Horror Beneath the Sea
A Bioshock inspired Vogonverse Story
Chapter 2: Retail Therapy
New Rapture - Shopping Center - three hours later
Making headway through the section of New Rapture they were currently in seemed to be problematic at best. The wrist worn terminals that Tarte had created still was able to monitor their health, well those still wearing them, but unfortunately the digital assistants couldn't access any of the systems in New Rapture. Apparently the entire system had been created by ponies, or people rather, that had no desire to let anyone access their networks, computers, or terminals without permission. Which in the end called for a need for Fast Hooves previous experiences.
The first door they opened revealed the need for being careful when a figure moved and they had to bolt behind the walls to avoid a string of bullets coming from an unmanned turret. After a moment the bullets stopped and the device seemed to sound as it was moving back and forth.
"Booby traps? Seriously? This place has booby traps? Oh fuck me with a barbed wire covered dildo!" Jessica shouted as she hit the wall she was standing against.
"Did you notice the camera?"
Everyone looked at Dr. Phillips. He shook his head, "behind the turret, it looks like there's a security camera, and I'm willing to bet it's what controls our unmanned friend in there. If we could disable it, or something we might be able to get past that turret."
"You mean destroy it?"
He shook his head again, "No, I mean disable it for a few moments. We don't know if there are more of those creatures following us. I would certainly feel better knowing that they had to face an unmanned, heavily armed, and unbiased machine gun trap if they tried to follow us."
"Fast Hooves?"
The Pegasus rolled his eyes, "I might be fast enough to slip in, but we're talking about a complex computer controlled trap. Like it or not we need somepony that knows technology."
Tarte looked around, seeing a sign for timed public network access. She sat down next to it, opened a port on the portable device on her arm, and stretched a small wire out. She connected it to the connection port, and a moment later her Digital Assistant, a cute little animated cat showed that there was internet connectivity.
"Welcome to Sal's Network Cafe!"
Lights came over revealing the room around them. It had been dark, so nopony really stopped to look, but there was blood stains on the floor, the walls, deep gashes where something had obviously struck several individuals down.
"Please deposit ten dollars for the next fifteen minutes! And remember to try our Nettastic Drinks! We have Pep, we have Dash, and of course we carry Gene enhancers! Kids, remember to ask your parents before trying to get those new cool superpowers!"
She looked at Fast Hooves who dug out ten of the bits and handed them to her. She deposited them.
"Thank you, you have fifteen minutes of New Rapture's Network time! Remember, the safety and security of your information is our top priority!"
"Ms Muffin, are you in?"
The virtual cat meowed and held up a thumbs up sign.
"Find the access information about the security systems, see if there's a panel nearby that I can use to reprogram it."
Again it displayed a thumbs up sign, and then the virtual cat was gone. Moments later a holographic display appeared and she could see the room, and near the counter was a keypad. She looked over to see it present, but covered in blood.
"Thank you Ms Muffin."
She made her way over, slowly, and looked at the keypad. It wasn't much, similar to the vender keypad from that medical vending machine earlier, but there was three numbers that looked really worn, or she hoped that they were. She looked around and ontop of the counter was a small sticky note.
"Matt, Mr. Lucus has went and fucked the pooch again. So, the old bastard thought that it would be a good idea to get one of those Automatic sentries. Well, after setting it up he realized that his memory sucks, and to be honest I don't have time. So the access code for the Sentry is 052377#. Yeah, the release date like that movie you keep raving about. Anyway, that'll let you in and let you change the settings. Just select new personnel, hit enter, and have everyone that's working in the store walk in front of the camera and smile. Make sure that it gets done in a minute or less because whatever half assed genius came up with this put it on a timer.
Thanks,
Josh."
She punched in the code, pressed the pound key, and walked toward the door. When the turret didn't fire she looked at everypony else.
"Walk in behind me, look at the camera, smile, and keep going!"
The group nodded and followed the directions given. Of course, they were anxious as they eyed the camera;any moment a hailstorm of bullets could turn them into swiss cheese. Seeing as Tarte made it through with no problem, the group eased for a moment. Ever so slightly.
