Chapter III: Cold Metal Heart
The clanking sound of metal against cement echoed through the blood spattered streets of Pauper's Drop as Subject Delta made his way to the Sinclair Deluxe, his lithe armored companion lying limp in his arms. The Demo Daddy's blank emotionless porthole betrayed his worry as he examined the adolescent Sister, checking her for any major injuries. The vermillion eyed youth's armored chest rose and fell, a sure sign that she was exhausted but otherwise okay. As the man of flesh and metal arrived at the entrance of his destination, he placed his lithe female counterpart against a nearby wall and gently detached her bulbous helmet from her shoulders.
A face whose skin looks as if it was carved of pure marble, sprinkled with freckles and topped with a head full of frizzled scarlet red hair once again graced his eyes. Delta could not for the life of him figure out why Scarlet's face captivated him so. Whenever he gazed upon the girl's hypnotic features he just got lost in them, he especially enjoyed staring into her hollow blood red eyes. Scarlet's full plump lips parted slightly as Delta traced the length of one of her glimmering orange scars with a massive leather encompassed finger.
Delta jerked his hand back when the psychotic teenager began to stir. Her vermillion orbs fluttered open and a smile instantly graced her lips as she gazed into Delta's porthole adoringly. Scarlet wrapped her gangly arms around Delta's armored head and placed a small kiss on his visor. Delta gasped loudly in surprise and fell onto his backside much to Scarlet's amusement. The Alpha Daddy shook his head and could not help but smile faintly behind his brass tinged mask.
"Well, judging by how lively you two seem I'm guessing you made it out of that brawl relatively okay. I have got to say that, that was one hell of a fight."
Delta could only grunt in agreement, if it weren't for Scarlet he would have taken a trip to a Vita-Chamber. The handy live saving devices did not in anyway take the pain out of dieing and Delta was not going to start relying on the contraptions. In the Hollow man's mind, if he dies during this journey it would mean that without the Vita-Chambers his quest would have stopped right then and there. Plus, it would be like a small triumph for Sofia Lamb, for in her mind she has the comfort of knowing that without the Vita-Chambers he would be nothing but an insignificant insect.
He was not going to let her have even a brief moment of triumph.
"Well kid, I suggest you restock on supplies before you begin your bloody romp through the hotel. Grace Holloway maybe old but she has the Rapture Family on her side and they are not gonna let you get anywhere near her without a fight."
Scarlet's vermillion eyes showed turmoil as she once again heard that woman's name.
Grace Holloway.
Unlike the Big Daddies who are left mostly to themselves to complete their duties, Big Sisters mostly take orders directly from the Mother herself: Sofia Lamb. In addition to watching over Little Sisters and Big Daddies, as well as sometimes even taking the place of a Big Daddy Protector, they also function as leaders for the Splicers, assassins, and even personal bodyguards. Scarlet was ordered by the Mother Lamb to guard and protect Grace Holloway, the former psychiatrist's only friend.
As she followed her Mr. Bubbles through the darkened blood stained halls of the Sinclair Deluxe, she couldn't help but bite her lower lip in desperation.
What was she going to do?
Scarlet couldn't harm Mr. Bubbles, though they were once enemies they had now become…what was the word she was looking for? Mates, perhaps? Anyway, she felt happy when she was with the Alpha Daddy and she could tell that he felt the same way. She couldn't betray him, she WOULDN'T betray him. But what about her duties to the Family? To the Mother Lamb?
To her utter surprise, Scarlet found herself snarling in disgust at the words 'Family' and 'Mother Lamb'. For in her psychotic mind a small flame had ignited and with that flame came knowledge and reasoning. The Mother Lamb said that she loved her, loved them all…but did she really?
The ambush came suddenly and without warning.
The Splicers were bidding their time, playing dead, just waiting for the right moment to strike. White hot lead now whizzed passed her now blood red porthole and her vision blurred as the rusted wrench of a Thuggish Splicer impacted with her metal encompassed cranium.
