Chapter 1: Right Place, Right Time… Wrong Guy
Author's Note Part 1: So in case you couldn't tell from the title of this chapter, I read a certain fanfiction, and now I'm writing my own Bioshock Fanfiction. Now, I started reading Bioshock Fanfictions nearly a year ago, but at the time I was only reading Bioshock: Infinite stories. The reason? I like stories with relationships between characters since it makes Bioshock seem a bit more "happy", and Bioshock: Infinite is the only one where there can really be a "relationship" because of Elizabeth.
With that being said, I'm sure you can see where I'm going to eventually go with this Fanfiction. And if not, then you can either wait to find out, or go and read "Bioshock: Right place, Right time, Wrong guy" By C. Mage to at least slightly know in advance. Granted, their story is what fully pushed me to write this, since I've actually been thinking about writing a Bioshock story for a while now. However, I am not going to copy them! Let me explain.
See, their story has succeeded in giving me quite a few ideas for this fanfiction, as well as given me solutions to problems that I thought up originally. Hence the reason I've named this chapter after their story. I want to give them credit. Granted, I'll be giving them even more credit throughout the story, but I digress. See, for those of us that have played / seen someone play Burial at Sea, I'm sure we were all heartbroken at the end, and only wished that "Atlas" could have died a much more slow and painful death in the original Bioshock game.
However, C. Mage found out a way to… I guess "bypass" the true ending, and I'll be doing something similar, yet different at the same time. And no, I'm not going to go into detail for you guys, since at this point in time, I'm still "The writer who teases his readers about his OC's backstory, as well as where he's going to eventually take the story".
Now, I do not believe that I have the ability to write out a story as great as C. Mage's, since you all know I'm not that good at Original Chapters. That and I don't know everything about the Bioshock series, and what I do know is what I've seen through playthroughs, and what I've read off Wikipedia about the game.
However, this doesn't mean that I'm only going to be sticking to the Bioshock plotline, since with the changes that I'm putting in, I'm gonna end up changing parts drastically, especially when it comes to parts that are specific to Jack. So, there are going to be points that this story is left to sit for months on end, much like my other stories. The regular chapters for this story are also going to take a while to get out since like I've already said, I don't know everything, so I'll probably be looking back through playthroughs and Wikipedia for more info as I continue this story.
Not only that, but I'm going to be making some… Changes to the Bioshock plotline from the beginning as well. I'll go more into detail during the actual chapter, but I guess that you could say that this is gonna have a more… "Modern" touch to it. After all, I think I'd have even more trouble writing this out if I stuck to the timeline exactly… You'll be able to tell what I mean right after you guys finish reading this Author's Note, if you aren't able to tell already.
But, I think that's about all I have to say for this Author's Note, so here's the first chapter of "Bioshock: Soul Survivor"!
[ IMPORTANT WARNING: Because of the nature of the Bioshock series, I want to warn you all at this time that when we reach certain parts that will include religion, politics and the like, I will attempt to veer away from it. However, there will be a few comments that I'll end up putting down from the OC during certain parts that I won't be able to just skip that will reflect what I believe. I just don't want to offend any of you at those points, so I figured that I'd warn you all now… Bur I have a feeling that despite my warning here, there's still going to be plenty of you who get offended anyways. ]
3rd Person POV:
Year: ?.?.?.?
Location: Mid-Atlantic
The ocean was restless at this point in time, and the cause could be seen clearly from miles away. A plane had crashed into the water, separating into hundreds upon hundreds of pieces, some of the larger of which remained floating on the surface, the metal either twisted, or aflame. However, despite this scene, there was one thing that happened that no one would have expected. The head of a person suddenly broke the surface… And they were still alive.
They coughed harshly for a few seconds, water dripping down their face as they started to tread the ocean in an attempt to stay above the water line, before looking around the area. They saw all the pieces of the plane through eyes that were blurred and stinging due to the salty sea water, but managed to make out one thing that was different. Off in the distance, a different kind of light could be seen shining over the ocean, and the person's confused mind managed to think of one word.
Lighthouse.
With that word in mind, and what it could possibly mean, the person began to swim in the direction of the light, which was like a beacon of hope. As they swam through the wreckage of the plane, pieces that had yet to be set aflame began to catch fire, one part being a fuel engine which exploded, sending more debris flying through the air, causing the person to flinch even as they continued to swim by these flaming metal pieces.
As they got closer to the lighthouse, the blurriness of their vision faded along with the stinging of the salt, and their eyes widened at the sight of the back end of the plane sinking into the ocean. As they stared, they felt themselves being pulled towards it slightly, and quickly broke free of the current that the sinking piece of the plane had caused, quickening their pace towards the lighthouse to avoid having it happen to them again.
Finally, they arrived at the island that the lighthouse was situated on, and they thanked the fact that there were steps that led from the sea level straight up the side of the rocky hill that took up the entire island. I don't think I would've been able to climb up the wet rocks as I am now… They think to themselves tiredly, before sitting down on the steps and letting themselves relax now that they weren't at risk of drowning. However, they continued to watch as the pieces of the plane burned, and the back end fully sank into the sea.
As they sit there, the lights that were set up on either side of the stairs illuminated them, allowing the person to be seen clearly. This person was a young man, who appeared to be around 19 years old. He had slightly tanned Caucasian skin, black hair that was matted to his head thanks to the sea water, and azure eyes that were reflecting the flames of on the sea as he stares at the wreckage of the plane in confusion and horror while he breathes deeply to regain the breath he'd lost from swimming to the island.
His clothes were also illuminated, revealing that he was wearing black combat boots, dark blue jeans, a white T-shirt that was currently soaked and would have allowed anyone looking at him to see his actual skin, as well as a black, short sleeved leather jacket that was unzipped in the front. All in all, it was a miracle that he was able to swim to the island with everything that he was currently wearing. But the fact that he was still recovering showed it had taken a lot out of him.
After a few minutes of sitting there, he finally lets off one more breath, pushes himself onto his feet, and then turns around and starts to make his way up the steps, his mind thinking about what had happened as it slowly returns to normal, and becomes less confused from what had transpired only minutes beforehand.
