My little brother had been busy.

He had created a company on his own, the "Warden Yarn Company" and that was just mind boggling.

The first time he showed me the bank charters, I near fainted.

It just… wasn't possible, yet he showed me proof.

He refused to tell me what the company did, exactly, but he put emphasis on the simple fact, that it was successful.

I, in a way, knew my brother didn't make all of his money by selling yarn or by some other mundane means, but a part of me didn't want to entertain the thought that my little brother could be a criminal.

The numbers didn't matter, but his words did.

He had made a fortune in less than seven years, and where as one would normally invest, or save such a fortune in hopes of the future…

My brother wasn't the man he had once been.

When I left, he was bitter, but he loved America and it's people. He lived and breathed science and innovation, he talked about it from dawn to dusk, but now…

Now, he held a fire within him that I had never seen before, in anyone. Even Riddle did not burn as he did, yet... the blaze within him did not scare me.

What that meant for me, I had no idea, but I just listened to him. To him rant and rave, of all that had hurt him and I.

It was cathartic, for the both of us.


Project Manhattan, he would rant, killed the side of him that was innocent and pure, annihilated it like it did Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Science no longer held a place in his heart, nor his mind, and nothing I said would change that.

However, this idea of his… Where it came from, I have no idea, but… It is something.

An underwater city, populated by only the best and brightest.

It sounded amazing, though I knew there would be difficulties.

One such difficulty, was that it was supposed to be impossible.

Another, was that neither of us really had the experience needed to build a city.

However, we were smart, charismatic, and had as much funding as we could ever need.

We could do this, I was sure of it.

I mean, if Magic can hide a train station inside a pillar, I'm sure it can make a city at the bottom of the ocean.

All I needed… was a wand, but that was a harder task to find than most.

With the war as destructive as it had been, Europe still hadn't recovered from the war, along with it's Magical community.

Even worse, whenever I traveled the U.S, looking for the entrances to the Magical world... I found nothing.

The biggest surprise for me, was when I went to Massachusetts...

Ilvermorny wasn't there.

It was like... something had happened to the Magical World... and I wasn't there to stop it.


There was so many contacts in my brother's little brown book.

He called it the Book of Elites, and said that it included everyone that interested him.

He wanted them all for our collective, for the ones that would guide Rapture's light and life, and create the industries of Rapture, from innovation to the arts, we needed them if Rapture was to survive and evolve.

So, the two of us went and met with all of them, as well as the workers we would need. The many... many, workers we'd need.

I found it funny, that my brother actually hired a secretary for the go between us and the workers.

My brother had a limit to his patience, and Ms. McClintock helped when he reached his limit.

My brother and I, focused on the more memorable candidates, while she handled the many and mass.

My brother knew all their faces, their homes and families, and the way forward from here.

I simply followed him, my head tucked, as we walked together.


(Early 1946)


"Andrew, must I wear this ridiculous suit?" I asked my brother, as the two of us walked along the docks of New York, our target being the CEO of a shipping company, Scarlet Sovereign Import and Export.

Andrew said that they would be the ones that would supply us with the building blocks of Rapture, all the shiny bits and bobbles we'd need to build our wondrous city.

He couldn't wait, almost excited was he, that he didn't even frown as I struggled with the tie he had insisted I wear.

"We are lions Henry, and if we aren't, we are lambs. Have you ever seen a filthy lion? Never. Only lambs frolic in filth." My brother said to me, this dramatic tone to his voice, though I had gotten used to it by this point.

It was funny, on some days, he would be Andre, the silly boy that had created a clockwork rose to impress a girl. (Of course the girl hadn't understood the gesture and had discarded it, but the sentiment had been sweet.)

On other days, he was Andrew Ryan, the influential and inspirational businessman that awed the newspapers and business world.

While I loved when he was Andre, I always had to admire when he was Andrew.

"This man we're meeting then, Lutwidge, is he lion or lamb? Do you trust him?" I asked him, as I followed in his stride.

Andrew strolled past the dockworkers that glared at him in envy and spite, as if they were mere fish flowing past the helm of a glorious ship.

