Jordan: Chapter 2 starting as I watch Unnatural History.
Henry: And he doesn't own either of them.
Jordan: And to any Bioshock 2 fans that read this, I know that Lamb designated Sinclair Subject Omega and personally that's my favorite letter of the Greecian alphabet so nyeh, I went there.
"Home sweet home." His voice held a bitter tone. The Australian Outback was more of a home to him than Rapture. These decaying halls held nothing but blood and forgotten memories. And of course, splicers. He knew that if one thing were to survive all these years in Rapture, it would be the splicers. And by now they must have taken over the once great city. It was time for Jasper to understand what he was soon to endure.
"This place is just plain gross." He heard Jasper say as he observed his surroundings. Henry threw him a dirt encrusted wrench that was embedded into the side of the bathysphere.
"Now it's time that we train." He ran towards Jasper aiming to hit him with the butt of his gun. "You must be prepared for anything." Jasper swung the wrench up in time to deflect Henry's attack.
"Dude, what are you doing?" He blocked another attack with his forearm. It didn't hurt as much as it should've but his attention was diverted. Henry was twirling a sawed-off shotgun like it was a flag for marching band.
"Use your plasmids Jasper. You must learn to multitask your powers." He pulled out one arm and shocked the water puddle in front of Jasper as he teleported behind him and placed the gun to the back of his head. "And if I were a splicer, your brains would've been all over the floor. Jasper, I don't want you to die here, but if you don't release your inhibitions about fighting then you won't survive for an hour down here." Jasper stared at his hand as fire began to spark from his fingertips. "I know it takes getting used to but you have to work fast. This is not karate class here, this is life or death."
"Okay." Jasper said as he sat down. "But maybe if I fought a splicer I wouldn't have inhibitions like I do with you." Henry didn't know it at the time but Jasper's inhibitions were solely because of their seeming blood relations. Jasper had always felt strange about Henry however, it had only been during the recent times that Jasper's strange feelings had become noticeable.
"Wait here, I'll find one." Henry ran out one of the doors.
"Henry, that's not what I." But he was already gone. "Why can't I talk to him?" Jasper asked silently as a door opened near him. "Henry, I."
"Gimme your ADAM punk." There was a man with a horribly disfigured face running full speed at him with a pipe in hand.
"Fuck, a splicer!" Jasper screamed as he dodged to the side and whacked the man with his wrench. He concentrated and somehow managed to throw fire. As the man screamed Jasper sat and watched him slowly die. "Jesus Christ, if only Henry could've seen that." He heard clapping behind him.
"I did Jasper, and I'm quite impressed." Henry walked over and patted him on the back. Simple contact that still sent shivers down Jasper's spine. "Of course, I'm glad you actually beat that splicer; it took some time to lure it here." He laughed.
"Dude, you were gone like a minute. Less than in fact. What do you mean took some time to lure it here?" Jasper's tone was incredulous. He had a feeling about the answer but he was hoping that he incorrect.
"Well usually they're everywhere. I guess there might not be as many here because the bathysphere network is mostly useless." He seemed so matter-of-fact that Jasper had hardly any reason to question him. Hardly didn't mean no reason.
"So how will we get around then, I mean if the bathyspheres don't work?" He was worried about having splicers everywhere when he was traveling. He knew Henry could protect him, but he still liked having absolutes.
"Well some bathyspheres are online, but we'll mostly have to use the Atlantic Express." He saw Jasper's confused face and felt the need to explain. "The monorail leads all over the city." Jasper's expression lightened up but then got fairly serious again. "I actually don't know what to do first, believe it or not." He quickly answered the question before it was even asked. They were drawn from their thoughts as the sound of radio static pulled over the shortwave radio in the bathysphere pod. Static followed by a voice Henry knew all too well.
