"When the foreign hordes come marching into town, will you be prepared to stand those buggers down?
They'll do their best to take all that's rightly yours, and it's your solemn duty to keep them from our shores!
The readiness is all! When the greenhorn muscles in!
Oh, the readiness is all! To face down an alien!"
"Wow, that's fucked up." To hear that song play in-person was pretty jarring for Ryan. Sure the vintage distortion was there, but unlike in-game, it was so much more clearer in-person.
"Shh, you want to get noticed? It's bad enough that you're covered in your own blood!" Elizabeth quietly exclaimed as they moved through the Soldier's Field welcome center. Unfortunately, this place was one of the areas where realism triumphed over in-game logic. The welcome center was fairly populated with visiting families, and many other children. Ryan looked down on himself to see that Elizabeth wasn't exaggerating. Since his recent encounter that led a knife into his left shoulder, the blood stains were very present, and hard to not notice.
"I'll find an excuse to use. I can say that I'm part of the Columbian armed forces?" Ryan shrugged to an unimpressed Elizabeth.
"Uh-huh, in civilian apparel?" She said with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, you know? Like those guys and gal who ambushed us? They were in civilian wear. I could pretend to be one of them. Or you know, pretend to be a soldier who wasn't active but still responded. The excuses are endless." Ryan reasoned.
Elizabeth shook her head in mock disbelief. "You could say that they're infinite." She smiled.
Ryan copied her smile and nodded. "Yeah… infinite."
But Elizabeth returned her gaze to the still wounded Ryan, her concern showing no sign of slowing down. "But all joking aside, I need to get a closer look at that wound in your shoulder. And since it is getting dark, we may need to find some place to stay overnight. That way I can look over your shoulder."
"But the ai-"
"Is going to stay where it is. If not, we can just find some other airship to take us to Paris. Right now, our top concern should be you." Elizabeth interrupted him with reason.
Ryan gave her a reluctant sigh and nod. "Fine… but I don't think there is a place for us to stay overnight."
"I'm sure we can find a place. This area is an attraction, people from all over the city visit. So I wouldn't be surprised to find a sort of motel or hotel." Elizabeth accompanied her optimistic thought with her signature optimistic smile. Ryan couldn't scoff at it, even with what had happened not ten minutes prior, she still had that same spark. He could only hope that her spark would survive the journey ahead of them.
The duo stayed close to the edge of the welcome center, hoping that they wouldn't get noticed by the masses. They went to the left side of the room, Ryan then saw a locked door, and a rather annoyed repairman, as he tried to lockpick the door.
Ryan stopped and laid a hand on Elizabeth's shoulders. "Hey, wait for a bit." Elizabeth didn't understand what he meant, as she looked over where he was looking.
They continued to watch the repairman, as he clumsily attempted to pick the door, with no success. Elizabeth sighed. "Are you trying to torture me? This is painful to watch, I could easily get that door open. What are we waiting for?" She quietly exclaimed to Ryan, but he held firm.
"I'm waiting for this guy to rage quit."
"Rage quit? What do you mean r-"
"ARGH! I GIVE UP!" The repairman made a spectacle of himself as he threw his utilities everywhere and furiously stood up. He marched away, quietly mumbling some rather colorful dialogue along the way. Funnily, the parents covered their kids' ears as he passed by them.
But Elizabeth was still rather confused. "So?"
To answer her question, Ryan pointed at the door. "So, we go through that door." He said while moving towards the door. Luckily people were still looking at the mad repairman when the duo made their way to the door.
Elizabeth was still not sure what was so special behind this door, until she looked into the glass booth to see the other room. "Oh, I can see why you want to go in. I think there are some useful things in there. But, I don't think we're allowed in."
"What makes you say that?" Ryan asked as he looked at the lock, and then at Elizabeth.
"Well, the door is locked, first and foremost."
But Ryan only laughed. "And technically, you're not supposed to be outside your tower."
Elizabeth only mustered a dirty look and stuck her tongue out at him, to which he mimicked her back. Backing away from the window, and quickly moving to the door, she crouched down to the lock's level, and inspected it. She reached into her hair, and pulled out her hairpin, and she got to work on the lock. A couple of seconds goes by, and Elizabeth still hasn't been able to open the door.
Ryan looks around their surroundings, and then back at her. "Come on, people are going back to their routine, they'll notice us." He quietly urged the lamb.
"This isn't done at the snap of anyone's fingers Ryan. Plus the repairman's frustration is very apparent on the lock itself!" Elizabeth snapped back at him, while she jiggles the lock with her hairpin. Eventually, the lock clicks and the duo quickly makes their way inside, and closes the door behind them. Still in crouching stances, the duo looks at each other, and Ryan laughs.
"That was more intense then it should be." He said as he walked around the office space. Elizabeth just scoffs, shakes her head, and follows Ryan. They kept a low profile, knowing that the windows still provided an opportunity for them to be spotted. They only slightly stood up to see what was on the desks, and the filing cabinets. They managed to find spare Silver Eagles, and weirdly enough a fair amount of food. From apples to processed sweets, Elizabeth was baffled at how many things that were left behind by individuals.
"Well, looks like nobody expected to be robbed here." Elizabeth mumbles as she makes her way to the side office, where she saw Ryan walk straight towards. She sighed in relief as she stood up, unafraid of being spotted by the windows into the welcome center.
But she quickly gasped when she realized what was in this room, rifles laid everywhere, all originating from an opened gun safe. Ryan was inspecting one of the rifles, contemplating on whether or not to take it over the shotgun he grabbed earlier. Unfortunately for him, he actually doesn't really use the Huntsman Carbine in-game. He mainly stuck with what he called, The Booker DeWitt loadout; which was the shotgun and hand-cannon combination. But Ryan knew his limits, afraid that in using the hand-cannon he'd eventually break his wrist, and he had actually never tried the shotgun before. In real life that is, the barrel itself was comically massive. He was rather anxious about the recoil, paranoid that each shot would kick hard enough to either fly from his hands or hit square in the face.
He sighed. "Might as well carry them both." He took the carbine, and slinged it over his shoulder. But the action wasn't painless. "Argh! Fuck!" He gripped his left shoulder, the wound still there from their last combat encounter.
Elizabeth was quick to his side. "Ryan! Are you okay?" She examined his shoulder. "This is why I want to find a place to stay overnight. I need to look at this more directly, and you certainly need the rest as well." Ryan couldn't argue back, his body was already siding with Elizabeth, no matter how much he wanted to press forward. This wasn't how it was supposed to go! They had to keep moving, if not, Ryan didn't know where they ended up, and he'd be facing new challenges that he didn't experience in-game. But his body heavily protested, and he sighed in frustration.
"Fine!" He snapped, and Elizabeth flinched at his blunt exclaim, and Ryan immediately felt bad. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that."
Elizabeth just relaxed as she looked away from him, and leaned onto the table. "I understand that this whole thing is stressful. I mean, I'm right here with you, going through the same thing. People shooting at us, a whole city out to get us, with no easy way out." Elizabeth paused, and looked back at Ryan. She frowned, not really getting a real good look at her rescuer.
His clothes were bloodied, a mixture of his own and others. The weight of all his gear was literally weighing him down, his shoulders slumped as a result. His skin was slightly paled, a combination of losing blood, total restlessness, the fatigue of all his efforts that led him here, right in front of her. His eyes had bags under them, it was clear that Ryan was starting to struggle to just keep them open. She couldn't help but coo at the weariness that his eyes showed, because it showed every feeling, and the condition of his very soul. The epitome of tired, scarred; both physically and mentally, and he looked just as traumatized as she was, Ryan was in no shape to keep going. But yet, he still wanted to press on. As much as she wanted to praise him for his resilience to the day's events, he treaded the very fine line between bravery and foolishness. She understood the toll of the immensity of their quest, but Elizabeth wanted to remind him.
She continued. "But please, on top of not directing your anger at others…" Ryan couldn't help but look away from Elizabeth with a guilty look. "... just know that you're human as well." Elizabeth approached him, and gently turned his head towards her. "What's the point of all this when you die of exhaustion? Please Ryan, I need you." Ryan perked up and looked directly into her eyes. With the both of them looking at each other, Elizabeth leaned in and tightly hugged her rescuer. At first, Ryan tensed up, but later relaxed and simply laid his head onto her shoulder. He struggled to keep his eyes open, realizing this reassuring hug she was giving him was exactly what he needed.
Ryan let out a quick sigh, to which Elizabeth leaned back and gave her fullest attention to him. "I guess I need you too. To patch me up and keep me in check." Elizabeth gave him a tiny yet adorable smile, to which he returned a smile of his own.
"Heh, I guess so. But Ryan, I can also do other stuff to help you." Elizabeth wanted to keep going but Ryan shook his head.
