Ch. 32: Hunting a Giant

A.N.:

Hey everyone!

As promised, here is the new chapter!

I can't even tell you how many times I have rewritten this bloody thing...never was satisfied with it.

However, time to get the show on the road.

I am also a bit proud of myself because this is the first one that I had written and posted completely without my ADHD medication (they have officially taken me off of it for good since they think it has started to cause me more issues than it fixes).

The fight between Subject Delta and a certain Songbird that Eleanor mentions may or may not be coming in a future chapter ;)

Anyway,

So...yeah...here she is...ta-da!

Sorry if the quality is not as good as previous chapters...life with a full time job and no ADHD medication has kinda taken a toll on my abilities as a writer but I love my characters, I love BioShock 2, and I love writing this story so I am not giving up!

Also sorry if this one is a bit slow. I promise to make it up in the next one and make it epic and awesome.

Hope it was worth the wait!

Read and review if you want!

As I began to lead the way back to the shotgun, I began to think of how to approach teaching the latest addition to our group how to fight and survive in the cutthroat world of Rapture. In truth, Meltzer had had the misfortune of becoming part of the food chain at perhaps the worst possible time save for perhaps during the height of the Civil War.

The survivors of the city's downfall had become horribly twisted by the ravages of ADAM withdraw as the combination of the precious commodity's increasing scarcity and the continued deterioration of the city itself took a catastrophic toll on both the Splicers and Protectors alike. To survive, the remaining population had become inhuman monsters that had transformed themselves into living killing machines. Given enough time, I was certain that I could transform Meltzer into an individual that was more than capable of surviving in Rapture. However, time was not on our side tonight. Upon reaching the security door that lead back through the auxiliary ticket booth, I made my way through it and into the room beyond it.

Luckily, it did not appear that we had been followed as I was able to make to the opposite end of the room and reenter the glass-lined tunnel beyond it without incident. However, as I stepped through the open watertight security door, with the overhead light fixture struggling to life to partially illuminate the opening with its decayed yellow light, I was greeted by a strange sound that I had never heard before. It was a strange groaning sound almost like one of the whale-like calls of the Mass Produced Protector Models but this one sounded warped and distorted as it echoed through the tunnel from its source that was seemingly either at the far end of the structure or, more disturbingly, possibly from the alien world beyond its glass exterior.

I paused momentarily, and, seconds later, one final more drawn out distorted groan filled the air. Then, finally, the area returned to being as relatively peaceful as a place in Rapture could be considering the state of the war-torn decaying metropolis. Gripping the throttle on my weaponized Industrial-Grade Mining Drill, I raised my Protector Tool up at the ready as I also made sure that its safety lock was in its unlocked position.

Without looking back, I grunted with my Alpha Series Big Daddy voice, "All of you stay here!"

Then, as my companions all grave their respective replies, I began to methodically make my way down the tunnel in the direction of where the disturbing sound had seemingly originated from moments prior. As I moved, I held my Drill at the ready while I simultaneously held my gauntlet-encased left hand up at the ready with telltale blue arcs of genetic electricity dancing along its surface. Meanwhile, the monster inside my mind prepared himself should I need the assistance of Subject Delta to combat this unknown threat.

I had never heard such a strange call before but, whatever it was sounded heavy and organic. As I made it to the middle of the tunnel, I began to wonder if it was perhaps a rogue Bouncer or Rosie that had became corrupted by the ADAM inside their already heavily spliced and genetically unstable bodies. Although the amount of ADAM required was astronomical, it was, in fact, possible to pump enough of the gene-altering substance into a living creature to collapse its DNA and turn it into little more than a ravenous, feral beast. Not even the docile, programmed sleepwalkers of the Mass Production Models were immune from this horrific fate. It took an astronomical amount to do it in the short run but it was feasible for a Big Daddy to be exposed to enough ADAM over a long period of time to succumb to ADAM corruption. Even routine maintenance injections could potentially do it if the Protector lived long enough.

I paused as I reached the middle of the "S"-shaped turns of the tunnel. Despite my best efforts, I still could not see anything out of the ordinary inside the glass-lined structure. In addition, the floating corpses outside of it were still undisturbed and in the exact same spots that I had last seen them in, which indicated that nothing large had recently swam past the outside of the tunnel.

Becoming increasingly confused, I took a few more steps until I was able to look around the last corner of the "S"-shaped section of the tunnel to ensure that there was nothing hiding at the far end of the path. Upon seeing that there was nothing there that could account for the sound I had just heard, I paused and then began to try to piece together what had happened. Given that I could not find anything out of the ordinary inside the tunnel, I was left with two possibilities. One, my sanity had deteriorated to the point that I was now having auditory hallucinations. Two, the ADAM seeping from the decaying walls of the city had started to affect far more than just the surrounding plant life. Honestly, both possibilities were their own version of disturbing but, at least for now, there did not appear to be any physical threat to our group.

I turned and called down the tunnel, "We're clear!"

As the rest of our part made their way towards us, Eleanor remarked with her edged Little Sister voice from where she was riding on my back, "Not to worry, Father. I heard it as well."

