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.