"No, no. It's alright, really. You're already doing a lot to help me out. Really." But she wasn't easily dissuaded.
"I mean during combat. Wait a minute, what do you mean I already do enough?" Elizabeth raises a hand and lists all of his achievements. "You rescued me from my prison, protected me when in danger, and you still will until we leave Columbia. And finally, you're willing tol escort me out of Columbia and to the city I have always dreamed of going to. And all I've ever done is patch you up and give you a pep talk with a hug? I'm not just some damsel Mr. Passerine-"
"Ry-"
"Mr. Ryan Passerine!" Elizabeth scolded him, in response he immediately backed down. "I want to pull my weight Ryan. I'm not helpless, I can help you. Maybe not in fighting, I don't really know how to shoot but… you did say that I have a…" Elizabeth slightly blushed before repeating what Ryan said earlier. "'Helluva arm' as you put it, maybe I can toss you anything helpful. From first-aid kits you can quickly apply, to salts and ammunition."
'Catch Booker!'
The in-game audio immediately played in his head. "That'd be nice, just try not to give me a concussion." She smiles brightly at him.
"Then promise me to look out whenever I call out to you." She holds up her right pinky, to which Ryan chuckles and without hesitation wraps his right pinky around.
But his smile falters upon coming to a realization. Once their enemies realize she's helping him, they'll no doubt target her as well. Whether they know she's the lamb or not, she'll be in the crossfire between him and their enemies. Unlike in-game where Elizabeth was programmed to not be targeted by the many foes in Columbia, they'll no doubt notice her now.
Elizabeth notices his mood shift and prys. "What's wrong?"
He sighs once more. "If you do that to help me, our enemies will no doubt target you as well."
"For the last time Ryan, I can take care of myself." She sighs.
"I know you can." The gears in his head immediately starts to turn, trying to think of a solution. Then a certain scene comes up to him, a scene from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He remembers that small interaction between Han Solo and Rey. Unable to think of anything else, Ryan reaches for the C96 behind him, and attempts to give it to Elizabeth, who was shocked at the act. "That's why I'm giving you this."
"Bu-b-but I-I, I can't-"
"I can teach you how to use it, but please take it." Elizabeth was still hesitant, the thought of killing someone was beyond her. "Elizabeth, look at me." To which she did. "I'm expecting you to not use this, hell I'm really hoping you will never use this. But we have to accept the possibility that I may not always be there beside you. I may miss someone and they'll have the drop on us. So please, you don't have to use it, just do your own thing. But it'll make me feel a whole lot better knowing you're not out there unarmed, okay?"
Elizabeth was still unsure about it. But Ryan had reason, and she couldn't deny how good it was. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes, and reached out for the gun.
"Okay…"
"Whoa…" Nightlife in Columbia was something for sure. Elizabeth expressed her wonder as she spun around, looking at all the lights and opened areas for commerce. She looked in the distance and spotted the First Lady airship had been docked. "Look, there's the airship. That'll take us to Paris?" She looked at Ryan for confirmation.
He approached her with a nod. "That's the plan. But knowing my luck, we'll have to jump several hoops to get there."
She looked at him with a frown. "You didn't have to jinx us, you know?"
"Well, with how everything panned out up until this moment, our worries are just beginning." Ryan responded with a sad smirk. The duo continued their way through the boardwalk, with a few glances at them, mostly due to Ryan's bloodied clothes and wounded appearance. But luckily they mainly kept to themselves. Ryan looked over to the left, seeing the ice parlour still open and active. He couldn't resist licking his lips, as his stomach all of a sudden grumbles in hunger.
Elizabeth notices that she took a few steps without her escort, and turns back to see Ryan looking hungrily at the ice cream shoppe. "Hey, we need to find a place to stay." She walks over to him to tug at his arms. But Ryan remained rather in trance by the delicious thought of eating an ice cream.
"But… but! Ice cream!" Ryan whined like a child. Elizabeth couldn't help but smile at his demeanor.
"Later Ryan, I promise! Besides, I never actually had ice cream before, so I really want to try it out." With all the books she read in her tower, from fiction to non, ice cream is certainly one on her list of foods to try. So to actually be only mere meters away from the frozen treat, she now understood Ryan's excitement for the treat.
"YOU NEVER TRIED ICE CREAM BEFORE!?" Ryan exclaimed rather loudly, luckily only a few heads turned to their direction. Immediately, Ryan felt the gazes of a handful of people, one of them being a glaring lamb.
"Tower. Remember?" Elizabeth simply said in a scolding tone.
Ryan only gave her a sheepish smile. "Right… um… treats on me?"
"It was always on you, it's your money."
"Right… um, I'll get you two?"
Elizabeth paused, thinking how fair the deal was. "Deal."
"There's one bed…" Ryan said, with the two of them looking at the single Queen sized bed in the middle of their rather luxurious hotel room. He should've known better, the receptionist had that knowing look on both of them, and made the excuse that there's only a single room available.
Elizabeth was blushing like crazy at the moment. She never thought that she would ever be in this situation, like ever. Not that she never had an interest in boys, she remembers reading a lot of romance novels in her tower. They were always sweet, and painted the beauteous life of having your significant other. With those memories in the forefront, she also remembers the stories she had made in her own spare time about her and other fictional characters together forever. Looking back at it now, it's rather personal and embarrassing.
To her shock, Ryan approached the bed. She wanted to say something, but at the same time she looked at his injured shoulder, and thought that due to his injury, it's for the best that he has the most comfort. But instead, Ryan just simply takes one of the pillows, goes to the end of the bed, and drops the pillow on the floor. He then lays down on the floor, his head resting on the pillow.
"You take the bed." He simply says as he then sat up with his legs crossed.
Elizabeth shook her head and hands. "No, no. You are injured, you need a good bed to rest on so you can heal better and faster." But Ryan shook his head.
"The floor is more comfortable than you think. I'm fine." He tried to assure her but Elizabeth wasn't having it.
"Okay listen, the bed is big enough for the both of us, we can just share." Apparently she wasn't properly thinking about what she had just said, and immediately started blushing.
Ryan gave her an 'I-told-you-so' look. "That's why I'm sleeping down here." She glares at him but Ryan keeps insisting. "Look, I'm fine down here, really."
But she returned a scolding expression. "It's not whether you're fine down there or not. It's about your health! Let's just share the bed, okay?"
He gave her a cautious look before standing up with the pillow at hand. But before returning it, he looked at her. "Are you sure you want to share the bed?"
Elizabeth knew she's showing uneasiness at the rather simple and logical ordeal. She could've easily slept on the ground while Ryan took the bed, but with everything that had happened and with everything that may occur in their escape, she could use all the comfort she could get. Including the comfort a comfy bed could provide her.
"Just, put a pillow in-between us okay?"
Ryan just chuckled at the thought. "I don't think a pillow can stop two bodies unconsciously getting close together but, whatever floats your boat."
Elizabeth gave him an irritated look, wishing she had a handful of sand right now. "Lets not get too carried away, okay Ryan?" He nodded at her with a joking smile, and Elizabeth desperately wanted to have sand in her hand right now. Instead she walks over to the closet, the receptionist did say that there should be spare clothes in there. To Elizabeth's relief, there were simple white dress shirts, enough to replace the bloodied shirt Ryan had on with a hood, strangely enough for her. "Alright Ryan, sit down on the bed and let me look at your shoulder. Once I'm done, replace the shirt with this," She held up the spare shirt. "And we can head out to the boardwalk, deal?"
"But I like this shirt…"
"You like making things complicated, don't you?"
"But mine has a hood!"
"This is so delicious!" Elizabeth couldn't get enough of her ice cream, and she has two cones of it! With this being her very first time eating ice cream, Ryan had to introduce her to the most basic flavours of all, vanilla and chocolate. She's taking her time licking both ice creams one time after the other.
On the other hand, Ryan just stuck with chocolate, they didn't have cookies and cream. "Take it easy Elizabeth, you'll get brain freeze if you keep at it." The duo was currently sitting on one of the empty tables in the parlour populated with a few families and some kids.
"I've heard about brain freeze in my books from my tower. Does that actually happen?" She looks at him with childlike curiosity.
"Yup, and I have a feeling your books never told you how to quickly cure it." That certainly got her attention as she leans forward, waiting for Ryan to reveal the information. "So, once you get the piercing headache only known as brain freeze, all you have to do is to place your tongue on the roof of your mouth, to quickly warm up your head. It works, I've done it many-a-time."
Elizabeth smirks at him. "Ah, so you're an expert on beaches and curing brain freeze I see." To which they both laugh at.
