The path through Rapture could be hazardous and with every passing hour it only grew to be a more dangerous undertaking. Precious few could step foot into any part of the sinking city and not fall victim to one horror or another.
That is, unless, you took the secret paths only children could access.
But the only children left in Rapture were the ones that had the most reason for fear. The vents they crawled through their own safe haven from all the monsters lurking on the other side of a walls, waiting for them. Starving for the ADAM that only the girls could provide, the horrors attached to the slaughter of children no longer even able to make most of them flinch.
The vents, these tight and dark passageways, were the safest place a child of Rapture could be. But without the conditioning to make even the darkest corner shiny and bright to their eyes, these passages were also the scariest places for a child to be.
Creeping through the narrow pathways was a harrowing experience with the dream like haze lifted from a little sister's eyes.
Making their way through these dark tunnels was the trial that every newly saved little sister had to face, and right now it was the situation Cindy found herself in.
Though she did try to keep moving, to keep a level head and remind herself that despite the claustrophobic nature of these pathways, she was safe in here.
No monsters could crawl in after her, and yet when she thought about how hard it would be to even look over her shoulder, to check that nothing was nipping at her heels, she became paranoid. Imagining fingers reaching for her toes as she shuffled deeper into the vents. The tunnels were sturdy, as trustworthy as any structure in Rapture could possibly be now days, and yet when her shoulders brushes against the walls, Cindy imagined too clearly what it would be like if the pipes suddenly broke and caved in. Burying her there in the darkness where no one would be able to find her.
Outside of the vent she'd been in far more danger. But out there she'd always been with a protector of one kind or another. In here, in the dark, she was alone - and it scared her. Even now she wished that the men that had saved her were here.
Cindy knew that she had to keep moving to get somewhere safe. Somewhere where there were other kids and adults that could be trusted. But moving forward became all but impossible as fear came creeping in.
There was no way she could stay there, if she lingered too long or refused to move ever again, she'd die in these pipes. Death was not something a child of her age fully processed, even when surrounded by it in a city like this. But, even a girl of her age knew that she could not stay here forever. And yet, it seemed as though she couldn't go anywhere either.
Fear buckled even the strongest man's knees, and little Cindy was only six years old.
Joints locked up, leaving the young girl frozen where she lay in the pipe with no intention to move any time soon. Instead of working her way through the pipes, tears began to bubble to the surface and Cindy drew in a little breath only to whimper a moment later. Unable to drag herself forward any further.
Then, a voice carried down through the metal pipes. The words so faint that at first Cindy didn't recognise the sound as speech.
"Hello?" a voice not unlike her own spoke up. Another child calling into the darkness for her.
Cindy's attention gradually pulled away from her fear and focused on the voice echoing down the narrow pipeline to her. As she focused on it, Cindy noticed that the other girl's voice that called for her sounded a bit funny. The stranger's voice sounded like something out of a movie.
"Are you there?" the other child sounded impatient and confused. Having expected the other girl to have made it out already.
Curiosity, and a spark of relief that came with no longer being entirely alone in the dark prompted Cindy to begin inching her way down the pipe again. Though her nerves failed once again when the pipe groaned under her. Quietly Cindy yelped and froze up again, terrified that it would suddenly give away under her.
The girl on the other side of the pipe must have heard her because the voice returned with renewed vigor.
"Hey, come on!" the other child encouraged. "It's scary in there, I know, but we're all here." she went on, something like pride behind her encouragements. They all made it through these dark and scary moments to get home safely after all.
And without a shred of hesitation, the young girl told Cindy that, "You can do it too!"
Scared as she was, Cindy again began to shuffle through the dark tunnels. Her progress marked by the other girl's accented voice growing clearer and louder the closer she got.
Finally she could make out a dot of light, and before it a little silhouette of the girl that called to her. Unable to see her face with the light to her back, Cindy was still able to see how she bounced with joy upon seeing her as well.
"There you go!" the stranger crowned in victory, welcoming her to the otherside.
Remembering what the kind man had told her before helping her into the pipe, Cindy spoke up. Her voice trembling though she tried to remain strong. "I'm Cindy!"
