Chapter 32: What is Utopia?
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I own Bioshock, what I do have is a Disney+ account and have been binge watching all kinds of random things but that's got nothing to do with this story.
Dr Lamb led him across a catwalk, below them were numerous cells, each of them with their doors locked and each of them occupied. "Persephone was built to house prisoners of Ryan, people who did not share his views on what Rapture should be. To him, they were parasites, dissenters with his vision. Some because they were dangerous, people who had slipped through the tracks and sought nothing but power in a way that would have doomed everyone in the city to death. Others just felt that Rapture needed to change and adapt. Like myself," She paused glancing over at Harry who was watching the people in the cells. Some were restrained, held in straightjackets, others were just sat almost lifeless, their heads in their hands barely reacting to outside stimulus as they muttered incoherently. "And like with all things in Rapture, morals went out the window in exchange for money." She saw him tear his eyes away from the area below and looked at her in horror. "The prisoners were experimented on, some were taken away and were turned into Big Daddies, protectors for the Little Sisters. Do you know what they are?" She asked and Harry nodded slowly, Elizabeth had explained briefly what the Little Sisters were and their protectors, the Big Daddies, just how dangerous they were.
Guiding Harry away from the catwalk, she led him through a doorway into a tidy office, a table with a set of chairs took "When I was bought into Rapture, it was to help people deal with the effects of being trapped in a city with no exit. However, as I treated them, I was also look into the underlying condition." She gestured for Harry to take a seat, the wizard doing so after a moment of hesitation. "The environment that Rapture created was that hostile, that toxic to people that it constantly built up a level of suspicion and distrust." She said as she walked over to a kettle that sat on the side. "Do you drink tea?"
"I do, white with two sugars." He said politely as she started to make the drinks for them. "They distrusted each other?"
"When your goal is only self-satisfaction and your own greater success regardless of other people, how do you think you stay on top?"
"By being better than your competitors... or preventing them from rising up in the first place."
"But even in a world like this, even Ryan needed someone to perform the jobs that no one likes, and those at the bottom of the food chain, promised a newer life, a better life with a chance to progress found themselves in conditions that worked against them, kept them downtrodden and destitute." She watched his reaction as she explained. "Rapture was leaking, not just physically but mentally and those at the top refused to open their eyes and see it. I spoke out against Ryan and for a while he challenged my ideas, he questioned and contested what I had to say before finally he had me removed, locked away here."
Harry felt a chill, did the Rapture that Elizabeth had taken him to in the past also contain a secret prison? had dissenters or people wanting to bring about any change been sent away, hidden and removed from the eyes of the people? "What do you plan? What are your goals for Rapture now?"
"I want to help it heal, to become the jewel that it was meant to be but not just for the self but for everyone." She said as she poured the water into the cups, one for her and one for Harry. "Peace, harmony, key words that on their own sound cliché and like nothing more than buzz words that many would call a pipe dream. With ADAM we have the potential to do so." She explained as she brought the cups over to the table. "But now I wish to talk about you Mr Potter," she said as she placed his cup down in front of him.
"Me?" Harry asked curiously.
"Yes, it doesn't take a genius to know you are not from Rapture, your method of arrival is unlike anything that was designed by Suchong or any of the scientists that worked on creating Plasmids and Tonics." She explained and Harry looked uncomfortable, unsure of what to say. "You were here for the two women that arrived earlier, weren't you?" She asked but Harry remained silent, not wanting to play his hand, "you don't need to say anything. I have already spoken to one of them and she is on her way here." Lamb said smiling slightly at his reaction. "I have no quarrel with you or your associate, I have no intention of starting a conflict I have no need to start." She watched him relax slightly as she spoke doing what she could to put him at ease. "I just need to know that the Family is safe."
"And we don't want to start a conflict with you. All we wanted were a couple of pictures." Harry responded and Lamb smiled again.
"She mentioned as much, photos of people who lived here that were connected to the murder of a family. Yours if I'm correct?" She asked but didn't waste any time waiting for his answer as the body language spoke enough. "I can give you those answers, but we will need something in return." She said and Harry looked hesitant to speak again.
Could he give her the answers she wanted? She sounded to him like she was trying to do what was right for Rapture, but he was unsure, not without talking to Elizabeth. "I can't answer that." He said after more silence, breaking eye contact with her as he picked up his tea.
