'I'm bored, Mister E' whined the Little Sister. Elda looked at the girl, smiling uncertainly. He didn't have a clue how to behave around the girl, even though she had barely strayed two metres from him since he had 'rescued' her.
'Uh... we still have to wait for Harlan' he said as soothingly as she could. The Little Sister scowled and stamped her tiny foot. 'Papa Harlan's being too slow, Mister E. Angels don't wait for slowpokes'
'They'll wait for me' growled a voice from behind Elda. The teen sighed; they had been here for almost half an hour, and despite the relative safety their position offered, he was getting bored. Not that he wanted to fight splicers, but heck, he was sixteen, and he wanted something to happen.
They were in a small storage room about a ten minute walk from Maxi's Mechanics, where they had picked up the Little Sister. There were boxes piled high in the room, but the reason they were here was the broken Gatherer's Garden machine in the corner. When they had checked the room, Harlan had tested it. Apparently the machine's access interface was damaged beyond repair, but the plasmid-synthesising parts still functioned. Declaring that he could 'fix the problem with the girl', Harlan had sat down next to the machine and began tinkering with its insides. He had been at it for the entire half hour.
'Mister E, pleeeease can we go find the Angels? I've got to be a good girl and gather the ADAM' said the Little Sister. Elda shifted uncomfortably as he looked at her. The greenish skin and yellow eyes were creepy enough, but that echoing voice unsettled him. That and the giant, bloodstained needle she held.
'Harlan, are you almost done?' he asked the old man. Harlan muttered angrily.
'Give an old mercenary his time, boy' he growled.
Elda's eyes narrowed. 'Are you going to keep feeding me that story?' he asked. Harlan still persisted that he was only a soldier, but Elda didn't buy it. He was willing to believe that a mercenary would have his apparent knowledge about Little Sisters, but tinkering with a Gatherer's Garden the way he was? No way.
'Yeah boy, I am. No need for you to hear about what you won't understand' replied Harlan. Elda grunted, and checked Old Buck again, it was fine, again.
'So what exactly are you doing?' asked Elda, watching the Little Sister. She had started rifling through the boxes, though Elda had already checked them.
'Finally, a useful question' said Harlan, 'I'm seeing if I can make something that can take away the girl's drive to gather from corpses. I ain't going through that experience again every time she decides she's hungry'
Elda nodded slowly. The Little Sister looked up from her explorations, before laughing and jumping onto his lap. Elda panicked for a bit, before calming down as the filthy little girl arranged herself comfortably.
'You're softer than Bubbles, Mister E' cooed the Little Sister. Elda winced internally; the girl truly believed that Elda either was a Big Daddy, or was just as good as one. Some part of him was still repulsed by the girl, but another part truly wanted to protect her; it was strange.
'Uhh...' Elda began. Not really off to a good start. 'So... do you have a name?'
The Little Sister looked at Elda, apparently confused. 'A name? Mister E, is that important?'
'Umm...' he said, looking back at Harlan. The man was letting out a wheezy cough that Elda suspected was laughter. 'Yeah... a name is important' he told the Little Sister.
'Papa Suchong said we don't have names. He said names are silly' she replied. Elda felt uneasy, hearing what this girl believed. His own life... no, that was too horrible to think about.
'I don't need a name, Mister E. I need-' she was cut off by the sound of her stomach grumbling. She smiled at him and giggled, 'ADAM. My tummy wants ADAM'
'It won't after this' said Harlan. Elda could hear triumph in his voice.
'It's finished?' asked Elda. Finally...
'Around that. Just power the machine and we should get what we need' replied Harlan. Elda set the Little Sister down and walked over to Harlan. Pushing boxes out of the way, he saw the strange device that Harlan had made out of the Gatherer's Garden. It looked like some kind of engine, but with vials of oddly coloured liquids sticking out in all directions. Harlan took his hand away from a series of dials and switches as Elda approached.
'This will work, right?' asked Elda nervously. Harlan shot an annoyed look at him.
'It should' replied the old man. This did nothing to relieve Elda's tension as he reached into the satchel strapped to his back, pulling out a large vial. A small amount of green liquid sloshed around in it. Elda longingly gazed at the vial while Harlan eyed it critically.
'It should be enough' muttered the old man, inserting the vial somewhere in the machine. He then pointed out an exposed wire to Elda.
Elda nodded, and placed Old Buck carefully down on the floor. He took a deep breath, and activated Electro Bolt. The glow was brighter than before, and small arcs of electricity jumped between his fingers. Harlan was right; the plasmid was a fair amount more powerful now. The Little Sister cooed and clapped when she saw Elda's arm come alive with blue light. 'Shiny, Mister E...'
Elda wrapped his hand around the exposed wire and let loose a pulse of electricity. The machine made whirring sounds, and the ADAM in the vial drained away. The machine made some more noises before stopping. Harlan reached into the contraption and pulled out a syringe filled with a strange, pinkish liquid.
'Bring her here' said Harlan. The Little Sister's face took on an expression of pure fear. She clutched Elda's leg tightly, staring at the syringe.
