A couple of pre-notes before you read this story...for those of you who have never played bioshock I am telling you right now that there is lots of death...so be warned, characters are going to die, one of them does already, also be warned that there will be no pairings in this as well as no fluff. So stay away if you don't like either of those things. Now then...enjoy.
Ch 1- Welcome to Rapture
Mid-Atlantic 1960
They told me, girl, your special, you were born to do great things. You know what? They were right.
The cold water of the Atlantic ocean surrounded Natsuki as she came to her senses, looking up she could see the vague flickering of fire spreading out across the water's top. Fearing she would drown she swam with all her might towards the surface, a propeller blade whizzed through the water mere inches in front of the girl's face with enough force that it would have easily sliced through her like a knife through butter. Feeling her breath waning she spurred herself onward even faster, she could see the plane's fuselage sink through the water slowly through the murky green.
Natsuki made it to the surface without a moment to spare, breathing deeply and relishing the crisp night air. All around her was metal debris and fire, not another living soul was insight. Some yards ahead of her she could see the plane's tail end sticking out of the water, sinking slowly into the deep abyss.
She thought she was dead, she was in the middle of the ocean without a life preserver or anything, there was no way she would survive the night. But an object in the distance caught her attention, spiraling up out of the water looked to be a lighthouse. Though Natsuki thought that thought was absurd, she was in the middle of nowhere, there was certainly no land around, the very object that lighthouses were supposed to prevent ships from colliding with.
However Natsuki had no other choice and so she swam for the tall, foreboding tower. The swim was short, if the plane had gone any farther than it had it would have crashed clean into the lighthouse. Natsuki touched dry land, or rather a flight of stone steps with several lanterns posted at intervals giving off light albeit very little.
Collapsing to the ground out of breath Natsuki was thankful if only a little that she was alive at the moment, she looked over to the wreckage, the plane's tail was just disappearing beneath the darkened water. Though the fire still raged, the only reminder that this was where the plane had crashed and Natsuki had no doubt that would be gone soon as well. The chance she would be rescued was slim to none.
Turning her attention away from her morbid thoughts, Natsuki peered up at the lighthouse, at second glance it wasn't a lighthouse at all, there was no lights on save for the dim ones that she was sitting next too. It was just a building, in the middle of the ocean. Natsuki thought it was too strange and rather than freeze to death she gathered her wits and proceeded up the stairs.
The flight of steps was short and ended in a small landing in front of a large set of metallic doors. The lighting here was better and she could see that the the doors had rusted considerably, though the salt water couldn't have helped any. One of the doors was ajar and Natsuki peered inside though that proved useless seeing as the inside was pitch black. Natsuki hovered at the entrance, a little afraid of what might lie beyond the doorway but a brisk wind that caused her to shiver violently made her think otherwise and before she knew it she stepped over the precipice and was surrounded by black.
Thinking that her brash action had been unwise Natsuki spun around to leave however just as she went for the door it slammed itself shut in her face, shutting off the only light source for the room leaving Natsuki in the pitch black atmosphere. She went to pry it open but the sheer size of the door as well as the weight of its material made it impossible for the girl to do anything about it.
Then suddenly the lights in the room turned on, momentarily blinding Natsuki. Blinking a few times and getting used to the new found light Natsuki turned from the door to be greeted with an enormous bronze bust of a girl, in front of the statue hung a red banner with the words, No Gods or Kings. Only Men, inscribed in gold lettering.
More lights started too flicker on beyond the statue and Natsuki followed them, seeing as her way back was barred. She climbed down several flights of stairs before she found herself in front of a bathysphere, it's large glass door propped open as if inviting the girl in. Natsuki, seeing no other choice, stepped into the metal sphere. The insides were bare, two small benches lined the sides and a pedestal with a lever sat in the middle of the sphere. Natsuki wandered towards the lever and pulled it, the door to the bathysphere swung shut and with a lurch the metal cage was dropping into depths unknown.
A light piece of music started to play and outside Natsuki could see signs labeling how deep the sphere was descending, 10 fathoms then another labeled 18 fathoms. Before the next label could appear however a small movie screen slid from the ceiling in front of the glass and the lights in the bathysphere shut off as well as the music.
A picture of what looked like the tower Natsuki had entered displayed itself for a moment on the white screen before another picture took it's place. It looked like an add to Natsuki, on it a man was lighting a cigarette for a woman with what looked like a flame sprouting from his fingers. At the top of the picture read, "Fire at your fingertips!" and at the bottom in large letters read the word, "Incinerate." and below that was, "Plasmids by Yuuki industries."
The ad left it's place only a few seconds after it had appeared leaving Natsuki to wonder what a plasmid was. The ad was then replaced by a picture of a young girl sitting on a plush chair, the words "From the Desk of Nao Yuuki." were displayed in the top right corner of the screen, a moment later and a voice echoed through the bathysphere.
