THE WAREHOUSE

"Up, get up pretty boy, times a wastin! Come on, move yer ass!"

Groaning slightly, and feeling more tired then before he fell asleep, David sat up just in time to catch a can of what looked like ham that Reggie tossed him. Nodding towards Reggie he glanced around. "What are we doing now?"

"Twitchy was bein all sneaky like last night, and found a promising source of food and other supplies."

Nodding, Reggie stepped forward. "Some insane Splicer's fortified himself inside an old warehouse, one that was used for holding food and medical supplies from the surface back in the good old days. He's not a member of Lamb's cultists, and so he hasn't been supplying them with food. He's only been feeding himself for all these years, and as such he'll only have used a fraction of the supplies a group would have."

"Right as Twitchy said, there's a veritable food and medicine 'splosion in there, and we're goin to take it!"

"If you would be so kind as to let me finish you oaf, I've still got some things to say! The Splicer is a Houdini Splicer, meaning he's going to be using Plasmids against us and be teleporting around. He's also got a fairly advanced security system set up. I got past it last night by climbing trough the vents and using the Security Bull's-eye Plasmid, but you all are not going to be able to do that."

"Right, as Twitchy said, this is goin to be kind of tough, Twitchy is goin to sneak in and open the place up for us. Me and Veronica are goin to storm right in once Twitchy gets it opened up. Frankie and pretty boy will come in after us and cover our rears. Everyone clear on the plan?" A series of yeses answered Dennis' question. "Good boys, lets go!"

()

The Warehouse on the Warf that was what the sign said, a harmless enough name, but something about it sent chills down David's spine.

"I got in through that duct last time I was here." Reggie said pointing toward a duct that couldn't have been more then two by two feet.

David paused, eyes widening in disbelief. "Jesus Reggie, how in God's name did you fit in that?"

"I'm…flexible for lack of a better word."

Grumbling, Dennis pushed towards the front of the group. "How long will we have to wait Twitchy? I'm not a patient man."

"Ten minutes maybe, probably quicker. I already did it once, shouldn't be hard to do it again."

"Good, get to it Twitchy, I'm hungry!"

Leaping to the top of the sign, before leaping again and grabbing onto the vent, Reggie turned back towards Dennis determined to get the last word in. "Dumb fuck! Reggie, my name's Reggie, it's not hard to remember really." Reggie then dove into the vent before Dennis could retort.

"Little shit! Don't think I won't remember that! You insult me in front of my boys? You better get yer job done in record time Twitchy, or I'm goin to hurt you!"

()

After several minutes Dennis finally lost his meager patience. "Twitchy you idiotic git, it's been ages! Why the 'ell isn't the door opening?" Seconds later the heavy metal door that blocked entrance to the warehouse opened silently. "Took the little wanker long enough, Veronica move yer ass! You two wait a few, then come in after us." With that Veronica and Dennis wandered off into the warehouse, leaving David and Frankie alone together.

"Hmmm, that's a hydraulic door. If that thing's safety was overridden it would slam shut and crush anything under it. I'm surprised that the idiot who lives here, didn't rig them to do just that."

Glancing towards his inhuman companion, David raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know that? What are you, an engineer?"

A derisive laugh slipped past Frankie's twisted lips, "I'm not an idiot! Don't play coy. I know Twitchy talked to you about us, don't know why."

"Maybe because I treat him like a person, and call him by his real name, not a nickname that he despises!"

"Want to know why we call him Twitchy?" Before David had a chance to respond, he continued. "We found him sitting in the fetal position crying, surrounded by the bodies of his scientific colleagues. After his family died he'd managed to convince himself that his colleagues were stealing his secrets. He spliced himself into the thing you've seen, snuck into their lab and slaughtered them all, brutally. It was only after he went through their notes and realized that they weren't conspiring against him at all that he realized what a horrible thing he'd done."

"When we found him he was so damn jumpy that you couldn't say a word around him for at least six months without him near jumping out of his skin. So tell me, honestly, you want to humanize the monster who slaughtered thirty four other human beings due to a paranoid mental break down. I don't know about the others, but I call him that so that he doesn't forget. No matter how long he lives he will always be a monster, I want him to remember."

Feeling angry and more defiant then he had any right to be, David attempted to defend the closest thing that he had made to a friend in this hell hole. "What's your story? How'd you end up like this?"

