Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS NOR DO I OWN BIOSHOCK 2 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS OR THE SONG "Mr. Bubbles".
Leoanda: This is just something that I've been inspired to write since seeing the game, and I felt like writing something a bit creepier than usual (although this isn't really all that creepy). Anyways, enjoy!
Do you love me, Daddy?
by Leoanda Taylor
1950
The main hall was filled with cheers and laughter as the members of the 'Rapture Project' congratulated themselves on a job well done. Glasses were raised in toast to one another and pats on the backs of co-workers as the last of the civilian submarines for that night made its way back to the surface having just delivered the first cluster of civilians to enter the very first underwater city simply known as 'Rapture'.
The construction of the city had taken a great amount of money, hard work and time. Billions had been placed into this project in the hopes of being able to maintain the ever growing population back on the surface. But after many years of hard labour, of going back and forth on plans and theories and outsider speculation, they had finally done it. They were all finally here.
"A toast!"
Hirashi Motsuwa was the main investor of the Rapture Project and he had been an integral part of the team that had been able to make this once unimaginable dream come true. He was one of the fathers of the project, and he wasn't about to let anyone forget it.
"A toast!" the gathered crowd cheered back at him as he stumbled his way onto a small two-man stage.
"To unimaginable dreams, and to everyone who made the impossible possible!"
"The impossible possible!"
The sound of clinking glass and laughter filled the air as music began to play out over the radio system. People slowly began sway, some couples beginning to dance before others joined the merriment. The room was awash with light and the joy over what they had all accomplished together.
"Heheheheehee!"
"Eriol!" Hissed one woman ushering her eleven year old son out of the room. She had put him to bed an hour before. While the civilians had arrived today for the first time with their families in tow, the workers had managed to bring and keep their families with them throughout most of the process, and mothers had put their children to bed in the hopes of being able to enjoy their success without having to be mothers for a night.
"But, we just wanted to see," Tomoyo explained, peeping from around the corner.
"Be as that may be, this is a party for grown up's. Not children."
"But, Mother-"
"No! Bed. Now."
Sighing, the two children allowed themselves to be ushered back into what was collectively known as the 'playroom'. It was the safest place in the whole of Rapture and all the workers children had been placed there since the very beginning of the underwater city.
*RUUUMMMBBBBLLLLLEEEEE*
"What was that?" Tomoyo asked gripping Eriol's hand.
*RRRRRRRUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEE EE*
"Go to the playroom! It's probably nothing. But I'll get to the systems room just to be sure. We're fine! Don't worry! Just get into bed, and try to sleep, okay?" Hiiragizawa Madoka shushed her children. Kissing their foreheads, she gave a last little push before rushing back to the main hall.
*GGGGGRRRRRRUUUUUMMMMMMMBBBBBBLLLLLLLLEEEEEEE*
"Do you think we're going to be okay, Eriol?" Tomoyo asked tugging his hand and leading the way back to the playroom.
"Of course! Why wouldn't we be?" He smiled back at her. "It's probably just a leak. It's not the first one we've had."
"Yeah! Yeah, that's probably it," she smiled back with a slight gulp.
*GGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMM MMBBBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEE!*
Sharing a look of fear and feeling the hairs on the back of their necks raise, the two ran back to the playroom hand in hand.
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2006
"This is exciting! Don't you think?" Li Yelan smiled down at her only son, hoping to encourage a smile in return.
"I suppose," an eleven year old Syaoran shrugged back. "Isn't it dangerous?" he asked.
"Not if we keep to the west wing," Kinomoto Fujitaka reassured.
It had been fifty-six years since the fall of the under-water city known as 'Rapture' and the world above had been left on horror at the amount of lives that had been lost in just one night. The very night that the underwater city had become open to the public for the first time. To this day no one knew what had truly happened that night, and although there had been a number of investigations at the time, due to the lack in knowledge and technology there had been no understandable reason as to why Rapture had fallen.
So, fifty-six years on and the first excavation team was descending into the ocean to attempt to find the cause. The excavation was to take no more than a month and as such some of the main investigators had decided to bring some of their families along.
"So, the west wing is completely safe?" Sakura asked, clinging onto her father's hand as they continued to rush down into the darkening depths of the sea.
"That's right. And if we're lucky we might get to see the 'playground'," Fujitaka smiled.
"What's that?" Syaoran asked his curiosity piqued.
"It's the room when the children were put as it was thought to be the safest place in the entire city."
"Oh," the two brunettes chorused.
Pressing a hand lightly to the glass of the pod, Syaoran thought he could see little yellow lights staring back at him.
"Is the electricity still working down there?" he asked, more than just slightly creeped out.
"Yes. But it shouldn't be much. The whole place was plugged up to generators which used the sea water to power the city. The generators themselves might've been damaged, but I'm sure that a few lights are still on here and there," Yelan explained, placing a hand onto her son's shoulder.
"Okay." Shaking his head slightly, he couldn't quite shake the feeling of being watched. Then again it could be because the only other person his age was staring at the back of his head. "Yes, Sakura-san?"
