Hi guys! I'll bet you weren't expecting another update so soon! *nervous laughter*
There are about 4/5 more chapters left to this thing, and I know I've said that sort of thing before, but this time it's for certain. All we have left is the Little Wonders Educational Facility, Point Prometheus, and then the final boss fight with Fontaine, plus an epilogue that I wrote way back in chapter 4 or 6. The epilogue is already done, no fuss no muss, I don't want to change anything about it, so it'll be posted very shortly following the 'final' chapter. The next chapter is either going to be rather long or I will split it into two parts, we'll see. Hopefully y'all won't have to wait another 3 months for another update. Thanks for being so patient!
P.S. I don't know when exactly Elizabeth's 'real' birthday is (the wiki only has her year of birth as 1893) so I took some liberties. The date I chose doesn't really have any significance other than I thought Elizabeth seemed like an early February baby.
"My real name is Anna DeWitt. I was born on February 2, 1893, and my parents were Booker and Annabelle DeWitt. I...never knew either of them, not really. My mother died giving birth to me, and soon after her funeral my father fell into a deep depression. His grief over the loss of his wife was so great that he began to drink and gamble to relieve the pain. It got to the point where he often forgot everything but himself, and even then he was only aware enough to walk home from the casinos and bars and lock himself away. He...he didn't-" Elizabeth stops abruptly, closing her eyes and forcing herself to remember what she had gathered from her own past through the Tears. Before all of this. She does not look at Jack, still sitting quietly and watching with great interest as she tries to explain. She hopes that she can.
"We were poor, I won't sugarcoat it. I was still a babe at the time, and I didn't get the care I needed under his roof. He could barely afford a nanny, and he couldn't care for me on his own, not with his alcoholism and debt collectors constantly hounding him for unpaid dues. Honestly, I think sometimes he forgot I even existed. His debts grew and grew, and he could never pay them off enough, which depressed him, and so the cycle would begin again. Things got worse, and eventually he owed so much money to so many people that he shut himself inside his tiny apartment with me and refused to come out for weeks. That was when he arrived.
A man by the name of Robert Lutece came to us, on the night of October 21, the same year. I was eight months old. Mr. Lutece worked for a man named Zachary Hale Comstock, who generously offered to wipe away all of my father's debts...in exchange for me."
At this dramatic sentence, she opens her eyes a bit, just enough to see what Jack's reaction will be. He does not disappoint-his eyes widen and he sits up a bit straighter. His lips form a thin line on his face, but he says nothing, silently urging her to continue. She takes the invitation, somewhat grateful that he does not wish to interrupt-at least, not yet. She knows he will, later, once she's explained enough.
"This man, Robert Lutece. He came-comes-from another world. Another universe, like our own, where my father chose a different path in life and became an overzealous and power-hungry sociopath named Zachary Hale Comstock. This version of my father couldn't produce an heir, but still wanted someone of his blood on the metaphorical throne after he died. So..naturally, I was the perfect choice. You see-"
"Hold up a second," Jack says suddenly, holding up a hand to stop her. He shifts uncomfortably on his crate, an expression of equal bewilderment and confusion adorning his face. "Another universe? What the hell? Elizabeth, I thought we were talking truth here. What's going on?"
Of course. She had started her explanation too late into the timeline-her story was not far back enough and did not account for the fact of the multiple worlds, the different outcomes, and of course, the different people and their lives that she had influenced-at least not enough. She sighs. "It's my fault, Jack, I'm sorry. Let me start over. The explanation you wanted is far bigger than you could have ever imagined, and it contains a lot of very unbelievable things. You are probably one of the only people who could even begin to understand and believe what I'm trying to tell you, due to your own experiences. I started too late, with my story- but it's so much bigger than that. My story is connected to yours, and to Fontaine's, and to my father's, and to the universe, this one and so many more, in more ways than I can tell you. You wanted the truth Jack, and I'm going to give it to you, but it's a lot more than you bargained for. We have to begin again-at the very beginning. Do you understand?"
