Good Will Gift [Also called Bribery] II

Sanctuary Bunker

Main lift

"I wasn't expecting this plan of yours to dragged on for this long," Skylar said as she yawned while looking at Houmin's exhausted face.

"Me neither," Houmin tapped his fingers on his jaw, in deep thought about so much time he wasted. "Come to think of it, We showed them all of this, confirmed that their stories about this place are true. What if they don't want us anymore? What if they started getting any bright ideas to take this place themselves?"

"Uh, hm. Not really. It even looks like the rangers wanna gobble you whole." Remembering the happy faces of the Rangers during the orientation, Skylar took nothing of it. "You're overthinking it. You know that."

The orientation lasted about 30 minutes. Ace was the rowdiest one of all of them. Inspecting every angle of the hologram with Angela behind him, making sure he doesn't do anything too rash. General Vargas nitpicked on everything on the orientation slide as he insulted General Surgrue every turn he got. Thrasher and Ivana briefly discuss the benefits and cons of this place.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Houmin said. "It's been a long day for all of us. Maybe it's the fatigue that's getting to me."

"Maybe?" Skylar's attitude switched from a caring lady to a haughty diva real quick. "Oh, I'm always right."

Houmin thought of butting in, but when he looked at her expression and posture. He decided that it's best to not argue with her. a total defeat is waiting for him.

*Thun*

The lift stopped. The gears on the blast doors rang out as it's hydraulic, counter-weight, and computer panels work in unison to unlock the big lock in the middle of the door. Soon the door opened a bit before fully opening itself.

When their eyes adjusted to the light, the rangers shed tears of joy with what they saw. As Houmin, Skylar, Joe, and Viñia led them out, the Rangers took a moment before their emotions conquered them.

"Captain... Captain Mcknight! If you can see this, oh! You were right! You were right!" said the bawling Surgrue as he held onto a stack of papers.

"Well, I'll be damned... It's fucking true." Vargas said with a cracking voice as he held his tears in.

"The people we could have saved! The people we could have helped! I wished I'd searched harder for this sooner!" Thrasher broke as he slurred the regrets of his past.

"So beautiful! Angela! Look! In the lake! I can see some fish!" Ace cried for different reasons.

"Ace! I- I think we found the place we can settle in." Angela cried as never in her imagination that she can find a safe haven for both of them

Only Ivana stood there in silence. Houmin and the others took note of it.

"I'll give you all some time before we move on with the tour." Houmin also felt emotional with the view as he compared it to the hot hell outside. There are trees, grass, water, clean air [Houmin and the rest still has no idea why it has clean air], clean water with fish, and large empty spaces for a community to fit in. This was a true haven, a sanctuary for the survivors of the apocalypse.

"Second time we came here, it's beautiful as ever," Skylar spoke beside Houmin. "See their eyes, I think we gave them hope. Houmin. Well, except for that one with General Surgrue. I haven't seen her without her guard up.."

"Her? Think she's gonna be a problem?" Houmin asked.

"For me? I can handle her. For you? I bet there's a headache coming in for every time she comes looking for you." Skylar replied. Houmin looked back at her with a questioning look. "Now, now. Don't look at me like that. I know I'm hot. What's the next place after this?"

"We go a floor down. The hydroponics, greenhouse, starch converter. Basically, the whole floor is a big food production and recycling hub." Houmin says as he rubs his forehead. "Higher than this is the mountain summit. It's where the concealed antenna clusters, signal towers, and sustainable power generators- Air Traps and Solar concentrator. But, we can't go to it yet since it says on the manual that we'll die from radiation if we haven't unlocked the Anti-Radiation Screens."

What Houmin meant by a floor down is the accessible floor. In truth, there is a 2-floor gap between the Sanctuary floor and the food production floor. The other floor also follows a gap between them.

"Unlocked?" Hearing that video game-like word, Skylar had a stiff expression. "It's another game thing, isn't it?"

"Yup, I'll explain later." Houmin smiled at her expression. He called out to everyone, gauging that's about time to move ahead with the tour.

The Desert Rangers fixed themselves and regained their composure. At this moment, except for Ivana, that all of their doubts and heavy emotions were swept away. Replaced with the hope for the future.

The group headed to an elevator as it is much easier to move around the bunker than the lift. 10 people crammed inside, and Houmin pressed on the console for one floor below.

Entering the Agricultural hub of Sanctuary, everyone, including Houmin and the rest, jaws dropped to what they saw. The place looks like it froze in time with no signs of overgrowth, cracks, any deformities, nothing. It was white, smooth white.

Hydroponics is the name of the game in this section. Everything was artificial. Environmental controls, time, and date instructions for every plant were on display in the console. Instructions for soil management or anything regarding farming is there. The vertical plots, pots with soil, everything for farming are encased in a glass case.

