Chapter 363: From Anywhere.
Instead of starting with the entrance of the portal, Dante went the exit first. His plan was to create it right in front of some utility port so it would appear like their pursuers had crashed, but he chose to use this opportunity to test his theory instead, and so he placed the exit inside the small box.
Turning around, he stared at the car tailing them. It kept its distance, matching their speed. Dante had to choose the right spot to place the entrance and the right moment to activate his ability. If he missed either of those points, the enemy would avoid his trap, which would force him to take more drastic measures.
’Now!’
The green projection that represents the gate moved along the car, but as expected, the gate itself was stationary, appearing at the exact spot where Spatial Rift was activated.
A massive hole manifested in the middle of the road, as if a drop of jet black ink was spilled on the detailed background. There was the sound of tires screeching as a car suddenly hit the brakes, but then I was suddenly cut, as if someone had pressed the mute button.
Dante’s attention had already turned to the 3D model projected on his OAM. He felt his eyes widen as he watched a red dot appear inside the small tube. Staring at it for a moment, he realized that his theory had just being confirmed.
’I can portal to pocket dimension from anywhere...’
[That is correct.]
Hearing Volcan’s confirmation, something snapped inside Dante.
’Why didn’t you say that before!!?’
[I was under the impression that you were aware.]
’How the hell am I supposed to know!!?’
"Um... Dante..." Boris’s voice interrupted his thoughts. "Can I open my eyes already? It’s really not comfortable to sit here like this."
Noticing that he was still wearing 8-3, Dante quickly dismissed it and gave the others the signal to open their eyes. As he let out a sigh, he noticed that Nobara was staring at him.
"What?"
"Convinient."
She did not elaborate, and Dante didn’t probe. Turning his attention inward, Dante went back to the discussion he was having with his resident AI.
’So I can open gates to pocket dimensions.’
[Correct.]
’From anywhere?’
[Indeed.]
For some reason, Dante was under the impression that he had to be close to the area where he had created the pocket dimension to be able to open a gate into it, but turns out that wasn’t the case.
[Please keep in mind that the same does not apply in reverse.] Volcan said.
’... what do you mean?’
[You can access pocket dimensions from anywhere, but you cannot access everywhere in the original dimension from the pocket dimension.]
’... this is a little confusing...’ Dante forced the gears of his head to turn and tried to understand what he was hearing. ’Basically, what you’re saying is... I can enter the pocket dimension from anywhere, but when I want to exit it...’
[You can exit only from the point where you first created the pocket dimension.]
’Seriously...’
[The pocket dimension and its borders are created by Type 8’s abilities, which is why it is possible to access it using those same abilities. The location from which the pocket dimension is created is the closest to the border between the two dimensions, which is why it is possible to access the original dimension from the pocket dimension.]
’... this keeps getting more confused the more you try to explain it.’ Closing his eyes, Dante gave a mental sigh. ’I can enter from anywhere, but can only exit in one place. That’s it?’
[Indeed.] Volcan replied.
There was no need to know all the insane detail of how this whole dimensional stuff works. So long as he knows what it can do, and how to make use of it, that’s all he needs.
"You... you took care of the pursuers?" Boris asked.
"Yeah. Just to be on the safe side, let’s change vehicles before dropping everyone off. "
The ride home was a silent one. The mood was awful, and everyone kept their heads down. They passed through Nightsun and stopped at a parking lot that was a little close to the Triple Jackpot. Finn tried to leave when he noticed that, saying he would be staying in his room at Boris’s place. Dante was having none of his shit, however, so he dragged him back with him to his apartment.
~[ ]~
"Well, that went down horribly." Dante said as he sat down with a mug of freshly brewed coffee. Finn was sitting on the other side of the kitchen table, his gaze still cast down.
The silence lingered for a while as neither of them said anything. The boy had removed the MLP cover Suzuka had gifted him, but he didn’t grab his exocore, nor did he plug its cables in the back of his heads.
Dante looked down at his mug and saw that he had worked his way through the first cup. Clicking his tongue, he put it down and fixed the boy with a glare.
"I don’t want this to sound like an interrogations, but if you aren’t going to talk, I will tart with the questions."
The boy offered no response, and the silence lingered once more. Letting a few minute pass, Dante grabbed his mug and brought it up to his mouth. He was about to take a sip, but then he stopped. His mouth suddenly started moving on its own.
"I ran away from home when I was fifteen." He said. "Well, you can’t really call it that, since I didn’t exactly have a home."
He let the words hand in the air, and after a couple of seconds, Finn looked up. Dante took a sip from his coffee, and as the bitter taste spread over his tongue, his mind brought back memories he always tried to avoid.
"I was just discharged from the hospital back then. They said it was a car crash. I was the only survivor."