A/N: SteinMon1920518 here again.

Sorry for the delay. I put my main story on hiatus to hopefully get this out, and from there, it was a downward spiral. First was the writer's block, then the lethargy set in, and then... to top it off with a cherry, the fan to the computer I was using quit working, so then I had to get that fixed. That's still in the shop, so I just got a new computer instead. The minority issue with getting this chapter out was that I didn't know if I wanted to make the Medical Pavilion a two-chapter or three-chapter endeavor. But alas, I have returned finally... lets just get this going, shall we?

Review Responses:

- "Guest": And it's just the beginning ) (muhahahahahah!)

- razmire: Hmmm, I guess you'll just have to find out then. No Spoilers! on this end. No worries about being "sappy". Sappy keeps you're hopeful for the best-case-scenario of any story... even if this is Bioshock we're talking about.

As far as Steinman and Cohen: Jack still has a long way to go, so I doubt he'll be that surprised by the time he gets there. Then again, maybe, maybe not.

- MartyrFan: I'mma gonna go ahead and bust that myth. Andrew Ryan's half of Jack's DNA is what keeps the turrets and cameras from targeting quickly and accurately. But they still target him. It confuses the genetic sensors. But DNA is what the game says they target, so it was a matter of how did the turrets and cameras get the accurate genetic sample that allowed them to ignore Jack. They can still hurt him though. Found that out when I tried beating down a Splicer that my turret targeted.

I LOVE your Electric Gel theory. It adds an in-game possibility that expands upon an already used item. Personally, I could get behind that, but that leaves me wondering what's in the "Alarm Tiles" and "Overload Tiles". I'd say the "Alarm Tiles" triggers fluid similar to what is found in a Security Bullseye Plasmid's polyp, hence the Security Bot that is called (the Alarm triggers the bot's patrol, while the fluid attracts its sensors to the offender). If you have a counter-theory or what happens with the "Overload Tiles", I'd love to read it :D

That's personally where the fun is. Giving Jack a human mind and body that isn't constrained to the game's AI, opens a whole new world of possibilities to his survival situation and tactics. Anything he can grab is usable. Anything can become a part of the narrative.

- "OBSERVER01 nli": One can only hope, right?

- BenRG: Mentality versus physicality takes precedence here. At this stage, Jack views himself as a farm boy who just wants to get home; but with physical capabilities that far exceed normal men (so we are agreed there). The only question remains, what happens when the illusions are stripped away and the world one imagined is nothing more than a lie? Despite that, Jack was still cultivated with a borderline dependent need for guidance through Rapture (hence Atlas's constancy throughout), so ultimately, Alpha Predator or not, he's still a pawn Fontaine had every intention of disposing of.

Good to know. I'll keep that in mind.

- Eltyr: Roland? :/ Regardless, the experiment will continue, hopefully in the chapter after this one. HEHEHEH!

*End of Responses

Without further ado. *Que the dimming of the lights*

Chapter 4: The Price of Vanity (Second Opinion's Manditory)

After a few moments, the Splicers fell one-by-one. Within a minute, the oil on the ground was consumed, leaving nothing but charred corpses.

"All roads in Rapture lead to Ryan. The security, the Splicers, the Big Daddies, the Little Sisters," Atlas stated from the radio.

"If that's the case, how does he control them all?" Jack asked as he crawled back out through the vent from which he had entered. He was half tempted to try and loot the corpses, but when a fat pocket popped in one of the Splicers, he covered his nose and tried to keep down the salt water that had settled in his stomach as he gagged. "Splicer's aren't exactly the most reasonable."

"He pumps some kind of chemical scent into the air, pheromones they call it. Makes them all dance to his tune," Atlas answered. "Doesn't hurt that he also has control over most the ADAM." Just as quickly as he spoke, he was once again silent.

"At- las," Jack called too late, again, cursing his hesitancy as he looked down at the fire in his hands. Strange. Did that mean-?

As quick as a thought, the flame retreated completely, blue arcs returning as his veins faded from their magma glow to pulsing blue. He smiled, switching back and forth giddily as the Plasmids changed in a strange rapid flashing of color. 'I can switch Plasmids at will,' he thought redundantly to his actions, continuing his display with some fervor before his eyes began to ache from the strobe of his childish play. Just as perpetually interesting, he belted his pistol before he held up both of his hands, looking between them with a hint of intrigue. If Plasmids were ambidextrous, then maybe….

He carefully lit a flame in his left hand, the Incinerate Plasmid if the commercials were any indication, before looking at his right. The veins in his non-ignited wrist were glowing with molten orange around and up his arms, but he began to implement the Electro Bolt. He felt his fingers strain slightly as blue began to slowly overtake its way up his veins, but the moment he stopped straining his focus, the Plasmid returned to Incinerate.

"C'mon Jack," he whispered, flicking his hands to loosen the tension as he tried again. He held the distinct Plasmids a little longer, but one always reverted before the residual power escaped from his hand. He smiled at the distinction. Theoretically, he could wield two Plasmids, it just required a greater deal of focus than he could dish out; but he figured it was like a muscle, he just needed to train his body to use them both simultaneously.

He switched back to Electro Bolt as he redrew his pistol, preferring the efficient heart-stopping method of Splicer dispatchment, notably trailing his gaze away from his handiwork with the charred Splicers as he climbed down the broken set of stairs, keeping his eyes sharp, and his ears sharper as he glanced this way and that.

