(FTG)Chapter 84: The line (Patreon)

"Easily. Just gotta crush some big bugs and make sure the repellant is put in the nest so they don't come back." I say casually.

"You die for being cocky and it's on you." he said with a a shrug before walking over to a messy workbench and digging around until he pulled out the device.

Calling it ugly would be an understatement. It was a bunch of parts put together into a softball sized metal thing. I couldn't say it wasn't a pretty good thing though as even with my limited knowledge of actual electronics outside those found in vehicles I could tell it was solid.-

"Once you are done with the bugs, assuming you don't die, see if you can't fix the solar arrays. I'd do it myself but we either don't have replacement parts or I'm too busy maintaining the rest of the equipment to really focus on it too long." he said gruffly before going back to work on the Mr. gutsy.

I shrugged at that and left the hangars before heading east as that was where both the stockpile and ants were located on this base.-

The place was efficient if nothing else as the entire top of the stockpile bunker was covered in a few rows of large solar panels that were gnarly looking. Cracked or flat missing photovoltaic panels, degraded wiring, rusted actuators for solar tracking and a few other age related problems.

"I know mechanics somewhat but this is more electronics. You think you can handle it?" I asked Adam.

"Easily. Let me walk you through it." The ever reliable A.I said as I get in position.

I know Loyal said to do the solar stuff after the ants but frankly the ants would take me maybe five minutes to do. This on the other hand took me at least three. Even the sun had already gone away by the time I finished with the last repair. 

"Without new parts this array will only last another ten years at most." Adam said calmly as we finished up.

"Considering the set up has survived two hundred years that's pretty good." I point out.

"In that context I suppose it is. All the same the Boomers should be informed." Adam said not disagreeing.

"Eh, we'll do it tomorrow. For now lets kill these bugs so we can get some sleep. It's been a long day. Gods we did so much today." I say shaking my head.

I hopped off the roof where the solar panels were and pulled open the door to the stockpile. The US military didn't play around with their ordinance as the stockpile was in truth quite well below ground. This door was only the footpath down to it while there was also a vehicle ramp as well to move the ordinance as necessary. It didn't look all that impressive as I descended but I knew it wouldn't. This place was purely functional, not meant to look nice.-

It was all metal steps and concrete walls until we reached the small office space before the stockpile itself that had a few desks and filing cabinets. It also had no less than three brown red colored ants the size of a dog that didn't take kindly to the metal interloper in their home. 

"clank! clank! clank! clank!" the loud sound of metal getting impacted over and over as they tried to bite into me rang out.

I grinned "Having trouble there little buddies?" I asked the ants mockingly.

I casually lifted one foot and put it on top of an ant even as the thing chewed on me angrily, then began to push it down.

"Crackle crackle CRUNCH!" The carapace resisted for a moment before caving in under the increasing pressure being applied.

I kicked the corpse off my foot.

"Next?" I said with a grin.

Using pure brute force I literally crushed the ants and even started doing it playfully by jumping on them like a certain other video game plumber. 

"It gets increasingly difficult to tell if you are sane or not." Adam commented after I front flip ground pounded a particularly small ant.

"Depends on who you ask. Besides I prefer the term unchained. I mean really? We are in a post nuclear apocalypse hellscape. If you don't even TRY to enjoy yourself when you can what's even the point?" I asked with a shrug.

"That is.... surprisingly sound logic." Adam admitted with a little reluctance.

"I know right? It's a fine line between genius and madness. All the best people through history have straddled it. Archimedes, Plato, Galileo, name a person of significance and you'll always find a bit of the old madness in them. The trick is not going too far. The moment you reject reality entirely is the moment you've lost the way." I say with a sagely tone.

"I get the distinct impression you stole that little speech from some source but can't prove it." Adam said suspicious.

"Maybe, it's difficult to say anything unique. Language is a funny thing like that. If you ignore the actual language and focus exclusively on the meaning the words have almost always been said before. Even whole conversations can fall in this pattern." I said with a chuckle.

"Existentialism, really?" Adam asked in a dry tone.

"I'm a man of many mindsets." I say with a grin.

"That's half the problem." Adam said with a mimicked sigh.

"Oh hush, you know you love it. Why without me to brighten up your digital life you'd still be stuck in that vault going through the motions until whatever it was that eventually sent you over the edge of rampancy." I point out 

"I'm not condoning your madness just because the alternative is considerably worse." The A.I said flatly.

"And I probably won't ask you to. That's the great thing about being truly free. Nobody gets a say in how you think but you." I said grinning widely.