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77.43% Steel Waste / Chapter 549: Extract Value

Bab 549: Extract Value

With that, Afton's time in the Sierra Madre was quickly coming to an end. After he, Veronica, and Christine had rifled through and confirmed everything of value in the vault, he'd left to go to the hidden lab that controls the Cloud. But not before checking the now isolated terminal to see what Sinclaire had to say to Dean...

"Dean,

If you're reading this, this is goodbye. You will have many years to read this message. Why you have smiled in my face and held a dagger to me, I do not know. You were rich, respected... even admired, loved by many. When you finally pass away down here, either by your own hand or starvation, know that your greed has led you here, for no reason I can understand.

You have made a habit in using others for your own ends. Now, the Sierra Madre is your reward. Whether you used blackmail or force - or even played to Vera's greed, it will not help down here in the Vault. Greed has led you here. I hope it leaves you as empty as you left me.

The door has sealed, the elevator has left. Even Vera's voice will not unlock it. Know that on the night of the Gala Event I shall raise my glass and whisper, 'Fortunato.'

In pace requiescat,

Frederick Sinclair"

Afton scratches his face while staring at the message, seems like he'd not seen all Dean had to offer yet... The Ghoul presented himself as a 'happy-go-lucky', competent, and driven person. Yet he'd not seen any attempts to manipulate, blackmail, or force things to go his way... Though, this is probably because he never got the chance... Who was he going to manipulate or blackmail? Him or Veronica? Fat chance. And the ghoul probably didn't even dare to try forcing things, what's his dinky little revolver gonna do against literal bulletproof armour?

Afton was still going to offer Dean a place in Bulwark, but he'd first have the scientists do a psychological evaluation on him. Afton wasn't going to risk leaving a rogue element free to run around his property to cause trouble.

Afton's head turns towards the vault door that'd quickly sealed itself shut, many mechanisms activating to make it an almost impossible to break blockade. Fortunately, since the terminal had been isolated by Nyx, the elevator was still fully functional. The door didn't prove much of an issue either, as he carves his way through it with his Ultra Chainsword.

With that, Afton left to go to the hidden laboratory controlling the Cloud so the group could finally return to Big Mt, while he did that Veronica and Anja escort Dean and Anja down to the vault, both making sure to explain the circumstances of the vault, Sinclaire's intentions towards Dean, as well as what the group intended to do with the treasure, making sure Dean understood that it didn't belong to him... At least, not entirely.

The ghoul would be compensated a small amount of gold, should he wish to leave without the group, they'd allow him to take as many gold ingots as he could carry... Which as it turns out, isn't much considering he'd recently had most of his foot blown off.

Afton quickly reaches the Cloud control system and has a sort of cyclone appears around the Casino, this removes all of the Cloud from above them, allowing them to finally see the clear sky, instead of the roiling Cloud of corrosive red fog.

Afton feels a familiar thrumb in his head as Glados' voice begins speaking in his mind, "Creator, your journey has taken far longer than first anticipated. Are you alive and well? Do you need forces to extract you?" she asks.

Seems like the Cloud had been obstructing the brian wave device that allowed Glados to speak to him over vast distances... Fortunately, now that the Cloud above them was gone, teleportation and the communication could be brought back.

"Not immediately, I'll have Nyx set the coordinates on the Sierra Madre Casino's roof. I need you to send Spiderbots to carry objects, dismantle technology, and prepare to teleport them all to Big Mt." he thinks to himself, hoping Glados could hear it.

"Affirmative."

Afton nods, leaving the Cloud manipulator where it is and quickly heading to the roof, afterwards waiting for Nyx to set the coordinates. An hour passes and eventually many bolts of lightning come down from the sky, all of them hitting the rooftop and leaving behind tens of thousands of Spiderbots in their wake.

"Take any technology that isn't present in Big Mt, but make sure to leave the Cloud controller lab for last, it's currently in the process of condensing the Cloud, so we'll probably need Glados to send reinforced glass containers to hold the residue left behind." he says, not completely sure what the residue is yet. He's pretty sure you can quite easily turn it back into gaseous form, which would make the Cloud incredibly easy to deploy when needed... All you'd need to do is stockpile the residue and turn it all into gas when you wish... This would also prevent any mishaps from occurring, for example, somebody accidentally getting caught in it, or a bunch of feral ghouls getting turned into ghosts...

With that done, Afton gathers up his companions and takes them up to the rooftop so the Spiderbots could properly start extracting everything. Dean had refused to go alone for obvious reasons, so he'd be taken along and introduced to Bulwark, then tested to see if he was suitable for a role within it.

"So... How are we getting to your base again?" Dean asks with a dull look, "Do you have another vehicle coming?"

Afton shakes his head, "Just hold onto your panties." he states as lightning strikes him and causes him to disappear.

"WWAAH!?!" Dean exclaims at the sight of this, quickly looking side to side at those present, only seeing Christine have slight concern on her face. The rest look as if this is an everyday occurrence. "What just happ-"

*Crack!*

Lighting strikes him halfway through his sentence, forcing the air from his lungs as he feels a hard tug on his body, pulling in every direction... Then, as fast as it came, it left, leaving him on his knees in front of the Think Tank, many servants and robots all looking towards the group with interest.

A drone flies over and floats in front of Dean as its single orange eye glares at him, "Subject designated: Dean Domino, you have been selected for psychological analysis, please follow this unit." it states and starts slowly moving.

Veronica pats Dean on the shoulder, "You better get moving, trust me, Glados is scary when she's angry..."

Dean just unconsciously nods and begins limping in the direction the Drone left.

