A/N: Story steps in and out of first-person view.
Sacrifice— a giving up of something valuable or important for somebody or something else considered to be of more value or importance.
Chapter 1: Caught In-Between
I couldn't help but stare at Doctor Tenenbaum. Her reasons seemed good but I had something else in mind for my future. She wanted to "rescue" me before I left to Fontaine Futuristics, yet I still said no. "I don't wanna go. Take the others, but please—leave me here. It's too late to save me. I'm ready to help put the Rapture dream to rest once and for all." I'll admit it; I was terrified of what lay out there beyond the safe haven of the ticket booth. My Daddy, an Alpha Series, had never told me of the dangers outside my candy-coated hallucinations. Doctor Tenenbaum sighed, and we heard static on the PA above our heads. Sofia Lamb, mother of Eleanor Lamb, and also another being who refused the fact that they, no, we are all human.
"Brigid Tenenbaum, I know you are out there. I am not angry with you, know that, nor do I hate you. As a matter of fact, the Family could use a mind such as yours. Think of it, restoring Rapture to its former glory, maybe even better. I insist that you come to me; Subject Delta will be able to handle himself."
"Little One, she knows where we are! It is best if we move quickly," she checked the television screen displaying the world through Subject Delta's eyes. "Herr Delta should be arriving any moment. He'll be able to take care of the splicers. Right now, the most important thing is to get you to safety."
"Who—"
"I could tell you or, we could spend that same time leaving before death comes to claim us."
"You mean splicers right?"
"I suppose you could say that."
"What did you—"
"Not now! We have to move, I hear them coming.
"My Daddy does his rounds around here; he'll take care of them!"
"I doubt that, there are too many, even for a Big Daddy.
"Nuhuh! Daddy knows what he's doing."
"I'm sure he does, but he won't know what to do with that!"
Silence came over, and was only broken when the area below us began to fill with splicers. I felt two hands grab my shoulders and yank me back. I was about to stab with my ADAM needle, but I was hit by an Electro Bolt plasmid. Doctor Tenenbaum brought out a gun and pointed it at a female Leadhead. "Ah, Brigid Tenenbaum. I haven't seen the likes of you for some time." the female said.
"Melinda Perlise?"
"It's Mel to you. Sorry gov'nor, we both know things have changed since we attended Harvard together. I was sent the same invitation as you, but I lived in the poorer parts of Rapture for some time. I became apart of Ryan's inner circle, detached, got inside Lamb's business for six years then I started a rebellion against that devil of a woman. Meet Sparkles Robinson, she's our Gene Tonic specialist. Theodore Williams, Plasmids expert. Silva Hertrin, main hacker. Chika and Kazumi, our ADAM gatherers…" she said, gesturing to a blonde woman of about thirty, wearing a calf-length, and faded, yellow dress with white polka dots. Her feet were bare, and she had a wrench gripped tightly in her right hand. She looked like a normal lady, with the ADAM having no side effect whatsoever. The next was a tall man with gangly limbs, and a messenger bag on his shoulder. His hair was the standard stereotype for the average working-class man.
"Call me Theo." Theo said. He carried a Japanese girl with black hair and the usual glowing yellow eyes. Her hair hung loosely around her shoulders, and she seemed mortified at the Rapture Family forming an army below the balcony. She smiled nervously and tightened her hold on her worn and torn doll of a Rosie. The second Little Sister was also Japanese, and bore an odd resemblance to the first Little Sister. The hacker was a shorter, but attractive young woman, only a few years older than me. She said hi, and I noticed a French accent in there. Her torn red dress didn't provide much protection, but her made all the difference.
"The others are lazing around at our secret hideout. You go gather the other Little Sisters from the Vents and hurry to Fontaine Futuristics, that's where we'll be. Well, what are you waiting for?"
"What are we going to do about the splicers? Subject Delta can't handle them all!" Theodore said, shifting Chika to the other shoulder.
"I'm sure that wecan. I believe someone has been waiting to see you,"
"You mean—?" I couldn't finish my sentence when my father stepped through the door, a splicer attached to the drill he carried. I couldn't stop myself from wrapping his leg in a hug that might have cut off circulation. I felt myself being nudged and lifted off by two big and strong hands.
"You're just too big for that. It's time you grow up, squirt."
"But Daddy!"
"Don't 'Daddy!' me; you're a Big Sister for crying out loud!"
