Bioshock Infinite: Union

Chapter 28

-Booker-

*I never visited the Medical Pavilion when I was here before. Rapture has made great strides in medicine, but I wonder if any of it wasn't based on using ADAM.*

Everyone filed out of the airlock into the corridor. Booker made sure he was the last one out. The others headed to the right without hesitation. Guess they had been here before. Didn't look like there had been much fighting here yet. He glanced to the left and saw some kind of strange glass chamber that hummed and buzzed. Bolts of green white energy shot around inside of it. Looked brand new. He remembered seeing one of them at the Bathysphere station just before going to the Sea of Doors. This one was working though.

*Huh. I guess they're being put all over Rapture now despite the war.*

A nearby sign had a drawing of the Vita-Chamber with "Introducing the Future of Health And Wellness" at the top and "Restore Vigor and Spirit With the Touch Of A Button" below it. Looked like there where large stylized wings on each side.

He heard someone coming up behind him so he backed closer to the wall and half turned so he could see who it was. Turned out to be attractive dark skinned woman in a nurse's uniform. She smiled sweetly as he turned to face her.

"Interested in our new Vita-Chamber I see. I'm sorry, but those are not available for use by the public yet." The woman's smile was professional, but a glint in her eye indicated a little more than professional interest in him. Probably wasn't going to improve Elizabeth's mood.

He put on a soft smile and asked. "Guess I'm a little interested. Any idea how this works?" Thought he heard Elizabeth grumble, but wasn't sure.

"Oh, these devices are very advanced. They involve quantum entanglement and plasmid reconstruction. I have to say I really don't understand it all. There's a rumor that you could even bring the dead back to life."

"That's…impressive." He had a few suspicions about how these Vita-Chambers worked.

"So are you planning to be here long?" the nurse asked sweetly.

"Not too long." He said with false regret. "Got some business to take care of and..."

"Nurse Carmichael! You're supposed to be in surgery!"

Booker looked past Nurse Carmichael to see a tall athletic looking doctor with impossibly handsome features come storming up.

The nurse turned "I'm sorry Doctor Wilson! I'll be right there!" She turned back to him a moment and with a smile softly said "Hope you come back." before turning to walking off, swinging her hips more than necessary.

Doctor Wilson walked up and gave a haughty disapproving look at Booker. He just stood there and smiled back at the doctor. It wasn't a pleasant smile. The doctors' face twitched when he realized that Booker wasn't intimidated. While the doctor was as tall as Booker and looked strong, he didn't move like it.

'Probably used a lot of ADAM to look like that.'

Wilson seemed to realize that there was little he could do to Booker and backed up little. "I hope you enjoy you stay in the Medical Pavilion." He said in a tone clearly at odds with his words and strode off.

*What was HIS problem?*

*Suspect he thinks I'm poaching on his territory.*

*Poaching? The nurse?* She couldn't quite believe it.

*Probably has been trying to get her into bed with him for awhile.*

*And he doesn't like it that she's interested in you. Too bad.*

*Oh, so you like Nurse Carmichael?* he asked pleasantly.

She glared at him. *I didn't say that.* She paused to change the subject. *So why are you interested in these Vita-Chambers?*

*Think these Vita-Chambers have something to do with one of the formulas I saw up by the Tear Machine.*

*Hmm. I suspect Suchong might have gotten help from Fink for these.*

*To bring someone back from the dead, might be able to do it.* Dying hurts. He knew better than most what it felt like and coming back is a shock as well.

'What would it do to your average person?'

*Don't You DARE!* she practically screamed at him.

"Wha?..."

*Don't even THINK of trying to bring me back with one of these things!* She was furious! No, he realized, *scared*.

*Elizabeth please calm down. I wasn't thinking anything like that at all.*

*You.. you weren't?*

*No, how could I bring you back? You're *already* alive.*

She looked down and folded her arms as if she were cold. *I'm sorry. I, I should have known better.* She was clearly embarrassed and sorry about her outburst. *Shouldn't have gotten mad at you.*

He wished he could hold her. He'd learned that sometimes just quick squeeze of her hand or picking her up for a hug did more to help Anna than any amount of talking could. *It's ok. Not a problem.* he told her gently.

