Chapter 371 - 371

Adam resumed looking around the flea market. There were a number of things he bought, such as a box of records, a hopefully still working reel of an unlabeled movie, a miniature protectron statue to put next to his Sentry bot statue, and a whole chest full of kids toys. The total for all this ran him an additional 263 caps.

However, as he was close to finishing and wrapping things up he noted that there was a bird in a bird cage. Specifically a crow. Or maybe a raven. Adam was not into ornithology so he was not sure. However he noted that the bird had red eyes, which was interesting. But the big thing he noticed, the reason he even stopped to look in the first place, was that one of the wings of the bird seemed to be damaged and stripped of most of its feathers revealing some sort of robotic endoskeleton hidden underneath. Was this… a robot bird? It raised so many questions, none of which Adam could answer. The seller proved no more help either as he had purchased the bird from a caravan that came from Detroit, before that they had bought it from a merchant that came from The Pitt, before that it was anyone's guess. And as such the seller had no idea about this bird more than anyone else.

Adam did not need to be told anymore, for a price of 300 caps he had bought himself a new pet. Some sort of weird robotic bird hybrid thing. Maybe it was a cyborg? He had heard of the cyberdog program before the war, but nothing more than rumors. Maybe this was a subset of those experiments? Or maybe it was a different experiment altogether. In either case despite having one wing damaged and stripped of its… flesh? The crow seemed quite lively and still able to flutter, though unable to fly due to its damage.

With his shopping done Adam gathered with his friends at the APC and watched as Jim and his four kids, one of which was a baby he was carrying, came out, backpacks filled to the brim, ready to take the trip to the Vault.

"I've… never seen a working one of these…" Jim said with some awe as the kids ran inside the APC, giggling and laughing, excited to take a trip on a moving vehicle. Adam chuckled.

"Don't worry, you will get used to it pretty quick." Adam smiled.

Adam arrived at the vault a few hours later to the vault guard still training outside with Paxton. He was happy to see they were still going strong. It meant that the training was going to stick well. Maybe not as long as his own boot training, but perhaps even more grueling. Though that was up for debate. In either case he was even more confident that he made the right choice to have the Gunners train the Vault Guard.

After Adam had plugged his APC in for a much needed recharge and asked for help unloading the supplies from the vault residents Adam led Jim and his family inside and gave them a short tour. Though not before noticing the continued progress above ground that had continued in his absence. The tour, understandably, wowed them all. Except the baby, of course, who was too young to understand. They chose one of the normal sized suites and got comfortable very quickly.

"I… did not know what to expect but… this place is more impressive than I could have imagined." Jim said as he watched his kids jump on the couch and open and close the cabinets in a child-like frenzy. Adam chuckled.

"You should have seen it when I woke up. It was quite a mess. But it's cleaned up well. It's the people that make a home though, and so far, the people here are all great."

"If you don't mind, I'll be the judge of that myself." Jim said with a stern tone before he seemed to soften again. "Sorry, force of habit…" He sighed. "You wanted a teacher and a caretaker right?"

"Yeah, someone to help take care of the kids."

"Well give me a day to settle in, then, I'll go meet all the parents… with your blessings of course" Adam nodded.

"Of course."

"Then tomorrow. It's been a while since I was a teacher but I still know what I'm doing. As for the caretaker job, well I'm a quick learner, besides I've already changed more diapers than I care to admit. I'm sure I will figure it out."

"I'm sure you will do just fine." Adam smiled. "Well I'll be around if you need me." Adam said before turning to leave however he stopped at the doorway as Jim spoke up again.

"Adam… thank you." Adam turned to look at him again.

"Happy to invite skilled workers to my home." Adam winked and then walked off.

Adam then looked for Pearl who was sitting on the floor in another person's suite playing with a baby. The irony of going from one caretaker to another was not lost on him, however he needed to speak with Pearl for a bit.

"Pearl, do you got a minute?" Adam asked as he stepped into the threshold.

"Pearl has time!" Pearl said as she stood up, gently placing the baby back in a crib nearby. "What can Pearl do for Adam?"

"Actually it's something for you." Adam said with a smile as he placed a large bag on the table nearby. Pearl tilted her head and then walked over to the bag and opened it, pulling out one of the pieces of armor with intrigue.

"This is yours." Adam said with a smile to her.

"Pearl owns this metal?" She said, confused.

"This is armor for you Pearl, I had it custom made for you, that way you won't get as badly hurt when we go out to fight." Adam said with a soft chuckle. Pearl's eyes went wide as she looked at Adam and then the armor piece again as she began to understand what she was holding.

"Pearl have armor?!" She said with jubilation.

"You do now."

"Pearl thank little Adam! Pearl very happy!"

"Im glad you like it Pearl. Also don't forget to thank Mira, Deccanus, and Percy too, they helped pay for it."

"Pearl will! Pearl will go right now!' She said with a big grin before turning back to the little child who was now being held by the parent. "Goodbye little human, Pearl will come to play again." She waved to the baby. The mother who was holding the baby gently gripped the baby's arm and waved her arm around in response, mimicking a goodbye wave. After that Pearl left. Adam followed out shortly after.