I'm going to warn any squeemish people before hand, Alpha has some fun this chapter.
Even her sobs had a raspy inhuman quality to them, all they did was remind her what she really was. She had been an idiot, deluding herself into thinking that just because she had thrown off the Mother's shackles that she was no longer a monster. Her first true memory was of gorging herself on the Adam from an 'angel'. How could something that's first true memory was drinking blood from a rotting corpse ever be anything more then a monster?
She had vague memories of her conditioning, the slow process of convincing a little girl to drink blood. The memories of beforehand were even fainter. Of the time with her true parents, all she could remember was a feeling of happiness and one of safety. Who had her parents been? Had they loved her, doted on her every whim? Had they hated her and she had simply been too young to understand?
Thoughts of her parents led inevitably to ones of her. Who had she been? Who would she have been? What had her name been? It certainly hadn't been Samantha. She could remember one of the doctors naming her that. He had said she reminded him of his daughter. That thought hadn't stopped him from cutting her open and turning her into a monster.
Her laugh sounded more like a hiccupping sob.
Her featureless helmet stared back at her in condemnation. From its perch on a nearby piece of rubble, it laughed at the scared little girl that was supposed to be Rapture's alpha predator.
The helmet inevitably conjured forth thoughts of Daddy. She had idealized him. Worshiped the very ground he walked on, adored the broken form of some poor man. Had he had a family? Had they missed him? Had she taken him from his own children? His real children. Had she taken him from a wife? A lover?
She had thought that when her initial indoctrination broke that she understood Rapture. She had taken Daddy's name thinking it would give her his strength. Theta wasn't a blessing, it was a curse. A constant reminder of the sick worship she had felt for a mindless monster. A constant reminder of the mindless monster she had become.
This time her laugh really was a hiccupping sob.
She was her Daddy's little girl. She lived up to his twisted legacy in every way possible. She was every bit the monster he had ever been, and more. In fact she was worse then he ever was. She had let them turn her into a monster other monsters feared, and she had done it with a smile. He had no choice in the matter; he was taken against his will and bastardized.
She was glad David had stopped treating her like she was anything other then a monster. She wouldn't be able to hurt him this way.
Her gaze turned to the cool glass before her, and the calm ocean on the other side. Two yellow lights caught her attention. Tilting her head to get a better look, she was mildly surprised to see the lights follow. Her eyes…she was seeing their reflection. Snarling, Theta's armored fist smashed into the reinforced glass, cracking it slightly.
She had forgotten about her eyes and their baleful yellow glow. Neither the pupil nor the iris were visible, both consumed by the acidic yellow color that filled her eyes. A thought occurred to her, one she was surprised she hadn't thought of before. What color were her eyes? Not the monstrous yellow things staring back at her from the glass, but her real eyes. Were they brown? Blue? Green?
She was absently aware of water flowing down her cheeks. She wasn't crying. No, there was a leak above her. Yes, that was it. There was no way she was crying. Monsters didn't cry.
Behind her, a booted foot crushed a small piece of rubble. She stiffened in surprise. Frantically, she pawed at her face. Trying to get rid of the evidence of her tears…the leak. The entity behind her wasn't moving and hadn't addressed her. She hissed softly, warning whoever was behind her to leave before she lost her temper.
"You are not supposed to be here."
Raising an eyebrow, Theta glanced over her shoulder. The large brainless monster that had escorted them to the fat one was staring at her with its lifeless white eyes. Baring her teeth, she snarled at it before turning away.
"You are upset." Theta snorted incredulously, this thing really was brainless. Any even partially sane Splicer would be running as fast as it could at the prospect of facing an angry Big Sister.
Glaring daggers at the lumbering brute, Theta rotated her body so she was facing it. "You should not be here." A low growl rumbled deep in her chest.
"You are upset." Unsurprisingly, the brainless thing was oblivious to her fraying patience.
With an impatient flick of her wrist, she shoved the brute away from her with a small burst of telekinesis. It stumbled but didn't leave, baleful white eyes still fixed on her.