'No! Mister E, I don't want the sticker!' yelled the Sister. Harlan scowled at her, then looked at Elda. The teen looked back nervously. 'It'll just stop... the harvesting?' he asked.
'Yes!' snapped the old man, 'I don't know how to kill the parasite, and I don't think it's a good idea besides. The mental conditioning probably won't go away either, but we can manage that'
Elda nodded reluctantly, holding out his hand. Harlan shook his head. 'I'll do it, just hold her'.
The Little Sister looked up at Elda desperately. 'Do I have to, Mister E?'
'I think...' Elda forced out, before gathering himself and saying, 'Yeah, you have to'
The girl nodded, putting on a brave face. 'Okay, Mister E. I'm sorry; I'll be a good girl'
'Fine. Hold her' said Harlan, kneeling down in front of the girl. She obediently held her arm out, keeping a firm grip on her ADAM needle with the other hand. Feeling strangely like he had failed somehow, Elda gripped her shoulders. Harlan quickly stabbed the syringe into the crook of her arm. She squealed in pain, and Elda's hands tightened on her shoulders.
The girl squealed and kicked, but her arm was held securely by Harlan. She attempted to jerk free, but Elda's grip on her shoulders kept her still.
It lasted longer than he had hoped. When Harlan finally pulled the needle out of the girl's arm, she all but collapsed, remaining upright only because of Elda's grip on her. The ADAM needle clattered to the ground. Elda knelt down and laid the Little Sister on the ground. Harlan scrutinised the small body.
'No immediate adverse effects. I think it's working' he said. Elda nodded, not taking his eyes off the girl. He felt oddly protective of the child. Not really a wonder he reasoned. Despite the ADAM-induced regeneration the Little Sisters enjoyed, without protectors, the splicers would tear them apart.
The girls' eyes flickered open, 'Mister E...' she mumbled, 'is it over?'
Elda nodded, 'Yeah...'
She smiled, 'See? I was a good girl'. Elda nodded again, not knowing what to say. The Little Sister clambered to her feet and hugged him. Elda didn't move, forced into stillness by shock and uncertainty.
'I hate to interrupt this touching moment, but I'm still not sure it worked' said Harlan. Elda stood up, breaking the Little Sister's grip. Harlan walked forward and knelt in front of the girl. How Harlan looked into those glowing eyes so calmly, Elda couldn't fathom.
'Do you still feel the need to harvest?' barked Harlan. The Little Sister recoiled, clutching Elda's leg almost painfully.
'Mister E, what does Papa Harlan want?' she asked. Elda hesitated, and turned his head to Harlan.
'You could be a little gentler with her' said Elda. Harlan snorted in response.
'Humph, fine. Look at me, girl' he said. The Little Sister looked back at Harlan fearfully. Harlan took a deep, raspy breath, before talking again.
'Girl, do you still need to gather ADAM from dead... Angels?' he asked, his normal 'old man' voice softened somewhat. The Little Sister looked at him, confused.
'But all good girls gather, don't they Mister E? Does Papa Harlan not want me to gather?' she said. Elda looked at Harlan, who grunted and gestured at the girl. Elda turned his gaze back to her.
'Uh... He means... um... that you don't have to... gather... from the Angels. Because it's dangerous' he said. The Little Sister's eyes widened in understanding, but she soon resumed her confused expression.
'You mean the bad things. But you can protect me, can't you? Just like Mister Bubbles?'
'Um, yeah... but I can't... um... I have to protect Papa Harlan too, and he can't heal like you do'
The Little Sister's brow creased as she frowned. Suddenly her face lit up as she smiled at Elda. 'Okay, Mister E! We just have to protect Papa Harlan before the Angels call! I still feel kinda full anyways'
Elda bit his lip at the response, trying to think of something to say. Before he could though, Harlan cut in again.
'Fine then, we're done here. Boy, grab that gun of yours, and keep the runt close' he said, picking up his own gun and moving over to stand by the door. Elda nodded, and retrieved Old Buck before going up next to him. The Little Sister retrieved her ADAM needle, and followed closed behind him.
Harlan gripped the large, lever-like door handle. Before he tuned it though, Elda leaned in and muttered to the old man, 'you could have helped me out a bit more, you know'
Harlan raised his eyebrow, 'No, I couldn't. Besides, watching you play father to the little Frankenstein is amusing'. Elda scowled, and Harlan barked a short laugh, before speaking again, more seriously.
'It looks to me like the girl still thinks she ought to harvest, though she doesn't need to anymore. So we won't be constantly announcing our presence to the whole of Rapture, but...'
Elda glanced at the girl in question, 'But what?'
'Without harvesting, we won't be screaming our position to the world, but if a splicer gets anywhere near her, it will attack. It's going to get harder from here'
Elda nodded. The Little Sister banged impatiently on the door with her fist, 'let's go!'
Harlan grunted, and pushed down on the door handle. With a screech of metal rubbing on metal, he heaved the door open. A blast of rotten air assaulted them as they stepped out into Rapture.
