Download App
74.75% Steel Waste / Chapter 530: Jerry Ricked

Chapter 530: Jerry Ricked

Veronica shakes her head, "But Christine clearly doesn't want to go inside, are you going to force her down there?" she asks, emotions peaking.

...

"Why doesn't she want to go down there in the first place?" Afton locks eyes with her, "Do you have claustrophobia or something?... Are you afraid because of its similarities with the Auto-Doc?"

Christine looks away at his words, confirming that she was indeed afraid, and feeling shameful about it as well. Clearly, she wasn't taking her own current fragile state well, doing her best to present a strong front while avoiding the things that truly scare her.

Afton releases another sigh and begins ruminating about what to do, he takes another glance around the room and focuses on the terminal, eventually getting an idea. "Er, give me a moment," he mutters before going down the elevator again.

Another ten minutes and Afton returns, a bead of sweat on his forehead and he points at the terminal across the room, "Christine, try that. It should be linked with the maintenance terminal."

Christine does just that, the terminal's monitor flickers slightly as if it was about to blue screen, but soon enough the maintenance terminal screen opens up in a subwindow. A small grateful smile appears on her face as she turns and gives a thumbs up at Afton.

Veronica looks relieved, and Afton mirrors her, "Can you look after Anja while we attend to the other systems?" Afton asks and Christine nods in response.

"Alright, I'll leave this stuff here in case it takes us a while..." he says, tossing a couple bottles of purified water and power bars. It wouldn't do to have them starve to death while waiting for the event, would it?

Afton bids farewell to Christine and Anja before stepping out with Dean, letting Veronica have a private word with Christine.

An hour later they left the Switching Station and head south, towards where the cable break supposedly exists. Strangely, the Cloud was thick in some areas but not others, meaning some kind of ventilation system was still activate.

Afton notices many Hologram emitters around, but none were activated. Obviously, someone had turned them off, but for what purpose he didn't know.

The trio followed along the rooftops until they drop onto a balcony overlooking a large plaza... There were a few inactive hologram emitters on the walls along with some sirens, but all were deactivated...

Dean walks over to a wall and gestures at the two cut sparking wires. "This is our destination..." he sighs, "Last time I was here I almost died after getting swarmed by Ghosts... Once the Gala Event starts, music starts blaring over those speakers, attracting every Ghost in the Puesta del Sol."

Afton rubs his chin, "Huh, sounds rough... Mind if I take a look at those cables?"

Dean shrugs, "Help yourself, plant-boy."

Afton shakes his head at his newly acquired nickname and couches over the wires... They had been cleanly cut and no one had stripped the rubber from the metal internals yet, meaning that would need to be done.

Though unlike other wires he'd seen, they aren't made of copper, but something else... He gives the wires a tug but finds that both sides are too short to be connected, which is likely what forced Dean to connect the circuit with his own body.

This would be difficult to fix, fortunately, Afton's Power armour was pretty well insulated at this point, allowing him to hold the wires without issue. He produces a wooden wire stripper from his plant arm and attaches a razer to it to act as a blade. Afterward, Afton begins to strip the wires... Once done he walks through some nearby rooms and eventually finds a boiler room...

Dean chuckles as he spots Afton walking towards them with a pile of copper pipes in his arms, pipes he'd obviously just torn out of the walls. "I don't think that'll work." he muses.

Afton shrugs and tosses the pile on the ground while keeping one on hand. He begins using his Superhuman and Power armour enhanced strength to easily twist the copper pipe.

Obviously, unheated metal is difficult to alter, but copper wasn't Saturenite or steel so it was easier than most think. The copper pipe crumples and twists under the force of his hand and slowly begins thinning into mangled, splintered, and slightly thread-like material... He strips off all the thread-like metal that'd splintered away from the metal and begins twisting it all together, forming a makeshift wire.

He's about to use the new wire to connect the circuit when Dean quickly stops him, "Wait a minute! Did you forget what I said?"

...

Afton pulls back and rubs the back of his helmet, "Er, yeah... My bad." he admits, having forgotten that the circuit may activate the music. The speakers weren't only used for the Gala Event, so they might just pick up a radio signal and start blasting out songs. "Alright, you two get to the roof and wait for me to connect the circuit... I have a feeling this is gonna be loud."

Dean doesn't need any other confirming and quickly begins climbing back up. Veronica gives him an unsure look, "You sure? We could try and find the Hologram control terminal before then."

Afton nods, "One hundred percent... I'll come straight up once it's activated, don't worry about it. It isn't like the Ghosts will sabotage the wire, at most they'll destroy the speakers, which isn't a problem."

Veronica nods and climbs back up, once she'd gone Afton ties the sparking wires together, completing the circuit and allowing the speakers to start playing an old pre-war song... One that almost makes Afton have a seizure...

"We're no strangers to love, You know the rules and so do I!"

He's so stunned by the song that he almost forgets to retreat and only remembers as Ghosts starts literally crawling out of the vents to get to the sound... Perhaps they're as shocked by the music as he is...


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross Niggross

Yeah, I just rick rolled you readers, how does it feel?

If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.

Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :

ShinAmazake

Chris Lindsey

Kingsprovince

Michael Jarrett

Nazlican Erdem

Chapter 531: Mutative Mutations on Mutants Mutagens...

Afton scrambles up the roof as Rick Astley blares over the speakers... Already the entire plaza was full of Ghosts, and Afton was sure there were Ghosts from other Districts as well... There were so many that they could probably use one another like ladders to reach higher places... Which is an incredibly unnerving thought.

"Come on, let's get moving before we catch the horde's attention." he quickly says to Dean and Veronica as they start jogging away.