*It's just… I don't want to be me, Elizabeth, anymore. After you died, I stopped caring about myself. I worked for Sander Cohen for months and tolerated his abuse. I dressed like some movie "femme fatale" and strutted around to attract Comstock's attention. I even Danced with him.* she explained with disgust and sadness in her voice.

So that was why she looks like that.

*Then, when Atlas was lobotomizing me, I dared him to do it. Told him he would be doing me a favor. And I meant it.*

*Lobotomize?* Hadn't heard that term before, but it didn't sound good.

*Someone puts thin metal rod through the eye socket into the brain. Then they move it around to sever the connections between the two halves of the brain.*

He felt sick. She had gone through that? He had known that her death was bad, but that?

*It would have destroyed most of my ability to think, to feel, my will. I would have been little better than a vegetable. Atlas had the rod in my eye and almost into my brain before he realized he couldn't break me.*

He relaxed slightly, but still felt sick. While he used Comstock's memories, there were some that he still locked away. The six month period Elizabeth spent in Comstock House being the some of them. The memories of Elizabeth being tortured by Comstock were something he just didn't know how to deal with. She should never have had something like that happen to her. Shouldn't happen to anybody.

*I can't really tell you what it was like when you told me I was Anna. I didn't remember. The Tower, Comstock House, killing Daisy, even all the Doors. I didn't remember any of it and was a normal girl.*

*And I was with you.* she finished softly.

*You don't have to worry. Figured out a long time ago you were happy being Anna. Doubt I could figure out this thing and don't plan tryin'.*

*Thank you.* So soft it was barely above a whisper.

He blinked. He had standing there several minutes looking at the Vita-Chamber without doing anything. *Time to get going.* He turned and headed to the foyer of the Medical Pavilion. It was a large area with a reception desk with a man working behind it and large curving staircase on either side leading upwards. To the left was a Circus of Values and a doorway with "Emergency Access" in neon lights over it. There were a number of people in the area either talking or going about their business. Posters on the walls advertised Dr. Steinman's Aesthetic Ideals and Accu-Vox.

As he went to Bypass the Circus of Values he noticed something on the floor behind the machine. It was an Audio Diary.

J.S. Steinman: No Opportunity

December 08, 1958

This new tool, ADAM raises all sorts of new challenges for those in my profession. But one must have the opportunity to rise to these challenges. Making these plain people look beautiful is too easy now. I need people like those I treated during and after the war. People with their faces nearly burned off, missing most of their jaw, covered in scar tissue. THESE are the challenges that I require to attain perfection.

He walked towards the stairway on the right and the man, a splicer with an owl mask, welcomed him to the Medical Pavilion and informed him if he had any questions he there to help.

He smiled at the man and told him no.

Elizabeth gave him a small frown. *Somehow I don't think he would help us find Anna.*

*Don't expect he would.*

She looked around the room again and then to the stairs. *If someone was badly injured, how would they get them up those stairs and to surgery quickly?*

*Doesn't seem to have been much of a consideration.*

They walked up the stairs to room with an oversized planter in the middle of it and two small alcoves. In the alcove on the right was a Little Sister Vent. In the left, a device with a large white and red cross above it.

*That a "Prime Health Unit", most people just call them Health Stations. From what I read they can heal any wound and restore you to full health in just a few moments. I have to admit it does reduce the number of surgeries that need to be performed.*

*Kinda like a First Aid Kit bolted to the wall.*

*And it never runs out.*

*Sounds handy. Come to think of it, how do the First Aid Kits work?* He had a bad thought.

*You're Not injecting ADAM if that's what you're worried about. The technology is surely related, but ADAM would be much too expensive to be used in all these Health Stations and First Aid Kits.*

That was a relief. He glanced at the advertisements on the walls and noticed one for the Health Station. Should have looked at those before asking questions. He walked down the corridor past more advertisements for Steinman's and passed another Health Station before coming to a door. Damn left side of his face wouldn't stop itching.

Witness the origins of the most important discovery in Rapture's history: Sea Slugs, the incredible invertebrates that lead to the creation of ADAM. On display now at the Mermaid's Landing Aquarium.

