Half a week after apprehending Macka, Afton is in the Sink discussing ways to fertilise the Mojave with the Austin, better known as the Biological research station. He wanted to see if it was possible to transform the barren desert of the Mojave into something else, be it forest, fields, or even simple things like making growing crops easier.
"The primary problem isn't radiation or even the harsh sunlight... It's the lack of water in some areas. Maybe if we can-*Crack!*" Afton starts but is interrupted as someone arrives via teleportation. Strangely, no one had been scheduled at this time, though, he vaguely remembered a message from Tamia saying she'd probably be late to the party.
She probably meant the Battle of Hoover Dam, which she had indeed missed by quite a lot. He pulls up a holographic screen which displays two people stepping outside of the teleportation area. One was obviously Tamia, her dirty and heavily damaged Power armour easily recognisable for him... The other however, Afton didn't know.
The man wore a gas mask that covered the lower half of his face, and had long matted hair covering his head that almost resembled dreadlocks. He wore a long black sleeveless leather trench coat, that had an old American flag printed on the back.
Weapon-wise, he had many revolvers holstered on his waist, and an Anti-Material rifle strapped to his back. The man almost reminded Afton of himself back when he first started exploring the Mojave.
"Permission to vaporized the unauthorized intruder?" Glados voice abruptly asks.
Afton forces himself not to chuckle and somehow manages to frown in the direction of the nearest camera, "He came in with Tamia, so he's temporarily authorized... I told you this before, didn't I?" he questions.
"You did. But I thought it best to double-check... The defence systems might be getting rusty, shall I test them on our temporarily authorized guest?"
...
"They're made from saturnite, which doesn't rust..." he mutters in confusion.
"I meant 'rusty' in the figurative sense... My offer to vaporize our guest was, however, literal." she states. "Also, we have not yet tested the new devices around the designated teleportation arrival area."
He blinks a couple times, "What devices around the teleportation area?" he questions.
"I had them installed two weeks ago. Free electricity dispensers, free cooking facilities, liberal lead dispensers, and radiation confirmation services." she lists off.
...
"Free electricity dispensers...? Free cooking facilities?..." he pauses, "Say, Glados, what specifically are these devices you just described called?"
...
Glados is silent for a moment before she begins to speak, "I see no need to go into specifics, rest assured that they are fully functional and ready to be used."
"Glados." he repeats, his voice sterner this time.
"Tesla emitters. Flame throwers. Machine guns. Radiation projectors." she reluctantly admits.
...
"Free electricity and cooking facilities being Tesla emitters and flame throwers, I get... But why did you call radiation projectors, 'radiation confirmation services'?" he wonders aloud, not surprised at the incredibly lethal array of weaponry she'd just listed off.
"The radiation projectors will irradiate the target, thus rendering whatever result they would have otherwise had, positive... Father, think of the small, innocent children within Big Mountain. This 'guest' could be a threat, thus, elimination is the only logical cours-"
Afton just shakes his head and waves her off, "My answer is still no." he says as he walks into the 'living room' of the sink, "Can you invite the two of them up here please? I'd like to have a chat with Tamia and our guest."
"Affirmative." Glados says, her voice somehow sounding grumpy...
Elsewhere :
Tamia and Ulysses step off of the teleportation platform and onto the bustling road. Ulysses looks around with curious eyes, his tense demeanour relaxing significantly as he spots the peaceful-looking inhabitants...
"This place has changed." he mutters aloud. He wasn't wrong either, the Big Mt he knew of was a barren place filled with monsters of every kind. The crater used to be filled to the brim with dangerous creatures, and the occasional facility that'd likely had a hand in the monster's creation.
Here though? The barren dirt had been replaced with farming facilities, water liberally sprayed the luscious-looking plants as people and robots alike tended to them. There were now high tech-looking buildings that accommodated the people living here, compared to the rest of the wasteland, they could be called nothing but utter luxury... Even the New Vegas strip would be akin to a slum compared to most things in this place.
There were stores dotted around the road as well, though, from what he could tell most were providing more creative services, ones that robots couldn't necessarily provide.
He and Tamia walk past some kind of Supermarket? He steps into it and looks around in wonder at the huge amounts of food stacked on shelves... There were labels next to them... A nice-looking sandwich cost... 10 caps!? Even small bottles of purified water cost at least 20 caps, and that was if you were lucky!
The labels also had a blank space next to them, Tamia spotted him glaring at it and decided to illuminate it for him. "Ah, Afton said something about eventually creating his own currency. He's already made preparations for it I guess." she shrugs, "You hungry?" she offers, picking up the BLT sandwich he'd been glaring at.
Ulysses just slowly nods in response, his jaw not working the way he wanted due to how many surprises this place was giving him. When Tamia had said Afton could lead the way forward, he hadn't completely believed her... But... Just looking at the facilities available, along with the low cost of such luxury goods... He wondered if she was right after all...
The duo step outside the Supermarket, each with a BLT in hand. Tamia is about to give Ulysses a tour of the place when a familiar-looking drone stops them. Its orange glowing eye glaring at them both as if they'd just destroyed its cabbage cart. "You are expected, follow me." it states.
