Okay, I know I said I would only focus on finishing 'Tartarus' but this is an idea I've had brewing in my head for some time and I just wanted to get this first chapter written before I write the next one for Tartarus. I'll be honest I haven't quite figured what I want to do with this story and its charaters but please read and please comment

The Reject

Short black greasy hair, large round spectacles that rested on her pale cheek bones while brown eyes that had something of a dead glare stared through the lenses. Her small mouth hung open as she breathed in and out through it, closing for just a mere second to dampen her lips. All this added to a rather bland and somewhat stupid expression on her face that would lead one to think that the girl was just retarded, but the truth was far more tragic for the eight year old girl who sat silent on a small four legged wooden stool.

Staring blankly at the wall she sat before, she raised her right hand to it and drew upon the pale blue wall paper the same thing she had drawn over and over. All over the confined walls of her room she had scribbled in crayon colourful illustrations of two people walking hand in hand down stone pavements and sitting at home enjoying tea parties.

Hardly works of art though considering her young age, but also nothing that even the most sceptical person would dismiss as a mere mess of wax scribbles and blotches. Clearly she knew how to draw a table, a kettle and cup, herself, and most importantly to her; her mother.

None of these though were of the two walking in the park or having picnics on the grass. Probably because she had never visited one or even knew what grass was. Nothing in Rapture was free, not even a walk in the park, and nothing was cheap enough for them either.

Her latest one meanwhile she drew and coloured in red; and only in red. There was no blue, no green, yellow, not even black to draw the outlines of her and her mother. She had no other colour to work with which was evident as no other lay in her small open crayon box. So she made the most of what she had, even if it was worn down to a nub that she smeared against the wall with her thumb.

Absent though from all her work was her father whom she had never known just as he never wanted to know her. She knew nothing of him, who he was, what he did, or if he was even alive still. Only that he had no interest in her and her mother. They received no alimony or child support from him; as Ryan's philosophy and beliefs that such things were tools of the parasite whoever they may be exonerated him of these responsibilities to them.

With no benefits and welfare aid allowed in Rapture as well; courtesy of more of Ryan's beliefs that these again were a means to bleed dry what the working man earned by the parasites. Life for a single mother trying to raise and support her own child was an uphill struggle. It only got worse when they were evicted from their small squalid apartment and were left with only two options; Fontaine's overcrowded homes for the poor, or moving in with her fat slob of an uncle's own squalid hole.

He of course would demand lodge for their stay, almost all her minimum wage. But then what choice did they have. The selfish greedy bastard barely left enough for the two to feed and clothe themselves, forcing her mother to work double shifts. This left her though with little or no time to spend with her daughter and the stress of over working took its toll on her. Soon her mother left her and this world, and her uncle went and left her in a Little Sisters Orphanage.

There her life changed for the worse; and a hell of a lot worse for her. There she was put through the same procedure as all the girls were; there she was made in to a Little Sister. Normally now she'd be roaming the street with a Big Daddy for company; probably the only father figure she'd ever have had in her life. But not her, she got to be locked away and forgotten, she was different from all the others because she was a…

"Hey looked down there, there's one of them," said an over anxious male voice.

She looked up to where the voice came from, her room or cell as it was clearly intended to confine her against her will had no ceiling. Instead the upper floor allowed members of the science staff to look down and observe her and many others imprisoned from a balcony. And there at this moment two Splicers hassled her from above.

The second one who had just appeared stared at her and then glared at his friend "You dull twat, don't you know? That's the reject, you know the one they couldn't make work. She ain't got any," he then walked away with the other schmuck following "Let's just keep looking for that little freak you let loose."

…A reject, there couldn't be a better word for her. Unlike all the others who were bonded to the slugs without fail, her body for some reason rejected all attempts to do so. Tests were performed and examinations carried out to determine why this was and how it could be overcome. But all effort to answer this enigma of science amounted to nothing, and at worst repeated attempts to implant the slug resulted in irreversible harm and damage being inflicted upon the poor girl.

To begin with the effects on her vocal chords did not alter her voice but instead strained them in a way that rendered her a mute; she had lost the ability to speak and could only mutter in mere grunts and whines. She lacked the means to express any emotion through her lips as her facial nerves were all but dead. She could still open and close her mouth but would forever frown no matter how happy she'd be, and long-time that had been.

