"New Years already?...Man, seems like just yesterday Jimmy and me walked through the Rapture Gates last January..." the bartender thought as he finished cleaning the glasses...preparing for the afternoon rush of early birds wanting to get drunk before the festivities. He looked up at the sound of the bell only to see his best friend, James, rush through the door, big stupid grin and all. "Speak of the Devil, I was just thinkin' about you." he said as he put the last glass down. "Done with work already? You don't usually get off till 5:30, and whats with the stupid grin on your ugly mug?" he asked knowing full well what the answer was. He'd only been talking about it for the past week.
"Oh, shut up Joey! You know exactly what I'm grinnin' about! Tonight is the night, I'm gonna ask her to marry me! It'll be so romantic...a nice dinner, the lights, the dancing. It'll be perfect! And how could I forget? The ring!" he exclaimed as he whipped out a huge rock on a small band. " I know she'll just love it. You knowas well as I do she's not really the romantic type , but tonight'll be magic. Just you wait." he trailed off as if deep in thought.
" You always have been a hopeless romantic, Jimmy, I'm sure you'll be just fine" Joey affirmed.
James looked up and smiled, "Better than fine, I'll be great. But, back to your questions" he said straight-forwardly, " Actually took off work today, they didn't need my help. I mean, Hesphestus pretty much runs itself, you know. I actually took the opprotunity to set up a little extra surprise for Heather. You see, she thinks that I'm working late and that she's meeting some of her friends here for a little girl time." He started laughing, " She loves those girl nights, so you know she couldn't resist. I'm going to be here when they show up, give 'em a little chit-chat time, and pounce on my prey with flowers in hand! I'll have a table all set up for us, and at the stroke of midnight I'll pull out the ring and pop the question"
He walked to the other side of the bar and looked out the window into the cold black abyss of the ocean. "Like the plan?" he asked. Joey was actually impressed, James typically didn't think these things through, but this sounded like a sound plan. Besides, Jimmy was a master of improvisation. If he had the slightest hint of a plan, it would be absolutely stunning.
"Jimmy, I think its a great plan" he assured James, "But, you don't wanna ask a girl to marry you dressed like that. Here." he tossed him a money roll, "Get yourself something snazzy. But hey, you owe me!" James looked at the roll in his hand with disbelief.
"There's gotta be 200 dollars here, I can't possibly-"
"You can and you will. I insist, you moron" Joey said in a firm manner.
"...You're the best, Joey!" he said as he tackled his friend and started putting him in a headlock.
"Man, not at work! We had a deal, remember what happened last time?!" Joey exclaimed as James' relentless attack overwhelmed him.
After pounding his friend into the ground, James got up and brushed himself off, beaming. "That's for calling me a moron, you moron." he chuckled. "What a guy!" he thought to himself. "I'll be sure to get him that gun he's been wanting. What was it? Oh yeah, the new 12 Guage at Power to the People!" He knew how much it took for Joey to give him that roll of cash. Barteneders in Rapture could line their pockets pretty nicely, but most couldn't afford to give away 200 at the drop of a hat. Grinning from ear to ear, he took the cash and left the restaurant. First stop, Power to the People's gun store!
Running down the lit halls, James marveled at the city that surrounded him. Rapture, the sunken city. An Atlantis-esque utopia where the greatest minds of humanity were gathered. A vast treasure of science, art, literature where no government could tell anyone what to do, mostly. Advertisements for plasmids and gene tonics; plastic surgery and weapons, everything that you could possibly want at your fingertips! Walking by the Plasmid store, he peeked in the window and began salivating at all of the cool advertisements behind the showroom glass. "I'll look around after I get Joeys gun" he thought to himself, but he couldn't move away from the invisible wall between him and genetic marvels. "Well, maybe just a peek" he smirked slyly to himself as he slipped in to check on the newest gene modifications. Sure, he was spliced a little. He had the Human Inferno and Shock Coil gene tonics that his job required. Being an engineer in the Hesphestus complex, the power source for the entire city, he was constantly surrounded by electricty and fire due to the system being geothermal in design. But looking around the Gatherer's Garden, he was amazed at all the modifications that were in front of his eyes. Everything from plasmids that turn your hands into a lighter to gene tonics that could...increase performance. After giving the store a look around or two, he picked up a gene tonic that would improve his reflexes as well as the Premium Performance Package. "Heather's in for a surprise tonight" he chuckled to himself as he was checked out at the counter.
Walking to his next stop, the malls music cut out and the overhead speakers sparked to life. "Hello, fellow denziens of Rapture, this is Andrew Ryan." James huffed at this.
"Who else could it be?" he questioned, "The guy pretty much owns the city". The voice continued.
"As of lately, there has been some...unrest among many in the working class. As such, I feel it is my duty to inform you that anyone associated with one of these...labor unions...that these are illegal organizations that will only hinder the progress of our society and way of life. Therefore, any protest against the running of an organization will furthermore be meeted with a discharge of any protesting individuals. Such parasites will not be tolerated. That is all." The voice faded away and was replaced by the voice of Frank Sinatra singing "I've Got You Under My Skin".
James cocked his head to the side, thinking about the mesage he had just heard. "Well, that's about half the staff I know in Hesphestus" he speculated. "They've been complaining non-stop lately. At least I didn't sign the petition they were passing around last week. Looks like there could be trouble soon" As he walked to the gun store, he couldn't help but stop to think about what some of the men had been saying. He remembered something about doing "whatever it took" to get some change. " But, they wouldn't?....nah, of course not. The guys aren't that desperate or stupid." he concluded as he walked in the front door of Power to the People. He strolled over to the shotgun rack and took a look at the new 12 guage. "Wow, beautiful weapon they have here" he mumbled to himself as he let his eyes scan the pricetag. "1200 dollars!". He screamed silently on the inside and kicked himself for buying those gene tonics before he came to get what he was after in the first place. "I only have one grand and 250 at least has to go to the tux and all the trimmings tonight!" He started pacing the room, thinking about what to do next.
"Can I help you, sir?" the saleswoman nervously asked James as he had made his fifth pass by her.
Brought back to reality by the kind quesiton he responded," What's the best deal you have around here for 750 dollars?" James was surprised when the girls face lit up.
" Well, sir, for 700 dollars you can buy our best pistol and get the two upgrades available to it. The Magnum Revolver, sir, is quite the force to be reckoned with when its clip is incresed to hold 24 bullets as well as having it fitted with an attactment to increase its power output. A superb addition to any gun enthusiasts collection. I greatly suggest you buy that!"
James was actually impressed. " Not a bad deal at all" he thought to himself, "Too bad I don't have another 700 dollars on me..." Realizing that he was daydreaming to himself again, he popped his head up and gave the woman a big grin. " Sounds great! I'll take it!" The girl, around 19 or 20 and obviously new, excitedly got the gun and boxed it up for him. He walked out of the store and headed to the clothing section smiling from ear to ear. " Time to pretty myself up. Can't have my girl seeing me all haggard the night I ask her to marry me, can I?"