Chapter 31: The Lamb, the Saviours and the Scientist.

Disclaimer: Hey would you look at that, a new chapter and a new disclaimer. Alas I own nothing that you recognise and probably some of the stuff you don't. I'm just playing in the playground of ideas and fanfiction until I get told to stop

"They're both gone." Dumbledore was the first to speak as the two professors reached the bottom of the stairs, they had been barely a minute behind Harry, both of them realising just what Elizabeth would do and Harry would no doubt follow after her.

"It looks that way. I guess now all we can do is wait and hope both of them return... and then kill them both for being so stubborn and stupid." Bathsheda agreed with a shake of her head, feeling a bit of guilt at her own actions leaving Elizabeth alone when she was so obviously troubled and not pushing harder to find out the truth. Then the follow up, leaving Harry to walk alone to find her knowing that if she was going to leave then he would dive in after her. "You two better be alright. If not, I'll learn necromancy just so I can kill you for putting me through this." She muttered jokingly to herself as she made her way back to her office.

In another time and place, the boy in question was having second thoughts. Looking around at the devastation and the damage done to the city, he knew almost immediately that he was in over his head. slowly walking, small bits of rubble crunching under his feet as he did, he took a moment to look around and admire what it must have looked like when it was in prime condition. "How could they let this happen?" He asked a chill in the air, mist forming from his breath as he walked.

But he already knew the answer. Elizabeth had explained and much.

ADAM and EVE.

It caused the residents to tear the city apart. They were controlled and manipulated by two people in charge and now it looked like they were still doing it. He sat on the edge of a table, looking at the area that he had arrived in. It looked like the entrance for an amusement park. bodies littered the floor, the door to the main park stood shut before him and the other way had iced over. Walking over towards the door he saw a Machine on the side of the wall next to the door with writing asking for a ticket. "To go in there, I need to find a ticket. To go back that way, I need something to remove the frost." He weighed his options, taking another look around the room he saw another doorway with a Private and Employee Only sign on it. Perhaps there was something in there that could remove the frost or perhaps allow him to progress into the park to find something.

But at the same time, he was mentally kicking himself.

He may not know how to conjure fire on a big enough scale to melt the ice, but he did know another way to get through.

The exact same way that he got here in the first place.

Walking over to the door he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and pulling forth images from the back of his mind. This ability responded to what he wanted when he took the time to think and picture. In an infinite number of Raptures there was a door that could open, it didn't have to be new, it didn't have to be well maintained all he had to do was bring it through and replace the frozen over one with a door that will open. He paused though as he pictured the door opening, the people who had no doubt walked through it over the years, happy smiling faces on the way to the amusement park to enjoy their free time. Children with their parents and others out with their friends and loved ones.

Pushing the images away he focused on just the door. He didn't want to risk pulling anyone through. with a crack echoing in the air he opened his eyes and smiled as a door, new as the day it was made started to open up in front of him.

Tink, Tink, Tink.

Harry froze, the sound of metal digging into something and he spun, wand in hand looking for whatever enemy could possibly be out there.

Nothing.

Nothing except the bodies and broken fountain that had decorated the centre of the room. "It's got to be the cogs of the mechanism." Harry said trying to calm himself as he turned back around walking towards the sign that advertised the transit station up ahead. "Where are you Elizabeth?" He asked, he had wanted to open a tear straight to Elizabeth but without knowing enough of Rapture, without knowing where she had gone, he didn't know where to open the tear to. Instead he had opened a tear into Rapture and was hoping that he had chosen the right one. Remembering how Elizabeth had explained it seeming almost like Wish fulfilment to an extent all he did when he opened the tear here was to open it to the Rapture that Elizabeth went to find the information.

Tink, Tink, Tink.

Further down the corridor and he heard the sound again, spinning around, the door was still wide open so it couldn't have been the mechanism. So, what was the noise and where was it coming from? He looked around, paying closer attention as the noise got louder. Were they invisible? He shot a spell in the direction that he thought the noise was coming from, but it just travelled harmlessly through the air into the wall. Frowning he stopped and closed his eyes, listening as it got closer until it stopped.

Right above him.