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Tamia and Ulysses are led into the Think Tank after making their way through the scans at the entrance. Glados' drone leads them upstairs, and into the Sink where Afton was waiting for them. He smiles, but before he does anything he checks Ulysses with his karmic sight and [Living Anatomy]
The man's karma is... A bit below neutral, meaning he'd committed crimes in the past and probably had a lot to atone for... It wasn't too bad, especially considering Afton's own karma, but it was definitely something to watch out for.
As for the man's status? Well...
[Ulysses]
Health : 100%
Stamina : 100%
DT : 18
Strength : 10
Perception : 10
Endurance : 10
Charisma : 10
Intelligence : 10
Agility : 10
Luck : 10
Ailments :
[N/A]
(These are Ulysses actual stats in New Vegas)
What the actual fuck. This guy wasn't human! How in the fuck did he have max stats in every attribute!?... This is definitely not fair!
The duo both notice Afton's strange expression when he looks at Ulysses, but shrug it off for now, seeing it as a tick or something.
Afton forces his expression back to the neutral smile he had before and envelopes Tamia in a warm hug, though, the effect is lessened considerably due to her power armour. "You were gone longer than expected, Tamia. We're all glad you're okay though."
"Yeah, well, It's not like I expected to be there so long either... Ah," her back straightens, "This is Ulysses, we met in the Divide and decided to team up. He's quite the fighter from what I've seen." she adds, wanting to promote her new friend to her 'boss'.
Afton slowly nods and presents a hand to Ulysses, "Sorry for the lack of hugs, but they are reserved for pretty women." he says while flashing a cheeky smirk at Tamia, who just snorts in response.
Ulysses takes the presented hand and nods, "I have heard many things about you, I hope at least part of them are true... From what I have seen from your city, they might have more truth in them than I thought." he praises, surprising Afton.
Afton glances at Tamia who responds with a shrug, "Thanks for the compliments but, the city still has a long way to go." he says, finally noticing the BLT sandwiches carried by the duo, "Here, you two can eat those in here." he offers, walking into the 'living room', turning on the large T.V and sitting in the couch.
"Ey, heyoo. Who've ya' got comin' here today? Lookin' like the start of a reeaaal good part-ay! Let's get the beats movin'." Blind Diode Jefferson, the wonderous talking jukebox announces as they step inside, beginning to play an old jazz song.
Tamia huffs, "Even your home is weird Afton... You get so lonely that you made some company?" she jokes as she sits next to him and unboxes her sandwich.
"They were here long before I came along. I don't really have the heart to evict them either." he admits.
"Aww, we love you too Afton!" Lumina, otherwise known as Lightswitch 01 coos.
"Ay! That switch is mine to play with, don't you get any funny ideas now!... 'Specially you, with the funny hair!" Jefferson shouts
Afton crooks a brow, "Hey, I know I haven't cut it in a while, but I thought It looked fine." he mutters semi-sarcastically while tugging on a long stray strand of hair in front of his face.
"Not you! The other guy!" Jefferson states, causing Afton and Tamia to turn towards Ulysses... Who was just about to flip the light switch... He returns the look with slight confusion but relents and temporarily stops his curiosity.
Afton just shakes his head and kicks his feet up, "Alright, enough of the antics. What've you been doing since you were gone Tamia?"
"I'll tell you, but, you gotta get me up to date afterwards as well." she offers, and receives a nod.
---
"-and do you know how many times I was forced to run from hoards of Tunnelers? I'm honestly surprised I made it out!" she mutters.
Afton scowls, "How many'd you say?" he asks, wanting to know how big a threat those hives would eventually be.
"They inhabit most of the Divide, their Tunnels spanning far outside its territory. I never had the strength to clear them, their numbers were in the tens of thousands last I took the time to check." Ulysses adds from the side.
"Tens of thousands?" Afton gapes, feeling as if he was being pranked... Such numbers were far, far outside the range of his expectations. With that amount, they'd probably be able to overrun any faction they care to properly attack.
Ulysses gives a grave nod, "I fear, even if humanity joined hands. We'd still fall to them."
Afton shakes his head determinately, "Not if I have a say about it. Looks like I'll have to amp up Bulwark's subterranean military forces... Maybe if we develop a way to collapse Tunneler tunnels from the surface, that'd work?" he question, not knowing if Tunnelers could survive being buried in rock.
"Such attacks would kill the smaller ones, but would allow the others to escape and reproduce elsewhere... They would eventually adapt to such attacks." Ulysses explains, getting a nod of affirmation from Afton, already knowing about their ridiculous adaptiveness.
"Anyway," Tamia cuts in, not wanting to talk about those creepy lizard things any longer, "Once I escaped, I only had bare minimal forces left-"
---
"-and then I see him there, standing in front of a bunch of huge nuclear missiles..." she looks to Ulysses, "How long had you been standing like that and waiting for me to arrive?" she suddenly asks with a funny look.
Ulysses' cheeks redden slightly as he turns his head away, "Far longer than I would like to admit." he sheepishly admits.
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
Nazlican Erdem
Shameful69
JayJonnaJamison
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