Writer note: Thanks for the reviews guys :) This chapter will be a little shorter than the others and I'm sorry that you've only got the one update instead of the three weekly I promised. Had a busy week. Will get back to three three a week tomorrow.
Swimming in Rapture
Chapter 4
Mercury Suites, Rapture 1955
"Happy Birthday Joyce!"
Rosie Lynn places down the 17th birthday cake for her daughter Joyce. It's beautifully decorated with a thick, twirling, red icing around its rim. There is single candle sticking out the top of the cake, and the words: HAPPY BIRTHDAY are written in the red icing. Joyce blows out the candle, smiling. Her Father switches on the light in the families living room and her Mother begins to cut the cake.
"Are you sure that dress isn't too tight, Joyce?" Her Mother asked.
"No. it's perfect Mommy." Replied Joyce, fiddling around with the small ribbon on her new black, white spotted dress.
"That's good. You look lovely, now, where would you like to eat tonight darling?" Her Dad asked, seeming busy with some papers on a nearby desk.
"Umm… I don't know Daddy… You can decide." Replied Joyce, feeling faint. Her head hurting.
"You okay honey?" Asked her Mother.
"Yes Mommy I'm fine." Joyce knew what would make her feel better. Some EVE. She'd found some in her mother's purse over a week ago. Much to her disgrace. Silly mommy, not buying any for me. Joyce brushes the thought out of her mind, turning her attention to her cake now.
"There are some nice restaurants opening up at Fort Frolic this month. We'll check them out." Said Joyce's Father, shuffling through more papers on his desk. Joyce watched him as he did this, and she could swear she saw a short spark of light electricity emit from his fingers.
A light knock, and Rosie Lynn enters Joyce's bedroom. Joyce, quivering with exhilaration from the EVE running freshly through her, quickly shoves the hypo under pillow. She stares blankly up at her Mother who seems to be holding something behind her back.
"Hello Joyce honey, I've brought you some extra presents. Presents that you Father must not know about. Okay?" Her Mother looked firmly down at her and the serious, but welcoming, look in her eyes made it clear to Joyce that her Father must not know.
"Okay? But why Mommy?" Asked Joyce, puzzled and missing the twitching sensation that EVE used to give her.
"Well… I felt you could do better for your 17th birthday and well… Decided to go out of my way to get you these…" Her Mother secretly pulls out the presents from behind her back and hands them to Joyce. Joyce looks down at them in surprise, two brand new comic books. SUPERMAN #95 and BATMAN #94. She missed these characters; they didn't sell very good comics in Rapture. She pulls them close to her chest and looks up at her Mother.
"How did you get this stuff Mommy?" Joyce said, fearing she knew the answer.
"Well Joyce, I felt you deserved more for you behaviour in Rapture these days, so I went and asked… The smugglers if they had anything that you would like that can't be found anywhere else." Said Rosie, confident in her speech. "But you can't tell your Father, that is very important. Just hide your comics under your pillow or something."
"Okay Mommy." Said Joyce, placing her arm over her pillow, hoping her Mother would try to see what was already underneath. But instead, her Mum stands up.
"Thank you honey, you're such a good girl Joyce. And you do look beautiful in you new dress, all the boys in Rapture will be wanting to be with you." She smiled as she left the room.
"Thanks Mommy…" Said Joyce, flicking through the colourful pages of her SUPERMAN comic. It was at that moment that she heard the public announcement sound throughout Rapture: The smuggler is the friend of the Parasite. It is your duty to report the smuggler.
Fort Frolic, Rapture 1955
"Ow!"
Joyce squirmed as she stood up from the urinal that she was just on.
"Ow Ow!"
Joyce grunts in pain as her new dress squeezes at her belly.
"Oh my…"
She starts to pull at the ribbon on her new dress, making it less tight on her as she pulls. It's a size small! And I've been taking my Body Boost regularly for months, moaned Joyce. She un-buttons the top of her dress and pulls it down, revealing her body. Poking at her belly, Joyce discovers some inflamed ugly red bumps sticking out of the side of her belly. What! I've been using ADAM and EVE in moderation! And now I'm getting fat! Joyce slings the top half of her dress back over her body and starts to re-button it.
Joyce is sitting at her birthday table in one of Fort Frolic's newest restaurants; The Astonishing Atlantis. She looks around at everyone, looking happy and calm. And here she's being basically suffocated in a dress too small for her whilst having a birthday party with her parents. No friends at all! Joyce had been feeling the pain of a friendless life ever since she'd left Tony at the pub over six months ago… Or was since she'd gotten into EVE? She didn't know. She quietly pokes at her seafood with her fork, not knowing that her parents are giving each other worried looks.
"What's the matter honey? It's your birthday." Asked her Mother.
"…I don't know. Tired." The same accuse Joyce had used all her life. She was glad to leave the surface world for a fresh start on Rapture. But…
"That's what I thought. Well, bed early then tonight. You have school to go to tomorrow. And where's your permission form for your trip?" Her Father quickly changing the subject. For me or himself…?
"You're going on a trip Joyce?" Asked her Mother, sounding interested.
"Yes Mommy, the school's taking us out to Ryan Amusements soon." Said Joyce.
"Oh that sounds fun. Are you looking forward to it?" Asked Rosie.
"Yes Mommy, I've heard it's fun." Said Joyce.
"That's good, I hope you-" Joyce's Mom is cut as the sound of a man screaming sounds throughout the restaurant. The sound of cutlery dropping and gasps follow. The Lynn family looks over to the direction of the noise. A woman falls to the floor, howling in pain as she claws at the fire that was engulfing much of her face. A man, presumably the one who screamed earlier, lunges over to her trying to keep her still. A crowd gathers around the two, some people look around for a way they can help. After a struggle, someone freezes the fire with a mild burst of ice. Not enough to freeze the lady. Joyce is stunned by the scene, her eyes dart back and forth to the burnt woman and the man with the ice plasmid. I want one, she twitched. A pale woman walks past the Lynn family table.
"What happened, Emily?" Asked Joyce's Mum.
"Some foolish man tried to imitate the Ryan Plasmids advertisement; he tried to light his girlfriend's cigarette but burnt her face. He wasn't able to control it." The woman called Emily sounded both angry and scared.
"Oh my God! That's horrible." Gasped Rosie. Joyce noted the few faces in the restaurant that turned at the sound of the word "God" in Rapture. The woman with the burnt face was crying. People gathered around her to see what they could do to help. Half of her face had been burnt black and red. She moaned and moaned. Her boyfriend sobbed and sobbed. Joyce's parents stood up.
"C'mon honey, you don't need to see this."