Augustus Sinclair,

Good business:

This business deal with Fontaine and Cicil is working quite nicely. They pay me and I hand em over some poor souls who ain't got nothin left. Plenty of em in Persephone.

Fontaine's got his ADAM and Cicil's got whatever he's doin, less I know about that lunatic, the better.

Sinclair stood on the walkway overlooking the main junction of Persephone. They were bringing in new people, new 'parasites' as Ryan was so fond of calling them. He did tend to throw that word around a lot these days. It was increasing by the day the number of times that word would enter a conversation, especially when he was talking to Sinclair.

The last time they'd spoken, it had been about Lamb and working out just what she was up to. Sinclair had heard rumours of course, he did have another office in Pauper's Drop and he'd heard enough folks talk about Lamb. It wasn't talking about her that was the issue, it was how they were talking about her, like she was some sort of regal spirit. The walking on water kind.

That wouldn't do in Rapture. If she was creating her own little cult, Ryan was not going to tolerate it and now Sinclair had heard whispers of Lamb working with Ava. That had surprised him. He didn't take Miss Tate as the type to get pulled in by all that mumbo jumbo. Not to mention those parties she threw. Sinclair had only been to a few once or twice, you always had to sign some sort of waiver before entering. That was enough information you needed to figure out what kind of parties Ava hosted.

So Lamb being there made no sense to him. If anything, it made him nervous. Fair enough Lamb was able to talk to the down trodden and make a nobody feel like a somebody, but for her to be changing the opinions of the sombodys in this town? Well, that was a whole heap of trouble and it would hit people like him the hardest. Hell, her work with the poor at the moment was hitting him hard in some parts of the business. Workers laying down tools and declaring that they would no longer work without proper equal pay or some line like that.

Lamb was starting to be less entertaining and more of an issue. One that was going to have to be dealt with sooner rather than later. Hopefully that little rat Poole will actually prove to be useful.

"Sinclair!"

Augustus looked up from his musing to see Fontaine walking towards him, his man Reggie right behind him same as usual. For a time Frank had stopped having Reggie following him around so much, but he obviously didn't trust coming somewhere like Persephone without some sort of back up. Reggie was good back up. He was big and intimidating on his own, but he very openly carried a gun and was supposedly a good shot. He was the type of guy you didn't want to get on the wrong side of. When he was standing with Fontaine he was passive, it would almost lure you into a false sense of security, but in actual fact, he was just waiting for the moment he needed to shoot. Or rip an arm off. Sinclair was certain that if Reggie really wanted to, he probably could and he wouldn't need the ADAM to do it.

"Fontaine," Sinclair offered a smile. "Well this is a surprise. To what do I owe this visit?"

Frank paused, glancing around the area they were standing in. He eyed the warden cautiously, before his attention was back on Sinclair. He looked uncomfortable. It wasn't noticeable, to everyone else looking he'd seem the same as he always was, but to the trained eye? Well, Sinclair could practically feel the unease coming off him in waves. He didn't want to be here and yet here he was.

"Here to talk business."

"Ah," Sinclair nodded. "Were the last few not to your liking? I gotta say, the one you sent back.. looked awful rough."

Fontaine shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He looked disinterested with that topic, meaning he was probably here to talk other business. Sinclair did deal with selling the Tonics and Plasmids now, he was thinking of selling them in smaller bottles as little collections. Gift baskets if you will. Just in time for Christmas.

"Let's take a walk," Fontaine said, motioning for Reggie to stay where he was while he walked past Augustus towards some of the other walkways, this one was in the direction of Sinclair's office in Persephone. So Fontaine obviously wanted to make this a private conversation.

"Somethin' on your mind, Chief?" Sinclair asked, catching up with Fontaine as the two walked past a few of the rotten and grimy cells of Persephone.

Fontaine peered in one out of curiosity, grimaced at what he saw and turned his attention elsewhere.

Sinclair understood. Not looking made it easier. He wouldn't say the conditions bothered him too much, he weren't the ones living in them after all and the Warden was in control of the living arrangements. Augustus just owned the place and dictated who they hired and how many guards or orderlies they had out at any time. He was also in control of who came in, so he was mighty surprised that Fontaine had even made it this far into the facility. He wandered if he bribed the girl on the desk, or flirted with her? Maybe he threatened her? In the end, it really didn't matter, she would be fired after his visit.

"How's you coping with Lamb? Seen more and more of her name in the paper recently," Frank glanced at him. "I thought you were sorting her out."

"Hm. You know business is taking a hit thanks to the little spiel she's giving out," Augustus pulled out a packet of cigarettes. "All this unity that and family this."

