Chapter 28: Mainframe

Alright now that that's done, it's about time I returned to the present.

Glancing over my stats one last time to see if I missed anything, I didn't find anything else. Thus, I closed the holographic Pip-Boy screen, resuming the passage of time once again after a few moments.

When time resumed, I had all my robots remain in their defensive positions in front of the RobCo Facility while I headed around the building to make sure there weren't any hostiles behind the building.

No more than a few minutes later, I finished circling the facility confirming that there were no potential dangers or hostiles that required my attention. That said, as I was checking the rear of the facility out I noticed the loading docks in the back were quite large as well as numerous in number, which was a huge plus for me since it would allow the passing of larger vehicles and robots without issue.

They could also be used for the loading and unloading tons of resources but that won't be occurring until I have total control of the capital wasteland and have figured out what needs to be done about the Zetans. So until those two things are resolved, though mainly the latter one, I'll be keeping a majority of my movements underground when I've taken control of the metros and have gotten them linked up with the RobCo Facility.

Moving on from future issues to the present, the back of the facility had a massive blast door as well so large it could probably allow something as humongous as liberty prime to walk through it with plenty of room to spare, so that was another nice discovery. 

It will definitely see some use when I eventually start accumulating a massive amount of resources that I can use to make robots like the behemoth from Fallout Tactics. though mine will feature a multitude of modifications to increase their combat capabilities. Alongside that, I could try to make a deal with the Brotherhood Steel to get my hands on Liberty Prime, however that will probably be next to impossible, unless I can convince them to join me.

And that won't be viable until I at least establish myself as somewhat of a major force here in the capital wasteland. Despite all that, I know Elder Lyons isn't like the brotherhood from out west with their dumb restrictive rules, so there is a not so low probability that I might be able to get them to join me if I go about things the right way... I'll continue this line of thinking when start nearing the point where I actually stand a chance of potentially bringing them into my fold.

Time to get down to business and take over this RobCo Facility. As for how I'm going to do that, I think the best way to go about it without destroying the robots that are most likely still operating in the facility would be to sneak my way to the mainframe that's located somewhere in the facility.

It was located on the upper levels in the game, so if the layout is anything like it was in Fallout 3, I should be able to find it there. And once I locate the mainframe, I'll hack into and gain administrator access, which should then give me full control of the facility as well as the robots that are still functioning within it.

After I settled on a general plan, I scanned the surrounding area and the distance for any potential trouble. Thankfully, I didn't find anything other than a pack of feral dogs, a decent way out that would present no issue to my robots while I'm inside getting things taken care of.

With that out of the way, I unequipped my main weapon Mulcher along with its magazine because I didn't think I'd be using it inside at all. The second I had it stored away with its magazine, I swapped over to my Guillotine which should be more than enough to handle any dangers I may encounter inside.

"Alright, I'm heading in. Keep the area locked down. I'll be back in a bit." I told my robots, which got a whole ass assortment of affirmatives in response and a reply from Hauler.

"Okay, boss, we'll hold down the fort till you get back."

Right as I finished all my preparations, I walked over to the front entrance and cracked the door open to take a peek inside. What I saw was a very similar reception area to the one in the game, along with its old deteriorating furniture and dreary atmosphere.

Hmm, I don't see any robots around. But that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of them further in the facility... Also, this place needs a serious amount of cleaning up. I can literally see the dust floating around.

*Clink...Klank...Clunk...Clink*

As I was contemplating, my thoughts were interrupted by a frequent sound of metal hitting a surface and the longer this went on, the louder it was growing. Meaning whatever was producing it was coming right this way.

Remaining patient, a weathered Protectron entered the reception area a few moments later and scanned the area before heading through a different doorway off into another area of the facility to continue its programmed route.

When I couldn't hear the Protectron's metal feet landing on the floor anymore, I opened the door fully and made my move towards where I believed the way to the upper levels of the facility laid. From there, I stealthily moved through the worn hallways of the facility, producing no noise in the process thanks to the perk I just got in my previous level up. Continuing to make my way, I suddenly stopped in place when I heard what appeared to be the sounds of numerous Protectron feet hitting the facility's floor.

It sounds like there are quite a few of them up ahead. Let's take a peek and see how many of them there are.

