1Bioshock Infinite: Union
Chapter 34
-Booker-
Booker fixed a simple dinner and then they got down to working the Air Grabber. In about two hours they had it working again and the new parts to make it shot lightning installed. Whoever had built it certainly knew what they were doing and putting in the new parts had been surprisingly easy. He almost thought it had been intended for it to be made into a lighting thrower.
Couldn't really test the Air Grabber's new function inside his room though.
Elizabeth told him that each shot would drain one of the batteries and only three would fit inside. Only three shots before he had to open it up and replace the batteries. Batteries didn't seem to be overly easy to come, so he planned to use it sparingly.
After they were done with the Air Grabber, he made Elizabeth take a break. She tried arguing until he reminded her that she was only five years old. After the break they started in on the technical schematics. The first one they looked at actually was for a bathysphere, the Humpback Whale. Not what they were looking for. The others were for a Circus of Values, the Security Bots and the Health Stations. He really couldn't follow her as she worked. She was looking at the Health station schematics when she told him she thought she had figured it all out.
*All these machines use similar control systems. Once you figure out one, a similar process can be used on the others.*
"We just have to rearrange those tubes? Doesn't sound too hard."
*There's more to it than that. The Security Bot schematics make mention of anti-hacking measures. If you make a mistake the system can overload and electrocute you or activate a security alarm that summons Security Bots. And there is a time limit.*
"Guess I'll have to make sure I don't make a mistake. Any idea what Bypass might do?"
*Hum. It's possible that if you try to hack a Bypassed machine, some or even all of the anti-hacking measures may be disabled. We're going to have to… go and do zome hacking to frind out sure.*
*Sound like it's your bedtime.*
*I'm fine. I..(sigh) Goonight Booker...*
In just a moment she was asleep. He was tired, but not sleepy yet. He picked up the history book they had gotten and stated to read. He just skimmed the first two chapters which covered things up to World War I. Reading about the war was a bit harder than he thought it would be. Millions dead fighting from holes in the grounds. He was glad Fink hadn't decided to try and copy those "tank" things. Time to sleep.
…
Awake before Anna. Least he slept the full night this time. As he shaved he noticed the left side of his face didn't feel right. Kinda numb, right where it had been itching before. Looked normal. He pressed on it and he could feel, but it was dull.
"Damn."
Elizabeth said that nerve damage was common with ADAM sickness. Nothing to do for it. Best not to worry Elizabeth with it yet. He spent a couple of minutes talking to the air about it though.
He ate breakfast and was just finishing cleaning up when Elizabeth woke.
*Good morning Booker. Have a good night?*
He glanced back at the table to see her sitting in one of the chairs. *Morning. Was decent enough.*
*We should probably go someplace quite to test the Air Grabber's Shock function. The passage to Fortune Avenue should fit the bill nicely.*
"Was thinking of going there anyway. Rather practice hacking without people around."
*No, not many people there now.* she agreed sadly.
"And now it's open, might be Little Sister down there now."
*Maybe. I don't think Anna is be doing her…" job" for a while yet.*
*Why do you think that?* He had an idea why.
*I'm not sure. It feels like she wouldn't. Just like when it gets near dinner, I don't think she's out.*
*Think that when she relaxes a little, she might relax some at keeping you out?*
*Hum. You might be right. When I wake up, I sometimes see or hear things. They must be from Anna's dreams.*
"Anything to figure out where she is?"
*No, the only one I can really remember is some kind of knight in fancy armor. It's probably how the Little Sisters see the Big Daddies.* There was a hint of sadness in her voice and she looked down at her hands.
"Nothing for it."
*I know. Let's get going.*
On the way to Fortune Avenue they tested the Air Grabber's new Shock function on a section of wall. A bolt of lightning struck the wall were he aimed and left a small burn mark. Elizabeth mentioned that the range was going to be limited, probably not much more than fifty feet. It was a limitation he could deal with.