When she looks at him again, she can see that he's still clearly bewildered, but apparently he trusts her enough to trust that she'll make everything make sense if he just sits and listens, if the expression on his face is anything to go by. Still, he takes a moment before responding. "You say that word a lot," he says, not quite looking at her-at something pas her, perhaps, out of her line of sight. She doesn't bother turning her head to see. "'Understand.'" His focus snaps back, and he looks at her, with a strange look she's never seen before-on anyone, not just him-but on him it is especially eerie. "
"This world...the world we're currently occupying. It's one of thousands, millions of others, just like this one and yet...not. Each world has its similarities and differences, and what sets them apart is choice. Each person is born with the gift of free will. Free will does not dictate anything except what you choose to do with it. Choice is a very tricky thing. Ultimately, whatever you choose, no matter what you choose, will wind up having an impact on your life. This choice could be very meaningless, and have a very small impact on your life, such as the choice to have strawberry ice cream instead of chocolate. Nothing comes of that except for a little less ice cream in the tub and the aftertaste of it on your tongue. But a meaningful choice...a meaningful choice will have a large impact on your life, and no matter what you choose, there are a dozen worlds out there where your choices merits a dozen different outcomes, possibly similar yet different in their ways. For example, there is probably a universe out there where I decided not to tell you anything of myself or my past and you presumably left me to either die down here or you and I went our separate ways and both died. That is mere speculation of course," she adds quickly, seeing Jack rise up quickly about to protest-probably that he would never leave anyone to die, no matter what they did. "I don't know for sure, but it's possible. Very possible."
Jack sits back down again, frowning at being denied the chance to defend himself. "Do you know for sure if there are any alternate versions of this world? Of...of Rapture and my fate in the city?"
Elizabeth doesn't have to think hard about that question. She had seen several different versions of Rapture through the tears before she had come here herself. "I do, and there are. There are quite a few universes where you and I never met at all. In each one you went through the city alone, and succeeded in taking down Fontaine, but the ultimate outcome is not always the same. No two universes are the exact same. There's a universe where you chose to murder the Little Sisters, and Fontaine's body wasn't even cold before you declared yourself the 'rightful heir of Rapture' and ruled this hellhole of a city with an iron and rather bloody fist. In some you actually decide to take your rule to the surface world and bring about the apocalypse."
Jack does not take that very well, slumping on the crate and brining a hand to his mouth to stop the bile rising in his throat. "I...oh God. Oh my God, that sounds awful. That sounds crazy, I-I can't...I would never do that. Not to innocent people. That sounds like something Fontaine would do, and I'm nothing like him. Nothing, do you hear me? I'm-"
"I know," she's quick to soothe his worries, rushing over to him and placing a hand on his back as she lowers herself to sit beside him. She pointedly ignores how eerily familiar his protests sound. "I know. We all know. You're too good for this world, Jack. Too pure. You'd probably try to reason with Fontaine had he not already murdered thousands of innocents...make him try and see the good inside of himself of something." She chuckles at the thought, though she feels no humor at the statement. Jack himself smiles though, so it was worth something at least.
"I don't think Fontaine's ever been a good person. Everybody has at least a spark of decency in their being, but him? Nah. There's no redemption for him, or for the things he's done. There's nothing for people like him."
"What about people like me?"
Jack doesn't even flinch at the conviction she holds in her tone. He must be used to it by now, she realizes with a pang of regret. I've spent a lot of time blaming myself, haven't I?
"Well...you're off to a pretty good start, I think. Why don't you keep going?"
She nods, happy at his answer and the fact that he thinks she can be redeemed. In some ways, he's like Booker. Determined, stoic, and soft at heart. Both men would do anything to protect the ones they cared about, and Elizabeth realizes with a start that that includes her. Those angry caterpillars are back in her stomach, this time with a vengeance. Like before, she tries to ignore them, but she can't quite manage it this time. "I mean. They aren't all bad. The other universes, the alternate timelines. Somewhere out there is a world where, when Jasmine Jolene found out she was pregnant, instead of selling the baby to Tenenbaum she told Ryan about it. Instead of beating her to death with a pipe in anger, your parents got together and decided to raise you as the rightful heir to your father's kingdom. In that world, Rapture is still beautiful, still shining...not quite as tainted as this place. Without you as his secret weapon Fontaine lost both the battle and the war, and he was eliminated from the equation. Rapture is still good, still the utopia Ryan wanted it to be."
She supposes she expected him to say something, maybe about the unbelievability of it all, or maybe questions about how he's doing over there-maybe even a comment about how he's normal in that world, and he can't quite imagine it-but he doesn't say anything, just stares into the distance with a bittersweet look on his face. She wonders where she's seen that look before.