"Can't or won't?" She asked in bemusement looking at a tiny flinch as he tried to hide the truth. "If your associate is required for you to be able to answer then I can wait, but unrelated to that, perhaps you could explain to me why you believe it was someone from Rapture that is responsible for the attack?"
"my family was murdered by a psychopath, he believed that certain blood was pure, like the Nazi's." He said, remember what Elizabeth had explained, that the year was after World War Two so he could get away with the comparison to an extent. "He was hunting my family for standing against him, but they were in the process of going into hiding." He stopped, it was painful to think about, "only a handful of people knew where they were hidden, one of their friends who knew but had yet to hide themself was grabbed by his associates, only saved because a figure offered a trade. He didn't know who he was, but he apparently had connections here. We're trying to find the identity of that man and we believe it was someone who came here." Harry explained trying to remain evasive in the explanation though it was obvious to both that he was doing that.
"And if I was to tell you they're all dead? Each of those that you think it might be all died here nearly ten years ago?" She questioned and Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"It's not about getting revenge; it was never about that for me." He said softly, looking at Sofia, "my Godfather was arrested for the crime, but it's come to light that he was set up. Evidence could set him free, framed for the murder of twelve people."
"And how was this crime committed?" She questioned slowly and Harry looked confused, unsure both as to why she was asking and what he should say, he knew the basics but not the full details.
HPCVHPCVHPCV
Elizabeth sat on the bench in the bathysphere as it made its way towards her destination. Eyes closed as she worked to steady her breathing. The machine was small, cramped and she felt like it was closing in on her. She also knew that at any moment Sofia Lamb could decide to just remove her in this situation by destroying the Bathysphere and unless she was ready for it, she'd have no chance. "Tenenbaum?" Elizabeth asked into the radio, the scientist had gone to a deeper part of Rapture, to investigate another potential threat to the surface but she had promised to stay in radio contact.
"Yes, I am here." She said, the static increased.
"What is Dr Lamb's plan?" Elizabeth questioned quietly. "What does she want? what are her goals?"
"She wants to create a Utopia for the people." Tenenbaum spoke after a few moments, "at least that is what she claims, a place that everyone can develop together for the betterment of the whole, while sacrificing the self. Individuality, a sense of self, freedom to choose your own goals." She explained calmly and Elizabeth sat silently, mulling over every word, People working towards a common goal, the betterment of everyone was a noble goal but to completely sacrifice themselves for the whole with little care for their own individuality, it gave individual life little meaning. "But there is another plan that she has in place, concerning her own daughter, Eleanor."
"Her daughter?" Elizabeth asked with an edge to her voice, instantly thoughts of Comstock came to mind, how he had used her as a symbol for his cause and tried to turn her into a weapon.
"Yes, she is trying to turn her into a collective of some sort, using the ADAM harvested from the people of Rapture, she is hoping to use the genetic memory that it contains to use her as the linchpin in her Utopia."
"So, she's willing to mutilate her own daughter and dose her with ADAM to create this paradise she wants?" Elizabeth asked her voice sharp and cold as she tried to control her temper. Perhaps she would have to remove her daughter from the equation. She checked the handgun that she had picked up again. She didn't know the full maintenance of the gun, but she knew enough to make sure it was in working order. "I can't do anything until I know that Harry is safe." She said and when she got no response, she realised Tenenbaum was probably busy with whatever project she was working on. "Until he is safe, I can't act."
HPCVHPCVHPCV
He finished explaining the situation about his Godfather, a censored and controlled version but a version nonetheless, the information that he knew and what had happened. "Is it better for him to be released though?" She asked and Harry looked at her shocked and confused.
"He's innocent, how can him not being released not be the right thing to do?"
"Is he truly innocent though? he abandoned you, as a child barely a year old to chase someone down." Sofia Lamb interrupted, stealing the wind from Harry's counter. "At the bare minimum he's guilty of child endangerment. How is someone like him, being released back into the community going to benefit it?"
"What?" Harry asked, completely caught off guard by the question.
"A reckless individual willing to abandon his responsibilities to pursue a personal vendetta." She stopped, watching his reaction carefully. "Who is to say he won't do it again? who is to say that when the time comes, he abandons his responsibilities again to pursue what he believes needs to be done?" Harry looked like he wanted to protest Then there is the communal aspect. Think of the damage that will come from him being released after all this time. The potential threat that he is to others, eleven years in prison will have an effect on a person, not to mention the destabilisation and distrust that will fall upon the government for their mistake."
