Chapter 14
There was a blinding, flashing light, and then suddenly as soon it had started it stopped. The atmosphere around them had completely changed, they could sense it immediately. An old record could be heard playing somewhere. Right behind them, actually. Dante turned to face it and was hit with another blinding light, only this one felt warm and yellow.
"The sun...we're back..and that's a window...which means—" he turned to Booker suddenly, who apparently had had the same epiphany as him. "We must be inside Comstock House. Elizabeth!"
"We're back…" Booker's head was still reeling, trying to grasp what had just happened. "In 1912...there's still time. But how much?"
"Let's not wait to find out. Come on!"
They ran down the hall and opened the door there to see an isolation chamber. Just above the chamber were two rooms on each side that held a generator each and a lever with one man each near it. In the chamber itself were two doctors and Elizabeth hooked up to an examination table, with something sticking from her back as she thrashed around. And hanging just above the operation itself was a balcony where Comstock himself stood over watching. A voice rang out as they entered the room silently-it was easily and eerily recognizable as the voice of Dr. Powell. He was talking to two unseen people: "You two men upstairs...if she gets ornery, just hit her with the machines. She opens one tear, and there will be nothing but regrets." There was a sinister sneer in his voice, his amusement nearly palpable in the air. There was nothing funny about the situation.
Booker did not agree with the situation one bit. "Comstock! What are you doin' to her?! Let her be!"
"Mr. DeWitt! Mr. Price! What's the expression? "Day late and a dollar short."" Comstock gloated.
"We gotta get in there."
"If we shut down those machines from upstairs." Dante examined, pointing the rooms out to Booker. "I'll take the one on the right, you take the one on the left."
Booker nodded in agreement as the two took off in opposite directions to shut down the generators.
"No, no! No! Turn it off! TURN IT OFF! Please? Please, it hurts!" The two could hear Elizabeth pleading, no doubt still thrashing in her chair.
"Can't we give her something to quiet her down?" another doctor asked, annoyed. This was recognized as the voice of the other doctor from the tears, Dr. Pettifog. Dante clenched his teeth in anger.
Dr. Powell probably shrugged based on the nonchalant tone his voice took. "Well, the Prophet says half the procedure is the pain…"
"Hmm. When the body cries out, the spirit listens."
"Do you hear that screaming? That is the sound of your interference. You two have led my daughter into temptation!" Comstock gloated.
"She is NOT your daughter!" Dante yelled out as just as he took down a Founder blocking his path.
"Perhaps not now...but trust me when I tell you, she will be."
Dante had reached the first generator, knocking out the man who was guarding it, and pulled the lever.
"They've shut down one of the generators." Powell started to panic.
Pettifog, perhaps beginning to feel that perhaps he was in over his head, suggested, "If we don't sedate her and they shut down the other one…"
"We're not sedating her!" Powell yelled angrily. It sounded as though they'd had this argument countless times before.
Booker had reached the other siphon and, unlike his partner, killed the man guarding the lever as he pulled it and shut down the other siphon. The machine whirred and roared before suddenly dying down, with a whine much like that of a car engine as it faded completely. He could not see Dante from where he was, but he hoped that his partner was closer to Elizabeth than he was so that she could be reached in time.
Pettifog could be heard with clear panic in his voice as he called to his fellow doctor, "They've shut down the other siphon!"
"She's getting up... She's…"
Powell was cut off by that point, as a tear had formed near the back of the theater as it opened to show part of a faraway farm, where a tornado was approaching. Before they knew it, the tear opened further, the twister rapidly approaching as the physician scrambled to find something to grab on to.
"Turn it back on...please! Please!" Powell pleaded, but it was too late. The tornado hit the room, taking Powell into it and flinging Pettifog away, as it utterly decimated the room before the tear closed.
"Elizabeth, we'll be right there!" Dante called out through the ringing in his ears, hoping that his voice carried through the chamber.