He opened his eyes, looking up, his breath catching in the back of his throat as he saw a man hanging from the ceiling by hooks held in both hands and feet, his face scarred and twisted into a horrible grin as he looked down at Harry. Quickly he realised what it must have been, a Splicer. The man dropped down with a feral shout and Harry dove to the side barely avoiding him as he hit the ground, bouncing back up with speed that surprised the young wizard. He pointed his wand, the disarming curse on the tip of his lips when his eyes widened as the man threw one of the hooks at him. He dodged to the side, the blade slicing into the edge of his robe cutting the fabric just below his shoulder and dropping to the floor with a dull clang. The splicer went for another throw and Harry reacted faster, the disarming spell slipping from his lips catching the Splicer in the chest launching him back, the hooks flying off into the corridor away from the man.

"Remember Harry, the key thing to realise at least at this point in your life, you're not going to be magically superior to anyone you duel against except perhaps some of the students in this school." Flitwick spoke during one of the pauses between their evening lessons. He had been turning up since Halloween after the attacks both on Blaise and Elizabeth. Flitwick had agreed to help him and had deemed his magical core stable enough. But he was keeping it light for now, to help him learn the basics and also give him some tips on duelling. "Your key asset is your speed. It doesn't matter if you can cast the most powerful shields if you don't need to. Conserve your magic and just sidestep when you need to, and you'll throw many magic users off guard."

"You're not worthy of the Lamb!" The Splicer cried out as he jumped back to his feet with grace that belied his broken appearance. Harry froze for a second, hearing the words shouted. The Splicer took advantage of that distraction and closed the distance quickly, Harry had enough time to bring his arms up to absorb some of the initial impact as he was barrelled over.

Running on instinct and years of playground scraps with Dudley and his gang, he knew he couldn't fight the Splicer in a fair fight, so he went with option B. Never fight fair with someone who outclassed you. The man held him down a rictus grin on his face stretched out by the disfigurements as his hands clenched around Harry's throat, he gasped for breath as he struggled to break the grip slightly to adjust position. The Splicer loomed over him, "You're gonna get the voices out!" He said loudly, spittle splashing across his glasses and face. Harry winced in pain, spots starting to appear in his vision as he struggled to breath.

He had one shot at this

Or he was going to end up just like the others in Rapture.

One more corpse among a city of thousands.

He slammed his leg up right between the Splicers legs. The man released his grip, falling to the side clutching his groin in pain as he spoke out, gasping in pain. "It hurts! The treatment hurts!" He gasped out as Harry quickly pushed some distance between the two, choking for breath as he grabbed his wand wishing he knew some more offensive spells to use in this situation. The Splicer started to pick himself up, muttering something that he couldn't hear, and Harry did the only sensible thing in this situation.

He ran.

Running away from the Splicer down the corridor towards the transit system, he hoped that whatever was there could either secure himself from the threat or get out as fast as possible.

Tink, Tink, Tink.

Again, that sound but this was coming from other directions. There was a sound of metal hitting the ground and Harry spun to see a grate falling over. glancing up he saw another of the Splicers crawling out. "It was quiet... but then..." The Splicer said as it creeped out of the vent before continuing its movement across the ceiling.

"This is not how I thought it would start." Harry muttered to himself, turning around a corner, struggling to keep his feet as he slipped on a patch of ice, dropping to one knee briefly before pushing himself back up and darting through a door at the end of the corridor as he heard the sound of two more people talking. He turned as it started closing and watched as the Splicers started running at it. Firing off a spell to lock the door he paused with bated breath as he waited to see if it held properly on the door.

"I just wanted to talk! That's all I wanted! I just wanted to talk God damn it!" One of the splicers cried out, he could hear them banging on the door.

"Open up! Come on, is anybody home?!" The voice of the first Splicer cried out sadly, before the banging from that Splicer died away, "You'll be back, when I close my eyes you always come back." He said loudly causing a shiver to run down Harry's spine.

The last, a female voice spoke out, her voice reminding him slightly of his Aunt Petunia as she cried out. "You'll open up if you know what's good for you!" She screeched, the sound of what must have been the metal claws that they held banging on the door. "You're not deaf! I know you're there!"