"I am Nao Yuuki, and I'm here to ask you a question...Is a man not entitled to the sweat on his brow?" The picture on the screen shifted to a man whipping his forehead with a handkerchief, a farm in the background, "No! Says the man in Washington. It belongs to the poor." The picture shifted to a man being chased by a large eagle, the capitol building in the background, "No! Says the man in the Vatican, it belongs to God." The picture shifted again, this time a large hand was coming out of the sky and harassing a man, a church in the background, "No! Says the man in Moscow, it belongs to everyone." The picture turned too a man fleeing the hammer and sickle of communism, "I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose..." The screen slid away, "Rapture!"
Outside the bathysphere Natsuki could see the bright lights of a city, she thought she was dreaming. A city underwater was too impossible for the girl to believe, yet there it was in all it's majestic glory. A squid past by as the bathysphere moved along it's tracks, and Natsuki could see schools of fish swimming through the buildings. Large glass tubes connected each buildings, the only means of moving from place to place down on the ocean floor.
The girl's voice started to speak on the speakers again, "A city where the artist does not have to fear the censor. Where scientists would not be bound by petty morality. Where the great would not be constrained by the small. And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well."
The girl's voice faded though Natsuki barely noticed still speechless at the sight. She could see and hear a massive whale maneuver deftly through the wider 'streets' if they could even be called that. Then a new voice could be heard, though this time not from the speakers of the bathysphere but from a short wave radio that sat in a small holster to the side of the door.
"The lighthouse is all lit up like hellfire. Looks like some kind of plane crash." A man said.
"We're in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, how could it?" Another man answered.
"I dunno, but you best get over there and be quick about it, the splicers are coming."
"You've gotta be kidding, how do you even know anyone's coming?"
"We've got a bathysphere on the way down, and that means we have got company."
There was silence as Natsuki watched the bathysphere enter a small hole, and as soon as it had, it started to rise to things Natsuki couldn't even begin to imagine.
As the bathysphere started to rise Natsuki could hear talking on the radio, it was the second man who had talked before, "Just one more minute, the sphere, the sphere is coming up."
"Tate, the security is wanking all over, get a move on!" The other man answered.
The bathysphere rose out of the water, into an dimly lit entrance way, she could see a man with his back turned towards the sphere. In the darkness she couldn't tell anything else about him though she could hear his faint talking to someone Natsuki couldn't see, "Please lady, I didn't mean no trespass." Natsuki could hear the fear in his voice. The lights flickered off and flickered on, the man had backed up closer to the bathysphere, Natsuki could hear the sounds of a woman humming, "Please lady, just don't hurt me." The lights flickered again and the man had backed up to the point he was next to the sphere, in the shadows she could see a woman hunched over edging her way closer to the man "Just let me go, you can keep my gun."
Natsuki watched as the woman moved with inhuman speed and sank some sort of bladed weapon itno the man's stomach, blood spurted as the man was pushed back against he glass, letting out a sort of gargling sound. The woman retracted the blades for a moment before she thrust them in again slamming the man against the glass and lifting him off his feet. The man let out a few more gargles before the woman wrenched the blades out of him with incredible force and sending blood everywhere, much of it splattering against the glass of the bathysphere.
The lights flickered off again though Natsuki could see the dim outline of the woman and could tell that the woman could see her as clear as day and Natsuki couldn't help but be frightened. The lights flickered on again and she could see the woman a little more clearly now, she wore blood covered overalls and a mask over her face, in her hands she held two meat hooks.
She spoke in a ragged voice, "Is it someone new?"She asked rhetorically before she let out an inhuman scream and leaped several feet upwards and onto the bathysphere's roof.
Natsuki could hear the metal on metal scrapping and wondered if there was any way that whatever that thing was outside, because Natsuki decided that indeed it wasn't human, could somehow get to her and if she could whether she could do anything about it.
The bathysphere started to rock back and forth violently as the woman screamed and screamed trying to get to where Natsuki was residing. Thankfully to the blue-haired girl however the efforts of the woman proved fruitless and Natsuki watched as the woman dropped down several feet away from the bathysphere, landing effortlessly on the ground. The woman regarded Natsuki for a moment before she slunk away and out of sight.
"Would you kindly pick up that short wave radio?" The man from earlier spoke up and Natsuki obliged. "I don't know how you survived that plane crash but I've never been one to question providence. I'm Atlas and I aim to keep you alive, Now if you will just keep moving, we need to get you to higher ground. Take a deep breath and step out of the bathysphere, I won't leave you twisting in the wind"
The door to the bathysphere opened and Natsuki stepped toward the doorway, apprehensive that that woman would appear again and do what she did to that man to her. She carefully stepped outside onto a metal walkway, avoiding the increasing pool of blood and not looking at the body that was laying on the ground.
"We're gonna need to draw her out of hiding. But your going to have to trust me."
