Adam spent a bit of time working on the APC with Eric's help, it didn't need much work, mostly preventative maintenance to ensure it stays in good condition, but things like this are good to keep on top of especially when you live in such an uncertain world as this. The last thing he wanted was for his APC to have something break in a crucial moment. Best he keep vigilant.
Adam also noticed, now that he had a chance to look around outside, how much more work had been done outside since he was last here. He already saw the almost completed garage, now with working garage doors that were tall enough for his APC to go through. The only thing missing was the roof, a pretty important piece, no doubt, but the walls were all up and when the doors were closed you could not even tell that the APC was in there, which was the goal. It kept the APC out of sight when parked outside the Vault which meant he didn't need to keep a robot on protection all the time. The other nice thing about the garage was that the other residents had extended and fixed up his makeshift wire that he was using to charge the APC by sapping the power from the Vault through a detached light fixture. Not only did they bury most of the wire and then add a nice connector through the back of the garage for the APC to then access, but they reinstalled the light with some modification to let the wire remain. Once that roof was done, he had a multi car garage that was asking to be filled up. And Eric would surely be excited to get the work.
However the garage was not the only thing he had noticed was new. There was a long building across the remains of the street from the Vault Entrance wall. It was a very simple structure, just 3 walls and a roof and a long trough on the ground as well as some hitching posts. It was clear it was thrown together to give a spot for brahmin to be posted if merchants were to come. Rather ambitious if he did say so himself since what were the chances a merchant were to show up any time soon but it was nice to see the surrounding area beginning to rebuild a bit.
Eventually though he finished his work on the APC and went back inside to work on the next project he was excited to sit down with. The strange robot bird he bought.
Adam went back to his room and sat down in his living room with the crow still in the cage. The crow seemed to regard him with interest before preening its feathers and otherwise seeming very nonchalant about being in a small bird cage. Adam had never owned a bird before, he did not know what their needs were, aside from the obvious of course. However the fact this thing seemed at least partially robotic was… strange. Who would do this? Why?
Adam reached his hand into the cage to touch and look at the wing that had a robotic skeleton visible but was nipped at by the bird in response. Adam yelped in surprise even though it did not hurt, just caught him off guard. Then, after a moment to recollect himself, he took a deep breath and put his hands up to show me meant no harm.
"Hey little guy, I'm just trying to check you out. I'm not going to hurt you." He said softly and smoothly. The bird tilted its head a bit at him but did not make any aggressive moves. Though then again what kind of aggressive moves can a bird in a cage even make.
Adam once more stuck his fingers through the bars of the cage to touch it, but this time he went to pet its little head. The bird flinched a bit for a moment but then seemed to lean into the petting as Adam softly stroked its head.
Adam then gently pet downward towards the robotic wing and found it was exactly as he thought, which is to say it was some sort of synthetic metal or perhaps polymer. He could not tell. What he did know was that this was unlike anything he had seen before. He needed an expert opinion, if it was just a robot he would take it apart and study it, but this was a living bird… or maybe it just seemed to be? Only one way to find out. So he picked up the cage and brought it to the one person who might know.
"So you want me to X-ray this… bird?" Dr. Tott said with a disinterest and slight disgust as Adam brought the bird into the medbay.
"Well… yes… as well as any other tests you can do." Adam said back with a slightly embarrassed chuckle, putting the cage down on the table. The bird seemed to still be quite content on its own, looking around with interest before going back to preening.
"And what tests would that be? MRI? Blood test? Catscan? Pregnancy test? I am a human doctor not a veterinarian."
"I don't know… I just…. I want to know if this thing is a robot or not. That's why I suggested an X-ray. If it's not or I guess even if it is I am curious if its wing will heal… I mean the wing is all robotic right now, so I'm wondering if it's hurt and we can heal it." Adam said back, not even sure what he wanted but felt deferring to an authority who might know more than him was the smartest option.
Dr. Tott just sighed deeply and shook his head.
"I can promise nothing, Adam. I shall do my best, but do not be disappointed if the results are not encouraging." He said before he grabbed a nearby clipboard. "Nurse!" He called out. A moment later, from a partitioned section of the medbay a still heavily pregnant Teresa came out.
"Yes, Doctor?" She asked.
"Take this bird to the X-ray machine, and prepare a needle for bloodwork, it appears our intrepid mayor has a pet he wants studied." Dr. Tott said to her, though with a roll of his eyes to Adam.
"Right away, doctor." Teresa said with a smile. She then walked past the two men, grabbed the cage and walked off to do as she was asked. As she walked away Dr. Tott spoke up again.
"Come back in a few hours, I'll have the x-rays and bloodwork done and I should, hopefully, have at least a few answers to give you." Adam smiled.
"Thank you doctor." Adam then turned to leave, ready to kill some time until he needed to come back for the results.
Adam did not have to wait long as he was soon approached by a woman named Haley who wanted permission to open a shop. Normally Adam would say yes right away but the shop in question was a bakery. In normal circumstances he was quite happy to have fresh bread and baked goods readily available, however he had been pretty adamant that no one should go hungry. To that end food down here was free. But if the bakery opened, Haley wanted to charge for her products, naturally. So it left Adam with a conundrum. For now he decided to table the final decision and gave her temporary permission with the promise that she would not make anything that couldn't be considered snacks or deserts so that the cafeteria would not feel pressured to also charge for meals. Under Karla though, the cafeteria workers are getting paid now though, so perhaps he was over thinking it. But for the moment he was fine to let this go as a test run.
In addition to the bakery, he was asked about opening a barbershop and salon down here, which Adam was entirely on board with. The only caveat here was that the man who would run it, George Benson, had no interest in doing it full time, so it was less a business and instead only open by appointment. Ultimately that was fine though and so Adam gave permission for that too.
It was great seeing more and more places opening up down here. Though at this rate there were more stores than people to use them. But considering the way people lived down here, it was not as if this was a major trading hub. Most people only opened their shops at request. Everyone was starting to know everyone so it was not hard to close up a shop, do something else, then be asked to open it up for one reason or another. Perhaps in the future the Vault could run itself like Midway where people's actual full time jobs were business, but there were simply too few people for that. At least for all the shops opened down here.