"I already read all those in my tower!" Elizabeth pouted following her burst of frustration, The duo was currently leaving the bookstore, and much to Elizabeth's dismay, she had indeed read all of the books in the store. Of course the clerk didn't believe her, to which she started spoiling all that has happened in the books that the clerk pointed to. They were promptly kicked out, but she didn't care, she's already read all of the books anyways. On top of that, she seemed to only care that she unfortunately read all the books in the store, hoping to discover a new book to read.
The bookstore was literally next to the stage where they were showing a Duke and Dimwit show, and Elizabeth's worries seemed to flush away at the sight of the two.
"Hey it's more Duke and DImwit! You know… 'Remember, boys and girls, don't be a dimwit!' How could you not know that?" Elizabeth's excitement was as clear as day.
"Remember? Not from Columbia? Plus it must be something exclusive to Columbia."
She smugly grins at him. "Like you remember that I was locked in my tower for the majority of my life?"
Ryan raised his hands up in defense. "Hey, I said I was sorry. Plus I brought you ice cream!"
"You leeched off me!"
"I did pay for it…?" Elizabeth pouts at him, to which Ryan sighs. "You like making things complicated, don't you?"
Elizabeth gasps and points an accusatory finger at him. "You are not turning that around to me."
Ryan laughs as he shakes his raised hands in defense. "Alright, alright fine, next time I'll treat you something much better than ice cream, deal?" He finished by raising a hand for her to shake. But instead, she raises her right arm, extending her pinky to him. Ryan smiles warmly at her before wrapping his right pinky around hers.
"Hello!"
"Hello yourself, keep your hands where I can see them."
Elizabeth frowned at the frosty reception from the clerk in the toy store. But her frown quickly turned upside down when she felt a comforting grip on her shoulder. She looks up at Ryan and smiles brightly at him, and the duo enters the toy store to look around. There are so many toys in here that Elizabeth grew somewhat envious that she didn't have this many toys in her tower. Sure she had books but toys would really help with her imagination from the words in the text. She then came up to a toy replica of her warden, it unfortunately looked too adorable to the real thing.
"Hey Ry- oh!" Before she could call out to her new friend, the Songbird toy sounded out, much like the real one. Elizabeth flinched and quickly moved away from the toy, almost falling as a result. She manages to stand up straight again, but with her hands on her stomach.
"Ahhh, ha. I see you found our best seller." The clerk called out from behind the desk, much to Elizabeth's annoyance.
"You alright?" Elizabeth once again flinches from another surprise as Ryan somehow snuck up behind her.
He immediately reaches out for up. "Oh shit, I didn't mean to scare you again, I'm sorry." He laughs and Elizabth just waves off his concern.
"I'm okay, just wasn't expecting the toy to actually do something like that." She gave one last look at the toy, which gave her an unnerving look as it seemed to be looking directly at her. "Can we go? Please?"
Ryan looked at the toy in question and he too couldn't help but get a strange feeling from a toy. "Yeah, it's bad enough the real thing is after us, come on." He whispered to Elizabeth, who nodded in agreement. The duo swiftly left the store. Once outside, Elizabeth let out a shaky breath, the toy alongside the clerk wasn't helping Elizabeth cope with the harsh reality outside the tower. But before she could delve deeper in that rabbit hole, she could hear cheery music play out loud beside her. Looking to her right, she smiled at the circling yet empty carousel. To her, it seemed like a lot of fun to experience the ride. As she stared at the carousel, Ryan entered her line of sight, as he too stared at the carousel.
"Hm." Ryan heard her and looked back at her.
He scoffed. "Lemme guess, you're imagining me on that?" He pointed his thumb at the machine.
"How'd yo-"
"I could tell by your eyes Elizabeth, and the answer i-"
"Weeeeee!" Elizabeth exclaims as she rides the carousel. Her hands in the air, the music playing out loud, with the night breeze, it was all too perfect for her now free soul. "By the way! Thanks for eating most of my ice cream! I would've gotten nauseously dizzy by how fast we're going!"
"Yeah…" Ryan groaned as he was hunched over his mount beside her, gripping his ever so disagreeing stomach.
"I thought we were heading back to the hotel." Elizabeth said as they approached the lever for the gondola to the First Lady airship.
"Yeah but considering what happened to the gate leading to the boardwalk, I wanna see if this works." Ryan pointed at the Shock Jockey exclusive lever.
Elizabeth sighs. "Fine, you have a point." With the go ahead from the lamb, Ryan uses the lever. A few sparks and bursts of electricity later, the machine shorts out. Ryan sighs in frustrations but Elizabeth looks at the sign conveniently next to the shorted out machine. "The console runs exclusively on Shock Jockey, but luckily for us…" Elizabeth points at the sign she was looking at. "Come see the future of power at the hall of heroes." She reads from the sign.
Ryan scoff. "That's a helluva marketing ploy, put the sign right next to the soon-to-be busted machine."
Elizabeth giggles at him. "You almost rhymed there." But before they can banter the PA sounded, and voice booms out to the entire boardwalk.
"Gentlemen, the False Shepherd is loose in the streets of our fair city! Will you suffer the shame of allowing your wives and your daughters to fall prey to his machinations!? Or will you act? Act for your womenfolk! Act for your Prophet! Act!"
With the PA over, Ryan and Elizabeth looked behind them to see an empty boardwalk, not a soul in sight. "Told you we should've gone back to the hotel." Elizabeth glared at Ryan, but her glare faltered. "But it would've happened tomorrow morning…" She said in a forlorning tone.
Much like in the toy store, Ryan places a gentle hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. "We'll get through this. We pinky promised remembered?"
Elizabeth smiles at him. "Actually, we pinky promised for you to show me this Bioshock Infinite, then to look out whenever I call out to you to catch something, and the latest pinky promise was to treat me to something nicer than ice cream."
Ryan smiles as he raises his pinky to her. "Then let's make a more serious pinky promise."
Elizabeth gave him a look of determination. "What would that be?" He then gave her a confident and reassuring smile.
"That we'll lookout for each other, and that we'll get through this together. Through thick and thin." Without hesitation, Elizabeth stuck her right pinky out, and Ryan wraps his right pinky around her thimble.
"Through thick and thin!" She enthusiastically reiterated.
"Hall of Heroes closed until further notice…" Elizabeth read the sign beside the elevator.
"When has something like that ever stopped us from going to wherever we go?" Elizabeth gave him a sly smile before entering the elevator with him. The doors closed and the elevator went up. It wasn't long before the power cuts and the entire elevator shuts down, leaving them locked inside with red lights.
Ryan simply sighs and Elizabeth chuckles. "It seems that we have a disunion with technology."
He chuckles along with her. "Don't jinx us." He says as he removes the panelling, allowing him access to the circuit fuses. As he was in the midst of replacing the fuses, a sudden buzzing was heard passing his right ear. He flinches hard and away from the bee that he forgot was going to be in the elevator with him. "Oh FUCK, A BEE!"
"What!? Where?" All of a sudden, Elizabeth starts waving her hand around her head, trying to get the bee away from her. "Oh it is a bee! I-I hate these things!"
"Elizabeth! Please kill it!" Ryan exclaimed, staying far away from the buzzing menace. When the bee made its way to him, he shrieked, ducked below it and found himself next to Elizabeth.
"No, it'll sting me! You kill it!" Elizabeth exclaimed, as they both carefully eyed the bee, slowly moving away from the bee's flight path.
"I don't wanna get sting too!" Ryan exclaimed, so it was up to Elizabeth to save them both.
"Then I have a better idea!" Elizabeth approached the ad about the Songbird, and Ryan readied himself for the upcoming event. Surprisingly he totally forgot about the bee flying around the elevator cabin, as he watched Elizabeth rip open a tear right in front of him. The act was immense, and he felt the shockwave that erupted when she opened the tear. The power, and the almost deafening sound of time space ripping opening was a sight to behold in person. He saw a window with a flower box filled with roses. The bee, once scared from the two lunatics it had to share a confined space with, immediately went out to the flowers, enjoying its new surroundings.
"Oh my God, a tear, an actual tear!" Ryan couldn't hide his wonder, as he stared into the spatial anomaly in front of him. Elizabeth looked back at him, proud that she impressed him.
"Yup, it's a tear. You know what a tear is, right?" Elizabeth looked back at the tear she made. There was a warmth to the environment outside the window, the colors of the sun mixing nicely with the clouds. But she mainly focused on the roses in the window pot, they were a lovely shade of romantic red, typical of that in the books she read.
"A window to another world, it's amazing in person!" Ryan couldn't find the words to express how awe-inspiring such a sight is.
"Yup, I used to open them in my tower. They could be dull sometimes though. A different colored towel, tea instead of coffee. But sometimes? Sometimes I see something amazing, and I pull it through." With that Elizabeth plucks a fresh rose from the bush, and smiles brightly at Ryan. "There." WIth that she places the rose on her right ear, reinforcing her beauty. He couldn't help but compliment her.
