Hubris Comic Issue 3-New World

Being rescued by a sheriff and by a strange-looking person wasn't something that Gabriel expected today. However, he didn't complain, since they took him to the large community of Megaton and got him taken to the local doctor, where he got treated for his wound.

"Your lucky it was just a through-and-through." The doctor said while he wrapped Gabriel's right shoulder with bandages. The doctor looked similar to the other person that helped rescue him along with the sheriff Lucas Simms.

"Thanks, doc." Gabriel replied after the doctor finished wrapping the bandages, allowing Gabriel to put his vault security armor back on.

"It was no issue and call me Wade." Wade said back to the young man. "The people who rescued you, have taken the loot from the raiders as payment, so I hope you don't cause a stir by asking for that loot. It wasn't your in the first place since you almost got killed."

"I don't care about that stuff. I'm just trying to find information on my dad. Do you know if he passed through here?"

"A missing dad huh? It's sad that such a thing is so common. You'd be better off asking Lucas Simms." Wade said back calmly.

"Ok." Gabriel replied before getting off the medical bed and looked at Wade one more time before speaking. "If you don't mind me asking. What exactly are you?"

"You vault dwellers often don't know about this new world, so I'm not surprised that you'd ask. Frankly I'm surprised that it wasn't your first question. I am Asari. My skin is a darker blue, but don't let that fool you. Other Asari are out there and look different as well."

"That sounds like something out of a Hubris comic strip. No offense to yourself or other members of your race."

"None taken, but watch what you say around other people who are more sensitive than I am. I'd recommend learning more about what really happened during the great war if you want to know more about the world outside of your Vault. Now get out of my office." Wade said back and sure enough, Gabriel left and saw the entirety of Megaton around him.

The large bomb in the center of the city was a hard to miss site, along with the people surrounding it and giving prayers.

"Looks like your already back on your feet kid." A voice said from nearby, causing Gabriel to look to the left and see Lucas with his rifle stripped to his back.

"I am and thanks for saving me. I would be dead right now if you hadn't helped me."

"Don't mention it. Besides we got a few more weapons and materials for the armory, so that's pretty good."

"Actually, if you don't mind. I was wondering if you saw my father come through here. He looks like an older version of me, except he was probably wearing a normal vault suit." Gabriel said back and Lucas thought about it for a moment.

"Yeah, I remember now. Yesterday the guy came to town and spoke with Moriarty about something, then he bolted. Haven't seen him since. But, if you go asking Moriarty anything, don't be surprised if he won't give you any answers." Lucas warned before pointing Gabriel in the right direction.

When Gabriel made his way into the bar, he saw several people drinking and listening to the static-filled radio.

"Come on you piece of shit." A severely burned looking man said to the radio, while smacking it a few times.

"I told you Gob it ain't the radio. The signal from Galaxy News has been total shit lately. Other channels like classical music and the Enclave come in fine." A woman said back to the man while smoking a cigarette. Gabriel saw many names and levels around him but ignored them as he made his way to the bar and took a seat.

"How can I help you sir?" Gob asked in a weak and sad sounding voice.

"I'm looking for information about a man in a vault suit, who came by yesterday. I was told that Moriarty could help me out."

"Wait. You're not going to yell at me or hit me or anything?" Gob asked in shock, which confused Gabriel for a moment.

"No. Why would you ask that?"

"Normally people hate Ghouls like me. The radiation didn't kill us and made us look like half melted freaks." Gob said sadly.

"Sorry."

"Kid if you're looking for help, you came to the wrong place. You look light on credits and that's the only thing Moriarty understands." Nova said to him with a flirty smile on her face.

"Credits? Like the digital currency form sci-fi books?"

"Duh. What other credits are used to buy and sell stuff?" Nova asked in a bland tone as the owner of the bar walked out of the back room and came up to the bar.

"Well, I'll be. The suckling little babe with nary a tit to suckle. James told me a lot about you lad." Moriarty said with a smile at Gabriels wide-eyed expression.

"My dad was here. Please, can you tell me where he went?"

"Sorry kid but that is restricted information. I'd say that its worth 1500 credits to know about where your missing daddy went." Moriarty said back to Gabriel's shock and anger.

"That's insane! Just tell me where he is!" Gabriel shouted with his fist balled up.

