Hook, line, and sinker. Dante got caught and made a fool of himself. Not only was he forced to apologize, but now he also had to take an entire week off.
Victor had received a big job and was in the process of assembling a crew. He held back on sharing the details, but the pay was looking to be quite generous. For him to get a spot, Dante had to agree to take a break. That meant not working for seven days straight. No gigs, big or small, and no bounty hunting or Red Marking. He could only relax, take a trip to the beach, or sleep the entire week.
As he lay down in his bed, Dante wondered if he could go an entire week , doing nothing and just trying to relax.
[168 hours of idle time.] Volcan said. [Considering how much you have accomplished in a time period of the same length, I would say it is inefficient for you not to work.]
Still, a deal was a deal. Victor didn’t just set the conditions out of nowhere. It showed that he noticed something Dante himself was unaware of, or it might just be a conclusion he arrived at after when taking everything that happened into consideration.
Either way, having an unstable factor running around was bound to cause problems, or so the fixer thinks. Dante wasn’t too worried about his mental state, but others didn’t necessarily share his confidence. In their opinion, no one bounces back so fast, so unless he took some time off, they wouldn’t let him be.
’Is that why Vic didn’t give me any big jobs?’
The first one was tracking down that gambler, which wasn’t too small of a job, but then things went south. After that, it was only one simple job after the other. Neither went according to his expectations, of course.
Three jobs, each relatively straightforward, but all of them led to a mess of some kind. One would say the whole thing with that purple-haired Rose wasn’t too bad, but Dante begged to differ.
’Am I... am I cursed?’
[That is unlikely.] Volcan said. [I would have noticed otherwise.]
’I... I didn’t mishear you, right?’ Dante thought aloud. ’You didn’t just low-key confirm that magic exists...’
[My research shows that magic is a word humans use to describe unexplained phenomena. I am confident in my abilities to detect any and all forms of harm directed at my host, even those that go beyond human understanding.]
’For real...’ Dante thought for a moment then said. ’Now that I think about it, you’ve been saying a lot of odd things since we met...’
The thought crossed his mind on more than one occasion, but for some reason it keeps slipping away. VOLCAN wasn’t made for humans to use, but if that was the case, who was it made for?
[Dante, are you still in the process of considering what you should be doing with the free time you have?]
’Hm?’ pursing his lips, Dante stared at the ceiling in thought. ’Well, I will probably drop by Megan’s, and after that...’
[Your aversion to most forms of entertainment only exacerbates this problem.] Said the AI. [Humanity has created an endless number of time-wasting products. Any one of those would have provided you with an activity to fill your day with.]
’That’s just who I am. I can’t do anything about it...’
[How about you try something for a change? There is a game that has been gaining popularity as of-]
’Pass.’ Sighing, Dante pushed himself up. ’Games these days are worse than most drugs. The moment you pick one, you’re trapped.’
[So they are a type of trap?] The AI went silent for a couple of seconds. [Indeed. I have found many articles describing them as addictive. It seems that each one is designed specifically to maximize player engagement and retention to ensure a constant stream of profit.]
Dante lost count of the number of people he knew who lost everything to one game or another. That only served to dissuade him from ever getting involved with such things.
[A constant stream of profit... is that not what we require at the moment?]
’... Volcan,’ Closing his eyes, Dante covered his face with both hands. ’Please don’t tell me to start developing one of those...’
[No, I believe this falls within my expertise.] Volcan replied. [So long as I acquire a sufficient understanding of the product known as games, I might be able to create a few that would serve as an extra source of income.]
[Yes. For that reason, I have a request.]
[I would like permission to examine some of the successful games currently on the market.]
’You... You want to play those games?’
For some reason, Dante felt that the AI was nodding with a reserved expression, even though he had no head or facial features.
[Please do not be concerned. As I am not a human, it is unlikely for me to fall for the traps you have mentioned before. My aim is to analyze such traps and learn how to recreate them in order to ensure the financial success of the product I will be creating.]
Funnily enough, Dante didn’t have any positive feelings toward the idea his resident AI was proposing. He had no trouble murdering people for money, but when it came to creating an insidious product that would gradually drain people’s wallets, he was starting to have doubts.
’Fine, go ahead and play as many as you want.’ He thought aloud. ’Just... spare me the details, alright?’
Just as he moved to get out of bed, the AI spoke again.
The bad feeling Dante had before suddenly got stronger.
[I require funds.] The AI replied evenly. [Some of the games I plan on trying are free, but according to the reviews, they have a slow rate of progression unless the player is willing to pay for-]
’Volcan.’ Dante interrupted, a pained grimace on his face. ’You already fell for the trap.’