Alex, Susie, and Johnny trudged through the small fields of Arcadia, each of their looks sullen and worried; Susie's hand was still being gripped by Mercer. Johnny's steps were loud, but soft in sound. His mind was on something else; Susie and Alex. He needed to protect them, even though he only met the other man a few hours ago. Johnny needed to protect him, and, though he disliked the man at first, he grew to like him. Alex Mercer didn't mean any harm, especially to Susie. In fact, he was very nice and sweet to her, like a...
Father...
His thoughts halted. Like a father... Better than...Better than me? He frowned in his thinking, Susie has me, but he...He has her as well. He needs Susie...Without her, he's going to get sick again, then die. Johnny heard a light tapping noise on his helmet, and he turned his head to the left. Alex smiled and said, "Hey, why'd you stop?" The Big Daddy slightly tilted his head. "You stopped walking." A groaning sound emitted from the helmet, and the Bouncer trudged on. Alex sighed and looked at Susie, who was resting her head against the metal suit.
"Daddy...I wanna go home."
I do too, sweetie...I do too.
Matthew was fighting against his former master and his old enemy. Fire and ice washed over electricity, trees were burned and bushels were frozen as the three fought. He was no match for the Houdini Splicer and Samuel, although he was very agile. Because of the excess splicing that Matthew was still doing, his organs were shutting down slowly, the ADAM overwhelming the vital ones. It was only a matter of time...But before that, he had to get the little girl and Alex Mercer out of Rapture. And fast.
"I know what you've been up to, Samuel!" Matthew shouted, tears streaming down his face as he grabbed an EVE hypo from a small pouch from his coat and stuck the needle in his wrist. "You and Anutthara!" Samuel stopped dead in his tracks as anger ran through his face.
(Flashback)
Anutthara was a slender man, about the age of 37. His hair was in a neat array of braids, and one or two colored beads stopped at the end of each. His skin was soft and tan, his eyes were a piercing sky blue, and his lips were thin and almost always curled into a smile. He sat there patiently, his fingers tapping on the wooden table that glowed dimly in the light of the Eve's Garden sign. Samuel looked at Anutthara animatedly, and said, "What's our next plan of action, master?"
Anutthara smiled and looked at the table, his mouth slightly open, as if thinking about every word he was going to say. "Our next plan...We need to round up every Splicer in this godforsaken city and convert them...We need an army if this dream is supposed to come true. We also need to create a plasmid that can control the minds of mass people, instead of just a single person." Samuel nodded, and thought about creating plasmids. They seemed dangerous enough, but it looked so....much...fun....
"If we can create a plasmid that can do that, and make the duration of the mind control as long as we could choose; We'd make an unstoppable army! And since the Surface Dwellers don't know of our existence, we can do this in secret." His smooth voice trembled a bit at this thought, fearing of any mistake that would make Rapture known to the people on the Surface. Samuel looked at him reassuringly.
"Do not worry, master. We will make this dream come true."
"I am afraid of any margin of error."
"Do not be. It's a secret to the Surface. They do not know about it." Anutthara calmed and smiled.
"Yes, you're right. Now....If there is enough people in Rapture to start a small or even a large army, then we will be more than ready to make the preparations."
"Yes-Wait, what about the other bases, the ones on the Surface?" Anutt's face grew serious as Samuel said this.
"We have the technology to keep in contact with them. I just talked with our brother base in Toronto. They are doing fine, and the Italy Base is doing fine, as well. They are waiting for our final command, and then, once we ship the Mass Mind Control Plasmid, we can take over the minds of the people, and then..."
"We overwhelm every government in the country."
"It will be a most delicious victory," He said, reveling in the thought. "And everyone will be united as one. No more war..."
"No more famine," Samuel said.
"No more race wars...Only peace." Anutthara sighed and leaned back in his chair, relaxing. "It will be the most perfect plan..."
Far, far into the corner, Matthew watched in intent, a fire built up in his stomach. So...They want to take over the world via mind control... He thought. I-I can't... I can't let this happen....
Sheen stopped and stared at Samuel. Matthew smiled and looked at the Splicer's surprised face. "Can't you see, Sheen? He's just some puppet on a string, he's just being used, and so are you...." He paused, looking at the realization sink into the man's face. "And so was I, but after that, I wanted to leave, but where? There is nowhere to go in Rapture. Noone can hear you scream..." Sheen looked at Samuel, who slowly turned his head to him.
"Don't believe him, Sheen. I am the true person that will bring Rapture back together."
"IT'S NOT TRUE-"
"SILENCE!" Samuel shrieked, his hand instantly changing from ice cold to bursting with electricity. He sent a string of it towards Matthew, who, by the time he caught sight of it, cried out surprise. The crackling light shot into his body and rendered it limp. The Leadhead Splicer crumpled to the grassy floor, his eyes still on Sheen before they closed. Sheen knew that Matthew was still alive, but unconscious. The ADAM that pumped through his already failing body would keep him alive, but only for so long until the ADAM itself would shut down all the organs in his body. It was a horrible thought, and as much as Sheen hated the man, he needed- no, he wanted to save Matthew.
"Sheen, please, what he said, it's not true." The Splicer looked up at Samuel and shook his head.
"If it was, then you wouldn't have attacked Matthew. I-I shouldn't have attacked him, either."
"Oh, but you hated him so much. I know what happened between you two. The plasmids, the addiction...The ADAM. It ruined both of you; He was easily subdued by it, and then taken advantage of; Turned into a picture of pure art in the eyes of a surgeon. And then you...You Sheen, you mutilated yourself. "Gone in a rage," As the Splicers said you did, and carved the infamous Chelsea Grin at the corners of your mouth. And then, the unthinkable happened...." Sheen closed his eyes and opened them slowly, staring back at Samuel with a calm as the man went on. "Matthew was back, but he still wanted to splice. I stopped him later, but I knew he still did it, every Splicer does it in secret; They just can't help themselves. He knew that you had a sister, a Little Sister, in fact..." Samuel walked around and took a deep breath, lightly kicking Matthew's unconscious body before stepping over it.
"...He wanted more ADAM, more Plasmids, more power. So, he went for your sister."
"Stop." Sheen said.
"He grabbed her..."
"Stop."
"She screamed..."
"Stop!"
"He didn't care..."
"STOP!"
"And then he harvested her." Samuel smiled in satisfaction as tears rolled down the Houdini Splicer's cheeks. "Oh, so you do have a breaking point!" He chuckled and switched his plasmid to another one. His hand grew white, and a pure mist formed around it. "Well, now...Let's see if we can get into that brain of yours..." But he was already on the move. He switched to the Winter Blast plasmid and froze Samuel, the smirk on the man's face still, there, frozen, as Sheen carried Matthew and ran after the Big Daddy.
"Hold on, Matt, I'm gonna help you..." He tried to keep a grip on himself, but it was no use. The tears bombarded his eyes like a surprise attack on an unsuspecting enemy. They escaped and trickled down his cheeks as Sheen ran after the Big Daddy. Little whispers of "I'm sorry" and, "I shouldn't forgive you, but..." escaped his lips as his feet worked at their full potential, running past the beautiful flowers and the overgrown trees that provided oxygen to Rapture.
"Just...Hang on, Matt."
