After setting up my green teleporter in the Sink I left to finally see the Big MT in person. I was hit by a heat wave to the north. That fire was still blazing. I left the doom passing the bluegrass. My first target was X-2. On my way, I dealt with Nightstalker on the way and some Lobotomites guarding the door. I found that the lobotomites were carrying some proton axes. I had finally made it to the X-2 Transmitter Antenna Array. Walking into X-2 I found Protectrons armed and ready to fight me. I use my Quäckenbirdt to cloak and use my sappers to take the old robots down.
I decided to place both my Mini and Level 3 Senteries down. The Mini went next to the ladder leading up to the satellite dish of X-2. The level 3 went on the ground floor. I retrieved the Sink Project Light Switch 01. There were a lot of odds and ends that I looted I planned on making weapon repair kits and saving the books, clipboards, coffee cups, and the odd toaster. Everything else I would sell to make caps. I set up the other green teleporter just on the exterior catwalk. I saw the catwalk led to a ridge side not far along the ridge was the radar fence. I took a look at my challenges and saw a perfect time to do the [Outer Space] challenge. So I ran ahead past the radar fence. Then it happened. My vision blurred while my brain… well what I had as a barin felt pain I soon passed out.
I woke up on The Sink Balcony. I felt a little woozy and like my body had been squeezed through a small hole. I took a five-minute break to drink and eat before I used my green teleporter to put myself through that again. I wanted the EXP dam it and feeling like I had been crushed under a boot wasn't going to stop me.
[Outer Space]
[300 EXP]
[9145/26550 to next level]
I felt a bit gypped that I didn't get more for my trouble of doing that "Challenge." I felt as if waiting through 4 loading screens to do the same thing would of been less painful… nah. New Vegas Loading screens on the PS3 were murder. I used the green teleporter made my back in X-2 and ascended the ladder. I was finally on the dish I climbed my way up to the X-2 Antenna.
[Luck Check Succesful]
[500 EXP]
I saw that there was one of the personality chips tangled up in the wires of the X-2 Antenna. It was Sink Project: Biological Research Station Chip. I took it out and pocketed it in a pocket from the Light Switch… With no other urgent concerns, I finally removed the X-2 Antenna. The schematics for the X-2 were uploaded to the Think Tank.
[Quest Complete: X-2: Strange Transmissions!]
[9500 EXP]
[Questin' Mark] Complete 5 Quests 5/5
[100 EXP]
[19245/26550 to next level]
"Ah, trying to steal the X-2 Transmitter Array Antenna, are you? You won't succeed, not if my lethal Robo-Scorpions have any say in the matter." Doctor Mobius, announced over the loudspeakers of Big MT.
I peered over the dish edge to see four Robo-Scorpions in the distance. I took out my Cyberdog Gun to deal with them from my high vantage point of the dish. The Robo-Scorpions blew up when they were taken down with my dog gun… I saw the notification that my Mini Sentry gun was destroyed and that level 3 was on its last legs. Well, at least the things weren't as bad as sentry busters. I used my wrench to repair my level 3 and then I stored it away. I went about looting the Robo-Scorpions in X-2 for junk to use/sell.
I decided to leave and check if Ulysses was still here. The worst he could do was kill me. As I left X-2 the Loudspeakers came to life with the voice of Doctor Klein. "WELL DONE, LOBOTOMITE. SOON, THE TECHNOLOGIES WILL BE SAFE."
"One down Two to go."
I made my way to the cave. I saw in the cave there were two people. One was a bald woman the other was an absolute unit of a man who wore his hair in braids. It was Ulysses and Christine.
"And at the Divide, her and I - there, we'll have an ending to things." Ulysses stopped his recording and then looked at me. "You are not someone I thought I would see here. Last I heard you were looking for meaning in a bottle. So what do I have the pleasure of meeting the only one to visit the tribe of the Boomers and live, Miss Castle?"
"You have me at a bit of a disadvantage. Who are the both of you?"
"I'm Christine Royce. And the man with the Old World's Flag on his back is Ulysses. And by the looks of you, it looks like you were under the knife recently." Christine
"Her wounds look clean compared to yours. I'm shocked that you can speak unlike the walking bodies outside." Ulysses
"I'm not fully intact," I explained my stitch to the two in the.
"So your brain is sending a signal to your body and your brain is driving you like some RC Car." Christine
"But looking at you your lobotomy looks like it was messed up. What happened did you wake up mid-procedure?"
