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77.71% Steel Waste / Chapter 551: Foggy memories.

Chapter 551: Foggy memories.

...

Afton just sits there silently with a dull look on his face after listening to the Holodisk. It certainly hadn't been what he was expecting, he'd always considered Cass as a more 'stern-face, hard worker, down to the earth' type of person... Seems he'd missed her more boisterous side.

Regardless, if you ignore the fluff she hadn't, they'd finally made progress infiltrating the NCR. This was an especially big accomplishment since they now had teleportation coordinates directly into their capital city.

If the NCR royally pissed him off by throwing a nuke at him or something, he'd just send the Giant, Giant Robo-Scorpion at them... He honestly doubted that they'd be able to kill it before it completely destroyed and irradiated the entire city.

Plus, as Cass said, he should now be receiving transmissions from his micro receivers. He has Glados tap into it and begins listening to a couple to see if anything interesting was happening...

The answer to his query is a big NO. Seems like the only people who'd been tapped had been 'rich young masters' with too much money on hand. He'd gone through the around twenty-something micro receivers and only three of which had been close enough to actually hear anything, the others having been stuffed into closets and forgotten.

Even with the three active ones, one was currently getting his cock sucked by a servant or something, one was in a bar or drinking establishment... It was only the last one that actually had something interesting going on. From what he could hear, they were currently sitting in some kind of hearing discussing the reduction of a Brahmin baron's land.

The person wearing his suit seemed to be the son of the baron, and was muttering curses under his breath as the Brahmin baron Ghed Duurne, has pieces of his land cut away and handed to his competitors. His products also seem to be more heavily taxed than everyone else.

The person that's wearing his suit is called Samuel Duurne from what he can infer, yet, Afton can't tell why this hearing is even occurring... Once it devolves into boring paperwork and bureaucratic shit he turns it off and has Glados keep monitoring it. Perhaps he could start some subterfuge with that disgruntled Brahmin baron?

He sighs and stands, deciding to cut to the chase and speak to the scientists about the Sierra Madre... Perhaps explaining what he'd found there would jog their memories? That group of senile pre-war brail-bowls better remember something, otherwise he might have to consider letting Glados try to 'jog' their memories a bit.

He heads down the stairs and enters the Think Tank, spotting most of the scientists busily researching various projects, writing equations or drawing up schematics. Though, Klein doesn't seem to be present... He's probably in the Forbidden Zone Dome with Mobius again... Shaking his head, he speaks to Dala, Zero, Borous, and 8, all of which not knowing anything about the Sierra Madre, or the projects that led to the creation of LITERAL MATTER MANIPULATORS!

He quickly finishes speaking to them and teleports over to the Forbidden Dome, finding Klein and Mobius deep into discussion about something. He ignores the substance of the topic and interjects himself in between them. "Klein, Mobius." he states, surprising and catching both scientist's attention.

"AH!? LOBOTOMITE? SEEMS LIKE YOU'VE RETURNED FROM YOUR EXPEDITION, DID EVERYTHING GO WELL? DID YOU FIND ANYTHING SCIENCY?" the scientist curiously asks.

Afton nods, "Yeah, which is why I'm here actually... Does either of you remember the Think Tank sending any technology to one Frederick Sinclaire?"

...

"Uhhhm?" Mobius ers aloud, contemplating it with maximum effort.

"HMMMMM..." Klein is the same, his bio-gel fluctuating due to the amount of 'BRAIN POWER' they were exerting.

This continues for around five minutes while Afton waits with crossed arms, allowing the scientists all the time they need to consider this... It was important information after all, he'd definitely need to know if there were other locations that'd received similar technology...

"Aha!" Mobius loudly and suddenly ejaculates (Lol), "I think I remember that! Something about playing a joke on the not-so-rich-boy who could barely pay for the tech he was buying... Some socially inept egg-heads decided it would be funny to rig that place with potentially world-ending technology if I'm not mistaken?"

Afton nods, "Yeah, it's called the Cloud, a corrosive red fog that covered miles around the Sierra Madre and was still expanding until I stopped it. Even the sky had been blotted out by it..."

"NOW, THAT JUST SEEMS LIKE OVERKILL..." Klein mutters.

Mobius jabs a manipulator at Klein, "Says the mongoloid who wanted to design self-perpetuating nanobots... Even I'M not that stupid!"

"WHY YOU!-"

"Both of you, shut the fuck up!" Afton interjects, giving both scientists a firm push away from one another before turning back to Mobius, "I'll ask again, are there other locations which received tech from the Think Tank?"

Mobius drops into silent pondering yet again, taking another five minutes to search his rather vast compilation of memories. "I seem to recall Dala sending biometric data to someplace called the... Insta-... Instaaaa... Instant noodle? In Boston...?"

...

Afton sends a dull, unamused look at Mobius, "You think Dala sent biometric data to the instant noddle." he states with disbelief.

"You try sifting through two hundred years of fuzzy memories! You're barely an adult and I bet you barely remember what you ate yesterday!" he exclaims defensively.

...

Afton doesn't actually have a response to his words since he really didn't remember what he'd had for dinner yesterday... The matter manipulators gave him too many options to pick from, so he'd been having different dishes everyday, most bringing up strong nostalgic feelings since they were pre-war foods.

Afton sheepishly coughs into his fist and redirects the subject matter "Can you try to recall where the data was sent?"

...

Another ten minutes of silence and Mobius finally speaks up again, "The Institute I believe they are called... An organisation not so dissimilar to our own, one preaching innovation and the scientific method, while specialising with robotics... I think?"