'Alwight! Let's go!' shouted the Little Sister, bounding ahead, waving the ADAM needle about. Elda pointed Old Buck at every shadow as he advanced into the corridor, followed by Harlan. When he got to the Little Sister, Elda reached down and pulled her closer to him.
'Stay close' he muttered. The Little Sister giggled and nodded, hugging Elda's leg.
They walked through the dark corridor. They were in the maintenance tunnels near Maxi's Mechanics, a part of Rapture that hadn't had much traffic even before the city went to hell. Therefore, there were few splicers. Elda winced every time he heard something move in the dark.
It was terrifying walking down the abandoned tunnels. The dim lights just seemed to multiply the shadows rather than illuminate. The echoes of their footsteps were deafening in the silence.
'It really shouldn't be this quiet' said Harlan. Elda nodded quickly, feeling a little more than slightly paranoid.
Suddenly, a scream cut through the air, echoing down from in front of them. Harlan pointed his machine gun down the tunnel and Elda aiming Electro Bolt in the same direction, the Little Sister clamped tightly onto his leg.
Harlan gestured for silence with his hand, and the others obeyed. They waited like that for a few seconds, but heard nothing more. Harlan moved forward slowly, mentioning for the other two to follow. Elda kept Electro Bolt active, scowling as his stomach flared that that now-familiar ache. He glanced to the Little Sister who was following not one metre behind him. He could almost taste the ADAM...
No he thought, I won't hurt a little girl... I can't.
Harlan turned a corner of the tunnel, disappearing from sight. Suddenly Elda heard a dry choking sound echoing from around that corner.
'Harlan? Old man!' called Elda, running the last few metres to reach the corner, coming up short when he turned it and saw what lay on the ground. Harlan was fine, but his eyes were wide and his mouth was open. He seemed to be having trouble remembering how to breathe. But it was what the old man was looking at that got Elda's attention.
Lying on the ground was a blood-soaked skeleton. No clothes or flesh of any kind, just warped, elongated bones and blood. It took Elda a few seconds to comprehend what he was looking at. The Little Sister seemed to have barely noticed it.
'What the hell did that?' asked Elda. Harlan shook his head as if to clear it, before muttering that he didn't know.
'Probably some kind of plasmid we haven't heard about. We better go; we don't what to meet whatever did this' said the old man.
'Yeah, I gue- What the fuck?' yelled Elda as a snarl sounded from behind them. The teen swung around as a dark shape flung itself from the shadows at him. It caught him around the waist, slamming him to the ground. The air was driven out of his chest, and he caught a blast of fetid breath. He lost his grip on Old Buck.
About half a second passed before a hoarse yell cut through the air and the splicer flew off Elda. He looked up to see that Harlan had kicked the mutant off him. Elda's head swung around to see the splicer climbing on the wall, lining up for another pounce.
'Kill it, Mister E! Kill it!' squealed the Little Sister, and Elda didn't need the encouragement. He pulled his revolver out of his pocket and fired at the splicer. It screamed as bullets hit it in small explosions of blood, but it didn't stop moving.
'Fuck this!' shouted Harlan, pointing his machine gun at the splicer. He opened fire, but the splicer jumped out the way too fast to get hit. Elda pushed himself to the ground, activating Electro Bolt. He aimed the plasmid at the splicer and launched lightning, but the blue-white bolt missed the flying figure and simply dispersed against the wall.
'This is my place! You're not welcome!' screamed the splicer as it jumped from wall to wall. It suddenly produced a short, hooked blade and began to laugh. The sound sent a chill through Elda's spine.
Bang! A pipe underneath the splicer ruptured, spraying steam. The splicer screamed in pain and rage, but the veil of white prevented it from moving closer. Elda could feel the heat of the stream press against his face. Suddenly a massive cracking noise echoed down the room, and the temperature suddenly rose.
'Heating system! Get the fuck out!' yelled Harlan. Elda snatched Old Buck from the ground, stuck it through his belt and turned to run, almost knocking the Little Sister over.
'Pick me up, Mister E!' she squealed, and Elda bent down and grabbed her, swinging the little girl onto his back. She was surprisingly heavy, but the adrenalin running through the teen gave him more than enough strength.
'Hurry up! This way!' yelled Harlan.
Elda ran blindly, following the sound of Harlan's voice. He could barely hear the old man's hoarse shouts over the sound of the exploding pipes. He could feel the steam pressing against his legs, feeling like they were being seared even through the fabric of his pants.
'It hurts! It hurts Mister E!' yelled the Little Sister into Elda's ear. Her high-pitched voice echoed uncomfortably in his head. Then he realised he couldn't hear Harlan calling from in front of him anymore. All he could hear was the sound of rupturing pipes and the echo of the Little Sister's voice.
'Harlan! Where are you!' yelled Elda, but he received no answer, for at that second, the metal ground under him split open, and a wave of scalding air rushed upwards, knocking Elda off his feet. He landed hard, the Little Sister's weight driving the air from his lungs. Panic was setting in; he could hear his own heartbeat as he twisted around on the burning metal, knocking the Little Sister off him. He somehow managed to turn around as he scrambled to his feet, and saw where he had run from.