"Any questions so far?"
"Hm? Ah, no. No...but. I mean. These. Other worlds. How do you know what they're like?"
"I'll get to that in a moment," she promises. "Just bear with me, okay? It's going to take a while, since I have to tell you the whole story. But we'll get there."
He nods, once, and that's all the confirmation she needs to continue.
"My father was a soldier before he met my mother and I was born. He rode with the 7th Cavalry at Wounded Knee and killed many men in the name of his country. Afterwards, when he returned home, his guilt was so great that he considered baptism, but he ultimately decided against it. However, in another world, he accepted the baptism-we'll come back to that in a moment. Soon after he rejected it he met my mother, and shortly after they were married and had me. To recap what I told you before, my mother died in childbirth, and my father fell into depression following her death and collected debt so great that debt collectors became regular visitors to our tiny apartment. We had nothing. I was barely clinging to life as it was; remember, we were poor and had little to no money for things such as food and drink. So when a man claiming to work for another version of my father offered to wipe away the debts in exchange for his only child, Booker DeWitt accepted almost immediately.
Back to that alternate version I mentioned earlier. I told you that in another world he chose to become baptised, and yes, this version was Zachary Hale Comstock. In that world, he accepted the baptism following Wounded Knee and had renamed himself to start anew. He took me from my homeworld and raised me in my world's version of Rapture, a floating city called Columbia, which is pretty much the antithesis of everything Rapture is. I came to be there through something called a Tear-a portal between worlds. As soon as my father, my real father, realized what he'd done, he immediately went after Lutece, but by the time he caught up the Tear was open and I was already in the arms of Comstock. I hadn't gone through yet, though, and so my father tried to wrestle me from his grasp-however, he jumped through the portal at the last second and shut it down. I had been reaching towards my father, so when the Tear shut down, it closed around my pinky finger, severing it. Because one part of my was technically still in my home world, I became scattered across all the dimensions. I developed the power to see all the worlds and open portals to them if I wished. I could visit any time, any place, any universe I pleased. I could also bring things from other worlds into my current one. I could see the past, present, and future. I could do anything.
"Well...technically speaking. The tower I was imprisoned in had a sort of...siphon built in. It drained my powers and made me less powerful, so I couldn't access other worlds even if I could still see them. It was aggravating. I tried for so many years to find some way out, to escape, but I never could. I came close so many times, though...and then, in July of 1912, I father came to my rescue. Robert Lutece and his sister, Rosalind, wanted to pay for their mistakes in separating me from my father. They had previously worked for Comstock but he had killed them by sabotaging their Lutece device, a device that works in much the same way as the Tears, only they could only open portals to other worlds. By doing so, he somehow trapped them in an omnipresent state, where they could do all of the things I could do and more. They went to my father, nineteen years later, and offered him a chance to atone for his sins. Booker saved me from the tower and the fate that Comstock had wanted for me. Unfortunately, even though Booker eventually killed that world's Comstock, he was not dead-there were still infinite realities with infinite Comstocks. The only way to stop him, all of him, for good, was to kill him before he ever became Comstock. I can't really explain the exact science behind it without giving myself and you a headache, so I'll just tell you that it worked and I was all alone, with my worlds and my universes and my pinky."
Elizabeth pauses to take a breath, hoping that she explained it well enough. No doubt he'll have more questions, though-she just hopes she can answer them to his satisfaction. She takes a deep breath, bracing herself. Oddly enough, however, there's only silence. It's only when she looks at him to find an amazed but confused expression on the young man's face that he responds at all. "That's not the whole story, though," he says, and he sounds cautious, like he's expecting her to contradict him.
"No, not the whole story," she agrees, surprising him. "I'll tell you more in a moment. Any questions so far? I want to make sure you're getting what I'm saying."
Jack nods, as expected. "These...other worlds," he asks hesitantly. "You can...see them? All of them?"
"I used to, yes. I can't anymore, which is why I'm stuck here with you. Again, I'll tell you more about it in a moment."
"Does it have anything to do with your pinky?"
"Yes."
"...What are they like? These...other worlds. Are they like ours? Or are they different?"
