บท 185: Sewage Scrap

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 27!]

Afton received the level up as soon as he left the King's office, he quickly just put all the points into Energy weapons, putting it at 82 and moved on, wanting to get back to see what the others had discovered.

Afton returned to the Atomic Wrangler, parked Dirt-Bird and pushed his way into the establishment, he noticed Karl and Boone sitting at the bar almost immediately and went to sit with them.

"Judging by the fact I don't see Tamia or Veronica, I suppose they weren't in Freeside?" he asks while tapping on the bar table twice and ordering a whisky.

Both turn to look at him and shrug, "I don't know about you kid, but we've had one hell of a day... Still wondering if the smell if the sewer if following me or infused into my clothes..." Karl mutters.

"It's just you." Boone states while taking another swig.

"You guys were in the sewers?" Afton asks, wondering how they'd ended up there.

They nod, "Spotted some Fiends doing business with a gang, following them down into the sewers."

Fiends were in the sewers? Hm, well, atleast it isn't a clown offering red balloons. Afton idly thinks to himself as he muses on the situation. "Find out what they were doing down there?"

"Yeah... Apparently they were trying to dig their way into the blocked off sewers, they made it through but not before the tunnel collapsed behind them, trapping them under Freeside... As you know, the Fiends aren't well-liked around here." Karl states.

"That might be a problem... From what I've seen, the sewers are vast and it took Mr House a huge amount of resources and time to block off all of it... If the Fiends are able to breach one tunnel, then what's stopping them from doing the same to the others? They're already claiming the sewers outside Freeside, so it's only a matter of time before they start trying again... Did any other Fiends know that someone had breached through?" he asks.

Karl shakes his head, "Our interrogated Fiend didn't think so, could be wrong though..."

Afton taps on the table in an erratic pattern, "Let's go check it out again tomorrow, I wanna take a look to see if it's stable... If not then we'll let the Kings deal with it... Regardless, good work guys." he says, raising his whisky and clinking it against their drinks.

Boone downs the drink and looks to him, "So, how'd it go with the Kings?"

Afton smirks at him and is about to reply when James Garret answers for him from behind the bar. "You guys didn't hear?"

"Hear what?"

"This guy stopped a war from happening between the Kings and the NCR. Everyone in Freeside knows about it by now."

"How'd that happen?" Karl asks with curiosity shining in his eyes.

"Well," Afton explains his rather hectic day to them, starting with his beating up all the Kings to reach their leader, taking a job under him, meeting the NCR's 'unofficial' leader in Freeside, then intervening during a conflict and butchering a few Kings to stop it.

James Garret nods, "People are singing a slightly different tune, but you know how rumours are... You got a new nickname though Mr Executioner, at least 'Free Sheriff' doesn't sound as threatening..."

[Title acquired : Free Sheriff]

[Free Sheriff] : Negative Reputation in Freeside is harder to gain, people are more likely to listen to your commands in Freeside.

Afton glances at the new Title and mentally shrugs to himself, he wasn't planning on committing any crimes in Freeside, neither was he planning to rule it with an iron fist, so it'd be basically useless for now. Regardless, he wouldn't sniff at a free reward, especially as he just acted as he usually did.

"Whatever... I don't really care how people think of me, I'm just hoping the King delivers on his promise by tomorrow."

The next day Afton groggily got up... He'd drank the night away with his companions and hobbled back up to his room... From what he remembered at least. Hopefully he hadn't stuck his junior in anything nasty...

He quickly pats the bulge in his cover to make sure it wasn't a person, sighing in relief when he found it was just an air pocket. He quickly gets up, brushes his teeth and washes his face with some purified water before heading downstairs to the main floor of the Casino.

Boone was already up and waiting, so that just left Karl to come down... They played Caravan for an hour to pass the time before the old man finally made it down, sitting a bottle of purified water with a clammy face

"You're finally awake, while it's early I wanna check out those sewers." Afton says, feeling somewhat satisfied at the small grimace from Karl. His endurance had allowed him to drink the man under the table, he never even stood a chance.

Karl just waves at him, "Yeah, yeah... Just quieten down and get moving."

Afton and Boone just give each other amused looks before packing up their Caravan cards and heading out.

A small drive later and the group found themselves standing above the manhole that led down into the dank sewers.

Afton could vaguely hear the sound of thudding coming from it, Boone also noticed it and looked at them warily. "Something's down there..."

"More Fiends I'd bet... Seems like our guy as lyin' after all." Karl surmises.

Afton crouches and listens closer, "I don't know, sounds more rhythmic than Fiends stomping around would be..."

"We better take a look then." Karl says before hefting the manhole up and gesturing inside. "After you princess, you're the one who wanted to be here, so you get first dibs."

Afton just sighs and starts climbing down, his Anti-Material rifle scraping against the shaft-wall behind him. Obviously, whatever was down here would hear him... Hopefully, he'd be able to deal with it before they kill him twice.

He activates his Pipboy light once he reaches the bottom, almost guffawing at what he saw before him... Hundreds of... Robots.