First, Fast made his way through seeing as he was closer to Tarte. He made sure his footsteps were light and nimble, for he didn't know if he'd have to jump or not. Next, Ironhoof walked, keeping his facial expression neutral and then let out an awkward smile as he passed the camera. After him Jessica rushed through. She smiled up at the camera, and then finally Dr. Phillips walked, smiled, and no sooner had he done then a red light formed under the camera. It seemed trained on him for a moment before the light turned back to green.
Breathing out he move around it, toward where they were before they heard a snarling sound. Turning around Dr. Phillips saw the creature from before, or one similar to it, standing near the doorway. It moved toward them, at first there was nothing and then the turret, which had become silent, unleashed another string of bullets riddling the creature with holes, and causing it to fall to the ground. It thrashed around for a moment while the turret continued to follow its path to the ground, still shooting it until it no longer drew a breath.
Seeing it dead Dr. Phillips moved, cautiously, toward it, and touched the body. Seeing the camera not regard it at all he pulled it behind the turret and looked at it again. It wasn't the same creature. The other appeared to have caucasian skin stretched over more insect like features, but this had bronze colored skin that was similarly done. He felt something in the pocket of the creature, making sure to be careful, he pulled it out to reveal a digital recorder.
Looking at the others he neared them, and pressed play. The recorder projected a picture against the flat surface of the wall showing a handsome bronze skinned man as he smiled in a mirror.
"So, Julie asked me to accompany her tonight to Retail Row, you know the shopping center. Normally, I don't have any reason to go to work after work, but this is Julie Thompson, Dr. Julie Thompson we're talking about here. She's the reason they created the term M.I.L.F. So, naturally I want to look my best. Arm's itching a little though. I guess that trying to impress Rebecca with taking the wall crawling genetic tonic wasn't the best idea. Still, the worst that's happened so far has been being able to basically crawl up a wall and hide out on the ceiling. Not bad, not really, especially when Mr. Lucus is being a complete and total ass. Damn, it's almost time. Okay, remember buddy, if it happens, it's getting recorded for future record, it not… Then just erase this."
"A tonic?" Tarte asked.
He looked at the body again, "We need to find some kind of documentation, or a medical center that isn't run by a vending machine. If we do maybe they will have some samples to study, and I might be able to figure out what's going on."
"Great...more aimlessly searching in this godless places," Jessica spoke sarcastically, "More fun and time to meet new friends…"
IronHoof walked towards her, glaring right into her eyes. Part of him though they she'd look away, yet she stared right back, "You know what you signed up for…"
"I didn't sign up for this shit…" replied Jessica step around the massive stallion in front her, "Well if we gotta stay down here, let's at least find a map. No need to walk in the dark and get ourselves killed."
"Funny you should say that…"Tarte said, a small smirk on her face, "A little digging in the network and I found the-"
"We're sorry, but unfortunately your time is up. Please deposit ten dollars for more time. And don't forget to try our amazing products: Nettastic Drinks, Pep, Dash, and of course we carry Gene enhancers!
Fast searched his bag for the right amount before inserting it in. Once the machine counted and accepted the money, Tarte was back online a finding a digital map of New Rapture. Within moments she had it and downloaded the file to her arm device. After a couple of taps on her device, she pointed it to the ground and brought up a 3d replica of New Rapture.
"Okay...so we are here," Tarted pointed towards a small point on the map. She then moved her finger a small distance away to an underwater hospital, "Fortunately, what the Doctor needs isn't too far away. It's just in this massive hospital...I think it's the main one down here."
"Why can't you just gather the information while you're in the system?" Asked Iron, trying to limit anything troublesome.
"Anything medical related to what we are looking for...isn't here or in New Rapture servers. The hospital must have a separate network that I have to connect to directly from in the walls."
Fast let out a small chuckle before speaking,"Easy. We jump in, and jump out. Nothing to worry about."
