After the Ending, Nitro's Post-Apocalyptic Spritefic

[Nitro]

I need a home for my spritefic comic thing, so its going to go here

-----



The world used to be a much better place. Society and nature were balanced with each other, neither overwhelming another in a balance that allowed both to coexist.



But with this balance came no progress. Soon, humans began to think for themselves. Vast technological breakthroughs occurred, and in turn, nature suffered. In the final days of the golden age of mankind, a desire for dominance over nature began, and sparked warfare from greed.



Using the earth as a weapon was the last act of mankind. They believed that they could control the very fabric of nature itself. But they made a terrible mistake.















Fabian: All right, I've hidden the bike, and I've come to the checkpoint. Now where is the agent? So typical of E.D.E.N.



Fabian: Is that them? Wait, those aren't agents... Dammit.



Man: Please, do you have any food? I haven't eaten in weeks...

Woman: My grandson has the plague, please, he needs clean water...

Fabian: Get away from me, or I'll kill you both.



Woman: Please... anything...

Man: Food...



Fabian: Goddammit! I've got a gun! Stay away from me!



Man: Please...

Woman: My grandson... he's dying...

Fabian: I swear to God, if you take one more step towards me, I'll kill you!

Woman: Anything...



Bam! Bam!

Man: Ah... so close... to freedom...



Fabian: I had no choice... they would've torn me to shreds...



Fabian: Huh?! I hear you! Goddammit, show yourself or I'll kill you too!



Agent: Peace. You must be Fabian. I was told you were a bit trigger happy.

Fabian: Why did you send me here, of all places! These people didn't have to die!

Agent: You're right. They didn't. Now follow me, please.



Fabian: I'm sick of your games. I've gone half way across the country just to get here. Why can't you just be honest for once!

Agent: ...

-----



Fabian: ...



Woman: So you must be Fabian.

Agent: Are you sure we can trust him? We don't even know if hes infected.

Fabian: You think I've got the plague? Christ, how am I supposed to prove to you I've been vaccinated?

Woman: A good point. Why don't you remove your shades?

Fabian: You know what? The shades don't come off. I've worn 'em since the End, and-

Woman: Floyd, the gun.

Agent Floyd: Yes'm.

Fabian: Goddammit, you're gonna shoot me over a pair of shades? There is something fucking wrong with you guys.



Fabian: There! You happy?

Woman: Good. That's all we had to know. Floyd, could you leave us please?

Agent Floyd: Of course.



Joni: My name is Joni. Around these parts though, they call me the Iron Butterfly. I'm in charge of the operations in St. Elsewhere, and I'll be your handler.

Fabian: And I'm the middle man. Now tell me what I'm here for.

Joni: Of course, but there's one last thing you have to do for us...

-----



Jack: Carly? You here?



Carly: Good morning, darling...

Jack: Hi, honey, I'm about to head off to work.

Carly: Oh... but Bowie has wanted to see you all week. Can't you just take one day off?

Jack: Mm... fine, but I really should get back to the job later today. I wouldn't be a very good detective then, would I?

Carly: I love you.

Jack: I love you too.



Bowie: Daddy!

Jack: Hey there, kiddo. What are we doing today?

Bowie: Lets play a game!

Jack: All right, what are we-



Bowie: Tag! You're it!



Jack: Hey! Haha, you get back here!



Jack: Bowie! We really shouldn't be going this far...



Jack: Bowie?



Bowie: Daddy? I feel sick... I-



Bowie: Lets play a game!

Jack: Huh?!



Bowie: Tag... you're... it...

Jack: What the fuck is going on?



Bowie: I... love you... daddy...

Jack: Bowie! No!



Jack: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Jack: What the fuck is going on?!



Jack: Carly! Are you ok?!

Carly: Good morning, darling...

Jack: Carly... Bowie... hes vanished... and its-

Carly: Oh... but Bowie has wanted to see you all week. Can't you just take one day off?



Jack: Goddammit Carly! Whats wrong with you?!

Carly: I love you... I love you... I love you...



Jack: Carly! Snap out of it!

Carly: I love you... I love you... I love-



Jack: AHHHH!!!!!!



Jack: What... Whats...



Jack: Where am I? Hello?



Fabian: Detective Jack Irons, is it?

Jack: You! What have you done with my family?!

Fabian: I go by the name Fabian. Usually I'm a money launderer, but I've been given the job of being your middleman for a "job opportunity of a lifetime"

Jack: Tell me whats going on!

Fabian: Waking somebody up is always such a harsh thing. All right, this is gonna be hard to explain...

Jack: Goddammit! What have you done with them?!

Fabian: They're fine... well, you're son is. Your wife died almost ten years ago.

Jack: DAMMIT! What did you do to Carly?!



