Being invisible felt almost like cheating before. The Splicers are dumb enough as it is; did she really need to make it even easier on herself? But now that she's naked, Elizabeth decides that it's better to cheat than suffer any of the alternatives that don't bear thinking about. She uses the Peeping Tom plasmid a little more often now, pleased with the fruits of her labor her exploration provided several hours earlier. She clambers on her hands and knees through a vent, wishing now more than ever that she could find some hot running water to get clean in.

Suddenly she can't help it. "Booker?" she whispers.

The voice replies, "I'm not Booker-"

"I know." she interrupts it. "Just...humor me."

"...okay." it says after a while. "What is it?"

"Why don't I feel sad any more? When I...when it happened, I couldn't...couldn't stop crying..."

"You know why."

"No, I don't." she says angrily.

"Yes you do. You just don't want to admit it."

She tries to wipe away her tears, then realizes she doesn't have anything to wipe them on. "He's...moved on. He's with Anna now."

"Or...?"

"Or he's...he's waiting for me. Waiting where?"

"The end maybe?"

"What end? It never ends does it; it-it just goes on..."

"Everything has an end. You're going to get through this."

Elizabeth curls up in a corner, heedless of the cold metal pressing against her exposed skin. "I don't want to get through this. I don't deserve it."

"Yes you do."

"I was...enjoying myself back there. I got off on trying to punish myself for what I did."

"That doesn't make you a bad person." the voice assures her. "You've been through a lot. You're not well, Elizabeth."

"I know I'm not!" she shouts. Her voice echoes off the walls and down the vents before fading into oblivion. She sniffs. "You're not him, are you?" she asks finally.

"What tipped you off?"

"You don't...sound like him. I mean you do, but you...you don't talk like him."

"That's because I'm not." it says.

"But...then...why did you try?"

"Try what?"

"Try...sounding like him. You used all these 'ain't's and 'ya's. Why go to all that trouble to act like him when you keep telling me you're not?"

"I got...confused." it admits.

"Confused? You're not some compendium of knowledge after all. Who are you?" Silence. The voice has gone. Elizabeth sniffs again and struggles to her feet. "I need a bath..." she whispers again.


"Oh yes." she coos. "Oh, come to mama..." She eases herself into the water. It's not warm, but at least it'll help her calm down. Nevertheless, her teeth start to chatter a little as she settles in. Unconsciously, her hand starts to move toward her vagina. She wishes idly for a mirror to see how her bottom is getting along. Every time she'd passed one outside, there had always managed to be someone nearby, and she didn't care to press her luck a second time. "Note to self." Elizabeth murmurs, leaning her head back against the tub. "Find first aid kit. They usually have some antiseptic cream; that'll help ease the sting..."

The memories overwhelm her and she starts to finger herself. Teasingly at first, letting the pressure mount just a little more, but it quickly becomes unbearable and she can't take it any more. "Mmmh..." she whimpers quietly, rubbing herself harder and faster, leaning into it now. "I need...oh god...I need to...oh, oh...ohh..." She reaches the peak of her ecstasy in no time at all, but even as she gasps for breath and falls back against the tub again, she can't help feeling somehow unfinished, unfulfilled. "Maybe I should pay Atlas a visit..." she muses.

She nearly drops off to sleep before she remembers where she is. Shaking herself awake with a start, she climbs out of the tub and gropes around the room for a towel. "Ugh, I'm all wrinkly." she grumbles, pausing in a brief window of light to examine her hands. She spies a towel nearby and seizes it triumphantly. "Gotcha!" She spends a few luxurious moments drying herself off (patting down her bottom cautiously so as not to aggravate it) and stops at the window to gaze out. "Not a Splicer in sight," she marvels. "It's almost pretty until you remember how dangerous it is."

At last, she's ready to move out. Grabbing the large bag she uses to carry her supplies around, she heads for the door. "Next stop, anywhere but here."