Scrap said
"Scrap have, grah, Scrap have question, Penny Man. Why need two workers? Scrap fix anything, Gutsy not necessary." As if to illustrate his point, Scrap marched to where his satchel lay and shouldered his supplies. "Scrap fix anything," he repeated.
Hayley jumped in before Tenpenny or House could answer, hoping her familiarity with the Nightkin would calm his stresses.
"Don't worry Scrap. Mr. Zero is here to help you and Mr. Poe keep everything running. They're going to work WITH you, like me and Julie. They're friends." Her voice was sweet and leveled as she explained the situation to the Nightkin. "We need Mr. Poe's knowledge, Mr. Zero's tools, and your strength. It's ok."
Tenpenny pointed to the next raised hand.
Poe said
"Just one, great Grace." Poe said, a genuinely thoughtful expression visiting his lips. "You're contracting me to install a security network and hardware on-site at each of these powerstations, and those I can rig to be more inhospitable than the bottom of the ocean to trespassers. These lines though, they may be buried underground, but seeing as we'll likely be running into them anyway the Brotherhood of Steel at least - and a few others I can think of - will have both the capability and the desire to disrupt these lines not at the power stations, but along their lengths. I may be missing some nuance concerning your relationship with those boyscouts, but I've heard there's not much lost love between you."
"A reasonable question, Mr. Poe." House began, cutting off Tenpenny. "The fusion powerstations which generate the magnetic fields used by the trolleys also powered a variety of other utilities in their respective cities. As these utilities are, naturally, now offline, there will be a significant excess of power generated once the stations are activated. Until more permanent security measures are in place along the lines, we will utilize this excess power and direct it into the magnetic field. The strength of the field following the power redistribution will be able to strongly dissuade any hostile entities from interrupting the rails. I trust between Dr. Clarke and yourself, Mr. Poe, that this will be a manageable task until a more long term solution is enacted."
Another hand raised.
Sabin said
"Where the hell is the real Mr. House, an' I'm not talkin' abou' that fake bloke on the screen! For all we know he cou' be hidin' in the shadows waitin' to steal our blood!"
A confused expression crossed Tenpenny and Clarke's face, but before they could answer, Del had already spoken up.
Del said
"Shut d'fuck up, kid. House don' need to show you jack shit 'bout where he is long as he's payin' us." He growled over at the kid, absently fingering the grip of his own Colt Police Special. "An' far as questions, Mr. Tenpenny, nah, none from me. I'll say dis, dough; Southern Line ain' a bad idea. Legion's disorganized as shit now. Caesar an' Lanius're dead. Dey too busy bea'in' de livin' shit outta eachotha' ova' who takes ova' righ' now to be payin' any attention t'folk workin' on dem lines. Know there's a lotta folk in The Delta lookin' to do some expandin' inta de worl', too."
"This monitor is a projection of my consciousness. Though my physical body may not be present, I assure you, what you see and hear is me in my truest incarnation. Though lacking flesh, the mind is present, and strong. Something that, apparently, cannot be said of everyone in the room." House responded cooly.
"Concerning the southern line, that will be an option we will allow you to collectively come to terms with. Ultimately, Mr. Castillo will have the final say, as he will be responsible for keeping the expedition's forward momentum consistent. He has been advised, however, to take very seriously your opinions on the matter." Tenpenny said, ending his comment with a motion to Castillo.
Castillo, snapping back to attention at the mention of his name, sat up from his slouch and stood.
"When the grave is the destination, don't much matter which road you take. Whichever rail you lot want to run is fine by me." He lazily spat, returning to his slouch in the chair.
"Charming." House said, thick with sarcasm.
Mr. Zero said
"I would like a schematic of any and all technology that may be of use on this journey. I have many schematics in my memory banks, but I don't have anything that could produce the power necessary to drive this. As for where we are going, I would suggest that we take the red line as well. I have been to several cities along that line, and have extensive knowledge of Atlanta in particular. The people there have made amazing strides toward rebuilding, including agriculture and industry. They even produce some goods, such as rechargeable energy cells, that could be of much use to us.
Once they are connected, you could make significant profit moving foodstuffs and manufactured components to the other cities along the line. The money raised could then be used to rebuild the two lines to the North."
"Mr. Poe and I will have a hard drive full of common and not so common schematics for use on the trip. Much of it is Follower's technology, some recovered Brotherhood and old Enclave schematics, and a variety of schematics exclusively provided by Mr. House for this expedition. You'll have access to these as is necessary, Mr. Zero." Hayley responded. "Concerning the route, again, it will be up to the totality of the team's discretion."
Tenpenny took another question, this time from one of the women in the crowd.
Ellie said
"Yea, I got a question, how the hell do you know these tunnels aren't completely trashed? I don't feel like being slammed into a wall of rubble at a couple hundred miles an hour and I doubt anybody else would find that to be an enjoyable experience either."
"The rails are not actual rails. My apologies for the confusing jargon being used during this presentation. They are more like..." Tenpenny began, before Hayley cut in.
"They're more like emitters. They're buried deep underground, and emit the EM field needed for the trolleys. The trolleys themselves, however, operate on the surface. They levitate over the "rail" buried deep below. So, basically, no tunnels. Only raiders, artillery, and the occasional wayward Bhramin to worry about."
Tenpenny waited for any other hands to raise.