"Keeping you here when you were nothing, but a crying baby was bad enough lad, but nobody gives me orders in my own bar." Moriarty said before snapping his fingers and suddenly, Gabriel was jumped by two people.

Jerico, Level: 17

Former Raider/Enforcer

E-Max, Level: 20

Cyberized

Gabriel was overpowered and out matched, not to mention injured. So, despite putting up a fight as best he could, Gabriel was thrown out of the bar and landed onto his back on the ground, with a new set of fresh injuries.

"If you try something like that again, I'll kill you brat." Moriarty said as he walked out of the bar, flanked by his two thugs before he re-entered his bar.

"Bastard." Gabriel choked out in pain before slowly getting back up to his feet.

"You, ok?" A person asked Gabriel who turned to look at the new face.

Moira Brown, Level: 8

Trader/Scientist

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just got the crap beat out of me by a few thugs though."

"That's a shame. I was hoping that Moriarty would have lightened up a bit, since he knew you since you were a baby and all that." Moira said, which confused Gabriel for a moment.

"Moriarty said the same thing, but my father and I were born in Vault 101."

"Oh, that's right. You're from a vault. Sorry, but you've been hard wired more than a Protectron. Born in the vault and die in the vault; all hail the Overseer who protects us from the outside world. Those vaults brainwash people all the time." Moria explained for a moment.

"You wouldn't happen to know where my dad is would you?" Gabriel asked and the woman shook her head.

"Sorry, but I can't help you there. I only saw your dad for a moment, and I didn't get to speak with him. A case of a runaway dad is so sad, but so common nowadays."

"So, I'm just stuck then. I have no clue where my dad is, and I have no idea where I could start looking, and on top of that I don't even have a place to sleep anymore." Gabriel said with a sigh.

"Well, I can't help you with the missing dad thing, but I could help you at least get a few credits. Think of it as a training program for living outside of the vault. What do you say?" Moria asked and Gabriel thought about his options for a moment.

"I'm not really in a position to say no, but I hope you aren't some crime lord or something, because if that's the case, we won't be getting along."

"Don't worry I'm not a criminal or anything. Now come with me into my shop of wonders." Moria said before leading Gabriel into her trading shop, where he spotted an armed guard, along with an armored variant of a standard vault suit that was hanging on the wall behind Moria.

"So, what do you need me to do?"

"Well for starters, I am creating a book on wasteland survival. It will help people survive the wasteland and other wasteland worlds like ours. But I need someone to go out and gather the necessary data for me to analyze. So, your job will be to go out and get that data for me." Moria explained before Gabriel saw a screen appear in front of his eyes.

[Quest Alert!

Name: Wasteland Survival Guide-Part 1

Objective 1: Test out the 'Mole Rat' repellent stick!

Objective 2: Discover the secrets of the Superduper Mart!

Objective 3: Understand the importance of weapon and armor maintenance!

Hidden Objective 1: N/A

Hidden Objective 2: N/A

Do you accept this quest? Y/N?]

Gabriel accepted the quest as Moria explained what she needed for the first chapter of the book, which was word for word, what his quest told him, except for the hidden information of course.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Gabriel asked after Moria handed him a large stick with a large mason jar full of a mysterious green liquid.

"Yup. All you've got to do is pour the repellent on the stick and get near a mole rat. The chemicals will take care of the rest. Now, mole rats usually wander all over the wasteland, so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding some. But you should be careful. Mole rats are pretty dangerous." Moria explained and Gabriel nodded his head.

"I understand. I'll be back when I finish up the missions you gave me." Gabriel said while making his way to the door.

"Hold on a moment." Moria said before she went over to him and gave him a bag of blank holotapes. "Use these to document the data you discover. I'm trusting you not to just make up stuff, this book is meant to help people, and if you give me bad info, I'll never forgive you, and you won't be allowed back in my shop."

"I understand. I'll get as much data as I can." Gabriel said to the woman before he left and headed out of the city.

"I think I can already understand the importance of maintaining armor." Gabriel said to himself as he looked over the small hole in his armor, from where he got shot. Gabriel had stashed the holotapes in his inventory and now had the repellent covered stick in hand as he started to venture aimlessly away from the city and the school.

He wasn't going back to that city anytime soon, since raiders had apparently camped out there.