I grunted in response with my surgically modified Alpha Series Big Daddy voice, "What do you think, Kid? You would probably know better than I would."

After a brief moment, my bonded partner explained, "I think your intuition about it being a mutated sea creature is not too far off the mark."

I cringed as Eleanor seemed to believe that my suspicions were likely true. If ADAM and its corruptive influence had entered the local ecosystem to the point that it was able to spread beyond the waters surrounding the city, the global impacts would be catastrophic. Before being turned into the genetic wonder substance of Rapture, it was confined to the sea slugs after they had mutated over the years of feeding upon whatever it was that was causing that strange glow at the bottom of the nearby oceanic trench. While it was true that the slugs were spreading out along the ocean floor over successive generations, it would have taken possibly hundreds of years before the rest of humanity would become aware of their existence due to the extreme ocean depth that they called home.

By then, our other companions had reached us. Turning my entire frame, I began to lead the way towards the end of the tunnel. As I did, I began to ponder what could be done about the latest revelation about ADAM mutating the local wildlife. Perhaps if we could find a way to ensure that the city was destroyed as per our current plan as well as find some way of destroying the source of the glow at the bottom of the trench, we might yet be able to prevent the spread of the nightmare of Rapture. However, it might have already become too late and it was simply a matter of time before the madness of the sunken city corrupted the Surface World.

Upon reaching the end of the tunnel, I pushed aside such thoughts. When the time came, I would deal with the problem of ensuring that the Rapture Nightmare stayed buried at the bottom of the ocean. For now, I needed to focus on getting everyone out of the city before it finally met its well-deserved demise.

I reached the end of the tunnel without incident and found nothing but the charred corpse of the fallen Leadhead Splicer that my brother had eliminated when we had first entered the tunnel while on our way to the train station. The watertight security gate opened to reveal no one inside the small room that contained the safe and the Power to the People Vending Machine. For now, at least, it seemed as though fortune was still on our side.

As I began to make my way across the room towards the security door on the opposite side, the familiar feeling of bliss entered my mind like a rolling wave as Eleanor inquired through our shared bonded, 'Tell me, Johnny, do you really expect Mister Meltzer to make much of a fighter?'

My beloved partner paused before she finished as she pointed out, 'After all, he might be younger than you and he does certainly have passion, but what could you possibly expect someone to learn in hours what took you and Papa Alpha months and years to learn? Not to mention the fact that you two are the most powerful Big Daddies in all of Rapture.'

I smiled slightly beneath my copper façade before I replied with my gruff, human voice, 'Never underestimate a father's ability and willingness to protect his daughter, Kid.'

I paused before I finished, 'Besides, I have worked with far worse.'

By then, I had reached the security door that allowed access to the decaying tunnel with the corpse that still had the abandoned shotgun and solid slug ammunition in the spot where it had last been placed before the individual's final demise. The watertight barrier opened with only the slightest amount of protest from its aged mechanisms to reveal yet another empty glass-lined path.

I had to admit that I was somewhat surprised to not see any signs of the scavengers that were trailing behind us at a distance to take advantage of the relatively easy pickings left behind in our wake. Such a practice began shortly after those of us in the Alpha Series were allowed to openly carry and wield weapons to protect our bonded Gatherers. We had soon come to learn that, while advancing forward into the relative unknown presented its own obvious risks and dangers, backtracking in Rapture was just as dangerous as the injured, ADAM-starved, or otherwise desperate Splicers had come to rely upon whatever they could loot from the fallout of our rounds of Gathering.

Upon making my way through the opening, I immediately turned to my right to look down at the corpse that was still slumped against the wall of the rubble and mud-filled tunnel just beyond the watertight bulkhead. The somewhat ornate pump-action shotgun was still where it had been previously. I motioned down towards the weapon with my left index finger and our newest companion quickly took possession of the firearm and whatever salvageable spare rounds were inside the boxes.

With the shotgun now in our possession, I was left with two courses of action. The first was to continue in the direction that we had been traveling, which would lead back to the Ferris Wheel. The second was to turn around, go back through the train station, and then enter Dionysus Park proper. The former was, of course, closer but now that our cover had seemingly been quite thoroughly blown, the more direct approach was the most appropriate. Turning around, I began to lead the way back to the train station.

As I passed in front of the Power to the People Machine, I paused for a moment. Turning to look back at the new arrival, I briefly considered if I should try to upgrade his shotgun. However, upon completely turning to look at Meltzer, I saw him slowly loading the weapon as his inexperience with the model in particular was causing him to insert the shells into the pump's hollow tube through the slot just beyond the trigger on the bottom of the frame at an awkward pace. Upon seeing this, I decided against the upgrade to the newcomer's shotgun for the time being.

While giving Meltzer's weapon an upgrade was naturally very tempting, if he was struggling with the standard version, he was likely to be much worse with a modified version due to his inexperience not allowing him to be able to wield it with as much proficiency as an experienced user. While one might think an upgrade would make using a certain weapon easier, it was actually the equivalent of handing one of those moonshine runner cars from the Prohibition to a new driver and expecting him or her to not immediately wreck the V8-powered deathtrap.

