BIOSHOCK INFINITE: City in The Sky
BioShock Infinite is property of Take-Two Interactive.
Chapter 1: Utopia
COAST OF MAINE, 1912:
"We predict rough weather tonight at sea-" the radio played.
"Don't give a toss." a woman replied.
In a rowboat, Booker DeWitt watched as his mysterious employers rowed him out to sea.
"Can we hurry up?" Booker yelled.
Silence.
"He DOESN'T row." the woman muttered.
After roughly 2 and a half hours, the boat arrived at a lonely lighthouse and Booker was ejected.
Bring us the girl. Wipe away the debt.
THE DAY BEFORE:
"Where do you want the girl?" Booker asked.
"Any major city. New York, Boston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, Chicago, St. Louis, London, or Paris." the woman answered.
Bring us the girl. Wipe away the debt.
Booker entered the lighthouse. Some odd music was playing. In front of him was a basin and the boast OF THY SINS I SHALL WASH THEE.
"Good luck with that, pal." Booker commented to nobody in particular.
He climbed the stairs to the top of the lighthouse and noticed three bells: a scroll, a sword, and a key. Booker rang them, only to be met with a loud siren and a red light. Out of nowhere, a red velvet chair rose up.
"Why not?" Booker muttered.
Almost immediately after he sat down, Booker found himself shackled. Cast iron walls rose up and encased the chair. Like the chair, they were covered in red velvet.
"Launch in 5-"
"Abort launch!"
"4-"
"Why won't it abort!"
"3-"
"Damn-"
"2-"
"Oh, sh-"
"1-"
"Son of a-"
"Ignition."
Booker was pushed deeper into the chair as the projectile he now found himself in roared skyward. After what seemed like an eternity, the roar of the projectile's drivers ceased. Booker looked out the single porthole of the projectile and saw a city in the sky. It looked like something out of a storybook, with Neoclassical architecture and American flags. A dirigible floated past the window.
After a good ten minutes, the projectile set itself down and was lowered. As it descended, Booker saw inscriptions on the beams. The firs beam read"WHY WOULD HE SEND HIS SAVIOR UNTO US". The next beam: "IF WE SHOULD NOT RAISE A FINGER FOR OUR OWN SALVATION?". A third was adorned with "AND THOUGH WE DESERVED NOT HIS MERCY". Next was "HE HAS LED US TO THE NEW EDEN." Finally: "A LAST CHANCE FOR REDEMPTION." A few minutes later, the machine passed by a colossal portrait of a white man with a white beard looming over crowds like Moses backlit by sunlight. Once it had finally stopped moving, Booker exited the contraption and noticed that the floor was covered with water. It was as if a colossal baptismal font had been smashed. He looked up and saw an inscription above the portrait: "AND THE PROPHET SHALL LEAD THE PEOPLE TO THE NEW EDEN." As he wandered the halls and chapels, all illuminated by candlelight, his attention was caught by a stained glass window. Beneath the window was an inscription: "AND IN MY WOMB SHALL GROW THE SEED OF THE PROPHET". Beneath that was a device with a vinyl record protruding. Booker picked up the contraption and hit a button. The needle made contact with the record, and a woman's voice began to play.
"Love the Prophet, because he loves the sinner. Love the sinner, because he is you. Without the sinner, what need is there for a redeemer? Without sin, what grace has forgiveness?" the recording played.
"Who's this prophet guy?" Booker muttered.
Resuming his wanderings, Booker meandered through the many chapels of his location, reading the stained glass windows as he passed. One read: "THE LAMB. THE FUTURE OF OUR CITY." The image was of the bearded man and a woman with a baby. Further on, he found himself at the top of a colossal staircase near a man in a white robe.
"Excuse me! Where am I?" Booker asked.
"Heaven, friend. Or as close as we'll see till Judgement Day." the man answered.
Booker descended the staircase, passing by more stained glass windows. These were adorned with keys, scrolls, and swords. After a long hike, he finally reached the bottom of the stairs, noticing a crowd listening to a preacher.
"And every year, on this day of days, we recommit ourselves to our city, and to our prophet, Father Comstock. We recommit through sacrifice, through the giving of thanks, and by submerging ourselves in the sweet waters of baptism. And lo, if the Prophet had struck down our enemies at Wounded Knee, and not rallied against the Sodom beneath us, it would have been enough. If the Prophet had just rallied against the Sodom beneath us, but not accepted the three golden gifts of the Founders, it would have been enough. If the Prophet had just accepted the three golden gifts of the Founders, and not prayed for our deliverance, it would have been enough. If the Prophet had just prayed for our deliverance, and not led us to this New Eden, it would have been enough. If the Prophet had just led us to this New Eden, and not purged the vipers of the Orient, it would have been enough. If the Prophet had just purged the vipers of the Orient, but not suffered the sacrifice of his beloved, it would have been enough. If the Prophet had just suffered the sacrifice of his beloved, but not expelled the Vox Populi, it would have been enough!"
Booker muscled his way through the huddled masses. Above the preacher was the sign "THIS PATH OF FORGIVENESS IS THE ONLY WAY TO THE CITY."
"Is it someone new? Someone from the Sodom below? Newly come to Columbia to be washed clean, before our Prophet, our Founders, and our Lord?" the preacher asked.
"I just need passage into the city." Booker answered.
"Passage to the city? Ha ha! Brother, the only way to Columbia is through rebirth in the sweet waters of baptism." the preacher replied.
Booker stared incredulously.
"Will you be cleansed, brother?"
The preacher outstretched his hand
It's either this or turn around and get back on that rocket. Booker thought.
Booker accepted. The preacher turned around, proclaiming to baptize his new follower in the name of "our Prophet, our Founders, and our Lord." The last thing Booker remembered before he passed out was being held under.