Chapter 520: The Point of Skills
Afton was still pacing around the barricaded reception of the Police Station, waiting for Anja to wake up so they could start moving again... Her state was a perilous one, and despite his wishes to find Veronica again, he didn't want to worsen her condition without something dire coming up.
There's also the fact that if he left her, she'd be vulnerable to any Ghosts that manage to wander by... Even now he could hear their almost rhythmic banging against the barricaded entrance...
*GASP!*
Afton's attention is quickly drawn to Anja who'd just sucked in a breath, she tries to sit up but finds herself unable to, her body coughs but yet again, she seems unable too... The sheer damage done to he throat and lungs might even be preventing her from taking in oxygen... In which case, there was nothing he could do for her.
"Anja! I'm here, focus on my voice." he says, resting a hand on her shoulder and the back of her head.
She trembles, her body twitching as if every pain receptor was activating at once... Which Afton wouldn't be surprised if they were... "S-s-sir! E-everything h-hurts!" she stutters out, her hands slowly clasping each other as if she was trying to feel if they were still there...
"You got hurt Anja, badly. I managed to stabilise you but the damage you took was... Extensive." he explains, not attempting to sugar coat it as the pain she was feeling right now would make it obvious he was lying.
"S-sir... I-I can't see!" she fearfully mutters, her hands hesitantly approaching her face, brushing against her cheeks and eventually towards her empty eye sockets... Her hands jolt away from her face as she realises her eyes were gone, the painful truth surely screaming itself raw in her mind.
Afton gives a solemn nod, "The Cloud destroyed your eyes before I could pull you out. But don't worry, the Think Tank are already designing implants, we could make you new eyes! Everything will be alright, trust me on this." he reassures, deciding not to say that implants might not be an option due to the damage to her optical nerves.
She slowly nods, her trust in him as great as it was when he freed her from the Fiends. "W-where are the others?" she asks, patting herself over but only finding her Saturnite knife and Revolver.
"When we got ambushed I jumped off the roof after you, they were left with whatever attacked us... I think they're ok, if they are they'd meet us here, in the Police Station... We can stay here and wait if you're not feeling up to it though." he offers.
Anja slowly shakes her head, forcing herself up and cautiously finding her feet, hanging them off of the table and dropping onto the ground. "W-we are still looking for your sister, right sir?"
Afton nods, "Yes." he states, as they'd find Christine no matter how injured they became.
"Then, we should look around while we wait for the others to come... I-I might need help getting around though." she says in a sad tone, seemingly more upset that she wasn't able to be useful than the fact she'd lost her sight.
"Alright... Hold onto my back, I'll lead... But before that..." Afton slashes his Ultra Chainsword at the nearest wall, leaving a message for Dean and Veronica to let them know they were here should they find the place empty.
With that done, Afton leads Anja into the next room, walking through the hallways in an attempt to find the basement... If Christine was here, that's where he'd bet she'd be. They walk past a couple of empty interrogation rooms and a staircase leading to the second floor, but he ignores all of these for now.
They do encounter a few Ghosts, but Afton easily 'disarms' them... As well as 'dislegging' and 'disheading' them. Once their bodyparts are scattered a good distance from each other he continues to move.
The only real place of interest would be the armoury, someone seems to have tried to break inside judging by the scratch marks, scorch marks, and other dents visible in and around the lock... All the reckless attempts seem to have completely destroyed the lock, making it impossible for most to get inside.
Afton wasn't most.
With a clean slash of his energy blade the metal parts, the armoured gate slowly opening wide and allowing the duo entry. Afton takes the time to look around the place for anything of interest, but the armoury is only filled with crappy Bullet-resistant vests, badly maintained revolvers, nightsticks, flashbangs, and other miscellaneous equipment.
He did, however, find a dusty comic book of Grognak the Barbarian, a Skillbook to be more accurate. The only problem was the fact he'd already maxed out his Melee Weapons skill, and wasn't sure what it'd do if he used it.
Shrugging to himself, he just decides to use it to see what would happen...
[Skillpoints to Points] : 3/15
...
Huh... That's unexpected, he needed 15 Skillpoints to gain another point to use on anything else? Isn't that kind of overpowered... There were still hundreds of Skillbooks lying around the Wasteland, if he used all of them he'd basically become a god, wouldn't he?...
He's lost in thought for a couple of minutes until he feels a tug on his back, he almost jumps in response, having forgotten that Anja was still here... It's actually fortunate that she's unable to see the Skillbook turn to dust in his hands due to her condition... It'd be a massive pain in the ass to explain it to her, and eventually the others when they hear about it.
"I'm still here... There's nothing of interest, let's move on." he says, leading Anja out of the armoury and towards where the basement should be.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Niggross
Niggross Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
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Chapter 521: Horror Cell
The duo slowly makes their way down to the basement, Afton mentally remarking about the blood-stained walls that seemed to lead down there. Once at the bottom he's greeted by the overwhelming scent of death and decay... The floor was coated in bloodstains and also whatever the fluid the Ghosts produce.
