Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System

Dante changed his modules to 4-3, took a quick shower, then put a suit on and stood in front of the mirror. Thanks to a reminder from Volcan, he had made sure to get a new suit the day before. Most of his clothes no longer fit now that he has all of his MBIs installed and their Modules equipped. He would have to do some shopping eventually, but this was enough for the time being.

With a few minutes left until his date with the radiant hero, he decided to go downstairs and get himself a drink. The Red Oni Club was supposedly open for business, but as expected, no one but the Red Demons showed up. It wasn't much of a problem now that Inferno had grown to a decent size. They had enough members to keep the business going, even though he didn't have much need for it at this point.

-You don't have much need for them, either.-

"Give me something."

Sitting down at the bar, Dante tapped the counter twice to get the bartender's attention. A glass of brandy was placed before him right away, and as he reached to grab it, he heard a familiar voice.

"Looking sharp today, boss."

Dante didn't know why he was so surprised. Absolute Awareness already told him she was the one manning this particular bar. In fact, she had been doing so every time he stopped by.

"Hey, Lissa. How are you doing?"

"Better than ever." The Tenebrosan woman said.

"That's great to hear." Grabbing his glass, Dante took a gulp of its contents. "Ross is taking care of the kids?"

"Yup. That arrest got him scared for his life, so he had been spending a lot more time with them."

"Good. I imagine Ellie would like that."

"Indeed."

As he went to take another sip, Dante sensed the wry smile on the bartender. Ignoring it only meant that she was going to ask, and it didn't take her long to do so.

"Drinking before a date? Can't be a good sign."

"I just needed something to take my mind off of things."

Bringing the bottle down, Lissa poured him some more."

"I thought you liked her. That hero girl."

"Well, I don't hate her."

Considering she was a Genome, and a commercial one at that, the fact that they hung out without him wanting to kill her showed that she earned herself more than a few points in his books. That was going to make things a lot more difficult when the time to dispose of her comes, but there wasn't much he could do about it.

"A hero and a gang boss. That kind of pairing was supposed to remain in the 50s romance novels." Said Lissa. "That girl isn't one to take a heartbreak easily."

"Well, she'll have to." Dante raised his glass. "This wasn't going to work from the start. She needs to grow up already."

Dante had been considering it for some time now, but he felt that his mind was already made up. He was going to end things with the bright hero tonight. That way, he wouldn't have to have that awkward conversation when the time comes.

"If that's the case, then you should go for a critical hit." Said Lissa. "When was the last time you had been to a barber?"

"A couple months ago?" Dante replied.

He had been under the impression that his hair no longer grows thanks to all his implants, but apparently replacing his entire skull didn't stop it from growing.

"Guess your preparations are a bit lacking." Grinning, the dark-skinned Tenebrosan pointed a thumb behind her. "You still got a few minutes, right? Want me to give you a quick trim?"

After a moment of thought, Dante decided to take her up on that offer. He had nothing better to do, and if he stayed at that bar, he would surely have downed a couple more bottles before his date arrived. Lissa went and grabbed a few things before coming back to the break room. As he sat down on one of the chairs, she placed a small mirror in front of him and then spread a towel over his shoulder. Giving the scissors she brought a couple of snips, she looked over his shoulder, smiling at their reflection.

"I will begin now."

Running a comb through his hair a few times, she then took a small clump between her fingers and began cutting the tips. As she repeated the process, red strands began to fall down in front of his eyes, swaying left and right before settling on the towel.

"Boss, your hair is natural, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Dante replied. "Few ever notice that it isn't dyed."

"You can't blame them. Natural red hair usually isn't this bright."

The snipping continued, and as the two fell silent, that sound became louder and louder. Unable to bear it, Dante decided to keep the conversation going.

"Since when were you good with the scissors?"

"I remember telling you I did a lot of things to survive."

"Didn't know that included being a stylist."

"It included a lot of things." Pausing, Lissa seemed to reminisce about something, causing her hands to stop moving. "I met my fiancé… my previous fiancé, back when I used to work for this one shop. He was the kind to let it grow for years before bothering to get a cut. Made him look like a really handsome hobo."

"Really?"

"Yup. I offered to cut it for him many times, but he never let me. For a while, I thought he was afraid of scissors or something."

"Some guys take barber loyalty very seriously."

"The only thing he had that loyalty for was his car." Lissa chuckled. "Ross was entirely different in that aspect. He was happy to hear that I could cut his hair. Said it would save us some cash."

"He's probably gonna spend it on more beer."

"Probably."

Lissa told him about how her fiancé was shaving his beard the other day, with his daughter mimicking his every move, using a small ruler to remove the shaving cream covering her face. It seemed like Ross was putting some serious effort into getting back on his feet while doing his best to be there for his daughter. Hearing that seemed to alleviate some of the stress pressing down on Dante.

"And done!"

Putting down the comb and scissors, Lissa smiled proudly as she took the small mirror and held it to the back of his head, only to remember that they weren't in a shop and that there were no mirrors for him to check his reflection in.

"It looks good," Dante said, having already checked through his Absolute Awareness. At first, he thought he wouldn't be able to tell the difference, considering that she hadn't cut that much, but it turns out a lot can be achieved through a few snips.

"It sure does." The Tenebrosan woman puffed her chest. "Make sure to come to me whenever you need a cut."

"How about we open you a shop, then?"

"Sounds great, but I will pass. I can't afford to have a day job right now."

As the time for his date arrived, Dante realized that he still had one question on his mind. Why did one of his bartenders just so happen to have a set of hair-cutting tools on her?

It would be some time before he learned that she was offering to cut the hair of Inferno members after her shift, earning herself some extra money. That caused her popularity in the gang to soar, to the point that she would never run out of customers if she were to open her own shop one day.