He stepped away from the door satisfied that it wasn't going to open and let out a sigh of relief. "Can this get any worse?" He asked quietly hoping to all deities that could possibly exist that the answer was no. Turning around he felt the urge to curse and curse badly. There, the figure that Bathsheda had spoken of, a woman in a modified diving suit was standing, looking down at him, her head tilted as if she was studying him intently, but with a yellow light from the window that would have shown her face he was unable to see what her actual facial expression was. She leaned closer to him and he flinched back away from her. She made a noise, not to dissimilar to nails on a chalk board as she reached for him.

Smacking the hand away, Harry moved away from her. She screeched and the light turned red. Harry tried to get away, but something ripped him off his feet, an invisible force lifting him in the air. He spun, struggling to keep himself upright before he was thrown, sent flying through the air crashing into the wall, his head hitting it with a sickening thud. His vision blurred as he slumped to the ground, he tried to raise his wand or do anything to move but everything started going dark for him as a gloved hand reached out to grab him.

HPCVHPCV

Everything came back to Rapture now. Everything about her past was becoming more and more tied to this city.

The Lamb will set them free.

Free from what? what did they expect her to do? Elizabeth walked through the familiar corridor that she had returned Bathsheda from, her arms folded as she tried to think. She had hoped to be gone from this place permanently. To never return and pretend if possible that it didn't exist. But now Rapture kept digging its claws in to her mind. Whether it was the Rapture that she was forever locked out of or now this place. This mirror of what could have been, the signage of the Lamb had thrown her. It had to be a coincidence, at least that's what she kept telling herself in the back of her mind. a variable that just happened to align, a name given to someone they were grooming for whatever their goal was. "We'd all be better off, us DeWitt's..." She muttered softly in the silence of the corridor.

"If we could leave well enough alone." A voice from her past whispered in the back of her mind. She stopped, knowing instantly it was her subconscious playing tricks on her. At her lowest point, her mind had helped keep itself on target by bringing Booker to the forefront and acting as a calming voice. Talking to her as if he was there. Even if it had repeatedly reminded her that it wasn't booker it had proven to be comforting and helpful. A sounding board for her ideas and allowing her to connect puzzle pieces that she wouldn't have thought of before.

But then it had abandoned her. When she had wished for death, practically begged Atlas to lobotomise her. Booker, her father and Booker her mental projection were gone. Dead and forgotten by all except her. "It's not far from here, I can get the Transit station and head straight for Hephaestus. If anyone is controlling this city they'll be there in some shape or form." She said quietly. It was where Ryan had the Genetic Key, his office was there and everything else had to be controlled through that office. She stopped at the body of a Splicer. taking a moment to study him. "He died recently." She said, looking at the pool of blood that he was in. "Is that because we escaped?" She asked as she knelt down, prying the revolver from his hand and quickly checking his body for any unspent ammo. It wouldn't be the first time the Splicers had turned on each other when their actual target had disappeared. "I have no Air Grabber here, I don't think it even exists in this timeline, at least it shouldn't. Which means," She paused very briefly as she looked at the gun in her hands, it felt cold and heavy and if she was going to be honest she still didn't want to use it. "if I come across any Splicer it's going to either be magic or guns. Both don't exactly lead to subtlety." A slight splash caught her attention and she turned; gun already raised to fire off a shot. But it was nothing, a little bit of water dropping down into another puddle. "I haven't had to pay attention and listen to everything like this in a while." She muttered darkly. "If I'm not careful I'm going to put a hole in the glass and flood Rapture even more." She said, holstering the weapon and continuing her walking. "First things first. Find the woman who helped us... She sounded familiar... I think." She hesitated, memories of her time in Rapture before everything went wrong were a blur. Bits and pieces stuck, and others crept back into her memory when she tried too hard to recall but most of it just fell out of her grasp. With the only sound in the corridor being the dripping of water and the clicking of her shoe on the ground as she walked. She stopped at a picture on the wall. Promoting the "great minds of Rapture." She read the text aloud looking at the people portrayed. "I know some of these. Ryan is easy to tell from the rest. Still can't decide whether or not he knows how to smile" She muttered looking at the stern man with the sharp moustache that looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there. "There's Suchong and Cohen." She muttered glancing between two men, remembering her dealings with both of them, Cohen, acting as his muse. Performing for him in exchange for information. She remembered his other muses, her skin crawling as she did, they had been creeps and that was putting it lightly.