The maintenance tunnel was wreathed in steam, the pipes still bursting, the destruction rushing towards the teen and the little girl. But something else approached him as well.
Wha- the thought echoed briefly in Elda's mind before the adrenalin washed it away. There, slowly walking towards him; was another little girl. But this girl, for the second that Elda saw her, sent every survival instinct in Elda into overdrive. The hairs on the back of his neck shot up, and every part of his mind not already panicking was submerged in abject terror.
He twisted around, scooping up the Little Sister in the crook of his arm. Fear gave his feet wings, and he ran faster than he could remember ever running before.
But it was not enough. In one split second, Elda could feel the air around him shudder, and knew exactly what was going to happen. With an almighty shriek of tearing metal, the pipes all around Elda burst, and steam exploded into his vision.
'Ahhhhhhh!' screamed the teen. He could hear the Little Sister screaming too, but he was too wrapped up in his own pain. He felt himself get flung off his feet, flying through the air. He saw wooden boards coming up to meet him, but when he did, they crumbled, and he fell through empty space.
'Umph' grunted Elda as he hit metal ground hard. His head spun, and he could feel blackness threatening to sweep him away. He lay there, fighting unconsciousness. It was a few seconds before he realised he could hear the Little Sister crying. Almost without thinking, he twisted his neck around, and saw the filthy girl lying beside him, whimpering in pain. He tried to move on the ground, but his muscles screamed in protest. Abandoning that, Elda tried to speak.
'H- Hey' he managed to spit out. His lungs apparently worked fine. His muscles began to respond to his commands, though as the excitement wore off, he began to feel the pain of getting thrown who-knows-how-far through wooden boards. He also felt exactly how much it hurt to narrowly escape an early cremation by steam.
The thought of that narrow escape brought to mind that girl. He clutched at her image in his mind, but as much as he knew it was burnt there permanently, he couldn't focus on it. He had more important things to think about.
'Mister E? Are you okay?' whimpered the Little Sister beside him. She had gotten onto her hands and knees and had crawled to Elda's side. Elda saw, feeling a twinge of jealously, that apart from her face being rather red, she had suffered no apparent harm. She still even clutched her ADAM needle on her hands.
'I... ow' said Elda, and the Little Sister whimpered again. He clutched Elda's chest tightly, and continued to sob quietly.
'Mister E got hurted. Mister E can't move' she cried. In response, Elda flexed him muscles as best he could. He was somewhat surprised that they did more or less what he wanted them to.
'Hey... I'm fine. I'll be fine' he said, and painfully pushed himself to his feet. The Little Sister smiled uncertainly, and hugged Elda's leg. The teen winced, but grit his teeth and took the pain.
Flexing his muscles, he decided that he just felt worse than he really was. While getting steam-propelled through wooden boards and slammed onto the ground was an unpleasant experience, his wounds mainly amounted to bruising. The teen took a deep breath, and looked around.
It looked to be some kind of large, circular service elevator. Lit by neon tubes around the side, it was little more than a platform suspended along a large shaft. Elda figured it must have been used to move construction equipment. Huge cables, at little less than half a metre wide, hung down the massive shaft, falling through holes cut through the platform. In the center, Elda could see a lever attached to a small pedestal, similar to the ones inside bathyspheres. Looking up, he could see openings to large tunnels, and parts of the shaft were massive planes of glass that displayed nothing but murky water.
'Ugh... my head' moaned Elda, as he surveyed the vertical tunnel. His brain still didn't work properly; the memory of that girl in the tunnel ran wildly through his mind. He tried focusing on it, but the image simply would not form. His head ached at his efforts at concentration.
'What the fuck... was that?' he muttered to himself, before he realised another issue had presented itself.
'Fuck! Harlan!' Elda swore, looking around for the old man; but apart from him and the Little Sister, there was no-one to be seen. Upon seeing this, Elda unleashed a torrent of choice words that made the Little Sister cringe.
'What's wrong, Mister E?' she asked hesitantly. Elda turned his eyes to the girl; it was almost soothing to see those glowing yellow eyes and greenish skin after that other girl. Forcefully pushing down a rising panic, Elda replied.
'Papa Harlan... isn't here anymore' he said, and the Little Sister squealed in delight. She ran up to Harlan and hugged his leg. 'That's good, Mister E! Papa Harlan scared me'
Elda grunted in response. Resisting the urge to scream, he looked around, trying to form a plan of sorts. He still needed to get to the Gaia District, and he knew Harlan would be heading there as well. If only he knew where he was. He looked at the lever in the center of the platform, and proceeded to walk over to it.
Inspecting the metal instrument, he saw that it only really had two options; push it right, and the platform went up. Left, and it went down. He knew Gaia District was above him somewhere, so he gripped the handle and pulled it to the right. The handle didn't move.
