Chapter 478 - George Of The Concrete Jungle...

"The thought activated bomb implants?" Glados asks.

Afton nods but raises a brow at the name of it... Perhaps he should have been more specific with what he wanted?​​

"The implants, with the help of Dr. Zero, Dr. Dala, Dr. Mobius, and the Autodoc designated: Meddie, have almost been completed. All that is left is to conduct field tests, all of which require non-feral ghoul prisoners or Lobotomites... Our current prisoners are incapable of proper, logical thought, and as a result are impractical or potentially worthless in this venture. The Think Tank requests that you acquire more test subjects."

"Indeed... There is only so much you can do with a teddy bear that lacks stuffing." Dala adds from the side.

Afton nods and rubs the rather thick stubble that'd been left untended on his face, "I can think of a couple places that wouldn't... Harm my or the other's sensibilities. I'm sure no one would miss cannibals, but I doubt their numbers would be worth actually putting in the effort to find them..." he mutters.

...

"Hmm... Criminals would work too, but with the NCR Correctional Facility all but destroyed, there isn't really a place to hold them, meaning you're either arrested and forced to do community service, or straight up executed... That or shipped back to New California, which is far too resources intensive to be commonly used." he says, more to himself than anything else.

"Creator, our enemies hold large quantities of people. The organisations designated: NCR, Brotherhood of Steel, and Legion, would all have viable test subjects." Glados states.

Afton shakes his head, "No... That'd bring way too much attention, the NCR and Brotherhood would notice their members going missing immediately, and that's not even mentioning my companion's potential reaction to it. The Legion might not notice, but I'd still rather not start experimenting on innocent people..." he looks to Dala, "Don't think I've forgotten what you did to Christine, or myself for that matter."

Dala doesn't say anything and simply silently floats there awaiting his decision. Afton isn't even sure if she feels a trace of remorse for what she'd done. Perhaps the damage the Bio-Gel had had on their minds was already too far gone?

Regardless, he needed more test subjects, not only for this project but many others as well. "Hmm... We could use 'that' couldn't we?... Dala, how is your little project going?"

"My little teddy bear's DNA is stable for now, the manual degradation to mimic age is also working properly. All that is left is the memory splicing and integration, the most dangerous part of the operation by far." she explains.

Afton nods to himself, "Well, I've been looking for something to justify our plans, our need for test subjects could very well be the answer. Dala, Glados, concentrate on project CERR01, I'll work on getting negotiations started, no doubt they'll be chomping at the bit for it... As for our guest? Treat him respectably and try not to be too invasive, we want the data and a potential ally, not a dead mutant with nothing to show for it." he states before turning and walking away, leaving the two robots to start their respective jobs.

Elsewhere :

Tamia, Veronica, and Anja had almost reached the Boomers territory. Before them, was the highway leading up a hill and between a small canyon path, though, judging by the many signs stating 'TURN BACK, DEATH AHEAD', 'DEATH FROM THE SKY', and 'THE WAR IS HERE AGAIN!', continuing past that point without preparations would be a bad idea.

Obviously, Veronica had left her Power armour behind for this venture as appearing at someone's gate fully armed and armoured is basically a declaration of war. The Boomers might be isolationists, but they'd no doubt heard of Afton's actions over the radio by now, the Legion went to great troubles declaring that Afton's technology to a danger to everyone. The NCR projected similar sentiments but were less fervent mainly due to the fact that they'd restored some Brotherhood armour themselves.

As the group reached the border of the territory they spot an older-looking gentleman wearing relatively fine clothes... A cardigan over a nice shirt and jeans... All of which seemed to be void of dirt and dust the desert produces. "Howdy! You three should start thinkin' twice before you venture further here, last guy who tried a couple days ago is still down there, see." he gestures, pointing at a pile of bloody, scorched flesh not far from the border... Whoever it was hadn't made it that far before being blasted into bloody chunks.

Tamia shakes her head, "Thanks for the warning, but we can handle ourselves."

"No problem, name's George by the way. Honestly darlin', it'd be a shame to see such pretty ladies die so terribly, so how about this... You pay me, let's say... 800 caps, and I'll tell you the trick to avoiding them bombs."

Veronica scoffs, "800 caps? That's way too much!... How about this, you go to the Boomers instead, and we'll pay you for it, since you're apparently an expert at this."

George sheepishly glances away, "If you need proof of my skills then I'll go loot that bloody corpse down there, I've been meanin' too anyway." he shrugs.

"You loot their corpses?" Tamia asks, curious.

George nods, "Folks take their caps to try and buy explosives from the Boomers at a bargin price, most don't make it, making looting whatever they leave very, very lucrative." he gestures down at his fine clothes, "As you can see, I'm a very well-to-do man."

Tamia shrugs, "Whatever, can't blame a man for making a living. You won't be looting our bodies though," she turns to Veronica and Anja, "You guys ready?"

They nod, reaching into the large pouches on their hips. George watches as they all glance at one another one last chance before pressing something-

*SHooooom*

The trio fades from sight, leaving only the faintest distortion in the air, making George jump in surprise. "Well would you look at that... Or not! Hahahaha!" he cackles to himself as he watches the faint footsteps imprinting on the ground towards Boomer territory.