Fabian: Carly isn't your wife, Jack... shes just a computer program made to seem like your "soul mate for life", which happens to be an obedient woman who doesn't ask any questions. Jeez, somebody has to be an alpha dog...

Jack: All right, you tell me whats going on right now, or I'm gonna fucking tear your head off!

Fabian: Ten years ago, you were selected by a group known as E.D.E.N. to carry on the human race. Back then, the world was out of control, and the collapse of society was imminent. Your family was chosen to be a part of this organization. You were then placed into your old home.

Jack: The Garden? I moved there after I-

Fabian: Jack, please. You were put into a sleep while the Garden was, and is, under construction.

Jack: And my wife?

Fabian: She... died... before she could get to the site. She got caught up in the End.

Jack: The End?



Fabian: Yes. In a struggle for resources, some scientists theorized that they could control the earth and bend it to their will. Instead, they tortured the earth, and sent it into a state of chaos.

Jack: Whoa! Where am I?

Fabian: Relax, this room is all holographic. What you see below you was society ten years ago. We don't know what side started it, but we do know this: since then, nothing has been the same.

Jack: What do you-



Fabian: This is the exact same image, ten years later. It might be a little hard to see from up here, but the seas have boiled, the skies have been poisoned, and the plants have gone out of control in some places, and died out in others. However, this is not the point.



Fabian: We have chosen to wake you up because we have... a problem... for you to take care of.

Jack: A problem?

Fabian: Glad you asked. Since the End, E.D.E.N. have used a group of machines they like to call the AIs. However, one of them... escaped.

Jack: And, let me guess, I have to find him?

Fabian: Pretty much.



Fabian: They like to call him "Fifteen". He was one of the earlier models, but they need him back. I'd be more specific with you, but honestly, they didn't tell me much either. He has been spotted in a place called St. Elsewhere, one of the last remaining towns that is actually populated thanks to some old piping that wasn't renovated in hundreds of years. Kinda ironic, isn't it? The very technology we invent turns out to wipe out the world and the lack of it saves some middle-of-nowhere town.

Jack: Is it? From what it sounds like, technology is the very thing that got the world into this mess.

Fabian: Nobody's perfect. But from what I've read about you, you are the closest thing we have to getting Fifteen back.

Jack: Well, hes a robot. He can't be that hard to track.

Fabian: There's always a but though. He was created to be able to think like a human, which makes him just as intelligent as you are, if not much, much more. He is also programmed with a shape-shifting mechanism, meaning that he can take on the appearance of just about anyone.

Jack: So if there is no chance of me ever catching him, why am I going after him?

Fabian: Jack, you were chosen for E.D.E.N. because you are naturally good at your job. If there is anyone left alive that could track him, its you.

Jack: And if I do that for you?

Fabian: We'll put you back in, and make sure you don't remember a thing, just like before.

Jack: ...



Fabian: Can I count you in for this? I've seen the guys they have, and I'm pretty sure they'll kill us both if you say no.

Jack: Whats the point in asking me if there is only one answer?

Fabian: Glad to have you on the team. Take these. Its a pair of shades, and some pills. They should help vaccinate you from the plague thats going around.

Jack: Jesus, a plague?

Fabian: Yeah, the shades should help you blend in with the people in the first stages of the illness.?

Jack: How will I know that I am talking to you and not some mechanical psychopath

Fabian: I'll give you a sign whenever I'm close by. Trust me.



Jack: I don't like this at all.

Fabian: Neither do I. But hey, it helps put bread on the table, so I'm not complaining.

Jack: So... where do I go from here?

[Nitro]

-----



Fabian: And... here we are. St. Elsewhere. The mayor is giving us access to all of this stuff, but I think he wanted to speak to you. I wonder if my bike is still here...

Jack: ...

Fabian: What? You've been quiet the entire time walking here. You still got nothing to say?

Jack: ...why the hell am I working for you?

Fabian: Hey, hey, hey... you're not working for me, you're working for E.D.E.N. I'm just a pawn like you.

Jack: Then why I am I working for them? And for that matter, why are you working for them?

Fabian: Well, I'm broke, as usual. Not that money means much out here anyways. But hey, I need some work anyways. You on the other hand... well, if you don't, they'll probably kill you. Either that, or kill your son. Work for them, and they'll wipe your memory, and go back into sweet, sweet ignorance.

Jack: ...

Fabian: Come on, we probably don't want to keep this guy waiting.



Jack: How did you survive the End, anyways?

Fabian: Oh, you know, dumb luck. I was in a pharmacy, of all places. But then again, maybe I am more unlucky that I survived to see this mess.

Jack: Why were you in a pharmacy?



Fabian: ...I was... helping clear their inventory?

Jack: You robbed it?

