Nightsun had plenty of hotels and other types of lodging, so Dante had no trouble finding a place to take a break and shower. He also made sure to wash all the clothes that were soiled from what happened in that alleyway. Once that was done, he lay down in the room he rented and waited, watching the security footage and waiting for the kid to reach wherever he was going.
’He’s taking another train?’
Dante had expected him to be from Moonstone, since that was the place they first crossed paths at, but turns out that was far from the truth. Too far, in fact. For ninety whole minutes, he did nothing but wander around and ride trains. Sometimes he would go into alleyways infested with hobos and street rats, yet each time he would come out unscathed, as if entirely untouched by whatever dwells in those places.
More than once, Dante lost track of the brat. It was as if he was going into blind zones on purpose, which forced Dante to watch the exits of every alleyway connected to them. He didn’t have to do that, since Volcan had that covered. Nevertheless, he still did it in an attempt to keep his anger from dying down.
After passing through Moonstone, Edge Valley, New City, the City Center, Nightsun, then Hollowgrid, the kid turned around and passed through Nightsun once more, taking a different route through the City Center before arriving at Silicon Street in the Graysteel district.
For a moment there Dante thought that the kid was just there to pick up some parts or a few RAM chips, but surprisingly that wasn’t the case. He stood beside an old light pole in an isolated corner, as if waiting for something. A few minutes later, he crossed the road and entered the alley on the other side.
From the way he waited till no one was around and scanned his surroundings before proceeding, Dante concluded that the brat didn’t want anyone to see him go inside. That suspicion was proven true when he didn’t appear at any of the exits.
The malice radiating from the grin spreading over Dante’s face could bring nightmares to anyone who sees it. He moved straight to the next phase of the plan, taking a train to Silicon Street.
’Volcan, activate Ghost mode.’
In the footage captured by the city’s surveillance system, a red-haired youth got on a train in Nightsun’s eighteenth station and simply vanished. It would have been a fear inducing phenomenon if anyone had seen it, but the only ones watching were the AIs influenced by Volcan.
When it came to traffic, Silicon Street was almost on par with Nightsun and Joystreet. The place was a hub for all kinds of tech, from the latest innovations -those available to the average consumer- to relics from the past sold as antiques. Electronics, house appliances, computer parts, Everything could be found there.
Some people set up stalls on the sidewalk selling stuff of dubious origin. There was a repair shop almost in every corner, some with limited specialties, others promising to fix anything that runs on electricity.
The crowd seemed a lot more tech obsessed as well. They walked around wearing more gadgets than clothes, and a lot of them didn’t shy away from showing all the bionics they had implanted, going so far as to customize them in the most eye-catching ways.
Dante made his way to the alley where the brat had disappeared, his presence undetected by the security systems in the area. People might have seen him, but if they were to try and record him through their OAMs, the implants would either malfunction or automatically delete the footage.
The corner where the brat stood was in a passage that went straight through an old building with a few rusty containers stacked here and there. Dante ignored the alleyway he was looking for and put his focus on the buildings flanking it. Though the lower floors showed their age, the higher ones seemed to be more recent. The lights showed that both were fully inhabited as well, a rarity compared to Hollowgrid and White Hill.
’Alright, Volcan, see if you can find him from here.’
[Understood...] The AI’s silence lasted a few seconds. [He is not in any of the rooms on either building.]
Looking around once more, Dante walked over to an adjacent ally and soon came across a service entrance near the back. He had Volcan bypass the lock and swiftly went inside, careful not to make any noise.
There were stairs on one side and an elevator nearby. Since he needed a hidden spot for what he was about to do, Dante went down to the first basement floor and checked to confirm that he was absolutely alone. Then, after much consideration, he gave his resident AI another order.
’Volcan, give me 8-2’
Ribbons of white light erupted from Dante’s sternum and quickly enveloped his body, bringing with it a faint pain and a strong sense of discomfort.
Type 8-2 looked like a less complicated version of the higher-level Type 8-3. It was still a full suite of plate armor, only it felt thinner and more flexible, exerting less pressure on the joints during movements. It didn’t have the Rift Creation ability, but that wasn’t what Dante needed at the moment. Ten seconds after he donned the armor, Volcan spoke up.
[I believe I have found him.]
A translucent 3D model of the area appeared on Dante’s OAM. It contained countless yellow dots scattered inside the building and across the street outside, some remaining still while others moved around like a disturbed ant nest.
Among the tide of yellow dots, one stood out for having a red color. It was in the same building as the blue dot representing Dante, inside a small room on a lower floor.
[It seems he is hiding in an old storage room.]
There were no yellow dots on the same floor as the red one, meaning the brat was alone. Dante checked the model once more, then gave the order to dismiss the armor.