Her eyes did not glow like all the rest, but never did they work as well as they had before, hence why she wore glasses provided for her poor vision before they had all but forgotten her. They seemed empty as little by little the life in them faded away each day as did her health.

It would probably come as some relief to say that the harm ended there, but it didn't. In their strive to convert the girl in to a Little Sister, the scientists frustration grew with every failure at this stubborn defiance to their vain egotistical intelligence. And one who was cold and immoral vented his rage upon the girl with the use of a scalpel.

Visible upon her young face were three thin scalpel inflicted scars; one across her forehead, one across the bridge of her nose and the other across her left cheek. Internally and externally her face had been ruined and disfigured by shear callousness and reckless regard for a young life.

The cruel irony of it all was the regenerative powers provided by the Adam slug would have caused the scars to quickly heal without ever a trace of them. But eventually the scientists deemed her a lost cause and put her away till they could decide on what to do with her, there in her room she spent her days just wasting away. Her only visitor the intern sent to change her bed sheets and empty out the bucket she used to relieve herself, while her food was slid through a hatch at the bottom of the steel cell door.

But in the last few days it had all stopped, nobody came to feed her and nobody came to clean out her room. Already the bucket she used was stacked full of her own stool and urine, it reeked so foul that the whole room stunk as though something had died in it, and it was one of the few reasons why anybody who walked by stayed clear. Her bed sheets had been torn and used as substitute toilet paper to wipe her ass, there was a small sink basin with the water still running but no soap. Strange though that they would put that in but not an adequate toilet, at least she wouldn't die of dehydration.

As she put the finishing touches to her artwork she suddenly realised she was rubbing the palm of her thumb against the wall. The nub she used had finally worn away and she had no other crayon to finish her work with. Smearing then the thin layer of wax that had built up on to her thumb, she stained her dress already covered in multi coloured wax stains, giving the lavender faded fabric some new life of colour.

While she sat pondering on what to do, a rumbling in her stomach suggested she occupy herself with food. Nearby on the floor of her room was an open and empty bag of potato chips, she reached inside hoping to find a few crumbs. But alas what she found was no bigger than grains of salt.

Throwing the empty bag aside she reached next to her only bottle of cola, that had in it no more than two drops. Still she had plenty of tap water to drink. But she had one last thing of nourishment that would keep her going just a little longer. Reaching under her small bed she pulled out her last bit of food she had been saving; one full candy bar still sealed in its wrapping.

Hardly edible and enough to fill her stomach, but regardless of her age she'd learnt from her life of poverty how to make things last. Yet her appetite vanished as the stench of her own piss and shit piled in one corner of her room turned her grumbling stomach, and she decided that only when she was 'really' hungry would she eat while inhaling human excrement.

While still sitting on her stool holding it she heard further commotion coming from the floor above. She looked up at the balcony expecting the two men from earlier to appear, and then to her surprise someone completely different performed a backflip on to the balcony railings and then a further one down in to her room, landing perfectly on their feet without even tumbling or breaking a bone.

Her strange visitor frantically looked around and upon spotting the girl motioned with his finger to his lip "Don't rat me out okay," and then dived under her bed while groaning at the smell he had then realised while the girl the had just stared blankly without ever a reaction.

Further noise came from above as the two men appeared again, no doubt looking for the girl's agile guest. The one who was ignorant of what she was earlier shouted down "Hey brat you see anyone come by here?" She only stared back with her emotionless dull expression that infuriated the man "Hey are you stupid or what, did you see someone come by here?"

His colleague who came up beside him smacked the palm of his hand against his shoulder "You dull fuck of course she is, remember she's the reject. Come on I think he went this way," while the second man led the way, the first however grabbed a microscope from a nearby desk and callously threw it down at the girl, just narrowly missing her. She neither flinched nor screamed, only looked at where it fell and then back at the two who had turned away.

As they disappeared again her mysterious visitor popped out from under her bed and gave her the A Okay hand sign while adding too it "Nice one kid, didn't hit you did he?" The girl just shook her head, no expression still.

