Chapter 130 - 130

Words : 1141 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

While Deccanus started a small campfire using the scraps of wood from broken crates nearby, Adam began his own walk through of the building. There were a ton of crates, a few still left unopened, but by and large the warehouse was unremarkable. Still despite the mostly lackluster stock there were more than enough things to take back with him. Almost nothing that was a big ticket item but a lot of smaller things that would easily make this trip worth it. He stopped in front of the locked door, clearly leading to some sort of manager's office which Adam was expertly deduced thanks to the label next to the door that read 'manager's office'. Regardless of his hard hitting detective skills it was a rare chance for Adam to put his lockpicking skills to work. He hadn't especially gotten to use them recently, usually things were not locked. Or, more commonly, he could unlock it with his hacking skills. So Adam spent an inordinate amount of time toiling over the door's lock trying to get the pins into position. At some point it became less about getting the items that may or may not be inside, and instead became about pride. He wouldn't let this door best him. It was a fucking door, for crying out loud! Finally getting the door open he proudly pushed the door open to find the manager's office in shambles, everything was overturned, covered in dirt and dust, and it looked completely picked over. The culprit was as plain as day, a giant human sized hole in the wall that led to the outside where there was a bit of natural light pouring into the room. He had definitely just wasted his time. Adam could only let off a deep sigh as he turned around and walked over to Deccanus who was roasting the legs of the Mantis' with the heat of the fire. "Well I just wasted half an hour." Adam said, a bit disgruntled but not too beaten up about it. "However, you have arrived just in time for food." Deccanus said in response as he grabbed one of the grilled mantis legs and offered it to Adam. Adam looked at it quite disinterested in eating bugs but after Deccanus didn't let up for a solid ten seconds Adam relented. He took a deep breath and steeled himself for the experience and then pulled back the carapace, like he saw Deccanus doing, and took a bite. Honestly, it was pretty good. It was quite similar to lobster but less salty and tougher though with a slight tangy aftertaste. It would go well with salt and butter. In fact if he closed his eyes while he ate he could pretend he was eating lobster. Not the worst sort of thing he could have for lunch. Adam ate less than Deccanus, only eating one leg's worth of meat whereas Deccanus filled himself with four. He seemed to enjoy himself a lot. Adam then began to head up to the small second floor he had not yet explored. Upon arriving up the stairs he found a small staff break room, bathrooms, a changing room, a janitor's closet and… a protectron… still in its pod. Well now that was a good find. Adam walked over to the wall mounted computer next to the protectron and logged in. It took less than twenty seconds to break through the password screen and get to the controls. There was nothing especially interesting about the options, just that the protectron had been remodeled for heavy lifting and labor rather than being security. It seemed to be a construction type protectron, its body was colored a solid yellow with a red striped sensor chassis at the top with caution written underneath it. Instead of two laser emitters its hand claws were instead replaced with a nail gun in one and a vice-like hand in the other. Weird that this warehouse bought a construction bot instead of something more suited for moving boxes but maybe they got a good deal on it? Regardless it made no difference to Adam, he saw a perfectly functional protectron and decided there was no sense leaving it here to rust. Adam spent the next few hours reprogramming the protectron almost from the ground up. Deccanus spent the time properly scouring the warehouse for goods, even doing Adam's portion of the looting by filling his bag too. By the time Deccanus had finished looting the warehouse Adam too had finished reprogramming. He activated the protectron and then stepped back as the pod began to open. As the protectron stepped out of the pod it began to speak, looking at Adam. "Please stand clear of the-" It began before Adam cut it off mid sentence. "Recognize Adam Baxter." There was a pause that hung in the air as the protectron processed his words, stopping itself mid sentence. Finally after a moment it spoke. "Recognized. Adam Baxter." Adam could only smile to himself, as per usual he was so damn good at this. Now there was the issue of what to do with this guy. "Do you have a plan for the… robot?" Deccanus said as he walked over, seemingly withholding a worse insult to the protectron and instead just referring to him as a robot. "Not yet…" Adam said slowly. "I guess I could bring him back with me to Midway… he would be good for hauling stuff. A robotic porter." He mused aloud. Deccanus said nothing and just waited for Adam to come to a conclusion himself. "On the other hand I could send him to the safehouse, it's not too far away from here and I'm sure Rae might like a new friend to chat with." "Safehouse?" Deccanus asked, confused. "Ah yes. I'm sorry I never told you about it." Adam said, disengaging from the protectron for a moment and then turning to Deccanus. "I turned an old brewery that was used as a military HQ after the bombs fell into a safehouse, I haven't actually… used it, but it's nice that I have it." "I see…" Deccanus said without continuing further. Adam sighed and then looked at the protectron and then his gaze turned to the one thing he found here that was of interest to him. A commercial grade flamethrower. It was smaller than a flamer but not by much and it probably was not as powerful but it would do the job in a pinch. But this just brought him back to an old question he has been thinking about recently. Where is he going to put all his stuff? Or more specifically, if he wants to continue planning long term, where is he going to call home?

Chapter 130 - 130

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