THUD.
Jane's head met the blunt object of a swinging splicer.
Stumbling backwards, she quickly used Incinerate! to burn the splicer, now twisting and writhing. Three more bloody animal masks appeared seemingly out of nowhere, swinging wrenches and shrieking at Jane. Pulling out her shotgun, she somehow managed to quickly reload and shoot down three splicers. More came at Jane as she whirled around. She couldn't see anything in the dark, but she tried her best to aim, luckily managing to shoot them down in just a few rounds. When she was sure the last of them were dead, she began to glean whatever she could from the mutilated corpses of the splicers. As she was done searching half the bodies, the lights blinked on, as if nothing had happened. Jane scoffed at the lights, as if they had been turned off on purpose.
Atlas chuckled. Even in the dark, she could sense every move, every breath of the splicers he had sent. He was sure now that Suchong and Tenembaum had done their jobs right. Shifting in his chair a bit, he had to admit he had been a bit worried when he turned off the lights, but when he saw the efficient, graceful way Jane had disposed of her foes, he felt as if he had been watching a ballet being performed by a dancer who had never known she could dance.
Jane looked as amazed by her own motions as Atlas was. Yet, she didn't falter once, even as blood from the splicers sprayed around her, minute droplets catching on her dark corduroy skirt. She even knew how to load and operate a gun! How the scientists had done this was beyond him, and frankly, he didn't care. As long as she did what he wanted her to do. As long as he had control.
After that? Well, Atlas reasoned that when she learned the truth, she would probably accept him as her father or something. Of course, even if she didn't, Atlas was still stronger than her and could easily incapacitate her, and force her to do what he wanted.
He didn't consider the second outcome long. Atlas didn't admit it, but considering that she would never care for him, hurt him. He had pondered on and off about her, getting information about her as she grew up topside.
Atlas had made sure the adoptive parents would at least send pictures once in a while, under the guise of sending them to her aunt in London. And he occasionally would send a gift. It may have been nothing more than some candy or a sketch of a flower, but he had always put his heart into them, and she had been the closest thing to a family for Atlas. Not just a kid, but an actual daughter.
He diverted his attention back to the monitor displaying the video feed from the little security bot following her. She was walking again while listening to another one of those video diaries everyone in Rapture was so fond of.
Even though he had thought the idea stupid, he had done a few himself to test it out. And he had to admit, he had enjoyed it a bit. She was looking toward the security camera now. She was smiling fondly. Atlas couldn't help but feel like she was smiling at him. Yet, it was clearly written on her face how much she wanted to be topside again, and she was willing to sacrifice almost anything just to see the sun again.
Well, she would see the sun again, one way or another, as Atlas affirmed mentally. Just with different motivation.
A needle injected into her wrist, and Jane was at full power again. The adrenaline rush of combat still weakened her legs, but as long as she could walk, Jane would walk. Her father always said, never go down without a fight. And he was the one of the only reasons Jane hadn't abandoned her guns and pipe wrench, fighting to get back up to fresh air.
Treading on, her boot almost crushed another audio diary. Stepping back, she stooped to pick it up and pressed play to listen as Jane journeyed.
It was the enigmatic Dr. Tenembaum, the female scientist. Jane had almost developed an admiration for the German doctor. As Tenembaum's audio diary spoke, her strong voice echoed through the damp, musty room back at Jane.
"At the German prison camp they put me to work on genetic experiments on other prisoners. They called me 'Das Wunderkind', the wonder child." The musty, checkered floor of the Medical Pavilion clicked under Jane's boots steadily. Jane could almost hear Tenembaum smirk as she said, "Germans. All they can talk about is blue eyes and shape of forehead. All I care about is why is this one born strong, and that one weak? This one smart, that one stupid? All that killing, you think the Germans could have been interested in something useful?"
As Jane trudged on, she found some money,which she pocketed gratefully. Walking on, she came to a set of stairs leading into water. The ground was covered with the green, musty substance. Disgusted, Jane recoiled before reluctantly placing the toe of her shoe in the mere inches deep water that covered the floor. The water was cold, and she reluctantly forced herself to place her whole foot, then the other.
