I sit in a chair in the STL room besides the machine Kazuto is currently full-diving in. It's been a week since we set him up here, a long, quiet week with little to no change in his status. A long week of me cursing myself by not only feeling responsible for Kazuto's condition, but also for deceiving my friends.

I know by now they know Kazuto is not at any hospital as Kikuoka promised, and I bet they've tried looking for him too. Since no one truly knows about my presence here, I've been able to play dumb on Kikuoka's intentions and Kazuto's whereabouts, even though the idea was mine (or at least that's what I think). I haven't had contact with the gang since Thursday, so I do not know how far they've come.

But I know them well. We've solved mysteries before, they'll somehow find the Ocean Turtle.

Meanwhile, I've been keeping records of Kirito's progress in the Underworld. In the last few days, he's progressed two years in the Underworld. He was dropped by a village called Rulid, in the northernmost point of the world. With a friend he made the journey to the capital, and is currently enrolled in an academy that teaches swordplay. Thinking about that makes me quite nostalgic and slightly jealous.

"Oh, Mr. Hardin." I turn around to a tall, slender, kind faced woman who is Kazuto's nurse, Ali Natsuki. She was also his nurse during the SAO and GGO incidents. She smiles at me as she checks Kazuto's vitals. "I hear that, along with the fifth STL that's to be installed upstairs, we got a new arrival just a few minutes. Two, actually. They're meeting with the lieutenant colonel and Mr. Higa now."

"Very well. Thank you, Nurse Aki." I stand up and walk out the bay towards the control room, wanting to meet our new arrivals. If I remember, Dr. Rinko Kojiro, who worked with Akihiko Kayaba on Sword Art Online, is supposed to be coming. But who is the second-

"Where's Kirito?" ...Well, she finally got here. That angry voice belongs to the one and only Asuna Yuuki. I guess she got a ride along with Dr. Kojiro, but I can't wait to hear the details on how that happened.

"What'd I tell you? That kid's this project's biggest security hole."

"Yes, you were right. But you should tell him that too. He agreed."

"Is Kirito safe? Were you lying when you said you could treat him? Please answer me, Mr. Kikuoka!"

"To answer your first question, Kazuto is safe." I make my way fully up the stairs and reveal myself. Making my way to Kikuoka's side, I look away from my friend to the true guest of honor. "Nice to finally meet you, Dr. Kojiro. My name is Joshua Hardin, and I'm here representing my family at RoboTelligence assisting Rath in this endeavor."

Asuna is quite bewildered by my appearance. "J-Joshua? You're here?"

"And the reason Kirito is here."

"What?"

Kikuoka explains. "Because of the attack by the fugitive from the Death Gun incident, Kirito's brain sustained damage that modern medicine is unable to heal. However, Rath is the only place in the world that has the technology to treat him. I'm sure you've heard of it. The STL… The Soul Translator. If we use the STL to directly stimulate his Fluctlight, we can induce the generation of a new neural network. But it takes time. Right now, Kirito is inside a full-spec STL, which can only be found here. The treatment he's getting rivals that of any major hospital. He even has his own personal nurse."