The Robot Menace.

We stood a good distance away, looking at the old building. It was in ruins. but compared to the others I've seen, it was actually in pretty good shape…. Marcus was standing right besides me….. Mother was not too far behind but she wasn't going inside….. She was too big. Instead She was here in case we couldn't handle the situation, If that were the case she could actively help us in a couple of ways.

What about the farm you ask? Even with the large hole in the farm's defenses with her scent no mutated animals would ever dare approach the place.

The job didn't sound 'too' difficult. So I thought It'd be best to try and get more experience while I'm still young and weak…. Well not 'weak' But…. still killable…. And Marcus? He was here because he needed to be…..… This is for two reasons…

The first was that in order to get what he wanted, Marcus and I would have to navigate through multiple hallways and this place was like a maze… A maze filled with enemies. They probably weren't too strong but they had high numbers on their side… We're looking at around 30 enemies. I learned my lesson last time and I won't allow things to repeat themselves. I have a solid backup plan so if things get hazy and I see that there are too many to take on at once. I'll lead them back to mother and she will deal with them....…. slowly moving forward covering more and more ground....

The second reason I'm bringing Marcus is that I can't get what he wants me to get by myself. I needed him. Mother was too big to fit inside and he was the only one who could move it around.

And what was it that he wanted?

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"We've decided that we'll go with you."

"But….. We need your help getting something first…"

I eyed the ghoul suspiciously…..

What is this? This dialogue….. It's so….….. Is this some kind of real life version of a quest?

"What is it that you want my help getting?"

The ghoul looked at me before speaking.

"I was a soldier before the world ended… A good one too. I moved to Oregan and was finally going to retire with my family but the bombs fell…."

He fell silent for a bit but I didn't say anything…. It was obvious his family didn't survive…. A few moments passed before he seemed to wake up and continue.

"The bombs fell and everything went to shit…. People died and more were dropping left and right due to the radiation poisoning. A lot of the ones who did survive turned into ferals… or they starved... Well, I was awarded my own suit of power armor for my efforts in the war….. It was undergoing maintenance in a nearby auto shop…. We were actually visiting it when everything happened….. Normally the feral mutants leave the sentient ones alone and attack everything else alive... but the problem isn't them…. There were a couple of robots in the vicinity. I'm not sure why but besides the original staff, which are all ferals now, they'll attack anyone that comes close. We were never strong enough to take the facility ourselves….. But if we had you and your mothers help then it's possible."

'Power armor?' I felt my tail give a flick in surprise….. But soon it dropped low…

'As a Deathclaw, I can't wear power armor…. But still... It'd be very useful. Marcus sounds like he's already experienced in using them... But that leaves another question…..'

"If you were visiting the facility at the time….. Then why did you leave it there? Would it not have been... useful?"

'Something about this didn't seem right.'

"I was unequipped and in another part of the building…. When the bombs fell all of the bots turned hostile and even though the place wasn't very big, moving through even a single room was suicidal. I almost died just looking for my wife and son….."

After thinking for a while I decided it was worth the risk and agreed to help get the Power armor.

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"So how do you suppose we should go about doing this?"

I turned, asking the ex-military ghoul.

He thought for a moment before giving me his opinion.

"We should go with a feigned retreat tactic….. We go together, grab the protectrons attention and then retreat… If and when it follows us outside, Snow can turn it to scrap."

"Alright that sounds reasonable…. But I'd like to try fighting a couple of the machines myself. As well as the Feral Ghouls. I'd like to get some experience fighting enemies."

At my words Marcus stilled…. The grip on his gun tightened and he looked at me for a long moment.

"I….. Have no problem with that…. Just try not to mutilate them too much…. They were people before with their own lives, Hopes and aspirations."

I paused for a moment before nodding…..

Sometimes I forget... This is reality…. The morals involved never really registered with me. The idea of going around and killing Mobs never seemed to faze me.

Hearing me so nonchalantly say something like that must have been a shocker…. Maybe even insulting…. If it was a human saying that he'd probably throw a fit…

He didn't know that I was a human before. So he didn't question my humanity…..

"I seem to have hit a sore spot…. I'll try to watch what I say from now on."

The ghouls seemed surprised but nodded….

"Alright then, let's get started…"

I went and told mother the plan. Then Marcus and I started heading to the door of the medium sized building…. A large billboard was hanging above with the name of the business. AutoJoes. There was a picture of a buff man smiling, carrying a giant wrench.

As we approached the front door he stepped forward grabbing the handle and slowly pushing the door open. It was done in a way to minimize the sound. but nonetheless a loud creek sounded out….

My ears didn't pick up anything so it was safe to say there was probably nothing at the entrance….

The door swung open revealing to us the dusty interior….. It was definitely not kept up…. In the middle of the room was a large desk holding a retro computer…. Smoke clouded the air and the floor was covered in cracks….. Papers were littered all over the place… Most of them looked damp….. The lights were unsurprisingly still working…. The place was in good condition after all…. And it wouldn't be weird for a place like this to have its own special power source."

The smoke began drifting outside, making it easier to see….. Well for Marcus…. With my senses, seeing even in the dark was easy.…. Everything looked dirty but it was probably just a thick layer of dust that built up over time….

'Hmmm'

"There's nothing here."

"Yet."

Marcus responded as he readied his shotgun.

*Chk-Chk*

He brought a shotgun, an assault rifle and a pistol…. Each with two mags. I was just planning on using my claws…. Maybe I could use guns now but in the future they'd be too small… So I didn't want to rely on something I'd outgrow in the future…. Maybe if I had a sword or something. But that wasn't important right now.

We quietly looked around the room…. There were multiple doors leading to other unknown areas. I looked at the soldier….. Waiting… He seemed to be thinking but after a couple seconds he spoke….

"My memory is a bit hazy…. I know the power armor is somewhere on the left side of the building….. But I can't remember exactly where. Also, I'm not sure if the fusion core is still in the armor or not….. It may be located somewhere else."

I really wanted to sigh but I held it in.…. It was always the hard way wasn't it?

"We'll just have to search until we find what we're looking for."

He nodded and silently we moved towards the left side of the room… Carefully opening the door He peered inside… I noticed the inside was gray, that meant it was dark. We both prepared for a conflict but it turned out to just be an old bathroom….

Marcus was getting ready to move again but a tug from me and he stopped…. He looked at me in confusion….

I walked into the bathroom…. After a good 15 or so seconds I came back out with 3 stimpacks and a blood pack. The blood pack would probably be useless for me but who knows…

"Stimpacks? Those are rare…. We've only collected a few dozen since the war….."

"You must not have been looking hard enough. There was a first-aid-kit just sitting there…. These things are scattered all over the place."

"..... If that's the case then why did your mother bring you to the farm? Couldn't she have just used one on you?"

"She didn't know what they were or what they were used for. Now let's focus on the task at hand."

I handed him the goods since I had nowhere to put them… And to be honest I can take much more damage than him.

Moving towards the last door on the left side, I motioned him to move over….. The lights were on but it was still pretty dark in here. I have night vision and could see much better, not to mention I'm smaller. I'd be best if I opened the doors. At least I could see what's inside.

Very gently I cracked the door open…. Unfortunately there was a creek but it was barely audible…. I looked through the tiny crack and noticed Our first enemies….

----Utility Protectron Lv20(Red)----

Hp 190/190

'This is…..'

Closing the door I looked at Marcus and used my Mind Link.

'One of the robots is behind the door…..But…..'

His eyes narrowed and he seemed to notice my hesitation….

'What's wrong? Were there any problems?'

I struggled for a second before I asked a question of my own.

'This was what you were worried about?'

End of chapter