I thought before I headed down the hall towards the sound of clinking robot feet originated from. All it took was a brief few moments for me to arrive in front of the door that should lead toward the source of the sound. Cracking the door open a smidge, I took a peek.

What I saw was a dark dreary warehouse area with several dozen feet tall ceilings and a couple dozen Protectrons walking about, not really doing anything in particular other than moving about. After looking around the area for a bit, I saw off to the right a door with a sign next to it labeled stairwell.

Looks like I found my way up. Now how am I going to get past them without getting their attention... Mm, there's a decent amount of distance between them and the stairs and plenty of cover, so it should be relatively easy to sneak past the Protectrons. So combine that with my sneak skill that is so damn high and me being able to make my presence basically disappear, I should have zero trouble getting past them.

Yeah, I just utilize the environment to my advantage and go from cover to cover and hang towards the shadows and make my way to the stairwell door and if it doesn't work out, I'll just make a run for the door.

Putting my plan into action, I activated the presence hiding field I got from my stealth skill reaching 100 and cracked the door open just enough for me to slip through it. Once I was past it, I gently and very quietly closed it behind me before I started moving from one large rack of parts and different resources to another. About a minute later, I arrived in front of the door leading to the stairwell, but it was locked, so I unlocked it with the new ability I got from Human Skeleton Key.

The very instant the door was unlocked, I silently opened it and entered the stairwell and right as I passed the threshold, I shut it behind, all while not making a single sound. Now that the door was shut, I looked around the stairwell and noticed it lead up as well as down, which wasn't a thing in the game, so I guess I got a basement area to explore later. But I'm not complaining since it will be of great help later when I'm ready to construct a tunnel from here to the nearest metro station, Warrington Station, in the southwest.

When I was finished observing, I headed up the stairs quietly and while I was climbing said stairs I took note that there were three floors not counting the basement floor or floors since I hadn't been down there just yet. Seconds later into my climb I finally arrived in front of the door on the topmost floor and as I was checking the door out, I saw it also had a label next to the door, but it was covered in dust. So I brushed it off, what was revealed beneath the cover of dust was a label that read Administrative Area.

Good, I found the floor I wanted.

Giving the door handle a turn and it was apparently locked, hence I unlocked it with my recently gained lockpicking ability.

*Click*

The door sounded as I unlocked it before I then cracked it open and took a peek inside like I'd been doing with every other door thus far since you can never be too cautious, especially out here in the wasteland. What appeared in my vision was a hallway that went on for a bit before eventually splitting off and out to the sides as well as forward. But other than that, I didn't see anything else that was dangerous or interesting, so I slipped inside and continued on down the hallway.

A quarter of an hour later, as I was wandering the rundown hallways, I came across another section of hallways, so I continued my exploration down them. Shortly thereafter, just as I was coming up on another cross-section, I detected some turrets nearby, hence I paused for a brief second and walked over to the corner of the wall and took a quick look-see. What I saw while looking around the corner was a semi long hallway with a faded blue colored door labeled Mainframe at the end of it that was also being guarded by four laser turrets.

Ah, so this is where it was.

Mm, it seems to be guarded by four turrets too, but that shouldn't pose much of a challenge for me to sneak past unless they are able to detect in thermal, at which point I'll just take them out. However, from the looks of them, they don't seem to have the hardware required for that, so I should be good.

Done checking the hallway out, I snuck over to the door while continuing to use my new stealth ability following along the wall of the hallway. When I arrived in front of the door, I gave the door handle a quiet jiggle and was surprised to find it unlocked. I would've preferred it being locked to farm a smidge of xp, but I wasn't going to complain since that minuscule amount of xp wasn't worth much at the end of the day.

Upon entering the room, I looked around and saw a huge amount of different computers lined up against the walls of the room and smack dab in the center of the room was the mainframe.

It took a while to get here, but I've finally arrived. Time to see what this mainframe can do and make this place mine.

As soon as I finished that thought, I walked with a bit of pep in my step toward the terminal that was connected to the mainframe. When I arrived in front of it I took a seat in the 200-plus-year-old chair placed at it, fired up the terminal, and started typing away on its keyboard to gain control over the facility even though I could've just used Mechu-deru to do just that.

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If you're looking for something else to read, that's similar to this, check out my other webnovel Wasteland Conqueror. It has a lot more chapters released.