That bastard shot the pilot and co-pilot, and then he just sat down! He went ahead and murdered two people, before leaving the plane to crash into the ocean and kill everyone else! I'm lucky that I got out of there alive! He thinks to himself. However, when he reaches the top of the stairs, he finds that the man in question was lying there, coughing up blood due to a piece of the plane being stuck in his abdomen. Immediately the teen walks over to the wounded man, and balls his hand into a fist in the man's shirt as he lifts the top part of the man up off the ground.
"Why the fuck did you do it you bastard? You better have a good fucking reason, because if you don't, then I'm gonna take you, and I'm gonna…" However, the breath is taken out of his lungs when the wounded man turns to him, and the survivor can see his face. The man's face held nothing but a confused frown on it, and would occasionally twitch in pain from the metal piece piercing his abdomen. However, it was his eyes that took the other survivor's breath away.
They held nothing but confusion. The man had no idea why he had done it, and as the survivor continues to watch, he can't help but feel like he'd seen those eyes multiple times beforehand. But they were never the eyes of this man. No, they were the eyes of children. The eyes a human had when it was so young that it was still learning about the world around it. And as the teen watches, the light in those eyes dims, and the man dies.
When this happens, the other survivor, now the only survivor, of the plane crash frowns as he lays the dead body on the ground, and then straightens it out as he crosses the man's arms over his chest, and closes his eyes. "Rest in peace…" He says in a quiet voice, now knowing that somehow, the man hadn't been entirely responsible for what he did.
Hypnosis from terrorists? I mean, I always thought that it was a joke, but from the look in his eyes… He honestly had no idea what happened… Or maybe cybernetic implants? I mean, we have those thing, so who's to say that cybernetic implants haven't been made as well? The teen thinks as he turns to the entrance of the lighthouse, finding one of the large doors already open halfway, and figured that the man had tried to make his way inside before falling to the ground from the fatal injury that he'd gotten.
After walking through the doorway and looking around the dark area, he's surprised by the sound of the door closing behind him, and quickly turns to find that it's doing it on its own, before shutting and leaving the teen in complete darkness. Great. Where's the damn light switch in this place? He grumbles in his mind. However, before he has a chance to move, the lights around the room suddenly turn on one by one. Okay… That's not creepy at all… He thinks to himself.
However, the lights turning on by themselves weren't the only creepy thing about the room, as the teen figures out when he looks up, and recoils at the giant bronze bust of a man that was staring down at him, a red banner hanging under it with both ends being strung up on the walls on either side, gold words written onto the banner for anyone entering the lighthouse to see.
No Gods or Kings. Only Man.
After shaking off his surprise, the teen notices a bronze plaque in front of him, and walks closer to it so he can read the words that had been etched into it.
"In what country is there a place for people like me?" – Andrew Ryan
At the quote, the teen raises an eyebrow, before shaking himself again and walking over to the right around the railing that was in the middle of the room, all the while wondering what he'd found. I'm currently in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and I've stumbled across a lighthouse where a man doesn't want Gods or Kings to influence him, and a quote that makes me think he's some kind of criminal… Could this get any worse? He thinks to himself with a scowl, before he recoils as more lights suddenly light up to his right.
"…I just had to ask, didn't I?" He grumbles as he notices the lights are set up above stairs, and he looks down them. "…Well, nothing else to do here, might as well see whatever's down there." He mumbles as he walks down a few flights of the stairs, his eyes being drawn to a plaque he walks by and seeing some design on it with the word "Science" written below it.
After seeing this, his eyes are drawn to the other two that are nearby, another says "Industry", and the third says "Art". Each one had a design drawn onto it that apparently matched with the word. However, after seeing the designs, his gaze is drawn to the middle of the new room he'd found himself in, and his eyes widen at the sight that greets him. That sight being a large, spherical submarine.
The door to the sub was wide open, and the inside looked like it was supposed to be a simple transportation vehicle. It had padded benches on two sides, each one looking like it could comfortably fit four people, and there was a lever in the middle of the enclosed space at the back. The teen steps into the machine, looking around it a bit before looking back at the lever.
"…Why the hell not?" He asks, clasping the lever and pulling it down… Only for nothing to happen. When the machine stays just like it was, the teen lets off a sigh, before sitting down on the bench on the right, and leaning against the wall. "Great. Stuck in a machine in the middle of an island, where there's the possibility of some psycho madman living here, and I've got nothing on me but my clothes." He mutters.
"I can imagine my tombstone now. "Alexander Kirigaya. Lived through a madman's death game, attempts on his life, and a plane crash, but died because of starvation." Yeah, I'm sure that'll get a few chuckles at the cemetery." The now named Alex says with a frown, before shaking his head as he pushes himself out of his seat, and looking over the switch. "Well, if there is a psycho here, that means he has someplace to live. And that means food." Alex says, before shaking his head yet again.
"Well, might as well see if I can't do anything about it." He mutters. The next hour or so was spent looking over the switch piece by piece to see if there was anything wrong with it. As Alex did this, he left his clothes, sans his underwear, on the opposite bench from where he had sat down earlier in order to let them dry. When he couldn't find anything that looked like it was wrong on the outside, he tried to open a panel on the switch and look at the inner mechanisms. What he saw shocked him.
There were plenty of gears and electronics inside the mechanism, but his gaze was drawn to one in particular. There was a tube that had bright blue fluid running through it that looked like it was plugged into a certain socket to keep the sub as it was. However, there was another part that the tube could connect to a few inches away. So, throwing caution to the wind, Alex disconnected and then reconnected the line in the different spot, before standing up and pulling the lever for a second time.
When he did this, the lever sparked, before the sub's glass door closed. After a second, the sub shifted, and then began to descend into the water. Alex allows a smile to appear on his face as he brushes some of the fluid that had spilled onto his hands off onto one of the benches, before picking up his clothes and putting them on. By the time that he was dressed, he turns to look out the "window", only to see a large screen in the way as what looks like a movie starts playing, letting off fanfare before a voice starts speaking.
"I am Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?" The voice asks, and Alex notices how the pictures portray exactly what the man is saying. "No, says the man in Washington. It belongs to the poor. No, says the man in the Vatican. It belongs to God." Andrew Ryan continues while Alex looks at the screen as it first shows an eagle attempting to attack a man, before it changes to show a man holding out his hand towards a much larger one that was reaching down from the sky.
