บท 364: Extortion
Boone huffs at him but relents, "We need to talk about your relationship with 'that' place when everyone's together... Sounds like you more than just 'escaped' that place." he states before looking around the encampment. "Think we should burn this place? Personally, I want the Legion to see our handiwork."
Afton shrugs, "As long as we don't leave traces that we were here, do whatever you want... Though, I think we should return to Searchlight before any Legionaries come to visit, there's no point to being covert if we let them see our faces."
The group eventually elect to just leave the ruined camps alone so the Legion can get a taste of their own terror tactics.
Once they return to camp they're greeted with a Sgt Astor who apparently hadn't slept all night. The bags under his eyes were bigger than even, but even with that he looked incredibly happy to see them. "You're back!? How did it go?" he quickly asks.
Afton nods, "All encampments have been destroyed... But... There was a problem..."
Astor raises a brow, "If you dealt with all of the camps then I can't imagine a problem that can outweigh the positives of this..."
"Well, we arrived too late to save any captives." Afton states, putting on the grimmest face he could manage without bursting into laughter.
Boone sends a sharp glance at the back of Afton's head but the former-brotherhood member just ignores it.
Astor deflates at the news, the happiness of avoiding their encroaching demise washing away upon hearing that the civilians the Legion had captured were dead. If he were to put the feeling into words, he'd say that he felt the collective weight of their lost souls on his shoulders. "I. See."
While Afton's trying to find the right words to console the quietly distraught man, he's interrupted as the other half of his group arrives.
Josie runs through the NCR camp and arrives right in front of Afton while giddily hopping on the balls of her feet, "Afton! There's, like, three Fire trucks down near the Fire Station! You managed to fix up a pre-war bike, can you do the same for that? Can you!?" she quickly says all in one breath...
Huh, he'd actually forgotten about those things... They would make a good base for a vehicle, strong, sturdy, with a large engine capable of carrying around tons of water. The only problem was the fact that they were deep in irradiated land.
Sure, he wouldn't be bothered by it, but Josie's whole reason for being a part of their group was to help on the engineering side of things. He could already imagine the face she'd make if he repaired it without her.
Plus, he wanted Daisy to help with the process as she expediated repairing the bike by a huge degree. This time they weren't just repairing the vehicle though, he intended to modify it into a veritable fortress, one able to withstand the explosion that'd ended up killing his precious Dirt-Bird.
He sighs and looks to Josie, "I think we'd need to transport it outside of the irradiated area before we could do anything do it... I for one don't want to sit in radioactive materials while repairing it, just because I lost my arm once doesn't mean I want to grow a third." he explains, causing the woman to pout.
He shakes his head at her look and continues though, "But, once we get to Novac, I'm sure we could fix up a vehicle to tow a couple Fire Engines out of Searchlight..."
"Really!?" she quickly perks up, her change in emotions almost jarring to those watching.
"Yeah... Sure..."
Karl arrives not long after Josie does with Dog-meat, though by the twitch in his eye, he isn't happy. "I am not taking that woman on another job, ever again." he states.
"What? I thought I did well..." Josie asks in surprise.
Karl scoffs, "You spent two hours staring at those fuckin' trucks, leaving me and Fido here to do all the work. You're lucky the Legion weren't around otherwise they'd have you bagged and tagged before you could say 'fire truck!'"
By the end of his rant, Josie was looking particularly sheepish meaning that most of what Karl had said was probably true. "I-er, won't do it again... Sir?"
Karl just huffs and looks to Afton, "Things go well on your side?"
He nods, "You could say that. Everything was handled, Searchlight should be safe for a couple weeks at least."
"That doesn't fill me with much confidence..." Astor says from the side, knowing that the Legion would probably send more forces later on. He hoped his superiors would see sense before that and send him some reinforcements. "Thanks for your help anyway guys, I appreciate it. You can rest in camp until you move on to your next destination, until then, I need some sleep myself. Spend most of the night worrying about you lot." he admits.
Afton smirks at Astor, shakes his head and holds out his hand to him before the man can leave. "We did this from the good of our hearts Sergeant... So wouldn't it be prudent to reward such 'honest' people?"
...
Astor looks behind Afton to Boone and Karl for help, but the latter just laughs at his plight while the former shrugs. "Ah, come on Afton, you almost bled me completely dry last time you were here... Shouldn't working simply to strengthen your country be enough?" he asks, causing Karl to laugh harder.
Afton shrugs, "As a Patriot, I need to keep my weaponry clean and stocked with ammo. I can't do that without caps. Plus, you'll be taking all of the credit for eliminating the Legion forces, I reckon there'd be a promotion or two on its way as well. What's that compared to some meaningless caps?"
...
Astor just releases a long, deep sigh and reaches for the pouch on his belt, tossing it at Afton. "There are 300 caps in there, that's all I got. No drinks or girls for this guy, thanks." he complains, but everyone present knows that regardless of his attitude, he's still grateful for the help.
Afton tosses the bag in the air a couple times to judge its weight before nodding. "Pleasure doing business with you, Sargeant." he drawls jovially.
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Niggross
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บท 365: I'm making a note here... Huge failure.
Elsewhere :
At the top of the Think Tank dome, Glados could be seen quickly looking around at the various projects currently being conducted. Her glowing orange eye constantly looking for anything prohibited or outright breaking the rules.