In answer to her introduction, a little hand stuck down into the vent, offered to Cindy to help pull her free from the vent finally. She took it gladly.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Bea."
Cindy thought that was a funny name to match the girl's funny accent and found she liked both immensely.
Compared to the frigid, hard surface of the pipe beneath her, Cindy found Bea's hand to be just what she needed. Warm and gentle as she squeezed the newcomer's hand eagerly, ushering her from the vent. Maybe a little too quickly in fact. Cindy scrambled to keep up with the girl's pulling and eventually her head and shoulders broke free of the mouth of the vent a bit too abruptly.
However, Bea's feet had not been planted firmly on the ground. Instead she'd balanced on her tippy toes to be able to reach Cindy and as she came falling out of the vent, they both went tumbling backwards towards the ground.
"Woah! Easy there, girls!" another stranger said, a man this time, and before both girls could strike the unforgiving ground, there were arms clumsily circling the pair. The man that spoke up, caught the brunt of their weight with his own body. Their fall knocked the air out of the poor man, but he managed to keep both girls from taking a nasty tumble.
Once all three had come to rest on the ground, brains rattling between their ears, Bea began to giggle. Positively overjoyed by this turn of events. The man recovered next, groaning softly under his breath. Less than thrilled with the fall but apparently able to let it go easily enough.
Lastly, Cindy blinked her eyes back open and looked around. Immediately she saw other children gathered around. Girls, all dressed just like herself, varied only in their colour and state of disarray. But each girl looked at her as though she stuck out like a sore thumb and Cindy wilted. Shied away from their stares, until she noticed that Bea had her arms slung around her.
Without a moment's hesitation introduced Cindy for her. "This is Cindy!" Bea announced proudly and that was all it took for the other girls to approach. Welcoming in an instant.
Introductions were eager and went by a bit more quickly than Cindy could follow. She caught the names but struggled to firmly pin them to each face. So she tried to pick one notable thing about each girl and attach the name to that.
Lucy was the tallest and the only other girl with blond hair. Esme had bright red hair and sounded even stranger than Bea did, Cindy was able to identify that accent a little easily. Something british, like what she heard on the telly, that was the best she could manage. And lastly, Viola was the quiet girl that made Cindy a bit nervous with her dark hair and deathly pale skin.
Each girl looked and acted so differently, and Cindy was sure she could identify each by their hair alone. She would at least try to remember each of them, wanting to become friends.
After all, in Rapture they'd only had each other and their metal guardians for a long time.
Only now, once they were freed from their unnatural state, did they have other adults looking out for them.
One of which was rubbing his head and grumbling to himself. "Going to have me throwin' my back out here, girls." He groused, getting back to his feet and trying to straighten out his clothes. Though it was clear they'd seen better days, dirtied and torn in places. Not unlike the little sister's uniforms.
The unknown man would have scared Cindy any other day. Her dad's words, warning her away from strange men, never far from her mind when a stranger approached. But in this terrifying place, a friendly adult was all she had to turn to. It helped to see the other children feeling safe with the adult and she recalled what the kind man, Atlas, had told her.
"U-Um...Sinclair, sir?" she tried. Remembering clearly the names she'd been told. When Sinclair looked to her, she then dutifully followed up with, "I'm Cindy!"
It didn't matter that Bea had already introduced her to the girls. Atlas had said to introduce herself to Sinclair and Ten-Tenbem- Tenenbaum. The name was difficult to pronounce even within her own head.
There was a flicker of surprise across Sinclair's face, but upon looking at the girl's determined eyes a little closer, he seemed to understand it was just one of those things that children did.
Chuckling softly, Sinclair pat his shirt down once more before introducing himself in turn. "Well it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance, little miss."
Her giddy smile was a sort of reward in of itself. There were so few good things in Rapture, but a child's genuine smile was one of those precious few.
