Time quickly passes after the Tunneler Extermination Expedition but unfortunately for Afton, his work never seems to be over... Despite having to lead the expedition, fighting on the front lines, and putting his own life at stake to make sure Big Mt would be safe, he still had to prepare for the incoming NCR attack on the booby-trapped Brotherhood base.
It wasn't just preparing for the attack that took most of his time however, that honour would belong to the ungodly information gathering and manipulation it took to keep the NCR unaware of his plans.
The eradication of the Black Mountain Super Mutants alone would be enough to draw attention, but he'd stupidly let his irrational and impulsive side act while he was there... If the NCR wasn't aware of his role in the mutants extermination before, they'd know as soon as they heard him singing over the radio...
Yeah, not one of his proudest moments... Despite that though, his pride forbade him from removing it after the fact. Regardless of how stupid and short-sighted it was, it was too late to avoid attracting attention... That, and he still thought it was very funny.
So nowadays most of his effort went into three main things; The first being manipulating the NCR and their information to make it look like the Brotherhood was still operational in the region. The NCR still thought he was 'allied' in some way with them, this was especially the case after the failed debate between him and Crocker, in which he'd made known his care for the Chapter.
His presence near them should not immediately mean the Chapter had been destroyed, and with a light sprinkling of laser fire at their scouts, along with prerecorded messages shouting 'For the Brotherhood!', and 'I die by the Codex!', the NCR would be caught completely unawares.
Funnily enough, his blunder in Black Mountain had actually improved his plan in some ways... With the NCR now sure he was working with the Brotherhood, they'd be bringing far more troops with heavy ordinance with the convoy. Once this group was eliminated and the Legion 'got word' of it, the Battle for Hoover Dam would be on the brink of happening at any moment.
Another thing he was working on were the various projects that hadn't been started, were left unfinished as the scientists focussed on something more important, or were nearing completion but were side aside due to time constraints.
Indeed, there were far more Projects that needed finishing than there were brains to work on them... Most of which were far too advanced for any regular scientist to even get a grasp on them. Despite how much he disliked to admit it at times, the Think Tank scientists were the best Earth had to offer.
If he wanted to recruit people into the Think Tank, he'd probably have to force them to study for thirty years straight just to get up to the basics... This wouldn't even involve the harder concepts the scientists involved themselves in, nor would it help breed 'innovation' due to how structured the education would need to be...
Add the fact neither Afton nor the scientists had the time to create an effective syllabus that would teach everything that needed to be known, the possible options for the Think Tank were little to none.
There was the possibility of creating minds like Glados, but that idea was quickly scrapped by not only Afton, but Mobius, Klein, Zero, 8, and surprisingly enough, Glados... The arguments were thus;
More incredibly intelligent and independent AI's increased the chance of one going rogue and attempting to go 'Skynet'... Not that the scientists knew was Skynet was, but they got the jist.
Creating said AI's was incredibly difficult, time-consuming, and perhaps even impossible considering how hard it was for Afton to create Glados... He'd needed the assistance of his Perk [Eureka!] to even properly finish it, without it the Project might've taken years at the least.
There was also the fact that AI's created in such a manner would think in similar ways, making innovation difficult, if not impossible... It would essentially be like building railways as opposed to cars... Sure, the trains might be faster, but they were limited in their movement and would only reach a few destinations, or 'conclusions'.
Last but not least was Glados assistance that there be no more AI's like her... Afton was sure she was exhibiting jealousy, pride, and other emotions, but when questioned on it she rejected such a notion as 'So stupid that my creator could not have possibly come up with it'. Yeah, that put an end to that conversation.
The Project Afton had actually been working on in the meantime were combat-ready miniaturized shielding... Specifically in the application of Power Armour. It was basically already complete, all it needed now was to be integrated into the armour...
The third thing that demanded a good portion of his time was creating another edition of the 'Dirt-Vehicle' family. His robots had scavenged the remnants of it from the Sierra Madre, so his [Mechanicus] Perk was getting to work repairing those ruined parts, but in the meantime, he was working on ways to improve it for the coming battle.
Obviously, he couldn't go the route he had with Dirt-Hog by slapping thick saturenite plating on it, the thing had to fly after all, and he sincerely doubted their ability to defy the laws of physics... At least, in that regard.
Thus, he had his new Head Engineer helping out with it... Raul wasn't the best, but he could certainly learn. The Ghoul had scattered knowledge, most of it centring on pre-war cars, trucks, and road vehicles. After the Great War he dabbled in scavenging from what Afton knew, learning bits and pieces here and there.
Raul would help him work on improving the Vertibird while Glados compiled the schematics Big Mt had on vehicles, engineering, and some bits on electronics. Josie was also assisting him with this, but she was another problem entirely...