"Kill what upsets you, not those that stumble upon you while you are upset." Theta's head tilted to the side in confusion, she had not expected the creature to be so observant.
"You should not be here." Despite herself, Theta laughed. Dragging a hand across her eyes for a final time, she grabbed her helmet and put it on.
"Follow. You are wanted by the others." Theta nodded and fell into step beside the monster. She knew the only one that mattered didn't want her. Still…it was nice to feel wanted, even if it was just pretend.
Unseen by both of Rapture's monstrous children, in the ocean's murky depths two yellow lights followed their progress. Briefly, they vanished before reigniting as their inhuman owner blinked.
It was hungry. The taller food had what it needed. It was hungry. It had consumed one like it before, the thought still caused its malformed mouth to water. It was hungry. Its monstrous body tensed as it prepared to pounce, mouth opening in a twisted mockery of a flower blooming. It was hungry. The food would struggle, food always struggled, but in the end it would feast. It was hungry. Food was here to be consumed; no amount of struggle changed that.
It was hungry. It smelled food. It was hungry. Food was in the water, moving between the places food hid. It was hungry. Mammoth bulk pushing off of the boulder it had perched upon, it headed towards the food in the water.
It was hungry, and soon it would feast.
()
The wooden door to the office exploded as nine hundreds pounds of force hit it dead center. The man inside was already brandishing a smallgun. Smiling widely behind her helmet, Alpha reached out with a hand. The man's arm stopped instantly, his face contorting in confusion as his arm refused to move. Slowly, his muscles protesting the irresistible force manipulating his arm, the gun moved the other way.
"S-stop!" The man's voice was strange, his damaged nose adding a strange whistling noise. Smiling in delight, Alpha pointed the gun at his head and made his finger pull the trigger. He flinched but was shocked when the gun didn't go off. She had telekinetically kept the hammer from igniting the gunpowder. Taking off her helmet, Alpha smiled softly and pulled the gun out of the man's hand.
"Thank you, thank you so much." Still smiling, Alpha replaced the gun with a scalpel. The man stared at it in confusion for several seconds.
"What?" The man's eyes widened in terror as his arm began to rise against his will. The scalpel's razor sharp blade neared his eye slowly but steadily. "No no! Please! Stop!" Still smiling her sickly sweet smile, Alpha gave the man a condescending pat on the head.
This was the human responsible for her live dissection. He was the one that had decided that putting her under, or giving her pain killers, might ruin the 'experiment'. He was the one responsible for the agony she had been through, this seemed only fair.
"Please! I was just following orders! I was just doing my job!" Alpha laughed softly, it was fun to enjoy your job. That was something they had in common. Her job was to gather children to become Little Sisters, protect the Adam system, kill enemies of the Family, and protect Rapture from threats. This human was a threat, he was going to die…he screamed shrilly as the blade began to pierce his eye…but that didn't mean she couldn't take her time doing it.
Alpha watched with a sick fascination as the man's eye gave way to the intruding blade. A clear liquid oozed forth, tinged red with blood. The man whimpered, but was unable to move as his hand was forced to sink the blade even deeper. The thin shard of metal met slight resistance as it reached the end of the eye socket. After a moment's pause, and a slight twist to increase the pain, Alpha made him slowly pull the blade out. The man's eye fell apart at this point, its membrane stuck to the scalpel as it ruptured. The clear liquid surged forth, running down the man's cheek in a twisted imitation of tears.
"Please…no more." Alpha giggled to herself as she forced the man's hand to his other eye. It was hardly fair after all, this one must be feeling left out of the fun.
"Oh God no…" The man's voice was a tormented whisper that broke off into an agonized whimper as the scalpel repeated its 'operation'. This time, instead of having it go straight in, Alpha had him twist it slowly and steadily. The eye was destroyed much quicker this time, rupturing almost instantly as the membrane containing it was torn apart.