"Let's get you to miss Tenenbaum for a check up, yeah?" Sinclair murmured, gesturing for Cindy to come away from Bea and the other girls though she hesitated. Not out of any uncertainty of her own, but instead because when Cindy tried to stand, Bea's hands did not entirely let her go. One of the girl's little hands quickly clutching her own. Stubbornly refusing to let go.
"It's alright, Bea." Sinclair assured gently. "You can come keep little Cindy company."
Satisfied with this, Bea tossed Cindy a beaming smile and eagerly fell into step with her as Sinclair lead them deeper into the train, only pausing to call back to the other girls to get back to bed. Not that they were likely to listen to his half hearted parental instructions.
"Your hair is so light." Bea told Cindy as they walked a few paces behind Sinclair. Seeming to marvel at Cindy's blonde hair that did look like a stark contrast to Bea's own dark curls.
"Thanks, yours is really thick!" Cindy replied, just as eager as Bea to have the chance to make a friend.
"It is?" Bea wondered, pinching a lock of her own hair to inspect it herself. Unsure if having 'thick hair' was a good thing or not. Though clearly this little curiosity didn't keep Bea's attention long as she quickly turned back to Cindy. "Did you see Atlas and Delta?" She asked, a certain force behind this second question. It sounded important.
"Yes, they helped me get up into the vent." Cindy frowned slightly and added. "But Atlas seemed sort of...hurt?"
At this, Bea jolted. A full body flinch that had Cindy jumping as well in surprise.
Sinclair, catching the tail end of their brief conversation, broke in. "Don't you waste time worrying about old Atlas. He'll be just fine."
"But if he's hurt-!"
Bea began to argue but the young girl's cries of protest were promptly spoken over by a woman with an accent that rivaled Bea's own.
"Listen to Sinclair, girls." The woman instructed smoothly. Appearing in the doorway to a side compartment of the train. Cindy was struck by how much more intimidating this woman was when compared to Sinclair and the other girls. She instinctively shied away, hiding behind Bea slightly.
Not that the other girl noticed. Being told to ignore something did not sit well with Bea. Being treated like she was stupid just because she was small. Her stubborn streak reared its ugly head yet again and she squared up like she was ready for a fight. She likely was.
"Atlas wouldn't leave us if we were hurt." Bea informed the two firmly.
Sinclair and Tenenbaum exchanged looks that both girls recognised as one of those silent ways adults seemed to communicate. Bea didn't like the feeling of being left out either.
"I'm right!" She asserted, though neither adult had voiced a word of dissent. They didn't need to, that look and the silence between them was damning and Bea puffed up angrily. Insulted on Atlas's behalf.
He had saved her life. He had gotten hurt and fought tooth and nail to protect her. He'd even gotten between them and Delta when their usual protector had lost his mind for a while - Bea would argue on his behalf to the ends of the earth and no stuffy adult telling her she didn't know what she was talking about was going to convince her otherwise.
It was Sinclair that attempted to speak reason to Bea. Knowing that if Tenenbaum spoke it would be too clipped and factual for a child to accept. "It's alright, Bea. Atlas is one tough customer, and he's got Delta with him, remember? He'll be just fine."
Bea didn't voice anymore protests, but there was an anger to her silence. Tenenbaum and Sinclair took her lack of argument to mean she was done. Sulking, but mostly finished with her outburst.
Tenenbaum turned to Cindy and spoke gently, though her demeanour was never able to warm in the way Sinclair's did. "Come." she urged softly. "Let us make sure you are unharmed, little one."
Cindy stepped forward, expecting Cindy to follow her into the compartment as she had followed them here. Instead her hand slipped from Bea's and when Cindy looked back at her in surprise, she saw the other girl's expression remained sour. Bea wasn't going to be coming with her this time. As much as Cindy did not like to lose the other's presence during this, she wouldn't have felt much more comfortable when Bea was in such a nasty mood, so didn't try to convince her to come along.
"I...can I come play with you later?" She asked anxiously and although Bea was in the midst of a silent tantrum, she managed a stiff nod. It wasn't Cindy she was angry at after all.
Mustering up a little smile for Bea, Cindy turned and followed Tenenbaum inside. Briefly leaving Sinclair and Bea in the hallway together.
