章 649: Stories from the Divide

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.