1 - Death...
Dante died… with pain and regret laying heavy on his heart. Lying on the cold ground mostly forgotten by everyone he once knew. He just wished to start again…
…
And just like he wished for he was brought back only this time Dante had been reincarnated in the cyberpunk universe, being reborn in an upper-middle-class family in the year 2001.
With his new life, came a new name and new ambition, and most of all seeing the world through different eyes.
In the first years of his life, Dante discovered that he was in the cyberpunk universe... He knew that the world was quite dangerous, as cyberpunk was mostly unlawful, so knowing the danger that ordinary people faced he chose to learn to protect himself at the earliest moment and while making some money, hiding it until he could protect himself.
He tried looking for a martial arts studio but the good ones were few and far away, so the only thing he could get was a gym membership from a local shop that had some classic equipment that wasn't cleaned regularly... He found boxing to be fun as he didn't need much for it.
By knowing some of the plot and investing in the mega-corporations that would win was a guaranteed money-making way. At least until the data crash that would happen in his twenties.
As his wealth grew so grew the notice of children around him, his money attracts attention as Dante's food was noticeably more nutritious than normal children… the purpose of that kind of food was to grow muscles without the toxic chemicals that most people used.. al was for his plans on becoming a big shot of some sort… he wanted to leave options open for living comfortably..
Cyberware was still on the rise and the places he could get it safely were low so he didn't think it was worth it to install mediocre gear at the enormous price that it had. Dante thought he could get by with just the handheld version and he would lose most of it when the net crashed so he shelved the cyberware for now.
As the years went by and he became old enough to live on his own he discovered that the working world was even shittier than he imagined.. Dante thought of becoming a merc but the risk involved was too high.. He couldn't find people to trust or good fixers who could get a decent job, so if he went with mediocre ones the chances of dying would exponentially increase.. After repeated failures at searching for a job, he decided to just relax and go meet the Johnny Silverhand as he was in town and would die in a couple of years.
The music reminded him of his past. He could see that Johnny's emotions were not in the song, just like him with his life, showing his early thoughts of overthrowing the corporations in an act of rebellion..
'Maybe he is already thinking of wanting to stop with the band... get his revolution underway and shit..'
Dante didn't really mind his thoughts as he was reminiscing while the second song came to an end.
"My heart is not in it.. just like his.." He had been ignoring the emotions in this life, just seeing the sad things that he went through as grains of salt in a wound made by the loss of his first life.
With those fleeting thoughts, he left the concert. he had seen a somewhat central figure to satisfy his curiosity and had made a conclusion about himself.
"I don't need to be at the top because in the end, it doesn't matter to me…" Dante did regret not trying harder to make his life exciting but he did not regret his actions.. he was just a bit disappointed at where he was at currently.
Leaving the city he grew up in Dante decided to explore the fleeting nature of the world he was in, taking all his stock out and leaving with just a car making him technically a nomad.
The nomads of that age were just bandits so Dante didn't think to connect himself to them too much as he didn't want to get into conflict.. he did meet some nomad tribes that seemed nice enough.. they were still criminals but Dante saw them more like robin hood like figures.. sadly not one of the nomads understood that reference..
As he explored the world he came into conflict with border patrol and other wanderers namely nomad bandits who wanted to rob him of all that he got, but in most situations fighting or bribing did the trick.. fleeing was the final option, but Dante didn't have to use it often.
Now a couple years of wandering with the data crash happening and being mostly fine thanks to his exclusion from the web. Dante looked at the final send of off Johnny silverhand.. technically militech but who is counting.. the bombing of Arasaka.
Seeing the nuke detonating the building Dante didn't feel much…he still saw the world as just a place that he came to visit on borrowed time, but realized that maybe.. it was time to return to the city where he once lived. With the nuke destroying a part of the city and the ground becoming most likely somewhat cheaper Dante could buy some nice real estate.. maybe a bit radiated but he could handle that.
