章 646: Commission
Macka's eyes widen at the threat, unable to stifle his reaction towards it. His power was as much a curse as it was a boon, being aware of basically everything that happens to you, even if your brain was temporarily destroyed was all well and good until you realise you still feel the progression of time.
If being locked underground in a claustrophobic box wasn't enough, Macka wasn't even sure he could kill himself, so he'd probably just be stuck there until the earth exploded or someone dug him up...
The thought of going insane while trapped in such a place continued to run through his mind as Afton watches him with a somewhat satisfied expression.
Afton had wanted to use this punishment on someone for a while, but well, it wouldn't work on anyone except Ghouls, who'd not really be suitable as they'd probably go feral within a few weeks.
"Still, just to show how little power you actually have here." Afton trails off as he touches Macka's face with his hand.
Macka's expression goes from frightened, to confused, to shocked, to relieved and vengeful as his expression contorts.
"Afton no! Are you fucking stupid!?" Josie shouts from the observation room, already preparing to run in and punch him in the face for his idiocy.
Once Afton's hand makes contact with Macka's face, the man immediately begins trying to control his with his Psyker powers. "I didn't know you were this stupid!" he shouts, preparing to have Afton extract him from this torture device and help him escape...
Only to realise Afton was just standing there unmoving, a smug smirk plastered on his face as he looked down at Macka. "I told you, you have no power here. I've already figured out a way to render your powers useless. Heh, some 'master race' you turned out to be." he chuckles, stepping back from Macka and sending a cheeky grin to the others outside the room.
Macka breaks down at the revelation, rapidly muttering to himself in a low tone in an attempt to find a logical answer... Unfortunately for him, Afton wasn't even a Psyker, and wasn't set in any system the man knew of. "H-h-h-how!? H-how is this possible, no, this can't be... W-why would this be? Could it be-no, not possible."
Afton slaps the man to stop his babbling. It doesn't hurt him for obvious reasons, but the knock to his brain easily draws his attention, "Now, you are going to answer my questions, or I'll permanently remove your abilities and leave you stranded without limbs in Freeside or some other shit hole." he states, lying through his teeth.
"Y-you can't do that!" Macka exclaims, unsure if Afton's threat was actually possible.
Afton shrugs, "You think you are the first Psyker I've come across? How else do you think I can stop your powers from affecting me?"
...
"Now, I would like you to activate your pain receptors. Torture just isn't any fun without the screams that go along with it." he drawls maliciously.
Two hours later :
Afton steps back into the observation room while wiping Macka's blood from his face, the 'session' with him hadn't gone perfectly, but he'd gotten as much as he needed at this moment. Macka was unwilling to give up his secrets, primarily due to self-preservation if Afton had to guess.
If Macka squealed everything, then, Afton wouldn't need to keep him 'alive' anymore. Still, torture against resistant people was a long and arduous process, so he'd have Dala or Glados take over when he couldn't be bothered.
He steps out and gives a small wave to Josie, Usanagi, and Dala who'd been watching the entire thing, with the former looking green at the gory sight she'd just witnessed. The other two were fine due to their experience and careers, but even then, Usanagi looked uncomfortable.
"Afton, you said you have a way to turn off his abilities... Was that true?" Josie asks after composing herself.
Afton shrugs, "Nah, I was bull-shittin'. If I was able to do that, then my father would probably be back to normal by now." he rubs his chin in thought, "Still, disabling Psyker abilities is probably something we want to look into, Glados, put that on the project list please."
"Affirmative."
Dala floats closer to him, her monitors almost touching his nose as she pushes them towards him, "How were you able to resist his control? Was it due to your own, unique mutations?" she asks, gesturing at his new plant arm with a manipulator.
He smirks, "You'd love for me to tell you, which is why you can find out for yourself... I'll give you two hundred new test subjects if you manage to figure out how I did it." he says, wanting to get some revenge for Christine's sake until Dala gets a human body again.
"OoooOOoo, challenge accepted." Dala says before quickly floating off somewhere.
He turns to Usanagi and Josie, "Alright, now that's dealt with... We should probably talk about what I, or my body said a couple hours ago."
Josie crosses her arms and nods, "Yeah, well, no... Unless what you said had some truth to it, I don't think it really matters."
He shakes his head, "Still, it's better we talk about it if it bothers you... Usanagi, you can stop worrying as well, you have permission to stay here for as long as you like... To be honest, we could probably do with a Doctor and Cybernetics expert to pick up some of the projects the others are too busy to deal with." he explains
She slowly nods, "I would love to, but, I want to get my clinic back up and running, without me any medical care to the poor in Freeside would completely disappear... No one else really wants to do charity after all."
"It's good I'm willing to pay you for your time then... Or, if an hourly rate doesn't suit you, we could do it based on commission for each project you complete? Say, thirty thousand caps for a small one, and sixty for the others." he questions, not really knowing how expensive her services would be... It wasn't like he was low on caps either, especially after coming back from the Sierra Madre... With the new matter converters, he could literally print money without a problem... Or print gold? Hm, the energy required for pure gold was probably more than the substance was worth to be honest.