Even as he made his exit passing under the Eternal Flame sign, he turned immediately left, and followed the Dental sign down the stairs that passed under the Surgery doorway to where he assumed Steinman was. Almost immediately, a Splicer in a mask attempted to club him with what looked like a divider post. She met an untimely fate, yielding five dollars for his efforts. It looked much like another waiting room below, save for the large cascade of ice blocking his path. Over to his right was another Circus of Value machine, which he went to hack almost instantly; it was surprisingly easier this time, sending a guilty little tingle through his body has he finished. Just opposite of a divider next to that was a room labelled "Supply". A familiar door-switch coursed in sparks called for the lightning in his hand, and he responded in kind.

It was a small trove, complete with a decent amount of ammo for his tommy, another bag of potato chips, and a strange device on the table that he didn't recognize, but felt it might be worth taking anyway. He otherwise ignored the undrunk Old Harbinger Beer. The room didn't yield much else save for a few empty drawers.

As he exited the Supply room however, he noticed a recording stuck in the ice, and retrieved it as gently as he could. "Freezing Pipes", McDonagh.

"Steinman, I know Medical Pavilion is your manor, but you might want to cogitate on this: ocean water is colder than a witch's tit. You don't heat the pipes, the pipes freeze. Pipes freeze, pipes burst. Then Rapture leaks. Now, I realize you're a posh sort of geezer, and, frankly, I don't give a toss if you piss or go fishing. But once Rapture starts leaking, the old girl's never gonna stop. And then I'll be sure to tell Ryan he's got you to thank."

Jack didn't know who this McDonagh fellow was, but he liked him already. Except maybe his mentioning of Andrew Ryan. But looking at the large iceberg in his way, Jack had a sneaking suspicion (or more like blatantly obvious proof) that Steinman didn't care, and didn't listen.

Despite that fact, Jack kept his eyes forward when he heard whispers on the other side. "Now how do I pass?" he wondered. He could always try hacking at it with his wrench, but that would take too long and draw too much attention. Or… 'You could use the friggin' Plasmid you just got,' he suggested to himself sharply. 'Fire and ice, Genius.' To say the least, Jack wasn't liking how snippy he was becoming toward himself.

Just a snap of his fingers. His middle finger met his thumb as Incinerate once more covered his hand, his index almost guided as he pointed at the ice. He could feel the heat building up in his fingers, as if the potential friction was accumulating power. He felt part of his finger give way, forcing him to shake excess ash of his consumed skin from his tips, heat rising.

Snap! The air screeched as hot met cold, causing an burst of ice chips and rising steam as water splashing through his shoes, a result of the ice stack instantly liquidizing. The way ahead had been cleared, and he could just see a Splicer through the mist formed from a steaming pipe, holding a blunt weapon.

Jack extinguished the flames as he switched hands with his pistol, drawing his wrench with his right hand as he allowed Electro Bolt to flow into the jawed melee weapon. Armed to the teeth, he aimed carefully before he opened fire, a bullet smacking into the Splicers shoulder. Before he could retaliate, Jack was on top of him, smashing the jaws pointedly into its neck before he torqued the wrench with crackled of lightning. The Splicer's head did a one-eighty as he collapsed without a sound. Two dollars.

On the hospice bed just in front of where the Splicer had been standing were boxes of bandages, which Jack didn't hesitate to gather up as he looked around. To his immediate left, was an automatic door leading to "Kure All", according to a sign. Up ahead and to the right, he could see a broken clock-face through a sliding gate, what looked like a body laying amidst fresh blood.

His ear suddenly flinched as he heard a splash of water behind him, prompting him to sidestep to the right behind the wall. He peeked around the corner, wrench poised as he noted yet another Splicer, armed with a wooden box, and a grenade in hand.

"I know your out there!" the Splicer called. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Setting down his wrench as quietly as possible, he switched to Incinerate, aiming carefully. The less direct interaction with Splicers he had, the safer he was. Rather than aim at the Splicer, he pointed at the box under his arm.

Snap! The box ignited, the Splicer dropping it in a fit of panic. Just as quickly as he had peeked out, Jack hid behind the wall again, listening as a series of explosions shouted his success. Another method to kill. He didn't bother going back to loot the Splicer, knowing that it was blown to bits.

He opted for the Kure All first, not wanting to go immediately past the gate when it might so easily close behind him. He regretted that decision.

As soon as he stepped in, he heard a Pshww! and Whoosh!, turning just in time to see something flying at him before it exploded. He slammed into the wall, almost unfeeling, except for how agonized his entire body felt; burning, punctured, bleeding. The sounds repeated, and another explosion went off, his sight fading with a droning ring.

Again. His breath left him, and the world blurred. An invisible string called "life" pulled at him, once more giving him the impression that it could break at any moment. He awoke with a deep gasp, inside the familiar environment of a glowing tube, holding his chest as the impression of his heart restarting once more commenced.

'Fucking Hell?' he breathed, his chest constricting as though he had awoken from a night-terror, and his body felt the phantoms of whatever had damaged it, his clothing showing that despite his body's miraculous recovery from death, the Vita-Chambers held lesser notions towards things such as apparel. His undershirt was riddled with holes and scorched in some places, and his once nice pants were following suite. His shoes, fortunately, were only scuffed beyond recognition; he'd hate to step directly in freezing water. He sheathed his still held weapons, so he could push out of the Vita-Chamber, coughing in reflex as he turned the corner. He was on the other side of the gate, staring at the broken clock.

He stumbled forward, wondering what the Hell had happened as he approached the body he had seen just moments before. A surgical clamp or scissors was opened, stabbed through both eye sockets, and another through its chest. But in front of it….