"But those three... one of them has to be Tenenbaum but I don't know, I remember her voice from before, but she had disappeared by the time it all happened." She stopped, remembering the accented voice that she had listened to over audio diaries when she had been searching for the Ace for Atlas. The German scientist had fled rather than get caught up in Atlas's machinations any more than she already had. "The other is that woman we spoke to before, the one currently running the show. Even in this photo she looks like she knows something the others don't. But who was she? And this guy here..." She pointed at the last man, there was something about him that didn't sit right with Elizabeth. dressed in a similar suit to Suchong, she wondered if he was another scientist. One that she hadn't come across during her time. "Whoever she is, she's just as dangerous. To survive this long in Rapture, to survive both Ryan and Fontaine and then when Fontaine faked his death and returned as Atlas as well. The woman either was one hell of a fighter or a Chess Master that couldn't be underestimated.

She turned another corner, entering the Transit Station, looking around at the devastation that awaited her. bodies everywhere, blood splattered on walls and chairs. The Splicers had fought and lost against something. "Was it that Big Daddy we saw?" She asked and looked to see the station was empty, the train already gone. "Can I call one back?" She questioned making her way to the control centre that overlooked the waiting room. She pushed open the door, knocking a couple of toy blocks flying as she did and frowned. "Blocks? were there children here?" She asked as she looked around more carefully. there was discarded paper with drawings on, pictures of butterflies and other animals, pictures of a Big Daddy matching the one that she and Bathsheda had seen. "Little Sisters." She muttered, feeling a tightness in her chest as she remembered Sally.

Did she survive the crisis?

Did any of the ones from before surviving what had happened? Walking over to the main control panel, she did her best to push it to the back of her mind. It was not going to be helpful if she got herself distracted by something that in this place had happened over a decade if not more ago. She pulled at several of the switches and levers, watching as the machines started to give her more information.

"Can you hear me?" A voice crackled over the control radio and Elizabeth stopped, frowning as she looked at it, the same voice that had cut in to open the door. She hesitated to accept the call, not knowing if she could trust the person. "If you are there, please respond."

"I'm here... who is this?" She asked and the woman on the other end let out a sigh of relief.

"Ah, thank you." She said, relief clear in her throat. "You are the girl that Sophia Lamb was talking to before, no?" She asked, her voice accented and sounding tired.

"I am, and you are?"

"You cannot trust her. Sophia Lamb is dangerous." The woman said before pausing a moment, the line going completely silent. "She controls Rapture along with her 'family.' They captured children from the surface, brought them here to continue the work that I had started and hoped to have stopped." She explained.

"You're Tenenbaum." Elizabeth said in a monotone voice, dropping into a chair as she struggled to think straight. The woman she was speaking to was the one who had created the Little Sisters, she had created the problem that had kick started the conflict from a simple power play to all out genetically modified war.

"Correct, I managed to fix my mistake with the help of a previous visitor and now, seeing my work be restarted, I could not stay away." Her voice said, carrying the pain that she felt clear as day to Elizabeth. "But I feel that is not why you are here?" She questioned and Elizabeth nodded before remembering that it was a radio so she wouldn't have been able to see it.

"I came here for something completely unrelated." She admitted, "photos of a few key people from Raptures past. Ryan, Atlas, Fontaine, Suchong and a few others. A family I knew was murdered and someone from Rapture helped set them up. they're the most likely ones to have caused it. But information about them on the surface is non-existent. I came here to get photos to find the truth." She explained the cover lie that she had told Sophia Lamb back in the corridor.

"Information comes at a price, like everything in Rapture. With Lamb knowing what it is you are after, there is little doubt that she will lock down the terminals to prevent you accessing the data. But I may have an alternative." She stopped again and Elizabeth leant forwards, "if you can make it to the Medical Pavilion, there should be one of my old access cards. both Fontaine and Atlas were there at different points."

"I know they're the same person, you don't need to evade that part." Elizabeth said and got silence in response.

"Regardless," she started after a moments pause. "I'll send a Bathysphere to you; it should take you straight there. Find my key and you can have the information you need. No doubt Lamb will try and interfere, but she has other problems to occupy her time at the moment."

"You're referring to that Big Daddy? He was different to ones I've seen."