"Me? I accidentally killed several hundred people when Dionysus Park flooded. I was in charge of its maintenance and I let one small maintenance oversight lead to the deaths of hundreds! All those people died pointlessly because of me! If that's not a reason to start splicing yourself into oblivion, I don't know what is."

Before David could respond to this surprising revelation, Frankie's radio crackled to life, they could hear gunfire and explosions in the background. "Alright boys, get yer asses over here! Damn Splicer sent the security bots after us. Now 'e's teleportin around the place blastin us with 'is damn fireballs, and best of all Twitchy's a no show! Get over here NOW!"

"Great, guess our heart to heart is over. What a shame, I think I might cry, really. Let's move, jackass!"

()

The dark confined hallways that led deeper into the warehouse were putting David on edge, as was his "partner". The darkness also increased the difficulty of avoiding the various items strewn about the warehouse's floor. For Frankie, who seemed to possess some sort of night vision, this wasn't a problem; David, on the other hand, was having a difficult time avoiding such obstacles.

"Quietly idiot, his security system's been rebooted," Pausing his brief speech, Frankie hugged the wall as he moved towards a nearby camera on its mount. "Or Twitchy fucked up, the point is if anyone gets caught by those damn cameras, the bots are getting called down on their asses." Motioning David to hold still, he sidled closer to the camera. Once it had rotated away from him he moved with surprising speed. His darting hand grabbed the wire connecting it to the wall and with a swift jerk; it ceased its endless vigil. A quick jerk of Frankie's head, motioned David down the hallway. "Let's go. Remember kid; be quiet, better safe then sorry when the security system is concerned."

After avoiding several more cameras and what appeared to be some kind of makeshift turret fashioned out of an office swivel chair, a motorized wheel, and some kind a machine gun, they came upon a large sealed metal door, through which the sounds of combat could be heard.

Frankie walked over to a panel next to the large door and pried the casing off. "Give me a second kid, and get your gun trained on that damn door! Lord only knows what the hell's going to come flying out of it."

"What's our radio frequency? I want to contact Dennis and tell him what door we're opening."

"Honestly?" Holding a hand out Frankie gestured impatiently. "Give me the damn thing; I don't want you breaking it!"

David tossed the bitter Splicer his radio, not in the mood for a fight. After a few seconds Frankie tossed it back to David. "There you go, shouldn't blow up in your hands…I think."

Almost dropping the radio in shock, David faced his Splicer compatriot. "W-what, the damn thing can explode?"

With a contemptuous flick of his wrist directed at the idiotic human looming over his shoulder, Frankie responded. "No you fucking idiot! Radios don't explode! Now point your god damn gun at the door!"

Now attempting to ignore his less then friendly companion David directed his attention to his radio, flicking it on. "Dennis…Dennis can you hear me?" Static. "Dennis, if you can hear me we are opening the southern most?" A nod from Frankie. "Southern most door in the main room. Get over there!"

Setting the radio in the pack given to him by his allies, alongside a meager supply of food and his father's binoculars, David turned to Frankie. "You think they heard us?" A small whirring noise accompanied his question.

Eyes wide in alarm, Frankie shot up from his crouched position. Whirling around, he pointed towards the far wall. "I think someone heard us."

Time seemed to slow for David as he turned to see this new threat, a lone turret spinning towards them.

()

Silently Reggie pulled himself through the duct, brow furrowed as he concentrated on his memories from the night before. This is the way. Shut up! I know! This way, quickly, they are relying on you.

Turning down the appropriate path he came to a familiar intersection, where another vent bisected his. At a vertical perpendicular angle.That's not important, be quiet! Dislocate your hips now! You won't get through otherwise! Popping his multi-jointed hips out of place he contorted his body in order to climb up the new intersection, trying, and failing, to ignore the agonizing pain that accompanied the action.

Why are you helping them, idiot? They want to kill you, they are using you! They might be but the boy isn't. David isn't! How do you know? How are you sure? It's using you! Bending your weakness to its will!

I'm not weak! With renewed determination Reggie tuned the song out and began hauling himself through the ducts at a quicker pace. The meat hooks weren't singing, for now at least, allowing him to concentrate on the task at hand.

