"My momma said I should go to Steinman, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable going... but really, everyone does it. What could it hurt?"

-Katie Bastone

Katie took off her glasses and stared intently at her reflection, her fingers traced her nose and cheeks. She let out a frustrated sigh.

Ugly, she was just SO UGLY. Her nose was too big, and her face was so FAT.

She had always been pudgy, picked on for most of her life by her gorgeous sisters Anna and Abby. Now she was turning sixteen, the most important day of her life, but how could she enjoy it, especially after her best friend Lizzy came back from Steinman looking amazing. Although Katie couldn't help but feel like Lizzy had cheated.

I mean... surgery? Isn't that a bit... extreme? And... dangerous?

Lizzy just laughed at her and said she was just being silly but she still felt unsure about it.

It was then that her mother came into her bedroom.

"Katie, I know your birthday's not until Saturday, but I wanted to give you this."

Katie took the small slip of paper from her mother. "Dr. Steinman's cosmetic enhancement?"

She sighed. "Well Lizzy's operation got me thinkin'... I know you're always real unhappy with your looks, and if you want..."

Katie stared at the paper for a moment. "You want me to get surgery?"

"Baby I want you to do what'll make you happy. And after talking to Lizzy and her parents about Lizzy's operation I feel better about lettin' you go."

Katie looked back to her vanity mirror. Her mother sighed.

"Well it's up to you baby." Her mother came over kissed her goodnight then went to bed.

Surgery... Katie shuddered at the thought of lying unconscious on a cold table with a man she didn't know cut up her face... but couldn't help thinking about how pretty she'd look when she was done. She could be pretty. Prettier than her mother, prettier than her sisters and prettier than Lizzy.

She spent most of the night thinking about it. Then finally decided. After all, why shouldn't she have the chance to be beautiful?

After a few days her mother took her to the Medical Pavilion, and then left to go grab some things for New Year's tomorrow.

Katie sat and waited outside, thinking about how she'd look after the surgery, she'd make all the girls in her class jealous. She couldn't wait to see the look on her sisters faces.

Katie didn't notice herself drifting off, as soon she was asleep.

Katie woke up on the floor her head throbbing, her glasses were still on her face but broken, and she could barely see out of them, she could hear screaming all around her...

Home... I gotta get home... Mama... where's my momma?

She quickly hurried to the nearest exit... only to find it locked. Katie ran around desperately trying to find an exit but they had all been sealed. An announcement kept playing over and over about a lock down and how it was only temporary and to stay calm.

Katie was having hard time breathing, what was going on! What was happening...?

She tried to stop herself from crying, but found herself sobbing.

"Who's there?"

She jumped at the voice and froze in place. "Hello?"

A man was up on the balcony; Katie couldn't see his face but could make out that he was a doctor. "Are you all right?" He asked.

"Y-yes." She replied, and then shook her head. "No, no, what's going on."

"Riots all over Rapture, Atlas's bandits are wreaking havoc; we've sealed the Medical Pavilion until things calm down"

She nodded, absorbing the information.

"Miss, are you bleeding?"

Katie looked up at him and gave a questioning look.

"Your forehead, is it bleeding?"

Her hand went to her forehead, and she felt cool blood on her face, and when her hand grazed it, the shallow cut stung. "Yes. I am."

"Wait there, I'll be down in a moment."

Katie leaned against the wall, forcing herself to take deep breaths, trying to stay calm until the doctor made it to her.

Riots... Oh please let Momma, Ann and Abby be all right. Please...

She barely noticed when the doctor reached the room. "Now let me see that cut."

After some close inspection he gave a little sigh. "Nothing too serious, a health pack or two and it'll heal up. And the scar will be gone in two, three days at most."

She nodded. "Thank you."

She and the doctor found a health station and Katie felt much better, her head a little more clear.

This is when she got her first real good look at the doctor. "You're Dr. Steinman!"

He laughed at her surprised reaction. "Yes. And you're Katie Bastone aren't you?"

She nodded, now embarrassed.

"Well I'm sorry Miss Bastone, but it's probably not a good idea to start your operation until that wound has healed."

"O-oh... alright Mr. Steinman."

"So until the lock down is over you can wait here, it shouldn't be too long to force back the rabble."

"All right. Thank you."

The doctor walked away, headed for the surgical wing.

What, is he going to do an operation? In the middle of a lock down?

Katie pondered it for a moment, but then sat down, trying to relax. By this time it was quiet in the Medical Pavilion... Katie did see people around, but they didn't try to make any contact with her, usually. She sat there for hours... waiting, and waiting.

Katie was on something hard, she couldn't see anything, it was too dark, and when she tried to move she found she couldn't move her head, or arms, or legs. She tried calling for help but it was like the yell died in her throat and came out barely a whisper. That's when she saw him, a man, covered in blood, he stood beside her and from the corner of her eye she could see him pulling out all sorts of knives, caked with blood. He seemed to finally choose a knife that suited his fancy. Slowly the man brought it to her face. She was struggling and screaming.

"Now Katie, this is for your own good. And besides, isn't this what you wanted?" Then she felt the cold metal slice through her skin.

A blood curdling scream snapped Katie awake from her nightmare. Her hands went to her face, to find no cuts only the scar on her forehead like before. She let out a sigh of relief, and then sat up. She remembered the scream... was it just her dream? Or was someone in trouble?

