Bab 484: Complex Hero Complex
At Afton's question Dala nods her monitors in affirmation, "Through extensive discussions with my colleagues, we've come to agree that the subjects 'stickability' come from Van Der Waals forces. It is similar to how Gecko's stick, but we still cannot understand how it supports the entirety of the subject's weight..."
Afton shrugs, "I wouldn't be surprised if something supernatural were assisting him." he states, knowing full well that his system could also be identified as 'supernatural'.
The trio stops talking as they finally reach Scorpion-Man's cell, the young Latino adult sitting anxiously on the hard metal bed while slowly tapping his foot. He quickly notices the arrival of his 'hosts' and jumps to his feet, rushing to the bars and snarling at them. "WHO ARE YOU!? WHY HAVE YOU TAKEN ME HERE!?"
Afton gives a sigh and jabs a finger into the man's forehead, causing them to stumble back in surprise while rubbing their new sore spot. "You need to calm down, if you want to act like a rabid beast then you'll be treated so." he states, his brows scrunching slightly to show his displeasure.
...
Scorpion-Man doesn't say anything and Afton continues, gesturing at Dala and Glados, "These are my colleagues, Dr. Dala, and Glados. You will treat both with the respect they deserve or I will find interesting ways to punish you." he then points a thumb at himself, "I am Afton Parker, I'm sure you've heard of me, I have become quite famous after all." he states a small smile.
"Y-yes, everyone in Freeside knows you, Butcher." the young man says before his expression hardens, "You say you fight for the innocent, but how do you know the many, many people you have killed are not?... In my eyes you are a hypocrite, my imprisonment only proves my point!" he accuses while jabbing a finger in Afton's direction.
Afton just raises a brow, "I never said I was a 'good' or fair man, I just said I'd punish those who deserve it. A few innocent people get hurt, but casualties are inevitable." he shrugs lackadaisically, "Besides, your imprisonment wouldn't exactly be an 'evil' act..." he says ambiguously before shaking his head, "I doubt you knew, but your presence in Freeside has caused more damage than you realise."
"What do you mean?" Scorpion-Man growls, wondering where Afton was going with this.
Afton holds his hand out to no one in particular, "Dala, give me his results."
The scientist nods and hands over a clipboard from her manipulator, Afton takes it and looks it over, lifting a few papers to find what he's looking for before holding it up so Scorpion-Man could see it. "Your body and excretions are radioactive. Being around you is like having a Uranium rock in your pocket. Even now we have no idea how many people have been affected, and that's not even starting on your excretions... Depending on where you do your business, that place could be a radioactive as a Nuclear bombsight." he states, shocking Scorpion-Man...
Of course, Afton was being pretty hyperbolic here as Scorpion-Man isn't as radioactive as his words would suggest... At most he'd only be affecting sexual partners due to his bodily fluids being involved... Though, if he ever attempted to donate blood there might be a serious problem in Freeside.
His blood wouldn't turn people into hulk, but they'd quickly start succumbing to radiation sickness, losing hair, skin melting off of them, organ failure, and of course, ghoulification.
Still, it was in Afton, and Bulwark's best interest to make Scorpion-Man as self-conscious as possible, only then could he take advantage of his vulnerable state and make use of him as a proper agent.
Upon hearing this news Scorpion-Man quickly pales, he collapses and sits heavily on his bed while seemingly thinking about the people he'd affected. Afton's guilty trip would work particularly well on him due to his 'heroic' and 'selfless' personality, something he'd learned from his last life's comic-book villains.
"I-... Is this real?" he asks with moist eyes, unable to come to terms with his new 'reality'.
Afton gives a solemn nod, "I'm afraid so. For Freeside's safety I had to isolate you. Your vigilantism may have been helping a few people, but the potential good it did wouldn't make up for the pandemic you would unintentionally cause... I hope for everyone's sake you never tried to donate blood, otherwise, Freeside is well and truly fucked." he explains.
Scorpion-Man shakes his head, "N-no, thankfully I didn't... I thought about it though, before I got these powers..." he looks down at his hands, "W-what will Freeside do without me stopping crime?" he asks.
Afton snorts, "That's pretty arrogant to think they need you... They were fine before Scorpion-Man, and they'll be fine afterwards... Your vigilantism has caused a few problems though, but I doubt you ever took notice of it."
"P-problems?" the young man asks, looking incredibly vulnerable in this moment.
"You didn't think the gangs and criminals in Freeside wouldn't react to your presence? Of course not! Didn't you notice how larger gangs were forming and becoming better armed? Your presence literally forced gangs to reconcile and work together to eliminate you. You more you took out, the more extreme their actions would be... A never-ending escalation of violence.
This is only exacerbated by the fact you are reluctant to actually kill anyone... Where do you think the criminals go after they are arrested by the NCR and Kings? There are no prisons left in the Mojave!" he rants, each point making Scorpion-Man shrink into himself further.
"I-I never thought about it..." he mutters but is cut off by Afton.
"Never thought about it? Man, you really are clueless, aren't you!? Even without the prisons, did you ever wonder why you kept seeing the same people? It's because the gangs had people on the inside, what good do you do if the systems you support are corrupt?"
"Well what else am I supposed to do!? I can't do nothing! People were getting hurt and dying! The NCR and Kings were starting to fight each other again!... And it's your fault! I heard what you did! Attacking that building of NCR civilians! You're the villain here!" he exclaims.
