Author's note: Hi there, here's the next side story for Unbroken, focusing on Rosalind Lutece near the end of the journey. I hope that it's a good read, and as always, I welcome and appreciate any comments via reviews or messages. As usual, I recommend reading Bioshock Infinite: Unbroken and Song of Sorrow beforehand, as bits of both are embedded in this chapter, as well as some material from those stories being expanded on.
9/6/2017: There is now a timeline of sorts for the various chapters and stories of Unbroken on my profile page, just an attempt to make it a little easier to see what happens when in relation to other chapters.
October 8, 1894, New York
Stepping into the pitch black bedroom, she finds the darkness silent aside from the gentle, rhythmic inspiration and exhalation of the room's sole occupant, a sleeping child oblivious to her presence and the struggles her father endures. Raising her hands, she spreads her arms as if drawing back curtains, the small room suddenly illuminated by the washed out light of a Tear.
Rosalind Lutece quietly positions the chair she'd retrieved by Anna's crib, heaving an exasperated sigh as she notices her brother through the Tear, still attempting to guide the sleeping child's father to some better end. When last she'd checked on the child, Robert was leaving a Devil's Kiss Vigor on a desk near the next Tear, in the secret laboratory of that greedy Fink. She'd idly examined the drawings of Songbird Elizabeth had done when she was still a child, wondering why Fink had these scribbles taken from the tower. They surely couldn't have served much purpose, even if Songbird and Elizabeth hadn't already bonded by the time she'd drawn them.
She wrinkles her nose at the thought of that man, a grimace following shortly after. Suchong and Fink had worked together and stolen from each other, but to her both were horrid little egomaniacs, and the fact that she owed her current state of being to one of them made her skin crawl.
Turning to the Tear, Rosalind watches with mild interest as Booker hobbles down corridors in some sort of laboratory, back in Rapture after his brief return to Columbia, a laboratory she's certain she's seen somewhere before. "White and black tile beneath his feet, medical equipment strewn about… ah, I remember now. He's in that Suchong's lab… he's getting close." The grimace returns as she thinks of the Korean biologist again even as Booker calls out for Elizabeth, her mind far removed from the events in Rapture; having to share a reality with a man like Suchong left her feeling dirty, even for the short time she'd been in Rapture, the thought of him leaving a foul taste in her mouth.
"Why Robert insisted we follow Elizabeth to Rapture, I'll never know." She'd have been much happier never learning of Yi Suchong, but of all that became unveiled during Elizabeth's quest in Rapture, the change in her brother left her most concerned.
She'd never truly understood his insistence to send Elizabeth home after Comstock and Fink had sabotaged their device. Looking around the tiny room, thinking back on the worn floorboards and peeling wallpaper of Booker's dilapidated apartment, why would Robert want to send her back to this, or that Elizabeth would desire to return here? Elizabeth especially; while she and Robert could explore the length and breadth of the infinite universes, Elizabeth could go so much farther, shape worlds to her liking in much the same manner as when she'd invalidated the existences of all but one Comstock. To give up such power and freedom to save a young girl who may not even understand why, or even to come to a home such as this? Rosalind furrows her brow, unable to even begin to fathom the reasoning behind the girl's actions.
Watching Elizabeth over the months since she'd arrived in Rapture, Rosalind had observed the young woman's performances for that peculiar musician Cohen along with her brother, though she'd lacked Robert's interest in the song. While she understood that Elizabeth misses her father and felt incredible guilt over what she'd done, Rosalind couldn't comprehend her desire to return to a home she'd never actually known, nor could she understand why Robert seemed to be so moved by this desire. At the very least she could agree with her brother on one thing; while she didn't have much of a care for the singing, they had both found the Tear Elizabeth had opened without her awareness captivating, and this Booker's short-lived time with Elizabeth in the space between worlds.
"Of all these infinite universes, we just keep walking down the same path…" Rosalind shakes her head as she paraphrases Elizabeth, unable to banish the image of a cycle that her brother and the girl seemed intent to walk once more from her mind. She still remembers the expression Robert wore as they attended Elizabeth's final performance in Rapture; he'd practically fallen under her spell as she began, a bittersweet grin appearing as he stood hopelessly ensnared.
The unbalanced artist Sander Cohen had promoted Elizabeth's performance with all the weight his name carried in Rapture, and had booked her to perform in the opulent Fleet Hall. As such, much of Rapture's high society had graced the seats of the concert hall, as much for social standing as to witness how Cohen's 'Songbird' performs. Many of these men and women carried considerable power within the underwater metropolis, though she wonders how they'd react if they came to understand just how much power the spectacle they'd come to see actually possessed. When the curtain rose, however, the assembled cultural elite fell into a hushed silence.