When they got to Fortune Avenue it was much as they had left. The fires had burned out of course, but dead bodies still lay all around. The passage that had been blown open by the attackers hadn't collapsed yet, much to Elizabeth's surprise. Most of the bodies had been harvested already.
There were several new bodies with green armbands near the remains of the Sinclair Spirits, but they had been killed by rivets. Guess they thought they could beat a Big Daddy. They would check the bodies and the several nearby buildings before they left. The hacking came first.
*Doubtful that a Little Sister will come down here again. There doesn't seem to be anything left for them to harvest.*
"No use in waiting around then."
The area was eerily quit as they walked to the Circus of Values he had Bypassed days earlier. He thought he heard some noise coming from the fire damaged Sea's Best Market which amazingly was still standing despite what had happened. Didn't see anything, but made a note to keep an eye on it.
All that was left standing of Bingham Apartments was the fire blackened outer walls surrounding a huge pile of rubble. He made sure not to look too closely at the rubble. The smell told him that most of the people that lived there hadn't escaped the fire. Elizabeth didn't need to see that.
The Values machine had scorch marks, but still worked. It took him a moment to find the panel that allowed him access to the inside of the machine and take it off.
Inside was a mass of wires, tubes, pipes and electronic components. In the center of it all was a small box. He opened the box to reveal the tubes, pipes, whatever, he needed to rearrange.
*Ok, I didn't expect that. By opening the door it started that fluid flowing. You need to…*
As she started talking, he started rearranged the tubes to direct the flow to the new outlet.
*…hurry.* Elizabeth finished as he connected the last tube and he hit the Flow Speed control and the fluid flowed only its new path.
Their first hack was a success.
-Elizabeth-
*Ok, Booker. Exactly how did you do that?* She WAS going to find out how he seemed to know how to work machines just by looking at them.
"Do what?" he asked as he closed the vending machine back up.
*How do you do things like that so easily? You pick up a gun you've never seen before and it's like you've used it for years. You piloted the First Lady back in Columbia and I don't think you were trained to repair elevators.*
"Not all that hard. Just good with machines I guess." He seemed a little puzzled. Could it be that he never thought about it before?
They checked the list of products for sale, but there was nothing new and the prices hadn't changed. The Bypass Plasmid did the same thing a hack would do, at least for the Circus of Value Machines.
*When you picked up the Tommy Gun down in Fontaine's, did you see a picture of it in your mind?*
They started heading back the way they came. *No, nothing like that. Why are you asking?*
*I guess I'm trying to figure out how you see things.*
*And how do you see something like the Tommy Gun?*
*I see it as a highly detailed drawing that I can look at from any angle and take apart if I want.*
"Do that for everything?"
*If I wanted to understand it or I'm trying to remember something.*
*Guess that explains why Anna takes things apart all the time.*
*It's not like that for you, is it?*
*Never really thought about it. Just kinda know.*
*Intuitive thinking, I should have realized. That's just about the opposite of me.*
*Notice we usually get the same answer 'bout most things.*
*Yes we do, don't we. Not that different in the end I guess.*
*Wish some that you were a little different. Wouldn't have repeated my mistakes.*
*Booker, those were My mistakes and I should have known better.* *I did know better. So don't you dare think it's you're fault.*
*Yes, Elizabeth.* he told her with false meekness. She knew that he would still blame himself despite what she said.
They did a quick search of the Sinclair's Spirits and the Tavern which only netted them some distilled water, two batteries, some glue and a length of rubber hose. The corpses with the armbands had been looted as well. Not much honor amongst thieves.
They got to the Securis door that would lead them back to Prosperity Way. Booker stopped a moment. "Think we should go back or take a look down there?" he asked as he looked down the passageway to the part of Fortune Avenue they hadn't explored yet.
