E0 - Reflection

Source: Crunchyroll
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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
SIGN    Reflection
SIGN    Monday, July 6, 2026 7:15AM Ocean Turtle
[00:22] Asuna (N)
    The marine research organization known as Rath.
[00:26] Asuna
    If only I could dive into the Underworld
    and rescue you...
[00:31] Asuna (N)
    The company that runs the self-propelled megafloat,
    the Ocean Turtle.
[00:35] Asuna (N)
    This is where my search for Kirito led me.
[00:39] Atsushi
    But really, Kirito...
[00:42] Atsushi
    Without your sword,
    you're nothing but a feeble little brat, huh?
[00:45] Atsushi
    I can't believe you're the same swordsman
    who beat the crap out of me!
[00:51] Kirito
    What about you?
[00:52] Kirito
    You don't have your poisoned weapon of choice.
[00:55] Atsushi
    Oh, I have it!
[00:56] Atsushi
    I have a poison weapon, all right!
[01:01] Kirito
    Death Gun!
[01:09] Kirito
    Asuna! Run!
[01:21] Asuna (N)
    One week ago, Kirito was injected with a muscle relaxant
    by Atsushi Kanamoto, aka Johnny Black,
[01:27] Asuna (N)
    which caused him to go into cardiac arrest
    for over five minutes.
[01:32] Asuna (N)
    As a result, Kirito suffered lethal brain damage.
[01:36] Asuna
    Kirito!
[01:40] Kikuoka
    There's only one facility in the world
    that's sufficiently equipped.
[01:44] Kikuoka
    If we take him there,
    Kazuto can get the treatment he needs.
[01:51] Asuna (N)
    We were at our wits' end,
    when Mr. Kikuoka offered us a helping hand.
[01:57] Asuna (N)
    But soon after we entrusted him to Mr. Kikuoka's care,
    Kirito went missing.
[02:02] Receptionist
    Um...
[02:04] Receptionist
    I need to go check with my supervisors,
    so please wait here.
[02:10] Asuna
    Yui?
[02:11] Yui
    Yes, Mommy.
[02:12] Yui
    I've checked the security cameras in this area, too.
[02:17] Yui
    Yesterday at 21:20, a helicopter took off
    from that clearing over there.
[02:24] Asuna (N)
    With Yui's help, I searched for Kirito and discovered
    that he was out at sea, near the Izu Islands.
[02:54] Nakanishi
    Dr. Kojiro. We've been waiting for you.
[02:57] Nakanishi
    And this is?
[02:59] Asuna (N)
    I reached out to Akihiko Kayaba's former girlfriend,
    Dr. Rinko Kojiro, for help,
[03:05] Asuna (N)
    and disguising myself as her assistant,
    I boarded the Ocean Turtle.
[03:14] Asuna
    Where's Kirito?
[03:18] Higa
    What'd I tell you?
[03:20] Higa
    That kid's this project's biggest security hole.
[03:24] Kikuoka
    Yes. You were right.
[03:27] Asuna (N)
    There I found Mr. Kikuoka,
    who seemed to be plotting something,
[03:30] Asuna (N)
    and Mr. Higa, a junior member
    of Dr. Kojiro's lab back in college.
[03:37] Kikuoka
    Because of the attack by the fugitive
    from the Death Gun incident,
[03:40] Kikuoka
    Kirito's brain sustained damage
    that modern medicine is unable to heal.
[03:45] Kikuoka
    However...
[03:46] Kikuoka
    Rath is the only place in the world
    that has the technology to treat him.
[03:52] Kikuoka
    I'm sure you've heard of it.
[03:54] Kikuoka
    The STL... the Soul Translator.
[03:58] Kikuoka
    If we use the STL
    to directly stimulate his Fluctlight,
[04:01] Kikuoka
    we can induce the generation
    of a new neural network.
[04:05] Kikuoka
    But it takes time.
[04:07] Asuna (N)
    While he was missing, Kirito had been undergoing
    cutting-edge treatment.
[04:12] Asuna (N)
    Although I couldn't forgive
    how he had secreted Kirito away,
[04:15] Asuna (N)
    Mr. Kikuoka promised me
    that he'd save Kirito no matter what.