Booker headed back downstairs, unchallenged, as he got to the now wrecked operation room as he saw Dante placing two fingers on her wrist, his face now plastered with concern. Booker, a after a moment, mirrored the look, looking from Dante to Elizabeth.
"What's wrong?"
"She has no pulse. Her heart's stopped." Dante frantically began decompressions as he applied CPR onto Elizabeth. "C'mon, don't do this to me." He pried her lips open as he began to apply mouth to mouth, blowing air into her lungs before starting decompressions again. "Please, please! Just let me have this, just this once!" It wasn't long until Elizabeth drew breath and started coughing, Dante having backed off to give her room. She continued to cough for sometime, at one point grabbing onto Dante's outstretched arm and digging her nails into the skin. "Ouch." was all he had to say as she looked up at him for a moment or two before embracing him. "Turn around, I'll help you get this thing out. Read this, too." He handed her the card before helping her turn around and beginning to work on the needle sticking out of her spine. "Just be ready on three. One…" He pulled the needle out, making her gasp. "Sorry."
"It's alright. Just help me with this." Elizabeth pointing at the loose strings that held her corset on. She read the note before turning towards Booker. "Your dream of New York...happens. And it's me...I'm the one who…"
Booker spoke up from where he was looking uneasily at all of the torture instruments around them. "She's given us a way to get past Songbird. We're gonna find an airship and we'll leave-"
"Booker."
Booker tried again. "Paris, Elizabeth...remember, you wanted to go to-"
"We're not leaving. We are going to find Comstock."
"Why?"
"Isn't it obvious? She wants to kill him." Dante pointed out, handing Elizabeth her jacket.
"You saw what he turns me into, I will not allow that," Elizabeth added, her tone firm. There was no arguing here, but Booker still tried.
"And you're going to do it?" he questioned quietly.
Elizabeth: Is this where you start moralizing, Booker? You forget, I know you.
"Well I'm not going to let you kill him." Dante firmly stated, holding her hand.
She opened a the tear to the plains tornado scene once again.
"Really, Dante? What are you going to do to stop me?"
"He won't do a damn thing. Because I'm gonna do it for you." Elizabeth closed the tear, satisfies with his answer and Dante's hesitant nod of approval, but just as they started to make their way out of the theater, they heard a slight groan. Booker peered over their heads and his features immediately hardened.
"Pettifog," he muttered. "You two go on ahead, I'll catch up. Wanna have a chat with the "doctor" here."
Dante said nothing as he just led Elizabeth outside, closing the door to cover Pettifog's cries for mercy were muffled. The two made their way down the hallway, hand in hand. He queries tightly and she squeezed back.
"How long?" Dante asked, wanting to know how long it's been since Songbrid had re-acquired her. To him it'd been less than a day's time but for her...lord knows how long it's been. Elizabeth shook her head, her lips a thin line on her face.
"Long enough," was the grim response.
"I know but, how long? It may not look like it but I know what long enough is like." He gave her a look that said that he knew what he was talking about. "Try me."
"Dante, I'd really rather not think about it. I know you mean well, and I appreciate it, but I honestly don't know. It's a bit of a blur if we're being honest."
"Then let me try: six months."
"I—what? Six months, are—are you sure?"
"When we were in the future we came across tears similar to the ones when figuring out Lady Comstock's demise. Now just the other day Pettifog came to your room told you today was the day of an operation. Even encouraged you to eat something but you didn't, did you?"
"I...no. No, I didn't. I was...maybe I was hoping that I'd starve to death first. I haven't eaten anything in days. I don't suppose you…?"
"Let me see." Dante began digging through is pockets before pulling out a small paper bag. Opening it, he took a quick look inside before holding it out. "Not exactly health food but it's something."
She took it gratefully, peering inside and frowned. "What are they? They're very...colorful."
"Jelly babies." He took one out and popped it into his mouth, smiling slightly.
"Uhm. What are Jelly Babies?"
"They're a gummi candi of sorts covered in starch. A real delicacy."
"So it's candy? Awesome, I've never had any before." Gingerly, she reached into the bag and took one out, popping it in her mouth and eyes widening at the taste. "Oh, wow. This is candy? It's amazing."
