Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 511: Being Human.

Dante was about to reply when he noticed that he didn't know what the muscular man was referring to.

"Do what?"

"Your soul!" Riot exclaimed. "You're… what? An Advanced Cyborg?"

"Ascended, actually," Dante said.

"Then that makes it worse!" Riot threw his arms in the air. "How are you able to manifest your soul when your body has been modified to this extent! I got only my heart replaced, and now I can't even do half the things I used to do!"

"Skill issue," Dante replied.

"I'M BEING SERIOUS HERE!"

Dante was left a bit stunned by the way the big guy blew up on him. Though that brought back the frown to his face, he took a moment to consider the question a bit more.

"I guess you could say my soul is… malleable?" He said, pulling on his glove. "It has already changed its shape to fit my current body, so…"

Just then, a question popped up in Dante's mind, one he had before but couldn't answer.

According to Volcan, not only was his soul strong enough to withstand integrating with VOLCAN, it was malleable enough to reshape itself to fit his new body in a matter of days. That made him wonder: was his soul different from that of other people?

"This is… this is starting to make me feel really weird…" Looking at him with suspicion, Riot seemed to become wary, his voice lowered as he asked a question Dante subconsciously avoided. "Are you really human?"

With a frown, Dante opened his mouth to answer, but no words came out. Confusion struck him a moment later.

'What the hell am I hesitating for?'

"Of course I'm human," Dante replied. "What else would I be?"

"I don't know," Riot said. "This is the first time I'm hearing about a human who can do what you can!"

"Don't talk as if I'm doing it on purpose," Dante said.

"That just adds to my point," Riot said.

As silence fell between them, Dante looked down and considered the question once more.

'What do you think?'

[I believe it is a meaningless question.] Volcan replied.

'How so?' 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

[No two humans have identical bodies or souls. Some are strong, others are weak. Some are short, others are tall. They might share some characteristics, but the differences are still present. Having a strong soul means you are a human with a strong soul, nothing more, nothing less.]

'Huh, that's surprisingly… deep…'

The last thing Dante expected was to have a talk about what it means to be human with his resident AI.

'Thanks, I guess.'

[You are welcome.]

Contemplating what Volcan said, Dante looked up at the muscular man, holding his gaze for a moment.

"Most humans aren't as tall and bulky as you," Dante said. "How can you be sure you are human?"

"What are you…"

"Maybe having a soul like mine isn't that common. It might even be an anomaly." Dante said. "But why would that stop me from being human?"

Riot looked like he had something to say, but then he closed his mouth and looked away.

"Yeah, my bad," He rubbed his neck, sounding a bit awkward. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Well, it's not like I don't get what you mean."

The whole soul business confused Dante quite a bit. He had shown a glimpse of VOLCAN just to confirm whether it counts as Soul Manifestation or not, and that led him to discover the true extent of what such an ability is capable of. If it becomes possible to create weapons similar in nature to VOLCAN, then a new type of Enhanced Individuals would be born.

'Still…'

Volcan's Modules and armors might be considered a type of Soul Manifestation, but they came from the relic. That made Dante wonder if he could learn the technique the normal way and gain powers of his own, ones not related to the relic.

~[ ]~

"So, what are you going to do after this?"

Dante asked as he climbed the stairs to the first floor.

"Not much," Riot replied. "Why? You got something for me to do?"

"Not really. Was just wondering if you're gonna hang around."

"To be honest, I was just thinking I should retire, but…"

"You still got that debt to pay?"

"Yup."

As they made their way to the stairs to the second floor, Dante caught sight of Carlos and several others waiting anxiously at the entrance to the bar. He quickly guessed it had something to do with their former boss being around. They almost killed each other the last time they met, so hearing that they get along now didn't sound convincing in the least.

Locking eyes with his Lieutenant, Dante remembered a very pressing problem.

"Shit…" He quickly turned to the stairs and climbed up. "I have yet to think of a name."

"A name?" Riot followed after him. "You mean for the gang?"

"Yeah."

"I was sure you had named it the Red Demons."

Coming to a stop, Dante gave him a look that seemed to ask, "Are you serious?"

"What? Isn't that why you put that sign at the entrance?"

Heaving a long sigh, Dante continued on his way up.

"That's the name of the bar."

Arriving at his office, Dante opened the door to find a brat with dirt blond hair sipping from a soda can. Finn looked at him, then up. His face went pale as he seemed to spot, and his cheeks bulged. Though he managed to stop himself from spitting it, his drink found a different exit and came out of his nostrils.

As he broke into a coughing fit, Dante just sighed and walked inside. Riot stopped at the door, raising an eyebrow before a look of realization flashed on his face.

"Finn, right? Now I remember."

"Wha…how do you…" Finn tried to ask between the coughs.

"I had people spying on you a while back," Riot answered.

Finally getting his breath under control, Finn turned to Dante.

"What's he doing here?"

"Didn't I tell you?" Dropping into his chair, Dante leaned into its back. "He works for me now."

"You can't be serious..." Finn frowned. "First Henry, and now this?"

"He sure got a mouth."

Riot went straight to the cooler, taking out a can and popping it open. Finn watched him with disturbed eyes, then gave Dante the same look.

"You wanted something?" Dante sighed.

The question seemed to pull the boy out of his foul mood. He quickly caught himself and tried to act normally, but Dante had already caught on, realizing that the boy had an absurd request.

"Well, I was just wondering if you already sold those suits?"

No sooner had Finn said that than Dante understood what he wanted.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget your share." Finn's expression brightened, but what Dante said next caused it to dim right away. "Vik said not to let you waste it, though."

"Oh, c'mon! How am I going to waste it!!?" The boy protested. "I just want to buy a few things for my workshop! I can't keep going to Suzuka's place whenever I want to make something!"

"Why not?" Dante smirked. "I thought you liked her?"

"You damn well know why!"

"Pfffft…"

For some reason, Riot was the one coughing now. Finn fixed him with a glare, then turned to Dante.

"C'mon, I got a big project in the works, you know? I'm gonna need a lot of parts and materials and stuff!"

"Pipe down, I didn't say I won't help you get what you want," Dante said.

"Really?"

"Yup," Dante smirked at him once more. "You just gotta convince me that what you're trying to make is worth it."