The public hospital had showers as well, but since his care package didn’t include free access to them, Dante found himself having to pay just to wash away the grime that had gathered from the past three days.
It was a common scam that charges ten Radmir Credits for every five minutes of use, and of course, they wouldn’t refund any of the extra time one might end up not using. For that reason, people have made a habit of using every last second of the time they pay for, leaving the hot water spilling even if they are done.
Dante let the scalding shower rain fall on him for ten minutes straight before he heard the loud beeping of the timer. After buying thirty minutes so he wouldn’t have to rush, he ended up with spare time, even when he had to struggle a little due to his aching body.
Drying himself and putting on the change of clothes Victor had brought him, he picked the bag with the old clothes and left the damned hospital, hoping to never visit it again for any reason.
From there, life seemed to go back to normal for a while. Taking a train home, stopping by the Bowl of Fortune to eat, getting yelled at by Nobara and reprimanded by Jonah, and sleeping in a proper bed. It felt great to slow down a little and not worry about anything at all.
Dante did nothing on the next day and focused on giving his body some time to recover from the stress he had put it through. Of course, a few days of rest were far from enough to bring him back to top shape, but he still needed to allow himself that moment of reprieve in preparation for what comes next.
Thursday, the 22nd of November 2098
Instead of checking the digital clock in the corner of his vision, Dante had the calendar app open and was watching the countdown to an event he had been anticipating for the last week. When it finally hit 07:00, he got up from his bed, took a quick shower, and left his apartment at exactly 07:15.
’No new spies, huh?’ He asked internally while waiting for the elevator.
[None as far as I can tell.] His resident AI replied. [Unless they aren’t carrying any electronics capable of receiving a signal, which is unlikely.]
Ever since they discovered the enemy’s stealth capabilities, Volcan had deployed Berserk Mode on a large scale, covering a wide area around the megacomplex Dante lives in. No electronic device capable of sending and receiving data could enter that range without them knowing about it. This way, the only thing that could creep up on them would be a true ghost.
’At this point, nothing will surprise me...’
The wizards from Blue Ember hadn’t sent any new spies in the days since the city hall riots. Whether he had been cleared of suspicion or not was unclear, but for the time being, it seemed that they had no reason to keep him under surveillance.
Though he believed they weren’t done with him yet, Dante felt a little relieved that he got them off his back before today arrived.
Down in the parking lot, Dante took out his Raven and put on a helmet. Since he wasn’t leaving the district today, he would have preferred to walk to his destination. Sadly, he received instructions telling him to avoid exercising his body as well as to avoid eating anything for a least eight hours, which is why he held back on breakfast that morning.
The ride was only ten minutes long and took him deeper into the desolate streets of Hollowgrid, bringing him closer and closer to the outer border of the city as well as The Pit. This part of the district was on par with White Hill, not only in lawlessness, but also in the rampant and uncontrolled construction.
There weren’t as many megastructures the closer one got to the city border, with average apartment buildings becoming more prevalent. Most were half a century old with fifteen floors or fewer.
The lack of supervision meant the owners had the freedom to modify the properties and expand them however they liked, safety standards be damned. The lower floors were encased in shells made from stacked containers and welded alloy panels. Looking up, one would see that each of the buildings was surrounded by a cage of thin support beams holding similar shells that grew out of the higher floors, painting the image of the building being infested with a disease of some kind.
The buildings themselves were one thing, but one can’t help but be shocked when seeing the stacks of old containers that had been modified into living quarters. Some roads had been blocked entirely, leaving no path for vehicles to pass through.
From the looks of it, garbage collectors hadn’t bothered with the area for a very long time. The stench was almost unbearable, and stray animals were having a blast with all the trash. If there is one saving grace to such a place, it would be how rare it was to find a corpse on the streets, and since the area was far from charities and aid distribution points, there were no hobos sleeping in the open, either.
As he was nearing his destination, Dante entered a narrow alleyway he had previously scouted and unequipped the Raven, choosing to walk the rest of the distance. Soon enough, he arrived at one of the heavily modified buildings, taking the stairs in the back to the first basement floor.
Though the entire place was covered in graffiti, it appeared strangely clean compared to the rest of the area. Another thing that stood out about it was the blast door blocking the entrance and the visible security camera right above it.
Sending a message through his NIM, Dante waited a couple of minutes before the door opened. Waiting for him behind it was a tall, lanky man in a lab coat. Though the bags under his eyes were still around, his face being slightly less pale than usual showed that he had taken the time to rest recently. His hair was neatly combed as well, which showed that he had the opportunity to properly prepare himself.
"Right on time," Larry said. He then moved aside and motioned to the dark corridor behind him. "C’mon, let’s get this over with."