Jack snatched up the weapon on the ground, the chemical adrenaline of confusion and rage at dying again dissipating as he held the relief of a familiar weapon. A shotgun. Just the feeling of it reminded him of the times Pa had taken him out into the fields, hunting game birds such as pheasant and grouse, bringing home a welcome addition to the supper table. While he couldn't exactly point out when, the weapon was far to familiar to ignore. It was even fully loaded! He noted the ammunition on the ground and picked it up, gaining another five buckshot. From the body he pulled two Med-kits, and another three 00. Then the lights blinked out, the cackle of a male Splicer sounding in the darkness.

'Idiot! It was a trap!' he reprimanded himself as a single light shone where he stood, as if pointing him out to his enemies. Already he could hear the gate slamming closed behind him and the sounds of Splicers approaching rapidly.

"I am not dying again you bastards!" he snapped swinging the barrel of his new weapon on the first charging Splicer. Without a moment's hesitation, he pulled the trigger. BANG! Chuk-chuk! He loaded another round as the spent shell went flying, backing up against the closed gate just past the edge of the light as another one charged.

He unloaded his clip on the next three until the trigger clicked, forcing him to face two more. The first Splicer gaped in surprise as Jack grabbed the barrel and swung the stock into his face, breaking his nose and shattering his jaw. As fast as he could on the second Splicer, Jack shot out a Bolt, kicking its knee before swinging the gun overhead on its kneeling form, like he was using an axe to chop wood, splatting its grey matter all over the floor. The first looked up just in time to see Jack drop the shotgun, and pounce on him, both his hands igniting into flame as he grabbed on to his head. The Splicer died screaming as his brain boiled alive, unable to rip Jack's hands away fast enough before he sizzled his last.

Panting, Jack backed away from his handiwork, leaning against the wall for support. He sniffed slightly, extinguishing his Plasmid as he bent down to pick up his new weapon. He didn't have time to dwell on it, he knew that already, so he looted, and took to heart never to pick up stray weapons unless he was prepared to fight. Twenty-three dollars richer for his efforts. He proceeded to reload his shotgun before backtracking through the newly reopened gate, hoping to at least catch a glimpse of what had killed him just a minute ago.

He had his chance when he glimpsed into the Kure All front desk, chairs overturned from the explosions, shrapnel having splintered the wall and woodwork, and the receptionist desk looking worse for wear. He peeked around the corner, noting at the far end, a single turret in a small side room. Almost as soon as he spotted it, a light blinked on, the turret shuddering to life as it looked his direction.

Pshww! He saw something flying at him as he stepped back around the corner, only to feel an explosion go off just a few feet away, his ears suddenly ringing painfully.

'Great,' he thought with some sarcasm, rubbing his ears until he could hear properly again. He'd worry about Kure All later, when he had an explosive lobbing counter-measure.

He walked back around the corner, toward the Dandy Dental signage, noting the First-Aid Station next to the door. It was another easy hack, a small rewarding twinge tickling his arm as he finished. Before he could walk into the Dentistry Office, his foot kicked a recording he hadn't seen. Tenenbaum, "Useless Experiment".

"At the German prison camp they put me to work on genetic experiments on other prisoners. They call me 'Das Wunderkind', the wonder child. Germans, all they talk about is blue eyes, and shape of forehead. All I care about is why is this one born strong, and that one weak? This one smart, that one stupid? All that killing, you think the Germans could have been interested in something useful."

Once more, Jack had to take a breath at the strange way he felt; sniffing and wiping at his moistening eyes, his sinuses feeling heavy and his lip beginning to tremble. He stepped through the automatic door before he could contemplate the feeling too much longer. Rapture was already trying to weigh on him, and he didn't need any more of these odd occurrences.

Dandy Dental's front desk immediately greeted him with a soft melody of "the Best Things in Life are Free", one that Jack was wont to stop and listen too, but he knew he didn't have time for that. Hopping the desk, he was greeted by what looked like a Splicer's nest, collecting the five pistol rounds, two dollars, and more additions to his smoke pack.

As he walked into the main lobby for the business, unsurprised to see parts of the lower operation room submerged, he jumped as he heard the grinding of another automatic door to his immediate left, the shotgun raising with quick familiarity before he began to calm down, listening carefully to his surroundings as he kept his preferred weapon half-propped when he stepped forward. Up ahead was a machine with a recording at its base. To the right of that was another machine that reminded him of a turret, but didn't fire at him, and to the left was another Gatherers Garden, a murky grey Plasmid sitting on the broken machine's stand, steam jetting from the appliance's top and side. If the advertisements going in were any indication, heavy chances were, it was a Telekinesis Plasmid.

Taking a deep breath, he thought it over as he picked up the jar in question. Besides the ghosts and phantoms he saw in Rapture, he wasn't experiencing anything weird (unless he took Rapture as a whole, then…), and he certainly felt fine otherwise. He looked over the Plasmid, unsure just how much more he'd have to splice his genetics.

'Just until Neptune's Bounty,' he had to think encouragingly, as he prepped his needle, using the tip of his Incinerate fingers to once more sterilize it. As he went about gaining a new Plasmid, he hit play on the recording by the machine. Suchong, "Testing Telekinesis".

"Clinical Trial Lot 23 Doctor Suchong – Client: Fontaine Futuristics. Work on telekinesis plasmid proceeding well. Lifting objects at distance present no problem. Moving objects through space, no problem. Cannot stop speeding bullet, but can catch and throw fast moving object. Problem not with plasmid. Problem with reaction time. …Suchong just get new idea for plasmid."