"You look really nice with the rose." Elizabeth blushes at the compliment.
"Thank you." She simply responds with a tiny smile. But the smiles quickly disappear when a certain bird flies past the tear. "Wait, there's something here though-"
"Elizabeth, close it!" Ryan exclaims, knowing the Songbird has spotted them.
She gasps as she's now attempting to close the tear. "I-I'm trying!" Ryan wasn't going to risk it. With the subtle differences from the game to his experiences now, anything could happen. He aims his shotgun to the quickly approaching bird. But with a final grunt of exertion, Elizabeth manages to close the tear in time, coincidentally replacing the tear with the original ad of the Songbird clawing towards the viewer.
Elizabeth leans on the door as it opens, her eyes closed as she's both discouraged and exhausted by the tear she had just closed. "You alright?" She looks over to Ryan, who was clearly worried about her well being.
"I-I don't know. These tears are sometimes beyond my control and they just don't work out due to my own foolishness." She remembers back earlier in the day, in her attempt to open a tear to Paris. It too resulted in similar kind of defeat.
"It's alright. But let's just be careful with these tears. These are literally rips in time and space, if anything goes wrong, I won't be surprised if we open a blackhole or something." Ryan said, and instantly regretted when Elizabeth looked confusingly at him.
"A what?"
Ryan shook it off. "Nothing, all I'm trying to say is that we need to be more careful about these tears, okay?"
Much like in-game, Elizabeth insisted on the uses of tears. "But Ryan, it could help!"
Ryan gestured Elizabeth to calm down. "I know it can, but all I'm trying to do is to avoid something like…" He pointed at the ad of Songbird with his thumb. "That happening again, capisce?"
Elizabeth frowned but nodded. "Okay, I understand…"
"Bucking Bronco…" Ryan lifted the vigour up, luckily it seemed to be factory new, so it hasn't been opened yet. He sadly couldn't say the same for the previous vigor he picked up.
"Oh, that reminds me, how many vigours do you already own? You used Murder of Crows back at the arcade, and Devil's Kiss when we were backtracking at the boardwalk." Elizabeth asked as she too examined the vigor in Ryan's hands. She knew about the uses of vigors, but worried about the side effects it caused when too much of it was consumed.
Ryan opened the bottle, and looked at Elizabeth. "I also have possession, I used it during our fight in the arcade. But don't worry, my limit's eight." But before he could take a swig of Bucking Bronco, Elizabeth held him off. He looked back at Elizabeth in confusion.
"I'm sorry Ryan but really don't think it's healthy nor necessary for you to have eight vigors already in your system. I mean the majority of people are already extremely hesitant when it comes to vigors, and the most people would drink would be two. Please Ryan, I'm begging you, think about it." Elizabeth grabbed the bottle and placed it down. She held onto his hands to emphasize her worry for him. But to her surprise Ryan lets go, and looks at him while he places his hands on her shoulders.
"Don't worry Elizabeth, I'll be fine. Trust me I know what I'm doing. To be frank, it's one of the only things I legitimately know is safe. Trust me, just like in the gondola station at the arcade, okay?" It was true, otherwise Rosalind Lutece would've given him a sort of heads up about it. Although that didn't automatically wipe his concerns away, as another worry did start to surface.
For Ryan, killing was getting easier, way too easier. The cops that attempted to stop them from going to the Hall of Heroes was a testament to it, as he found himself brushing off the act he committed. Much like in-game, Elizabeth seemed to ignore it as well, but she still does express her disgust and concern every time he dispatched his foe in a gruesome manner.
"I don't know if you know, but the substance used to create vigors does have a mental side effect. And to be honest, I am worried that you're succumbing to it. With the way you fight I mean-"
"I know about the side effects Elizabeth." Ryan interrupted her. "Like I said, I know what I'm doing, just please trust me, okay?" He said it in the most gentle way he can, reassuring her that he'll be fine in the long run.
Elizabeth didn't respond right away, as she still showed concern for him. But eventually, she closed her eyes and nodded to him. "Just… just don't go cuckoo, cuckoo. Okay? We still need to go to Paris, remember?" Ryan chuckled.
"I won't." He replied, as he took the bottle in hand once more. Elizabeth's worry didn't go away, as she held her hands together and close to her chest. Ryan still hesitated with the bottle, remembering the last few drinks he recently had in the day. But nonetheless, he steeled himself, knowing he needed the vigors to stay alive and get them through Columbia. "Bottoms up." He said as he drank the contents of the bottle, the effect was immediate.
Ryan drops the bottle, Elizabeth was instantly by his side. She held onto his shoulders, calling out his name but Ryan was too occupied by looking at his hands. In his eyes, his hands glowed a golden color, his skin started cracking open, with blood and skin floating above his hands. Ryan was hyperventilating, the picture too gruesome to describe, yet he couldn't look away. Eventually, a flash of white momentarily blinded Ryan, and moments later he found his hands to be normal once again. He flexes his fingers to see if all is still well, and he feels the acquired power of Bucking Bronco beneath his own skin.
"Are you alright?" Elizabeth carefully asked him. He nodded wordlessly before answering back.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, dandy…" He panted out. A pause later Ryan continued. "Did you see my skin floating above my hands after I drank that?"
Elizabeth looked horrified by the description. "Um… no I didn't, why?"
Ryan let out a shaky breath. "Oh good, it was just a hallucination. Come on! We have the vigor to get!"
Elizabeth watched as Ryan walked ahead of her, and she felt conflicted and concerned. Conflicted on whether or not she should be concerned about him drinking the vigor, or the fact that he experienced hallucinations after drinking it. She shook her head to refocus, and sighed at her escort.
"And when we strike, we will teach Cornelius Slate a less-"
Ryan lets out a wave of Bucking Bronco, suspending the soldiers in line, up in the air. They float helplessly in the air, as their guns were too far from their reach. But before they can do anything about it, Ryan lets out a Murder of Crows at the helpless soliders and a Devil's kiss to top it off, resulting in fiery crows picking at the poor soldiers. While some other crows found more victims, besides the floating soldiers. Ryan wasn't finished as he possessed a machine gun automaton, and it let loose a hail of bullets at unsuspecting soldiers caught in its line of fire.
"Ryan lookout!" Elizabeth points at the soldiers coming out from the ticket building, as they too fired their guns towards the duo. They take cover behind a table and a few crates. With bullets hitting their cover, and the automaton losing its green, Ryan was running low on salts. "Here, found this by some crates." Elizabeth handed him a half empty phial of salts, and much to his dismay, he chugged it down.
Ryan coughs at the salty content. "Ugh, that is not practical." He said as he stood up and let another possession ghost out to the turret. Under his control once more, it shoots at the reinforcements from the ticket building. But with an ally like that helping him, the hail of bullets was simply too much to handle, as Ryan got hit a couple times, enough so that his shield breaks, and he takes cover.
Ryan blindly fires at them, and eventually his carbine runs out of ammo. "Elizabe- ARGH!" A machine gun hits him square on the nose, and Ryan clutches his face, hoping his hands could dull the pain.
"Oh! Sorry, catch Ryan!" Elizabeth grimaces, remembering their first encounter in her tower.
"Urgh… a little late, but better than never!" Renewed with ammo, the combined might of him and the turret was enough to clear out the rest of the hostiles.
"Ryan! The turret!"
"Oh shit!" Ryan ran fast towards the turret, its light quickly shifting from green, to yellow then red. But before it could train its sight to him, he got behind it and pulled out his shotgun. Pressing the gun right on the chassis, he squeezed the trigger. The resulting explosion and the recoil of the shotgun was enough to knock him back, with the shotgun flying out of his grip and hitting him straight onto his face. He laid there, clutching his face, the pain from the machine gun hitting his face intensified with the shotgun hitting him in the same place.
Elizabeth came rushing towards him. "Are you okay?"
"Is it over?" Ryan groaned, but after he said it they both heard a Murder of Crows approaching them. "Shit…" Ryan got back up just in the nick of time to dodge a sword from slashing him. Ryan pulled out his own Skyhook and got into a ready stance against the Zealot in front of him.
They stood there for a moment, waiting for the other to strike. Elizabeth stood behind Ryan, staying close to her friend. The zealot noticed her, and called out to her.
"My Lady! Do you understand that this is False Shepherd, he is leading you astray! You must come with me at once, after I deal with this heretic!" Elizabeth finches at the venomous tone the zealot spoke in.
But in a more shy tone, Elizabeth responded back. "And do you understand that I was unfairly kept in a tower, with no one to accompany me? What kind of father would do that to their own child?"
