Chapter 131 - 131

Words : 1572 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

The core of the issue is, right now, he is effectively living day to day out of The Layover, spending hundreds of caps a week to have a room. It was good for the time being but long term it really wasn't viable. He really did need a home. That brought him to a different problem, where to live? There was of course, the obvious choice, living out of the brewery turned safehouse, it was already set up after all. But as a home it made for poor housing. It had no running water, bare bones electricity, no shower facilities or working bathrooms and no sleeping space that could comfortably feel like a bedroom, only places where beds were. Not to mention it was out in the middle of nowhere. As safe as it was with all those turrets he was a few hours from midway and as a permanent home having such a vulnerable location was not ideal. It only worked as a safehouse because he wasn't living out of it. If he frequently went back and forth from there someone might catch on. Then the next obvious choice was staying in Midway. Certainly not the worst choice, it was a massive hub of activity after all, whether he was doing runs or not he had access to a lot of utilities and people. However the truth was it had a different kind of safety issue, thieves. As much as he liked Midway he had already heard, more than once, of people having their homes broken into and having stuff taken from them. The guards did well to keep order but there were not enough of them to keep thievery at zero. Of course that is to say nothing of the most pressing issue there, the cost. He had done a little bit of cursory asking around about homes in Midway. The cheapest houses went for as little as 1000 caps. Though they were the unappealing ones on the main street at the entrance. They didn't even have plumbing, they had to get their water from a communal pipe at the end of mainstreet on the first floor. Adam was not that desperate. The most expensive houses were on the third floor, obviously, and they could go for upwards of 100,000 caps. Ludicrously expensive. Of course he had not forgotten about the favor he could possibly earn from Mr. Cantelli. But he might prefer to save the favor for something else, he had other ideas after all. The average houses were generally between 10,000 and 40,000 caps. While the price varied dramatically so too did the luxuries. Basically, no matter what he would need to take out a loan or something to get a home in Midway. And when considering the aforementioned thieves it was not ideal. The next obvious option was Naper, they already liked him there, they would likely give him a great deal for building a home there and it was safe. He would definitely feel comfortable there. But Naper was on the edge of the valuable looting areas. It was also a two day trip from Midway, which is the best place to offload his goods. Not to mention having access to the luxuries of Midway would be preferred. He liked having those amenities. Then of course there were the other places, like The Pier, Renaissance, and a few other places he had heard mentioned in passing. But he knew nothing of any of them. There was one place though, a place that might be perfect for his needs, but that he was hesitant to return to. The Vault. Vault 42 was perfect. It had plenty of space for both living and storing his things, it was out of the way without being obnoxiously out of the way, it had both working plumbing and electricity. Though of course the generator would need to be fixed. In addition it was roughly halfway between Midway and Naper, a bit closer to Midway. So while it would be a trek to get to Midway it would not be the worst option. Not to mention that the giant vault door had only one key in and out, his pip-boy. The ultimate front door key. However it was not a place he ever wanted to return to, he still had nightmares waking up from the biochamber into a room full of dead bodies. In addition the vault would need a lot of TLC, besides just the generator it needed to be fixed up. Ultimately there was no good option. Nothing was perfect, everything had its ups and downs. It wouldn't be such a big deal if he was going to settle down, but since he planned to remain a Scaver for the foreseeable future he needed the ability to get to everywhere. If only he still had his car it wouldn't be as big of a deal. He was getting nowhere. Spinning in circles with his thoughts like usual when he came to this. It was this choice paralysis that was keeping him from retrieving that Power Armor he found in the sewer too. He can't just bring power armor to his hotel room in Midway that would absolutely call attention to him. Power armor wasn't exactly very common around here. But more than that he wasn't exactly sure where it was. When he was escaping the sewers he didn't exactly mark the location on his pip-boy, he was looking for a place to sleep instead at the time. A mistake in hindsight. But there's no telling if it even worked to begin with, it could have easily been completely broken, which was why it was left behind, so it has been a moot point until now. He simply did not have time to go looking for a random sewer grate somewhere many hours outside of Naper, as much as it would be a boon to have. But he definitely had not forgotten about it. He was getting far off track now. He needed to focus on what to do in the moment. Deccanus seemed to be patiently waiting beside Adam while he went deep into thought, all without saying a word. What a saint. Adam sighed. He had a new robot companion he needed to do something with him. "Protectron." Adam said as he turned to him now with a commanding tone. "Follow the path I program into you and arrive at my safehouse, there you will find another robot, Rae, they will give you orders until I return." He said as he plugged his pip-boy into the control console inside the protectron to update its information so it could find the brewery. He also made sure to program it with the safeword needed to confirm with Rae that he was a friendly 'American Revenger'. Ultimately, as much as it would be nice to have this guy tag along on his adventures even if just as a pack mule, he was soon about to set out on a different kind of mission, not one where he was looting old buildings but instead one where he was trying to solve the case of the missing caravans. The speed and clunkiness of the protectron would only be a detriment to him, especially if some sleuthing became necessary. So for now, it seemed that sending him to the safehouse for later was the best idea. He could always retrieve him and bring him to Midway with him later if he wanted. He then looked down at the flamethrower just as he was finished typing up the information into the protectron. He then sighed and shook his head, he would sell it, what did he need a flamethrower for now anyway? He would rather have the caps. As much as he just spent several minutes tearing his hair out about where he wanted to live long term, for the moment he was renting a room that cost 125 caps a night. With his current caps he could afford about a month's stay, that's it. He needed to keep bringing in new income. Then there was the thought of selling this new protectron. If he needed caps, surely a fully functional construction protectron would sell well? He shook the thought off. Maybe in the future, it was a good idea but not worth worrying about right now, wait until he found a buyer, for now keeping this guy at his safehouse was the best bet. Which also reminded him he needed to grab Buddy from Renaissance too. Maybe he could grab him when he heads to The Pier? It was close after all. Thoughts for the future. Finally, after a lot of contemplation that ultimately went nowhere he sent the protectron towards its new temporary home, the safehouse, until he was ready to retrieve it. He just hoped Rae would get along with their new friend. "You ready to head back, Deccanus?" Adam asked as he hoisted the flamethrower over his shoulder and readied himself to make the trip back to Midway, his bags full and feeling decent about the haul they gathered. "Indeed." Deccanus said as he too threw his backpack on. "This was a fruitful endeavor." Adam chuckled and then looked to the protectron that was still slowly waddling forward, heading, slowly, to the safehouse. "Yeah, I agree."

Chapter 131 - 131

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