Thinking of that moment, Rosalind finds herself easily able to see how those 'powerful' men and women could be so hushed; Elizabeth had stood at center stage, the spotlights trained on her giving the young woman an almost heavenly glow, alabaster skin contrasting the strapless black gown and silk elbow gloves she wore. The only color to be seen lay on her ruby red lips and upon the rose she'd tucked in her hair, both standing out against her fair skin made fairer by her time away from the sun. The spotlights made her the center of the world, casting in shadows the pair of performers with their instruments at the ready behind her, Elizabeth all the influential audience could make out. And while Rosalind wasn't sure if the young woman's appearance had the same effect on Robert, Elizabeth's song certainly did.
Elizabeth still poured her heart into every note, a pain none of her audience aside from the two of them could know fueling her voice. Even as unaware as the audience was, Rosalind still observed with no small amount of amusement just how many had been affected by the power of her voice as the final notes of Elizabeth's song rang throughout the crowded concert hall. There was scarcely a dry eye to be found as the movers and shakers of Rapture applauded, aside from her own and her brother's. Robert had insisted on at least observing this performance, reasoning that if she'd drawn the Booker they'd been keeping tabs on to her after the first, perhaps this final song will yield similar results.
Of course, every other instance where she'd performed, whether it be for a radio broadcast or for Cohen and his peers, Elizabeth had always fallen into emotional turmoil upon returning to her apartment. Yet no Tear materialized as she cried herself to asleep, no Booker appearing at her side to comfort her. The most Elizabeth ever did was to look through the doors at the other Bookers and Annas, and while she would smile as she looked upon them, it was plain to see that this did little to ease her sorrow.
Perhaps it was due to the resolution she'd made after their moment, touching even to her eyes, but even so, Robert's argument was little more than sophistry. Rosalind understood that her dear brother simply wanted to witness her performance in person, and had hoped that if she let this slide he would finally realize that he'd seen his 'obligation' to the girl and Booker DeWitt through to the end.
And yet, here they were, Robert guiding Booker once more through a city not far removed from Columbia while she'd refused to do more than ensure Anna was still in her crib when they returned. She heaves another quiet sigh, the exasperation in her voice evident even to her own ears.
Movement. From the corner of her eye, she catches baby Anna stirring, something disturbing the child's rest. Glancing back at the Tear, she raises an eyebrow in surprise even as she lets loose another disappointed sigh; Booker cradles Elizabeth in his arms well over an hour too late, the girl already struck down by that Atlas fellow and his wrench. No sound comes through this Tear, something she'd ensured as she went about fulfilling her promise to watch over the child, and was suddenly relieved that she had, while the faint light of the Tear had always failed to rouse the girl before. So what has caused Anna to wake?
"Perhaps I should just attribute this to coincidence…?"
A low moan emanates from the child, Anna filling the tiny room with the cries of her distress as if to refute her hasty supposition. Looking upon the bawling infant, Rosalind finds herself in an unusual situation; for once, she doesn't know what the proper course of action is. She considers simply leaving or letting little Anna cry herself out, but the thought of reneging on her one concession doesn't sit right with her, nor does the thought of allowing the child to continue on in such distress. At the very least, her cries might awaken Booker's neighbor in the next room, Ms. Pearl. The elderly woman Booker had left Anna in the care of had fallen asleep herself not long ago, initially something Rosalind was quite thankful for; she scarcely desired a confrontation with the woman, the inconvenience of such an encounter more trouble than it's worth. Anna's screams could possibly wake the older woman, and while she could simply disappear, she still found the prospect of being stumbled upon disagreeable.
"Very well." Lifting Anna from her crib, Rosalind holds the baby girl at arm's length, attempting to emulate how she'd seen Booker comfort the child via the Tears, "There, there, everything is alright…"
The sobs cease for a moment, Anna peeking at her from behind tears still flowing before screwing her eyes shut once more, crying her little heart out. Completely at a loss, Rosalind turns back to the Tear and Booker for help in a rare irrational moment, this sense of uncertainty starting to fray her nerves. All she sees, however, is Booker still clutching Elizabeth to his chest, the normally gruff detective still sobbing over the daughter he'd lost yet again.
Watching Booker, Rosalind hesitantly brings Anna closer, carefully cradling the bawling infant as her father did Elizabeth, as if making any sudden moves would break the child or make her vanish into thin air. "Shh…" She's still at a loss for words, her usual implacable calm crumbling in the face of Anna's misery, the thought that Booker's daughter could be sensing his sorrow going against everything her scientific mind knew about Tears and the walls between worlds.
"Just like her father."
Rosalind experiences a strange sensation as she cradles Anna to her chest, resting the sobbing little girl against her shoulder. A touch of warmth she wasn't accustomed to, a tugging at the corner of her mouth. Staring down upon Anna, Rosalind thinks back to her brother as she gently rocks her little passenger.