[04:20] Asuna (N)
    For now, I believe him.
[04:23] Asuna (N)
    But Mr. Kikuoka wasn't just trying to save Kirito
    out of the goodness of his heart.
[04:29] Asuna (N)
    Kirito was a vital part of his project.
[04:34] Rinko
    What are you plotting here?
[04:36] Kikuoka
    Well, then, may I assume
    you're both familiar with the concept of the STL?
[04:42] Asuna
    It's a machine that reads a human soul,
    their Fluctlight,
[04:46] Asuna
    and allows them to dive into a virtual world
    indistinguishable from reality.
[04:50] Kikuoka
    Correct.
[04:51] Kikuoka
    But I don't think you know
    what this project's objective is.
[04:55] Asuna
    Objective?
[04:58] Kikuoka
    To create a bottom-up
    multi-purpose artificial intelligence.
[05:04] Asuna
    A bottom-up type?
[05:05] Asuna (N)
    According to Mr. Kikuoka,
    there are two ways to approach AI design.
[05:11] Asuna (N)
    One is, like Yui, to preprogram the AI
    with experience and knowledge
[05:16] Asuna (N)
    so it will acquire intelligence.
    The top-down approach.
[05:20] Asuna (N)
    The other is to replicate the construct
    of a biological brain
[05:24] Asuna (N)
    and develop intelligence there.
[05:26] Asuna (N)
    The bottom-up approach.
[05:29] Asuna (N)
    Mr. Kikuoka and his team copied the souls of newborns
    whose personalities had yet to form,
[05:35] Asuna (N)
    and produced artificial Fluctlights
    to try to create a bottom-up AI.
[05:41] Asuna (N)
    And they used a VRMMO world
    as the environment in which to raise them.
[05:48] Rinko
    But at that level, that's a civilization simulation.
[05:51] Kikuoka
    That's true, huh?
[05:53] Kikuoka
    At this time, 480 years have already passed
    in that world,
[05:57] Kikuoka
    and the population of the capital, Centoria,
    has reached 20,000.
[06:00] Asuna (N)
    The Underworld.
[06:02] Asuna (N)
    That's the name of the world where these advanced AIs,
    the artificial Fluctlights, reside.
[06:08] Asuna (N)
    But during the course of this project,
[06:11] Asuna (N)
    Mr. Kikuoka and his team realized
    there was an issue.
[06:14] Rinko
    Issue?
[06:15] Kikuoka
    A governing body called the Axiom Church
    had created laws known as the Taboo Index.
[06:21] Asuna
    Taboo Index?
[06:22] Kikuoka
    It contained, for example, a law forbidding murder,
    like we have in the real world.
[06:27] Kikuoka
    But just by watching the news,
    it's clear how often humans violate such laws.
[06:33] Kikuoka
    However, the Fluctlights obey those laws.
[06:36] Kikuoka
    Obey them excessively, you could say.
[06:39] Asuna (N)
    Why were the artificial Fluctlights unable
    to violate the Taboo Index?
[06:43] Asuna (N)
    To learn why, they had a human,
    whose memories had been blocked,
[06:47] Asuna (N)
    grow up the same as the artificial Fluctlights,
[06:50] Asuna (N)
    to see if he could violate the Taboo Index.
[06:54] Asuna (N)
    And they needed a test subject
    who was used to moving in a virtual world.
[07:00] Asuna (N)
    In other words, they needed Kirito.
[07:04] Kikuoka
    This town is beautiful, and far too perfect.
[07:07] Kikuoka
    There isn't a piece of garbage on the streets,
    and not a single thief.
[07:11] Kikuoka
    Needless to say,
    no murder has ever been committed.
[07:15] Rinko
    And how is that an issue?
[07:19] Asuna
    Could it be that your objective...
[07:22] Asuna
    ...is to create AIs capable of murder?
[07:27] Asuna (N)
    Mr. Kikuoka and his team's intention
    was to send the artificial Fluctlights,
[07:31] Asuna (N)
    once perfected, into battle.
[07:34] Asuna (N)
    He'd been using Kirito without disclosing his true goal,
    and I found that unforgivable.