"I don't trust the man as far as you could throw him. I've read his business records. Shady business and risky partners, let alone his debts and 'contracts.'

We'll do business with him, and when we have enough, we'll leave him here with the riff raff." My brother said with a sneer, as he and I pushed our way through the aged doors of the warehouse.

"Oh, and Henry?" Andrew inquired of me, a hand keeping me from going forward. I just looked to him, and cocked a single eyebrow.

"Yes brother?"

"He is a lamb."


"Who next Andrew?"

We stood outside of what seemed to be a studio penthouse, but one that had seen much brighter and better days.

The broken windows and the bathtub halfway through the wall said enough there.

"It is about time you met actually, Henry. An old friend of mine, a man I met while you were off on your… service. Sander Cohen, an artistic genius with no comparison, I assure you." Andrew explained as we waded through what appeared to be statues made of junk littered across the man's lawn.

I remembered hearing of Sander Cohen actually, a man in my Battalion had spoke of modeling for the man, and well… being with the man.

The less said the better I suppose.

I nodded with Andrew then, as I did too believe it was time I met the reclusive genius.

Hopefully our meeting would stay at the door.

As we reached said door, we were surprised to find that it was open already, revealing a view of the filthy apartment within.

Apparently genius doesn't equal stable.

I let out a chuckle, as we stepped into the apartment, immediately being overtaken by the scents of thinned paint and rotten food.

"Genius is right, I can certainly smell his art." I remarked sarcastically, as we walked together through the near desolate home, occasionally taking peaks into the different rooms, only finding filled canvases and remains of failed or scraped projects.

No sign of our dear mister Cohen.

"Genius comes in many forms brother, yours comes in your 'charming' demeanor, Cohen's comes in… his eccentricity. Give him motivation, and I swear the man can paint gold from oil." Andrew insisted stubbornly, as we found ourselves in a large workshop, paint and clay monstrosities covering the floor.

I could have sworn blood splattered the floor along with the paint, but I admit my eyes might have been fooling me.

There, before a large canvas, was a short man collapsed on the ground. He reeked of whiskey, and all sorts of foul stenches.

The man was a paint pallet of vileness.

"He's an artist alright."

"Oh do be quiet Henry, and help him wake up, would you?" Andrew asked me, standing back with an amused look to him.

I was all too happy to assist the 'artist' in sobering up, and perhaps a bit more.

I grabbed the drunkard's shoulder, and literally tossed him across the room, his head coming to crash right through a painting of some random man.

The impact woke him, of that I was sure.

Perhaps I was a bit too… forceful, but we had a long list of candidates to go over and I didn't like the look of the man.

"Who's there?! I assure you that I can and will… Andy? Andy Ryan, is that you dear boy?" The man, Sander Cohen apparently, sputtered in surprise, pulling himself shakily from the frame. My brother didn't look as happy to see him as Sander looked to see him.

"As always, it is Andrew, Sander, but yes… It is I. My brother and I have come with an offer for you, to work for us. You'll have a space of your own, where no one will judge you, or constrain you. No limits, no lines. Just as you always wanted Sander." Andrew trailed on in his spiel, becoming the idealist once more. There was always something in his voice when he turned on the flair, and I swear it was too effective.

Cohen paused then, looking at my brother in surprise, then contemplation. It was almost like he was chewing over the offer, before meeting his eyes with a determined glance.

"You have a brother Andy?"

Yes, like we really needed a madman in our city.

"Wonderful decision brother."


"We need scientists." My brother said to me one night, as we sat together in Ryan Tower.

He, with his fine glass of scotch, and me, with my bland beer.

We often sat there, in the dark, talking of what needed to be done, and what could be done.

"You, are a scientist Andrew." I argued, despite the fact that he had abandoned his studies long ago, I knew a part of my old brother still resided in the man that sat before me. I just had to try to reach him.

"That, was a long time ago Henry. I would ask that you stick with me here." Andrew said with a glare, as if it was almost painful to think of the past. "We need, real, experienced scientists."

"We don't have contacts in that field." I maintained, as I looked over the files of those influential few that we held business with, and those that we knew of.

We knew scientists, but not those of the sort that would meet his standards.

