Part 13: Muse's Inspiration
Despite the restrictions the ocean put on his movements, David felt more relaxed than strained, as though he were taking a stroll. It gave his body enough time to recuperate from the frenetic and frenzied chaos he'd just left. Even so, it only took him a few moments to reach the airlock to The Muse's Inspiration. All the same, he still felt like he was moving too slowly. It seemed like a great deal of time had passed since Tenenbaum had mentioned that a Little Sister was in danger.
Once the water had drained from the airlock, the thunderclaps of gunfire suddenly echoed through the small room, accompanied by the earth shaking roar of a Big Daddy. As he darted down the narrow, velvet covered halls, he was met with a high pitched scream, a Little Sister's cry for help.
"You idiot," a man shouted as David burst into the opera house. "She's no good to us dead!" From the second floor balcony he could see the entire theater, a massive, domed structure with seats and pews circling around a stage. On the circular stage a Big Daddy, similar in size and shape to the Rosie he'd fought in Volcanus Flats, yet wholly different, knelt next to a small form. In one of his enormous hands, the protector held a Little Sister, her eyes blank and staring, a thin line of blood running from her nose to her chin. Around the two of them, were half dozen bodies, Splicer's who'd evidently met their end at the barrel of the Big Daddy's rivet gun.
A group of Splicers were trying to make to make a hasty exit, when the center of the staged glowed with purple light. There was a flash of purple smoke before a second armor clad figure appeared out of thin air. At first David thought he was looking at some strange copy of his own diving suit, the narrow frame, and general design matching his own. However, the armor was lighter, less reinforced, and the wearer, while covered from head to foot in spun copper and brass, had a distinctive feminine outline.
The newcomer gave a screech that threatened to shatter every pane of glass in Rapture before attacking the retreating Splicers with feral bloodlust. An ADAM needle that could have substituted for a harpoon sprouted from one of the retreating Splicers, the new comer lifting him into the air before tossing him into the seats scattered throughout the theater.
"That, David, is a Big Sister," Tenenbaum explained, as David looked on in awe. As though she were lighter than air, the armor clad killer leapt through the air to land on another of Splicer. Standing on the dead man, her hand began to glow ominously. With unerring speed and accuracy, the Big Sister sent one bolt of fire after another into the retreating Splicers, turning them to ash.
"They were once little ones. Once they were old enough they were turned into killers by Sophia Lamb and Gil Alexander." Only a small portion of David's mind was listening to Tenenbaum's voice. The rest of his focus was on staying out of sight. "They are half mad, and feed off of ADAM."
As though proving the doctor's point, the Big Sister turned her attention on the Big Daddy. With the same ferocity that she had attacked the Splicers with, the ADAM fueled killer charged toward the protector. She gestured and a chunk of the stage ripped itself free. With a wave of her hands, the Big Sister sent the massive clump of metal and wood flying. The Big Daddy nimbly rolled aside, deftly tossing a small grenade-like device at his opponent. The Big sister dodged away from the device with ease, vanishing in a cloud of purple light.
When she reappeared, it was in the air over the Big Daddy. She came down with enough force to send the protector to one knee. With one, punishing blow, the ADAM fueled killer drove the harpoon-like needle on her left arm into the armored giant's helmet. There was a muffled crunch, and the protector collapsed.
As the Big Sister screeched again, her head swiveling as though she were searching for another opponent, David began to cautiously backtrack. He had no intention of fighting the armored killer who had just dispatched a dozen Splicers and a Big Daddy with such ease. However, when he turned toward the exit, he found a pair of Splicers, two who had apparently managed to survive the ADAM fueled killer.
"Oh shit," one of them moaned when he saw David. Moving faster than the eye could follow, the
Big Sister leapt up to the second floor, over the balcony, and landed behind the two survivors. Despite that she was a teenager, her copper plated boots and helmet left her looking down at the two Splicers. Though he could no more see her face than she could his, David could sense the contempt she had for the two survivors, see it in her body language, hear it as her hands clenched tight enough to earn a groan from the fabric over her knuckles.
Like lighting she wrapped her left arm around one Splicer's neck. Rolling her weight back, the ADAM fueled killer snapped the man's neck. With the same fluid motion, she then skewered the other, making them both look like playthings. As both men fell to the ground, David hoped she would sense the sea slug in his stomach, the mutual bond he'd shared with the Little Sister. Instead, the armored killer let out another screech and barreled forward, like a charging bull covered in armor.
Taking a step back, David reached out with Telekinesis and grabbed a nearby chair. He flung it at the Big Sister with every ounce of his will. The chair slammed into the ADAM fueled killer with a resonating crash. However, it didn't even slow her down. She rolled with the blow, pivoting so that the chair all but deflected off her shoulder. Without breaking her stride, she kicked off from the wall, and put both copper shod shoes into his chest.