"Hoe! Nothing!" Turning away quickly, she instead looked at the other people in the pod with them. "There aren't a lot of us. Will we be enough, Dad?"
"More than! This is just a little excursion, really. Just to see if we can discover anything new."
"And we'll be the only ones down there?" She asked.
"Yes," Fujitaka answered sadly. "Unfortunately, there were no survivors that night. But you don't have to worry. There shouldn't be anything scary either," he grinned, kneeling down to her level. "And I'm going to be here the entire time, okay?"
"Okay."
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Dropping the small suitcase next to the wall, Syaoran took in his surroundings. They had managed to settle on a landing of some sorts with staircases going both up and down either side of them, and large slabs of rubble blocking the way. The only entry and exit that he could discern was the door that they had entered through. Or the glass ceiling. But he honestly hoped that that would never be an option.
Shivering like someone had just walked over his grave, Syaoran felt a set of eyes on the back of his head again. Turning around, the brunette pre-teen saw nothing but rubble.
"I don't like it here," Sakura whispered next to him.
"I don't either, but we're here now, so we'll just have to get used to it," he replied not taking his eyes off of the rubble.
"What is it?" The green eyed girl whispered.
"I don't- nothing. It's nothing. This place is just creepy," he shook his head slightly turning to face her. Sakura nodded her agreement. Something very bad had happened here, and it shouldn't be disturbed. Licking his lips, he grabbed her hand before trying to smile. "I'm sure it's fine though."
"Yeah..."
"Let's go explore. That might make us feel better," Syaoran nodded to himself.
"Maybe."
"Muqin1! Sakura-san and I are going to explore for a little bit."
"Alright, just don't go too far, and if an area looks dangerous turn back immediately. Don't touch anything either!" Yelan warned.
"Okay, we won't!" Sighing in exasperation, Syaoran tugged on Sakura's hand as he led them out of the landing and into the hallway. Like most of the corridors in Rapture the walls were made primarily of glass letting the two pre-teens watch as fish swam by on either side of them, their reflections pale and almost gaunt stared right back at them whenever they managed to catch their counter-parts eyes.
"Definitely creepy," he repeated in the barest of whispers.
Gulping and clutching each other's hands just that little bit tighter, Sakura edged closer to Syaoran with every step as though something was going to jump out of the glass at them.
"Did you see that?"
Stopping immediately, all Sakura could do was shake her head. Syaoran's eyes were focused off into the distant waters again, and he would swear that he could see two sets of yellow glows. They reminded him of eyes.
"There... in the next building..." not moving now, the two stared into the glass, Sakura hoping that she wouldn't see anything and Syaoran hoping that he was just imagining things.
"We should go back..." Sakura breathed, tugging lightly on him arm.
"Yeah..."
Syaoran only managed to turn part way around before he was frozen to the spot in fear. While they had been watching out one side of the glass they hadn't seen the huge hulking monster swimming up to the other side. It almost sat there, not moving and staring through a huge yellow-lit helmet. The mud-brown suit gave way to a metal claw and a horrifying drill.
Not daring to move, Syaoran never saw the yellow eyed child injecting Sakura. Nor did he notice as the same child injected him as his eyes were transfixed on the hulking mass just outside the window until darkness took his vision.
~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~
The first sound Syaoran heard when he began to come to was the sound of a pained groan. Half a second later he echoed the moan as his head throbbed and his arm hurt. Squinting, the brunette realised that he was lying on a brick paved floor and that he was lay on his side staring at a pair of dirty bare feet.
"Up," a young male voice urged.
Eyes travelling upwards, Syaoran pushed himself into a sitting position, eyeing the bluenette boy in front of him.
"Up. Please," the boy urged again.
Clumsily getting to his feet, Syaoran staggered momentarily before regaining his balance. One hand to his head, Syaoran felt the dizziness that had begun to overtake him melt away. The other boy smiled brightly back at him.
And it was with that smile that Syaoran registered just what was wrong with him. Behind a set of broken spectacles a set of cold, glowing yellow eyes stared back at him.
"What are you?" Syaoran asked in horror.
"A Little Brother. Come on, we need to see Big Daddy," the yellow eyed boy pointed to a fenced door where a light tapping was coming from.
"What's a 'Little Brother'? And who's 'Big Daddy'?" Syaoran asked staggering his way behind the other boy.
"We are Little Brothers. And you'll see Big Daddy in a minute."
"What's your name?" Syaoran didn't even want to ask what the other boy had meant by 'we'.
"...Eriol."
"Okay. I'm Syaoran."
"Shhhh!"
Ducking under the wire mesh Eriol disappeared before his head popped back through. "Come on."
Gulping, Syaoran bent down so that he could follow Eriol through. Coming out of the other side, Syaoran's eyes widened at the sight of the hulking mass that he had seen just before he had blacked out. He was just as terrifying as before, the drill dripping dark water, the yellow glowing helmet ominous as it seemed to stare at him – through him.
