Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System

Dante was in pain the entire trip home, which forced him to take some pain suppressants halfway through. Once he arrived, he tossed himself on the bed and passed out, only to wake up hours later still feeling terrible. Left with no other choice -since he dismissed the logical ones- he took out the bottle of RED pills, swallowed one, then fell asleep.

Waking up around midnight with a protesting stomach, he took out some of the emergency sandwiches he had in his Storage and chewed on it while waiting for some takeout. At times like this, he always finds himself craving Nobara's cooking. If only he had a more table schedule. That way, he wouldn't have to miss having lunch at the Bowl of Fortune.

'When was the last time I ate with Ross and the others?'

From the looks of it, his body had recovered entirely, granting him the relief of not having to visit Larry so soon after being discharged from his Workshop. Though he was making a fortune from each treatment, the lanky doctor didn't seem too happy about his favorite patient's recent frequent visits.

A drone arrived at his door soon enough, bringing with it the pizza he ordered. As he ate, he decided to check on the Red Rage gang. Since they had to retract the Scorpio-bot, which he planned on retrieving soon because he definitely didn't forget about the, his only source of information was the four idiots Volcan dove into a while back.

At the moment, three of them were getting drunk in their base, while one of them was right outside watching the entrance to Dante's building.

'I almost feel bad for him…'

Dante considered going down and inviting him to stay in his Storage, but he decided to leave it for another time. Moving on, he checked the news and some dark websites, searching for any mention of what happened in the pit. There were reports of deaths and injuries, but the cause was only described as a fight between Enhanced Individuals. No one knew about the white hunters being androids, nor were there any clues about who the cloaked girl was.

Done with his food, Dante cleaned up the kitchen table and asked Volcan to sweep the building once more. Once he was sure that no invisible ninjas were anywhere near, he sat down and opened his Storage, taking out one item.

'You sure there are no trackers on this thing?' He asked.

[I have deactivated the ones I can detect.] Volcan replied.

'... I really should look into getting a proper hideout.'

Having killed six heroes already, one could say that he was a full-fledged villain. Running his operations from a normal apartment seemed a little beneath him. He also needs a place where he can try out his armor and practice using it.

'Alright, enough with that.' Taking his mind off that thought, he turned to the item sitting on the table in front of him. 'Let's open this baby!'

Ever since Volcan instructed him to steal the bag from the cloaked girl, Dante has been looking forward to seeing what it contained. He inspected its exterior then slowly opened it up, letting the bag itself fall to the side as the box inside it came to view. It was a pale green alloy container, square on one side, rectangular on the other.

Seeing the small screen on its top, Dante's eyes slowly widened, and the corners of his mouth rose a little.

'No way…'

As if responding to his thought, the screen turned green, followed by a faint click. Noticing that the top has moved lightly, Dante reached out and pushed it away, revealing the contents of the box.

'No fucking way…'

The box was filled with protective foam, the center of which was carved to fit the shape of the item it contained. The shape was familiar, but the rigid components and glossy surface spoke of its mechanical nature, like a creation made to replace something created by nature.

Its shell was a puzzle of polished blue alloy plates, layered over a jet black surface only visible at the seams. The joints shared that color, hiding the intricate mechanisms that replicated the original's functions and more.

Having planned on getting a pair sometime in the near future, Dante had tried doing some research to get a better grasp on them. Just like most implants, bionic arms were divided into categories, not to mention price ranges. Looking at the one sitting in front of him, he could tell it was made for combat from the design alone, and though appearance alone couldn't determine how valuable a bionic implant is, Dante had a feeling that if it had a price tag, the number on it would be on the higher end of the eight digits.

Rather than an arm, it would be more accurate to call it a gauntlet, seeing how it was only the hand and the forearm. As he continued to study it with rapt attention, Dante remembered to ask the question.

'What grade?'

[A.] Volcan replied curtly.

'A…'

So far, the highest grade implants he had were his NIM and OAM, both of which had reached C grade after undergoing Volcan's upgrade. This was his first time seeing a base implant that's above the D grade, and since it was an A-

'With the right materials, it can be upgraded to S!'

The thought sent a wave of excitement through Dante's body, and for a very long minute, he did nothing but stare at the implant. All of a sudden, he was overwhelmed with the urge to call his doctor and schedule a surgery. As his excitement seemed to grow, a strange feeling began to sprout. As it continued to pull on the back of his mind, Dante finally realized what it was.

'This… this is brand new… ' he thought. 'And… it doesn't have any emblem mark…'

To confirm his suspicion, he made a quick search, checking the catalogues of all the big implant manufacturers. He went through the medium ones next, then the smaller ones. No matter how much he searched, he couldn't find anything similar to the piece sitting in that box, and with no mark, it would mean only one thing.

'This… it's an original piece…'