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Josie had been on the hunt ever since they'd returned from the expedition. Every other day she'd ask for a date or something, but Afton simply didn't have the time to accept... The more he rejected her, the more blatant her offers began to get.
Raul had just left to go to the bathroom while he was waist-deep in metal while wielding some steel. He'd heard someone come into the room but he'd just assumed it to be Raul, but was obviously mistaken when someone gave his ass a firm slap. He wouldn't have really minded it, had said person not cupped his cheek longer than even a prostitute would deem socially acceptable.
"Err, Raul? I get I'm not familiar with pre-war Mexican culture, but, I am one-hundred percent sure this ain't part of it." Afton diplomatically states.
"I doubt it is, you have a nice butt though, Afton." Josie's familiar voice says, giving a brief squeeze as she does so.
...
"What is true is the fact that this counts as sexual harassment... Maybe I should tell me boss on you." he sarcastically retorts, wondering whether he should change the situation before Raul gets the wrong idea... Is it the wrong idea though...?
"I'm sure the boss won't mind it." she drawls as if stating the obvious.
Afton shakes his head and pulls himself out from where he's working, giving Josie a steady look, "Maybe my daughter will?" he asks, his lips upturning as he does so.
...
"D-daughter?" she stutters out, unsure how to respond.
Afton nods, "Yeah, as much as she wants to forget it, Glados is technically my daughter." he chuckles.
*Dink!*
A small piece of metal falls from the roof and smacks him in the head, shocking Josie but just making Afton grumble, "Veery funny, Daughter!" he enunciates.
*Clank!*
He sidesteps the next piece of metal that'd fallen from the obviously 'derelict' room. He ignores the orange light shining from where the pieces had fallen and looks to Josie, "Was there something you needed?" he asks, not wanting to get into 'this' at the moment. Once he was finished wielding the Vertibird chassis he needed to check on the information his spies' in the NCR embassy should be sending.
She crosses her arms and stares at him for a couple seconds before finally getting to the point, "Why are you avoiding me?"
...
"Why am I avoiding you?..." he blinks, having expected another date request.
"Yeah, I thought she agreed on trying 'this'" she gestures back and forth between them, "I get that you're busy, but could you spare some time? I'm sure you could get at least an hour, right?"
Afton shrugs, "Squeezing out time in my schedule is not the problem, is the fact I'll be thinking about shit I have to do even if I did. Do you really think that'd be enjoyable to do? Our dates can at least wait until I've dealt with the NCR convoy, after that, I promise I'll make time." he states.
Josie's posture slumps slightly at this, she knows it's true but seems disappointed and put out that it's the case. She releases a long sigh and nods, "Alright, but don't complain when I'm on you once this is done..."
Afton waves her off, "Don't worry, I won't... Now, you wanna help with this?" he gestures at the tool cabinet, "Grab a wielding mask and help me with this."
Elsewhere :
Tamia had just come back from speaking with Mr House. She wanted to confirm that nothing needed to be done before she went out to explore the region where the railway tunnel led. She had no idea how long she'd be, so it would be prudent to make preparations.
House needed a few small things done, but said that he had other people working on it at the time. So, she was free for a week or two until the shit between the NCR and Legion finally started. She'd spoken with Afton and acquired a small unit to assist her with this, though, she would have liked more than what she got...
She had four Ultimo-Bots equipped with flame throwers, and six Cyberdogs that would be used for combat, scouting, and marking coordinates for teleportation. That was it as far as her 'troops' went. She had received a small equipment upgrade as well though.
Her Power armour had been modified by Afton so it could produce small forcefields from the wrist guards. Apparently, they'd block most energy weapon projectiles, but it'd be unlikely to stop multiple .50 cal bullets.
That wasn't all though, Afton had gifted her with a new, unique weapon... He said it probably wouldn't be effective for anyone else, and she believed him once she started using it. It was a Proto blade, like the Proto axes before it and the Ultra Chainswords that were derived from those.
There was one BIG difference though... The fact that the sword as HUGE! It was so big she had to wear it on her back as the metal spine of it that stabilised the energy blade was almost 6ft long alone!
She'd heard of weapons like it used in the past, though, they were entirely made from steel. They were called 'Great-Swords', but most consider them fantasy as they looked too heavy to properly wield.
This Proto-Greatsword was also heavy, so much so that without her Power armour she'd quickly get tired from swinging it around, but it also provided other benefits. Its weight made it almost as effective as an Ultra Chainsword when it came to sheer cutting power. And its blade was so wide that she could literally use it as a tower shield to block weapon fire when she needed to.
Truly, anyone who saw her fully armoured and charging them with that purple Proto-Greatsword would undoubtedly shit themselves. She'd even tested it against the same Saturnite plating that was used for Bulwark Power armour, and surprise, surprise, it cut through with minimal difficulties.
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