Dante had seen the world and learned along the way.. eventually realizing his love for cyberware and cars.. or rather just mechanics, in general, to lead to a job that suited him.
So he decided to be a ripperdoc, in the beginning, Dante wasn't really skilled at it but he would learn with time, and with his knowledge of the cyberpunk universe he was able to make something happen.
After becoming the ripperdoc he opened a clinic down in Watson near the no tell motel as it was near the entrance to Watson.. it was some ways away from Vik who was also up and coming into the business being a couple years younger than him. Dante chose the location because it was the somewhat middle ground of things.. where V would begin her journey in the game.. or at least that was what he thought..
The life of a ripperdoc was quite boring only coming into contact with mercenaries and gangs but both being mostly respectful, as a ripperdoc was needed when they would get hurt.. but most of the time was spent waiting for customers to arrive and then helping them get some new chrome.
As the years went by Dante develop his clinic into a proper place, being one of if not the most skilled rippers in night city due to being one for fifth plus years of experience.. he had made deals with most corporations to get the rights to sell cyberware. Promising all kinds of things to make the deal go through, like discounts and immediate help in case of emergencies.
With his own clinic getting new cyberware that Dante found to be worthy of being installed, mostly as a novelty as a ripperdoc didn't need to be fully decked out and needed to keep their hands operational.. most of the cyberware he got was installed by his friend and somewhat rival Vik..
One time he was there he met a couple of guys that seemed to know Vik with one of them apparently having an interest in Misty.. Dante remembered liking the buff guy as he was into fight sports just like Vik and him.. Dante even promised a discount to the guy..
His memory wasn't the best and Dante couldn't remember the details but he had noted down some major events before and after V would arrive.. as he was interested to see the main character in the year 2077
In preparation for the eventual meet, Dante prepared something for her that could be of assistance to the problem of Johnny's engram inside the brain.. it wasn't something super high tech but just a cell reformer that needed a specimen and could change the body to keep certain parts the same.. it was mostly used to keep older people young but with some modifications, it could be used to change human flesh back to its original state..
If it worked as planned then the changes brought by the engram would be counteracted by the machine.. giving V a somewhat normal life except for the excruciating pain V would feel when the body fought with itself every day…. V could always get a pain reductor….
This plan wasn't his first but rather one of the later plans.. some of his first was to prevent the scenario from happening but even if he could get into konpeki plaza he would just get shot if he were to approach them rashly.
The most likely scenario that they would meet would be V coming in to get some cyberware, or through Vik recommending him because he had talked about his machine, but it didn't really bother him.. Dante had lived for a total of one hundred years if he counted his first life.. and he wasn't as interested in the story as at the beginning of this life.. the years of seeing the world die just degraded him a little bit.
…..
The news of Konpeki Plaza spread quickly.. the death of Saburo Arasaka wasn't announced for obvious reasons. But the news of the attack was broadcasted almost immediately.. Nothing was confirmed but apparently, two people were seen escaping the building.
Just as Dante was watching the news unfold a new customer entered the store.. It was the young chap he had met at Vik's bleeding all over his floor.
"What happened to you?" Dante took the guy to the operating table getting him settled into the chair..
"That cyberware you got me saved my life but.. I am still bleeding.." Jackie sounded weak as he sat down on the chair getting more convertible in it.
"How long ago did it activate.. I was not sure that the module would work immediately.. it seems as though you walked here…. Doesn't matter." Dante muttered most of his questions getting sidetracked as he got a bag of blood to get into Jackie's body.
"I don't know doc.. I woke up in the delamain as it was taking me home.. luckily I could get the thing to change course to your Clinic as I knew it was close.." Jackie coughed a bit as the blood started pumping into his body.
"Did you experience memory loss with the machine or?.." Dante curiously asked if his machine worked as intended as it was an old tech mixed with new ones.. a sort of mix between second heart and Bioplastic blood vessels as the machine would revive someone after death but had difficulty detecting death causing the machine to start pumping as a somewhat second heart, but waking the patient up was just a bit slower than the new version.. that with somewhat slow activation time made it a work in progress at best, but this gonk had bought it.
