(A/N Finally got around to uploading another chapter. Don't forget to review, and I hope you enjoy!)

Parker watched one of the several large cathode ray tube screens attached to the wall of the diner by a jumbled mass of cables, entrapped by the images flickering across it. Most of the motley gang of physically deformed splicers had stopped working, looking eagerly at the monitor from their positions. Parker knew it should punish them, yell at them to get back to work, but at the moment it didn't care, it was too busy absorbing the significance of every frame.

Parker's scientists had outdone themselves. It had known that in order to find Eleanor and her father, it would need to have accurate, up to date, intel. To that end, they had created a Plasmid that melded biology and electronics, creating a telepathic link to a designated device or person, effectively allowing for commanders to see through the splicer's perspective and for the splicer to receive communications in the field. Each splicer was connected to a screen in the diner, its area segmented like that of a security feed to give a view of several splicers at a time.

The particular splicer on the screen of interest was currently showing had been scouting on the eastern seaboard of the United States until, low and behold, it had spotted Eleanor on a street corner in Boston, talking to a boy. Parker had mentally connected with it instantly in order to better give orders, told it to tail her unseen, and expanded it's viewpoint to fill the screen. The splicer had followed Eleanor through the streets of Boston, staying out of sight, scaling walls and buildings with a practiced ease afforded to it by the metal claws that had been surgically grafted onto its hands, leaving deep gouges in the walls and dislodging loose tiling.

Eleanor and the boy stopped outside of a house and dismounted off the bike they had been riding on and, after a few moments of talking, entered. The splicer, guided by Parker, quickly broke from its cover by an adjacent building and, running on all fours, took shelter in the backyard. Hugging the wall to conceal itself, it looked in through the sliding glass door separating the dining room from the yard. Eleanor walked into the room with the boy, who shortly exited through another door, and introduced herself to the woman standing by the stove.

The splicer felt the bloodlust rising in its chest. It's vision fogged and the voices in its head came to the forefront. Kill. Kill them all, they chorused, blocking out all logical thought. The feelings of rage and lust echoed through the mental channel to Parker, combining with and strengthening its own.

It ached to kill the bitch that had murdered its beloved, to strangle her and watch the horror on her face as the light in her eyes went out, replaced with the vast emptiness that accompanied the end. No, it thought, I must wait. I must find her Father. She must be made to suffer as I have suffered. Only then, can she feel the cold grip of death. It rejected the feelings and overcame them, pushing out from the connection, its strength dominating the splicer's weakness as it ordered for the splicer to wait until she was alone.

The splicer acquiesced, standing, invisible, as they ate dinner. A small tan dog with short fur and small collar, jingling as it walked, unaware to the presence of the splicer, wandered through the yard, sniffing at the ground. The splicer, remembering its hunger, reached out, breaking its neck with a decisive snap before it could bark. It dragged the corpse around to the side of the house, out of sight, so it could have a feast of it's own.

After, it buried the remainder of its grisly feast in the lawn and returned to its post. They had finished dinner shortly before it had. It saw Eleanor turn, leave the table, and climb the stairs.

Stealthily, with one leap, it landed on the second story wall, digging into the old tiling with its claws, dislodging several as it scrabbled for a stable hold. It forced the nearest window open and climbed in. The room within was light blue with numerous pictures stuck to the wall. The splicer fluidly closed the window behind itself, crawled across the floor and up the far wall near the door, securing itself to it. It felt its skin crawl as Active Camouflage again took over.

A few moments later, the boy entered the room, followed shortly by Eleanor. The excitement of stalking its prey again flooded its mind, itching to reveal itself until Parker quelled its feelings. Eleanor walked around the room, taking in its features, stopping exactly in front of the splicer.

Excitement instantly turned to mind-numbing fear. The splicer was not prepared to engage a Big Sister without the element of surprise, especially not one as infamous as Eleanor Lamb. She reached out, inches from its nose, until the boy called out and she turned away.

The splicer resisted the urge to release the breath it hadn't realized it had been holding. Eleanor continued talking to the boy, but it tuned out after it became evident that she had not revealed Rapture to the boy and it was unlikely that she would have told him the whereabouts of her Father. Parker, however, listened intently, gathering any information it could.

After a few more moments, the boy exited, leaving Eleanor alone. She crossed to the bed, sitting upon it, looking out the window. As the splicer sensed the opportune moment to strike, the excitement and bloodlust once again mounted in its chest. Seeing the opening as well, Parker mentally sent its approval.

With a snarl, the splicer revealed itself and shot from the wall, claws extended, aiming for her heart. With a seemingly impossible speed, the girl spun to face the splicer, causing him to miss his target and imbed its claws in the right side of her chest. Through the window they went, and the world became a blur and its senses became overwhelmed.

Movement, a blinding pain in its face, and then the sickening feeling of falling assaulted it all at once. Then something pushed it, forcing its claws out of the girl's chest and propelling it downward with an incredible force. Its ADAM enhanced limbs groaned under the stress as it barely managed to reorient itself in time to land on its feet.

It looked up and saw Eleanor above, falling rapidly, poised to strike. Dodge you fool, Parker shouted mentally, exhorting the paralyzed splicer into action only moments before the ground where it had previously stood ceased to exist in a large cloud of dust. A moment passed as the two combatants stood sizing each other up. As the splicer stood there, the majority of Eleanor's wounds vanished, along with what little remained of the splicer's confidence.

