The period of rest lasted no more than half an hour, and even that felt too long.
After capturing his thoughts on the diary and vowing to continue with these little recordings when he got a moment to do so, Atlas put the audio diary away. As he did, he dwelled on how exactly he was going to summarise the last few days since he'd awoken. He didn't know if he had the words necessary to describe every inch of hell they'd been through.
Casting anxious glances Delta's way, Atlas wondered how he was holding up as well. With no voice to vent his frustrations and grievances, Delta was at a disadvantage that Atlas was not. That half an hour of rest would do them both good, but at the same time Delta was on a timer. It became a balance act between not burning themselves out and also moving as quickly as possible.
With a soft sigh, Atlas pulled himself back onto his feet and approached Delta. "Come on, big guy. Time to get moving." He murmured, waiting patiently for Delta to rouse himself from the half sleeping state he'd fallen to.
Shaking his head slightly Delta took a moment to get his bearings before wobbling back to his feet. The exhaustion always hit more strongly once they were given a moment to rest. They'd need to walk it off and warm those muscles back up.
"Help me get into that cell." Atlas went on. "I think you should be able to bash your way through one of those weak spot to let me slip in."
To their credit, Atlas and Delta did try to pull the flower up with telekinesis but only succeeded in destroying the fragile plant in the process. So there was no choice but to go in himself to collect the remaining, and hopefully, uncrushed flower by hand.
It took some time for Delta to create a hole big enough that Atlas to shimmy through. Burning through almost all of his fuel to do so. They'd need to restock before continuing, but for now they had the opening they needed. Even after having risked making the ground even more unreliable. But with that final plant hopefully they could kiss this place goodbye.
"For the record." Atlas groused as he slipped down into the cells below. "If you weren't the size of a tank, you'd be the one doing this."
The low rumbled reply he got back was hardly satisfying. Atlas cast a scowl back up towards the hole he'd just worked his way through and could make out Delta's helmet from there. Getting the distinct feeling that he was being laughed at.
Delta seemed to do that a lot. The cheeky bastard.
Rolling his eyes, Atlas focused on making sure he didn't slip and lose his footing when hitting the iced over ground. Last thing he needed was to crack his head against the ground and die of brain trauma after this whole ordeal. Would be an anticlimactic way to go. He inevitably did slip and fumble for a moment after striking the ground, but fortunately still had some help from Delta. The big daddy pushing his hand through the gap created, to hold Atlas's arm and help steady him.
In the past Atlas might have snapped that he didn't need assistance like some damsel in distress, but now he just uttered a rough word of thanks and got back to it.
Inside the cell it was freezing, unsurprising given half the place was iced over. A break in the cooling system it seemed as the rest of the holding cells seemed to be devoid of the same frosty state. Atlas crouched down to inspect the plant that they'd somewhat foolishly tried to drag out with telekinesis.
Looking over its ruined petals and the leak of ADAM dribbling out of its centre - the damn thing was beyond salvation. Clicking his tongue Atlas cursed under his breath so Delta wouldn't catch the expletive before calling back up to him.
"No good. The damn thing is ruined."
Standing back to his feet Atlas looked outside of the cell and grimaced. They'd looked all over the upper level and found nothing, this was the last place to search, so he really had no choice.
"Hey, I'm going to have a proper look around here." Delta made another wordless sound that Atlas took to be protest. "Not like we got much of a choice here, Delta. Running out of options. Look, this place is dead silent, think we drew all the splicers up and out of here ages ago. Besides, I got a few tricks of my own. I think I can mind my own spine for a spell."
Delta seemed unconvinced, so Atlas tossed him a shrug and careless smile. "Tell you what, I'll just holler if I get jumped."
What good will that do? The Alpha Series seemed to silently ask, exasperated with him. Atlas didn't need to read minds to get that meaning from Delta.
Still, Atlas couldn't relent if they wanted to keep moving forward. With a deep breath he set out into the cold and silent hallway of the holding block. Looking around carefully for any sign of life down here before creeping out into the open. He felt heat prickling just under his skin, a little comfort of fire should things go sideways. He hoped that in a moment of panic when threatened, he'd reach for his pistol and not his plasmids first. He needed to limit his usage of them.
The place was a desolate wreck.