"My Lady, it was for your own good." The zealot replied back, but flinches at the explosive response he got from the lamb.
"And what do you know about my own good!?" Elizabeth used that time to sneakily give Ryan her gun, they stood close enough together so the zealot wouldn't see the interaction. Following her action, his free hand slowly snaked to his back to grab the gun.
"My Lady, you have to understand. Everything has always been for your own benefit. I can guarantee you that if you come with me, everything will make sense." The duo couldn't tell if the zealot was getting irritated, but his tone suggested that he was indeed running low on patience.
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, she was clearly upset with his answer. "I already made a promise like that to someone else." With that, she tapped his hand, and Ryan whipped the gun out to the zealot. Before the zealot can act, Ryan already pulled the trigger, and a splash of blood came from behind the zealot's head, with the body dropping following the lethal shot.
With the area clear, Ryan looked back at a shaken Elizabeth, who was clearly disturbed by what had just happened. He approached her, intending to return the gun to her, but Elizabeth shook her hands.
"No, no, no! There's a reason why I gave that gun back to you, I don't want it back!"
"But Elizabeth-"
"NO BUTS RYAN!" She snapped at him, much to his surprise. The silence fell on the only two souls in the area, as Ryan was the one who broke it.
"It's not about the gun, is it?" But Elizabeth shook her head.
"Well, it partially is. I-I can't kill people Ryan, I just can't!" She approached him, and made him tighten his grip around the pistol he wanted to offer her. "Just like how I trusted you when you drank that Bucking Bronco, trust me when I say that I can take care of myself, please? Please Ryan, please just trust me." She practically begged. Although she knew of the dangers that lied ahead of them, Elizabeth still couldn't fathom the violence and brutality of their escape.
Ryan sighed, realizing she turned the tables against him. With some careful thought, and as much as he didn't like it, it was at least fair that they both had preferences specific to themselves. "Just know that I'm against this…" He paused, gathering his thoughts and eventually agreed. "But fine, it's fair I guess…" But Elizabeth just gave him a sad smile, and he remembered that it's not the only thing bothering her. "You said partially, what's the other problem?"
She instantly frowned, as she backed away from him and gave the body of the zealot a nasty look. "They think they know what I want. They think they know what's better for me. What they don't realize is that I spent nineteen years locked up in my tower thinking and knowing exactly what I want! AND YOU'RE THE ONLY PERSON WHO ACTUALLY CARED AND GAVE IT TO ME!" She practically exploded in anger. Ryan forgot to realize that on top of the wonder of exploring life outside the confines of her tower, she also held the anger she had for how unfairly treated she was.
Ryan slowly made his way to her, making sure she knew he was being gentle. "Do yo-"
"No Ryan, I don't want to talk about it." Elizabeth instantly cringed at her tone. "Not now at least." She followed up, this time significantly more gentle. Ryan only nodded in understanding. "I think there's some supplies we can get in the bar, and in the ticket center. We should probably check them out."
He only nodded. "Yeah, maybe we can find something to eat while we're at it."
"Hey, look! A cipher! A secret message from the Vox Populi." Elizabeth pointed at the red writing on the wall. Even though Ryan knew what the answer was, he just wanted to humor the lamb.
"You know what it says?"
"Don't know. There should be a code book somewhere." Elizabeth said as she kept looking at the writing in the wall. "What'd you think will be the reward if we find the answer?"
Ryan shrugged. "Dunno, maybe like you said, some more supplies. Let's check the other restroom."
"How'd you do that?" Elizabeth asked as the secret entrance opened up, in the other restroom. She expectantly at him.
"I just wanted the hat…" Ryan replied playing dumb, while Elizabeth gave him a look of disbelief.
"Found the code book!"
"We already opened it Elizabeth."
"I still want to see what the cipher translates to!"
"Look at this - my tower! It's only fair they give me a cut of the profits, don't you think?"
"You can use the cash I have."
"Can I hold the coin purse?"
"Shops empty, grab whatever you want."
"Oh! Bonbons!"
"So…?"
Elizabeth sighs. "Tip the hat to the Vox…"
"Told ya."
"How is that even possible?"
Ryan laughs. "Sheer luck Elizabeth, sheer luck." She stuck her tongue out to him, to which he promptly mimicked to her.
"Cornelius Slate, wanted for treason and sedition… he's apparently holding up in the Hall of Heroes." Elizabeth said as she looked at the wanted poster right beside the skyroad dock.
"We better be on the lookout then, with the carnage we saw at the bar, I don't think he'll be in a talking mood." Ryan warned as he checked the weapons he had on himself. He reloaded his shotgun and strapped it on him.
Elizabeth turned to him as he made his way to the building. "Maybe we don't have to fight him. If he hates Comstock as much as he says he does, we could have a potential ally. You know what they say, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"
Ryan thoughts rush back to earlier in the day, when he promises himself to follow Booker's path, but not his lead. He would do whatever he can to change things for the better. But until now, he hasn't been entirely successful, and the day's events are certainly catching up to him. From the Chinese man trapped in the Fraternity, to an even worse wound than a knife through the hand. Ryan wondered if he talks to Slate, whether things will end for better or worse.
Elizabeth could clearly see that Ryan was thinking about what she had said. She walks up to him with pleading eyes. "Please Ryan, we have enough enemies as it is. At least we have to try."
'We have to try…'
Elizabeth's words resonated in his mind. It was his goal from the start of this journey, besides rescuing her. "Okay, we'll try. But you have to help me, cause I honestly don't know how to talk him down. Whatever he's doing, he's pretty committed."
She smiles at him. "All it takes is a sound mind to calm somebody down. We can do this Ryan." She finished as she made her way past him, and down stairs to the gondola platform. There, another set of stairs led the duo to the main square. Luckily Ryan remembered the single sniper that guarded this area, and before Elizabeth could get to the top, he quickly pulled her down, using the stairs as cover. "Ryan, what are you doing!?"
Ryan gestured to her to be quiet, which she quickly did. To answer her question, Ryan stuck his arm out and started waving it. Immediately a shot rang out, broke his shield, and violently jerked his arm. Ryan pulled back, and with a painful grimace, held onto his arm.
"Oh my God! Ryan-"
"I'm fine, don't worry, the shield took the brunt of it." Ryan shook his arm, the pain dulling away as he turned his attention to the lone sniper who had him in their sight. "Now how are we gonna get past that sniper?" Elizabeth tapped him on the shoulder and pointed at the dead cop with a sniper rifle.
"There, you see it?" She quietly said.
"I do, but what happened to talking to them?" Ryan questioned.
Elizabeth glared at him. "Backup plan Ryan. And as for communication, um…" She paused as she contemplated their circumstance. She looked at Ryan's white shirt and pointed at it. "Rip a decent portion of your shirt, and tie it to your carbine!"
"Ah, white flag. Got it!" He quickly caught on, as he tore a part of his sleeve, and tied it to the barrel of his carbine. With their makeshift white flag at the ready, Ryan raises it up, and starts waving it, signalling their surrender. "Wait… doesn't this mean we're surr-"
"WE'RE NOT THE POLICE! WE JUST NEED TO SPEAK WITH MR. SLATE!" Elizabeth shouted out to the top of her lungs. But not a moment too soon, as she got her answer. A shot rang out, but it doesn't seem to hit anything, until Ryan lowered his makeshift white flag. A bullet hole straight through the flag, and the duo shared a grimace. "I don't think they're interested in talking."
There was a pause between them. "Backup plan?" Ryan said.
"Backup plan." Elizabeth nodded. "So, how're doing this?" Ryan pointed at the balcony to the left. The sniper was mainly at the top left balcony, but sometimes they did move to the rest of the balcony. Since this isn't in-game anymore, Ryan was sure their sniper would certainly be more dynamic.
"Our shooter is there. I'll use my carbine to suppress him, while you make a run for the sniper. Once my mag runs dry, I'll throw some crows in their direction, you toss me the rifle, get to cover, and our sniper is history. Got it?" Although it was a bit elaborate for a single sniper, this wasn't the game anymore. In real life, taking down one sniper isn't as simple as they make it in video games.
"Got it, ready?"
"Ready. NOW!" Ryan rushed up and immediately laid down suppressing fire. He didn't dump the entire magazine, but his shots were consistent and steady, giving Elizabeth ample time to retrieve the sniper.
"Ryan, I have it!" With that, he ran out of ammo and Ryan shot out a Murder of Crows in the sniper's general direction. He turned to Elizabeth, and with his arms out, gestured to her to throw it. "Catch Ryan!"
