Elizabeth's experience with the tear in the bathysphere seemed promising. But the Lutece Twins' warning about overworking herself left her somewhat reluctant to try opening a tear to the Welcome Center.
"Elizabeth?!" The very welcome voice of Dr. Tenenbaum echoed in her helmet. "Elizabeth?! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine!" she called into the radio. "I'm using a bathysphere emergency diving suit!"
"Well, this certainly complicates matters. Those aren't designed for extended exposure to the elements."
"So I can't just swim to the surface?"
"I wouldn't recommend it. The oxygen wouldn't last, and you risk contracting the bends. Your best chance at survival is to return to the city and make your way to the Welcome Center on foot. There should be an airlock in Neptune's Depot, start swimming that way."
Elizabeth sighed and began to swim.
"You still didn't finish telling me…" Tenenbaum started to say before the radio went to static again.
"I don't want to hear your preachings, Lamb!" Elizabeth shouted.
"Preach? Dear me, I'm not here to preach," Lamb replied politely. "I want to know why you're still alive."
"I'm a survivor," Elizabeth replied. "I won't get defeated by some power-hungry sociopath. I've seen plenty before."
"And yet you're on your way back to Rapture, a city built by power-hungry sociopaths, including myself, if your opinion of me is to be considered fact. I can see you, Miss Comstock. Wave to that tower on your left. I'm waving back."
"You can't kill me from there, Lamb, the targeting system on your torpedoes is primitive. It wouldn't get a lock on me."
"Primitive as opposed to what, might I ask?"
Elizabeth was silent.
"I can't say I understand the nature of your abilities," Lamb said slowly. "But what I do understand is this: your knowledge poses a risk to me and to my work. I can't possibly let you live."
"Then why not kill me?"
"Because as you said: I can't. But you…you're a special case. You escaped a torpedo, you survived that cursed Fontaine, and you didn't drown. My prophet offer stands…"
"Hah. What will I be? The Lamb of Rapture?"
"There's only room for one lamb, Elizabeth, and it sure as hell is not you. Side with me, and you might stand a chance of making it to the surface alive."
"One lamb? What about your daughter Eleanor? She's bound for great things, I'm sure." And she wasn't being sarcastic: she knew exactly what Eleanor was going to do one day.
"Eleanor's time will come. Right now, though, we are talking about you. This is my final offer, Elizabeth. Next time we encounter each other, it will be under considerably less enjoyable circumstances."
"Go fuck yourself."
"…very well then. May the best player win."
Lamb's signal cut out.
She didn't remove the whole diving suit. With Rapture crumbling to bits and most of her dress tattered and bloodied from the events of the past few days—or rather, a few days that had occurred over a year ago—wearing a diving suit was the better option, even if the oxygen tank was quite heavy on her back.
This was a very strange diving suit to say the least. It could withstand the pressure of the ocean like a Big Daddy suit (a lining of very strong armor did the trick) yet one could move more freely in it. It also had a small hole in just below the palm for inserting EVE and health needles.
She paused, hearing footsteps and some cackling from the hallway. "Splicers," she muttered to herself. She wasn't exactly armed for combat: in her haste to climb into the diving suit, she had left her gun in the bathysphere.
Looking around, she noticed a large hammer lying abandoned next to a toolbox. She grabbed it and leaned against the wall, out of sight from the splicer walking towards her.
The splicer walked out, and glanced over to his right. No one there. And that was all he saw, for Elizabeth knocked him out with a blow to the back of his head.
"You won't be needing these," she muttered, grabbing his gun (another pistol), a health needle, and some EVE. She paused, looking at the vial with surprise. "Dr. Tenenbaum, didn't these use to come in the drinkable kind?" she asked into the radio.
"Dr. Suchong developed those while I was in hiding," Dr. Tenenbaum replied. "From what I've heard, the drinkable kind used up too many of the ADAM producing sea slugs, so the injectables had to do. Be careful with those: they are very addictive, and if you consume too much, you may be susceptible to commands, like 'Would You Kindly.'"
Elizabeth laughed slightly, and nervously stabbed the EVE needle into her arm.
Suddenly, she dropped the syringe and clenched her stomach in pain.
Visions of her death at the hands of Atlas…no, Frank Fontaine…flashed through her head. She saw the madness in the department store…she remembered the brutality of Sander Cohen…her throat closed up, and she collapsed.
"Elizabeth! Listen to my voice! You're having an allergic reaction to the injectable EVE!"
Perfect, Elizabeth thought to herself.
"Use a health needle! It'll give you a sudden burst of adrenaline, that should stop the reaction and void any side effects!"
She grasped around, found her health needle, and slammed it into her arm. Her throat opened up and she relaxed.
"Of all things I could be allergic to," Elizabeth grunted as she stood up. "A bee, flowers, peanuts…I have to be allergic to INJECTABLE EVE?!"
"There were a couple of incidents with allergic reactions to the injectables: Suchong's oxidization agents apparently alleviated the reaction. Keep some of those health vials on hand: they'll give you a good burst of adrenaline that will stop the reaction."
Elizabeth looked at the health vial. "What, no EpiPens in Rapture?"
"What are EpiP..." Tenenbaum trailed off.
"What is it?"
"Stay low, there are some Splicers coming down the hallway."