*I doubt we'll be back here again, so we might as well take a quick look.*
They headed further down the corridor where it ran into another passageway. To the left it went down about thirty feet and there was a Securis Door. The sign said it led to Arcadia. To the right, the passage opened up into a larger area that held the burned out remains of the Seahorse Diner. She thought it slightly odd that there were no dead bodies here. Given the way Booker was avoiding looking at the remains of the diner closely, she didn't have much doubt of where they were. Ryan's people must have done the same here as with the Apartments.
Jim: Hey, Mary, what's with the sourpuss?
Mary: Have you heard what's going on down in Apollo Square? I hear they're putting people in cages!
Jim: There you go again, Mary, listening to the rumormongers. Rapture Security is just rounding up the worst of the worst until the Council can try them in a proper forum.
Mary: People say there have been executions.
Jim: People say LOTS of irresponsible things. That doesn't mean you have to embolden Atlas and his Bandits by repeating them. Remember, Mary; Rapture security is OUR security.
They walked around the to the back of the ruins to see if there was anything useful around and on mounted on a wall was a machine labeled "Power to the People".
*Huh, about time we found one.*
"And what is a Power to the People?" Booker asked as they walked up to it.
*A weapon upgrade machine. Regular El Ammo Bandito machines just sell ammo. The ones that did upgrades down in Fontaine's might have been test models to see the Power to the People machines could be replaced.*
"Probably a way to make a bigger profit."
*That goes without saying.*
He tried the machine and saw listings for upgrades to .38 pistols, shotguns and Tommy Guns.
*Nothing for your revolver.*
"Leaves me with just the shotgun. Don't see any prices."
*I wonder what scam Fontaine was trying to pull with these?*
"A way to help arm his supporters when the time came maybe?"
*Wouldn't put it past him.*
"Got two shotgun upgrades. Rate of Fire and Damage." Booker chose to improve the rate of fire first and the machine performing its task. When it was done the machine turned itself off and a sign popped up.
"Closed?* they both said.
*Apparently there's only one upgrade per person. Just like Fontaine to dangle something like that in front of people.*
"A free sample. Give something away once and you can keep them coming back to buy."
*Sounds like someone tried it on you.*
"Yeah. Last time around had a couple of people try to give me free samples of opium."
*And once you were addicted, they would have guaranteed sales.* Disgusting.
"Same with Ryan and Fontaine. Creating addicts with Plasmids, then profiting off them."
*Fink was doing the same, wasn't he?* A little strange to be asking Booker about the city she grew up in, but with Comstock's memories, he actually knew more about it than she did.
"Don't really think Fink knew much about addiction. Can tell you Comstock wouldn't have liked Fink turning everyone into Vigor addicts very much."
They started walking back to Prosperity Way. There was nothing left for them here.
A short time later they arrived back on the Way and headed for the Bathysphere Bay. There weren't a lot of people out yet. Probably still getting over the shock of Atlas's assault on Olympus Heights. As they got closer the saw that there was a group of about twelve people outside the entrance of the Bay.
"Wonder what's going on?"
*Might be Ryan's "workmen" again.*
As they got closer they could hear raised voices. The groups seemed to be angry and was focusing it on the dock master. She apparently had enough and started to yell.
"Listen! It's not my fault! The entire Metro is SHUT DOWN!"
Different people called out "You can't do that! You can't keep us here! We have the right!" The rest noisily agreed.
"Hey asshole! Read the sign! Ryan ordered the Metro shut down!" She jabbed finger at a new sign on the wall.
ATTENTION!
All Bathysphere Travel in now DENIED
"Damn, should have remembered."
*Remembered what?*
"When we get here in 1960 I saw a sign saying that Bathysphere travel was stopped."
She rebuilt the Welcome Center docking bay in her mind and looked around a moment to find the sign. *I can't believe I missed that.* There were also protest signs scattered about. People were trying to leave Rapture?
"You were in a bit of a rush."
A couple people pushed past the dock master, then the rest followed.
