324 Inspiration
"I am not just a toaster! I am the scourge of all appliances! And the bogey-man who keeps lesser toasters up at night! Any device that crosses my path, I will murder, and render them down to scrap! NONE WILL ESCAPE MY HEATING COIL!" it roars, wishing to show its dominance... Or something like that?
"Sooo, you dismantle appliances?" Afton asks, ignoring its over the top monologue.
"NO! I MURD-" It stops as it notices Afton's unforgiving glare, "Y-yes... My function is to dismantle..." it reluctantly admits.
Afton crosses his arms, "Just appliances? Or can it be any number of things... If I made you larger, could I toss a Protectron inside and receive materials from it?" he asks, curious.
"YES! I CAN! MAKE ME LARGER MASTER! SO I CAN DESTROY ANY WHO OPPOSE ME! MWAHAHAHA...HAHA...haha... Please don't hurt me." the toaster pleads, Afton's scowl having gotten more menacing the longer it laughed.
"Alright... I think I can find a use for you... I think I'll call you... Aphan" Afton states, smirking at his 'Ovan' joke.
Flashback end.
After his talk with Aphan, he elected to give it an upgrade, converting it from a useless toaster sitting inside the SInk, to a large incinerator waiting to be used outside the dome. It was probably the most effective thing he'd done since getting to Big Mt if he were honest.
Restoration of Big Mt had already begun, but they were having trouble finding where to put all the scrap metal and other useless materials. Once he created the incinerator however, everything could potentially be made usable again.
Despite the increase in size, Aphan's function remained the same, processing materials and spitting out anything useful. This proved to be incredibly valuable when the robots required materials to repair the various laboratories that were still in operation. X-13 and X-8 being prime examples of this.
Both continued to serve their respective purposes, Afton hadn't even realised at the time, but the labs themselves seem to be controlled by a limited AI. This is the reason they were able to continue operating without the scientist's intervention for centuries.
Of course, Afton intended to scrap and assimilate those AI's into the one he was creating. He didn't know their exact functions or programming, so it would be best to get rid of them before they do something he disliked.
Though, there was one thing he still needed to do... X-22 needed to be razed. He hadn't found the time to do so as of yet, but that didn't make it any less necessary. Especially since the cryogenically frozen pre-war plants and seeds were still locked away inside somewhere.
If Afton were honest with himself, half the reason to get rid of X-22 was his fear of the fungus, while the other was his wish to taste proper tomato sauce again... He'd heard of a similar plant called a 'Tato', but from hearsay, it was basically a shittier, more durable tomato.
He sighs to himself, head glowering down at his desk where a new terminal had been placed for his research needs. He'd been trying to programme this AI for a while now, but found it to be significantly harder than Mobius had made it out to be.
It was now easy to see why each personality had such... Interesting quirks. They needed to base themselves on something, or their personality would slowly, hm, what's the word... Degrade?... For example, Alfred was almost obsessive in his duties towards Afton, barely managing to contain his desire to be useful at every moment. If Alfred let go of restraint, the personality would literally be forcing the tiny robots to carry Afton wherever he needs to go.
Aphan was another obvious example. The intensity of the personalities 'quirk' needed to match its functions. This is the reason Jefferson, and Lumina were less... 'Weird'. They had their own eccentricities, but they kept it to themselves so it was almost unnoticeable. And don't get Afton started on Austin.
If Afton had a couple years, he could probably create an AI that wouldn't be restricted like this, but he obviously didn't have that much time. Eventually, he'd need to return to the Mojave, but before that he intended to get Big Mt self-sufficient and working properly without him hovering over everyone. Not to mention creating enough weaponry that'd scare both the Legion and NCR.
So yeah, Afton was struggling to create a valid personality for his AI that was 'quirky' enough to not lose itself in its programming and go on a terminator style rampage. Of course, he could create restrictions on it, but that could only go so far.
Afton actually needed Mobius to finish the transistors before he could actually create the AI, as it'd need much more sophisticated machinery to function in the manner he wished.
[Eureka! has been activated]
...
A flood of ideas suddenly starts flowing through his mind, causing him to sit upright at his desk. His eyes glaze over momentarily as an old memory from his original world plays before his eyes like a movie...
...
A few minutes pass, and Afton slumps as the breakthrough passes, he's pretty tired and has a massive headache, but despite all this a smile finds its way onto his face... "Yeah, that would definitely work. Actually... IT'S PERFECT! HAHAHAHAHA!" he bursts into uproarious laughter after realising how stupid he had been. The answer had always been so SIMPLE!
His fingers become a blur as he starts rapidly typing, the terminal almost unable to keep up with the information he was stuffing inside it. He now knew exactly what he wanted the personality to be, now he just had to create it.