Sinclair attempted to speak up, to offer up some pacifying words to the child to keep her poor mood from festering and perhaps even spreading to the other girls. He got no further than a slowly ventured, "Sweetheart-" before Bea had turned on her heel and marched off. Leaving Sinclair to sigh and again wonder why he'd been the one charged with minding the kids. He wasn't a damn baby sitter.
He decided it was best to let Bea cool off. Pretending it was a decision made purely out of logic rather than his desire not to deal with a sulking child. He'd probably only make it worse. Better to let Bea have some space for a while. He needed to get back to monitoring Atlas and Delta anyway.
She'd be fine.
…
…
Atlas's whole arm now ached. Rather unforgiving so after he'd foolishly strained it yet again within the same two hour window. He probably deserved that.
Now Delta seemed to be very careful with his shoulder, very much aware of the pain Atlas was in. Guilt eating at him no doubt. As though Delta had anything to be feeling guilty for. That hasty scramble to safety had hurt his already sore shoulder further, true enough, but it had also undoubtedly saved his life. Atlas kept his complaints to himself.
After all, they had all they needed to finally get out of this place. Dealing with Alex now just seemed like a little cherry on top after the seven different layers of hell the bastard had put them through.
Thoughtlessly, Atlas expected Delta to be leaping at the thought of giving Alex exactly what he deserved. After that display in the showroom, it would be entirely understandable. But once he actually took a moment to think it over, watching Delta's back as they made their way to Alex's tank, he wondered if Delta had it in him to forgive even Alex.
Was it actually about forgiveness? Or did it have more to do with the type of person Delta wanted to be?
Atlas couldn't even ask Delta and get a clear answer. Part of him expected Delta wouldn't even have considered the question all that deeply. Not everyone was like himself and most of the population of Rapture - so entirely self absorbed.
Maybe he wouldn't even need to ask. He could stand back and watch what Delta did now. That thought settled into Atlas's mind as they stepped back into the red glow cast by Alex's tank. Casting a glance up towards the looming glass that stood between them and Alex's watery world, Atlas couldn't help but think about the divide between 'Alex' and 'Alexander'.
The recordings they followed begged for someone to put Alexander down, but really he'd been dead for a long time. Replaced by Alex in his entirety. So it was a fairly pointless last wish to leave them with. Putting them through all of this, Alexander was no more endeared to Atlas than his nuttier alter ego.
For that reason he stayed well out of the situation at first. Handing the plants over to Delta rather than deal with it himself.
As the flowers left his hands and into Delta's care, their radios came crackling to life. Atlas wasn't surprised when SInclair's voice carried over the radio waves, directed at Delta.
"Alright, sport, time to feed the fish. Just drop that...slug food you gathered into the feedin' machine on the side of the take there. Tenenbaum says there's a machine arm inside of that thing. Used for tagging and sampling - something about studying DNA. So once you draw him out in front of it, we'll have him and our key."
Obediently, Delta approached the feeding machine and with more care than Atlas would have, placed the flowers inside.
"He's seriously going to come out for those?" Atlas asked aloud, unable to keep his skepticism at bay. It was not doubt in Sinclair and Tenenbaum so much as it was his assuredness that the world was personally out to spite them. Maybe Alex would unexpectedly develop an allergy to the stuff rather than come chomping at the bait.
"Reckon so." Sinclair replied and Atlas could imagine the way he shrugged all too clearly. "Potent stuff in those flowers and...well just look at him. Pretty sure he can't survive more than a day or two without it."
"Would rather not look at him anymore than I have to." Atlas muttered dryly. No great fan of the creatures that lurked in the deep and Alex was probably his least favourite of the bunch.
While he and Sinclair waited for the machine to process the plants, taking its dear sweet time, Sinclair eventually spoke up again. Surprising Atlas with what he asked. "Heard you took a bit of a knock, you okay?"
"Not the worst I've had. Just a sore shoulder and a nasty run in with an Alpha Series."
Although, Atlas had to tack on a grim note, "But I think Delta is the one that took the most damage from seeing it."
