Greg felt a rush of knowledge and increased familiarity with his equipment and abilities as he invested the Points and karma; but he easily adjusted to it after a few minutes. He rechecked his pending tasks on his wrist computer, switched off the lights, exited and locked his room and walked towards an elevator passing several other locked doors not unlike his own. He could see multiple cameras in the corridor for ensuring security. He waited for the elevator and headed to the top floor which lead to exit where he needed to complete his pending tasks.

'Good thing I chatted with everyone. I received 200 Karma and an auxiliary task. This 200 Karma without combat is very valuable at this stage of my development.' mused Greg.

Greg took the elevator to the top floor and exited into a large hall with a plethora of cameras, unmanned turrets and robotic sentry bots patrolling the area. He took the nearest right corridor and was soon facing heavy duty industrial solid metal doors. To his right through high strength translucent glass he saw a guy in full riot gear with an assault rifle slinged to his torso. The guy in riot gear was watching an array of camera feeds with intense focus.

“Hey Malcolm, can you open the doors? I need to go and explore the caves for my task.” said Greg.

Malcolm grunted and shot a look towards Greg. He then drawled to no one in particular.

“You heard the new blood. Open the gates.”

Malcolm then turned towards Greg and addressed him with a chuckle.

“Be careful out there Greg. If you get infected with something; our decontamination protocols will literally make mince meat out of you.”

There was a grinding noise as the industrial solid metal doors slid open. Greg quickly walked through and passed into the “decontamination” chamber which just an empty area with dozens of turrets and cameras. He even suspected that this kill zone could be flooded with poison gas from one of the vents in case of unauthorized access. He gingerly passed through the chamber to meet with another set of industrial solid metal doors which opened promptly.

He passed through and the metal doors and went through a corridor and reached a cavern system where a single building was visible as the door of Sentinel Station Shelter closed behind him. It had gray stone walls, translucent glass windows and surprisingly its lights were still in working condition. He could make out the figure of an old man rummaging around in the building.

The old man was wearing some kind of spotted green leather jacket and had a slight hunchback. He sensed something and looked up. Despite his balaclava and tinted glasses, the old man apparently recognized Greg and acknowledged him with a gesture. Greg entered the building and greeted the old man.

“What you doing Old Man?”

“Just scavenging, newbie. Don't bother searching for anything in this building. I wiped the upper floors clean.” replied the old man.

“Jonas, the boss man sent me to reclaim the outposts up north west. They say you are a veteran explorer of the cave. What should I look out for?” inquired Greg.

“That is correct. There are lot of dangers out here. But north you will only meet feral hounds and maybe psi beetles. Feral hounds are easy enough to deal with alone. But if they mob you; they can be danger. The hounds get more aggressive if they have companions. But a Molotov cocktail or even a flare can come in very handy. These mutts are deathly afraid of fire and will scatter at the sight of fire.”

“A single psi-beetle can use some psionics, but with a little care even a newbie can deal with it. But as more and more psi beetles gather; each psi beetle can display stronger and more varied psionic attacks. So even a hardened veteran will be in a danger if he faces six psi beetles at a go. My advice for a newbie like you? If you meet more than two psi-beetles, run like hell.” warned Jonas.

“Thanks for the warning old man.” Greg thanked him and was about to leave when he heard Old Jonas speak.

“Say newbie, interested in getting an SMG? I scavenged one in working condition?”

“Yeah sure if it is doable by me; a spare firearm can always help out in a pinch? What do you need me to do Old Jonas?” replied Greg.

“Nothing too difficult. Wile scavenging near the outposts, I dropped my watch. It is nothing valuable but an old relic I like to keep. Deal?”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I will see what I can do old man, but no promises. If I come across it; I will return it in exchange for the SMG. See you later, old geezer.” said Greg as he fiddled with his wrist-computer for a bit.

'A second auxiliary task. I hope these “side quests” give me karma.' thought Greg as he explored around the lone building in the cavern.

Most of the tunnels leading out of the cavern were blocked. There had been a major earthquake recently and similar and Sentinel Station Shelter had been sort-of isolated as many tunnels had been collapsed. Only three exits were unblocked. The south-west exit to Sentinel Station Shelter. The south east tunnel which leaded to the hopper caves. And his goal was to the north-west; the outposts he had to reclaim.

Greg got ready to explore the tunnels. Greg focused for a couple of seconds and his Iris turned golden green while his pupil became vertical slits. If he removed his tinted glasses; then his eyes would resemble that of a cat. This was the one of the effects of the Psionic Power Animalistic Aspect (Psychometabolism). Soon in the dark unlit caves appeared as clear as day to him. The colors shifted hues and his dynamic vision increased significantly.

He took a few seconds to get used to the changes and activated his second Psionic Power of the Psychometabolism talent tree Feline Grace. His skin shifted its hue from a sickly pale white towards a golden yellow tint. Dark spots, like a leopard's spots, appeared on his skin. He checked his status screen and saw that his Speed, Control and Senses attributes was boosted by 6. Done with prebuffing, he equipped a silencer on his 5mm handgun wielding it in his right hand; readied his taser in his left hand for ease of access and proceeded cautiously.

