Chapter 643 - Roots Taking Place

Afton, now finally in control of himself (Even despite the agony he was in due to the loss of his hands), looks down at the bloody Macka with a bloodthirsty expression. Ignoring the pain rushing from his missing limbs, he steps over to the man and raises his foot over Macka's head, stomping on it with full force and splattering the man's brain across the confined hallway. "Piece of shit!"

"A-Afton! Are you alright!?" Josie asks after coming back to her senses, running up to him and looking at his arms.

He grimaces as she carefully holds his injury still, "Does it look like I'm fucking okay!?" he exclaims.

With the threat of Macka over... Or temporarily so, Glados raises the blast doors and shows that Dala and a number of Ultimo-Bots had converged on their position to potentially deal with Afton and Macka if Glados' strategy didn't work.

"Teddy bear, someone appears to have torn your stitching." Dala states as he floats forwards, a needle appearing from her tools and prodding him in his wound, causing a cold sensation to spread through him, relieving his pain significantly.

He releases a long sigh and looks over to Doctor Usanagi, who just so happens to be clutching a Pipboy to her chest... His Pipboy, that'd been blown off of his arm and somehow come out completely unscathed.

Blood from Afton's wounds continue to spill onto the floor, so he, Usanagi, and Josie are all quickly escorted to an operating room while Macka is apprehended. Obviously, Afton made sure to alert Glados and Dala to Macka's abilities, which is why the Ultimo-Bots were the ones carrying him away.

His imprisonment would be similar to how Mr X was held, Macka's arms and legs would constantly be mutilated and burned to prevent any possibility of growth, and his head would only be allowed to grow back if they wanted to ask him some questions.

In the meantime, Dala and Usanagi worked with Afton to see what could be done about his hands... Already his plant arm was growing back, but his left hand seemed in a state of flux... Roots similar to his plant arm seemed to be sprouting, but his flesh was also regenerating at a similar rate, primarily due to [A Pool of Dead].

The group wasn't quite sure what to make of this, and Afton could really decide either... As far as he could see, he had three outcomes of this.

The first, was to allow both the roots and his flesh to grow unperturbed, resulting in a combination of the two... This would probably prevent him from using his plant arm mutations with it due to his inability to control just his flesh.

The second was to cut the roots and allow his flesh to slowly grow back... Though, Afton wasn't sure if his bones would grow back as well... If he went this route, he could probably translate bones from elsewhere in his body, which would probably work considering how effective his Perks were.

And third, cut the flesh and allow a new plant arm to grow in place... This, was obviously the most powerful option, but, it would also push him further out of the bounds of what constitutes a human. Not only that, every interaction he'd make with his hands from then on would be with something strange.

His plant arm, while not noticeable from afar, was very easy to spot when interacting with him. It was far harder than any flesh you'd usually come across, making it obvious that he possessed it when you shook his hand or patted his arm. It was essentially just a chunk of incredibly durable root wood... Josie herself had said it felt kind of weird to be caressed by it.

Afton slowly shakes his head and stares up at the ceiling from the operating table, this was probably a turning point for him, whether he actually valued being 'human'... If he decided to cast away his flesh in favour of the roots, he'd be more likely to do so again in the future... How many times would this happen? And would he even resemble a human in, say, twenty years time?

He chews his lip while the others wait for him to come to decision... His thoughts drift to the research that was nearing its completion involving cloning. Honestly, even if he chooses to turn his body completely plant-like, he'd be able to swap his brain out into a more normal body. Plus, he didn't doubt that there was a shapeshifting mutation somewhere in the level system...

"Fuck it, cut the flesh, let the roots grow." he looks to Dala, Usanagi, and Josie, "Alright?"

Josie glances at the others anxiously, "You sure? Maybe you shouldn't be making this decision while pumped full of chems?" she mutters.

Afton shakes his head, "Yeah I'm sure. Besides, even if I regret it we can just blow my arm off again and redo it. We'll be right back where we started..." he pauses, "Can you guys hurry up with this? I have a date with Macka and I don't want to keep him waiting." he states.

Usanagi shrugs and looks to Dala, "Er, should I help with this? I'm not really sure how things work around here."

"Be quiet, teddy bear. Let me give it a haircut." she audibly whispers as her blades start revving up.

Afton looks at the human duo present, "You guys should probably get behind the observation glass before the blood starts flying... Dala can be, over-eager with this sort of thing." he admits, hoping that the pain killers he was given earlier would prevent him from feeling most of this.

Josie nods with a weird expression and walks out, leading an unsure-looking Usanagi.