This person meanwhile pulled themselves out and stood up before the girl. It was a young boy; ages ten to eleven who had spikey unmanageable blond hair. He whore nothing other than a pair of baggy brown shorts and walked bare foot. Rather than scrawny he was in good shape for his age, and judging by the gymnastics he had demonstrated was clearly very athletic.

On his right arm he wore a tight leathery glove that nearly reached elbow; the girl noticed slits in it that covered the palm of his fingers. As well as the glove he also had a strange eye patch that covered both his left eye and left eye socket, it wasn't made of leather but of a plastic material that l glistened like a glass lens from a pair of sunglasses, but much darker as the girl could not see through it.

He then spoke to her again "Thanks for not squealing on me, those two boobs have been giving me the run around since they let me out of my room," looking around again he noticed her drawings and smirked lightly "Huh, heck of a way to keep yourself busy when stuck in these things."

The girl again just stared blankly at him while he then noticed the candy bar she still held "Oh sweet can I have that?" rather than object she offered it to the boy who hastily took it from her and without offering her a piece ravenously devoured it without even being deterred by the stench. He happily sighed at having his gut satisfied with a tasty treat, even if it wasn't his.

As he rubbed his stomach he took in to thought to thank the girl for her charitable offer "Thanks kid, I haven't eaten anything for a while since they went and left me in that room, they do the same to you?" he then asked, the girl only nodded "You been in here for a while haven't you, I can tell by the pile of poo and peepee over in the corner?" again the girl only responded with a simple nod.

"You don't talk much do you?" the boy asked as leaned towards her, the girl then responding by gently shaking her head "You can't can you?" he then realised just as he noticed the scars on her face "They do something to you?" she nodded this time "Yeah, they kind of screwed me over too," he revealed while raising his right gloved hand to his left eye patch.

He backed away from her and raised his arms above his head as he stretched himself "I guess there's no point in asking your name huh?" for a second she was silent and then her eyes suddenly widened with a realisation. She directed his attention to one of her earlier drawings and he noticed that under the two characters of her and her mother she had written probably the only two words she could spell. One being 'Mommy', and the other her own name that the boy read out loud "Chloe… Nice name"

He turned back to her with a smile "Hello Chloe, I'm Peter," showed off next by doing a backward summersault on to her bed and proudly added to his introduction "Raptures one and only Little Brother," he grinned smugly expecting something of an encore. But again with no surprise Chloe gave her expressionless stare that sort of bothered him at her lack of applaud "I know you can't speak but what, you can't smile either?"

Grasping her cheeks with both index fingers she pushed them up to portray a smile before imitating next along with her middle fingers two pairs of scissors that she snipped at the sides of her cheeks to simulate the notion that her facial nerves had all but been severed, to which she then concluded with a simple shake of her head an answer to his question that was simply 'No'. To avoid any further confusion in the future she pointed to both cheeks and her throat which they had established weren't working for her and then her eyes so he was properly aware of what was fully wrong with her.

"Oh… so they made a train wreck out of you too huh, like me and the rest of the freaks here?" he openly blurted out inconsiderably while still rambling "And then just threw you in here, never to be seen or heard of again. Well not me, I'm out and about and I'm gonna bail on this place, and once I hit the streets I'm gonna hit back at some old friends I'm so dying to see again," he clenched his fist as though with those words he had declared some vendetta.

Chloe however had just sat there, listening to the strange ramblings of her odd guest. As his thoughts drifted back to her and the realisation he was being sort-after he decided he had hid long enough and sort to get back to his escape "Well there's me babbling but if you will excuse me I got to get moving," he threw aside the candy wrapper, leapt from the bed on to the floor and then next squatted as though he intended to leap all the way up to the floor above "See ya Chloe," he then bid her farewell "Thanks for the candy,"and then with incredible strength and agility he flew up to the balcony, performed a somersault over the railings and disappeared from her sight.

As she watched him leave she reached up her arm and tried to call out, but could only manage a garbled cry that went unheard by him. And just as he had arrived from out of the blue he was gone, leaving poor Chloe forgotten.

Once again she sat alone in her room, this time without the means to preoccupy herself with drawing and nothing now to satisfy her hunger while still suffocating in her own theses. And it was at this moment that she actually realised just how alone she was and would be from now on. Nobody cared or was even bothered anymore to check in on her, keep her fed and make sure she at least lived in some standard of living conditions. Nobody was gonna come visit her or open the door to let her out and walk free. No, she would just waste away, forgotten and abandoned; an orphan and a reject.

