I am a horrible person, I'll admit it. I am so, so damn sorry I left you all hanging for so long...I have become the very thing I hate! I was very busy for the past couple of months-there were the holidays, then school started up again, then I had to get my computer fixed, and the cherry on top of the whole thing was that I had writer's block. I swear, I meant to write this and then get it posted before the holidays, but they crept up on me...sneaky holidays. Anyways, I'm back now, and my writer's block is gone and everything looks like it'll be smooth sailing from here on out. Thank you all so much for sticking with me despite the very long wait, and I promise never to do it again if I can help it! Thank you for your patience, and please enjoy the chapter!
Rapture, 1959
A dash of this...a pinch of that...and...finished. That should do the trick, Tenenbaum thinks as she puts the finishing touches on her latest creation. If she's done this right, then this Plasmid will reverse the effects of ADAM on the Little Sisters' bodies, disintegrating the sea slug inside of them and turning them human once more. Tenenbaum sighs and sits back, dragging a hand over her face wearily as she closes her eyes. She only gets a few moments of peace before the illusion is shattered by two voices, one male and one female, both tinted with English accents.
"An impressive concoction, Dr. Tenenbaum."
"Indeed. It's a shame you have need of it."
"As the saying goes… 'too little, too late.'"
Tenenbaum jumps in her seat, twisting around to stare wide-eyed at the strange intruders. She chances a quick glance at the door and notices it's still locked; something unpleasant twists in her gut at the realization that there's no other way they could have gotten in, and yet...here they are. She looks at them again, brow furrowed. "Who are you?" she asks, rising from her seat and reaching behind her for the Luger pistol she always keeps close by. She grasps the handle and slowly but quietly drags the pistol across the desk until it's behind her back. "What do you want?"
The other woman doesn't seem fazed by her aggressive behavior, merely glancing at the pistol behind the scientist's back and giving the faintest hint of an amused smile before answering the question. "We are...where we're needed."
"And needed where we are," the man adds, glancing at his...sister? Tenenbaum would be surprised if they were not related-they look almost exactly the same; same hair, same amount of freckles, same clothes, same height. Tenenbaum finds their similarities more than a bit unnerving, but decides not to comment on it.
"As for what we want, we wish only to see a girl who once moved heaven and earth to redeem herself get another chance to do so." She then turns to her brother, frowning slightly. "I can't believe you talked me into this," she murmurs in a low tone to him.
Her brother merely shrugs.
Tenenbaum frowns at the odd couple, clicking the safety off on the pistol behind her back. "You did not answer my question." she says impatiently, sighing.
"Who we are is none of your concern," the man says curtly. "What we want is for you to help us give the aforementioned woman another chance."
The geneticist laughs mirthlessly. "And why should I help you?" she asks, gripping the handle on the gun harder. "Do I even know this woman?"
"No. But that shouldn't deter you. After all, you barely know these children," the woman says, gesturing to the large glass window providing a view of the Little Sisters outside of her office, "and yet you're helping them. Why is this woman any different?"
A retort is on the tip of Tenenbaum's tongue, but she bites it back, swallowing thickly. Then she sighs, finally loosening her death-like grip on her pistol-though she has no reason to, she trusts that they are not here to harm her. That does not stop her from asking, however. "How do I know that what you are saying is true? For all I know, you could be leading me into a trap. What reason do I have to trust you?"
"You misunderstand, Dr. Tenenbaum-"
"Trust has nothing to do with it."
"We are simply asking for a favor."
Tenenbaum won't admit it, but hearing them talk in perfect unison gives her chills. She shakes it off, however, and asks her next question. "What kind of favor?"
The woman smirks while the man pulls something seemingly out of thin air. Upon closer inspection, it appears to be a tube with some sort of hair sample inside. Tenenbaum frowns as she's handed the tube, looking it over curiously.
"This is a sample of the woman's hair," he tells her, before she can ask. "Her name is Elizabeth. I believe she helped one of your Little Sisters escape a particularly nasty fate at the hands of Atlas and his splicers-and died in the process."
At the mention of Atlas, Tenenbaum looks up sharply. "What do you know of Atlas?" she asks suspiciously, before the meaning of his words sink in. "Wait...she saved…?"
"Yes. I believe the girl's name was Sally. I doubt she remembers much of the ordeal, but if you would like to ask her about it, be my guest." There is a tone to the woman's voice that makes it sound as though she's slightly intrigued by the notion.
Tenenbaum nods, looking back at the hair sample with an odd feeling twisting in her stomach. Then something else occurs to her, something that would make helping her quite difficult…
"You say she died? But how am I supposed to help her if she is no longer alive?" As soon as the words are out of her mouth, however, it clicks. "Sie scherzen. You want me to resurrect her? But how am I supposed to do that?"