With a disappointed huff, Alpha had him pull the blade free. There was no fun in digging it around in an already ruined eye. As Alpha contemplated what else she could do to the man responsible for her pain, the object of her 'tender affection' stood where she forced him to, crying softly as what remained of his eyes ran down his face.
A most unwelcome noise sounded from behind her, many pairs of booted feet heading towards the office she was having fun in. Snarling in rage at her play time being interrupted, Alpha grabbed the man's head and slammed it with bone crushing force into his wooden desk. With a wet crunch, the scalpel plunged through the man's brutalized eye socket and into his brain. He twitched twice before falling still with a gurgle.
As the human soldiers rounded the corner and came into view of the destroyed door and the enraged experiment, Alpha lunged forward. She was running out of patience, these humans were killed quickly and efficiently, she was growing tired of playing with them before they died.
()
Consciousness returned in slowly. He became aware of a dull pain throbbing in the back of his skull, muffled voices speaking. He descended once more into blackness. His eyes opened, the images they received were blurry and not understood. He tried halfheartedly to lift his head before once more succumbing to the darkness.
"-it Tony! Wake up! You're scaring your girl." Even in his semiconscious state, that caught his attention. He didn't want to scare her, she was…his daughter? Yes, that seemed right. An image, a blond child in a dress with deep brown eyes. She was laughing.
What was her name? Andrea? No, that wasn't it. Amanda? A feeling of warmth filled his chest at the thought of his little girl. She was so beautiful, so like her mother.
"Wake up you overgrown gorilla!"
His eyes opened slowly. Cynthia was leaning over him, her light brown hair brushing his face as she stared into his eyes. "Whatimeisit?" She leaned back, head tilting to the side in bewilderment.
He groaned, sitting up slowly he pawed at his eyes sleepily. "Did you hear me love? What time is it?"
Cynthia darted backwards in shock. "Oh God…Tony I'm so sorry." He frowned in bewilderment, her voice wasn't right, filled with a strong accent he knew didn't belong.
Sandy…
It all rushed back in an instant, Cynthia's death and Amanda's abduction, meeting Tenenbaum, finding Rapture, finding Amanda turned into some sort of monster, curing her, and ultimately loosing her again.
The crushing weight of his wife's death hit him like he had just lost her a second time. "I'm sorry Sandy, I'm…I'm sorry."
A small hand grabbed his shoulder in a surprisingly firm grip. "Don't apologize soldier man, I didn't see anything."
A feeling of gratitude for the petite woman before him welled up in his chest. He smiled at her as she smiled back, ignoring the tears that were clearly visible on his cheeks. "Thanks kid."
Before the young Australian could respond, a child sized missile slammed into his chest. "Daddy!"
Wrapping his arms around his daughter's small frame, Tony buried his head in her hair. His voice was muffled but still understandable. "I missed you babygirl." Relishing being able to just hold her in his arms, Tony took stock of their situation. They appeared to be locked in a cell of some sort. Sandy, had her sibling Carol in her lap, and the other girl, Sandra, was clutching her arm. Movement further in the room caught his attention, he was surprised to see five Little Sisters huddled together, glowing yellow eyes staring at him in fear.
"They were there when I woke up; I don't know how long they've been here. They ah…they won't talk to me." Sandy said with a sigh.
Without warning, the heavy metal door to their cell slammed open. A hulking Alpha Series ducked through the doorway, its rasping breath reverberating around the small room. One of its arms was heinously mutated, bloated grotesquely there were things wriggling about under its skin. Its fingers were barely noticeable lumps of flesh at the end of the limb, clearly they were useless.
With a dismissive grunt, it tossed a platter filled with some foul smelling goop onto the floor with its good arm. The five Little Sisters darted towards it, digging greedy hands into the thick greenish liquid they fed noisily and desperately.
As the beast turned to leave, Tony caught sight of a vaguely familiar symbol on the back of its still armored hand. He frowned in mild frustration, where had he seen it before? The metal door slammed shut with enough force to shake the room.
Tony closed his eyes and held Amanda close. Despite the cell he was trapped in, the disgusting gruel the Little Sisters were inhaling, and the pain in his head, all was right in the world.
