Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 85: Surprisingly Wise.

[15:46]

Dante didn’t know how long he had been staring at the digital clock floating in the upper left side of his field of vision. His eyes ached a little, reminding him that he hadn’t gotten as much sleep as he should have in the past few days.

It didn’t matter, really. Even if he was exhausted to the bone, the sand man’s magic just didn’t work on him as well as it did on others.

Forcing himself out of the bed’s soft embrace, he went and paid the shower a visit, put some clothes on, then walked out of his apartment.

~[ ]~

"You look awful, boy," Nobara noted after letting him eat in silence for a few minutes.

The dark circles under his eyes weren’t getting any worse so what gave him away must have been the fact that he ordered something other than his usual. Slurping some of the salty ox bone noodles, he stared at the old woman then asked

"Is it that bad?"

"Bah! Bad doesn’t come close to describing it."

"Huh..."

He didn’t know how he should respond to that.

"Things not going well with your work?" She asked.

"... you could say that..."

After what happened at that club the previous night, Dante abandoned any thoughts of finishing his hunt and went straight back home only to remember Victor’s mission and go out again.

By then, his mood was in an irreparable state so after getting the data his fixer asked for, he once again headed back and spent what remained of his day in bed.

"Say, old hag..." watching his noodles turn soggy, Dante decided to let a question slip out. "Why is every woman I meet a violent punching machine?"

A series of violent coughs forced him to look up. Nobara was holding her pipe, as usual, so his first thought was that the fragrant smoke was finally getting to her.

"Boy..." She coughed in her small, wrinkled hand. "Are you... are you chasing skirts now?"

"What?" His eyes shot wide open. "Of course not!"

Giving it a second thought, Dante didn’t understand why he was so quick to deny it. What was so strange about a nineteen year old guy wanting some female company?

"Then what’s it with your question? You don’t like it when women throw themselves at you?"

"Did you even hear what I said?"

Heaving a long, exasperated sigh, Dante turned back to his bowl and forced himself to finish the rest of his meal.

"Your problem is simple, boy," some time later, Nobara spoke again, and as if she hadn’t almost coughed her soul out just now, she took another puff from her long pipe then released a stream of white smoke. "The places you visit, the people you mingle with. You surround yourself with things that produce a certain type of people so that’s the type of people you’ll get."

"That’s... surprisingly wise, coming from you, old hag." Dante closed his eyes and nodded, truly impressed.

"Bah! Of course it is. Are you looking down on me, boy!?"

"Nah, of course not."

He saw her emptying the ashes from the pipe, and knowing that might lead to a smack on the head, he backed away a little and waited until she lit up a new pinch. Downing what remained of the soup in his bowl, he was about to say his thanks and leave. That’s when the old woman spoke again.

"Tame women were extinct even back in my time, but if you want one that’s more civilized, get your bum back to school. That’s the only place you’ll find decent women in." Puffing another stream of white smoke, she pulled the wrinkles on her face up with a grin. "Though I doubt you’ll find a beauty like my granddaughter."

Smiling, Dante got up to his feet.

"My problem is that I don’t want anyone right now, or any time soon." He said. "Well, take care, old hag. And put down the pipe. You won’t be getting new lungs at your age."

"Just get out of here before I shove it up your-"

He closed the door behind him before she could say the rest.

~[ ]~

An old car slowly came to a stop on the side of a certain road. Lowering the window to his right, Dante leaned out and looked at the building across the sidewalk. It was an old six-story relic from a bygone era, hidden under one of the highways that cut through the city, passing over the outer parts of Hollowgrid.

"Huh, and here I was thinking something was off." He asked. "This isn’t the usual place."

"Yup."

Boris turned the engine off and pulled the key out of the ignition. He had been behind the wheel the entire time, and though it was just the two of them, Dante was sitting in the back.

As rude as it might look, the truth was that the big guy made it a rule back when they first met. Unless there was no space or other cars around, the passenger seat was to remain empty while he was behind the wheel.

Dante had long since gotten used to the arrangement, and nowadays it no longer bothered him. Getting out, he slammed the door shut behind him.

"So this is where Lev hides now?" He asked. "When did he move?"

"When the police raided his last place." The car swayed a little when Boris stepped out. "That was about a month ago, I think? Maybe a little more?"

When he paid Victor’s place a visit earlier, Dante was told that there were no gigs for him that day. Just like that, he was once again left with a lot of free time and nothing to do. While sitting at one of the slot machines mindlessly staring at its spinning screen, Boris came up to him and asked if he wanted to run some errands with him.

This wasn’t the first time the big guy came to him with such an invitation. Back when Dante was just getting started, the two used to do it once every other week. Most of the errands were collecting some payments and checking on people. This one, however, involved a certain package.