December 10, 1958
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Apollo Square
"I want a dolly, Daddy." She said in her little voice one day as she was pulling me along, her minuscule hand somehow managing to encompass mine.
I gave a small moan, monstrous to other people's standards. A dolly? I asked incredulously.
"So I can have a smaller version of YOU to hug!" Eleanor said, sticking out her tongue. Her ADAM-glowing eyes added a little glow to the dimly lit hallway.
"You're too big to fit into the hidey holes, see!"And so she pointed at the vent on the wall.
I tilted my head as I reached out with my left hand to pat her head. What will it be made out of?
"I don't know yet." Eleanor said, placing a finger to her lips as she momentarily stopped pulling. "You're a hard dolly to make, Daddy."
Try to be careful when you make it.
"-You're different from the others. The other girls were telling me that their daddies had round heads and they had more glowy faces than you!"
We are unique. I chuckle in my own fashion, my voice coming out as a rather playful whale song. I slipped my hand out of hers. Do you sense an angel yet?
She lifted her head and sniffed at the air. Immediately, a smile brightened her face. "More angels, Daddy! This way!" And then she took off.
You should wait for me, at least. I murmured as I lumbered after her. Her laughter spurred me on.
"You're too slow, Daddy!"
December 15, 1958
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Ryan Amusements
"Look Daddy!" Eleanor said brightly, taking out a round object from the dead citizen's hand. "This is going to be your head!"
My head?
"For my dolly!"
I stared at the baseball. Somewhere, in another lifetime, I remember holding on to an object like that as I played with others underneath the sun. I remember…
"Oh, oh! Is it story time, Daddy?" She looked up at me, clutching the baseball in her hand.
When I was up there… in the outside world, I remember playing baseball with other children. We played under the sun. Even though it was very hot, it was still enjoyable.
"That's amazing." Eleanor said, her eyes as wide as plates. "Do you think I'll ever see the outside, Daddy?"
Perhaps not. I said with a slight tinge of sadness in my whale voice. Rapture is our home now.
Eleanor looked visibly saddened at that. I reached out and patted her head. But we are together, at least. Let's find more angels.
She looked up at me and smiled.
December 17, 1958
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Mercury Suites
"It looks so sad." Eleanor whispered, looking down at the 'angel'. I turned around from guarding the entryway to the bedroom of the apartment we were in.
What is sad? I asked, bending down to take a closer look. She pointed at the angel's hand with a grubby finger. "Look, Daddy!"
The 'angel' in question was a renowned toymaker in Rapture, although his name escaped me. Even now, the man was clutching onto a doll's torso, his grip on it so tight that even death had not separated the man from his work.
It is a torso of a doll. I said. It also has no clothes on.
"It looks perfect for my dolly!" Eleanor quipped. "But I can't get it out of the angel's hand. Can you get it out, Daddy?" And then her lower lip quivered.
I gave her a reassuring pat on the head before I bent over the angel and tried, with my own massive hands, to pull the doll's torso from the splicer's hand. However, it refused to budge.
"You can do it, Daddy!" Eleanor cheered from somewhere behind me.
My fingers are too big. I said with growing anger. Still, I could not get the torso without smashing the man's hand entirely.
Finally, out of frustration, I cycled through my plasmid arsenal and used Telekinesis to pull the torso from the man's cold dead hands.
She gave a squeal of delight when I gently levitated the torso into her arms.
"This'll be perfect, Daddy, thank you!"
December 20, 1958
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Neptune's Bounty
I was ahead of her, walking through one of the many glass tubes that connected one building to the other, when I felt pain across our bond.
"Daddy!" Her voice came echoing down the tube.
Immediately, my drill was spinning, an Incinerate plasmid charging up in my left hand as I turned fast enough to shame one of those new Bouncer models.
I felt a palpable fear somewhere deep inside.
I'M COMING! I howled, my shout making the entire tube shake. I ran back, my footsteps making small cracks in the floor.
When I found her, she was sprawled on the floor, her bare feet starting to bleed in some places. There were no splicers in sight, but I always had to be careful. I laid down a few Cyclone traps and then bent over her small body.
"I stepped on some twisty things, Daddy!" She cried, the tears flowing down her glowing eyes. I gave a mournful howl as I reached out to pat her head, to calm her down.
