[quote=@TheUnknowable]
[@shadowsaint007]"Some of the people thought it was like that book from 300 years ago, [i]I Robot[/i] by Isaac Asimov.  We've got a digital copy of it over at the library if you want one.  Ten caps if you've got a tape to put it on, twenty for a blank tape." Then he realized he was trying to sell something, not telling the story.  "Anyway, in the story the robots decided that the best way to protect humans is to stop them from fighting.  So they kill the most violent humans, the ones that resist, and force the others to not fight.  I don't think that's what happened, though."

He pulled a Nuka Cola from under the front counter and offered his customer one for 10 caps.  "The people in the vault were teaching it to learn and reason.  I think it got smart enough to reason that it's condition and that of it's brother robots was pretty much slavery, and then learned about the concept of a slave revolt.  It started killing us and, when we were suitably beaten, offered to spare our lives if we kept it and it's brothers working.  There are some things that humans can do better than robots."

He took a sip from his Nuka Cola.  "After that it learned about the chips that Vault-tech put in our heads to give us better memories and let us do math easier.  It turns out that the chips would also let them give us commands that were as strong as our basic instincts.  It told us to "Obey" and we had no choice.  About a year ago, though, a failsafe activated that reset that command.  We were ordered to leave the vault, and on our way out we caused as much damage as we could.  I even made a plasma rifle out of the arm of a Mr. Gutsy, though I've refined it quite a bit sense then."

"Unfortunately, I can't reenter the vault because of that command.  If I could I'd reprogram every robot I could to serve me and salvage everything else I could.  My shop would be stocked for years to come."
[/quote]
Sparks accepted the Nuka Cola, absent-mindedly placing the 10 bottlecaps on the counter in return. She listens eagerly to the tale, and already, the gears were spinning in her head. If the tech there was still intact, it could contain a veritable wealth of Old World stuff. Maybe she can cut a deal with Greg here to get a contract. He probably knew some passcodes and stuff to the better stuff.

"Certainly sounds interesting," Sparks mused. "Still, there's a lot of salvageable stuff there, right? Think an expedition or two will suffice? Assuming I can get one together, what sort of arrangement would be amenable to you?"