Capítulo 543: Future Tech
Afton continues investigating the room, going over the files in the terminals and looking overall physical files that were stored or hidden away. There was a bunch of machinery present as well, but Afton was wary of touching anything without knowing exactly what it did... He might just accidentally fill the room with the Cloud if he presses the wrong button...
Fortunately, he'd found quite a lot of information about what the Cloud actually is... The Cloud is a self-replicating toxin that can corrode and poison almost anything it comes across. The scientists hadn't actually discovered it's ability to transform lifeforms into mindless immortal zombies, but that's probably because they refused to observe the destruction of the town and subsequently killed themselves.
Strangely, it's actually possible to manipulate the Cloud. To control it to some extent. The machine used to do this was a mixture of technologies that still somewhat baffled Afton. It had magnetic components as well as light and sound waves. Apparently, it took an incredibly delicate mixture of the three to manipulate the Cloud.
The machinery in the room would control what areas the Cloud could access, where it moved, and how much it would replicate. Fortunately for the world, the replication rate had been set quite low, the Cloud had been active for two hundred years after all, if it wasn't limited it would've enveloped most of North America and most likely South America too.
To be frank, the Cloud was a weapon of mass destruction, he thought that the Spores were bad... But the Cloud is ephemeral and cannot be stopped if fully unleashed. It would just keep replicating, spreading and devouring. At least with the Spores you could fight against them, burn the plants and kill the carriers... But this? It was an apocalypse waiting to happen.
Still, now that Afton had gained access to the Cloud control systems, it was possible for the group to leave this place... But... If he did that, he'd be leaving this weapon in Elijah's hands... He needed to completely cleanse this place, and once it was secure, move his own forces in so they could map out the machinery enough so there could build their own Cloud Manipulator.
Plus, he couldn't let Elijah know he'd found the lab yet, the last thing he needed was for that old bastard to sneak in and flood the place while he was busy elsewhere.
Strangely, the Cloud Manipulator isn't the only advanced technology he found information about here... The place also held detailed information about the Holograms, and some kind of Matter Recombinator?
Afton's eyes widen as he reads through the file... How had he not noticed this before? He'd spotted the weird vending machines scattered around the place but ignored them for the most part, this is probably why he'd never noticed that they were some of the most valuable technology in the wasteland...
"These things alone could solve world hunger" he mutters in disbelief.
The Matter Recombinators do exactly what it sounds like... They recombine matter, using energy to alter the fundamental composition of materials. As long as you had enough energy you could literally create anything so long as you know the composition of what it is.
Obviously, mapping out the entirety of an object would be rather difficult and time-consuming, but, once done you could infinitely create more. From chems, to bullets, to food, to guns... The only problem most people would have would be actually producing enough energy to power it... Which wouldn't be a problem for Afton since he basically has infinite energy with his Glowing Ghoul reactor...
As Afton is thinking about all the potential possibilities these technologies could present, he's interrupted by a buzzing from his Pipboy...
"*Bzzzzztchzzzz!* Hello again, Afton. I'm sure you are overjoyed to hear my voice, you have spent days searching for me after all." Elijah states over the radio.
Afton scowls, "What do you want?"
"What do I want?... Well, that's quite a loaded question, so I'll shorten it and just say... Everything." the older man says, confusing Afton further.
"You're gonna have to elaborate, I don't speak in riddles." Afton spits, not wanting to waste any time dealing with this soon-to-be-dead ass hole.
Elijah's sigh carries through the radio as he begins to speak, "Well, I've been watching you venture through my Casino, and I've found that you are quite the loyal person... But I wonder how far this extends? Would you abandon your friends for revenge? How valuable are your friends compared to your family?"
"Just spit it out you piece of shit." Afton growls out.
Elijah pulls away from the radio and seemingly drags someone in front of it... A familiar gravelly voice speaks into it.
"Urgh, you won't get me to talk you crazy lunatic." Deans voice states in a weak tone, obviously talking to Elijah.
"Dean? How the fuck did Elijah grab you?" Afton asks while rubbing his forehead, was Dean really so weak to allow that old fool to nab him? Or had he been tricked?
"Plant-Boy? Huh, guess he wants to give you one final show before he offs me." the Ghoul chuckles before he's pulled away from the radio again, Elijah taking his place.
"If you want to see the Ghoul alive, you will bring your friends to the VIP rooms in an hour. Take a minute over that and I'll paint the room with the Ghoul's brain matter... And after that, I'll take another of your friends.*Bzztch!*" Elijah threatens before leaving.
...
Afton palms his face, anger towards Elijah and disappointed in Dean for getting captured. Most importantly, he felt rage at the fact Elijah was threatening his family. Dean was more or less an acquaintance, but to threaten Veronica, Christine, or Anja? That was a death sentence.
He packs up his shit, stores the files he'd been reading, and locks down the room by picking up and sliding the heavy Saturnite door back where it belonged. Elijah probably wouldn't be able to move it due to how heavy it was, but Afton wouldn't place all his hopes on it. Once done he races towards where the rest of his group is.