"Yes, Herr Delta, a prototype Big Daddy from the early Alpha Series. he is connected to a specific Little Sister, his life bound to hers. He will seek her out across all of Rapture if he has to."

"Subject Delta isn't a concern." Lambs voice cut in, her face appearing on the monitors in the room as the sound of the door locking behind Elizabeth alerting her to the fact that she was trapped in the office she was in. She steadied herself before she lashed out to open the door. the words that she had spoken to Snape ringing in her head. "I will NOT, be locked up again!" She had warned him and blown the door off its hinges. Here she had to be careful. She still had too much to do and she didn't want to play her hand too quickly.

"You seem so certain about that." Elizabeth replied calmly, "tell me what makes you so certain?"

"Delta is a relic, an outdated piece of history. it is out of time and unlike before, the Family is united in its goal. But enough about Delta, perhaps we can continue our conversation?"

"It depends, you have little to offer that I can't find myself." Elizabeth countered semi casually, "sure it would be quicker, but I have all the time in the world."

"So sure, about that are you?" Lamb asked and that tell-tale smirk that she had in the picture of the Greatest Minds of Rapture picture was back. She leant forward slightly, taping at a keyboard that was out of sight of the camera that she was using, and the image flashed away. Security footage of a different part of the City started to show on one of the monitors. "Perhaps I don't need to get the answers from you." She warned as the monitor started to play, "this was located at the entrance to Ryan Amusements. A gallery of Ryan's greed and sense of self. But the park is not the interesting part in this." She stopped as Elizabeth looked on in shock as a tear started to open and Harry stepped out into the room. She leant forwards, watching, all attempts at a poker face falling away as she watched him look around, deciding where to go before making his way towards the exit. the camera followed after him and Elizabeth got to see it all.

The attack of the Splicer, Harry defending himself with magic and his wits and then his capture at the hands of the new threat. "As you can see, I have no need of you to answer my questions, the boy can do all of that for you." She taunted and Elizabeth glared at the woman.

"If you hurt him." She started with a sharp edge to her voice.

"You don't know where I am, you don't know where he is, how can you possibly be in any position to threaten me?" She asked in amusement and Elizabeth kept her eyes locked on the woman, her eyes promising pain of an untold degree if she harmed him. "But I have no interest in harming children. I am not some cold-hearted monster that devalues the life of a child like Atlas and Ryan." She said, leaning back into her chair and bringing her hands together in front of her face, tapping her fingers against each other. "But these abilities, they could help the family with its tasks. To appear from nowhere, this strange ability that he seems to wield." She paused, looking at Elizabeth over her glasses. "And you as well I assume." She said as a statement of fact and Elizabeth grit her teeth and leant back in the chair, her shoulders slumping slightly.

They were at a disadvantage. Lamb held the cards.

"Your leverage only lasts as long as he's safe." Elizabeth warned, "if you hurt him, then I can guarantee that there will be nothing that will stop me from coming for you. No plasmid, no Big Daddy, no whatever the new variation is, no Splicer and no where you can hide." She continued and in the back of her mind was smiling as he saw a flicker of nervousness on Lamb's features.

"I will be treating patients in Persephone, come to me here and we shall talk. I assure you, I will bring no harm unto the child, but do not force my hand." She finished with a warning of her own before she cut off the transmission.

"Persephone?" Tenenbaum's voice cracked over the radio, "She sends you into the lion's den. That is her headquarters, before though it was Ryan's prison, people went there to disappear. She explained and Elizabeth looked surprised.

"Why didn't Fontaine ever get sent there?" She questioned and there was silence. "Tenenbaum?" She called the name of the scientist who sighed.

"Fontaine never went there because he was too public, Lamb was subtle enough that she was able to be removed without too many shockwaves. But if Fontaine was to disappear then no doubt the conflict would have escalated faster."

"How do I get there?" She asks after more silence. She didn't have much of a choice, Harry was captured and if she left then he would either be killed or suffer a fate worse than death.

And in Rapture there were many possible outcomes in that situation.

HPCVHPCVHPCV

He groaned as he awoke, feeling a weight on his wrists and across his chest and legs. Opening his eyes, he glanced around slowly, trying to see where he was but the only light was the one hanging above him, shining down on the bed that he was tied to. Turning his head he saw a faint glow from outside the window, lights of Rapture illuminating the ocean outside and he watched as fish swam by, some touching the windows every now and again, probing the material and he wondered how the wildlife had adapted to the intrusion of the giant man made construct that was Rapture. Quickly shoving that thought to the back of his mind he returned his attention to the restraints, moving his arms he probed them gently to see how much movement he had.

