IV: Something wicked this way…
Three days. Three days of relentless exploration into the massive underwater city of Rapture. For some, it was the find of the century. For others, it was a hell of humidity and cold silence.
Melissa had informed the crew that Rapture had been repaired to its former beauty. Yet she still would not allow anyone to go near Point Prometheus, nor did she mention it to any of them. During their travels, the group came across the research teams that had arrived before them. A vast majority of the groups had assembled in the Medical Pavilion, where scientists of Rapture treated the physical mutations caused by the prolonged use of Adam. Melissa was shocked to see that the blood soaked surgical wards and offices, were now pristine and clean.
In Arcadia, the life blood of Rapture's air and food supply, a miniature forest had grown in man's absence. It was full of delicious fruits, wild birds, insects of various degree, and gorgeous wild flowers. Arcadia was its own eco system. Not only was it producing more oxygen then Rapture needed, it was creating natural foods in a vast abundance.
However, nothing shocked Melissa more then when she arrived at Apollo Square on the fourth day. Traveling with Jason, Desmond and Mike, Melissa stepped off of the functioning train at the central station, and her heart skipped a beat.
"Who in the hell are they?" Jason gasped as they were greeted by the sight of hundreds of people.
"Welcome to Apollo Square, weary travelers." An old man wearing a long trench coat said. He ran toward the station and bowed to the group of four. "I am the manager of Artemis Suites. There is no need for you explorers to rest in make shift camps. We have rooms available at very reasonable cost."
"What are all of you people doing here?" Melissa asked. She scanned around the main terminal as people talked amongst themselves, sold goods and foods, and even children were at play.
"What do you mean? We've always been here." The man smiled. "Some of the people you see just recently arrived to live amongst us."
Desmond cut in, his hand tightly gripping his side arm, but he didn't pull it from the holster. "So some of you have always been down here? Never left?"
"Correct. I was but a young man when Rapture first saw its crisis, but I survived and so did many others."
Melissa asked. "You have been here since Ryan's death?"
"Yes. And that fool Fontaine."
Desmond stepped in front of Melissa and the others. His eyes easily told them that they should leave. The others agreed.
Melissa smiled at the man. "Sorry, we're just passing through. We'll be moving on to other sites yet unseen. But, is this the only place where people are living?"
"No." The old man replied with a smile. "There are others living in Olympic Heights. But you'll see that living there can be pricey. My rates are much cheaper."
"Why aren't there any people in Arcadia, or the Medical Pavilion?" Jason asked. "Even the Farmers Market was empty."
The old man smiled. "When the Big Daddies say that we can go there, we will." He turned and walked away.
"What the hell was that supposed to mean?" Desmond questioned to Melissa.
Melissa was already scanning the station. She then looked toward Artemis Suites and the walkway toward Olympic Heights. "There are no big daddies here."
The train pulled up behind them and they all climbed on board. Several scientists smiled as the got off. "Not staying here?"
Melissa shook her head, "no. Are you?"
"We've been living here for two weeks. Best rates in all of Rapture."
Desmond asked, "did you boys hear that our boats were sunk?"
"Yeah. So what?" One of the younger men laughed. "Why leave? There's nothing to be afraid of here. No Saddam. No war. No rising gas prices. Hell, all we have to do is pay a small tax and respect the Big Daddies." The scientists laughed as they walked into the crowd of residents.
Mike lowered his camera. "What the hell is going on down here? Did he really say he wants to stay?"
Desmond added, "And they said they've been here for two weeks. Rapture wasn't supposed to be open until we arrived four days ago."
Jason looked at Melissa. "How can people still be here after the war with Ryan and Fontaine? Normal people! I thought the only thing left down here were…"
"Splicers." Melissa said as the door to the train closed. "This district is thriving with splicers. Every last one of them… but they look normal."
"But I thought they were supposed to be crazed psychopaths?" Jason asked.
Melissa tapped her thumb to her cheek. "Not only that, but why did that old man seem to think that the Big Daddies are running things? That makes no sense."