"Glad you like them." Dante took another one before handing the bag to her. "Got plenty more where those came from." He spotted a couch and sat down before motioning to Elizabeth to do the same. "I can't imagine what they did to you and I don't want to. But what I do know for certain is that we'll make Comstock pay for it. His life isn't ours to take and it won't be no matter how much you want to. Without you he's nothing but a crazy old man telling stories." He finished this by taking her hand, holding it in his own.
Elizabeth managed a very weak and brief smile, nodding once. "Thank you for coming back for me. You and Booker. I knew you would. Eventually…"
"Did you have any doubts?"
Instead of just replying she just pulled Dante closer and locked their lips into a kiss. This went on for a few moments until the two pulled back to breathe in some air.
"Does that answer your questions?" Her tone was joking and a small smile finally replaced the bitter line that had been there ever since her capture.
"I mean...it does answer quite a few, yes."
There was the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them, and both pulled away and turned to the source of the noise. Booker stood there, looking awkward as he rubbed his hands on a torn cloth and tried to keep eye contact with the both of them.
"Have you finished with the good physician?" Dante asked, he couldn't even call the man a doctor.
"Yeah. Won't go into details for her sake." Booker hinting at Elizabeth. "For now, let's go find the Prophet."
The three made their way towards a locked gate that barred them from the elevator. Elizabeth immediately took to work on unlocking it.
"Comstock's zeppelin is outside. The Hand of the Prophet, he calls it."
"Bit bombastic don't you think?" Dante queried, mainly because most egomaniacs he's dealt with always have something stupidly named.
Booker tilted his head, looking at Elizabeth with concern and perhaps a morbid sense of curiosity. "When did you learn that?"
"I've been here for awhile," came the deadpan reply.
"How long?"
"Long enough. I hope Comstock got what he wanted from me...'cause he is not gonna have long to use it."
They pile into the elevator just before Dante remembered something. Taking off the bandolier, he handed it to Elizabeth, who placed it back on. Dante helped her readjust the now too big straps onto her smaller frame, and once it was snug she nodded her approval.
"Thank you."
"You're most welcome. Though with how far we are now, that means," He dug under shirt collar and yanked off the gift that was given to him by the twins-the perception filter. "I won't be needing this anymore." He pocketed it in his jacket.
"This doesn't make any sense." Elizabeth commented, checking the sheet of paper she was given. "Everything here is a cipher that I understand, except this symbol... It's a...cage. Did she say anything about this?
Booker shook his head. "No."
The elevator reached its destination, the top floor of the building that had a balcony that led out onto the rooftops. The door to it was locked and just as Elizabeth was working on unlocking it, an airship loomed overhead.
"It's the Hand of the Prophet - Comstock's flagship. We've got to find a way onboard."
"You two stay here. I'll handle this." Booker said, stepping forward to be the first to head outside.
"No. We're doing this together, or I'm doing it alone. Either way, I need to know the thing's been done." Elizabeth stated firmly, just finishing the lock on the door. It clicked with a satisfying ping and fell to the ground with a loud rattle.
It was then Comstock's voice was heard on the PA system. "Oh, DeWitt...you struggle against prophecy, like a stone loosed from a sling. How thrilling the launch! How breathtaking the apex! And how terrifying the descent, as gravity drags you down into the inevitable."
They stepped outside before hearing a peculiar whistling. Dante immediately tensed knowing what was coming next.
"What's that sound?" Booker inquired.
Dante was all too familiar with the whistle. "Take cover!" Grabbing the other two by a shoulder each, the pulled the down as the "missiles" fired but did not explode
"They must be duds." Elizabeth eyed them warily. She stepped back a couple of paces, behind Booker but in front of Dante.
Dante shook his head, stepping back even further and taking her with him. "Those aren't duds, they're-"
The "duds" then proceeds to spit out two Patriots. As the fight broke out, Comstock once again made his presence known.