The woman nods once, frowning slightly. "The Vita-Chambers, of course. I believe you know how to feed a genetic sample to the machines? In about one year, you'll need to ask Sally to lead you to the woman's corpse-I believe she still knows the way. If not, there are others…. Once you've retrieved it, then you'll be able to revive Elizabeth. Make sure to leave her in one of the Vita-Chambers in Fontaine's Department Store-if she finds the boy sooner than expected, that could be disastrous." She murmurs that last part, leaning towards her brother as she does so. Tenenbaum frowns, wondering who "the boy" is, but she doesn't ask, somehow knowing that she wouldn't get a straight answer-not from these two, anyways.
"A year? Scheisse, why didn't you come to me then, then?" she asks instead, throwing her hands up indignantly.
"We'll be busy then," the man answers vaguely, brushing an imaginary speck of dust off his shoulder.
Tenenbaum scoffs, folding her arms across her chest before her face softens at the thought of the woman-Elizabeth-giving her life to help one of her Little Ones-Sally. At the thought of her, she sighs. She knows who Sally is. She had been recently rescued, in fact-she was one of the younger ones, not much older than five or six.
Tenenbaum suddenly remembers something else about Sally-something that makes sense of these strangers' ramblings. Sally sometimes speaks of a woman who had helped her some time ago, back before Tenenbaum had found her, who had rescued her from "the bad men"-splicers, no doubt, who apparently had been working for Atlas. If this Elizabeth is the same woman that had helped Sally to safety, then Tenenbaum owes her a debt...
These people...I do not know what they have in store for this woman, but if what they say is true… "Very well. I will help you."
The woman smiles; again, it looks forced. "Excellent. I was afraid we would have to do it ourselves. Now, then-" the woman turns to her brother, her smile becoming a little less forced- "shall we be off?"
"I believe we shall," her brother responds.
The lamp on the desk behind Tenenbaum flickers for a few moments before going out completely. She turns around, looking at it curiously before turning back to her strange guests, only to find that they've mysteriously disappeared. She glances at the door like she had when she first noticed them-it's still locked.
"Was zum Teufel?" she mutters, turning back to her work with caution as she tightens her grip on her Luger once more.
Rapture, 1960
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
The little girl beams up at him, smile wide and eyes shining-they're blue, he notices absentmindedly, as he wipes the sweat from his brow-no longer the sickly yellow of the Little Sisters. He takes a few deep breaths, leaning on his knees as he smiles at the girl, who (thankfully) doesn't notice his weariness, instead looking around her in astonishment as though she's seeing all of her surroundings for the first time-and who knows? Maybe she is.
"You're welcome, miss," he says, his tone far cheerier than his mood. "Now, do you see that vent over there?" He points to a Little Sister vent not too far off from where they're both standing now, making sure she sees it before he puts his hand down. "Mama Tenenbaum's waiting for you on the other side. Do you think you could find your way to her by yourself?"
Though she looks uncertain, the girl nods fervently, her loose ponytail bouncing up and down with the movement. She smiles as Jack lets out a relieved sigh.
"Good," Jack says, still smiling for the girl's sake. In truth, the last thing he feels like doing right now is smiling-but there's no need to key the girl into his troubles.
"Are you going to come with me?" the girl asks, her eyes conveying her worry for her savior-blue, he notices again, the same shade as Elizabeth's. His stomach churns at the thought of her, but he quickly brushes it aside. He shakes his head, and the girl's face falls.
"I've got to go fight the bad man," he explains, voice low as he looks around-he's sure he'd heard something just now. "You can't come with me, but I promise as soon as I'm done I'll come back for you and the other girls. And Mama Tenenbaum," he adds quickly, seeing the girl about to protest. "I'll come back for all of you, and we'll all go to Lilly Poppy together."
At hearing this, the girl's demeanor brightens, a smile replacing the worried frown. "Okay, mister!" she says, and gives him a quick hug before turning and running off towards the vent.
As he watches the little girl's feet disappear into the ventilation system, he allows his faux smile to fall, replacing it with a look of worry. He hopes that the girl will be okay, now that she's no longer practically immortal-not to mention now she has no iron golem to protect her, so she's doubly vulnerable. He sighs.
Well, she's safe as long as she's in the vents. Hopefully she finds her way to Tenenbaum…
Jack's not sure she will, though-he should've gone with her, he realizes, with her and the one he had rescued earlier. Though Tenenbaum would surely have reprimanded him for wasting time, time that Jack could have been using to track down Fontaine, Jack would feel much better knowing that the girls were alive and safe.
He sighs. Well, it's too late now, he thinks drearily. He moves to stand. The only thing I can do now is make sure Fontaine gets what he deserves.
He turns away from the vent, taking in his surroundings. He's not anywhere he recognizes, which to him is a sign that he's headed the right way. The area is fairly open-a withered tree stands in the center, with a decayed corpse hanging from it-either suicide or Splicers, Jack guesses. He can hear the whirr of a security camera sweeping the area, although he can't see it from where he is. Distantly, he thinks he can also her the obnoxious cackling of a Circus of Values vending machine, and makes a note of where it might be located, in case he needs a pick-me-up or some ammunition.