Just as with the last recording, Jack felt something… he couldn't explain. His breath shuddering as he pressed harder into the wall, his jaw clenched, and he pulled his knees closer to his chest, trying to make himself smaller. It was all he could do not to curl up in a corner. He didn't know why, but he hated that voice. He hated it! He'd take Andrew Ryan's presumptuous tones over this Doctor Suchong any day.

The worst part was, he didn't know why.

Swallowing back whatever had happened, Jack jabbed the needle into his arm to keep from thinking about it further, the pain a more preferred distraction than... Doctor Suchong... as he pressed down the liquid once again. As he put his cursed needle away, he looked at his hands as nothing seemed to change in and around his veins like the last two Plasmids. "Another dud," he growled in frustration, preparing to leave.

The reaction was more violent than the last. He closed his eyes to take breath, only to feel as though he had been shot in the head again. This time, death didn't relieve him. The slow. Agonizing. Feeling of something piking through his skull and into his brain left vision blurred and ears ringing, intensifying in regular intervals, as if someone were pounding on a hammer. In the moments he thought it would subside, he was proven wrong when it dug deeper. He held his head in his hands, barely able to gasp through his clenched teeth. He felt himself reach out, a part of him touching his surroundings, as if he could feel dozens of hands grasping from his head, each false appendage covered in the rawest of nerves.

His eyes opened in time to see the results. Old trophies, tennis rackets, and even broken wood around the Gatherer's Garden; all of them… floating! Lifting!

He took a breath, unsure of what exactly he was seeing as the pain began to subside. Once it had faded to discomfort, the items dropped with a series of clutter, Clunk!s, and Clank!s that made Jack wince in reflex in the once silent environment.

"Hello? Who's there?" a female Splicer called.

"Oh, for fucks sake," he breathed through the feverish sweat, pushing to his feet with the mother-of-all headaches. He checked his shotgun before strapping it to his satchel, somewhat sore that it didn't have a shoulder strap.

He glanced down at the pistol in his belt, an experiment coming to mind as held out his hand, breathing as he willed the weapon to his grasp. Nothing.

"Now how do I use you?" He recalled the feeling he had experienced just a moment before, as if a malleable appendage extended from his head, and once again, his hand reached out to receive what he wanted. The pistol slipped from his waist, lifting smoothly until he felt it alight in his palm. He breathed, letting the feeling fade. The Telekinesis Plasmid took a surprising amount of focus, but with time, he figured it would work as easily as any of his others.

With that, he turned the corner to leave, noting the Splicer who had called out was looting another dead Splicer. Jack put his pistol in his off-hand once again as he drew his wrench, walking as quietly as could be permitted as he snuck up on her, smashing into the back of her neck. She dropped like all the others, yielding two dollars.

In the rest of Dandy Dental, he found two more bandages and three pistol rounds, still as bitter about stepping into the cold water as ever. However, there was a safe imbedded in the wall. As tempted as he felt about fiddling with it, he knew he was burning… daylight? How did one call the time when all he could see outside the massive windows was the city, and the swaying of the sea? Regardless, there were other places to check, and dwelling on the safe wasn't high on his priority list when there was more free-range loot lying about.

He followed the line of the wall to his left as he exited to the Dental foyer, killing and looting another hard-headed Splicer, taking her four pistol rounds, before continuing toward the Painless Dental when the Supply door didn't open. He could hear the rotating sound of a camera, quickly keeping his eyes sharp as he edged through the winded hallway. The moment he heard a turret chime, he dropped, his torso splashing into the cold water, causing him to suck in a sharp breath.

'Do I really have time for this?!' he chattered to himself, crawling on his knees back to a safe spot behind the wall. If time was really of the essence, he couldn't check every God-forsaken room in Rapture. That would be ridiculous. He was resolved to be quick, and if he had a little extra time after getting the key from Steinman, then he would explore a little more.

However…

He felt his head tighten like a vice as Telekinesis activated. That Kure All needed dealt with. Whatever that turret had shot him with, he wanted little more than to pulverize it, to take retribution for his death. He reached out a hand, attempting to grab a nearby rock. It lifted almost too easily this time, approaching at his beckon. If he imagined it like his other Plasmids, as if it was bound to his hands like the tattoos on his wrist, then it was easier to use; as if the Telekinesis were an invisible and formless extension of said hand. But in reality, he knew it wasn't. He didn't need his hand for the Plasmid; he smiled, knowing eventually, he'd be able to use it without direction, just as he had when it activated. It was a state of 'mind over matter' he would accomplish eventually.

Getting back to his feet, he headed back to the Kure All. Unsurprisingly, it was just as he left it, save he only now noticed the glowing green bottle sitting inside the door across from the entrance. However… He rounded the corner without hesitation, listening as the turret beeped, the launcher raising toward its newly acquired target.

Pshww! Jack barely registered a small red colored object flying at him as his hand shot out, the muscles in his hand straining as Telekinesis grabbed the object. With a small grunt, his fingers flicked, sending the object smashing into a wall with a BOOOOM! He smiled slightly as another was launched at him, latching onto it before a small idea wormed its way into his mind. He turned the rocket around, and threw it back at its source, watching as the machine took the hit head-on. Besides the stream of smoke coming from its motor, it seemed undamaged.

"Are you kidding me?!" he snapped. Of course, Rapture made their turrets explosive resistant. Why not?! Raising his Plasmid again before the rocket had launched more than a couple feet from the turret, immediately sending it back. With a more satisfying result, the turret took the attack head on again, followed by a series of other explosions as its magazine self-detonated from the heat, destroying it from within and without.