"I guess this would be the best time to finally do something about the stat and perk points that I saved up." Gabriel said before mentally summoning his status screen.

[Status Screen

Name: Gabriel Star, Age: 19, Race: Human

Title: The Gamer, Alignment: Neutral, Level: 6 [15/7000] EXP

HP: 283/320, AP: 200/200

Strength: 18, Vitality: 20, Constitution: 19

Dexterity: 18, Intelligence: 16, Wisdom: 13

Charisma: 10, Luck: 30

Stat Points: 15, Perk Points: 3]

"What should I invest my points in?" Gabriel asked himself for a moment and thought about what the best choice might be.

[Status Screen

Name: Gabriel Star, Age: 19, Race: Human

Title: The Gamer, Alignment: Neutral, Level: 6 [15/7000] EXP

HP: 283/320, AP: 310/310

Strength: 18, Vitality: 20, Constitution: 19

Dexterity: 18, Intelligence: 21, Wisdom: 23

Charisma: 10, Luck: 30

Stat Points: 0, Perk Points: 3]

"My AP is basically connected to all my stats, so that's good to know. Now I should invest in some perks I guess." Gabriel said as he summoned a perk screen and saw a few perks that seemed standard based on the RPG hologames he played, however there is one perk that seemed strange to him.

[Mass Effect Generation, Passive Rank-1

You can biologically generate Mass Effect fields and produce various feats of scientific abilities that border on improbable magic.

Passively increases INT by 10%

Passively increases WIS by 10%

This unlocks the MP bar and new abilities!

Requirements: 1 Perk Point!]

"Abilities that border on magic sounds good to me." Gabriel said before he spent a perk point.

[You have unlocked the MP bar and gained the following skills.]

[Mass Shield, Active Level: 1

You can generate a protective shield around your body as a second layer of skin to grant protection from various forms of damage.

Grants 20 DT!

Duration: 30 Seconds!

Cost: 30 MP!]

[Push, Active Level: 1

You can use your MP to generate a forceful knockback effect on enemies within range, so you can get some valuable distance.

Range: 5 Feet!

Damage: 111 Concussive Damage

Cost: 20 MP]

"Whoa." Gabriel said to himself as he felt a new influx of energy surging within him. The energy felt strange, like lightning sparks coursing through his body, but it also felt completely natural to him. "Scientific powers that border the line between fact and fiction." Gabriel said to himself with a bit of a smile before he went to work with his last two remaining perk points.

[Life Giver, Passive Rank-1

You have been given life and its energy. Your HP has increased!]

[Life Giver] has reached Rank 2!

"Awesome. I feel…The same but at least I have some more HP." Gabriel said to himself with a smile before he continued his hunt for some of the animals called mole rats.

Suddenly, Gabriel heard a strange noise from his left side, and when he turned, he saw a large mole with rat-like teeth and features looking at him. Its body is pink and practically hairless.

Mole Rat Pup, Level: 4

"Damn it's a baby." Gabriel said before the thing lunged at him with surprising agility. Luckily, he moved to the side and evaded the bite that was aimed right at his chest, and just like that, Gabriel's sympathy went right out the window.

"Alright, fuck this rat." Gabriel said before he gripped his stick with both hands and when the rat leaped again, he took a swing and knocked the thing down with a sad sounding whimper of pain. That sound made Gabriel feel like a small needle had got stabbed into his heart.

However, the pain turned into shock when he saw the rat start freaking out. It started flailing on the ground and let out shrieks of agony, before its head literally exploded in a pile of gore.

He received some EXP from the kill, but he didn't focus on that.

Gabriel simply felt a large amount of shock run through his body after seeing that. So, he took out one of the blank holotapes and loaded it into his Pip-Boy and started typing his first note on the chemical reaction, however he didn't want to mess up a possible life saver, so Gabriel decided to search for more rats to try and see if that reaction would happen to any other people as well.

Surprisingly the pup seemed to have strayed from its pack, because Gabriel ran into several more mole rat pups and smacked each one. And each one suffered the same fate of an explosive death.

"Auto-loot has picked up a bunch of leather, meat and bones from these things, and I think I tested this stick out enough." Gabriel said before a new threat burst out of the ground in front of him.

This mole rat was comparable to a pre-war wolf in terms of size, and it was fat like a small pig, its skin is an extremely bright pink, and its claws and teeth are huge compared to the pups.

