Part two! This wouldn't upload for a long time. Works now, though, so we're good.


Veronica didn't even wait for the crew to carry out standard safety checks or depressurization, instead opting to throw the submersibles' hatch open and jump out into unexplored territory. With little else in the way of options, Ben ordered his squad to head out after her.

They had parked the sub in a small alcove with easy access to a solid ground. While the structure was obviously man-made, there was no light to speak of. The squad switched on some flashlights, but between the ten of them they could never cover more than 20% of the room at any one time.

"Hey, Veronica, where are you?" Ben yelled. William and John were crouched, covering both of his flanks.

"Not sure where she went." Gordon said, staying back near the sub. "By the time we got out, she was gone."

"I'm over here, Benji." Veronica said quietly from somewhere off to their left.

"What are you doing!?" Ben yelled.

"Shh! Not so loud!" Veronica snapped. She then lowered her own voice a few octaves. "I'm opening some windows; it may give us a little more light in here."

In the meantime, Soren went through some items strewn about the floor. There was the odd piece of luggage, and what appeared to be protest placards. Unfortunately they were too old and weathered to read.

There was a quick spark of electricity as Veronica rigged a distant generator. An entire wall in front of them shifted upwards. A series of three metal safety blinds retracted, revealing long room-tall windows. Dozens of feet above them, this feat was repeated with windows on the ceiling.

On the other side of the glass, several miles in the distance, they could see the distinct "skyline," if you could call it that, of a city on the ocean floor. Most of the buildings were in various states of collapse, but there was the occasional glimmer of light in some of the high rises.

Ben and the rest of the squad stared in astonishment. Veronica came into view and told them to pick their jaws up off the floor.

"Interesting. Distinct Art Deco architecture dates this facility somewhere from the 1930's on to the postwar period. The state of decay would indicate that it has been derelict for well over twenty years." Soren was the only person other than Veronica who was unfazed by all this.

"Veronica!" Benjamin yelled. "We're going to need an explanation, now!"

"Not so loud, Benji. These blinds will have generated enough noise already. We'd best be prepared."

"I need to know where we are, now."

"You're man seems to have deduced the gist of it already." Veronica gestured towards Soren. "I knew that Fowl Securities employed soldiers that were smarter than your average grunts. You guys' be fine."

"Captain, we've got some movement over by the sub." Gordon said.

"Hey, hey, I saw something over behind that table!" Sonya screamed.

"It's just your imagination." Smirnov scoffed.

"No, no! It looked like a person, and jumped up to the ceiling once I shined the flashlight on it!"

"Hey, Boss, I think we'd best bet getting out of here." Will said.

Years of operating out of California had rendered the squads accents bland and uniform. You could tell when things were going poorly when the old accents relapsed. William and John had their American Southern drawl. Gordon's Glasgow accent rendered him virtually incomprehensible when compared with Smirnov's Ukrainian and Hans German accent. Benjamin's accent returned to its original Afrikaans style.

"Veronica, you're after more than just oil deposits. If you've lead my team into a deathtrap, I'll kill you myself." Ben leveled his assault rifle in Veronica's direction.

Opening the blinds was a big mistake. For one, it had caused quite the ruckus. While it did provide a little more light, it also cast long shadows in every crevasse of the room. It actually made it harder to see and easier to hide. There were voices now, mutterings coming from the shadows. Flashlights were darting wildly from corner to corner.

Veronica began to laugh madly. She tied her long black hair up in a sensible ponytail, and retrieved a small handgun from its holster.

"Kill me? Oh, Benji, get in line!" Glass shattered, and Gordon started firing.

"Shit! Shit! They're climbing into the submersible!" Gordon screamed.

Will and John ran back in an attempt to reinforce Gordon's position, but were cut off when a hulking monstrosity jumped down from the ceiling, obstructing their path.

This beast was nearly the size of a Volkswagen, and had a third arm grafted onto its back, arched over its hunched back. Its left eye was entirely consumed by boils, and it was wearing soaked and tattered rags that were still moderately recognizable as a business suit.

In the creatures two natural hands it held a pair of machine guns. It's third hand appeared to be frozen over and clenched in a fist. Will and John moved in to engage it, while Sonya went wild with an assault rifle.

Amidst the chaos Veronica was standing in place, humming some decades-old jingle. She turned around and addressed Benjamin nonchalantly. "By the way, welcome to Rapture.


If you're wondering, I'm trying to see how fast I can upload individual chapters to a story. I'm going for consistency. Say, one chapter per 1-3 days?