He half-wondered if he should have hacked it, but then thought the better of it. If he got caught between a targeted Slicer and one of its payloads… he just wasn't that keen to die. AGAIN!

"I heard you! Where are you?!" a female splicer called, approaching through the door on the far left leading further into the Kure All.

He swung and fired his pistol, the first shot missing pathetically as the second shot slammed into her chest, stunning her as she looked down at the now bleeding hole. Electro Bolt crawled through his veins as his left hand struck her chest, dropping her like a potato sack. He emptied her pistol, and his looting resulted in four pistol rounds and two dollars.

He quickly moved to the room the turret had occupied, looting it as quickly as possible. A Med-Kit, a couple Armor-piercing pistol rounds, four Anti-personal tommy rounds (if the label on the small opened box he found them in was anything to consider), nine dollars, and a bandage.

Jack pressed in deeper, his ear perking at the sound of a camera's sweep, looking for a way into the room with the Plasmid. With the door jammed, and no alternate way in, he was led into the remains of the Kure All offices, it's backroom leaking profusely from the ceiling as Jack instantly spotted a Hypo sitting atop one of the ducts. Reaching out, Telekinesis swiftly pulled the object to his grasp, so he could put it in his shoulder bag. 'Useful for combat and for grabbing hard-to-reach supplies,' he mused. Despite the fact that EVE was supposed to keep his Plasmids charged, his brow furrowed as he seemed to need less and less of the glowing blue stimulant for some odd reason.

As he looked up from pocketing the syringe, he spotted a vent leading directly into the wall opposite. Maybe…

He pulled off the vent grate, looking into small tunnel that, to his relief, turned straight into the isolated room. Checking around cautiously, he crawled into the tunnel, shivering as freezing cold water splashed onto his barely covered back. He pulled himself through and out, immediately greeted by an empty corpse and a cylinder of pistol rounds. He quickly gathered up the Buckshot and bandage on a container before he picked up the Plasmid bottle, its pale green contents making his skin look sickly in its glow.

Prepping his arm again for an injection that he didn't know would work or not, he went about sterilizing the needle, before withdrawing some of its contents and injecting it into his veins. His veins turned black at the point of entrance, fading quickly as it spread. But over the next few moments, nothing happened.

"Damn," he swore, packing it up as he went to crawl out of the room. 'The number of duds in this place,' he growled internally, shaking his head slightly. His grip on the wrench surprisingly tightened when he heard a female Splicer, gazing carefully out from his position in the vents.

There was one dead ahead, laughing as she swiped at the falling water, dancing in a puddle, enthralled to whatever illusion her madness kept her in. Jack snuck forward, his wrench head sparking slightly as Electro Bolt activated, and he carefully touched the jaws to the puddle she stood in. She fried, and he could only hope that she died quickly in her happy delusion.

He immediately moved toward the camera, finding some stairs just past a waterfall-like leak. Careful to avoid the red glare of death, he stepped into the frigged water that came up to his shins. He wadded quickly until he made it under the camera, hacking it with the same ease he had with many of the other machines. Again, he felt a rewarding spark jump up his arm as he finished his hacking, shaking his shoulders in confusion as he looked around. There was a Hypo, which he snatched up without a second thought, and a safe. Again, he passed over the safe, not wanting to spend too much time fiddling with it.

If he had time after saving Atlas's family, he might come back. There was still no guarantee that they would be able to leave for the surface immediately. A disappointing thought, but a realistic one.

Back up by the grate, amidst a bloody table, he picked up some pistol rounds and a recording, back tracking toward Steinman's as he listened. Suchong's "Enrage Trial".

"Clinical Trial Lot 44 Doctor Suchong – Client: Fontaine Futuristics. Subject is white male, one Roland Wallace. Can you hear me, Mister Wallace?"

"Yes sir, Mister Suchong, sir."

"Very well. Right, I'm introducing Lot 44 now…We've codenamed Lot 44 'Enrage' because of its tendancy to…" Jack heard Roland Wallace begin to scream frantically, crashing making its way through the recording "Nurse, hold him down… Nurse! Nurse!" If the corpse next to the bed was any indication, she was probably the nurse.

Jack swallowed the bile that threatened the back of his throat as he pressed onward. He faced no resistance as he walked back to Dr. Steinman's Aesthetic Ideals, listening intently as his liberated turrets shot down a Splicer in cold blood just behind him as he continued through the door.

A long glass tunnel stretched out before him, making him shiver slightly since the last one he had been in had collapsed. To his right there was another hatch framed door that refused to open at his presence. And to the left, just outside there was another tunnel. He watched as some recording began to chime, not listening as he stared in wonderous horror at the sight of what Atlas had called a "Big Daddy" and a "Little Sister" roaming through the tunnel, the Daddy's moan causing Jack to shiver as it seemed to echo endlessly through the halls.

Gulping nervously, he hurried through the door at the far end, just in time to see another bloody message written on the floor as he beheld another set of mutilated pictures. "AESTHETICS ARE A MORAL IMPERATIVE!"

Even as he moved forward, he held fast at the sound of a voice that made his skin crawl.

"Why do we have two eyes? Because there's a law that says we must. Two arms. Two legs. Two ears. Two breasts." The following manic of laughter was deeper than any Jack had heard yet, and it only made him shiver at how out of place it was, even in a place like Rapture.

He stepped around the corner to see a Splicer dressed in orange scrubs, only for him to bolt upon seeing Jack. Before Jack could loose a Bolt or bullet, he tossed a "can" behind him, the explosion collapsing the over-hanging sign in the doorway he had disappeared through.

Jack's radio whirred with an incoming message. "You'll have to find a way to get through to Surgery… and Steinman."