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Capítulo 544: Hostage Stitch
Luckily, Afton quickly located the rest of his companions, Veronica seemed to be trying to 'subtly' pry a Hologram emitter off of the wall while Christine took care of Anja nearby. The girls were lucky that Afton had taken control of the local security otherwise the Holograms would be trying to disintegrate them for the destruction of property...
Veronica finally tears the emitter from the wall and stumbles backwards with it still sparking in her hands, "Finally!"
"You sure that's a good idea?" Afton abruptly asks from behind her with crossed arms, causing her to jump in surprise, almost dropping the emitter in the process.
"Eeep!... Afton! Don't you surprise me like that! I almost punched you in the face!" she exclaims.
Afton shakes his head, his expression turning dire as he cuts to the chase, "Dean has been captured, and Elijah is threatening to execute him if we don't show up in an hour... Ten minutes of which has already passed." he states, causing the group to go silent.
"W-what should we do?... I mean, I like Dean but... Is he worth risking everyone else? We barely even know him..." Veronica cautiously says, feeling ashamed for even considering it.
"We will get Dean, I don't know what Elijah had planned, but I'd rather walk into a trap than continue searching for him... It might take months to finally pin him down, and even then he might be able to escape somehow..." Afton admits, wishing to use this opportunity to finally get Elijah. There was also the fact that if he let Dean die, he'd essentially admitted that he was willing to sacrifice friends to achieve his goals... Something that would basically put him on the same level as Elijah...
Christine steps forwards and nods at Afton, sending a challenging look sideways at Veronica. Despite them making up slightly, Christine still held a deep resentment against Elijah, and it wouldn't surprise him if she was willing to sacrifice herself to end the old bastard.
Afton taps his foot anxiously as he looks at Anja, "He wants all of us to come... But I'm worried about taking Anja, I know you don't want to hear it, but you are vulnerable right now." he says.
Anja frowns but accepts it nonetheless, she knew her current limitations, her lack of vision made her almost completely useless in a fight... "I will come, he might do something if I am not there..." she states with determination, wanting to rescue her fellow ghoul.
Afton nods, "Alright... Leave the emitter, we can scavenge for shit once Elijah is dealt with... Let's go." he says while beginning to lead the group to the VIP rooms, all while fully armed and ready to fire upon anything that moves.
Twenty minutes later :
The group eventually reach the VIP rooms and walk into the long desolate hallway. At the end of it, they could see Elijah holding a heavily injured Dean... He seems to have cut off the Ghouls arms to prevent him from attempting an escape... The group can only grit their teeth at the sight, as Elijah presses some kind of makeshift pistol against Dean's temple.
Dean miserably looks up and spots the group, faintly smiling at the fact they actually came for him... Such loyalty certainly wasn't common before the apocalypse, and he doubted that'd changed after it.
"So, you've finally come." Elijah states, pressing his weapon against Dean's head harder, making the Ghoul grimace.
Honestly, Elijah almost looked at bad as Dean... His thin white hair was patchy in places, with red, bleeding skin visible all over his scalp... His beard was thick and untrimmed, dirty and likely crawling with lice.
His clothes were in a similar situation, he still wore the Brotherhood of Steel Elder robes that he used to... Considering how many years it'd been since Helios One, Afton was surprised they were still usable.
They were torn and stitched up in many places, covered in blood, dust, and oil stains, while the bottom robes were very frayed as if they'd been caught in a wood chipper for a second. Still, Afton's eyes were drawn towards the many gadgets attached to his clothing, the pulsing glows of grenades, and other unidentified technology made him wary, giving him an unconscious sense of dread.
"What do you want with us, Elijah?" Afton demands, Anti-Material rifle ready to be used at any sight of hostility.
The elder gives a choking laugh, coughing and beginning to splutter halfway through, "Right now, I want you all to begin walking towards me." he states.
...
They don't move for a moment, but Elijah 'encourages' them via shooting a strange holographic projectile from his peculiar-looking gun. It skims the Ghouls skull and hit the wall beside him, thankfully leaving Dean with his head intact.
Afton grits his teeth and leads the group by a few meters, hoping to take the brunt of whatever trap Elijah had laid... Strangely, there didn't seem to be any though.
Elijah commands them to stop while the group is standing outside of a familiar room... Vera Keyes room to be specific. "My dear Christine... I need you to go inside the room, and enter the Auto-Doc." he states.
Christine scowls and raises her gun in a rage, but is stopped as Afton places a hand over the pistol, preventing her from pointing it at Elijah. "We will deal with him soon! Just do as he says for now... Please." Afton quickly whispers.
Christine silently growls, fuming that Afton had stopped her but nodding after a moment anyway... She knew that Afton wasn't stupid, nor would he be willing to let Elijah live, so she decides to place her trust in him for now...
Afton nods and glances to Veronica, "Head inside with her, she might need some encouragement to get back inside another Auto-Doc."
Veronica purses her lips under her helmet but nods regardless, she'd be looking at the Auto-Doc's configurations before she let Christine inside it. She remembers what Afton had said when speaking about it, but she'd double check regardless.
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