I have spend the last week getting my affairs in order in anticipation for the mission. I dropped my five daughters off with Dr. Tenenbaum and their twenty cousins (the Little Sisters that Tenenbaum is raising as her own daughters), explained my situation to her as best I could (she promised to look after my daughters if I do not return), and wrote out my will.

I also took out a massive and airtight life-insurance policy on myself, to ensure that my daughters will be well off even if I should perish and the Lutece Twins decide not to honor their end of the agreement.

Now the big day has come: do or die.

Right now we are in a rowboat, on our way to a lighthouse which will take me to the city I am tasked with infiltrating. They already took me through something they called a "dimensional tear", so after that a rowboat is a welcome break.

All the while the Lutece Twins -I managed to extract their names on the way over here- banter back and forth as though I was a potted plant.

"Are you going to just sit there?" Robert asked his sister.

"As compared to what? Standing?"

"Not standing: rowing."

"Rowing? Hadn't planned on it." Rosalind handed me a box as she said this. Nodded, took it, and placed it on my lap.

While they continued on, I opened the box so as to see what was inside.

There is a magazine-fed pistol, a large key with a cage on it, five silver coins, two pictures, two pieces of paper, and the same wrench I used to beat my way through Rapture (when I place my hand upon it, it's surface covers with a thin film of frost and static).

The first picture is of a golden statue of what appears to be an angel - complete with large wings. The caption on this picture reads "Monument Island". I can only speculate, but I suspect this island will be where my charge is being held.

The second picture is of a beautiful woman with black hair, probably one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. The caption on this picture reads "Elizabeth". I still know nothing about this picture, but I do know about Rapture and I know that anyone being imprisoned in a place like Rapture needs to be freed urgently. When I turn the picture around, the writing on the back reads "Bring to New York Unharmed." Just in case I did not know where that was (I may have only been born half a decade ago, but I still had the wherewithal to look at a map when I got to the surface!), they included a piece of paper with the Longitude and Latitude on it - 40.7127° N, 74.0059° W.

Finally, there is a piece of paper with a picture of a scroll (x1), a picture of a key (x2), and a picture of a sword (x2). I can not even guess what that's supposed to mean! But I am sure they would not include it if it was not important.

I place all the contents back in the box, which I in turn close to ensure safe keeping. I suspect that all of these things will be important.

Finally a large lighthouse and an old dock leading up from it come into view. "We've arrived." announces Rosalind as her brother pulls the boat up next to the docks.

Tucking the box under my arm to keep it safe, I begin to steadily climb up the latter. At each step I have to breath in and out, all the while reminding myself not to look down. Do not look down at the sloshing waters just a few feet below me. Do not make one slip because if you do you'll fall into the water and it will engulf you and you will be pulled under-

Stop! Just focus on climbing.

When I finally reach the top of the latter and stand on the docks, I gaze up at the lighthouse. It is raining, and my skin bristles with every drop. I am wearing my beige wool sweater for this mission, but it's doing a poor job keeping the rain off of me. The Lutece Twins seem to have prepared for the weather better than I did, as they're both wearing yellow rubber raincoats.

Speaking of which, they have already started rowing away as soon as I got on the docks. I do not blame them: I too want to get out of this storm as soon as possible.

"Shall we tell him when we'll be returning?"

Robert answers his sisters question with one of his own. "Would that change anything?"

"It might give him some comfort."

"At least that's something we can agree on."

Welp, I guess I am on my own. Again.

I step my way from the docks to the stone walkway leading up to The Lighthouse. There are three or four wrecked boats nearby, which I presume were smashed upon the rocks by this storm or a similar one. In any case, they are not as foreboding for me as bathyspheres.

When I reach the timber double doors leading into The Lighthouse, I see a note nailed to it. The bottom left corner of the note is spattered with blood. I take it in my hands and read it.

"Wynand- Bring us the Girl and wipe away the debt. THIS IS YOUR ONLY CHANCE!"

Well fuck. I already knew this mission was important.

I enter poorly lit the lighthouse and the first thing I see is a large metal washing basin on the wooden table propped against the Lighthouse's center column. Above the basin is a large needlepoint, reading "Of Thy Sins I shall Wash Thee".

Would You Kindly, Would You Kindly, Would You Kindly-

Agh! Do not think about that! Stick to the task at hand ...

