A blue dot appeared at the center of Dante’s vision, growing into a circle that expanded until it filled his field of sight. Everything enveloped by the blue circle turned black and white, as if a grayscale filter had been applied to everything, with the contrast lowered to make it possible to see in the dark.
Among the crowd of drunk dancers, a single figure was painted in bright yellow. He was a man of average height, wearing plain jeans and a black synth-leather jacket that barely reached his waist. His hair was cut short, exposing the familiar lines left behind from bone enhancement implants. Several metal ornaments glinted on his left temple and right below it, a bizarre tattoo covered his cheek, painting the image of ripped skin and exposed teeth.
Flash Malcom, twenty-nine years old, a member of Black Skull. As edgy as the name sounds, the gang itself was of a medium size and didn’t have that big of a territory. Their trademark was the face tattoo that takes the shape of a skull. It starts as a few teeth, then, as they rise in rank, it expands little by little until it covers their entire head.
Going by the size of this one’s tattoo, he was barely above the rank and file. That must have been one of the factors for why Los Aros offered a measly 900G for his head.
The description on his wanted poster claimed he and his followers were infringing on their territories and causing trouble with their members. Dante didn’t know if that was enough of a reason to put a bounty on the man’s head, but that didn’t really matter.
[Threat Evaluation: Level 1 Intermediate Cyborg.] Volcan said. [He has subdermal armor covering both the front and back of his torso. Metal plating around the skull and hands. Bionic lungs, of the medical kind. Lastly, it seems he has a type of synaptic reflex enhancer.]
’So he has an SRE...’ Dante pressed his mouth to a line. ’Weapons?’
[Two pistols under his jacket. One knife strapped to his right leg. With the boost they provide, he barely qualifies as a Level 2 threat.]
’Well-rounded, huh...’
A Synaptic Reflex Enhancer is just that: an implant that significantly enhances the user’s reaction time and coordination. Normally, one could determine the specialty of someone with such an implant based on the weapons they have on them, but Flash has both ranged and melee weapons, making it difficult to predict.
An SRE was the implant Dante planned on getting right after a decent subdermal armor. Enhancing his accuracy was important, but he had to ensure his vitals were protected first. Not to mention, SREs are far more expensive. He still has a lot of saving to do before he is able to get one.
[My analysis shows that a Level 2 armor of any type would be enough to counter him. Which one would you like to use?]
Thinking for a moment, Dante raised his bottle and took a few gulps.
’Volcan, what makes you think we would need your armors to deal with someone ?’
’What I mean is... It’s a waste. I know your armors are meant to deal with a range of situations, but there is no need to take one out whenever we have some rats we have to deal with.’
VOLCAN promised to make things a lot easier, but relying on it for everything didn’t sound right.
’A few bullets will be enough to deal with a Level 1 .’ Dante said internally. ’Your diving abilities are all the help I need.’
A lot of times, one can’t help but wonder what is the point of the lower threat levels. Most could be dealt with using a normal gun, after all, which makes them no different from normal people.
It went into the whole philosophy behind what constitutes a human, and at what point does a person stop being one. There is a reason Threat Level and Baseline Retention usually go hand in hand. A Level 0 Prime who underwent genetic therapy to rid themselves of a disease is considered more of a human than a Level 4 Intermediate who can topple buildings with their thoughts.
Basically, the harder it is to kill someone, and the easier for them to kill others, the less likely people are willing to consider them human. In a way, this logic explains why many don’t consider the elites ruling the world as humans.
Somehow, the AI sounded a little sad. Dante couldn’t help but wonder if there is a reason he always recommends one of his armors, beyond it being one of his main functions. Maybe he enjoys being useful? Then again, he is still just an AI. Remembering that was getting a little difficult after interacting with him for the past few days.
’Also, I have to film the killing blow so we can claim the bounty.’
[... isn’t that... dangerous?] The faint sorrow in the Volcan’s voice was quickly replaced with confusion.
’Yeah, that’s another reason why I don’t do it anymore.’
To claim the bounty for a Red Marking, one needs to prove that they dealt the finishing blow. Doing so was next to impossible without creating something that might incriminate oneself, and though handing the video to the gang isn’t required -most share it through an app that doesn’t allow screen recording- the danger still remains as digital data is very difficult to get rid of.
’I’m not too worried about it now, though.’ Dante thought. ’Since you’re here, I don’t have to worry about anyone stealing my data, right?’
[Yes.] Volcan replied. [That is correct.]
Dante heaved a sigh and returned his sight to the target. Flash was still dancing, his hands raised in the air as he shook left and right. He didn’t seem to be paying any attention to his surroundings, as if not worried about anyone coming after him.
’Check his NIM.’ Dante said, shaking the previous thoughts from his mind. ’See if he has any friends around.’
Gang thugs don’t hang out a such places by themselves so it wouldn’t be surprising to find more in the area.
[Dante,] Volcan replied right away, as he usually does, but what he said wasn’t what Dante had in mind. [It came to my attention that you have been under surveillance for some time now.]