"No, says the man in Moscow. It belongs to everyone… I, rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose… Rapture." And as Andrew Ryan says the last word, the screen descends into the floor to reveal the sight outside the window, making Alex's mouth drop open. Because there in front of him, was a city. A very, very large city that was set up under the ocean.
My God… Alex thinks to himself at the sight, walking forwards and placing his hands on the glass as the recording of Andrew Ryan continues speaking.
"A city where the artist would not fear the censor. Where the scientist 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." Andrew Ryan says, and Alex can only listen as he continues to stare in shock at the city as the sub continues to travel through the water, passing by a large statue before showing even more of the great city of Rapture.
However, Alex's eyes are drawn to sparks that are being let off from one of the walkways that seemed to connect the buildings. But before he can get a good look at what's causing them, his eyes are instead drawn to the large whale that swims between the city buildings, letting off its cries beneath the water as it swims under the sub. Then, Alex is shaken from his stupor by a new voice that begins speaking.
"-But the lighthouse is all lit up like hellfire… Looks like some kind of… Plane crash." The voice, which was male, says. A few seconds later, a different male voice answers it.
"-We're in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean… How could it…" The voice trails off, and throughout the conversation, Alex continues to look around the city of Rapture, sagging slightly when he's once again reminded of the plane crash, and the man who had caused it. Whether intentionally or not. However, he shakes his head as the first voice answers the second one.
"Dunno, you best get over there. And be quick about it… The Splicers are coming." The first voice says, confusing Alex when he uses the term "Splicers". However, his gaze is drawn to the area he was entering, and the words that were written above it.
"All good things of this earth flow into the city" It read, but the "Y" in "city" short circuited, and fell off as the second voice replied to the first.
"You've gotta be kidding me. How do you know someone's even coming?" It asks in confusion.
"Cause we got a bathysphere on its way down. That means we've got company." The first voice tells the second, and Alex looks around the "bathysphere" in question as he enters one of the buildings, and starts to ascend. As he does, he gets a glimpse of a few posters that looked like adds, before they're outside his field of vision and the second voice starts talking again.
"O-okay, just one more minute… The 'sphere- The 'sphere is coming up now!" The voice exclaims, and Alex assumes that it was telling the first voice about this fact.
"Johnny, security's banging off all over… Get a move on!" The first voice exclaims, revealing the second one to belong to "Johnny" as the 'sphere raises out of the water into a dark room, which had ceiling lights that flickered inconsistently. However, as this happens, Alex wishes that he'd decided to stay in the lighthouse because as he watches, he sees "Johnny" backing up towards the 'sphere, another figure a few feet in front of him holding onto what look like hooks.
"Please, lady… I didn't mean no trespass… Just don't hurt me…" Johnny says in a scared tone as he gets closer to the 'sphere, his voice raising as the figure follows him. "Just let me go! You can keep my gun! You can-" However, his pleas fall on deaf ears as the figure suddenly lunges forwards, and Alex recoils as Johnny is pushed up against the window of the 'sphere, the hooks shoved into his stomach.
As Alex watches, Johnny lets off screams of agony, before the hooks are ripped upwards and out, causing the man to let off a gurgle of pain as he dies, and falls into the water that the 'sphere had just risen out of. And then, as the lights continue to flicker, Alex walks towards the back of the 'sphere when he sees the figure standing still in front of it, the sound of a woman breathing reaching his ears as it looks through the glass.
"Is it someone new…?" He hears her ask, before the lights flicker as she lets off a shriek, and Alex feels the blood drain from his face at the glimpse he gets of the woman. He could see clothes on her, but it almost looked like the entire right side of her face had been changed into one giant, red lump. Then, the woman leaps up onto the 'sphere, making it shake, and Alex can hear her tearing at it with the hooks that she had.
What the fuck?! How the fuck can she rip into the metal on this thing with those small-ass hooks?! He thinks to himself in panic as the 'sphere begins to let off electricity from wires that were cut, and he's able to see gashes in the metal. Luckily, it seemed that the female wasn't too bright, since a few seconds later she leaps off the 'sphere, lands on the ground, and then looks back before walking away in what looked like disappointment. Then Alex hears the voice from before start talking.
"Would you kindly pick up that shortwave radio?" The voice he'd heard talking to Johnny says, and Alex looks to see where it came from and sees the radio in question. He quickly walks over and picks it up, hooking it onto the belt that held up his jeans.
"Hello? Who the heck is this?" Alex asks, sending glances outside the window just in case that woman from before came back.
"…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 keep moving… We're gonna have to get you to higher ground." The now named Atlas says, and a few seconds later the door to the 'sphere opens. At the sight, Alex tenses, waiting to see if the woman returned. Now, he was fairly certain that if he was up against someone hand to hand, or even someone who had a blunt object, he'd be able to take them. But hooks? Without a weapon of his own? No way in hell.
"Take a deep breath, and step out of the bathysphere. I won't leave you twisting in the wind." Atlas reassures Alex, presumably being able to see him, and the survivor does just like Atlas says as he takes a deep breath before stepping out into the room, which had the part around the 'sphere lit up. Alex figured that Atlas had something to do with that, since he'd mentioned monitoring the security before to Johnny.
"We're gonna need to draw her out of hiding. But you're gonna have to trust me." Atlas says, and Alex takes another breath as he starts walking through the room. The first thing that drew his attention was a large chamber to his right, which had "Vita-Chamber" written at the top. He walked a bit closer to it, and flinched when it suddenly lit up. Looking closer, he noticed that it'd lit up because inside there were lights that moved around like lightning.
Walking away, he looks over his shoulder with a frown on his face. Honestly, the chamber reminded him of something from a videogame. He just couldn't remember which one, or just what it was that it reminded him of… He shakes his head, deciding he'd think about it later as he continues to walk. Looking around the room once again, he can see signs spread all around, saying things like "Rapture is DEAD." And "We're not your property!". One even read "Ryan doesn't own us!"
Alex shakes his head at the signs as he continues to walk through the room, mindful of the sound of feet running around, and making sure that it never got too close. Looks like Ryan's original views on this place went to hell… Then again, with what he was thinking… Well, humans have known for a while now that "Utopia" is only gonna be present if everyone is ruled over by an iron fist. And then that "Utopia" isn't really perfect, now is it? Alex thinks to himself with a frown, before freezing as a familiar voice starts talking.
