SAO Remastered (Closed for Lucian_Devine)

[Lucian_Devine]

Zeke waited patiently as Parsley ordered what she wanted, happy that she was feeling comfortable enough to order not one, but three appetizers. She didn't feel quite comfortable enough to order any alcohol, but the night was young, and it didn't mean that he couldn't order a bottle of wine for them.

When Parsley finished ordered her drinks, and the waitress turned to him, Zeke smiled up at her. "I think I'll get both as well, and to drink, I think I'll get a Coke and..." he lowered his gaze to the menu, looking over the wine selection while also considering what kind of steak he planned to have. "...and a bottle of red Zinfandel please."

"Alright, I'll put those appetizer orders in for you, and get your drinks for shortly." The waitress said with a nod and a smile to each of them after she wrote everything down. She then took a small step backwards before turning around and stepping out of the out of the booth's aura.

Zeke waited until the aura turned blue once more before turning towards Parsley. The smile was still on his face, but it was admittedly a bit forced because of what he was about to say. "As much as I would like to say that this night is purely about celebrating, and me searching you out was purely out of curiosity, I have to come clean about something, Parsley. I do and did have an ulterior motive, though it's hopefully not what you think." His smile faded as he let out heavy sigh, meeting her gaze with his light brown one. "You talked about what you planned to do when the other higher-level players moved on, but you didn't mention the boss fight itself. I was wondering whether or not you planned to join the boss fight, or if there was anything I could say or do to convince you to join in the battle, if you'd decided not to. There is a meeting tomorrow, in Tolbana, to strategize for the fight."

After he finished speaking, Zeke fell silent, but held Parsley's gaze as his words hung in the air between them. they both knew what was on the line, and what they were risking if they went to the boss fight. Yes, she could say no, likely would...but he'd never know if he didn't ask.

 

[Poprockz]

She stiffened at the mention of ulterior motives, her gaze becoming more guarded. Though when he revealed what he was truly after, she felt a sinking in her heart. It seemed as though something inside her she had feared this possibility- that he was seeking her for the boss fight. It was only natural that the higher level players would seek as many reinforcements as they could find to have a better chance against the boss.

"I..." Her lip trembled and she broke their eye-contact, a hand coming up to cover her mouth and rub her face in a troubled manner. There was silence for a moment as she composed herself, and then she lowered her hand to nervously fidget with the table's napkins.

"I can't." Parsley cleared her throat. "When I started helping with the raids, they offered gold, rewards, and gear to Ballista in the hopes of drawing me out, but I didn't take them. I didn't take them because I didn't want anyone to know who I was. I thought that if they knew, they might rely on me more than they already did. I'm... not a hero. I'm just some cashier that ended up in this game by chance. I don't want to risk it- I don't want to risk dying when I know they have to be working on some sort of technical fix on the outside. We just have to be patient and wait it out." There was desperation in her voice, as well as a profound fear. Her hands had started to tremble as she continued to fidget with the napkin.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Zeke saw Parsley stiffen up when he mentioned having an ulterior motive, and he saw the shift in her gaze immediately. In fact, he could almost feel the atmosphere in the tiny aura of the booth, and between them as a whole change. He heard her speak her first word, her lip trembling before she broke eye contact and covered her mouth with her napkin. His hand reflexively reached for her, but he caught himself quickly, not quickly enough to not be awkwardly hovering over his side of the booth for a couple of seconds before he pulled it back, but enough that she wouldn't likely have to flinch away from his touch.

As Parsley composed herself, the pair sat in silence, awkward and devastated silence. Zeke knew there was nothing he could say or do in this moment to make it any better though, given that he'd caused it. So he simply tried in vain to swallow the massive lump in his throat as he waited. Eventually, after he wasn't sure how long she lowered her hand from her mouth, to fidget with the table's napkins.

When Parsley was finally composed enough to speak, Zeke listened. He didn't cut her off or otherwise interrupt her. He just listened, and only when she was done, but still fidgeting with her napkin, did he finally speak. "Everything you are saying...everything you are feeling...makes perfect sense, and if I were in your position, with the information you have, I'd probably be saying the exact same thing."

Zeke still looked at Parsley, even though her gaze had dropped from his, and his hands clasped on the table. Yes, his profile was public, but people rarely looked at this particular part of it. "Hell...I was supposed to be in your position..." He continued slowly, his voice low as his eyes glazed over. He remembered the day like it was yesterday instead of almost a month ago. "I had the day off, had had it off ever since they announced the release date. I was waiting in line like everyone else, ignoring my phone, because nothing was going to stop me from getting this game and it's hardware. I was on my way home when I finally checked my messages. I'm an IT supervisor for a subsidiary for a major car company. The whole system went down, and our bank was going down. If the bank hits 0, the customer has nothing to make their cars with, and they are shut down on our account, and according to our joint contract, they charge us for every minute. It wasn't my problem, but they offered me double time to come in, then triple time. I got them up to triple time and a week of PTO before I finally agreed to go in. I figured one day wouldn't make that much difference, but by the time I solved the system issue and got home, the word was out about the game and it's deadly patch."

