uLtra Rodimus' note: The big guy is on the move again, through the Proving Grounds on his way back to the Den. A new threat makes itself known, and someone he's been keeping an optic out for appears briefly.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is the last of the chapters I had stored. After this, updates will be much slower, as this story is still a work-in-progress. With some luck, there may be another chapter ready to post next month, but there might not. We'll just have to see how it goes. Please bear with us.
Into Rapture
It was crying that would attract the attention of the mech, young and female, each wrenching sob was filled with a child's grief at losing a parent. It followed after the tremor and sounds of a collapse, and the distant sound of a surprised Big Daddy that was cut off.
Ultimus paused, and then headed toward the sound. A Big Daddy going down usually meant there were splicers involved, and he had seen the remains of at least one Little Sister who'd been harvested by splicers as he'd moved through the city. Pulling out his drill, he homed in on the girl's cry. As it turned out, it wasn't splicers, but faulty structure that downed the Rapture nightmare, dragging him down into a pool that was now turning pink and then red. In a mercy, the Rosie seemed to have died quickly, yet the collapse had dragged down some wiring that sparked and charged the pool.
Above, half on the Big Daddy and braced on the debris, a Little Sister was pushing at the Rosie, "Daddy wake up! It hurts! Wake up!" She cried, skin glowing from the veins as her rapid healing struggled to keep up with the constant electrical charge.
Ultimus slowed down, lowering his drill as he took in the situation. The redhead eased as close as he could get, letting out his lower-pitched version of a Big Daddy's call. The electricity would be more annoyance than danger, and he was used to being zapped since he shared a berth with an occasionally jumpy mech who absorbed and discharged electrical energy, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it.
The Little Sister didn't look up but she pushed harder on her dead guardian, sobbing again. Ultimus would have to get closer to her for the child to be aware of him. She probably thought in this tunnel vision state that the call he made was coming from the Big Daddy.
The redhead looked at her for a moment, then walked closer, ignoring the arcs of electricity that snapped against his armor. The Cybertronian's shadow fell across the dead Rosie and the Sister, Ultimus repeating his call. She looked up, full of fear and pain before the Little Sister's eyes glazed and she cried again as programming kicked in. Rising unsteadily the girl held out her arms, one hand still gripping her extractor with white knuckles and all but jumped to Ultimus, "Daddy it hurts!"
Ultimus made a soft sound, reaching down to pick her up. Placing her on his shoulder, he stepped out of the pool, away from the arcing electricity. "There," he murmured. "No more hurt."
The Little Sister sniffed several times, gasping for air and generally clinging for comfort as she recovered. The brown haired child sneezed, sniffed again and looked around at her new perspective with wide eyes. The big redhead watched her, his yellow optics glowing softly. His right arm was still covered by the massive drill. Just in case, as he moved away from the fallen Rosie, pausing to scoop up the ADAM-harvesting needle that had been discarded a few moments ago.
"Mr...Bubbles?" Came the hesitant question from the girl as she started Ultimus in the optics.
"I'm a different type of Mr Bubbles, just without the giant helmet," he replied.
The Little Sister blinked a few times, paused and then... well... glomped Ultimus' head, "Mr. B! You're all better!"
Ultimus blinked several times, then chuckled. "All better"
Nuzzling against his face the child hugged the Autobot and gave a deep, relived sigh, "Don't ever go see the Angels again Daddy! I don't want you to be one."
"I don't want to be one," the redhead replied, walking down the corridor, sensors open for any other weak spots or splicers.
The young gather slid down a little to a more comfortable position, resting her head against Ultimus' armor as she fully recovered and in turn imprinted on the Autobot for now. Ultimus held her with his non-drill-bearing arm, holding her against his chest plate. He inhaled deeply, checking the scents, air hissing through the vents on his neck. Old blood, seawater, rotting material, and in the distance the tang of ADAM, passed through his nasal passages.
"You smell funny Daddy," the girl said, shifting to look around and then leaned too far to reach her dropped gatherer's needle.
Ultimus caught her, handing her the needle. "I'm a different kind of Big Daddy. This scent is normal for my kind."
"Smells funny," The girl complained as she hung on, sniffing again, and was distracted. "Mmm... ADAM daddy!"
Ultimus inhaled, catching the smell himself. "I smell it." He began walking in the direction of the ADAM scent.
"Is is safe to come out now?" the sister asked, looking down at the ground.