"I'll wrap you in a sheet…" The female from before says in a whispering voice, which carries through the empty room and makes Alex shiver. Shaking his head to try and unfreeze, his gaze is drawn to a sign that had been hung up on one of the many pillars throughout the room. It read "Attention! All bathysphere travel is now denied!" He takes another breath after reading it, something he'd been doing a lot since exiting the water a second time, before he continues walking.
The lights beside him flicker as he walks up the stairs that led away from the 'sphere that he'd arrived in, before his gaze is once again drawn to something. But this time, he nearly loses his lunch when he sees just what it is. Written onto the wall are the words "You should not have come" However, it wasn't the words themselves that almost made Alex puke, but what they were painted in.
Blood.
Alex forces the contents of his stomach back into their rightful place, before taking another deep breath as he continues walking, trying to get over what he'd just seen, and read. Making it up to the top of the stairs, he looks around the new area that he found himself in. It was almost reminiscent of a damaged train station, with large columns holding up the ceiling, a few turned over baggage carts, and a large scheduling board, which had flickering words and times.
However, as he takes a few steps inside, the wall to his right suddenly lets off a large amount of blue sparks, and after recoiling, Alex manages to calm down and realize that one of the TV's that no doubt used to run ad's had short circuited. He shakes himself to try and get back to normal, and then walks further into the area. As he gets closer to the scheduling board, Atlas' voice comes through the radio once again.
"Just a bit further…" And after he finishes saying that, Alex can see the silhouette of the female from before drop down from the ceiling a few yards away, and freezes in fear. However, luck, and Atlas, are on his side as a camera that's on the back of the board suddenly zeros in on her, making the woman let off a screech of rage. "How'd you like that, sister?!" Atlas exclaims, though the way he says "sister" lets Alex know the woman isn't really related to him.
And as the woman shrieks in rage, Alex is surprised by the bullets that suddenly shoot at her, and look up towards where they're coming from to see some kind of security bot come into his sight, flying through the air with the use of propellers as it follows the woman, shooting at the hole in the wall that she uses to escape as the camera's light follows her, before returning to its normal position when she's no longer visible. As Alex attempts to regain control of his body after freezing up yet again in Rapture, Atlas starts talking again.
"Now, would you kindly find a crowbar or something? Bloody Splicers sealed Johnny in before they… Goddamn Splicers!" Atlas exclaims in anger as Alex finally finds the strength to move around, and look for a crowbar like Atlas had said. As he does this, he realizes that Atlas was referring to the woman from before as a "Splicer".
Guess that's the name for that freaky-ass woman who looked sorta like a clicker from "Last of Us"… Great, just what I needed. Zombies… Or at least something like zombies, since she could obviously talk. He thinks to himself, before he continues to look around as he looks down at the radio, and finds the button that'll allow him to talk to the person on the other end. He presses on it as he climbs over a bit of wreckage to look on the other side of the room for a weapon of some kind.
"Hey there, Atlas? Look, you seem to know that I came here from an airplane, so would you mind telling me just what the hell is going on? I mean, up until about half an hour ago, I had no idea this place even existed." Alex says into the radio as he looks around. There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, before Atlas' voice came through.
"That there's a long story, boyo. But, I'll tell you what I can." Atlas says. However, Alex takes a glance at the radio, having noticed something. Atlas seemed… Surprised, would have to be the word that Alex would use, that he'd talked.
It's almost like he was expecting me to be mute. Just like… Alex's thoughts trail off as his eyes widen, and it takes all he has not to suddenly yell at the man on the other side of the radio and demand answers. He was expecting me to be mute just like the guy up on the island. Which means that he's the reason that the plane crashed! And since he's talking about this place in a way that's meant for someone who hasn't been here, that means the guy really was being controlled by some means! Alex realizes with growing fear as he continues to look for a weapon.
His fear was fairly warranted. He was stuck down here with "Splicers", in a city underwater that had obviously gone to shit, and now he was talking to what he assumed was a terrorist of all people. How the hell do I get dragged into these kinds of things?! Alex thinks to himself as he finds a wrench. Well, it's not a crowbar, or a sword, but a weapon's a weapon against those things. But if I find something better, this thing is being dropped. He thinks to himself as he swings the wrench a few times.
Looking around for a way out of this area, he saw only two exits. One was the exit that the Female-Splicer had taken, which he had no ideas of using, and then there was the real one, which had partially caved in. However, a couple swings with the wrench fixed that, and Alex was able to duck into the newly made passageway. "First thing's first boyo, what's your name?" Atlas asks.
Alright, do not let him know that you're onto him. Alex thinks to himself as he takes a deep breath, hoping that Atlas would think it's because he was still nervous. In fact, it helped that he was still nervous. "The name's Alex." He tells Atlas, and there's more silence on the other end, solidifying what Alex had figured out since that obviously wasn't the dead man's name whose body was lying in front of the entrance to the lighthouse hundreds of miles above him.
"Well, it's good to see you still alive after that plane crash, Alex. Where're you from?" Atlas asks, and Alex realizes that this is most likely Atlas' way of finding out more about him. However, seeing as he was the only one who was able to help him, Alex decided to bite his tongue and answer truthfully. God forbid Atlas had any contacts above the sea that he could contact and figure out if he was lying.
"Good ole' US of A. I was visiting some… Family there, before I was heading back to the current country I'm living in, Japan, and on the plane ride that was being routed back through England, some guy decided that it would be a bright idea to shoot down the pilot, co-pilot, and then just sit on the ground and let the plane crash into the sea. Far as I know, I'm the only one who made it out alive. After all, I didn't hear the doors to the lighthouse open at any point after I got in there. And I ended up finding the guy who caused the crash on the steps, bleeding out. Poor bastard had part of the plane piercing his stomach." Alex told Atlas.
In response to this information, Alex heard Atlas go silent on the other end. At this point, Alex new for a fact that Atlas had some part in this, whether it was as another grunt, or even the one who orchestrated the whole thing. However, the silence also scared him slightly, since even if the man was a terrorist, he was the only one who knew what was going on around here. And if Alex wanted any chance of surviving, he was gonna have to go against common sense, and work with who he assumed was a terrorist.
