Chapter 277 - Forced-Passivity

That man had said something about a 'Courier' right? Afton wasn't sure but he suspected Tamia to be involved in some way... He hadn't met another Courier in all his travels in the Mojave thus far, and the way he spoke about her was somewhat ominous.

Of course, Afton could just be overthinking things, there had to be hundreds of thousands of couriers around the world, so what would the chances be of the courier he was describing to be the single courier Afton had personally met.​​

Though, he did speak of a place called the 'Divide', Afton already 'somewhat' knew of this place. It had been the trade path that led directly to the NCR. And had it stayed open, he knew there was no doubt that the NCR would control the entirety of the Mojave...

But... Something seems to have happened to it. Any whom enter the 'Divide' as it's now called, never return. The place is said to be one of the most inhospitable places in the world, from what he'd heard, it wasn't an incorrect statement either.

From heavy radiation that pervaded every inch of every surface, to winds that'd tear their flesh from your bones if you were caught by them. Afton had even seen logs in the Brotherhood of Steel that stated that most of its original inhabitants were still alive, having become ghouls who are now organised, militarized, and attack any that come near.

The man wanted his quarry to see the Divide, and what'd happened. Meaning that they might be somewhat responsible for the chaos and destruction that'd abruptly been caused there. He shakes his head, regardless, he'd deal with that when it came.

For now, he needed to sleep, heal up, and return to the Think Tank to ask about Christine...

He stores the Holo-Tapes in his backpack, wanting to preserve them and hopefully show them to Veronica. He was sure she'd be ecstatic to hear that Christine was... Probably alive.

[Quest received! Find Christine in the Sierra Madre!]

He raises a brow at the abrupt quest but shakes his head, he didn't need some ephemeral sixth dimension Pipboy to tell him to save his family. He'd rather skin himself alive than leave her alone now that he'd found her.

Deciding that he'd spent long enough fending off the exhaustion, he rests his head on the bedroll and closes his eyes, waiting for Morpheus to take him.

The next day Afton awoke with a start, the pain in his legs while having gotten significantly better, was still present. He checks himself over and finds that with the help of his mutations, perks, stimpacks, and proper treatment via his Medicine Skill, his legs were now only fractured.

The bones were slowly healing, but there was still clear weakness in his legs. He'd not take off the splints until they were completely repaired... Hopefully, once he was in the sunlight his healing factor would get another boost.

He cautiously gets up, continuing to use the Anti-Material rifle and X-2 Antenna as make-shift crutches. He takes one last glance around the room before heading outside, checking the area to make sure there weren't any lobotomites or Robo-Scorpions around.

Funnily enough, he could see the Robo-Scorpions still guarding the X-2 Transmitter Antenna Array door. He wondered if Mobius would try and starve him out of something? Still, this was pretty good, as if Mobius thought he was stuck inside the building then his Robo-Scorpions would be out of position when he attempts to take the next piece of Technology.;

Regardless, Afton begins his trek back to the Think Tank, the sunlight on his face revitalising him somewhat, while the extra strength it's granting him allows him to speed his pace up.

He's forced to avoid a few groups of roaming lobotomites, but eventually, he makes it back to the Think Tank in relatively good time. Once he enters, however, his thoughts of interrogating them about what they did to Christine abruptly dissipate. D.A.M.N Pacification field!

He takes a moment to massive his temples as a migraine strikes, his previously seething emotions getting suddenly cut off was causing him problems.

He quickly centres himself and allows the pacification field to strip him of any A.G.G.R.E.S.S.I.O.N he may feel. Once done he hobbles into the large room where the Think Tank scientists were working... None of which seem to notice him enter, nor attempt to take their attention away from their various projects.

He spotted Klein at the top of the ramp at the end of the room, staring into some monitors that had lots of binary code that ran across the screen at speeds almost impossible to track... Afton wasn't sure if the doctor was just feigning being able to understand the information or not... Perhaps he had some implants that allowed him to process the data more quickly?

Regardless, he marched up to him, leant on his Anti-Material rifle and coughed into his fist to catch the doctors attention. *Cough*

Dr. Klein quickly whips around towards Afton, the brain in the glass dome being sloshed around within the bio-gel. "H-HUH? OH! IT'S YOU, LOBOTOMITE. HAVE YOU RETRIEVE THE TECHNOLOGIES AS I HAVE INDICATED?" he asks.

Afton just raises a brow at him, "Shouldn't you know if I did? You seemed to be able to track my progress on obtaining the X-2 Antenna... Oh, and stop calling me 'Lobotomite', my name is Afton, use it." he states, his emotions on what they'd done to Christine somehow bleeding into his voice, though the pacification field only increases the strength of his migraine due to it.

"OH. I KNOW YOU HAVEN'T RECOVERED THE TECHNOLOGIES YET, I JUST THOUGHT IT PERTINENT TO ASK BEFORE YOU TELL ME WHY YOU ARE SLACKING OFF!?" Klein says, in his usual, loud-broken voice modulator tone.