CHAPTER 418: FISH FACE.

Monday, 06th of February 2099

Unlike Hollowgrid which was almost entirely focused on housing, and Nightsun, which is more focused on commerce, Red Hill didn’t have a single vision. Considering its size, one could say it was a city on its own. The district mixed a little from everything: slums, residential areas, factories, shopping streets, and gated neighborhoods for the rich.

A cold breeze blew by, playing with a plastic bag as it went. At a certain elevation, it became loud enough to mask the sound of paper being torn apart to reveal the burger wrapped inside. As his feet Dangled from the edge, Dante brought the whopper to his mouth and took a big bite.

As he chewed, his eyes scanned the roads and building of a certain area. The lack of traffic caught his attention some time ago, but he found the widespread greenery a lot more interesting.

The buildings themselves differed from those spread throughout the city, with only Saint Barton having something similar. Instead of tall, heaven piercing skyscrapers, they spread wider while limiting themselves to four stories at most. The designs lacked the cold brutality of the concrete jungle, too, so they appeared more like countryside mansions than urban housing units.

Whatever the case, it was clear that whoever lived in such a place had deep pockets. They get to enjoy the safety granted by a ten meter tall wall that separated them from the filth filling the rest of the district, though to anyone in the know, the true filth was inside those walls.

’Getting in won’t be easy, huh?’ Dante thought aloud as he took another bite.

[Indeed.] Volcan replied. [The security is much more robust, and there are real humans patrolling the streets. There are few blind spots in the security system. With the data currently available to me, I am unable to calculate a safe route to our destination.]

’Who could have guessed?’

It only made sense for an area occupied by the wealthy to have far better security, but, having heard what goes on in that place, Dante couldn’t help being confused.

’We need to find a place to hide first.’ Dante though.

[I am not yet done with infiltrating the local network. You will not be able to use Ghost Moe until then.]

’It’s alright. We can always portal away if we got discovered. ’

Finishing his food, Dante put away the trash and got up. The scenery in front of him seemed to shrink becoming more and more distant as other building entered his field of vision. By the time he was done zooming out, Red Garden suddenly looked much smaller.

Continuing to stare, Dante then heaved a sigh and took a step forward, falling down as if he had been pulled down with a rope. Light enveloped his body, an a second later, he was enveloped in a dark armor. A black spot appeared a dozen meters below, and he plunged into it like one would plunge into a pool.

Emerging from another black spot, he flew in an ark, crossing several streets before gravity started to pull him down more. This time, he didn’t allow for his fall to accelerate, opening another portal and passing through it. The exit appeared in the back of a certain truck.

Having stopper at a red light, the truck then continued toward its destination. It soon arrived at a certain tall gate, and once the guards were done inspecting it, the path ahead open up.

Entering Red Garden was relatively easy, but it was the coming part that gave Dante trouble. Much like that time with the hotel, taking over the local AIs operating the system seemed like it was going to take a while. Dante was short on time, however, so he had to force his way in, even if it meant risking getting caught.

The truck stopped at one of the warehouses in the eastern corner of the neighborhood but by then, Dante had already stepped through a portal that led into the garden of one of the mansions the truck had passed.

Hiding in the branches of a tree, Dante glanced at the red tags Volcan placed around then looked up. Flying toward him was a triangle with round edges. The rich didn’t partake in the stigma surrounding drone, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary for them to make use of the tech.

The triangle soon reached Dante’s position, flying above the tree he was hiding in. The spherical lens peeking from its bottom turned in his direction, and for a moment, it appeared to have locked in on him.

[Done.]

As soon as Volcan said the word, the drone continued on its path as if nothing had happened.

’That was close.’

[Indeed.] Volcan said. [It won’t happen again.]

Opening another portal at his feet, Dante let go of the branch he was holding onto and fell through it. He had to follow with a second portal right away, since the first one didn’t take him all the way.

The exit dropped him inside one of the garages at the back of the mansion. The lights flashed on and only turned off seconds later, but since he had made sure to not be caught by the security cameras, anyone who sees it would think it was just a glitch. Still, it would be much better if no one saw it before Volcan edited the footage.

[Dante, the corner over there.] A yellow screen appeared over a certain spot on the wall. Dante didn’t need an explanation. His resident AI had already took control over the security cams in the garage, so he was now free to move.

Arriving at the selected spot, Dante found a small panel embedded into the wall. He removed the cover using tools he had in his Storage. Behind it was a set of access ports. Things were going to get a little tricky from there.

Taking a deep breath, Dante gave the command to remove 8-3. He felt quite vulnerable, not having his armor on while in the middle of enemy territory. Another command opened his storage and selected a certain item. When it fell into his hands, Dante couldn’t stop himself from swallowing.

Diving cables were an essential tool for all Divers. They provided direct connection to exocores, as well as other electronic devices. Volcan was powerful enough to do most of his diving wirelessly, but this was a special case.

Pushing his hesitation aside, Dante plugged the cables into the ports on the back of his head then tool the other end and inserted it into the on of the access ports on the panel. Since he was going through the motion as fast as he could, fearing he would freeze otherwise, Dante wasn’t prepared to what happened next.

’Bugha!!!’

As soon a he inserted the plug, he found himself plunging into water. Panic kicked in, throwing his thought into chaos. He flailed is arms trying to swim up to the surface, but try as he might, he didn’t seem to move from the same spot.

"Dante, calm down." Volcan’s voice rang in his ears. "This is not real water. You are not drowning."

Being told to calm down rarely worked in such situations, but Dante managed to regain his calm seconds later, having realized he could breath normally. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was floating in some large body of water that spread endlessly in every direction.

’This is...’

He had heard the story before, and he had seen it depicted in movies and shows as well. That said, nothing could have prepared him for this moment. To this day, many still mistakenly believe that the Data Ocean was just a metaphor for the vast network of interconnected systems and computers. In reality, the name came from the way the concept manifests to the people who attempt to access it via direct neural connection. In the contest of everything digital, the title of a Diver had a more literal meaning than it might seem.

"Diving with no knowledge or experience can be troublesome. I will lead the way, so make sure to stay close."

Hearing the voice once more, Dante looked around until his eyes fell on a strange creature.

"Volcan?"

"Yes?"

Facing Dante was what can only be described as a fish. It didn’t look like any particular type, though. Almost as if it was a realistic rendering of a fictional creature.

"Is this... is this your true appearance?"

"No." The fish replied. "This is a random avatar I created for the purpose of Diving. Other Divers have more unique Avatars, but as I have no interest in appearance, I did not bother to change it."

"Is that so?" Staring at him for a moment, Dante’s eyes suddenly widened. "Don’t tell me..."

"You are using the same default avatar. You may choose to change its appearance, but I believe that is better left for another time."

Dante didn’t really feel like a fish, but when he tried to look at his hands, nothing appeared in front of him. He felt a hint of discomfort, which he quickly pushed away. He then turned to the other fish and tried to sound serious, though he didn’t know how that would work when he had the face of a fish.

"Alright." He said. "Let’s go."