'Great. Just what I need' muttered Elda. He tried again, with both hands this time; no result. Frustrated, Elda activated Electro Bolt and pumped a burst of electricity into the handle. A flash of blue light appeared, accompanying the smell of burning plastic, but nothing else.
'Give me a fucking break!' yelled the teen, kicking the pedestal. He swore again, and dropped to the ground, nursing a sore foot. The Little Sister apparently took this as an invitation to walk over and plop herself down in his lap, sticking the point of her ADAM needle into the ground between her legs. Elda groaned at the sudden weight on his bruised muscles.
'Mmm... I like you better than Mister Bubbles' murmured the Little Sister. Elda almost smiled, but grimaced as his insides suddenly ached fiercely. It was the hunger for ADAM, he knew. He could smell it, through the dirt-encrusted skin of the Little Sister. So close, all he had to do was take it. He could probably snap her neck before she even knew...
Stop! Right now! Elda screamed at himself, shoving the hunger back down into himself, where it belonged. He would not hurt a child, eerie as she was. The memory of the girl in the tunnel hovered on the back of his mind, still impossible to remember properly. Well maybe not that particular child.
'Alright, get off me' he said, lifting the Little Sister off him. Somewhat calmed, he turned his attention back to the lever. Harlan wouldn't have gotten frustrated with it; he would have figured out why it wasn't moving. Elda couldn't rely on an old man that wasn't there anymore.
He checked the state of the lever. Like the one in the bathysphere, it was shiny, and in good condition, so rust wasn't his problem. He looked over the hinge that the lever pivoted on; there was a tight bolt holding it in place. Elda tugged at it; the bolt was stuck tight. This lever had been purposely immobilised, all he had to do was loosen this bolt.
Elda smiled at his logic. Why couldn't he have done this sort of stuff when Harlan was still around? He shook his head slightly and looked around. There! Lying at the edge of the platform was an overturned toolbox. A small pile of tools glinted in the neon lights. Elda ran over and quickly scanned the pile. He grabbed the first thing that looked useful; a large pipe wrench.
He returned to the lever and placed the wrench on the bolt, tightened it, and yanked hard on the metal. The wrench shifted as the bolt turned. Grinning, Elda tugged again, and the bolt turned more. Finally, he yanked on the wrench one last time, and fell backwards as the bolt came loose and the wrench turned much faster.
'He he he' giggled the Little Sister. Elda shot a stern look at her, which only made her get louder, moving on from giggling to outright laughter. Her normally echoing voice was amplified by the tunnel, making it sound even creepier.
Elda shivered. He could get used to glowing yellow eyes, greenish skin, and a giant needle. He could not get used to that voice. He loosened the wrench and was about to chuck it to the ground, but though better of it. It had proved useful here, why not somewhere else? Besides, he wasn't always guaranteed a pipe or something similar with which to defend himself. He turned back to the overturned toolbox, looking for something to hold it. A few second's search revealed a tool belt; he pulled Old Buck from his belt, then removed the belt itself.
He strapped the tool belt around his waist, and then stuck the wrench into a leather loop at the side. Surprisingly, he found that the tool belt could also hold Old Buck without any problems. His pistol stayed in his pocket, though he moved the spare rounds to a pouch at the back. He also gathered up small tools like the ones he saw Harlan use on the bathysphere; if he could learn to hack, they might be useful. The three EVE hypos he had left stayed in one of his other pockets. His last pocket held a few bandages and a med hypo scavenged from a first-aid kit Harlan had given him.
'You look funny, Mister E' giggled the Little Sister. Elda looked down at himself and smiled; the belt and shotgun looked out of place. Not that splicers really care what you look like he thought to himself.
'You look silly yourself' he said right back. The Little Sister laughed again, sending a chill down Elda's spine. It's true. She's like something straight from the uncanny valley.
Elda walked back to the lever, confident it would work this time. He looked up, and checked the tunnels above them. Most were small entrances to service shafts, but one, a little over a hundred metres up, was a much larger door, obviously meant to open into one of Rapture's main areas. That was where they'd leave.
He wrapped his hand around the handle, and pulled to the right. It slid easily; Elda could hear the sound of gears grinding over each other.
A huge metallic groan filled the tunnel. The entire platform shuddered, and Elda saw the massive cables at the sides swaying.
'Mister Bubbles?' said the Little Sister. Elda barked a 'no' at her, as the platform shuddered again.
Then, he could hear them. Splicers. Echoes of raspy voices came from the tunnels above them, snarling threats and accusations. The platform slowly began moving upwards as the cables pulled down. Elda swore again, pulling the Little Sister behind him. He gripped Old Buck's handle, but then moved his hand down and pulled his pistol out of his pocket. It would probably be more useful if he had the chance to shoot at long-range The revolver was full of regular rounds; Harlan hadn't given him any more of the anti-personnel variety.
'Fight them off, Mister E! Kill them!' encouraged the Little Sister. The adrenalin was really pumping now, he could hear the clangs of metal striking metal and the mangled words came clearer.
'What are you doing? Horrid monster!' shouted a female voice from above them.