The conviction in Robert's voice when he declared his intent to interfere again, to assist this Booker had startled her. She was so sure he'd been satisfied by the resolution of their final experiment, even though it did end in tears as she predicted. She'd been wrong then, and had hoped Robert was satisfied after Elizabeth's performance, but was wrong again. Thinking back on how dissatisfied he'd been even before they became as they were, she should have known better; while she was content to remain as they were, he had insisted that they send the girl to whence she came, despite the possibilities that had and still lay before them. And she still wasn't home.
It's not as if she's devoid of any emotion, though she'd been accused of such when they were still living in Columbia. She truly loves her brother, but he has changed. "Perhaps it was due to the Tear sickness he'd suffered?" Rosalind ponders as she stepped about Anna's room, trying to reason out what factor could have caused this change in one who is normally her mirror in most respects. All these changes in her brother, she fears, could one day culminate in them parting ways.
"Fear." Rosalind's jaw hangs slightly ajar as the thought occurs to her; while she fears losing her brother, a worry that he was certain to know all too well, in Robert's case such a fear may have been compounded by suffering through Tear sickness. The more she turns this idea about in her mind, the more she begins to see what may have been the root for all this; perhaps Robert saw such fears realized whenever he looks upon Booker and Elizabeth. From the beginning, there had been one seemingly inconsequential difference between she and Robert; while she was well and truly a fatalist, he refused to believe that there was little that could be done, perhaps another factor in the changes she now worries over. While she had come around to his way of thinking, that one could change things, she still thought the whole point to be moot; things always ended disagreeably. He'd called her a fatalist still as they returned Elizabeth to Rapture, though their argument didn't seem to bother the girl.
"Empathy and guilt, those must be why brother goes so far. Of course he feels responsible for the girl, but perhaps he feels for her on a more sympathetic level, as well." Rosalind mutters to herself, only then noticing the silence that grips the room once more. Glancing back to Anna, Rosalind feels that peculiar warmth in her breast again, only for a moment; Anna has fallen asleep in her arms, the tears she'd shed leaving streak marks running down her cheeks.
Staring down at the child, Rosalind couldn't help but be reminded of her brother's lack of fulfillment. How he'd wanted to leave some sort of mark, proof of their existence aside from Columbia and their device, though truth be told those achievements had mostly been wiped clean after their experiment had finally succeeded. To create new life… looking upon Anna, asleep in her arms, Rosalind finds herself considering the possibility once more.
Rosalind holds Anna for quite some time longer, quietly speaking of whatever came to mind, the child still sleep in her arms. She watches the Big Daddy and Little Sisters arrive, pointing them out to her unconscious companion. She listens in as Sally asks Booker if he is Elizabeth's Big Daddy, opening another Tear just to do so. Rosalind experiences another sensation she'd thought long forgotten and far removed, noting in surprise the sudden appearance; a sense of sympathy and pity as Booker cringes and nods to Sally. She hugs Anna a bit tighter as she watches the Little Sisters place their candles and rose about Elizabeth, a sort of silent remembrance for the girl who, in essence, is just the same as the little bundle in her arms.
She gently returns Anna to her crib as Booker rises and steps past the protector, leaving Elizabeth in the care of the Little Sisters. She notes Robert's attempts to stop Booker as the enraged father storms through the lab, Rosalind tucking the little girl in her yellow blanket before returning her attention to the Tear, she having an idea of where her brother's attempt was heading. She groans inwardly before closing the Tear, Booker crashing his forehead into her brother's face the last sight from Rapture to reach her, she stepping to the door of Anna's room with a sigh of weariness as she glances back at the baby girl. Even in the dark, she thinks she can make out Anna's sleeping form, and the smile that may or may not be playing across the little one's face.
A smile of her own blossoms unexpectedly, Rosalind again noting with surprise that she enjoyed her time with Anna. Though in truth their interactions were limited to her comforting the child as she cried, Rosalind still enjoyed the warmth she'd felt as she held Anna in her arms. Opening the door as quietly as she may, Rosalind returns to the Sea of Doors, the light dazzling her after so long in the dark of Booker's apartment.
"Well, dear brother, it seems that I've come around to your way of thinking once more; I can't turn away anymore, especially away from that adorable little girl. You're not the only one who's changed, it seems." She grins again as she makes ready for Robert's return, procuring a medical bag, "It seems that I've begun to care."
Closing words: That's it for the first chapter. I know it's not as long as Alone in the Infinite or the average chapter length of Unbroken, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. I wanted to expand on the Lutece twins, especially given their attitudes in the Epilogue of Unbroken, and wanted to show how the normally implacable Rosalind started to open up. Initially I was a little hesitant to write this one, as there isn't much aside from Rosalind thinking to herself, but eventually felt I had to put it up.
Once again, thanks for reading, and I do hope the first chapter is entertaining.