Date Wednesday, September 8, 2275
The next day I awoke in the middle of the night as usual and went about my day as normal with nothing big having occurred during my slumber. However, that didn't remain the case for long because, as I was busy progressing through my early morning workout/training session, the construction of both the swimming pool and the medical section finished.
Damn, my robots are moving through their jobs fast.
Mighty impressed with their progress, I was about to assign the freed up units their next task when the guys I had mining finally reached the first of the resource deposits in the ground below. Even more overjoyed than before, I gave things some more thought and decided to send them off to expand the number of floors underground and extend the elevator shafts so they could reach 7 levels underground.
There, that project should keep them busy for a while and when it's completed, I can look forward to faster extraction and movement of raw materials from the earth to the surface, not to mention further room to grow into.
Plenty satisfied, I returned to further improving my body and my general physical abilities.
...
After another two hours of grinding away, I transitioned over to the newly built pool that had just finished being filled. Taking a second to appreciate the nice crystal clear blue water, I swapped to a pair of trunks and eagerly jumped in and enjoyed a nice swim in the comfortable pool of water. Half an hour later it came time to get a move on, so I hopped out of the pool, hit the locker room, and ventured off upstairs to the ground floor to wake up my sleeping beauty and share a meal with her.
I didn't get sidetracked on my way there, so I reached our room in minutes and quickly woke up my other half and sent her to the bathroom. Whilst she was taking care of her morning routine, I ventured off to our personal kitchen and began preparing a substantial breakfast for the two of us to replenish the calories and nutrients we expended yesterday. Not all that many minutes into my preparations, a freshened up Amata exited the bathroom to a dining room table full of various piping hot dishes.
"That's quite the set you got there. Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all." I returned, playing along.
The moment she took the seat beside me, we got to it immediately and dug right in, intent on clearing the assortment of dishes I whipped while she was washing up in the bathroom. After making short work of the not so small meal, we left the cleaning up to the robot staff, the ones I moved into our living space, and moseyed on over to the living room. Once Amata joined me on the couch we brought from Vault 101, the both of us cuddled up together and began discussing what we would be doing for the day.
"So, what's the plan for today, dear? Are we going to Fort Independence or venturing off to find and retrieve the G.E.C.K. from Vault 87?"
"Neither." I answered simply.
"Neither???"
"Yes, neither because we have a far more pressing issue, that being all the new mouths to feed we gained from recruiting nearly 100 Enclave personnel."
"...I suppose that means we'll be paying a visit to the vault again because there's no way we'll be able to resolve that problem on our own here immediately, nor anytime soon."
"Correct, but as you know, it's not good to be entirely reliant on the vault and their excess food production if we're going to make it out here. Therefore, I'm going to have the construction crew begin massively expanding our food production so we can meet our current needs as well as our future ones."
The both of us continued discussing the topic along with a handful of others for a while longer before we got up, threw on our work clothes, and headed out the door. As we walked past the pair of assaultrons guarding our personal space, I used a number of my thought processes to start issuing my new orders.
And the instant I was done, my rapidly growing number of robots went to work expanding the underground floor our grow facilities resided on and constructing new hydroponic setups that would be planted in such a way that they would supply a constant stream of crops every day instead of in bulk at certain times of the month.
Looking forward to the future harvests that will provide more than enough for me, Amata, and everybody else a part of my rapidly growing group as well as the communities still surviving in the capital wasteland, after no more than a month, my other half and I traveled to the second upper level and visited the dining space. When I stepped into the fully renovated space, the sight of the ghouls and the new Enclave recruits conversing and eating happily entered my vision.
Looks like the Enclave aren't as bigoted as I initially thought they were going to be... Or at least this bunch isn't. It also probably helps with Don being an actual U.S. war veteran and a large segment of them being military personnel. Good food is also probably playing a part in things as well.
Happy to see them integrating well enough no matter the reasoning, I went around to the various tables and joined in on their conversations. As I was chatting away and conversing with them, I had a sudden thought come to me.
If I really want these people to work their absolute hardest to bring humanity back to the level it once was in this world and eventually surpass it, it would probably be a good idea to discuss compensation and other opportunities so they have something to strive for.
Already aware of what I could use to motivate them properly, I continued as I was until every single last individual was finished with their breakfast.