"We're a Farming game now?" Houmin said to himself as he messed around in a computer panel. In there, categories of various seeds for edible plants, medicinal plants, and even ornamental plants were there. But that's just the Plant & Trees part. He scrolled down to another section. The 'animal' side of food production is there, a cloning facility for poultry, pork, beef, etc. The panel even shows the storage capacity for how many embryos it has. Lastly, on the bottom part, the starch converter. The description was that 'Turn starch to meat' simply supply the needed amount of starch, and the machine will produce that meat.

He paused there for a moment as he looked at a message on the side of the screen, [Artificial Sun is in effect]. He thought it best to leave it for another day.

"As expected, cloning and converting are locked. Now, things are really looking up like the novels that have a game system." A diagonal red line crossed the last two sections. Leaving only the hydroponics section. A good start is fine by Houmin. The place did give them leeway. There's an instruction about an empty space for the animals should the occupants decided to bring any.

"We're gonna give the Ag Center a run for their money if we get this place up and running."

"Or let Kathy have at this, see what kind of wonders they can do."

"All of Ag Center is gonna go nuts over this place."

"I think the knowledge of the old world was saved here. I just type in what I want on this computer, then something will pop up. Look! I searched for better ways to eat rat! and it gave me 15 reasons to not eat rat!"

Houmin and the rest gave a smile as they see the rangers' expression. Viñia took it as a positive result, and seeing their reaction, decided to use their data as a sample for when new people will come here.

Satisfied, they moved on to another floor, the Medical Bay.

Like the last floor, It was clean, smooth white. If that's going to be a new color, it will be the standard color for anything sophisticated. This time, Skylar giggled like a child in a toy shop. With Medic's training rooted in her, she excitedly explains all the pieces of equipment and stocks of medicines at hand. At present, only the wards of Emergency Treatment, General Care, Operating Table are available. She also pointed out that all the areas only have the starting equipment at hand.

What surprised her the most was the boxes filled with autoinjectors called "Stimpack." Houmin explained to her about his familiarity with the item. Which are medical consumables for quick regeneration of cells. She noted that it worked similarly to Medic's medical tool.

"I'm getting goosebumps. This setup is looking more like the Fallout: Shelter game." Houmin has scanned through the Medical Bay's control console. What Skylar said was true. Everything is at a minimum working capacity. They have the option to upgrade the equipment, more facilities, and to handle more volume and complicated cases.

Another upgrade option is called the "Body Revitalization Unit." Where you put an individual in a tank filled with specialized fluid, and it regenerates or reconstructs the body's cell in a slower but effective process. Houmin felt that it was a waste to upgrade every area and equipment where this option does everything at once. Or is there something else to it?

The last upgrade option for the Medical Bay is called the "Body Implant & Enhancement Service." The name is self-explanatory. It provides benefits for physical traits, surviving the radiated wasteland. Even having redundant internal organs like a second mini heart or a third lung or a supered kidney or even a sub-dermal armor.

"Anybody with a dream of being a superhero, here's your chance." Houmin gave himself a chuckle. He heard comments coming from the Rangers and Skylar about all kinds of illnesses and how to treat it. They also asked why there's a room full of non-expired medicine when a century has passed. Fortunately, Viñia quickly glossed it over and said it was due to advanced storage equipment and procedure that ensured the long life span of the meds.

With that done, they entered another floor, The Science Bay. or the Research & Development Floor.

The atmosphere gives off a sense of strictness, all due to a bombardment of signs, warnings, and redundant instructions placed all around. Intimidated. All of them drew away from all of the equipment. Fearing of breaking something that will leak out something dangerous and killing everyone in there making this trip to the Science Bay a short one.

For Science Bay's upgrade features, the first upgrade consisted of additional equipment, the second consists of "Sections.", and the last part looks into "Weird Science."

In simpler terms, the former is conventional science, while the latter is unconventional science. Sections program is the rabbit hole for anything to be researched on, be it biology, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry, medicine, etc. Weird Science program deals in the "Fictional" side of the research like energy weapons, new sustainable power sources, Artificial intelligence, etc.

Lastly, in a small storage room, a stack of boxes filled with "Radaways" is neatly placed there. Making Houmin twitched his eye as the similarity is getting ever closer to a Fallout: Shelter game.

Next on their list is the Living Quarters. This has highlighted the Rangers' interest in this place. Joe explained to everyone that the lodging looks almost exactly like the ones used by marines in a ship. Capsule beds with some drawers for personal and clothing storage. A Capsule block, since Joe forgot what it is actually called, has 4 capsule beds. 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom. The floor is a carefully maximized space where each room has about 3 capsule blocks. Plus, there's a room so spacious with Capsule Blocks stacked in a way that it can accommodate more or so 100 people.

A bit cramped for Houmin's and Skylar's taste, but they can recognize the necessity for it. The Rangers were more than happy with just knowing there was a warm bed for everyone.