Feeling thirsty she walked towards the small sink basin, turned the tap and placed her mouth next to the flowing water as she quenched her thirst. And then suddenly as she turned the tap off she spun around and saw Peter once more standing in her room looking at her.

Pointing his thumb up at the balcony he then popped a question he should have asked before he first left for her "You wanna bail too?" a simple nod was all it took to let him now she was on board. He approached her, the top of her head measuring up just beneath his neck, put his arms around her and picked her up off her feet "Hold on now."

With another ounce of strength he leapt up to the floor above, but the added weight of Chloe made it not possible for him to clear the railings. He managed to grab on to them with his right hand before plummeting back down while still holding Chloe, his feet which were pressed against the wall did not slide down but somehow stuck to it, just like a Spider Splicer's would. Firmly secure he managed to leap over the railings with Chloe in tow and in doing so finally granted the girl her freedom.

Out of the shit hole and free to walk about she eagerly took in the change of scenery. While one side of the floor had a row of open ceilings with rooms like hers below, the other side however opened up upon the ocean and the city. Chloe then approached the large windows and was enveloped in green bluish light that poured in through the glass while she looked out upon the city with intrigue. She looked back at Peter and mumbled something in gibberish; he didn't know what but had some idea of her excitement of seeing something she didn't have to draw just to gaze upon.

Seemed like fun he thought as he too had been locked up without a window to look out of. But he hadn't forgotten the two who had let him loose and where still looking for him. And unlike Chloe he'd been out long enough to learn they weren't the only failures or mistakes locked up in this place. Nor was this place what Chloe thought it was; Point Prometheus.

He placed his hand on her shoulder "Come on we gotta get going," compliantly she followed as they walked across the floor hoping to find a way leading out.

While she fell behind though her curiosity got the better of her and she approached the railings above one of the rooms. Looking down she could see a bed very much like hers with someone laying on it that neither moved nor breathed

Adjusting her glasses on her face she thought what she was looking at was a young girl who wore a similar but pink dress, as opposed to her faded lavender. Another Little Sister, locked away and forgotten, another reject possibly like her. But as she stared closer at her she realised how unalike they were, a little girl it was but there was something very alarming about her face.

What should have been the youth of a child was old and wrinkled very much like an old hag with a severe hair loss all over the crown of her head. She was clearly deceased lying on her bed and staring up at her with eyes as dead as hers while her bony open jaw exposed all her rotten teeth.

Chloe backed away terrified at the aged ghoul that was once a girl like her. Peter himself meanwhile could not resist staring in to one of the rooms, what he saw was to his surprise another Little Brother who lay huddled in a corner. He laid as still as the withered reject next door but he alarmed Peter as there was something horrifying about his feet that caused him to threat about his right gloved hand.

Seeing Chloe approach he hastily led her away from the room, concerned that what she may see would draw her attention to his own mutilations. They walked further on, passing other rooms that unlike the ones before seemed to have thick glass screen windows that covered the whole open ceiling, or steel thick bars on others. And as they passed one that Peter noticed had had its bars bent apart, strange sounds that emerged from it made them aware that something within it was still alive.

While Chloe stood still with fear Peter with his curiosity dared to approach and stare in to the pit at whatever monstrosity dwelled within it. Peering over the balcony he saw what appeared to be a man wandering aimlessly around. The lighting within it was poor due to most of the bulbs that illuminated the whole room had all blown out.

The man breathed deeply in ways that no human should and sounded bad tempered, his heavy footsteps were as loud as a big daddy as he stomped all around the room. Suddenly he stopped and stepped in to the dim light as he then stared up at Peter with an anger he would express through bloody violence.

His whole physical form was bloated with testosterone and cancer like tumours. His right arm was larger than his left and as for his head it looked as though he was missing both his neck, his nose and both his ears as well as his hair.

Peter though somewhat alarmed at the atrocious looking brute couldn't help but mutter out loud to Chloe "Yikes, Chloe look, its big, its mean, It's one hell of an ugly son of a…!" the brute growled before he could finish and quickly he got the notion to withdraw "Whoops, see ya butt ugly," he ran up to Chloe "Let's get out of her before the walking tumour decides it's too cramped in his room."

