A/N: The events of Minerva's Den (which I have not played) are not going to be followed in this story. Everything in that arc, including Subject Sigma, will not be used. Sorry, but that's the way I had already planned the story.

You didn't think I've given up on this story, have you? I'll see this through to the end! There's so much more of this story to tell...

In the Name of the Father

Chapter XIII

Delta wandered beyond the barricades, passing by the people on watch who eyed him warily as he lumbered by, his heavy footsteps and his imposing figure hard to miss. One of them started to say something about not going out there, but a growl and a look from Delta silenced the man and Delta was soon walking along one of the main glass tube tunnels that connected the buildings of Rapture. He was for the most part looking out through the thick glass, observing every detail that his eyes ran across. The schools of different fish, the sharks, the groups of jellyfish, the plethora of underwater plant life, and of course the grand city itself.

Even in its ruins it was still a sight to behold. A marvel of human engineering, production, and of course, vision.

Human. That thought gave Delta pause as he stopped walking, staring out the dirtying, reinforced glass. He had not had time before to think on so deeply and serious a matter as this, but recently he has had a lot of free time. Time spent not fighting for the survival of himself and anyone else who he cared about.

After all that he had been through, with no memory of his previous life before becoming Subject Delta, was he still human? He did not know the answer, and try as he might he could not find one. He had been under the influence of the bond before, but because that bond was now severed or at least seriously weakened he was no longer driven to uphold rules that were brainwashed and spliced into him. He actually had free will, unlike the other Big Daddies that he had encountered throughout his experiences in the sunken city.

The fact that he was even contemplating this at all made him think that he was human, but the things he had done and the way he was currently living could not help but make him think of himself as a monster as well. But humans were of course capable of being monsters themselves, something that he knew from seeing it first hand here in Rapture.

Footsteps echoed along the tunnel, stirring him from his thoughts. He tensed, readying to fight as he whirled around to see who was approaching, arm already reaching for the rivet gun on his back.

"What are you doing all the way out here, big man?" asked Tyrell with a grin. His right arm was in a sling and he still walked with a bit of a limp, not fully recovered yet from the splicer fight in the surfscraper a few days ago.

Delta grunted a greeting, relaxing as he realized he was in no danger. He pointed to the man's injured arm.

"Oh this? It's nothing really. Just hurt my shoulder a bit using that shotgun," he said, still grinning, "I'm getting a little too old to use the big guns. I think I'll try and stick with pistols next time, as much as I'd miss the big guns, I'd rather not get injured while shooting anymore." He patted the pistol that was strapped to his hip with his free hand.

Delta let out a moan of sympathy and gave a nod before looking back out through the glass once again. They were both silent for a while, Tyrell turning to look out the glass too as he tried to see what it was that the Big Daddy was so interested in out there.

"Hard to imagine this place was once a paradise, huh?" Tyrell broke the silence, chuckling softly. "We all came here, thinking we could escape all the bad things about living in the world above. Thinking that here we could live and thrive in peace. That we could be better than what we ever were on the surface." His gaze drifted to each building in sight, most of them completely dark and obviously run down. "It was a great dream, for sure... but reality sure as hell came around and woke us up right quick."

Delta grunted.

Tyrell smiled sadly, glancing sidelong at the metal man. "I... I can't imagine how difficult it is not to be able to speak. Is there... is there no way to fix that?"

Delta turned to him and shook his big, helmeted head. As far as he knew, he would stay this way forever. His vocal cords were practically destroyed and would require extensive surgery to repair, if they even could be repaired. With conditions the way they were, the chances of finding a doctor and equipment to even have the option of conducting the surgery were close to zero.

"Pity. I have a feeling I'd enjoy having a true conversation with you."

Delta felt the same way.

-oooo-

Tenenbaum leaned back in the chair she was sitting in, the backrest creaking as it bent back to accommodate her. Again, for the third time, she read through the report. And according to the systems report, the ability of Rapture to sustain life was decreasing at an alarming rate. The way things were looking, she needed to find a way to the surface as soon as possible or else she and the girls would certainly perish.

As time marches on, machinery and computers decline and without proper maintenance and repair they begin to fail. All the damage that the chaos and violence that consumed Rapture produced did not help matters as it hastened the decline of vital systems. If things were to remain unchanged, all systems were expected to fail within three weeks, maybe if they were lucky it could stretch out to four. If they were unlucky, the time would decrease.

Whatever the case, the survivors of Rapture were running out of time.

