Sword Art Online: Faithful Hymn

Chapter 35: Friends and Foes

Man with a mission. That would be my title right now, if anyone would ask for it. Kazuto and Asuna both are right. If there would be an explanation for Yuna's strange behavior towards me, as well as ditching me at the most random moments, answers would lie within the place where she got created in the first place. Whether Tetsuhiro has designed her this way, I don't know. What I do know however, is that I'm going to revert any changes that have been made to her system.

And if it has nothing to do with malfunctions within her system, thus it being personal, then I could have other tricks up my sleeve.

March 21th, around 09:00 PM

I now stand in front of Kamura HQ. It's the place where Yuna got created, as well as the Augma. With its huge release tomorrow, I expect the majority of the people to be in the rooms where the Augma gets developed, already working on bug fixes and improvements. That is why today would be the perfect day to take a look at the place where Yuna got created, hoping that I will find answers regarding her strange behavior towards me.

The next thing that comes to mind, is that I have no choice but to head inside through the main door. I head for the main door, that automatically opens when someone gets near the entrance. I step through, quickly looking around me. I don't want to raise any suspicion or anything, but I just can't help it but to stay more 'alert' to a few things. If I indeed believe Kazuto regarding the fact that plenty of huge developers may not be what they seem like, chances are that Tetsuhiro knows I may come, thus hiding all evidence towards Yuna's intended malfunctions.

"Excuse me sir, is your name Shoji by any chance?" asks a woman behind the counter. I walk towards the woman since there is no reason to run away from the upcoming conversation. "That's right madam." I tell her back. Not much after I gave her confirmation about my name, the woman looks strict, knowing what she has to say in response.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but today is a restricted evening for people who have come to the special Augma Presentation. Access to the HQ is restricted unless you have signed up before." says the woman. It disgusts me to hear it, although it is also understandable that no other floors can be accessed. Guards and employees have to attend the presentation as well, to ensure that nothing can possibly go wrong. The woman points towards the exit, telling me that I have to leave. I obey, because what else could I possibly end up doing in this situation? Ignore her, and take the elevator upstairs? That would only get me into prison.

While I walk outside, I can see other people enter the building without any sort of problem. They also don't get told that only people who participated for the Augma Presentation may enter. Also, the woman knew my name, while I have never seen her before. This means that someone told her about my expected arrival.

Now I'm certain of it. Tetsuhiro knows that I may have trouble with something regarding Yuna, and he wants to prevent me from entering Kamura HQ. It would be too late to return home, disguise myself as someone else and return to the HQ, so that option can be crossed out. As far as I could tell, there is no security, nor are there cameras hanging around the ground floor.

In summary: There is no way for me to get to the elevators without being seen. Trying to sneak inside won't be an option either, with the woman behind the counter being on watch over a very open and wide ground floor. However, if I still want to get inside of the building with access to the upper floor, then I will need help from a third party. I simply can't do this on my own, and I can not really rely on Yuna's help either, knowing that she is gone the entire day this time around.