Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 118: A Finger Or Two.

It took twenty minutes to reach the street where The Clinic was located. Dante drove into the megacomplex’s underground parking lot and stopped at one of the dark corners, ensuring that no one was watching before giving a mental command to unequip the Raven.

Once the bike disappeared from under his palm, he placed his hands in the pockets of his vermilion jacket and walked toward the exit. He caught sight of some morning rats hiding behind a corner, clearly waiting to steal his precious ride. Unfortunately for them, the only thing they’ll find is more rats, although of the fur-covered kind.

Walking over to the third entrance of the building, Dante climbed the stairs then made his way through the messy hallways, wondering if the place had gotten even more cluttered since his last visit. Soon enough, he was at The Clinic’s door. He sent a message announcing his arrival, and not long after, the heavy slab of metal slid aside to let him pass.

"I’ll be with you in a moment." Came a voice from inside the examination room.

From the glimpse he caught, Dante guessed that the underground doctor happened to have a client right now. Walking over to the other rooms, Dante made sure that the patient beds were empty. It was none of his business, of course, but he preferred not to have anyone around, considering the topic they were going to discuss.

Ten minutes later, a burly man walked out of the examination room, followed by a lanky fellow in a lab coat. They spoke a few words before the big guy walked to the exit. Larry heaved a long sigh, and once the door closed, he turned to Dante and let more of his exhaustion show.

"You choose the most peculiar times to visit, kid," Larry said.

"What? Don’t tell me you were about to take a nap." Dante smirked.

"I just came back from a twelve-hour surgery, so... yes. I was about to take a nap."

The underground doctor looked as pale as always, although the circles under his eyes seemed to have gotten worse. He motioned for him to follow into the examination room then took a seat and lit a cigarette. Sitting on a nearby sofa, Dante waited patiently for him to take a few puffs. Larry didn’t leave him waiting for long.

"Long story short, I got you about 970K for everything."

"... you got to be kidding me..."

"I told you not to expect a lot." Puffing another cloud of smoke.

"Seriously..." Dante sank into the back of the old gray sofa. "I thought it would get me another 600K, at least."

Besides the machines he looted from Caligo’s underground base, Dante had made the choice to take a few more things. His biggest prizes were Epsilon’s Level 2 and Level 3 cyborg guards, whom he finished off shortly before the police arrived.

A couple of days after, he reached out to Larry looking for someone who specializes in harvesting bionics. The doctor didn’t disappoint, offering to handle everything from processing the corpses to finding a Gearhead to fix the damaged parts and a merchant to sell everything.

After the first part of the job was done, Dante got some not-so-good news. Turns out that most of the implants ripped out of the Level 3 guard were damaged, an expected result of him firing his railgun multiple times. Because of that, Dante was told to expect the repair costs to eat into his profits.

Dante didn’t really mind; even after adding the costs of auctioning the parts, he was still guaranteed to get a big sum by the end. Still, hearing that his cut didn’t even reach a full million was disheartening, to say the least.

"I’m sending you the money now." Said the doctor. "Do you plan on doing some shopping?"

"Yeah, I will get me a finger or two." Dante scoffed.

The costs of implants weren’t the only thing he had to pay attention to. The installation surgery alone could go up to 200K, and that’s for the less complicated stuff. With barely a million in his hands, even if he were to get some Titan Forge tech, he could forget about getting it under his skin.

As he was considering what he should do with the sum he had received, Volcan spoke up.

[Dante, may I suggest something?]

’Sure.’

[After much consideration, I am starting to believe that your focus on the highest quality of bionic implants might be detrimental to our goals.]

’Says the guy who recommended first-class implants when we were completely broke.’

[I admit that my lack of common sense had influenced my thought process at the time.] Said the AI. [However, I now have a more detailed understanding of the world of bionics, which is why I believe that limiting yourself to Titan Forge is not feasible, considering our current circumstances.]

’So you’re saying we should get some of the lower grade stuff first?’

[Yes. I believe that would be the more optimal choice.]

The idea of getting lower-grade implants and upgrading them wasn’t too bad, but that would add the costs of upgrade materials to the equation as well. Nevertheless, it didn’t seem like they had a lot of choices. Holding back till they had enough for the best toys had always been an unrealistic dream.

"I have a big job coming soon," Dante said. "Depending on the timeline, I might get one or two things installed."

Larry studied him for a couple of seconds then asked, "You got something in mind?

"I think I will go with subdermal armor for the time being. Maybe some skull plates too."

Just then, Dante recalled the pain he suffered from upgrading his fists and shuddered at the thought of what it would feel like to upgrade something implanted directly in his head.

What happened to his NIM was enough to induce fear into him every time he remembered it, but that happened while he was in a coma. Next time, he was likely would be forced to remain awake during the whole process, forcing him to experience both the fear and pain that comes with it.

"Good choice." Larry said. "Always make sure to survive getting shot before anything else."

"Y-yeah..."