"I know that," Jack stated, trying to keep the bite and frustration out of his voice. "I just don't know if I'll make it in time for your family. Preparing was too time consuming. I skipped over some areas just to hurry along. And I don't even know what will happen to me with all these Plasmids I've been injecting."

"Chin up now. The lord hates a quitter," Atlas replied kindly. "You're doing great boyo. I'm keepin' an eye on my family as best I can, but you're progressin' just fine."

And he cut out again as Jack looked at the Surgery Foyer. To his left was the familiar glow of yet another Vita-Chamber (he couldn't even get mad at it at the point, given their seemingly random locations would continue to revive him… allegedly). Along with Med-Station and a Circus of Value machine, between which was an advertisement for free Plasmids at Dandy Dental (which he had already liberated).

Almost as quickly, a flicker of movement alerted Jack, prompting him to turn just as another can was thrown at him from a balcony right over the Circus of Value. Jack acted reflexively, Telekinesis swatting it aside with a wave of his hand like the nuisance it was. Then it exploded.

"I can hear that splicer soundin' off like it's the fourth of July," Atlas called, "Explosives are hard to come by down here–"

"Clearly not!" Jack snapped, as he rolled back behind the wall, effectively blocking him from view and direct line of fire. "I've been on the receiving end of plenty of them already!"

"If only you could get a hand on some of the bombs he's tossin'," Atlas continued, ignoring Jack's harsh tone. "Things like that can help you turn the tables, or clear a path."

'I'll show you a hand,' Jack thought defiantly, marching back around the corner. The splicer was prepped, so the makeshift grenade was thrown like a fastball, barely giving him time to snatch it with his active Plasmid, throwing it against the debris with angered ease.

"Ah Christ!" the Splicer exclaimed, running back down through the door it had entered from. "'E's got Plasmids!"

'And fuck you too!' Jack growled, marching into the awaiting tunnel he had just cleared. Awaiting him was more of Steinman's work: a female splicer sitting dead in a wheelchair with another tape awaiting Jack's scrutiny. Steinman's "Symmetry".

"Today I had lunch with the Goddess. 'Steinman,' she said… 'I'm here to free you from the tyranny of the commonplace. I'm here to show you a new kind of beauty.'I asked her, 'What do you mean, goddess?' 'Symmetry, dear Steinman. It's time we did something about symmetry…'"

Okay? Was symmetry a good thing or a bad thing? Jack didn't know, and if Steinman was as off his rocker as Jack thought he was (which may or may not have been a huge understatement), the "good doctor" probably didn't know either.

His own musings were quickly interrupted by one of the copter-bots, the red glow of its eye finding him to be a fantastic person to shoot at… before Jack nailed it with an Electro Bolt. Machine as it was, it short-circuited and fell to the ground, allowing Jack to find its panel and it's finger prick point with ease. Almost immediately, it made a series of rapid beeps before it's lights turned green, the strange machination suddenly hovering at his side like a long lost…

'Puppy?' Jack suddenly felt a queasy sensation in his stomach as he pushed on, not sure where it was coming from, but hating it none the less. Guilt, sorrow… he didn't know why he felt those things. His Ma and Pap hadn't owned a dog, despite how useful one would have been on the farm… but he couldn't remember why… hmmm.

He quickly looted the corpses in the room, gaining a few dollars and nothing more. He drew around the corner, met with a retracted metal gate that taunted him, as if guaranteeing that it would have the opportunity to trap him or prevent his escape. Past that, he could hear another turret winding up to fire. He aimed another Bolt around the gate, sprinting down the hall for all he was worth as it temporarily short-circuited, barely allowing him the time to bring it to his side.

There was a door next to the turret that Jack opted to temporarily ignore for now, turning around because of the glowing light he had seen as he ran after the turret. Another green glowing Plasmid lay in the middle of the water, just inside the half-crossed legs of a corpse that looked like it's face had been shoved into the wall. He picked it up, opting to move a little further ahead before he inserted it. He began moving toward the blood-splattered wall ahead. On either side were doors leading to a "Viewing Room", but on the right, Jack took the time to hack a First-Aid Station, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck tingle in warning. Wherever Steinman was, it had to be up ahead.

Knowing there was no better place before facing off against Steinman, he prepped his needle and injected the new Plasmid. Once again, it was a dud.

With an irritated sigh and his faithful rotor in tow, he entered, switching for his tommy gun (still unused) while keeping his other weapons as ready as he could make them. He wasn't sure how much ammo it would take, but he took a deep breath to steady his nerves before marching forward. Not even a few steps in, and he could see the infamous Steinman standing over a body on an operation table.

Jack crept closer, hoping that maybe… just maybe, this could go down without a fight. He knew better of course. Why else would his tommy gun be kept so close, half-poised in the firing position. It wasn't until he got close enough, that he realized Steinman was in the process of mutilating yet another body; this one still alive and crying.

"What can I do with this one, Aphrodite? She WON'T" The slurch of knife and flesh sounded quickly. "STAY." Slurch! "STILL!" With a series of coughs, the splicer continued to sob as it's rent flesh bled. "I want to make them beautiful, but they always turn out wrong! That one…." Where the deranged doctor pointed to his left (Jack's right), light shone at his direction on a crucified splicer, clearly another one of his "art projects". "…Too Fat! This one…." Another splicer in a similar position to his right. "…Too Tall! This one…!" He spun around to yet another splicer behind him, his hands lifted in exasperation. "…Too Symmetrical! And now–" With a final drop of his blade, he finished off his latest project, his breathing taunt and rasped in anger.