I looked down at her feet. True enough, she was bleeding, but already the ADAM in her blood was healing her wounds.
There, there. I said in my best friendly sounding voice. Still, the haunting moan filled my ears and sounded horrible. Look, you're already healing.
"It still huuuurts!" Eleanor sobbed, pummeling at the ground with her tiny fists.
I put my drill away. Would you like to see Dr. Alexander? I asked, inspecting her now healed feet.
"Yes please, Daddy." She said with a pout. She raised both her arms. "Up!" She squeaked.
Maybe you're just doing this because you want me to pick you up. I muttered as I lifted her onto my back. She gave a squeal of delight.
"Daddy, how could you?" She said from my back. "I'm not THAT devious!"
I chuckled. I rose from my position on the ground and then I was about to turn when she gave a squeak.
"Daddy, I could use those for my dolly!" She said. I saw her hand from the corner of my helmet visor. She was pointing down at the screws on the ground. "Can we please get them?"
I gave a sigh. Again, I could barely pick those up with my own fingers. I was once again forced to use Telekinesis, but then again the expression on her face was priceless.
December 25, 1958
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Pauper's Drop
"You stinking bastard!" The splicer's wrench bounced off my oxygen tank as I twisted around, snatching up Eleanor from where she had been gathering.
I gave a massive roar, freezing him solid with Winter Blast and then shattering him into pieces with my drill.
Just as the first one shattered, another five entered the room. One splicer jumped on my back.
"DADDY!" There was the sound of her small, grubby hands pattering on the back of my helmet as she sought to latch onto me, but with a splicer pulling me down and another four giving me trouble by shooting at me with a machine gun and hitting me with pipes and wrenches, I could barely help her myself.
And then, somehow as I flailed and twisted about, firing my Rivet gun and using the Incinerate and Electric Blast plasmids, the splicer pulled Eleanor off my back.
"Let go of me!" She shrieked, beating at the splicer's chest with her tiny fists and the butt of her ADAM extraction needle. "Let go! DADDY!"
ELEANOR! I roared, turning around. The splicer had her in the crook of his arm as he sprinted away down a connecting tube.
I felt panic now. Cold, hard panic gripped at me as I thundered after him. I shrugged off the blows; I barely felt pain at getting hit by bullets. All that mattered to me was to get Eleanor back.
He locked the doors behind him, but I was a Big Daddy, and I was sufficiently enraged. I smashed through security doors with my drill and destroyed everything in my way, all the while following the sound of Eleanor's screams with trepidation in my heart.
Bleeding, with jets of pressurized oxygen leaking out of my tanks and my suit, I finally reached them at the top of a staircase leading to a hotel.
The splicer had Eleanor's ADAM extraction needle in his eye where he was lying down dead on the floor. The glass tube was disturbingly full of ADAM. Eleanor was sobbing in a corner, her dress rumpled and torn in some places. She was holding something in her fist.
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy-" She cried as I neared. I dropped my rivet gun and swept her up into my arms, my modified voice filling the hall with my dirge-like moan. "I was scared. I was really scared."
He's dead. I told her. He's very dead. To prove my point, I crushed his face in using my massive foot. He's not an angel.
"No." She said, hiccupping. "Angels don't do that, Daddy, they don't!"
Yes, they don't. I said savagely. I dug my foot deeper, grinding scattered bits of brain and bone onto the floor. They'll never hurt you again. Not ever.
She sniffed. "But… but at least I got a piece for my dolly."
I looked down. Nestled in her fist was the face of a gold watch.
Eleanor…
"I'm almost finished with the dolly." Eleanor said softly, wiping at her face with her hands.
I offered my arm, which had a slightly torn sleeve. She ripped off a square of the cloth and then blew her nose with it.
December 28, 1958
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Olympus Heights
"I'm ready for dreamtime, Daddy." Eleanor said, yawning as she rubbed at one eye.
It has been a long day. I observed. Even now, with night falling down on Rapture, my finger was still on the trigger of my rivet gun. On the surface, there would be a beautiful sunset…
"With rainbows?" Eleanor said slowly, trudging along behind me. I turned around and waited for her to catch up.
