Chapter 6: 6 - mutant
"So what should I do?.." Doubt was evident in Jacobs voice as he reconsidered his plan..
"Well you can either remove your feet like you suggested first and I make you some cybernetic feet or I can give you some acid resistant shoes that don't tear easily.." The two options that Dante suggested weren't that different in his eyes.. one replaced his feet, while the other encased it..
"Can we do the cybernetic option?" Jacob looked hopeful as he thought of gaining robotic feet..
"Do you have money?" Dante knew that he didn't have anything valuable on him, and doubted that a twenty year old had the cash needed to buy cybernetics
"…..How much do I need?" Jacob knew of the cost of anything medical related and just as he feared..
"Well there is a minimum of twelve thousand and if you want higher grade than you can be looking at a price tag of eighty thousand.." Seeing the defeated look on Jacobs face he realised that it was probably out of his price range..
"Instead I can over you the shoes for just a thousand.. if you give a blood sample than I can bring it down to six hundred.." In a somewhat normal world like this acid resistant clothing wouldn't be common to find, but Dante could make it in abundance so selling it wouldn't be complicated..
"I don't have enough for the robotic feet now.. but…" Jacobs choice seemed evident, but Dante didn't particularly like the idea of cutting of something so unique..
"Its fine.. lets do the shoes first and we can see if you want something else after that.." Dante and Jacob had seemingly come to a understanding, so with a nod from Jacob as a agreement. Dante went of to retrieve the materials to craft the new pair of shoos..
Dante's crafting skill was quite high, as he worked on improving his skills every time he was free from work.. so with his skill he was able to get a pair of shoos of great quality out for Jacob…
Receiving the pair of shoes and putting them on, caused Jacob to be surprised as to how well they fitted.. the material was quite rough but with his improved skin he didn't even notice a difference..
"So what do you think.. do they fit well?" Dante was curious as to how well his first product in the new world held up..
"Yes.. they fit surprisingly well.." Jacob stood on the shoes testing them and feeling them under his feet…
"That's nice to hear.. now back to business.." Dante picked up a syringe from one of the drawers..
"The blood right… I am not good with needles so…." The athlete didn't seem to like the idea of getting pricked..
"You never did performance enhancing drugs?" From the look on Jacobs face Dante could guess that he was correct in his presumption
"Fine… the shoes are free and I will drive you to somewhere you want.. is that acceptable?" Dante would be losing out on money but he didn't mind with the twenty thousand he would receive once he handed in the report to that Warren guys company..
"…sure.. can you bring me somewhere that is save for mutants?" Dante thought about the locations that would be save and searched up for some on his HUD…
"Of course… now let me count to three ok?"
"Yes.. sure.." Jacob got ready to get the needle in him..
"One.." Dante immediately pricked the needle into Jacob who didn't seem to notice it..
'pain tolerance?' Dante wondered to what extend his mutant abilities reached..
"Two…" Dante began using the needle to suck out around two hundred millilitres..
"Three.." with a quick pull the needle was out again.. and at the same time Jacob gasped in expecting pain..
"We are already done.." placing down the syringe and getting up Dante walked to the tv to turn it on..
"What?!" Jacob opened his eyes to see the syringe full of blood on the table next to him..
"So with that complete let me show you.." Dante pulled up a map of new York on the screen showing multiple locations as to where Jacob could go…
The map had 4 locations, one of which was a school on the outskirts… the other three were something gangs that recruited mutants for their combat potential..
"What is it?"
"Well I thought it would be quite obvious…" Looking at the somewhat confused face of Jacob Dante reconsider the clarity of the map..
"ok let me explain.. these three are gangs that recruit mutants.. and the last one is a school for mutants.. that one is the biggest of the bunch… so which one will it be?" Dante was curious as to what the boy would do..
"Is that everything?" It seemed as though Jacob thought mutant were more prevalent because of how often they appeared in the news
"Well there certainly are more than these four but they are a bit far… I can give you a bus ticket if you would prefer traveling on your own.."
"You don't have to… I plan on going home.. see my father.. ill figure something out.." doubt was still evident in his voice but a certain calm had crept in after everything..
"Are you sure… you know what call me if something happens.." Dante gave a small business card with his contact number on it..
"Thanks.. I will be sure to call if I need a doctor.." Jacob got up to leave.. being much more calm than when he entered..
-
With Jacob gone, Dante was left with a vial of human blood containing the X-gene.. analysing the compound reviled that the this gene produced exotic protein, that changes the body.. making it somewhat evolve in a weird way.. the name mutant fit well with the characteristics of the gene as it would change the persons on a atomic level..
Dante collected some of his blood for testing with the x-gene.. he was certain that no such genome existed in the cyberpunk universe, but the possibility of gaining powers seemed interesting to say the least…
With some effort Dante was able to extract the X-gene out of the blood and save its data signature.. making him able to clone the genome to a certain extend..
