New enemy.

Even if there was blood on them, I made sure to pick up all the unbent nails.

....Not that I was holding them anyway, Marcus looked at me funny but still took them, I ignored the looks…. This stuff can come in handy in the future. When a single man can build entire settlements just from the garbage he collects here and there then it's definitely worth picking it up. I don't care what others say.

"So any Idea where this power armor is?"

Marcus's face took on a thinking expression for a few moments before shaking his head.

"My memory is blurry. This place definitely looks familiar though… It may be in one of the rooms further back…. But they all looked sealed shut…."

Glancing back towards the doors in question, I knew he was right…. There were three more rooms in the back….. The doors blocking entry were all made of thick metal… And the walls the doors were attached to were made of concrete. It looked strong, I may not be able to break through them myself.

Walking towards one, I raised my arm and slashed down….

*Crrrrrrrr*

There was resistance against my claws but I was still able to complete the action…

I looked towards the door seeing if my attack had any effect.... and a light scratch was engraved into it… But…. It wasn't deep.

'This is a first….. I didn't activate any skills but this was the first time my claws failed to cut through something…. Even the Protectrons from earlier couldn't stand a chance and were cleaved through relatively easily.'

Raising my arm again, this time I activated my skill Scratch[4]

*Screeeee!*

Sparks were created as my claws slid down the tough metal.

Looking at the door there was only a light mark. It was deeper than before but it still wasn't enough….. The door must have been made from some strong stuff.

I tried doing a few more things but nothing seemed to work… My Carve skill wasn't strong enough to break through the concrete walls either. Whoever fortified this place did a good job. I'm almost certain the power armor is in one of these rooms.

"I can't break through it…. Mother may be able to do it if she was here….. But she's a bit too big...."

Marcus came closer and made a suggestion.

"What about the shutters? She can just tear them down and then come inside…."

I thought for a moment before shaking my head in a negative.

"No, It sounds like a good idea but you have to remember, the car that's stuck on the top half may get damaged and explode. All of these cars were nuclear powered. So it's just too dangerous…."

"....Yes that's right, It's been so long. I forget things like that every now and then. I've Never actually seen one explode though."

We contemplated our situation for a bit…. Until I remember something.

"Wait a moment…. You said the original staff of this place turned into Feral ghouls Right?"

"That's correct… When the bombs fell and everyone was lathered in radiation, some of us turned into these….. Ghouls. but others just stood in place, unmoving…. They were still alive yet they didn't give any intelligible responses… Only giving the occasional grunt or moan… It wasn't until much later that we realized they attacked anything alive that wasn't mutated like them. Most of them should still be here unless some animal broke into the facility and pulled them away, But judging by the fact the Protectrons were still active I'd say that's unlikely."

"Well, I was thinking if they're still here one of them could possibly have a spare key."

Marcus nodded. I think he came to the same conclusion.

"That's most likely the case…. But it's best not to get our hopes up."

"Alright then, let's backtrack to the main lobby and start exploring the right side of the building."

The walk back to the main lobby was a bit difficult for Marcus. Protectron parts were scattered everywhere and he had to make sure not to step on anything sharp. I made a note to myself to scavenge all of their nails and screws before we leave. They must have thousands of them here, along with a few other useful items…. I didn't really care about what I stepped on since it wouldn't hurt me anyway….

It didn't take too long before we got back to our starting point.

Mother wasn't too far away so I formed Mind Link.

'Mother….'

A second passed before I heard her respond.

'You're... gone for a long time…. Bal.'

"We never ended up bringing any outside. They were all very weak, so instead, I just destroyed them.'

'How... many?'

Hmm? How many? Why was she curious about something like that?

'About 10 or 11. Why?'

Instead of getting a reply, mother just shared her intent…

Good job.

'...'

I may have had the mind of an adult man. But being complimented still felt nice… In other words, I couldn't help feeling a bit bashful…. It was a strange feeling, mother's pride almost felt like my own.

I forced the prideful feeling away.

'I still need to do a few things, mother. I'll be back in a while.'

'Mmmm, Yes..... Snow loves Bal.'

Hearing that, I teased her.

'Bal love Snow as well.'

Mimicking her speech, I felt a burst of amusement on mothers end…

With that, I cut the connection.

