I followed the small orange robot for a bit until he turned into an alleyway a few buildings away from the town center.
"Are you any good with a gun, human?" The feisty little guy asked as he continued rolling deeper and deeper into the alley.
"I cleared out an entire bandit compound just before I arrived in town, so I'd say I'm a decent shot."
"Ahhh, excellent!" Claptrap chimed excitedly as he rolled up to a tiny shack built of junk and random bits of rusted scrap metal.
The robot performed a 180-degree turn the moment he pulled up to what I presumed to be his domicile and proposed. "I have a proposition for you, then. How would you like to become a vault hunter?"
"I already am one."
"...R-really?"
"Really."
"Alright then, how would you like to work for me? I'm sure I can help you find the key fragments faster and teach you a thing or two."
"As enticing as that sounds, I'm gonna have to decline since I only plan on being my own boss in this lifetime."
"Sigh." The robot squeaked sadly, immediately sounding depressed
"But how about I present a counteroffer?"
"A counteroffer?"
"Yes, a counteroffer." I confirmed.
"Hmm, a counteroffer, you say. What kind of a counteroffer?"
"Well, this is your home, right?"
"Yea, isn't it fabulous? I mean, just look at it." Claptrap boasted with a sparkle in his lens.
"...Sorry to burst your bubble, Claptrap, but your home is a dump."
"No, it isn't... Is it?"
"Unfortunately, so." I said, breaking the little robot from his delusions.
"NOOOO!" He yelled dramatically.
Yeah, this is claptrap I remember.
Although I found his loud antics amusing, I still spoke up and presented my recommendation. "So instead of staying in this shithole, how about you come under my wing and come kick it with me?"
The little spitfire went into thought as I had a sudden idea enter my head.
I wonder if I can help him out and turn him into the capable bot that he was in the pre-sequel... I probably won't be able to turn him into exactly what he was in that game because he won't have a skill tree, I presume, but he shouldn't be that far off... Well, let me ask Angel since it's just supposed to be a programming upgrade combined with a stair-climbing wheel.
"Angel, you there?" I asked aloud.
A brief silence fell upon the scene as Claptrap stared at me oddly for a handful of seconds, but Angel's soothing voice came in over my ECHO communicator/ECHO device. "What's up, Vic?"
I knew she was keeping tabs on me.
"Can you update the programming on this fella, so he has a combat protocol and can be of some use to me?"
"I can do that."
"Ohhhh." Claptrap sounded as his programming started being upgraded on the spot.
"Anything else?"
"Yeah, just two last things: where would I acquire a stair-climbing wheel for him if I wanted one, and can you get rid of Jack's and Hyperion's influence on him and make it so he won't follow anyone unless he wishes to."
"Scooter should have one in stock, but he's all the way out in New Haven, so you'll have to pay him a visit unless you want to travel further out. And yea, I can grant him free will to do as he pleases, but are you sure you want that? I mean, this little guy can be quite the troublesome handful, if you know what I mean."
"Of course, that's part of the little clanker's charm."
"Mm, I suppose... Do you have anything else for me?"
"Nah, that'll do. Thanks for the help as always, Angel."
"No problem, let me know if you need any further assistance... I'll be watching."
"Will do, later, beautiful."
When the call ended the little spitfire was still undergoing his update, so I leaned up against the wall of one of the surrounding buildings and chilled while I waited for him. And the instant the small orange robot finally finished undergoing his upgrade, I turned to him. "Is that good enough, Claptrap?"
"Sold!"
"Good, welcome aboard, friend." I said, shaking the robot's small outstretched hand with my significantly bigger one.
"Haha, this calls for a celebratory dance, best friend."
*Uhntssuhntssuhntss-*
Whilst Claptrap was appreciating his unhindered free will to its very fullest, I just enjoyed recalling the memories from my past life and reminiscing about them. When he was done celebrating and I was finished recalling the many hours I spent playing Borderlands as a young teen, I had him grab his things, which was hardly anything.