For about five minutes Katie listed all the reasons she shouldn't go, but in the end she knew she had to. If someone was hurt she needed to go help.

Katie searched the area, but found nothing, she check upstairs, down stairs, the funeral home, even dental, but found nothing... then she headed for the surgical wing.

She headed down the tunnel, but was buying herself time. She struggled, but could make out schools of small silver fish passing by.

Then for a moment, she looked straight up and saw blackness. She thought about her home before they came to Rapture, or tried to... the only thing she could remember well was the sun. Katie wondered how many years it had been since she'd last seen it... so bright, and warm.

She shook her head and finally exited the tunnel. She looked around while turning a corner, everything looked fine, nothing strange... until she slid and fell.

"Ah!" Katie stood up and wiped off her hands on her skirt... and screamed at the realization that she had just fallen into a huge puddle of blood. Shaking trying not to touch herself with her bloody hands she hit the wall, and vomited. Katie was on her hands and knees trying to settle her stomach when she heard a woman's cry.

Katie looked around for a weapon, but found none. Still she headed in the direction of the sound, being as quiet as possible, and avoiding the blood.

As she walked down the hall it was eerily quiet. Then she heard the sound again coming, not from the room beyond but the room to her right, she slipped in and looked inside, squinting she moved closer to the figures that she saw, and did everything to keep from screaming.

A woman was tied to the operating chair as a doctor was cutting her. Katie could see the woman's wrists were bleeding from struggling against the ropes, and even more sickening, was the realization the man was operating on her while she was fully conscious!

"No!" The woman sobbed her body jerking. The doctor suddenly stabbed her! "For the last time STOP MOVING!"

Steinman!

Suddenly the woman started jerking and coughing up blood. "OH GOD HELP ME!" It was then Katie realized the woman had seen her!

Steinman turned around his outfit was covered in blood. "Miss Bastone...?"

Katie didn't wait, she ran as fast as she could out of that place, trying to ignore the screams of the woman, and Steinman.

"MISS BASTONE! COME BACK!"

She ran into a room and hid under a counter; shaking uncontrollably. After a few moments of silence she heard footsteps.

"Miss Bastone? Come out here... Katie? COME OUT KATIE!"

They seemed to be getting closer, and closer. And Katie could have sworn she heard him breathing, muttering to himself.

"Where is she goddess... I've lost her... where is she hiding? I have... goddess... we must find her... can't let her get away... we..."

The footsteps grew fainter, then disappeared altogether. Katie didn't move from that spot, she HAD to get help... She HAD to get out!

Help me... momma, please, oh god! Help me, help me, please help me!

Katie finally worked up the nerve to leave the room she had hidden in and ran for the nearest phone.

When she found one she grabbed the phone and started to get the change together... then she realized someone cut the cords... not just on that phone, but ALL of them.

There was no way out.

She felt completely numb, she was trapped.

Where is everyone? What the HELL is going on!

She searched around and found the bloody remains of two men, from what she could tell, they had killed each other. Next to one of them was a gun! It was the first time she had held a gun before, the handle was cold, and it was heavier the she had imagined. It took her a bit but she found how to open it. The gun had no bullets left in the chamber.

Suddenly she felt a wave of nausea, realizing that one of the bodies may have ammo, but she'd have to search them.

Reluctantly she reached for the man who she believed had the gun, and with great effort flipping him over him his back. She then started to check his pockets, she almost gagged trying not to think about what she was doing, or how his eyes were still open... or how strong the smell of blood was. Katie felt like she was going to suffocate. As soon as she got the ammo she bolted away from the bodies, gasping for air. Then the lights went out.

Katie jerked and with her hands were shaking trying to load the gun.

"I've found you Miss Bastone..." Her blood ran cold at Steinman's voice.

She stepped back trying to adjust to the blackness, unable to determine where the voice came from.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. The transformation is a BRUTAL ordeal."

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. "T-transformation?

"Yes... just as I have been transformed into something BEAUTFUL. A new kind of PERFECTION, once again I will revolutionize the field of surgery! And all because of her."

She looked around the room for the doctor; her back was to the wall. "Her?"

"The one who has guided me on my path, but until now, I haven't been about to truly test my new abilities, or the limits of my imagination... and thanks to your sacrifice I will create PERFECTION!"

"What!"

She heard someone moving around in the darkness. "You and the others will become my canvases! I will make you beautiful, beyond anything of this world with the help of my goddess Aphrodite!"

She'd had enough, she bolted in the direction where the door was, risking running straight into Steinem, but it was all Katie could do. She ran to and saw a light further down the hall and then she was tackled.

Steinman had her pinned to the floor, she was scratching and kicking but was no match for him, and she couldn't find the gun. Steinman lifted her upper body and slammed her against the floor. And he did so again, and again...

Katie woke up to her head pounding, he face felt like it had been run over by a bus. She couldn't see clearly, was she drugged?

…Momma?

Katie heard footsteps and saw Steinman enter the room. "Katie, you're awake? You've been asleep for DAYS... I was beginning to wonder if you'd wake up at all... well, it's time to continue."

Continue!

" A few more operations and you'll be finished..." He began to pull out sharp surgical tools until he found his scalpel. Katie tried to move, to escape.

"Now STAY STILL KATIE. I can't operate well when you're moving, you don't want me to cut something important, do you?"