Chapter 7: Twin Genius

Dante suffered under the merciless sun, which was scorching to his pale complexion. He had to avoid direct sunlight and stay in the shadows, which was often impossible when traversing the barren terrain. Therefore, he carried an old umbrella, but it made him a conspicuous figure in the wilderness, limiting its use to urban areas. Today, he could rest his reddened skin under the shelter of the umbrella as he patrolled the streets of the Institute, surveying the various street vendors and their offerings, peering through his slitted goggles.

However, whenever he glanced at a vendor's merchandise, they would catch his gaze and return it with a curious, disapproving, or repulsed look. People looked at him with such curiosity that reminded him how acutely divergent he was, even though he was grateful for those who avoided looking at him altogether.

As he passed by a group of people, one of them pointed at Dante and loudly exclaimed, "Look, it's a mutant!" Suddenly, the whole group began to stare at him, their expressions ranging from curiosity to disgust. Dante could feel his face burning with embarrassment as he hurried away, trying to escape their judgmental gazes.

Meanwhile, Dante noticed that people were treating him differently than they would treat other customers. Some vendors would outright refuse to serve him, while others would give him dirty looks or overcharge him for their goods. He couldn't help but feel like an outsider, a second-class citizen who was being judged solely based on his appearance. Even though he was still a human being, he was treated as if he was somehow less than everyone else.

Afterward, Dante lost his motivation and strolled without direction, peeking up only to see the occasional vendor. "At this rate, I am never going to find it. I might as well tell Law to come up with a different plan," he muttered to himself on the verge of turning back around and heading to their inn. Only stopping when he saw an old man sitting on top of a blanket with an assortment of old cameras. Dante's excitement consumed him, and he rushed over, peering over his collection.

The old man chuckled, "It's rare to see a subworlder on the surface, especially one with a passion for photography. Have you seen other subworlders on the surface?" Dante looked surprised, believing himself to have been the first, or at least of a small sort.

"Oh yes, in my time I must have seen at least a hundred. It was rare, but every now and then I'll see a subworlder with a gang, trader, or some of the other adventurous types. Heh, I even dated one for a while…" The old man stopped and began nodding to himself, as if reflecting, before reaching out and grabbing the money. "Though you did not come for an old man's tale, go on and enjoy the camera."

Dante nodded, taking the object and walked away. He looked back at the old man, musing to himself, "You learn something new every day."

After leaving the old man, Dante headed to the next stop on his errand list. The rugged pair of tennis balls and diesel fuel were easily sourced from a few random vendors across the city. None of the vendors gave him a second look, assuming he was a subworlder with a weird obsession.

Next, Dante went to a farming supply vendor, one with an assortment of homemade farming tools and antiquated machinery posed in various positions to make the stall appear more official. From there, he sought out the sole vendor selling fertilizer, with each of his bags being marked "homemade" and subtitled "Only the Best Ingredients". Law had not specified what type of fertilizer, just stating it had to include Ammonium Nitrate.

"Homemade you say? It does have a-ammonium nitrate in it, right? That's the real good stuff," Dante stuttered out, unsure if he even said the words correctly. He looked up only to see the vendor smiling at him, and pulling him close.

"Well, I'll be. Someone who knows their chemicals. Well what makes the ammonium nitrate so special?" the man's eyes narrowed, staring into Dante's soul.

Dante shuffled in place nervously before a spark triggered in his head, "I will be frank, I have no idea. A couple of farmers told me to ask for that specifically. Why is it good?"

The man's eyes shifted back to normal, and he leaned back and chuckled, a deep, hefty laugh. "I see just a couple farmers pulling a trick on the subworlder. You see kid, that type of fertilizer could be used for nefarious means, so you asking for that specifically raised flags. However, one couldn't fault you for not knowing. Hell…" he dug behind his counter and dropped before him a large unmarked brown bag, "…this one does, go back and tell them how you got the good stuff."

Dante nodded, paid the man and grabbed the bag, "Sure will."

