AN: This is my first fanfiction. Please enjoy, and if you could, review. Feedback is much appreciated, and a guarantee of future additions.
Why was I there? As I considered my life with this small delicate angel, so innocent, so loving, I asked myself what turn of events had placed me next to her. I was someone else before I became this beast in an armored diving suit,. I'm sure my daughter was someone else too. A scared little girl, brainwashed, and forced to gather Adam, the lifeblood of Rapture from its deceased residents. But right now, I was her guardian, her father, and she was my daughter. I could not afford weakness. We walked the dark, dank, nightmarish halls of Rapture, as we had a thousand times before. I stood at attention. In my mind, every noise, every subtle movement in the corner of my eye, was a danger to my little girl. She laid across the top of my head, finding support on the multiple tanks I had on my back. She merrily sung to herself, not a care in the world. It was because I was there. She trusted me to protect her with every fiber in her being. I could not fail her. The singular purpose to my existence was to serve her.
Suddenly, I saw a tiny pale hand tap against the viewport of my helmet. She hung her head down and peered into my viewport. "Peekaboo Daddy," she said, letting out a heartwarming giggle. Her pale skin, her long raven black hair, her delicate facial features, her yellow glowing eyes, she surely was beautiful, something worth a thousand of my lives. She pressed her face against the glass, and just held her head there with her eyes closed for a second. She looked as if she was imagining something. I assumed it was what it would be like to have a daddy that wasn't a metal behemoth.
She suddenly opened her eyes and rose up, struggling to keep her small torso elongated. "Adam is that way Daddy." She said with a certain reluctance to her voice, yet she tried to mask it. She tried to indulge in the fantasy that she was on an adventure with her faithful protector, but gathering always seemed to scare her. I couldn't help but think that it was me. When those, 'creatures', would attack my little girl, it always felt so natural to me to execute them. It was such a simple task, like I had done it a thousand times over. Though what frightened me was on one occasion I had lifted my weapon towards Eden in a cold callous manner just like all the others, and a thought went through my head. 'Everyone deserves to die.' She was honestly afraid of me for a moment. It haunts me to know that. Ever since then she had been reluctant to gather, telling me that she didn't like it when I was mad. Of course I would never harm her. Her life was the only one that meant anything to me. All others were nothing more than insects to me.
I snapped out of my inner thought when Eden lost her balance and came tumbling down in front of me. I quickly reacted, and she fell harmlessly into my arms. She beamed, and buried her head into the tough leather of my suit arm. But her mood suddenly changed, and she seemed sad. She looked up at me, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "Daddy, you won't ever leave right? I want to be together with Daddy forever. I don't want Daddy to become an angel like the other Daddies." She clutched tighter onto my suit, tears now freely running down her face. "I want Daddy to be awake, here with me, forever. You can't leave me alone Daddy! I want to get big and be Daddy's princess, and we can be together forever…" She looked down at the ground and said to me in a quieter tone, almost at a mumble, "Don't leave me alone Daddy. I don't want to be alone."
I was struck completely off-guard. But I understood her grievance. We had seen multiple fallen protectors. She feared the same would happen to me. I just held her closer and softly stroked her head with my massive leather gauntlet, trying to groan soothingly. She kept sobbing. The sound of her crying echoed through out my mind, and suddenly I was hit with the image of a girl not much older than Eden crying as well. She said to me tears running down her face, her voice trembling like her whole world had just shattered, and what looked like blood covering her dress, "I don't understand. Why Nicky? Why would you do this to me?" I had been slowly piecing together my past from the pieces that manifested themselves. It appeared that I had begun committing acts of violence at a young age. I pondered who she had been to me, friend, lover, sister. She appeared to have known me.