Having made up my mind, I kept moving past the Power to the People Vending Machine and back out into the glass tunnel beyond the small room that contained it. As I began to make my way back to the train station, I started to think through how I would go about facing the "Elite" forms of the Mass Production Models. Although the two upgraded models of the standard Bouncer and Rosie had not been officially cleared for Protector Duty before my death on the eve of the Civil War, I had faced off against the early prototypes that had just begun to be tested in the Proving Grounds just prior to my demise.

As I could recall, the Rosie "Elite" Models were simply more heavily armored and had a modified Rivet Gun that could fire longer without overheating. Their armor had been generally overhauled to better meet the requirements of sustained combat and had also been modified with things such as a collar to better protect the section where the diving helmet was connected to the suit as well as additional protection to the Life Support Systems along the lumbering giant's back.

Meanwhile, the Bouncer "Elite" Models actually had had two different prototype designs. One had lighter overall armor with incredibly reinforced sections that covered vital areas such as the Life Support Systems. In this regard, they were similar to the "All or Nothing" Armor layout of the last few generations of USN Battleships. The second prototype followed suit with the Rosie Elite Prototype with simply having the armor thickened and reinforced over the entire profile of the brute. There was actually a much rarer third prototype that featured the same armor of a regular Bouncer Mass Production Model but instead of a single giant drill attached to the right arm, it was armed with twin hydraulic piston-like fists attached to either arm but testing revealed that it was a logistical nightmare in terms of maintenance and practicality.

While I had personally recommended the first prototype for the Elite Bouncer as the lighter armor gave the Protector more flexibility and greater movement in combat, I was told that Ryan Industries was likely going to go with the second option as they seemed to want to continue to rely upon brute strength over versatility. Ultimately, in the end, it seemed that the only recommendation that they took from my assessments after facing off against all the prototypes in the Proving Grounds at their request was my idea for the Bouncer's standard Drill to be replaced with a more harpoon-shaped one.

As for their combat behavior, the Elite Models had the same basic approaches as their respective base counterparts aside form being more aggressive and bolder. In fact, a handful of the Elite Rosie Models had been personally tutored by Subject Alpha to be more tactically adept. According to my brother, said brutes had proven to be more flexible than he had previously thought possible for a Mass Production Unit but that they would still likely lose to a particularly experienced or aggressive Alpha Series Protector.

Upon reaching the halfway mark of the glass-lined tunnel that connected the small room in the rock outcropping and the rest of Dionysus Park, the Eleanor-controlled Little Sister remarked with a somewhat cheeky tone from where she was riding on her throne that was mounted on my back, "You aren't going to throw poor Mister Meltzer to the wolves and make him fight one of those Elites, are you Johnny?"

From behind me, I heard our newcomer ask in response, "Elites?"

Eleanor explained with her edged British-accented voice, "You know those big guys protecting me and my sisters? Well, they come in an even bigger size."

Meltzer sounded understandably nervous when he asked, "Wh…what?"

My bonded partner replied casually, "Indeed and those are the ones that we now have to kill in order to get to the Little Sisters that are harvesting in this area."

After a moment, she added with a proud tone, "Not to worry Mister Meltzer, there is no way Father would ever lose to one of those Tin Men…no matter how strong they are."

There was another paused before she added, "Besides, this is nothing. My Father once fought a giant flying Big Daddy."

Meltzer asked with a confused tone, "A...flying...Big Daddy?"

My Master replied, "Indeed, it was when..."

I remained silent as the conversation continued. Despite Eleanor's boasting, I actually was rather on edge as I thought about the upcoming clashes with the Elite Mass Production Models. While I was certain that nothing could defeat the monster Subject Delta, I was not so certain about the safety of anyone unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire. At least for the first encounter, it would likely be for the best if Meltzer was merely an observer. He could watch and try to get the idea of what it took to bring down one of the most powerful denizens of the sunken city that had taken Cindy from him. While the newcomer was indeed a mere human being and would never be able to be one the same level as my brethren, he would at least come to understand the reality of what it took to do more than merely survive in Rapture.

By then, I had reached the repurposed ticket booth turned storage area that was just before the train station. If fortune remained on our side, the hacked Sentry Turret had been doing its job and, thus, there would not be any Splicers waiting for us. Sure enough, when I stepped through the watertight security door, I found the machine gun-wielding device waiting where it was facing in the opposite direction of us mounted to the tiled floor just to the left of the train directory just beyond the doorway. The jerry-rigged device that was essentially a conglomerate of spare parts surrounding an M1919 Browning 30. Caliber Machine Gun gave off a brief clicking noise before its hacked "brain" recognized us as friendly targets and held its fire as it went back into standby mode.

