Chapter 229 - Professional Intrigue

Upon hearing Afton's words of encouragement Anja blushes slightly, though, it's hard to tell due to her rotting skin. She honestly couldn't remember the last time someone had believed in her, or even spoken to her in a positive way... Maybe sticking with him wouldn't be such a bad idea?

"I-... If you really think I can do it then... Will you have me?" she says sheepishly in a hoarse voice.​​

Afton grins at her, "Of course! I made the offer after all." he holds out his hand, and waits for her to reciprocate. She hesitates but eventually does due to a strange feeling pushing her towards a decision. "Welcome to the team Anja."

[Anja has granted you the Persistent Escapee Perk]

[Persistent Escapee] : Grants one extra try at forcing a lock open before permanently destroying it.

[Anja has become your companion]

Afton continues shaking Anja's hand as he glances at the notifications, smiling at the additional Perk he'd gained... While not incredibly useful, it certainly did shore up one of his weaknesses, that being Lockpicking.

"I promise you'll not regret this Anja. Now, you can rest for a bit longer or try and find Boone and Karl, I need to go speak with Dhatri about some more jobs we might take... Other than that getting you geared up is next on the list." he says, looking her over and shaking his head at the Fiend-clothing she was forced to wear, as well as her lack of any weaponry.

"I'll find the others..." she says, still unsure if she'd be safe alone in this place. The looks some of the NCR troopers sent her reminded hero of times she'd spent in cages.

Afton nods and walks off, looking for Dhatri. With Violet, Nephi, and Cook-Cook now dead, he needed to find another source of income. Taking Bounties was very, very profitable, and Afton knew there'd likely be more than just those three... Perhaps a bounty on Motor-Runner, the leader of the Fiend that was almost never seen outside of their base.

After twenty minutes of walking around Camp McCarren Afton was less concentrated on bounties though... There was only one thought on his mind, where the fuck was Dhatri?

Elsewhere :

Doctor Hildern had been in contact with the other OSI labs ever since he'd discovered his new obsession. Afton Parker, or at least, that's what he calls himself. For all Hildern knew the man could be a shapeshifting mutated deathclaw, his blood certainly told many different stories that conflicted so much it might suddenly dissolve into water and oil respectively.

Afton had recently had two drastic rapid mutations that completely changed his physiology. While yes, his appearance had not changed all that much, inside he was more akin to how Ghouls function, their bodies becoming conduits for radiation. It wasn't just that though, it was clear he'd had mutations in the past too, one he'd accidentally discovered being his cells ability to perform photosynthesis at a yet unseen before level of efficiency.

If they found some way to harvest these cells and utilise their abilities themselves, they might just solve any power problems the NCR would ever run into. Even Hoover Dam would be rendered useless due to the amount of energy they'd be able to generate.

Just thinking about it gave Hildern chills, aside from the obvious benefits, he was sure that Afton would continue to mutate... One didn't just mutate two, three, or four times and stop. There had to be a reason for it, even if he couldn't determine it, he had no idea what Afton would turn into given years of time to grow... Would he grow to a massive size like a super mutant behemoth? Would he gain claws like a death claw? Would he be able to breath fire like fire geckos?

All of these questions cumulate into one problem... Afton Parker was a bounty hunter, a dangerous profession that usually never saw someone living for more than ten years in it. At first he wasn't really worried due to Afton's apparent skill... But when he returned without an arm, Hildern started to plot.

He needed... No, Afton needed him. He needed to get Afton somewhere safe, somewhere he wouldn't get hurt and couldn't hurt himself. Once he'd aired his sentiments to his colleagues they'd reciprocated similar ones and helped him to plan.

And so, that's what led up to what he was doing now. Dr Hildern looked at the trooper before him and asks, "Could you please retrieve Afton Parker for me? Preferably alone? I have a job he would be perfectly suited for."

The trooper nods, "I'll get right on it sir." they say before quickly leaving.

Hildern eyes his colleague/assistant Angela Williams. He'd kept her out of any research concerning Afton and was going to continue such a trend. It would be his discoveries and his only, there was no way he'd let anyone else push themselves on something he was solely responsible for.

Afton had begun asking around for where Major Dhatri had gone after becoming fed up with looking himself, and soon discovered that the man had left to personally report on the situation around Camp McCarren... Apparently he'd taken one of the trucks and left straight for Hoover Dam where a majority of the Mojave's NCR forces were located.

However, before he got back to the others to see what their next plan of action was, he was interrupted by a trooper. "Dr Hildern has a job that he suspects you may be interested in, I'll take you there if you're interested."

Afton raises a brow, he'd tried to stay away from Dr Hildern... The man seemed to have some sort of obsession with him, probably due to his miraculous mutations and other physiological changes. But... He still needed more caps, he seriously wanted to get the Strength implant and see what the maxed out Perk looked like...

Sighing to himself, he eventually just nods at the trooper, "Take me to him then."