"But it wasn't them, the government has changed since he was thrown in prison." Harry countered weakly.
"Do you think they'll see it that way?" She asked and Harry hesitated. "The general public is a fickle thing, so easily led by whatever they think regardless of what is shown to them. All they will hear is the Government locked away an innocent person. They won't look at the facts, all they will do is fall back on fear, fear that the Government will do the same to them."
"And? How does that justify that an innocent person remaining locked away in hell?"
"Because it is sometimes better to sacrifice the few to preserve the many, an answer no one likes to hear, it would be better if everyone could co-exist happily without a problem in the world. But there are things in this world that must be removed, even if it means hurting the ones we love." She stopped, seeing Harry looking determined to argue and stood. "Please, follow me, I want to show you something." She said and Harry reluctantly followed after her as she walked out of the room.
She led him along the catwalk above the cells, he could hear the sounds of screams and other shouts of anguish, flinching each time he did, seeing the damage that Ryan had done to the people of Rapture because they disagreed with him. But at the same time, he wondered whether all of them were here because of Ryan and whether some of them were guests of the woman leading him around now. She led him through a security door and through what he could only assume was her office, currently showing the signs of wear and tear of limited maintenance. But with the state of the rest of Rapture, it was practically pristine. But the office isn't where they stopped. She led him through another door that opened into a large open area.
He could see a door at the other side of the room and to the right another door sat. Part of him wondered whether either of them led to an exit. The other main feature of the room was a glass wall part way along to the side. Weighing the options of acting or remaining passive he followed Sofia Lamb as she walked to the glass and here Harry saw the giant Quarantine signs and the double door airlock. "I want to introduce you to someone." She said quietly and Harry looked into the room, decorated for a teenage girl he saw her lying on her bed, tossing roughly in her sleep, a layer of sweat on her forehead, muttering to herself as she continued to rest uneasily. "This is my daughter." She said and Harry looked between the brown-haired teen and the woman with a studious eye. "When she was little and I had been locked away, Ryan and his men abducted her. Turning her into a Little Sister," She stopped, and Harry saw the pain on her features. "Upon my release, the first task I took was to cure her and reverse the treatment that she underwent."
"How... how successful were you?" He asked quietly, hand on the glass as he looked at her.
"Not as successful as I would like, there is still some part of the programming in her mind that I was unable to properly remove, and the ADAM slug affected her in ways that we're still discovering." She said and looked at Harry, "but she because of her changes has been able to interact with ADAM in a way impossible to others. She connects with it without her loss of self, whereas others would begin to be twisted and mutate because of the way ADAM works. She has all of the benefits with none of the side effects."
"You sound like you've been dosing her yourself." Harry said slowly and when Lamb didn't respond, he backed away. "You have, haven't you?" He asked looking horrified at her.
"She will be the one that shapes the next stage of Rapture. She will lead it forwards into a Utopia for the betterment of all, with the genetic memories that comes from the ADAM recovered, she would have the collective intelligence of all of those people, all of them to help guide the people in whatever was needed. She could be what they needed her to be."
"At the cost of her own identity, at the cost of her dreams and wishes." Harry shouted, backing away from Sofia and glancing around making sure no one else was around to grab him, including looking towards the ceiling just in case there were any more hanging around. "Where do you draw the line?" Harry asked and Lamb just looked at him in disappointment.
"I should have known a child would not understand." She said and Harry froze as he heard the sound of the Big Sister screeching in the distance. She turned away, walking back towards her office. "Goodbye Mr Potter." She said as the door started to close behind her, the sound of the Big Sister repeating.
Harry caught a glimpse of his wand, reaching out the way Flitwick had told him, focusing on his magic and trying a wandless summoning spell. It felt like someone had stolen all the wind from his sails, he had been told the energy needed for a wandless spell was much greater but he didn't realise just how much it would take out of him to cast the spell. His wand flew from where she had placed it in her pocket and she had enough time to turn around, realising what he had done. "Stop him! Do not let him harm Elanor but do not kill him." She ordered aloud as a Big Sister dropped down from wherever she had climbed in from. Harry backed away, glancing between the doors as the Sister stood, watching him in curiosity.
At least he thought it was curiosity.
