Adam left Eric alone with the bike, letting him do whatever he felt necessary, though he did suggest taking it apart fully and learning how it fits together and then put it all back in one piece. It was a good way to figure out how everything worked and fit.
Regardless, now that it was out of his hands Adam still had some time left in the day so, after all the guns were inside the armory, satisfied that they now had some weapons and ammo stashed away, he had another task he wanted to complete before the day was over. Upgrading his laser rifle.
A standard laser rifle was built to be very modular, very adaptable. From tri beam laser splitters to different stock options to even modifications to the energy cells used to power it, many modifications were made for the weapon platform. Adam could do a few with just some tweaking, however he also wanted to try out that schematic he had found in the lab.
Since Adam had a few laser rifles in stock he decided to make two and compare them. The first one was done quickly, it was the same upgrades he had done to his rifle in the army under advisement from his CO, it was not much just boosted the laser intensity by 30%, enough to give it a hefty powerboost. Of course this modification burned through energy cells faster but so long as he could source more ammo, having more damage output, especially against things like deathclaws and Super mutants, made this mod worth it.
The second gun took a lot longer. He had never delved this deeply into disassembly of a laser rifle before, and the schematics showed that certain parts needed to be replaced or expanded. He even needed to do a light spot of metal working to expand the casing to house the extra things he was stuffing inside. After he was done he was left with a beast that still looked like a laser rifle from a distance but was an entirely different beast.
This experimental rifle was heavier, bulkier, and far more cumbersome to hold and wield. But in exchange it was basically two laser rifles in one, it had slots for 5 energy cells to be simultaneously hooked up, it had two laser emitters, and it had more crystal lenses to allow for even more intense focusing of the lasers before they were fired. He had to cannibalize a third laser rifle to make this happen, but the end result was worth it. All in all this thing, in theory, packed enough of a punch to be equivalent to 3 and a half laser rifles, all in a frame that was smaller than the combined total. However the cumbersome and unergonomic design left much to be desired. It was powerful, yes, but at this size unless he was in power armor, it would be difficult to wield in battle.
However, the thought of him wielding it in battle gave him an idea. Why not give it to the one person who walked around like they always wore power armor? Pearl.
Pearl's size would make the extra weight and size a non issue and would finally give her a ranged option in a fight so she didn't have to run in and risk getting shot using her super sledge.
After heading back outside to test the weapon a few times, make sure it worked and didn't explode, to which it passed his tests admirably, he returned to the vault and handed it to Pearl.
"Pearl, I made you this." Adam said as he handed it over to her. Pearl took it gingerly.
"What is?" Pearl asked with a slight head tilt.
"It's a laser rifle, like the one I use, though it has far more power and is sized more for someone like you. It took me the entire time since we have been back but I figured it might be a good weapon for you so you don't always have to rely on the super sledge."
"Gun like Adam has? Pearl like!" Pearl said with a big smile. "Pearl happy to receive gifts! Pearl thank Adam!" Adam chuckled softly.
"Don't mention it, I'm glad you like it. I figured since it was too big for me it might suit you."
"Pearl excited to play with new gun! Next time Adam leave take Pearl with you!"
"Well my next trip is not going to involve combat… hopefully, and the city isn't exactly the most racially kind, but I promise there is likely a fight to come soon, when that happens I'll bring you along."
"Adam promise okay!" Pearl said before she hugged the gun to her chest and then wandered off to do… whatever she liked to do on her off time.
With all the work of the day done Adam ate dinner and then headed to his room to listen to one of the vinyls he collected on his record player. The residents had already sorted through them and got rid of the ones that were obviously broken or ruined with time and left the rest in one of the common rooms. Adam took a Dean Martin album and then spent the rest of the night relaxing. Knowing that tomorrow would be the start of his next challenge.
The groundwork was laid, now he needed to handle some business at Midway and then, War.
The next day arrived and Adam was quick to gather up his allies. He considered bringing everyone along but decided against that. He was not ready to immediately fly into the fight with Pestilence, instead he would go to Midway and get some info and odds and ends and then head to War to get a meeting. After that the battle would begin, no doubt he would have some time to gather his forces then. Instead he just brought with him Deccanus, Mira, and Rae. He was taking a gamble, planning to head to meet War with so few, but he also knew he could pick up Eve on the way most likely and hopefully War would not try to start a fight with him while he was busy losing the fight against pestilence. Besides, he needed the space in the back for all the stuff he was bringing to midway, and all the stuff he would be bringing back.
Adam had, for a while, between the various scavenging runs and efforts in cleaning up the Vault, found a large number of things he wanted to offload to vendors at Midway, from weapons to tools, he had a lot that was now collecting dust that he saw no need for going forward. Even that run where Deccanus and Pearl went out the two of them, primarily a hunting mission, proved to turn up a number of useful odds and ends.
Then, for the trip back, aside from things he hoped to obtain for personal use, his Vault needed more food, so buying food in bulk would work well to help shore up food shortages. Bringing too many people along would limit his APC's carrying capacity. So this was definitely the best choice considering all his options.