Chapter 149: Capped knee's for Caps
He's surprised the Legion hasn't started sending assassins after them yet? Hmm... Afton wasn't sure how much notoriety you needed to gain with the Legion for them to start sending kill squads at you.
Checking his reputation he found he was [Shunned] by the Legion. To be honest, it wasn't really clear what this meant, but shunning a person didn't immediately make you hostile against them. Hopefully he wouldn't have to watch his neck for a while.
That brings another thought to mind, he was still lugging around that axe he'd picked up in Search Light, since this guy supposedly knew almost everyone who passed here, he must know when Tamia arrived... If she arrived that is.
"Hopefully I won't have to deal with any assassins until later... Ah, by the way, have you seen a woman named Tamia go through here lately? Tanned skin, wields an axe, vault suit." he asks.
Samuel slowly nods, "Yeah, came through here a couple days ago, headed to Boulder City, came back, then left for New Vegas. Took that weird robe girl as well."
"Weird robe girl?" Afton asks in confusion.
"Yeah, robe was pulled so tight over her head you couldn't see what colour her hair was. I'm guessin' she was some sort of spy due to how interested she got whenever the news came in. That or she was just really bored..."
A spy who doesn't like people looking at her hair... Why does that sound familiar? "What was their name?"
Samuel shrugs, "Never asked, I'm not usually scared of women, but when one's walking around with one o' those power fists I know when to keep my mouth shut. Don't know why she was so interested in leavin' with that Tamia girl though."
"A power fist huh? Hmm. Ah, sorry for not buying anything, I'll come back later and get some food. Thanks for the info." Afton says as he stands and leaves.
Honestly, you'd think she would at least try to disguise herself when she belonged to a faction hostile to the NCR... Dislike of her hair, spy, power fist. That has Veronica written all over it.
A wry smile appears on his face as he thinks about reuniting with her. It'd been a while since they'd last spoken, he didn't want to have to explain himself to a raging Veronica if she heard about him leaving without giving his own story first.
She was travelling with Tamia though, which meant they were headed for the New Vegas strip to kill that checkered suit douche. Hopefully they wouldn't do anything stupid and get hurt in the process.
He'd try to catch up with them, but that's for later. Right now he has a market full of random tech to look through. He walks down the overpass and circles around to visit the highly populated grouping of traders.
Most of the people here were trying to buy or peddle food, supplies, or ammunition. He supposed that weaponry was handled by that arms merchant ontop of the overpass. The NCR wouldn't likely be willing to seed all means of controlling firearms. Though, if his eyes weren't mistaken there was a funky-looking group cuffing money from people and discreetly handing firearms to them. Whether it was just a black market kinda deal or they had permission Afton didn't know... He'd not buy anything from them though as the prices would probably be jacked up, best just to head to the Gunrunners for that.
A few things did immediately catch his attention though, propped up against a wall a robot with broken knees was sat next to its owner as the man tried to sell it off. No one seemed willing to buy though as a crippled robot was next to useless.
"Y-you there, would you buy this? It's very useful! It can speak, shoot, hell, there's probably a lot more that I haven't found out yet." they say, looking hopefully at Afton.
Afton just raises a brow though, was the fact the robot could talk even a benefit? Not to mention even if he did buy it, how would he take it with him... His bike only had three seats after all... Hmm...
A lightbulb suddenly appeared above his head as he stifled the grin that was making its way to his face. "Protectron? Do you have any other functions that we are unaware of?" he asks the robot, knowing that eliminating its potential would be key to lowering the price.
"This unit is only designed for protection. Additions can be made but it is recommended to ask the advice of a RobCo mechanic before attempting this." it states, causing its owner to frown.
Afton looks to the man, "How much for it?"
"I-er-hmm, 200 caps-No, 2000 caps!" he stutters out, correcting himself after he gave a price he considered too low... Truly, how did this imbecile find the robot in the first place.
Afton just scoffs and shakes his head, "2000 caps? Fuck off." he states and walks away, the man immediately tries calling him back but he doesn't even glance behind him. He'd come back for the robot later, he knew no one would buy it, and if they did it'd only be for scrap parts. The man would be desperate to sell it so he'd get a good price when he returned.
After leaving the man to stew he continued walking around the market place, occasionally stopping at a stall to see the wares people were peddling. He'd purchased a few mechanical components that he'd use for his future plan with that broken Protectron, as well as a plasma mine that someone wanted to get rid of.
Of course, it was defective and would instantly explode if you tried to activate it, so Afton got a good price for it. His [Mechanicus] Perk would make sure it'd work properly when he needed it.
As he was walking one thing did catch his eye though, a man sitting on the outskirts of the market had a few small items placed in front of him. Everyone who passed ignored him, and it was easy to see why... He had pieces of scrap metal and smooth-looking rock... And that was it.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Niggross
Niggross Hope you guys like the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.
Chapter 150: Free Medical Procedure? Oh boy!
Afton wasn't an average guy though, even with most people disregarding this poor, crazy man's items. He knew there must be something more to it... He had played games after all.