'You can't take us! I ain't going back!'
'You'll see me! You want to see me!'
The screams came louder and louder. Sparks started flying from Elda's fingers, as he activated his newer, more powerful Electro Bolt. He took stock of his EVE; almost full.
A bloodcurdling scream came from above. Elda saw it; a splicer jumping out from a lower tunnel. It fell through the air and landed heavily on the platform, swinging a pipe. Elda pointed his pistol and fired as the mutant tried to rush him. The splicer dropped dead as a bullet pierced his skull.
'Hook, line and sinker!' shouted another splicer from behind him. He swung around as something metal cut through the air where his head had been half a second ago. The splicer clung to the wall of the shaft, snarling. It leaped off the wall at him, but Elda threw Electro Bolt at it. It hit the ground hard near his feet, where he shot it in the neck.
He didn't have time to celebrate as he felt claws dig into his shoulder. He heard the Little Sister scream as he fired Electro Bolt into the offending splicer and spun around. Another splicer rushed him while one more took aim with a pistol. He fired Electro Bolt as fast as he could at the pistol-wielding one, ducking under the arm on the other as it swung at him with a broken torch. He fired two shots as the splicer passed over him, dropping it to the floor.
'Unzip them, Mister E!' cheered the Little Sister, but she was cut short as a splicer slapped a hand over her mouth. Yelling, Elda launched himself at the splicer, firing Electro Bolt ahead of him. The bolt struck just beside the girl, and she fell to the ground as another body collapsed, convulsing, beside her. Elda hit that body, pointing his pistol into its neck and firing. Blood spurted forth; Elda shut his eyes to stop them from getting the liquid in them.
He gasped as a gunshot sounded behind him and a red-hot point of pain appeared in the back of his right thigh. He rolled over, pointing his pistol at the same splicer he'd shocked before, apparently now free of the effects of Electro Bolt. He fired, but the bullet flew wide. The splicer laughed as Elda pulled the trigger ineffectually.
Not good! He thought furiously, dropping his gun. Desperately, he threw Electro Bolt at the splicer. It tried to dodge, but the bolt hit it right in the chest.
'Fuck you!' yelled Elda, and forced the electricity out. With the stronger plasmid, the bolt stayed in existence, connecting Elda's arm and the splicer's chest with a cord of crackling white-blue light. Elda could feel the plasmid draining his EVE, and cut it off when he almost ran dry. The splicer dropped to the ground, reeking of charred flesh.
I didn't know I could do that thought Elda with mild surprise.
Another scream from nearby. Elda twisted around in time to see the splicer he had dodged before swinging his torch at the teen's face. Elda held up his left arm as the blunt weapon came down, intercepting it with his forearm. He grunted as the torch struck him with huge force that could have easily cracked a rib. Quickly, while the splicer's torch was still rebounding from the blow, Elda pushed himself up towards the splicer, pulling his wrench from his belt. He swung the wrench at the splicer, batting its torch away as it attempted another swing.
The splicer snarled at Elda, but became silent when the teen swung the wrench back around to its head, giving a sound 'thwack!' as bone collided with metal. The splicer went limp. And Elda half-collapsed, kneeling with his good leg.
Elda waited for the next attack to come, but it didn't. He looked around and saw only dead splicers and the Little Sister, cheering. He almost fainted with relief, but that quickly faded when a scream echoed from far above him. He turned his head upwards, saw splicers, climbing from the upper tunnels.
'Mister E! Are you hurt?' asked the Little Sister, apparently not noticing the approaching splicers. Choosing not to waste words and save time, Elda stuck the wrench back into his belt and pulled out the med hypo from his pocket. His other hand reached around to the bullet wound just under his rear. He yelped painfully as he dug his fingers into the wound and pulled out the bullet. He stabbed the med hypo directing into the bloody hole, almost forgetting to pull it out as he frantically reached into another pocket for an EVE hypo. He held out his arm, desperate to restore his EVE before the splicers arrived.
'I'm beautiful! You must have come for me!' a hoarse female voice screamed from above him. Too late for the EVE, Elda dived to the side, narrowly avoiding a long-legged mass flying towards him, armed with scraps of bloody metal. She hissed at Elda, swinging the blades at him.
The teen rolled to avoid the deadly strikes, half-scrambling to his feet. The splicer screamed 'you don't love me!' and leaped at him again. Elda threw himself forwards to avoid her.
He hit the ground hard, driving all the air out of his lungs. The splicer screeched a victory, and Elda braced himself for pain.
'Get up, Mister E! Please get up!' cried the Little Sister. Elda heard the splicer's sharp intake of breath as her attention drifted from the helpless teen to the ADAM-infused girl.
'You shouldn't have! Just what I always wanted!' the splicer yelled. Regaining the ability to move properly, Elda twisted his legs around and kick the splicer in her elongated ankles. The splicer fell to the ground, screeching. Elda threw himself on her, clawing at her with both hands. The splicer clawed back, harder. She apparently forgot about the twisted metal and slashed at the teen with long, broken fingernails. Elda ignored the attack and finally managed to get a firm grip on the splicer with his right hand.