*Why haven't we seen these Health Stations before?*

*They're a fairly recent development from what I read. The first ones were installed only a little while before Fontaine Department Stores were turned into prison. And even then it was only a limited number*

*Bet the war changed that.*

*They are probably installing them as fast as they can now, but it's a big city.*

In the alcove to the right was another Audio Diary.

J.S. Steinman: A Gift

January 3, 1958

I saw a new patient today, Diane McClintock, one of Andrew Ryan's current mistresses. She was at the Kashmir when the bomb went off. She suffered no life threatening injuries, but her face suffered extensive damage. This, this is what I have been waiting for! My chance to make her perfect, to attain perfection.

It is like a gift, a gift from a Goddess.

Door hadn't opened, so he pushed a button on the door frame. Instead of a doorbell going off, the door opened up on a wall that was open on either end to allow people to walk around it. They went to the right and entered large waiting and reception area with about twenty five people in it. Most of them sitting and apparently waiting for an appointment. A few others were doctors or nurses.

They spotted a directory on the far side of the room and headed for it. *Would think with these Health Stations and First Aid kits being able to heal any injury that there wouldn't much call for this place.*

*It IS rather busy.* Elizabeth said looking slightly puzzled.

They heard yelling behind them and turned to look for the source.

A man, a splicer with a large ADAM scar on the right side of his face was yelling at a nurse.

"I was promised that this wrinkle under why eye would be fixed! It's Still There! Now I want this wrinkle removed Right Now!"

They were close enough to see that the man didn't have a wrinkle on his face. In fact his face was unnaturally smooth except for the ADAM scars.

The nurse quickly started talking to the man and he calmed down after a few moments.

*Plastic Surgery. Guess with all the ADAM use, people want to try and hide the scars if they can.*

They looked through the short directory but didn't see anything that might hint of Little Sisters.

"Guess have to do it the hard way." He muttered.

*No surprise there.*

They spent the next hour and more looking around the Medical Pavilion for any sign of Little Sister "production". They found three different dental places, the Twilight Fields Funeral Home, the Eternal Flame Crematorium, the Affordable Endings Funeral Home, Kure-All and a lounge. Nothing related to the Little Sisters other than several Vents.

Near a near a storage room on the lower floor they did find some screws, a piece of rubber hose and battery in some kind of storage crates. One of the crates had pieces of paper inside with "Dr. Steinman's Aesthetic Ideals" letterhead. It was pages after page of prayers to Aphrodite.

"Wasn't Aphrodite some Roman god?"

*Greek. She was the Goddess of love and beauty. A fitting deity for a plastic surgeon to worship I suppose. One of Steinman's surgeons must suffering from ADAM sickness.*

*Unless someone stole a lot of paper with his name on it.* He scratched his face a moment before forcing himself to stop.

*That's possible. Would explain why it's down here.*

They headed down a corridor towards Dr. Steinman's Aesthetic Ideals and saw two men coming down the corridor towards then talking about something. Or rather the man wearing a red surgical smock was talking while the other dressed in a very expensive suit just seem to be tolerating it. The man's voice was familiar.

"I don't know another way to say it Harold. With ADAM we can attain perfection! We MUST attain perfection!"

The man in the suit just nodded his head saying "Yes, yes." as if he had heard the same thing many times before.

Booker took a closer look at the man talking. *That must be Dr. Steinman. He seems bent on making Harold understand his position.*

*Think "bent" is a perfect description for him.*

As the two men got closer Booker moved to one side to allow them to pass.

Steinman realized he was there but didn't really look at him. He continued his rant and gestured at Booker. "Just look at him, plain, ordinary. He came here to make himself perfect. And that is what he MUST do! Make him perfect. That is Our responsibility!"

*You? Ordinary?* She got a good chuckle out of that.

Harold glanced at Booker, then took a closer look. Steinman noticed and turned to Booker and looked at him this time. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open slightly. A look of enlightenment passed over the surgeon's face.

'Now what?'

"I apologize Sir. I'm Doctor Steinman." Steinman quickly said and turned back to Harold. "This! is what we need to do for every one of our patients. Just look at this! As close to perfection as I have Seen!" Steinman looked Booker's face over closely, like he was trying to figure out how it was put together. This was getting irritating and he started to continue on his way.