Desmond pulled up his radio. "Chris, you copy?"
"Yeah, D. What's up?"
"We're heading back to the farmers market. Meet us at Worley's Winery, as usual. We need to talk. Bring Greg with you."
"Ten four good buddy."
Desmond pocketed the radio. "Something weird is going on. Best we put the pieces together before we get in too deep."
Mike sat on a bench as the train lurched forward. "Yeah, we'll I would rather hear from Bailey that he has secured as ship. I'd like to know that we have a ride out of here."
A few Minutes later within the established meeting ground of the Farmers Market. Worley's Winery was fully stocked as several mercenaries tossed back wine and cold beer. A few scientists and specialists socialized as well. The room was usually quite popular amongst the visiting groups that were cataloging or studying the city and its mysteries, and at the end of the day this was the normal meeting space for everyone; except Bailey.
Greg cheered loudly as Melissa and the group walked back into the room. "Bout damn time, mate! Thought me and Chris were going to have to get drunk on our own." He laughed.
Desmond, with a stern glare, sat at the table with them. "Slow down, alright? We got serious talks we need to carry and I don't need you so drunk you can't focus."
Chris lowered his beer. "What's up? You boys look like you seen ghosts."
"No." Jason added. "Splicers."
Greg nearly spat out his mouth full of beer.
Chris spoke on his behalf. "You mean those crazy mo'fo's with knives and guns and twisted faces?"
Melissa took Chris' cup and down the last of it. "The same. Yet they weren't crazy, had no knives, and their faces weren't twisted."
Mike added. "They were damn near polite." He stood from the chair. "This rounds on me." He walked toward the bar and grabbed a few drinks from the bartender.
"Any word from Bailey?" Jason asked.
Chris shook his head. "Nah. He won't come this far into the Rapture; still scared of the big daddies. But he hasn't radioed me either."
"Okay." Melissa sighed. "First off; why the hell are the splicers acting so… calm? Second; the deal with the Big Daddies running the show. And on top of that… why the hell is the place so damn clean?"
Everyone lowered their heads, pondering the questions. Chris asked, "what do you mean the Big Daddies are running the show?"
Desmond answered. "The splicer we met said that the Big Daddies won't let them leave Apollo Square; one of the resident districts."
Melissa added, "but the Big Daddies aren't in Apollo Square. At least I didn't see any." She scratched her hair as Mike sat down beside her with both hands full of beers. He passed them out and smiled as Melissa took hers. "Mike recorded it."
Mike looked curious and watched as Melissa picked up his camcorder and rewound the tape. She then looked into the view hole to see where they encountered the old man.
Mike laughed and smiled as he opened a tiny side door on the camera. "LCD screen. This camera is state of the art!" Everyone gathered around the small square screen attached to the camera as Melissa played back the old man and the people in Apollo Square. When it was over, Mike closed the screen and powered it off.
Greg chuckled. "Looked like a bunch of old normal people to me."
Chris agreed.
Desmond took a drink and added, "But they've been here since the beginning. Since the war in Rapture. I assume the kids were born down here. And we haven't seen them because those Big Daddies won't let them leave."
"Why won't they let them leave?" Jason questioned allowed. "The Daddies don't care about splicers or normal people right, so long as they don't get in their way?"
Melissa sulked back in her chair. "Daddies don't care." She agreed. "However, they are protectors originally. We'll need to go to…" She paused. "Anyway, it's weird."
Mike heard the pause. "Go where? You were about to say we need to go someplace?"
Melissa tried to avoid it. "No. It was nothing, I was thinking outloud."
Desmond smiled. "Come on, love. Don't hold out on us now. You have an idea."
Mike was the only one that noticed that Melissa put her hands under the table and was struggling not to tremble. He placed his hand on hers, under the table so that no one could see, and nodded toward her. "It's okay. We're in this together. No secrets."