So, he gave an audible gulp into the radio as he stood up in a new area. "Look… Atlas? I'm 19. I've been through a lot in my life, and I'm confident in a lot of stuff I can do. But right here? Right now? I'm scared shitless. I don't have a fucking clue about this place, and so far apart from that psycho bitch earlier, you're the only one that I know who knows his way around this place. So I just hope that I can trust you to help me get out of this place." He says as he nervously looks around the new area.
It wasn't much, just a staircase that led up to another level with posters on either side, but his gaze is drawn to the flaming couch that's suddenly pushed down the stairs at him, and he quickly leaps to the opposite side of the stairs, letting off a loud "Fuck!" as he dodges it, before panting as he realizes that he'd gotten out of the way just in time. Then, as he pushes himself to his feet, he hears Atlas' voice come through.
"Don't worry boyo, I've already told you. I'm not gonna leave you twisting in the wind. But listen, I've got a family. I need to get them out of here. But the Splicers have cut me off from them. If you can reach them in Neptune's Bounty, then maybe, just maybe… I know you must feel like the unluckiest boy in the world right now. But you're the only hope I'll ever see my wife and child again. Go to Neptune's Bounty. Find my family… Please." Atlas tells Alex over the radio. However, the survivor from the plane crash knows better.
He already knew that Atlas was something along the lines of a terrorist, and had obviously meant for that man from before to get here instead of him. So the family being stuck here was probably just a story that was made up to get him to do whatever Atlas wanted him to. However, even though he knew this, Alex had to pretend that he believed everything that Atlas said. And God forbid the fact that the man actually had a family trapped down here, and Alex ignored him due to his suspicion. So, he takes a deep breath as he begins to walk up the stairs.
"Atlas, I only just found out what it feels like to have what you do a few years ago. But if you help me get out of here, then I promise you that I will- Shit!" Alex exclaims as he turns to go right after exiting the stairs, only to jump backwards as a metal pipe swings through the air in front of him, a man with bandages wrapped around his head holding onto the other end. Another Splicer, this one a male.
"I'm not a bad person! I'm not!" He exclaims as he continues to swing the pipe at Alex, who dodges every time. Then, gritting his teeth, he waits until the man swings again, sidesteps it, and then swings the wrench in his hand. It connects with the Splicer's head, and sends him stumbling… However, that's all it does as the Splicer shakes it off, and then charges forwards once again.
"God damn it!" Alex exclaims, dodging another swing before knocking the next one aside, and then stepping forwards and punching the man in the gut, before bringing the wrench down on his head, sending the man to the floor. However, the Splicer simply attempts to push himself off the ground, and Alex closes his eyes as he brings the wrench down a third, and then fourth time. After that, he allows one of his eyes to open, and sees the Splicer lying there, the pipe laying on the ground next to him, and a wound in the back of his head seeping blood.
At the sight, Alex backs up, takes a few deep breaths… And then turns around and empties the contents of his stomach onto the ground. After he'd thrown up the little food he'd had on the plane, He takes another few deep breaths, and shudders after seeing the corpse out of the corner of his eyes. After a few seconds, the radio crackles to life, and Atlas' voice comes through.
"You alright there boyo? You cut yourself off and I haven't heard from you for the past few minutes. You haven't died on me, have you?" He asks, and Alex gulps in some more air before answering.
"No… No, I'm here… I just… God, I just murdered someone in real life…" Alex mutters as he stumbles, and slides down onto the ground against a wall. Placing the hand that wasn't holding the wrench on his head.
"Look boyo, you did what you had to. Otherwise, you wouldn't be alive right now. This is the way that Rapture is, and if you want to continue to survive, then you're gonna have to learn to live like this…" Atlas explains, and Alex can hear a touch of concern in there. However, he figured that was just to make it seem realistic so that he would continue to do whatever the man wanted. So, he takes a deep breath, grabs the wrench, and pushes himself to his feet.
"You're… You're right Atlas. I… I think I'm good for now." He whispers in fear and horror as he walks up the stairs that he'd sat next to. As he does this, he doesn't noticing the large neon sign that he passes that says "Plasmids" underneath a large neon hand, which appeared to be shooting lightning. That's how out of it he was from his first kill, and he's only snapped out of it when he makes it to the second level, and a little girl's voice rings through the air to his right, making him whip his head towards it.
"My daddy's smarter than Einstein! Stronger than Hercules! And lights a fire, with a snap of his finger! Are you as good as my daddy mister? Not if you don't visit the Gatherer's Garden you aren't. Smart daddies get spliced, at the garden." The girl's voice rings out from a machine that looked almost like a large version of some kind of vending machine. But it wasn't selling food or drinks.
In fact, as Alex came out of his haze from killing the Splicer and looked closer, it looked more like the Juggernog machine from Call of Duty Zombies. The color scheme was even similar. However, the two cartoonish girls standing on either side with flowers at their feet was different, along with what it was selling. The left side that displayed what it was selling was closed, but the right side looked like it had been ripped open, and showed a large jar filled with red liquid, as well as a syringe next to it.
Alex gulps at the sight, and presses on the talk button on the radio at his side. "Atlas… Please tell me that I don't have to do, what I think I have to do at the Gatherer's Garden…" He says, and the radio crackles as Atlas responds.
"Sorry boyo, but if you want to survive through this mess, than you're gonna have to use Plasmids. Now it should be pretty straightforward. Just inject the syringe into any vein, and press down on the plunger. You'll be using those things in no time." Atlas says, and Alex swallows the lump in his throat, feeling his throat burn as he also swallows some of the stomach acids that had remained in his mouth, and walks up to the "Plasmid" as he slips the wrench in between his belt and his waist.
He picks up the syringe, noticing how it was empty, and then looks at the large jar beside it. He lets out a shaky breath, before taking the top off the jar, and then sucking some up into the syringe until it was full. Then he places the jar back down, and looks at the syringe. He takes one last shaky breath, before tensing his arm, pressing the syringe against his skin above one of his veins, and then pushes through into the vein and pushes down on the plunger.