The floor flooded and filthy with debris. Overhead the limited lights that still managed to work, flickered in and out of life. Providing little proper light for Atlas to see with as the lightbulbs miserably struggled to keep on.
The whole place looked on the verge of crumbling around him. Doorways completely blown out, support pillars broken down and left in fragments in the ankle high flood waters. Atlas knew he couldn't risk staying here too long.
Making his way through the ruins, Atlas peered into each cell, seeking out the telltale glow of an ADAM infused plant. Sure enough, it was in the last cell he checked. At least it was there at all and he didn't have to come back empty handed.
The only problem was that this particular cell was still locked up tight. Atlas could see a break in the far wall on the inside of the cell and so set out after a way to get through in the back way.
It was quiet and careful work. Atlas was fairly sure this place truly was empty but he wasn't about to increase the risk of that being wrong. History proved that he could be terribly, horribly wrong about these sorts of things.
Eventually he found an open cell that also seemed to have been damaged enough that the far wall was caved in. Atlas would say his luck was turning but - first, he didn't believe that and second, even if he had said as such out loud he'd only jinx his chances.
Intending to simply make his way to the far cell, Atlas was admittedly distracted for a moment when he caught sight of an audio diary sitting propped against the corner of the cell.
He wasn't sure how many recordings he could fit into one audio diary and so chose to pick this one up as a backup in case he filled the first too quickly.
Imagine his surprise and eventual delight, when he read the title and found Andrew Ryan himself attached to it.
What did a paranoid, pseudo-dictator record for his own private thoughts, he wondered. Well, Atlas would guess he'd title it something just as paranoid and self righteous. Something like 'Betrayal', which he most certainly had.
Really, Atlas's only confusion was how a diary belonging to the one and only Andrew Ryan came to be down here of all places. He suspected it had to do with little sisters picking up the diaries and ferrying them around Rapture for seemingly no rhyme or reason. Like a game he supposed.
Atlas could have just wiped right over Ryan's voice, but not hearing what the man had to say to himself would nag at Atlas long after the recording was gone he was sure. So, despite his better senses, he flicked the diary on to have a listen. Even though he'd otherwise attempted to be silent while skulking around down here.
It was like a punch in the gut, hearing Ryan's voice again. He hadn't realised how unprepared he was for it until the voice was coming through the recording.
"I… visited Eve's Garden today… it ended poorly."
He sounded so tired.
Atlas was taken aback by how downtrodden and...almost mournful Ryan sounded. It was not a tone that Atlas knew from the man and for some reason his insides screwed up unpleasantly at the sound of it.
"My seed… sold to the enemy. The motive of the whore, as yet, eludes me. But Atlas approaches… and come what may, I will not be made a slave." Ryan hissed furiously, but even that seething rage, did not lift the fatigue in his voice.
Jasmine Jolene. Jack's biological mother. Atlas found himself alarmed to hear about her again. He knew she'd been killed, though he hadn't spared much of a thought for her beyond the grieving of others when the news had first reached him.
If truth be told, as Fontaine, he'd been thrilled to see her gone.
To know the object of Jaclyn Wayne's obsession was finally dead and out of the picture had elated him, even as the Jaclyn had grieved. Jasmine Jolene had been just one more thorn in his side that he was pleased to see gone. And he hadn't even needed to pull the trigger was one of the few things he'd been grateful to Ryan for doing.
But it seemed Ryan was less unshaken by the death of the dancer as he was. Strange, seeing as he'd been the one to take the life from her.
"I wonder… in recording, do I confess?" Ryan asked himself in a hushed voice. The paranoia peeking through. Perhaps he was as conscious of the ghosts that followed him as Atlas was.
"Just now, Sinclair saw me in the corridor, perhaps reading my face. The bastard looked me right in the eye… and suggested I make an appointment with Doctor Lamb." Ryan spat the final words with such vitriol that Atlas had to laugh.
Oh Sinclair, you marvelous bastard. Atlas thought fondly with a smirk.
There was a reason he and Fontaine had managed to get along for as long as they had. Sinclair was playing a dangerous game stepping on Ryan's toes like that, but he knew his value to the man clearly. Knew what he could get away with.
Although...Atlas noted with some unease that Sinclair was as unphased by the woman's murder as himself. He may have even been as pleased by her passing as Fontaine had been. A thought that, even now, made Atlas suspicious of Sinclair's intentions.
