Chapter 265 - Neguntiations

Name:Steel Waste Author:Niggross
Afton taps his foot before refocussing his attention on the robots, of which Dr. Klein is apparently still trying to think of a way to bribe him. "Hmm, alright, I'll work for you all... Under one condition!"

...​​

"...OH? WERE YOU TALKING JUST NOW, LOBOTOMITE? I WAS THINKING..." Klein says, having not been aware of his surroundings at all.

Afton frowns, "Ok, since you want to be like that, I'll help you all, under two conditions." he states, increasing his ask after being snubbed by Klein.

"Dr. Klein, chances are the lobotomite is going to increase their asking price every time we ignore them!" Zero says.

"REALLY?... THEN THE LOBOTOMITE IS CAPABLE OF BASIC ADDITION!... MATHS!" Klein exclaims.

"I WILL HELP UNDER THREE CONDITIONS!" Afton shouts, causing the robots to still and turn towards him.

"FINE... FINE! WHAT ARE YOUR CONDITIONS, LOBOTOMITE?" Klein reluctantly asks, not allowing himself to go off on another tangent and potentially get forced to give up more ground to Afton.

Afton holds out his hand and extends one finger, "First! I want any resources you have around that may be useful to me, so that means weapons, armour, or any other tech that could potentially help."

"It wants WEAPONS!? Weapons are dangerous! We can't let a LOBOTOMITE carry weapons!" Borous retorts.

"Dr. Borous, it appears as if you've not observed the veritable arsenal the teddy bear is carrying... I am no expert in combustion pistols, but I know one when I see one." Dala states, pointing her monitors towards Afton's pistols and Anti-Material rifle still slung on his back.

"But... But-" Borous stutters out, but is interrupted before he'd able to formulate an argument.

"ENOUGH! GIVE THE LOBOTOMITE THE WEAPONS WE HAVE... IN ANY CASE, THEY WILL NEED IT AGAINST DR. MOBIUS' ROBO-SCORPIONS, AND THE OTHER 'FAILED-EXPERIMENTS' AROUND BIG MT" Klein says.

"Err, what weapons do we actually have?" Zero asks.

...

"WELL? ANYONE OF YOU HAVE ANYTHING THAT COULD BE USED AS A WEAPON!?" Klein loudly asks.

"I recall using Dr. 8's sonic-sound-emitter-projecto-gun to massage my bio gel..." Dala sheepishly admits. And Afton was sure if they still possessed skin they'd be blushing...

"*BZZZZTCH, BZZZZTCH, BZZZZZZZZTCH*" 8 buzzes out, everyone but Afton somehow understanding him.

"WAIT, IF WE ALREADY HAVE THE SONIC EMITTER, WHAT'S THE POINT IN SENDING THE LOBOTOMITE TO X-8!?" Dr. Klein asks.

"*BZZZZTCH! BZZZZTCH!*"

"EMITTER FREQUENCY? SHOULDN'T THERE ALREADY BE ONE LOADED?"

"*Bzzch...*" 8 sounds out, sounding almost embarrassed.

"I DON'T CARE YOU FAULTY RADIO-BRAIN! JUST DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO AND GET IT WORKING!" Klein says.

"*Bzzzzzch...*" 8 says before floating away, behind some machinery. Before Afton's able to ask what he's doing a strange sound starts coming from 8's position.

"*Bztch! Bzch! Bztchh!*"

"What is that sound?" Afton asks, curious.

...

"I... Think 8's sonjaculating into the gun. Getting it... Warmed up." Zero says, sounding slightly nausious.

"*BZZCH,BZZCH,BZZCH,BZZCH!BZZZZZZZZZCH!... BZZTCH*"

"Ding, turkey's done..." Zero states in exasperation.

8 floats over to where Klein in and tries to pass off the Sonic Emitter with one of its manipulators, but Klein backs off from it, "YOU GIVE IT TO THE LOBOTOMITE, I'M NOT TOUCHING THAT THING!"

8 floats to Zero who instantly rejects it, "Oh, I don't think so."

Dala, apparently having enough of there 'tomfoolery' just snatches the gun away from 8 with a manipulator, "I'll do it if you two are going to be ashamed of your technological needs..." she examines the emitter closer before continuing, "Let me give it a little sterilization first..." she says, sounding less enthused now that she'd gotten a better look at it.

Afton watches with rapt interest as Dala fails to 'sterilize' it in any way he'd recognise. No, instead she just brings the gun closer to her voice emitter and starts making a strange noise, "WooooOOOOoooooOOOooooo... Alright, all anti-bacterial fresh. Here you go, my little teddy bear. I have thoroughly removed all RobCo term link spew from the device. It is clean, shiny, and ready for your hands." she coo's before dropping the Sonic Emitter into his outstretched hands.

The weapon itself looked like a typical futuristic gun, with the exception of the sound detector that displayed what at first glance looked like a blue heart-beat sensor. The pistol's casing itself looked like a simple metal barrel with vacuum tubes and other electronic gadgets attached to it... At the end was a speaker, one presumably designed to fire deadly sonic waves.

[Sonic emitter - revelation]

Strength req : 2

DMG : 31

Crit dmg : 18

Crit mult : 1x

AP : 30

Weight : 2

Value : 10000

Special : +50 damage against robots outside Big MT, +20 damage against Big MT robots and power armour. Critical strikes cause 10-second paralysis.

Huh, causes paralysis and does bonus damage to robots and power armour... It makes sense that it would be weaker against Big MT robots who are presumably designed with this weapon in mind. All it meant was it would be far more effective outside of Big MT, something which Afton fully intended to take advantage of.

He straps to it the bandoleer on his chest that's also holding his plasma pistol and his Sawed-Off shotgun. "What ammo does this use?" he asks, despite fully knowing that it required Energy Cells, judging alone by the shape of receptacle on the top of the gun.

"WHAT AMMO DOES IT USE!? WHY I-..." Klein's upcoming rant peters off, "I DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW! DR. O! WHAT BATTERY SIZE DOES THE DEVICE NEED?"

"Just plain old energy cells if I bio-gel hasn't crusted over and coagulated Dr. Klein." Zero says.

"So, anyone got any spare Energy Cells to use this thing? There's no point of having it if I lack the ammunition to use it."

"Ah, I used to... But all my batteries were used up on my vibr-... Vivisectors..." Dala admits.

"*Bzzzch!*" 8 states before floating over and dropping some Energy Cells in Afton's hands.

"THERE. WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER CONDITIONS?" Klein asks as Afton checks over his new weapon.

Afton shakes his head though, "My first condition isn't complete yet, I said ALL resources, meaning any weapons, armour, or tech you have." he states, not allowing himself to get sidetracked.