With Amanda in his arms once again, for a brief moment, he was at peace.
()
"If we are going to do as Cohen has demanded, I have a plan." Jack grunted tiredly in response to Tenenbaum's statement as the others listened in silence. "He is the one that stole our Adam; we will need to convince him to part with it. If we can do that, we need to use it to bait the 'Big Brother' and contain it."
"Cohen's not exactly reasonable, how do we know he'll cooperate?" Theodore stated dryly.
Jack sighed before turning to rotund individual. "He's deranged and unstable, but he's not stupid. If we logically explain the situation he will probably allow it. He wants his 'perfection' after all."
"I-I still don't l-like it. C-can't we just f-fight our way to the others?"
"There would be nothing to stop him from killing them, we might be able to fight our way there but they would be dead when we found them."
"I know…what do y-you think?" Harper turned expectantly to David, head tilted slightly to the side.
David stared absently in to space, eyes unfocused, and didn't respond. "D-david?"
He blinked and jumped slightly, turning his head to face the smaller man. "What?"
"What do y-you think about Tenenbaum's p-plan?"
"Are you feeling alright David?" Thompson leaned forward, green eyes narrowed in concern.
"I'm fine…just tired." He paused, looking back at Harper for a moment. He seemed confused, as if he was trying to remember what the anxious man had said. "I…agree with Tenenbaum."
The others paused, unsure of how to react to David's apparent absentmindedness. They were broken out of their thoughts as the door to their hideout slammed open. "I found the Sister." Having said his piece, the mindless Splicer stomped through the room before coming to a stop in the far corner.
Not making eye contact with anyone, Theta slunk into the room. She paused for a moment, seeming conflicted about where she should sit. After a moment she made up her mind. With what sounded suspiciously like a whimper, she sat on the floor next to Jack, leaving the empty place on the couch next to David empty.
"Should we get going?" Jack asked tiredly, politely ignoring the sound of miserable sniffling coming from within Theta's helmet.
"Y-yeah."
"Now is as good a time as any."
The group paused once again, clearly waiting for David to voice his thoughts. When it became apparent this wasn't going to happen, Theodore gestured to the obtuse Splicer staring into the corner. "Take Gregory with you, he's good in a fight if a bit uncreative."
"I will stay here, I apologize but I am not particularly good in a fight."
Jack sent the older woman a half smile as he grabbed his chemical thrower. "Don't worry about it Brigid.
Tenenbaum nodded to them, clearly unsure of if this was the correct course of action. She watched worriedly as the others in her group prepared to move out without her. As Jack motioned the others towards the door, she stepped forward. Resting a hand on the tired looking man's shoulder, she looked him in the eyes. "Come back my friend, your girls need you."
At the thought of his daughters on the surface, Jack's face became slightly pained. "I will Brigid, for you and them." His face turned serious. "Come on, we're leaving." Theta was through the door before he finished his sentence. She was followed by a troubled Thompson, the doctor's gaze flitting between Theta and David. Harper followed soon after, the jittery man fiddling with his crossbow and casting furtive glances at the hulking Splicer staring into space.
Jack moved to follow, before turning to David. The human hadn't moved. "David, are you fit for this."
The young man's steel blue eyes found Jack's briefly before he nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm…going." He stood, absentmindedly grabbed his shotgun and headed out the door.
Jack watched him warily as Gregory ambled past, obediently following his orders. "There's something wrong with him."
Theodore snorted in amusement as Tenenbaum nodded worriedly. "Damn right! He's making Greg seem like he's all there, and that's hard as hell."
Ignoring Theodore's comment, Tenenbaum made eye contact with her friend. "Keep an eye on him Jack, and not only for his sake. I don't like to think about what might happen to Samantha if we lost him."
Jack sighed, shoulders visibly hunching as if the weight of the world was upon them. "I will Brigid, I will."
