Chapter 10: Charging Double.
[Greetings. I am VOLCAN.] The voice said, straight into Dante's head.
It shouldn't have been that big of a deal; Neural Interface and Optic Augmentation Modules have existed for decades now. Such cyberware allows for higher levels of privacy by directly streaming audio and visual feeds directly into one's mind, though one could argue that they can do the exact opposite as well.
Dante was from a generation that had adopted this technology from a very young age so he wasn't too surprised to hear someone speak directly into his head. The problem was that something like that required his permission, and since he hadn't activated his OAM, let alone accepted any calls, it would mean that his modules were hacked, which was very difficult to do even for the most experienced hackers.
Of course, there was always the chance that he was just possessed.
'You... what are you?'
[I believe I answered that question, though I assume you found that answer insufficient.] The voice said. [I will once again introduce myself, this time with more detail. My name is Versatile Omni-Lethal Combat Adaptive Nexus. VOLCAN for short. I am a hyper-adaptive tactical defense system created by the... my apologies, it seems that parts of my data bank had been permanently erased. I am incapable of retrieving information relating to my origin and purpose.]
'... Seriously?'
[Indeed.]
Still confused, Dante went silent for a few seconds, not that he had said a word out loud since he woke up. The voice threw a lot of words at him at once, and though he had no idea what they meant as a whole, they gave him the impression that the thing was a weapon of some kind.