The reaction is instantaneous. Rid lines appear at the edges of his vision as he grunts in pain while the feeling of liquid fire racing through his veins appears, and his muscles clench all along his body. After the plunger is down all the way, he yanks the syringe out of his arm, and drops it to the ground as his left hand starts to jerk, and he sees blue energy, which looked a lot like lightning, start to cover it. After dropping the syringe, he holds up his right hand, and finds similar energy arcing along it.
As he backs up, his head starts to swim due to the pain, and energy arcs between his hands as he brings them closer together. While this is happening, the radio activates again, and Atlas' voice comes through. "Steady now! You're genetic code is being rewritten! Just hold on, and everything will be fine!" He assures Alex through the radio. However, at this point Alex is in enough pain that he's crying out, before his back meets the railing, and he falls over it, turning in the air just in time for his body to meet the floor, and cause him to black out from the extra pain.
When Alex opens his eyes, the pain is still there, and he has a harder time seeing than when he'd been swimming through the ocean after the plane crash. However, he is able to hear the muffled sounds of feet walking on the wooden floor, and can just make out the blurry outline of someone walking near him before he sees them turn, and kneel down by his side, a pipe coming into view and revealing to Alex that this was another Splicer. However, with the amount of pain he's in, he can't do anything but watch and listen as he begins speaking.
"This little fish looks like he just got his cherry popped! Wonder if he's still got some ADAM on him?" He hears the Splicer wonder, and he closes his eyes as he sees him reach over him, no doubt to pick his pockets. However, after a few seconds of silence, he hears something that sounds like a loud, mechanical droning, and a second Splicer speaks up.
"You hear that? Let's bug!" He exclaims, and Alex opens his eyes a second time just in time to see the second Splicer exit his field of vision, and the first one stands up to swing the pipe in the fleeing Splicer's direction.
"We~~~ak! You're a weak chopper!" He exclaims, and Alex can hear the fleeing Splicer's footsteps stop.
"This little fish ain't worth toeing it with no Big Daddy." The second Splicer says, and Alex's vision starts to clear up slightly as the first Splicer responds.
"Yellow! Always have been!" It exclaims, before kneeling back down and looking at Alex as his vision starts to become blurry once again. "You'll be no better off with the metal daddy, little fish. See you floating in the briney…" He says as he stands up and runs after the second Splicer, leaving Alex to close his eyes and fall unconscious once again.
When he opens his eyes for the third time, it's just in time to see a large metal boot slam down in front of him, before a hand enters his field of vision, and then another arm can be seen on the figure's other side which, in place of a hand, has a large, metal cone, which had a corkscrew designed around it… No, wait… It's a drill! The back of Alex's mind screams in fear. However, that does nothing for Alex as his eyes close once again, only to open a few seconds later, unlike the last few times.
As his eyes open, it's to the sight of what appears to be a little girl walking in front of him, holding onto a large syringe. However, something seemed… Off, about her. But with his hazy mind, Alex couldn't figure out for the life of him just what it was. And as his eyes start to blink, the girl stops in front of him, and turns to face the large figure from before.
"Look Mr. Bubbles, it's an angel!" She exclaims, but for Alex, she sounds like she was on the opposite end of a cell phone call. "I can see light coming from his belly…" She says, and as she gets closer with the syringe, Alex does everything that he can to do something to let her know he's awake, but with the pain running through his veins, all he manages is to move slightly, and let off a deep breath of pain. However, this seems to let the little girl know that he's still there, as she suddenly backs up.
"Wait a minute… He's still breathing." She says as she turns to the large figure, before turning back to Alex as he tries to say something, only to fail as the pain continues to run through his body. "It's alright… I know he'll be an angel soon." She continues, and her words make his blood freeze, even while the rest of him feels like it's aflame. And as the girl walks away and his eyes blur, he swears that he saw the large figure turn towards him one last time, before he slips into unconsciousness once again.
The next time that Alex wakes up, the pain had gone away, and he's able to push himself onto his feet with a groan of pain, stumbling slightly as he attempts to regain his sense of balance after lying on the ground for so long. After a few seconds however, he hears his radio turn on once again, and Atlas' voice comes through. And even though Alex knew the man was some kind of terrorist, he was glad to hear another voice talk to him after what he'd been through.
"You alright boyo? First time Plasmid's a real kick from a mule. But… There's nothing like a fistful of lightning, now, is there?" He asks, and at his words, Alex looks down at his right left hand which currently had blue energy running through his veins. After a few seconds, he sees lightning run across his fingers, before cutting out as the energy continues to run underneath his skin.
He clenches his hand into a fist, noticing the electricity reappear, before loosening it and seeing said electricity disappear once again. That'll come in handy… Hell, this whole "Plasmid" thing will come in handy. Alex thinks to himself, before shaking his head as he looks around and notices that the panel next to the door he has to go through is sparking. Walking near it reveals that it's the door's automatic opening system, and that it was probably fried. However, after glancing between his hand and the electrical box, Alex quickly thinks of a solution.
He holds his hand out and points it towards the box, closing his eyes and thinking about how he could use his new "superpowers". So, he goes through his brain to try and think of something. Come on… Lighting powers… Or Electrical, whichever you prefer Alex. Just think… Aha, like with swords, only with your arm! He thinks to himself, and opens his eyes as he wills the lightning into the palm of his hand, and then imagines himself shooting out a stream of lightning.
What happens is the lightning bolts that he'd imagined shooting out of his hand and striking the electrical box, overriding what it had short circuited before, and causing the door to immediately open for Alex. However, after looking at the open doorway with a smile at his handiwork for a few seconds, his gaze is drawn to something next to it, and he leans in to look at the name, before calling Atlas on the radio.
"Say, Atlas… What's a Pneumo?" He asks, and the radio crackles a few seconds later.
"A Pneumo? It was a way of getting letters and other items from one person to another throughout Rapture. They should still work… At least as long as the green light on the front is on." Atlas explains, making Alex's eyebrow raise.
"So it's like mailing, only faster. Huh, this place really thought of everything so far… Except Wi-Fi." He says as he turns to the doorway and walks through it. However, after a few steps, he feels the entire walkway that he was on shake, and he's forced to catch himself on the reinforced glass that's keeping the water outside. "Holy shit! What the fuck was that?!" Alex exclaims as he looks around, only to feel the blood drain from his face when he sees what caused the tremor.