The answer was a simple one, not a lot. he could lift them about an inch maybe two off the table but other than that, he was trapped.

Lifting his head up as much as he could he glanced around, there on the table, against the wall sat his robe and wand, he looked down at himself, clad in the clothes that he wore underneath, jeans and a T-shirt and again tried to move himself. He knew he was in danger and he knew he had to get out before whoever did this came back.

"Mr Potter... you're finally awake." A woman's voice spoke, and Harry froze, looking around trying to see behind him where the voice came from.

"Who's there? How do you know my name?" He questioned as a woman walked round to stand in his vision.

"My name is Dr Sofia Lamb, and as to how I know your name." She smiled slightly, almost pleasantly at him. "it was on the inside of the collar of your... robe?" She questioned and he slowly nodded his head. "An interesting choice of garment," she said as she moved a chair over and sat down. "I apologise about the restraints, Rapture itself is not a safe place and a new face, with unknown potential we had to make sure you wouldn't hurt anyone when you woke up."

"You attacked me?" He questioned slowly and she looked apologetic, though Harry wondered how honest it actually was.

"The Big Sister was not there to attack you, though perhaps she was not the best to find you. She was the quickest and the one most likely to survive and defend you from any of the wild Splicers. She is limited in how she acts, unable to properly communicate and most likely construed your actions as an attack."

"So, it was unintentional?" Harry asked slowly.

"Yes, all I wanted was to speak to you, to learn how you managed to access Rapture bypassing all security in place. I only want to protect the family that we have created here after Ryan and Fontaine were removed."

"And I don't want to fight anyone here," Harry said quickly, he had literally wanted to get in and then get out again after finding Elizabeth. "They gave me no choice." He said referring to the Splicers that attacked them.

"Yes, the feral Splicers, remnants of the past regimes. Although we've tried to help them, some of them are far beyond our ability to help." She explained as she stepped over to the bed, looking down at him. "I am willing to release your restraints, if you are willing to behave." She said and Harry nodded semi reluctantly. Within a few moments she had unfastened several of the restraints, "Rapture is a ruin, once it was essentially a tribute to mans greed and sense of self." She started to explain, and Harry could do nothing but sit and listen. "Ryan made it as a paradise for ego. Under his leadership the city sang the virtues of greed and pride. Under Fontaine, as brief as it was. Rapture knew only destruction with one man's lust for power." She paused as she unbuckled the last restraint. Harry sat up quickly, rubbing at his wrists as he did so. Sofia stepped back before offering a hand to Harry. "Come, let me show you what the result of disagreeing with Ryan led to. Let me show you what I am trying to fix and the Utopia I want to bring to this city." She said politely and Harry hesitated for a moment before taking her hand, letting her lead him out of the room and deeper into Rapture.

HPCVHPCVHPCV

He stood watching the burning hospital from an alleyway across the street, he clutched a wand in hand as firemen tried futilely to combat the blaze. He turned away, walking down the alley into the darkness of the night before anyone started to look too closely disappearing with a crack that was muffled by the shouting and the sirens.

He had places to be and people to see...

TBC

Chapter 31 complete. Who saw it playing out like this? And if you say you did, you're a liar. Even I didn't see it playing out entirely like this and I've been planning things out for multiple years of this fanfic and as I've been replaying Bioshock 2 (Which is stupidly buggy and prone to crashing no matter what fix I try.

I still can't decide my feelings on Bioshock 2. On one hand it just feels so weak story wise in comparison to the other two and it also damages itself in my eyes when you look at the fact you're playing a big daddy but you never feel as tanky as a big daddy. I think my dislike of little bits and pieces did jade me to the story in it. Playing through again for a lets play that I'm posting on my YouTube channel (albeit very, VERY slowly) I'm taking the time to look at it more. I'm still on the side of not liking it but it's mellowed out a bit over the years. The amount of hypocrisy that she speaks just grates at my nerves.

Ah well, on with the next Chapter

Chapter 32: What is Utopia?