And the moment he had gathered the small bit of junk he wanted to drag along, I asked. "I presume you're connected to the ECHOnet, yeah?"
"Yes, siree."
"So that means you have access to backpack space, right?"
"You mean this?" The robot responded whilst pulling out a piece of junk from the void.
"Yeah." I replied simply as I began leading us away from his shack as all the miscellaneous items Claptrap wished to bring disappeared into thin air.
Not even a moment after we popped out of the alley, I informed him of our first destination. "Alright, we got a couple of places we need to visit before we head home since I have some things I need to take care of. You have any idea where Marcus's gun store is?"
"Oh, I know exactly where that is. Right this way, best friend."
Shrugging my shoulders, I followed after the speeding robot, who had gained an increase in speed with his programming and combat protocol upgrade. It wasn't over the top or anything, but it was comparable to a grown man in decent shape sprinting. Once we cut through the town center, the lightly worn orange robot sped off once more, so I kept up with the speedy little guy with ease and soon enough our destination was in sight.
The second we stopped in front of the place, which was a large 2 story building, my eyes immediately went to the big ole grand sign that read Marcus's Gun Emporium.
"We've arrived, so what's next?" The little robot asked eagerly.
"We're gonna head inside and see if they have any interesting armaments for sale."
"Marcus sells a lot of weapons here, though not as much as he does in New Haven, but I'm sure you'll find something neat."
"We'll know when we enter, so let's go." I said last before walking up and opening the heavy metal double doors.
As soon as I passed the entrance's threshold and walked inside, I scanned the interior and took it all in. What I found beyond the door was a broad, expansive space covered with locked displays of weapons and armor.
However, that was not all; lining the walls of the business were racks of guns, ammo and weapon vending machines, and ceiling-mounted Scorpio Turrets in every corner, all of which were shielded by a see-through blue ball of energy. And in the very far back left-hand corner was a wide shielded counter being manned by a gruff-looking tanned Caucasian man in his early 40s, who was the size of a bear.
I was expecting it, but it's a shame I don't get to meet Marcus just yet.
Presuming the greedy and ruthless merchant to be residing in New Haven, I strolled over to the counter to see if they didn't have what I was seeking. I could've done the searching myself, but it would be a hell of a lot faster to just go to the fella manning the counter.
"Hey, how's it going?" I greeted.
"As good as it can be for a resident of Pandora, what can I help you with, big guy?"
Straight to business, aye, that's fine by me.
"Do you have a Maliwan Hellfire SMG by chance?"
"Hmm, that's the highest-end submachine gun Maliwan produces. Unfortunately, we don't have one of those specimens in stock."
I expected that, but let me see if he has the elemental module because that's really what I'm looking for.
"What about the elemental module?"
"Mm, I'm not too sure, but let me check." The employee answered before going onto the nearby computer.
I waited a couple dozen seconds when the man made a noise. "Looks like you lucked out this time; we have one single module in stock."
"How much?"
"It's gonna cost ya, $499,999... You want it?"
"Let me see... Do you have a Vladof machine gun called the Chopper in stock?" I inquired as that little rascal, Claptrap, wandered off and started zooming around the store.
"You want that big guy?" The man responded, ignoring the energetic robot's inability to stay still.
"Ohh, you actually have that weapon."
"Yeah, somehow, even though they've only produced a tiny number of them."
"What's the price on that gun?"
"Even steeper than the top tier Maliwan Hellfire module, $1,500,000."
*Whistle* "Shit, that's nearly my whole budget."
"It is, but I'd say it's well worth the money if you got it and the strength to wield the beast." He said before looking me over and continuing. "And you certainly look like you've got the strength department covered."
"Can I see it first?"
"Sure, I just have to get it from the back room. Gimme a sec." The man shrugged and departed through the door behind the counter.