The back end of the plane that he'd seen sink to the bottom of the ocean earlier had apparently gotten caught on the rocks quite a ways away from the pathway that he was in, only to get free somehow moments before. And now, it was rocketing through the water towards said pathway like a guided missile. Suddenly, the pathway shakes once again, only this time it was caused by part of the plane crashing through the glass, and getting wedged into it.
Luckily, it hadn't gone all the way through, so the water was only leaking in. It hadn't caused the whole place to become filled in a matter of seconds like it would have if it'd broken through both end of the pathway. After staring in shock for a few seconds, Alex realizes that the pathway is still filling with water, since the door had apparently closed behind him, and he quickly runs towards the back part of the plane, hoping to find a way either under or through it to the other side.
Lady Luck was apparently on his side as he's able to get into the plane itself, and then spot an emergency exit that had its door blown off, allowing him to jump out through it and onto the other side of the pathway. However, it appeared that Lady Luck wasn't entirely on his side at the moment, as the glass around the pathway starts to gain cracks, and more water starts to rush in.
The thought of drowning was a good motivator to get Alex running, and as he makes a turn to get to the exit on the other side, he sees a different pathway break apart, causing him to run faster. Water fills the floor as he runs, and the exit is in sight as he passes by a different door, which was bulging inwards from the extra water pressure against it. Come on… Come on…! He thinks, running up the stairs towards the exit.
As Alex gets closer, the door opens, and he rushes through without a second thought, turning around to see it close just as the wall of water makes its way inside the path, and turns the bend that he had run around only seconds ago. He sighs in relief at the sight, before letting the adrenalin wear off as he slumps against the wall, and watches as water slowly leaks into the room. Well, it's better than the door breaking down and allowing the sea itself to rush in. He thinks to himself, before pushing against the wall and standing up to look around.
This time the area that Alex found himself in was fairly dark compared to the last room he'd been in, with the only lights coming from the door, an orange, overhead light, and the lights on the buildings outside that could shine into the room thanks to the windows to his right. However, his gaze is also drawn to the area to his left, which had another one of those "Vita-Chambers". He furrows his eyebrows as he once again attempts to remember what it reminded him of, before shaking his head when he can't.
After a few seconds, Alex makes his way into the area on his left, and his gaze is immediately drawn to the syringe that's lying on a mattress, and is filled with a blue liquid. He picks it up with a raised eyebrow, before turning on the radio once again. "Hey Atlas, I found some syringe filled with a kind of blue liquid. Any idea what it is?" He asks, hoping that the man would be able to tell him something after the amount of time he'd been down here.
A few seconds later, the radio crackles to life. "That'd be an EVE-Hypo boyo, it's what keeps that Plasmid of yours from running out of power. You're gonna need as much of it as you can if you want to survive down here." Atlas reveals, and Alex stares at the syringe for a few seconds in response, before tensing his arm, and injecting the EVE into it.
After the feeling spread throughout his body, and he felt the energy of his Plasmid return to normal, he turns around towards the door that was on the opposite end of the room from where he'd entered. However, as he watches, a figure suddenly runs across his field of vision, sparks being thrown up from the ground due to the object that it was holding being dragged across the ground as it ran.
"Shit!" Alex exclaims as he jumps back from the sudden sparks, and the radio crackles as Atlas starts to talk again.
"Splicer! Give 'em the combo! Zap 'em then whack 'em. One-two punch! Remember, the one-two punch!" Atlas exclaims, and Alex has to take a breath to calm himself down from what he'd seen. However, he doesn't get long as the Splicer suddenly runs back into his field of vision, and charges straight at him. When Alex sees the Splicer running towards him with a metal pipe in its hand, he immediately does as Atlas suggested.
He raises his left hand, the energy running through his veins, and then fires off a bolt of lightning that causes the Splicer to start twitching as the lightning dances across his body. Then, Alex quickly rushes over before it can wear off, and swings the wrench down onto the Splicer's head, causing him to fall to the ground. However, just like the other Splicer, it doesn't do much of anything, and Alex is forced to cave in the head of this one as well.
He takes a few deep breaths after taking out the Splicer, before his head whips towards door that didn't have any water pressing against as it opens. The sight that greets him is the silhouette of another Splicer, who stays standing there for a few seconds, before lifting his weapon of choice, which Alex couldn't make out due to the light shining into the room from behind the Splicer.
"I found her that way! I swear!" The Splicer exclaims, utterly confusing Alex since there wasn't a female in sight. However, he's quickly forced to refocus on the Splicer as it rushes towards him, and he dodges the first couple swings before swinging his wrench at the Splicer's head, making him stumble backwards, and allowing Alex to shock him, before beating him over the head with the wrench once again.
After taking out the second Splicer, Alex takes a few deep breaths to get over what he'd done. That's three people I've killed in real life now… Three lives that were taken by my hands down here under the sea… But, if I didn't do that… Then there's no doubt they would've killed me… So, it's self-defense… Just like those time… Right? He wonders, before he forces himself to shake his head to clear it of those thoughts, and then look on the other side of the room for anything that'd help him.
He ends up finding another EVE-Hypo, before finding a tin that was colored red and white, with a familiar symbol of two snakes surrounding a staff colored in red on the front. Alex immediately realizes this is a First-Aid kit, and stashes it inside one of the pockets of his jacket for later. Cause something tells me that I'm gonna need it with all these psychos running around… He thinks to himself with another deep breath when he remembers Atlas' words earlier about how he was going to be forced to kill more of them to survive.
After managing to calm down, he makes his way out through the door that the second Splicer had come through, and starts to walk up a broken set of stairs. As he gets closer to the top, he hears another voice talking. This one was close by, and it wasn't coming from a radio. "Tell Ryan I'm sorry, it won't happen again… No, no please! Don't do that! The whole thing will go! No!" And as Alex reaches the top, he hears and sees an explosion.
The result is the elevator shaft that it had went off in dropping to the ground floor, as sparks were let off from where the elevator had previously been. As Alex looks at the scene with wide eyes, the doors a few feet away from him open to reveal a burning Splicer. "Don't fucking judge me! Come on!" The Splicer exclaims, and as he rushes towards Alex with his weapon dragging along the ground, the teen raises his left arm, and shocks the man.