""Oh, but there is, Fast…Think about it...this didn't happen all at once. There had to be symptoms or signs of this happening. So, where do you go when you're sick?" Doctor Phillips explained. He noticed the grim expressions growing on his team's faces. He knew he didn't have to say the words that were going to come out his mouth, but went ahead anyway, "My friends, that hospital we are venturing into will be crawling with things we can only imagine."
New Rapture - Pneumatic Transport Junction
Ironhoof looked at the now lit up platform. There was a long tube like train that seemed to sit mainly unused. He nickered silently as he looked at the map showing the location of the Medical Pavilion. The idea of getting into this train and going through a tube that was surrounded by water, and this train being completely powered by a vacuum was a bit much. His eyes turned toward Tarte who was hooked into the terminal with her portable wrist worn device. After a few minutes she looked at them.
"We can't get straight to the Medical Pavilion. The tube between here and there is broken and the hatches are sealed, but we can go to the Center for the Arts, cross over to Atrium, and then head directly over to Medical Pavilion from there. From what I'm reading here the Atrium is mainly responsible for the bulk amount of oxygen down here."
"The Arts? Do we get on at the same platform?" Fast Hooves asked.
She shook her head, "We'll have to travel across it to the south Junction. From there we should be able to hit to Atrium, and then we head to the west junction at the Atrium to get to the Medical Pavilion."
"Wow," Fast Hooves commented, "and I thought the Manehattan subway system was convoluted."
When the majority of the team's eyes fell on him, he explained, "Hey, I have taken the subway every now and then. It beats flying and it usually has a minimal police presence. Well, maybe not now. Last time I was in New York, the pigs were everywhere; it was a regular ham sandwich."
Realizing that he would be riding this, or trains like this several times while they were here, and in spite of Fast Hooves thoughts on police, Ironhoof resided himself to getting on board. The others followed suit, and finally it was Tarte who got on after activating the controls and then ran to the train, got in before the doors closed. She took a seat, strapped in, like the others, and suddenly the tube's main door closed.
"Thank you for taking New Rapture's Pneumatic Transport system. Each person riding will be expected to pay five dollars at the next terminal. Please refrain from smoking, and remember strap in for safety."
Once the recording finished a light came on above them and the train shot forward. The speed was certainly faster than most of the other trains anyone had been on. The car itself seemed to maintain in a mostly upright position, with the exceptions of going around corners, and in less than five minutes they were entering the Center for the Arts. The train stopped, the doors opened, and there was a small ding.
"Welcome to the Center for Arts! Artists are not bullied by the censors, but instead are encouraged to create, create the masterpieces that live inside of their hearts and heads!"
Fast Hooves passed five individual [i]bits[/i] to everyone, and once they made it outside there was a small turnstyle. It took the [i]bits[/i] and spit out receipts for each of them. Once they were past it the the lights for the Center of the Arts began to come on. Broken bits of sculptures, ruined furniture, and dried blood seemed to litter the floor.
As they walked the sound of a soft melody began to float around them. Something from a bygone era that was relaxing, almost comforting.
"Ah, I see that I have guests! Guests to witness my genius! Welcome! Welcome to my domain!" A loosely hanging monitor sparked to life showing a shadowy figure, "Hello my dears, and welcome to my Art studio. I've been very busy trying to cultivate some higher culture here, but unfortunately I don't have much to work with… However, you've each presented me with brand new canvas to work on. So, without further ado, I invite you into my world!"
There was a loud clicking noise and the main doors leading into the Center opened.
"Come in! Come in says the Spider to the Flies!"
"Yeah, that's a trap," Fast Hooves says, "I kinda wanna spring it."
"So certain of this, are you?" Jessica retorted.
"Yep," Fast Hooves replied, "but I'm not so stupid as to do so. Hey, Toots!"
"The name is Succre Tartes," the unicorn mare answered, "not toots, featherbrain."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Fast Hooves said, "quick favor, Toots, can you send me a copy of the map you downloaded? I'm going to need it for a bit."