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

Tarlock

next chapter

Chapter 552: Spiel on Wheels...

Afton crooks a brow, "What would an organisation specializing in robotics want with biometric data?" he questions aloud.

"PERHAPS THEY WISHED FOR BETTER SECURITY... BIOMETRIC LOCKS ARE THE WAY OF THE FUTURE AFTER ALL!" Klein wonders.

"Indeed... A shame we can't use them." Mobius mutters.

"CAN WE NOT DESIGN SOME SORT OF BRAIN SCANNER? THE FOLDS OF OUR BRAINS ARE AS UNIQUE AS FINGERPRINTS...?"

"Oh, that might be doable." Mobius mutters.

Afton continues thinking while the duo goes off on a tangent discussing biometric locks. What could the Institute want with biometric data? Especially Data as specialized as Dala's, if they were just designing better security they'd only need the basics... Were they designing Cybernetics perhaps? But isn't that tech already relatively well known? Excluding the Think Tank's current troubles with it.

...

His eyes slowly widen as movies from his old world make themselves known... 'I'm back.', 'Sarah Connor', 'I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle.'...

"Holy fuck, they might be designing Skynet under our noses... I am NOT dealing with an army of immortal cyborgs!" Afton suddenly exclaims before running out of the room and teleporting back to the Sink where he immediately calls Glados.

"Glados! I need an expedition immediately sent to Boston to search for an organisation known as the Institute."

"Affirmative, how large would you like the expedition force to be?"

"Enough to successfully reach their destination and transmit accurate coordinates. I have no idea how big a threat they are, or if they are ever still active, but it's better to be safe than sorry." he state.

"Affirmative, two patrols of Cyberdogs will be sent. Is that all?"

Afton releases a long sigh and slumps into the nearby couch, "Yeah... I think so." he mutters, suddenly feeling mentally exhausted. Figures, he hadn't actually properly slept for twenty-four hours, the excitement of finding the Cloud manipulation device, the shit with Elijah, and finally returning... He'd been quite busy.

"Whatever, I'm going to sleep, if anyone wants anything tell them I'll be available tomorrow ." he grouses as he falls facefirst onto his bed, not even bothering to remove the Stealth suit as he instantly goes unconscious.

Earlier :

Christine was freaking out, she'd not connected the dots when she saw Bulwark's emblem and how much it resembled Big Mt, but now that she was here? All the memories she'd wanted to forget quickly flooded back. Waves of terror, despair, futility, anger, and hate all hit her at once as she laid eyes upon the Think Tank building.

It was only Veronica's reassuring hand on her shoulder that stopped her going into a rage and rushing into the building guns blazing.

"Christine, calm down, I heard what happened to you last time you were here, but looks around, somethings have changed." Veronica slowly and calmly explains.

Christine cautiously glances around as she hears this, spotting the many people now residing here, as well as the farms and residences. Indeed, it was a remarkable difference from what she'd been expecting. The Big Mt she knew was barren and full of terrible abominations, roaming hordes of Lobotomites, and hostile Cyberdogs...

Now, however? There were hundreds of people going here and there, most wearing uniform outfits, while a large portion were female maids? She hoped that was just an outfit and not some kind of fetish Afton was pushing on them...

She continues to look around for a couple minutes, slowly calming down despite their current location. Anja had already been led away by Afton and handed off to Dala for medical attention, really, Christine should've gone too, but Afton was well aware of Christine's hostility against Dala.

"Hey, you guys finally back?" a voice asks from behind them, and both girls turn to see Karl looking at them from his wheelchair with a warm smile.

"Yeah, we just got back... How're you doing Karl? Caroline and Carlos doing well?" Veronica smiles back before realising her mistake, "Ah, by the way, this is Christine. Christine, this is Karl." she introduces them.

Karl nods and presents his remaining hand for a handshake, which Christine reciprocates after a moment of consternation which an elbow courtesy of Veronica solves.

"Howdy, youknow, I've heard a lot from Afton about a lass named 'Christine', he meant you right?" he says, not commenting on her numerous scars and completely bald head.

Christine nods, "Depends on what you've heard..." she says semi-sarcastically, surprising Veronica at how comfortable she seems to be with Karl.

"Only good things... Well, kinda, he sometimes mentioned beating your ass at knife fighting." he chuckles, which only increases at the competitive look that flashes on Christine's face for a moment.

Karl turns back towards Veronica, "Caroline and little Carlos have been great, both quickly coming to terms with their new lives... I thought it would take a bit longer but Caroline wasn't all that keen on the Legion anyway, and Carlos is easy to bribe with all the tech we got lying around here... All in all, I'm just happy to have them back." he quietly states.

Veronica nods, "Glad to have been of help."

They continue to make small talk for around ten minutes, talking about the small improvements that'd been occurring during their absence until a child runs up to Karl's wheelchair. "Grandpa! Mom made some special pancakes that are super good! Come try some!" he chirps, running around and taking the handles of the wheelchair and beginning to push him away.

Karl just lets this happen though, not bothering to remind the child that the wheelchair could probably go faster than he could run. He gives a small wave to the amused-looking duo of Veronica and Christine, "Look like I have other plans, see you two later!"

Veronica grins at Christine, "I honestly never thought I'd see that grumpy old man smile so much... It's a good change... Now, let's get you properly situated, I have a spare room and clothes you can use."


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross Niggross

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

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

Tarlock

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