The weapon sounded like it was quite the hog to lug around, so I presumed it was going to be a minute or two before he returned, so I passed the time by browsing the wares on display. Sadly, none of the items I viewed in the couple of minutes the employee was gone piqued my fancy, so I began wandering back over to the counter the instant I heard the doors move.
When I reached the counter, I saw and understood exactly what he meant when he called it a beast. Right behind the counter lay a four-barreled monstrosity with a sturdy carry handle to fire it from the hip if one didn't possess the strength to shoulder it. And attached to it was a massive box magazine that could either hook onto the underside of the weapon like a typical machine gun or be carried on one's back or even your hip if you were big enough, like myself.
Staring at the four barrels, that were set up in an X pattern, and their bare accessory module slots, I couldn't help but make a comment on the beauty, which didn't appear all that dissimilar to a Mulcher straight out of Gears of War. "That is one heavy weapon, I must say."
"Mm, you're not wrong." The man working for Marcus agreed.
Once I had my fill of the fine specimen, I got down to business. "Okay, let me ask you this now: do you take trade in's and are you in the market of buying ammo and weapons on a long-term basis?"
"We're always in the mood to buy and trade, but how much are we talking?"
"At least several hundred weapons of the common variety, a couple hundred thousand rounds of ammunition that's a mix of rockets and combat rifle ammo mainly."
"...You're joking, right?"
"Nope, not one bit, I'm 100% serious."
*Sigh* "Alright, let me call the boss because this is way above my pay grade."
"Sure, but you mind if I join in on the conversation?"
"Have at it, I'll put it on speaker." The man shrugged, not caring in the least.
A few moments later, the charismatic voice of Marcus Kincaid came through over the ECHO Device. "What is it, Vahn?"
"I have a customer who's looking to spend a load of dough, but he's wondering if we do trade-ins and if we're looking to buy lots of weapons and tons of ammo on a regular basis."
"Ahh, a valued customer and a prospective business partner. Put him on the phone. I'll handle things from here on out."
"It's on speaker." I informed one of the most well-known characters of the Borderlands franchise.
"Ohh, then that makes things easy. What specifically are you trying to offload?"
"That would be-."
After covering every item on my mental list that I wanted to get rid of and convert to straight dollar bills, Marcus came back with. "Hmm, that's quite a stock of armaments and munitions, but I can handle that no problem, and I can offer you a decent rate for it. How does 50% of the going market rate sound?"
And the time to negotiate has arrived. I know he's a greedy bastard, so I can't let myself be taken advantage of here.
"That's not gonna cut it given all the effort I had to put into securing those wares. I think 90% is a much more reasonable number given this could very well become a long and fruitful business relationship?"
"That may be, but I can't just have you take me to the cleaners now, can I, 65%." The fat merchant countered over the ECHO device.
I got him moving up, so let's keep at it.
"80%, and I'll throw in the opportunity to secure rare and hard to obtain materials like Eridium and elemental crystals first and before anyone else."
"Hmm…" The man sounded as he stewed on the offer.
"You have a way of getting your hands on that stuff?"
"I do indeed."
He held me in suspense for a handful of seconds, but he didn't really keep me waiting for long. "You drive a hard bargain..."
"Victor, will do."
"Mm, you drive a hard bargain, Victor, but I like the hunger you got in ya, so I'll allow it... this time."
"Then I guess we have a deal." I commented.
"It would appear so. How do you want to proceed from here?"
"Well, I can drop by later today with the first batch of armaments and munitions when I've finished the bounties I intend to pick up at Fyrestone's town center."
"We'll be expecting you then." The ruthless merchant said before switching focus to his employee. "Vahn. You're working overtime tonight, so be prepared and do a top job inspecting the shipment."
"Aye aye, boss." The man behind the counter responded immediately.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Marcus Kincaid."
"The feeling is mutual, friend. I hope you bring more lucrative deals across my desk soon."
"I'm sure I will. Have a good rest of your day."
"Safe travels, partner." The legend said, enunciating that very last word.