White-blue light emanated from Elda's fist, small arcs of electricity jumping forth as he forced Electro Bolt into the convulsing body. After a few seconds, Elda pushed himself off, pulling the empty EVE hypo from his arm.
He looked up again. The rest of the splicers were way too close, but the way out was almost there. He would just have to hold out a little longer. He picked up a fallen pistol and stuck it into his pocket, then pulled out Old Buck. He had underestimated the splicer's speed before, thinking he could shoot them down before they got close. Not happening again, especially not with these... 'spider' splicers.
The Little Sister got close to Elda, but refraining from hugging his leg. The adrenalin was rushing through Elda in waves; he couldn't even feel the bullet wound, or the slashes from the spider splicer.
'Almost there...' he whispered. Two more splicers jumped out of the shadows, into the fray. One launched itself at the Little Sister, screaming something about ADAM. The other clambered over the shaft wall, aiming a hooked blade at Elda.
'Help! Mister E, help me!' screamed the Little Sister. The spider splicer clambered across the platform on all fours, heading straight for the girl. Elda ran towards her, throwing Electro Bolt at the splicer. The bolt missed, striking just in front of the mutant. It turned and snarled at its new foe as Elda threw another bolt. This one hit it dead in the face, which erupted into bloody shards as Elda fired Old Buck. The Little Sister cheered on the teen's murderous shot.
A searing pain suddenly shot across Elda's back. He heard the fabric of his jacket and shirt tearing. He turned Old Buck to face the threat, only to see the other spider splicer leaping out of the way. Damn, he had forgotten about that one! He pumped Old Buck and fired 00 Buck at the splicer, but the damn thing was too fast and too far away; the shot was ineffective.
'I'm a winner! I'm a fucking winner!' yelled the splicer, tugging a hat over its eyes. It leaped over Elda onto the other side of the shaft, brandishing another hooked blade. Elda swung around to try and get another shot, but he was too slow. The splicer leaped right at his back, slamming into him with huge force. At that point, Elda's banged-up knees decided to give way.
The teen went limp, and the splicer's moment didn't just go away. They both plunged forward, across the platform. The tangled bodies hit the ground and rolled.
'I'm better than you!' yelled the splicer as Elda tried to get a grip on it. It slashed at his arm, but the teen managed to grip its hair and unload Electro Bolt into it. The splicer convulsed, letting go of Elda. Elda then proceeded to pull his leg up to his chest and kick the splicer in the abdomen. The jerking body slid away, hitting one of the giant moving cables. It screamed in pain as it got caught in between the platform and the moving metal. There was a sickeningly wet tearing sound as the splicer was torn in two.
'My brother! Repent your sins!' suddenly echoed through the shaft. Elda turned around to see a flaming bottle land about three metres from him and burst into flame. The teen scrambled to his feet, looking up to see a splicer wearing some sort of improvised robe brandishing a Molotov.
His gaze swung around; the Little Sister was nearby, cheering for more death, more spider splicers were making their way down and the platform had finally reached the door!
'Hey! Get over here!' he yelled at the Little Sister, who rushed up to him, holding out her arms. Elda knelt down and scooped her up with one arm, picking up Old Buck with the other. He handed the shotgun to the little girl before gripping her tightly with both arms and running. He felt the sharp metal of her ADAM needle sticking into his skin as he held her.
Another burst of flame landed right where the Little Sister had been, and Elda sprinted for the large, open door. The platform was still moving up, and there was already a ledge between it and the floor the door sat on. Running sent searing pains through his legs, but he somehow managed it. He jumped over the ledge and landed heavily, throwing the Little Sister and Old Buck through the open doorway. He himself stumbled to his feet, clumsily rushing forward before turning around and pulling the lever that stuck out beside the doorway.
A whirring sound of gears and belts sounded out the lever's operation. The heavy metal door, at least three metres tall and about as wide, began to slide down from the ceiling. The sounds of angry splicers were cut off as the huge slab of steel came to a close.
Silence. No sound came from beyond the massive metal door. Elda's breathing was still heavy, and the cool, still air of wherever they were felt freezing on his skin. Even the Little Sister was silent.
'Hah... hah... hah...' panted Elda. He could breathe, that was the main thing. With a soft thump, he allowed himself to fall to the ground, leaning against the door. The Little Sister walked over and sat in his lap. He felt the hunger rise, but weakly. Perhaps it was the adrenalin. In any case, he let the Little Sister sit there.
'Are we safe, Mister E?' asked the Little Sister. Elda forcefully stopped his panting to answer her.
'For... now...' he managed.
'Okay' she replied simply. She snuggled into Elda's lap as best she could.
His heart still beat like a drum; he could hear the blood thumping in his ears. The pain of the encounters covered him as surely as his own skin. Once the adrenalin faded, it would hurt like a bitch.
He sat there a long time, only moving once to dig a pep bar out of a pocket and eat it. The Little Sister soon regained her ability to speak, and did so. At great length.