"And just what are you planning on doing with a map, Fast Hooves?" Dr. Phillips asked.
"Well, Doc," Fast Hooves answered, "this Justin guy seems like a handful. I don't what he brings to the table in terms of threat but if all my years as Equestria's premier thief have taught me anything, is that you never go into a hostile situation unprepared. We have, all total, one rifle, which I'm keeping now that I have some rounds for it, one pistol and one shotgun. I don't think Jessica is going to be absconding with her rifle so damn soon, so I'm going to do two things.
"The first, is give you the pistol and two boxes of ammo for it, because I don't know how good a shot you are. I'm thinking precision aim is going to be needed from here on out; I'm going to give Sergeant Ironhoof here the shotgun. I bet he could make good use of that.
"The second, is see if I can track down the 'spider-slicer' we saw earlier. I think he may have something we could use. I didn't get the best glimpse of him, but I could have sworn he has my tactical kit. I kinda want that back; it has all my stuff."
After handing out the proscribed armaments, Ironhoof asked, "And why is the kit so important that you feel the need to splinter off?"
With a smile, Fast hooves answers, "Because."
"That's not really an answer," Jessica growled, "what is so damned important about your kit?"
Sighing, Fast Hooves answered, "Because, it was a gift from a friend and I have too few of those as is. After the Fall of Equus, I was assured most, if not all, of my former associates would not be alive. The new friends I made here are precious to me, especially since they've taught me skills to survive here," a pause, and then, "plus, my kit has Primacord in it. That could be useful."
"This is not a wise decision."
Fast Hooves looked at Ironhoof.
"Splitting up is not a good idea. You will have no one to watch your back. You will be alone surrounded by hostiles, and even with your ability to fly, based on what we've seen and read, it will not be enough to get you away from those hostiles. If you are needing the kit that badly we can all head back to track down the…" he stopped as the tube for the Pneumonic Train closed and the train sped off, "Go with you… What in Tartarus just happened?!"
"No no, my new little canvases, you can't leave, not yet. I have so many new ways to improve you. But it would be unfair of me to not allow you the chance paint and express yourself."
There was a howling scream coming from above them. The body dropped showing a spider-splicer, limbs bound, and on his back was a pack.
"Inside you will find the needed tools for any artist to create. Welcome, welcome to the Center for the Arts, welcome to culture, welcome to sophistication, welcome to my New Rapture!"
"When I find him, I'm going to put a bullet in his brain," Jessica deadpanned.
Ironhoof took the cord from the spider-splicer, finding that it was actually a very strong, actually as strong as steel, but more pliable rope, and rolled it up for future use. He then removed the pack. Opening it revealed a wealth of ammo, a camera, film, and something else. It looked like a handle to a broken knife, until Ironhoof touched the button. When he did a seven inch long thin blade made of electrified plasma appeared.
He touched it to a piece of the brass railing and almost instantly it cut through it like butter. Looking at the blade, and then at Fast Hooves he handed it over.
"I've read your file, you might be more comfortable with this."
The speakers crackled again, "You're making me wait, and I get angry when I wait… So angry! Fine! Become part of my new lobby art!"
There was a roar, something loud, something large, and then they saw it strike a door at the end of the hall. The sound was of huge, something easily bigger than any of them were. It struck again and this time the steel door went flying revealing a hulking beast. Like the spider-splicers it was obviously once human, but the human skin had ripped, showing muscle under it. Muscle that had hardened into being able to stop some small arms fire.
Its face looked almost like a Rhino, a long horn coming of his forehead, and the creature growled at them before charging. Every member of the team sprinted away in differing directions to avoid the charge; the beast slammed into a piece of statuary that crumbled into millions of pieces upon impact. No one was hurt, but the Rhino was less than phased by striking the statute itself. It spun around and charged after them once more.
"I could really use that Primacord right now!" Fast Hooves whined.
