บท 6: Beatrice
Dante moved downstairs and saw that his parents had already gone to the car, so he moved his stuff outside and with the help of his dad, lugged his suitcase into the back of the sedan.
Then came a short drive where his mother exhorted him on the way about hygiene, girls, and safety. Dante listened to it all seriously, because hey, while it may be slightly annoying, there was actually some good stuff hidden in there that people often reflected on later in life.
The apartment was in a small townhouse estate that had similarly built ultra-modern style houses. White walls, polished wood flooring, and a LOT of glass.
David and Aileen both nodded their heads with satisfaction praising their son's taste. They almost thought he would go for some ramshackle place to cut costs.
Dante rolled his eyes. With the kind of allowance they gave him and the savings he had built up, how could he have fallen into debt if he rented a normal place?
His father helped him carry his things up to the bedroom while his mother inspected the place carefully and was satisfied by the cleanliness.
The two hung around for a few more hours, calibrating the TV, the water, and checking the wifi, and so on. They used anything as an excuse to stick around till the very last moment.
Eventually, they could only leave with unwillingness on their faces - at least on his mom's visage - while his father wore his trademark poker face, which gave Dante the necessary space to breathe.
He sighed and slumped down on his sofa. Before he could even say anything, the AI chip responded.
[I have connected to all systems in the house and can control anything and everything as and when you need.]
Dante relaxed further with a satisfied smile. After lazing on the sofa for a while, he saw that it was still bright out, and the time said it was 2 pm.
Dante then sat up and pondered carefully.
'I still have some money. I should probably buy a gun or something then get some body armor before returning to that place.'
Dante felt like this was a good idea until the AI chip spoke.
[Unfortunately, your Quantum Entanglement ability is still undeveloped and is in its infancy, so you cannot take along foreign items except your clothes and anything directly attached to your body.]
"Alright… so just body armor?" Dante muttered.
[That will not work either. Thicker materials of such kind would disintegrate in the Quantum Wormhole. Currently, only simple clothing can go along with you.]
Dante was disheartened by this. "So I can only go there practically naked and vulnerable, open to the elements of that world?"
[Yes.]
Dante sighed deeply. Always had to be a catch, didn't there?
Whatever.
"We'll return to that place tomorrow. I want you to spend the night downloading as much useful information from the Internet as you can pertaining to survival, electronics, building, and whatnot." Dante instructed as he walked upstairs with an expression of resolve.
[It shall be done.]
Even if the methods of this universe were backward, it was best to have some foundation before heading over.
Dante let the night pass until the morning of the next day.
After a short breakfast at a nearby diner, he returned to his apartment and then locked himself up in his room. He first called his parents because he knew they would likely do so within the next few days to check up on him, so it was better to do it now rather than let them panic later.
Then, while seated on his desk chair, Dante asked. "So how do I activate it?"
[It is your power, so you only have to will it.]
"Okay then…" Dante shrugged and thought about how he wanted to go to the Eternal Universe.
He immediately disappeared from where he sat with a 'pop' sound, his existence within the home universe disappearing completely.
When Dante reappeared, he was right back on the pavement, near the alleyway beside the exact street he had last been on. He only had time to curse that his ability returned him to the same spot before a soft fist grabbed him by the throat a lifted him up.
Dante struggled and grabbed the arm that was lifting him up, but was surprised by its softness and elasticity. When he looked down, he paused for a split second and stopped struggling.
The one holding him was a woman with creamy white skin, pale golden eyes that sparkled strangely, and a swath of waist-length purple hair that was like the finest silk.
What left Dante stupefied was not only the fact that she was the first seemingly pure human he had seen in this world, but that her angular face - and cheeky smirk - were symmetrically perfect without any blemishes.
That was simply impossible. Even cosmetic surgery wouldn't make one this… flawless. Dante wanted to pull her face and see if a mask would come off, but he was not in a situation to do so anyway.
To his surprise, she dropped him the very next second, allowing him to land on his feet and take stock of his surroundings properly.
First off, the entire area had been cordoned off, and there were no pedestrians around. The shops were closed and the buildings were evacuated.
Secondly, apart from this woman, some cyborgs hung around holding rifles that glowed with a red light, looking like plasma guns from sci-fi games.
The moment he appeared, all of those muzzles were aimed at him with cold efficiency.
Seeing that the crowd was not so friendly, Dante shivered internally and turned to face the woman.
Surprisingly, she was almost the same height as himself, and he was over six feet. She wore a skin-tight purple uniform that looked like spandex of sorts, with a leather jacket with military badges and symbols.
In terms of womanly charm and sexual appeal, she was definitely top-notch with a relatively large bosom, a flat, muscular stomach, and wide hips that stretched the edge of her pants.
Her tight uniform did nothing to hide these features and rather highlighted them, making it such that regardless of whether you were a girl, boy or all those in between, your eyes would be drawn there.
"Had enough of a good look?" a light Contralto-ranged voice spoke, alerting Dante to his rudeness.
However, rather than be embarrassed, he was more confused.
"Are you real? Or are you just a fantasy?" he asked.
"Me? I am Admiral Beatrice Portinari of the 34th Prime Fleet. I am not a holograph or a form changer, but a real human. A pure human." The woman answered calmly while folding her arms beneath her bosom.
She then narrowed her eyes and leaned forward. "Just like you. I wonder how it is a pure-blooded human came to be on this backwater planet in the middle of this cheap galaxy?"
Dante shrugged. "I teleported here using my superpower."
Beatrice raised an eyebrow. " A superpower? You have no civilian Bionics or Psionics, an underperforming AI chip, an SDI below average in all fields, and claim to have a superpower?"
Dante nodded calmly. "I do claim so. I'd like to know if I have broken any laws by existing here?"
Beatrice looked Dante up and down. "Well, apart from your poor fashion, nothing I have jurisdiction over. Though without identification and a visa, you are illegally trespassing on Planet Etonia, so they'll likely chew you up."
Beatrice grinned widely, showing her shark-like teeth. "I can assure you, if you end up in their hands, you will never see the light of day again, not with your value."
Dante felt a chill at that. He thought quickly and understood what this woman was trying to do.
"Well, that's only if they have jurisdiction over me. Judging by the fact that you are a high-ranking military personnel and also a pure human, I take it I can avoid such troubles by following you?"
Beatrice's smile remained but her eyes flashed with a certain light. "Oh? For your low intelligence index, you do think quickly. Yes, you follow me back to my battleship and we can begin investigating the circumstances around your existence."
'So either be imprisoned and milked of my value without ever seeing a fair trial, or follow one of 'my people' and be interrogated at length as to why an anomaly like me exists.'
Great, what a lovely set of choices.
Of course, there was a third option…
"Oh right, I wouldn't advise you to use that teleporting superpower of yours. After all, it seems to be in its infancy and is not very flexible. If you leave and come back, you may not be lucky enough to find me here waiting for you." Beatrice advised as she turned around.
Without waiting for his reply, she began walking away. Dante folded his arms and contemplated his choices carefully before choosing to follow.
Of course, as a fellow bro and a man of fine taste, he had to vent his shock as his eyes fell on the large and swaying backside of the woman before him.
"God damn…"
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