"What's this, goddess?" Steinman looked up, just now noticing the man looking at him in absolute horror. "An intruder! He's ugly! Ugly! Ugly! UGLY!"

Jack barely comprehended Steinman pulling out a tommy gun, pointing it in his direction. By the time he did, his eyes widened as bullets began to let loose in rapid succession, shattering through the display window. Jack took a bullet to the gut before he had rolled out of the way, leaning against the wall Steinman continued to fire.

He winced, barely aware that his robotic companion's lights had turned a wrathful red, beeping obscenities that Jack couldn't even begin to translate. Barely a few steps in and Steinman had already tagged him.

If he was gonna last, he needed to fight like he had never fought before.

"Come here! Let me purge the world of your disgusting features. Don't worry, I'll be gentle," Steinman taunted, Jack's ears perking at the sound of a familiar crackle. "It's okay, goddess, I'll remove this unsightly creature from your presence. A pyre befitting a sacrifice."

'Fuck me! He's got a Plasmid!' Jack winced to himself, looking at his bleeding stomach weakly.

'I told ya that ya jinxed us,' he off-handedly commented back.

Jack's breath picked up in a panic as he heard Steinman's footsteps grow closer. He rumbled quickly into his satchel, knowing full-well that he wasn't going to last with a hole in his belly. As deftly as he could afford with what strength he could muster, he opened a Med-Kit as he kept his tommy raised just in case. He lifted his undershirt quickly, holding the blood-stained fabric in his teeth and with a quick jab to his abdomen, he released the red serum into his body. He took a deep breath as he felt the bullet crawling out of his gut before finally feeling the relief of its parting. As soon as he saw the scar tissue seal over, he was up in a heartbeat, groaning as the new muscles stretched for the first time.

He could hear his rotor's distinct machine fire facing off against Steinman's tommy, both having an angry bone to pick now that they had exchanged bullets. He stepped into the "Viewing Room" just in time to see a snap from Steinman, and the rotor burst into flames, drawing a low drone from its circuitry as it continued to press the assault.

"He brought his harpies, goddess! Nonono, don't worry. I won't fall so easily. I have your blessings! Blessings!" And Jack could see that was true… in a distorted sense. Despite taking hail after hail of the security drone's bullets, he looked relatively unharmed. His orange scrubs were littered with holes, and every now and then, Jack thought he saw a dislodged bullet roll away. Steinman either had a lot of ADAM in his system or he was hooked up to a lot of Med-Kit syringes. Plus he had a Plasmid that he was using often. It was no wonder the doctor had survived so long, becoming top of the Medical Pavilion's food chain.

Jack quickly took aim with his tommy before opening fire, almost caught by the surprising recoil, but stabilizing it none-the-less as he attempted to assist his mechanical companion. Shot after shot rang out in rapid succession, their echoes long since drowned out by the following and succeeding shots. Steinman still wouldn't fall. Within a few moments, Jack heard the click as his 40-round magazine emptied; unfortunately, the majority of his tommy ammo spent.

He swung the gun strap over his shoulder as Telekinesis pulled a nearby gas canister at his hands behest, tossing it at Steinman even as the surgeon snap!ed his finger, causing the tank to explode between them. Jack was thrown back misshapenly against a drawer container, his back protesting in earnest as he tried to retain a grip on consciousness. It hurt. It hurt so bad. His eyes had seen the explosion point blank and were having a hard time clearing, whether from the bright light or the burns he couldn't be sure. His ears had caught the explosion in similar proximity, and now rang in violent protest. He couldn't even begin to guess how much of the canisters metal shrapnel had torn into him.

"I'm wounded, goddess," he barely heard above the ringing. "That ugly creature was formidable, but he doesn't have your protection goddess. Please, grant me your nectar, your ambrosia. Let me be whole and beautiful again."

Despite Jack's relatively dulled and pained state of mind, he comprehended the next moment. Steinman was going to heal. He either had a First-Aid Station in the room, or he had a stash of Med-Kits. He couldn't let him. Fighting Steinman once had already kicked him in the ass (present state evident). Fighting the man twice could prove to be deadly.

Jack followed the slosh of water as he turned to his left, looking down some stairs to see a flooded part of the room. If Steinman was in the water….

Jack didn't hesitate to switch to Electro Bolt, jolting the water. Hesitation could get him killed, and he wasn't ready to die… again.

Blinking carefully through his squinted and blurred vision, he slowly lowered himself down into the frigid water as the last sparks died, Telekinesis piercing through his aching head as he lifted the shotgun strapped to his satchel, barely able to keep it aloft with his weakened state. He could barely see the First-Aid Station up ahead, it's red glow pointing it out, but there wasn't a body in front of it. What were the chances that the electrically charged water had killed Steinman? Jack wasn't taking any chances.

Snap!

Before Jack could step to much farther in, he was enveloped in flames. Hot, musty, dry, blistering, agonizing flames that crackled and immediately began eating at him like an acid. He had only been burnt a few times in his life, but nothing so painful or all-encompassing as this. He flailed almost reflexively, trying and failing to rid himself of the orange tendrils that grasped at his flesh as he kicked around in the water-

'Water!' He all but dived into the shallows, feeling more than hearing the sizzle of extinguish as his body groaned in pleasure, slowly being replaced by a sting as the saltwater cleansed the cracked and blistered scabs in sterilizing discomfort. He began to push up in relief, before something pushed him back down. He tried to get up again, but a weight had settled on his back.

Something enveloped the back of his head as he tried to skim the surface, hoping to catch just a breath of air, pushing him far enough under the shallows that he could feel the floor grazing his cheek.