"Look around you, Elizabeth. I built all of this for you! You are my heir and my blood! And what has DeWitt or Price ever done for you? To them you are now what you always were: a means to an end."
Elizabeth ignored him and proceeded to open tears for both an automatic turret and a mosquito drone, which helped fend off the machninaizations. A squadron of Founders had started coming forward as they opened fire on the two protectors. Dante had used Return to Sender to draw the oncoming fire in one ball which he flung back, killing two of the Founders. Meanwhile, Booker used a combo of Possession, Devil's Kiss and Murder of Crows to confuse, torch and turn the Founders into a disorganized mess. By this time, the drone and turret were destroyed with only one badly damaged Patriot standing in their way. They dealt with the Patriot and made their way forward to an airship shuttle, getting rid of more opposing Founders.
"That shuttle can take us to the Hand of the Prophet." Elizabeth pointed out before tossing a bottle of Salts to Booker and ammunition for Dante. They slayed the opposing Founders before reaching the vehicle, where each of them promptly hopped on.
The automaton manning the vehicle greeted them once they were on board. "This ship is set to return to the Hand of the Prophet. I am awaiting your order to proceed." Once Booker flipped the lever, the automaton responded with, "Right you are! We depart to the Hand of the Prophet!"
The three of them settled down to wait for the ten or so minutes it would take to reach the airship. Elizabeth settled in beside Booker, who fiddled with his skyhook and weapons while Dante checked his. After she tried to catch his attention a few times, she gave up and came over to Dante, who gave her a much warmer welcome. After a few minutes of near silence, she asked a question that somewhat stumped him.
"Do...do you think...it's possible to redeem the kind of things that we've done?"
"Redeem? I don't see much use in that." Booker answered grimly from where he was standing, fiddling with the safety on his machine gun. The man was ready to finish this job and be done with the city, and that was clear. But there was a lot more at stake than even he realized, and it would not be that simple as all of them hoped.
Elizabeth looked at him, her face a mixture of serious and curious. "Booker...are you afraid of God?"
Booker didn't even spare her a glance. "No...but I'm afraid of you."
She turned to Dante, her face still that perfect mixture of curiousness and seriousness. "What about you? Are you afraid of me?"
Dante gave her a look of curiosity, mixed with slight amusement. "Do you have sharp teeth?"
"No?"
"Can you sprout wings?"
"No."
"Have you done anything malicious or sadistic that would warrant any kind of fear from me?"
"Yes, but..."
"Then no, I'm not afraid of you. I've seen a lot of scary things. Things that would make normal men like Booker here turn tail and run for the hills. I've met and faced down people and monsters that make Comstock look like a puppy dog in comparison. You though? You're the most nicest sort of person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting." He held her hand in his, holding it tight. "And, after this whole mess is sorted out, I'm hoping you and I could get better acquainted, preferably when we're not fighting for our lives." he gave her a small smile.
"I'd like that," she said softly. She smiled back, small but warm despite the situation.
Booker seemed not to have noticed his companion's little chat, or else thought it not his business, because he didn't give any reaction to their shared moment of tenderness or even seem uncomfortable as he usually did. Instead he continued checking his weapons and checking the course for their destination. He only spoke up when they caught sight of a large something in the distance.
"Comstock's ship." Dante nodded, face from as he stepped away from Elizabeth. "Alright, it's go time. Are we all ready?"
"I'm ready," Booker grumbled, cocking his gun and pointing it at the ground. He looked at Elizabeth, who nodded as well, though she looked apprehensive.
"I'm as ready as I can be," she stated simply. She twisted her pinky finger nervously.
All three looked up as they heard a noise from close by. It sounded like a train whistle Dante's eyes widened as he realized what this meant. He raised his gun. "Good, because it's now or never. Looks like we've got company."
Booker swore as he found the source of the noise cleverly concealing themselves in the thick clouds that surrounded them. He fired off a couple of shots before it came into view, the deceiving calming blue of the Founder's signature marking the aggressors for easy targets. Booker and Dante together fires off a few shots each as the ship came closer while Elizabeth scrambled to find what no doubt limited supplies were on the small ship.