'And then, we'll go to the land called Lilypoppy! She squealed happily and she danced around the small room. It had taken Elda all of five seconds to get the grip of it; it was just a bulkhead, a small space that connected two different parts of Rapture, while stopping any potential water intake from passing through it. Judging by the size of the doors, Elda guessed they were pretty old.
He checked over his injuries; the bullet wound, devoid of any medical treatment apart from the med hypo, had healed up alright, but left a nasty scar. The slashes done by the spider splicers were more painful and irritating than anything, but Elda dearly hoped to find another medkit in the near future; the damn lacerations put his already banged-up muscles under undue stress. Mercifully, thanks to the previous med hypo, his right leg and much of his lower body felt perfectly functional.
Thankfully, the trace amounts of ADAM in his system would help accelerate the healing process.
'Perhaps we'll dine on ham and jammy!' said the Little Sister, continuing her dance, but stopping once Elda shakily got to his feet. His stiff muscles said he'd been in the same position for a long time.
'Yay! We're going to go find the Angels!' cheered the Little Sister, dashing over to the other bulkhead door. After flexing his legs to get the stiffness out, Elda made to pull the door lever.
Perhaps he thought hopefully, wherever I'm going, I'll find some decent food and clean water. He wasn't a fool; he knew that adrenalin wouldn't be able to keep him going forever. He had forgotten how long ago he had last slept.
But as he took a few steps towards the lever, something pushed against him. His vision blurred, and his head throbbed in pain.
His muscles shivered, but this... force wasn't physical; it felt more like he and something else were trying to exist in the same space. And the other thing was pushing him out. Panic flared in him as the memory of the girl in the tunnel flashed before his eyes, clear as crystal.
She had black, perfectly straight hair that mostly hid her eyes and face; she wore a simple red dress. She walked towards him, the pipes bursting ahead of her. Not a hair on her head had stirred as the flesh-stripping steam exploded around her. She was just a little girl, or she looked like it. But Elda's instincts rebelled at her presence. The very memory of her was painful in his mind.
The force was pushing harder. Desperately, Elda tried to push back. For a split second, whatever it was stopped its advance. Then a blinding pain shot through Elda's head, and his vision blacked out.
'Mister E!' yelled the Little Sister. The sound was painfully soft in his ears.
Die.
Harlan chewed slowly on a handful of peanuts. One good thing about the end of the world, he reasoned, was that dead people left their food behind. The grim thought made him smile a little, before he remembered the bleakness of his situation.
What had happened to that boy, Elda? Probably dead by now the old man thought. Too bad he had had to lie to him.
His hand dropped to the radio strapped to his belt. He had all but given up hope of ever hearing a human voice issue from it, but the soft hiss of constant static was eerily soothing.
And soothing was exactly what he needed now. He chuckled mirthlessly at the memory of what happened in that tunnel. He had tried to save the kid, but those damn pipes... No, it wasn't the pipes, he knew that.
Those fools, they hadn't listened to him when he said it wasn't entirely genetic. He supposed they had reason; here, genetics could allow a man to throw the elements around like playthings. He was a fool too, with what he had done. He had played with something far worse than fire and lightning. Why else was he here, in a drainage chamber, listening to radio static and the sound of moving water?
Whatever had happened to his colleagues, they deserved it and more. Him too, more than the rest of them.
His eyes turned to the machine gun lying beside him. He still had a job to do, one last task for an old fool. Perhaps God would forgive him.
He snorted in the dank air. God forgive him? Unlikely.
The world swam in Elda's vision as he regained consciousness. The Little Sister's quiet whimpering echoed in his ears.
'Uhhh...' he moaned, and pushed himself into a sitting position. The Little Sister suddenly squealed in delight and threw herself on him, wrapping her arms around his neck as tightly as possible.
'Yippie! You're okay, Mister E!' she laughed as she hugged him. Careful around the ADAM needle she held uncomfortably close to his flesh, Elda prised her arms off his neck so he could speak. And breathe.
'What... what was that?' he asked. The Little Sister shook her head and told him he had merely fallen down.
'Must have been... I dunno' he finished weakly. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something felt... wrong. His head still hurt like hell.
'We gotta... ugh' he grunted. A burning hunger suddenly flared up in the pit of his stomach. His throat was parched; the Little Sister smelled so good.
That fucking addiction had come back. Elda pushed the thought from his mind and grimaced as the flaring hunger became that familiar gnawing. He slowly turned his head to look at the Little Sister. Yes, he still saw a little girl; green skin, glowing eyes and all. Hell, it was becoming difficult to imagine little girls without those features.
He grimaced, and got to his feet. He felt exactly the same as he did before he dropped, which meant he felt like shit. The Little Sister started complaining about how slow he was being.
'Hurry up, Mister E! Angels don't wait for slowpokes' she urged, waving that giant needle about. Elda shook his head and put his hand on the lever that opened the bulkhead door.
'We're going to have to talk about those Angels' he said under his breath as he pushed the lever upwards and the massive steel door began to grind open.