So I replayed all the bioshock games recently and decided on writing a little story, not sure where it's going to go at this point but hopefully it'll turn out okay :') ~ Skye
The cold winter air brushed passed Danny's pale cheek, causing her to shiver and clutch her scarf closer to her face. She was standing outside a large rundown warehouse that appeared to have been abandoned for years, this was where they told her to meet her but she started to have her doubts. After tucking the stray strands of blonde hair behind her hair and sighed, the uneasy feeling became too much and dived her hand into her coat pocket. She pulled out a cigarette carton and placed on between her lips, lighting it the snap of her fingers and breathed the smoke deep into her lungs. Both nervous and excited, she wondered about how this could be something to bring down the corruption in the world or it could just be nothing, just a group of people who have no clue what they're doing.
Why am I doing this… I should be staying out of all this mess, she thought anxiously as she waited. The door started to creak and a tall, tanned man appeared from within, his dark eyes glaring down at her.
"Danielle Hastings?" He asked, with a deep suspicious voice.
"Danny," the small woman answered nonchalantly, "can we just get this over with."
"Were you followed?" He continued with the questions, much to Danny's annoyance.
"No, I know how these people work and I know how not to get caught by them," she replied, taking the cigarette from her mouth and rolling it between her fingers before flicking it into the snow.
"Yes, I almost forgot. You're one of them," the man stepped forward slightly with arms crossed over his chest. He was indeed tall and appeared to look like he was once a military man to Danny's surprise. The resistance wasn't known for their strong fighters, but they made up with their intelligent minds.
"Used to be," Danny shrugged, "past-tense. Now are you going to let me in or not?" He grumbled something inaudible to Danny and moved to the side to allow her to step into the building.
It wasn't much warmer inside, and even darker. She spied a group of people standing around a large machine, they turned in her direction when they heard her footsteps and one of the older men came rushing towards her. He grabbed her hand and shook it vigorously, "I'm so glad you came! My name is doctor Harvey Lloyd."
"Um… Thanks?" She raised an eyebrow at the older man. He wasn't much taller but was considerably older, Danny guessed he was in his sixties at least.
"We haven't been able to find someone willing to join our cause quite like you, many of the others were… unwell," His voice trailed off, but Danny understood what he meant, she always had an interest in the science behind what they did to her.
Genetically altering DNA had severe side effects in the majority of cases. Tumours, insanity, horrific deformities. Danny was lucky, with only headaches and nosebleeds being fairly common and the hallucinations were rare but she had escaped much of the physical detriments. She was always grateful for that, growing up with those who were unfortunate was hard, even harder when it was her own family.
"Just tell me what this is all about," she said, pulling her hand back from the old man.
"Oh, yes of course. This way," he ushered her towards the machine in the middle of the warehouse. She took a closer look at the strange machine with metal frames and bundles of wires around it.
"This piece of junk isn't what I'm here for is it?" Danny asked, she risked a lot to be here and needed this to be worth it.
"This piece of junk," a younger woman walked up to her, adjusting her glasses on her round face, "is the most important device in history. With this we can stop all these wars from even happening, its called the lutece device."
"Wait… I've heard that name before," Danny frowned, studying the device. "My grandfather told me about a woman, a scientist, who created a machine that could open up portals to other dimensions… I just thought it was a story."
"Your grandfather was a smart man," Doctor Lloyd chucked, "it has taken us years, decades, to create this. Of course, it isn't the original, but we have tested it and believe that you will be successful in travelling to a time where you can prevent all of this from happening."
"You want me to go back in time?! You're crazy," Danny shook her head in protest, "even if it does work, I am not a hero. I wouldn't know what to do, this whole thing started decades ago."
"Your sister was killed during her training, wasn't she?" The man who let her into the warehouse said, "don't you want to stop that from happening?"
Danny glared at him, "don't bring her into this."
Doctor Lloyd placed a hand on her shoulder, "He does have a point though, think of all the people you could save. If we are successful in getting you to the right time and place, you won't have to kill anyone."
"What makes you think I care about anyone else," she responded coldly, "and I'm not stupid, it's most likely a one-way trip."
Another woman walked towards her, she was middle-aged but still attractive with long wavy red hair, much like what her mother's hair used to look like. "Danielle Hastings, I read about you often. Rescuing prisoners of war, helping young people escape from those horrific training programs. You are strong and compassionate, you've used your abilities for good while others abused it. You're the only person we have right now and we don't have a lot of time before we're found."
Danny sighed, "I'm not that person anymore… My father- "
"Your father was a great man but it was you who saved all those people," the woman interrupted. She Placed a warm hand on her cheek, "you've grown into such a strong woman, your parents would be so proud."
