The Life of Draven Uniferus
Chapter 4: Striking Out
Disclaimer: I do not own Bioshock or any of the characters involved except Draven Uniferus
Draven was currently sitting in an empty room in one of the abandoned hotels in Rapture. It had been a almost a year since he left Frank Fontaine's army. A few weeks after the attack by Andrew Ryan's forces he returned to be there for the funerals of the people he knew who had perished in the attacks, but since then he had struck out on his own, fighting against anyone who stood in his way of taking down Andrew Ryan. In the last year he'd seen Frank Fontaine's rebellion fail and collapse as Fontaine's businesses were seized by Ryan and his forces, eventually the main base, Fontaine Futuristics was destroy, disconnecting it from the rest of the city and leaving the building a husk of its former glory. Fontaine's remaining forces scattered and Andrew Ryan's grip on the city tightened.
However, this didn't remedy anything. Adam was still abundantly used throughout the city, but, something nobody expected, was the use of Adam drove the user insane. In addition to a host of physical effects, the least of which killed the user outright. Draven was sitting in his room, alone, with his shotgun leaning against the bed. His mind was racing as he thought about his next plan, for the most part, the Splicers of the city had been readily dealt with by Ryan's forces, but it seemed that for every citizen that went insane and was put down, two more followed suit. Draven needed a way out of the city, but the bathospheres were guarded heavily for the use of Ryan's men, especially the ones that led in and out of the city. He had one chance to get out, and that was to take Ryan down, once and for all.
The dozens of scenarios he'd thought up never seemed to work out for him, and this conundrum was currently what was causing him to be thinking so much as he sat in his room. He heard the scraping of metal on stone outside his room and that drew him out of his daze, grabbing his shotgun he pumped the handle causing it to load a shell. Waiting, the scraping was getting louder and louder until eventually a woman entered into view of his doorway. She looked into the open room and saw Draven standing with his shotgun at the ready.
"Draven?" She asked.
"Don't move," he said calmly.
"Draven it's me! Julia!" She entered the room and Draven's grip on his gun tightened.
It was Julia, but it wasn't her at the same time. Her body was deformed and her face was covered in ugly sores. A metal hook was clenched tightly in her right hand.
"Julia, you've let yourself go too far," He told her.
"Draven, come now, that's no way to greet an old friend. Especially after you abandoned us!"
"I did what I had to do to stay alive, Fontaine was getting nowhere fast, and after the events of the last year, I was right to leave. You should leave too, get out of here,"
"No no Draven, I came to talk to you. I heard you were holed up in here, and I felt that I needed to see you one last time," Julia told him.
"See me one last time? One last time for what?"
"For this!" Julia leapt at him raising the hook above her head.
Draven fired the shotgun, pouring a round of buckshot into her chest. She fell limp at his feet gasping for air. He pumped the handle again, causing the expended shell to be expelled from the chamber. He pointed the barrel at her head.
"I need it Draven! The Adam! I need it, it's calling to me!"
"You went too far Julia, that stuff will mess you up for good if you keep using it like you did," Draven told her.
"Give it to me Draven, give me your-"
Draven fired and cut her off, splattering her brains on the floor.
"I'm sorry," he said as he pumped the handle again, expending another shell.
He grabbed his pack of weapons from his bed and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him and locking it with his key. Throwing the key down the hall in a fit of rage and a shout of despair.
"Why, why did I have to come to this damned city!? I had a good gig up on the surface!"
"Perhaps you can return to it," A voice told him.
Draven turned on the spot, readying his shotgun and aiming at the source of the voice. A man was standing before him with two armed guards flanking his left and right.
"Who are you?" Draven asked.
"Son, my name is Andrew Ryan, I'm the leader and founder of the city of Rapture. I know you're Draven Uniferus, and I've come with a proposition,"
Draven lowered his weapon and the guards, who'd raised pistols at him as he had turned to them, lowered theirs. "What is it?"
"I hear you want to return to the surface, seeing as I've got a couple dozen guards on every exit of the city, that could be a problem, but, if you do me a favor, you'll be happily on your way out of here before you know it,"
Draven's mind was racing.
"This is a trap, why's he here? Why's he talking to me? What does he want?" These questions and more raced through his mind.
"Why?" Draven asked after a moment of silence.
"I'm sorry?" Ryan looked a little confused.
"Why would you offer me such a deal? I fought against you, I killed hundreds of your men,"
"Draven, I didn't want that war, Fontaine did, and I know that the men and women he recruited to his side were blinded by his unnatural charisma, I don't hold anything against them. In fact, since this whole Splicer epidemic broke out, I've been trying to track them down and offer help. You're the first I've found that hasn't taken leave of his senses," Ryan sighed as he finished.
Draven nodded. The man seemed legitimate. He let go of the shotgun with one of his hands and extended it forward. Ryan smiled as he took it and shook.
"What do you need me to do?" Draven asked when they finished.
"A simple task, there's an item that was taken from me, a prized family heirloom. I want it back. You'll find your target in the northern section of the city. A Woman named Tanenbaum. Find my heirloom, and kill Tanenbaum,"
Draven nodded as he shouldered the shotgun. "Consider it done,"
"Excellent, good luck Mr. Uniferus, come to Ryan Industries when you're finished. I'll make sure the guards know who you are,"
Ryan and his guards turned and walked out of the hotel as Draven unshouldered his weapon and headed north. The city's tunnels were beginning to show the extent of disarray within the city. With the Splicer pandemic spreading throughout Rapture, nobody wanted to work anymore. They were too caught up in their delusions and visions. This meant the infrastructure of the city, as well as most of its physical needs, were left unmet. Draven cast these thoughts aside as he made his way through the leaking tunnels. He eventually arrived at a bar and hotel combination building. Opening the door he was met with a Splicer. A man whose body was malformed, he yelled as he charged Draven, but a simple shot to the chest put him down. He continued through the building, it was quiet. Eventually he made his way to the top floor of the hotel where he heard the faint sounds of music coming from down the hall. He made his way slowly, carefully, and eventually found himself outside a hotel door with the music loud enough to make out the words. He lifted his hand and knocked on the door. A moment later and it slid open revealing an older woman holding a pistol at head level.