"Family?" Fontaine laughed. "That's the line she's goin' with?"

"Hey it's workin'," Sinclair shrugged. "But you and I both know it's grade 'A' flim flam. Ain't an ounce of truth behind it, but these poor souls are eatin' it up like it's their last meal."

"Solidarity angle was smart at first," Fontaine mumbled. "Poor houses and bread lines? High. Grade. Bunko and you remember that religious rights debate?"

Both men stopped and had a laugh about that. It had been a sight to behold. Watching old Andy Ryan squirming on that podium as he argued over religious freedom in Rapture. With free will being the primary selling point of Rapture, no sensor allowed, technically Ryan didn't have any right to deny people their religion. Still, Ryan hated religion, he didn't want it anywhere near his city. Fontaine was in many ways helping Lamb, indirectly of course, by bringing in bibles. Ryan didn't know that or at least he didn't have any proof of it. If he did, Sinclair and Fontaine could still be having this conversation in Persephone, just in a very different setting.

"That was a good one," Sinclair agreed with a smile. "Ol' Andy Ryan's face was priceless."

"Ya gotta wonder if she planned the whole thing just to watch him squirm up there in his money suit," Frank was grinning, his eyes were alight with the pleasure he got from the memory alone. "Lamb's only problem is.. she really buys into the whole song and dance."

This was new. Sinclair hadn't heard about this. Any grifter worth their salt could see that Lamb was a grifter too, she just had a few extra college degrees where most of them did not. She was a smart, well educated woman and she was using that to her advantage. Lifting the people up in some sort of uprising against Ryan. All peaceful for now, but it wouldn't take long for blood to be shed, Sinclair was certain of that.

"Buying in to it?" He tilted his head. "Now just what do you mean by that, Frank?"

"You ain't heard?" Fontaine looked surprised. "I figured you had as many feelers out there as I did, Augustus. I got a fella in Lamb's little cult she's brewin' down there and she honestly believes that what she's doing is right," he was grinning again. "Stupid woman fell for her own con."

"Ah," Sinclair placed a hand on his chest, mocking a gesture of sorrow. "The fall of many a great con artist. I'm actually surprised though, figured she'd be smarter than that."

"You ain't the only one," Frank mused. "I was actually impressed for a time. I mean," he gestured around him. "Tricking one guy ain't hard, but a whole city?" He laughed, the grin getting a little sharper around the edges, his eyes flashed with something that Sinclair couldn't quite decipher. "Well, that's a thing of beauty."

He wasn't wrong. Sinclair had woven plenty of tall tales to get his own way, he lied to and betrayed anyone so long as it was good for business. He'd been doing this game probably just as long if not longer than Frank had. Then again, there was always something of an old school kind of guy with Frank. He'd caught him one time stealing a watch right off someone's wrist and only the most accomplished pick pockets did that.

Pick pockets really were the table scraps of their world, mostly it was children who did it to get by. Sinclair had seen a few on the streets in his time, hell, he'd seen a few in Rapture. Sometimes the talent was continued into adulthood, but most pick pocket thieves left that life and instead went into proper robberies or more shader types of business.

So for Fontaine to be doing it still… well, it made no sense. The man was a brilliant grifter, Sinclair would admit that in the privacy of his own head, so he figured that little habit was just that. A habit. Something Fontaine couldn't help himself doing, almost like he enjoyed the thrill of almost getting caught.

"I'll admit," Sinclair nodded. "That at the start she really was working wonders, but it stopped being so entertaining about two months ago," he fixed Fontaine with a look. "I've been having issues with workers layin' down their tools. Nothin' I can't handle, but it's becomin' a problem."

"Can't you just…" Fontaine hooked a thumb in the direction of the cells and shrugged a little.

Augustus laughed. "You know I wish I could," he finally lit the cigarette he'd been carrying for the past few minutes. "But you know Ryan. He wants everythin' done by the book. Can't just solve the problem until we've got evidence. Least that's what his man Sullivan is telling me."

"Yeah?" Frank raised an eyebrow. "And you're expectin' me to believe that Ryan ain't got some plan to get that evidence? Who's he got spyin' on her?"

"How should I know?" Sinclair shrugged, slipping his lighter away in his pocket. "You think he tells me anythin'? Ryan ain't too keen on spillin' secrets. That's somethin' you both got in common."

Frank looked angry for a moment for being compared to Ryan. He really did hate him, though Sinclair suspected that Frank wouldn't call it hate. He'd say that Ryan just irritated him, but there was no mistaking that look. He hated Ryan without a shadow of doubt and Ryan felt exactly the same about him.