She threw it with ease, and to Ryan's delight, he caught it with equal ease. He smiled at their mimicry of the game. Instantly he aimed down sights, and saw the crows all pecking at a single target. He mentally commanded the crows to cease their harassment, and with the sniper clear of crows, he pulled the trigger. There, the sniper's head exploded like a bloody volcano, and his body toppled down. But before they could celebrate their victory, shots rang out at the steps of the building, as more dishonored soldiers came rushing towars them. Ryan and Elizabeth took cover by the graffitied statue in the middle, where the Hall of Heroes was defaced to the Hall of Whores.
"Yeah, we could use some of your tears at the moment!" Ryan exclaimed as he peaked over his cover, and dropped one of the soldiers with his sniper.
"I thought you didn't want me to use them!" Elizabeth countered him.
"I said we should be cautious! Not 'not use them outright!'"
"Not not!?" The gunfire intensified as they huddled closer together.
"Elizabeth!" Ryan blindly fired his pistol, they were suppressed at the moment.
"I can't pull them out of thin air! There has to be one in sight!"
"Argh, Goddamnit!"
"Too rare is the man who takes a stand, for God and sweetest Fatherland! But here's the place where we revere, the heroes of our city dear!" The motorized Washington finished his introductory speech, and powered down.
"Hence the name, Hall of Heroes." Elizabeth said as she looked around the completely trashed lobby area.
"More like Hall of Whores." Ryan pointed at the newly rebranded building. Elizabeth didn't pay too much attention to the name, as she was worried about another issue.
"Do you think Slate will still talk to us after we 'took care,' of some of his men in the front?" Elizabeth expressed her concerns to Ryan.
Luckily for them, the next room, they'll be able to talk to the one and only Slate. Although in-game, Slate did recognize Booker, and it was the only thing going for them. Hell, Ryan remembered that in another version of Columbia, Booker and Slate teamed up, igniting the revolution that claimed both their lives. But he wasn't Booker, for all he knew, they could be riddled with bullets the moment they enter the main lobby area.
Ryan sighs. "I honestly don't know." He shook his head as he turned to Elizabeth. "We have to be prepared for anything. So, just stay behind me, and if anything happens, you run, okay?"
"I'm not leaving you." She immediately said.
"Eliz-"
"No, Ryan just, no. Okay? We made a promise, remember. So please stop doubting me, okay? I can take care of myself, and you." Elizabeth said, her tone was borderline irritated.
Ryan just looked at her, then turned his attention to the door ahead of them. Ryan took a breath, and with his gun at the ready, he opened the door. Once open, he instantly rushed in, carbine at hand and scanning the dark room. Ryan noticed how the entire room was practically pitch black, darker than it seemed in-game. With the new development, he instantly fell back a few paces, to the door where he came from.
"Ryan? Where are you?" Elizabeth called out, as she too rushed right behind him and into the darkness.
"Here, here." Ryan called out as he used his free hand to search for Elizabeth.
"AH - oh my God! Ryan, there you are!" Ryan felt Elizabeth's face. "You can stop touching my face Ryan."
"Sorry, I was going high so I wouldn't accidentally grope you." Elizabeth nervously laughs as she has her hands on Ryan's arms. There he rested his free hand on her shoulder, and at that moment, the lights came blindingly on. They both immediately closed their eyes at the abrupt transition, and then heard the sounds of guns racking and cocking. Opening their eyes, they were met with dozens of Slate's militia surrounding them, all of their guns aimed at them.
Both Elizabeth and Ryan were frozen in place, unknowing of what to do at the moment. Then Ryan looked at the tied piece of his sleeve around his wrist, the same one he used as his makeshift white flag. He untied it, and timidly waved it around.
"Umm… parlay?"
Elizabeth facepalmed.
The duo were being escorted through the Hall of Heroes, luckily they stayed close to one another. They passed by the rotunda, where they certainly passed the exhibits for the Boxer Rebellion and the Wounded Knee Massacre. Instead, they went straight to the exhibit dedicated to the First Lady. They passed through exhibits, first 'The Memorial to Our Lady,' then 'The Lady and Child.' Next was 'The Transport of the Child,' to which Elizabeth winced and sadly looked away from, as the dialogue of Comstock boomed inside the confined spaces. The next couple of showcases presented 'The Murder of Our Lady,' and finally 'The Vengeance of the Prophet.' Ryan couldn't help but admire the display as he was being escort, they were stunning in-person. All though all of these displays were merely used for propaganda and the sake of vanity, the amount of work used to create such exquisite designs was certainly not something to scoff at.
But when Ryan turned to look at Elizabeth, it's clear that he's the only one who's mildly enjoying the show. For Elizabeth, each of these displays was a hard punch of reality straight to her stomach. She tried her very best to ignore her surroundings, but each was practically too big for her to ignore. Even as Ryan laid a gentle hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, it did too little to comfort the poor girl.
Eventually, the group entered the courtyard, and Ryan remembered that this is the place where Elizabeth first uses her powers for gameplay. The supposed locked gates weren't locked, and were guarded by two firemen. But when Ryan looked up to hopefully see the freight hook, to his surprise, he saw more than the freight hook.
"Ryan, do you see that? It's a tear." Elizabeth whispered to Ryan, although he could hear the underlying wonder in her tone. But her wonder turned to confusion as there was an extra addition. "Is that…? Who is that on the hook?"
"You see it too?" Ryan quietly exclaimed as he looked at the faded tear, that wasn't in their world just yet. He saw Booker on the hook, and he seemed to be talking to someone below him. No doubt that Booker is talking to Elizabeth in his world.
"I do, but I never really seen something like this. Usually I have to open a tear to see or at most, bring people into our world. Yet I have never seen ghostly apparitions of people in their world, this is new." Elizabeth explained, but before she could go into more detail, their armed escort interrupted their thought process.
"What are you two gawking at? Quit stalling, Slate wants to see both of you." The soldier menacingly walked towards Ryan, getting face-to-face with him. "Especially you tough guy." With that another soldier behind him pushed him and Elizabeth forward, with Elizabeth squeaking in surprise.
"That was unnecessary." Elizabeth said to the soldier behind them, but he cared too little and the party moved on. Unlike in the game, the steps weren't mysteriously destroyed, and they travelled down, into the gift shop.
The duo face the back of what Ryan surely thought was the one and only soldier, Cornelius Slate. The bald man turned to face the two, and Ryan's eyes widened once more. It was like a painting brought to life, with his facial hair and quite exquisite moustache, Slate definitely belongs in the era he came from. It wasn't until then that Ryan realized that Slate didn't actually wear an eyepatch, but used his pinkerton badge as an eyepatch.
'Wait… he was a pinkerton!?' He thought, as the revelation certainly took him by surprise. 'I swear, every badass at the time was either a soldier, a pinkerton, or a private investigator.'
"So, my men tell me that when arriving at our abode, that you sought surrender?" Slate spoke, his usual exuberance never faltering. At the same time, he never took his eye off Ryan.
"We have no quarrel with you or your men Mr. Slate. We just need a certain vigor, that's only locally found right here." Elizabeth spoke, but Slate never really focused on her, but he still heard her.
"No quarrel?" He glanced back at Elizabeth, but his gaze returned to Ryan. "It's ironic that you fought your way here, and yet surrender to us, a soldier's duty is to fight until the very end. Your act for surrender disgusts me." Spat out as he paces back and forth, all the while looking at Ryan. All of a sudden he quickly pulls out one of his revolvers, and aims it squarely on Ryan's head.
"RYAN!" Elizabeth gasps out. She wanted to quickly be beside him but a soldier held her firmly. As for Ryan, his breath quickened, never really been in this sort of position, a gun aim point blank at him in this range.
"So that's your name. Ryan. Ryan…?" An answer didn't come out, but once Slate pulled the hammer back, he quickly responded.
"P-Passerine. Ryan Passerine." Ryan stammered out.
"Ryan Passerine. Now tell me Ryan Passerine, cause I know about your many fights throughout the entire day. It's actually thanks to the chaos you started, that my men were able to capture and hold The Hall of Whores." Slate explained, while still keeping the pistol aimed at Ryan's head.
"That's why those bodies are fresh…" Ryan thought out loud, remembering the corpses of cops and some civilians inside The Hall of Heroes.
"Exactly. Now I really do admire the work you've done throughout the city, and you'd make a fine soldier, considering your age. Now tell me, how old are you?"
Ryan paused, unlike the Slate he knew in-game, the Slate in-front him seemed mildly soft-spoken, yet can blow up if provoked. A bomb waiting to detonate, and if it wasn't for his actions early in the day, he might not even be alive right now. That, or it just delayed his own death, Ryan slightly shook his head to refocus.
"I'm twenty."
Slate softly laughed, as he put his gun down and looked at his men around them. "He is twenty years old gentlemen, yet what a fine soldier he'll make, isn't that right?" Yet no one laughed nor agreed with him, and scarily enough, Slate smiled at their response. "Exactly my brothers!"