"You who has entered this decrepit forbidden city. My name, it was Tenenbaum and by the time you hear this message my life will have passed and there will be few reminders of my work." Jasper noticed a tear escaping Henry's eye as he tried to keep his cool. He put his arms around him. "This city has been destroyed by decades of civil war and religious tyranny. I have left messages so that you may complete the mission of destroying the utopia long since lost. However, you will not only encounter evil people, but you must also find the one man who can help you. Make your way to my safe-house in Olympus Heights. There I have left you an audio diary in the desk in my study. If you have been able to come down here, and you are hearing this message, then your genetic code reveals that you can open the doors of my home. Good luck to you former friend. For you will need it." Henry seemed speechless as he heard the transmission end. He proceeded to pick up the radio.
"Onward to Olympus Heights." He whispered as he left through the door to his left. Jasper was close behind when that old inquisitive feeling struck him again.
"What will happen to all of the Little Sisters here if we destroy the city?" He asked quietly. He knew that this was going to be a touchy subject for Henry but he had to ask.
"Oh shit." Henry whispered. "I guess we'll have to save all of the ones we come across." He stared at his hand. 'Brigid knew that I would come here. That's why she gave me the plasmid.' "Brigid gave me the power to kill the slug without harming the host. And since I've infused my blood with yours, you can do it too."
At that time they heard a small voice. "C'mon Mr. Bubbles, we'll miss the angels dancing."
Henry's eyes widened as he realized where that voice emanated from. "That's a little sister isn't it?" Jasper knew the answer but he felt like he needed to ask. "So how do we save her?" He asked as nonchalantly as he could. But in truth, his voice held fear. Fear for what sort of affect this would have on Henry.
"First we must dismiss her Big Daddy." They just came into view of the duo as they hovered over a corpse. "And from the looks of it, it should be pretty easy."
Henry walked over to the Big Daddy and held up a small green ball. Jasper knew what he was going to do. Henry threw the ball on the Daddy and commanded it to shoot its machine gun into one of the eyeholes on the golem's helmet. It obeyed and soon the little girl was weeping. Mourning the loss of her precious Mr. Bubbles. But when she looked at Henry she stopped crying. "You're not gonna hurt me are you?" She asked in a scared tone.
He placed his hand on her forehead and spoke softly in her ear. "I would never hurt an innocent girl." Suddenly there was a greenish glow and the little girl's skin turned normal and her eyes were no longer a sickly lime green.
"I'm all better!" She yelled; a grin plastered on her face. "Thank you mister." She said before kissing his cheek and running away. Her face was going to stay in both of their memories for a long time. But in Rapture, a long time is a relative term.
"It's getting late; we should find somewhere to camp out in." Jasper said as if there was a definition of late when you can't see the sun. "Let's try that place up ahead." He pointed to a sign. Pauper's Drop. Henry knew how bad the Drop was, but Jasper was right. They needed to rest.
When they entered the hallway leading to Pauper's Drop, the air began to fill with the smell of decomposition and sewer sludge. "Oh my god that's disgusting." Jasper exclaimed as they passed a decomposing corpse. The stench of the body was enough to make Jasper feel ill; but Henry was unaffected.
"Welcome to Pauper's Drop Jasper; the most disgusting area of Rapture. Good to see it hasn't changed much." Henry knew it would be bad, but this was much better than he hoped. But the challenge would be to find a working apartment for them to stay in.
After hours of fruitless search they came upon what seemed to be the crown jewel of the Sinclair Deluxe. A room that not only contained a warm water shower, but locking doors as well. This place was a haven for the two.
"I call shower first." Jasper said, but Henry had already locked the door.
"This is insane. I can't believe she's dead." He whispered as he entered the stream of warm water. He didn't know whether to think about what to do or clear his mind but in the end he decided to go with the latter. He let the warm water flow over his body in near silence. It felt good to be relaxed for a few minutes, but his muscles began to ache in a way that even the heat of the water couldn't help. The muscles that hurt the most was not his legs or his arms, it was his heart. He knew what would happen to Jasper when he found out about the pheromones.
He had really come to like Jasper in the time they had spent together as a family. But the one thing Henry could never control was his charm. Recently he began to notice Jasper's sudden change in attitude whenever he was around. The only logical conclusion was that Jasper liked him.