Just as they were about to get underway again, footsteps approaching came from round the corner. And from it emerged the two men from earlier, each carrying a led pipe "Look there he is, and he's got that reject with him," yelled one of the men.

"You've given us a lot of trouble boy, and I'm gonna enjoy smashing both your skull and your girlfriend's in!" the second one threatened.

As Chloe backed away terrified, Peter leapt in front of her with his arms drawn "She ain't my girlfriend you prick!" the two men slowly advanced on them while Peter quickly instructed to Chloe "Hide," she ran for cover under a nearby large desk on the floor while Peter raised his right hand "You schmucks don't know who you're dealing with. I'm Raptures Little Brother"

"You'll be dead like the rest of them you freak," the first man remarked as he swung for Peter who leapt clear out of the way, the second also attempted but Peter then leapt to his left while performing next a backward flip as the first tried to sneak in a horizontal swing for his head. In doing so he stumbled forward and left his back exposed which Peter took full advantage of by slamming his feet in to his back knocking him face down in to the floor.

The other came at him from behind but Peter was too quick, where he had stood his attacker ended up striking his friend hard in the back while he was still down. Peter meanwhile performed a few backflips to get some distance from the Splicer before commenting on his treatment of his buddy

"Ouch, sure you didn't break something?"

"I'll break you bloody nose you smart ass little shit," the second man lashed out at Peter who continued to mock him with his light footed acrobatics infuriated him more "Stop jumping about you little shit!"

"Okay," Peter complied as he simply just ducked and sidestep the man's blows. The angrier he got the more frantic he was at swinging the led pipe at Peter, eventually Peter decided not to bother playing it his way and performed a few more backflips that then saw him jumping up on to the railings above the room he a moment ago dared to gaze down at the creature in the pit.

Squatting on the railings with just his feet for grip while he placed his hands around his mouth he further mocked the man by shouting "Missed me, missed me, now you gotta…" suddenly first man who was back on his feet stepped right in front of Peter and already swung for him "Whooh!" was all he had time to yell before narrowly leaping out of harm's way over the man and diving down to the floor behind him.

He landed on his hands and did an upward stand on them, without wasting a second more he again took advantage his opponent's exposer and slammed in to his back the soles of his feet. The man lumbered forward over the railings and fell screaming in to the holding room below. Further screams of terror followed as he then got to be acquainted with the room occupant.

Peter meanwhile leapt back on to his feet and was now staring down the second man who was somewhat shocked at what had just happened to his friend. He felt like taunting him further "You gonna fight or gonne run?" angrily the man again lunged at him. Peter leapt at him and flew through the air while spinning like a cork screw. He shot past without taking a hit he swung his right hand at the guy's neck and landed then landed back on his feet.

"Chloe," he called out to her, she appeared from behind the large desk and ran to him. He grabbed her hand "Let's bail," and ran with her in tow. The man meanwhile did not pursue but instead fell to his knees while clutching his throat. He gurgled straining to breathe while blood spluttered out through his neck that had been slashed somehow. While kneeling before the balcony he grabbed the railing to keep him from falling in and saw something looking up at him that was both big and held his late buddy in two pieces.

…

In a large hallway a massive gap split the floor in to two parallel balconies allowing those to look down to the floor below. Two walkways that connected them lay destroyed or cluttered with junk that made crossing to the other side impossible. The only other way was to take the stairs down to the floor below and come up through the ones on the opposite side.

On one of the balconies was a large door that had the words 'Live Specimen Holding Pen' written above it. And through these doors emerged both Peter and Chloe, cautiously they ventured further out along the floor, Peter ever alert while Chloe nervously keeping close to him. Quietly they crept up to the railings as Peter then peaked over at something on the other side that caught his attention, he then directed Chloe's to what was a Little Sister's Vent.

"See that?" he whispered "That's our way out; if we can get to it we're home free," he looked around and saw both walkways out of commission. He considered crossing the floor below but that option was all but sunk at the sudden appearance of four men armed with Tommy Guns; they stood bickering below unaware of Peter and Chloe.

