Please answer me, Yuuki.
Asuna-san...
Siune!
What's Yuuki doing?
She hasn't logged in for three days!
Since then, we've been unable to reach her, either.
Asuna-san,
I believe Yuuki doesn't want to see you again.
For your sake, and no one else's.
Wh-Why?
No, I understood, actually.
You were all trying to keep your distance from me.
If I'm a bother to you, I'll leave you alone.
But if you say it's for my sake, I can't accept it!
A bother?
We're really happy to have met you.
It's thanks to you
that we were able to have that last wonderful memory in this world.
I'm sure Yuuki feels the same way.
But... Please...
Just forget about us.
Is this really goodbye?
Even if the guild disbanded, I thought we could stay friends forever.
But was I the only one who thought that?
I'm sorry.
Wait!
Journey's End
Asuna!
Good morning...
Good morning!
Morning.
We finally caught you!
Tell us about that message you sent!
I heard from Liz that you entered a guild?
Hey, hey, what's it like?
Well...
Ah, sorry...
Kirigaya Kazuto
Yui, how's it look?
Can you see me?
My vision's a little blurry, Daddy.
Maybe the autofocus isn't working right.
Wait a second.
Okay, Daddy.
Hey.
Do you really want to see Zekken, no matter what?
Yeah.
They said it was better that you don't, right?
Even so?
Yeah.
Even so, I want to see Yuuki and talk to her again, no matter what.
I have to!
Okay.
If you go here, you may be able to see her.
It's just a possibility.
How do you know this?
It's the only place in Japan that's doing clinical trials for the Medicuboid.
—hama Port, Northern General Hospital
The Medicuboid?
Um...
You're here to see someone?
Yes.
But I don't know her name.
I'm sorry?
I think it's a girl around fifteen.
Her name might be "Yuuki."
That isn't enough...
Um, I think they're using the Medicuboid you're testing here!
I'm sorry, but what's your name?
Ah, I'm Yuuki Asuna.
Sit on that bench, and wait for a minute.
O-Okay.
Hello, I'm sorry to keep you waiting.
N-Not at all.
So you're Yuuki Asuna-san, yes?
Yes.
My name is Kurahashi.
I'm Konno Yuuki-san's doctor.
Konno-san?
I'm amazed you found this place.
Yuuki-kun said that someone
named Asuna-san might come to see her.
Yuuki did?
But she said she didn't tell you about the hospital.
So I told her there was no way you'd find this place, but...
When the front desk called me, I was surprised.
Um... Did Yuuki-san tell you about me?
Sure.
All she does is talk about you.
But whenever she was done talking about you, she would cry.
She never complains about her own situation.
She said she wanted to see you, but she couldn't.
After we said goodbye in the virtual world,
Yuuki-san and her friends told me the same thing.
Why? Why can't I see her?
I suppose I should begin by telling you about the Medicuboid.
Okay.
The Medicuboid is something
that's currently being developed by the national government.
It's the code name for the world's first medical full-dive system.
Medical full-dive system?
That's right.
For people with vision or hearing problems,
that machine is truly a blessing.
Because the Amusphere transmits sound and images directly to the brain.
It isn't only signal transmission, either.
The Amusphere also has sensation-cancelers.
By sending an electromagnetic pulse here,
it can temporarily paralyze the nerves.
In other words, it functions just like general anesthesia.
But isn't that impossible?
The sensory levels you can interact with via Amusphere
are limited to very low levels.
That's right!
That's exactly right.
The Amusphere... No, even the NerveGear
can't cancel the pain from surgery or serious illnesses.
So the Medicuboid enhances the electromagnetic pulse's output,
and by fitting it on a specialized bed, we can cover everything
from the brain to the entire spinal column.
If this is put into use, it will change medicine forever.
And with the Medicuboid's specs,
you could combine it with a camera to allow
AR-image processing in real time.
That sounds like a true dream machine.
Yes.
It truly is a dream machine.
But it doesn't treat the underlying illness.
The place where it's hoped it will have
the most impact is terminal care.
Terminal care?
Treatment for terminal illnesses.
Terminal...
Yuuki-kun told me that if you wanted it, I was to tell you everything about her.
But you may wish later that I hadn't.
No.
Continue.
Please.
That's why I came here!
Yuuki-kun was born in May 2011.
It was a difficult birth, and her mother was given a C-section.
At the time, she was given blood.
But unfortunately, that blood was infected with a virus.
The virus was detected in September,
during a post-transfusion test her mother took.
But at that point, her entire family had already...
Special Measurement Devices Lab 1
This is it.
The room beyond this glass is an air-controlled clean room,
so you can't go in.
Please understand.
Yuuki...
Doctor, what is she ill with?
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
AIDS.
AIDS isn't as terrifying an illness as people think.
With early detection, you can delay
the onset of symptoms for a long time.
But the virus she was infected with was a drug-resistant variant.
