When the massive shadow fell on his head, the last thing Dante expected to see was a gigantic warship floating over the city. He had already approached the hotel by then, and retreat didn’t seem like a very good idea. That’s why he went inside, making it all the way to the twenty-fifth floor where he hid in the same employee bathroom he used before, trying to gather more intel before deciding whether to change his plans or not.
The staff area had an elevator for each of the floor columns, so he could have gone to the thirty-fifth floor directly. He held back on that, however, recognizing that getting close too fast might turn out to be a problem, especially with invisible ninjas lurking around.
Finn kept sending messages, updating him about the situation outside. The NVPD’s decision to put the entire district under lockdown further exposed the true magnitude of the events taking place.
Dante asked his resident AI to tap into the surveillance system outside so he could see what was happening for himself, and turns out things were as bad as the brat had described them.
An entire fleet of aerial vehicles was spilling out of the Ark, quickly surrounding Blue Ember. Some landed on the roof while others blasted holes through the side of the building and just drove inside. Others went down to the ground, joining the barrier that had begun to form around the base of the skyscraper.
The Ark was so eye-catching that it was difficult to notice what was taking place on the ground. The streets were empty just minutes ago when Dante passed through them, but now each and every road leading to the hotel was blocked by police cars and trucks, metal barriers, and several Tortoise tanks, in addition to other mechanized equipment that appeared as if it had been dragged from a war zone.
The strange thing about the blockade was how it wasn’t facing the hotel in preparation for someone trying to escape. The same amount of forces was directed outward, as if to prevent anyone from coming in, and it didn’t seem like they were done just yet.
Watching them reinforce the barrier even further, Dante realized that Blue Ember was completely under siege. When a tide of armed forces flowed toward the building soon after, most of whom were armed with heavy gear, including power suits, things became even clearer.
’... I think... we’re screwed...’ he thought
[That seems to be the case.] Volcan replied.
A little late to the party, Blue Ember’s defense system kicked in just then. Heavy gates snapped in place, sealing every entrance in just a couple of seconds. Metallic shutters slid from the walls and barred every window on the building, turning it from a lively blue into a gray iron fortress.
’Volcan, make sure things stay this way.’
Knowing that the BEO had ambushed Shark while he was diving in the hotel’s network, it was right to conclude that they had gained some level of control over the security system. Volcan was well aware of the extent of that control, but since he had long since taken over Ember and every other AI operating in the building, he was ultimately in charge of what happened with the hotel’s systems.
[Permission to burn the local Divers.]
’Granted.’ Thinking for a moment, Dante added more to the task ’You’re free to kill government Divers, too.’
Dante didn’t intend to share his control over the hotel’s system, even if getting in the NVPD’s way was never in his plans. He needed them to distract the Stahlkorps and Romano sorcerers, after all, so locking them out wasn’t in his best interest.
’Alright, give me 8-3’
Threads of light burst out of Dante’s chest, and in just a couple of seconds, the familiar suit of armor formed. Looking down, Dante observed the smooth shapes of the dark blue plating and the intricate mechanisms visible around the joints before turning his attention back to the task at hand.
Baseline Retention: Intermediate (90%)
Computing Power: 7 (+40)
Neural Interface Module (C)
Optic Augmentation Module (C)
Kinetic Absorption Protective Sub-Layer Generation 16 (C)
After getting the subdermal armor he had always dreamed of and upgrading it to the C grade, Dante noticed a significant improvement in his resistance to the strain caused by Volcan’s armors. His internal organs were spared the worst of its effects, but his arms, legs, and head still felt its full brunt.
He can now wear a Level 3 armor for up to 6 minutes, and anything less for more than 10 minutes. Of course, he could extend that time by overexerting himself, but that was better left for the most desperate of situations.
Though it was a significant improvement, one thing that disappointed Dante was that being a Level 1 Intermediate Cyborg didn’t add a lot to the power of the armors. It was to be expected. Just like how adding a pistol to a tank wouldn’t give it the same destructive abilities as a small army, wearing a Level 3 suit wouldn’t automatically make him a Level 4.
[I have updated the three-dimensional model.] Said Volcan.
[Now that I have access to the building’s security systems, information gathering can be performed much quicker. Unfortunately, there isn’t much that can be done about the barrier surrounding the thirty-seventh floor.]
’I expected that much...’
The translucent 3D model of Blue Ember appeared on his OAM, and he quickly skimmed through it. Not much had changed, except for the dots representing the people scattered around the hotel. Most were yellow, but there was a swarm of red gradually spilling from the top floor and crawling through the first few.
’Can you discern their Levels?’
[You would have to get close for that to be possible.]
Dante turned his attention to a different matter, having decided to put off harvesting bionics for the time being. The empty space that enshrouded the thirty-seventh level was gone, but the area it covered was the only place that lacked color. Dante understood that it was the result of his resident AI filling in the blanks using the data he gathered through the white mansion’s security system.
Klaus Stahlwölfe’s home was no longer as empty as it was a few days ago. Though it was bustling with movement, most of it was concentrated on the eastern side of the building, the area where the banquet hall was located. Among the swarm of yellow dots representing the guests attending the wedding reception. Among them, three green dots stood out to Dante.