Psionic Powers of the Psychometabolism talent tree primarily dealt with changing and augmenting one's body. The Animalistic Aspect psionic power could temporarily change his body to imitate aspects of an animal at the cost of Psi points. At Technique Level 1; he could only imitate one aspect on one animal at a time. The Psionic Power Feline Grace gave a straight boost to his Finesse attributes (Speed, Control and Senses) making him quicker, more perceptive and react faster.

'Animalistic Aspect allowed me to skimp on the night vision googles while Feline Grace gave me a nice boost to my Finesse. Feline Grace won't be too effective at higher levels; but for now it is a godly buff. Animalistic Aspect is very versatile and will be useful throughout. I should level this technique up when I have some spare Karma; but for now lets focus on the task.' thought Greg.

Greg was moving stealthily ahead, and after a few minutes he observed a feral hound in the distance. The hound had brownish fur and was sniffing the small holes near the tunnel sides. It was the approximate size of a golden retriever, but looked much meaner. Greg estimated that the distance between them was over 20 meters, well beyond the effective range of his handgun. Greg cautiously proceeded until he was around 10 meters away from the lone feral hound.

He then focused his breath, took aim and shot at the hound with the silenced pistol eh was wielding. The bullet missed it's mark and barely grazed it's cheek. The hound gave a mean yelp and looked towards the source of the shot. He found a semi-crouched humanoid and rushed toward it growling.

Greg attempted another couple of shots, but he missed the moving hound. Seeing the hound quickly approaching him; he switched on the safety and holstered his pistol. The feral hound approached him and bit his lower thigh a little above his knee. He registered a dull sensation and quickly tasered the feral hound near its spine. There was a crackling sound as the feral hound gave a loud yelp and was stunned.

Greg then removed one of the crossbow bolts fastened near his thigh and stabbed the feral hound near its shoulder. He then holstered his taser and started punching and kicking the stunned feral hound. The feral hound dropped to the ground and Greg stomped its neck a couple of times until he heard a sick squelching sound. Confirming that he had gained 70 Karma (and the hound was dead), he carefully removed a large vial in his left hand and a serrated combat knife in his right hand.

He removed the protruding crossbow bolt (which eh had stabbed in the feral hound) and noticed whitish putrefied flesh. He used the serrated combat knife to scoop up the putrefied whitish flesh and stored it in his ampule. Securing the putrefied flesh sample carefully. His heightened senses noticed growling coming from ahead. He looked up and around a dozen meters ahead of him he noticed a trio of feral hounds rushing towards him. He quickly sheathed his combat knife and readied his taser; preparing for another fight.

COMBAT LOG:

Spoiler: Spoiler

 You grazed the feral hound with silenced 5mm pistol for 1 damage.

24 * 0.9(physical resistance) – 15(natural armor) - 5(Physique damage reduction) = 1 physical damage

Feral hound struck you with bite for 0 damage.

43 * 0.98(Physical Res of Soul Suit) – 38(Physical Damage Reduction of Soul Suit) – 6(Physique damage reduction) = 0 physical damage

You struck the feral hound with a taser for 18 damage and stunned it.

18 electrical damage

You struck the feral hound with an improvised weapon for 21 damage

(23(strength attack) + 4(improvised weapon)) * 1.2(melee weapon mastery) * 0.9(physical resistance) – 15(natural armor) - 5(Physique damage reduction) = 9 physical damage

Your improvised weapon penetrated armor and resistances and dealt 12 biological damage.

Total damage = 9 + 12 = 21

You struck the feral hound with an unarmed strike for 32 damage.

(24(strength attack) + 12(unarmed training talent bonus) + 17(Soul Suit unarmed damage bonus)) * 1.1(unarmed mastery) * 0.9(physical resistance) – 15(natural armor) - 5(Physique damage reduction) = 32 physical damage

You struck the feral hound with an unarmed strike for 29 damage.

(24(strength attack) + 15(unarmed training talent bonus) + 11(Soul Suit unarmed damage bonus)) * 1.1(unarmed mastery) * 0.9(physical resistance) – 15(natural armor) - 5(Physique damage reduction) = 29 physical damage

You struck the feral hound with an unarmed strike for 36 damage.

(29(strength attack) + 13(unarmed training talent bonus) + 15(Soul Suit unarmed damage bonus)) * 1.1(unarmed mastery) * 0.9(physical resistance) – 15(natural armor) - 5(Physique damage reduction) = 36 physical damage

You critically struck the feral hound with an unarmed strike for 64 damage.

(27(strength attack) + 14(unarmed training talent bonus) + 16(Soul Suit unarmed damage bonus)) * 1.1(unarmed mastery) * 1.5(critical strike) * 0.9(physical resistance) – 15(natural armor) - 5(Physique damage reduction) = 64 physical damage

Feral Hound dies.

You gained 70 karma.