"You traitor, you whore!" The wrench wielding masked man yelled out as he continued hammering his wrench over Scarlet's head. The blows annoyed her more than anything else. "You were suppose to kill the rogue, smite the Family's enemies! Not-"
A sickening CRACK sounded through the air as Scarlet delivered a bone shattering spinning kick to the Thuggish Splicer's jaw, she then smashed her head against the mutated man's skull. Her metallic helmet split the man's head wide open and he crumpled to the ground in a bloody heap. As Scarlet stared into the man's fading eyes, she saw not a monster of Rapture but a human being. A man broken, taped together haphazardly and miss shaped beyond all repair. He was just like her, just like Mr. Bubbles, just like every other monster that crept and crawled through Rapture's half submerged corridors.
If Mother really cared about them…wouldn't she be trying to help them? She would be…but she isn't, instead she's using them.
Scarlet turned her head in time to see Delta let a bolt of lightning streak from his fingertips, frying a group of Tommy Gun wielding Leadhead Splicers standing in an ankle deep puddle of water. Turning to his right, the Mechanical Soldier smirked behind his visor as he spotted a Power To The People Machine. Taking a step towards the machine, Subject Delta crossed his arms in thought. He was already heavily armed, brandishing not only a Drill but a Rivet Gun, Machine Gun, and Double Barreled Shotgun as well. Delta took a backwards glance at Scarlet, who has been unusually quiet for sometime now. Something was bothering the mentally disturbed teenager.
Delta wished he had a voice so that he could speak to her, it was so frustrating having so much on your mind yet having no way to express it. Delta forced the thought to the back of his mind for now and beckoned Scarlet to stand beside him. Scarlet shook herself from her dazed state and stood beside her Mr. Bubbles at the ready. The Sister quirked a rust colored eyebrow as Mr. Bubbles gestured for her to detach her Syringe/Gauntlet from her arm and place it on the slot mounted to the side of the Weapons Upgrade Machine.
Scarlet cringed behind her visor, removing her syringe hurt…very much…but Mr. Bubbles was only trying to help her and she wasn't going to push him away. Scarlet rotated the two valves that lined the top of her gauntlet and clenched her teeth in pain as the spiral cork screw like needles digging into her arm unscrewed themselves from her flesh. Scarlet winced but smirked slightly as she detached the weaponized hypodermic needle from her arm, the cork screw like needles dripping with her blood, and laid the weapon in the slot of the machine which quickly drew it within it's confines. After a couple of seconds, the machine DINGED and the weapon was once again back in the slot.
Delta couldn't help but chuckle lightly as Scarlet emitted a joyful screech.
As the gruesome pair walked on, Scarlet could not stop grinning at her modified ADAM Syringe. Delta had chosen the damage increase upgrade for Scarlet's wicked weapon, the six foot serrated blade now had a sharpened three foot combat knife attached to the end of it, increasing it's cutting and stabbing power significantly. Delta wore a large grin behind the cover of his visor as Scarlet clung to his left hand, the vermillion eyed youth still admiring her upgraded blade. The joyful emerald glow that shined from the metallic woman's visor was a testament to her happiness and Delta felt proud knowing that he was the one who made her smile.
"Kid, I have got to say that, that is one hell of a wedding ring…" Sinclair commented over the Demo Daddy's radio. Delta could not help but blush at Sinclair's words but he growled dangerously low which caused the man to laugh sheepishly.
"Alright, alright kid I'll hold off with the jokes…. For awhile anyway, he, he, he…"
Delta just shook his head, clearly annoyed, and marched on towards Grace's room with Scarlet's lithe fingers intertwined with his own.
