Despite its rocky start, Dante’s one-week break was more enjoyable than he expected. Riding Raven around helped him forget all about his problem, and with each passing day, the stress born from the chances of getting caught by the people looking for VOLCAN weakened.
Or so it should have been.
In reality, the more time passed with nothing happening, the more paranoid he became. Dante had no doubt that it was the calm before the storm. He tried to keep a calm front but seemed to fail at it, going by the look Victor gave him when he went to ask about the big job.
"No." Dante cut him off. "Don’t give me that crap."
A deep frown creased the fixer’s face, but Dante refused to back down.
"Look, kid, this isn’t a job we can afford to mess up," Victor said. "You will be working with a crew this time, meaning others might suffer if you make a mistake. I need you to stop being hard-headed and admit it if you’re going to be a liability."
Dante held his gaze for a while, silently asking why the hell he was making things more difficult than they should be.
"Do you want a note from my therapist or something?" He said eventually.
"... What am I gonna do with you..."
Victor admitted defeat with a sigh and reached for the drawer on his left, taking a small pill bottle. He swallowed one and washed it with some water then leaned back into his chair, staring at the ceiling in silence.
"The meeting will start a couple of hours from now." He said. "Do whatever you want till then."
Relief washed away Dante’s combative expression and he almost melted in his chair. He was prepared for a longer discussion, but thankfully it didn’t come to that.
"By the way," Victor said after a brief silence. "Randal called yesterday."
"... that Simmons guy?" Dante’s good mood was ruined the instant he spoke the name. "The hell does he want?"
The bad taste left by the job that guy hired him for had only vanished recently. Dante would have preferred not to hear from him or his kid ever again.
"He sent you a bonus." Said Victor.
"Huh, guess he isn’t all that bad," Dante replied.
"His kid came to him with an apology. Apparently, whatever you did to him worked."
"Seriously?" Dante raised an eyebrow. "I thought he would be pissed."
Thanks to his involvement, Derick Simmons got his ass kicked, lost his fake friends, and had his bike stolen. One would expect his situation to get worse after that. Who could’ve expected that he would take the lesson he learned to heart and make things right with his dad?
"I knew it was right to give you that gig," Victor smirked. "You handled it better than anyone else could have."
Dante let the corners of his mouth drop further.
"Well, from now on, make sure to spare me any jobs that involve kids. Especially brats with daddy issues."
"Hey now, I was planning on leaving stuff like that to you from now on." Victor chuckled. "I mean, in my opinion, you seem to be an expert on them. Daddy issues, I mean."
"It’s because I’m an expert that I don’t want to deal with that BS." With his hands in his pockets, Dante got up and turned for the door. "And I’m being serious. If it involves another little shit, leave me out of it."
Hearing the word soon after leaving Victor’s office gave Dante pause.
[On receiving the right to participate in Mr. Sokolov’s job.] Volcan said.
’It’s... not really something worth celebrating...’
Getting the job was only the first step. One can only consider it an achievement once it’s completed and the payment has been received.
’I guess we have two hours to burn...’
Since it was only ten in the morning, Dante thought about going for a ride before grabbing something to eat. It was then that he remembered something he had been putting off for some time now.
’Damn, why do I keep forgetting all about it?’ He thought. ’I need to pay Larry a visit.’
The last time he saw the underground doctor was when he had to get his hands checked after Volcan upgraded his Iron Fist. Back then, the matter he entrusted him with had yet to be done, so they agreed to meet again after a while to see what came of it.
’It wouldn’t hurt if he texted...’
The underground doctor had a habit of leaving people hanging, which is why one had to take the initiative and contact him. Composing a short message as he made his way to the back exit, Dante passed the break room where Boris spends most of his time when he has nothing to do.
The big guy was sitting on a sofa, one of his hands digging into a large bag of chips. The moment their eyes met, a grin formed on his face.
"Of course I got in," Dante smirked. "No way I would let him leave me out after everything."
"I’m hearing it’s a big fish this time." Boris pulled out a chip and waved it around. "So big even I didn’t get to hear the details."
"Yea, seriously." Throwing the chip in his mouth, the big guy immediately reached into the bag once again. "You’re free till the meeting, right? Wanna hang around while I do something?"
"Nah, there is this item spawning nearby. I thought I would go collect it before we head out."
"Ah, you’re talking about another one of your games?" Dante grimaced. "Sorry but I have to pass. I got a doctor’s appointment, you see."
[Dante, if you do not mind, ask if he is playing-]
’I do mind.’ Dante cut him off and suppressed a sigh. ’Didn’t we agree to keep this stuff online?’
[Some games are played in the real world using OAMs.] Volcan replied. [I would like to try those at one point as well.]
’Keep dreaming, then.’
More than once in the past week, the AI tried to talk about the games he played and the things he learned. With his complete lack of interest, Dante ended up ignoring most of what he said or shutting down the conversations with one excuse or another.
Dante never expected to feel bad for doing so, but he was proven wrong in a matter of days. Because of that, he decided to give the AI the freedom to interact with people who share his interests. Of course, he would be limited to online interactions only.
The AI had created several accounts on the most prominent forums and social media sites, and Dante was waiting to see what would come of it. It became yet another source of stress for him as he felt it would increase his chances of being discovered, but Volcan assured him that the chances of it happening were non-existent, explaining that the internet was already full of accounts run by bots and AIs, making it easier for him to hide.
"Suit yourself." Boris shrugged and went back to his chips. "Make sure to be back in time, though. You know What Vic is like when you keep him waiting."
Exiting Triple Jackpot, Dante got on his bike and left for Hollowgrid.