Desolation

[Five]

Get a weapon. It's dangerous to go unarmed.

[Mibbs]

see if you can find a candy store. in times like these the simple pleasures are the most important

[Kaynato]

"We need you to acquire several important good for us from inside that building."

[Naristar]

Issac do you ever miss anything about the compound?
what about the shelters have you been looking fo them?

[Sprak]

"###########hat you can take care of yourself, but...


Look.
Maybe we can help each other out."

[Staff Deployment]

"Hey, you got a pen? Tear down that old "50% off" sign and draw me a map of where you are, if you even remember. I think I might know this city."

[RPGeesus]

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Just to let you guys know I AM working on an update. Due to the nature of the suggestions its going to have two or 3 images this time, so it might be a couple days.
thanks for your patience!

[Murder]

Found this through YAMCH.
So, +1 reader.

Anyways, since you're the author, I want to ask how you think your character sounded like?
I read his voice like Vandal in Dead Space (like this)
And it's probably because of the mask and his name, which coincidentally is that game's protagonist name.

[RPGeesus]

show spoiler

hide spoiler

I guess I lied, spent a few hours working on it and powered through a couple more images.

The radio crackles to life once more, and the voice is heard again.

"So Isaac, are you armed?"

"No... Why would I have a weapon?"

The voice on the radio lets out an audible sigh, much to Isaac's irritation.

"Get yourself a weapon..or at least something that looks like one, at a distance. You might not have realized it yet, but these streets aren't as empty as they seem"

Isaac looks around, as if expecting some assailant to jump out at any moment. It is clear that he had not thought of the possibility of being attacked when he was apparently so alone.

"Now that you mention it... I have been getting the feeling that I was being followed lately. Of course I could never track them down, and I assumed I was just seeing things.
A weapon should not be too hard to find. I'll keep an eye out."

The voice responds in a satisfied tone.

"Right then, looks like I'm already helping you out.
So how are you doing on supplies? You'll want to have a supply of first aid and basic survival items on hand; bandages, medicine to fight infections, iodine drops to purify drinking water, that sort of thing."

"I'm actually pretty stocked on survival gear. When I left the AugSoft tower I grabbed a few of the survival kits. One of them is supposed to last you a couple months at least. Though the nutrient bars leave something to be desired. I don't have any real food at the moment though, I suppose an actual meal would be a nice change. I guess I'll check around in some of the shops, see if the looters forgot a can of beans or something."



Isaac walks over to the entrance of the nearest shop. Like most of the others the sliding door has been forced open, and is unpowered. There is no light inside, and once again he reaches around in his pack for a few moments before pulling out a high powered glow rod.

"Just so you know, I only have 7 more of these. So lets try to conserve them, at least until I can find a flashlight or something."

He stands in the entrance and activates the light. It slowly powers up and he waves it around in front of him as if hoping the light will reach further that way.
The voice interrupts his tentative exploration with a question.

"Issac do you ever miss anything about the compound? What about the shelters, have you been looking for them?"

Isaac responds, sounding almost excited to have another chance to tell more of his story.

"The AugSoft Compound? I miss a lot of things about it. Air that won't clog your lungs with toxic dust, actual meals, toilets...
Other than that though... Not really. I guess I do miss the people now. Though when I was there I would have said the opposite. I was never very good at being social, Kept to myself most of the time, but I would mingle with the others from time to time. Most of it was an act though, I was always terrified I would say the wrong thing. So I kept myself busy working on the project, and when I first left during the riot I was actually happy to just be alone. Obviously that changed."

He tosses the light into the dark building, its blue glow illuminating overturned shelves and debris on the floor.

"Man, sorry about that, I probably went a bit too in depth there. Its been a while since I had someone to talk to though, you know?"

Isaac enters the building and crouches down next to the light.



Before the voice can respond however, Isaac shouts excitedly, and reaches for a dark cylindrical object on the ground.

"Well I doubt we will find any food in here... But do you know what this is? This is a machine shop, mechanical supplies, robot parts...
Honestly I'm surprised that this place has not been picked clean already."

"Okay, a machine shop. How does that help you again?"

"Well you said I should find a weapon, right? Well I have everything I need to make one right in this room. And not just a crude club either, I don't know if I mentioned this, but I'm a scientist. This here, this is an industrial electromagnet!"

He picks the cylinder up off the ground and turns it over in his hand, inspecting it.

"Perfect, it's still in working order. Now if I can find a few more supplies I should be able to put together one hell of a weapon."

He scours the remaining odds and ends left on the shelves, bringing what he needs to the center of the room by the light.
What he fails to notice however is a figure quickly darting out the door when his back is turned.
He works in silence for a while, occasionally muttering to himself, though it is to quiet for the radio to pick up.
Soon he stops working and sits back, looking at his work with apparent pride.
Before him sits what used to be an electric hand drill, though it could hardly be called that now. the internal workings seem to have been entirely replaced, and where the drill bit would once have been is now a slightly modified industrial electromagnet. He picks up a bearing out of one of the boxes he found and pulls back on the bolt of the pistol. After loading the bearing inside he puts a bag of about 50 more bearings in his pack.

NEW ITEM: BOLT ACTION COIL GUN

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Isaac stands up and leaves the now dim light of the glow rod, heading for the door.
From the way he holds his new weapon, stopping and pointing it dramatically a couple times on his way out it is clear that he is quite pleased with himself.
As he exits the building, he promptly aims the gun at a poster on the wall opposite the shop and fires. There is no bang, just a *WHUMP* as the steel ball is buried in the concrete behind the flimsy paper.

While there was no loud noise, the voice on the radio lets out a startled shout, and exclaims about a serious burst of static.