He sized her up. From what he had seen, she was faster and stronger and had access to Plasmids of an unknown variety. With her moves she was more athletic than him as well. "You don't want to do this." Harry said, backing away from the Big Sister, towards the door furthest from the isolation chamber. 'Think Harry, think! you need to get rid of her in a way that will get her far enough without dumping her somewhere she could cause a lot of issues. Rapture but where and when? it has to be this Rapture; it has to be at this time or things could go horribly wrong.' He quickly ran through what he knew and then realised just what he could do. "Fine, if you want me... come and get me." Harry goaded, firing off a string of spells at the Big Sister.
She danced around them as if they were nothing, launching herself forwards at Harry, a flicker of flame on her hands as she tried to reach for him.
"Goodbye," Harry said as he tore open a tear to the area that Bathsheda had described. The overgrown place near enough the other side of Rapture. At least, he hoped it was far away.
The Big Sister was unable to stop her dive, surprised by the appearance of the Tear, letting out a screech of shock as she crashed through, hitting the coral, breaking it as she did and twisting, trying to get back through as Harry closed it. He shook his head, a dull throbbing as he walked towards the chamber, seeing a switch next to the door and pulling it down.
"Airlock cycling in progress, please wait." A robotic voice spoke, and Harry saw the hiss of air.
Bang
A gunshot rang through the air, the round hitting the panel next to him and barely missing on the ricochet. He spun around to the door to see Sofia standing there, gun pointed and a look of anger on her features. "Stand down Mr Potter, you're valuable to me alive but not irreplaceable." She said and Harry froze, stepping back from the door as she walked forwards. "You have abilities unknown to me, these doorways you can open, this other ability so much like plasmids and yet coming from you." She said as she gestured away from the door with the gun and Harry backstepped again, hearing the voice tell him there was ten seconds until the door opened. "But I bet your associate has access to all those as well." She said with a warning, "so I offer you a choice. You, or her?" She asked and Harry stopped, not knowing what to do.
The door behind him opened and his attention snapped around to see Elizabeth standing at the entrance, two splicers behind her escorting her into the room. "Elizabeth."
"What are you doing here Harry?" She questioned sharply; eyes locked on Sofia Lamb. "I told you not to follow me here." She said coldly causing Harry to flinch at the tone.
"I had to, after Bathsheda came back I knew you wouldn't stay away and even you admitted it was too dangerous to come alone."
"And yet you did the exact same thing without knowing what you were getting involved in, without the ability to properly defend yourself." She interrupted him, "and you tipped them off to both of our abilities. Combined with the fact you're just a kid." She said her voice softening. "when we get back, you're in so much trouble." She said her voice carrying a tone that promised a lot of different things while still remaining relatively light in her tone. "As for you." She said walking towards Sofia Lamb. "Actually, you know what, I don't care about you." She dismissed before walking over to Harry, stunning the Doctor in her casual dismissal. The two Splicers followed up behind her, weapons in hand. "When I cause the distraction, get into that airlock." She whispered to Harry and he looked at her in confusion, a look of steel in her eyes. "The doors will protect you from Gunfire and we need to get her out of here."
"You're not from Rapture." Lamb said watching the two.
"Correct, we're not from here at all. I've been here before, at least a different Rapture, under a different leadership." She explained and Sofia looked at her in confusion.
"Delusional, there is only one Rapture."
"Is there really? And how would you know that?" Elizabeth asked as she shifted herself to put herself between Harry and the Splicers. "I have met Frank Fontaine, I met him as Atlas. I performed tasks for Suchong, and I sang for Sander Cohen." She said with a cold laugh. "My blood has been spilt in halls under a completely different ocean. My life slipping away, and I came back. I keep coming back!" Elizabeth snapped, "because it seems to me that no matter the Rapture, it just seems to have some Darkness sitting in the shadows ready to jump out at anyone and everyone." She growled at the doctor, "I'm tired of seeing it and not stopping it." She said twisting round and flicking her hand up at the first Splicers throat.