"I rather not talk about it. My body was trained to be immune to most poisons, sleep, and pain meds. I likely woke up during the operation and panicked and thrashed around probably making things worse. I was sent to another lab to get more "care". Now I'm fucked. I can't read or write anymore. Something must have gotten messed up with my brain. I can still do math and work with technology. But I can't shoot with a gun anymore." Christine
"I might be able to help reconnect the neurons in your brain. I found a piece of medical equipment here that might help you for a price."
[Medicen Check Sucess]
[50 EXP]
"What's your price?" Christine
"Your silence. Even if this doesn't work. I keep my tec to myself and you never tell the Brotherhood of Steel about me or my tec."
"You have my word. I will never tell anybody about your tec." Christine
"You have mine as well." Ulysses
I took out my Medigun and used it on Christine Royce. I saw as the gun healed her head. The scars that once marred her head healed and faded. I watched as Christine was able to somewhat write on paper letters would be jumbled and out of order sometimes. I watched as she fired a laser pistol. Her accuracy was not looking the best. Strom Tropers could have given her notes.
"I'm nowhere near where I once was but I can work with this. Thank you so much. Good luck getting your brain back. I'm going to rest and tomorrow I'm going to leave to go to the Seira Madre. I have a bad man to track down." Christine
"You'll be walking into hell you know? The red mist that will kill you in seconds. The security measures that can't be stopped by most forms of firearms. Oh and the walking dead, that just don't stay dead unless you take their head off. The list goes on. Anyone who goes there is already dead."
"I have a mission and it's not over until I know he is dead." Christine
I shook my head. "Well if I wasn't tied down here. I would go with you. But as my brain is trapped here, I am trapped here. But hey when I do get my brain back I'll make my way to that casino. To help you if I can. Also to get my hands on the gold. I need the caps."
Christine shook her head. "Sure if we meet again in the Sierra Madre. I'll be glad for the help."
"I have a question for you. What is the flag you carry?" Ulysses
"None right now. Maybe one day I'll pick up the flag of old Vegas or maybe I will make my own. It really all depends on where the chips fall. I know I will have an answer someday to give you."
"You speak as if you know that someday we speak again. With that look in your eyes I see that you mean it. I will hold you to it. Have fun serving the old Gods of this place. I will be leaving myself for the Divide. There I'll wait for the courier. She and I will have an ending to things." Ulysses
"How long will you wait?"
"As long as it takes. I have ways to take care of myself." Ulysses
[Quest Complete: He Came... And Went]
[1500 EXP]
"We'll meet again don't know where don't know when. We will meet again some sunny day." I left after singing that barb of an old song. I had decided to loot all of Higgs Village. For stuff to sell and getting my hands on the rest of Dr. Klein's outfit. I put it on for the challenge [Klein Destine].
[300 EXP]
I pick up Gabe's bowl for Dr. Borous. I also picked the 100 skill lock to his messed-up basement.
[480 EXP]
I found Sink Project: Book Chute, Sink Project: Jukebox, Audio Samples - Opera Singer and Giant Tarantula. Recipes for Medicine, Repair, Science, and Speech Skill books. I also found a skill 50 locked crate on the roof. I sold almost everything else. I decided to keep one of the teddy bears.
It reminded me of my teddy bear Wawa that I had when I was a kid. I had named it after the one Chucky had in Rugrats Two. That poor stuffed teddy bear went through so many eyes. My mom had a dog that would always destroy the teddy bear's eyes. At first, my mom replaced the eyes with glossy blue buttons all la Coraline. But that dam mut would always find my bear and destroy it's cute button eyes. So my mom got fed up and replaced its eyes with metal suit buttons. It just didn't have the same charm as the old button-eyes but the dog couldn't break them anymore.
All this teddy bear was missing was a yellow raincoat. I'm going to get distracted making an outfit for this little guy, aren't I? Yes absolutely. I may have spent the rest of the evening dolling up my teddy bear. When I got up I decided to install some of the personality chips. Well, the ones I had already retrieved. I walked over to the Boock Chute and installed the chip for it.
[Sink Project: Book Chute Installed]
[200 EXP]
[22095/26550 to next level]
"Ah! Good day, Citizen! Library Processing Unit 232.7 is on-line and ready to eradicate sedition!" Book Chute
"Eradicate Sedition?"