"There are no splicers that I can see or smell." The "or detect" was kept to himself, since regular Big Daddies didn't have sensor arrays like his.
"I want down Daddy!" the girl announced, wiggling in that universal way of children everywhere. Ultimus chuckled, carefully placing the girl on her feet. He followed behind her as she skipped down the corridor, flames licking along one hand while the other was still covered by the drill. "Let's go find the angels Mr. B..." The girl hummed happily as she skipped ahead, unafraid.
The redhead rumbled softly in amused agreement, his footfalls ringing loudly down the corridor as he followed the girl. "I'm right behind you."
The mech got a grin flashed back at him, "Good! I don't want to have to carry you Mister Bubbles... you're too big."
Ultimus laughed at that. "I'm way too heavy for you." The big mech sauntered after her, easily matching her pace.
Slowing to a walk the girl sniffed and turned, "This way daddy!" she wasn't going for the ADAM source Ultimus had first scented. The redhead blinked, then shrugged to himself and followed. His scanners swept the area, keeping watch for any splicers that might be in the area. The girl he'd saved and apparently reassured seemed to know where she wanted to go, and very few times did she have to pause and sniff before heading off again. "I see 'em Daddy, going that way." The Little Sister said.
Ultimus paced along just behind the girl, slowing his long stride to keep even with her. Yellow optics swept the area, scanners probing the shadows for lurking splicers.
"DADDY!" came the panicked cry after the Little sister had stopped to look up at a bridged walk way. She fell over and scrambled backwards like someone was dropping down but there was, in fact, no one there.
The Cybertronian snarled, lifting his drill as he sprang forward, looming over the girl. He glared in the direction she had been looking, showing fangs in a snarl. The Little Sister latched onto Ultimus' right leg to pull herself up and then behind him. Yelping about the 'bad silver things' that wanted her, and begging him to scare them away. Ultimus' optics narrowed as he gazed up toward the walkway. He didn't see anything, nor did his sensors detect anything. Still, he let out a roar, warning away anything that might be lurking.
There was a long pause, in that time the Little Sister rubbed her ears and peered around the mech's leg, "...they're gone?" She looked around more, up and to the left before sighing. She promptly hugged Ultimus' leg, "You scared the silver things away Daddy!"
The big mech rumbled softly scanning the area once more. ~Hey, Medic Alert, ask Tenenbaum if seeing silver people who aren't there is normal for the Sisters.~
~She says they're memories contained in the ADAM, so it's fairly normal for them to see,~ The medic replied after a brief pause. ~And she said you might start seeing them, since you have ADAM in your system now.~
A small hand patted Ultimus leg, "Come on Daddy, hop-hop! We have to go to our section."
Ultimus lowered the drill, letting out a soft rumble. "Let's be on our way, then."
This time, the Little Sister stayed a bit closer, eyeing for more silver-things, but after two minutes of nothing she relaxed. She sniffed the air, "Roses... over there!"
"I smell the ADAM." Ultimus cycled air through his sinuses, the vents on his neck hissing.
"Let's go get some!" The Little Sister skipped off fallowing her nose, ignoring one body in favor for another. But she halted, frowned and looked to the air lock a dozen feet away. "Aw... it's not in our section..."
Ultimus looked at the girl, then in the direction of the smell, "Section?"
"Where we gather," The Little Sister said, waving her arms to take in the area, "This is Amie, Jessica and James section." The girl pointed at the airlock, "We go that way, that's what big sister Marsha said."
Ultimus frowned thoughtfully, absorbing that new information. "There are ADAM corpses in our section, though."
"Yep!" The girl nodded happily, skipping ahead and into the airlock only to come back out with crossed arms and a little miniature huff, "Daddy...!" She waved insistently for the Autobot to hurry as well, "You gotta do this part remember?"
The mech chuckled, walking after her. "I'm fairly new at this." He inspected the airlock door for a moment before reaching to open it
"No Daddy!" The girl yelped, jumping up to wrapp her arms around one of his arms, eyes wide with fear. "You can't do that yet! Close the other door first Mr. Bubbles!" It was an underwater city, and even with the twisted or altered minds it was still ingrained to not open two airlocks at once.
Ultimus took a step back, pulling the other door closed and locking it behind them. "There. It's closed." Turning back to the other door, he pulled it open.
