Chapter 44

Hepheastus Core - Office of Andrew Ryan

"Well nobody could say you've had a quiet day..." Ryan looked down upon Edward, who was sprawled across the office floor, his back up against the glass wall that overlooked the lobby outside the office. He was sodden, battered, cut and exhausted. Ryan stood tall, his suit immaculate and his hair neatly swept back. "Escaping Persephone when not one of my men did... then getting yourself half-drowned in Dionysus Park. I expect you're coming to hate Sofia Lamb nearly as much as me..."

"More than you know..." Edward frowned. Ryan smiled for the first time.

"I'd been on my way to dinner with Diane, but this will have to have my undivided attention. Please get a message to her for me, before she heads out to Demeters." Ryan passed the instructions to Sullivan, who nodded in understanding and left.

Sheridan was sat beside Edward, equally as sorry looking, still dripping wet, his head hanging deep, almost in his lap. Sinclair had already been with Ryan, and had to break the news about Lamb's break-out on his own.

"Well gentleman, I think we can say that today has been one fucking cock-up after another, wouldn't you?" He was angry, and began to pace back and forth.

"I will not lament the loss of Dionysus Park, that place housed as many parasites as a stray dogs back. There will be an investigation of course, but we can see to it that any findings work to our advantage, drag Lambs name through the dirt where it belongs." He spat at the thought of her.

"But loosing Persephone... this is a major issue, for the whole city. If word spreads that she has the support of an army down in that filthy hole, her followers that still roam free will be unstoppable, they'll be spreading her shitty ideals like wildfire, and trust me gentleman - Rapture will burn."

Edward looked up at Sinclair, then Ryan. "Well... what about the drop mechanism?" He coughed. Sinclair winced at the thought of the financial loss, clearly not keen on the idea. "That was a marketing tool son... never intended for it to be used real-life" He interjected.

"But it works?" Edward persisted.

"Yeah sure it works, couple of charges strategically placed, all the load bearing beams go and the whole place crumbled into the abyss."

"Taking Dr Lamb with it..." Ryan pondered the option.

"Now hold hard gents, there's a spanner in the works I'm afraid." Sinclair held up hands to stall the acceleration of the conversation. "The charges have to be set, and the control system for the charges, its all down there too - the Warden will have seen to it that its well guarded, if not destroyed. I say we leave the bitch down there to rot. She can't leave, there's nothing of value down there anymore - I had all the ADAM and equipment shipped over to Point Prometheus. They'll be eating each other down there within a month - just wait, Persephone will come back to us on her own in the end."

Ryan chuckled, but could see Sinclair's point. "Lamb chops, my kind of menu." He picked up his golf club again, but only to hold it and twirl it in his hand like some over-sized executive toy.

"Honestly... first Fontaine, now Lamb. At least we're making some headway, one dead, one stuck in her own prison. But it's still inconvenient about Persephone, I'd just had my men round up hundreds of Fontaine's old goons down at Neptune's Bounty and in Pauper's Drop. They were due to be shipped over to you tonight." He pointed to Sinclair.

"Equally a pain the neck for me chief, I had a bucket of cash tied up down there."

"I'll have to think of somewhere else to dump the garbage now... somewhere evidently requiring even more isolation that Persephone..." Ryan pondered. He looked down at his desk, and his eyes wondered to the binder holding the blueprints Daniel Wales had given him of Fontaine's Department Store. As the cogs in his mind began to turn, he looked over to his guests.

"Well you gentleman run along, get yourselves cleaned up, and a stiff drink wouldn't be a bad idea." He dismissed them with a quick wave of his hand.

Edward shook the silent Sheridan by the shoulder, and helped him to his feet. "Come, lets get ourselves home."

Sheridan looked up at him, and started to cry as they walked out of the office.