"No wait!" Steinman practically pleaded. "Who did this? It's is nearly flawless. Machuga? No, Parker? Impossible." He scoffed. "Certainly not that quack Anderson. Tell me, I must know!" As Steinman had been talking, Harold took the opportunity to slip away.

"Always been like this. Nobody's done anything to me." he told the doctor.

Steinman was undeterred. In fact just the opposite, it seemed to excite him. "SHE sent you, didn't she? The Goddess sent you to me!"

-Elizabeth-

'Goddess? So Steinman was the one who wrote the prayers to Aphrodite.' How was Booker going to use that?

"Yes, Aphrodite did send me to you." was all Booker could say before Steinman interrupted.

"Tell me! What does she want me to do? Please, tell me!" The man was desperate, his eyes glowed with religious intensity. It reminded her of the fanatical devotion of some of the Founders.

"I haven't seen the Goddess." Booker said with false sadness. "But she gave me a task, a quest. She told me that Steinman would help guide me."

"Yes! Let me help you!" the fervent glow in Steinman's eyes grew. "What is this quest? I will help anyway I can!"

"She said I was to locate a specific Little Sister."

"A Little Sister?" Steinman looked troubled and the fire in his eyes died down.

"The Goddess just said you were to guide me."

"Yes, yes." Steinman's eyes lit up again. Seemed that the man's delusion could only be pushed so far.

"What can you tell me about the Little Sisters? I'm sure someone of your stature would know a great deal." Booker asked.

Feeding his ego a little as well as his insanity. Steinman noticed several people coming up the corridor towards them. "This may take some time. Let us pursue this discussion in more amiable surroundings."

They followed Steinman back he had come, the doctor humming as he walked. A Big Daddy stomped after a blond haired Little Sister in the tunnel to their left. It looked like the tunnel just went around in a circle. She sometimes wondered about the sanity of Rapture's architects.

They passed through a large room with pumps and two balconies on the floor at least thirty foot off the floor. Next they passed under a neon sign that said "Surgery".

*He better not think he's going to do surgery on me.*

*I don't think he would want to disturb your "near perfection".* she told him jokingly.

They took a left and down a long corridor. They didn't go far before Steinman took a left through the door first door they came to and entered an office.

"Dr. Steinman." a nasal voiced woman called at him. "You're next appointment called and said he would be late."

"Judith, call him back and reschedule and tell him not to be late next time. Please make sure I'm not disturbed."

Next they entered a luxurious wood paneled office. A single antique wood desk dominated the room. A high backed leather chair was behind the desk while two smaller wooden chairs sat in front. On the walls were diplomas, medical degrees, awards along with a few old pictures from the surface. One of them looked to be of Steinman's parents. On a bulletin board next to the desk were photographs of what seemed to be Steinman's patients. Notes that saying things "You can do better", "Not right!" and ideas on how to improve his work were tacked next to the pictures. Steinman went to sit behind the desk after Booker a drink, which he politely refused.

Steinman sipped the bourbon he had poured himself, she suspected that it wasn't a brand made in Rapture and started talking.

"I wasn't involved in the creation of the Little Sisters, but I have spoken to Tenenbaum about them. They are Wonders." Steinman smiled. "If they are injured, they heal nearly instantly. The dead cells being replaced by stem versions a phenomenal rate. Their only real vulnerability is if the slug is removed. The breaking of the symbiotic relationship between the slug and the Little Sister leads to the Little Sister's death."

'Removing the slug will kill Anna?' She thought that the Slugs altered the girls so she became a Little Sister, not that she was dependent on the slug to stay alive!

"Of course their production of ADAM is the greatest wonder of all."

"The ability to mold and change what we are has been given to us through ADAM. To become beautiful, perfect." Steinman stopped a moment while drifted away a look of bliss on his face. Then he looked back at Booker with a sympathetic expression. "The Goddess has given you a difficult task to full fill my friend."

"The Goddess is not easy to please, but we must try." Booker told him. She knew she should be upset by Booker manipulating Steinman, but this was the best, Only, lead they have gotten. Not to forget Steinman didn't seem to have any problem with turning little girls into ADAM factories.