"Damn." He punched the wall. He didn't want to lose Jasper just because of this. He knew that if he got hurt then Jasper would lower his guard. That was a handicap that Henry had forgotten to account for when he asked Jasper to come along. 'Wait a minute.' He thought. 'Didn't I want to clear my mind?' He asked himself. He chuckled as he thought about how he could hardly listen to his own decisions. He continued the shower in silence. The only sound he heard was the sound of the water as it thumped against his body. Thump a-thump a-thump.
"Brother." A voice in his mind spoke. He looked behind the curtain but saw nothing. 'Great, now I'm hearing things.' He thought. He shut off the water as the temperature started to lower. It might not have been the brightest idea he ever had, but he exited the shower in only boxers. Wearing loincloths for half of a year didn't exactly contribute to modesty.
"Hey Henry do you think." Jasper froze at the sight of his cousin.
"Huh?" Henry was still searching for a towel.
"Um, do you think anyone would mind if we used the clothes here?" Jasper was already heading for the shower; a cold one was probably in his future.
"We should be good, I doubt anyone's lived here for quite a while and they don't seem gross." Henry knew Jasper was already in the bathroom. It was a shame. 'Crap, I forgot to brush my teeth.' He rushed into the bathroom; completely forgetting about his cousin who was still in the shower.
"Christ Henry! Why exactly are you in here?" Jasper was semi-freaking out.
"Forgot to brush my teeth. Sorry." He already had the brush in his mouth.
"Can it possibly wait until I'm not bare-ass naked?" Jasper was quite a bit embarrassed by this.
"No need, I'm already done." And he was out the door.
Jasper hated that moment. A perfect chance at the front of a long line of perfect chances; and just like the rest of them, it was wasted. And for some reason, he felt like that would be his last one. He spent another ten minutes or so in the freezing cold water before exiting the shower fully clothed.
As he came into the room, he noticed a major thing he didn't before. There was only one bed in this room. And Henry was already asleep in his boxers. 'Great.' Thought Jasper as he lay down next to Henry. 'Just great.'
Unusually Henry had no nightmares of Rapture. But to him, one dream stood from the others.
"Brother." It was the same voice from the shower. "Brother." It felt as though the voice was venturing for a connection. "Yes?" Henry replied. "Heny. Find Daddy." Henry knew that voice and he knew the one person that called him that. "Heny, Daddy is hiding in a tube. A big blue tube that's bringing him back to life." "A vita-chamber?" Henry supplied. "Yes. A vita-chamber. He's in Aphrodite's Apple. I have locked the door. And I know that you remember the code. I'll see you soon Heny." "You too Tobs." Henry was very out of it during this dream.
By the time he awoke, Jasper was already up and dressed in a random pinstripe suit. Henry quickly got out of bed and pulled on a suit of his own. He had to make an executive decision. Olympus Heights or Aphrodite's Apple?
But Jasper made the decision for him. "So Olympus Heights yeah?" His voice was clueless but he seemed as though that was the place to go.
"Yeah Jasper. Olympus Heights." Henry smiled as they entered the train on the way to the safe-house.
The train-ride was intensely boring. They managed to find a splicer and quickly dispatch of him. But they spent another hour in relative silence.
When they exited the train they caught sight of another Little Sister but this time she was alone.
When she saw Henry she gestured as though she wanted to be picked. He was reaching for her when a blood-curdling screech.
"Big Sister doesn't want me playing with you." Suddenly a thin figure ran by and stole away the Sister. "Heny!" She yelled. "Help me." The little girl was crying as she was taken away. Henry and Jasper tried to run after her but the door suddenly filled with splicers.
As they were running, Henry caught sight of Tenenbaum's house and he dragged Jasper towards the door. Henry pressed his face against the speaker. "Mein Liebe ist weg. Und der Tod ist nah. Ich verlange von euch. Lassen Sie mich hier." He spoke and the door opened. As they closed the door Henry fell to the ground.
"Where the Hell did you learn German?" He was incredulous.
"Does Tenenbaum sound like an American name to you?" Henry asked as he stood up and walked up the stairs. He went into a room and Jasper heard a gasp. When he ran into the room, he saw Henry crouching over the dead body of Brigid Tenenbaum.
Jordan: Ah, chapter 2 done.
Wishing you Black skies and Clearwater.