She called after them. "Won't do you any good! They're all locked down!"
They walked up to her. "So does this ban apply to me and the Stingray?"
The woman glanced at him. "Puft. You're outta luck, buddy. Ryan Security took your Stingray."
*Great.* And they only got to ride in it once!
"But that wasn't even mine." Booker pretended to protest.
"Ryan Security said that since it was made by Fontaine, it was a legitimate target for seizure."
"Who do I talk to and get it back?"
"Don't bother. Probably sitting on the bottom by now."
Booker looked up towards the bays where they could hear people yelling. "Take it something is going to stop people from using the Metro."
"Yeah, some kinda of genetic lock thing. Only Ryan's people can use the sphere's now. At least that's what the order they sent down said."
*I bet the Bypass Plasmid will get past that.*
"Thanks." he told the woman and turned walked back down the Way.
*I guess that means you're going to be doing a lot of walking Booker.*
"Yeah. Bypass would probably work, but also attract attention when I show up in a sphere and I'm not one of Ryan's people."
*So where to next?*
"Think we might want to try that tunnel out of Fortune Avenue while we have the chance."
They had just gotten close to the newsstand when a woman with a pistol ran past them. A moment later a splicer with a shotgun ran around the other side of the newsstand yelling "Burning Man, Burning Man!"
The few people around reacted by heading for cover quickly.
"Burning Man?"
*I have no idea. Whatever it is, people are scared.*
They looked around the newsstand as Booker drew his revolver and saw the Constable confronting a person wrapped in blankets. There were fires in one of the closed stores and the ruined hot dog stand was also on fire.
*We've seen that man before.*
"Yeah, but why...?" Booker stopped mid-sentence as the person pushed back the hood.
"Shit."
It was a woman and she was on fire. Her eyes glowed with a hellish light as flames slowly consumed her. No, that wasn't right. Her flesh was *becoming* fire, not being consumed by it.
The Constable didn't seem all that impressed. "I said Get Back. You aren't supposed to come up here and you know it! Look at what you done!"
The woman looked at him. "But I must purify everyone. This place must be purified." Her voice was light and filled with certainty.
She recognized the voice. It was from the Audio Diary they found yesterday, Cilia Canfield.
"I said get back!" The constable yelled.
"NO!" The woman yelled and fire built up around her with a sound she and Booker knew well.
*Fireman." they both said in realization.
Booker called "Get away from her!" as the splicer screamed "You shall not STOP me!" and exploded in flames.
The Constable was caught in the blast and staggered back, clearly injured.
"Down on the ground! On the ground! He ordered and took something from the box he carried and threw it at the Fireman. The explosion forced the splicer back a step, but did little more. She tossed a fire bomb back at the Constable.
The explosion clearly hurt him, but he wasn't going to give up. "I'm not going to let you hurt anyone! You're not going to trick me!"
He hurled another explosive which only caused the Fireman, well Firewoman, to scream in rage.
*Booker, the Constable is overmatched.* The Firewoman was going to burn the Way to the ground if given the chance.
"Yeah, better help." He pulled up on the splicer. Before he could shoot, the Firewoman screamed "I shall purify ALL!" and brought her hands together to create a flame like a giant blow torch in front of her. The Constable was hit full on and turned into ash. Another new trick.
Booker fired, striking the splicer in the head. She spun around to face them. "You shall be pure!" she yelled and threw a bomb at him. Booker backed up quickly firing once more before the bomb detonated safely out in front of him. Thank goodness for the Fleet Feet Gear.
Booker brought up Bucking Bronco and the splicer was slammed into the air. He quickly switched to Charge and spent a moment building up its energy before releasing it to slam into the Firewoman knocking her back down the Way a short distance. As the Bronco wore off he switched to the shotgun and fired.
She couldn't believe this splicer was still alive after the punishment. Columbia's Vigor's may have been more powerful, but Plasmids had a way of twisting a person to become incredibly resistant to injury.