But finally the diary rolled to a finish and Atlas set about removing Ryan's voice from the device, though he was a little sad to see it go. It was a fascinating insight to Ryan's cracking psyche towards the end. But he was dead and gone, his voice recorded in many places to keep his warped memory alive, Atlas needed this diary more than the dead man did.
Putting the diary in his bag along with the first, Atlas felt the weight of his bag increase enough to begin to be uncomfortable for him. He cringed hearing the metal clack as the two diaries bumped against each other and he was quick to try and jam something between them to stop them from touching.
Even as he got back to the job at hand, Ryan's voice remained circling in his head. Thoughts of Jolene, Sinclair, Jaclyn - almost all of them unwelcome.
At least Jolene's ghost never really stuck in his mind, he didn't feel much guilt for her death even if he had been involved, buying that egg from her. Knowing it would inevitably bring her into Ryan's enraged path. Fontaine had been so pleased with himself. Two birds one stone.
But now, if he thought of her as Jack's mother rather than some stupid bimbo that had given him headache after headache...well, it wasn't guilt that was inspired in him, but it was scarily close.
He'd rather not think about it anymore and dragged his focus back to collecting that accursed flower.
Stepping back into the space behind the cells, Atlas found it mercifully open and an easy walk to reach the far cell. It was a tight passageway but for the most part it was easy to walk through it.
Although, squeezing himself through the smaller gap in the wall at the end, proved a bit more different and Atlas winced as his shoulder protested again. That was going to be sore for a while, but he'd live. Most of his other injuries he had more or less recovered from.
Occasionally his chest might ache with the memory of being belted by Delta or his burns would throb, but he was no longer unable to function properly. Though he knew if he took the time to really look over his arm he'd find new scars. At least burn scars were natural, not like the vein like ADAM made scars that raced across his his skin.
Stepping into the locked cell Atlas quickly made his way over to the plant and checked it over for damage. Anxious that this would also lead to a dead end. But he found the flower to be healthy and whole.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Atlas carefully pulled the flower from the rest of the plant and tucked it away in his bag. He was about to call out for Delta to deliver good news when he stood and found the big daddy standing on the other side of the locked cell bars.
Surprised for a moment Atlas stood straight, marveling at the fact the Alpha Series seemingly found a way down here after all of their earlier searching leaving them empty handed.
"Hey, Delta how did you-"
Then he noticed it and stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the Alpha Series.
Finding it lacked a drill.
Just as what this was registered in Atlas's mind, the Alpha Series pounded its fist against the cell bars.
The terrible sound of the impact caused Atlas to stumble back in fright. The bars rattled and creaked under the force of the blow. Made weak after being exposed to the elements and left to decay for so long.
The thing was trying to get to him and it was not Delta.
By the third hit, Atlas remembered himself and let his panic fuel his hasty stumble back towards the small hole in the wall he'd worked his way through before, the sound of the Alpha Series bellowing following him as he clawed his way back inside of the gap between the cell and the wall.
Just as he'd gotten his last foot through the gap, he heard the sickening shattering of metal as the big daddy broke its way through the cell bars.
Atlas fell onto his backside just as the beast crashed into the wall he'd just managed to get behind. Knocking dirt and little bits of debris down onto Atlas's prone form. It had rammed into the wall and not unlike the bars, the wall did not seem so sturdy when faced with the Alpha Series rage.
"Oh jesus, fuck!" Atlas shouted to no one in particular at he hurriedly got back to his feet. Managing to get away from the wall just before, it too, broke under the force of the big daddy's weight being thrown against it.
It broke away in a shower of cement and metal as the Alpha Series forced its way into the small space. Its broad shoulders hindered its progress, while Atlas was more easily able to get to his feet and try running.
The enclosed, close quarters might have made it difficult for the big daddy to get around easily, but it was still able to reach out and snar Atlas by his wounded shoulder, forcing a pained cry from the man as he was jerked backwards.
Panic shot through Atlas as he realised this creature could very well snap his neck if it got the other hand on him. In this panic, Atlas still managed not to fail himself when his first reaction was, indeed, to go for his pistol.
In this space that so greatly limited movement and kept them so close, Atlas was able to press the mouth of his pistol directly into the join of the Alpha Series's elbow and pull the trigger. The ear shattering sound of the gun going off so close to his head left Atlas's ears ringing and his balance lost momentarily.