Leaning down, he picked up one fo the smooth rocks and used his inventory to examine it. His eyes widened as he saw the description. He was astounded by it!
[Smooth Rock]
A worthless stone that's been rubbed fanatically for years... Why have you picked this up?
...
Wow, did he just get judged by his Pipboy? Shaking his head, that wasn't important right now, what was is the fact that he'd been fooled by this old man! How dare he sell obviously useless objects and give him the impression that he was some kind of wise old wizard!...
Sighing to himself he looked at the pieces of scrap metal just to make sure he wasn't missing anything.
[Scrap metal]
Part of an old military truck that unfortunately drove over a mine.
...
Again!
[Scrap metal]
The handle of an old fork...
Afton glared ferociously at the remaining pieces of metal, determined to find something USEFUL!
[Scrap metal]
An extremely valuable piece of metal one owned by a Japanese Emporer... Just kidding, it's just part of a shattered frying pan.
To the people passing by Afton looked more crazy than the old dude selling the worthless objects. He was examining scrap metal so closely you'd think he was searching for a serial number on them.
Afton sighs to himself, he shouldn't known better than to trust 'game logic', even if this world had formerly been a game. "Last one." he mutters to himself as he looks at the last, and largest piece of scrap metal the old man was peddling.
[Scrap metal?]
A block of lead-lined aluminium with a receiver attached to it...
Raising a brow at the description Afton personally looked more closely at it, finding some writing on the bottom of it. It read, "Free completely safe medical procedures, delivered at the Mojave Drive-in"
...
Afton was tempted to just crack the metal open to see what was contained within it, but decided to just leave it be. This was apparently the right course of action since he got a notification on his Pipboy.
[Midnight Free Medical Procedure! : Recieve your reward for finding the super-secret key!]
...
Afton wasn't sure if this was real, or some kind of trap. Judging by the language, whoever this was from was either an imbecile or just someone who didn't take anything seriously... Or both!
Shaking his head, he'd look into completing the quest once everything else had been dealt with... The location of the Mojave Drive-in was apparently all that way back near Nipton. A good distance for what good very well be a shitty reward.
"I'll give you 10 caps for this. I needed a paperweight." he says to the old man.
...
Hmm, he hadn't noticed before but they didn't seem to be moving. Giving them a poke causes them to slump over like a corpse... Checking his pulse revealed that he wasn't dead, just sleeping.
Shrugging his shoulder he drops 50 caps into the old man's top and leaves with the strange object.
Afton buy a few more things from around the market place, most of which had burnt a small hole in his pocket... He'd spent around 500 caps for a mere four objects, to most people it'd be madness... But for him? He saw it as a bargain.
[Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual]
[D.C. Journal of Internal Medicine]
[Duck and Cover!]
Afton didn't waste any time and discreetly absorbed the knowledge contained within the skillbooks.
[+3 Sneak]
[+3 Medicine]
[+3 Explosives]
With that done, he headed straight back to the guy selling the Protectron. Hopefully Boone wouldn't be too upset at his rather long absence.
"You!-Ahem, You." the desperate man corrects himself at spotting Afton again. "I've decided to reconsider my pricing, my Wife-no, daughter, has recently had a medical emergency so I can't drop the price that much... 500 caps."
Afton struggles to hide his smirk, this guy was shit at bartering, not to mention quite stupid. Mustering all the effort he can, Afton droops his shoulder and sighs sadly, "Well, that's unfortunate... I only have 232 caps on me, my sick mother wanted me to buy something nice before... Before she passes away." he says, wiping a fake stray tear from his eye.
The man looks beyond confused at having his tactic thrown back at his face, though, something else caught his attention, "232 caps? DEAL!" he exclaims without worrying about the passerby's that he'd inadvertently caused to jump at the volume.
Afton straightens up and grins mischievously at the man, "Thanks." he says before picking up the rather heavy Protectron and leaving, "Ah, my mom's been dead for a while by the way."
The man sputters in indignantly but seems satisfied with the amount of caps he'd received for the defective robot. To be honest, most wouldn't consider it worth the 200 caps he'd spent... But for someone with a maxed repair skill like Afton, there were many things he could do with it.
Boone raises a brow when he spots Afton walking back with a broken Protectron in his arms. He was about to complain that he'd taken too long but found his words caught in his throat by what Afton'd brought back... "Why have you bought that." he states dryly.
Afton just smirks at him, "You'll see. Help me wheel the bike up to Samuels shop. No point keeping it down here when we can sit in his shop while keeping an eye on it.
Boone just shrugs and does as he's told, pushing the bike up the overpass and parking it next to Samuel's shack. Afton dumps the Protectron next to it, "You will Protect this bike with your artificial life. Understand?"
"Your Property will be safe, this is a RobCo guarantee... RobCowitdtholdsallresponsibilityshouldyourpropertybestolen." it adds at the end so quickly Afton almost misses it... How devious.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross
Niggross
Those of you who know what kind of "Free Medical Procedure" you'll receive at the Mojave Drive-In can pat yourselves on the back.
If I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
If you liked my content or want to read ahead please go to https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.
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