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35.82% Steel Waste / Chapter 254: We didn't start the fire!... Just kidding.

Chapter 254: We didn't start the fire!... Just kidding.

"Before we do anything, we need to deal with the spores somehow. If they leave the Vault then it won't just be me who's fucked."

Both Anja and Keely nod at his words, the latter rubbing her chin thoughtfully, "You know, the cavern was originally a source of many problems for the Vault as it contained any pockets of flammable gas. Gas that has probably been sucked up by the ventilation system, if we introduce an explosive or large fire to it then we might be able to burn away all the Spores in the air..." she muses aloud.

Afton scoffs, "Yeah, and bring the whole Vault down on top of us. Sure it's designed to withstand nuclear explosions, but that's only from the outside... I have no idea if its structural integrity will hold from an inside explosion."

"You got any better ideas then? Green Thumb." Keely retorts.

"Oh, I'll give you 'Green Thumb' She-Hulk!" he growls, but wheezes slightly at the exertion.

Keely continues, "It's a good thing you've almost kicked the bucket, at least you can cause the explosion without any regrets." she states.

*Smack!*

Keely's head is whipped around as Anja slaps her, "Will you stop mocking him? He's sick and we just saved your life you rotten bitch! Your legs are still useless so who do you expect to carry you out if Sir kills himself!? I certainly won't!"

"So you aren't just a slave then, huh?" Keely says, not seeming to be upset about the slap. She looks like she wants to say more but just shakes her head and looks at Afton, "You know, you are as much a danger to the outside as the Spores are..."

Afton doesn't want to acknowledge that fact but knows it's true, if he succumbed to the infection he'd become a Spore Carrier, producing spores and spreading it amongst the wasteland. "I know, that's why I'll torch myself before I get that far. Until then I still have some life in me." he states. "Now, where's that ventilation duct you mentioned? I've got some explosives on me that'll do the trick." he says while throwing Keely over his shoulder again.

The ghoul scientist leads them to the hallway and points to some vents that are vaguely distorted, revealing the volatile gases that lie there. "We'd need to find a safe place before lighting it, but I can't think of anywhere that wouldn't render our goal pointless, we need a place devoid of spores." Keely states.

Afton raises a brow and looks to Anja, "The mainframe room?" he wonders aloud and she nods at him.

The group walk to the mainframe room that just so happened to be quite near to the ventilation duct. He sets Keely down inside and tells Anja to wait inside, he then pulls out a grenade from his deathclaw leather bag.

"You two stay here while I deal with it... Just try to keep the door open for me." he mutters as he leaves.

Afton stands at the opposite end of the hallway where the ventilation duct sits, he needed to do this cleanly otherwise he'd be fried to a crisp.

He takes a moment to visualise exactly what he'd be doing, unclip the grenade, throw it just under the vent and run for the mainframe room before it hits the floor. He should have just enough time to reach safety before the explosion... Though, he admitted it was cutting it close... He was beginning to wish Karl was here to set up a timer or something, the man was way more proficient with traps than Afton was.

"Alright... 3. 2. 1." Rapidly he bites the clip off of the grenade and throws it, immediately turning and sprinting away just as the grenade leaves his hand.

Soon enough he spotted the door to the mainframe room and felt like kissing Anja, she'd left it open for him!

*BOOM!*

The explosion goes off and he glances over his shoulder, spotted a wave of fire streaming towards him. "SHUT THE DOOR!" he shouts, Anja pressing the switch which causes the door to start descending.

Afton doesn't waste any time and throws himself at it, somehow managing to slide beneath it just as it shuts. A puff of fire attempts to follow Afton threw the small gap but its cut off before it can do any real damage.

"Well, that was something." Keely states from the side... "Do you smell something burning?" she asks, the group only now noticing that Afton's trousers were on fire.

"Ah! Shit, shit, shit!" he exclaims as he rapidly pats himself out. While he's extinguishing himself the vibrations of the explosion purging every floor of Spores continues.

The wave of fire 'should' destroy any trace of Spores... *CRRAAAASSSH!*

Sounds of something collapsing could be heard from their room. If Afton had to guess then the wave of fire wave the last straw for the cavern containing the large luminescent tree. Combined with the damage the tree itself had caused earlier, it wouldn't surprise him if the Cavern had completely caved-in. He only hoped that the plants would ber destroyed instead of being preserved under the rocks...

Eventually, the sound of the wave of fire eventually peters out, leaving the group sitting in silence once again. Unfortunately, even if they destroyed all the Spores, Afton was still caught between a rock and a hard place. He was the last potential Spore Carrier, and so he needed to either cure himself relatively soon, or burn himself to prevent further spread.

He knew there was one place left in the Vault that he hadn't explored yet, the cavern access on the Oxygen recycling floor. He had the keycard, so he'd check in there on the way out...

"Do you think that did it?" Anja slowly asks.

