Subject Delta I

"Daddy!"

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...3

...2

...1

...Activation.

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"Hello? Hello -can you hear me? Your -your signal, it's very faint. Elizabeth, can you boost..."

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Subject Delta came back into consciousness through a cloud of static. It was not an easy activation, however; the voice he heard was female, yes, but it was not the voice of his charge and, as such, he was inclined to ignore it. But as life returned to him, so did his last memories before darkness and pain overtook him.

MUST FIND ELEANOR.

By their very nature, Big Daddies were simple-minded creatures. They were designed to perform three basic functions: patrol, patch, and protect. Hardly complex activities but, after the right conditioning, Big Daddies were extremely motivated to perform these functions well. And, seeing as his Eleanor had been taken from him, Subject Delta must find her. There were no other options.

Subject Delta banged a large, gloved hand against the glass before him, determined to get out of this strange chamber. He let out a long wail of warning, banging even harder, and readying his drill to burrow through the thin pane of glass.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

An alarm sounded, a bright red light flashing, and the water drained. Water dripped from his suit, clouding the outside of his helmet, as the door opened. The first step out onto solid ground was a strange sensation and he nearly buckled from it.

How long had it been since his change was stolen from him?

How long had he been in The Darkness?

But before he could take another step there was a flash of bright white light overtook his vision, nearly bringing him to his knees.

He saw a young woman, dark-haired with slender, beautiful features. She looked at him with big, pleading eyes and called out, "Father..."

There was something so achingly familiar about this woman, and he wanted to go to her, to stop the sadness in her voice, but he could not identify her.

"Subject Delta? Subject Delta!"

He twisted around, looking for the woman. His drill was raised, ready to destroy any threats to her or himself.

"He is going yellow!" another voice screamed. "Keep away from him! I've seen what those things can do."

Subject Delta paused at her words, turning to look at the young woman who'd just spoke. For a moment, he believed her to be the figure from his vision but once he saw past her delicate face and dark hair, that hope vanished. But he still looked on, grunting confusion as to why she was staring up at him with such fear and hatred. She hadn't done anything to provoke, there was no reason she would be attacked.

Still, when the woman's bright blue eyes flickered to his right arm, Subject Delta relented. He lowered his drill, relaxing and lumbering backward. A look around revealed nothing; he wasn't anywhere he recognized and the two women gawking at him were not familiar. Eleanor was nowhere to be seen.

He'd have to search elsewhere.

One of the women, the older of the two, stepped forward. "Subject Delta? Subject Delta? Can you understand me? My name is Dr. Bridget Tenenbaum? My associate and I were the ones who rescued you from the seafloor. We need your help. We need to know- Where is he going?"

Subject Delta lumbered forward, stepping around the woman, into a dark hallway. If Eleanor was not here, he would find her.

The older woman lunged at him, trying to grab his arm, but the younger of the two stopped her.

"Don't touch him," she said. "He may not be aggressive now but there is no telling how he'll react if we get in his way!"

"But where is he going?"

"Well..."

Subject Delta slowed, only half-listening to the conversation. In truth, walking seemed harder than it had been before. Each step was heavier and slower than he remembered. Perhaps it was because he'd been in the darkness for so long and his body needed to remember how to move properly? Or perhaps it was because time in The Darkness had eaten away at his strength? The metal of his suit certainly felt stiffer than before.

"... he is a Big Daddy. And Big Daddies are driven by three specific instincts, right? Then maybe we aren't the people who should be doing the asking."

"Mr. Bubbles!"

A Little Sister beamed up at him, sweet and adorable with a small doll tucked in the crook of one arm. "You look different, Mr. Bubbles. Are you sick?"

Subject Delta let out a happy wail and bent down, holding out a massive gloved hand to the beautiful creature. She laughed and wrapped a tiny hand around one of his fingers. He took a long look at her and let out another groan, this one as sad as it was happy. This Little Sister was perfect and he felt blessed to even be in her presence but she was not his charge, she was not his Eleanor.

"You seem sad, Mr. Bubbles."