Fabian: Yeah, I was a pill popper, all right? Turns out this thing I stabbed into my arm happened to be an experimental vaccination to the plague that was meant for E.D.E.N.

Jack: Wait a sec, why would they have made a vaccination to the plague if it happened after the-



Fabian: Shh! Get behind me, and don't make a sound. Its happening.



Old Man: Ah!!! The pain! My head!

Villager: Stand back! We've got a live one!



Old Man: What... blood? Whats.. no... NO! Help me!



Villager: Don't let him touch you! Keep away from him!

Old Man: For God's sakes, help me! The pain! Oh... THE PAIN! IT-



Bam!



Villager: Is he dead?

Villager: Yep. Get back to work!



Jack: What the hell was that?!

Fabian: Somebody sniped him. Probably a member of the People's Army. Come on, lets go.



Jack: Hold it a second. What was going on there?

Fabian: That was the plague. An anarchist group has been going around and assassinating people who fail to take antibiotics and suffer through the last stage of the disease. Doing a favor for them, really. Its not pretty what happens after that.

Jack: There's an anarchist group in a farming community?

Fabian: Yeah, they've been causing a ton of trouble for E.D.E.N. and their survival economy. The only way this town currently functions is by supplying E.D.E.N. with food and supplies, and they will in turn supply them with antibiotics. Its kind of a harsh system, but it keeps the people working.

Jack: But if there is a vaccine, then why is this going on?

Fabian: That's why the People's Army exists. They know that there is a vaccine, and they want to free the people from this system of living.



Fabian: Looks like this is where I leave you. I've got some other work to do.

Jack: Wait, what is this place?

Fabian: This is the mayor's mansion. He wanted to have a word with you,

Jack: So that's it? You just leave?



Fabian: Oh, there was one thing, I was going to give you this.

Jack: A pistol?

Fabian: Take care of that thing, will you? I've only got a few of those. Hell, even I use one. I had to steal those off of an extremely wealthy individual, and if somebody found out I was the one who took them... well, lets just say that I would have a lot of paperwork to fill out. Don't worry, I'll be in touch if you get into too much trouble.

Jack: How will I know when you'll be back?

Fabian: Jesus, all questions for you, isn't it... lets see...



Fabian: Here we are! A blue rose. I got this from practically the other side of the world. I'll leave one of these on the ground if I'm close by, all right? There's no way that robot thing is gonna get his hands on one of these, they're pretty hard to find.

Jack: All right. I'll start doing my job. Anything to make you people happy...



Jack: Real life's a bitch.

-----





Joni: ...



Joni: Milord? I've arrived.



Adam: Joni. Welcome aboard the dirigible. I pray your flight up here was uneventful.

Joni: Of course.

Adam: Has Jack agreed to go through with this?

Joni: Surprisingly. He seems a bit hesitant. Perhaps we should apply some force?

Adam: Not yet. Make sure we monitor his vitals. He has to keep taking his medication. If he doesn't... he might remember. I don't need to remind you how disastrous that could be.

Joni: We are monitoring them constantly. What should I do with the middleman?

Adam: We still need him for now. Keep adding funds to his account. We can take it back when we kill him, anyways.

Joni: We still have no sighting of Fifteen. Are you certain he is here?

Adam: Positive. We will find him. You are dismissed.

Joni: Very well.



Joni: ...

-----



Jack: Bowie, we really shouldn't be going this far... Bowie?



Bowie: Daddy? I feel sick... I-



Bowie: Daddy?!



Jack: Hey Bowie, lets go home. I bet mom is baking cookies for both of us!

Bowie: But I want to play! I don't wanna go back yet.

Jack: Lets go home. I bet mom is baking cookies for both of us!

Bowie: But da-ad...

Jack: Lets go home. I bet mom is baking cookies for both of us!

Bowie: ...huh?



Carly: Who wants cookies?

Jack: Ooh, me!

Carly: Oh, Jack, you are such a child at heart.



Jack: I love you...

Carly: I love you...

Jack: I'm going to quit my job today. What is the point of being a detective in a world without crime?

Carly: Perfect! Now we can be a complete family! Isn't that exciting, Bowie?

Bowie: ...



Carly: Bowie, why don't you have a cookie? They are delicious.

Bowie: ...I'm not hungry.

Carly: Oh... I love you...

Bowie: ... I love you too...



Bowie: ...



Bowie: ...

[Lucille]

One of the better comics on this site.

[Dark Overbro Zack]

look at Jack

look at that smug face, the buff chest.

that's a dude you don't want to fuck with.

[Nitro]

Thanks gaize.

[Isaac55]

The shades are awesome

[AoDnightshade]

all i thought was, "Matrix?" lol
Definitely one of the best ones i've read

[ArchaiaSai]

I feel like this is something I've read/seen before, but this is definitely a great work. I like your style.