Chapter 599 - Stressed Out!?

Shani wakes up with a start, eyes flitting around the room in a slight panic. She's disorientated momentarily, but quickly calms down when she realises she's in her room... She slowly regulates her breathing and pats herself over, wanting to check if Dala and Afton had done anything to her.

Her vision had come true, and she'd awoken on the operating table, only to be put asleep again... Yet, she was still alive?... Could it be that her earlier assumption of the Think Tank's malicious nature had been wrong?​​

She looks down at her hands for a moment but notices a slight twinge of pain behind her neck... She reaches for it and feels a small surgical scar marring her skin in a spot that'd been shaved of hair... Apparently, she hadn't gotten off as unscathed as she thought... Still, it beats being dissected and harvested for organs.

She gets dressed and heads out of her room, thankful to find herself not imprisoned for unintentionally causing the Tunneler attack. Thirty minutes later and she finds herself in a small restaurant which sells sandwiches and other things typical wastelanders wouldn't even dream of.

Shani herself slowly munches on the egg, bacon, and sausage baguette while people watching... She'd have to get to work soon and so wanted to make the most of her free time.

*Zuuub!*

A panel in the roof opens up and the surrounding people freeze as a drone of Glados pops out. They wait to see if they were needed for something, all afraid they might've done something wrong... Thankfully for them, the drone floats over to Shani instead.

"Subject designated; Shani, you are given leave of two weeks as thanks for discovering the Tunneler threat. My creator had a few words to say." Glados says and activates a prerecorded message, "Afton here, and yes, I knew you tried to escape... Again... But it's fine, you've been chipped and so can't escape even if you want to, that aside, as thanks for discovering a certain issue, I'll be speaking with you to talk about your future when I find time... Anyway, I think that's it. Glados turn this thing of-*Beep*"

...

"O-Okay? W-when am I supposed to talk with him?" she sheepishly asks.

"Wait, I'm not finished. You also have my thanks for discovering the breach, I will now give you your reward..." Glados pauses, and Shani nervously looks around as if waiting for an assassin. "You are one step above Meatbag, congratulations, Meatierbag" the robot states, thoroughly confusing Shani.

"Er... What's that even supposed to mean?"

"It means, should we need a test subject for brutal experimentation, you will be one step above your peers... Again, congratulations." the AI says as the drone exits where it entered, leaving the room in complete silence.

...

"Erm... Congratulations on your promotion?" an elderly woman sitting nearby says, looking unsure how to proceed forwards.

Shani just nods and gets up to leave, taking her half-eaten baguette with her.

Three days later :

Shani anxiously waits outside the Sink, having been invited by Afton. She wasn't sure what he wanted, nor what 'talk about her future' really meant, but she didn't think it was anything malicious... After all, why declare it in front of many witnesses if he intended to harm her?

"Come in!" Afton's voice comes from the door and she enters inside, cautiously looking around the high-tech room.

Afton was standing opposite the large table with holographic images floating above it, he gives a brief nod at her and gestures towards the next room, all while various voices attempt to greet her at the same time. "Guys, guys, shut the fuck up. If you wanna socialise you can do it after I've sorted shit out. Alright?"

"Heh, we got it, ya' dig?" the Jukebox states, getting murmurs of affirmation from the other personalities.

Afton releases a small sigh and turns back to Shani, again gesturing into the room where a large coach and flatscreen T.V was. Shani was interested by the strange-looking television was she'd never seen anything like it before, ignoring the other more brilliant things in the room like the sentient Jukebox, Lightswitches, and tiny Securitron.

Afton flops into the chair next to her and kicks his feet up on the coffee table, slouching as if he'd been on his feet all day. "Now, Shani, do you know why I've called you here?"

She shakes her head, chewing her lip anxiously, "D-did I do something wrong, again?"

He snorts at her answer and snatches up the T.V remote sitting on the couch between them, pointing it at the T.V and pressing a button.

*Click!*

Shani's surprised to see an eagle-eye view of Hoover Dam on the T.V, whatever was recording it must have been incredibly high to see so much... Yet, whatever she focuses on is zoomed in so she can get a better look. Was the T.V watching her eyes to determine what she wants to see?

"W-why are you showing me this?" she asks, unsure of what Afton wanted to show her.

"Tell me, what do you see?... Don't be shy, I want to hear your opinion." he says, lightly waving a hand towards the Television.

...

Cautiously, she begins seriously examining what Afton was showing her. Specifically, she's able to see Hoover Dam in its entirety, along with the regions at each end... On one side there was nothing except the occasional patrol of NCR soldiers, but on the other, she could see... Oh... Thousands of Legionary troops... She was sure that wasn't all of them either, as they seemed to only be watching the wall they'd constructed.

She feels herself beginning to hyperventilate as she remembers her treatment in the Legion camp... She'd been lucky enough to be spared most of their attention, but that didn't mean she was left unscathed... Suddenly, she's brought back by a gentle hand on her knee, Afton had leaned forwards slightly to comfort her, recognising what was stressing her due to what she was focussing on.