"Subject Delta, you never cease to amaze me. Not only do you pervert the minds of the children of The Family with your touch of corruption, but now you seduce our gatekeepers?" The English twang of Sofia Lamb's voice crackled over Delta's radio. The Alpha Daddy emitted a curt grunt while Scarlet stood there with her knees bent inward. It was the Mother Lamb! What was she going to do to them? Was she going to kill Mr. Bubbles? Was she going to kill her for betraying the Family?
"Why, Subject Delta? Why do you refuse to open your eyes and see the truth? Eleanor has a destiny, she no longer has any use for you, she is bigger than you. You rampage through the city streets, killing only for yourself, thinking of only yourself. Paradise has no place for an abomination like yourself…and as much as I hate to kill a one of our own, I'm afraid I have no choice. Delta, everything you touch warps and corrupts before my very eyes, that girl standing beside you is no exception. Honey," Sofia Lamb directed towards Scarlet. "I am so sorry. I have asked these guardians to make your death quick and painless. Please forgive me." And with that, Sofia's voice fizzled out from the radio and an ear splitting scream sounded throughout the area, followed by another.
Scarlet stood there, her vermillion eyes wide with shock and horror. The Mother Lamb was actually going to murder them, turn her fellow Sisters against her! But mother said she loved her, Dr. Alexander said that Mother loved them all! Scarlet clutched her head with both her hands and let out a small whine.
Why was the Mother Lamb doing this?
As another discordant screech bellowed throughout the area followed by another, Subject Delta hurriedly pulled Scarlet down the halls of the 'Sinclair Deluxe: Tenements' at a breakneck speed. The gruesome pair finally arrived in an open area which had a Security Camera sweeping the room and a Tonic resting in the hands of a corpse which was splayed on one of the Rapture Family's shrines. Delta quickly hacked the Security Camera with his Hack Tool and swiped the Tonic off of the table.
"Hey you stupid Metal Daddy that's not your's!" The raspy voice of a Leadhead Splicer screamed out. In one fluid motion, the Mechanical Soldier tossed the vial of viscous blue liquid to Scarlet and fired a piping hot rivet into the skull of the Leadhead who had appeared on a nearby balcony. As the last metallic screams of bubbling rage echoed throughout the area, Delta quickly restocked on ammo and other supplies at a Circus Of Values and gestured for Scarlet to splice the Tonic into her system. The vermillion eyed teenager drew the liquid into her system with her ADAM Syringe and a thick layer of frost immediately covered the surface of her wicked weapon.
Scarlet was panicking, she has never faced one of her own kin and she was reluctant…but she had to swallow her fear.
'I won't allow them to hurt Mr. Bubbles!'
Scarlet set her face into a look of pure determination and set herself onto high alert, her Sisters could be anywhere.
"Kid, Lamb's sending two of her Dark Hands your way! I'm sending you something that could be a lifesaver, check the pneumo!"
Delta immediately did so and moaned a sound of thanks to Sinclair as he pulled a Launcher from the mailing machine.
"No problem kid." Sinclair replied. "Just don't go all ballistic and blow up the place. Oh and Delta-"
A lithe figured bound in an assortment of leather and metal pounced onto Delta's chest before he could even grunt a reply. The hostile Big Sister stabbed her Syringe into the Demo Daddy's chest plate, causing him to grunt in agony and pain, and kicked off of the Mechanical Soldier. Subject Delta roared out in fury and set the metal woman ablaze with Incinerate and began to unload on her with heavy machinegun rounds. The Security Camera Delta had hacked immediately locked onto his aggressor and sent out four Security Bots. The Sister screeched in fury as she was pelted by machine gun rounds from all sides and smothered in smoldering flames.
Scarlet saw that her Mr. Bubbles was in trouble and charged the Big Sister who had attacked him with her modified Syringe raised, screaming like an animal as she did so. Scarlet screamed out in agony and surprise as she crashed into the ground, her lithe form engulfed in blazing crimson flames. Scarlet quickly got to her feet and raised her Syringe to block the downward slash of the second Big Sister, completely ignoring the flames that threatened to consume her. As the two Sisters fought for dominance over the other, Delta fired machine gun rounds into his enemy as she leaped and kicked off of walls and other surfaces. The Security Bots fell one by one as they were scorched by genetic fireballs but the Security Camera just sent in more. The Sister leaped off of a wall, just as the spot spontaneously combusted, and sent herself diving towards Delta.