Elizabeth isn't expecting that. She has to think for a moment before answering, choosing her words in a way that she thinks Jack will understand. "Well. Yes and no. I mean, again, they're different and yet the same, if that makes sense? It probably doesn't. Like I said before, every universe is governed by choice, and what choice is made affects the present of the world the choice is made in, and creates ripples in neighboring worlds. But there are some where reality is completely altered. There are worlds out there that are so vastly different from our own and anything the human population has ever seen that it's like walking through Wonderland if you ever get the chance to see them. I once saw a world where humans were completely wiped out and the animal species had taken over our civilizations. I'm pretty sure some of them were even extinct here. It was pure chaos...and yet they somehow made it work. There are universes with entirely different solar systems-I've seen them. They have places our imaginations couldn't even dream of-entirely new planets with new ecosystems and plant life and animals and-and they've got different species of humanoid creatures! Their planets are nothing like ours. They're fascinating. I've seen good and bad from these alternate places-I've seen timelines where we're still fighting the Civil War and timelines where the atomic age was kickstarted only to end in nuclear fire. I've seen never-ending ice ages, worlds dominated by retro tech that you would only find in a futuristic sci-fi film or a dime-novel. So much, Jack, and I'm telling you now, there are millions of worlds. The possibilities are infinite. All you have to do is imagine what's possible, and you can achieve it. It's amazing."
She looks over to Jack then, realizing that she may have become a bit caught up with the whole 'alternate universe' bit. Jack smiles, a small, soft, honest smile, and damn if that smile couldn't create sunshine all on its own. Elizabeth smiles back, taking a deep breath before continuing, knowing what had to come next. Is she ready for this? Honestly, no. But he asked, and she's already done enough damage by avoiding this particular part of her past. It's time to suck it up.
"After...after Booker, I went to all of those places. I went to different worlds, travelled to different times, different cities, learned so many new things and experienced so many wonderful things that I never thought I'd get to. But..it wasn't enough. I stupidly, selfishly, decided that it wasn't enough, and that I couldn't leave well enough alone. Because there was one more, Jack. One more Comstock. Despite all the odds, despite him and that world being a complete anomaly, he still existed. When he stole me from my father, when he pulled me through...the Tear closed around my head, not my pinky. I died, and to escape his guilt, that Comstock had the Luteces build him a device that would take him to Rapture and make him forget everything he'd done. I decided that he needed to suffer. To...to die for what he'd done. I...I...I led him into a trap. He had adopted a child, Sally. The girl with the headless doll that we met in Hephaestus? She had gone missing, turned into a Little Sister, and I told him I could help him find her. He...he didn't know that she had been turned into a Little Sister. I did, but I didn't tell him. When we found her...she was hiding in a Little Sister vent, and I had insisted we turn up the thermostat to the highest possible setting to draw her out. We burned her alive...and we didn't even get her. Comstock almost got her out, but he forced her, and his memories came flooding back and I stood there, taunting him while she was screaming for help, and-and I-" she stops for a moment, not bothering to look at her companion to gauge any sort of reaction as she closes her eyes and takes several deep breaths. When she feels more level-headed, she continues, but still doesn't dare look at Jack. "Anyways...I...a-a Big Daddy crept up behind him and killed him. I had a few seconds of victory, of pointless, blinding victory...before he killed me, too. I don't regret what I did to him. He was a monster and he deserved what was done to him. But the girl...I wish I'd saved the girl. I should have never brought her into it."
Jack is silent once again, saying nothing-but he doesn't need to. She turns to look at him after a few minutes of silence, and his face says it all-confusion, surprise, and most of all...most of all, surprisingly, sympathy. After a few minutes, he speaks, looking towards where they had been standing and at the pool of blood where it was clear a body was missing. "He killed you...here?" He sounds disbelieving, and Elizabeth almost laughs at the absurdity of it-after everything, all that she's told him, that's what he doesn't believe? The urge to giggle surfaces, but she squashes it down.
"No. Due to my unique state of being, I didn't die, not exactly. My physical body stopped working, yes, but I became like the Luteces-omnipresent, able to do what i wanted and go wherever I chose, without consequence. I was happy for about five minutes before my memories of Sally came back to haunt me, and I knew I needed to go back and save her. Now, the thing about returning to a universe where you've already perished is that your all-powerful state collapses, and that's exactly what happened to me. Suddenly, I was a normal girl, with no powers, no memories of anything that had happened to me since stopping Comstock, and a normal pinky. I knew what I had to do, though, and by making a deal with Atlas, who would have killed me and Sally otherwise, I managed to hold up my end of the bargain by helping him with his damn revolution and getting him the Ace in the Hole-you, and again I am truly sorry for that-and in return, he gave me Sally right before he bashed my brains in with a wrench.