[07:42] Lisbeth
    So about Kirito and this... uh...
    this Taboo Index? What happened with that?
[07:48] Asuna
    There was a boy and a girl
    who used to play with Kirito,
[07:52] Asuna
    and it seems like the girl
    broke the Taboo Index.
[07:56] Sinon
    You mean she was influenced by Kirito?
[07:59] Asuna
    Yes.
[08:00] Asuna
    And what she broke
    was "accessing a restricted address."
[08:06] Asuna (N)
    But ironically, the perfected artificial Fluctlight
    they'd been seeking all along
[08:12] Asuna (N)
    was a girl who wished not to kill others,
    but to value human life above all else.
[08:20] Asuna
    But I'm amazed by what that girl did.
[08:23] Asuna
    After all, it's not easy to overcome yourself.
[08:26] Leafa
    Does that girl have a name?
[08:28] Asuna
    Yes.
[08:32] Asuna
    Alice?
[08:33] Kikuoka
    Right. That was the name of the girl in question.
[08:36] Kikuoka
    I was blown away by the staggering coincidence.
[08:39] Kikuoka
    Because "Alice" is also the name of the concept
    that became the foundation of the overall project.
[08:47] Asuna
    Concept?
[08:48] Kikuoka
    A highly-adaptive autonomous artificial intelligence.
[08:52] Kikuoka
    In English, that would be Artificial Labile
    Intelligence Cybernated Existence.
[08:57] Kikuoka
    The initials form the acronym ALICE.
[09:00] Kikuoka
    Our ultimate goal was
    to convert an artificial Fluctlight into an ALICE.
[09:07] Kikuoka
    Welcome to our Project Alicization.
[09:13] Asuna (N)
    Alice.
[09:14] Asuna (N)
    I wonder how meeting Kirito changed her over time.
[09:19] Alice (N)
    My name is Alice Synthesis Thirty.
[09:23] Alice (N)
    I am an Integrity Knight of the Axiom Church,
    charged with protecting the Human Empire.
[09:31] Alice (N)
    At this moment, I am battling the pontifex,
    Lady Administrator,
[09:35] Alice (N)
    over the fate of the Human Empire.
[09:40] Alice (N)
    The Lady Pontifex is the supreme leader
    of the Axiom Church.
[09:45] Alice (N)
    In my eyes, she was an exalted figure,
    truly like a god.
[09:51] Alice (N)
    Until yesterday.
[09:53] Administrator
    Why you came all this way
    without administrator privileges...
[09:58] Administrator
    I admit I'm a little interested.
[10:05] Administrator
    But I'm tired of all that now, and I'm sleepy.
[10:09] Administrator
    I'll have that person give me
    a full account later,
[10:11] Administrator
    and bring this battle to an end
    with your blood and screams.
[10:17] Alice (N)
    What caused me to rebel against such a person
    was my encounter with him... with Kirito.
[10:19] Administrator
    Farewell, boy.
[10:23] Administrator
    Let's meet again someday.
[10:25] Kirito
    Alice, you don't remember who gave birth to you,
    or where you were raised.
[10:32] Alice
    I was told it's because the moment
    Integrity Knights are called here,
[10:37] Alice
    the goddess Stacia seals our memories
    of the heavens.
[10:41] Alice (N)
    Kirito said that my memories
    as an Integrity Knight
[10:45] Alice (N)
    were manipulated by the Lady Pontifex
    and implanted in me.
[10:51] Alice (N)
    And he told me that the real me was a girl
    born in Rulid Village named Alice Zuberg,
[10:59] Alice (N)
    with a father named Gasfut,
    as well as a younger sister named Selka.
[11:04] Alice (N)
    I confronted the Lady Pontifex with the truth
    I had learned from Kirito.
[11:10] Alice
    If I may, Lady Pontifex.
[11:12] Alice
    Those who were concerned
    with the current order of Integrity Knights
[11:15] Alice
    having no hope of fending off
    the coming invasion of the forces of darkness
[11:19] Alice
    were Knight Commander Bercouli
    and Vice Commander Fanatio.
[11:24] Alice
    I share those concerns, too.
[11:27] Alice
    Lady Pontifex, do you have means to protect
    the people if the order of the knights fall?