Natsuki sighed, "Your kidding me..." she muttered as she walked down the walkway, in front of her, several large sheets of metal slid down revealing the ocean outside and helped to illuminate the once dark room. Though it didn't do much to improve the decor, the entire area was in disarray, statues and pillars were crumbled, dried blood lay in splotches on the ground and on the walls. Signs from what looked like a protest lay sprawled along the ground forgotten.
There was only one way to go and as she approached a flight of stairs she could hear the humming of the woman and she had half a mind to turn around and take the bathysphere back to the surface. But she smothered her fear and continued on. As she rose the set of stairs the lighting turned back to flickering lights and darkness.
Atlas' voice played over the radio again, "Just a little further..." As Natsuki closed the gap towards a fallen pillar the woman jumped down from nowhere and screamed at Natsuki, but before the woman could do anything an alarm sounded out and several flying metallic bots swarmed into the room and unleashed a salvo of bullets into the woman. Every shot hit their mark yet the woman seemed unfazed. Though instead of rushing Natsuki the woman leaped up into a vent and disappeared from sight with the bots in tow, "Take that bitch!" Atlas screamed before he continued on in a more calming manner, "Alright then, now would you kindly find a crowbar or something. Bloody splicers sealed Tate in before they...God damn splicers" He trailed off leaving Natsuki alone.
Natsuki scrounged through the area, the only light was from the dim light the security camera gave off on the ground. It didn't take long before she found a wrench. She gave the thing a few practice swings unsure what she would do if she would actually find herself in a fight with one of those creatures.
"All right then, Would you kindly make your way through that rubble in front of you." Atlas said simply before the radio went silent again.
Natsuki looked at the rubble in front of her and with some effort managed to squeeze herself through the stone. As she entered the other side she could hear screams though this time it was clearly male. She was presented with another flight of stairs and at the top was a burning couch, as soon as Natsuki started to climb the stairs the couch was sent careening down. Natsuki flung herself to the left side of the hall way and only barely avoided being burnt to a crisp as the couch crashed into the ruble behind her barring her way backwards yet again.
Climbing the stairs Natsuki could hear some insane babbling ahead of her and as she exited the stairwell she was attacked from her right side by a man in a rabbit mask, wielding a wrench like her own. She barely managed to dodge the heavy metal object by flinging herself to the ground, executing a roll in the process and coming back to her feet facing the man. The man let out another scream and rushed her again swinging his wrench wildly, Natsuki easily dodged his attacks, this time ready for them and then made her own attack. She swung her own wrench down hard onto the man's skull and heard a clear and definite crack that made her stomach lurch a bit.
The man staggered a little letting out a small grunt but instead of falling down dead like Natsuki had expected he rose again and went on the attack again. Surprised Natsuki barely managed to evade another rampage from the man, getting nicked on the arm in the process. She didn't have time to look at the wound before she had to dodge another attack from him. Natsuki let out another attack, again hitting the man again in the skull, this time he stumbled to the ground and while he was down Natsuki brought her wrench down again and again. It took several swings before the man finally stopped moving.
Natsuki looked at the body, and wondered if she had actually killed the thing and somewhat disgusted that if she did she had actually killed a person, "But it's not a person is it?" She asked herself while she tried to clean the blood off her wrench with a rag she found lying about, "Definitely not a person..." She reasoned as she looked at the body, "What kind of person takes several blows to the head and lives."
Not wanting to stare at the body anymore Natsuki made her way to the only door that she saw in the room, but when she got close she found no way to open the thing. Turning on her heel and glancing around the room she noticed a set of staircases leading upwards, a neon sign hung over a balcony saying Plasmids. Seeing no alternatives Natsuki made her way up the wooden stairs, each step caused the wood to creek. Reaching the landing Natsuki was faced with some sort of vending machine, though instead of snacks or drinks, the only object inside the machine were syringes, inside the glass tubes was a glowing red liquid.
Natsuki grabbed one of the syringes and peered at it intently wondering what it was. She had no idea what the liquid was but for some reason she knew in the back of her mind that it wasn't dangerous. Throwing caution to the wind Natsuki rolled up the sleeve of her sweater and without a second thought jabbed the needle into her bicep.
Almost immediately her vision turned hazy and a cascade effect of red filled her vision, she could see the veins in her arm start to glow an odd blue and a feeling like fire spread throughout her body. She stumbled around a bit, dropping the vial in the process and staggered towards the wooden banister.
"Steady now." Atlas said soothingly over the radio, "Your genetic code is being re-written. Just hold on and everything will be fine"
However Natsuki couldn't hear, she gripped the wooden railing and with a final scream tumbled over and crashed into the ground below, passing out in the process of her falling.
So I'm going to try and keep my ranting to a low on this one...know that I am working on my other story for those that read that and am doing this story for a friend so this is probably going to be updated more often than the other, considering this is somewhat easier and ideas for my other story are becoming hard to come by.