At first she had some reservation about the ants below her, but soon enough they began to prove their worth. Despite their intelligence not matching her own, they utilised it in unique, and often baffling ways.
Each of their unique personality quirks and attitudes allowing them to come to conclusions she otherwise hadn't thought possible. Regardless though, they were still incredibly annoying to monitor, forcing her to intervene on a daily basis when she spots something approaching the line her creator had drawn.
Many projects had been making steady progress, Saturnite Alloy becoming easier and easier to make in larger quantities and better quality. Not to mention their slow improvement on holograph technology, having only recently constructed a working hand-sized holoprojector.
The previous Holoprojectors were the size of a small room, so reducing their size to a handheld device must have been their greatest discovery since her creator had restarted the Think Tank. The only issue with it was the lack of range, and sadly, the only way to improve this would be to send a satellite into orbit. Something she'd bring to her creator's attention once he returned.
Doctor Borous had been busy as of late due to her creator's actions too. He'd teleported a huge pile of corpses along with some viable eggs belonging to them. The scientist had been almost constantly working to compile their genome into their advanced computers.
Glados herself had gotten started on her creator's request and was currently trying to find the best way to strengthen the leather and turn it into viable armour to make clothing from. Her processors allowed her to multitask on many things, but soon enough she'd likely need an upgrade due to how many projects were occurring... She knows she needs to keep a constant eye on Dr Borous tests with the eggs... The last thing the crater needed was another infestation.
"MACHINE! MUST YOU HOVER OVER ME LIKE AN OVERBEARING BROOD MOTHER? THIS PROJECT NEEDS MY ABSOLUTE CONCENTRATION, NOT SOMETHING I CAN EMPLOY WITH YOUR BREATH ON MY NECK!" one of the most annoying ants exclaims.
Glados just turns her visual sensor towards the scientist as she drawls, "I am unsure what you are expressing, I lack the cardiovascular system to produce such a phenomenon, and you lack the neck for me to execute it upon. Perhaps the corrosive properties of bio gel have rendered you an invalid?"
"H-HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME IN THAT MANNER!" the ant explodes, pointing a manipulator at her.
"One of the indicators for detecting an Invalid is sudden violence, add emotional instability and immaturity and the results are evident. Perhaps I need to execute my functions upon you, Meat-bowl." she states ominously.
Klein upon hearing this quickly goes silent, he was unsure of what functions the robot was referencing, but whatever it was couldn't be good... It's disregard for him and his position only made him warier of its retaliation. "I-I WILL GET TO WORK!"
Glados observes the scientist with her sensor before nodding her large body slightly, of course, she'd never tell the scientist that 'her functions' were simply to report the scientist insubordination to her creator. She had heavy limitation on the aggressive actions she was able to take, so ominous threats were the best she could manage without something drastic occurring.
*CRACKLE!*
The sound of a teleportation relay activating has Glados quickly swap to another sensor outside the Think Tank. There appeared to be around fifty dishevelled and dirty Meat-bags directly outside the door of the Think Tank.
They were all currently looking around the newly renovated crater with what Glados could only assume was surprise and awe. This agreed with her as her work doesn't seem to be completely unappreciated, even from some random organisms that'd appeared in her territory.
She assumed that her creator was responsible for sending them as he'd done the same with the Deathclaw samples. Now all she needed to do was decide whether they were test subjects or something else...
Glados extends one of her external bodies towards the new organisms who flinch away at the robot slowly approaching them. The orange glow of her visual sensor brushes her their forms as she examines them, "Greetings. My designation is the Guidance Legislatorship and Defense Operating System, or if that is too much effort for you organisms to say, Glados." she drawls out contemptuously to the new ants.
An ant with red hair and freckles steps forwards with a note in hand, it holds it out for Glados to read, "Not test subjects?" she mutters, looking back at the ants again, wondering what purpose they could serve.
The red-haired ant nods, "To be honest, Afton didn't really say what we were going to be doing here... Apart from the fact that we'll be protected and provided for..."
Glados visual sensor lens retracts slightly as if she were squinting, "So you wish to freeload off of my creator's unnecessary charity and hospitality?"
The red-haired ant quickly shakes their head, "No! Not at all. Afton may have not given us much other choice, but I'll be sure to work my keep. I'm sure I could help you out with some things around here... Er, my name is Cass by the way.
"Your functions as a Meat-bag are limited. You lack the innovative intelligence the others that reside here possess, and you lack the strength common in males of your species. Other than tools to increase Big Mountains population, I see no use for you." Glados explains, causing many of the women to flinch and look put down.
Cass quickly shakes her head, "You may be one of those egg-heads, but I'm sure I know things that you do not. Do you know trade routes across California? Do you know trading etiquate? Do you know how to write up proper contracts?"
"Everything you have just listed are of no concern to me or my creator. Trading is unnecessary under overwhelming force, negotiation is unnecessary when you own everything, contracts are unnecessary when you already own them, etiquette is meaningless when you hold the power." Glados states, but begins combing over her own words to see if there was truth in them, and not just a reply made in spite.
As her creator had always said to her, 'knowledge is power', there must have been a reason other than charity for him to invite these organisms here, and she was determined to find out. "You will be assigned lodging in the newly constructed guest center." she says as a mixture of Cyber-dogs and spider robots arrive and begin leading them.
"Organism designated Cass, we will discuss your potential uses further once you have all grazed." Glados states, disappearing before Cass can send a victorious grin at the robot.
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Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
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