Knowing your eventual fate and seeing it in action were two very different beasts and Atlas did not envy Delta any.
Then again, there was every chance he knew his own fate as well. Knew what would happen if he kept up this ADAM abuse. Returning to Fontaine was its own brand of madness and, like Delta, it would result in him likely destroying anything and everything he had even a shred of an emotional tie to.
When those emotional ties had gotten so tight, Atlas couldn't have said. But he just knew the thought of raising his hand to any one of those girls or even Sinclair and Tenenbaum left him feeling sick to his stomach.
He was free to choose what he'd put value in and if it was just another step away from Fontaine, then he'd place value into this strenuous relationships.
"We'll get to Eleanor before that." Atlas promised solemnly. "No fucking way in hell we're losing to that lunatic Lamb. Pretty sure you got a score to settle with the fruit bat anyway, ain't that so, Sinclair?" he asked, just a little too smugly.
"I wouldn't say I'm a petty man." Sinclair drawled and Atlas snorted, amused but most certainly in disagreement with that statement. "But I do believe the good doctor would have to agree that a bit of well deserved payback would be therapeutic for my soul."
Despite the horrid nature of their entire situation and how miserable a life Atlas had for the few days he could even be considered alive - Sinclair always seemed able to make him laugh. And laugh he did. He even heard Sinclair chuckling along with him from the other side of the radio.
Again Atlas thought to himself, Sinclair can never know. The truth would immediately tear a rift between them that could not be repaired. He had to bury Fontaine as deep as he could. Take that secret to the grave.
Finally the machine was finished flushing the flowers out into Alex's tank and Atlas leant forward on the railing as he watched. Wondering again if Alex really could not resist the taste of those flowers.
The answer came in the form of Alex's own voice muttering to himself across the radio. "No...No I don't want it." he insisted feverishly to himself, but it was clear as day how hollow a lie that was. His hunger saturated every word. "I shall resist!" Alex told himself, but it took no longer than a few more seconds for that idea to fizzle out.
Alex talked himself in circles. Commanding himself to ignore what he wanted, even as it seemed every word he spat out brought him closer to the truth. "How dare you try to….try to buy me out!" Alex accused Delta, the big daddy lumbering his way up to join Atlas at the railing. Paying no heed to Alex's break down.
"Trying to lure me out with this bride! This...this pittance...this sublime-"
Just like that, Alex's restraint snapped, and he knew it as well as the rest of them. Spitting one more curse at the saboteurs before slinking his way out of the depths and into the tank. "God damn you, Delta!"
Briefly, Sinclair's laughter came over the radio and he offered a word to praise towards Delta before reminding him they needed to get that key, not above adding a small fishing pun in there as well for good measure. However, Atlas found himself more fixated on the sight of Alex's grotesque body squirming its way back into the red tinted tank to pay the conversation any mind. It was just as unpleasant as always and Atlas couldn't help but think that Alexander must have been exposed to more ADAM than Fontaine had been. How else could he have become this massive and deformed?
But when it had been Fontaine that had all of Rapture's ADAM as his finger tips, he'd used it in a different fashion. He wasn't experimenting with the concept of hiveminds or a collective utopia. Just as well, Atlas wasn't sure if he could stomach looking anything like Alex The Great over there. His scars a superficial injury in comparison.
Although, he suspected their sanity wasn't too different, Alex only a level or two beneath himself as the mad man giggled manically. Seeming to respond to the tagging machine the same way one might to being tickled as he gorged himself on the flowers and it took the DNA sample from him. Atlas could at least be thankful that his own lapses in sanity manifested in more...dignified ways.
"Got it!" Sinclair crowed, a mixture of satisfaction and relief in his cry. "With that key we can get you into Lamb's little hideout. Just head out to the Oxy-Fill station and use it there."
Atlas wondered about what they should do about Alex and as if tuned into his pondering, the screen attached to the side of the control panel flickered back to life. Bringing back Alexander's ghost to continue asking for that one morbid favour. Atlas watched the screen dully as the long dead man spoke.
