Bioshock - Rapture: Alone with my city

by Daniel Phillips

Sequel to "Bioshock - Rapture: Paradise Lost". It's been a decade since Rapture fell, since Dr Sofia Lamb murdered Edward's lover and left him alone in the crumbling city. With Lamb now gone, Rapture finds itself leaderless and on the final brink of being lost to the sea. Edward must save what remains of Rapture - but will a face from the past push him too to a brink of his own?

10. Rapture: Alone with my city - Ch 10

Chapter 10

High Street

This was new to Jack - he'd never seen the High Street or Market Street, instead having only really seen the fleeting few parts of the city that were necessary to his escape last time. High Street was far larger and more open than most of the areas he had seen before, and it felt more like a submarine cathedral, solemn, dark and cold. The enormous windows that overlooked the cityscape were coated in slime and ran with seawater, which was seeping through the seams, making the whole view shimmer. The street's size made even the smallest sound echo throughout, and the churning of flooding levels beneath the balcony beside COHEN's provided a constant, background sound of gushing water. A Big Daddy stood on the uppermost level, looking down through his glowing yellow 'eye's for a sign - any sign at all, of a little sister.

Jack shuffled his feet through the rubble and litter, and having now explored deeper into the city center than before, found himself at a loss where to head next. Whilst he was pleased to have found the lunatic Sofia Lamb gone, Jack realized that without a figurehead of any description leading the city, there was absolutely no hierarchy left to aid him in rolling out his plan - or rather the plan he'd been entrusted with by Tenenbaum.

Suddenly, every single bulb and neon tube in the huge hall erupted to life, dozens surging and exploding with the sudden flow of fresh power proving too much for their deteriorated circuits. Everywhere was instantly flooded with light, and the floor began to tremble as the generators, heaters and pumps began to fight for life again, their veins pulsing with Rapture's restored lifeblood once more. Jack turned on the spot, his gaze up high and his jaw dropped as the once-luxurious retail outlet came back to life - even the hidden speakers crackled and coughed before starting to warily play Johnny Ray' "Just walking in the rain". Even two large fountains began to splutter out dirty streams of stagnant sludge before feeding through some fresh water again.

"Main power is back up!" A shriek came from a concealed splicer somewhere up in one of the small shops on the second level, "Salvation! Salvation!" Wailed another, insane. A few more lights sparked and blew, but the power seemed to be stabilizing, and through the dirt on the glass, Jack could make out a fair few more lights coming back on in the distance - even two rotating spotlights beamed back up against the Athena's Glory building.

This was the boldest sign of life Jack had yet experienced, and in his gut he felt a swelling of hope. Someone had to have restored the power, and it was reasonable to assume that to do so, they'd have to still have at least some of their marbles left! Jacks first move then, was to make his way back to Hephaestus - from what he'd learned all those years back, that was Rapture's primary power source using the massive geothermal fissure in the bedrock. He hoped to find this mystery somebody there, until the speakers broke off the music and a female voice played an automated announcement.

"We apologise to the Citizens of Rapture for the temporary disruption to power and city systems. The Thinker is back online and working harder than ever to keep you, and the city, running on time!"

"Temporary? Who you fuckin' kidding darlin'? Weeks in the dark crawlin' around on our asses!" An irish splicer laughed out loud as he hung from the ceiling, his hands clasped around two fish hooks buried into the stone. Giggling, he soon scurried off - his way to cause more mayhem now clearly lit.

Jack paused then - he did recall Dr Tenenbaum mentioning something about a 'Thinker' - he couldn't really recall what it had been that she'd said, only that it had been damaged just before she left the city - weeks ago. Well, the time scale matched her account and that of the rather vocal splicer overhead - perhaps the issues that had been plaguing the city lately were down to this 'Thinker' rather than Hephaestus? A Power routing issue rather than a supply issue maybe?

Pulling his heavy satchel back up onto his shoulder, Jack started searching for a way to keep moving forward. He passed the 'Information' Desk, and had started to turn a corner when he caught sight of an overturned machine - a strikingly familiar one... a Gatherer's Garden. This machine too was flickering again with restored power, and playing its little jingle "In the garden we are growin', many changes will be flowin', if you want to be amazin', see the flowers we are raisin'!"

Jack's blood supply of ADAM had long since petered out, and he'd used his very last buzz of Electrobolt to jump start his car on a frozen winters morning back in 1962. That first time he'd taken a dose had been horrific, but the thought crossing his mind now to top himself up once more was less terrifying given he knew the advantages some Plasmids would offer on his journey to find this mystery person and carry out his plan regarding the little sisters still left down here. The need for some defensive Plasmids was even more justified by his most recent decision, that he would do his best to help even the Big Sisters if he could.

Assuring himself that he wouldn't over-indulge, Jack kicked open the front of the machine, and reached in for an EVE Hypo. "Hair of the dog that bit me..." he sighed as he jabbed the needle in deep.