Coming to a familiar grate he pushed gently on it, catching it before it could fall to the ground with a clatter. Hands grabbing each side of the access point he began hauling his warped body into the light. His head came first, darting back and forth to scan for threats. Then came his shoulders, snapping back into place once clear of the hole with a sharp pop. Digging his claws into the wall, he began pulling himself from his hole. Next came his chest, ribs springing elastically back into place, causing twinges of agony. Interesting adaptation, organs must be at least as heavily modified as the skeleton, and musculature, wouldn't survive otherwise.

Landing on the ground silently, Reggie cast his gaze around, quickly locating the control station. Deftly hacking it, he quickly gained control of the warehouse. Finger poised to open the main gate, his radio crackled to life. "Twitchy you idiotic git, it's been ages! Why the 'ell isn't the door opening?"

Hand shaking with rage, Reggie pushed the button opening the warehouse for the others. See? They see you for what you are! A monster! If it wasn't using you, why didn't it speak up in your defense? It hates you too! They all hate you! Glassy eye turning towards an ominous button, an idea crossed Reggie's mind, a horribly wonderful idea. Reset the security systems! Kill all of them! They would do the same to you! Don't do it, they trust you. Eye narrowing in determination Reggie hit the button…and all hell broke loose.

Good! Let them die! Pick off the survivors then seal the fort! Congratulations, we've made a new home! Static interrupted Reggie's brief self congratulations."Dennis…Dennis can you hear me? Dennis, if you can hear me we are opening the southern most…southern most door in the main room. Get over there!"

Alarmed Reggie turned towards the control consol. "No, no! Not him! Not him!" What are you doing? The display showed a turret activating near the intersection that David had identified. "No! No no no no no no!" Overriding the safeties he short-circuited the turret, disabling it. WEAK! You're weak! It's using you! It will be the death of you!

No, you are not weak. David is an innocent, like your colleagues were. He deserves protection. Make up for your crimes. I am Reggie… he calls me Reggie. No! You are not Reggie! Reggie was weak! Weak and you are strong! Twitchy is strong! Twitchy doesn't need others! They hold you back! Wrong, you are wrong! I'll protect them! Typing quicker then he had since his years as a scientist; Reggie began systematically deactivating security systems.

A small pop and a distracting cloud of smoke attracted Reggie's attention. "Thought you could conquer my fortress without a fight, did you?" Turning to face this new threat, Reggie pulled out his meat hooks. Unexpected, problematic, combat advised. Disembowel it and feast! The meat hooks, both Doctor and Twitchy were singing in agreement!Grinning widely, revealing black misshapen teeth, Reggie brandished his singing hooks awaiting his opponent to make the first move.

()

A hail of bullets was what he had been expecting, not a small explosion. Though now that he thought about it, David had to admit that he preferred the explosion to the hail of bullets, especially when Frankie had shoved David in front of himself.

An elbow to the ribs followed by a backwards head butt to the nose sent Frankie reeling away from David. Pulling his shotgun out of its holster David leveled it at his "partner". "What the hell was that? I'm not your damn bullet sponge!"

Spitting a small amount of blood from his broken nose, and taking a step back towards the door, Frankie smirked at David. "Let's get one thing straight pretty boy. It's survival of the fittest in Rapture nowadays. Without Adam and a cutthroat attitude, you'll die like all the rest." Shaking his head in contempt he continued, "I'm not dieing for anyone in our little "family" and none of them will die for you. Get that through your thick skull, and find yourself a hell of a lot of Adam, and you might, might live long enough to get something out of this damn city. Otherwise your just dead weight kid and I drop dead weight."

"It's a wonder any of you are still alive if that attitude is shared amongst you."

"We're alive because none of us expect anything more then a cold business partnership with each other. If better prospects come along, and they most likely will, our little family is going to blow quicker then a poorhouse hooker." Chuckling derisively he turned back to the panel he had been working on. "Come on lets get a move on. The quicker we do this, the quicker we can go Daddy hunting, and if all goes to plan, get the hell out of this damn city!"

The fighting on the other side of the large door appeared to have stopped, whether that was a good or bad thing was yet to be decided. After several more seconds of Frankie fiddling with the control panel, the door slid open with a quite hiss. The room it revealed was large, and looked as if a war had gone on inside of it. Standing in the doorway bloodied and beaten but very much alive was Dennis, lurking off to the side having somehow avoided all damage was Veronica looking irritated as always.

"bout damn time you got that door opened! Until those damn turrets shorted out we were gettin swarmed by them and that damn teleportin bastard!"