He wordlessly scooped the Little Sister up, placing her on his shoulder as she giggled.

"Weee!" the girl laughed. "This is fun! Let's go exploring Mr. Bubbles!"

"Not yet, Little One," the older woman interrupted. "Remember what we spoke of? You may play with him but first, you need to ask him something."

"Oh, sorry! I forgot!" the Little Sister whispered. She turned to him, knocking on the glass of his helmet with her little hand. "Alright, Mr. Bubbles, Mama Bri and the Pretty Lady need your help! They're hoping you can help me and my sisters."

Subject Delta paused, considering the question. He needed to get going, he needed to find Eleanor, but every Little Sister was dear to him. If he could help them, then he must do it.

He let out a groan of agreement, long and low.

"I think that is a yes," the young woman said. "But, uh, how do we communicate with him?"

"I can understand him," the Little Sister said.

"Alright," said the other woman. "Well, first-"

Warning! Warning! Warning! Incoming!

"What the hell is that?" the young woman called out, looking around in alarm as the lights dimmed aside from a flashing red light.

"It is an alarm I designed to sound if anything particularly large breached the ocean's surface above the city," said the other. "I put it in place for Andrew Ryan and patched it back into the system when I set up this safe house. I doubt he even knows that I still have access to the system. I'm going to see what is happening!"

She rushed off, leaving Subject Delta alone with the suspicious dark-haired woman and the trembling Little Sister. Subject Delta reached up and patted her head, letting out a happy groan as she snuggled closer.

"I wonder if it's him? The Ace in the Whole," the woman whispered. Then she shook her head, glaring at the empty space by the left of her. "I told you, I don't remember everything that happened! My memories are scrambled after I cut myself off from the universe. Yes, I know that! If he is here then Rapture's time really is coming to an end."

"The Pretty Lady is talking to her ghost," the Little Sister whispered, her big eyes watching the woman walk away. "She must be super lonely. I feel so sad for her."

Subject Delta let out a grunt of agreement and asked, in that special way Big Daddies communicated with Little Sisters, if she knew a way out of this place.

"Of course I do, silly," she giggled. "Mama Bri says she needs your help with something but she and the Pretty Lady are busy right now, so I guess I can let you out. You've got to promise you'll come back though. Otherwise, I might get in trouble."

Subject Delta reassured her that he would, patting the side of her head as gently as he could before scooping the Little Sister up in his giant hands and setting her down.

"Alrighty Mister B, just follow me!" the precious girl said, skipping away. "Haha, that rhymed!"

"This is the big door that leads into the city," the Little Sister explained, pointing up at the water-tight sealed door. "My sisters and I don't use it though; we go through the walls instead."

With a low groan of understanding, Subject Delta raised his drill arm to burrow through it.

"No, don't!" the Little Sister shouted, jumping in front of the door and waving her arms for him to stop. "Mama Bri says opening this door is dangerous! She only lets us do it if one of the Mr. Bubbles needs to bring something in! You can't destroy it!"

Her pleading alone would be enough to make Subject Delta hesitate but her words? Now those made sense. If this door is what kept a group of Little Sisters safe then he couldn't go destroying it. That would go against his very nature.

So, instead, he asked the little thing how her... Mama Bri got the door open.

"You just got to twist the handle wheel there," she explained, pointing at the red hatch wheel. "My sisters and I don't use it though; we usually just go through the walls."

It occurred to Subject Delta that there was something different about this Little Sister. She didn't act all that different, but the way she spoke was unlike his precious Eleanor or the one his younger brothers cared for. More importantly, she felt different -stronger, more independent.

The idea that a Little Sister might not need him sent a shudder through his large, twisted body. If this Little Sister didn't need Subject Delta, then Eleanor might not need him either and he would rather die than have that be the case.

MUST FIND ELEANOR. NO MORE DISTRACTIONS.

The door did not open easily. The woman, Mama Bri, must have wanted to ensure that no one on the outside could find their way in without issue. It was only thanks to Subject Delta's not inconsiderable strength that allowed him to force the door open, finding himself in a long, dark corridor.