"Don't give me that look, Frank. You know I'm right," he blew smoke to the ceiling, finally coming to his office. The door slid up to the ceiling and the two men entered. "You know, Chief, this little chat about Lamb has been fun and all, but I have a feelin' you're here to talk about somethin' else."

Fontaine looked uncertain for the first time since Sinclair met him. He glanced at the door, watching as it slid shut, before turning his attention back to Sinclair. He seemed to be keeping his distance from the other, pulling out his cigarette case and reaching for his lighter. He was stalling.

"Frank?"

"You know Ms Em's kid?"

Sinclair was surprised that was coming up. Sure he'd met the little tyke at the Futuristics reveal and he'd been a bright kid. Smart for someone his age, quick too if his reply to Fontaine's comment about his height was anything to go by. Kid had a mouth on him, just like his damn mother did. Sinclair already felt like he was going to be a handful.

"Sure I've seen him around," he nodded. "Had to up her rent because of it. She was none too pleased about that."

"You surprised?" Frank raised an eyebrow. "Ya pay extortionate prices for that piece of trash anyway, Sinclair," he lit the cigarette, taking a drag and blowing the smoke to the ceiling. "He's becomin' a problem."

"He's a kid," Sinclair frowned. "Other than you trippin' over him I don't see what type of problem he could be causin'."

Fontaine frowned a second. "He needs to go."

"Go?"

"Disappear. I don't care. Hell, lock him up in here if you have to."

"I ain't in the business of kidnapping children, Fontaine," he gave him a pointed look. "And neither are you."

Frank sighed, rubbing his eyes in irritation. He looked tired and frustrated about something. If it was the kid, Sinclair wasn't sure what to make of that. How much harm could a little boy do?

"He's becomin' a distraction."

"For who, Frank?"

"Who'd you think?! Em!" he gestured with his hand. "She's constantly worryin' 'bout the snot nosed brat. He's distracting her from her work."

Sinclair raised an eyebrow and replied carefully. "And you think makin' him disappear will solve that problem?"

"Yes. No, I don't…" he closed his eyes and sighed. "He's a nuisance."

"This sounds more like a 'you' problem," he tapped some ash off his cigarette. "Frank, you probably know Ms Em better than I do, but making her son disappear seems like a damn idiotic idea. You really think she's goin' to focus any better if she don't know where her tyke is?"

This wasn't like Fontaine. The man was smart. He'd know that making the kid disappear would make Ms Em worry and panic. It felt more like the excuse of him distracting Ms Em was just that. An excuse and a rather flimsy one at that.

"It sounds to me like you're the one with the issue here," he narrowed his eyes. "But I ain't helpin' you out in solving it. I may not be an honest man, but there are lines, Frank," he fixed him with a look. "That you don't cross."

"Oh yeah?" Fontaine smirked at him. "You crossed those lines a long time ago, don't try and kid ya'self Augustus," he leaned across the desk pointing at him. "You crossed those lines the moment you started handin' me guys on a silver platter. Bound and unconscious, no questions asked, 'cause let's be real here, who'd wanna know the answers?"

"I ain't sayin' I'm a saint, Fontaine," Sinclair bit back. "But I ain't putting child murder on my rap sheet."

Fontaine sat back staring at him. "Who the hell said anythin' 'bout killing the kid? No, I just want him gone," he gestured to the door behind him. "You've got plenty of cells back there, Sinclair."

Sinclair was quiet for a moment. He wasn't quite sure he was hearing this right. Fontaine almost seemed desperate to make this kid disappear.

"I'm gonna assume here," Sinclair started, taping some more ash into the ash tray. "That you're aware of how the prison system works," he glanced up at Fontaine with a cold look. "I'd like you to tell me just how long ya' reckon a five year old is gonna survive in a place like this?"

Fontaine was silent and that was answer enough.

"You'd be killin' the kid regardless, Fontaine," Sinclair continued. "Maybe not directly, but indirectly… it's still murder. You sure you want that on your conscious?" He looked down at the desk a moment. " 'Cause I sure don't."

"You ain't got no conscious."

"But I do have rules."

Frank laughed at that, leaning back from the desk and looking relaxed, but he was anything but. He looked to be contemplating murder and Sinclair wasn't too sure if he'd chicken out. Fontaine wasn't a man who shied away from violence. Plenty of his men had conveniently disappeared at the Fisheries. Bodies usually turned up a few days later, face down in the water, bloated and pale. The clear signs of someone who'd drowned and that was what it was put down as. An unfortunate drowning. Those seemed to happen a lot though and you didn't have to be an Einstein to figure out what was going on.