He slung the bag over his shoulder, allowing it to lay over his backpack that contained the rest of the items. The weight pressed down on him as he struggled all the way back to the inn, a motel on the edge of town built from the remains of an office building.

As Dante entered the room, Law was already hard at work at his workbench, which was separated from Dante's by a plastic divider. Law was sweating profusely as he worked, with his body pressed against the divider. Dante noticed that Law had started working already, with a pile of cotton balls on the table and a sealed plastic bag filled with brown and black powder. Dante's workbench, on the other hand, was covered with scattered metallic parts, the remains of a clock, and a rusted soldering iron.

"How did you manage to get back before me? You had to leave the city," Dante asked in confusion as he dropped the bag.

"It was easy when you knew where you were going, and knew the longer you took, the more suspicious you looked," Law replied as he walked over, grabbed the Fertilizer bag, and dragged it to his side of the room. "Seems you managed to secure everything." He looked at the bag. "It contains-"

"Yes, I nearly had the guy call the guards on me for that one," Dante sighed, dug into his bag, and handed over the tennis balls and fuel to Law.

"I figured they would just assume someone was pulling a prank on you," Law turned back and took his supplies to his workbench, with Dante staring at his back in disbelief.

"How did you… never mind. What is with the divider?" Dante said, walking to his side, standing on the pile of metal to stare over the divide.

Law looked up at the boy and chuckled lightly at the realization that Dante, despite the extra boost, was still standing on his tippy-toes.

"What?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all," Law replied, ignoring the angry eyebrows on Dante. "The wall is because I am working on explosives, and rather that it does not take place next to someone using a hot soldering iron to create an EMP."

Dante lowered himself and looked at his table, grabbing the flathead screwdriver and removing the back of the camera. "Fair."

The two men were too absorbed in their work to talk, so silence hung between them. The only sounds that punctuated the stillness were the clatter of metal, the muffled thuds of tennis balls hitting the floor, and the occasional shuffling of their bodies. An hour passed before they finally broke the silence and resumed their conversation.

"So what exactly is the plan?" Dante asked, wrapping a piece of electric tape onto a piece of coil.

"Hm," Law grunted out, not even hearing him, as he focused on sealing a tennis ball with putty before digging into it with a knife and placing a small receiver in it.

"You are the boss of this whole operation, and as soon as we left the prison, you had that look on your face. So what is the plan?"

Law, this time paying attention, smiled to himself. "The plan is pretty simple."

"I hate when people say that," Dante muttered, all while carefully soldering wires onto the car battery ports.

"I will take that lovely EMP you have there, go to the dead zone that you brilliantly discovered, and shut down the neighborhood. All while the tennis balls you would have placed around the city would detonate upon you activating them, of course, sowing great chaos. You will leave before activating them, and we will meet you at the gas station that passed by on the way here."

Dante stops and turns, staring at the divider. "So, exactly how are you going to manage to get her out of there? Even in the dark, they still have a ton of guards, who will now be on edge. Even if you manage to get out, I don't think they'll allow people to leave the city."

Law replies, only to hear metal drop on the floor. "Oh. I have no idea."

"What?" Dante half-screams.

"I don't know. Iris is a master thief who, if she's as smart as the rumors say, should have an escape route that doesn't involve the main gate. Besides, I don't think she planned on taking the Robotron out the front gate."

There is silence in response. Law stops and looks over at the divider. "Dante?"

"You're not going to leave me, right?" Dante states.

Law stops, and his eyes soften. Yet before he can reply, Dante continues, "I mean, you have to. Who else will hack into the robot and find its weakness?" His voice carries a subtle hesitation and fear.

Law takes a sharp breath. "I'll pick you up, kid. You don't have to worry about that."

Dante goes silent for a while before changing the topic. "Okay, I'm almost done here. How about you?"

Law looks at his handy work, an assortment of ten tennis balls, each with a remote detonator that flashes a low red light. "I'm all set here. Hey, once you're finished, let's go get some food. I saw a nice restaurant towards the gate."

The corners of Dante's mouth turn up into a grin. "I would like that." Law smiles and lays back on the floor, listening to Dante work.