I took a few steps before I first bent down onto right armored knee and then placed the open palm of my gauntlet-encased left hand onto the closest patch of green algae-covered white tile. I paused for a moment and waited for the telltale sensation that I needed to track down my latest objective. The good thing about the city of Rapture being primarily contained inside of the iconic towering skyscraper-like buildings was that said buildings, from their outer casing to their inner structures, were mostly constructed out of metal and, more specifically, they were made out of aluminum. While not as efficient at allowing vibrations to travel along its length as some other metals, aluminum did still allow said vibrations to travel fairly long distances if they were strong enough. If the aforementioned vibrations were indeed strong enough, they could travel from one end of the giant buildings to the other. One just had to be patient and persistent enough to trace the source upstream in order to find it.

Meanwhile, Meltzer was asking, "What is he doing?"

My bonded partner began to respond but was cut off as Jennifer explained, "Are you familiar with Tuning Forks, Mister Meltzer?"

With a confused tone, the newcomer replied, "Y...yes."

The Elite Big Sister explained, "It is essentially the same idea. Sound waves are not the only thing that can travel a long distance."

After a moment, I was able to feel a slight but still noticeable rhythmic vibration coming from the direction of the main area of Dionysus Park to my right. The pattern of impact tremors was unmistakably that of one of the lumbering Tin Men. However, the vibrations were too far away for me to be able to pick up on any subtle telltale signs of specifically what Elite Mass Production Model we were dealing with at the moment.

As I stood up, my helmet's short wave radio crackled to life. Moments later, the modified Alpha Series voice of Subject Sigma filled the air as he informed me with repeated grunts, "Sir, I have succeeded in reaching the inner section of Minerva's Den. I am currently attempting to gain access to The Thinker's Inner Core. Once I do, I can take control of Rapture's automated systems and retrieve the code printout so we can rebuild The Think on the Surface."

I briefly smiled beneath my armored façade at the news of my brother's progress and then grunted in response, "Copy that, Sigma. We have reached Dionysus Park but are now having to run an errand for an old friend."

My brother remarked, "Understood. I will contact you again once I have entered the Core."

My radio powered back down moments later. I could not help but let out a low grunt. While I had utmost trust in my brother, I just hoped that he realized the importance of the success of his mission. While reaching Eleanor and reestablishing our bond was vital in the short run, it would be the success of Tenenbaum and Subject Sigma in securing a cure for ADAM Sickness that would ultimately allow us to be free from Rapture's grip in the long run. Not to mention that so long as The Thinker remained active and continued to regulate the automated systems of the fallen city, the sinking metropolis would continue to cling to life.

Even in its badly deteriorated state, the damage that the Big Sisters that had joined our cause would not be enough. The only surefire way to ensure that Rapture would finally meet its end and no long pose a threat to the surface would be to deactivate The Thinker and force the remainder of the city to drown in the absence of its life-sustaining automated systems. To achieve success, timing would be everything. For the time being, however, I needed to focus on hunting down the active Little Ones in Dionysus Park. Raising my Industrial-Grade Drill up at the ready and with my gauntlet-encased left hand covered with dancing arcs of genetic electricity, I began to make my way towards the main entrance to the park.

However, as I did, I was suddenly overcome by an all too familiar sensation.

"Hello again, Mister Topside."

Turning back to face in the direction of the train car, I saw the ghostly image of a much younger Eleanor standing on the platform as my former human self exited a now nonexistent train. I was wearing a simple short sleeve cotton shirt that exposed my sun-tortured arms, ankle length pants, and a pair of worn boots. Meanwhile, the ever inquisitive young Lamb was wearing a simple dress with a knee-length skirt and matching shoes.

With no luggage or belongs to my name, my former self approached Eleanor as I gave her a small, polite smile in return. As I closed to within two or three steps of the much smaller young brunette, she gave me a shallow bow while she lifted both sides of her skirt with her tiny, doll-like hands as she gave me an overly formal greeting with her British-accented voice, "Welcome to Dionysus Park."

My former human self smiled as warmly as my weathered face could allow and then replied, "Good to see you again, Kid."

The ghostly figures ceased to exist moments later along with the sensation that accompanied them.

I remembered that encounter quite well. It was the day that I had arrived in Dionysus Park. Sofia had been too busy with her patients to personally meet me at the station upon my arrival and, thus, it had instead been Eleanor that had been waiting for me. However, later, I had learned that her mother had intended for one of her employees to be there but her mischievous daughter had tricked and locked said employee inside of a janitor's closet in order to meet me once again.

In hindsight, it was almost ironic how Sofia had been doing everything in her power to both use me to ruffle Ryan's feathers and to also simultaneously keep Eleanor from getting too close to me. At first, the elder Lamb did everything she could think of to keep her daughter from spending time with me. However, when the futility of her efforts had become apparent, Sofia had actually decided to let Eleanor indulge in her interest in both me and the world at the surface for a time. If I had to guess what the psychiatrist's reasoning was, I would have to say that perhaps she believed that it was just a phase that her daughter was going through and, by letting her indulge in it, Eleanor would eventually tire of it and then refocus on the world that Rapture had to offer.