The blood loss could lead to loss of brain function if it took to long so expecting short-term memory loss could be expected.
"From what the Delamain said.. I died for a couple of minutes and can't really remember the time before that only us exiting the plaza.." Just as Jackie was explaining a bit more about the situation the news shifted to cover the escape of the two suspects and how a Delamain helped them flee the scene and to report them if possible..
Dante turned to Jackie, who just made an awkward smile in response…
"Certainly entering the big leagues, hey?" Dante made a small quip at Jackie as he was finishing up the healing process on Jackie
"Yes.. the big leagues.." Jackie seemed to remember something and checked to see if he could call someone.. but from the reaction on his face, it seemed no one picked up.
A worried look appeared on Jackie's face as turned to the tv.
"Have any people involved been caught?" Jackie tried to stand up as his wounds were closed but Dante sat him back down.
"No, and you wouldn't want to be the first now, would you.. If you leave now then the wound will get open again just give it a minute.. you can take my car to get to a safe place and lay low for a while.. with how much you are hunted you might be better off leaving town for a while.. I will give you a contact out there if you want?" Dante offered to recommend some of the people he know who were still nomads outside of night city.
"No I got my own place I will lie low for a while… know a place from my first job with V.. but I will take the car.. I promise to pay you back." it had already clicked with Dante that Jackie was connected to V.. his notes didn't really mention him as he had noted that he would die in the car.. but seemingly survived thanks to a prototype he had created and installed into him.
"Don't worry about it just survive will you…. Oh and before you leave.. take this with you.. it is an early gift for your friend.. and with the completion of your first big job it will make a fine present.." Dante pointed to the device he had created for V..
"What is it?" Jackie asked while feeling up his stitched-up wound, flinching as he checked everything Dante had just treated…
"A special device… it will hurt when installed, but will help V in the long run.. it works by saving your body by manually resetting the gene's in your body.."
"What does that do?" Jackie seemed confused as to what the application was for such a device.
"…It extends your life for a bit in exchange for feeling like you are burning from the inside, something akin to cybernetic overloading, but through your whole body.. it even stores the old genes to later reconstruct in case some parts of your body are removed.." Dante couldn't help but be proud of his creation as he explained its uses.. Jackie still didn't seem to understand it but as long as he gave it to V everything would work out..
--
Just as Jackie was gone a new guest entered the Clinic this time someone wearing a suit, looking to be a Arasaka corporate agent of some sort. As Dante was about to greet the man in question he spoke first.
"Where is the target?" his voice was lacking in emotion and rather metallic sounding as his throat seemed to have metallic implants that produced the unique noise
"What do you mean?" Dante knew that they were probably searching for the second target as although he was reported dead seemed to have entered a ripperdoc shop and walked out alive.
"Don't be a fool where did your last patient go?" The agent got closer with Dante not responding
"Where. Did. Your.."
"I don't know.. what do you care what one of my clients does.. I certainly don't.." Just as the agent seemed to leave after the confrontation some new members joined him totaling three.
It was a kill squad.. probably hunting Jackie and V with them tracking the Delamain car to this location…
Dante knew that he would be out of trouble when he killed them as he could always deny even seeing them and just mock it up to one of the local gangs fighting some snobby corporate slaves..
——
Dante thought the fight was going well.. he wasn't as experienced as the corporate kill squad but he had home-field advantage, namely a turret mounted to the roof… Everything was going great until one of the mantis blades aimed at him missed him and instead hit a fuel tank that was in the clinic to keep it operational in case of a power outage...
Only the blade would have been fine but Arasaka outfitted every kill squad agent with heated mantis blades so his whole building blew up as the fuel was dangerously explosive and the best for having small quantities for big buildings.
…
After Dante's death, he thought that second heart would revive him in the wake of his building with his body slightly damaged from some debris but mostly protected by his armor-like skin but to his surprise, the building stood standing having everything intact and working.