()
Leo sighed in boredom, watching the indicator blink slowly in some obscure corner of Neptune's Bounty. The experiment had been there for several hours now, though that didn't prove anything. They could be scrounging for supplies for all they knew. The blip that indicated the experiment moved slightly to the right as it crossed a room. Leo rolled his eyes mentally, too disciplined to actually take his eyes off the screen. For some idiotic reason, Lamb had deemed it necessary for him to keep watch.
The blip moved slightly left as it crossed the room again. It was riveting stuff, really. He heard someone passing by the door and glanced over his shoulder, as he saw who it was a predatory grin slowly spread across his face. "Hey Buddy, get your ass over here."
With a long suffering sigh, Banes stalked into the room, eyes narrowed in hate. "The fuck do you want jackass?"
Leo actually laughed; it was cute when they thought they could argue. He stood slowly to his full height, enjoying the slight widening of Banes eyes as he took in his borderline inhuman size. "I'll let that snippiness slide this one time Buddy. Though…I feel I should explain something to your clearly deficient brain."
Banes opened his mouth to retort; before he could he doubled over with an 'oomph' as Leo's massive fist slammed into his stomach. The smaller man fell to the ground, eyes narrowed in hate as he caught his breath. "Now that you are in a listening mood, I'll begin. Once Lamb verified your information about a tracker was valid, she didn't give two shits whether you lived or died."
Banes dark eyes widened slightly in surprise. "So…naturally…she left it up to me. I decided, that since you aren't a complete idiot and aren't awful in a fight, you would be more valuable alive."
Leo's steel toed boot slammed into Bane's stomach, rolling the pained Splicer onto his back. "That means I own you Buddy." Bane's hand darted towards a pocket. Before he could grab whatever weapon he was going for, Leo's foot slammed it into the metal deck.
Smiling cruelly, he knelt down next to the gasping Splicer. "That means, I tell you to jump, you ask me how high. That means, I tell you to kill your mother, you ask me how I want it done." He twisted slightly, jamming his knee into Bane's throat. "That means, if I tell you to slit your throat, you do it with a smile." Beneath him, the smaller Splicer began to thrash. "You would do that, because you know that any way I have of killing you is a hundred times worse…"
He paused, letting the Splicer's face turn red and his eye begin to bulge…"do we have an understanding?" Banes nodded desperately.
"What was that?"
Several choking noises came from the struggling Splicer.
"Good doggy." Laughing slightly, Leo stood. As Banes desperately gasped for breath and grabbed his throat, he sat down in his seat and turned his attention back to the tracker. "Now fuck off, you're distracting me."
Ignoring Bane's desperate scrambling to obey, Leo smiled. The blip was heading back to Fort Frolic; maybe Neptune's Bounty had been more then just a supply run.
()
Alpha absentmindedly flicked excess blood from her harvester, as she maneuvered around the bodies of the latest humans to challenge her dominance. Cautiously she moved to a window. Though the majority of this base had been underground, the top floors including the area of nonose's office were aboveground.
She was…displeased by what she saw outside. Hundreds of human soldiers were assembled, all guarding the only entrance to the building. There were four large metal boxed with bigguns on their tops also pointed at the entrance. Well…the front door was out of the question now.
Her gaze moved further, beyond the human base to the sea of wooden spiky things that reminded her of Arcadia. It was far but within her range. Groaning mentally, she prepared herself for the upcoming surge of exhaustion.
With a pop she fell to the ground, up to her knees in the ashwater. She had cleared the human's base and was well within the sea of wooden things. Trembling in exhaustion and slipping slightly in the ashwater, she stood. Turning, she let herself concentrate on the slight pull she'd felt since she'd first awoken.
Even from this extreme distance she could faintly feel the song. Pushing past her exhaustion, she began a lopping run. Like a light in the darkness, the Adam called her home.
Things are starting to come to a head, at least for the Cohen ark of the story that is. There's still the Big Brother/Sophia Lamb ark and I've got some other ideas rattling around in my head that I might follow. In other words, don't worry. Theta and David aren't quite done with me yet.
As always thank you for reading and please review.