Casting aside such thoughts, I began to make my way towards the opening in the gate surrounding the train station that would all access to the main entrance to Dionysus Park. As I did, I scolded myself for allowing myself to keep being distracted by my former life. After all, in the end, my former human identity no longer meant as much as being my beloved master's Big Daddy Protector.

However, before I could continue forward, the Eleanor-controlled Little Sister remarked with her beautiful, enchanting voice, "Yes...Mother always thought that my interest in The Surface was either just a phase or some adolescent attempt to rebel against her."

My beloved Master paused for a moment and then finished, "Johnny...I do not know how many times I will have to say this before it sinks in: You were the greatest thing that this hellhole ever gave me...and do not ever forget it."

The remains of my former human self's mouth briefly curled into a smile beneath my worn copper and glass face before I grunted in response as I continued forward, "Likewise, El...and don't you ever forget it."

For now, my objective was to deal with the Gathering Pairs that had entered Dionysus Park. While I hated the idea of putting one of the Little Ones in harm's way and killing her guardian in front of her, in this case, I had little choice. The only real consolation that there was to be had in this situation was that the precious angel would likely be forgiving once she realized who it was that had cut down the lumbering giant that had been protecting her. In addition, it was a perfect opportunity for our newcomer to learn how to, or at least attempt to, take down one of the biggest threats in all of Rapture.

I grunted for my beautiful charge to hold on before I then slowly lowered my heavily built frame down onto my armored left knee. Reaching out with my gauntlet-encased, gloved left hand, I placed it on the mud and silt-covered floor of the train station before finally simply waiting for the telltale vibration to confirm that our target was indeed still in the direction that we were going and also to confirm that the Tin Man that I was currently tracking was still indeed the closest one. Even through the thick metal and canvas skin of my hand, I was soon able to feel a faint but noticeably more pronounced tremor that was originating in the direction of the main area of Dionysus Park that was beyond the slain body of the Houdini Splicer that had been dispatched by Emily.

After slowly standing back upright, I raised my modified Industrial-grade Mining Drill at the ready as I also raised my now blue electrical arc-surrounded, gauntlet-encased left hand up with my ported digits pointed out in front of me and then began to make my way in the direction of my latest target. Directly before me loomed the once ornate gold-plated columns that framed the two gated entrances to the park from the train station. After years of being submerged, the gold plating was now only partially visible from beneath the overgrowth that had slowly been taking over its surface. Above the columns were the thick bars of the security gate that stretched from the top of the columns all the way to the tiled ceiling approximately twenty to twenty-five feet above the floor below it. As I made my way through the leftmost open gate, I noticed the now algae-covered banner that was still hanging directly above the gates that read in uppercase, white, printed letters with the first two words above the bottom two words, "Dionysus Park Opening Gala."

Beyond the gate, the path turned into an "L"-shaped hallway with the long section running from the two gates down approximately forty yards to the left past the now algae-covered windows of the ticket booth for the park, which extended out from the wall that was the left of the gate that I had just passed through approximately five feet out into the hallway, before making a ninety degree turn back towards the train station and continued on for a distance that I could not see from my current vantage point. An El Ammo Bandito Vending Machine was against the rear most wall of the protruding ticket booth but, except for another glowing orange bioluminescent plant growing out of the mud covered floor in the far back left corner of the hallway, there was nothing of any substantial note in the hallway.

Directly before me was the massive weight-bearing wall beyond the train station that effectively served as the exterior of the inner "shell" of the section of Dionysus Park around The Promenade. Equally massive steel trusses were placed along the thick reinforced concrete monster from where they originated from the train station behind me. Aside from a layer of dark green muck covering its surface, the vital wall otherwise appeared to be in relatively good condition. Directly in the center of the structure, slightly off to my left, was the approximately five foot wide by twelve foot tall entrance to the next area of the path towards The Promenade. The ornate steel bar gate that once effortlessly raised and lowered from the very top of the black column-accented rectangular entrance down to the floor was now seized in place approximately five feet down from the top.

I had never agreed with how the designers had chosen to install an aesthetically pleasing but ultimately useless gate at such a vital point when a thick watertight security barrier could have been installed as a kind of last-ditch effort to save the train station and any potential patrons that might have been located there at the time of a catastrophic water breach. The wall itself was made out of thick, rebar-reinforced concrete that was more than capable of handling the stress of a watertight door holding back a flooding event for long enough for at least one train to be filled with passengers and then depart before the pressure overwhelmed the barrier either through the hatch itself or through joints of the track mounted into the perimeter of the rectangular entrance.

Mounted into the middle of the wall approximately ten yards to the left from the entrance before me was a large, illuminated display of the Atlantic Express's progress through Rapture and Dionysus Park's place in the route. According to the still functional green lights of the vaguely "Z"-shaped path on the display, we were now at the second to last stop and, thus, only one station away from our ultimate destination of Fontaine Futuristics at the edge of the city's limits.