"From what I was told by Tenenbaum, all records of who the Little Sister were is erased. They are identified only by numbers once they become part of the program. She told me that it was easier to deal with them that way, as numbers."

Reducing little girls to numbers. These people outdo Fink when it comes to dehumanizing.

"And the treatments they undergo are supposed to remove their memories." *At least we know *that* isn't totally true.* "So even the Little Sisters themselves can't tell you who they were."

"Going to the "Little Wonders" looking for information will do no good then." Booker asked.

"No, I don't believe so."

"Is there any place were Little Sister may go frequently? Say where they extract ADAM?"

Steinman thought a moment. "I've never heard of such a place, though one could exist. It would be certainly be highly fortified. But the Little Sisters would not need to go there often. They only get full of ADAM once every one or two weeks."

That were getting good information, but it wasn't helping! Need another angle. *Tenenbaum.*

"What about Tenenbaum? Might she have more information?"

Steinman tapped one of fingers against the glass he was holding. "I have heard that some people say that Tenebaum is dead, but I cannot make myself believe it. She survived the Nazi Death Camps you know. But I expect finding her to be difficult." Steinman leaned forward. "So tell me, why is the Goddess interested in this Little Sister?"

"The Goddess did not explain why, just what I needed to do." Booker told him. She was worried that Steinman may be starting to get suspicious. "She did say that you would be rewarded for your help."

Steinman's eyes flared. "Rewarded? How would the Goddess reward me? Would she let me see her?"

"She said that one day she would enlighten you. But you must keep up your work until that time."

"I shall! Is there anything more I can do to assist you in your quest?" The look in Steinman's eyes was going from fanaticism towards insanity.

*Booker, I think it's time to go. I don't think we can learn anything more and Steinman is a lot more unstable than what he seemed.*

"No." Booker told Steinman. "You were just to act as a guide, nothing more."

"But…"

"She said that you were only to be a guide. I think it would, displease the Goddess if you…"

"Yes, Yes, of course. I understand. My apologies." He seemed genuinely sorry. "It's just the first time that I have met a fellow believer in the in the Goddess. It has been…difficult at times."

"I must continue my quest now." Booker announced as he stood.

"I understand." Steinman got up from behind his desk and offered Booker his hand. Without hesitation Booker shook it. "I wish you well Mr… I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Boston, Robert Boston."

"I wish you luck Mr. Boston. And may you gain the Goddess's favor with you quest."

"Thank you, Doctor. And may you gain Her favor as well. Good day."

They left Steinman's office and were in the outer area when Steinman yelled. "Judith! Bring me the file for Margaret Lepraunch! "

"Glad to be out of there." Booker muttered as he headed away from Steinman's offices. A nurse led an elderly woman past them towards surgery.

*I'm surprised Steinman is able to function so well. And I didn't see any ADAM scars on him.*

"Probably fixes them, does seem to be his specialty."

*Was it a good idea to feed Steinman's delusions?*

"Probably not." Booker paused a moment at the Circus of Values outside of surgery. "But, don't see how "attaining perfection" is going to hurt anybody." He made a dissatisfied sound as he looked over the machine's product list.

*Looking for something?*

"No EVE jars. The price for 'em on Prosperity is double what it was down below."

*The price in double what it was in Fontaine's? You think they stopped production?*

They turned away from the machine, Booker not bothering to Bypass it. "Seems likely." They watched as two more people were led towards surgery.

*So what about this symbiont thing?*

*A symbiotic rela…*

*Know what a symbiotic relationship is. What problems might this cause with finding Anna?*

She thought a moment on that. *I don't think it changes much, if anything. Once we find her though, I'm not sure what will happen. This symbiotic relationship between the Little Sisters and Slugs is certainly what makes it so difficult to cure the Little Sisters.*

*But there will be a cure. You said so.*

*I know, I saw Sally outside the Lighthouse looking normal, so there is a cure, or will be. You're avoiding the real problem.*

He sighed. *I know. There's no easy way to find Anna. We're going to have to search the entire city to find her.*

*That could take weeks, no months to do.*

*Guess there's no time like the present to start.*

End Chapter 28