Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 512: A Fitting Name.

For hours, Finn kept trying to convince Dante to help him outfit his new workshop. He explained the project he had in mind and what he needed, but Dante didn't buy it till the end. He was still going to buy him the equipment, though. The boy had been making insane progress since he began studying under Suzuka, and his designs, if realized, could stand on the same level as the products of giant corpos. That said-

"You need to go to university," Dante spoke in a bored tone.

Finn looked at him with disgust for a good thirty seconds before asking, "Why?"

"Because we still live in a society," Dante said. "Just like with everything else, the tech industry is a private club where you need the right credentials and connections to enter. Being a genius alone won't get you anywhere."

"... I really don't want to…" Finn said.

"Then you can forget about your workshop." Dante blew out a breath and shrugged.

Dante did understand why the brat felt apprehensive about the matter. He knew what it's like to go to a school full of nothing but elite shit, and he hated every aspect of it. Things might turn out to be different for Finn. He might not have the background, but he is a genius unlike any other. Someone who went through the things he went through wouldn't buckle under the pressure to perform.

"Fine, got it," Finn shoulders slumped in resignation. "You want NIC? Or NIT?"

"I will ask Suzuka to get you an introduction," Dante said. "You can pick from there."

"I really don't want to do this…" Finn mumbled under his breath and dropped on his side. After a moment of silence, he decided to drop the topic and move to something else. "Any news from Rose?"

"... Nothing…" Dante replied. After a brief silence, his gaze turned to the big guy who made the second couch his bed. "You came from Red Hill, right?"

Riot woke up and looked at him, somehow sensing that he was the one being addressed.

"What about it?"

"What can you tell me about Black Skull?"

Riot's face scrunched up at the mention of the gang.

"You got beef with them, too?"

"Just say what you have," Dante said.

Riot waved a dismissive hand.

"I don't have much. They kept to their part of the town, and we kept to ours. Well, I guess they took over when the heroes kicked our butts."

"They were your rivals, and this is all you got?"

"We got different business models, so we rarely crossed paths," Riot paused. "You already know they run most brothels in the area, right?"

Dante seemed to ponder that point for a while before looking up at the muscular man. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Can you get me the locations?" He asked.

Raising his upper half, Riot stared back at him.

"Let me guess, you aren't looking for the surface stuff?"

Dante didn't reply.

"Okay, okay, let me make some calls." Saying as much, Riot got up. "Just be ready to fork some Gold."

"Yeah, sure,"

Resting his head against his fist, Dante let his thoughts wander. Every now and then, glimpses of purple hair would flash in his mind. He replied absentmindedly to whatever he heard and didn't notice when Finn left, saying he would go check on the Owl's Lantern.

The clock hit 18:00 when he finally came back to his senses. Carlos came to give him another report, but Dante guessed that the real reason was to check if he had decided on the gang's name. Dodging the matter, Dante went out for a ride.

'This day won't end, huh?'

[You have developed a tendency to heighten your perception while alone.] Volcan said. [Your thoughts are accelerated, which makes it appear as if time moves more slowly.]

'... seriously?'

He had thought that a lot of thing happened today, but turns out he had been slowing time for himself all along. Well, two things can be true at the same time, but that only made things worse.

'Guess that's why riding around feels so… normal…'

While riding the Raven, Dante avoided enhancing his perception so he could experience its speed like normal. Now that he had his skull enhanced, he had no need for a helmet. Feeling the cold wind on his face and hair made the ride all the more pleasant, so long as he ignored the neon lights flashing past him.

'I need to decide on a name before going back…'

Each time he tried to give it some serious thought, his disinterest kept clawing at the back of his head, leaving him unable to come up with anything. He had more important things that required his attention right now. Running the gang was a step toward one of them, sure, but he still didn't feel like he should be the one taking care of this.

[If it is not that important, why not choose randomly?]

'Because if I screw it up, I can't just change it later…'

As much as he hated it, a half-assed name was going to haunt him for as long as he lived. Because of that, he couldn't just pick anything, even if he hated the whole process.

As his bike picked up speed, Dante went through the concept he could use as a base for the name. Thinking about the identity of his gang led him to think about his own identity.

'Ghost, Red Demon, Cyberpunk… Dante… William…'

As he recounted the names one after the other, Dante came to realize that he had collected quite a few over time. Among those, Dante was still the name he identified with the most. It was the name he gave himself after he ended up on the street, and as he thought about the meaning behind it, a hint of inspiration flashed in his mind.

'VOLCAN…'

[Yes?]

Staring into the distance, Dante felt the corners of his mouth rise.

'I think I have found a fitting name.'