Capítulo 529: Switcheroo
Soon enough the group finds the Switching Station and quietly enters inside, quickly the aesthetics of the place change from the usual Villa, to a more technological feel. Steel reinforced concrete walls, metal floor, and very durable lighting.
Afton enters a room filled with servers and an occasionally sparking circuit breaker, he glances at the hallway leading further into the building and notices that the lights in the hallway weren't activated, meaning the power was shut off most likely from the circuit breaker.
Fortunately, Afton was well versed in Repair plus his [Jury Rigging] Perk allowed him to use some scrap electronics as materials to fix it. After a couple of minutes of fiddling and *carack!*, the lights flicker on. However, the lights aren't the only thing that was turned on, the dull sound of a speaker operating at a specific frequency causes both Dean and Christine to tense for a moment. They quickly calm though once they realize that Afton had disarmed their collars.
Still, best not to give Elijah the wrong idea. Afton walks into the hallway and fires a shot at the speaker, causing it to explode into a shower of metal pieces and electronics.
The next obstacle is in the generator room. Almost the whole place had collapsed, leaving only a couple of reactors left to power the city. Afton isn't quite sure if there were any more inside the Casino, but thinks it was inevitable due to the place's sheer size.
The Cloud is also thick amongst the floor, making it impossible for any normal person to traverse... This is easily solved as Afton uses his plant arm on a support beam and swings himself across like spiderman.
After a bit more time investigating, he finds the speaker control systems as well as the ventilation that still seems to somehow work... Next to the speaker systems, Afton finds a headless corpse next to a Stealth Skillbook. The man probably had been another of Elijah's victims who weren't needed anymore.
[Skillpoints to Perk] : 6/15
Afton slowly leads the group through the facility, occasionally taking out turrets, and the stray hologram. Veronica was very careful to make sure Anja was with her at all times... The walkways were very, very dangerous for someone who couldn't see where they were going... One moment of inattention and she could be plummeting to the ground below.
Eventually, they manage to reach their destination... Another headless corpse was lying in front of the elevator. It looks like they were trying to escape from the elevator but didn't get far before Elijah turned on them...
Afton glances at Dean who still seems to be looking around, making himself comfortable with the various machinery and systems. And hacks into the terminal next to them but quickly finds that it's not the one required for the Gala...
"I think the elevator takes you to the systems we need to access." Dean states.
Afton nods in agreement but is unsure how to go about it... His Power armour would barely fit inside, let alone allow him to repair anything... Though, if it was between sending Christine down alone and taking off his armour, the choice was obvious.
He slowly pries himself out of the Cloud-Ravaged Power armour and enters the elevator under the other's watchful gazes... If he hadn't already ventilated the place and moved the Cloud outside he'd not dare do this... The potential of the elevator dropping straight down into the Cloud was too high...
Once down there he quickly finds a small maintenance terminal but is annoyed once he starts investigating... To start the Gala Event someone needs to be down here waiting for the button atop the bell tower to be pressed, if not, the event will fail.
He goes back up and delivers the news to everyone, getting frowns and anxious looks as a result.
Dean just shrugs, "Can't we send one of our injured to do it?" he points a Christine, "All you'd have to do is wait for the signal, the other can't do it since she's blind after all... It's better than lugging around more invalids." he coldly states.
Afton frowns, not at Dean's insults, but at the fact he was somewhat agreeing with it... The place was almost completely safe from harm, so leaving Anja and Christine here would keep them safe while allowing the rest of the group to speed up their progress...
Still, it makes him wary, who knows what could happen between now and then? Could the Cloud finally erode through the building? Could Ghosts break-in and climb the place? Could Elijah kidnap them for leverage?...
Christine upon hearing Dean's words quickly shakes her head with wide eyes, she points at the elevator and taps once a couple times on her collar, meaning she did not like going inside at all.
Well, that puts a chink in his plans... If Christine wasn't willing to go inside then they'd have to leave someone else, Anja was blind, and even if she wasn't, she didn't have the technical skills to operate the terminal properly, or repair it if it crashes or something else goes awry.
"We aren't just going to leave them here, right? It's almost like abandoning them..." Veronica mutters.
"Better than lugging around dead weight," Dean adds noncomittally, angering Veronica.
"You're going to be the dead weight if you keep talking like that," she warns, cracking her knuckles. Dean takes a step back with a hand on his revolver, already knowing he'd lose the fight if it starts... He'd seen what she could do against that big blue mutant.
The group starts arguing amongst each other until Afton slams his unarmoured fist into the concrete wall, cracking and denting it. Once they're silent he sighs, "I think leaving Christine and Anja here is our best bet... Shit is only going to get more dangerous the further we go, so taking them is risking their lives as well as our own... For all intents and purposes, this place is safe." he states.
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Capítulo 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...
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