"Of course, Citizen! That's my duty and sole joy in life! All those books from before the War, full seditious, treasonous, complicated thought! Just dump them in and lickety-split I'll have them pulped, scrubbed clean, and pressed out again clean and white and sedition free!" Book Chute
"So you make blank books? What's the point of that?"
"Blank books are better for the mind, Citizen! Real science by real men in lab coat has proved that introducing outside thoughts confuses the brain! Blank books encourage the reader not to question, but blindly and zealously accept what's put in front of him! Also, I suppose you could use them to keep a journal." Book Chute
"But those books are our last legacy of the time before! You can't destroy them! Ideas, art, philosophy, culture.They live and die by the meme."
"Citizen, that sounds dangerously seditious. If my re-indoctrination module was installed, I'd take care of that for you. Sadly, that system was cut for budget concerns, so you'll have to perform your own indoctrination. Now, to begin with, you'll need a cage that can fit over your head and a sack of Mole Rats. I will also provide you this one motivational poster." Book Chute
I was given a poster of Liberty Prime with the quote: Democracy is Non-negotiable!
"Can you do anything besides processing books?"
"What good is eradicating sedition if the malcontents have ready access to the means to make more, Citizen? I can also process pencils and clipboards! Wait a moment - pencil processors off-line? Pencil processors off-line?! Apologies, Citizen, it seems traitors have absconded with that module. If you can find a backup copy of the module, I will happily eradicate your ability to create seditious literature!" Book Chute
I took out all my books that I had stored nearby. "I have seditious material for you to process."
"Fantastic, Citizen! Just input your quantity of seditious material on my interface, and in no time at all I'll have you beautiful, clean book! Won't that keep you happy and docile, Citizen?" Book Chute
I had received 405 blank books. I still have yet to get the books from X-8: American High! I was able to use 25 blank books to make a copy of the Big Book of Science. That I decided to use it right away to max out my Science skill.
[Science has been maxed out]
[Max Stat Prek choice]
[Auto Hack Program]: Just connect a terminal/robot and they will be hacked in 2 seconds. You still will receive the EXP!
[SX8 EXP] X8 EXP for all Science skill use.
I chose SX8 EXP. I want more EXP! I checked my skill points.
Barter 100
Energy Weapons 40
Explosives 43
Guns 85
Lockpick 100
Medicine 64
Melee 33
Repair 100
Science 100
Sneak 43
Speech 58
Survival 39
Unarmed 39
So I get 4 points per book I use. I have 9 skills left to max out. I can get 2 Sneak skill books in X-13. Well 3 if I count the book recipe in as well. I can get 4 more points from the last two points in Agility. That gets me up to 59 points. The rest of the skill books recipes will only net me +4 skill points for each skill. There are more skill books to grab in dead money.
Qua Sera Sera whatever will be, will be. I looked to install my next personality chip. I took a step over to the Jukebox.
[Sink Project: Jukebox Installed]
[300 EXP]
[22395/26550 to next level]
"Ooh-ee! Yeah, dig that sweet music! Damn, it's good to be back on-line!" Blind Diode Jefferson
"Can you tell me what you do?"
"Dig. I'm-a acoustical wizard, kid. Ol' Doc Mo used me to prototype his sonic weapon designs. Get me a good sample base to work from and I can whip up a wave that makes Jericho like a kazoo." Blind Diode Jefferson
"So your pretty laid-back for an engine of destruction."
"Why not? Ain't like I got nothing to prove. Not like that Toaster - now boy I say that boy has got some issues." Blind Diode Jefferson
"Can you still play music?"
"Mmm… Used to, long time ago. Then Ol' Doc Mo ripped out my music drives and stuck in more acoustical processors. Guess you could say I got the blues, even if I can't play them no more." Blind Diode Jefferson
"Laters man I have others to meet."
"Laters then." Blind Diode Jefferson
I sat the chip for the Biological Resuch station down for later. I just didn't want to deal with that guy right now… He will be last one I install. I moved to the Light Switch in the living room area.
[Sink Project: Light Switch 01 Installed]
[400 EXP]
[22795/26550 to next level]
"Oh my. Partial functionality Restored - that's less than optimal." Light Switch 01
"It's not often I meet a light switch with brains and beauty. I think I'm going to like it here."
[Cherchez La Femme Check Succes]
[150 EXP]
"Oh… well, that's very sweet of you. Maybe one of these nights we can… discuss theorems?" Light Switch 01
"I'd enjoy that."
