Chapter 261 - Think HARDER

After staring at the cloudy horizon for a couple minutes Afton eventually decided to find out who'd taken him here. And whether or not he had to crack some skulls together once he met them. Quickly he descends down the staircase and continues into the door on the opposite side of the room named 'Think Tank'.

Once through the doors he's introduced with a room not dissimilar from the Brotherhood bunker, though something he could immediately notice was the fact that something had changed... It was as if he was walking through some kind of invisible forcefield, he'd felt something activate once he was through, but couldn't put his finger on it.​​

He walked through a metal hallway and was prepared to grab his... Guns? Wait, why would he do that?... He remembered from past experience that it was best to be prepared, but right now he couldn't fathom any harm coming to him or someone else.

Indeed, his well-trained habits had almost caused him to go mad in some kind of perpetual-thought-loop, constantly trying to prepare for a threat that couldn't possibly be there. No, after some minutes he'd managed to separate those circular thoughts from himself, distancing them as it were.

He'd find out why he felt like this once he found his 'caretakers', until then he'd need to stay away from any V.I.O.L.E.N.T thoughts. Urrgh, just thinking about it gives him a headache.

Soon enough he comes across a staircase leading out of the hallway, once he'd climbed it he was greeted with a humungous room, it was as if he was inside a hollowed-out dome, but not only that, his 'science senses' were tingling. On every corner of the room was some kind of advanced machinery with a specific purpose, all of which looked operable and pristine.

As someone who was well versed in many, if not all sciences he was almost drooling at this... Especially since there were many machines he didn't know the use for. Something you'd be hard-pressed to find.

Indeed, across the walls of the dome were many, many terminals, monitors, and other advanced methods of surveillance. He had been so enthralled in the 'majesty' of this place that he'd almost not noticed the five peculiar robots floating at one end of the room.

They just sat there staring at him, their bodies comprised of a small glass dome encasing their brains and whatever other bio-gel that is used to keep them alive, and three monitors depicting human features, two eyes and a mouth to be precise.

For some reason the monitors weren't properly sized with one another, making it look like a science experiment gone wrong. Each one of the five robots had different colour brain domes, allowing him to somewhat keep track of which is which.

Honestly, Afton was tempting to just continue standing here as the robots seemed to be waiting for him to get closer so they could address him... Why else would they be waiting in a formation above spotlights illuminating their bodies?

Shaking his head, he walks towards them. They had saved his life, so he did feel gratitude towards them, perhaps they weren't as bad as they loo-

"I THOUGHT I HEARD THE PACIVICATION FIELD KICK IN." The robot with the blue brain dome loudly states before turning towards the others, appearing to try and whisper despite its volume, "ALL RIGHT, SHHH. NOBODY. MOVE. I'LL HANDLE THIS."

...

Afton almost guffaws at the spectacle, but chooses to stay quiet for now... He wouldn't want to ruin their preprepared speech, now would he?

The robot turns back towards him and continues, "BE WARNED, INTRUDER! YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE MIGHTY THINK TANK OF BIG MT, THE COLLECTIVE GENIUSES OF... WE..." The robot turns towards its colleagues again, "BY OPPENHEIMER, WHICH ONE OF YOU SELF-PROFESSED GENIUSES HAS BEEN ADJUSTING MY VOLUME KNOB? WHO WAS IT? WAS IT YOU 8?" he asks, pointing the monitors towards the one with the green dome.

Strangely, the response is garbled and in some foreign method of communication Afton wasn't aware of, "BZZZZZTCH!*"

The leader robot with the blue dome seems to snort, "OH, 'DR. O' WAS IT? LIKELY STORY, O COULDN'T SPARK TWO NEURONS IF THEY WERE IN A LATTICE OF BIOMED GEL."

The robot with the light blue, almost grey brain dome retorts to this, "What? Me? Breaking news, Klein, it wasn't me alright?! I am the robotics engineer, 8 is soundwaves, that's his 'speciality." he says in a nasal voice before continuing, "You always do this! You always demean me in-front of guests! And it's not 'O' alright it's Zer-"

The robot now known as Klein interrupts 'Zero' and his monologue, again turning towards Afton who was watching this as if it were a sitcom... "ENOUGH! EITHER OF YOU DO IT AGAIN, AND IT'LL BE THE LAST TIME. NOW... NOW..." he trails off, "...GREAT, NOW I FORGOT WHAT I WAS SAYING... WHAT WAS I TALKING ABOUT?" he asks, and Afton takes the opportunity to finally converse with his 'caretakers'.

"I believe you were about to explain how I got here and how you cured me of my illness?" Afton says as if helping the robot recover his train of thought.

"AH YES... WAIT, NO! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!? I WAS ALMOST FOOLED BY THIS... THIS... LOBOTOMITE!" Klein spits as if he'd just tasted something disgusting, not apparently taking Afton's advice very well.

"NO, IT MUST'VE HAD A BRAIN SPASM OF SOME KIND, NO LOBOTOMITE COULD FORM RATIONAL 'THOUGHT', CERTAINLY NOT ENOUGH TO OUTSMART ME!... WAIT, HOW DID A LOBOMOITE GET INTO THE DOME ANYWAY!? BOROUS!? YOU WORK WITH ANIMALS, WHAT IS THIS THING DOING HERE!?" Klein asks the robot with the dark green brain dome.

Afton would be insulted at being called an animal or 'lobotomite', but he simply couldn't find it in himself to be angry at them. "I'm not an animal, or a 'lobotomite' as you seem to be calling me. My name's Afton Parker, a mercenary you somehow saved from a deadly fungus." he states.