"It is done. The sample disposal button on the panel in front of you will administer a massive jolt of electricity to the tank, more than enough to kill me. Whatever I may say to dissuade you now, do not listen. The man whose voice you hear now is long gone." Alexander's recording implored.
Delta was listening to the man in silence. Giving one of his former tormentors more time than Atlas would have, and yet, one specific part of Alexander's pleadings stuck out to him.
'The man whose voice you hear now is long gone.'
Pleading with them to listen to who he was rather than who he is. Ignoring how monsterous Alex's existence was now - that was what it really came down to didn't it? Which monster's wishes to respect. The memory of a man who had been there first, or the personality that stood at the helm now.
Atlas was not naive enough to be confused by the spike in his heartbeat. The tightness in his chest and that unpleasant icy chill that crawled down his spine, none of it was lost on him.
Who between Alex and Alexander had priority now?
Alexander's memory droned on. The edge of guilt and regret that clung to his every word slowly had Atlas actually paying him some mind. Listening with his teeth grit and hands clenched.
"As my mind fades, I find my thoughts turn to the suffering that Eleanor will be made to endure, and I am overcome with pity. But I can only offer my feeble prayers. Perhaps after my death, you can do more. Now please...I ask you to grant me peace."
As the recording wound down, two voices spoke up as once. Sinclair's voice addressed Delta, deeming this as a choice for the former diver rather than Atlas.
"Ah, can't help you there, sport... when Alexander was sane, he wanted to die. Now he's nuts, and beggin' to live... this one's between you an' him." Sinclair said as he placed the choice with Delta and Atlas knew there had to be a particular weight behind that decision that Delta couldn't possibly be aware of.
Sinclair was watching Delta's choices with a hawk's eye. Atlas couldn't fault him for that, knowing that any choice Delta made in regards to Alexander and his revenge, would likely be applied to him in the future if his lies were ever found out.
But as Sinclair put the choice in Delta's hands, that second voice was speaking up more shrilly.
"You...you don't have to kill me, Delta!" Alex cried out. "I-I'm sorry! Please...I...I will go outside! I will live out there, away from you all!" Alex's pleas grew more unhinged with every word until the monster all but sobbed within his tank.
Knowing there was no claim nor bargaining chip to offer, Alex broke down with a final wailing plea of Delta's name and one more sobbed, "please!"
All it took was one push of a button and Alex would be executed. Unable to do anything to protect himself after having been drawn in with his addiction and trapped inside the tank. Only able to plead to a sense of humanity that Delta held and Alexander never had.
The seconds trickled by and Alex continued to sob, leaving that as the only sound around them.
Slowly Atlas looked to Delta who stood stationary by the control panel. Looking down at the button he would need to press to kill the creature.
He was weighing his own morals no doubt. Trying to figure out where mercy should end and begin. To decide if it was kind to kill Alex here or if it would be an act of revenge. Given that he hadn't budged an inch for so long - clearly Delta wasn't able to find his answer. Looking for the 'right thing' to do, and finding it impossible to know.
Atlas had never been a beacon of virtue and morals, so it was he that spoke up first.
"Why should we do anything for him?" Atlas muttered softly, his voice breaking the tension that had fallen between them. "Alexander was a coward and a bastard when he was alive and Alex is just the freak left behind. Why the fuck should we do anything for either of them?"
Despite himself, an anger began to bubble up inside of Atlas as he turned to Delta, becoming animated in his movements while the Alpha Series remained still as stone. "Who gives a shit about this guy, huh? All he's ever done is fuck everything up for everyone else! You know what he did to you, what he did to your girl, hell even to himself in the end. And that friend of yours-"
This seemed to a step too far and Delta broke from his statue like stance. Taking a small step away from the control panel and Atlas along with it.
Atlas felt like the bad guy again and that only made the anger in his gut burn brighter. It was a justified anger, he told himself. Alex didn't deserve mercy, Alexander did not deserve help. But one way or another they'd have to give one. Atlas just didn't like how that choice was tossed onto them.
Maybe he just didn't want to know what Delta would value more. The now or the then. The man or the monster.
He didn't want to know.