You made a mistake you were cut from the crew. Permanently.

Still, killing a grown man was one thing, killing a child was something completely different. Sinclair honestly couldn't believe that Fontaine was even entertaining the idea.

"Fontaine?"

Frank glanced at him, his eyes looked dark in the small amount of light the office actually had. Being this side of Rapture didn't exactly give you much in light source, but it was hidden. No one knew they were here, only a select few knew about Persephone and an even smaller group of people knew what was really going on behind closed doors.

"You stay away from that kid," Sinclair crossed his arms. "I don't give a damn how irritating he may be. He's Em's kid. You really think she's going to-."

"I ain't gonna kill the goddamn kid, Sinclair!"

"You sure?" He hissed. " 'Cause to me it looked like you were thinkin' about it."

"If the kid ain't careful…" Fontaine mumbled. "It's not me that he's gotta worry 'bout. Suchong and Tenenbaum… more Suchong than the Kraut," Frank took a drag of his cigarette, flicking the ash to the floor which irritated Sinclair some. "The way that bastard looks at the kid…"

"How we talkin'?"

"Kid ain't a person to him," Fontaine paused. "Come to think of it, I don't think anyone's much of a person to Suchong."

"You think they're gonna do somethin' to him?"

"They won't," Fontaine smirked slightly. "I made sure of that."

Sinclair raised an eyebrow. He was starting to get it now or at least he thought he did. It wasn't that Fontaine didn't like the kid, quite the opposite actually. He liked Ms Em's kid. He was fond of him. Sinclair could see it now in his face, whenever he spoke about the boy his face would soften just a touch. That was a problem. He couldn't care about anyone down here, but for some unknown reason, Fontaine cared about the boy.

He didn't think that speaking these things out loud was a good idea though. Fontaine would most likely shoot him dead on the spot. Sinclair always felt the man was a little trigger happy. Almost like he couldn't wait to pull the trigger some times, like he was looking for an excuse.

Sinclair also didn't think he wanted to know just what he meant by 'I made sure of that', but he was certain it wasn't pretty. Fontaine could be quite creative with his threats. He'd seen him in a mood before when dealing with his guys at the Fisheries and some of the things he was threatening was enough to make a grown man cry.

"He's a smart kid, isn't he?" Sinclair tried, watching Fontaine's reaction.

A flicker of a smile came across the man's face, but it was gone so fast that had Sinclair not been looking for it, he probably would never have seen it.

"Too smart fer his own good sometimes," he mused, taking another drag of his cigarette. "So, Lamb. You dealing with her?"

"You know I would," Sinclair sighed, he was glad they were moving away from the topic of the kid. "But Ryan wants evidence. Only problem is, he's expectin' his evidence to just appear on a silver platter before him."

Fontaine looked out of the window thinking. "He wants it easy?" He looked back at Sinclair and flashed a grin. "I'm sure that can be arranged."

"Not as simple," he sighed. "I think he almost wants Lamb to admit she's making a little cult down there, on tape," he rubbed at his eyes. This Lamb problem was tiring him out. "Even worse… she's moving through the ranks, if you will. She's already got Ava Tate in on this."

"Tate?" Fontaine rose an eyebrow. "Thought she was pro Ryan? Least that's what Kelly's told me…" a sly grin slipped on his face at the mention of Sinclair's old receptionist.

There was still a bit of bad blood between them about that. Kelly had been a damn good secretary and even better businesswoman. She knew how to talk to people and was just as good as Sinclair was when it came to weaving a pretty little lie. Not to mention, her way of using her body as a weapon was a real ace. You couldn't take it away from her and she knew just how to batter her eyes and twirl her hair to get men falling to their knees.

She'd been useful and then Frank stole her. Offered her a bigger salary, which was something Sinclair couldn't really blame her for and then she was gone. Packing up her desk and setting up shop in the Futuristics building. Sometimes when Sinclair paid a visit to Fontaine in his office, Kelly would be at her desk and she'd wave and smile. Sometimes they'd even chat for a bit.

The point was, Fontaine had stolen one of Sinclair's best assets and he was awful smug about it.

"Miss Christie did spend an awful lot of time at those shin digs," Sinclair mused. "It's where we met after all. I was rather impressed…" he trailed off.

"Oh," Fontaine grinned, his tone changing to nothing but mockery. "She's impressive alright. Impressive from every angle. Vertical," he smirked at Sinclair. "Horizontal."

