Erik took the hand and picked up a corner of his mouth. "Thank you," he said simply. "I hope to do so again." He pointed behind him to Dante's car and nodded, "Good car for a good racer. I imagine that you didn't learn to drive that way from racing though. Too utilitarian... Then again, you can never judge a book by it's cover." He took his hand back and thought for a moment about that one. It might not have been a very good illustration if the Dice didn't have anymore libraries and was all digital. He shook his head a little and continued his thought.

"It looks like you used to be in pretty well with the twins and Min Sun," He held a hand up to disquiet any remarks. "Don't worry, I'm not meddling, I've heard that from Min Ji already... heh... No no, I was wondering if you had any pointers about them I should know about. Jack here is helpful with that, but he's obviously not as well off with them as you." Erik wrapped his arm around Jack's shoulders and squeezed.

"Hi Dante," Jack said and held out a hand. "I'll leave you two to conspiring," he said sort of sheepishly.

Erik let go as Jack turned away and looked kind of disappointed. "A-alright... You're still my best bud, ya know...? Heh..." He looked back at Dante and shrugged. "Dunno what's up with him!"

----------

"... So that's how it went down," Jack finished saying on the phone. "He's trying to get himself embedded into the Chimaeras. He's speaking with Dante right now. Think he'd remember the Iceni?"

"Hmmm..." Jack heard over the phone. "I see... Kind of odd that Dante comes back the same night. I wonder. Things usually don't happen in this universe without a reason. Find out why he's back though, and where he's been. Erik might be doing that right now, but see if you can get the... how would you say... 'scoop'?"

"Yes sir. What about the idea of joining with the Chimaeras?" Jack asked.

"Looks like you'll need to learn Korean. I'm surprised you haven't already. Actually... I'm surprised that Erik already doe-... Oh... Yes, that's right. I forgot." Jack heard a few chuckles over the phone. "Never mind, it's nothing. Heh. Some people... Carry on and follow Erik wherever he leads you. Keep checking in though. He is your charge, so that means as much as he is your superior, it is my order that you hold his leash. He will respect and submit to that. A pity that I have to do that with him... Otherwise, he'd be more dangerous than what I sent him to get rid of. Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes sir I do. He's quite dangerous when he wishes it to be. He has the odd feeling of being an unstoppable force though. Whatever he puts himself to, he just does. It doesn't matter how he gets it, he gets it. Sort of unsettling. He almost killed a dozen people tonight in that maneuver," Jack replied, concerned.

"But did he?" Rosso asked. "No. No use fretting over someone's judgment if they end up right in the end. A risky maneuver for one person may be every day for another. That happens to be the case with Erik. He takes what most people consider to be risks... For some reason, most of the time, it just isn't. I don't think even he understands how it works a lot of the time, but it does. I just need you to keep the beast behind bars until the right time. Otherwise, I need you to neutralize him. Not, unless absolutely necessary, to kill him." The phone clicked and the conversation was over.

"Yes sir," Jack said in whisper, and put his phone in his pocket.

-----------

Rosso gently put his phone away and patted his pocket. "Well. My boy is doing well. Kind of a lot for Jack to handle, I see, but that's alright. Something to stir up Jack will make him a more useful agent." Rosso smiled and his escort smiled back. "Well, let's get this mess cleaned up then, eh?" She nodded and started dialing on her phone.

Rosso walked a ways and looked over the board room he had only moments ago been talking to men in. Now blood caked one wall and where five other men were, there were only four carcasses. One out of five wasn't bad. Rosso could live with the deaths of four nearly innocent men, if it meant one of those bastards were dead.