The mech would find that he now had a soft, warm and living lump attached to his left leg as the Little Sister wrapped her arms around his shin and legs around his ankle. She unexpectedly sniffed and tried to hold on tighter, "Mr. Bubbles, you gotta be careful. Remember what Papa Gill said, if you start forgetting again that bad man Greave will put you back in the tubes... I don't like it when you go in there." The girl hid her face against the metal leg, sniffing.
Ultimus reached down and stroked her hair gently. "I won't let them do that to me." Armor rippled briefly at the thought. Carefully, he stepped through their airlock, the girl's weight barely registering to his servos and hydraulics.
It took a few paces before a giggle was heard at his ankle level, and then a surprised "Eeep!" before the Little Sister tumbled off. She rolled and ran back to the airlock chamber to pick up her dropped gathering needle. Once that was in hand again she came back, holding her arms up at Ultimus for another reassuring hug.
The Cybertronian smiled, reaching down to lift her into his arms. Looking around, he took stock of the new area.
It was a section of Arcadia the Transformer hadn't yet seen. A wide corridor wound between displays of flowering plants. Down the corridor Ultimus could scent a corpse, and faintly hear the whir of a security camera. In the other direction was a large room without any other exits, a group of trees in the center.
The Little Sister in the mech's arms was sniffing, but now seemed a little more alert. "We can't pick the wrong angel now Mr. Bubbles." She said, hesitating to pick a direction.
Yellow optics probed the shadows under the trees and the plants, searching for lurking splicers. Sensors swept the area, but found nothing. "There is no other way out of that room that I can see or detect."
"There's door in the walls Daddy," The girl explained as she made a motions for him to go. "You have to jump on the stars." She added, meaning the drawings of stars that the Little Sisters had painted on the ground to mark pressure triggers in the floor.
Ultimus walked in that direction, looking at the stars. "All of the stars, or just one of the stars?"
"Our stars!" The gatherer said promptly, and pointed to one that was far from perfect, and once closer the Autobot could see that some of the stars were an inlayed design, not painted.
"The painted stars, then." Ultimus' optics swept the floor, noting that there were three colors of stars painted there. "What do the colors mean?" Easing forward, he prodded a red star with one foot.
"Not that!" the Little Sister yelped, and then as five semi distant screams were heard as well as two doors silently opened in the walls of the rounded chamber, she twisted around to throw her little arms around Ultimus' neck. "Monsters are coming- Daddy ex their eyes before they get me! Please!"
Ultimus' attention immediately refocused, shifting immediately into battle mode. Flames appeared on his hand and forearm as his head came up to track the screams. The first splicer to get too close ran straight into a kick that could crush armor plating, shattering every rib in the splicer's chest and pulping his organs. The splicer in question was nothing like the others, it was more animal like if anything, having shaggy hair that was a bit fur like on the back and shoulders. With gray skin that had no underplaying pink tint and it looked truly alien, far from human.
"Ugly, stinking creatures," Ultimus hissed, setting two more on fire and dropping a third with a hard punch to the face, shattering bone.
The girl clinging to the mech's neck scrambled, and managed to get up over one shoulder to hang on from the other side. It was a habit the Big Daddies had trained into the girls, but normally they had done so over the years by just half 'throwing' their charges up to that safe spot that let the guardians use both hands. Ultimus' drill appeared out of subspace, whirring to life. The fourth splicer ran straight onto the point, shrieking as the drill bored a hole right through its guts. The redhead barely glanced at the dying splicer, scanning for the fifth.
"Up, up, up!" A young voice chanted from behind Ultimus' head, and before the spider splicer could drop down.
The Transformer's sensors had already locked onto the lurker. The drill vanished and was replaced by Ultimus' massive sword, the tip aimed directly at the spider splicer. When the splicer did drop off the ceiling, it ended up impaling itself.
As gravity fully kicked in and the splicer sank lower on the blade as it twitched, jerked and wheezed. The girl on the Autobot made a sound of dislike, "X its eyes daaaaddy, it's looking at me..."
Ultimus flicked the blade down and sideways, sending the dying splicer into the wall with a sickening thud. A red smear was left behind as the twitching carcass fell to the floor. Yellow optics and sharp sensors swept the room, scanning for any other splicers that might be laying in wait.
"Is it safe to come out now?" The girl asked, nudging the mech's head for attention.
"It's safe," Ultimus replied, eying the star on the floor warily, giving it a wide berth. "So, red stars mean splicers, hmm?"
