Afton and Boone make small talk with Samuel as they eat their meals. It isn't the best thing they'd ever eaten, but it sure beats dry rations or rad scorpion meat. Karl had eventually come back after selling everything, distributing the caps which added another 650 caps to Afton personal stockpile.

The trio shared a couple shots of Vodka with one another, Samuel joining in as they had a small celebration that none of them had died yet. Yes, it was slightly morbid to be celebrating that specifically, but the group didn't care all that much. ​​

Something Afton found funny as well as irritating was the fact that even after many, many drinks. Boone still wouldn't relax. The man was always on edge, ready to spin around and start shooting...

Afton shakes his head and leaves the two of them to continue drinking, he was a bit tipsy, but he had something else to work on right now. It might take a day or two, but it'd definitely be worth it.

Pulling out his tools he walked over to the Protectron sat next to Dirt-Bird and started dismantling it. His maxed out repair skill had already given him all the knowledge he needed to know to properly disassemble the robot without damaging any of its components.

It was a bit freaky to have the robot asking him to stop as he pulled it apart. It didn't recognise him as a RobCo mechanic and was programmed to request him to stop... The reason for this? Most Protectrons were powered by a Fission Battery. The problem was in its name, "Fission", the robot was nuclear powered and any damage to it or mishandling could potentially cause a small nuclear explosion... Yeah, not something you'd want happening.

Of course, there were protections in place to stop that from happening. Things within the battery itself to prevent the typical chain reaction that'd produce such a destruction explosion. Still, RobCo made sure to remind you that potential atomic death awaited you if you continued pulling their robot apart.

In a few hours he'd taken off the alloy casing and started looking into the internals. The chips and other parts responsible for its voice modulator, personality, movement, combat abilities, etc. With his Repair skill he knew what things did what, but his science level wasn't high enough to allow him to modify any of it yet... He lacked the equipment and specific knowledge about this unit to make it possible.

Once he found the emergency power button he turned the robot off to stop it constantly asking him to stop. Once that was done he proceeded to completely take it apart. Removing its arms, head, and everything else that could potentially be useful.

Something interesting he'd found was the fact that the robots laser weapons were linked with the Fission Battery... This meant that it could potentially shoot for years on end. Though, it also meant that the lasers were rather weak.

Protectrons weren't meant for direct frontal combat so that was probably the reason for this. The weapons were enough to scare off any would-be thieves, but that was it. Afton wasn't bothered as getting rid of thieves was what his goal here was.

Karl and Boone slowly woke up, painful hangover's immediately ruining their moods. Fortunately they'd passed out at the bar itself so Samuels daughter Michelle just slid some glasses of water in front of them.

"Ah, thanks." Karl says and immediately downs the drink.

"No problem. Dad hasn't had that much fun in years, it was good to see him acting himself again." she says before directing a look towards Afton, "Your friend is a bit weird though."

...

Boone and Karl look over to where Afton is and raise a brow at the relatively large pile of scrap he was surrounded in. The Protectron that'd previously been there was nowhere to be seen, and Dirt-Bird seemed to have some new additions...

"Kid, what on gods ruined earth are you doin'?" Karl asks in exasperation.

...

"Kid?" he asks again after not getting a response.

"Ah! Karl? You're awake?" Afton asks after rubbing his eyes with his sleeve. His hands were covered in grease. Large black bags were under his eyes, indicating he'd not slept. His skin was slightly pale but seemed to be regaining its vitality under the morning Mojave sun.

"I'll ask again, what're you doing?"

"Huh, oh this? I was just modifying Dirt-Bird... Cool right?" he says, but no one else could see what modification he'd actually made...

"What'd you do with the robot?" he asks, but gets an unexpected response.

"This unit appreciates your concern, I have been modified and integrated into a new device known as 'Dirt-Bird'" a robotic voice says from the motorbike.

...

Boone and Karl are struck silent by this, but Michelle gives a broad smile and approaches the bike after hopping over the bar. "That is soo cool! You did this in one night?"

Afton nods tiredly, "Yeah, I'm dead tired though..." he mutters.

"So, what does it do?" she asks.

Afton grins at her, "You wanna know? I'll give you guys a good show then." he says standing up and grabbing a large piece of scrap metal before propping it against the concrete railing of the overpass.

"Dirt-Bird, that scrap metal is a thief!" he says.

"Target acquired." the robot states as two thin arms sprout from the back of the bike and point at the metal. A whirring sound starts for half a second before a spray of laser fire starts pummeling the metal.

This continues until the metal is white-hot and starts melting into the ground. The others staring at it in shock and surprise. Even with their painful hangovers, they could see potential in this. Though, Michelle almost shits her pants at the abrupt violence.

Afton sits on the bike and strokes one of the arms while looking at them, "Cool right?"

...

[Scare a humanoid shitless. 17/50]

Karl rubs his face, "You're mad kid."