"The thought activated bomb implants?" Glados asks.
Afton nods but raises a brow at the name of it... Perhaps he should have been more specific with what he wanted?
"The implants, with the help of Dr. Zero, Dr. Dala, Dr. Mobius, and the Autodoc designated: Meddie, have almost been completed. All that is left is to conduct field tests, all of which require non-feral ghoul prisoners or Lobotomites... Our current prisoners are incapable of proper, logical thought, and as a result are impractical or potentially worthless in this venture. The Think Tank requests that you acquire more test subjects."
"Indeed... There is only so much you can do with a teddy bear that lacks stuffing." Dala adds from the side.
Afton nods and rubs the rather thick stubble that'd been left untended on his face, "I can think of a couple places that wouldn't... Harm my or the other's sensibilities. I'm sure no one would miss cannibals, but I doubt their numbers would be worth actually putting in the effort to find them..." he mutters.
...
"Hmm... Criminals would work too, but with the NCR Correctional Facility all but destroyed, there isn't really a place to hold them, meaning you're either arrested and forced to do community service, or straight up executed... That or shipped back to New California, which is far too resources intensive to be commonly used." he says, more to himself than anything else.
"Creator, our enemies hold large quantities of people. The organisations designated: NCR, Brotherhood of Steel, and Legion, would all have viable test subjects." Glados states.
Afton shakes his head, "No... That'd bring way too much attention, the NCR and Brotherhood would notice their members going missing immediately, and that's not even mentioning my companion's potential reaction to it. The Legion might not notice, but I'd still rather not start experimenting on innocent people..." he looks to Dala, "Don't think I've forgotten what you did to Christine, or myself for that matter."
Dala doesn't say anything and simply silently floats there awaiting his decision. Afton isn't even sure if she feels a trace of remorse for what she'd done. Perhaps the damage the Bio-Gel had had on their minds was already too far gone?
Regardless, he needed more test subjects, not only for this project but many others as well. "Hmm... We could use 'that' couldn't we?... Dala, how is your little project going?"
"My little teddy bear's DNA is stable for now, the manual degradation to mimic age is also working properly. All that is left is the memory splicing and integration, the most dangerous part of the operation by far." she explains.
Afton nods to himself, "Well, I've been looking for something to justify our plans, our need for test subjects could very well be the answer. Dala, Glados, concentrate on project CERR01, I'll work on getting negotiations started, no doubt they'll be chomping at the bit for it... As for our guest? Treat him respectably and try not to be too invasive, we want the data and a potential ally, not a dead mutant with nothing to show for it." he states before turning and walking away, leaving the two robots to start their respective jobs.
Elsewhere :
Tamia, Veronica, and Anja had almost reached the Boomers territory. Before them, was the highway leading up a hill and between a small canyon path, though, judging by the many signs stating 'TURN BACK, DEATH AHEAD', 'DEATH FROM THE SKY', and 'THE WAR IS HERE AGAIN!', continuing past that point without preparations would be a bad idea.
Obviously, Veronica had left her Power armour behind for this venture as appearing at someone's gate fully armed and armoured is basically a declaration of war. The Boomers might be isolationists, but they'd no doubt heard of Afton's actions over the radio by now, the Legion went to great troubles declaring that Afton's technology to a danger to everyone. The NCR projected similar sentiments but were less fervent mainly due to the fact that they'd restored some Brotherhood armour themselves.
As the group reached the border of the territory they spot an older-looking gentleman wearing relatively fine clothes... A cardigan over a nice shirt and jeans... All of which seemed to be void of dirt and dust the desert produces. "Howdy! You three should start thinkin' twice before you venture further here, last guy who tried a couple days ago is still down there, see." he gestures, pointing at a pile of bloody, scorched flesh not far from the border... Whoever it was hadn't made it that far before being blasted into bloody chunks.
Tamia shakes her head, "Thanks for the warning, but we can handle ourselves."
"No problem, name's George by the way. Honestly darlin', it'd be a shame to see such pretty ladies die so terribly, so how about this... You pay me, let's say... 800 caps, and I'll tell you the trick to avoiding them bombs."
Veronica scoffs, "800 caps? That's way too much!... How about this, you go to the Boomers instead, and we'll pay you for it, since you're apparently an expert at this."
George sheepishly glances away, "If you need proof of my skills then I'll go loot that bloody corpse down there, I've been meanin' too anyway." he shrugs.
"You loot their corpses?" Tamia asks, curious.
George nods, "Folks take their caps to try and buy explosives from the Boomers at a bargin price, most don't make it, making looting whatever they leave very, very lucrative." he gestures down at his fine clothes, "As you can see, I'm a very well-to-do man."
Tamia shrugs, "Whatever, can't blame a man for making a living. You won't be looting our bodies though," she turns to Veronica and Anja, "You guys ready?"
They nod, reaching into the large pouches on their hips. George watches as they all glance at one another one last chance before pressing something-
*SHooooom*
The trio fades from sight, leaving only the faintest distortion in the air, making George jump in surprise. "Well would you look at that... Or not! Hahahaha!" he cackles to himself as he watches the faint footsteps imprinting on the ground towards Boomer territory.