"Me too. Hope you can keep up - I work pretty fast. Here - something for you to brush up on." Light Switch 01
I received a copy of Programmers Digest. At this point, the mag was best sold to make some quick caps.
"So what is your function?"
"Doctor Mobius and I were deeply involved in research on the ability of light levels to enhance human cognition." Light Switch 01
"So what were the results of the tests?"
"We observed a fascinating phenomenon: certain spectra of visible light actually increased cognitive function and reasoning ability. Of course, Doctor Mobius' brain is already so big already, we had a hard time measuring it. As much as I would love to see the effects on you. The data form the study has gone missing. You'll have to find a backup if you want to use the Smart Light." Light Switch 01
"I got to go. Laters."
"Certainly. I'm looking forward to it." Light Switch 01
I decided to set up the red teleporter in the Sink. I was going to connect it to the Y-17 Medical Facility. I needed the Sonic Emitter upgrade before I could retrieve stuff from Y-17. I took a minute and made breakfast. I debated checking in with the chat group. I decided to check-in.
08/01/2277
[Freak of Vault 3] {Has Signed in}
[100EXP/100 points] {Daily log-in bonus}
[Hermit Pharaoh of the Net] {Offline}
[Step on Me Dark Mommy] {Online}
[Little Rookie] {Online}
[Loli Explosion Goddess]{Offine}
[ArsenicCatnip] {Dead}
[Your Izuru Kamukura] {Offline}
[Loney C-Sec Officer Looking for Adventure] {Online}
[Step on Me Dark Mommy]: Oh Blue, your back! Where have you been? It's been weeks.
[Freak of Vault 3]: I've been being cut up and having unplanned brain removal surgery. Right now my brain isn't even in my body. I'm currently somehow piloting my body with signals coming from wherever my brain is being kept.
[Loney C-Sec Officer Looking for Adventure]: That can't be pleasant. You humans are known for having rather squishy fragile bodies.
[Freak of Vault 3]: To be honest everything feels like I'm a second slower and my body feels waited down by all the tec that was placed in me. But wait who are you and what happened to AC?
[Loney C-Sec Officer Looking for Adventure]: My name is Garrus Vakarian. I'm apart of the criminal investigation unit in C-Sec. Not that means much coming from another universe and all. AC died before I was invited into this group chat. I've been here a little over four weeks. The cause of death is still unknown to us on this end. What I find odd is the fact she wasn't out right removed from the chat group. Miss Hermit has yet to show up in the chat as well. From what I heard she was well known for being her all the time like Aqua. Hajime Hinata has been offline for the last two weeks after AI Chiaki Nanami and Nagito Komeda had joined the list of people who could be revived.
[Little Rookie]: I'm happy to see your back. I yesterday I just got done helping my supporter get out of her abusive Familia. Now we are getting ready to fight the Apolo Familia in a war game in a few days. Oh and we have gotten a few more Familia members since we last spoke. An archer who uses swords as projectiles, a samurai who joined our Familia after we "blackmailed" her for almost causing the deaths of my party. My blacksmith friend decided to join us as well. I was also to get Miss Ryuu to support us for the war game. And now my supporter has joined my Goddess's Familia.
[Loney C-Sec Officer Looking for Adventure]: Well I have to get off. I just got a lead on some illegal organ harvest case I have been working on good luck recovering your brain Blue.
[Loney C-Sec Officer Looking for Adventure]{Has Logged off}
[Step on Me Dark Mommy]: Well I really have nothing to report on my end. I have just been stuck. Here in the realm of darkness. Doing Nothing but watch the dark ocean lap at my feet and using the chat group to keep track of the days and have some social interaction.
[Little Rookie]: Well I'm off I am getting help training with my stalker.
[Freak of Vault 3]: Well I'm also needing to log off. I have a high school to explore to find some code for my Sonic Emitter so I can disable force fields here in the Big MT. Laters Aqua, and Bell.
[Freak of Vault 3]{Has Logged off}
I used the green teleporter to get to Higgs Village. From there I went to Y-17 and set up the red teleporter on the roof of Y-17 using a dispenser as a makeshift ladder. After dealing with some cyber dogs using my Frontier Justice. I passed through X-7b "Boom Town" Target Zone to finally reach the X-8 Research Center. I flushed my system of rads with radaway before entering the building.
[X-8 Research Center Discovered 10EXP]
[10 EXP]
[22525/26550 to next level]
Well at last it is time to go back to school…