Yuuki-kun's mother despaired for her children's future,
and was prepared to kill herself at one point.
But she decided to continue to fight the illness instead.
To keep fighting...
Yes. Soon after birth, Yuuki-kun was given multi-drug therapy.
It's hard for a young child to take lots of drugs
at regular intervals.
There are side effects, as well.
And she also suffered due to prejudice, I'm told.
But Yuuki-kun and her family believed she'd get better,
and she did her best.
But in fourth grade, her immune system suddenly collapsed.
In other words, the AIDS symptoms began, and she was hospitalized here.
Still, she was always smiling.
Doctor,
why did she decide to use the Medicuboid?
Just as the public was panicking about the NerveGear incident,
the first Medicuboid prototype was completed.
But even if we'd wanted to do trials,
no one knew what the long-term effects of electromagnetic pulses,
several times stronger than those of the NerveGear, would be.
They couldn't find a patient who was willing to take the risk.
When I heard about it,
I made Yuuki-kun and her parents a proposal.
If she agreed to try the device,
I could have her put in a clean room
that would greatly reduce her risk of infection.
Sometimes, I still don't know if it was for the best.
Both Yuuki-kun and her parents spent a lot of time worrying about it.
But her longing for the unknown of a virtual world
was probably the deciding factor.
She agreed to be a test subject,
and entered this room.
Ever since then, she's lived in the Medicuboid.
You mean...
I mean exactly that.
She almost never returns to the real world.
Right now, she's using
the Medicuboid's sensation-canceler to alleviate the pain.
In other words, she's diving twenty-four hours a day?
And she's been doing that...
For three years.
A year longer than we did?
A product of the full-dive environment.
That's what it felt like.
Thank you.
For letting me see Yuuki.
Yuuki's safe in here, right?
Even in a clean room,
we can't remove the bacteria and viruses from her body.
Then...
Yuuki-kun's condition is terminal.
You can probably understand why she tried to disappear.
No...
That can't...
Asuna, I...
Leave it to me, Sis!
Um, doctor... Does Yuuki have a sister?
Yes, that's right.
She was a twin.
Her sister's name was Aiko-san.
Yuuki-kun was a bright and cheerful child,
and she would always smile and watch her.
Come to think of it,
she might have been a bit like you, somehow.
Might have been?
Two years ago, her parents passed away.
And her sister one year ago.
Yuuki...
Don't cry, Asuna!
Yuuki! Yuuki!
Are you there?
Yeah.
It's through a lens, but I can see you, Asuna.
Wow.
You really do look just the same as on the other side.
Thanks for coming.
Yuuki, I...
I...
Doctor, please let her use the room next door.
That's fine.
The Amusphere I always use to talk to her is in the next room.
Right!
ALO is on the apps start up list.
When you log in, go to the first place we met.
One more time...
I want to see you, just one more time!
I want to see you, and talk to you for real this time!
Yuuki!
Yuuki...
I don't know why...
But I had a feeling you'd find me in the real world.
But since I hadn't told you anything,
I knew it was impossible.
But you came.
It's pretty rare for my feelings to come true.
I was happy... Really.
You smell just like my sister when she held me.
You smell like the sun.
Aiko-san?
Your sister played VRMMOs, too?
Yeah.
She was the first leader of the Sleeping Knights.
She was way stronger than me.
She met Siune and the others in a virtual hospice called Selene Garden.
At first, there were nine of us.
But my sister, Clovis, and Merida...
Three of them are gone now.
So we decided that when it was the next person's time,
we'd disband the guild.
Asuna, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you the truth.
The reason the Sleeping Knights are disbanding in the spring
isn't because we'll be too busy to play the game.
It's because two of our members have been told they have,
at most, three months to live.
So we wanted to have one last memory from this wonderful world.
We wanted to leave proof that we were here on that huge monument.
We wanted to have an incredible adventure to brag about to my sister and the rest.
But it wasn't going well.
We decided to find one person who could help us.
But we caused you trouble,
and I'm sure this is unpleasant for you.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Asuna.
There's still time for you to forget us.
I can't do that.
I'm really happy I met you all,
and I was able to help you.
I still wish I could be part of the Sleeping Knights.
Yeah.
I'm really happy I was able to come to this world and meet you...
What you just said is enough. It's enough for me.
I'm satisfied with everything.
There are still...
There are still a lot of things you haven't done, right?
I'm sure there are all kinds of places in ALfheim you haven't visited yet.
And if you include the other virtual worlds, it's infinite.
So don't tell me you're satisfied.
Over the past three years,
we had a lot of different adventures, in a lot of different worlds.
I want the last page to be the adventure I had with you.
But there are things you want to do,
places you want to see, right?
That's right.
I want to go to school.
S-School?
I'm sorry, I know it's impossible!
I'm really glad you feel that way.
But I really am satisfied.
You might be able to go...
You might be able to go to school!
Next Time Beginning of a Dream