Delta quickly let sparks dance in his left hand and let a bolt of lightning streak from his fingertips. The Sister screeched in pain as lightning surged through her body, and she fell to the floor in a spasm. A frost layered Drill quickly found it's way into Delta's right hand and he stunned the Sister with another Electro Bolt before he proceeded to pummel her with his bloodied weapon.
Scarlet pushed her enemy away before letting a barrage of fireballs streak from her right hand. The enemy Sister screamed in agony as her form was engulfed in smothering flames. Security Bots had also circled Scarlet's opponent, pelting her with a hail of fiery lead. The enemy Sister suddenly snapped. She threw her head back and screeched in primal fury, she let her Telekinetic abilities wreak havoc on the environment around her, not caring who are what she harmed.
A Security Bot impacted Scarlet's form and she was sent crashing into one of the many windows that held the sea outside at bay. The window spider web cracked as Scarlet picked herself up. Security Bots smashed into walls and were sent spiraling to the ground at the sheer might of the enemy Sister's power. The vermillion haired Scarlet screeched at her enemy in defiance and hurled a multitude of boulders, corpses, and other objects with her own Telekinesis. The flying objects showed no prejudice as they smashed into surfaces at extreme speeds, including the window that Scarlet was thrown up against.
The battle raged on for what seemed like hours. Fireballs roared through the air along with bolts of lightning, flying boulders, rivets, machinegun fire, frag grenades, it was a chaotic storm.
Delta was knocked to the ground as his enemy barreled into him at extreme speeds. His Security Camera now lay on the floor in a charred black heap, as well the mechanical drones that it had sent into battle. The Demo Daddy roared out in agony as the Sister's wicked weapon plunged into his right shoulder. The Sister cackled menacingly as she raised her right hand, her palm pulsing with flame, preparing for the killing blow. The Sister suddenly found herself looking down the barrels of a shotgun and was propelled backwards by the brutal force of Solid Slug ammo. As a consequence, the Sister's charged up fireball reeled off coarse and smashed into the window that was already weakened by Scarlet's battle.
The four metallic titans froze, all portholes now facing the window as it weakened and gave way. The glass groaned and in a majestic show of strength and power, the waters of the Atlantic plowed into the Sinclair Deluxe. Scarlet and her opponent were thrown to the ground as a huge wall of water slammed into them, with Delta and his own aggressor quickly following suit. Delta groaned exhaustingly as he picked himself up and trudged through the raging waters that were quickly invading the hotel. He pulled Scarlet onto her feet, the vermillion haired Sister was slightly disorientated. The Demo Daddy lead the vermillion eyed teenager towards the upper levels of the Sinclair Deluxe, leaving a trail of Cyclone Traps, Proximity Mines, and Trap Rivets as they pushed on.
A smirk graced Delta's lips from behind his blood stained porthole when two distinct screeches of pain and agony met his ears. The emergency steel gates installed throughout Rapture will prevent Pauper's Drop from flooding any further.
It was time to confront Grace.
Delta and Scarlet weaved a path of blood and destruction as they traveled upwards, getting ever closer to their goal. The Mechanical Soldier was on full alert, he knew that it was highly unlikely that he and Scarlet killed those two Big Sisters. They would be stalking them, hunting them. Waiting for the right moment to strike. Delta, for the first time ever, shivered as he read the grotesque bloody graffiti written on the walls.
For they all read: Big Sister Is Always Watching You.
Scarlet sighed in relief when they had finally made it to their destination, they would finally be able to get out of this place…
So why were they just standing there?