Melissa looked up at him. She felt his hand upon hers and was taken back for a moment. She gathered herself and looked to everyone at the table. "Point Prometheus." She said with a sigh. "The Daddies were all conditioned and trained in Point Prometheus. At a section called Failsafe Armored Escorts. If we go there we should be able to find out what has changed."
Chris looked curiously at Melissa. "I've never heard of Point Prometheus. It wasn't on any of the maps. And none of the other little sisters I talked to mentioned it."
"They won't." Melissa added. "We all swore to never talk about it. But if we are going to find out what's going on down here… that's the best place to start."
Everyone went silent as Melissa grabbed her beer and walked away from the table. Chris stood to follow her, but Mike waved him off. "I got her."
"You slick ass." Chris huffed as he sat. "When did you step up to be her boo?"
"Shut up." Mike laughed. He grabbed his beer and followed Melissa as she walked out of the winery. "Hey!" He shouted to Melissa as she walked toward the access path which would lead her back to base camp near the Bathysphere station. She paused and looked at Mike as he approached. "You okay?"
"No." She simply stated.
"You want to talk?"
"No." She chugged the last of her beer, placed the empty glass on the bar near the winery exit and walked out the door. Mike followed.
"I'm not going to let you walk back by yourself." Mike followed her footsteps. But Melissa said nothing then entire walk back through Fort Frolic, into the Medical Pavilion and into the elevator down to their established camp.
Melissa walked toward her tent and paused. "Thanks for walking me."
"If you need to talk about it…"
"There are some things a child never wants to remember." She turned and looked at Mike. "I buried Prometheus in the darkest pit of my memories. The things I began to remember as I aged, the things they did in there, they should never be remembered."
"I understand." Mike said, but he knew he could never really fathom the nightmares in Melissa's mind. "We'll be careful, and if it's too much for you we can leave. But this could be our only way of finding a way out of this city. And no matter what, I'll be by your side."
"I know." She placed her hand to his face. Mike wasn't a young man, but he wasn't nearly as old as she was. Yet still, he was handsome and carrying, and Melissa had never known a man's earnest compassion. Melissa loved how her pale white hand contrasted with his dark brown skin. "Thank you for that." She turned and walked into her tent. "Tomorrow, I'll get one of the Big Daddies to lead us there. Tell the others to be ready first thing in the morning. Good night."
Mike watched her close the tarp on her tent and he sighed softly to himself. "Good night."
Mike walked back to the elevator and stood at the base as it lowered toward him. He pulled a small tape recorder from his pocket and rewound the mini cassette inside. He listened as it played back the last thing that Melissa said as she went to bed.
"There are some things a child never wants to remember. I buried Prometheus in the darkest pit of my memories. The things I began to remember as I aged, the things they did in there, they should never be remembered."
He turned if off and pulled the mini cassette from the recorder. He examined it closely and huffed. "I hate my job sometimes." He pulled out his radio. "Jason, copy?"
"Copy."
"She'll take us in the morning."
"It's about damn time. Good work."
"Her choice, not mine. I… I didn't have to force her."
"Even better." Jason replied on the radio. "With the news of all the horrors that went on down here, we'll finally be able to get the story of the millennium!"
"Yeah, whatever. Just make sure it's worth the shit we're putting this woman through."
"Come on, Mike. The hard part was blowing up the ship, and you did that without a hitch. Getting the full story about Rapture out of Melissa will be simple."
Mike paused. "How did you sink the other ships, before we got here?"
Jason chuckled over the line. "Mike my friend. I don't pay you enough to answer that."
To be continued…
Notes: It has just come to my attention that FanFictions has made some back end changes to their code. This is usually a good thing, but they have practically killed any options I have for creating "Scene Breaks". This small change has seriously hindered a lot of my prior stories as well as the current one. I am currently trying to find an alternate means of making this breaks without using a full horizontal line (above), as this full line seems to be too much of an eye sore in the middle of a chapter. Sorry for the inconvience.
Also, this story currently has no set length, but I don't expect it to be more then 10 chapters. Enjoy.