With the genome save Dante was able to test a mixture of his blood with the genome..
The result being that his acuminated blood reacted quite violently with the awakened X-gene..
His blood was full of all kinds of chemicals that protected him from decease but it had also some microtechnology in it to serve as extra protection… the radiation of these chemicals seemed to strengthen the X-gene to some extend causing them to produce changes to the blood, sadly the microtech worked to combat these changes in the blood by referring the blood to its original state..
'How interesting..'
Dante observed the microtech not directly attack the X-gene suggesting that the technology didn't see it as a change but as something extra.. deactivating the microbots caused the X-gene to go freely changing the layout of some parts of the blood adding a certain tubing, that would be used to transport acid of some kind…
Activating the bots caused everything to be returned to its former state, but Dante thought that that could change…
Microbots didn't do anything to cyberware as the inclusion of such product were connected to the body, just like the X-gene was seen as an part of the body instead of a invasion.. but the protein produced by the X-gene wasn't suited to his body so the bots saw it as an invasion..
Getting a un awakened X-gene could be difficult but was possible, either through testing or through finding one in someone else's body.. but that would take time.. time he had in abundance..
-
Dante had set up a machine to test the X-gene in full, making it see if one awakened that his body would accept.. while researching serums he found data containing research about super soldiers and even a experiment with radiation that was still underway… sadly the formula for the serum was never documented.. although there still existed the finished product, the quantity was to low for it to be used for an army..
After finishing up his search online and the preparations for the experiment, Dante was free to spend the rest of the night resting.. but before he went to bed he delivered the files that he was tasked to do.. receiving confirmation almost immediately that one of those problems was already found and that they would only be paying him ten out of the twenty thousand..
"Fuck.."
--
Jacob had left traces behind and with the help of Charles Xaviere locating him would be a brees.. the location where he seemed to hang out was a clinic near Chinatown, whilst having thoughts of cutting off his feet..
Arriving to the location was Professor X and storm, seeking this new mutant, but on arrival the professor immediately noticed something off..
The mutant that they were seeking wasn't there anymore, but that was not the strange part.. Charles could detect the person inside, but the sheer size of his mind was something he only saw in telepaths.. although he could not detect a ability he did suspect that he might be hiding it..
"Storm.. there appears to be a different person inside.. someone who has a abnormal amount of mental strength.." The professor honestly didn't know and was contemplating on how to proceed.. if he was hiding himself than he would not appreciate being found
"Is it a telepath?" If he was…than storm would be of no use.. being only collateral if a fight were to break out..
"I am not sure.. if he is he is hiding it extremely well.. I shall enter alone for now.." He wasn't quite sure about the decision himself but e believed that protecting others came first..
-
Inside the clinic
Dante was finishing up with some crafting.. his way of relaxing.. sleep was something he rarely needed as a small puff of some high grade drugs would keep anyone awake for hours.. only resting short times between work.. so he had developed the habit of working on mechanical parts on his downtime.. the amount of sleep he could get was immense as the he was less busy on the week days than before..
Just as he was finished a notice came from the camara at the front door.. two people stood outside of his clinic.. normally that wouldn't be that strange as his clinic had a futuristic look to it that was unique, but it was less normal for it to be nearing midnight..
Looking at the two he made a search finding that both of them were mutants.. one even being the head of the school that was the biggest gathering of mutants in the area.. and the other being related to a African tribe of some kind… looking into it there seemed to be something amiss with her some community there…. Wakanda, from all intensive purposes seemed to be a poor country… but their presence in cyberspace suggested something else… being one of the most concentrated places on earth where technology resided.. they had locked most things inside a protective wall shielding incoming and outgoing signals.. but some signals needed to leave for them to work…
Entering through the cracks Dante stumbled upon a world of knowledge.. all containing one similar element Vibranium.. from what Dante could see the element was absorbent and sturdy… making it perfect for defensive items.. but seeing it described the solution to defeating it would be ripping into it with brute force…
He would need to further investigate the material.. maybe test it himself if he could.. but alas the bald man, named Charles Xavier entered the clinic front.. stopping him if he wanted to greet the doctor of psychology in a wheelchair…
Walking to the front Dante introduced himself.. "Welcome.. what brings you on at this time.. a emergency.. or perhaps you have heard I can cure anything.." Dante didn't know his purpose but he hoped for business as his expected pay-out was less than he had hoped for..
"No I actually came here in search of a boy.. he would be about have your age with mutated feet…"
"Ohh... well he was here.. but I can't give you any information containing to his operation.."
Charles tried viewing the surface thoughts of the man before him.. but the scope of his thoughts were more similar to that of ten people.. giving him a mild headache
"Is something the matter.. do you need medical assistance.. I can prescribe you some if you would like that.." Profit was profit and helping someone was the benefit of being a good doctor..
"No.no its just.. never mind.." he still held onto his head for a bit thinking of something..
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone