Sword Art Online: Faithful Hymn

Chapter 5: Awakening

Once Shoji has finally arrived at Kamura HQ, he practically throws his bike onto a hardened wall and heads indoors as soon as he can. He then runs towards the reception, where he announces his arrival. The receptionist looks at the young man with big eyes, expecting him to chill out.

Although Shoji is merciless, and who could possibly blame the young man for obtaining a living memory of his biggest loss in his life. After Shoji seemed to have calmed down a little, the receptionist speaks to him.

"I assume that you are Mister Sasaki? Mister Shigemura has already expected your arrival. Please, follow me upstairs." Without anything to say, Shoji follows the woman behind the front desk to wherever she is headed. Since Tetsuhiro has not told Shoji where he would be located the last time they met, that being one month ago, he has no clue where to start.

Luckily, the receptionist gained instructions from mister Tetsuhiro of what to do when a ruthless, young man were to enter the building. Just like last time Shoji came to see Tetsuhiro, he was still amazed about the design of the headquarters. It seemed so modern compared to surrounding buildings, that it would remind him of a modern mansion in the heart of Mexico.

Also, just like last time, Shoji wanted to use the stairs in order to get to his destination. However, the receptionist stopped him as soon as he could set foot on the first stair.

"No, that is not the way. The area we are going to enter is off-limits and inaccessible with the stairs. We must use the elevator to reach the destination." With that being said, Shoji really wondered how secured the area would be he is about to enter.

Once the two people take the elevator, he notices it goes all the way up and not all the way down, like he originally thought. The elevator eventually stopped moving, and the doors before Shoji opened, just like his view of the area. There is one hallway towards an open area in the distance, although he is still unable to clearly see what the open area is all about.

"I have no permission to go any further from here. Continue to move forward, and you will see mister Shigemura eventually. Good luck with the project!"

Shoji steps out of the elevator, and the unnamed receptionist pressed the button to go back to the first floor again. There is no turning back now, and turning back is the last thing he would want to do. There is nothing more than he desires than going forward, in order to be able to see Yuuna again.

The young man walks across the long hallway, his eyes meeting the morning sun shining through the glass far in front of him. When he eventually reached the end of the hallway, he could see Yuuna's father standing next to a machine, which Shoji would assume contains a huge capsule with the AI's body in it. Although Tetsuhiro is not alone. There are two other men in the room, still operating the device where the AI likely would be held. They didn't notice Shoji approaching, although Tetsuhiro did, who greets him with a great smile on his face.

"Ah, welcome Shoji, to the big reveal!", Tetsuhiro almost yells at the boy.

The two other men, most likely two developers, got their concentration destroyed by Tetsuhiro's shout and they both look at the young man. They both look at the boy with concerning eyes. After that, they both look with sharp eyes at Tetsuhiro.

"Sir, what in the world is this boy doing here? He could ruin the entire project by only being here!", says the blonde-haired developer.

"No fears gentlemen, he is part of the project.", says Tetsuhiro.

"We understand, but sir!, says the blonde-haired developer quite loudly.

"I said he's part of the project damn it!", yelled Tetsuhiro at the developer.