"I thought that was it, honestly. I was expecting to never wake up again, living out the rest of eternity in some wonderland up in the sky, sick of those though I am. But...I did. I woke up in a Vita-Chamber, which-yes-are coded only to Ryan's genetic frequency, which extends to you, being his son and all. It shouldn't work for anyone else. So why did it work for me? Well, I wondered that myself until quite recently. Tenenbaum took me aside at the sanctuary some time after you left and told me that the Lutece twins had come to her about a year ago with a sample of my DNA and told her to revive me around the time when you would be coming down. I don't know why they did that, but a part of me wants to believe that they wanted to give me a second chance, just like they did with my father. As soon as I realized what was happening-you being the Ace and Atlas still being alive and all that, I knew that I had to help you. I just...I wish I'd been honest with you upfront. But I couldn't...I tried. I really did. But the Luteces...they warned me about it. They said that if I told you about what was to happen, then the whole universe could collapse, killing everyone inside it-or worse. I couldn't let that happen. I'm so sorry, Jack, but I couldn't. I knew you'd hate me later, and that you'd never trust me again, but I….well...the point is. I didn't. I'm sorry."
She searches for something else to say, something that she might have left out or something she didn't think was important to tell him-but her mind comes up empty. So she sits in silence for a little while, enjoying the sensation of her secrets being out in the open-until Jack coughs and makes a spiraling motion with his hand. "And?" he prompts, expecting her to continue.
"Oh. Uh...that's...it. I'm done."
Jack starts, coming out of his listening trance as he looks at her with another bewildered expression. "Wha-seriously? That's the whole story?"
Elizabeth nods, not sure what else to say. What else does he want to hear? "What were you expecting? That's my whole story. It's everything you wanted to know, and much more. I've got nothing left to hide, no secrets, no lies. This is who I am. Everything I told you about myself before? Yeah, I'll admit that most of it was a lie. But I wasn't always a liar, I didn't always con my way out of a problem. I didn't start out that way. Back in Columbia...before I knew about any of that. I thought I was a normal kid. I wanted to do things, meet people, see the world. I'd always wanted to go to Paris...I never did, though. I...after I was free, truly free, I couldn't bring myself to. Not without...without Booker. I still do, though. I still want to do and see things, and I still want to go places and be normal. Or at least pretend. I know that you do, too. Maybe...maybe when we get out of this, when Fontaine is dead and the Little Sisters are safe, we can. We can pretend that we're okay, that we're not broken inside. But not here...not now." She sighs, realizing that the time for sitting and chatting is over as she hears the rumble of a Big Daddy in the distance and the cackling of a Spider Splicer somewhere in the rafters in the next room over. She knows she should make to stand up, but her energy is zapped and she can't really bring herself to. It's kind of comfy down here, sitting beside Jack and feeling his body warmth against her arm. Still, she continues, knowing that Jack will make her get up once he does, and knowing that it won't be nearly as comfortable without him. "Now we have work to do. And there really isn't much time to waste. So, are you coming or am I going to have to do this by myself?"
Jack says nothing, rising up from where he'd been sitting for the past hour and holding out a hand for her to take. He towers over her now, more so than he does when they're both standing, and now that she sees it for herself she can understand why Tenenbaum has so much faith in this man. Instead of disgust and contempt, hatred and regret, he looks at her like she's worth something, the way...the way he used to. Like he'd die trying to save her, the way she'd died trying to save Sally, and the way Booker had died trying to save her. She sees understanding in those warm brown eyes-acceptance, faith, trust, of all things. What had she done to deserve all that? She doesn't know, and just thinking about it makes her head dizzy, so she doesn't. She takes the offered hand and stands up, coming face to face with the man she's beginning to realize understands a lot more that she thinks he does.
"Well, without you I'd probably be dead in a ditch somewhere, regardless of who was pulling my strings. So yeah, I'd say I need you a lot more than you need me. Where are we headed?"
Elizabeth smiles, and for the first time in a long time, it's not fake or forced. "Fontaine's. It's time to end this."