Dr. Phillips wasn't so paralyzed by panic and let three rounds spray from the automatic Fast Hooves gave him. For the effect it did, the good doctor may as well have hit it with a BB gun. The armored hide of the Rhino shrugged off the .44 Magnum rounds like they were nothing and continued charging. Once again, everyone scrambled out of the path of the rampaging mutant.
"We need a plan!" Ironhoof shouted as he used the shot against the beast. The pellets went in, yet did little more than anger the creature," And we need one fast."
"I say we run," suggested Tarte. She brought up the map to figure out an escape route.
As she looked, the doors around the lobby began to close and seal. Soon, they had nowhere to run. They were trapped with the beast. It would come down to them defeating the enemy or dying below the sea.
"Oh no, my little artists, running just will not do. How else am I supposed to see your creativity if you run? Anyone can do that...but it takes a certain amount of...how you say passion, fury, and sophistication to figure this situa-"
Just before the words finished, one loud explosion of a sound filled the room and the intercom was destroyed. When everyone turned to the source, they saw Jessica aiming her rifle towards it; the muzzle still smoking.
"I was getting tired of his voice…" She explained. Then with a swift motion, she aimed towards the beast, who now was facing the Doctor and Ironhoof. The markman held her breath to shoot. Then, another explosion from her gun sent a projectile flying towards the beast, hitting it in the knee.
"You missed the head!" Fast screamed "You must be a terrible shot…"
"I'm not trying to kill it. I want to immobilize it. Besides, on a beast like that, dontcha think the head would be one of the strongest points?!"
The creature fell, the knee giving out when it tried to sprint toward Tarte. Breathing a sigh of relief the mare looked toward the brutish creature only to see it lifting itself up on its arms, and then using its good leg in the back. The result was a creature that wasn't quite a fast, but still as mobile as before.
It rushed toward them, its angry howls filling the lobby, and there was precious little to separate themselves from the monster. Another shot had slowed it, causing it to slam into the wall, and Fast Hooves looked at the downed thing. It wasn't until he felt something drop that he looked and saw the blade Ironhoof had tossed him before. He flicked it on, seeing the six inch blade come to life.
Getting close to that monster meant death, and he had things he wanted to do before he shuffled off his mortal coil. One of them was the Unicorn Mare in the group, but first he had to ensure that all of them would survive. He took aim, tossed the blade toward the creature, aiming for its broad neck, and like the brass rail earlier it sliced easily into its hide, past it, and out the other side. The creature thrashed around, trying desperately to breathe despite the airway being separated. Slowly it began to stop, and finally there was no movement at all. The creature was still. Ironhoof walked toward it, not trusting to touch it himself he grasped part of the now broken, and disfigured, brass rail and poked the creature with it. Seeing it no longer move he looked at the others.
"It's dead."
Fast Hooves neared it, feeling the pockets and pulled out two things. One was a syringe of purplish looking medicine, and the other was another digital recorder. He pressed play and it projected a scene against the wall. The man looking back at them was dark skinned, well built, and looked stressed.
"Ain't life just fuckin' grand? So, I get hired to come down here to New Rapture because I happen to be good at security, or rather I own a security company. Naturally, since there's no official government involvement everything has to be privatized. That means that I had to bring over half of my guys down here with the promise of being able to return home after six months," he laughed and shook his head, "Mr. Jefferson, the head developer and practically owner of New Rapture, just pissed all over my promise. 'Nobody gets to leave until we have order!' My boys are tired, We've been down here for a year now. One of them… Jesus, Billy was the nicest guy that ever worked security… I don't know what happened, but he flipped! I found a gene tonic syringe on him, I'm guessing that maybe that was it. All I know is that Ellis, Katherine… She's not right after what happened. How does someone crush another person's hip when they're fucking? How the fuck does that happen?! Shit… If that's not bad enough then I've got problems with Justin Longman."
He walked around a bit and shook his head, "Justin, the self proclaimed Artistic Genius, Longman has stated that Tattooing is the perfect form of artistic expression, except he wants to pay people to have the medical pavilion remove sections of their skin for him to tattoo on. This is a level of shit that I'm not being paid enough for. I need a drink, or maybe something stronger."