A big lump was forming in Zeke's throat, but he forced himself to swallow despite it. "They pulled the game off the shelves of course, and there were massive recalls, massive news covered tracking streamers and the first floor progress, but there was no good way to reach the people who'd already purchased a copy. I watched the news coverage, saw the floor, and figured out the sequence to trigger the boss spawn. I've always been pretty good at puzzles. There was just so many of you, and one person entering the wrong tower in the wrong tower would reset the whole puzzle. The bigger problem though, was that you were all stuck inside, with no way for me to help you. I watched the news for progress, over two-hundred dead the first day, over five-hundred the first week...After two weeks, I couldn't take it anymore." His hands slowly unclasped and reached across the table to wrap around hers. "My sister is a nurse. So I knew that she'd know how to take care of my body, or when to take me to a hospital. We grew up in an abusive household, so I knew that she'd understand why I felt I had to help if I could. I told the pattern to everybody I helped and traded with as I leveled up, hoping that the information would make it to the higher level players, and eventually it did. I doubt I'm strong enough to participate, but I'll be going to the meeting all the same."

 

[Poprockz]

Her brows furrowed in confusion at his first statement. It didn't make sense why he was talking as though the two of them were different in that regard.

As he continued though, the realization of what he was implying slowly dawned on her. Her eyes became wide in disbelief. No... it couldn't be...! Her hand came up slowly and she toggled his profile, checking his login date. It was two weeks after the release of the game. As crazy as his claim was, there was no way he could fudge the numbers on that. This man had actually volunteered to enter the death game. No one hired him. No one forced him. He had simply donned the gear with full awareness of the situation and put his own life at risk.

She didn't pull away from him, but it was hard to think of what to say. All she could utter for the moment was a question.

"But... they were working on helping us out, right? They have IT and tech people looking into it, right?" Her words were spoken as though she feared what his answer might be.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Zeke saw the realization dawn on Parsley's face as he spoke, and he made no attempt to hold her hand back when she lifted it to open the menu and do as he'd said, toggle his profile to check his login date. They all shared the same date, but he knew that his would be different, by a noticeable bit. Her first question, when it came, was an understandable one, but sadly, the answer he had for her, was not the one she wanted.

This time, it was Zeke's turn to break eye contact, his gaze lowering from Parsley's as his bottom lip found it's way between his teeth. He'd expected this question, practiced the answer, but that didn't make actually saying it any easier, especially after his hands reflexively tightened on her remaining hand within his.

"Yes...they are..." Zeke started at last, finally lifting his light brown gaze back to Parsley's. "...but...with a game this big, he briefly tore his gaze from her to look around them before returning it to hers once more, and an unexpected patch, they have to pour through every line of code...one by one...to find the one or ones that Kayaba altered delete the altered code. What's worse, is that they have to do it without one of their lead programmers, since he's naturally not helping." He paused there, inhaling deep and letting out a heavy sigh before speaking again. The real problem though, is that after they've done that, and even if they are sure that everything is perfect, they aren't sure that they can implement the update patch with the server running. They'd have to shut it down to patch the game, and if they shut it down with the server active and the current patch live...all of you...I mean us...die. Even if they thought they found a work around, I don't know if they'd risk it with so many lives on the line. I mean, this is Kayaba we're talking about. If he anticipated their move, and they try it..." He couldn't finish his sentence. He just slowly shook his head.

Thankfully though, Zeke didn't have to finish that sentence, because the waitress arrived at that exact moment with their appetizers and drinks. He pulled his hands back from Parsley's hand as the aura turned green, looking up at the woman and forcing a smile to his face as she set everything down. He thanked her with as much politeness as he could force at that moment, especially when he saw that she'd brought them two wine glasses. When the woman asked if the two were ready to order, he told her they'd need a minute, figuring that that was either true, or that they wouldn't be staying, depending on Parsley. He then waited for the woman to leave, the aura to turn blue, and he happily popped the cork on the bottle of wine, thankful that it was chilled without him having to ask for it.

"Now, with all that said..."Zeke started as he poured himself a full glass of wine and started to pour Parsley a full glass of wine as well. "I could use a drink. How about you, Parsley?" He continued, holding his in his right hand, and offering her full glass to her in his left.

 

[Poprockz]

The full glass of wine was accepted and lifted to her lips, the glass tipped up as she drank one gulp, two, three... soon the glass was drained and set back down on the table with a dull clink. She didn't truly taste it, but for the fruity, bitter aftertaste on her tongue. Normally she wouldn't have indulged at all, but she was feeling particularly in need of comfort after what he had revealed to her.

"Yes, thank you." She mumbled.

There was something to be said for keeping one's head down, keeping constant vigilance, and ensuring survival until the fated day of rescue came, but now she knew that the day was not coming. They were all trapped there indefinitely while their real bodies became feeble from lack of use. It was akin to being told that one had a terminal illness, the woman practically feeling the limited time of her life pressing down on her.

He could be lying, of course. But why would he? The fact that it had been a month with no change from the outside supported his claims.

As she looked down at her appetizers, she wondered how many meals like this she would have until a giant crushed her under its club, or a tree spirit speared her through the chest? Once again she felt tears well up in her eyes, and despite her best efforts, they started to trickle down. They were immediately wiped away as she tried to control herself.

“Sorry,” she said quietly, looking toward the inner part of the booth to avoid people giving them funny looks. It would be awkward for him if people thought he made her cry or something. “I uh, I’ll be okay, just give me a minute and I’ll be fine.”