With a start David turned towards Dennis. "Wait, did you say teleporting? You weren't joking about that earlier? This Splicer can actually teleport?"

"Yeah, why would I joke 'bout that? You surfacers ave really strange senses o umor." Eyes warily surveying the area he continued. "Looks like 'e ran off, 'e might be tryin to fix the security systems! We need to move!" Turning with surprising agility, Dennis began lumbering towards a door labeled security control. "I don't know about you all, but I fer one don't fancy eatin anymore lead then I already ave today."

Grabbing David by the shoulder as he walked past, Frankie moved to follow Dennis. "Surprisingly, I'd say that boss's right about that. Someone like this Splicer who's been here since the war would only relinquish this area over his dead body."

With one last wary glance towards the inactive turrets, Veronica followed the others towards the control room.

()

The screams were the first thing that was out of place. "Huh sounds like somethin's gettin dissected alive in there." Dennis chuckled, as in the background the screams reached their apex before chocking off with a gurgle. "This should be fun!" With a roar he reared back and ran at the door. He crashed through it effortlessly, and continued his charge into the room before jerking to a stop in surprise.

"Bloody ell," The others rushed into the room after him guns drawn. "Twitchy, what da ell'd you do ta im?" Stopping as suddenly as Dennis had, David was confronted with more blood then he had ever seen before.

Reggie stood before them, drenched in blood, hunched over the desiccated body of a Splicer. He hadn't reacted to the arrival of the others and was still hacking away at the body with his meat hooks. A choked gurgle leaked from the ruined creature's throat as it weakly waved its left arm in the air. The poor creature was still alive. Turning around, David emptied the contents of his stomach on the ground just outside the door.

With a shriek of rage Reggie sunk a meat hook into the creature's eye. Teeth bared, he grabbed its head with one hand and began to pull the hook sideways out the other side. A wet crack signaled the side of the creature's head giving away. A mix of brain, bone, and blood gushed from the now gaping hole in the pitiful creature's head, as its life ended.

"Christ almighty. Twitchy what the ell are you doin? Calm down ya daft wanker! The fightin's over!"

Reggie glanced up at the titan yelling at him, teeth barred. Taking a step forward he raised his meat hooks menacingly.

"What the ell you doin Twitchy? We're done ere lets go! Don't make me break you." yelled Dennis. Reggie brought his arm back ready to strike, only to jerk to a stop and drop his weapon to the ground.

Blinking confusedly, he glanced around, before taking several steps back. "S-sorry boss, the blood lust got the better of me. You know how that goes."

A derisive snort echoed throughout the small control room. "Right Twitchy, just don't let it happen again."

Moving past their hulking boss, the blood covered Splicer and its victim, Frankie moved on to the master control panel. "Everyone come here. I need to input your genetic signatures into the local security network."

David moved forward first. Following Frankie's directions he placed his hand on a sensor. "So how's this thing going to get our gen-damn!" Pulling his lightly bleeding hand away from the evil sensor, David glared at Frankie.

"Sorry about that pretty boy," quipped Frankie with a sarcastic wink and a smirk. "I should have mentioned that it would sting a bit".

As the others had samples taken, David left the blood encrusted room. Sitting down in the hallway he reflected on the fact that he was alone here, truly alone. The closest thing he had to a friend in this hell hole was a psychopath who had just brutally slaughtered someone. He had never felt this alone before.

"It's upset again."

Not glancing up from his brooding David barely acknowledged Reggie. "Yeah."

"Was it the Splicer?"

"Yeah, but not just that."

"Oh?"

"I'm alone here. My family probably thinks I'm dead, and I'm starting to think I might as well be."

Crouching down next to David, Reggie stared at him intently for several seconds. "No, it has already done better then most. Most would have died from the first Splicer that met them. Most would have panicked, possibly killed themselves by now." With a sudden twitch and a hiss Reggie's eye turned from David to the wall. "Shut up!"

"What? Did I say something?"

Head twitching Reggie's gaze shot to David as if he had forgotten he was there. He stared blankly for several seconds before shaking himself out of his daze and responding. "Sorry, I… think I should go. I will search for supplies and food. If the others ask tell them what I'm doing." Standing silently, Reggie stalked off into the darkness.

David sighed softly as he was left alone again to ponder the fact that he would never see his family again.