Cardinal Deletes Yui

Yui is designed to monitor players’ mental health, but Cardinal prohibits her from contacting them during the death-game crisis. When she finally intervenes to protect Kirito and Asuna, the system classifies and deletes her as a foreign program.

A nominal safety boundary disables the safety agent precisely when it is needed and then punishes corrective action.

Cardinal’s prohibition is underexplained, and Yui is portrayed as straightforwardly sentient.