After beating in the head of the Splicer, he shakes himself, and then looks towards the doors that the burning man had come from. He walks through the doors, and immediately sees the wreckage of the elevator that had been blown up by the burning Splicer he'd killed a few seconds ago. However, as he looks around, he sees sparks fly from the doors he'd just walked through, before he feels the entire area shake.
As Alex stumbles to regain his footing, the glass that made up the ceiling above him began to crack, and he looks up as said cracks begin to leak in water. "Shit." He mutters, looking around for a way out, and sees that there was one other elevator that was on this floor. He rushes over to it, and presses the button that would take him to the top floor. The gate closes behind him, and the elevator begins to ascend, leaving behind the room that would soon be flooded.
As the elevator rises, the radio at his side crackles to life once again, and Atlas' voice comes through. "You alright there boyo?" He asks, and Alex reaches down to press the "Talk" button on the radio.
"Yeah… Yeah, I'm here Atlas." He says, before swallowing the lump in his throat. "Look… Is there, is there anything that I could do that might allow me to just, I don't know, bypass the Splicers? I mean… I've learned a lot over the course of my life so far, but it's never felt right taking a life..." He says with a shaky breath. He receives silence from the other end for a few seconds, before Atlas responds.
"I'm afraid there's nothing that can be done boyo. Down here in Rapture, the Splicers try to get ADAM any way they can. So unless you can find a very large amount of it, and keep it on you to throw away when they come at you in order to distract them, you're gonna have to get used to this." Atlas says, and then goes silent for a few more seconds as the elevator gets closer to the top floor before he starts talking again. "I know this can't be easy on you. But if you want to survive down here, it's what you're gonna have to do." Atlas tells Alex, who releases a shaky breath in response.
"Yeah… I get that… But it's not going to make it any easier." Alex says as the elevator stops on the top floor, allowing him to release another breath before stepping out into the new area. The sound of electricity crackling makes his head whip to the left, only to see yet another Vita-Chamber, now active. Alex lets out an annoyed grunt at the sight, still annoyed at the fact that he couldn't find out about them, before he hears another voice.
He slowly turns to his right, and sees the shadow of a woman standing over a carriage being projected against the wall of a hallway a few feet away. As he listens, he realizes that she's singing some twisted version of "Hush Little Baby", and feels his stomach churn at what he hears. As he walks around the bend, he can see the woman in question standing in front of the carriage, but he can also see the deformities that marked her as a Splicer.
But is she as far gone as the others? She's not running around trying to kill anyone… Alex thinks as he slowly walks towards the woman, only to freeze when he sees that inside the carriage wasn't a baby, but a six shot revolver. After a few seconds, he forcibly shakes himself, before walking towards the woman once again. As he gets closer, his left hand fills with lightning, and he shoots her with a bolt.
This causes the woman to stiffen, before he takes another two steps and bashes in the side of her head with the wrench, causing her to drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Alex stares down at the body for a few seconds, before releasing another shaky breath as he turns to the carriage. Looking down at the revolver, he reaches out and picks it up, his hand trembling slightly as he holds it, before he jumps a few feet in the air at the sound of the radio suddenly turning on.
"Plasmids changed everything. They destroyed our bodies, our minds… We couldn't handle it. Best friends butchering one another, babies strangled in cribs. The whole city went to hell." Atlas tells him, and Alex swallows the lump in his throat as he looks down at the energy coursing through his veins.
"And me? What's gonna happen to me if I continue to use this stuff? Am I gonna end up like her? Or the other Splicers that I've been forced to kill?" Alex asks, and there's silence from the other end for a few seconds, before Atlas responds.
"I can't say for sure boyo. But since you've come from up on the surface, and you haven't had to live like the people down here, using Plasmids since at least the age of ten, there's a chance that you won't be affected like them. We can always hope." Atlas tells him, making Alex release another shaky breath as he checks the bullet count in the revolver, finding it fully loaded with six shots.
"…We can hope and pray, but if something starts to happen to me because of this stuff… Then I'm gonna have to learn how to use other things to my advantage instead of the Plasmids. Because I want to get out of here without becoming a Splicer." He says as he turns to the doors that would lead to the next area of Rapture. After taking another few deep breaths to mentally prepare himself, Alex walks forwards, and through the doors.
Author's Note Part 2: Well guys, how's this for a first chapter? Since Bioshock isn't exactly set up in ways that will allow me to go through "levels" and write out chapters for each of them, I'm going to be doing something different. For this story, I'm going to be shooting for around 10,000+ words per chapter. Granted, with the playthrough that I'm using for this, you guys can probably expect for there to be at least a hundred chapters for this story as a result…
But, I have a feeling that you guys will like that, since it means more for you to read. However, that aside, let's get to talking about the actual chapter, since I'm sure you want to know as much as you can.
So in this chapter, I've already changed a few things around from canon. First and foremost, Alexander Kirigaya was also a survivor of the plane crash, but Jack ended up passing away. Now, for those of you who haven't read C. Mage's story "Right Place, Right Time, Wrong Guy", and you're complaining about how my OC found out about Atlas' trickery right off the bat… I have a few explanations.
My first explanation is that if you read C. Mage's story, their OC finds out about Atlas' trickery just as fast. Not only that, but you guys don't know about my OC's past. So, you have no idea just what it is that he's been through. (Even though I've been alluding to it…) That, and as C. Mage showed in their own story, Atlas is the kind of guy to plan things out, and if things change, then he'll find a way to make the situation work out for him. However, the fact that Jack died and Alex was the one to survive definitely threw him for a loop.
And as you can see, my character doesn't like the idea of killing. Not only that, but he's been completely nervous this entire chapter, which you could probably tell by the amount of times I made him panic, and attempt to calm down. Now, he'll get used to Rapture fairly quickly due to his past, but it's going to take a couple chapters. So, for this chapter, and at least part of the next, you can expect Alex to still be nervous about Rapture.
Now, I think that's about all I have to say for this chapter. So, thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this, and I hope to see you all in the next chapter!
[ One last thing. This story has been sitting on my computer for a few months now, and I've just gone back through it for something like the third time to check it before posting it. So, even though I just posted my new Hellsing story yesterday, know that this one was made months beforehand, and I just figured I might as well post this to help myself stay on task with writing, so I don't go on another few months long break. ]
