Chapter 363 - Delegating Problems...

Afton continues to go over his choices, rubbing his temples as he imagines every scenario possible...As far as he could see, there were only three choices... Kill the hostages, rescue them, or do nothing.

All of them would have drastic consequences, but he couldn't see any other way around it... Unless...​​

He glances at the hostages and then back at his friends, closing his eyes and going over it. "You guys have two options as I see it." he starts, not bothering to look at the peoples pleading looks. "One, I take you somewhere where you would be comfortable for the duration of your stay, I cannot let you return to your regular lives, so this is your way out. Or, your second choice... I kill you all here and now to stop future problems springing up."

Boone and Cass both look indignant and confused at his words, but allow him to explain himself before drawing any conclusions.

Afton sighs, "I will use some advanced technology to teleport you to your destination should you choose to live. After everything has settled down, you will be allowed to return to your regular lives, though, I may have to remove certain memories of what you may see." he says.

Boone raises a brow at this, "I'm guessing this is from 'that' place?"

Afton nods, "Yeah." he states simply.

"Am I the only one who's finding it hard to believe that you can teleport people?" Cass mutters.

"Earlier you were swinging around an axe made of light... But yeah, sure, pick and choose the technology you're amazed by." Afton drawls before turning towards the captives. "What is your choice?

Most of them look very unsure but eventually agree to go along with whatever his plans for them were... They'd just escaped a bloody, violent, and torturous death via the hands of the Legion, so being temporarily held captive by their 'saviour' didn't sound all that bad... Plus, some of the captives' families had been killed as they were captured, leaving them with little to nothing holding them in the Mojave.

Afton nods and starts rapidly tapping his Pipboy, afterwards allowing Nyx to take over gathering the coordinates as he got out some paper and a pen. With it, he scribbles a note to Glados to hopefully protect these people as they arrive at the crater.

Cass looks over his shoulder and raises a brow as she reads it aloud, "Dear Glados, these are guests and NOT test subjects. I REPEAT! NOT test subjects. Provide them with adequate care until I return and decide what to do with them."

...

"You know... I think I'm getting cold feet for this." one of the former captives mutter with the rest of the group nodding.

Afton shrugs, "Alright, this will take a couple hours, so to preserve energy we should strike at the other camps and gather any other hostages we find here..." he looks to Cass, "You comin' or?"

Cass shakes her head, "I'm stayin' here... I'll protect these guys until you're back, never know if more Legionaries will return."

Afton nods, "Alright, keep the shotgun, you might need it." he agrees, eventually walking away towards the next Legion encampment with Boone, Anja, and ED-E in tow.

During the next few hours, the group stumbles across similar scenes to the first camp they encountered. And, just like the first, they dealt with the Legionaries there in the same manner, brutally and efficiently.

Eventually, at around 4 am, all the camps had been eliminated. The captives had all been gathered in the first camp and the coordinates had been triangulated for teleportation. All that was left now was to send them off and return to Astor and report what they found.

Afton looked at the group of around fifty people, and then at Cass who's standing next to the group, "You sure you don't want to come with us?" he asks once more before she's sent off to the Think Tank.

Cass just smiles and shakes her head, "I think I've had it with the Mojave, Afton... Nothing goes right here, so getting some distance between me and this place while helping these folks is good enough for me." she says, and Afton nods.

He could understand the sentiment, besides, she might be a valuable asset to the Think Tank due to how well-travelled she was. They wouldn't need to rely on robot scouts and the old world American map to figure out where was what. Plus, she'd probably have a good deal of knowledge on valuable trade routes... Though, Afton was still unsure what he wanted to do with the info was he got it.

"Well I'll be in touch if you ever wanna change your mind... Also, try not to anger the other... 'Unique' residents at where you're headed... Not just for your health, but theirs too." he explains before readying the teleportation device.

He was unsure how the Think Tank had recovered so much energy before his last round of teleportation, but he guessed that they might be putting his 'Glowing One Reactor' idea to use. Regardless, he taps the button and give a small wave to the people, just as a lightning bolt strikes their position.

Boone and Anja step back at the thunderous sound and shockwave produced, and afterwards quickly look at Afton with aggrieved and angered eyes.

Boone grabs his collar with both hands and pulls him close, "What did you just do!?" he growls, having just seen the group they were supposed to be protecting hit by lightning and reduced to nothing.

Afton chuckles and shakes his head, easily prying Boone's hands off of him, "Don't worry, that's just how the teleportation functions. It dematerialises them and reconstitutes them in another location, it's rather crude I must admit, but we're nowhere near creating small, stable wormholes just yet." he explains, confusing the duo more than anything. Though, from the sound of it, Afton hadn't just killed all those people for no reason.