He doesn't see much else besides the several staircases with several missing steps that lead to several balconies several feet above the ground. Sighing, he heads towards the first one he sees that doesn't have more than seven missing steps and begins to climb.
"That's not possible."
"Fraulein Elizabeth-"
"That's not possible. I read the notes in Suchong's lab. The Vita-Chambers are only tuned to Ryan's genetic frequencies; only he and Jack can use them. Now, maybe you somehow changed them to accept me as well, but you would have needed a genetic sample, wouldn't you? How did you get that? While we're on the subject, how do you even know who I am? I doubt Suchong trusted you enough to share his secrets with you."
Tenenbaum sighs, putting a hand over her eyes in exasperation. When she had decided to tell the young woman the truth, she had of course expected questions—but she had not expected so many, and the woman is giving her almost no time to answer one before moving on to another. "I am trying to explain, Fraulein, but you must give me time to answer your many questions!" She sighs again as Elizabeth finally falls silent, pursing her lips in an unapproving fashion. "Where to start…?"
"How about the beginning? How did you find out about me? Was it Suchong? Ryan?"
Tenenbaum scoffs, snaking her head lightly. "Please. As if they would share their secrets with me—as you said. No. It was…" Here, she pauses. How is she supposed to explain this part to her? She decides to take her chances—the whole truth, they had said, nothing more and nothing less. "I was in my office one day, working on—on a project. I hear these-this couple behind me, talking nonsense. I do not know how they even got in there, truthfully," she admits, and she sees Elizabeth's eyes widen just a fraction. "They told me about you, and what you did for one of my Little Ones-thank you, by the way. I doubt she would have lived long had you not stepped in and saved her life. Fontaine and his filthy Splicers care nothing for-"
The young woman scoffs, causing Tenenbaum to pause mid-sentence and raise an eyebrow in her direction. "Yeah? And what exactly did they tell you? That I was some sort of savior? That I saved Sally's life out of-of what, kindness? Because I wanted to? Because it was right?" It's Elizabeth's turn to scoff. "I didn't. I'm no savior-Sally was only in that mess in the first place because of me. All she was to me was a pawn-and I used her and left her to die when I was done. The only reason I came back here was because the guilt was eating me alive. I would have left her to rot if it hadn't."
This...this is new information. Tenenbaum had suspected that something like that might have been the case-that she accidentally saved Sally or she purposefully did with her own intentions. But the fact that she had been planning to let an innocent child die, well-well, this the scientist was not expecting. After an endless minute of thinking, she finally says, "Yes. Perhaps this is true. But…" She sighs. "I was like you, once. I did not care who I hurt, as long as I achieved my goals. I did not care for the girls I was experimenting on, or...or eventually, the boy. I did not care what my experiments were used for, how many people died because of my science. I was...a monster," she admits, a look of great sorrow crossing her face before it hardens. "But I learned from my mistakes. I gained a conscience, mein Kind-a soul. I saved the girls I condemned, and in doing so-at least I hope-begun my path to redemption. I still have much to do before I am fully redeemed, but I do not despair-there is still a chance for me. And if there is a chance for me, then why not for you? Fraulein Elizabeth, you only hurt one innocent-I hurt hundreds. If there is no hope for me, then there is no hope for anyone."
Elizabeth is silent for a very long time. Tenenbaum, knowing that she needs time to think and process what's been said, sits beside her, watching her charges play with blocks and draw with chalk. They sit like that for what seems like hours, but in reality is probably only a handful of endless minutes, when Elizabeth speaks again, in a voice so soft and unlike any voice she's heard Elizabeth use before that Tenenbaum initially wonders if she is the one speaking at all. "What do I do now?"
Tenenbaum doesn't answer.
"Tenenbaum, what do I do now? How do I find redemption?"
Silence.
"Tenenbaum."
"...Help him," she says after a long moment.
"What?"
"Help him." She fixes her gaze on the young woman seated beside her. "You are the reason he is here, yes? Help him get out. He cannot do this alone-his body is reacting too negatively to the effects of Code Yellow to function properly, and on his own he is moving too slowly to reach the second dose of the cure in time. But if you help him...if you are there then he stands a chance. You are his only hope, and he is ours. If you do this, you will have gained redemption not only in my eyes, but theirs as well." She gestures to the children, still oblivious to all of the heartache and emotional drama going on between the two women. "You have a debt that needs paying, Fraulein Elizabeth. Wipe it away."
Upon finishing her "speech," Tenenbaum watches as Elizabeth's blank expression is quickly replaced by a steely look and a hardened glint of determination in her eyes that the scientist strongly suspects is a key factor in Jack's attraction towards her. She nods. "I...okay. Okay," she breathes, her voice a bit shaky-but nevertheless, she moves to stand, grabbing the radio at her hip and flicking the "ON" switch.
"Jack? It's Elizabeth. We...we need to talk."