They stood there in that room whose walls were painted pink and it's floors dotted with the innocent drawings of a child. There was a bed with a flora printed comforter made neatly onto it's surface and a chalk bored with a bunch of numbers and equations scribbled on to it. She had long since given up trying to figure out what they meant, it just made her head hurt. Scarlet had her arms crossed over her chest and her plump lips were puckered into a pout under her helmet as she stared at the back of Mr. Bubbles, his brass armor glittering in the low level light. The room's one light blinked and flickered, as if it would be extinguished at a moments notice. The vermillion haired teenager did not understand why they were here, they had been just standing here for over fifteen minutes. She was getting bored and a little paranoid as she was constantly fearing an ambush from the two Big Sisters they had escaped.
Scarlet shook her helmet encased head and sighed impatiently. She was about to let an ear splitting screech escape from her maw but immediately stopped when she saw Mr. Bubbles' shoulders shake and quiver slightly. Scarlet jumped a little in surprise when a distinct whining sound met her ears. She turned her head all which way, trying to locate the source of the cry. Her sensitive ears located a bunch of quieter but still audible whining sounds coming from… Scarlet's bloody red eyes widened by the second as she focused in on her metal clad companion's now noticeably shaking form.
Mr. Bubbles was…crying?
Scarlet was struck dumfounded. Never in her entire life has she witnessed a Big Daddy cry. Ever. Though they showed small signs of feelings they were generally cold, emotionless…
Hollow.
Their hearts held no fears, the only emotion to ever grace their scrambled up minds being the love for their little ones…and bubbling rage. Sadness, fear, these emotions were suppose to be foreign to them yet…. Yet here stand an enormous Frankenstein of a man, a being crafted from metal and flesh, a being whose soul purpose was to kill and maim, crying. Subject Delta choked and sobbed as he stood hunched over a dresser that had once belonged to a little girl. Her curiousness and worry piqued, Scarlet gracefully crossed the room like a shadow on the wall and glanced over Delta's shoulder to get a look at the object he was holding in his massive hands. The vermillion eyed teenager raised a rust colored eyebrow for in the Frankenstein's hands was the framed photograph of a little girl. Her hair was done in two braided pigtails and her big front toothless grin heavily contrasted with the scowl of her glasses wearing mother who held her on her lap.
A jolt of jealousy surged through Scarlet when Mr. Bubbles lovingly caressed the little girl in the photograph, though he was gentle he never touched her like that! Scarlet's lips turned upwards into a snarl but she didn't make a sound, whoever this girl was she must be very important to him. Scarlet knew who the woman in the picture was, she was the Mother Lamb. Which meant that the little girl on her lap was Eleanor Lamb, the People's Daughter. Scarlet couldn't help but curl her lips into a snarl.
She hated that girl.
The Mother Lamb always went on about how special Eleanor was, how intelligent she was. It was always Eleanor this and Eleanor that! Eleanor, Eleanor, Eleanor! Scarlet knew now why the Mother Lamb was trying to kill her Mr. Bubbles. Eleanor was his little one. Scarlet never liked the blue eyed girl, she emitted this air of superiority that just made you seem dumb when standing next to her. The bloody haired teenager sighed to herself, she knew what she had to do. She wasn't doing it for Eleanor either, she was doing it for Mr. Bubbles.
Subject Delta stiffened when skinny metal entrapped arms wrapped him into an embrace from behind.
"I-I HeLP M-m-Mr. B-Bubbles."
The Demo Daddy's eyes widened behind his visor, Scarlet must have found out who the girl was in the photo. And she was willing to help him? Scarlet nuzzled into his armor and emitted a soft sigh, all of which caused her Mr. Bubbles to clam down.
"What are you two doing?" The angry accented voice of Grace Holloway called out. The metallic pair turned to face the doorway in which she now stood in. Scarlet bit her lower lip as she took glances at Mr. Bubbles and Grace.
What was Mr. Bubbles going to do?