"What do you want?" She asked angrily.
"I'm looking for a woman, Tanenbaum," He said.
"She's not here,"
"I have sources that say she is,"
"Who are you? Who do you work for?"
Draven's mind defaulted to his normal response, "Draven Uniferus, I work alone,"
She looked him over before sighing and lowering the gun. "Come in, before someone else shows up uninvited,"
She stepped inside and left the door open for him. He followed her and it slid shut behind him.
"What are you really here for Mr. Uniferus?"
Draven holstered his shotgun, "Andrew Ryan contacted me, told me you stole something from him. He wants me to get it back, and kill you for taking it,"
"That's bold of you to say so forthright. I did take something from him, yes," She walked over to a small stand that held a radio. She reached down and pulled a golf club from the floor.
"A family heirloom he said it was," She told him as she handed Draven the club.
Draven nodded as he slipped the weapon under the strap across his back.
"I suppose you'd like to kill me now, finish the job Ryan sent you to do?"
Draven was hesitant, he expected some kind of resistance, at the very least a heavily infested fortress of Splicers and a queen at the top who would sooner gun him down than look at him. Instead he had found an old, defeated woman.
"No, I'll come up with something," he told her.
"That's quite kind of you Mr. Uniferus,"
"I don't like killing people, just not something I can do without consequence,"
She nodded, "Perhaps then, that explains why you're so popular with my family,"
"Family?"
She nodded again and looked behind her, "It's ok, you can come out,"
As she said this a trio of girls came out of hiding places scattered throughout the room. Draven recognized each of them as the girls he'd purged of their Adam when he worked for Fontaine.
"It's good to see there are still kind people in the world Mr. Uniferus. If you hadn't been so merciful, these girls wouldn't be standing here with us now,"
Draven nodded again. He turned to leave when Tanenbaum stopped him with a touch on his shoulder.
"If you'll humor me for a moment, I have an idea,"
She retreated into a side room and came back with a blouse that was similar to the one she was wearing. "This was the top I was wearing when I stole that club from Ryan, he'll recognize it, just put some blood on it before you get to him and he'll believe you killed me,"
Draven took the garment and nodded his thanks.
"I hope you find what you're looking for Mr. Uniferus," Tanenbaum said as the door slid open and Draven stepped out.
"I do too,"
The door closed and locked and Draven was again alone in the empty hallways of Rapture. He tucked the blouse into his bag after he cut open a nearby Splicer body and smeared some blood onto it. Traversing his way to Ryan Industries he found himself in a clean, well lit lobby with a receptionist behind a desk. He approached her and she looked up from her typewriter.
"Did you have an appointment with Mr. Ryan today?" She asked.
"I did, Draven Uniferus,"
She nodded and got up. She walked up a flight of stairs behind her desk and eventually after a few minutes waiting, she returned.
"He's ready to see you now," She told him.
Draven nodded and walked past the desk and up the stairs. He traveled down a long, empty hallway before eventually arriving outside a large, oak door similar to Fontaine's office door. He knocked, receiving a "come in,"
He opened it and found Ryan sitting at his desk looking over a sheet of paper. He walked half the distance and stopped.
"So, Mr. Uniferus. I assume by your return that you were successful in securing my heirloom?"
Draven produced the club and walked up to Ryan's desk, handing it to him. Ryan inspected the instrument, nodding before setting it down behind his desk.
"And Tanenbaum?"
Draven reached into his pack and produced the bloodied shirt, handing it to Ryan as well. He smiled as he took the blood soaked shirt.
"Good work Mr. Uniferus. Since you've held up your end of the bargain, it's time I held up mine. If you head down and out of this building you'll find two of my men ready to escort you to a bathosphere that will take you out of Rapture. I just ask one thing Mr. Uniferus. You do not tell anyone of what has occurred down here. Until this whole Splicer situation is settled I don't want anyone getting down here,"
"I understand," Draven nodded.
"Very well. It's been a pleasure Draven. Good luck with the rest of your life," Ryan said as he nodded toward the door.
Draven left the office and made his way downstairs. Sure enough, two of Ryan's soldiers were waiting for him. They led him down through the leaking tunnels of Rapture to a small room with a bathosphere. He climbed inside and they nodded as they flipped a switch. The Bathosphere disengaged from its lock and descended out of the room. After a few minutes the sphere began to travel upward and eventually it surfaced. Draven opened the door and the bright light of the sun shone in on his face. He climbed out and saw a beach in the distance. Grabbing a small life raft that was tucked into the Bathosphere he pulled the cord and the whole thing swelled up with air before setting down on the water. Draven climbed inside and used a paddle to make his way to shore.
Over the next few days Draven had managed to paddle his way to shore, find out he was in America, specifically Florida. He hitchhiked his way home in the northern state of Indiana. He returned to his child home and found his parents were well. They welcomed him home with open arms and helped him get readjusted to life on the surface. Things were going well for Draven.
One day as he came home from work, he untied the apron that he wore for his job at the local deli, threw it aside and plopped down into his bed. His mother came into the room and knocked on his door.
"This came for you in the mail today," She said.
"Thanks," Draven took the letter from her and opened it up. Reading through the lines his face began to grin from ear to ear.
"What is it dear?" His mother asked.
"A new job proposition, and this one pays much better than the Deli," He said.