Chapter 24 - Caps for a companion

Rather than asking Dante again, the old man turned towards Vito, who until now didn't say a thing. For a second the old man weighed his decision to talk to the super mutant before he let out a sigh.

"This might just be the first time in my entire life when I choose to trust one of your kin. Nevertheless, seeing how the kid doesn't want the caps, I'm still forced to ask you, his partner the same thing."

"While we are no charity, I understand why Dante choose to refuse the caps. Despite being a mercenary, he's also quite smart for his age, and considering what the convicts did to your town…you old folks will need the caps more than we do, besides we already got paid by the NCR, add what we had found on the bodies and that's our reward, so you don't have to give us anything else."

"If that's the case then thank you, both of you for what you have done to bring peace back to our town. Come tomorrow to my shop, it's in front of the casino, you can't miss it."

"Sure thing, sir. Vito and I would come tomorrow, maybe we would buy something from you while we are there."

"I hope you do, after all, I'm trying to make a living. Also, it is true what Beagle told us? That you have talked with the NCR about bringing some of those soldier boys to protect the town?"

"Well…we did talk with Lieutenant Hayes about the lack of protection this town has and he was more than happy to help once his superiors give him the green light. The only downside would be the tax that you guys would have to pay, but I think the benefits would shadow the tax."

"Let's just hope you are right, young man. Anyways, see you two tomorrow."

After the old man left the three of us alone, Deputy Beagle turned towards us, this time thought, being a little calmer in Vito's presence, compared to the last time we talked.

"Do you two have a place to sleep?"

"No."

"Then may I suggest using the hotel? Even though it's not being opened right now due to some problems, some of the rooms can still be used. After all, it's the least we can do for you two after saving our town."

Unsurprisingly enough, Beagle left for his own home after he told the duo that they could use the hotel, leaving Vito and Dante alone in the middle of the street. Even though the deputy was probably one of the biggest cowards known to man, he was smarter than most people, which could be a good thing for the man if he were to work another job, that didn't require him to fight.

The next day, early in the morning, his friend woke up Dante. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Vito standing in front of the door with one of the most annoying looks the boy had ever seen.

"What's with that smug look on your face?"

"I woke up a few hours ago and went to check Johnson's shop. You can't even imagine what I have found there just lying."

"Spill the beans, Vito. It's too early in the morning for me to deal with your smugness."

"Kids these days, don't know what's fun…Anyways, you remember what I've told you about the Enclave right?"

"Yeah, some self-proclaimed continuation of the United States of America made up by some of the descendants of the pre-war presidential staff right?"

"Exactly, well while I was looking through the stuff, Johnson had for sale, I found one of the best inventions Robco had ever made. The old man had a damaged eyebot lying around in a corner."

"An eyebot?"

Vito let out a sigh as soon as he heard that question, forgetting that the boy he had taken under his care didn't saw or heard about those things in his entire life.

"Sorry for that, I forgot that you didn't see one of those things since the brotherhood and the enclave are not exactly roaming the Mojave any longer. Anyway, an Eyebot is a hovering all-purpose robot with whip-like radio antennas resembling long "whiskers" pointing to its back and loudspeakers in the front. As for its uses, well let's just say that the Eyebots vary and have been known to include the spreading of propaganda, reconnaissance, surveillance, delivering messages, and even repair and medical services. In some rare instances, these beautiful robots were even used in combat, albeit to some lesser degree compared to the rest of the robots Robco had made."

"So, does that mean that we can have our own eyebot?"

"If you can use your ability to repair it then we would have our own eyebot. What do you say?"

"What are we even waiting for?"

Fifteen minutes later and almost 75 caps less, the duo left the shop carrying a rather badly damaged eyebot alongside some spare parts that Dante hopes would be more than enough to repair the robot or at least make it "alive" again. The duo returned with their new purchase back to the hotel before putting everything down on the floor in Dante's room.

As always, Vito took a few steps back, leaving Dante to use his ability in peace while the boy in question put everything in front of him before deactivating his collar, letting his ability examine the robot. A few seconds later, the same familiar panel appeared in front of his eyes, showing him more information about the robot than he would have ever thought it would be possible for him to find.

[Name: Eyebot Duraframe Subject E (ED-E)

Background (Only visible for mechanical beings): ED-E is an Enclave eyebot from the East Coast. This particular eyebot was built by Whitley at Adams Air Force Base around 2275. As a prototype "duraframe" model, ED-E has been enhanced for regular combat as opposed to the original eyebots, which function primarily as a mobile radio transmitter, and standard Duraframe models. These enhancements include an additional dish-directed sensor, armor plating to protect the side-mounted vacuum tubes, and a front-mounted, miniaturized Tesla cannon for improved offensive capabilities from the standard laser cannon. However, since the war of 2277 with the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel necessitated increased production of the Enclave's Hellfire armor, eyebot production was stopped, and ED-E became the last surviving model. Whitley uploaded an enormous amount of valuable data on Poseidon Energy and his duraframe research into ED-E's logs and then dispatched it on a cross-country journey to Navarro. More information might be accessible once the required voices are identified by this particular unit.

Role: Combat drone

Status: Badly damaged

Required components for repair: Three pieces of metal (no special metal), one electronic board as well as two sensor modules.]

Seeing that he and Vito bought more than enough components, Dante smiled before he starts working on the robot.

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