"Of that I am well aware," Sinclair replied with a smile of his own. Frank wasn't getting him with that, he knew of Kelly's habits. "Though, I wonder…" he tapped his chin. "If she's told you about Ava's latest little fix it drug?"

"Why should she? Not like I care about narcotics."

"Oh, but I really think you will, Frank," Sinclair grinned. "You see, Ava's made this little thing called EDEN. I don't know the full ins and outs of the stuff, but I know she's using your ADAM as the base for it," he smirked at the sudden look of fury on Fontaine's face. "It's become quite the hit, I hear. A lot of her guests are no longer buying from you, they're buying from her," he tapped the ash off his cigarette again, before stubbing it out. "Miss Christie didn't mention that?"

"No, she did not," Frank growled, stubbing out his own cigarette and standing up to leave.

"Perhaps she thought you already knew," Sinclair mused, looking at Frank's back and the rigid posture he now held. It was nice to have the drop on him for once.

Fontaine held a finger up, "Ya know," he started, turning to look at Sinclair behind him. "How ya' said you don't want certain things resting on your conscious…?" He turned to face Sinclair completely. "I wonder if how I deal with Miss Christie will be one of those things that just…" he clapped his hands together before gesturing to the open air around them. "Won't matter a damn to you?"

Sinclair fished another cigarette out of his pocket, not even bothering to look at Fontaine. "If you do get rid of her," Sinclair said, still not looking at him. "Then feel free to offer Sally on the front desk her job. I'll be firing her after you've gone," Augustus finally looked up at Frank with a smile. "You could be her knight in shinin' armour and sweep her off her feet."

Fontaine grit his teeth, fists clenched at his sides and abruptly turned on his heel to leave. These games they played were dangerous. Entertaining sure, but dangerous all the same. You had to be careful not to overplay your hand and you had to be careful not to let the other get to you too much. Sinclair didn't think Fontaine would do anything to Kelly. She was useful and there would be no easy way to make her disappear. The boys at Neptune's Bounty had accidents, accidents that were easy to fake, but a secretary just disappearing out of thin air? That didn't happen.

Sinclair let him leave, he'd won this game but he had no doubt that Fontaine would come back hitting harder. It's what usually happened if Sinclair ever won these verbal games. Fontaine would come back with more biting words and a cool sort of arrogance to him.

Though, in this little chat, Fontaine had overplayed his hand. He'd admitted, maybe he hadn't realised it, but he'd admitted to caring for Em's kid. That was an interesting revelation. An Opportunity that Sinclair couldn't simply pass up on, but he'd have to be certain. He'd have to see that care with his own eyes before he decided to play that hand. He wouldn't hurt the kid, killing children wasn't his method of doing business, but he knew plenty of people who would be just dying for that kind of dirt on Fontaine.

Ryan, Cicil, Poole, hell even Lamb would benefit from knowing that kind of information.

Sinclair smiled, leaning back in his seat and lighting another cigaret. Sometimes, the best thing you could do in business was play the bigger guys against each other and pick up the spoils afterwards. For instance, this little deal with Persephone. Ryan had a problem, Sinclair got rid of the problem, he'd then send the problem to Fontaine or Cicil in the guise of test subjects and he'd get double the money. It was good business and Sinclair liked good, clean business.

"Just business, son," he mused to himself, placing the lighter down on the table and smiling to himself. "Just damn good business."

Kyburz ran over his checks again, eyes flickering from the clipboard, to the dials and back to the clipboard again. He marked down the number, before looking at a different set of dials and back at the clipboard, repeating his action.

It was a slow day in Hephestus, a lot of workers weren't in because they were protesting or something. Kyburz wasn't entirely sure what they were protesting exactly. It made no sense, to him since they were all getting paid. Granted it wasn't a lot, but at least they were getting money. Some poor folk were barely making table scraps.

He jumped out of his skin as Daniel suddenly appeared next to him, slamming his toolbox down on one of the pipes.

"Jesus Christ, Daniel…"

"Have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

Daniel looked around, almost like he was nervous to even be speaking about this or maybe he wasn't supposed to be speaking about it? A lot of people had gotten jumpy as of late. Scared about saying anything a bit out of line.

"Gregory Thomas, you know who worked on the main core?" Daniel glanced around again licking his lips. "He's gone off and joined Lamb."

"Joined?" Kyburz raised an eyebrow. "Don't you mean he's working for her?"

"Like hell he does," Pablo said walking over to them, he'd obviously heard their conversation and decided to join in. He always did tend to but in to other people's business. "He means Gregory has joined Lamb. Way I hear it, she's got her own little cult brewin' down there."

