Vice Bunker 43 (Patreon)

Vice Bunker

Chapter 43

-VB-

Last time, our protagonist was exploring the Mid-Atlantic inland areas with his remote-controlled drones when he encountered a Tinker with a very useful looking specialty… Who also pointed a gun at him.

Ronald and John stood off against the obvious cape, but John secretly wondered if they would be enough.

He glanced over his shoulder to look at the heating plant, which had been the one thing keeping their little town alive in this frozen hellscape. If it hadn’t been for Ronald, an old man, triggering with a specialty perfect for arctic survival…

There was no question that everyone would be dead already.

The black slime-thing-woman-creature still stood there before … it finally took a step back.

It raised its hands.

“No need for violence, old man,” the creature spoke again with its double-layered voice. “I’m just curious.”

“We don’t care if you are curious. Back. Off.”

“I did.”

“Now, leave the town.”

“... Why should I? I am not a threat.”

“We don’t know that. You could be a scout for all I know.”

“If I was a scout, then wouldn’t it be useless to kick me out? Your friend there already told me what town this is. New Kensington, Pennsylvania, yes?”

John cursed himself. He thought he was about to get fucked so he said whatever the guy wanted to hear…

Ronald gritted his teeth. “And what happens if you know?”

“Oh, nothing much, actually,” the cape shrugged its shoulders, making its midnight black body bubble and lurch with the motion. “In fact, I can call New York and tell them that there are more survivors out here. Alexandria will be pleased to hear that.”

Alexandria?! The Triumvirate was still alive?!

“Of course, without Eidolon, there are a lot of things they will not be able to do. It is so sad that the Strongest Man died.”

John’s stomach dropped, even if he didn’t know why. He never met Eidolon. Never got the benefit of having the strongest man around.

But why…?

“... What channel are they on?”

“Excuse me?”

John turned to look at Ronald. “Ron?”

“My stuff can pierce the blizzard fairly well. If they’re over ‘n New York City, then I can talk to them.”

“Ah, tinkertech bullshit, got it,” the thing giggled. “It should be … Please, hold on a moment. Let me get a body over there to contact Alexandria again. Last time I was there, I got bombed to hell, you see.”

John didn’t like the sound of that.

“... It might take some time.”

Ronald shifted his gun and pointed his gun straighter at the cape. “That sounds fishy as hell.”

It shrugged again. “I don’t have a body there right now.”

John blinked as he realized something. Body. Body. Body.

“You have multiple bodies.”

Ronald froze.

“Yes,” the thing replied. “I’m actually over in Brockton Bay. This is nothing but a remote controlled drone, so to speak. Advanced tech mixed with tinkertech but a remote drone nonetheless.”

Ronald dropped his pistol. “Now what?”

The thing shuffled a bit. It looked too life-like. John didn’t like it. “If you don’t mind, then I would like to take a look at your piping there. How are you keeping the town warm? It doesn’t seem to be any kind of fuel burner.”

Ronald grunted but didn’t say anything. “You take care of it, John. And you. Don’t come in here.” He turned around and walked into his workshop and just shut the door, leaving John with the tinkertech drone.

“... He doesn’t like people, does he?”

John glanced at the double-voice “drone.” New Kensington wasn’t a good place to be even before … all of this,” he replied. “Capes like you made our life miserable. If it wasn’t the asshole villains, then it was the bureaucratic heroes not doing shit,” he spat.

“Well, good thing I am neither hero nor villain, right? Oh, and Alexandria got back to me. The radio frequency should be…”

John wrote it down, and the thing walked off after telling him that it’ll be back.

-VB-

After leading the remote unit away from the town, I had it sit down … and disperse. The body fell apart into trillions of nanites, and they all flew right back into the town.

I was a master of nanites. Why the hell would I need to physically walk in there with a clump of nanite mass when I could do this?

My nanites began to infiltrate the tinker’s workshop, seeping into any and all gaps in the structure, and soon, began to latch onto all bits of surface, each nanite no bigger than a human cell.

As my nanites began to cover everything, I also began to collect data.

Once I got enough data about this guy’s specialty, then I’ll help Alexandria find him. I might even get a favor out of her if he has the specialty that I think he has.