บท 298: Why, Gaben?
...
Afton raises a brow at what Borous had just said... Teleportation relay? He knew they said something about teleportation, but never had an opportunity to bring it up. He also doubted they would be willing to explain the technology to him, mostly due to the fact he might be able to use it to escape... Though, he'd be very, very wary about leaving without his brain...
"Teleportation array?" he asks, hoping the guilt trip he'd put Borous through would pull his attention enough for him not to notice him asking about this.
"Indeed. A technology that the American government sought, and funded... Unfortunately, we only managed to create it after the bombs had dropped. With us not wishing to leave the safety of Big Mt, it's all just been collecting dust... Aside from kidnapping... Unfortunate American citizens..."
"Explains the functions of this 'array' to me."
"The Teleportation array? Its the combined technology that facilities teleportation. It uses various relays via satellites to send an atomized person's parts to their desired destination... Usually intact. Of course, recently, one of our satellites seems to have been knocked out of the sky by some space junk, that's the one that abducting you I think."
Afton nods, from his vague, half-dead memory that matches up with what he saw. "Where would this 'teleportation' array be?"
"Why underground ofcour-I mean. You aren't SUPPOSED to know that... Do you have something else to ask? Truthfully, I am barely holding myself together... I thought such emotions were above me, such an irrational reaction..."
Afton nods sympathetically, "Last thing. The X-8 Facility. Is there anything I should know before I go there?"
"Oh, very much so. The various tests that you must pass to acquire the Sonic Emitter upgrade are rather... No, incredibly dangerous. Of course, I designed them that way... I thought that only our commie prisoners would be forced to go through them. Again, you have my apologies."
"What tests?" Afton asks.
"Tests where you'll be forced to fight sentry turrets, Cyberdogs, and the Lobotmites that seem to have broken into the facility... My old dog, Gabe, is still within the facility as well..." he adds, somewhat remorsefully.
"Your dog, Gabe?"
Borous nods his monitors, "He was a good boy. Used to be so happy back when I was human, his silly wet nose, playful demeanour... Appetite for chems." he growls the last part.
Afton raises a brow, "Wouldn't that make Gabe around two-hundred-years old?" he asks, wondering how on earth the dog was still alive.
"Ah, well. Cybernetics prolong an organic being's life. The... Experiments I conducted on my old pet drastically extended his lifespan... You might be forced to... Put Gabe down if you encounter him, I remember that he'd buried the Sonic Emitter schematics in the replica home." Borous leans in and whispers, "The others would say 'good riddance' so a failed experiment, but... After all I've done... Could you spare Gabe? He doesn't deserve what I did to him, even if it was in the pursuit of knowledge."
Afton shrugs, "I'll see what I can do... Any chance there's a way to avoid killing any of the other Cyberdogs in the test areas?" he asks, no wanting to kill potential assets. If he could gain control of the Cyberdogs, he'd be able to create an army of them... An army of durable Cyborg dogs that're able to fire sonic projectiles from their mouths... Yeah, sounds pretty good.
Borous appears to be in thought for a moment before nodding his monitors, "The test areas require Cyberdogs to be present... Or, at least, something similar to Cyberdogs. If I'm not mistaken, a shipment of Night Stalkers were sent to X-8 while the other staff were still alive. If you can gain access to the kennel before conducting the tests, you can replace the Cyberdog participants with Night Stalkers."
"Alright, that's fair... Do I need a key or some passcode to access the kennels?"
...
"Err, I am unaware of where the key currently is..." Borous admits.
Afton sighs, "Great." he'll just have to cut his way in like he had the VR room. "Alright, I'll leave you to mope about all those millions of people you indirectly killed, as well as the many innocent American citizens you Lobotomized." he says, giving a small wave.
In response Borous gives a short cry and quickly floats towards his room, the other scientists turning and watching this. Afton couldn't tell what they were thinking, but it must be something disrespectful to their colleague.
To be honest, Dr. 8 and Dr. Borous seemed like the only scientists that he'd 'get on' with. Once Borous came to terms with his actions and their consequences, perhaps he'd be more willing to ally with him and turn against his colleagues... Hm, he'll see in time.
For now, at least he had an idea of what is held in X-8. He'd gain access to the kennels, replace the Cyberdogs with Night Stalkers, see what he could do about Gabe, and finally retrieve the Sonic Emitter upgrade.
"User, sensors have been recalibrated. I did not find the issue, but trust I will be at 110% sneakiness onwards." Nyx's voice says.
Afton nods, "Thank you. Don't worry, I doubt another error like that will happen for... At least a week." he says, smirking slightly despite the fact he was referring to his recent death. Thinking on that, he did need to take less risks until his Perk was ready for use again... Maybe he should spend the rest of the day in the Sink to recover from the injuries he'd taken.
He wasn't exactly on a time limit, and he doubted Karl, Boone, and Anja would need his immediate assistance anytime soon. Plus, he was expecting to stay in Big Mt for a while, even after recovering his brain. He wanted to tinker with some technologies and try a couple things out.