"Down where?"

"Pauper's Drop," Daniel replied gloomily. He rubbed at his eyes, glancing once more, before opening his tool box and slipping a poster out.

He'd torn it down from the wall, its edges were ripped and torn, but the main picture and the important parts of the advertisement were still in tact. On the poster was an image of a butterfly, like the sort you saw kids make when they painted one side, folded the paper and then opened it up. Or maybe it was more like those inkblot things you saw the head doctors using? Apparently you were supposed to see things in the pictures and depending on what you saw either meant your were healthy or mentally unstable.

The poster was advertising the work of Doctor Lamb and how she was there to listen to any of their complaints. It was telling the people of Pauper's Drop that they weren't alone, that someone saw them, someone heard their voices and was willing to help make a change. On paper it didn't seem like a bad thing. Kyburz had seen the Drop, it was awful and just the thought of Em and Clayton living there made his blood boil.

At the thought of Em, he frowned. They still hadn't patched things up. She mostly ignored him, only speaking about work when she had to and handing in reports, answering any questions he had when it came to work. When it came to small talk she would answer bluntly and usually with one word. She wasn't happy with him still, keeping her distance and maybe he should stop trying. He didn't want to stop trying, of course he didn't. Em was important to him, he cared about her. He cared about her a lot.

"You see?" Daniel said, pointing at the picture. Kyburz felt Pablo leaning over his shoulder to look at it with them. "It's crazy. Sure she says all those things about listening and stuff, but I've seen a few people come out of those sessions and it's like a completely different person."

Pablo raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that the point of them head doctors?"

"They're meant to make a person better!" Daniel argued, pointing at the poster again. "Those guys come out of that place and they're not better. Hell, I don't even think there's a person in there anymore."

"Whoa, whoa," Pablo held his hand up to Daniel. "Are you suggesting this bitch is brainwashing people? You realise how crazy that sounds?"

Daniel scrunched up his nose in annoyance. "Why does everyone keep saying that? We are standing in a city at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean!" He angrily pointed at Pablo's hand. "You're shooting fire and electricity out of your finger tips! We've past the point of crazy!"

"He has a point," Kyburz sighed, rubbing at his eyes.

Pablo frowned. "All of that is science," he argued, pointing at the poster again. "You're suggesting something completely insane!"

Daniel ran a hand down his face looking both angry and exasperated with Pablo. He snatched the poster out of Kyburz's hands and folded it away into his tool box again. He glanced around once more looking nervous again.

"You really think it's that crazy?" He hissed. "Listen to me, people in the Drop ain't happy."

"There's a lot of people in this shit hole that ain't happy, Daniel."

"Yeah, but not like in the drop," he licked his lips nervously. "The people there haven't got anything to loose. They're angry, tried and hungry. They want something to change and something's gotta change or else Mister Ryan is gonna have a riot on his hands."

Kyburz glanced at him. "It's gotten that bad?"

"It's been that bad for a while now, just this Lamb woman is feeding the fire. She's making it worse. By showing she cares is showing that Ryan doesn't care and a lot of people in that place didn't even want to come down here in the first place!" He glanced around again, leaning closer so he could whisper. "But because they knew where Rapture was… Ryan wouldn't let them leave. He made them stay. Said they'd find work soon enough… and soon enough they're living in poverty with barely a penny to their name."

"Ryan forced them to stay?"

"Hey, you know what Ryan's like," Pablo mumbled, nudging Kyburz a little with his elbow. "I believe in free will so long as it's inlined with my version of it."

"Don't say that so loud!" Daniel hissed. "You don't know who's listening!"

"The hell? Daniel what's gotten-."

"I think he's making people disappear!" He hissed at him. "I don't wanna disappear, do you?"

"Disappear?"

Kyburz got a horrible feeling in his gut. That horrible feeling only got worse the more Daniel spoke. People in the Drop were going missing and no one knew where they were going. No one saw them again, they'd just disappear. Usually after they'd been arrested.

He felt sick, because he knew where they were being taken. He'd been working on it, he'd spent months working on it. Making it ready for if and when it ever needed to be used. He'd laughed and scoffed in hope it never would be. This place was utopia, what was the point of a prison? You wouldn't need it.

Apparently now you did and Ryan was arresting people who were probably stealing to feed their family. He saw them as parasites because they hadn't bothered to find work and instead had decided to take the 'easy' option as he would say. Feeding off other people's work, but if Daniel was telling the truth, then a lot of those poor sods had tried to get work but couldn't. They'd wanted to leave and couldn't. They were stuck with no way out and no hope of getting any money.