Directly to the right of the entrance, there were four black signs placed in a vertically-descending line with the bottom one being a simple leftward facing white and yellow arrow and the top three reading, in order from the top to the bottom, in uppercase, white and yellow ornate printed letters, "The Promenade," "Triton Cinema," and finally, "Piano Bar." Approximately five yards from the signs further down to the right, mounted in the center of the wall, was a large rectangular, framed, muck-covered advertisement for the Telekinesis Plasmid. Below the advertisement was a cylindrical trashcan with two slimly benches on either side of it that were both now partially buried in thick greenish grey mud. In the middle of the far right wall at the very end of the hallway was a now barely legible advertisement for the Atlantic Express. Finally, and in contrast to the still intact wall before me, there was a waterfall coming from a rather significant crack in the ceiling just to the right of the gate that I had just passed through.

Making my way towards the open entrance to the next section of the path to The Promenade, I once again idly contemplated how I was going to combat the Elite Mass Production Model that was awaiting me. While I had little to no respect for the Tin Men and I knew that I had more than enough power and strength to defeat one in a direct fight regardless of whether it was an Elite Bouncer or Elite Rosie Model, I had to at least try to show Meltzer what it took to take down on of the lumbering brutes. Our latest addition to the group was, at least physically, a standard run-to-the-mill human being. Meanwhile, I was a heavily armored and heavily built Alpha Series Big Daddy Protector. I was essentially a purpose-built living weapon that was engineered with the sole purpose of killing anything that dared to threaten my beloved Master.

However, even though realistically there was only so much Meltzer could do in his current state, I could see the potential in him to at least become someone capable of defending his daughter Cindy against the nightmarish arena that was the fallen city of Rapture. For now, however, as I had started to believe the last time that I had thought about it, at least for the first encounter with an Elite Mass Production Model, it was probably best to simply have him be an observer so that he could get a demonstration of what to expect moving forward.

By that time, I had reached the small area beyond the opening. The space between the train station and the security door that led to the staircase that traveled up to the main entrance to The Promenade was a rectangular room that was approximately thirty-five yards long by twenty yards wide. There were three black columns running along the left and right walls with one column in the front and back corners and a singular column halfway down along the length of the wall. The columns were designed to resemble individual rectangular sections that had been stacked up out towards the observer with a wide base that narrowed to a single stack at the outermost point of the column.

The ceiling was divided into three sections with the outer two sections effectively being only approximately nine feet above the floor while the center section that dominated the majority of the total ceiling area was approximately twenty feet above the floor. Two metal trusses ran underneath the outer edge of the two low sections of the ceiling that traveled all the way to the far wall to then turn downwards to connect with the support bases that were embedded in the floor on either side of the ornate watertight security door in the middle of the far wall.

Directly to the left of the opening to the room, there was a Securis watertight door bulkhead. However, whether from years of being submerged or from debris thrown up during the catastrophic flood of Dionysus Park all those years ago, the bulkhead was buried nearly up to its gears in mud. In addition, there was a bench that had been forced up against the middle of the barrier by the power of the water that had claimed the area of Rapture for nearly a decade. The remaining sections of the left and right walls between the columns were dominated by three rectangular framed advertisements with one for Kashmir's Restaurant being on the left and one for Fontaine Futuristics and then finally one for Dionysus Park on the right. Meanwhile, there were multiple benches placed along the left and right wall for visitors to sit down and wait for their train to arrive.

The waterlogged room was covered with overgrowth with multiple patches of bioluminescent plants growing out of the mud-covered floor and more than five different stalks of giant kelp growing down from the central section of the ceiling. The only area that had seemingly been sparred from the ravages of being submerged for years was the area in the center of the room where the large, double-sided metal rectangular display for the train schedule was still upright on top of its short metal base. According to the display, of the eight scheduled destinations that were along the network, the first one was delayed while the third, fourth, seventh, and eighth were outright cancelled. Only the 11:30 slot for Dionysus Park, the 12:35 slot for Ryan Amusements, and the 1:00 slot for Fontaine Court were still apparently expecting the train to arrive on time.

Making my way towards the security bulkhead at the far end of the room, I only idly took note of the large Sun-shaped metal decoration that was mounted into the concrete wall above the bulkhead. Back in my former life, the tedious task of polishing the ridiculous number of metal surfaces in Dionysus Park was usually pushed off onto the newer or less capable members of the Maintenance Crew while I was usually left to handle the harder tasks. However, I was occasionally required to step in and offer a helping hand with polishing aforementioned metal surfaces. As such, part of me was slightly disheartened to see that all of our time and effort had ultimately been for nothing when the park met its demise along with the rest of the city around it.

Despite the fact that the watertight door of the bulkhead was closed upon reaching it, I saw that a steady stream of water was flowing through the seam at the bottom of the split, double door-style barrier. Yet again, it was another drawback of using something that was aesthetically pleasing rather than something that was heavy duty and reliable. It was truly a tragedy that Sofia had eventually realized that the flaws in her home's design were as serious as I was telling her and that she had only just authorized and secured the finances to have the work on replacing the unreliable security measures with proper, hardy ones started shortly before her imprisonment.