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
Tamia, Veronica, and Anja all walk into the 'dead-zone' while holding one another's hands. They weren't able to see each other, meaning they'd need a way to stay close aside from following each other's footsteps.
The land before them is a wide, scar ridden area that has many ruined buildings dotted around. Obviously, they'd all b been destroyed by the Boomers previous airstrikes, but Tamia wondered if the town that'd been here was inhabited before the Boomer's came.
If it had, that would mean the Boomers committed mass murder for almost no reason whatsoever... You couldn't claim someone else's land as yours just because you lived nearby, she'd need to ask them about it once they reached their destination.
"I wonder why no one else had thought of doing thi-" Veronica's cut off by Tamia.
"Hang on... Is that...?" she mutters, glancing behind as George approaching the territory.
The older man walks towards the dead zone with a huge grin on his face, suddenly he bursts into a sprint, jumping and waving his arms in the Boomer's direction. Almost immediately faint blasts could be heard from afar, this is followed by trails of smoke launching into the sky and towards them.
"That old bastard! He's trying to get us killed!" she exclaims, her grip on the other two getting tighter in sheer anger.
"I knew I should have punched him!" Veronica mutters as they start running in the opposite direction of George. Despite his actions, they were still invisible, so unless they were very, very unlucky they'd likely not be targeted.
George continues to run about randomly, ducking in between the ruined houses before reappearing from random directions, most likely making it incredibly difficult and annoying to properly shoot at him.
George himself was doing his best to get the Boomers to fire about randomly, in an attempt to kill the trio to reap the rewards from their corpses afterwards.
This strategy works well enough, Tamia, Veronica, and Anja duck as a bomb strikes nearby, kicking up dust and knocking them off of their feet. They quickly recover and scramble towards the nearest ruined building to get at least some degree of cover.
Once inside however, they discover an incredibly surprising sight. Two bodies were already present, both wearing scored and shattered Power armour belonging to the Brotherhood of Steel. Scattered around them were the shattered remains of what should be their weapons...
"Oh my god..." Veronica mutters, leaning forwards and taking each of their helmets to see their identities. Barely even minding the airstrike still happening overhead.
"As much as I hate to break up this reunion, we are still under attack!" Tamia urges, a hand resting on Veronica's invisible back.
Veronica sighs and nods, "Alright... But once we get permission I'm burying them..." she says, she didn't know either of them well, and actually only knew one of their names... Steve Lynch, a kid Afton had apparently had a feud with while he was still in the Brotherhood.
*BOOOM!*
The side of the building collapses as a shockwave disintegrates it, the group quickly retreat and sprint out of the building, towards the large fenced airfield where the Boomers lived. Fortunately, though, George's attempts to kill them cannot reach them any longer, the bombs coming dangerously close to the old-timer, causing him to quickly flee the area.
Tamia would've laughed were they still not deep within enemy territory. Veronica has a few words though, "When we get back I'm hunting that piece of shit down." Anja nods at the sentiment... Not that anyone could see it due to their invisibility...
Soon enough, the group reach the fence of the Airfield without any further attacks. They follow the metal wire fence until they reach the gate, where they could hear two Boomers talking amongst themselves up in a watchtower.
"Does that old man think this is a game? It pisses me off that no one's managed to hit him yet!" a male voice says.
"Well, why don't you go try it then. Trying to hit him with artillery is like swatting a fly with chopsticks." a feminine voice retorts.
"Maybe we should just run up and shoot him ourselves... Beats wasting ammunition."
"Yeah, and get captured while we're at it... You know how it is outside, you've seen the creatures that wander inside and outside our territory... Three words, GIANT, GREEN, HUMANS!"
"Whatever, you're just like the rest, too scared to take matters into your own hands." the man grumbles.
The female laughs as a result, "Oh? Aren't we the same? You yourself aren't doing anything with your hands, besides sitting on them that is."
Tamia quietly hums to herself at the information, apparently, a few of the Boomers were dissatisfied with their passive defence and want to become more active... Personally, she thinks it's a stupid idea as the only advantage the Boomers have against other factions is their armaments... If they start losing people they'll most likely be overrun in no time.
Regardless, she has a mission to complete. She taps Veronica and Anja on the back before turning off her Stealth Boy, the light around them ripples as they all become visible again, though, the Boomers hadn't noticed their presence yet.
"Hello!?" Tamia loudly asks, looking up at the watchtower.
*Clatter!*
*Thud!*
The two guardsmen seemingly scramble to find whatever that sound was, a man with short hair poking his hair over the side and gaping as he spots the trio standing before the gates. "What the-!?"
"Get outta the way and let me see!" a girl with red hair asks as she leans over the side next to him. "Ah! Intruders!" she exclaims once she spots the group, back away, picking something up and quickly making her way down the watchtower.
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
Komentar Paragraf
Fitur komentar paragraf sekarang ada di Web! Arahkan kursor ke atas paragraf apa pun dan klik ikon untuk menambahkan komentar Anda.
Selain itu, Anda selalu dapat menonaktifkannya atau mengaktifkannya di Pengaturan.
MENGERTI