The splicer snarled and took up a defensive position, attempting to scare her and to distract away from the fact that its trousers were no longer dry. Before it could react further, a small cloud formed in the air around it and an unbearable pain blossomed in his entire upper body. It recoiled, lashing out in an attempt to end the pain. Through its now swollen eyes, it saw Eleanor extend a hand, a small projectile shooting from it. Time contracted into an infinitesimal point as the splicer attempted to dodge out of the way, moving ever so slowly. Suddenly, everything went black, the screen in the diner showing nothing but static.

Filled with uncontrollable rage, Parker screamed out. Every splicer in the parlor cringed as Parker turned, grabbed the nearest table, and tossed it through the bank of television screens, accompanied by dozens of flying sparks and the sound of glass cracking. Parker spun around, staring at the splicers, frozen in mid movement, looks of horror and fear splashed across their faces.

"What are all of you looking at," yelled Parker, its face contorted with rage, "Get out, all of you get out!"

All of the splicers instantly fled, running, crawling, and leaping as fast as they could, none of them wanting to feel their leader's wrath. Parker ignored them, sitting down heavily at the booth. It put its head in its hands and gazed down at the dirt-speckled tabletop, old fliers written upon with intel strewn across the surface.

It had been so close. It had felt the splicer's claws maw Eleanor's flesh; it had reveled in the sensation of the parting skin, the warm blood pouring over the claws.

It attempted to quell the anger in its chest, reasserting its logic and once again gaining control. The mission hadn't been a complete failure. It now knew where she was staying and maybe, just like she was her Father's weakness, this boy it had seen was her weakness. Love had a way of binding one person to another. It was a great chain that bound them together, connecting all of the pieces. Now, it just had to find the weak link and the rest would fall apart.

With new determination, Parker rose from the table, straightening its dirty jacket and tie and smoothing back its oily black hair. It grabbed a soda from off the table, popped the top off using the side, and exited the Fishbowl Diner. It strolled across the avenue, the broken concrete tiling displaced by its scratched black dress shoes grinding along the ground.

Parker walked through a porthole and into the signature glass tubing that comprised many of the walkways of Rapture. It admired the scenery on the outside of the tubing, the dense groupings of coral, schools of fish darting one way or another, perpetually attempting to escape some unseen predator. As it observed this, it smiled.

Everything dies eventually, Parker mused. The thought comforted it. Even if it didn't get Eleanor and her Father today, it would get them, someday.

Parker climbed the short flight of stairs leading to the entrance of Sinclair Deluxe Tenements, ignoring the cracks in the tube that sent water spewing inward and down the stairs, flowing like blood from a corpse. Entering through yet another porthole, Parker glanced around. In order to accommodate Parker's growing science department, the place had been cleaned up. Much of the rubble and debris that once littered the main atrium had been cleared. Now, many contraptions lined the walls, lights blinking, steam pumping, making a high pitched whistling sound.

A hunchbacked splicer was standing over a table on the far wall, tinkering with some unseen device. Sensing an intruder, it spun on its heels, revealing a terrible face with open sores on his face. Recognizing Parker, it smiled showing the very few rotten teeth that it still possessed, and waddled over, its once white, torn lab coat dragging across the damp dirty tile flooring.

"Hello again sir, checking our progress again?" the splicer said, bowing, which caused some pus to drip from its face onto the floor. Parker ignored it and replied.

"Yes, we have ascertained the location of the girl, but she is proving to be as much of a challenge as we had expected. I want to know the status of Project Minotaur."

"Certainly sir, right this way." the splicer said turning and beginning to walk up the stairs.

Parker followed listening as the splicer continued to talk.

"The project has been advancing much faster than expected. The bonding process went much more smoothly than anticipated. We also further augmented strength, endurance, and healing abilities with plasmids. It is not, however, as durable as the Sisters. Without Tenenbaum's or Suchong's assistance or notes, we were unable to fully convert it, but we hope that its Herculean strength will compensate. Unfortunately, the side effect of such heavy splicing is severe mental instability. We lost ten lab techs before we were forced to lock it up, and even then we lost an additional eight afterwards."

At this point, the pair had surmounted the stairs, walked through one of the many hallways with peeling wallpaper and molding wood, and turned into what had once been an apartment. Inside, stood a large heavily modified Vita-Chamber. Large amounts of black rubber tubing, originating from both the ceiling and floor connected to the chamber, pumping in various fluids. A tall, bulky figure, easily eight feet in height stood inside, casting an ominous shadow on the floor, its features obscured by the fluids and frosted glass.

Parker stepped forward in order to get a better look, a feeling of awe at this amazing creation seeping into its bones.

"Careful sir," the splicer sniveled, reaching an arm out. "We have reinforced the glass after the last time it got out, but we still have yet to ascertain the full measure if its strength."

Parker simply stood there, back turned towards the splicer, smiling.

"When will it be ready?"

"We still need to test it thoroughly, we have no idea…." The splicer trailed off as Parker turned, smile gone, an icy glare on its face.

"On second thought, we can skip the tests," the splicer amended fearfully, "In that case, it can be ready as soon as tomorrow."

"Excellent," replied Parker once again turning and smiling at the container. Once again his scientists had outdone themselves. Parker would have to remember to make their deaths relatively quick and painless when they inevitably failed him.