บท 594: Pissing Contest

"Aha! My pride and joys... Hm, as for creating an army?... It takes two to three months for an egg to hatch, after that it would naturally take around one to two years for a Deathclaw to fully grow. Of course, we utilise various chemical agents, food and genetic splicing to speed up that time, but it would take at least two years to have a fully army at your disposal." he explains.

Afton slowly nods, "Mhm, that's too bad. I was hoping to lead an army of Deathclaws when conflict at Hoover Dam finally breaks out." he chuckles at the thought, "Could you imagine their faces!?"

...

Afton shakes his head and eventually stops laughing, "Right, you guys' sense of humour matches Gabe..."

"So, who did you bring with you on the expedition anyway? I looked at the logs but didn't see any of my 'tamed' Deathclaws having gone out..." Borous suddenly asks.

Afton scratches his head, "Er? What do you mean?"

"I mean, the only Deathclaws you could have taken out without my knowing was the group that had control chips planted in their skulls... Unfortunately, the procedure had also rendered them infertile, you do know their names right?"

Afton shakes his head, "Of course not... The only way I would remember them is if you tattooed a number to their chests."

...

"I did do that." Borous states, causing Afton's brow to raise.

"But, neither of the Deathclaws I brought were tattooed..." Afton slowly says, wondering if there had been some sort of mistake.

"Did you see the surgical scars around their heads from where the chips had been installed? I put them inside their skulls so you must have seen those marks."

Afton again shakes his head, "No... They didn't have any marks on them whatsoever."

Borous quickly floats towards the lab door, "Then we have a problem... A MASSIVE problem!... A Deathclaw sized PROBLEM!" the scientist exclaims.

Afton follows the scientist as they fly as fast as they can towards the Deathclaw enclosure. "Those Deathclaws were fine though! Well behaved and followed orders..." he asks as they travel.

"I would hope so! That's what they're currently bred for!... But that doesn't mean there aren't risks! That's why I said to use the chipped ones!"

The duo continue moving until they reach the enclosure, both getting to the observation window where they examine each creature there... And sure enough, they both spot two scarred and numbered Deathclaws.

The chipped Deathclaws shouldn't be here, they were infertile and served no purpose other than for combat. So Afton must have accidentally swapped them with two unchipped ones somehow...

...

"Borous?" Afton asks as the scientist just stares dumbly into the enclosure. His voice breaking the brain-bowl out of their thoughts.

"Where are the chipped Deathclaws located? If what you said before is true, then perhaps those two you used are the bulls I need to be using for the next generation... But first I need to see them!"

Afton nods in agreement, he'd seen what some of the Deathclaw variants Borous had created do, some were mentally unstable and needed to immediately be put down, some were sluggish and lazy, while others were simply far weaker than their brethren...

Soon enough the frantic scientist and more or less interested protagonist reaches the kennels were the chipped Deathclaws were held. Once there they quickly spot the two unchipped creatures growling, grunting, and making other peculiar sounds towards the chipped ones. It was as if they were trying to communicate with their mentally deficient brethren, but becoming frustrated after not getting the replies they expect.

"You stay there doc, I'll be able to handle them if shit hits the fan, but I'd hate for you to be collateral." Afton states as he approaches the duo.

The chipped Deathclaws part and make way for him as he walks towards them, the two unchipped ones glaring down at him with their beady eyes.

"Yo, remember me?" he asks with a stern look

In response the two Deathclaws just chuff and growl, as if replying to his words. Though, he can easily see them flexing their claws. He'd learned from Borous that this was a challenging gesture, they were sizing him up. Seems like they were having second thoughts about following him since he lacked an army this time.

He bears his teeth and clenches his hands before them in return though, matching their gesture with a smug arrogance one wouldn't expect when presented with two massive predators.

The larger Deathclaw of the two takes a step forward and looks as if it would continue, but Afton just forms his plant arm into a massive claw dwarfing his opponents... Once the Deathclaws witnesses this it quickly backs down, looking deferential in Afton's presence.

He grins and looks back at Borous, "I think we've found your perfect specimens. Have some studies set up to determine how stable they are, oh, and try not to get killed while you're at it... We've almost found a way to stuff your brains into living bodies, it'd be a shame if you missed the opportunity." he adds before leaving the scientist to get to work.

The two Deathclaws watch Afton leave, and once he's out of sight they turn their attention towards Borous, who was suddenly feeling much smaller than he had earlier... "N-Nice Deathclaws..." he almost pleads placatingly as he makes a swift exit from the kennels.

Despite his rather panicked departure though, new ideas for these specimens were already swimming in his brain... It seemed that this new breed was similar to how dogs functioned, they were able to mark another creature, Deathclaw or not as the alpha, this is exactly what happened earlier between them and Afton.

The only problem now was to make sure they saw Bulwark officials as alphas... But, if that wasn't possible, then perhaps making Gabe the 'alpha' for now would work?