章 267: Smart Stupidity.

Afton slowly nods to himself, "Alright, now my second condition! I wish to retain all technologies that I may find in Big MT." he says, causing Klein to buzz and click as if he were having a malfunction.

"NO! THAT CANNOT BE ALLOWED! YOUR FEEBLE NON-BRAIN WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE MAGNIFICENT... MAGNIFICENCE OF THE TECHNOLOGY WE HAVE CREATED." Klein states before continuing, "I WILL NOT BUDGE ON THIS. NO MATTER WHAT YOU GIVE ME, OR THREATEN ME WITH!"

Afton just shrugs, "Alright then. Hey, do any of you have Mobius' number?" he casually asks with a small grin.

Klein turns towards his colleagues, "DID ALL THE LOBOTOMITES WE CREATED ACT LIKE THIS? BECAUSE I'M STARTING TO HAVE SECONDS THOUGHTS ON THE PROJECT!"

"No, Dr. Klein. Most became blood-thirsty savages that were more likely to tear off their own skinvelope than 'bargain', or 'think'. Our teddy bear here is just, unique in this regard." Dala says.

"URGH! LOBOTOMITE, YOUR SECOND CONDITION CAN BE MET... BUT! WE REQUIRE THREE PIECES OF TECHNOLOGY TO FINALLY PUT A STOP TO MOBIUS, MEANING THEY ARE OURS! NOT YOURS. OURS!"

...

Afton rubs his face... Hmm, well, his third condition would invalidate their stipulation anyway so he wasn't too bothered about it. "That's fine."

"NOW... WHAT IS YOUR LAST CONDITION, LOBOTOMITE?" Klein asks, his tone of voice grave, as if he were just about to send his children to war.

Afton smiles at them, and raises his hand, extending his index finger. "Just. One. Thing... I require... One favour from you, no holds barred, and can be used at any time, any place." he states.

8 interjects as they hear this, "*BZZZZCH!*"

"That's right! Dr. Klein, we can't accept that! The lobotomite could ask one of us to flux our own brains as revenge for misplacing his own!" Zero warns.

"BE QUIET DR. O, I BELIEVE I AM IN THE LEADERSHIP POSITION OF THE THINK TANK, AND THEREFORE I WILL MAKE THE DECISIONS!... LOBOTOMITE, WHAT DOES 'NO-HOLDS-BARRED' MEAN?" Klein asks warily.

Afton shrugs, "It means, no matter what I ask, it must be followed the maximum extent of your abilities." he states before continuing, "But don't worry, it won't be anything detrimental to your health... in-fact, I haven't even thought of what I want yet!" he lies, already thinking about how to word it to get the maximal advantage.

The robots look at one another before huddling as if they were coming up with a strategy for a football game... He can't hear much, but there's something about Zero insulting Dala by calling her a formogropher? or something like that...

Soon enough, the group reconvenes, once again floating over the spotlights like some sort of tribunal. "WE HAVE COME TO A DECISION!.... WE ACCEPT YOUR CONDITIONS LOBOTOMITE, FOR THE GOOD OF THE WOR-NO, FOR THE GOOD OF BIG MT!" Klein says.

"Great. Now, I'd like to hear what plans you have to actually deal with Mobius..." he asks, not having much confidence in their tactics due to what he'd seen in this long-ass conversation.

"DO NOT DESPAIR, LOBOTOMITE. I, HAVE A PLAN!" Klein states, and Afton was wondering if lightning was going to start behind the robot, a declaration like that would be followed by, 'USE MY DEATH LASER TO DESTROY THE MOON!'... Or something.

Klein continues despite Afton's wayward thoughts, "WE REQUIRE THREE PIECES OF TECHNOLOGY, THREE PIECES THAT YOU WILL RETRIEVE LOBOTOMITE. THE X-2 TRANSMITTER ANTENNA ARRAY, USED TO FOCUS COHERENT THOUGHT AT EXCESSIVELY HIGH FREQUENCIES."

"The psycho-analytic cardiac-dampening sneaky stealth suit, a suit like NOTHING this world has ever heard, seen, or could EVER see!" Borous lists the second off.

"*BZZZCCCHHH!*" 8 says, which is swiftly translated by Dala.

"And 8's Sonic-Soundwave-Emitter-Projecto-Gun-" She's cut off as Afton interjects.

"Didn't you just give me the Sonic Emitter? Why would you need another?" Afton asks, confused.

"*BZZZZZZZCH!* 8... says?

Again, Dala translates for him, "It is not the Sonic Emitter we specifically need, but the upgrade that will allow it to remove forcefields that may have been... Misplaced." she says.

"Yeah, like stealth-fielding my lab-keys... Dala." Zero whispers, but everyone else ignores him.

Afton sighs, "Alright, so an X-2 Transmitter, a Stealth Suit, and the Sonic Emitter upgrade... Anything else?"

"NO. THAT IS ALL WE NEED TO FINALLY PUT AN END TO MOBIUS... DR. O! GIVE THE LOBOTOMITE THE LAB LOCATIONS ON THEIR... WRIST TERMINAL." Klein says.

...

"I-er, yes! I'll use my robotical knowledge to er... Transmit the... Radiomap... Waves?" He trails off, an air of insecurity exuding from him.

"*BZZZZCH!*"

"What? The Lobotomite already has a full map of the Big MT? HOW IS THIS SO?!" Borous exclaims.

"He must be a spy for RobCo! I knew he couldn't be trusted!" Zero shouts.

"SILENCE!... LOBOTOMITE, WHAT IS YOUR SAD, AND MOST LIKELY PATHETIC EXPLANATION FOR THIS!?" Klein asks.

Afton scratches the back of his head and uses VATS to freeze time, yeah he'd need to come up with a valid reason for him to have what is likely top, top secret information about one of America's most advanced scientific facilities.

He hadn't thought that his [Explorer] Perk would cause so much trouble for him when he got it... He sighs to himself, hindsight is always 20/20... Hmm, well, hopefully his Speech Skill will assist him in making shit up.

He stops VATS and goes to address the robots, "Why do I have a full map of Big MT? Because I have a full map of everywhere in America." he states. "I managed to break into the... Pentagon. and recover large swathes of information, most of which being locations of import to the United States."

Afton observes their reactions and hopes the bullshit he'd just spewed would be enough to-

"GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME." Klein states, followed by affirmations by the others.

Huh, that was easy.