The device switched off and they looked at one another.
"I don't know about you guys," Fast Hooves commented, "but this is one seriously fucked up dude. If I ever meet this asshole, I'm stuffing his piehole with Primacord and then setting it off with extreme prejudice."
"From a safe distance, I hope," Ironhoof said, "I've seen what Primacord can do."
"As have I," Fast Hooves replied, "another reason why I wanna be in the room when it goes off. I think I can deal with a little blindness and deafness to see this motherfucker buy a farm."
"Still thinking of going after your pack?" The good doctor asked.
"Hell yeah," Fast Hooves exclaimed, "But first, I better get that knife. Might come in handy later."
"And how exactly are you going to find your pack," Tarte asked, "when we don't even know if that 'spider-splicer' is here?"
"He followed us," Fast Hooves said, removing the knife from the concrete it was embedded in, "I just saw him scamper into another part of the Arts Center."
Ironhoof loaded his shot before placing it back on his back. He then walked towards his fellow stallion to speak, "Well, if you know where it is, you can take point. Just look over the map to make a path."
As if on que, the door that had been closed, opened revealing a room filled with art. The art one would usually see in ,museums or exhibits. Yet as the group entered and continued to walk, they saw the masterpieces evolve. They went from normal everyday paintings to eccentric paintings. They expected this since New Rapture was essentially a new culture that would change on its on. What the group didn't expect were the paintings to change so drastically.
Depictions of vulgar scenes spread throughout around group. Theft, murder, and rape were painted multiple times around them. Human skeletons shaped into household items loomed in one corner with a blinking light casting a low light onto it. Animals...or what were once animals, were plastered against the wall, their innards displayed with full glory. On the back wall, were pieces of skin, all different shades with tatoos on them. Further down, the group heard sparks and saw twitching. They approached cautiously until they found monstrosities. Body parts were sewn together, not genetically modified to be that way. Parts from animals, humans, etc were thrown together in a Frankenstien.
They twitched as electricity went through them, but no more. Every body part was dead on it's own. Until they heard breathing. It was coming from one of the sewed monsters. A man; a tired looking man slowly raised his head. Parched he was and the ribs of his original torso were showing. Unfortunately, everything else was new. With a cough, he spoke in a weak voice, "I don't who you all are. I truly don't care. Just know, it was a mistake to come down here. People...humans go mad when there are no limitations, "the man coughed before continuing, "Hell, I'm living proof of that. Anyway...do me a favor: kill me."
Tarte was silent; not being able to bear the sight of the man, she buried her face into the Doctor's shoulders (making Fast slightly envious.) Ironhoof and Jessica looked at the displays, never removing their eyes. Even though they lived different lives, both have seen horrible things in their time. Things they wish they'd never done or saw, but this was now part of them. This was just another item to add to the list.
"Yes, my artist! I see you have discovered my latest work. It struck me, humanity is but a grouping of higher animals, ones that nature has patchworked together, what better homage to nature herself than to copy her in creating an even more perfect series of specimen! Behold, homosuperior!"
The light flashed, and they looked at not only the ones they'd passed, but at least another eight hanging up, similar in their design, but only the man hanging up was alive, or rather truly alive. Jessica looked at the man hanging there. She didn't know if there was any saving him, but most likely there wouldn't be. She walked toward him, and the moment she got close enough an electrical field tossed her back. She shook uncontrollably for several seconds while she lay there.
"Ah, my aspiring artists wish to improve upon my work, but dare I say it… I believe there may be a way for you to do so. The camera I've given you, yes, yes, surely one of you have been bitten by the shutterbug. There are three… former aspiring artists running around in here, two women, and a man, that once shared my vision, but have abandoned all I have aspired to. They are worthless as artists now, but they could become art, art painted in their own blood," he giggled, "Find them for me, take that picture, that most wonderful picture, of their very last moment. I shall do something for you that you won't be able to do otherwise. I will grant you passage through my studio to the other station."