Sword Art Online - Volume 13

212 Pages·2017·14.1 MB·English

INTERLUDE IV
JULY 6TH, 2026
The floating science facility Ocean Turtle, a mammoth structure
nearly a quarter mile long and over an eighth of a mile wide, con-
sisted of twelve decks, also known as levels.
By comparison, the world’s largest cruise ship, Oasis of the
Seas, was smaller and had eighteen decks—so there was an air of
even greater luxury on the Ocean Turtle. However, given that its
purpose was not leisure but oceanic scientific research, it made
sense that the various observational and analytical devices would
need extra room. Asuna certainly wasn’t going to complain about
having more space overhead.
The first deck under the waterline was the float deck; the sec-
ond, just above it, was the mechanical deck; and decks three
through eight were dedicated to various types of research: marine
biology, deep-sea resources, plate structure, and so on. The ninth
and tenth decks were for cabins; the eleventh was for recreation:
sporting lounges, gyms, and a pool; and the twelfth and top deck
contained radars, antennas, and observation points.
Officially, the Ocean Turtlebelonged to JAMSTEC, the Japan
Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, but that was
only half the truth. As the craft was propelled by a domestically
produced nuclear power reactor, it had to be constructed with the
help of the Self-Defense Force, and it continued to be manned by
SDF soldiers at all times for security now that it was operational.
Beyond that, the composite titanium-alloy pillar that ran
through the center of the ship—the Main Shaft—was completely
under SDF jurisdiction, where they conducted top-secret research
that had nothing to do with marine science. They were replicating
newborn souls and growing them within a virtual environment in
an attempt to build the world’s first true bottom-up artificial in-
telligence: Project Alicization.
7:45 AM, Monday, July 6th, 2026.
After paying a visit to Kazuto Kirigaya (Kirito) in the medical
area of the Upper Shaft, where he was still recuperating, Asuna
Yuuki took breakfast in the eleventh-deck lounge with Dr. Rinko
Koujiro, an expert researcher on full-dive technology.
It wasn’t a luxury cruise liner, but the buffet-style food was ac-
tually pretty good—not that Asuna was going to complain about
that or her cabin, given that Lieutenant Colonel Seijirou Kikuoka
could snap his fingers and have her sent to the brig, if the facility
indeed had such a thing.
Across from her, Rinko stuck her knife through a white fish
fritter and held it up to examine the meat. “Do you suppose they
caught this fish here?”
“I…I don’t know…,” Asuna said, looking at the same thing on
her plate. She brought a piece up to her mouth. The pale fish was
soft and crumbly, yet had a juicy texture. It was obviously very
fresh, but she didn’t know whether you could simply toss a reel
out in the open ocean like this and catch something.
Asuna put down her knife and picked up her glass of iced tea
as she turned her gaze to the window on her left. The calm ocean
surface was dark and flat, revealing no fishing craft, much less
any actual fish.
Thinking about it, all she knew was that the Ocean Turtlewas
located somewhere in the Izu Islands, which were widely spaced