Journey’s End

Synopsis

Yuuki doesn’t log in for three days and the only contact Asuna could get was a chat with Siune who tells her to forget them. Asuna still wants to see them, so Kirito gives her a helping hand and hands her an address for the only hospital in Japan to be having trials with Medicuboid.

When she gets there she meets Kurahashi who’s Konno Yuuki’s doctor. Apparently Yuuki predicted that someone named Asuna might come see her even though she never told Asuna the hospital’s name.

He explains that Medicuboid is a medical fulldive system that’s being developed. For people who can’t hear or see the amusphere allows them to do that in the virtual world as it sends the signals directly to the brain. And it also functions like a general anesthetic once the sensory levels have been boosted and they’re hoping they can combine that with a live camera feed of reality as augmented reality.

This is now especially used for people with terminal illness. Kurahashi explains that Yuuki’s family died from an untreatable virus and now she has that virus. They tried to delay the effects with drugs but it was no use and her immune system collapsed and she was hospitalized.

The first prototype of the Medicuboid treatment was ready and Kurahashi made Yuuki and her parents a deal to have her try it out first. And ever since then she’s been here inside the Medicuboid, 24/7 full dive. Yuuki also had a sister who passed away a year ago. Asuna starts crying which finally gets a response from Yuuki who tells her to dive and meet in ALO.

She then tells her that her sister, Aiko was the original leader of the Sleeping Knights who met the others when there were nine of them, but three of them left. And they’re disbanding the guild because 2 of them only have 3 months left to live.

Yuuki is satisfied with how things are, but she does want to go to school even thought knowing it’s impossible. However Asuna has an idea.

Thoughts

A friend you make is not the easiest thing to forget. I’m not sold on the whole forget me idea, sure it’s an online game and I guess that makes it easier but it wasn’t going to happen. I don’t feel that ‘excuse’ is really believable. What I’m trying to say is that I think they’re using this forget me thing as an emotional setpiece, but it feels too artificial, if that makes sense. Look at it this way you drag someone into your world then just tell them to forget with teary eyes and depressed looks, anyone will wonder what’s wrong. I just think it’s a useless setpiece and we didn’t need it. It’s like starting a sentence, not finishing it and then saying forget it. It’s annoying and I really dislike it.

If anything Yuuki owes Asuna an explanation for literally dragging Asuna into this. If I recall, she ‘chose’ her and then pulled her away to join them. Sure it was her ‘choice’, but who could really refuse that. She started this, she should end it properly, ‘disappearing’ isn’t the way.

I will say though, sometimes you may want to unhear things, I definitely know the feeling. But even if you want to, you may be glad you heard it in the first place.

Anyways, now that it’s revealed Yuuki is in critical care and looks to be reaching the end, or at least nearing death, the death flag is confirmed. Still though, I’m struggling to reach into my heart and find any kind of emotion. I still don’t know her that well and it’s probably also because of how busy I’ve become suddenly. As soon as my exam was done it’s like a truck full of stuff to do smashed into my front door…

Yet more exploration of the whole living in a virtual world idea. I’m pretty sure you’ve gotten sick of what I have to say on this subject matter as I must’ve said it many many times by now. However, I will just give a small paragraph of my opinion on this, feel free to skip it.

Firstly, as much stigma as there is around spending too much time online, I personally still find nothing wrong with and the same goes for completely living in a virtual world. I’m probably biased but hear me out again. Your reality is still your reality whether it’s virtual or real. If you can live happily for your life then why not? Why suffer in pain in the real world when you can enjoy yourself in a virtual one? The end result is the same after all, your death. So I’d say the better option is a virtual world. Of course that’s only if there is a way to sustain your brain and heart function in the real world so you do stay alive.

Also, the technology that Yuuki is actually using is the same as what Kirito’s developing for Yui isn’t it? I wonder if Kirito will be able to do something with that? Like for her to be able to see the world using separate cameras as her eyes? I mean, how hard is it to beam a live camera feed to Yuuki over the internet right? That way she’ll finally be out of the hospital and seeing some of the world, figuratively speaking of course. Which is what I expect Asuna thought of.