Judging by what I had thus far seen, the work might have completely halted after I was handed over to Ryan and his thugs by Poole. In truth, even with all the security measures changed out, Lamb's little experiment was always a tragedy waiting to happen from the very beginning. Once again, the more I delved into the design of Dionysus Park, the more I had a suspicion that Ryan might have "asked" for the designers to purposely build in as many flaws as possible in the hopes that an unfortunate accident conveniently silenced Sofia and her growing following completely and, thus, rid his city of someone that he viewed as a "Collectivist".

My mind was briefly filled with the all too familiar feeling of pure bliss as I heard my beloved partner comment through our Pair Bond, "You have to admit that it was always rather entertaining to watch how Mother always got under Ryan's skin. She never even had to try hard to make him squirm."

I let out a brief grunt-like laugh in agreement as I moved to move through the security gate. The source of the water became know the moment that the barrier opened to reveal the staircase beyond it. The approximately fifty-yard-long by ten-yard-wide rectangular room beyond the bulkhead that housed the pair of stairs that led up to the entrance to the massive room beyond it had two separate massive rivers of water flowing down from a extensive crack in the middle of the ceiling directly before the railing of the landing at the very top of the twin sets of stairs. One of the rivers of water was flowing down the leftmost staircase while the second had cut a channel down the center of the room. Both were collecting near the bottom of the stairs beneath the metal sign of "Dionysus Park" that was mounted on the outward side of the railing that ran along the edge of the first landing of the flights of stairs approximately ten yards from where I was currently standing in the middle of the open bulkhead.

The white marble of the once ornate stairs was only truly visible on the leftmost flight of stairs due to fact that the surface of the rightmost flight was covered with rubble-filled mud along almost its entire length. Barnacles covered nearly every square inch of the right wall while only the surface of the two vertical windows that were mounted into left wall at approximately eye level for anyone walking up and down the leftmost flight of stairs was spared from the tiny crustaceans along the left wall. The tiled ceiling, aside from the massive crack near the top landing, was still otherwise mostly undamaged but it did have multiple stalks of giant kelp handing down at several locations along its length. Bioluminescent plants and oyster shells covered the majority of the first landing while bright orange plants dotted the corners of the top landing.

The only real item of note in the entire room was a full, glowing blue EVE Syringe that was sitting partially buried in the mud beneath the Dionysus Park sign. Using my Telekinesis Plasmid, I willed the object into the air and then moved it so that it was visible above my right shoulder to the members of my party behind me.

As the almost comically oversized syringe continued to float in midair, the Eleanor-controlled Little Sister explained to Meltzer with her beautiful accented voice, "ADAM is what rewrites DNA and grants a person god-like powers, Mister Meltzer, but…excluding Gene Tonics, EVE is what allows that person to use them. Think of it like a battery."

I heard the newcomer give an affirmative, "I see," in response to my Master's explanation.

After a pause, Eleanor continued, "Alpha Series Big Daddies like my Father have a built-in intravenous system that automatically replenishes the EVE in their bodies. However, your typical Splicer will simply manually inject the EVE into their body…usually in the arm…to replenish it in their bodies. It is this Achilles Heel that can save your life if you find yourself cornered by one using Plasmids. Simply wait for the fool to have to take out one of these and either use that opening to use your weapon or to make a run for it."

After injecting the bright blue substance into the IV Port along my left arm to replenish my EVE Reserve Tank, I casually discarded the empty Hypo and then began to ascend the left flight of stairs to make my way towards the security door at the far end of the room. Upon reaching the top landing, I saw the small rectangular black sign above the ornate watertight bulkhead that had, in uppercase white letters, the name of the large room just beyond it, "The Promenade".

Upon making my way through the security door, the sight of the literal football field-sized room greeted me. However, despite the truly beautiful splendor of The Promenade with its large statue of two women reaching for the sky with their outstretched left arms, the two parallel rows of ceiling high columns, and the still somehow intact glass arcs that formed the ceiling of the room, at the moment, I did not have time to truly appreciate the details of the space. After descending the short flight of white marble stairs beyond the entrance to the room, I stopped at the closest section of floor that was clear enough to once again feel for vibrations.

This time, upon placing my gloved left hand on the ground, I felt far stronger tremors that appeared to be originating to my left in the direction of the branching path that led towards the Triton Theater. The strength of the vibrations was enough to indicate that our target was no doubt in the theater. Fortune seemed to be on our side at the moment as the theater only had the singular, dead end path that allowed access to it. The Tin Man was essentially cornered before we had even started to close in for the kill. Thus, this fight was actually going to be fairly straight forward without the need to lure the lumbering giant into a trap.

Wanted to take advantage of our lucky break, I stood back upright and then began to swiftly make my way towards the path to the left of the entrance to The Promenade that, as indicated by the faded green letters above the ornate archway that surrounded the open bulkhead that had been cut into the left wall of the room, was the path that led towards the theater. Due to my haste, I only vaguely took note of the massive split in the ceiling just beyond the archway that was letting a literal waterfall flow down onto the mud-covered floor at my feet as I moved towards the ninety degree right turn approximately five yards past the beginning of the branching path to our destination.

