Rapture Chronicles: Volume I

Somewhere under the Atlantic, 1956

Anticipation. A sharp pain. A flash of blue light. And then a rush coursing through my body. Ecstasy like no other. Starting in my wrist and swiftly working its way up my arm, then into my chest, down my right arm, into my stomach, my legs. Running up my neck and washing over my face like a wave of water, leaving me cooled and refreshed. Extending far into my fingertips, my toes, the ends of my hair, reaching my every extremity. Invigorating my every fiber, awakening my every nerve. I feel new, alert, attentive, young. I am completely aware of my every movement, my thoughts, my subconscious mind. I feel pure joy. I can appreciate everything from the elaborate architecture of the great buildings outside, to the penmanship of the envelope on my coffee table. I love the world, I love life, I love my family, I love myself. It is all so good and beautiful. Then I close my eyes and draw in a long, slow, cleansing breath and I can feel something well up inside my abdomen. It starts as a small candle flame and as I breathe it grows, fed by the oxygen in my lungs. It is a sun. A big glowing ball of energy that wants to burst out of me. I struggle to control it. I squeeze my eyes shut and grit my teeth. My fists clench. My grimace turns into a wide smirk. I open my eyes and see myself in the mirror. I feel powerful.

I was never a fan of needles. That is, not until the first time I "spliced up". And in all honesty I'm still not a fan of needles, no; but rather what the needle can do for me. Which is still to say I was never a fan of what it could do for me for the longest time until I discovered how Adam can help me. I used to frown upon them, the people who are addicted, who crave Adam, who go insane with the power it gives them. People who would rob, loot, mug, blackmail, even kill to get the Adam flowing. I still regard those individuals as less than human. But I am not one of these people, these splicers. My interest in Adam goes only as far as to benefit my family, not myself. But still, somehow, I can't help but feel like a hypocrite. I swore I wouldn't get caught up in all the insane capitalism when I came to Rapture. I'm not disrespecting Capitalism here, I'm no Commie, but what they practice here is ridiculous. You've got Fontaine with his plasmid monopoly, Steinman practicing who knows what kind of God awful things, Cambridge selling anesthetics to anyone with a little Adam, and Ryan, the biggest con of them all.

Bad luck for me I'm working for Cambridge. The man's a nut case. Of course I can't really say for myself seeing as I've never met him, but I've heard stories, and they're not pretty. Guy says he killed a man just for walking in on a conference by accident. Next day, guy's nailed to the wall outside the factory. I swear, things are getting out of hand. Hell, there's nothing I'd love more than to get out of this job, but I need to support my family, pay the rent you know? Living in Pauper's Drop isn't exactly cheap. It ain't no Adonis, I can tell you that, but with Sinclair jacking up the prices every couple months we'll be on the streets in no time. Assuming there isn't an all out war here. Ryan and Fontaine have been butting heads ever since I can remember. But it's not just the healthy old business competition anymore, it's far worse. When push comes to shove, one of them's gonna snap; and I don't want to be here when that happens.

Two months earlier

My name is Kade Walsh. I am forty years old and I have a wife, Valerie, and a ten year old daughter, Katherine. I was born in Wellsborough Ireland and moved to Massachusetts with my family in 1927 when I was eleven years old. I spent my childhood in America poor but generally happy. I had friends to play with and I often enjoyed taking walks in the rural areas, fields and the like. Picking flowers with my mother beneath azure skies, catching fish by the river with my father during his hour lunch break before he had to head back to the factory for ten more hours. I didn't live too far from the ocean in my boyhood. Growing up in inland Ireland, I always wanted to live by the sea. I never thought I'd be living in it some day. I liked to watch the waves roll in. I laughed when the gulls would walk up to the surf, and then quickly retreat as the water chased them up to the dunes. I also loved sitting in my backyard on summer days around six o'clock, and watching the shadows of the trees lengthen and the sun gleam through the emerald leaves. The air would set on fire and create a soft red glow like the sunset except the air that shone red was not in the sky, but all around me. I would take deep breaths and close my eyes and smell the breeze that smelled like twilight. I think that's what I miss most about the surface; the smell of evening.