CHAPTER 282: BASEMENT.

[A body?] Volcan asked.

’You’re a powerful AI that can practically do anything.’ Dante thought. ’If I can make you work those tiny things, why not give you a proper body so you can take some weight off my shoulders?’

Having a top-class AI yet only using it for Diving was a great waste of potential. Dante imagined creating several robots he could keep in his inventory and summon to fight alongside him when needed. It would expand his options, decreasing the need to use high-level armor all the time. There was one problem, however.

’It’s going to be hella expensive...’

In the end, it all comes down to money.

[A body, huh...] Volcan said. [The idea never occurred to me before.]

’Really?’

[My purpose is to support my host. Having an independent body is not something I am supposed to have.]

’Huh...’

Volcan finally got to work, moving the Scorpio-bot toward the terminal. Extending its arched tail, he inserted the sharp tip into one of the cable outlets, and a second later, the device came to life.

[I suppose it would increase our productivity to have more arms.] Said the AI.

’Exactly.’

While Volcan went about downloading the data, Dante turned his attention to the other Scorpio-bots, wanting to see what the first floor looked like. Bars weren’t the kind of establishment people visit first thing in the morning. Last night’s party was over so the music was off. The lights weren’t blinking, either, and the dance floor was deserted, filled with crushed cans and empty plastic cups. Clearly, no one bothered to clean the place.

Strangely enough, there were no people around as well.

’Where the hell are they?’

Dante found the building by tracking down the idiots from the van, but despite having looked everywhere, the four were nowhere to be found.

"No on is here..." Finn said. "Are you sure this is the location?"

"It’s supposed to be..."

Dante searched through the footage, looking for signs. There was nothing odd about the bar itself being empty so the strangeness mostly came from the rest of the building being empty as well. It was almost as if it had been abandoned overnight, and the longer the search went on, the more convinced Dante became of that being the case.

"Hm?" Noticing something on one of the screens, he squinted his eyes, causing the image to zoom in. "Stop."

The Scorpio-bots came to a halt as if following his command. Ignoring Finn’s questioning look, he continued to zoom in on a particular part of the bar’s counter. A half-full glass of whiskey sat there, likely left by someone too drunk to down the rest. Dante stared at it with such intensity it seemed as if he was trying to discern what brand was poured from the color alone. He was sure something was there, and a second later, he was it again. A faint ripple.

"... They have a basement..."

"... What?"

Dante was unsure why he thought only the first three floors of the building were altered. Megacomplexes had underground parking lots. Place a few walls and you’ve got yourself another floor. In fact, you don’t have to be satisfied with just one basement floor. Just isolate a part under the first and you would have up to five.

"Find the entrance."

The faint tremors came from below, so they obviously had yet to cover the entirety of Red Rage’s new hideout. Leaving only two Scorpio-bots to cover the bar, Finn sent the rest to search for the path to the floor below. It wasn’t that difficult to find, being situated behind a double door at the end of the corridor connecting the kitchen and the dance floor. Things got a little tricky from there.

In a frustrating turn of events, they found no path from which the Scorpio-bots could get to the lower levels. The doors were sealed, and the surrounding walls had no holes or gaps. There were no air vents either, which confused Dante quite a bit.

After a long search, they discovered a second path. A small dumbwaiter in a corner of the first floor’s kitchen, likely to deliver food below. Getting it to work took a few seconds, but they got there eventually.

There was only one option for down, and another for up. The small elevator moved slowly, and as if the wait didn’t cause enough stress, it decided to startle the hell out of them.

DING DING DING!

Loud ringing preceded the door opening, shattering the silence that had enshrouded the small space. The world seemed to freeze for a moment, only to move again following Dante’s command.

"Get out! Hurry!"

The small elevator opened up to a dark room. The ambient light cast from its interior illuminated a set of shelves Dante immediately recognized as the interior of a bar’s counter. It offered a great cover, allowing the small bots to quickly find a hiding spot.

A few seconds passed and nothing happened. For a while, it felt like the place was as abandoned as the other floors. Dante didn’t want to drop his guard, having decided to wait some more. That was when his heart jumped at another loud sound.

BAM!

The silence returned, but it was shattered by the same explosion a moment later by another loud blast. Rather than an explosion, it sounded more like a heavy object slamming something. The sound returned several times, though the gaps between each varied.

After listening to it for a couple of minutes, Dante became convinced that it was the source of the faint tremors he had noticed earlier, and almost at the same time, he realized what its source was. Nothing came to check on the elevator at that time, so he gave Finn the order to move the bots once more.

Keeping to the shadows, the small mechanical creatures made their way to the ceiling, the best hiding spots in a place this dark. They found support beams to stand on, and from there, they began filming what was happening down below, offering Dante and Finn first row seats to a gut-wrenching show, though from the looks of it, they had arrived a little too late.