She managed to find a health kit, which she held onto, and a small Salt vial, which she kept a close eye on. After a couple of minutes of shooting back and forth and a couple of Vigors thrown towards the offending airship, the Founders were defeated and their airship sped from sight, disappearing into the clouds once more.
Their few precious moments of peace after the fact were soon interrupted however by the sound of more airships heading their way, though they were Vox this time, as they dispatched those as quickly as they had the first. Eventually, they reached Comstock's ship, and as they prepared to dock Booker tried one last time to persuade Elizabeth.
"Y'know we can just fly this thing to Paris…"
Elizabeth glared at him—though she knew where their loyalties lay, she was still irritated that Booker was still doing this. "Just drop me off if you want to. This isn't either of your problems."
"We won't abandon you," Dante swore, looking pointedly at Booker.
Elizabeth's stone cold expression turned soft in the blink of an eye as she looked tenderly at both of them. "You wouldn't...would you?" She sighed, shaking her head. "I'm staying. I'm going to stop Comstock, and then I'm getting the hell out of here. We're getting the hell out of here. So let's get to it. Look, there are sky-lines all over the surface of the flagship. They're covered with those motorized patriot pods."
Booker nodded. "That must be where they're deployed from. I wouldn't go near those pods while those pods are in place."
Elizabeth: Comstock is at the top of the ship. Let's head up.
They all exited the craft as soon as it docked properly, but as soon as they had done so the PA rung out with Comstock's booming, authoritative voice. His taunting, usually directed at Booker, was this time meant for Elizabeth.
"Look at DeWitt, child. There's something about him that you just can't put your finger on. Soon you'll understand the man I am, and the man he isn't."
She ignored him, as usual.
The trio fought their way through a squad of Comstock's troops, mounting turrets and setting Vigor traps before they finally cleared the hangar bay of all enemies. They rushed to the main control panel for that level, situated right in front of the skyline.
"Those sky-lines lead up to the next deck! If we clear the lines of those pods, we can use them to get up to the next decks," Elizabeth informed them.
Looking around, they spotted a control panel and pressed a button that started launching the pods. But once again, Comstock couldn't help but talk and try goading Elizabeth. If he really thought that was going to work after all he had knowingly and willingly done to her, he was out of his mind. But then again, had they ever really seen any evidence to the contrary?
"I have seen the seeds of fire that will prepare the Sodom Below for the coming of the Lord. But it will not be I who carries that banner up the hill. That job...falls to you, Elizabeth. That job falls to you."
"The sky-lines are clear!" Elizabeth ignored him and called out to the others, much louder than strictly necessary, but no one blamed her.
The trio then used the skyline to ride up a deck, Elizabeth grabbing her's a skyhook off a fallen Founder. The PA came back on, filling the air with the din of Comstock rallying his troops with his honeyed words, promising false hope and redemption.
"On one side of our Lamb stands the False Shepherd...and the other the remnants of the heretical Vox Populi. Which one of you men will not gladly go to his reward to see her safely to her destiny? Rejoice! Rejoice! Death has no sting!"
Elizabeth gazed venomously at the nearest loudspeaker, not taking her eyes off of it even as she said, "There's the launch panel."
Fighting their way through a handful of troops, they hit the button only for the pod to take longer to drop than normal. Clearly there was a delay somewhere else, but they had no idea where or what to do to fix it.
Elizabeth frowned, unimpressed by this new development. "Why are they dropping so slowly?"
"I don't know. We're gonna have to wait it out."
It wasn't long until an airship came into view, loaded with Founder troops brandishing their weapons and screaming typical Founder-like things. Booker groaned and Elizabeth winced.
"I don't think they're giving us that option." Dante answered, reloading his weapon and aiming it at the nearest bad guy.
Comstock's forces, surprisingly accompanied by the Vox, came en masse as the duo fought tooth and nail to keep them at bay. It was a bit into the battle Dante yelled out, "How many so far?!"