"Well, forget staying low. I need weapons, and those Splicers probably have guns that are better than this pistol."
"I appreciate your thinking, but those who have guns better than a pistol are likely to defeat those who have pistols."
"Have a little faith, Doc."
"Faith is something most of us lost a long time ago."
"Look, this suit was clearly designed to withstand severe pressure. If someone shoots me, I'm almost certain I will survive the gunshot without damaging the suit too much. I'll take my chances."
"…be careful."
Elizabeth hid behind a wall, waiting. She could hear the Splicers coming down the hallway.
"Not nearly enough fucking ADAM in this damned city," one of them, a man, grunted.
"You worry too much, Angus," the other, a woman, said. "Maybe not enough ADAM to go around, but plenty of others who would gladly give theirs to us. Or rather, we shoot them and then take the ADAM from them."
Elizabeth found herself wondering what these two Splicers had done before their ADAM addiction came to be. There was always a story behind a Splicer: some poor Rapture citizen who had a bit too much ADAM that left him or her insane.
She could probably shoot one Splicer, but two? Doubtful.
They were approaching the room. Quickly, Elizabeth loaded her gun.
The first Splicer entered the room, the man of the couple. Elizabeth raised her gun and managed to get out a single shot that downed him in a second. That was all she managed, for the female Splicer knocked the gun out of her hand and slammed her onto the ground.
"YOU KILLED ANGUS!" the Splicer howled with anguish. She raised her right hand: in it, she held a large meat hook. "I'M GONNA TEAR YOU TO PIECES!"
"Good luck with that," Elizabeth grinned as she struggled underneath the Splicer. This thing was no bigger than she was (a Lady Jane, by the looks of it), yet it weighed her down like an anvil. "You wouldn't be able to get through this armor."
"You're so cocky, ya know that?" the Splicer growled. "These emergency diving suits, so fucking immortal in them. Well guess what? They don't stand up so well with blunt force!" She raised her hook and slammed it into Elizabeth's arm. Elizabeth yelped as she felt a bone crack.
"How'd you feel if I sent that into your face?" the Splicer hissed with a grin. She sent her left hand to the helmet and torn it off, exposing Elizabeth's face to the elements. "Well, well…what a pretty picture you make, girly." She moved the hook to the side of Elizabeth's face and pressed the sharp tip against her temple. Blood began to ooze out. "I THINK I'LL KEEP THIS!"
Elizabeth shut her eyes. Concentrating, she imagined a tear that opened up into a huge windstorm.
A moment later, she heard a loud clang. A metal box had flown out from the tear and knocked the Splicer off of Elizabeth.
She stood up, but doubled over as she felt her nose begin to bleed, more than before. That gave the Splicer enough time to jump on her back. Elizabeth, sensing the danger, grabbed the hook and threw it to the side. She stumbled backwards and slammed the Splicer into the wall. Dazed, it loosened its grip. Elizabeth tossed it to away.
The Splicer, shaking its face, stared at Elizabeth, its expression one of pure hatred. It lunged at her again, but this time, Elizabeth sent her fist straight into the Splicer's jaw. It spun around, hitting the wall, then finally sliding down, defeated.
Elizabeth found her gun, armed it, then aimed it at the Splicer's face. It stared at her, its expression not changing as it lay on the ground. The right side of her face looked like it belonged to a movie star, save for the bruise from Elizabeth's punch; the left side, which had been covered by a mask until Elizabeth had knocked it off, was lumpy and bruised, hinting at injuries that had not healed properly.
"Do it," it growled. "Get rid of the uglies. Leave all the beauty for yourself."
Elizabeth thought about this. The Splicer wasn't gonna be moving any time soon: there was no sense in killing it.
Silently, she bent down and began emptying the Splicer's pockets, finding ammunition, but no EVE nor health. Frowning, she began feeling around the rest of the Splicer's body, hoping to find something else of value.
"Hey, what'll Mr. Pretty Girl think?" the Splicer joked. "If it's ADAM you want, I got none. Gonna have to check the guy ya killed."
Elizabeth looked over at the dead one, Angus. Not keeping her gun off of the live one, she found in his pockets two EVE hypos, a health vial, and some ADAM. For a moment she considered using the ADAM. But then she looked back at the Splicer, who was now frowning at her.
"What are you waiting for?!" it hissed.
"What's your name?" Elizabeth asked.
The Splicer growled. "Kat," it said through gritted teeth.
"I'm Elizabeth." She dropped the health vial and the ADAM onto the ground next to Kat. "This is for your injuries."
"That's it?" Kat asked, stunned. "You're just gonna let me walk? ADAM and everything?"
"Not exactly," Elizabeth said, picking up the hook from the ground. She turned it so the blunt end was facing Kat. "I'm not going to kill you, but I have to get out of this city in one piece."
Kat swallowed.
"Don't follow me when you wake up," Elizabeth said as she prepared to hit. "And I'm keeping the hook."
"Hey, do me a favor, hit the lumpy side. A girl likes her face to be at least half-pretty."
Elizabeth shrugged. "Fair enough. I take it that half of your face stands up well with blunt force."
"Ha ha," Kat muttered. And with a slam, she was out cold.
"Nice hook," Elizabeth muttered as she picked up her helmet and began her escape.