Seeing my opportunity had finally come, I stood up and gathered their attention before starting in a loud enough voice that everyone within the hall could hear loud and clear. "Alright, now that everyone has had their fill, let's talk about compensation, since I don't expect you all to work for free, even though I am already providing a host of benefits."
As soon as I finished, I found my initial words immediately got their full attention, so with all the eyes in the room focusing on me, I continued. "Therefore, each of you will be compensated in the way of gold and silver till a currency is created and circulated amongst the nation that will be built upon the ashes of the United States Of America."
"Obviously, all of you won't be compensated the same since that wouldn't make any sense, so different professions will be compensated in differing amounts, depending on a whole assortment of factors." When I finished that part, I saw many of the soldiers beginning to look down trodden and the others in the STEM fields to be in high spirits.
"Having said that, I don't agree with the piddly sum the U.S. and many other nations gave their military brethren serving their country both on and off the frontline, so your pay will be massively boosted compared to theirs, to the equivalent of two and a half pre-war sedans or $500,000 a year as salary. And when you go on any missions or face combat serving, you will receive hazard pay, which will double your day's earnings and, depending on the circumstances, this could be boosted further."
"Adding to that further, any and all meritorious deeds accomplished will be rewarded greatly both financially and possibly with higher and more privileged positions, which will come with higher salaries and better perks."
"So if you want to make the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity you've all been given, I'd highly recommend you put in as much effort as you possibly can into achieving and doing great things, so you can make something of yourself and set up both you and your families for success."
"The founding point of a new nation only happens once, so take advantage of it while you can before it inevitably ends." I reiterated.
Done with my speech, I discovered my words had lit a fire inside every soul in this room and instilled a ton of vigor in each of them. Letting them sit there and stew in their thoughts for a bit, they eventually started with the questions as predicted and after giving them the answers they were seeking, the non-combat related personnel sped off to their areas to go take care of their duties.
Watching the last of them depart, I turned and faced the soldiers and vertibird pilots left in the dining hall. "Okay, now that all the non-combat personnel have left here's what's going to happen with you guys, A. you can join me on my supply run to Vault 101 earning double pay for the day or B. you can remain here and train in the facilities below to work on improving your physical and combat capabilities."
"Raise your right hand if you wish to participate in option A!" The instant I said that, every hand shot up almost immediately.
Mm, doesn't seem like any of them want to remain behind... I don't particularly need this many guys for the food run, but I guess it doesn't really matter if they do come since they will be able to get plenty of exercise from traveling to the vault, loading up the supplies, and transferring the goods back to here. So considering all that, I guess I'll just bring the whole bunch of them along.
However, before we set foot into the wasteland, I need to upgrade their power armor frames, convert them to run off of fusion breeder power, and make them emp immune. And when we get back, I can start looking into designing a new set of power to replace and phase out the Enclave sets.
Their power armor is advanced for this world's standards, but I can do much, much better, therefore I might as well deck out the troops in top of the line gear. I also can't afford to lose any of them, so making them as durable as possible will ensure they survive and come out on top in the conflicts to come. I'm sure the many powers and factions across the wastes will put up one hell of a resistance when I come to lay claim to their territories, not to mention the ever present Zetan threat that lays waiting in the space above.
Flanked by Amata, Don, and Officer Manning, I piped up again. "Alright, all of you will come along."
As they were starting to cheer, I interrupted before they could get ahead of themselves. "But we're going to have to wait for a couple of hours since your power armor suits are in the middle of being upgraded and being made emp immune. So until they are ready, head on down to the facilities below for now and make use of this free time to train and workout."
"Just don't go too hard, so you have energy for the trip back and forth." Don recommended.
"Oh, and be sure to use the meds and chems provided. They will boost your strength, stamina, and speed the longer you use them in your training, with no negative side effects." I said lastly before the men began pouring out of the place and proceeding to the floors below.
When the last of them had left through the doors, I shared a few words with Dom and Officer Manning before they followed after the combat forces to train and workout alongside them.
"It seems like your little pep talk had some effect on them, as well." Amata commented.
"Mm, it would appear."
"...So what now?"
"Let's just head to my workshop. I'll figure out what we'll work on by the time we get there."
"Sure." Amata responded before latching onto my arm, happy to just spend time together.