The minutes ticked by and Dante found himself lost in the motion of dipping, scrubbing, rinsing, and wiping. Never in his life did he think that washing dishes would be a relaxing activity, but here he was, spending hours doing work that should’ve gone extinct half a century ago. He could’ve kept going uninterrupted all the way to the end of his shift, but at some point, his resident AI suddenly broke his silence.
[Dante, be on guard.] Said Volcan. [I have detected an abnormal source of energy in the vicinity.]
Dante went on with what he was doing without showing any sudden change on his face. His resident AI took the initiative to inform him of something. That alone indicated a potentially high threat level, even though he has yet to determine if it’s hostile.
The door to the kitchen area opened soon after, and all eyes turned in its direction. Dante did the same, but he almost regretted doing so. That’s because he ended up making eye contact with the new arrival, and with the door having yet to close, it felt like that person had their eyes on him the moment they entered.
At first glance, he appeared to be a normal man. Not short, but not tall either. The simple black suit he wore made him appear rather thin, even more so when the fat goblin walked up to him. His yellowish skin and sharp eyes spoke of his origin being from either the Eastern Federation, like Nobara, or from Glenn’s homeland, the Jinhe Empire.
Dante stared back and pretended to be as surprised as the others. He never expected to ever feel grateful for his annoying supervisor, but Ben earned a bit of gratitude when he went and distracted the new guy, giving Dante a moment of reprieve, or so it seemed for a couple of seconds.
[Initiating threat evaluation...]
No sooner had Volcan said those words than the pale goblin turned to him with a vicious grin, his hand rising as he pointed a stubby finger. The new guy looked at him as well, his expression remaining neutral. Soon after, he raised a hand and motioned for him to approach, prompting Dante to point a finger at himself.
Of course, it was unlikely that the suited man wanted anyone else, so when he replied with a nod, Dante had no choice but to walk over.
"Uh, did you need anything?" He asked.
The man looked him up and down, then fixed him with a glare from his sharp eyes.
"Your presence has been requested. Please follow me."
Things suddenly took a turn for the worse.
"Is this... is this because I arrived late this morning?"
The suited man turned around without answering and Dante knew he wouldn’t do so when he started walking away.
"That man is from the higher echelon of the hotel’s security." Ben cackled from the side. "You are definitely getting fired."
Though he thought that at first, too, Dante knew it couldn’t be that simple. Why would the hotel’s management send someone to kick him out when they could just notify him through the Ember app?
Whatever the case, this development opened two routes for him: he could make a run for it, getting to safety at the cost of exposing himself, or he could follow after the suited man and put himself in risk for the slight chance that the reason they asked for him doesn’t have anything to do with the heist.
Seeing that the suited man had stopped at the door, Dante took off his gloves and slapped them on the fat goblin’s face, then he followed with his apron, leaving before he could hear any complaints.
The exit Dante had thought led to the kitchen wasn’t directly linked to it. Instead, it opened up to a long corridor that reminded him of the one used by the dish dip staff. He had noticed its existence while analyzing the 3D module Volcan created after scanning the building, and just as he began to wonder if the scan itself was what exposed him, his resident AI finally came back to him with a report.
[Threat Evaluation: Level 3 Aetherion.] He said. [Dante, this individual might be far more dangerous than my evaluation might suggest. I advise utmost caution.]
[An Aetherion.] He replied. [Beings capable of wielding Aether.]
’... Are you going to explain that?’
Volcan sounded strangely alarmed, which almost caused Dante to stop in his tracks. Still, he didn’t try to hide his inner turmoil entirely. It was only natural that he would be nervous in his current situation. In fact, appearing too calm would have made him look too suspicious. That’s why he wasn’t worried about the suited man noticing.
[Aether is a type of cosmic energy capable of influencing reality. It is endlessly versatile and can be used as fuel to manifest all kinds of phenomena.]
Dante took in the explanation and ran it through his mind, yet he still didn’t understand. No, that’s not exactly true. He did understand. It was just that his mind refused to accept the absurdity of the concept, but that only convinced his resident AI that he needed a different definition, and the one he provided next made the truth inescapable.
[Aetherions seem to frequently appear in stories and legends created by humans, though most of the time they are referred to by a different name.]
As he listened to the voice in his head, Dante remembered a conversation he had with the AI a while ago. Back then, he was wondering if he had been cursed. Volcan told him that magic was just a word humans use to describe unexplained phenomena. He also assured him that he could protect him from any threats, even those that humans couldn’t understand. Dante didn’t think too much of it back then, but now...
[Mages. I believe that is the best word to describe them.] Volcan said. [Their innate ability to manipulate Aether cannot be replicated easily, and that makes them the most dangerous type of Enhanced Individual.]
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