Chapter 529 - Switcheroo

Soon enough the group finds the Switching Station and quietly enters inside, quickly the aesthetics of the place change from the usual Villa, to a more technological feel. Steel reinforced concrete walls, metal floor, and very durable lighting.

Afton enters a room filled with servers and an occasionally sparking circuit breaker, he glances at the hallway leading further into the building and notices that the lights in the hallway weren't activated, meaning the power was shut off most likely from the circuit breaker.​​

Fortunately, Afton was well versed in Repair plus his [Jury Rigging] Perk allowed him to use some scrap electronics as materials to fix it. After a couple of minutes of fiddling and *carack!*, the lights flicker on. However, the lights aren't the only thing that was turned on, the dull sound of a speaker operating at a specific frequency causes both Dean and Christine to tense for a moment. They quickly calm though once they realize that Afton had disarmed their collars.

Still, best not to give Elijah the wrong idea. Afton walks into the hallway and fires a shot at the speaker, causing it to explode into a shower of metal pieces and electronics.

The next obstacle is in the generator room. Almost the whole place had collapsed, leaving only a couple of reactors left to power the city. Afton isn't quite sure if there were any more inside the Casino, but thinks it was inevitable due to the place's sheer size.

The Cloud is also thick amongst the floor, making it impossible for any normal person to traverse... This is easily solved as Afton uses his plant arm on a support beam and swings himself across like spiderman.

After a bit more time investigating, he finds the speaker control systems as well as the ventilation that still seems to somehow work... Next to the speaker systems, Afton finds a headless corpse next to a Stealth Skillbook. The man probably had been another of Elijah's victims who weren't needed anymore.

[Skillpoints to Perk] : 6/15

Afton slowly leads the group through the facility, occasionally taking out turrets, and the stray hologram. Veronica was very careful to make sure Anja was with her at all times... The walkways were very, very dangerous for someone who couldn't see where they were going... One moment of inattention and she could be plummeting to the ground below.

Eventually, they manage to reach their destination... Another headless corpse was lying in front of the elevator. It looks like they were trying to escape from the elevator but didn't get far before Elijah turned on them...

Afton glances at Dean who still seems to be looking around, making himself comfortable with the various machinery and systems. And hacks into the terminal next to them but quickly finds that it's not the one required for the Gala...

"I think the elevator takes you to the systems we need to access." Dean states.

Afton nods in agreement but is unsure how to go about it... His Power armour would barely fit inside, let alone allow him to repair anything... Though, if it was between sending Christine down alone and taking off his armour, the choice was obvious.

He slowly pries himself out of the Cloud-Ravaged Power armour and enters the elevator under the other's watchful gazes... If he hadn't already ventilated the place and moved the Cloud outside he'd not dare do this... The potential of the elevator dropping straight down into the Cloud was too high...

Once down there he quickly finds a small maintenance terminal but is annoyed once he starts investigating... To start the Gala Event someone needs to be down here waiting for the button atop the bell tower to be pressed, if not, the event will fail.

He goes back up and delivers the news to everyone, getting frowns and anxious looks as a result.

Dean just shrugs, "Can't we send one of our injured to do it?" he points a Christine, "All you'd have to do is wait for the signal, the other can't do it since she's blind after all... It's better than lugging around more invalids." he coldly states.

Afton frowns, not at Dean's insults, but at the fact he was somewhat agreeing with it... The place was almost completely safe from harm, so leaving Anja and Christine here would keep them safe while allowing the rest of the group to speed up their progress...

Still, it makes him wary, who knows what could happen between now and then? Could the Cloud finally erode through the building? Could Ghosts break-in and climb the place? Could Elijah kidnap them for leverage?...

Christine upon hearing Dean's words quickly shakes her head with wide eyes, she points at the elevator and taps once a couple times on her collar, meaning she did not like going inside at all.

Well, that puts a chink in his plans... If Christine wasn't willing to go inside then they'd have to leave someone else, Anja was blind, and even if she wasn't, she didn't have the technical skills to operate the terminal properly, or repair it if it crashes or something else goes awry.

"We aren't just going to leave them here, right? It's almost like abandoning them..." Veronica mutters.

"Better than lugging around dead weight," Dean adds noncomittally, angering Veronica.

"You're going to be the dead weight if you keep talking like that," she warns, cracking her knuckles. Dean takes a step back with a hand on his revolver, already knowing he'd lose the fight if it starts... He'd seen what she could do against that big blue mutant.

The group starts arguing amongst each other until Afton slams his unarmoured fist into the concrete wall, cracking and denting it. Once they're silent he sighs, "I think leaving Christine and Anja here is our best bet... Shit is only going to get more dangerous the further we go, so taking them is risking their lives as well as our own... For all intents and purposes, this place is safe." he states.