Isaac reaches into the pocket of his greatcoat and reloads the gun, apparently satisfied with the test firing.

"Well I have a gun now, so that's one goal down. Think I should keep looking for supplies? Or maybe try to track down whoever has been following me?
The city is basically abandoned too, so I suppose I could just explore if I wanted to."

The radio crackles once again, and the voice responds...

==>

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Anyways, since you're the author, I want to ask how you think your character sounded like?
I read his voice like Vandal in Dead Space (like this)
And it's probably because of the mask and his name, which coincidentally is that game's protagonist name.

That voice fits pretty well actually. Though I usually just imagined him with my own voice.
There is probably a filter like that dead space voice though, the mask is all kinds of high tech, so it makes sense.

[Xartarin]

"Try and get to higher ground. It'll help you navigate the city."

[Murder]

Another question: Does the guy on the radio see Isaac?

[Dmatix]

"Now that you're armed, we should get to business. I need you to find something for me. It's in your best interests as well, trust me."

show spoiler

hide spoiler

I must say, I really like your art, especially considering how fast you put it out. Kudos.

[Naristar]

Issac, are you sure thats enough ammo?
You should look around and see if there are any more things you could use
I mean if they are following you, you can always get them later!

((also your voice fits nicely, it would be neat to have this end up as something to be listened to))

[Anthano Zasalla]

> "Get to high ground. But, eh, not just to explore. To see."

"I... think you'll know what I mean."

"And keep your gun loaded."

[Wessolf27]

"You might wanna look around, y'know, never know if something hostile's gonna lash out at ya."

[RPGeesus]

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Another question: Does the guy on the radio see Isaac?

Yeah, I figure that his mask has a camera or something that is sending video to the radio guy.

[Ross_Varn]

"Yeah, could you patch me into the visual feed? I might be able to help you spot some of these guys who you keep seeing. Kinda like in an old video game, heh.


...look, I don't know why you're trusting me like this. It's been a hell of a few months now. I mean, I guess I'm glad that there's someone out there who isn't quite as mad as the rest of them..."

RPG- you don't even have to ask. +1 reader. Let's make it a good one.

[RPGeesus]

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Hey guys, Another update just to let you all know that this is not dead.
I actually feel really bad for letting this go for so long, but midterms are still in full swing.
Thanks for being patient!

[Anthano Zasalla]

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Hey guys, Another update just to let you all know that this is not dead.
I actually feel really bad for letting this go for so long, but midterms are still in full swing.
Thanks for being patient!

Sir, we are patient as patient can be.

[RPGeesus]

show spoiler

hide spoiler

So midterms are over and I have a weekend free of homework. Time to art it up.

The Voice can once more be heard in Isaac's ear.

"You know, when I said to arm yourself, I really just meant 'find a pipe to hit things with'..."

"Yeah, well this is better."

"That it is. You got enough ammo? Be a shame to run out when you need it most."

"I got all the bearings in the shop, about 50. I'm sure I'll find more eventually. But honestly, what do you think I'm going to be fighting? In the months I've been out here I have not run into any trouble. What are the odds that stuff starts happening now?"

The sounds of a keyboard clacking can be heard over the radio, and the voice comes back a moment later.

"About that... I found something while I was looking over the exterior cameras just now. Can you get to higher ground? I think you will know when you see it."

Isaac looks at the buildings around him, and then down a number of narrow alleys before finding an enclosed ladder serving as a fire escape on the side of a nearby building.
He quickly jogs over to it and starts climbing.



When he reaches the top he appears to be a bit out of breath. and as he pulls himself over the edge and onto the roof, he complains loudly.

"This had better be worth it, I've-"



His complaint is silenced by what he sees.
Abandoned buildings are nothing if not predictable, this is something he learned a long time ago. For instance, abandoned buildings don't explode and start billowing smoke for no reason. Well, not usually.
As he stands and stares in silence, a brilliant flash of lightning streaks across the sky, lighting the dense clouds from within. It is several seconds before the thunder is heard. When it does arrive, it shakes him out of his silence and he speaks quietly to the voice.

"How long has it been like that?"

"Can't say for sure, but it was fine yesterday when I checked the feeds if that helps at all."

"Not really.
There must be others then.
I should have guessed here would be other people in the city besides me. Its probably been just due to the size of it that I have not run into anyone yet...
Now I suppose you want me to go check this out for you, huh?"

The voice responds.

show spoiler

hide spoiler

So this update kinda sucks, not gonna lie. About half way through painting it I got hit by homework and all that, so there was a gap of about a week between the images.
I'll be trying out some different styles pretty soon here, so as always I don't know how frequent updates will be.
Once again thanks to anyone with the patience to follow this, the slowest of all adventures.

[Ross_Varn]

"Well, it's not either of our problems, but there's not much going on out here. Who's going around just blowing up skyscrapers for no reason, though?... It might end up being a problem. Do you want to check it out?"

Beauty takes time, mate, and this adventure has much of it. We can wait.

[Anthano Zasalla]

> "Check it out? With that pea-shooter? Seriously. What were you saying about riots?

I may be an enigmatic disembodied voice, Ike, but I'm not going to send you off to die for no reason.

...I can call you Ike, right?"

[Wessolf27]

"Well, it's not either of our problems, but there's not much going on out here. Who's going around just blowing up skyscrapers for no reason, though?... It might end up being a problem. Do you want to check it out?"

I'll go with this answer.

[Dmatix]

"Those others you mentioned. I'm not all that sure you can call them people. Not any more. If you could check it out for me, it would help us both, but I don't blame you if you rather not."

[Naristar]

((pft slowest....not really actualy for the level of fun and art style its worth the wait))

Ummm, it might be good to get down off the building......Lightning strikes the highest points so standing on a building makes you a target....