Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System

As it turned out, the two following Jeremy Brighton around were at least Advanced Cyborgs, hence why they caught on fire the instant Volcan got his hands on them. Dante acted before their screams could fill the alleyway, jumping out of the car and equiping the same gun he had used when infiltrating the office building the other day.

He fired three shots. The first one hit the target in the head, silencing him instantly, but the second one missed, forcing him to fire another. He opened the map and zoomed out, checking if anyone else was approaching.

Climbing back into the car, he nodded at Rose, prompting her to start the car. The enemies in the area were unmoving, still distracted by the video he shared, and since he had a silencer on, the gunfire went unnoticed. Only the pained screams of the two burning gangsters might have draw attention to the alleyway, an though no one seemed to notice, the tension still pulled on Dante's nerves.

Nothing happened in the end, and the two drove out of Red Hill without any problem. Their prisoner behaved himself, too. There was no way to open the trunk from the inside, so they didn't have to worry about him attempting to escape halfway though.

Rose took them to the edge of Nightsun, putting the entire district between them and Black Skull's territory. As he looked at the map, Dante realized that they were going deep into the Los Aros territory. Though he knew the purple haired woman had some tied to them, he didn't expect her to take them there.

When the car stopped at Blue Moon street, Dante got a very bad feeling. The surrounding buildings looked a little desolate, but the area was still residential. Rose descended without saying anything. Remaining in his seat, Dante said nothing for a while, then sighed before descending as well. As he turned to glance at his partner, a faint hiss drew his attention to a door that had just slid open.

"... are you going to explain what's going on here?"

Dante's question went unanswered as a group of ruffians slowly approached them. He scanned their faces one by one, and to his surprise, some of them stood out. One in particular caused his eyes to go wide.

"Megan?"

"Dante?" The tall bronze statue raised an eyebrow at him. Her expression crumbled the next second, and her gaze turned to the purple haired woman. "Is this your sweetheart?"

"That's right." Rose replied. "Cute, isn't he?"

Though he tried to ignore the comment, there was no stopping his face from twitching when Megan turned to him with a knowing smile.

"Didn't know you work for the Los Aros now." He said.

"Not really." The tall mechanic said. "Just doing your girl a favor."

Turning to Rose, Dante raised an eyebrow.

"Since when did you become my girl?"

"Since you made me beg that one night."

As she held her cheeks with both hands, Dante felt jealousy make its way to the gazes surrounding him. Thankfully, Megan stepped forward and got to business, switching her tone and the mood along with it.

"Alright, boys!" She said. "Let's get this done with!"

The men walked to the back of the car, the air filling with a chorus of clicks as each one prepped a gun. Once they were in position, Rose opened the trunk with a mental command, and the group took aim at once.

"... w-what's going on here!!?"

Faced with the firing squad, the pudgy man could only raise his arms, the horror paining his face continuing its work. Megan walked over and smacked the hood, leaning a little a she glared.

"Get your fat ass moving."

The pudgy man didn't have much of a say in the matter. When he refused to move, two men stepped forward and grabbed him by the arms, forcefully pulling him out. His eyes darted through the surroundings, and his eyes seemed to fall on Dante. Making a quick guess, Dante turned to his resident AI with an order.

'Warm him up a little.'

His guess was proven the next moment when the pudgy man's expression flipped, suddenly gaining vicious ferocity. It didn't last, however. His entire body went static, and he got instantly restrained, his face twisting with pain.

[ [ ]: I told you not to try anything.]

Being a cyborg was tough. Though the chances were exceedingly small nowadays, a good Diver could still set your body on fire, and there is nothing you could do about it. The pain of having something burn inside you was unbearable. Dante knew that better than anyone.

'Come to think of it…' Dante suddenly remembered a matter he had pushed to the back of his mind a while back. 'We still haven't upgraded my kidneys…'

[Indeed.] Volcan replied. [The necessary materials are already available. We can initiate the process at any time.]

Watching the pudgy man being dragged away, Dante turned to follow them, his face twisting into a grimace.

'Does it look like I enjoy torturing myself?' He thought aloud. 'Does it have to burn each time you upgrade something?'

[The thermal discharge is a byproduct of the process. I am afraid it is unavailable.]

'Damn it…' Thinking for a moment, he got a different idea. 'Why not upgrade them before they're implanted into my body?'

That would have been a sure way to avoid the agony that comes with each upgrade. Last time, he resorted to sedatives to avoid the torture, but his body was still damaged, forcing him to rely on Nanomeds for healing. With Larry refusing to dive him anther doze the last time he got injured, Dante knew he wouldn't be able to rely on the miracle tech for all future upgrades, so he needed to find a solution sooner than later.

[I did consider suggesting such an option, but alas, I am afraid that is impossible.] Volcan replied. [The components necessary for external upgrades are currently missing. For that reason, the upgrade function has been limited to internal elements.]