A body hung out of the window to the hall nearby. She gained a few dollars, and cursed the water before walking on. She walked to the door by the windows, which was locked. The door control needed a key. A small plaque underneath said, "Chompers Dental Office". Jane decided to set out for the key,but it wasn't long until a splicer intruded. A hail of bullets could be heard by Jane, and she ran away back the way she had come, expecting her security bot to take care of it before realizing that it was a turret, and none of the bullets had hit her. The bullets had hit the glass in front of the turret. Jane ran in to hack the turret, and succeeded, continuing on.
She tried all the doors she possibly could have missed, until she was drawn to one bathed in light. She was sure this was the one. Somehow, she knew to go here. Jane walked hesitantly toward the door. Sure enough, it slid open, and a Leadhead splicer was waiting for her on the other side. A few shots from her trusty Buck 00 and it was dead.
Jane scrounged for a bit and walked back out, having found some dollars and a bit of ammo. She walked to another door, this one complete with surgical beds and blood spread around everywhere. An alarm was tripped, but a bullet solved the issue. Jane snorted. The security cameras were nothing more than nuisances, and she really doubted they protected the place at all. More water to trudge through, and at this point Jane was soaking wet. It was a miracle she hadn't caught hypothermia or pneumonia or whatever.
An audio diary was found, this one of another scientist named Dr. Suchong. The audio reel started to play.
"Clinical Trial Lot 44 Dr. Suchong/Client Fontaine Futuristics. Subject is white male, one Roland Wallace. Can you hear me, Mr. Wallace?" The voice had a heavy Asian accent. Roland Wallace's voice piped in after Suchong asked him a question.
"Yes sir, Mr. Suchong, sir!" Roland was contagiously cheery for a test subject. Jane walked on listening to the audio diary, and spotted a small alcove out of the corner of her eye. She hit the grate with her pipe wrench and crawled in, Suchong lecturing on.
"Very well...Right, I'm introducing Lot 44 now...we've codenamed Lot 44 'Enrage' because of its tendency to...Nurse, hold him down! Nurse! NURSE!" Roland's hysteric screams could be heard as the audio diary faded into static. Jane was on the other side of the small passageway now, and she found a body with some money. She almost mistook Roland's screaming as that of an actual, normal human in Rapture besides herself.
The dark room she was in now was illuminated by a faded light, and Jane felt a shiver creep up her spine after putting away the audio diary. Something, though...something was glowing bright yellow in a fancy-looking container. She slowly approached it, and sure enough, it was a Combat Tonic. It didn't seem like it would help her much, but she took it anyway. After searching the remaining cabinets in the room, Jane crawled back through the passageway, where a splicer stood, its high, annoying voice laughing. One shot and the splicer never knew what hit it.
Jane decided now that she was done scavenging, and decided to focus back on getting Atlas' family safe and most importantly, getting out of here. Following her instincts, Jane climbed some stairs, where the sound of one of those vending machines with the creepy clowns could be heard. God, she hated those clowns. Who even came up with the idea of putting them around Rapture anyway? She shuddered at the high pitched laughs of the Circus of Values vending machine. Although, she was unsure if she would need ammunition. Nah, she thought. I have enough ammunition already.
A huge door opened and another glass hallway, showing off the beautiful scenery of the depths of the underseas. Jane took a moment to enjoy where she was. She wouldn't get another chance to see the seas like this after all, and what if she died here? Rapture seemed beautiful in its own, grotesque way, the constant danger of the peaceful ocean taking over and silencing everything. Jane never really had thought about the problem much, shrugging off the constant leaks, but the danger still loomed overhead, in form of a giant whale, or intense water pressure. The ocean had always been terrifying to her. But now, as she stood in the musty corridor Jane just let go. Of all her fears, of all her worries, all of it melted away watching the big blue expanse. Jane felt somehow at home, as her heart and mind stood at peace in the bustle of Rapture.
Hello, my lovelies, once again after a quite large intermission. I'm sorry for not updating earlier! school has not been the most considerate. As I type, I still have loads to do. I'm just tired, man. unu Btw, have you guys seen Elizabeth in Burial at Sea? She's so pretty *_* Ah, but I digress.Anyway, thank y'all for reviewing and enjoying my story! Expect more soon! 6 u 6