If it rained beforehand. I replied, offering a hand to help her up. Eleanor sleepily climbed up my back and nestled on top of my EVE and healing fluid reserves.
"Rain?"
Like the feeling when a leak drips water on you. I explained as I moved slowly, not wanting to jolt her from her position so precariously balanced on top of the two canisters that actually mattered to me. Like when we visited that angel in Fort Frolic.
"I got wet."
Yes. I said. That's what rain feels like.
"Daddy."
Yes?
"I need a…"
I halted mid step. A…?
"I need a backpack for my dolly to finish it." Eleanor gave a loud yawn. "Do you think… you can find… a backpack for my dolly?"
My oxygen tanks? I asked with a bemused tone.
"… tanks."
I looked around. There was a Circus of Values machine nearby. I lumbered over to it and then looked through the selection.
Would a film canister do? I asked.
There was no reply.
Eleanor?
I listened for any sound. I only heard soft, measured breathing.
She was sound asleep. I carefully reached behind me and extracted her from her position. Instead, I nestled her in the crook of my arm, like a newborn baby.
I remember doing this once, when I was still known as Johnny Topside. I had a family, but I could barely remember what they looked like anymore.
Conditioning, I guess, had ground it out of me, and even if I did remember, I couldn't return to them anymore. Not like this.
I looked down at Eleanor, sleeping so peacefully. Eleanor was my life now. As much as I hated to be some freak experiment for Rapture's mad scientists, it didn't feel as awful when I had Eleanor by my side.
I reached into one of the many supply pouches on my side and then took out a couple of dollars. I inserted them into the machine and then pressed the button labeled 'Film'.
Unfortunately, my massive finger pressed 4 buttons at once. A pep bar, a bottle of vodka, an EVE hypo and a small black film canister came shooting out of the machine all at once. I stepped back in shock as the items hit me and bounced off my massive bulk.
The bottle crashed onto the floor with a loud noise. The pep bar, one end opened by an enterprising mouse, stuck to my helmet. The EVE hypo pricked me as it collided with my arm. And, to my everlasting dismay, the film canister rolled underneath the Circus of Values machine.
I looked down at Eleanor. She was still asleep.
I shook my head, pulling off the pep bar from where it stuck to my helmet. My feet crunching on the shards of broken glass, I bent down as low as I could manage without upsetting Eleanor and then tried to peer under the machine. No dice.
I cycled through my plasmids. If I used Telekinesis on the machine, would the owner get angry at me? Between Eleanor and the debate on rightful use of plasmids, I decided to levitate the machine.
I levitated the machine out of the way, and since there was no other way to put the machine down gently without waking Eleanor up, I moved to one of the connecting tubes and then sent the machine flying down the hall. I froze as the machine rammed into the security door with enough noise to wake up a dead man, the clown's laughing voice degenerating into something unintelligible.
I looked down at Eleanor. She was still asleep.
I shook my head and then used Telekinesis to pick up the canister. I placed that inside my supply pouch and then walked as fast as I could away from the scene of the crime as the clown's retarded laughter rang in the halls.
By the time I made it to the vent, Eleanor had started to wake up. I shook her gently and then offered her the film canister.
"Thank you daddy." She said with a smile as I lifted her gently up to the vent. "It'll be a pretty dolly!"
Be careful. I advised, watching her scurry down the pipe.
I turned around and lumbered off. I needed to get back to Dr. Alexander for maintenance.
December 31, 1958
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Adonis Luxury Resort
Once I was through with my maintenance, I walked to the vent in the Adonis Luxury Resort, where I strongly sensed her presence through our bond. I lifted my fist and then hit the vent twice before standing back.
Eleanor climbed out slowly, burdened with something. I craned my neck over to look as she lifted this bizarre thing out of the vent.
"Look Daddy," she said with a proud smile. "It's you!"
I looked at the doll. Sure enough, Eleanor had put together the most mundane items to form a rather ragged looking version of me. Two shoelaces attached to the sides stood for my breathing tubes.
The golden watch face was stapled onto the front of the baseball. Three screws were attached to stimulate the camera and two glowing portholes on my helmet. The doll torso she took from the toymaker was attached to the black film canister, which I noted had bottle cap nailed onto the top, simulating the valve of my oxygen tanks.