"Fuck that." Atlas cursed harshly under his breath.
Fuck these people that decided it was Delta's burden to carry. Atlas took it from him instead.
Stepping up to the control panel, Atlas looked up to Alex's tank and, driven by an emotion he dared not pin, spoke to the monster.
"For the record this has nothing to do with what you wanted when you were still 'Alexander'. I could care less about you resting in peace or respecting who you were. The reason you're going to die today is because you get on every single one of my fucking nerves."
At his back, Atlas felt Delta approach. Reaching out hesitantly to touch his wrist. He didn't need to look back or ask, he knew Delta was uncomfortable with this. Still unable to be wholly cruel even after all that had been done to him. Delta held his wrist gently, a small reminder that he didn't have to be cruel to be strong.
With that grounding contact, Atlas took a deep breath and went on as though he had not noticed Delta.
"You're a threat and you're in hell. You knew it when you were sane and I think you still know it now. So you had better be fucking grateful that I'm making this choice instead of you."
Softly from the tank, there came a little sob but there was no more pleading. If Atlas were to name that wordless wait, he'd have coined it as one of acceptance. Maybe even relief.
This wasn't for Alexander. It was for everyone else and, maybe before he'd gone insane, Alexander had known that too.
With one more deep breath, Atlas pressed forward and activated the sample disposal.
It was a mercifully quick end. A sudden shock of electricity sent through the water, a short scream from Alex and then silence. The burst of energy nearly knocked the lights out again, though they struggled to stay on through the surge and then finally settled down again, still glowing. And Alex's tank was silent now, the monsters body sinking out of sight.
Only once the deed was done did Atlas let the tension bleed from his body and he slumped forward slightly. Delta's hold on his wrist tightening a fraction to help keep him steady.
At first, Atlas considered staying quiet. Maybe just getting on with things and ignoring Alex's death as a whole. But he found that impossible to do with Delta keeping a hold on him. Comforting as much as seeking comfort.
"Alright then. We're fine. We're- Hey...kid? You alright?" Atlas asked, craning his head back to see Delta, once again irritated that he couldn't get full sentences out of him. And when Delta replied with a little nod, Atlas did not believe him.
Atlas couldn't say if he made the right choice in the end, but just feeling how Delta clutched his hand, he knew that not letting Delta choose was the right call.
Trying to urge Delta along, Atlas laid a hand on the big daddy's shoulder. "Hey… just another step closer to Eleanor, yeah? We're almost there."
If there was anything in this world that took priority over Delta's own morality, then it would be the safety of that girl. Like a flick had been switched, Delta straightened up and, with one more look cast over the empty tank, he began to walk back towards the airlock. Atlas was not far behind him but paused to look back at the tank himself.
The coward in him knew that part of his choice was born from the desire to not know what Delta would have done had his hand been forced. Distantly he remembered the person Alexander had been. Brilliant but heartless. His patients never meant more to him than a potential breakthrough, a new experiment. Humanity never came into play.
Something had changed in him.
Just like something in Tenebaum had changed. Now she stood as a stalwart protector of children and Alexander had pleaded with his unknown audience to help little Eleanor.
Atlas glanced down at his open palm. Noting the little crescents his nails had bitten into his skin as he'd stood there clenching his fists tight for so long. He looked over the scars racing up his veins, thought about the marks he'd had inked into another's wrist. Closing his eyes with a quiet sigh, Atlas couldn't help but smile grimly to himself.
Children had a way of softening the hearts of monsters it seemed.
Even if that change came too late.
"We're not doing any of this for you." Atlas murmured again under his breath even though Alex was long dead, Alexander longer still, and the words could not reach them now. Regardless, the man's final wishes echoed in Atlas's mind. A lingering request to save Elanor when Alexander had failed.
"But...well, you're lucky your wishes just happen to line up with ours."
With that Atlas turned away from the tank and it felt like he was walking away from a tomb. The grave of someone he knew in passing but understood more than he'd have liked to.
And as Atlas stepped out of the red glow of looming tank, he did not feel Alexander's ghost following him.