"I think you went just a little bit rough on her." Delta said, putting his Rivet Gun in its holster. Zeta's helmet light went from neutral yellow to an orangey color.
"Oh come on! You're my big brother and you are setting a very bad example."
"First off, we aren't blood-related. Second, just because I'm Delta and you're Zeta doesn't mean I have to set an example for you. Just look at yourself! You set a terrible example for Kappa. I swear worst failed experiment besides you."
"Hey, I find that very offensive. Wait, I wasn't a failed experiment!"
"Sure you weren't. Let's hurry up and kill those bitches. The sooner the better, right everybody…?" Subject Delta couldn't say more, everyone had vanished. He heard Tenenbaum telling him to meet her in the ticket booth, and pulled Zeta towards the gas tanks. He turned the nozzle on one loose and hurled it at the splicers. "Use your Telekinesis Plasmid and launch these at them. Make sure you hit the Leadheads first, those things are fucking annoying."
Subject Zeta got at it and was already screaming out at the waves of drug addicts. "DIE YOU BASTARDS, DIE!"
"Oh God. What are we going to do with you, Zeta."
"I think you meant to say, 'What are we going to do without you, Zeta!' am I right?"
"Shit! Get outta the way, I said, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" a Thuggish splicer screamed, ducking and rolling under the train. Delta electrocuted it before it could escape to full safety. The splicers around the fire scattered and ran for their lives.
"WH—aahhaa—tt ar-eeek—are you d-doing he—eeeeeeaak!—re?" A Big Sister asked, crawling on the ceiling towards them. She dropped down and threatened them with her ADAM needle. "Whe—eeEEeeAkk!—ar—eee theEe LiTt-aahLLl—Is-hiSs teRss?"
"Will you just shut up? We kill these things for you, and you still complain. Go back to the orphanage or something… I've been working hard!"
"NnNa-aHh-t yoOoUuu, Z—EeEekkKka—eTtAhH! De—EeKKkk—HhhLll-Tt-aAh, sL—sSShHheRrrIeEee—EeeEeEkK-pIiNnGgg!"
"Not my fault! Lamb made me shoot myself, what'd you expect me to do? I was DEAD, you stupid little—okay, okay I get it… I'll let you take this one, and I'll run off like a little pansy after the Little Sisters and Tenenbaum. No. Freaking. Way."
"Don't worry Delta; I'll use my awesome charisma to lure her into letting us annihilate the Rapture Family Military."
"You just revealed your whole plan to her. So much for you having 'awesome charisma' Zeta."
"G-eeekkkaa-tt oouuutt of- h—eeeekkaee-rre—eeekekeee-b—oooooohhh—of yooouuu!"
"Let's go Zeta. She's giving us the eye." Delta said, the light on his helmet turning from green to bright red.
"Wait, she won't let them escape will she? How do we know that she isn't under Lamb's control? We can't trust her," Zeta muttered, squeezing under the train car. The Big Sister followed, agitated by them. She got tackled by a Thuggish splicer, and both Alpha Series fled from the safety of the train toward the door. It slammed shut after Zeta managed to slide through the tiny space before it jammed. Delta used telekinesis to get the pipe causing the jam out of the gears. They proceeded into the room with a Vending Machine and a Vita-Chamber. A splicer attacked them quickly thanks to Zeta who had wasted time trying to hack the old-fashioned way. Delta used the new way and got a free first-aid kit to keep. Zeta shot two Leadheads dead while the Big Sister took out the other five, and ran for the elevator. "Wonderful. I'm thinking that we shouldn't have doubted the poor girl…" The two Big Daddies looked at each other for two minutes, and then burst into a laughing fit as she got knocked out by a group of Thuggish splicers. The light on her helmet turned bright white.
"Good times, good times."
"I know, man. I know."
"Let's keep moving, before we end up under Lamb's radar again. You know how she is about Big Daddies being lazy." Zeta covered the symbol on his hand, and Delta did the same as they passed a security cam.