"Who are you…?" She looked so familiar to Danny, but she was sure she didn't know the woman.
She simply smiled in response and took her by the hand, "Let's go somewhere a little quieter." One of her colleagues complained, explaining the urgency of going through the mission, "this is more important. If anyone interrupts I'll kick them through the damn tear instead."
A wave of confusion washed over Danny but she followed compliantly until they were out of earshot of the others. "What's this all about?"
"You don't remember me, but I met you when you were a baby," the woman started, "my name is Annabelle Kandel."
Danny stared at Annabelle, she almost had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "You're… You're my mother's sister… My father told me you died?"
"Almost, I've been with the resistance for many years. I had to go into hiding, I couldn't put my family in danger," she told her, apologetically.
"Why?" Danny pushed further for information while trying not to let her emotions take over.
"I'm not a soldier like your parents, I was just a biologist working for the government… When I found out what they were doing, the way they forced that life on young children, to make them fight for their own greed." Annabelle bit her lip and leaned against the metal wall before she carried on, "Not many people believed me, even your own parents thought I was crazy. The government was different from the public face they put on, it was filled with corruption. I left when I could and focused all my time into finding a way to fix everything, I met a group of physicists who had been working on-"
"Let me guess, time-travel?" Danny rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to process the information. "This is crazy, why didn't you get in tough sooner? My father died years ago and I have been hiding ever since… Where were you then?"
"You were good at hiding yourself from everyone, it took some time but I also had to make sure I could trust you." She replied, "I wish I could have seen you sooner, spent more time with you… You've been through so much."
Danny rested on the wall beside her aunt and sighed, "Do you really think I can do this?"
"You're strong, both physically and emotionally. Out of all the people here, you are the only person who can do this. If there was another way…" Annabelle trailed off, knowing their time together would be brief.
"How much time do we have?"
"A few days at the most, we'll have to go over everything thoroughly. This is your choice though, I won't force you into doing this," She stood in front of Danny and wrapped her arms around her. "I'm so sorry for everything, for what you've been through. But you know how important this is, we need your help."
Danny rested her chin on her aunt's shoulder, trying to fight back her tears. She hadn't felt these feelings for a long time, it hurt but she was also thankful to know that she was still human. This woman she barely knew had made her think back to her mother and sister, with their similar characteristics. As much as she wanted to run away, she knew deep down she had to try.
"I'm not going to do this because you asked me too... Just tell me what I need to do."
"How am I supposed to memorize all of this?" Danny asked herself as she poured over the notes she had been given. The past two days she spent night and day studying the important names and events that would help her complete her mission. Andrew Ryan, the man who founded rapture, Brigid Tenenbaum, the scientist who discovered ADAM and its properties, along with a huge list of others. Her mission was to go back to a pivotal point in time, the stop ADAM from ever being discovered and assassinate those involved in the research and production of plasmids.
Annabelle wasn't helping at all, going on about her family and how they would be proud of what she was going to do. She tried to get closer to Danny but her attempts were all for naught, Danny was doing this for her and the others who went through the same torment and reconnecting with a relative would just mess things up and break her will to carry it through. It was hard to try and ignore her aunt, the way she looked so much like her mother and sister and her kindness was true, but she knew those emotions trying to scratch their way to the surface could be her downfall.
"How is it coming along?" Doctor Lloyd asked, peering over Danny's shoulder.
She shook her head in response, "there's a lot to go through… I just hope I can do this. Do you agree with the others about killing everyone involved with all this?"
"If there was any other way, but if you only stop that incident of ADAM being discovered, it may come about in a different way." He sat down on the old couch next to her, "It's the only way to be sure."
"I guess, I -" The door bursting open and Jacob, the man who she first met here and took an instant disliking too, burst in.
"She needs to go, now." He said, staring at her, "they're here."
Annabelle rushed forward, "but we're not ready, she's not ready!"
Of course she wasn't ready but Danny stood up, ignoring the fear building up, and walked to the lutece device. "We don't have time to discuss whether anyone is ready, just hurry up and get this thing started."
"I'm sorry, I thought we had more time," Annabelle wrapped her arms around her tightly.
Their farewell was cut short by the others giving Danny a bag of provisions and weapons and made sure she and the machine were ready. Danny stared as the air seemed to move in front of her before it tore open to reveal what looked like a dark hallway, "is this right? I'm getting a bad feeling."
Before anyone could respond, shouting and gunfire was heard from outside.
"Get her through now!" She heard someone should and she felt hands push her through onto the other side of the portal.