It was easy to see why people were gravitating to this Sofia Lamb. Hell, Kyburz had even heard whispers of Fontaine maybe getting involved in the charity business. He'd opened up that clinic in the Drop, it was ran by that crazy psycho doctor Cicil, but it was cheap. It was affordable for the people down there, so of course they jumped at the chance to get medicine.

"Persephone…" he whispered, eyes wide and staring at nothing in particular, but around him the atmosphere changed.

Daniel and Pablo had froze at the mere mention of the place. Rapture's dirty little secret that only a few knew of and that no one would want to know of. That place was awful and Kyburz had only seen it while he was working on it.

"Don't…" Pablo swallowed, glancing around the room in fear, finally looking nervous for once. "Don't go speaking that name…" he hissed at him. "We don't talk about that place. It doesn't exist."

"But it does," Daniel said meekly.

Pablo grabbed him by the front of the shirt, almost pulling him off his feet. "It ain't real!" He hissed at him. "We don't talk about it, so it ain't real."

"Pablo," Kyburz pulled the two apart. "It is real," he stood in between Daniel and Pablo. "It's real, we worked on it."

"Yeah…" Pablo was wide eyed, they looked glassy, erratic. "Where is it then? 'Case it ain't… it ain't on no map of Rapture. None that I've seen. It ain't on the map, it ain't real."

Kyburz and Daniel looked at each other. They got it. They liked to pretend that the place wasn't real either. That it didn't exist and was just a fever dream. That they'd worked on something else for Sinclair and that awful place wasn't real.

It certainly made it easier to think that than admit it was real. The moment you admitted that place existed was admitting that all the rumours they'd heard about it were true too. The things they'd heard, the rumours about the conditions. How people went in but didn't come out. How people just disappeared…

"It's real whether you like it or not!" Kyburz hissed. "That's where they're going. That's where they're staying."

"Shouldda been more careful then, shouldn't they?" Pablo snapped back. "Just why the hell did you agree to help make that place?"

"We didn't know!" Daniel cried, sounding distressed, putting his head in his hands. "We didn't know… we didn't know…"

"Fat load of good that's done anyone!" Pablo hissed, before looking to Kyburz. "You're supposed to be the smart one. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking I wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible."

It was true, he'd hated working on Persephone. It was an awful place. He'd told himself at first the reason he hated it so much was because he was working for Sinclair. Because Sinclair had tricked both him and Daniel and that was why he hated the building so much. After a while though, it became clear why he hated the place. There was something off with Persephone. Right from the very beginning, it's location, the fact that it didn't turn up on any maps in Rapture and that it was place that was never mentioned in the papers. It was a secret. Probably the biggest Rapture had.

There was something else that bothered Kyburz about it though. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. Maybe it was the trench resting underneath it? Maybe it was the secret passage they'd made? Of course, it wasn't called a 'secret passage', but you didn't have to be a genius to work out what it was.

"Listen to me," Kyburz hissed. "The only thing we can do, that any of us can do, is keep our heads down. Do our work and keep our heads down."

Pablo and Daniel stared at him, but he knew they knew he was right. They had no choice. Of course he wanted to give them better options. He wanted to give them a better solution, but they didn't have one. They could only do their work and hope that no one thought they stepped out of line. They could only hope that they never became so desperate that any piece of income, no matter what it costed you, would appeal to them. That's what it was like for the people of the Drop.

Kyburz couldn't imagine being so desperate that the only thing that mattered to him was money, not how he earned it.

"That's some pretty shit options, Kyburz," Pablo mumbled.

"Yeah well, it's not like we've got any other choice is it?" He hissed. "Besides. If you wanted the ability to chose, you should've stayed on dry land."

"What about this one?"

"Too many bows."

"This one?"

"Too much pink."

"This one?"

Opal raised an eyebrow at Kelly as she looked over the orange dress. "No."

Kelly sighed and hung up the bridesmaid dress that she'd picked out, looking at Rosa and Cammie's picks which they still held in their hands.

Opal was sitting on one of the sort lounge seats in the wedding shop, Em was next to her reading an engineering paper back of some sort, while Diane was inspecting some shoes.

They were looking for the perfect bridesmaid dresses, Opal and her sister Rosa had already found and bought Opal's wedding dress. This was proving to be harder though however, since they were trying to accommodate for everyone and Opal at the same time.

Em glanced up at the orange dress and grimaced slightly. "Are you trying to make me look like a tree in fall?"

Kelly pouted. "I think I liked you better when you didn't care about your looks."

