Chapter 600 - Clear Vision

"You alright?" Afton asks, waiting for her to calm down.

She slowly nods, pulling her gaze away from the T.V, causing it to reset to the eagle-eye view of before. "S-sorry... I didn't think I would be bothered by that..." she mutters.​​

Afton pauses for a moment before leaning back again, resuming his earlier posture, "No, it's my bad for not considering that... Have you figured out what I wanted to show you?" he tentatively asks.

"T-the war?" she asks as even a fool could see the mounting conflict that would soon occur.

Afton nods, "Exactly, the war... I wanted to ask you, if you succeeded on escaping this place, what would you have done?" he questions, wanting to put things in perspective for the girl, who seemed to only take things at face value.

Confused and slightly frightened by the sudden change of subject, Shani drops into thought and for a moment and carefully considers it... She hadn't really had a plan after escaping if she were honest, she was more interested in fleeing from the immediate threat to her life... Which had turned out only to be a misunderstanding on her part... "I... I don't know?"

He nods, "Exactly. What do you think would happen if someone figured out your abilities? At best you'd only constantly be fearing for your life... At worst? You'd be pulled apart and dissect by one fo the various factions that have a vested interest in uncovering your secrets. You think the NCR, Legion, Brotherhood, or Enclave would be merciful?" he asks and she shakes her head.

"No... I don't." she admits.

He nods again, the sides of his lips upturning slightly, "I'm not telling you this to scare you, just to put things in perspective... This place is probably the only one that could guarantee your safety, not to mention the only place with the ability to follow through with it. Which is why I'm willing to offer you a place within it... Not as a maid, or whatever your doing now, but as an integral part of the system." he states and breaks into a full-blown grin as two mojitos appear just in time, lifting from under the table.

She squints at him as he picks up the drink and slowly sips at it through the straw, not willing to touch her own drink. "What do you mean? I don't know anything that could help you... And if you just want me for my abilities, wouldn't that make you the say as the others?" she asks with furrowed brows.

Afton chews the straw for a second before answering her question, "Well, you're not really wrong, but how your treated is something you should take into account... The NCR would imprison you and experiment on you, the Legion would probably try to use you as a broodmare to try and create superior soldiers, the Brotherhood would judge you as a mutant and execute you... And the Enclave?... To be honest, I'm not really sure what they would do." he admits but shakes his head.

"That's not the point though, the point is, you'll receive a high rank among Bulwark personnel and be able to choose your own fate... Your only duty would be to assist in matters relating to your abilities and Psykers in general, as well as reporting any visions you might have. I can even personally promise your safety." he says, trying to sip his drink but frowning when he realises he'd drank it all, afterwards taking Shani's untouched one.

"How could you guarantee my safety?" she inquires, "I know you own this place, but if people find out about my abilities, wouldn't they react badly anyway?"

Afton shakes his head and takes off his right glove, afterwards pulling up his sleeve and displaying his plant arm. "Well, considering we both possess supernatural abilities, I'd think it'd be in my own interest to make sure that doesn't happen." he says while manipulating his arm into various shapes... A boat, dog, screwdriver, and finally a large blade that looked almost metallic...

Shani watches on in awe, not having realised he was like her... She suddenly felt a huge weight lifted from her shoulders, as if freed from some unseen shackle.

Afton downs the rest of the drink and covers his arm again, "But... If you're still unsur-"

"I accept!" she interrupts, forcing herself to speak despite herself.

"Good." he states, tapping the table with his heel twice which causes two more drinks to arrive, this time two dirty martini's. He picks up both and hands one to Shani, clinking it with a 'cheers' before unceremoniously downing that one too.

...

"Should you be drinking like that?" she asks after a moment, wondering if her new boss is an alcoholic.

He shakes his head, "Not really, but, you know, relationship problems." he chuckles before turning his attention back to the T.V. "Now, before we do anything, I want to discuss how your abilities actually work... Can't do anything with them unless I understand how they operate." he shrugs.

Shani nods and goes on to explain every time she'd had a vision, the last of which being the one where she was being operated on by Dala and Afton.

Afton slowly nods while in contemplation, only to be interrupted when Glados' voice speaks over the intercom.

"Creator, Criminal Subjects 034 and 002 attempted to escape their imprisonment. They have been scheduled for express 'vacation' under Doctor Dala. Would you like to oversee the process or procedure?" the robotic voice asks but he shakes his head.

"Nah... 34 and 2? Those the one's that trie to molest some of the other slaves, yeah?"

"Affirmative."

He nods, "Do what you want with them then." he states noncommittally before continuing to think about what Shani had told him. It sounded like she could only receive visions that directly related to her, physically and or emotionally... Could he use this facet of the ability to control it?