Shrugging, he leaves the Think Tank and heads back up to the Sink to get some food and rest until tomorrow.
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บท 299: Meanwhile...
Meanwhile :
Karl and Anja were helping a large squadron of NCR soldiers dig a large trench not too far away from the Fiend's base, the Vault that they'd managed to steal for themselves. Boone was nearby, watching the Fiend's base through his Anti-Material rifle's scope.
Due to the Fiends lack of manpower and fear of another nuclear attack, they'd been hiding within the Vault until now. But the NCR knew it was only a matter of time before they tried to leave and fight their way out.
It's for this reason that Major Dhatri asked a few mercenaries to assist in this. And who better than the people who were responsible for the Fiend's downfall in the first place. Of course, he was a little perturbed at Afton's absence, but knew Boone and Karl were strong and efficient fighters regardless.
Anja heaves as she shovels another heap of dirt away, she'd be sweating were her pours not all rotten or cancerous to the point of redundancy. "Hah, hah... Maybe I shouldn't have accepted sir's offer..." She mutters, not liking the manual labour at all.
Karl chuckles but continues the work, "Don't scoff at some exercise... Just consider it exercise." he states.
"Ha! Exercise? More like torture! We're not elite military forces, so why do you drill me like one?" Anja asks.
"Because Afton'd be disappointed if you'd gotten no better from when he'd left." Karl says as he tosses another heap of dirt over his shoulder.
Anja has to bite her lip to stop from retorting, she hadn't heard from Afton ever since he'd left, and she was more or less sure he'd perished already... Karl and Boone seemed certain that he was still alive and kicking for some reason, but they hadn't seen the state he was in.
She'd told them what she thought, that Afton was probably face down in a ditch spreading the spores, or a pile of ashes after incinerating himself. Did they know something she didn't? She shakes her head, whatever it was, it wouldn't be enough to save him.
*BANG!!*
A gunshot echoes through the air, and everyone turns towards Boone who's barrel was smoking, he reloads before haphazardly gesturing towards the base where starving-looking Fiends seemed to be running out of their base.
Quickly, everyone threw themselves into the trench, readying their weapons as the Fiends opened fire on them. Of course, under the barrage of NCR soldiers, those unfortunate few didn't last all that long, their corpses riddled with holes before they even hit the floor.
Karl and Boone knew that those were just the 'sacrifices', to see if the NCR had set anything up while the Fiends were hiding. He knew they'd be forced to keep hiding, or commit to an all-out attack to finally escape the prison they'd inadvertently trapped themselves.
Boone sighs, "Well, keep digging, who knows when the next attack'll be." he mutters, still eyeing the exit through his scope.
Anja sighs and continues digging, wondering if this mercenary business was worth the effort...
Elsewhere :
"We can't expect god to do all the work." a man covered in bandages growls out as Tamia and Veronica leave the cave he was dwelling. The duo had just met the burned man, otherwise known as Joshua Graham, the man was currently in charge of the Dead Horses Tribe. And was basically the only one holding it from complete destruction via the White Legs.
He'd just explained to Tamia and Veronica that they were all in the same position. Under attack from the White Legs with no foreseeable recourse... Aside from working together to rid the threat from the lands of Zion.
The duo leaves the cave and walks past the many Dead Horse Tribesman who unabashedly stare at them as if they were some theme park attraction. "Think we should trust him?" Veronica asks, not knowing if what he'd said about the White Legs were true or not, even despite the fact the caravan had been ambushed by them.
Tamia just nods, "I do, we don't have many other choices I'm afraid... This 'Daniel' person he was speaking about is one of the only ones who actually knows the way out of Zion and back to the Mojave. I don't care if they ask us to burn everything belonging to the White Legs to the ground, we'll do as told and find our way back." she states.
"And if they ask us to butcher the men, women, and children in the White Legs?" Veronica asks tentatively.
Tamia's expression hardens, "Then we'll do as we must. From what Joshua said, they only need to reduce the White Legs ability to fight, I don't think killing the vulnerable counts... But even if it did, it's not like we can refuse."
"I know, but... I don't know if I could bring myself to do something like that..." Veronica mutters.
Tamia stops mid-step and sighs, "Look, you don't have to do anything you aren't willing to do. I will pick up your slack if need be, but we must get back to the Mojave..." she rubs his temples, "That piece of shit Benny is still living it up in New Vegas... That, and the more time we stay here, the worse this feeling of 'Deja Vu' is getting."
"Do you need a break? I'm not a doctor but I know a few things." Veronica asks warily.
Tamia shakes her head, "No. Come on, we still need to find those supplies Joshua asked for..." she smirks slightly, "Still, it's kind of funny that their whole tribe is scared to go inside any pre-war buildings."
Veronica shrugs, "It might be wise, I've seen my fair share of traps, and deadly mutated creatures setting up shop in those sorts of places."
"Don't forget the valuable loot." Tamia adds.
"And technology." Veronica continues.
"Fancylad Snackcakes."
"Weapons."
"Magazines."
"Robots."
The duo continues listing off things as they walk, the tense atmosphere seemingly dissipating as they jovially converse.
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