Diane was next to speak up from her place by the shoes. "It isn't the best dress you could've picked out, Kelly."

"Besides," Rosa said as she hung up the dress she'd picked out that had been dubbed to have too many bows. "Opal wants it to go with blue. In what world does orange go with blue?"

"It does though!" Kelly argued. "If you want to be loud, blue and orange will do that."

"Or if you want to burn out the retinas in your guests eyes," Em mumbled flicking over to the next page.

Opal sniggered slightly, while the others just smiled and laughed silently. Watching Kelly and Em bicker was always a fun experience. They acted more like sisters than they did friends. That was how close they were. Of course none of the arguments were real. They were a bit of fun. Some silly little moments of bickering and both parties seemed to poke at the other to get each other riled up.

"Okay little miss fashion," Kelly rolled her eyes. "You pick out a dress."

"I'd pick anything that wasn't orange," Em shrugged, flicking another page in the book. "Look blue goes with most things right? Not orange," she gave Kelly a pointed look.

"We'd look like we were going to a circus," Cameal shrugged, fixing her blue butterfly pin on her dress.

"I think you mean, we'd look like we were part of a circus."

"Oh you lot are just boring," Kelly huffed looking through the other colours. "Well how about this? We go for a blue dress?"

Opal considered this a moment. It would make sense. It would make the flowers she'd ordered look perfect, but would it be too much blue? That was a number one question.

"Won't that be too much blue?" She rose an eyebrow.

"What are your flowers?" Diane asked, coming to sit on the other side of her.

"Forget me nots," Opal smiled. "Daniel and me, we had our first date amongst the forget me nots… it's perfect. That's also where we're holding the wedding."

"You need to give me the date for that," Kelly said over her shoulder, flicking through the dresses again. "I need to pick up a date."

"No sailors," Em piped up.

"What have you got against sailors?"

"They're from Neptune's Bounty," she frowned. "Daniel and me are from Hephestus. We don't get on."

"Don't forget Kyburz," Opal reminded her. "He's Daniel's best man after all."

Em frowned, going back to her book in stead of answering. Around her, the others glanced at each other in confusion but also worry. They knew Em and Kyburz were good friends. They'd been good friends since the start of Rapture, but whenever they brought the Aussie up Em would either evade the conversation or she'd not answer. It wasn't like her at all and apparently things had been heated between the two of them in Hephestus or at least that's what Daniel had said.

"Okay, honey," Opal sighed turning to Em. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Every time we bring up Kyburz," Kelly only said his name and Em's frown deepened causing the woman to point at her. "You do that. You frown. What's happened?"

"I thought you and Kyburz were friends?"

"We… we've had a falling out," Em shrugged. "He was a jerk, I was a bitch. We'll figure it out, but I don't want to talk about it."

"Yes but-."

"It's Opal's wedding we should be focusing on," Em cut across bluntly, burying her nose in her book again.

Kelly sighed a little but went back to looking through the dresses. They all knew better than to push Em when she didn't want to be pushed. It was probably the thing that Kyburz had done, Emilie did tend to get rather defensive whenever that happened. She was closed off when it came to her own feelings at times.

"What about this one?" Rosa asked pulling out a blue dress with a lace top. It was long, resting at their ankles and the lace looked like roses. The colour was a deep royal blue, it was rich in colour and it was stylish. "It'll go with your wedding dress."

Opal looked it over. She got up and reached for the dress, running her fingers over the materiel. Rosa was right, it matched her wedding dress perfectly. It wasn't too over the top and it wasn't too flamboyant. It was just right. The perfect dress to go with her own dress.

Smiling Opal nodded. "That's it… that's the dress for the bridesmaids," she held it up for the others to see. "It's perfect!"

It really felt like everything was coming together. It was perfect, everyone was settling down nicely and if Em had fallen out with Kyburz well they'd get over it soon enough. Both Em and Kyburz liked each other too much to stay mad at each other forever. They just needed to calm down. For now though, everything was coming together. Everything was perfect.

Rosa Delores,

Maid of honour:

My sister's getting married! I can't believe it, I never thought Opal would ever settle down. I thought she' stay single forever! I guess the heard wants what the heart wants and Daniel is such a lovely man. Maybe a little down but Opal pieces him right up! They're like chalk and cheese but that means they only compliment each other.

I'm maid of honour, Opal, Em, Diane and Kelly are all going dress shopping tomorrow, me too of courses, can't have a wedding without a maid of honour. Oh it's going to be so perfect, I'm so happy for her… if only ma and pa were here…