As I made it to the turn, I only casually noted the muck-covered statue of a wolf that was facing towards me from its spot at the end of a pile of rubble in the center of the path just beyond the turn. A Little Sister Vent was visible on the right wall across from the pile of rubble that appeared to be in relatively good condition compared to some of the others that we had thus far seen.

My attention was immediately drawn to the far end of the sixty-yard-long by twenty-yard-wide path. There, just in front of the now visible exterior of the front of the theater, just beyond a second identical statue of a wolf, was a Spider Splicer that, for some bewildering reason, was hunched over a Security Turret.

The denizen only had enough time to let out a short, confused cry before the turret activated upon sensing my presence and revealed itself to be a Rocket Turret as it fired its payload point blank into the Splicer. The payload of the heatseeking rocket was more than enough to literally blow the tall, gangly individual into a cloud of flesh and green-tinted blood that flew unceremoniously in my vague direction for a few feet before landing around the area of the pile of rubble.

Moving quickly before the turret could reload, I willed a blast of Electro Bolt from the ported digits of my gauntlet-encased left hand into the vulnerable machine. A cloud of bright blue electrical arcs danced around the cobbled-together sentry as my strike temporarily disabled it long enough for Subject Alpha to fire a Hack Rivet into it to permanently pacify the turret. With the threat neutralized, we were finally able to make our way to the entrance of the theater at the end of the path.

Upon reaching our destination, I stopped just front of the now long abandoned glass-walled ticket booth in the middle of the large open entrance to the cinema. I then turned my entire body to face back towards my companions. With the Eleanor-controlled Little Sister translating for me, I instructed Meltzer with my grunt-like Alpha Series Big Daddy voice, "I want you to hang back and simply observe this time. Stay near Jennifer and do your best to not draw any attention from the Tin Man. The dumb brutes are harmless so long as you do not attack them or endanger the Little One in its care. So, as long as you are a safe distance away and do not participate in the fight, you will not be in too much danger."

I paused and then continued, "Jennifer, I want you to stay with Meltzer and simply keep the Elite from leaving the theater. Do not engage unless you are forced to...I need our new friend to see just how dangerous these kinds of fights are and you would simply kill the Tin Man too quickly for him to get a good idea."

The Elite Big Sister was clearly not thrilled with being put on the sidelines as she curtly replied with her animalistic yet mechanical sounding voice, "Fine…but you better find a way to make this up to me, Papa Delta."

As the armored predator moved towards the middle-aged man, she remarked, "Do exactly as I say, old man…one wrong move and a Big Daddy will rip you apart."

From where she was riding on her throne on Subject Alpha's back, the Emily-controlled Little Sister tried to reassure the now noticeably nervous Mark Meltzer with her familiar sounding but also mysterious accented voice, "Do not worry, Monsieur Meltzer. You are in the company of the best that Rapture has to offer. You will be perfectly safe."

However, despite the Alpha Series Gatherer's assurances, the newcomer was still visibly nervous about the upcoming fight.

I glanced over at my brother, who, in response, simply remarked, "Got your back, sir."

With time being of the essence, I turned back to face the entrance of the theater and then began to make my way inside. Having been inside the cinema numerous times during my previous life, I only vaguely noted the now flooded area around the concession stand that was past the ticket booth between said booth and the bottom floor seating area in front of the literally wall-sized projection screen. To my surprise, most of the bottles of cola and snacks were still in their proper places on the shelves of the stand despite having been submerged for years.

Once I had dealt with the Tin Man, there would be time to return and properly investigate the flooded area around the concession stand. However, as I could see that there was nothing relevant to the upcoming battle, I simply continued forward towards the seating area in front of me. Beyond the concession stand was the hallway that flanked the seating area and allowed access to the second floor of the theater.

Two watertight security doors were on either side of the stand. As I approached the right door, I heard the unmistakable whale-like call of a Mass Production Model coming from somewhere just beyond it. I instinctually tightened my grip on the controls of my Industrial-grade Mining Drill as I continued forward in the direction of the Fake Protector's call as the anticipation began to swell through my mind. The lumbering brute was no doubt just past the door before me.

As the watertight barrier opened, my target was almost immediately visible inside the seating area near the platform at the very bottom of the downward sloping room that housed the projection screen. There was no doubt about the identity of the Elite Model that was moments away from being my opponent. The brute's once likely vibrant white and red coloration had since deteriorated to a dark grey with red trim coloration but the telltale reinforced collar and harpoon-shaped Drill Bit were a clear indication that this Tin Man was an Elite Bouncer Model.

Mere moments after I had first set eyes on my target, my helmet's built-in shortwave radio powered to life. The annoyingly timid voice of Stanley Poole began to come from my radio as the former reporter remarked, "There she is…the lil' tyke wants to be in pictures. Real cute. Now get rid of the muscle and deal with her."

As my radio powered down, I motioned with my gauntlet-encased left hand for my brother to enter the seating area on the left before then making my way towards the right side entrance. The veteran Protector silently followed my order and we prepared to begin our attack on the lone Mass Production Model.