For the upgrades, there are options for having family rooms, entertainment rooms, schools, barbershop, livelihood amenities, etc. It's the simple upgrades. The necessary space needed for these upgrades is possible since the Living Quarters occupy about 3 floors. What's concerning for Houmin and the rest is the additional facilities: The administrator office, the project stasis chamber, communication room.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Whispered Skylar. Her, Houmin, Viñia, and Joe circled around as the rest of the rangers scuttled around, inspecting the rooms. "You two came here before us. What exactly do you mean that you didn't come here through that?!"

Joe turned his head to where Skylar is pointing at. The door to the stasis chamber, "Like I said, we came here just like you did. Through a door-- Not waking up in a pod and stepping out to a door."

"Why are we even talking about this? We're not the one who's going to explain it if we got found out." Viñia and the two turned their heads to Houmin, all of showing off a sly smile.

"What? Why are you all-Ah, fuck! It's my problem, isn't it?! Ah, Fuck me."

Later on, when the Rangers passed by the Administrative Room, Project Stasis Chamber, and the Communications Room trying to ask why these three rooms are locked. Without much a beat, Houmin bullshited his way by telling them unsynchronized protocols, expected time of function, and buffering. Whatever it was, Houmin had a relaxed expression as it worked.

Before moving on, he told everyone that the power generator floor and the water filtration floor is inaccessible due to the whole system undergoing self-diagnosis. In truth, there's nothing actually wrong with it. He just decided on it outright as the anxiety of lying through their faces is getting to him. And to save time.

He took his time glossing through the upgrades for the last two floors on his manual book. Mainly for capacity and efficiency. For the Water Filtration floor, it's more of a name change and additional pieces of equipment, and it's water storage. Water Filtration-->Water Treatment-->Water Purification.

For the power generator or the Thermal Generator as it's called, utilizing the steam vent underground is more viable for safety and efficiency than nuclear power. The upgrades are simple, but at an exorbitant price: A whole floor for an additional Thermal Generator, each generator needs to be upgraded with extra Thermal Cores and Coolants.

How exactly can the upgrades be done? A few hours ago, that was a problem Houmin had flipping through the pages whenever he came across the word "Upgrade." 'Upgrade it with what?' He thought. Until he came across a page called the "Proper Usage of Reprecessesor."

By definition, the Reprecessesor is a structure that has been designed to provide the number of nanites specialized in one purpose: material-gathering. The only floor that Houmin is 100% clear to not let the others know at this time. For one reason: He doesn't know what exactly it is, but he knows what it does. Well, there's a stamp on the picture on the page on the manual with G.O.A.T's doodling on it called "I stole it from the Foehn brats." (RA2 Mental Omega)

The Reprecessesor is the main reason to why upgrade can be possible to this bunker: By letting the millions of millions of nanites turn from material gathering to constructing practically anything. The room upgrades include popping out an infinite amount of Fabricator Machines, Additional Nanite Construction Cores. The manual page of this room has an emphasis on being power-hungry.

Needless to say, this room is the Weird Science part of this whole complex.

On the last place for the tour, the garage and the Workshop can be considered as one part since they share the same space. The garage cannot be upgraded, but the Workshop has three upgrade options: Modding, Gear Factory, Heavy Machinery Constructor.

Modding deals with the modification of a working vehicle. Gear Factory deals with manufacturing parts for any vehicle. Heavy Machinery Constructor is the opportunity to create any 'vehicle' they could want. Be it a land vehicle or air vehicle. The bunker has an independent upgrade function for a hanger, but that's a story for another day.

"General Vargas," Houmin said with a calm face, "I know Christmas isn't here yet, But everything in here plus the things we're planning to give you anyway... This can all be enjoyed by the Rangers and the people."

Vargas paused and looked back at him, "Let's get this straight, Specialist Houmin. What do you want with the Desert Rangers?"

From the very start, Vargas had an uncomfortable feeling creeping up to him with these new people. The hidden documents tell a much deeper story than the front folder they had. They had the resources, the capacity, the skills, the training, everything, they had it all... So what can the Desert Rangers even offer back? Why even bother with the Desert Rangers?

"To give the world another chance, sir," Houmin said. "You're the best bet we have to do just that."

Vargas gaze back to his group, looking for anyone who has an opinion about what he said. Instead, they all nodded, agreeing on one thing because of what Houmin claims: For the people.

Not only the Rangers but the people can enjoy this. The same reason that the Desert Rangers were created, For the people.

"Alright, son." Vargas gave out a hand to Houmin. "We'll take your bribe."

"Looking forward to working with you, sir." Houmin shook his hand. With that accomplished, Houmin looked back on his thoughts as he remembered the reward that G.O.A.T is promising.

As they make their way to the Garage/Workshop floor. An unexpected thing popped up.

"SYNTH! GET TO COVER!"

Once the elevator doors opened. The Desert Rangers spread themselves out and hugged the wall while pointing their guns at the end of the hall when they saw the immobile synth from earlier is now standing there, waiting for them.

♪ Perry Como - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ♪