She began to search for any remaining lifeboats, whether functioning or not, starting with areas closest to her current location. Even if they were not working, she might have enough time to get it fixed up and running. Even a partially operational lifeboat would be good enough. It would definitely be better than nothing. The important thing at the moment was to have options to choose from.

She also tried accessing any functioning security cameras or sensors so that she might try to find any other survivors. Help would greatly increase all of their chances for survival.

Not everyone in Rapture was a splicer or was dead after all, and while her priority was to get the Little Sisters away from Rapture and to safety she also felt compelled to try and help anyone else that may still be alive. She could not fetch them herself unless they were very close by, of course, but she could at least try to inform them of what was going on and what she was up to so that they may try to come along.

The maintenance outpost that she was in was located in a rather secluded area of the city that was fairly hard to get to. A single maintenance shaft led to the outpost, and since this area had been cleared of splicers it was relatively quiet and safe.

So when she started to hear noises echoing from the shaft, noises that were not the normal background noises, she felt a spike of fear and nervousness. All natural reactions of course, but her training and experiences allowed her to control her emotions within a few seconds of them cropping up.

She breathed deeply.

Keeping as calm as she could she tried to finish her work as quickly as possible as the sounds continued to get progressively louder. Something was definitely heading this way. And as the seconds ticked by, she became more acutely aware of the weight of the pistol strapped to her hip.

-oooo-

Delta and Tyrell stayed for a while longer staring out the glass in that tunnel before they eventually returned to the The Sinclair Deluxe, where the survivors under Grace's leadership were residing.

It was a little run-down, but far better than many of the other buildings elsewhere since it was actually inhabited and thus repaired and maintained. At least, as best as the surviving Family could maintain it. Again the appearance of Delta made those on watch duty clutch their guns tightly and eye him with suspicion, though they thankfully did nothing rash.

Delta could not help but feel a bit itchy though, fully aware of their watching him closely.

"Well, I'm going to go check on Grace-y. She hasn't been feeling well lately," said Tyrell as he considered the Big Daddy for a moment before giving him a wave and walking away.

Now that he was back inside, Delta was unsure of what to do so he decided to pay a visit to the engineer brothers, Oreo and Milk. They were in a back room on the first floor and it took him only a minute to reach the place where they had worked on his suit. They both looked up as he came in and greeted him with a smile and a quick laugh.

Delta waved at them, letting out what lighter sounds he could in greeting.

They seemed to be working on some kind of metallic, boxy contraption, which was currently placed on a worn wooden table in the middle of the room. Their spotlight lamps pointed directly at it to provide proper illumination from seemingly every angle. They had the top panel open, allowing access to the inner mechanisms and wiring.

Delta pointed to it and glanced at the both of them.

The brothers shared a look and smiled, looking back to the Big Daddy.

"This thing? Why, it's a small generator system that we're working on," said Oreo.

Milk nodded, "Yup. In case the power decides to give out on us. We made it a while back but it wasn't complete..."

"... until some new parts were recently found. We're almost done with it. All we really need to do now is to charge it," finished Oreo.

"Just a prototype, really. Won't put out too much power. It's not like we can run the whole building on this," said Milk.

Oreo patted the box gently. "BUT, if it works like we hope it will, we can make a larger version that just might power the building."

It was at this point that Delta noticed that there seemed to be a hand crank on one side of the contraption. Again, he pointed and looked at them for an answer. The great thing about the twins was that they were perceptive enough, and of course smart enough, to understand what he was trying to say.

Milk touched the handle of the crank, "This is a back-up charging system. Normally, the generator will take charge from a main power supply and store it until it's needed. When that's not available, or once that stored power has run out, you can use the crank to manually charge power to the generator." He grinned, "It's actually the part of the system that we just installed today."

Oreo looked thoughtfully at Delta, "Say... Maybe you can give it a try later when we're done? It's a bit tough to use and... as I'm sure you know by now, my brother and I aren't exactly the strongest people in Rapture."

Milk groaned, "Oh, you wound me brother! Haven't you seen me working out all this time?"

They laughed and Delta could only nod and let out a groan of acknowledgement. At least he hoped it sounded like one.

"Alright!" the brothers said in unison, high-fiving each other. They apparently were very fond of high-fives.

Milk said, "Thanks a lot, Delta! You're a real nice guy, you know that?"

"Uh-huh. The nicest Big Daddy we've ever known."

Delta was pretty sure that he was the only Big Daddy they knew.

The twins returned to their work on the generator, their tools scattered around the table in a chaotic and yet somehow organized manner. It was fascinating to watch as they worked together on it, each one quietly aware of what the other was doing so that they did not interfere with each other. It truly seemed like they could read each other's minds, the way they moved about like a well-oiled machine.