"One quarter of the pods have been ejected!" Elizabeth responded, ducking into another hiding spot.
"That's ALL?!" Booker exclaimed before using Undertow to shove a guy off the ship. "You've got to be kidding me," he muttered, adding a few expletives to the end of his sentence.
They kept fighting, Dante having to pause and reload at least once while Booker watched his back. At one point he lobbed a Devil's Kiss at somebody, and they flailed back screaming in agony. They bumped into another group that were clustered together and accidentally caught them on fire as well. 'Five birds, one stone,' Dante thought as he watched, impressed.
"One half done!" He could hear Elizabeth calling out over the din of battle, and he nodded to show he, at least, had heard.
It wasn't until a Patriot and another handful of Founders and Vox were put down that finally Elizabeth called, "The lines are clear."
Restocked and reloaded, they took the skyway to the next deck, Comstock's voice taunting them along the way.
"I may be the one who strikes you both down, but DeWitt, you've always had a knack for self-destruction. Who's to say you won't beat me to the punch?"
They reached the engineering deck, and as they entered they could hear the murmurs and sounds of Founders trying to get into position for an ambush.
"One more deck to go." He sighed, wanting to try to convince not just her, but his partner, to turn back. "Look, let me take care of this on my own."
"No, we're going with you."
They entered the room, taking down Founders as they went— Possessions were thrown at turrets and at one point Elizabeth opened a turret within a tear. Managing to tear through most of the forces, the Handyman that arrived shortly after the fighting started was nothing at this point as they double teamed it with a combo of Shock Jockey, shots to the heart and a flak cannon that one of them picked up. As soon as it fell they made their way towards another skyline that lead towards the Prophet's Cabin. Riding the final sky-line towards the top, Comstock made himself known one last time.
"You come to wipe your slate clean, False Shepherd - but time will walk backwards before you find redemption. Some sins can't be forgiven."
Reaching the cabin, Booker only briefly hesitated before he opened the door, two making their way in before he followed suite. As soon as they did, they noticed near the entry was a model of Monument Tower. Elizabeth walked up to it, gently touching the base as if in a trance.
"This is my tower...what's this...the siphon?"
"We saw this there. We could hear you singing from above…" Dante mused. "The machine came to life in response."
"And then in my mother's grave, there was a smaller one...they were draining me...maybe that's why I can't…"
"Can't what?" Booker pressed on, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"When I was little, I used to be able not to just open tears, but I could create new ones...anywhere I wanted to go. But in the tower…"
A com speaker turned on, and as expected, it was Comstock—but the bravado and cockiness in his time was gone. Now he sounded almost defeated, deceptively calm. He only said, "Yes, I'll be right with you." If one didn't know him, he would have almost sounded polite.
"Stand back. I'm ending this."
"No. This is between me and him."
"You are walking into a trap-"
"I need to do this."
"Five minutes."
The two of turned towards Dante, confused.
"What?"
"Give me five minutes to talk to him."
Booker seemed extremely skeptical, but Elizabeth nodded. The door opened as they walked into Comstock's cabin. Inside was what was basically a garden, with beautiful flowers and bushes decorating the interior, but at the center next to a bird bath was the man himself—Comstock, in the flesh.
He beckoned to Elizabeth to come towards him, though Dante stayed a step ahead of her. "Elizabeth. My, oh, my have you grown. Come here. Well come on, I don't bite!"
While they were a few steps away but out of arm's reach until Dante stopped himself and her. Giving her a nod as well as Booker (who stayed near the door), he walked towards Comstock.
"Mr. Comstock, we finally meet. Or, should I call you Zachary, or Zachariah? 'Cause you're no father of mine. Or would you just prefer Comstock?"
"Mr. Price, it is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance at last. I've heard my daughter has taken quite a liking to you." At the mention of the word 'daughter', Elizabeth froze. He kept talking, either oblivious or willfully ignorant of this little fact. "Come here, child."