Harry, catching the distraction burst forwards with a run into the airlock, skidding to a halt, banging against the glass of the second door, turning around and watching as he saw the first Splicer drop to the floor clutching at his throat, his hand turning red as blood spilt between his fingers. surprised, he looked at Elizabeth's hand, a scalpel that she had apparently stashed away in her hand as she lunged to stab at the next Splicer.
caught off guard, he barely avoided the attack, the knife digging into his wrist as he struggled with Elizabeth. Sofia Lamb walked forwards, Harry saw her raise the gun, no doubt willing to fire at the two of them, not caring if she hit the splicer in the process. "Expelliarmus!" He cried out, his hand in hand the spell hitting Sofia Lamb in the side, separating her from her gun and with the force he had put into the spell, launching her back away from it. She hit the floor skidding across it as the gun ended up on the other side of the room. Turning back to look at Elizabeth as the outer door closed, he saw her swing her knee up into his groin, the Splicer crying out but struggling to hold on to her. Elizabeth let one hand fall away, reaching down to his belt where what he assumed was her handgun rested. She grabbed it, twisting it where it was holstered and pulled the trigger.
The Splicer screamed as the bullet tore through his leg, bursting out the other side. He let go of Elizabeth and dropped, holding his leg as she pulled the handgun free and pointed it at his head, pulling the trigger without hesitation, the Splicer dropping to the floor.
She turned, blood spray on her face from the first Splicer as she moved towards the glass. "Are you okay?" She asked Harry and he nodded his head, somewhat hesitantly. The second door opened, and he stepped back into the room, turning again to look at the unconscious teen. "Hang on, I'll be with you in a moment." She said as she placed her hand on the glass, traces of blood smearing on it.
Elizabeth pushed away, leaving fingerprints on the glass as she walked over to Sofia Lamb. "Your Utopia is an illusion, a shallow and terrible lie." She snapped, "you would sacrifice your daughter to create an illusion, slavery!" She shouted as the doctor slowly tried to pick herself up. "But it's not me that you have to deal with." She said as the entrance door opened again, there at the end of the corridor, walking forwards was a Big Daddy, the same one that she had seen before. "I have no quarrel with you regardless of you threatening those I care for." She said turning away from Sofia and walking back towards the glass. She waved her hand and the glass vanished away in the blink of an eye. "Eleanor?" She asked, walking over to the bed, looking at the teen who seemed to be slowly waking up.
"Who... who are you?" She asked in confusion as she started to pull herself into a sitting position.
"My name is Elizabeth, I admit I wasn't here to help you originally, but I couldn't just sit by and leave you to suffer like this." Elizabeth explained quickly and turned back to look as the Big Daddy stood over Sofia who was moving backwards away from her.
"You can't let father kill her." She said softly catching the other two by surprise.
"Father?"
"Yes, my father." She replied sharply, "but I don't think he knows that outside of what he is. He's a good man, since he's woken up, he's saved so many Little Sisters." She said and the three continued to watch as the Big Daddy stood over Sofia.
"How can we stop him without fighting him?" Elizabeth asked and neither had the answer.
"It looks like we don't need to." Harry said as they watched. the Big Daddy, Subject Delta turned, walking away from Sofia Lamb towards the three of them. Harry and Elizabeth stepped back away from Eleanor as they saw his body twist to look at them. "We're not here to hurt her. We want to help you both." He said quickly as Delta turned his attention to the young wizard. "We can get you help, maybe even reverse what you've become?" He said with a glance at Elizabeth who looked at him in surprise.
"You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting are you?"
"Why not? maybe magic can fix what their science has done?" He questioned and Elizabeth groaned, rubbing her temples with her thumb and middle finger of her right hand. "But we can't just leave them like this." She said before turning to Eleanor. "What do you want to do? You can come with us, out of Rapture and see a world that you most likely thought never possible. It's got its own dangers, but it may be able to help you both. Or you can stay here and deal with what you know is here."
Eleanor looked at Elizabeth and then at Harry before turning her attention to her Subject Delta. She knew what decision to make.
TBC
This chapter is probably going to rub people the wrong way with how Sofia Lamb was acting (also, apologies if I missed any corrections on how to spell her name… I think I got them all) Part of me wanted her to immediately go for the throat situation with Harry, try and use him in a way that she used her own daughter but I felt it wouldn't fully fit her attitude shown in the game.
I do believe she would try and convince him to join her and then work towards that. Probably not the best way that she went about it, but she always seemed to be more of a 'big picture' person with her views shown.
Elizabeth in Rapture and in conflict feels like she'd start slipping back towards her attitude during Burial at Sea episode 2. Struggling to keep herself on track as she deals with the crisis. Memories are a powerful weapon and being confronted with the Rapture nightmare and the potential threat that comes with it, I felt she would possibly have a relapse and start questioning why she's not doing more with these powers that she has.
There's going to be a bit of an argument next chapter.
Next chapter: Broken