Peter however scratched his head pondering on how to get across without being noticed. It be a cinch for him alone but with Chloe, a little risky, but he couldn't just cut and run on her. Then he looked up at the ceiling, looked at how scrawny she was and had a crazy idea.

He put his hands on her shoulders "Okay here's the plan, we're gonna scroll across the ceiling to vent. All you got to do is hold tight, okay?" as soon as she nodded he picked her up and approached a nearby stack of crates he planned to use as a launch point to reach the ceiling. Although he could do it without, Chloe despite her skinny would probably weigh him down as she had earlier.

The crates meanwhile were larger than any of the two adolescent escapees and had been stacked in a pile of three. Peter leapt to the one on top one and readied to jump to the ceiling, he whispered first though "Hey, trust me. We're getting out," suddenly there came a muffled sound from the very doors they had stepped through. The men below didn't hear it but Peter had cause for concern "Oh I hope that ain't what I think it is," without wasting anymore time he leapt to the ceiling and remarkably stuck to it by means of mere touch of his hands and feet.

While he hung there Chloe who rested on his chest wrapped her arms and legs around his back while squeezing her eyes tight; clearly she had no love for heights. Sure enough Peter had guessed right about her scrawny little body as it allowed him to carry her this way across the room. Having her almost filling the gap between him and the ceiling did however prevent him from bending his knees and elbows and so he had to go at a slow and steady pace.

He was halfway across the room when he noticed her glasses slipping off her face due to sweating with panic "Psst, Chloe. Your glasses are slipping. Do something before the hit the floor," Chloe opened her eyes but was too nervous to loosen one of her arms "Chloe…" summing up what little strength she had she quickly pushed them back before the slid right of her small nose. Peter then continued on.

Just as he made it across to the other side and was about to drop down, further noise echoing from the doors to the Live Specimen Holding Pen, one that all four men below heard this time. To Peter it sounded as though something within the building block he and Chloe had been held had broken loose and any minute would be coming through those doors.

The whole commotion however had not only drawn the armed men's attention to the floor above but had also caused one for some reason to look up at the ceiling and catch a glimpse of something dropping down to the other overhead floor. It was enough for him to rally the others and lead them to the staircase.

Up above Peter wasted no time helping Chloe in to the vent as he heard the men approaching "Hurry up Chloe!" he shouted to her.

The men he heard were getting closer "It came from around here!" as soon as Chloe was in the vent Peter jumped and climbed in after her just as the man leading the group ran out on to the balcony floor and caught sight of his foot disappearing in to the vent . Quickly he ran up to it and reached in after Peter, grabbing his ankle and pulling him back out

Peter tried desperately to pull himself free of the man's grip but as strong as he was he couldn't break free "Come out of there you little shit!" finally Peter had had enough and he swung his right hand at the man's arm. He let go of Peter and screamed in pain as his whole arm bled from what appeared to be five razor sharp slash marks.

As he continued to wail one of the other men aimed the barrel of his Tommy gun inside the vent, but before he could fire the doors from where the sounds had emerged burst open. Inside the vent Peter who followed Chloe stopped at the sounds of shouting, gun fire, and blood curdling screaming. Eye wide open he continued on after her, getting as far away just as everything went silent and the face of the creature from the pit glared in to the vent.

Okay, few things I want to say about the characters, Chloe as some of you have noticed is another typical spectacle wearing character I've created. But like the others who wear glasses she's either based on a character from fiction or somebody I actually know or knew.

In Chloe's case she is based on a high school student in a Manga/Anime series. There is a flash back scene in both the Anime and Manga where we see a kinder garden version of the character wearing an incomplete dress and is frowning at being bullied by some classmates. I took the design of that character in that scene and made it in to Chloe; excluding though all their character traits.

As for her scars and the part about her face being partially disabled, that idea sprang from on earlier artwork of a Little Sister from a Bioshock Art Deco book; the same one where I got the idea for the Big Daddies of Tartarus.I should also mention that Chloe was originally created to appear in Big Brothers Promise, but like Tartarus I went with this.

As for Peter, I've always had this idea of a character with a deformed right hand and left eye that they would have to cover up with a glove and eye patch. The character in my head was created long before the first Bioshock came out and so the was meant for fandom of other shows and such.