Ryan flinched as Slate abruptly aimed his revolver back at him. "You see Ryan? You may be a talented warrior for a man at your age, but you're no better than the tin soldiers Comstock uses to fight his wars, and win him his fake valour!" Ryan started to hyperventilate, he looked over to Elizabeth who looked equally terrified at the moment. Yet her gaze carried a despairing expression of guilt, as tears seem to brim in the corners of her eyes.
"Wha-"
"You see boy…" Slate wrapped his free arm around Ryan's shoulder, yet he kept his revolver on him. The barrel of the gun pressing onto his cheek, and Ryan continued to hyperventilate, his knees growing weaker with every nanosecond. "My men and I are real soldiers. Soldiers who will commit their literal lives to not the country, but to the battlefield. Honor is only achievable once one perishes in the blaze of glory in the bloodied you stain our glory by not only being a talented fighter, but a talented fighter who's first response to a fight is to wave your pathetic little white flag." WIth that Slate ripped the white cloth from Ryan's wrist, and threw it to the ground. Ryan was shocked, he lost his respect by just a piece of cloth?
"What? All of this because we surrendered? You want to kill us because we surrendered?"
"DON'T MOCK ME BOY!" Slate pistol whipped Ryan across the cheek, with him hitting the floor hard,and his blood spraying the floor.
"RYAN!" Elizabeth calls out as the man in question weakly gets back up.
"A TRUE SOLDIER WILL NEVER SURRENDERS! A TRUE SOLDIER WILL ALWAYS FIGHT! A TRUE SOLDIER WILL FIGHT TO THEIR DYING BREATH! IF YOU WANTED MY RESPECT PASSERINE, YOU SHOULD'VE DIED BEFORE YOU ENTERED THE HALL OF WHORES!" Slate raged at the top of his lungs, with the end of each sentence he kicked Ryan down hard. "Oh, and I know your type. Don't think you're the first person to try and convince me to fight Comstock to get my honor back. Well you better listen here, boy! I REFUSE TO LET ME OR MY MEN DIE AT THE HANDS OF A FILTHY FUCKING LIAR! I REFUSE TO DIE AT THE HANDS OF TIN SOLDIERS! NO MATTER HOW RIGHTEOUS THE CAUSE IS! THERE IS NO HONOR IN DYING IN THE HANDS OF TIN SOLDIERS!" Ryan's grunts could be heard with every kick. Elizabeth winced when she heard a sharp snap emanating from a particularly hard kick to Ryan's chest.
"STOP! PLEASE STOP IT! WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!?" Elizabeth exclaimed as loud as she could. "We just wanted to talk to you..." She softly said, on the very verge of crying as she saw the curled up form of her rescuer. But Slate only glanced back at her, before he started laughing. First his laugh was rather low, and guttural, but it then grew in intensity as the men around them started to laugh maniacally with him. When the laughing ceased, Slate looked at her with a twisted grin.
"And you have just spoken with me." WIth that Slate aimed his revolver at the fallen form of Ryan Passerine, and Elizabeth felt the muzzle of a barrel at the back of her head. She closed her eyes, praying that this was all a dream, and when the shot rang out, that she would wake up. But before anything else could happen, all hell broke loose.
"STAY AWAY FROM THEM!"
"It's nice to see you back here ma'am."
"It seems to be the only place where I can truly relax. Forgive me if I was interrupting your afternoon."
"No, no! Not at all, I was enjoying the scenery." She looked incredulously at him, and he clarified. "I mean, I wasn't referring to you. I was talking about the park. I mean, you do look nice-"
"Calm down. I didn't come here to listen to you stumble your words."
"Right…" Silence befell the two, as the quaint scenery ahead of them was enough to fill the void in-between them.
"I always see you here. On this very bench, in the very park. May I ask why?"
The man didn't answer right away. "It's personal, I'm sorry." The woman, although she didn't show it, was slightly disappointed. "How about you? I see you on my bench, in this park on some days. Can I ask why?"
"Oh, so this is your bench?"
"I come here the majority of my time. So I think I have the right to claim this bench as my own." He said in a lighthearted manner.
"I see, well I do need to point out that in our last conversation I did explain why I sit here."
"And you called me a stranger, and didn't elaborate on why."
"Indeed I did."
"Well, much like a quote that I heard somewhere; Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet. So lets rectify it. My name's Andy…"
Pain. That's all he could feel at the moment, just pure pain. He wanted to fall blissfully back to sleep, but the dreams were all but blissful. Instead, he opted to wake up, back to the painful world of reality. Although he felt all the pain coursing through his body, he also felt the comfortable bed below him.
Opening his eyes revealed a beautifully decorated ceiling, and judging by the light from the windows he can deduce that it's morning. The majority of his pain literally center at the core of his body, so he titled his head down to see the extent of the damage. To his surprise, he was covered by a bed sheet. Looking around the bed, he found himself in a luxurious room, as a matter of fact, it's the hotel room that he and Elizabeth reserved. But the room itself was drastically different from the one he remembered, as the furniture of the room was rearranged to block all the windows and the door leading into the room.
As he further examined the room, he felt a shuffle to his right. Looking over, his eyes widened when he saw the curled up form of Elizabeth, who was tightly clutching his arm. He automatically frowned when he saw her features contorted into misery, she was having a nightmare. He wanted to wake her up, free her from her nightmares, but when attempting to use his free hand to shake her awake, he grunted as pain surged from his core. Instantly, Elizabeth's eyes were wide, and the first thing she looked for was him. As soon as she noticed that he was awake, a wide and relieved smile broke open, as she moved as close as she could to him.
"Ryan, you're awake!" She said as she sat up, and examined his injured form.
But as much as he wanted to comment or ask about the pain, and what happened last night, he couldn't help but notice something. "What happened to the pillow in-between us?" He smiled back when she gave him a warm smile.
"Really? After what's happened to you, that's the first thing that comes to mind? You're unbelievable!" She laughs. But her laughter quickly dies down as she looks seriously at him. "Ryan… you almost died."
He sighs. "Again?"
"I'm serious Ryan!" She snapped at him. "Slate beat you, hard. Those kicks were no joke, he broke bones! And that pistol whip, he opened your cheek Ryan! Blood was every-"
"Elizabeth!" Ryan interrupts her flashback as she attentively looks at him. "I'm fine right now, to say the least. But, what happened? How'd we get out?" Elizabeth frowned at his question, clearly what had happened last night shook her too.
"It was madness."
Elizabeth laid over Ryan's fallen and unconscious form, as blood curdling screams, gunfire and shouts reigned all around them. Inhuman sounds emanating from their ghostly guardian, as she literally raised the dead in front of Elizabeth's very own eyes. Elizabeth heard a body drop near her, and found the gutted corpse of Slate, with a bottle of Shock Jockey sticking out from his coat. Elizabeth crawled towards the body, extracted the bottle, pocketed it, and moved back to Ryan. Once the carnage was over, Elizabeth shook in fear as the ghost floated towards her, and the dead soldiers whom she raised surrounded the two.
A couple of moments passed, before the feminine ghost spoke to Elizabeth. "Follow me if you want to live." She spoke with the sound of a distant echo. With that, the ghost held out a first aid kit for Elizabeth to take, and one of the undead soldiers lifted the unconscious form of Ryan.
"The undead soldiers cleared a path for us. They fought not only Slate's men, but also Comstock's soldiers. Eventually we made our way back to the boardwalk, broke into the hotel, and I barricaded ourselves in. I treated you the best I could, but this red substance seemed to be doing all the work for me."
'Red substance? A siren? What the fuck is going on?'
Ryan shook his head, and gathered his thoughts. "The red substance, what did you mean when it did all the work for you?"
"Well, for starters, it came inside the first aid kit the ghost gave me, all in a stylized syringe. But once I administered it to you, the broken bones I mentioned earlier mended itself overnight. I just checked it right now and it seemed like your ribs mostly healed nicely. Although I'm sure you're still feeling a bit of pain, that's natural, rapid healing isn't painless, especially overnight. Then your cuts and scars somehow healed as well, your shoulder should be fine now actually. I have no idea where this red substance came from, but it's reminding me a lot about the substance used to create vigors." Elizabeth explained, but Ryan knew what the red substance was. He knew it all too well when playing the Bioshock games.
"ADAM…" He muttered.
"Adam? Who's Adam?" Elizabeth heard him say.
"More like what's ADAM. ADAM is what the red substance is called, and it's a miracle drug with some nasty side effects if you put too much in your body. How much did you administer to me?" Ryan carefully asked, he didn't know whether to positively freakout like a fanboy, or negatively freakout as someone who knows the very real dangers of ADAM.