"Where are you going, Mister Bubbles?" the sweet girl asked, reaching up to tug at her hand. "Can I come with you? I want to go on an adventure!"

Subject Delta shook his head, giving her a gentle push backward. He pointed to a spot on the floor and instructed her to stay put.

The Little Sister crossed her arms and pouted but did as instructed as Subject Delta pulled the door shut behind him, securing tightly. It needed to be, less the Little Sister be in danger. He couldn't let that happen. Even though Eleanor was his primary concern, it wouldn't do to ignore the needs of other Little Sisters. After all, they were all precious to him.

Lumbering through the halls of the Rapture, Subject Delta gave a low rumble of disappointment at the statue of the walls and floors. While the infrastructure connecting to the Little Sisters' safe house was in good condition, some areas had even been fortified, but the rest was in absolute ruin! Deep within himself, Subject Delta could sense six of his younger brothers nearby. That in and of itself was odd. Generally, the only time Big Daddies gather in groups was when maintenance was being performed. When out and about with their respective Little Sisters, two or three Big Daddies may pass one another in close proximity but then never interact -they had no reason to. So, yes, for so many to be patrolling such a small area was... odd.

IRRELEVANT. MUST FIND ELEANOR.

The further away Subject Delta got, the more disarray he found. Corpses litter the ground, nearly everything he came across was broken or malfunctioning, and there was no power. Despite the aching desire to find Eleanor, even he could not fight the overwhelming need to stop and do some basic patching to some spots of major structural damage. He hated to do it but, even for Eleanor, it was almost impossible to fight his programming.

OBJECTIVE: RETURN TO THE LAST KNOWN LOCATION OF ELEANOR. START SEARCH THERE.

Big Daddies were, by design, not creative thinkers. They'd be too dangerous if that was the case. But they did need to have at least some problem-solving abilities to perform their tasks. And Subject Delta? He was different, always had been. When he cared enough to consider it, he supposed that it was because was the first.

There is always something special about the first.

As part of their programming, Big Daddies had a map of all Rapture burned into their minds. As a result, Subject Delta knew all the secret maintenance tunnels that were cut off from the public. Of course, the access doors to most of the passageways and elevators were locked uptight and, in some cases, blocked off by rubble and debris, but Subject Delta's drill dealt with that easily enough.

LAST KNOWN LOCATION OF ELEANOR - SOUTHWEST STOREROOMS OF THE MEDICAL PAVILION. RETURN THERE IMMEDIATELY.

While there was no chance that Eleanor was still there, that was as good of a place to start his search as any other. If nothing else, the Medical Pavilion could contain supplies and equipment useful to the Little Sisters back at the safe house. They needed his help, after all. For what, he still was not sure of it but it was likely important. The younger woman seemed too scared of being near him to have helped awaken him otherwise.

Subject Delta let out a small, sad wail as he thought of the sweet Little Sister that had asked for his help. Surely she wouldn't get in trouble for his leaving before answering Mama Bri's questions? His fist clenched; if the woman hurt her then blood would be spilled. She may have saved him from The Darkness, but if she was harming the precious Little Sisters then she would find no mercy at the end of his drill.

The journey to the Medical Pavilion was long and slow -more so than it should have been. No, there was no denying or ignoring it any longer -something was wrong with Subject Delta. He was moving slower and heavier than he should, each step felt as if he could tip right over. It also felt as if his breathing apparatus was clogged, leading to not enough oxygen getting to him. A visual examination showed nothing to be wrong with the suit, however, and that left Subject Delta lost.

IRRELEVANT. MUST FIND ELEANOR. SEEK SUIT MAINTENANCE ONCE THAT GOAL IS COMPLETE.

So Subject Delta trudged on through one of the few remaining in-tact tubes of the Rapture Metro. None of the tram cars or bathysphere were still running, which made it easier to walk through but with few lights and no Eleanor to keep him company, Subject Delta could only let out a low, mournful wail. Looking out into the dark ocean outside, he watched the wreckage of an airplane sink to the seafloor.

The ocean was a lonely place and Subject Delta's place in it was no less so.