Mole Rat Brood Mother, Level: 11

"Oh crap." Gabriel said before he looked at his mole rat repellent stick one more time. He quickly learned that he could use both hands to hold it, but it was much easier to use it single-handedly.

"Bring it." Gabriel said before the mole rat charged at him at fast speeds for something so fat, and it actually managed to get close enough to claw at his leg. Gabriel stepped back when his protective clothes got cut by the rat, and in response, Gabriel activated one of his newly acquired skills.

"Push." Gabriel said as he focused, and he felt something in his body get drained and the mole rat got sent flying backwards from a push of outward force that erupted from Gabriel's free hand. The rat got hurt, but it was still alive, So Gabriel quickly ran over to the rat and thwacked it on the head as hard as he could.

The hit sent a shiver of force through his arms, due to the recoil from the mole rats tough head, but it was enough to smear a decent amount of the repellent onto the mole rats head, and just like before, the mole rat started freaking out, but the duration was longer, meaning the repellent took longer to affect a stronger rat. However, the head did explode, and Gabriel got the usual loot from the rat, but this time he looted something unexpected.

1x Bone Dagger Schematic

The skill [One-Handed Blunt Weapon Mastery] has leveled up! Level: 2-3!

"I got a plan for something?" Gabriel asked before he summoned his inventory and got a closer look at the item.

[Would you like to learn the 'Bone Dagger' schematic? Y/N?]

"Sure."

[You can now craft a 'Bone Dagger' when you unlock the proper perk and gain access to the proper work bench.]

"Ok I can unlock a crafting perk as well." Gabriel said before he put down more information on the holotape within his Pip-Boy about the results of the chemical weapon. Gabriel put the weapon in his inventory before he took out his 10mm pistol and saw that it was fully loaded.

Gabriel took the time to look the weapon over and examined it a bit.

"Hard to believe that I've killed people and hardly feel anything about it. Those guards killed other vault dwellers with no remorse, they got what they deserved, but even so. Shouldn't I be more upset with what I have done?" Gabriel asked himself before he looked down at the dead mole rat. "Even killing these creatures hardly affects me…My perk Gamers Mind keeps me calm and my emotions stable, but maybe its hindering my emotions as well."

"Either way, I should go before some other animal smells blood and tries to eat these things." Gabriel said before he left the scene and looked at the map function on his Pip-Boy and headed in the direction of the Superduper mart.

Walking past Megaton was easy and he even saw a few traders entering the town, but between Megaton and Superduper mart, there are dangers. Gabriel went low to the ground and hid behind a large rock as he saw a literal giant ant that was a crimson red, and the ant was fighting against a giant hulking man shaped being.

The strange monster was decked out in armor that looked to be made from concrete and parts of cars, buildings and other such materials. The monster is also wielding a sledgehammer and it was swatting at the hardened body of the ant, before it caved in its skull. However, the ant literally breathed out a gout of flames towards the mutant before it died from the vicious blow.

The monster let out a scream in pain before it thrashed around onto the ground to try and put out the flames.

"What is that?" Gabriel asked as he slowly sneaked a bit closer to the scene and saw the proper information above the mutant's head.

Supermutant, Level: 15

Generation 2 Type

You have developed the skill [Sneak]!

"Are you ok?" Gabriel asked after he stopped sneaking and grabbed the mutant's attention. The Supermutant got up and let out a scream before rushing towards Gabriel.

Gabriel quickly took out his gun and fired a few rounds at the mutant and saw that the rounds hardly even scratched the wall of meat. Gabriel quickly evaded the sledgehammer blow that hit the ground, but the Supermutant used one hand to backhand Gabriel back.

Gabriel was lifted off his feet and hit the ground hard from the strength of the Supermutant's backhand strike.

"Fuck, that hurts." Gabriel said to himself while holding his ribs before he stood back up and fired the remaining rounds into the Supermutant, who pried his weapon out of the ground.

"I will feast on your bones human!" The Supermutant shouted in again and rushed Gabriel again with shocking speed.

"Mass Shield." Gabriel said as he summoned the shield around himself and saw the attack hit the barrier. The strength of the mutant cracked the shield, but it didn't outright break it, so Gabriel quickly reloaded his gun and took careful aim as the mutant pulled his hammer back in order to attack with a powerful blow.