Elizabeth showed him the syringe, and much to his relief, it wasn't the comically huge syringes that were used in the Bioshock games. "About two cc's, don't worry, there isn't a lot in your body."
Ryan let out a breath. "Oh…" He paused before chuckling. "I owe you twice for saving my life again."
But Elizabeth only gives him a sad smile. "You don't owe me anything. We lookout for one another, remember? We pinky promised each other." But then a pause later, Ryan knew something was up with Elizabeth. But before he could ask, she continued. "But I have a question though…" She looked at him, and he nodded for her to continue. "Do you know what that ghost thingy is? The one that rescued the both of us?"
'That's a surprisingly loaded question.' Ryan thought as he looked at Elizabeth. He sat up, much to the pain of his body. Elizabeth moved forward to get him back down but he waved her off as he properly sat up.
Her question was similar in vain to the whole video game aspect that he chose to purposefully omit. He felt bad enough as it is by omitting something that could be potentially crucial. But Ryan didn't want to lie to her, not anymore at least. He grew to care for her, and he couldn't bear the thought of lying to her. If something were to come out, that showed that he lied to her, it would be detrimental to the both of them, and he felt sick to the stomach in letting her down.
"I know what that thing is, the only problem is that I don't know who it is." Ryan replied as he looked directly in her eyes. Elizabeth leaned towards my, practically thirsting for answers. "You know, much like ADAM, tears have a much darker side to them. Imagine two parallel worlds, and one of the differences, if not the only difference between them, is that a certain person is dead in one world, but alive in the other."
Elizabeth's hand flew to cover her mouth. "Oh my God…"
Ryan can nod at her. "Yeah, so take that to the extreme and you get the siren. Someone who's suspended in-between life and death. The only thing I'm struggling to wrap my head around, is who that person was, who saved us..." It couldn't be Lady Comstock, Comstock himself had to drain a bit of power from Elizabeth in Emporia to do so.
"I-I, I don't know who they are. But I can't shake the feeling that it's someone familiar. Familiar and almost, motherly." Elizabeth said, as she stared into the blue, deep in thought.
"Familiar? Motherly? Like how familiar, and how motherly?"
'Is it Lady Comstock?' Ryan thought as he questioned further, needing to know who their mysterious rescuer was. This wasn't in-game, nothing in the game showed something like this. So Ryan had to find everything and anything he could find on this siren. Were they truly friendly? Is this somehow a by-product of him being here when he's clearly not supposed to be here? The questions in Ryan's mind seemed endless. Almost… Infinite…
Ryan shook his head to reconcentrate.
"Just familiar I guess, I'm sorry if I'm being vague about it but... it's just too difficult to specifically point out." Ryan lets out a breath, calming himself down before he overwhelmed the poor girl.
"It's fine, at least we know that we have at least one friend out there." Elizabeth couldn't help but agree.
"You're right…" But with what Ryan said, Elizabeth couldn't help but get emotional. "Ryan… I'm so sorry!"
He looked worriedly at her. "For what? Yo-"
"Shut up! I did! It was my plan to talk to Slate, and it almost got you killed! I was so scared! I thought you were going to die! I thought we were going to die! Seeing him beat you, while you laid on the floor helplessly was one of the worst things I've ever witnessed!" Elizabeth openly sobbed as she covered her face in utter guilt. Ryan felt bad, as he too truly believed that he could change something, save someone from their default fate in-game. Yet, like his concern before going into The Hall of Heroes, it just ended up being worse.
Ryan moved to hug her. At first she froze, unable to comprehend why. "But… I don-"
"Shut up and hug back." It took a moment before Elizabeth sobbed once more, this time tightly hugging Ryan back. "At least we tried Elizabeth, at least we tried…" To be fair, Ryan desperately needed this hug as well, as the encounter with Slate terrified him beyond measure. Having someone with that mental instability, pointing a gun point blank at you, him beating you down, kicking you while you were helpless. He thought he was going to die as well. He couldn't help but let a few tears of his own stream down his face as he hugged Elizabeth like his life depended on it.
Eventually, they both let go, and stared at one another. "Thanks, for keeping me alive." Ryan said to her.
Elizabeth gave him a tiny smile. "Thank you for staying alive." Ryan couldn't help but chuckle, and soon they both began to chuckle. When their laughter calmed, a light bulb lit up above Elizabeth. "Oh, and before I forget!" Elizabeth shuffled to her side of the bed, picked something up from the floor, and gave it to Ryan. It was the bottle of Shock Jockey. "All this pain for this."
Ryan hesitantly took the bottle and examined it. "Yeah, with that in mind, I don't think this was worth all that trouble."
"It wasn't, not at the cost of your life." Elizabeth bluntly said, as she glared at the bottle. She took a moment to relax, breathing in through the nose, and out through the mouth. With a more relaxed aura, she looked at Ryan. "Unfortunately, it's half empty."
Ryan looked at her confusingly. "So? That's enough for me to get the Shock Jockey powers."
She nodded. "I know, but that's not what I'm talking about." Ryan looked at her with a raised eyebrow before he opened the bottle, and saw the dirty mouth of the bottle.
"Oh… great."
With the boardwalk devoid of any life as the sun slowly rose, the duo quickly made their way to the still shorted out gondola machine. After a quick zap from Ryan's recently acquired vigor, all they had to do is wait for the gondola to arrive.
"This is taking forever! How slow is this thing?" Elizabeth complained as Ryan remembered that they had to hold out against Columbian soldiers before the gondola arrived. But even the gondola itself had a motorized patriot that they had to deal with. But luckily for the two of them, no such assault occurred, and the gondola arrived with no hassle. They activated it, and gondola went up to where the First Lady airship was docked. "Hm, hey Ryan, can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Since you know about my parental heritage, can I ask about your parents?" Even though he was adopted, it never really bothered him that much. He still grew up in the embrace of two loving parents.
"Well, my parents actually adopted me. Took care of me like I was their own." Elizabeth smiles at him.
"That's nice, how about your biological parents though?"
To that, Ryan shook his head. "I never really cared, it never bothered me that I was adopted. I had two wonderful people who called me their son and took care of me. I knew my real dad passed away, but it was only my mom that I couldn't find. I recently tried to look for more information about them, but so far, nothing about my mom."
Elizabeth frowned slightly. "Oh, maybe when this is all over, I can help you find her."
Ryan laughs. "To be honest, it's not a priority for me. I remember a quote, 'Your story may not have a happy beginning, but that doesn't make you who you are. It is the rest of your story, who you choose to be.' I'm sort of taking that to heart. I'm not obsessed with discovering my heritage, I'm trying to move forward I guess, I do have dreams that I want to fulfill." Ryan smiles, Kung Fu Panda 2 is certainly a good movie.
"That's ah, that's actually a sweet quote." At that, Elizabeth grew quiet, thinking about that quote and comparing it to her life. Although she spent the first nineteen years of her life stuck like a prisoner, that doesn't mean life is setting her up for failure. A determined smile grew, and it was rather infectious as her happiness certainly had the effect on making anyone's day just a little better.
The gondola arrives at the aerodrome. Their luck continued as no one appeared to be in the area. With that they boarded the elevator. Elizabeth couldn't help but notice the ad behind Ryan.
"So, looks like they call you the False Shepherd."
Ryan grins as he looks back at the poster behind, and back to Elizabeth. "And you the Lamb."
She scoffs at the name. "Let's not call each other that." But Ryan shrugs.
"I dunno, Lamb is growing on me." Elizabeth raises an eyebrow at him.
"Really? So you want me to call you the False Shepherd in public?" Ryan shook his head as he chuckles. "Besides, I think 'The False Shepherd' is more inconvenient to say than 'Mr. Passerine.'"
"Touche." The elevator reaches the top, there all they have to do is cross the catwalk. With that done, as soon as Ryan enters the airship, a fist meets him on the cheek. Instantly the world around blurred as he fell onto the ground, and he could faintly hear Elizabeth call out his name in a panic. He looked up to see Daisy Fitzroy looking over him, while another Vox soldier held onto Elizabeth, before throwing her down to his level. He looked back up to see the Vox leader raise her fist up to knock him out cold.
Note: Another chapter down, a few more to go. I'm going to be straight, I do think that my writing has a lot of improvement to do, as I'm not the most satisfied about how I worded things in the chapter. It could be better, I see that when reading it as a whole. But nonetheless, I legitimately hope you still enjoyed this chapter. Thank you so much for reading! As always, I apologize for any spelling and/or grammatical errors you spot, but with them I still hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Oh and I'll just leave this fun fact here. If you're wondering why I don't describe Ryan's appearance in detail, it is because I want the reader to visualize that they are Ryan. It's the kind of freedom I want to give the reader so they can immerse themselves even further in this fanfic.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until the next chapter, peace out!