Chapter 124 - 124

Words : 1229 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

The next day Adam took it slow, as he often liked to do, heading out to have breakfast after a nice long leisurely morning. Breakfast today cost him 33 caps, since he would save the voucher for later. After breakfast he decided to browse through today's flea market vendors. When Adam had first arrived at Midway he had assumed the front street of the city was full of temporary shops. As he had learned that was only half true, while new merchants cycled in often and there was always something new to see. Some of the stalls were permanent fixtures. Perhaps it was just cheaper to rent a space in the flea market area instead of a proper shop? It does at least give a lot more foot traffic, even if your shop space is smaller. Regardless he spent a few hours browsing wares. He had nothing better to do today after all, most of the things he found were either useless to him or outright junk. But there were a few things of interest to him. A new book to add to his collection, only 5 caps due to the wear on it. But it was still plenty readable. A bit of spare ammo he got at a discount, only 30 caps for the lot he grabbed, a single stimpack for only 25 caps, a steal really, and finally a new holotape game, Atomic Command. The game cost him 40 but considering how much he enjoyed Automotron he figured it was worth it. Besides, what is the point of throwing himself into danger if he can't enjoy the fruits of his labor? After he had spent sufficient time in the flea market he put his bobbleheads and other things he didn't need at the moment in his storage locker he was renting and then headed to do something he had wanted to do for a long time. Go to the movies. Ever since he had learned that there was a movie theater he had wanted to go watch a movie. It was one of his favorite old world pastimes. If he can recapture even a fraction of that now it was worth trying. However to get there he had to go explore, what was hopefully, the last unexplored area of Midway. The third floor. He had always been curious what the third floor was like but had never gone since he never had a reason to, besides even from the second floor stairs he could see guards standing watch at the top of the stairs, as well as more well dressed citizens walking around. It always looked like another world. However he had a goal so he went up there. He was stopped at the top of the stairs by the guards and asked to submit to a credit check? How strange. According to them no one was allowed on the third floor without at least 500 caps to their name. Luckily Adam had that in spades so he showed them his slips and they let him through without further issue. The first thing that Adam noticed as soon as he was on the top floor was how gussied up everything was. For better and for worse. There was definitely a level of class that was being upheld here unlike the lower floors. The walls were heavily maintained, the ceilings and floors were regularly cleaned, the shops seemed to sell much more expensive looking items, mostly clothing, and everyone up here looked extremely well fed and housed, walking around in clothes that would make old world housewives jealous. However there was also a level of pretense that was unshakeable from all the dressed up appearance. It was as if they wanted to give this floor the appearance of wealth and aristocracy without actually going through the major renovations to achieve it. Nothing felt perfectly right. It was, of course, much more expensive looking than the lower floors, but it also felt chintzy and fake. It was hard to describe. Maybe it was just his own distaste for this style of place to begin with. A few shot glances at Adam as he passed but said nothing as they continued along with their day. Adam felt a bit out of place, everyone else was wearing nice clothing and he was in his vault suit. But it was still Midway, even up here, he only slightly stood out, there were more than enough people to blend into the crowd. Another thing he noticed as he was walking around was how much smaller the third floor was compared to the first floor or even the second floor. The third floor was no doubt big, but in comparison to the other two, he did not get the impression he could get lost up here, the paths were easier to navigate and there were signs everywhere. Also the fact that for most of the third floor the ceiling was several floors higher than where he was standing within a grand skylight shining down natural light from above also gave the impression of a less claustrophobic space. Regardless, after wandering for a bit he found his destination, the movie theater. He walked up to the front desk and then glanced at the movie times and shows. It seemed there was only ever one movie being shown at once, and a lot of these movies he didn't recognize, a few though he did. After finding the next movie to play, only 30 minutes from now, he turned to the worker. "How much for a ticket for the next showing?" He asked with a smile. "100 caps." The man said back with no empathy or emotion. "100?" Adam said back, shocked, that was an entire stay in The Delta, just for a short movie, what a rip-off. But then again, this was the third floor, he was paying premium prices for premium services. Adam sighed deeply and then took out a slip for 100 caps and handed it over to the worker who took it and put it into a cash register. "Enjoy the movie sir." He said, still deadpan as he handed over a ticket for the movie. Adam then looked over to the left and saw a second worker standing in front of a concession cart. There was some candy, a popcorn machine, a cotton candy machine, some drinks, and a few other sweet looking treats that Adam didn't recognize. He hesitated for a moment and then decided 'when in Rome' and walked over to grab some food for his movie. 55 caps later Adam had his popcorn, a nuka cola, and one of the unrecognized sweets that was probably some sort of lollipop. He then headed into the theater and took a seat in a nice plush chair. He may have overpaid for this movie, but he was certainly going to enjoy himself. The movie was not yet playing but instead they had some rolls of film from old TV Advertisements. He wasn't especially interested, since, you know, it was ads. But he was alone in this opinion as there were already quite a few people in the audience who were watching the ads enraptured in the old commercials. Adam decided to remain quiet and let them have their fun while relaxed and ate some popcorn.

Chapter 124 - 124

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