Feeling a slight push at his shoulder, Syaoran snapped back to himself. Quickly scanning the room, the brunette noticed at least another sixteen to twenty children – all with glowing yellow eyes.
Stopping himself from taking a half step backwards, Syaoran steeled himself before stepping forwards. He slowly and cautiously made his way towards the hulking mass, or rather 'Big Daddy'.
Come... forward... closer...
His teeth literally stung as the cold voice seeped into his mind.
Closer...
Trying not to look at Big Daddy straight in the helmet, eyes darting everywhere, Syaoran's movements stilled when he caught his own reflection in the pool of water surrounding his feet.
Just like all of the yellow eyed children in the room... he had yellow eyes too.
Closer... come... forward... come...
Fear is what made him take the next steps towards Big Daddy. Fear for his life, fear for what he was, what would happen, and fear for what would never come. Big Daddy's voice continued to seep, to coil and to posses his mind, and with each step, Syaoran let him.
The other Little Brothers and Little Sisters crowded around him and Big Daddy, and it was only with the last shred of consciousness that Syaoran registered Sakura among them.
~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~
When Syaoran next came to he was sat on a long bench with Little Brothers and Little Sisters, wire mesh covering the windows behind him and in front of him. In front of him a second long bench was filled with Little Brothers and Little Sisters going from one wall to the next. At the end of each wall was a little door which was just the right size for them to fit through.
Eriol was on one side of him – and with relief he realised that Sakura was on the other side of him. After blink slowly a few times, Syaoran turned to look at his own reflection in the window. Yellow eyes stared back at him. He could still feel the black tendrils in his mind, but he was still capable of sentient thought.
Sitting back down, the brunette took Sakura's hand in his.
"Are you okay?" he whispered.
"Yeah." Letting her head lean onto his shoulder, she cuddled into him her yellowed eyes glowing dimly as she stared at their now bare feet.
"How long have you been here for?" Syaoran asked Eriol.
"...I'm not sure."
"What year is it?" A girl sitting across from them asked.
"2006."
At the intake of breath, Syaoran assumed that they had been here a long time. Eriol and the girl exchanged yellowed looks before the girl answered.
"Fifty-six years."
"Hoe."
"You haven't aged? What do you do? What have you been doing all this time?"
"We Little Brothers collect the EVE," Eriol replied sadly.
"And we Little Sisters collect the ADAM," the girl finished staring straight at Sakura. "I'm Tomoyo by the way."
"Syaoran."
"Sakura."
"What's ADAM and EVE?"
"They are substances that we have to collect," Eriol replied.
"Why?" Sakura asked.
"Because Big Daddy tells us to."
"Why?" Syaoran asked, confused.
"Because Big Daddy tells us to," Tomoyo replied.
"And that's it?"
"Yes."
They fell into silence for some time while the two new recruits mulled over the information that they had just received.
"Who is Big Daddy?" Syaoran asked tentatively.
"Motsuwa-san. He was in charge of Rapture. I don't really remember what he was like before, but I do know that Big Daddy is Motsuwa-san," Tomoyo replied.
"He killed our mother," Eriol muttered. "And he's not going to stop."
~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~
It had never occurred to Yelan that the space they had settled into would be their last fortress against a bunch of little monsters. Little monsters with yellow eyes.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The horrifying banging had yet to cease for the past three hours. The group had been wandering in groups searching for two missing children. The search had been going on for just over a week and had so far proven fruitless. Yelan spent every night in tears over her lost son, and now she was more than sure he was dead.
Those horrible monsters had initially cornered them into a dark room with a stock room to one side through various noises, and glimpses of terrifying needles. Around the upper sides of the room a type of balcony overlooked the trapped investigators/excavationists. Standing around the balcony, wide yellow eyes glowing in the shadows and steel needles gleaming in the glow of the distorted children's eyes.
Then the screams began.
The miniature monsters would giggle before launching themselves over the balcony and onto the horrified humans below. The squelch of stabbing sounds almost drown out the cracking of bones as the Little Brothers and Little Sisters kill them one by one.
Barely dodging a Little Sister, Yelan falls to her knees, tears streaming down her face. These were children. Evil, demon children. But children. Dragging herself into a corner, she watches as some of the children leave with full syringes, the others almost fighting over the right to take.
"Ahh!"
Landing with a slam, a yellow eyed boy lands in front of her, a manic grin on his face – syringe at the ready. Giggling, the Little Brother raises his arm ready to jam the needle straight into Yelan's chest.
"S-Syaoran?" she stutters in absolute horror.
"Muqin, Fuqin2, Muqin, Fuqin. Are you there? Are you there?
Come and give me lollies! Come and bring me toffees!
Teddy Bears... Teddy Bears..."
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1Muqin is Mandarin for 'Mother'. Since Syaoran is Chinese I wanted to something a bit more personal to him.
2Fuqin is Mandarin for 'Father'.
Leoanda: Thank you for reading! Please review!