"No," Dante said in her place. "Not yet. Comstock, I must say-you cut quite an impressive figure. Certainly not a holy one, though. This is...quite the con you've got going on here. I mean, framing an innocent woman for the murder of your wife. That in turn causing a civil war essentially against a woman of color." He motioned at his bare skin accusingly. "Granted, she was no saint herself, but then again neither are you. I mean, aside from African Americans, you've got the Irish, Chinese, Native Americans, and a couple other races. All they do is work, work, work, for a chance to belong in this so called Eden, but you just step on them," he emphasised his point by stomping on the ground. He stopped suddenly, as a thought occurred to him. He glared up at Comstock thoughtfully. "I suppose that's the only real way those people and the whites are equal in your city-the only thing they have in common is you step on all of them."
Comstock did not verbally react to his words, but his stance stiffened-his eyes lost their false cheer and the smile on his face turned into little more than a sneer. His shoulders squared and even from Dante's place he could see the set line of his jaw. Dante was getting to him, and he did not like it one bit. If his reputation really did proceed him, Comstock was balking at the thought of even acknowledging someone like him. 'Good.'
"Oh, but I'm not done yet. Claiming to see visions in mid air when they're simply tears of reality is just...well, the simple solution would be calling it fraud, but it'd fall under Clarke's three laws. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. In short...yeah, you're a fraud, and everyone here knows it."
"Mr. Price." Comstock's voice is firm and commanding, and if Dante hadn't heard it from him and a million different other men just like him, he might have been tempted to cower under it. But he stood and he looked his enemy in the eye, refusing. "Mr. Price, I think you are confused about just how things work around here. Columbia has some of the greatest minds from the Sodom below, all working to bring about a new age unlike anything seen before!" A hearty, but very fake guffaw, came from Comstock's mouth, and even he did not seem like he believed it. "As you said yourself, yes, if any technology is advanced enough, it could be considered magic by primitive minds. The only magic involved here, lad, is the miracle of God and His divine vision. If there were any trickery involved with my methods, don't you think someone would have found out by now?"
"Let's see...Lady Comstock, the Luteces, who made a majority of how your city works, I can go on. Mass murder, conspiracy, and uxoricide. I suppose it could be called a sin to claim divine knowledge, but that's depending on whether you believe or not. Either way, the only False Shepard around here is you, Zachary."
He looked at Dante with a ferocity and hatred previously unseen on the older man's features, his lip curled and his eyes narrowed as he made to take a couple steps forward. "Dear boy, what do you know of being divine? All I see before me are a couple of Israelites, being led astray by an Aaron. You have abandoned your Prophet and falsified a golden idol in his place. Soon you will see that no amount of gold or empty promises can guarantee you a place in Eden."
"You're one to talk about empty promises, aren't you? As it happens, I do know and few things. Though I do find it...boring. I've known actual "divine" beings that make you and your "utopia" look like a child's first scribblings. You're no prophet, you're no saint, and you sure as hell aren't anyone's 'Father'. That being said...while we're on the subject of biblical parallels, you probably think you're some kind of Moses, don't you? Columbia is your Red Sea, the path by which all of God's chosen will leave their oppressors behind and be carried to the Promised Land, where there is milk and honey in abundance and every sin is forgiven. But you are no Moses, and like him, you will never make it to your Promised Land. Not because of age, Elizabeth, or even Dewitt or myself, but instead of doing something decent and kind, you turning your utopia into a dystopia. Or to put it in layman's terms—" Now he got close enough that the other two couldn't hear, and he leaned in close,taking in the barely concealed uncomfortable expression in the other man's face. "Your sin could never be forgiven. Not by man, not even by God. There's a reason Hell exists." Dante dug through his pocket and flipped open a fob watch. "Five minutes are up." He moved to the far side of the room, leaning on the wall and motioning to the other two to come in.
Elizabeth walked up to Comstock, unwavering in her cold gaze and her steady step. She stood opposite him on the other side of the birdbath, and when she spoke her tone was steely and demanding. "Tell me...What am I?"
