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Several of the Integrity Knights, including Alice, had already broken a taboo before. I knew that because it was how they’d been brought before the Axiom Church and given the Synthesis Ritual.
But in Alice’s case, there had been no splitting pain in her right eye when she committed the crime of trespassing into the Dark Territory eight years ago—at least, nothing compared to Eugeo’s. According to him, Alice crossed the boundary line without even realizing it. In other words, at the moment of the violation, her mind had no conscious understanding or intent to break that taboo.
Most likely, the mental barrier she was suffering was a reaction to intentionally trying to break a taboo. The instant she got the idea, the pain in her eye started, followed by the SYSTEM ALERT warning, to instill fear of the taboo. As obedient as the Underworldians already were by nature, this magic-seeming mental block had to be sufficient to keep them almost perfectly subservient.
However, if the mental barrier was the work of Rath’s employees, that created one very significant paradox. The purpose of the Underworld test was, I suspected, to create artificial fluctlights that could break rules—or more accurately, that could judge a constructed morality system for themselves. If you had an Underworldian close to a breakthrough, what would be the point of a crude, violent mental block that forces them backward?
Wouldn’t that mean whoever constructed this alert system was intentionally delaying the success of the experiment? Who would such a person be, and what was the point?
I briefly considered the replicated persona of Heathcliff, Akihiko Kayaba, but cast that aside. He wished for the creation of a true alternate world, so he wouldn’t interfere with the evolution of the artificial fluctlights. And this sort of forceful handiwork wasn’t his style. Perhaps it was some kind of group or individual hostile to Rath, performing sabotage.
If Seijirou Kikuoka was running Rath as an SDF officer, I could imagine any number of hostile forces. There could be some other internal group opposed to Kikuoka’s project, a major military company trying to maintain a stranglehold on the defense industry, perhaps even some foreign weapons manufacturer or intelligence agency.
But if such powerful forces were involved in sabotaging Rath, would they really go to these subtle and particular lengths? If they had enough power to install a sabotage routine in the artificial fluctlights, surely it would be easier just to destroy the lightcube cluster itself and be done with it?
In other words, the intention of this mystery saboteur was merely to delay the project, not shut it down entirely. Were they waiting for something to happen? Some massive counterproject that required plenty of time to prepare? Perhaps…
The theft of the complete experiment results, including the lightcube cluster. A chill ran through my hands as they held Alice, who suddenly wailed, “How cruel…”
I came back to my senses and glanced at her. Those graceful eyebrows were twisted in pain, little droplets sat at the corners of her eyes, and she’d bitten her lip so hard, it was bleeding.
That lip trembled, the skin pale, as she continued, “How cruel…to have…not just my memories…but even my mind manipulated…by someone else…” Her hands on my shoulders trembled, out of either sadness or anger. “Was it…the pontifex…who burned this red sacred script…into my eyes…?”
“No…I don’t think it was,” I admitted on the spot. “It’s one of the powers who created this world and observes it from the outside…One of the gods that don’t appear in your creation story.”
“…Gods.” Clear drops fell from her eyes without a sound. “We knights engage in endless battle to protect the world the gods created…and yet, they do not have faith in us? They take my memories of family away, then place this terrible hex on me…to force my servitude…”
Alice lived her life as a holy knight—I couldn’t imagine how much shock, disbelief, and despair she must have been feeling. As I watched, my breath caught in my lungs as Alice’s eyes bolted open.
The letters running across her right iris were still a brilliant red. But she stared right through the message into the sky—at the pale moon floating between the heavy clouds.
“I am not a puppet!” she announced, her voice clear and strong, if ragged around the edges. “Perhaps I was constructed. But I still have a will! I wish to protect this world…and the people in it! I wish to protect my parents! My sister! That is my primary duty!!”
With a high-pitched metallic whine, the letters on her eye glowed brighter. The rotating bar code around the edge of her iris sped up.
“Alice!” I cried, sensing what was about to happen.
Without looking back at me, she whispered, “Kirito…hold me down firmly.”
“…Right.”
There was nothing else I could do. I let go of Alice’s face and moved my grip to her armored shoulders. Through the golden plate, I squeezed her tight as she trembled.
She gestured up to the sky, long golden hair waving, and sucked in a deep breath.
“Administrator…and you unnamed gods! For the sake of my mission…I swear to oppose you!!”
Her declaration of independence rang out, crisp and clear.
Barely a moment after the words left her mouth, the red glow in Alice’s right eye surged into a burst of flame.
A spray of hot blood moistened my cheek.