Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System

Chapter 694: Nothing Out of The Ordinary.

A pang of pain shot through Bella’s body, shattering the darkness of her dreamless sleep. Her eyes slowly opened, and she found herself looking at an unfamiliar white ceiling. This was not her apartment.

"Bella? Are you awake?"

Hearing the voice, her first reaction was to tell them off and complain about the bright light. Thankfully, she managed to stop herself before she made that grave mistake and whipped her head to the right, coming face to face with the speaker.

"You shouldn’t be moving too much." A red-haired man said, smiling wryly. "You still haven’t completely recovered."

"B-B-Boss!? What are you-"

Just then, the sharp pain returned, and she immediately figured out its source. Remembering how she got there, her eyes went wide, and she turned to look at the red-haired man.

"The operation was a success." He said. "How do you feel?"

"I... I’m fine... I think..."

Bella almost told him about the pain without thinking. Having done her research before the surgery, she learned that the prickling pain was nothing out of the ordinary and would eventually disappear. Of course, there was always the chance that it wouldn’t, which would require her to tell a doctor, but she would worry about that if the time ever came.

"That’s good to hear."

Her boss heaved a sigh, looking quite relieved. A different kind of pain struck Bella, one that came from the left side of her chest. Right after, she felt her temperature rise dramatically. Maybe she was still sick after all.

"One can’t help but worry, you know?" He said. "Even though everything went perfectly."

"Un..."

"You might have some trouble moving your body right now, but it’s not something a little exercise won’t solve. For now, you should get more rest. We can start your rehabilitation afterwards."

"Un..."

He was worried about her. The thought alone caused Bella’s condition to get worse, and she found it impossible to keep looking at him. An idea illuminated her mind, and she quickly turned away, hoping to hide her flushed face.

"In that case, I... I think I will sleep some more..."

Bella felt ashamed for having to do so, but she didn’t have much choice. Right now, she didn’t have her makeup on. Not only that, but she was naked under that thin cover as well. The embarrassment of her current situation was too much to bear, so even though she had to risk being a little rude to her boss, she had no choice but to do it.

"Good. I will go take care of a few things for now." He said, standing up from his chair. "Larry will take care of you in the meantime. Make sure to contact me in case you need anything."

"Un..."

The red-haired boss left, and a couple of minutes later, Bella was finally able to sigh in relief. Immediately after, embarrassment struck her once more, and she was left wriggling in her bed, wanting nothing more than to smash her head against a wall.

"He’s a little dense, that one."

The voice caused her to freeze, and when she hesitantly raised her head to check its source, she saw a lanky man sitting in the corner of the room, holding a lit cigarette between his fingers.

"Just to be clear, I did tell him that you probably wouldn’t want him to see you right now."

And just like that, Bella passed out.

~[ ]~

’Nothing out of the ordinary, huh?’

[That seems to be the case for now.]

Thanks to the upgraded Ares SRE, Dante now had a direct connection between his soul and Bella’s. As this was the first case of its kind, even Volcan, who is supposed to be an expert on should didn’t know what to make of the situation. Right now, they have no way of severing the connection. For that reason, Dante turned his attention to what they can do.

’It wouldn’t be that big of a problem if it were just there, but I guess we can’t just keep ignoring it.’ Dante thought aloud as he made his way back to the Red Oni Club. ’Can we make use of it somehow?’

[It is narrow, but a connection is still a connection,] Volcan replied. [If we threaten Bella Adam’s soul as an extension of yours, it might be possible to use some of VOLCAN’s functions through her.]

’Seriously?’

It was exactly what Dante had in mind, but he didn’t expect it to be possible.

[In a very limited capacity, yes.] Volcan said. [For example, it might be possible to Upgrade other implants she has installed, provided you are within a short distance from each other.]

’That’s... not something we can make use of...’

They were already working on a way to Upgrade implants without having to install them into his body, so there was no point in doing it to others when there was a big risk of the Upgrade process causing harm to someone who’s still mostly flesh.

[Another way we can make use of the connection is by giving remote access to the Storage.]

’You mean we can make it so she could put things in and take them out?’ Dante felt one of his eyebrows rise. ’Though that thin thread?’

[Yes. The concept is similar to how you are able to access the same pocket dimension from different locations. The connection establishes a door, and by granting her a key, she would be able to access it.]

’Damn...’

Though it wasn’t exactly an ability that belonged to one of the armors, the Storage function was still quite versatile, making it one of the most dangerous powers to have. As he thought of the options that could be opened by having people who can access the Storage, Dante’s mind veered to a more important question.

’What about the armors?’ He asked. ’Can you make it so she can use them as well?’

[I am afraid to say that it is impossible.] Volcan replied. [Since VOLCAN is integrated into your soul, the armors can only be deployed around its vessel.]

Dante didn’t expect that the revelation of his being incapable of allowing others to use the armors would be this disappointing. Having an entire team where the members could use one of the types would have been a bigger game changer than his MBIs ever were. A force independent from him, which could use his abilities, opened the door to unlimited opportunities, so it was a shame that it wasn’t possible.

’Or... maybe not...’

When he thought about it, Dante realized that it might not be so great, especially since it would take away his option to use the armors himself. It was unlikely that he was going to use armors below Level 5 going forward, but it was better to have them at arm’s reach than not.

As he walked, a sudden urge to yawn overwhelmed Dante. He hadn’t expected what happened to leave him this exhausted. Giving it some thought, he decided to head back to his apartment and get some proper rest.

’There is nothing for me to do right now...’

Nothing urgent, at the very least. As he checked his messages just in case, Dante passed a certain street, and his steps slowed down upon noticing. Coming to a stop, he raised his gaze and looked at the other side of the road.

The night had already fallen, and the glow of fluorescent light washed over the empty street, giving it an unsettling yet familiar air. On the ground floor of the megacomplex stretching beyond the borders of his vision, a certain shop still had its lights on, the sign hanging above its doors a beacon calling anyone passing by.

Immediately upon seeing it, Dante remembered that he hadn’t eaten since his visit to shrimp town. Feeling a sudden craving for some spicy noodles, he was about to cross the street-

-Are you sure you want to go there?-

He stopped in his tracks, stunned as if struck by a bolt of lightning. As seconds turned into minutes, he finally turned around and walked away.

~[ ]~

Morning arrived, and Dante woke up in his bed. It felt a bit strange to be this early two days in a row, but he didn’t mind it in the least. Taking a shower and brushing his teeth, he equipped a new outfit and stopped to look at himself in the mirror. His mood was much worse than yesterday, but when he gave it some thought, he realized that he was especially happy back then, so this was more like his normal.

’Why do I feel like I’m forgetting something...’

He strained his mind, but nothing came up, so he decided to banish the thought. Today, he was going to resume his training with his blond idiot of an underling. Though his own failure at Soul Manifestation was pulling on his mood, threatening to bring it closer to the floor, another part of him felt excitement to see how much that genius had progressed in his absence.