Keely nods, "The Spores were somewhat flammable from my earlier experiments... That should've killed them all, but once we're out I'll have the NCR torch everything nearby and destroy the entrance to the Vault."


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross Niggross

Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!

Chapter 255: Dread

With the gas ignited and most Spores dead, Afton considered it time to inspect the last unexplored place in the Vault to hopefully find something to cure him... But, before he even leaves the mainframe room Keely stops him.

"Wait..."

Raising a brow, he turns to look at the ghoul, "What? You aren't going to try and lock me in the Vault are you? Because that'd end badly for both of us." he says, not wishing to kill her for trying.

Keely shakes her head and points to the mainframe terminal, "Did you access the former-residents research?"

"Yeah, why?" he broaches, already knowing where Keely was going with this.

...

"You need to destroy it. It doesn't matter if you don't intend to use the research maliciously, any risk of this happening again needs to be nipped in the bud. Especially since you will likely not survive for much longer, anyone could walk up and steal the Pipboy from your corpse." she explains.

It was true, Afton himself had no need for the research as nothing about it actually concerned curing the disease, only the methods they used to modify and enhance it. Strangely he'd only just noticed this now, but the fungus responsible for the outbreak didn't seem to be created here...

Regardless, Afton would keep the research, it was a one in a million chance but if it could prove useful in somehow curing him, he wouldn't be caught without it. "I can't do that Keely, besides, the research here wasn't even responsible for the fungus, all they did here was develop ways to enhance plants... I can see many, many ways of utilising such knowledge, so I think you're overreacting." he states, deciding to go the logical route that would most likely sway the scientist.

Keely glowers momentarily before glancing through the research on the mainframe terminal, apparently, she hadn't actually gotten to take a look at the backup and just assumed that the people here were the ones responsible for the fungus. The only actual thing they were responsible for was their negligence and complete misunderstanding of the organism they were studying.

After a minute or so of her skimming through the research she sighs, "I see what you mean... Fine! Besides, these terrified logs from the scientists succumbing to the fungus should set anyone attempting it again straight. Or at least, force them to set up better containment facilities."

Afton nods and gets to his feet, coughing slightly as he rests against the wall for a moment to catch his breath... His lungs were certainly taking the brunt of the infection... "Anja, could you help Keely for now?" he asks, not wanting to exert himself any more than he has to. Perhaps it would help slow the onset of the infection...

With that the group leave the mainframe room, glancing around the scorched hallway... Almost all of the plants had been entirely reduced to ash, with the exception of a few here and there. Though they wouldn't live much longer judging by the damage done to them.

They start heading up the floors, Keely had wanted to try and repair the elevator, but Afton refused. He wasn't expecting to return so taking a couple hours of his now rather limit time to repair an elevator was pointless.

Instead, they ascended the stairs and Afton marvelled at the now cleared common room covered in ash. It was a massive deviation from the previously forest-like room, but not an unwelcome one. He was somewhat happy he lived in the Wasteland and wouldn't have to see the colour green for quite some time.

They continued up the floors until they reached the Oxygen recycling room, "Hang on, there's one last place I need to check." Afton suddenly says, leading them to the cavern access and opening it with a keycard.

The airlock-like door slowly swings open, revealing a scorched and slightly melted cave passage. They walk through it, up an incline and eventually reach another opening into the Vault, more specifically a room that'd been blocked off for some reason.

Inside he, unfortunately, found most of the machinery inside too damaged to actually be of any use... It seemed that their attempts at ridding the place of Spores had taken its toll on everything else. Afton was pretty melancholic when he saw it, even if he took the time to try and repair everything with his [Mechanicus] Perk, he didn't know if the information would still be accessible, or even relevant...

Regardless, he searches the room with dipped shoulders, not finding anything of value... However, one he opened a lock he was greeted with six scorched and slightly melted cartridges, as well as a quest notification.

[Quest updated! Find parts to repair Bunkers ventilation systems. 2/3]

He blinks a couple times to confirm it before grinning, his previously dour attitude slowly washing away to reveal his determination to survive. After all, almost everything hung on his choices, he couldn't just let the people relying on him down!

"There's nothing here, let's go." he states, ignoring the other two's consolations. They backtrack through the facility and eventually find themselves back at the entrance of the place. Sun rays crawling through the gap in the door.

Most of the plant life here had been reduced to ash, but there were still a few petrified roots holding it open. Afton gave Anja his axe so she could cut through it, hopefully they'd be able to get the door control working so they could seal this tomb forever.

Eventually, they did manage to fix the door controls, (with not a small amount of assistance from [Mechanicus], after all, melted electronics don't usually just fix themselves.). Afterwards the group exits the Vault into the wasteland where a few plants still grew, though they seemed to be much weaker now than ever.

Afton utilises the outside door control panel and closes the Vaults gear-like door, afterwards destroying the panel to permanently seal the place.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross Niggross

Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!

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