章 230: Impossible Mission Acquired...

Afton's led through the main building of Camp McCarren, eventually reaching what should be the office of Dr Hildern. He follows the trooper as they step inside, noticing a quite attractive woman sitting in the corner of the room behind a desk piled high with papers.

He gives her a brief nod before walking into the next room, spotting an expectant looking Hildern who's resting his chin on his interlinked hands. "Ah! Mr Parker! You've decided to take the job then?" suddenly says as Afton enters the room, jolting as if he'd been sitting on a pin.

Afton raises a brow at him, "Er, I'd like to learn about the job before committing to anything, Dr Hildern." he states, still wary about the man's intentions.

His hesitation somewhat stifles Hildern's forwardness, but he quickly nods regardless. "That's fine." he coughs into his hand, "The job I have for you is one only you yourself would be able to do due to the many obstacles it presents. One of which is the heavy presence of radiation at the destination, which of course, wouldn't be a problem for you. This is the reason I requested you alone instead of with your colleagues."

Afton nods and Dr Hildern continues, "I've recently learned of a Vault that could possibly help solve the problem of plant-life lacking the ability to survive in the wasteland. I've sent a few people to observe it, and I've received a few samples... I must say, they are quite intriguing." he says, mentally adding 'But not as intriguing as you Afton.', "I need you to delve into the Vault and find any information on the strange plant-life growing there, as well as any experiments that may have been conducted by the previous Vault dwellers themselves."

A Vault huh? Afton needs to visit two more anyway to recover the ventilation components, so he could kill two birds with one stone. Not to mention he himself was interested in the research that might be held there. His maxed out Science skill already had his mind wandering to the many possibilities such organisms could present.

Though, he wasn't entirely sure on Dr Hilderns reasoning... Sure, radiation might prevent his companions from entering with him, but that didn't mean they couldn't be of use. He would rather that they work on other jobs as well, however, earning as much money as fast as possible would put them in a better position for a 'rainy day'.

"What's the pay for the job?" Afton asks, making sure to look at reluctant as possible for the best price.

Dr Hildern stills at this... Apparently he'd forgotten that he needed to pay Afton. "I-er, how much would you like for such a job?"

Afton internally grins, "Well, its a job that I could possibly lose my life in, where is the Vault located?"

"A long, long walk west of Westside."

Afton nods, "So, taking into account the long journey, risk to my life, as well as the specifics of the job, it'll probably cost around 1500 caps... Afterall, I am one of the only people around here that're immune to radiation. That is the reason you requested me." he says, turning the man's logic against him. Even if this was some sort of plot, he'd make sure to milk the man for everything he was worth.

Hildern's eyes bulge at the number, such a price was way too much for himself to personally afford, meaning he'd have to dip into the OSI funding to reach it... Not that he ever intended to pay the price of course, he nods his head, "I suppose I could work with such a price."

Afton nods, "I'll require a written contract as well if you don't mind." he says, wishing to make sure he had proof of the agreement.

Hildern squints slightly but agrees nonetheless, he couldn't reveal his true intentions so he'd go along with Afton's requests for now. He pulls out a premade contract that just needed the terms filled in, writing his signature before handing it to Afton who also signs it.

Afton nods at him, "Nice to do business with you Dr Hildern, I'll hopefully be back soon with research from the Vault." he says, walking towards the door.

"Do be safe Afton, losing such a fine spec-Person would truly hurt the NCR's future." Dr Hildern states, hoping Afton wouldn't notice the slip of the tongue... It was strange, it only ever happened when he spoke to Afton... Perhaps his excitement is getting the better of him.

Afton nods and leaves, but is almost immediately accosted by the woman in the next room. "I see your meeting with the Doctor is over, my apologies for prying but would you be willing to tell me what you discussed?"

Afton raises a brow for a moment before a grin finds its way onto his face, "Why would you need me to tell you? You seemed to be fine eavesdropping after all." he says, causing the woman to freeze. He continues, "If you wanted to be included you only needed to ask, I wouldn't mind having someone as beautiful as you accompanying me."

His words seemed to bring her out of her shock, "Erm, I-..." She shakes her head, deciding not to even reply to his compliment, "There are some things you should know about the Vault Dr Hildern is sending you to... We have already sent many people there, all of which have either gone missing or are likely dead."

Afton shrugs, "I don't mind that, it's just part of the job."

She shakes her head and frowns, "If caps are all you're interested in then I'd be willing to pay you if you manage to save anyone trapped there... I... I feel personally responsible for them as I recommended most of them to Dr Hildern, please, if you can, help them."

Afton sighs and runs his remaining hand through his hair, "Fine... Got any info on the people you sent?"

She nods, "A freelancer called Keely, she's a ghoul so I thought she'd be fine there, but she hasn't returned in weeks... Something must've gone wrong... Aside from her we hired some people called the Dowager Mercenary group, there were twelve people and all of them haven't returned."

Huh, Afton remembers the group, they'd been outside Vault 11 once he and his group had finished scavenging the place. Come to think of it, they hadn't learned anything about the Mini-Nuke bomb maker... Hm, he'd get Karl and Boone to work on it while he was busy with Vault 22, he'd get Anja to come with him as well, for some practical experience.