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章 647: Days past
It's been a couple days since Macka's capture, not much had happened aside from the ongoing negotiations with House, and the renovations to Big Mt and Novac.
Usanagi had chosen to be paid on commission in the end, thinking that the projects Afton assigned wouldn't be all that difficult... How very wrong she was... The Cybernetic eye implants were almost finished though, so she'd get paid for that one fairly soon.
During this time Afton had quite a lot on his plate. With the absence of the NCR, bandits, raiders, cannibals, and gangs attempted to take control of some areas of the Mojave. These places included trade routes, nearby the New Vegas farms, the empty vaults... Some even tried to claim the now empty Camp McCarren for their own, wishing to steal any weaponry or equipment the NCR may have left behind.
The same could be said for all the Legion camps that'd been abandoned once their war for the Mojave had brutally failed. Fortunately, the Legion wasn't known for its vast military armaments, so a few bandits claiming a bunch of machetes and sportswear wasn't a problem.
He also wanted to try and clean up Freeside while he was at it, but House apparently had it handled. The Securitrons that previously were only seen on the Strip had now invaded the slums, House's influx of robotic soldiers and law keepers allowed him to finally deal with the criminal element that'd taken hold of the place.
House knew who were the troublemakers were, it was his city after all, and he had surveillance basically everywhere one would care to look. Overnight, almost every gang, criminal, and spy were apprehended.
Of course, there were no prisons in the Mojave, so House had to ask Bulwark for help in dealing with his new prisoners. Afton elected to use the Chips... Or at least, the technology they were based on.
Chipping each and every criminal found in Freeside would literally take weeks, if not months to do, let alone the resources spent on chips that may or may not be rendered useless once the person was executed.
So, they used a machine that was temporarily attached to the base of a person's skull to temporarily induce the effects of the chip. This would allow Afton and House to tell what someone's intentions were when asks questions.
So, when House asked each and every person whether they would return to the Mojave if sent away, a large portion lied and said they would. Those that agreed to never come back were shipped of East into Legion territory where they could make 'better' lives for themselves.
As for the people that refused to leave? Well, let's just say, Dala was given an early Christmas present.
Afton questioned House on what he'd actually do concerning the many chem addicts and homeless people living in Freeside. You couldn't turn a slum into a prosperous city without addressing them, at least somewhat.
His answer both confused and surprised Afton however. House intended to make all drugs, chems, and other similar things legal. His reasoning for this? You couldn't tax illegal drug trade, not without basically owning it yourself, which defeated the point of making it illegal anyway, aside from maybe claiming the moral high ground.
Of course, to stop thousands of people OD'ing in the streets overnight, House pushed forward a strategy Afton hadn't ever seen before. He opened up chem sellers that would only sell certain amounts depending on a person's body weight and overall health.
Not only that, but the sellers each had separate 'recreation' rooms that'd allow people to use chems while being monitored by doctors in case something went wrong.
This almost completely stopped all chem deaths in Freeside, though, there was still a homelessness problem, which Afton also asked House about.
The man explained that after taking control of the drug and chem trade, chem addicts would need some sort of income to actually purchase it. Crime wasn't possible for them anymore due to the presence of Securitrons, and gangs had completely vanished, leaving a large workforce eager for employment... Which House would use to start slowly rebuilding the ruins of Las Vegas.
Of course, House needed proper tools and vehicles fit for the job, and so hired Bulwark yet again to get started on that. There would be temporary accommodation built near Sharecropper farms so House could get started on demolishing the desolate and ruined skyscrapers that were somehow still standing in Freeside.
Afton was looking forward to what New Vegas would look like in a few years under House's leadership.
Now that Freeside had been claimed by House, most of the people that valued their freedom above all else elected to settle down in Westside, the place hadn't yet been cleared of criminals, but House had seriously considered it... Were it not for Afton cautioning him to slow down and let the population acclimate to the new changes, he'd have either bulldozed that slum to the ground, or sent an army of Securitrons there to clear it up.
Afton didn't think it'd be wise to antagonize the now vagrant population of idealistic wastelanders wishing for ungoverned freedom. It was best to let them settle down in Westside and slowly introduce changes, like boiling a frog in water.
He did want to preserve the Thorn as well, the arena that allowed people to fight each other and dangerous creatures for caps... This was the solution in Afton's mind to the problem of mercenaries without work. With the war finished and the Mojave at relative peace, the mercenaries would need to find other work.
Sure, there was a never-ending amount of mutated creatures to fight, but Afton didn't think everyone would be happy to be glorified pest control. Thus, the Thorn. Once Westside was claimed by House, Afton would help make another, more readily available 'Thorn'... He considered making a colosseum, but rejected that due to the Legion and the similarities people would draw from it.
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