Dante’s body appeared to twitch, a result of him almost jumping up from his bed and stopping himself right away.
[Yes,] Volcan said. [They seem to be hiding in the apartment next door, which should be vacant at the moment.]
When he began to suspect that he was being monitored, Dante knew that whoever did it would be somewhere close by. That’s why he had five spider-bots watching his apartment and its surroundings, in addition to the security cameras in the area. If anyone suspicious were to get that close, he would have noticed, and if he didn’t, his resident AI would have. Or they should have.
[I apologize for my carelessness.] Volcan said. [Despite knowing that we are dealing with Aetherions, I have failed to take the appropriate measures to ensure any threats are detected.]
Getting up, Dante sat on the bedside and pinched the bridge of his nose.
’Forget about that. Just tell me how the hell they got this close without us noticing.’
[I would say it I something akin to what you call Ghost Mode.]
[They are using Aether techniques to hide their presence in the same way I hide yours.] Volcan explained. [I would say their technique is more advanced since it doesn’t rely on Diving into anything to achieve the desired effects.]
’You... you got to be kidding me...’
Ghost Mode was a miraculous power. Even if he didn’t have the ridiculously powerful armors, it alone would have made Volcan a formidable threat. Dante knew that all too well, which is why he was using it as the centerpiece of a lot of his plans.
It shouldn’t have surprised him to hear that others were able to use similar powers, but he couldn’t stop himself from being shocked. With how amazing it was, the people using such an ability couldn’t be anything normal. Someone like that was targeting him, and he was none the wiser.
’... fucking hell...’
It was as if a tub of ice-cold water had been spilled on him. Dante wanted to punch himself for not realizing it sooner. Of course there will be people who can do the same. Why wouldn’t there be?
For the past month, Dante had been keenly aware of the danger he was in, or so he thought. If the guards of some rich prince were capable of something like that, who could say that the people working for Eidolon can’t do the same? For all he knew, he might have been haunted by ghosts all this time.
He took a deep breath then lay down on his back once more. People who could use Ghost Mode exist, but no one with that kind of power had targeted him until now. The very fact that he was still out here proves that. As it turned out, his decision to act as if he was being watched the entire time was the right call.
’So they can use Ghost Mode, huh...’ He thought aloud. ’How were you able to catch them?’
Type 8’s Spatial Awareness ability would have made discovering their existence possible, but he had avoided wearing any of the armors for obvious reasons. It was a good thing that they confirmed their presence this early. Before coming up with his exit plan, he had considered using 8-3 to sneak out, though he scratched the idea when he considered that his stalkers could see through walls.
Volcan remained strangely silent, offering his reply a few seconds later.
[I used something I learned from that mediocre AI created by Finn Ward.] He said. [I believe they call it Berserk Mode.]
’... He calls it what now?’
[Berserk Mode. It is a protocol that forces a connection with anything that is capable of receiving a signal with the goal of injecting a variety of harmful programs. Of course, I have made the appropriate adjustments to ensure that my version is superior and not so easily detectable.]
Dante still recalled the time he saw the yellow noodle-like arms that tried to strangle him after bursting out of the brat’s Exocore. Finn’s AI friend had somehow managed to overcome Ghost Mode and establish a connection with Dante’s NIM, and though the breaching attempt was thwarted, it was still impressive that it was able to achieve that much.
’Wait, so you injected them with a bunch of viruses!?’
[No.] Volcan replied. [Would you like me to?]
’Just... make sure that they don’t notice.’ Sighing, Dante lingered for a moment then asked. ’Can you figure out what they’re up to?’
[Yes. But I believe there is something you should know.]
[It is something I have noticed back when you were taken for interrogation, but I only confirmed it now.] Volcan paused. [The man who escorted you, the group that was in the suite you passed through, and the man who interrogated you, none of them have Neural Interface Modules or Optic Augmentation Modules implanted. All of them seem to use the device you call a smartphone.]
’... huh... That’s... to be expected, I guess...’
It was something that appeared quite frequently in movies and shows. With how difficult it was to detect when NIMs an OAMs are being used, people in the upper echelon of society usually avoided having them implanted, and they even go as far as preventing the people working for them from doing so, forcing them to rely on smartphones which need to be taken out when used.
Of course, not everyone bothered with such arrangements, but even then, they still take measures to ensure nothing sensitive is witnessed and recorded.
[To answer your earlier questions, I’m afraid that I have to disappoint you.] Volcan said. [It seems that the app they use to communicate automatically deletes its text logs seconds after they are received. They don’t have a lot of apps installed as well. It is as if the devices had been taken out of the box very recently.]
’Damn... they know how to be careful...’
In a way, the situation hadn’t changed that much. They only confirmed what they’ve already presumed, so their course of action wasn’t going to change. As he lay down on his bed, Dante stared at the ceiling and thought
’Guess I have to go to that protest after all.’