"We, don't have contacts, but I do." Andrew said pointedly, as I swear a light flickered in his eyes then. He was happy.

"You do? Might I ask who?"

"Considering your… history, would you mind too terribly to work with your esteemed enemies?" Andrew asked me, avoiding my eyes as he shifted the ice in his glass. He seemed almost consumed by it, as he watched the ice glow by the light of the fireplace.

"Germans?"

"Have no worry, only one."


"Doctor Brigid Tenenbaum, welcome home."

My brother did always have a taste for theatrics.

We had gone to a laboratory that was rented to a B. T. Baum, which Andrew informed me was her current place of work, for now that is. She had a habit of picking up and running every month.

By just walking through the lab (Which I had to lock-pick our way into), we saw that we had found the right scientist.

Brigid Tenenbaum, former Nazi prisoner, and one of Germany's brightest minds.

She was in New York, and she was desperate for help.

My brother had shown me his surveillance of her, of how she struggled for work, struggled to just survive on her own.

The fact she had a lab was due to my brother's mechanisms, which she was completely unaware of.

She lived in the lab as well, advancing her work in the process, all the while Andrew kept tabs on her.

He needed to know what she was capable of beforehand, of course.

I almost felt sorry for the poor woman, as she jumped a mile high when my brother spoke in the silence.

At his insistence, we had taken seats in her loft, and simply waited for her to return home.

We hadn't counted on her pulling a revolver on us, of course, but I'm proud of my brother for not flinching.

In my case, I was used to threats, and had guns pointed at me daily during the war.

A gun was an arm of power, not a monster.

"Who are you?" She barked out, her stress evident as she flicked the gun back and forth between the two of us. It would have been amusing to watch if I wasn't so damn empathetic.

"Relax Doctor, we mean no harm to you. I, am Andrew Ryan. This, is my brother Henry. We have been observing your progress and skills, and have come to you with an offer." Andrew said swiftly, leading our argument to her in a charming, if snide, manner.

Hey, he's still a better speaker than I am.

"You have been watching me, and you expect me not to be concerned?" She asked the obvious question, which told me a lot about her.

This wasn't a woman to fool with, she was bright.

She reminded me of Hermione a little, and that brought a smile to my lips.

"Concern is a healthy part of human interaction. Fear, is what corrupts. My brother and I mean you no harm, we just have a… business offer for you."

She stared at my brother then, a silent battle of wills engaging then, before she nodded slowly and slipping the revolver away in her research bag.

I watched her sit then, looking anywhere but at us, before she took a sudden breath and exhale.

At that, she turned to us then, and I knew we had already won.

"What, is your offer?"


My brother and I had been busy collecting our colleagues, but one, he had handled alone.

He said we needed a researcher, a person that could help us create what no other person could.

We needed a man that could bring my brother's idea into a physical form.

Yi Suchong was our man, but he insisted he go alone.

Perhaps he wanted to spare my temper, seeing as the man supposedly aided the Japanese in the war, or perhaps the man wouldn't trust me.

My actions in the war didn't exactly go unnoticed, my Major pin still sitting in the back of my suitcase, near forgotten.

He proposed that the man might know of me, and assume the worst.

Even if so, I held no ire against the Japanese, hell... I had been a Shogun once.

Regardless, I stayed in New York, and oversaw the construction of Rapture.

What a sight, hundreds of workers running and rushing, working hand in hand, together, to make our city real.

The last of the buildings were being finished, and in a week's time, we would be transporting them to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

Andrew estimates that it would take three months to make Rapture completely habitable.

With magic on our side, I'm sure it would take half that time, but with no conduit... Magic would have to take a backseat.

This was to be my brother's show.

As the sun rose, and I sat on the deck of Andrew's ship, looking over the freighters that would carry our towers, I smiled.

Andrew's dream, our dream, was coming true right before my eyes.

We were far from done, but for today…

Today, I could sit down, and smile.

If only I knew how few smiles I would have in the future.

I would have smiled more, before a frown became all I could do.

Our future was below the water, but today… I watched the sun rise, golden and gallant, a smile on my face.

I would come to miss it soon.