My attention shifted back to my little girl still crying in my arms. I decided that it would be best to end gathering early. Hopefully we had gathered enough Adam to perform optimally tomorrow. I began to take very heavy footed steps back to our makeshift home carrying this fragile little girl in my arms, doing my best to comfort her. I had started taking her there instead of the 'hidey hole', as she calls it, almost a year ago. At first I mindlessly followed this sense that I was simply supposed to take her there after we had completed our gathering. But from what I could tell I was not like the others who had donned this protector mantle. From what I had gathered, they seemed autonomous, simply following the programming given to them by, I assume, whoever runs or ran this decomposing utopia. But I was different. I could think. I had free will. And although I was completely aware that my feelings towards my daughter were artificial, I chose to embrace them. Besides broken disheveled memories of a man that I'm not sure I want to be, she was all I knew. I trusted no one but myself to look after her, and no one would ever take her from me.
Suddenly I heard scuffling on the ceiling. I knew the sound well. Some of the, people, as I guess they are or were, could cling to surfaces, not unlike an insect, although I prefer to call them vermin. It sounded like there was more than one of them. They were most likely going to ambush me from the ceiling, and take Eden while I was scrambling to get them off of me. I looked down at Eden; she had settled down and was peacefully nuzzled into the armor plating of my suit. I gently removed her and placed her on my shoulder. Although I couldn't actually communicate it to her, she seemed to know what was happening, and grabbed on tightly to one of the tubes connecting to my oxygen tanks for support. Although it was clear to me she didn't perceive the world in the same way I did, she could usually tell when I sensed danger. We had a connection which I simply could not explain
The vermin scurried closer and closer to me and my young charge, obviously attempting to be silent. They were unaware they were already detected. I continued to walk, every step echoing throughout the halls of rapture putting on a façade that I was oblivious to there presence. My massive strides echoing throughout the halls of the hellish dystopia this city had become. I held my hand close to my chest as every vain in it began to burn furiously, and flame began to dance in my palm. I gathered my Eve putting a fair amount of power into the blast. I quickly spun around launching the ball of flame at my pursuers. It connect with the ceiling exploding brilliantly taking out two instantly and revealing the horribly disfigured appearances of the others as they reeled backwards in utter shock. A flash went before my eyes, of men dressed in military uniforms, screaming and madly dashing for cover as bodies were being tossed through the air by incoming mortars. My ears were ringing, my heart was racing, but there was no fear. I felt like I belonged there. I snapped out of my trance, and counted six in total, minus the ones I had already executed. Eden laughed and cheered, "Unzip them Daddy," giving a quick hug to the side of my helmet when the charred mangled corpses of the two that I had killed hit the ground. Although I was certain she was not seeing the same thing I was, it was still disconcerting to hear her revel in killing so much.
One, seeming to be the bravest of the group, quickly recovered and launched himself at me with his inhumanly powerful legs. I looked directly at his twisted disfigured face, staring into his eye, the other having been overlapped by flesh. I saw a mad desperation burning inside him, as he raised a red hot hook that replaced his hand poised to attack. I quickly ended his pain when my drill connected with his head, sending bone fragments, and brain matter flying through the air. As his twisted lifeless corpse that had a head that had been reduce to nothing more than a lower jaw and bloodied limp tongue fell to the ground I quickly drew the massive machine gun that was strapped to my back, dropping my drill to the ground. I took aim and began to pepper the remaining vermin, still hesitant on attacking after seeing their comrade's sudden death, with machine gun fire. They scattered in all directions. I managed to take out two, the 50. Caliber ammo tearing their bodies to shreds. I found myself in a small village surrounded by crude straw huts, and staring at a crowd of people, clearly terrified, covered in dirt, clothes little more than rags. There was smoke rising through the air in the distance. I raised my weapon, took aim, and opened fire. The last thing I saw was them starting to scramble as a storm of bullets tore through their bodies. Pure bliss was my only sensation.
When I came back to reality the remaining vermin had disappeared into the darkness. Eden was doing her best to wrap her arms around my helmet, which was roughly the size of her whole body. She nuzzled her head into the side of my helmet. "I love you Daddy. You always protect me. I know you'll never leave. Nothing's strong enough to beat my Daddy." She trusted me completely. I would never fail her. I gently plucked her from my shoulder, placed her on the ground, and offered her my hand. She beamed up at me, and I patted her head softly. She then wrapped her hand around a single one of my fingers, and I made one massive stride with little quick ones following close behind.
"Forever and ever Daddy," Eden said sweetly as we disappeared into the halls of rapture.
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