*CLANG!*

Unfortunately, it seems as if they'd attracted the 'boss' with the racket they'd created... The group timidly turn around at the sound of heavy, rattling metal and heavy obstructed breathing...

Afton's eyes focus on the figure that's standing directly opposite them... It's tall despite being hunched over, almost taller than Afton was even in his Power armour... It had crimson skin and the words 'GOD' scarred across its chest... Its arms and legs were covered in rusty chains that it seems to be used as weapons, and it's wearing a gas mask, one that looks as if it were pried from one of the other Ghosts... "Super mutant?" Afton mutters, utterly confused by its presence.

Dean backs away slightly with a fearful look on its ghoulish face, "It's him again! That damned Dog!... I thought he was killed in the Cloud!?" he shouts, pointing towards the familiar collar that's still around its neck.

Veronica shakes her head, "Looks like he was mutated..." she mutters, knowing that she'd barely won the fight last time, if it'd gotten stronger then she'd need both Afton and Dean to work together on this...

Afton glares at the rasping figure, wondering when it'd decide to attack... For now, he uses [Living Anatomy] to see how it differed from the other Ghosts.

[Ghost Mutant Reaver]

Health : ??%

Stamina : ??%

DT : 30

Strength : 17

Perception : 3

Endurance : 17

Charisma : 0

Intelligence : 2

Agility : 3

Luck : 0

Ailments :

[Cloud-Ridden] : An unfortunate soul complete contaminated by the Cloud, forcing them to live an agonized and tortured resistance. Unable to die through most conventional means, regenerative capabilities, enhanced strength and endurance while everything else is significantly reduced.

[Blood-Crazed Hunter] : Massively enhanced agility when attacking, mental derangement.

[Super Mutant] : Immune to most diseases and radiation.

...

Well, fuck. This thing was strong as hell, though, Afton didn't know if his various Perks and Power armour would put him above it... Regardless, its regeneration would be a problem.

Afton draws his Ultra Chainsword and taps the unactivated blade against his thigh, "WELL THEN? COME ON!" he taunts, with both arms spread eagle.

With an angry grunt, the Ghost bursts into movement, far faster than any of the other Ghosts were able to. It flies towards Afton with a spin to gain momentum for its chains. Afton just ignites his blade and slashes down at the offending chains though, easily cutting through them and destroying the Mutants 'weapon'.

He hadn't expected the creature to be absolutely unrelenting however, he'd thought it'd be taken off guard by the loss of its weapon, but the unavoidable fist to the side of his head begged to differ.

*CLANK!*

[Grit is in effect]

The punch would be strong enough to knock him off of his feet, but his [Stonewall] Perk prevents anything like that from happening, instead, forcing him to stand upright as the Mutant tries to attack again.

His Danger sense niggles in his mind at the slight damage he's taking, but before he has the chance to retaliate Veronica was already upon them. Coming down from a leap and slamming her fist-shotgun into the back of the Mutants head, blowing a large hole into it and covering Afton's helmet with the gory contents.

Strangely though, the Mutant just stumbles instead of falling unconscious like most Ghosts usually do once their brain is destroyed. It tries to look around but is unable to due to its lack of eyes, but the hole in its head quickly begins to heal up.

Dean shoots it from behind, but his bullets basically bounce off of its skin, displaying just how tough its skin actually is... Add it's regeneration and Afton was sure it'd destroy any task force the NCR or Legion could send... Perhaps even the Brotherhood and Enclave wouldn't be able to fight this thing.

Dean's shots don't achieve anything aside from drawing the Mutant's attention... Dean gives a womanly sounding shriek as he flees in the opposite direction, the Mutant hot on his tail.

Afton gives a short sigh as he and Veronica chase them. Deans agilely hops across the rooftops while juking the Mutant, barely managing to keep out of its grasp... That doesn't last for long though as it eventually grasps Dean by the throat.

Dean tries to retaliate by shooting the Mutant in its eyes, but it doesn't even flinch at the loss of its sensory organs... Dean can feel darkness quickly overtaking him as the grip increasing in strength, feeling as if his eyes are about to pop from his skull!

*SLASH!*

Dean's let go as the Mutant's arm drops to the floor, attracting both it and Dean's attention... Afton had flung his Chainsword forward with his whip-like Plant arm, and was now retracting it back to normal.

The Mutant growls and gives Dean a fierce kick which launches him off of the roof in response before jumping back onto the roof where Afton and Veronica were... Veronica runs to intercept as Afton throws his plant arm out again, this time to intercept Dean's fall... The Cloud wasn't present below, but a horde of Ghosts certainly was...

Afton feels his rope-arm wrap around something, but Dean was now out of view and out of time... So, he takes the risk and pulls it taut before tugging it up, pulling the Ghoul back to them. He glances to the side as Veronica fights the Super Mutant, both of them trading blows but Veronica clearly being on the losing end of the trades...

Sure she was more skilled, but the Mutant was far stronger, and had utterly ridiculous levels of regeneration that not even Afton could match. Even its arm had already grown back, making it feel like an unwinnable fight.


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

Load failed, please RETRY

Weekly Power Status

Batch unlock chapters

Table of Contents

Display Options

Background

Font

Size

Chapter comments

Write a review Reading Status: C530
Fail to post. Please try again
  • Writing Quality
  • Stability of Updates
  • Story Development
  • Character Design
  • World Background

The total score 0.0

Review posted successfully! Read more reviews
Vote with Power Stone
Rank 200+ Power Ranking
Stone 15 Power Stone
Report inappropriate content
error Tip

Report abuse

Paragraph comments

Login

tip Paragraph comment

Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.

Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.

GOT IT