Gabriel fired at the mutant's face and saw that his attacks could go through his shield, and when he fired five shots, one of them exploded the mutant's right eye, making it scream in agony while it dropped its hammer.

Gabriel quickly ran around and picked up the sledgehammer. He then swung it as hard as he could into the mutant's kneecap, it didn't break it, but it sent the mutant down onto the ground. Gabriel then moved and raised the sledgehammer up into the air before putting all his power into his downward swing onto the mutant's head. Gabriel heard a cracking sound and dark red blood coming out of the mutant's ears, mouth and eyes before he saw a EXP alert before his eyes, telling him that the mutant had died.

"Damn it. I'm low on ammo now, and I barely even killed that thing. Hell, the only reason I could is because it was already hurt and tired." Gabriel said to himself before glancing down at the giant ant with a cold shiver running down his spine. "This Wasteland is something else entirely."

Gabriel stayed low to the ground and sneaked around in order to avoid being seen by anything else and to level up the skill appropriately. However, he soon reached his destination and saw that he was on the hill overlooking the Superduper mart. He could make out some bodies on the ground and decided to get a closer look.

When he made it to the store's parking lot, he saw that the dead bodies of raiders had also been surrounded by a few other giant ants, and there are scorch marks on the ground as well as the raider's gear and whatnot.

"I guess they won't be needing their stuff." Gabriel said grimly before he pocketed the proper items from the raiders.

1x Hunting Rifle

30x .308 Rounds

2x Pipe Revolvers

20x .45 Rounds

2x Switch Blades

1x Raider Sadist Armor

2x Raider Explorer Armor

4x Fire Ant Meat

2x Fire Ant Pheromones

"Got a decent amount of stuff." Gabriel said before he equipped his new hunting rifle and saw that it was a long rifle with no scope. It took him a moment to figure out how to load the gun, but he got there, and as soon as he did, he saw a kid running up to him.

"Help, please." The kid cried as he came up to Gabriel.

"Whoa easy there. What's wrong?" Gabriel asked before glancing at the kids' name above his head.

Bryan Wilks, Level: 2

Survivor

"It's the ants! Those giant fucking ants!" Bryan cried with tears streaming down his face.

"What about them? Just calm down and tell me what's wrong?" Gabriel said in a calm and kind voice, which Bryan liked. So, he calmed down a bit before explaining how Grayditch got overrun with the ants, and how everyone in town was dead, and that he had nowhere to go. His only family was in Rivet City, and he sure as hell wasn't going to be able to survive the trip.

"Don't worry about the ants Bryan. I promise I'll figure out what's caused the infestation, and I'll get rid of it. But, first let me take you to Megaton. You can get help there ok."

"Ok." Bryan said before Gabriel walked the kid back to Megaton and explained the situation to Lucas. Now, Bryan was allowed to stay in one of the common houses, but Lucas couldn't spare anyone for such a dangerous mission, meaning that Gabriel was on his own if he wanted to stop the ant infestation.

[Quest Alert!

Name: Those

Objective 1: Find the cause of the Fire Ant infestation.

Objective 2: Eliminate the cause of the Fire Ant infestation.

Rewards: 10,000 EXP, Increased REP with multiple individuals and factions.

Failure: Possible death!

Do you accept this quest? Y/N?]

Gabriel didn't know why he told Bryan that he'd help get rid of such dangerous creatures. Maybe Gabriel emphasized with the boy who just lost his father, maybe Gabriel couldn't help but try to make others feel better when they're sad, maybe Gabriel's time in the vault ingrained a sense of duty and religious ideologies within his mind.

The reason didn't matter now. What matters is that Gabriel promised to help get rid of the ants that could very well threaten Megaton, and Gabriel was going to do just that. Even if he had to do it alone.

END

A/N: Okay that seems like a good stopping point. A new chapter done and originally, I was going to do some fantasy type stuff, like the spheres from the Witcher world or something, but then I thought, sci-fi stuff needs sci-fi type situations and instead I added in Cyberpunk tech along with Mass Effect races interacting with Earth.

Now I was going to explain how aliens came to earth in this chapter, but I'll just explain it another time, because I'm lazy.

Anyway, please fav, follow and review.