Bioshock!AU because I love the feels. I wrote this fic in 2nd person POV because I apparently like to make things hard for myself (though its mostly to preserve the 1st person feel of playing a game with a silent protagonist). They're short, sweet, and to the 'll be a "Good Ending" fic, with potential for a "Bad Ending" version later on.

-Shiro-

You very nearly shoot the man in the head when he peeks out from behind the frosted glass door and motions frantically for you to come inside. Though there's a faint smell of chemicals wafting from his lab coat and he looks like he hasn't slept in days, the sounds of Splicers scrapping lead pipes against the walls close behind is enough to drive you into the building behind him.

He locks the door behind you, peering out through the blinds at the band of Splicers stalking past through the plaza outside, only relaxing when their crazed ramblings fade off into the distance. "That was too close..." he says, running a hair through hair that has turned prematurely white. "Sorry about that, I can't risk the Splicers knowing I'm in here."

Here being a haphazardly thrown-together lab; just a small room crammed with tarnished steel tables and various glassware, all containing colored liquids flowing through a complex apparatus of tubes and flasks. The air smells sharply of boiling chemicals.

"You're the once shaking things up out there, aren't you?" he asks. "I heard the Splicers talking about you. I'm Shiro," he holds out a hand for you to shake, but you're hesitant. His hand looks odd, strangely shiny and oddly proportioned. You shake it out of common courtesy, and sure enough the touch is cold and rigid, made entirely of metal you realize. He seems to notice how uneasy it makes you and tucks the hand into his coat pocket, clearing his throat.

"I uh, I've been holed up in here for months, so sorry about the mess," he gestures to the cluttered lab. "I've been trying to synthesize a... cure, I suppose, for the ADAM addiction that makes the Splicers. I've had some luck but... nothing permanent so far." He sits down heavily on the edge of a table, heaving a tired sigh. "All of those people used to be normal. Sane. Well, as sane as someone could possibly be in this damn city," he says with a dry chuckle. "I want to believe that they can be saved. I have to, or all of this will have been for nothing."

He takes a deep breath and straightens, looking you straight in the eye. "Look, I know you've got problems of your own, but there's something I need to ask you to do for me. Four of my friends... they're Spliced, but not in the way most other Splicers are. I managed to stave off the mutations with a prototype serum but... their minds aren't their own anymore. Normally I can keep them lucid enough for them to recognize me, but I lost track of them before I could give them a fresh dosage. I'm still working toward a more permanent solution and I can't leave the lab and let the Splicers ransack my supplies," he stops himself, realizing that his voice had been steadily rising, and takes a calming breath. "What I'm asking you is to find my friends and administer the prototype serum," he reaches over one of the tables and pulls a small black case from the cluttered bookcase behind it. He flips open the lid to show the four syringes filled with clear liquid inside. "I'll reward you, of course," he says, closing the case and placing it on the table between you. "I've got plenty of ADAM stashed away in here, and I've got no use for whatever cash I still have, so you're welcome to it when you come back."

Agreeing to his terms brings a relieved smile to his face, his shoulders sagging as he hands you the case. "I can't thank you enough for this. My friends don't deserve to suffer more than they already have. Just let me warn you: They're more lucid than normal Splicers, but they are very dangerous. They'd been splicing up since before the Riots so they've had a long time to master those plasmids. You'll probably need to... knock them around a bit before you'll be able to get close enough to administer the serum. Just... please, don't kill them. They're all I have left."

He tells you where you're likely to find them, old haunts they would be drawn to in their unstable states; An apartment in Apollo Square, Fleet Hall in Fort Frolic, a lab in Point Prometheus, and a restaurant in Neptune's Bounty. A long way to go, but you feel it would be worth it. You turn to leave, but Shiro stops you on the way out.

"One more thing," he says, "You might run into a Little Sister around here. About 7 years old, white hair, carries a stuffed animal shaped like a lion. Her Big Daddy has a mustache painted on his helmet. Her name's Allura. You can talk to her if you like, her Big Daddy won't attack you if you don't hurt her. She knows a lot that might help you. I'm trying to save the both of them too."

He lets you leave then, wishing you a safe journey, worry etching itself back onto his face. There's a deeper story going on here, you can feel it, but as you walk back into the crumbling streets of Apollo Square to the sounds of Splicers cackling and the mouldering smell of damp gunpowder you remember that you have bigger things to worry about.