He panicked, struggling futilely to push up, to push away. Unlike when he was clawing toward the surface after the plane crash, the surface was just a couple inches away, denied to him by the weight holding him down.

Steinman. It had to be him. Taking revenge for Jack almost ending his miserable and abominable existence. The electricity hadn't worked. He was still alive, and Jack didn't have anyway of fighting back now, especially when he felt the water heating from the doctor's fiery Plasmid. He could only hope that he would revive again, and Steinman would be dumb enough to forget about healing since his only present foe would be vanquished. It was a pleasant thought, but a foolish one as he began to lose consciousness. His already scarred vision was blurring further as the idea of death no longer seemed to faze him now. He was already dying. Suddenly the idea of death was a welcome one. A temporary relief before he was once again cast to this Wonderland-turned-Hell. He could relax, and just let it take him.

For the first time since Jack came to Rapture, he smiled. For the first time since randomly sinking into this Hellish scape, he wasn't afraid. For the first time, he accepted the fact that he would wake up in one of those God-forsaken tubes that would beckon him back to the land of the living.

And in the throws of a cold, slow death, he began to hum to himself. Some tune he had heard once, one that resonated in his chest with a pleasant melancholy despite his lungs screaming for oxygen. Where did he hear it? He wasn't sure, but it was something he had thought back on often on the family farm, like a pleasant dream that wasn't quite clear, but he never forgot.

'Hm-hm-hm-hmm, hm-hmmm-hmmm-hmmmm, hm-hm-hmmm-hm-hmmm,' he hummed pleasantly.

"Just remember, when a dream appears; you belong to me," the silence sang back.

Yeah. That was the tune–

Jack eyes opened wider in recognition, suddenly wide awake. It had to be the lack of oxygen in his brain. It had to–

"And I'll be so alone without you," the silence continued in the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. "Maybe you'll be lonesome too. And blue.

"Fly the ocean in a silver plane, see the jungle when it's wet with rain; Just remember 'till your home again, you belong to me."

Vague though it was, Jack noticed a glow emitting through the haze. Soft. Warm. Emitting from his arms like a gentle ray of sunlight he had long forgotten down here; his veins aglow. The warmth spread, trailing down through his shoulders and into his chest, down his abdomen and up through his neck. It spread until there was no part of him untouched by it. It was pleasant, perhaps even painful if Jack was aware of pain anymore.

And with it came an even stranger feeling. The buzz of Electro Bolt activating passively in his hands as the blue glow seemed to spread over the sunlight, blotting it out with a haunting light that seemed to take over Jack in his entirety. The soft tingling feeling of his Plasmid was everywhere: throughout his body, in the water, down to his very soul. The Plasmid wasn't a storm caged in his body anymore.

He was the storm.

And the storm demanded release. He demanded release!

And so, it did. The Plasmids activation was like none Jack could ever describe, as not just his arms, but his body lurched and tensed, his overcharged nerves releasing the storm in all directions. The water crackled and hissed, the blue arcs jumping over the water like sea serpents as they attacked and bit at his oppressor. What didn't attack the weight on his back, bound back to him, fueling some innate desire to live as his own power jolted back into him.

What felt like an eternity later, but was truthfully only a few moments, Jack was vaguely aware of crawling up some stairs, his body moving autonomously against his mind and desires. What's more, he noticed he wasn't underwater anymore, and his lungs were already greedily gulping at the stale air.

He was... alive? If he wasn't it sure as Hell sucked to be dead.

Vaguely, he could feel Electro Bolt still crawling over his body, arching through the holes in his undershirt or sparking through the strands of his hair, but he didn't care, he was tired, and only mostly dead. With no grace or dignity in mind, he plopped down, laying on the cool floor as he breathed. He didn't know where Steinman was, and he didn't care. He just wanted to rest. And it was with heavy lids that his eyes finally closed, giving him the sleep he so longed for.

Once his eyes had firmly shut, he was already asleep... dreaming. Probably one he would forget as soon as he woke up. And the only thing he dreamed of was the eyes that encompassed the depth of the sea, and the color of the azure sky he longed to see and breath once again. And for some reason, those eyes look so familiar.

Author's Notes: Would You Kindly Read & Review! :)

Hey guys!

Some interesting developments regarding Jack and his newly found Plasmids :D Trust me, that ain't nothin' yet.

I was going to cover the whole of the Medical Pavilion, but then I realized, realistically, Jack is in a crunch for time. He isn't at ease to leisurely stroll through the land of Rapture, he's trying to save a guy's family. Admittedly, it was kind of out of the blue, but some of it will give me something to go back to.

Jack has ran into quite a few of those "dud" Plasmids (*wink, wink*). Admittedly, not all of them will be what you guys expect from the original game, and this will be in part to the "The Constant becomes a Variable; and the Variable becomes a Constant".

I will admit, I made Steinman more powerful than in the game. Before you start loading your muskets and lighting your torches, I have a reason. The game made him too weak, as it did with most other "bosses". Part of that may have been strategy, but I felt compelled to give him a little more... oomph! Hopefully I didn't totally screw the character.

I'll let you guys go ahead and ruminate on that last scene (Meheheheheh!)

Take care, and don't forget to Review! Let me know your Questions, Comments, and Concerns (QCC) :)

Until next time. Possibly to be called Chapter 5: The Price of Humanity; possibily followed by Chapter 6: Into the Briny or A Shark Among Fish. (I know I'm a little ahead on the chapter names, but that just goes to show how dedicated I am to finishing this story)