I continue up to the second floor of the Lighthouse. It appears to be someone's living quarters, complete with a bathtub, a bed, a desk, a radio, an antique telephone, and a map of the continental united states with some sort of pathway marked in red string.

I make quick work of this floor, pilfering it for any silver coins or ammunition I can find. Waste Not Want Not - this line of thinking is what kept me alive in Rapture so long ago. Though before I continue up to the third floor something catches my eye. It is a toy sailing boat, built of wood and even with a cloth sail. I know I have a very important mission to preform, but this boat makes me keep thinking of my daughter Sally. This wooden toy boat is exactly the type of toy she would like; I can already picture her floating it in her bathtub and pretending it is The Santa Maria or The Mayflower (listening to Radio Documentaries with Veronica has helped me to catch up on information regarding The Outside World, as Fontaine did not bother to install more than the basics in my mind).

So that I can continue upwards, I decide to just take the boat. Carefully, I place it in my lockbox with the other supplies. It will be a good memento to remember this journey by when it is done, and I know Sally will like it.

What I see upon reaching the third floor makes me wonder if I have made a Faustian Bargain by accepting the deal with The Lutece Twins. The worst part is that this terrible mistake is my own. I agreed by my own free will, and now I have no idea what kind of sociopaths I am in league with.

A human body, tied to a chair and assuredly deceased. There is a pool of red blood covering the floor and leading up to the gaping bullet hole in his head. To this poor bastard's left is an open box containing an array of disturbing and blood-smeared tools. Upon his chest is pinned a note; it reads "Don't Disappoint Us".

Especially disturbing was the fact that I do not feel any shock; I have seen (and created) too many corpses in Rapture to be fazed by a few more. I know it is still a tragedy, but I do not feel it.

If it belonged to someone I knew, it would be different. I am sure it would.

I climb up the rest of the stairs until I am at the top of The Lighthouse. The rain is blowing in my face and making me tense up, yet I continue onward.

On the door of The Lighthouse's Optic Section is a metal bust of a winged figure holding three bells. One bell has an engraving of a scroll, one an engraving of a key, and the third an engraving of a sword. I guess this is what the card they gave me was supposed to mean.

I ring the bells in the right order, and wait for the results.

The sky suddenly turns red as a massive horn answers back the in the same order as the bells. It catches me off guard, and I do not notice the Optic Section's Lightbulb signaling in the same order yet again. Once more the mysterious horn blares, and soon the door to The Optic Section opens.

This not quite what I was expecting.

The Lightbulb is gone when I again look at The Optic Section, replaced by a metal chair. The chair has obvious arm clamps, so I need to be careful to ensure my box of supplies makes it with me to my destination. I carefully sit down, tuck the box between my legs so as to keep it secure, and place my arms on the metal armrests.

The arm clamps fasten around my arms, restraining them as I expected. However, that is where my expectations end.

Large metal walls rise up around my seat, and a mechanical voice addresses me.

"Make yourself ready pilgrim. The bindings are there to safeguard."

For some reason I do not believe you.

The seat lowers, showing me what looks like rocket boosters. I mentally pat myself on the back for positioning my lockbox of supplies in a safe manner, as they might otherwise have fallen into and been incinerated by the flames.

The seat returns to position, and the prerecorded voice continues.

"Ascension! Ascension in the count of five ..."

I guess I am going up. I do not know how I feel about this; while it is certainly better than going back into The Sea, it is still somewhat less-than-ideal.

Just breath in Jack! You can do this!

"count of four ..."

Remember Jack, people are counting on you.

"... three ... two ... one ..."

You survived Rapture, you can survive this too.

"Ascension! Ascension ... Ascension ..."

Stay calm ... stay calm ... better up than down ... right?

"Five thousand feet ... ten thousand feet ... fifteen thousand feet ..."

This pod I am in rises higher and higher, and I can feel my heart beating faster and faster and faster! I was wrong, up is not better than down! This is it, I'm gonna die here-

Then, the pod breaks free of the storm-clouds. A beautiful floating city, built of architecture reminiscent of a previous century, comes into view. In the center of it is a giant golden statue of an angel, the sun shining overhead to make for it a halo.

"Hallelujah"

After the mechanical voice says this, a parachute seems to come out of the top as the pod begins to float gently down past the buildings and the airships.

Though I can breathe a sigh of relief, I will not let my guard down just yet. After all, Rapture was beautiful when I first saw it too: then I saw what was on the inside and grew to hate it.

But at the very least, I can say that I am not about to die just yet.