"I just informed Snow that we'll be in here for a bit longer."

Marcus paused.

"You refer to your own mother with her name?"

'...Yes… I did it at the beginning so that she wouldn't forget it…. But I do it now mainly because saying mother every other sentence gets dull. I like to mix it up. And saying it every now and then is nice... If that's all let's hurry up and get this over with… This place is dreary."

"Then let's go."

We walked over to the right side of the room…. I took the lead and quietly opened the door. Honestly, I probably didn't need to be so careful. The chances of there being anything dangerous in a place like this was low. Still, I would still choose to exercise caution. Allowing myself to become relaxed just because it's been easy so far is too ignorant. 

A stupid man makes the same mistakes over and over again, A smart man learns from his mistakes, A wise man, on the other hand, learns from other's mistakes. I almost died when I entered the town for the first time because I advanced too quickly. I may not be the wise man referred to in that proverb. But, I will most definitely not be the stupid one either.

Creeking the door open the hallway on the other side was revealed…

There were no enemies. Whether that was a good thing or not was up to debate..

Opening the door I crouched.. I didn't activate my sneak skill because I didn't want to waste my stamina… But it was alright, the skill also benefited me passively. I could also probably level it up outside of fighting since it isn't technically a combat-based skill. Even if it is very useful in battle.

I motioned for Marcus to wait and snuck forward creeping through the hall.

My steps became noticeably quieter when actively trying to sneak… I didn't wear any shoes but if I wasn't careful the claws on my feet would create a tapping noise, alerting any nearby foes.

I slowly approached the corner and cautiously peered around it, again there were no enemies.

'It's all clear, There are no opponents in the immediate area.'

After informing him I continued forward, walking down the hallway and coming to another door. The same process repeated itself again but this time the next room wasn't so empty.

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

HP 190/190

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

Hp 190/190

----Mr. Handy Lv45(Red)----

Hp 420/420

'Damn.'

I almost said that out loud, but I managed to restrain myself.

'What's wrong?'

Marcus was behind me and couldn't spot what I was seeing…. Even if he could see them he still doesn't have an interface that could help him gauge the enemy's difference in strength.

I kept my eyes on the Reds as I responded to him….

'There are three opponents ahead… Even though I fought more earlier we had more room to maneuver…. And one of these enemies is different from the others…. It's stronger… It isn't as strong as me and I could probably kill it easily… But the problem is there are other Bots surrounding him. The hallway is narrow and the strong one looks like it has much higher mobility…. What's more, the tougher one and the weaker one are looking in our direction. So a sneak attack wouldn't be possible.'

'Then we should just lead them back to your mother. Like our original plan.'

I shook my head at Marcus's suggestion.

'You misunderstood. I never said they were stronger than me…. It would just be an annoying fight. The tough one may be able to deal actual damage but not enough to kill me… The other ones around it are no threat either…. Just that they're acting like a shield for the stronger one…. I'll have to destroy them first before I fight the real fight.'

looking at me for a moment, Marcus closed his eyes and replied.

'I'll try to provide whatever covering fire I can but It won't be much help.'

It seemed like he was against the idea….. To him, this was probably just an unnecessary risk…. It wasn't really, it might shave my health down a bit…. And yes, I could just lead them back to mother, But I needed experience fighting strong enemies. If it was an enemy I had no chance of defeating like an Assaultron then yeah, I would lead them back to Mother… No actually I might not even do that… I might just try and escape.… I wouldn't trust my low-level Hide Skill with something like that. Neither would I mothers… But this one? The risks are minimal.'

I looked to the Mr. Handy. It had a chain saw… It was one of the few things I could remember about it… It left a very deep impression on me when I played Fallout 3. It also had a flamethrower right? Or was I thinking of a Mister Gutsy? It's best to assume it does….

'We'll do this quickly, I'll go for the closest weak one first and take it out. You stay in the back and focus fire on the second weak one. Do not get close, the strong one is too dangerous for you… But it's attention will probably be on me anyway, so you most likely don't need to worry about that. If you get injured, using a Stimpak wouldn't be a bad idea.'

I looked to him to see if he had anything wrong with the simple strategy…. Nothing was said so I took that as confirmation.

'Then let's get started.'

End of chapter.