Veronica glances over to Christine, and only now notices that the woman is frozen in place, staring up at the Think Tank building with utter fear written across her face.


PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA
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 :

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Bab 550: Cassanova

Afton releases a long sigh as he gets out of his armour, immediately taking off his Stealth suit and taking a looong shower. He'd spent almost a week in the Sierra Madre, and he certainly felt like it. Feeling as if he had inches of dirt, dust, and Cloud residue coating his skin. Of course, this was just an exaggeration, but that didn't make it feel any less true.

After thirty minutes scrubbing his skin raw, he walks over to couch and slumps into it, glancing at Blind Diode Jefferson (The Sink Jukebox) and requesting something quiet and slow. As he's relaxing on the couch, he looks up at the ceiling and calls out, "Glados! Give me an update, what's been happening in my absence?"

The ceiling opens up and allows a Drone to fly down next to him, "Your extended excursion was unexpected, but not unprepared for. I took the liberty of continuing the projects you already had working. Scorpion-Man had been allowed out of his cell after a psychological evaluation and loyalty test... But not before being chipped with the intention chip, which was altered from the thought chip at your behest."

Afton crosses his arms and nods, "Good. Wouldn't want any more heads exploding because they thought of the word 'escape', the fact it activated even when they had no intention to escape was kinda stupid... Anyway, how is our resident superhero getting on?"

"Scorpion-Man has remained distant from other people in Big Mt, this is likely caused by your insinuation that he is radioactive and causes sickness to those he is around. Other than that, I have taken the liberty to start his field and combat training..." she states, her words trailing off as if waiting for him to retract that decision.

Afton nods, "Good. That guy is talented and could be useful... Maybe we could partner him with Anja once we fix her sight... Considering she'd immune to radiation, that could actually work." he mutters rubbing his chin, "How are the various Cybernetic projects going by the way?" he asks.

"With the influx of... Volunteers, we have been able to quickly advance our understanding over cybernetics, their integration with nerves and muscles, and reducing the chance of the subject's body from rejecting it. Limb Cybernetics are almost entirely complete, only needing small adjustments and customization to each subject, however, intricate machinery such as hands, and organs are still being developed." she explains.

"Hmm... Have you begun preparing Karl for new legs?" he asks.

"No. I have been waiting for your permission, it is not my place to decide the fate of your workers." she states.

He shrugs at that, appreciating her diligence in respecting his position yet not really caring either way. "Well, you have my permission now, inform Karl that we have developed a way for him to regain his legs, explain the whole process to him while you're at it."

"Affirmative."

"Anything else?" Afton asks as some Spiderbots skitter into the room, an ice-cold glass of whisky perilously balanced on their backs. He picks it up and takes a sip before setting it back down on the robots, using them as a makeshift stand.

"We have received correspondence from our spy designated: Cass."

Afton raises brow, "Oh? She's finally gotten in contact then?"

"Affirmative, would you like me to play the Holotape?"

"Please." he says, and Cass's voice immediately starts speaking from the drone.

"Er, hey... It's Cass... I'm not really all that sure about using this 'spy shit', but I think I know how it works?... Anyway, I've finally set myself up in New California, their capital Shady Sands to be specific. I don't want to boast but I've got myself a nice little place to myself now, it's very different from owning a Caravan but... Nice in its own way.

Ugh, I keep forgetting this ain't a social call... *Ahem*, the journey was relatively peaceful, the squadron of robots and Cyberdogs you sent to accompany me scared off any creatures from approaching... That didn't stop a few groups of raiders, but they were annihilated with relative ease... Their presence did cause a bit of trouble when we finally reached an NCR city, but this was quickly resolved as the NCR are one of the primary creators of Cyberdogs, so they just chalked it up to me getting a good deal.

The luxury clothing store has been properly set up, and we've already received number of requests from the higher rung of society, though, no one 'important' as of yet. Regardless, I've had the tailor robots stitch the recording devices into the suits, you'll probably be receiving information from them around about the time this Holotape gets to you. Yeah, your lightning teleportation technology still scares the shit outta me." she sheepishly adds before continuing.

"Additionally, I have been hearing a lot of information about you. The capital seems to regard you as a threat equal to the Brotherhood of Steel, I've compiled a list of the rumours in the other Holodisk, but I'll tell you a few of the more interesting ones right now;

'Afton Parker is a mutant capable of mind control and other supernatural abilities. Uses his supernatural talents, he's been slowly gaining control over the civilians of the Mojave, slowly turning them against the NCR and Democracy itself.' Yeah, not all the convincing, but enough to get the idiots riled up.

Next is 'After a disastrous loss in a debate against Ambassador Crocker, Afton Parker summoned a monster to distract from his humiliating defeat, afterwards pinning the attack on the NCR to save face.' this one is a bit more believable for people who haven't met you, Crocker has a glowing reputation here, so that one has gained a bit of traction.

Last of the interesting ones is 'Afton Parker has stumbled upon alien technology and is using it to form his own faction, one based on authoritarian doctrine, and aiming to crown himself emperor of mankind.' To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if this one was true..." she admits semi-sarcastically.

"Oh, there is also one saying that 'Afton Parker is gay and wishes to execute all women to promote his lifestyle of sodomy and boy-love...'" she snorts and bursts into laughter, "Hahahah! Just kidding... Well, not about the rumour, just of it gaining attention or validity, I for one know it's not true, I distinctly remember your hands wandering when we were kicking the crap outta each other, you horn dog!... Anyway, that's all for this Holotape, read the others when you have time, Cass out, peace!"


PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA
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 :

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Tarlock

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