Comstock ignored her question, opting to grab her hand and begin to scrub it with a sponge. There was no blood or grime on her hand. "Look at you, child, you're a mess."
Booker started toward the bath, "Hey. Let go of her-"
Comstock ignored him as well. "Elizabeth, everything I've done...I've done to keep you safe."
Elizabeth scoffed, trying to pull her hand away but failing. "Safe from what?"
"'The seed of the prophet shall sit the throne, and drown in flame the mountains of man.' But the archangel revealed something else. "Beware, Prophet. Beware the False Shepherd, Booker DeWitt...for he shall be as a wall between her and destiny."
"Why?"
Now Comstock turned to Booker—not Dante as well, just Booker. He shook his head sadly. "DeWitt, I'm a fool. I've sent mighty armies to stop you; I've rained fire on you from above. I did all of that to keep you from her, when all I needed to do was tell her the truth. Ask him, child. Ask him what happened to your finger. Ask DeWitt," he pushed insistently, his tone mocking and impatient.
Elizabeth now tried to yank her hand away, only for it to be pulled back by Comstock. "Hey! Let go of me!" she grunted, panic seeping into her voice.
He raised her hand, before turning it and himself towards Booker. "Ask him! Ask the False Shepherd! Tell her! Tell her, False Shepherd. Tell her the truth!"
Booker was immediately called into action, and he was more than happy to answer it. He practically ran from his place just a few steps away from the door and viciously separated the two, pushing Comstock away and Elizabeth behind him. She grabbed onto Dante as Comstock glared at Booker with unconcealed fury. It did not last long-Booker grabbed Comstock by the neck and slammed his head into the birdbath.
"She's your daughter, you son of a bitch! And you abandoned her! Was it worth it? Huh? Did you get what you wanted? Tell me! Tell me!" As Booker shouted and raged, he kept bringing Comstock's head up and slamming it down again, before Elizabeth's screams of terror registered in his ears.
"Booker!"
Booker froze. Comstock chose that as the opportune moment to utter his last: "It...is...finished."
At the sound of the other man's voice, his attention was turned back to him once more, and his words only served to stir the fire in Booker even hotter. He turned Comstock around and pushed him face-down into the water. "Nothing is finished! You lock her up her whole life! You cut off her finger, and you pin it on me?!"
Elizabeth would have intervened had she not been held back by Dante, who was watching with curious horror as the wound on the back of Comstock's head gushed its violent color into the birdbath, turning the water scarlet. Elizabeth's protests had been almost unheard until this point, at which she broke free from Dante and screamed in Booker's ear.
"BOOKER, STOP IT!"
Booker abruptly stopped his rampage, letting go of Comstock almost immediately, but it was too late: the Prophet was dead. Booker unwittingly breathed a sigh of relief, and Dante felt something inside of him evaporate-a weight off of his shoulders. Elizabeth should have felt satisfied, victorious perhaps, but she only felt hollow.
"You killed him," she almost whispered. It wasn't said accusingly, but nor was it said happily. It was simply...factual. She stared at Booker. "What did he mean? Huh? You tell me." She adjusted the thimble on her finger unconsciously, "what did he mean about my finger?"
Booker shook his head, willing away the odd feeling that was beginning to creep over his mind. "I don't know...I...I just assumed you were born with it. I don't know." He backed away, bringing a hand to his head at the sudden migraine he was beginning to get.
"Your nose...it's bleeding."
Booker brought his fingers up by his nose and pulled them back to see she was right. "What? Elizabeth, I swear to you, I have no idea what he was talking about."
"You do. You just can't remember it."
"Like Chen Lin." Dante added in observation, moving to stand beside Elizabeth again.
"No...I'll prove it to you. I'll prove it to both of you. We'll destroy the siphon. The answer's behind one of your doors, Elizabeth, you just have to open it."
"Destroy the siphon? It's the entire tower, Booker. How are we gonna do that?" Elizabeth questioned in disbelief.
"I don't know...but I'll think of something on the way."