[11:34] Alice
    That is not all I want to ask you.
[11:36] Alice
    You've forcefully taken us from our parents,
[11:39] Alice
    from our wives and husbands,
    from our brothers and sisters,
[11:43] Alice
    and sealed away our memories
[11:45] Alice
    to plant false memories of being summoned
    from a non-existent heavenly realm!
[11:52] Alice
    Why couldn't you at least trust
    in our loyalty and respect for you?
[11:57] Alice
    Why would you subject our souls to such a tainted ritual
    to force us to submit to your control?
[12:09] Administrator
    I'm offended. I trusted you very much.
[12:14] Administrator
    The Piety Modules I gifted you
    are the proof of my love.
[12:20] Administrator
    They freed you from any trifling worries or pain,
[12:24] Administrator
    so you could remain beautiful dolls for all time.
[12:29] Administrator
    Don't worry, Alice,
[12:31] Administrator
    I'm going to erase the memories
    causing you such grief.
[12:37] Administrator
    I'm going to turn you back into a doll
    that has no need to think.
[12:42] Alice
    I admit that, right now, I'm feeling enough pain
    and sorrow to rip my heart to shreds.
[12:49] Alice
    But this pain...
[12:53] Alice
    I don't wish to erase these feelings
    I've never felt before.
[12:57] Alice
    Because this pain is precisely what tells me
    I'm not a puppet knight, but a human being.
[13:05] Alice
    Lady Pontifex, I don't want your love.
    I don't need you to fix me.
[13:13] Alice (N)
    And so I resolved,
[13:15] Alice (N)
    not as the Integrity Knight Alice Synthesis Thirty,
    but as a human named Alice,
[13:21] Alice (N)
    to battle the Lady Pontifex.
[13:26] Administrator
    I have no intention
    of allowing them to reset the Underworld,
[13:31] Administrator
    or of accepting the final stress test.
[13:35] Administrator
    I've already perfected a command
    to counter that.
[13:39] Administrator
    Now then, fight, Golem.
[13:43] Administrator
    Annihilate your enemies!
[13:47] Alice (N)
    But our battle with the Lady Pontifex
    was beyond fierce.
[14:38] Alice (N)
    The Sword Golem created by the Lady Pontifex
[14:42] Alice (N)
    had enough devastating power to instantly cut down me,
    an Integrity Knight, and Kirito, my equal in battle.
[14:52] Alice (N)
    But we were saved by Lady Cardinal,
    formerly known as the other pontifex.
[15:02] Administrator
    To be precise, it's four against three hundred,
    not even including me.
SIGN    Three hundred?
SIGN    You... What...
SIGN    What depths have you sunk to?
SIGN    Are they not the very subjects you should be protecting?
[15:23] Eugeo
    Subjects? Subjects, as in humans?
[15:26] Alice
    Which means that monster is human?
[15:30] Administrator
    As if I would ever bother with petty matters
    like "the subjects I should be protecting."
[15:37] Administrator
    I am a ruler.
[15:39] Administrator
    As long as those under my rule
    exist in the lower world in the manner I desire,
[15:45] Administrator
    whether human or sword,
    then there's no need for concern.
SIGN    You...
[15:51] Administrator
    Oh my, you're not shocked by the matter conversion
    of a measly three hundred human units, are you?
SIGN    Did you say measly?
[16:02] Administrator
    And this is only a prototype.
[16:05] Administrator
    In order to mass-produce the finished version
    to handle the awful stress test,
[16:10] Administrator
    I think I'll need at least half.
SIGN    Half of what?
[16:16] Administrator
    Half of the 80,000 or so human units
    residing in the Human Empire.
[16:21] Administrator
    That should be enough.
[16:24] Administrator
    To repel the Dark Territory's invasion
    and attack the other side.
[16:32] Alice (N)
    The idea was so inhumane
    I couldn't stop myself from shuddering.
[16:39] Administrator
    Now, shall I finish this?
[16:42] Administrator
    Farewell, Lyserith.
[16:44] Administrator
    Farewell, my daughter.
[16:47] Administrator
    And...
[16:48] Administrator
    my other self!
