I do not own any part of BioShock. Some characters in this fanfiction are OCs.
This fanfiction is rated M for language, adult content, violence, and mortal peril. ;)
It was several weeks before Artemis could get out of bed. Silas had done a poor job of drugging her – she thought he had probably come close to killing her. When she finally ventured forth from the back room of Rapture Records, her heart fell to see the state the shop was in. A few corpses, splicers no doubt, were slumped near the doorway. Broken records and glass from the display cases littered the floor. Posters were torn from the walls, which were littered with bullet holes, and the register had fallen off the counter and sprung open permanently.
Silas was behind the counter loading a shotgun. He looked up as she walked in and awkwardly went back to arranging his ammunition and weapons behind the counter.
"I'm…so sorry," she said softly. She was still angry with him, but for all her anger she would not have wished this on him.
"Damn splicers. I think Sander Cohen keeps letting a few more in every now and again to make things more interesting for the sane folk still living here." Silas sighed, putting down the chemical thrower he was polishing. "I know you're itching for some exercise, but I really must ask you to stay in here for a few more weeks at least. Look at the state of you, you can barely stand. But in the meantime you might help me clear up a bit in here; as you can see I've had some difficult customers."
Somewhat softened by pity, Artemis did as Silas asked and cleaned up the shop over the next week or so. She couldn't do much in the way of repairs, but at least the floors were swept, all the surfaces wiped down, and the corpses piled neatly by the door.
When she at last set down the final trash bag and wiped the sweat from her brow, Silas wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. She shoved him away and stormed moodily into the back room where she fiddled with a phonograph she had been trying to repair.
A month later, her strength fully restored, she slung a machine gun over her shoulder, stuck a wrench in her belt, and kissed Silas on the cheek.
"I'll back before dinner. Gonna see if I can't thin the ranks out there."
"If you see Cohen, give him my regards."
Artemis grabbed the oldest of the corpses around the wrist and dragged it out of Rapture Records with her.
Things were quiet as she made her way towards Fleet Hall. She figured she might as well look for Cohen, since she was bound to run into splicers along the way. The first one she found was alone in the atrium, a thuggish splicer dragging a machine gun along behind him. She crept up behind him, mingling with his shadow as she pulled the wrench silently from her belt. The weight of it felt healthy in her hand, and she lifted the tool above her head and brought it down heavily across the back of the splicer's head. He fell to the ground, twitching, and Artemis knelt down and snapped his neck. Tucking the wrench back in her belt she searched the corpse, taking a crème cake and some ammo before continuing on.
Artemis found herself creeping around a corner towards two splicers casually chatting over a body as they checked it for adam.
"Pish. I know what you're gonna say Bill, and it's bullshit. She don't exist. Just a ghost Ryan made up to make us behave."
"Still. I hear Atlas is looking for her."
"Not so!"
"Wouldn't that be a fright? Them two teamed up together, roaming around Rapture?"
"I'm telling you Bill. There is no Sitter."
Just then the ground started shaking. Artemis smelled it before she saw it; a putrid odor wafted over her so that she had to cover her mouth to muffle her gagging. Around the corner stomped a huge figure wearing an odd jumpsuit and a gigantic helmet that seemed to be modeled after the bathysphere. He looked at the splicers like they were ants, totally unworthy of his attention. Artemis saw one of the splicers crouch, ready to jump up to the ceiling, while the other pulled a gun from inside his vest. With one wide, swift swipe of her wrench she had dropped the spider splicer and in the next moment she had the thuggish splicer by the throat. He struggled and she slammed him against the wall, knocking the gun from his hand. The giant stood watching for another second before moving slowly away.
"What was that?" she demanded, releasing her grip on the splicer's throat enough for him to speak.
"That was adam you just cost me, you filthy-"
Artemis slammed him against the wall again, harder this time. "I'm asking nicely. What was that thing?"
The splicer glared at her and said, "That was Big Daddy. Ryan just had a bunch of them created. What with the Sitter gone and the chaos round here lately, the Little Sisters are uh…shall we say…disappearing."
"And you said Atlas is looking for the Sitter?"
"Sure enough he's asking around about her." The splicer was starting to get antsy, and he thought he was being slick reaching for his gun. Artemis kicked it away impatiently.
"Why?"
"How would I know? Maybe he wants to team up with her! Though I'd feel better if he's lookin' to kill her, as he well might be. Now let GO of me bitch!"
Artemis let the splicer go. He ran, grabbing his gun as he went. Artemis pulled out her own gun, aimed and fired. The splicer dropped less than ten yards from where she stood.
"The Sitter," she said. "Damn." She barely had time to register this information when four splicers jumped out at her.
She took her wrench to the temple of the nearest splicer; as he crumpled she felt a blow on her left shoulder. She spun around to kick the pipe out of the splicer's hands. Another splicer caught her from behind with an electric shock. Artemis spasmed briefly, and when she regained control she grabbed her machine gun and took out the three remaining splicers. It had been close - and normally she didn't like to use her gun. It made her nervous, firing rounds in a submerged environment where the walls were often made of glass.
Her knees trembled and she knew it was time to go home. Well, her score today was seven. Not a bad start.