The Firewoman threw another bomb and Booker couldn't react fast enough. The explosion broke his Shield and hurt him, she couldn't tell how much. Even as the flames faded around him, Booker lifted the Air Grabber and a bolt of electricity struck the splicer.
Booker quickly fired three more times into the immobilized splicer, but it still failed to put her down. The effects of the shock wore off and the Firewoman screamed in fury and fire erupted from her hands.
Booker was faster than the doomed Constable, sidestepping to allow the flames to roar harmless past him. As he did, he quickly reloaded the shotgun with two more shells.
"You will be made PURE!" the madwoman screamed.
The splicer drew her arm back to throw another bomb, but Booker used the Air Grabber to shock her again. Booker ran up and fired twice with the shotgun. Something was different this time. Each time he fired the shock effect grew stronger. He must have been using the Electric Buck they found.
The Firewoman still did not fall. He backed away and drew his autopistol as his Shield slowly reformed. Two more rounds struck the splicer before the shock wore off.
"My fire shall purify ALL!"
She quickly threw another bomb, but Booker brought up Charge and rammed into her as the bomb detonated behind them. Before she could toss another bomb, Booker started firing his autopistol into her close range.
"Your sins shall be burned away!" she screamed as she built up the charge to explode again, clearly thinking Booker couldn't get away.
Booker apparently decided the same and brought up Charge again, but didn't wait for more than an instant before hitting into her. A moment later the Firewoman exploded in flame, but Booker had timed it perfectly and the Vigor's protective aftereffect protected him from injury.
Booker hit the splicer with the Air Grabber and the Electric Touch Gear activated. Before the splicer could recover, he emptied the rest of the autopistol's clip into her. Then they heard a familiar whine of a Fireman building to overload.
He quickly backed up and used Bronco to keep her from charging after them. She screamed "I am PURE at LAST!" and the splicer detonated in a massive explosion., but Booker was safely out of range.
Booker quickly reloaded the autopistol then slowly walked to the remains of the woman. There wasn't much left.
*Booker?*
"I'm ok. Seems that Parasite Gear has a sliding scale. The more spliced they are, the more you get when it works."
He reached down and picked up a box that had somehow weathered the flames. Probably made of asbestos or something. Inside was twenty dollars, a tape for an Audio Diary and set of keys. They could wait for later with those.
He started to reload the shotgun as he walked over to what remained of the Constable and just stood a moment.
"Actually wasn't that bad in a fight." Booker observed. That was probably about as far as he would go to give the dead man a compliment.
Then they walked towards the far end of the Way. As he did so, a few people started looking out of doorways and windows now that the danger was over.
"Humf. Guess I should have drank that Undertow." He told her half seriously.
*If we run across any more, I'll be Sure to remind you.*
"Don't doubt you will."
Booker went to the Circus of Values and bought two tea, several bandages and four pep bars. "That's better."
*Going back to the room?*
"Yeah. Need to replace some batteries."
As they walked back they listened to the Audio Diary as people slowly started to return to what they had been doing.
Cilia Canfield: That Bastard!
Date: December 9, 1958
Damn Suchong! I put up with his crap for over two years and this is how he treats me? Takes a job with a big fat paycheck from Ryan and has me arrested because I "worked for Fontaine?" Bastard just wanted all the credit!
The cops tried to nab me in the lab. There I was surrounded by plasmids and tonics and those idiots tried to arrest me. It was fun watching them burn. But I couldn't stay, couldn't get my notes, my research. I need to get back there before ADAM Sickness causes too much mental damage. Need to finish before it's too late.
"Huh, keys must open that her lab."
*Suchong's main lab or at least his public one was in Point Prometheus.*
"Think there's anything left?"
*Only way to know is to go there and find out. I wonder what she wanted so much from there?*
"Guess when we get there we can find out."
End Chapter 34