David was sent flying toward the stage. One of his boots slapped against the railing before he crashed into the stage hard enough to splinter wood and leave a man sized crater. As nimble as she had been while fighting the Splicers, the Big Sister tumbled to the stage, her boots sliding across its polished surface. As the former assassin rolled to his feet, she watched, as though waiting for him to regain his balance, like she was playing with him.
No sooner had David regained his footing than she shot across the stage like a bullet from a gun. Before she could pin him like a fly in collection with her ADAM needle, the former assassin dove forward. He drove his shoulder into her knee. While he rolled beneath her, she s sprawled toward the other end of the stage, though not before smacking his faceplate with one of her boots.
As he rolled to his feet, the Big Sister vanished in a flash of light. He heard a thump of boots landing behind him before a sudden blinding pain shot through his sternum. The Big Sister's ADAM needle seemed to suddenly grow from his shoulder, a small pillar of steel sprouting from just under the heavy, spun copper that protected his chest. David fought down a scream of panic and agony, instead using the adrenaline that crashed through his system to charge a ball of Electro-Bolt. When he grabbed the needle that stuck through his body with the same hand, the ball of electricity discharged through the metal and into the Big Sister.
All at once the needle slid free of his shoulder and the thump of the ADAM fueled killer slamming into the far wall reached his ears. Free of the needle, David turned to face the seething Big Sister. Already on her feet, she charged him. This time, he was too slow and she tackled him to the ground. Holding his arms down with her knees, the Big Sister cocked her arm back, ready to send her harpoon of a hypodermic needle crashing through his faceplate.
Throwing all his weight to one side, David managed to put his opponent off balance. As she tried to reassert her center of gravity onto his chest, he brought his copper plated helmet up to smash into her faceplate. She rolled backward, pushing against David's chest with both feet. As he was sent skittering across the floor, she gracefully cartwheeled to her feet. Back on her feet, the Big Sister's hand began to glow ominously.
Grunting and slipping in his own blood, David scrambled away as bolts of fire slammed into the stage. He dove from the stage and was sent flying once again by a blast of heat. As another bolt of fire came screaming through the air, he rolled behind the nearest support column. No sooner had he climbed back to his feet than the air in front of the former assassin began to glow purple.
Knowing what was coming next, David launched himself forward. As the Big Sister appeared, he slammed the ADAM gathering hypodermic into her chest. His momentum carried both of them into the nearby wall. Using one hand to hold her arm at bay, David pinned her other with his shoulder as she fought violently to free herself. However, the former assassin knew it was too late. His aim had been perfect, and he'd planted all six inches of steel directly into her heart. As her blood spattered across his arm and chest, hot enough for him to feel it through his suit, the Big Sister kicked, trying to free herself.
When she stopped moving, he let her slid to the floor as gracefully as his shaking muscles would allow. In the years since he'd been inducted into Ryan's assassins, David had killed many people, even more since Tenenbaum had brought him back to life. He'd never felt the gut wrenching pity and self-loathing that clutched at his heart as he looked at the lifeless Big Sister. In creation, purpose, and self-control she and David had more in common than not. They'd both lost their childhoods, been forced to kill in others' names. The only difference now, was that David had regained control of his will. He wasn't forced to go on any longer, which made his actions all the harder to swallow.
As he turned away, the armored teen heard a soft, muffled voice cry out from behind him. Not wanting to, and dreading every moment he turned back to the Big Sister. As his extremities went numb from blood loss, David knelt and unclasped the woman's helmet before removing it altogether.
"Please…" she gasped, her black hair falling like a halo around her head. She was no older than David, her features defined by the fear and sadness that must have been consuming her. "Please… I don't understand…" David grasped her hand, hoping to give her some comfort. He recognized her condition, the same kind as he'd been in the night Fontaine had so casually murdered him. She was dying. Her body beyond the point of no return, but the sea slug wouldn't let her go so easily. "Why.. why can't I see?"
Her green eyes pleaded with David to help her, to do something. Oh God, David thought. I don't know what to do. A hard lump formed in his throat as his mind raced desperately for some solution. Granted she had tried to kill him, but she had no more control over that than the Big Daddies. The ADAM fueled killer was gone, replaced by a scared girl who knew she was going to die.
"It's going to be okay," David whispered, trying to comfort her. She gave one last struggled gasp before becoming still, her eyes dilating. Gently, he laid her hand on her chest before standing, his body shaking with angst and guilt. For the second time in only a few hours, David wished he'd been left to die. He wished that Tenenbaum hadn't brought him back. There was too much pain, too much misery in Rapture for him to bear.
"I'm sorry David." The sorrow in Tenenbaum's voice seemed to pull some of the weight from David's shoulders, as though she were sharing his sadness, making his burdens her own. "Please, I know you can do nothing to save her, but there are others. Turning from the Big Sister took more energy than David thought he had left. "You can set them all free, but only if you are making it to Zeus's Crown."