There's a jail cell in the middle of the room, inside there's a bucket filled with what is most likely piss, but that's not even mentioning the human-looking shit scattered all around the room. However, the most damning piece of evidence is the litany of bones present...
Human skulls and other gnawed-on skeletons are present, with absolutely no flesh on their bones to be seen. He glances behind him at Anja who seems to be struggling with the smell, her sight might be gone, but that only proves to heighten her other senses.
Nearby the cage is a radio playing a strange signal... This should be the one capable of triggering Elijah's collars, meaning that whoever was kept in here was probably another victim... Though, judging by the state of the place and the fact the jail cell isn't locked, they were more accomplice than victim.
Afton just shakes his head, "There's nothing down here, let's head back up." he states, not feeling the need to wade through shit and bones just to confirm this.
They head upstairs and back to the reception where two familiar faces are already present, both looking at the message he'd left for them. Veronica and Dean quickly turn with weapons ready when they hear the door open behind them, but they quickly relax once they see who it is.
"Afton! I knew you'd be alright!" she quickly says in a relieved tone, though, this doesn't last long once she looks at Anja.
*Gasp!*
"Anja! What happened to you!" Veronica exclaims, walking up and clasping the ghoul's arms comfortingly.
"I-I was caught off guard... It's my mistake." Anja solemnly admits, "If I was paying attention, then sir wouldn't have had to save me."
Veronica shakes her head "Don't say that! It's all of our fault for not noticing... That guy who attacked up was big and heavy enough for us to have heard him coming..."
Afton nod with crossed arms at the side, not that Anja could see him of course... He turns to Dean, "Anything happen on the way here?"
Dean rolls his neck as if he'd just been asked a loaded question, "Other than fighting off that big blue bastard? Our mutual friend seems to be trying to persuade Veronica here that he's not all that bad. You know, if we ignore the collar, the kidnapping, the evil genius playbook, et cetera, et cetera."
Afton raises a brow under his helmet, "You know he's listening right now, right?"
Dean nods with a sneer, "I know. That old man can lick my wrinkly, necrotic testicles for all I care!"
*Beep Beep Beep Beep*
His collar rapidly beeps, indicating it was close to detonating, Dean just laughs however, instead of looking horrified like Elijah would expect, "You, Need, Me. You would no less kill me than you would yourself... Unless of course, you wish to forget about the treasure..."
The collar stops beeping, making Dean smirk victoriously.
Afton just watches this happen with a strange expression, there was clearly more going on than what first meets the eye... Judging by what he'd heard so far, Elijah was most likely trying to find some sort of treasure contained in the Sierra Madre Casino itself... Though, what would be worth coming to this damn hellscape, he didn't know... He could make some inferences though...
Judging by Elijah's character and his past actions, he was most likely looking for some sort of technology... Now. What technology present here could be used for absolutely destruction and control if used properly?
*Ping, Pong!*
The Cloud. Elijah was trying to gain control of the Cloud... Fuck, if that wasn't a scary thought he didn't know what was.
Afton shakes those thoughts from his head momentarily while looking at Veronica, "You came from the upper floors right? Did you find anything?"
Veronica shakes her head, Nothing but Ghosts... Anything down here?"
Afton sighs, "Nope. Nothing but a cell filled with bones, piss, and shit... Guess we can cross this place off of the list."
"Ah... Can we go to the Medical District next? Elijah said Christine was there... I don't think there'd be any harm in looking..." Veronica sheepishly says.
Afton raises a brow under his helmet, "You mean, other than the litany of traps, Ghosts, and other deadly things he has there waiting for us?"
...
Veronica glances sideways, "Maybe?"
...
He sighs again, "Fine, but I retain the right to say 'I told you so', regardless if Christine is there or not." he states nonnegotiably.
Veronica shrugs and escorts Anja to the stairs leading to the higher floor as Afton leads at the front like an immovable shield. He follows the duo's directions to the window on the third floor they'd initially entered by, climbing out of it and walking along the rooftops.
Once outside it was left to Dean to lead them... Fortunately, the Medical District wasn't all that far away from the Villa Police Station. This meant that they'd have probably gone there next, regardless of Elijah's prompting... Had the man taken this into account just to try and gain some trust? Or was he simply trying to trap them?
....
All Afton knew was that he'd be punching through Elijah's skull once he found him. Not just for what he'd indirectly done to Christine, but also because of his actions at Helios One... If anyone was responsible for what happened to his parents(aside from the NCR), it was Elijah, but his mismanagement, poor strategy, cowardice, and reliance on technology that may or may not even be functional.
Putting all your hopes on an orbital laser? One that was 200 years old and may have been hit by meteors, space debris, or other objects? Foolish.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross
Niggross
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Chris Lindsey
Kingsprovince
Michael Jarrett
Nazlican Erdem
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