Dante gazed down and watched the boy curl up, arms wrapped around his stomach. His eyes were torn wide open, his mouth agape as he struggled to get air into his lungs. Seconds turned to minutes before the initial impact of the blow began to fade. Once the gasping settled down, Dante clicked his tongue.
"You have the diving skills, and you can build some impressive things." He said. "But in the end, you’re still just a brat."
Shaking his head dejectedly, he turned away from the collapsed boy, walking to a corner of the room where a yellow sports bag was left.
"The thing is, kid, some people are a lot harder to kill than others. We’re talking about the boss of a big gang. Do you think he isn’t prepared for people coming for his head? Whatever half assed plan you came up with, the only one it would kill is you."
As he lifted it with the strap, a faint groan came from behind him.
Dante glanced at the boy then looked down at the yellow bag.
"This thing sure is heavy."
He had noticed it before when he dragged him to that alley, but he didn’t pay it any mind back then. The sports bag weighed a minimum of twenty kilos. A kid carrying such weight was strange enough, but what was even more bizarre was the contents.
Dante had an idea of what was inside it thanks to Volcan’s sensors, but he still wanted to check for himself. Before that, however, he opened one of the side pockets and grabbed the item that was stored inside.
"H... hey... give... give it... give it back!"
"Yeah, yeah, just shut up."
Staring at the blue Juggernaut for a moment, he made sure it was the same one the brat stole from him, then made a show of placing it into his armpit holster, giving the mental command to unequip it. Despite it taking less than a second, physical contact was still required to send items into the Storage.
"By the way, you never gave me an answer. Who’s Jake?"
Dante looked at the boy, or to be more precise, he looked at the cables connected to the back of his neck. Neural Interface Modules had different types. There were the simple ones that most people install once they reach a certain age. Those were small enough to fit inside one’s head, had long-lasting batteries, and required no additional components to work. Then there were the Mind Link Ports.
MLPs were synonymous with Divers. A normal NIM has very limited capabilities both in data transfer speeds and processing power, which makes them insufficient for more complex tasks. For that reason, a lot of Divers tend to install MLPs which come with exterior ports, giving them the option of having a direct connection to targets or enhancing their computing capabilities through external processors.
The boy had an MLP, which was a bit odd, considering he shouldn’t have a basic NIM at that age. Nevertheless, it was to be expected considering that a skilled Diver needs an External Processing Unit, a.k.a an Exocore, to fully utilize their abilities.
The cables linked the boy’s head to the yellow sports bag. As he struggled to get up, Dante pulled the large zipper on top and opened the main compartment, only to be met with a shell of protective foam. Spotting the thin line running through it, Dante quickly split the shell and finally saw what it hid.
Inside was a long, cylindrical device that appeared to be made of several smaller ones merged together, each connected to the bottom cylinder through separate cables. A few dozen LEDs blinked here and there, showing that the device was on and operational.
The cables extending from the boy were connected to the top cylinder. It had a simple monochrome LCD screen on the side with some buttons lined on the side, and right under it was an engraving that said "Jake V14"
"So my guess was correct." Dante said. "Jake is the AI operating your Exocore, isn’t it?" He paused for a moment then glanced at the boy. "Say, what do you think would happen if I dove into this thing?"
"Don’t you... dare..." The boy growled.
"I can tell this isn’t the average EPU." Dante tapped the cylindrical device. "Did you build it yourself?"
Volcan appears to be using the relic -his main body- as an EPU, which is why he didn’t require such a device to execute the complicated diving maneuvers that became a constant in the past two weeks.
That said, Dante knew how valuable prebuilt Exocores were. Though it wouldn’t be a huge amount, he was sure he could earn some Gs by selling the long cylinder, more than what he would earn from the sale of the bikes he stole.
"Get... your hand... off... of him..."
Finn was finally back on his feet, though it didn’t seem like he would be standing for long. The hatred in his eyes was growing stronger, but it still wasn’t enough.
Dante opened his mouth, intending to poke him one more time before ending things. It was then that the boy shouted something, taking him off guard.
"Jake! Berserk Mode, now!"
Before he could decipher what the boy said, Dante’s vision was suddenly filled with yellow ribbons. No, not ribbons. They were limbs. Simple, cartoonish arms with four fingers each.
They erupted from the gray cylindrical device, startling Dante for a moment as they scattered in random directions, but things only got worse when one of them landed on his shoulder.
The next instant, the remaining yellow hands shot toward him, some grasping his neck, others his shoulders and arms. Some elongated, wrapping around his body several times.
The strange noodle-like arms were nothing more than a projection on his OAM so they had no binding power. Their true purpose was digital in nature, which meant the real battle was happening on between two processors and the AIs operating them, and this time the outcome won’t be like the last.
With a calm, slightly bored expression, Dante turned to face the boy, silently asking him what he was doing. An instant later, the yellow ribbons began to disintegrate, turning into gray ash that quickly disappeared into nothingness.