After a while, when it appeared that they were not going to finish anytime soon, Delta left them to their work and they called out to him as he was leaving saying that they would contact him as soon as they were finished so that he could try the hand crank.

As he walked out into the atrium and headed for the stairs, he was stopped by August. The boy came running down the steps and came to a stop when he spotted Delta. A little out of breath, the boy told him that Grace was calling for the Big Daddy to come up. It was apparently urgent.

Up by Grace's apartment, Delta followed August inside and noted that Grace and Tyrell were there. The muscular, older man called Sarge was also present and the look of suspicion and disdain that he gave the Alpha series did not escape notice. The big man crossed his arms over his barrel of a chest as Delta walked up to the small gathering.

"Good. You're here. Now, I called you all up here because I've received some dire news," said Grace as she looked at each and every one of them. Even August, apparently allowing him to stay for the meeting. "One of our scavengers recently came running back and told us that a big band of splicers are headed this way."

Sarge put his head down a little and crossed his arms. Tyrell seemed to be unaffected, probably having heard the news already, though he too looked deep in thought. August gasped a little and Delta remained silent, though he clenched his gloved hands into fists. No matter how many splicers they put down, there always seemed to be more of them.

"They seemed to be taking their time moving along, but there is no doubt that they will be coming through Pauper's Drop soon. That being said, it appears we're going to be in for a heck of a fight if the numbers I heard were correct," she said gravely.

"How many, Grace?" asked Sarge, a bit more subdued than usual.

"At least thirty. Maybe up to fifty splicers. They didn't stick around long enough to get a more accurate count, as you may imagine."

That was not good news. While Delta had faced perhaps up to ten at a time, he had never fought against an entire mob like that. He had never experienced that many splicers to have banded together without a leader, and he wondered if that meant they had one. Thinking similarly, Sarge again spoke up.

"That's... a lot. Way more than anything we've ever seen. Are you sure about this? I've never heard of that many splicers grouped up before... do they have a leader or something?"

Grace looked at him. "I am sure about the threat. I trust this person's word. As for a leader," she shrugged, "We don't know. It's possible, and it would make sense. But it might also be because they've simply realized they can do better as a big group."

August asked something that nobody in the room immediately answered. "Can we beat that many splicers?" The boy gulped. The fear in his voice was evident, though he tried to keep a brave face in front of the adults.

Everyone could see that he was slightly shaking - having experienced what a handful of splicers could do when he helped Tyrell to find Delta, it was scary to even think about what thirty to fifty splicers in one group could do. And that was just an estimate. There could be more. Maybe even a hundred.

Delta finally made some noise. He slammed a fist into an open palm and growled, the sudden movement and noise making everyone jump as he interrupted the silence that had befallen their little meeting. Much to everyone's surprise, Sarge grinned at that and chuckled a little.

"The tin can is right," he glanced at Delta for a second with a calculating eye before he gave a serious look to August, "We'll beat 'em, kid. We'll make 'em wish they never bothered us, you'll see."

Grace gave a small smile. "Okay, well Sarge you know what you need to do. You're in charge of the defense after all, so we'll follow you're lead." The ex-military man nodded and then left immediately to go begin preparations for their defensive strategy.

Grace turned to Delta. "And you Tin Man, I find myself thanking fate that you've been brought back here to us. And I also thank you, for being willing to risk yourself once more for our sake. Ty, if you could show him to the armory? I imagine he would want more than a drill and his rivet gun for this fight."

"Sure thing, Gracey," said Tyrell as he started to walk towards the door, "Come on big man, let's get you some more weapons. We're going to need your help big time, I think."

"Can I come too?" asked August, still somewhat shaken from the news.

Tyrell stopped at the door and looked to Grace, who gave a slow nod. The older man then looked to the young boy and grinned, "Of course, Gus. After all, we've fought before. Your good aim will definitely be a big help."

Delta followed the man and the young boy out of the apartment and down the stairs. His heavy footsteps thudding and echoing throughout the place, like the beating of a war drum. As they headed for the armory, he could not shake this sinking feeling that things were not going to turn out too well. Up to fifty splicers was a ridiculous amount of enemies to fight. Even for him.

Still, for the majority of his experience at Rapture he had fought alone, so it was not unusual for him to think that way. Now that he was fighting with a group, he wondered if this might not be as daunting a fight as he thought.

He would have people watching his back and fighting alongside him. He only hoped that his newfound allies were skilled enough, and brave enough, to fight that many splicers in one battle.