The doll itself had two mismatched legs, as well as arms made of twine and cork. On one arm, for my drill, Eleanor had glued a thimble with a corkscrew at the end.
It looks… ragged. I stated flatly, reaching out to lift her gently from the vent and placing her onto the floor. You were very careful when you glued on the corkscrew?
"I was very careful!" Eleanor insisted. She tucked the doll underneath one arm and then wrapped her hand in mine as she began to pull me along. "Let's go out to play, Daddy!"
As she pulled me, I looked outside the window. Outside, the seascape of Rapture seemed almost peaceful. Fish swam past the glass, and I thought I saw a whale slowly swim past one of the tall buildings. I remembered when I was still a man, in my advanced bathysphere. I had been so surprised-
I felt Eleanor let go of my head. I turned to look away from the window and followed her up the stairs leading to one of the more luxurious party rooms in the Adonis. I found her at the top of the stairwell, already gathering.
Excited, I see. I said with a tone of amusement in my whale song. I take it you had one pep bar too many.
Eleanor's giggles confirmed my suspicion. She drank the woman's blood, giggling as she wiped off the excess at the corners of her mouth. "Mmmm!"
Eleanor… I warned. Try not to-
She sniffed at the air. "More angels, Daddy!' She exclaimed. "This way!"
-wander off. I finished. I shook my head as I lumbered after her. She was small and quick, and I soon lost her when I entered the party room, surprising one of the citizens to my right.
Where are you- I said out loud, moving past the surprised man. Eleanor-
"DADDY!"
My drill in hand, I sprinted down the corridor and to the balcony. Four splicers surrounded Eleanor. One of them was pulling the ADAM extraction needle from her hands. I felt the anger build within me. I leaped down the balcony, crushing a splicer's head beneath my boot.
ELEANOR! I bellowed.
"You want some, big guy?" The leader of the splicers sneered, stabbing himself with her needle. The jolt of ADAM into his system produced a fistful of lightning, which he threw at me with prejudice.
I was shocked, but I recovered quickly. As an Alpha Series, I was more tolerant of plasmids than my later counterparts.
"The bigger they are, the harder they-" I revved up my drill, stabbing and drilling into the idiot splicer who ventured too close. "AAAAAAAUGHHH!"
I gave a bellow again, knocking the female splicer away with my drill. I stopped as I felt Eleanor clamber onto my back and then I charged at the leader of the splicers, knocking him to the floor.
I revved up my drill again and tried to hit him, but he rolled out of the way. Just as I was about to impale him, I recognized a Hypnotize plasmid in his hand.
No- I tried to dodge, but he was too quick.
"Put the child down." A calm voice dictated. Unable to resist, I reached behind my back and placed Eleanor on the floor, my vision hazy with the Hypnotize plasmid.
"Daddy…?" She asked, her eyes as wide as plates.
"There we are." I heard footsteps. I struggled to focus. There was a woman in front of me. I didn't recognize her. "He's perfectly safe now."
You liar. I wanted to shout back, but the plasmid held my voice in check. You liar, you liar, you LIAR!
Eleanor was about to run forward, but the woman pulled her back. "This is not your daughter." She said with thinly veiled disdain. "Do you understand?"
Give her back. I wanted to say. My drill hand spasmed involuntarily. I wanted to hit her. I wanted to kill her. I wanted-
"Her name is Eleanor, and she is mine." Eleanor's mother. Her real mother. The concept hit me like how water hits you in a collapsing tunnel.
"Now-" Here, I felt the first beginnings of dread. "Kneel, please."
I gritted my teeth as I fell to my knees. Her tone may be calm, but I could tell, even in this plasmid induced condition, that she wanted to kill me.
"Remove your helmet."
No, no, no, no. I pleaded with myself to stop, but I couldn't. No, no-
"Now, take the pistol." And then she took out a pistol from her purse, offering it to me grip-first. Powerless to resist, I took it, although in my head I was screaming myself hoarse.
"Place it against your head."
My arm was shaking. I wanted to resist. I tried so hard to resist. Oh no, no, no. Eleanor, please, look away. Please stop looking at me. Please-
"Fire."
Eleanor, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Daddy loves you-
…
I felt a sharp pain in my head-
"DADDY!"
… and then I knew no more.