"The monsters are red," The girl nodded.
"What about the blue and white stars?" The big mech eyed them, but refrained from experimenting.
"White to light the way," The Little Sister started, her taking a sing-song tone to it as she settled herself behind Ultimus' head, "Blue to do the this and that!"
"So the white will open the doors?" Ultimus contemplated the white stars for a moment, then took a step forward and planted his boot on one of them.
There was that soft click of a pressure trigger, and after moment a section of the wall with drew back, and then up, showing another hall way. One of the clear tubes that swept out into the sea before joining another building, or section of the same.
Ultimus' sensors swept out, making sure the passage was free of lurkers. Blue and gold armor ruffled and resettled, plates scraping against each other before the big Cybertronian paced forward, walking into the new tunnel. There was an odd sense walking into there, a grainy... textured feel. As well as knowing the passageway, how it cured and a heart drawn on that panel over there before even reacting the spot.
The Transformer's audial panels shifted under his helm, yellow optics narrowing as he tried to pin down the feeling. Slowing his pace, he looked closer. The Little Sister didn't seem to be bothered with anything, craning her head back to look at the fish while the air did and didn't increase in pressure. There was a flicker of movement farther down the passage, like the hem of a dress or skirt.
Yellow optics flared. His sensors swept out, finding nothing. Ultimus made a confused buzzing sound, advancing for a better look at something he could see but not detect. There were no heat readings or air disturbances. It was very puzzling. The closer he got, he could make out a form of a woman, not quite running in speed though in poster. Keeping just ahead of the Autobot through the passage... was it a new plasmid type he hadn't been aware of yet? Tenenbaum had mentioned that there were some plasmids that could only be found in certain areas of the city.
Ultimus moved from a walk to a trot, as fast as most humans' all-out run. One hand reached forward to grab at the woman's shoulder. She vanished, only to come back with more clarity to her form just before running through the bulkhead door ahead, the sound of crying now audible.
"What the slag...?" Ultimus stared. The woman had just run through a closed door. As far as he knew there was no plasmid that could allow a person to do that.
Or was there?
The bulkhead door sat, waiting for Ultimus to trigger the motion sensor while the echoing sobbing continued. Ultimus frowned at the door, finally stepping close enough to activate it. As the door slid open, his optics narrowed, peering into the corridor ahead, looking for the source of the crying. It was to the left, past an arch into another larger chamber like room with red doors. From the sound it was right in front of the doors yet there was no one visible there. The textured feel to the air was back as well, also coming from that direction.
By now thoroughly confused, Ultimus frowned in the direction the sound was coming from, sidling over in that direction. What was going on here? It came at as an after image, of a woman crumple at the base of the doors. Then all at once between one step and the next, she wasn't on the ground but up and banging on the doors, yelling as the image became clearer, though in textured black and white.
/Open up!/ the woman's voice echoed in Ultimus' mind more than the audios, /Open this door Greavenson! Give me my babies back!/
Armor plates fluffed and settled, clicking and rattling as the mech just stared. Was this what his Little Sister had been seeing, or something similar?
/What right does Ryan or you have to take them!/The woman that was there and wasn't kept yelling, hitting a door that wouldn't yield to ghosts. Her head came up and she spun, looking at Ultimus it seemed, lifting hands to defend herself and screamed before the body jerked and spasmed while being hit with a bolt of energy before the whole scene faded. Yet... the woman had looked so much like Jack's aunt...
Ultimus stayed perfectly still for a long moment, trying to digest what he had just seen. So that was one of the ghosts of Rapture, a memory transferred through the ADAM. That woman had looked so very familiar, though... The mech eyed the door, advancing to run an extended claw tip over the metal.
"Daddy, star down there," The Little Sister warned, pointing at a blue star to the mech's left.
Yellow optics turned to the star, narrowing, "But not one that would open this door."
"You have to look for it Mr. Bubbles." The girl corrected as she patted the mech's helm, "It's here somewhere."
Ultimus vented air, producing a faint hissing sound, before beginning to search for the door trigger. He avoided the blue star, not sure he wanted to know what it would do.
"Maybe the ADAM will be in the next room!" The girl chirped, smiling as she hugged the mech's head from behind, leaning up to look over him. The white star as it turned out wasn't hard to find, as it was up on the wall not on the floor.