But even as he was left disorientated, the big daddy behind him roared in anger and pain, losing its grip on him for just long enough that Atlas was able to tear himself away from it. Immediately diving out of reach and, without looking back, running for his life while the big daddy took a second to recover.
Behind him, Atlas could hear the Alpha Series breaking more of the small passageway as it tried to reach him, tried to follow him through the tight passageway.
The only mercy to be found was that the Alpha Series did not seem to have a weapon on it. Just its hands. But if it managed to catch him it wouldn't need any weapons to shatter every bone in his body.
Heart pounding against his ribs, Atlas hauled himself through the narrow passageway and out into the cell he'd used to get in there in the first place. He could hear parts of the wall crumbling as the big daddy destroyed whatever it could in order to get out and hunt him down.
Desperation grabbed at Atlas, knowing damn well that he wasn't going to be able to match up against a big daddy down here on his own, no matter how much ADAM he would have been willing to use.
"Delta!" He shouted once enough air was in his lungs to do so. "Delta, are you there?"
He prayed the man hadn't wandered off while he was searching for the plant. It was honestly a moment of terror that caused him to doubt Delta and those fears were put to rest the moment he reached the gap in the ceiling they'd created for him. Sure enough Delta was waiting right there for him.
"Help me up!" He demanded frantically, lifting his arm up towards Delta and was immediately met with Delta's larger hand wrapping around his forearm.
He knew that this was going to be a hasty scramble to safety that would probably leave him bruised and battered in his need to get out as quickly as possible. But he didn't pay that shoulder of his any mind when Delta began to pull and it screamed in protest.
He should have handed Delta his other arm but he wasn't about to stop and swap now. Not when he could hear the thundering footsteps of the Alpha Series storming down the hallway after him.
Delta tried to pull him up quickly while also trying to keep from ripping Atlas's shoulder from its socket. A fine balance that was only just able to be kept. Atlas's had just gotten his chest and shoulders through the gap when he felt the Alpha Series enter the cell, the abrupt halt of those thundering footsteps cluing him and hastening his squirming to get out.
He got his final boot out just as the Alpha Series swiped for him, narrowly missing his ankle though Atlas still felt the movement. Too close for his liking.
Landing safely on the upper floor Atlas bit down the need to vomit. It was a stress reaction that frankly he was surprised he wasn't hit with more often.
So many times he'd almost died and he'd managed to mostly keep his stomach from rebelling against him. Through sea monsters, hallucinations, sharks and other generalised nightmares, he'd more or less made it through with some dignity in tact, but now he gagged and coughed, trying to get ahold of himself and failing for a while.
It was the sheer viciousness of it. The fact the big daddy had momentarily looked like Delta to him. All of it, the whole situation left him shaken and struggling to get his breathing under control.
The big daddy had attacked him unprovoked. No little sister, no attack to set it off first. It just...wanted to kill him on sight. It just wanted to kill. That was all there was to it. No rational or reason behind the action, just that drive to break whatever living thing it could get its hands on. Crazed.
Separation anxiety's end for an Alpha Series.
Under them the beast roared its displeasure at them, pounded its fist on the walls but otherwise was unable to do anything to hurt them.
"Let's...let's just get the fuck out of here." Atlas gasped once he trusted his voice not to break when he spoke.
His need to get away stemmed from the fright he'd just gotten, but a glance at Delta's silent figure made the Irishman also consider Delta more. After all he might as well have been looking down at his own potential future.
Not if Atlas had anything to say about it.
Struggling to his feet seemed to snap Delta out of the dazed state as he reached to help steady him once again. Always ready with a helping hand. "T-Thanks for that, tinman...saved my hide." Atlas breathed, eyes screwed shut as he gathered himself. Delta's grounding hand on Atlas's shoulder remained there as he took his time catching his breath.
"I got it. That bloody fuckin' flower. It's in the bag. That's the last one" He informed, but couldn't force a smile of victory, still too rattled. "Let's just get the hell out of here and deal with that overgrown squid. I got some fucking words for him."
More than anything, Atlas just wanted to get away from the sound of the beast raging beneath them. Delta obviously shared in that sentiment and, without removing his hand from Atlas's shoulder, began to lead him away.
Letting the echoing screams from the other Alpha Series grow distant.