Afton chuckles, "Do you believe everything the NCR says? Why would I attack that building?"
...
"They say you were working for the Legi-on..." he trails off, realising that Afton wasn't exactly an ally of the Legion.
Afton smirks, "Oh yes, my good friends the Legion! I'm such good friends with them I decided to invite Caesar to one of these cells for afternoon tea." he sarcastically retorts.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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Bab 485: Reclaimed Materials
By this point, Scorpion-Man seemed extremely depressed... His attempts to shift blame onto Afton and avoid responsibility for his actions, both direct and indirect had failed. The Vigilante just slumped on his bed, resting his elbows on his knees as he gazed at the floor as if looking for answers.
"So... What now?... Do I just stay here, forever?" Scorpion-Man asks, looking up pitifully at Afton, Dala, and Glados. "Will you have your robots dissect me...?"
Afton shrugs, "Honestly, what happens now is up to you." he gives a grin, "We've already dealt with the background radiation you give off, so the only threat now is your excretions. Sweat, urine, saliva, and faeces are all still a risk to the public."
"You did what?" Scorpion-Man asks in confusion.
Afton nods, "While you were asleep we took some of your cells and created an antidote/mutative elixer. Of course, I doubt it would be possible to do the same for your bodily fluids... It's an essential part of your physiology, and taking it away may just destroy you." he says, basically making all of this up.
Scorpion-Man didn't give produce more background radiation than a regular person, but he didn't know that, allowing Afton to claim he did. "As for your options? Well, you have a number of them, though, I doubt you'll like most... The first and most obvious is to join me and my organisation, Bulwark. We are probably one the most technologically advanced groups on earth, the only others that might match us are the Brotherhood and Enclave, both of which would execute you for being a mutant." Afton states before continuing,
"Should you join us, you'll be given a suitable place for you to stay, access to equipment and training most would be in awe at, and the ability to get multiple check-ups with our scientists and doctors." he explains, feeling slightly like an infomercial salesman.
"But... I am still needed in Freeside..."Scorpion-Man mutters faintly.
Afton scoffs, "Didn't I just explain to you why that's a bad idea?"
"It isn't for me, but for my brother... The Gangs tortured him to death because he couldn't pay off his debt! He was made an example for others... I-I need to stop them!"
Afton shakes his head, "If that's your goal then you were going about it the wrong way... Instead of wandering around stopping crimes you should have been doing targeted assaults against the gang that killed your brother." he states.
Scorpion-Man just sights and looks to the ground, "What are my other options?"
Afton nods, "I could ship you back to Freeside. I've already faked your death however, so it would be a surprise to those who may have known you... Plus, I doubt you'd want to risk their health with your physiology.
Another option is for me to just drop you off randomly in the Mojave... To keep people safe you'd basically have to become a hermit though... Honestly, your only real option is to stay here where we can manage your mutation properly." he shrugs. "This is not to say you'd be stuck here forever, we'd just train you up and try to solve the side effects of your abilities, afterwards you could go anywhere you wanted." he explains.
Scorpion-Man slowly nods, "C-could I think about this?... I, I want to think about it before making a decision."
Afton gives a shrug and nods, "Alright, just call out when you've come to a decision. No point waiting in a cell all day when we could be training and fixing you up." he states before leaving.
Dala and Glados float beside him as he walks, "What delicious lies you told to the teddy bear..." Dala mutters huskily.
"Indeed, you have put it in a no-win situation. Either it joins us, or puts others at risk. By my understanding of it's psychology, there's a 0.6% that it refuses your offer, Creator."
Afton nods, "Of course, I wouldn't spew bullshit for no reason. I gotta have at least some standards."
Afton doesn't immediately leave the labs after his meeting with Scorpion-Man, no, instead he walks towards the armour and weaponry decision. Mobius and Klein should be examining the new materials he'd managed to gather...
He walks into the lab and spots the two scientists already scanning the Elite Riot Gear with every tool and technology they have available.
The Elite Riot Gear in question is a large brown Duster reinforced with plating at the shoulders, elbows, knees, chest, and neck. The materials used are pretty primitive, but the helmet itself is what is most interesting, it contains large amounts of tech compacted and made very durable for this purpose only.
Honestly, the only issue Afton could see with the armour is the fact it was designed for a woman... Yep, the NCR Elite Riot Gear they'd obtained from the Van Graffs belonged to a woman. This was the case with both sets they were given... It wasn't all that bad as the only difference between the male version was the shape of it, larger hips, smaller waist, etc.
Afton wasn't actually sure what they could learn from the armour... Aside from integrating similar plating onto their Deathclaw leather dusters, and taking the tech from the helmet, there wasn't much that they didn't already have.
The only armour Afton was interested in acquiring were the Chinese Stealth Armours... The Think Tank used to have some but they were all destroyed in the creation of the Stealth Suit that Nyx lives in. This is also the reason they couldn't just make more Stealth Suits, as the materials that compose it were strange and unknown to them, most likely taken directly from some Chinese Stealth Suits...
Afton was unsure where he'd acquire such armour though, perhaps he'd need to take a trip to China and see what's happening over there... He hoped they'd all been annihilated by America's nuclear bombs, but if not he'd probably have to clean the place up... He wasn't going to allow communists to poison the world again.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA
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