The mech pressed a palm against the star, his claw tips leaving scratches in the metal. Yellow optics watched the door, waiting for it to open and reveal what waited behind it. As it slid open, music started playing, like that of the red carpet theme. Announcing a reluctant star to say the least. Music was not what the redhead had expected. Flaring jet wings, he paced inside, taking in everything he could see.
There was the soft buzz of two cameras, one swinging around to focus on the mech while the other was tracking movement near the far window. The place looked like it had been a ball room, only now there were odd things scattered around. From rocks to whale bones to turrets and several scattered bodies, as well as many, many red and blue stars on the ground.
Ultimus squared his shoulders and glared at the cameras, then ignored them, pacing into the room. Making a point of avoiding the red and blue stars on the floor, he made his way around the room, examining the bodies, turrets, and other items.
"ADAM Daddy!" The Little Sister announced suddenly, leaning so far to the right to point she started sliding off the mech.
"I can smell it." Ultimus moved in that direction, still avoiding the stars on the floor. Yellow optics flicked to the watching cameras.
They were watching him back as the girl was trying to either fall off or climb down Ultimus' back herself to get to work, muttering about roses again. The big redhead placed her gently on her feet, shifting his sword to his back and pulling out his ion laser, loading a thermal cell. He scanned the room, noting all the potential entrances and ways for splicers to get in, shifting so that he could keep an optic on most of them.
The Little Sister nearly wiggled in place, pointing at the corpse and looking up at Ultimus to be sure he was looking, "It's an angel daddy! We found it! I'm a good girl right?" She asked, wanting the assurance before starting harvesting.
The big redhead nodded, smiling at her. "You are a very good girl." Checking the charge on his ion laser's power cell, flames flickering to life along his other forearm, Ultimus shifted into a position that gave him a clear line of sight for most of the area, settling into a guard stance. The splicers would be on them soon, once they noticed a gather in progress.
Flopping down after squinting at the 'angel' to be sure that she had the right spot of ADAM before settling down. Then the girl shifted into that single minded 'work mood' that the Little Sisters had to save what remained of their minds and to keep them focused. Air hissed from Ultimus' air vents, his yellow optics flaring as he caught the first distant sounds of splicers on the approach... disjointed comments and screams, the clatter of hooks on walls and ceilings. A low growl started deep in his chest. Baring his formidable fangs in the direction of the approaching sounds, he prepared for the coming fight.
It was almost like they had been called, the sounds and movements starting only after the Little Sister had started to harvest ADAM to re-use. The girl kept on humming, and wouldn't react to the splicers until done or if interrupted.
The growl grew in volume and intensity. The first splicer to come into Ultimus' line of fire went down under the ion laser, the thermal cell igniting skin and clothing. Through the wave, there was one Splicer that hung back, staying behind others that rushed forward. The woman had a ball mask that covered her face, a theater mask of 'sadness.' and when the main roar of desperation died down she was the only splicer in one piece and alive. There were no weapons in hand or visible plasmids, she just stood there in a tattered dress watching the scene.
Ultimus glared at the splicer, ignoring the ruined bodies scattered around him. Baring his fangs, he roared, daring the splicer to approach. Then a whiff of scent got through the reek of blood and ADAM and the sewer stench of ruptured organs, and he let out a grunt. For the first time a splicer didn't react to him, the woman just stood still watching him. Her head tilted a little, looking beyond the Autobot at the Little Sister, humming a nursery tune softly to herself.
The redhead stood his ground, very aware of the small girl behind him. His optics narrowed as he eyed the splicer, venting all the air from his nasal passages in one blast, then inhaling hugely, sorting scents. "Lacey," he rumbled after a moment, testing a name he'd heard from Kate in Minerva's Den.
She twitched, coming alive, "Lacey, Lacey- poor old Lacey with no babies no more." The woman cried, her mood swinging as the she sobbed under her mask, "No babies no more, not my baby..."
Yellow optics narrowed to slits of sulfur as Ultimus regarded the splicer. His sensors swept the area, checking for strays or sneaks, but his gaze remained on the female splicer. Jack's mother, "I know you."
"I don't," the woman said, looking up at the mech from under the mask, "Too spliced, forgot myself but not my babies..." Lacey, or what was left of her, swayed before turning away. Ultimus rumbled softly, watching her walk away. Air hissed from his vents in a relieved sigh. He would prefer not to have to kill Jack's mother if her could at all help it.