[17:10] Kirito
    I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
SIGN    Why would you apologize?
SIGN    You still have a mission you need to complete, don't you?
SIGN    The three of you...
SIGN    This fleeting, beautiful world...
[17:28] Alice
    No matter what...
[17:30] Alice
    No matter what...
[17:32] Alice
    we'll use these lives you gave us
    to complete this mission.
[17:38] Alice (N)
    The Lady Pontifex,
    with her overwhelming power,
[17:41] Alice (N)
    struck down Cardinal,
    said to be just as powerful.
[17:48] Kirito
    Stop.
[17:51] Kirito
    Don't go.
[17:52] Kirito
    Eugeo!
[18:03] Kirito
    Eugeo!
[18:08] Administrator
    You wretched brat!
[18:40] Alice (N)
    And with Cardinal's final command,
[18:44] Alice (N)
    Eugeo transformed himself into a sword.
[18:47] Alice (N)
    Though he defeated the Sword Golem,
[18:50] Alice (N)
    he was then destroyed by the Lady Pontifex.
[19:03] Administrator
    Farewell, boy.
[19:07] Administrator
    Let's meet again someday on the other side.
[19:17] Alice (N)
    Even so, I refuse to give up.
[19:19] Alice (N)
    Because even on the brink of despair,
[19:21] Alice (N)
    I still believe that Kirito
    will stand on his feet again.
[19:38] Alice
    What?
[19:40] Alice
    You can still move after all?
[19:44] Kirito
    Yeah. Leave the rest to me.
[19:47] Alice
    I think I will.
[19:51] Alice (N)
    I know that you can defeat
    even the Lady Pontifex.
[19:55] Alice (N)
    I believe in you, Kirito.
[19:58] Kirito
    You can rest.
[21:31] Asuna (N)
    What's this sound? Who are these people?
[21:34] Asuna (N)
    What's wrong? What's going on?
[21:41] Kikuoka
    Are you there, Kirito?
[21:43] Kirito
    Th-That's right!
[21:44] Kirito
    Listen, Kikuoka! Do you...
    Do you know what you've done?
[21:48] Kikukoka
    You can scold me all you want later!
[21:50] Kikukoka
    But right now, you need to listen to me!
[21:53] Kirito
    What?
[21:55] Kirito
    Hey! What's going on over there?
[22:09] Kikukoka
    Sorry, there's no time.
[22:11] Kikukoka
    Listen, Kirito.
[22:12] Kikukoka
    You have to look for a girl named Alice.
    Then take her—
[22:15] Kirito
    I don't have to look for her.
    She's right here!
[22:18] Kikukoka
    What did you say?
[22:19] Higa
    Son of a gun! It's a miracle!
[22:21] Kikuoka
    All right. As soon as this transmission ends,
    I'm going to return the FLA rate to 1,000.
[22:26] Kikukoka
    So take Alice and head to the World’s End Altar!
[22:29] Kikukoka
    What do you mean, head to—
[22:30] Kikukoka
    Listen! Once you exit the Eastern Gate,
    the Altar's due south—
[22:35] Nakanishi
    Oh no!
[22:39] Nakanishi
    They're about to infiltrate the electrical room!
[22:41] Kikukoka
    What?
[22:46] Higa
    This is bad, Mr. Kiku!
[22:48] Higa
    If they sever the main power line,
    it'll cause a surge!
[22:52] Higa
    The Lightcube Cluster is protected, but...
[22:54] Higa
    the surge will hit Kirigaya's STL in Subcon!
[22:58] Higa
    His Fluctlight will get fried!
[23:02] Kikukoka
    I'll handle the lockdown procedure!
[23:04] Kikukoka
    Higa, you take Dr. Kojiro and Asuna
    and evacuate to the Upper Shaft.
[23:08] Kikukoka
    Keep Kirito safe.
[23:09] Alice (N)
    Kirito? You're all right. Thank goodness.
[23:14] Alice (N)
    Who are you talking to?
[23:16] Officer
    It's no good, they're cutting the power!
    The screw propellers are going to stop!
[23:28] Asuna & Alice (N)
    - Kirito!
    - Kirito!
[23:36] Alice (N)
    Next time: In the Far North.