Chapter 11

Minerva's Den - Rapture Central Computing - Operations

Edward gazed out of the window with pride, ecstatic with his first sense of real accomplishment since he could remember. He watched as more and more lights came on, after an hour he even saw a few Atlantic Express Carriages slide along a track in their automatic re-set pattern, heading back to the Depot. He was gleaming, trembling despite the warmth flowing from the air ducts in renewed abundance.

He could image...no, he knew how proud Sheridan would have been of him, had he been here to see this. His partner had always prioritized Edward's development, learning and helping him make larger and larger accomplishments of his own - well restarting the automated systems of an entire city wasn't too shabby. Rapture finally resembled its old self again, at least in part - and Edward could feel the same pride from that very first day when he and Sheridan had looked upon Rapture from their penthouse and begun dreaming of all the possibilities it offered. He felt alive again, he felt almost as though Sheridan was alive again - the spirit of hopeful endeavor, ambition! Precisely what had been going through the mind of Andrew Ryan when he'd built the old girl in the first place.

Dr Well's sat just behind him in an old arm chair, that was perched awkwardly on a pile of technical readouts from a nearby computing station. "Well you've got the city and the Den chatting again - now whats your plan?" She wearily asked, a pessimistic tone to her voice still that Rapture itself was worth much effort. To her, everything was about keeping the Thinker thinking. 'Eccentric old bitch' Edward thought to himself.

He didn't have a detailed plan, not yet. But he did have a goal - to keep this feeling of drive and ambition for as long as he could, in honor of his beloved Sheridan, and everyone that had once lived and worked to make Rapture what it had once been - his home, his beloved city that had made him happier than anywhere else on earth.

"We have the automation running mostly now, that's a huge step Dr Wells..." He began, rubbing his chin and thinking quietly whilst watching the waving seaweed a few feet outside the window. "I'm no Andrew Ryan - I'm no engineer, but one thing I was taught down here was how to make a buck. Rapture ran on bucks - big bucks. Bucks meant security, comfort and good living for the populace..." he spoke aloud as he let his mind unravel.

"Not much of a populace left friend..." Dr Wells murmured as she looked at the floor between her feet and span the pistol in her hand. She did have a point though, and Edward was pleased. "Indeed... that seems be where any grand scheme will have to begin, uniting the cities population - that is how Lamb kept it ticking over for so long. Once we establish some sort of organised society, we can start to rebuild properly... get an economy going! Open up a bank, shops - getting Neptune's Bounty back into operation will have to be a priority before the city starves..." Edward was racing far ahead of himself, but he was too excited to stop thinking of it all, thinking big!

"Hold your horses there, you'll never even get started. You'll never get the splicers in line on your own you idiot!" She spat, laughing at him.

"Oh I'll find a way! I'm damned if I won't find a way... I'll use The Thinker somehow, shut down systems of our choosing or shut off oxygen to parts of the city so that we can heard them somewhere all together..." His eyes were wide and his hands fidgeting anxiously as he tried to conjur up all manner of schemes.

"Oh on you won't!" bellowed Dr Wells. She threw her weight up out of her seat and stormed over to his side. "The Thinker is not a bargaining chip! And it is certainly not your personal toy! If you start shutting random shit off and pissing the splicers off, they'll tear Minerva's Den apart looking for you and the machine!" In a rage she held the pistol up to his face. "I won't let you risk the Den, me! The Thinker!" She began to cry and the hand holding the gun trembled.

Dr Wells was too spliced herself to know it, but Edward had counted how many bullets she had unloaded warding off her co-workers as they'd fought through to the core, and she was fresh out of rounds. Confidently, he made a display just for her by turning away without a flinch. "I admit I am no army, Dr Wells. But I will need The Thinker to bring my city into line..."

"Your city?" She asked in a hushed whisper. He gave no answer, deep in thought and oblivious to his slip of the tongue.

"We'll need an initial defense against retaliations, you are right. Protection from Splicer attacks. We need Big Daddies, and Big Sisters!" The idea struck him like lightening! With a Big Daddy or Sister at every doorway, he could turn the Den into a veritable fortress in an instant!

Dr Wells looked back to him and lowered the gun as her mind too began to go into overdrive, "Back in the early days, when the Big Daddies were exclusively designed for maintenance work around the city, their rosters and assignments were all transmitted by The Thinker directly to each of them by radio. They were all fitted with R-34 receiving units, which were wired into their suits. Even though the primary function of the Big Daddies shifted to Gatherer protection, we still fitted the R-34's so that Big Daddies could still be used when required for routine maintenance projects outside! Even the Big Sisters have them!" Dr Wells was almost as excited as Edward by this point, they gleamed at each other and were almost bouncing on the spot as she churned out her brainwave.

"You're telling me we can just call them with instructions to guard Minerva's Den?" Edward squealed with delight!

"Well... almost. Violence was never something we were asked to instigate - I believe the Big Daddies only use Violence to protect Little Sisters..."

Edward nodded in understanding, "And it was only on direct instruction from Sofia Lamb that would set off a Big Sister... they just seem to roam around mindlessly now." It was a set back, but Edward was not about to be deterred now - he had the potential of The Thinker in his grasp, and was not about to waste it.

"Well just the sight of one of those beasts is usually enough to deter most splicers... if the fuckers do come running, they'll scarper as soon as they catch sight of a Big Daddy in the way. If they don't, then they are sure to piss them off enough to instigate an attack anyway..." He wasn't sure he believed the plan was foolproof, but it was the best he could come up with.

"It's risky to assume any of that... I'm still not prepared to risk anything just for your plans to take over the city" Dr Wells grunted, thinking. Edward stuttered slightly and stepped back, "I'm not taking over the city you stupid woman... I'm simply trying to save it!" He demanded.

"Yeah...ok if you say so..." She sarcastically replied, folding her arms.

"You need this to work as much as I do Doctor - is this small risk not worth ensuring a stable future for your great machine? For yourself? After all your years of devoted dedication and effort, are you not entitled to see it rise from the ashes and be all it can be? You will be the Thinkers guardian, its mother!" Edward heard something familiar in his voice, and repeated what he'd just said back in his head, but this time in Andrew Ryan's voice - it worked very well. He was ecstatic to think that he could deliver a line and a vision just as that Great man could have done once upon a time.

Dr Wells returned to her arm chair and let out a long breath, looking back down to the floor as she comprehended the situation, and the proposal.

"I'll help you build your legion of Big Sisters, but there won't be too many around these days. If this works, I get free rule over the Den, that's my condition. This will be mine to run as I wish. If this goes wrong - I'm sealing off the Den for good whether you are in it or not, understand?" She pointed at Edward with the barrel of the gun and closed one eye as the other mockingly took aim at his head, indicating the sincerity behind her threat to throw him to the dogs if left with no other choice.

Edward smiled again, and winked at her, hoping his frivolous attitude would undermine the conviction in her threat and truly irritate the silly bitch. Nevertheless, he nodded. "My dear Doctor, we take the next step so soon!"