Proximity sensors pinged at him. The big Cybertronian whipped around to deal with a sneaky spider splicer, turning to check on the Little Sister he was guarding. Once his attention was back on her, the girl bounced over to wrap her arms around his nearer leg, "You saved me from the monsters Daddy!" She craned her head back to look up at Ultimus with pure admiration and an uncomfortable raw amount of love.
"That's what I'm here to do," he murmured in response. Glancing warily at the still-watching cameras, he turned to look for the exit, stepping carefully around the blue and red stars on the floor.
The Little Sister hopped after his footsteps, trying hard to step where Ultimus did, and not to touch the stars herself. "Daddy, look! A fishie that glows!" She called suddenly moving to the right and to a display that caught her eyes.
The Transformer looked in that direction, following the girl "Interesting."
The girl giggled at the mechanical movements of the modeled display, then whined softly as it stopped. "Aww... can you make it move again Mr. Bubbles?" Wide yellow eyes turned up to plead at the Autobot.
Ultimus shifted, examining the display. It took him a moment to figure out how it worked, reaching out to restart the display. He got a delighted squeal as the girl clapped while in the background the music lowered in volume and the speakers crackled a bit. An audial panel twitched under Ultimus' helm. The redhead looked around, rumbling softly deep in his chest.
~Very interesting.~ It was a man's voice, almost under the music it was said so softly, but still there in the speakers.
Growling, Ultimus turned to glare at the cameras. "Who the frag are you?" Claws slid from his fingertips, and he bared fangs at the unseen speaker.
~A very interested party.~ The voice said, and it was disturbingly calm, at least to a human it would be.
"That's not an answer," Ultimus snapped, optics flashing. His armor was starting to bristle.
There was a small chuckle, ~Not yet.~ the voice said before there was that crackle in the speaker that told of an open mike cutting out. The Cybertronian snarled, the sound echoing through the room. Glaring at the cameras, he lifted one hand and very deliberately made an extremely rude gesture before turning his back on them again.
"What was that Daddy?" The Little Sister asked, a frown on her face as she watched what Ultimus was doing.
"That was me expressing dislike for whoever is watching us." He twitched his shoulder plating toward the cameras.
~Do not be teaching my little ones such things!~ Tenenbaum yelled over the radio as they walked back into range, making the girl jump as she was trying in curl her fingers to mimic what Ultimus did.
"It was intended for whoever is watching us in here, not for her." Ultimus ruffled his plating slightly.
~They learn everything from their guardians! They will watch you like the Big Daddies!~ The woman riled, while in the background Kate was making a comment to Medic Alert of never seeing the other woman like this in her time living in Rapture.
"I'll remember that. And I'll remember to watch my language the next time Mystery Creep decides to open his mouth. Any insults or swearing will be in languages she can't speak." Blue and gold armor clamped tight to his frame briefly. He shifted position slight. "Kate."
There was a shifting and then the other woman spoke, ~Jack's gone, she's heading your way.~ The woman snorted, ~Was in the vents before your friend could grab her.~
Ultimus chuckled. "I'm not really surprised." He paused for a moment. "I encountered her mother."
Kate was quiet for a long minute, back in the safe house she was sitting with arms crossed and eyeing the screen that showed Ultimus thanks to The Thinker. Unmoving and barely breathing by the looks of it, before finally closing her eyes as she remembered her sister, "How so?"
"The girl I'm escorting was gathering, and the expected wave of splicers came. Lacey was one of them. But she hung back, unarmed, and just watched. She responded to her name, said she was so spliced she forgot herself but not her babies. Then she walked away." Ultimus shifted slightly, waiting for the response.
~My niece and nephew,~ Kate said, while resting one hand on her middle, looking down as she added a bit away from the radio, "Lacey started splicing as she became obsessed with looking for them."
"At least Jack is free, and there is still hope for her brother, assuming he hasn't been caught by splicers." A solid kick from one metal-clad foot sent a dead splicer halfway across the room.
The Little Sister jumped at the movement, "Daddy?" She worried.
"It's okay," he murmured to her. He picked her up, settling her against his side.
The altered child snuggled up against him, relaxing before yawning. With the delay in looking for another ADAM corpse, her body had time to realize it had some. So the slug started to work, "I'm ready for dream time now Daddy."
"Time to find a vent, then," Ultimus glanced around, sweeping the area. Spotting one, he walked toward it, picking his way around the stars on the floor.
Tbc...
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