"A personnel request, huh…" The smirk Dante wore slowly widened.
Things already seed interesting, then she went and said that much. It explained why she insisted on eting him that night instead of just waiting to receive her corpse.
"So you are starting to have doubts about your place in the world, huh?"
Officially, the Bureau of Enhanced Operations had a much higher standing than Eidolon. It existed long before the gacorporation, governing Enhanced Individuals since the ti cyborgs were starting to beco more common. When Genos ca into the picture, it expanded to watch over them as well, but there isn't a single person in this day and age who would tell you that a governnt entity could possibly have any influence over one of the world's biggest corporations.
Caroline Lincoln was the daughter of a very powerful family, hence why she had the fortune of receiving the Geno treatnt years before Eidolon opened its doors to lesser clients. Rich won aren't stupid, so she must have realized it pretty early on that she was nothing more than a puppet installed at the top of the BEO to make it more manageable. For a while, Dante was under the impression that she answered directly to Eidolon, but from the looks of it, that might not be entirely the case, and she doesn't seem to be satisfied about being kept in the dark.
"Rebelling against your masters, huh?" He said. "Can't say I don't like that."
"Call it what you want." Said Caroline. "Do we have a deal?"
"Whoa there, slow down. We haven't discussed my paynt yet. A price for everything, rember?"
"Money isn't a problem." She said.
"Yeah, I'm not short on cash right now, so it has to be sothing different."
"How about a pardon for all the cris you committed?"
"I was thinking of sothing different," Dante said.
In truth, he didn't have anything in mind at the mont. There wasn't much the BEO Commander could give him that he couldn't get through other ans. That should've ant that he had no reason to make a deal, but Dante wanted to leave the door open.
"Since you're asking for info, you can pay the sa way."
"You want info?" Caroline raised an eyebrow.
"Or sothing of equal value," Dante replied. "This secret organization you want to investigate, it managed to defeat your Fla Guard, and with Mr. Strongest around, no less. I would be risking my life, so…"
The frown on the BEO Commander's face deepened, and she seed to start regretting that she had co to him with this.
"I… understand…" She said eventually. "But I'm going to need to see so results first."
"Alright." That seed to be the end of their discussion, so Dante turned around to leave, only to stop a mont later. "By the way, do you want your corpse to be delivered here?"
"The usual location would be fine."
As if she couldn't stand to be around him any longer, the BEO Commander brushed her crimson hair back and walked away.
~[ ]~
The organization distributing Catalyst. Having clashed with two of their partners, Dante was starting to believe that they had a different goal from what he initially predicted. For one, they didn't seem to be trying to sell the miracle drug like what that short bastard from Caligo had told him.
Caroline dropped a big hint during their short conversation. The motives behind the attack on the Eidolon branch in Neo-Vatra had been a mystery so far. Dante had suspected that it was a result of the animosity between the two warring factions, with one aiming to deal a blow to the other while diminishing their forces. As it turned out, the attackers had a different purpose.
'They were looking for sothing…'
Sothing Eidolon would be hiding in a branch guarded by so of the most powerful heroes in the world. There were a lot of things the gacorporation responsible for the creation of Genos could be hiding, and yet, the first thing that ca to Dante's mind was the image of an innocent, white-haired girl.
'Right…'
Dante just so happened to have a very similar goal. He was even considering when to take his trip to Polaris Ultima. Unfortunately, unlike the organization that attacked Eidolon, he didn't have an army of Enhanced Individuals to wage war with.
'I gotta give them a na…'
"Oh, hey boss! You up for a drink?"
Before he knew it, Dante found himself back in the Red Oni Club. Inferno's mbers hanging around when the place was closed didn't seem out of the ordinary, but the sa can't be said about the bartender manning the one counter that had its lights on.
"Hey, Lissa. Are you doing well?"
As he walked over to the dark-skinned bartender, nodding at the underlings who stood up to greet him.
"I'm doing great." She said.
"You missed work that much?" Dante asked.
"It just doesn't feel right to be paid even when the club is closed down. Want to pour you sothing?"
"Is there anything to eat, by chance?"
"We can always order sothing. I heard you like Tenebrossan food."
"I sure do."
"It will be here in a couple of minutes."
"Pour a beer in the anti."
Though he felt like drinking sothing stronger, it was better to hold back so he could think properly later on.
"By the way, how's Ross doing?"
It has been so ti since he last went to the Bowl of Fortune, so he wanted to take this chance to check on his pals. Glenn seed to be having heart problems, being forced to handle those sweet, sweet assets Dante keeps bringing in. Jonah's job should have gotten a little easier with Inferno running the streets. That left Ross. Among them, he was the only one who seed to be struggling all the ti, being a single father. He had a fiancée now, but she ca with her own child, so it was a little difficult to tell if things had improved for him.
"Pretty good, actually," Lissa said. "The interview went great. If he does well on the next round, he might get the post."
So of the words jumped out at Dante, and his brows ca together in confusion.
"He's looking for a job?"
"Oh, I guess you didn't hear."
One wouldn't fault him for not knowing, but that didn't stop him from feeling like shit. Ross never had a stable job until he joined the city's maintenance crew. It wasn't the best of jobs out there, but at least it paid the bills, and it ca with insurance and an entire week of paid leave. Losing it must have dealt a big blow to him.
"Damn… I hope everything goes well for him."
Dante wanted to offer his help, but it didn't feel right to do so without being asked. Ross prided himself on being a survivor, just like everyone else who still chose to make an honest living in this day and age. If he has yet to say anything, it would an he still had hope of making it his own. Lissa understood this, which is why she tried spinning the matter in a positive manner.
"Ellie is doing fine, right?" He asked.
"Yeah, she's doing fine," Lissa said. "She actually learned how to write her na just the other day!"
"Really? Man, wish I had seen it. It's about ti she starts school, if I rember right."
"Preschool, maybe. She would be spending a little more ti at the Owl's Lantern."
The food the bartender ordered for him soon arrived via drone. Being an Ascended Cyborg, Dante didn't feel the physical effects of hunger anymore. His bionic digestive system stored nutrients, so he could go for long stretches of ti without anything, especially now that his brain was the only part of him that still required them. That said, the very act of eating felt invigorating, almost like scratching an itch that had been too difficult to reach.
"By the way, boss." The Tenebrosan woman leaned over the counter. "Any idea when the club will be open next?"
"Not until we co up with sothing to deal with the freaks who keep showing up."
The club was serving as the gang's base at the mont, so the best idea they could co up with was separating the two. Dante's office and the gym on the second floor would be moved to a different location, but the problem was the underground fighting club.
As it turned out, they might have to give up on the Red Oni Cage, or maybe change the location to a different spot.
'Sowhere in Joystreet would be better…'
A bit of noise caught his attention as the thought crossed his mind. From the looks of it, soone ca in through the front door even when it was obvious that the place was closed. Dante had no plans on interfering, having decided to leave the matter to his underlings while he focused on his food. Soone ca to sit beside him soon after.
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