I climbed into the ticket booth with Doctor Tenenbaum, and saw all the Little Sisters she kept. Only a few had the usual glowing, yellow eyes. The rest had the eyes of normal girls, in blue, green, and brown. They played with blocks and dolls, oblivious to the world around them. I sat in the corner, facing the security monitors. Little Sisters continued to stitch up a dress, which I supposed they were making for another Little Sister to wear. Only a measly week separated me from the Big Sisters, and kept me with them. I'd forget most of everything, if I didn't write my life story down and stow it away in a locker room somewhere in Rapture. I knew all the Big Daddies, some of them being former prisoners from Persephone Penal Colony. I remembered what Eleanor Lamb, my best friend since we were Little Sisters, had told me. She wanted to free everyone. We agreed that I would be the one to convince the other Big Sisters to turn down Doctor Tenenbaum's offer. She'd either leave without them, I mean us, or stay here and help end the Rapture dream for real. "Is Maddie feeling okay?" a Little Sister asked, walking over to me. I looked up to see her glowing eyes and pearly-white teeth in a smile. I tried to smile back, but my heart wasn't in it.
"Don't worry, I'm fine now."
"We made you a pretty dress!" another Sister said. They held up a torn, mélange-of-patches dress. I knew that in their eyes, it was a fluffy, pink, gown fit for a princess. I was glad to change out of the dress I'd outgrown over the years. I pulled it over my head, and felt the softness. "The Angels let us borrow these."
"Girls, please, get down. I hear the drug addicts, they are near, and Subject Delta has not yet arrived." Doctor Tenenbaum whispered, and the metal covering of the ticket window slid down. We were bathed in darkness, and I felt five pairs of arms hugging me at once. I tried my best to comfort them, telling them it was just "Mister Bubbles" when gunshots rang out.
"Where is she? She said the ticket booth, and I'm here!"
"Give it a minute, Delta. Tenenbaum knows what she's doing."
I heard her pull out a radio. She whispered something to it, and the metal covering lifted. Subject Delta and Subject Zeta both ran up to the window and shoved each other for the first turn to talk.
"Hey, move over, I wanna talk to my little girl!"
"You do that. Meanwhile, I need to find mine!"
"Delta, Eleanor is in Fontaine Futuristics und you need to find her. It is—" Tenenbaum was cut off by another speech from Sofia Lamb. It was awesome. Just awesome.
"Please, hold off the splicers until we escape."
"Wait! I'll go too." I said, climbing out of the booth.
"No, you'll stick with them." Zeta declared. I put my hands on my hips and faced the two.
"Eleanor's my best friend. We're all in this together, whether you like it or not."
"She's got a point. What's your name anyway?" Delta asked, pushing Zeta out of the way.
"Madeleine Sinclair but please, call me Maddie instead."
"Sinclair? That sounds familiar…?"
"Yes, it should, try thinking Sinclair Solutions." Delta was about to ask something else, when a frag grenade flew through the hatch, now open. It was about to hit Zeta, but he used Telekinesis to send it back to the splicer that had sent it in the first place. The not-so-Little Sister stared in amazement. They kept moving, while Maddie sniffed out the ADAM-rich corpses.
Delta and Zeta had an easy enough time protecting me, while I gathered the ADAM from a corpse lying in front of the entrance to the Journey to the Surface ride. I scoffed at the thought of any child actually enjoying this park. I liked it better when it was an ordinary theme park, that didn't try to change your view on the surface. One that didn't try to make you worship Andrew Ryan. I whispered kind words into the ear of the corpse, a bad habit developed when I was young. Thinking about my past led me into thinking about my father. He had vanished deeper into the city, and I had the subtle and passing feeling of missing him. Oh well. I stabbed the body just a little harder than I should've
"Something here… isn't right, at all."Delta said all of a sudden.
"What? When did you notice that, smart one? Splicers, crazy therapist trying to rule the city, buncha tin can men like you and me…?"
"Daddy, I think he might be serious."
"Very funny kiddo, but I know when this guy's being flat-out delusional—" Two gunshots. Daddy fell to his knees feeling the two bullet holes in the back of his head, but searched for the attacker. Security bots attacked. Delta hacked them, but got electrocuted anyway. Daddy motioned for me to run. I tried, but my feet were frozen to the floor. Two splicers jumped down from above, and landed in front of me and behind my father.
"We'll give you a chance, to save your little tin-can man. Just give us that sweet little ADAM you got there, and it'll be over before you know it."
"Not a chance."
"What she said," Delta moaned, trying to recover from the nasty shock the security bots had given him. He was about to save me and my Daddy, but a Hypnotize Plasmid went straight for his head. He tried to fight it, but the red on his helmet switched to purple. I was taken away, and I—
"Maddie!"
