"Honored to have finally met your acquaintance, Dr. Tenenbaum. You received my messages, I take it?" Elizabeth asked, grateful for even this thin strand of hope she held in her hand.
"Indeed I did," came the reply from radio. "But it wasn't easy to decrypt the content with such a weak signal." A brief pause served as an opening for the doctor's upcoming questions. "I did a little research on you, Fräulein, and though your appearance coincides with very troubling events as of now, I cannot say I'm certain about your intentions."
The young woman very much anticipated such an inquiry from the reclusive biologist and awaited her next words with a knowing tilt of her head.
"I must ask of you, Elizabeth, who are you exactly? How did you know of this frequency?"
The person in question came forth with the story she prepared for this occasion, hoping to avoid further prodding from the overly cautious doctor. "I've occupied myself in the debt collection business during my recent years in Rapture. As one might suspect, this line of work tends to draw a lot of enemies, powerful ones. I was set up and found myself in that prison of a store upon waking. I met this girl, Sally there who-"
"Pardon me for interrupting, but I'm not interested in lies, Elizabeth, if that is indeed your name," Tenenbaum said in a stern tone, but without palpable aggression. Fear hit the confused girl, afraid that she blew her one chance at helping Sally because of a single half-truth told to the wrong person. She opened her mouth to give an unfaltering retort before getting cut off by the older woman again.
"I've seen your performance in the Manta Ray a few weeks ago, even though I wasn't there in person. Face unlined with the burdens of life, soft cheekbones, delicate hands that have never seen work... You cannot be more than twenty, mein Kind, and definitely not a long time resident in this city."
Elizabeth tried to remember all the faces she has seen on the day of her short time in spotlight, but she was absolutely sure that the only member of the so called Inner Circle present had been her one-time mentor Sander Cohen himself. In fact, the famed doctor had already long retreated from the public eye by then. There was no miscalculation on her part, yet it seemed that the lack of a Rapturian origin was written on her forehead for all to see.
But how?
"You caught me there, doctor, I apologize for the deception," she admitted with a defeated sigh, seeing no point in futile excuses. "But the truth is a lot less likely for you to believe. For anyone to believe. It doesn't matter who I am or how I know about you, what matters is what I'm here to do. I owe Sally, and I won't give up until I see her safe again."
The radio was silent for heavy seconds, causing Elizabeth to slowly fall into panic. She did not have a backup plan, Brigid Tenenbaum was the very center of her self-imposed mission. The sudden possibility of the doctor's refusal was one she did not take into account and one that could make her fragile scheme collapse like a house of cards. She broke the silence with the most beseeching voice she could produce. "You're the only one who can help her, doctor. Please, just do it for her sake."
More silence. Elizabeth almost thought the contact to be broken already when the other end answered.
"This Sally you spoke of... blonde girl, yes?"
"You remember her?"
"I remember them all."
The younger woman did not expect to hear hints of sorrow in the usually stoic scientist's answer, but was not surprised by it either. A weary sigh sounded from the radio as Tenenbaum spoke again.
"Very well, Fräulein. You can bring the girl to me, but I shall have a close eye on you. I'm not falling for any of Atlas' dirty tricks."
Elizabeth's features eased in relief and got tense again at the doctor's next question.
"And where is your Sally? Was she not with you as you claimed?"
Now it was her turn to sigh as she answered. "She's been taken from me. Atlas has her, and she's probably in the middle of this madness. I have to reach her before it's too late."
"Oh dear... We don't have time to waste then. I haven't seen any girl among the intruders, but I will try to locate her."
"Thank you, doctor. I- wait a second," she said, halting her step before she even made the move. Tenenbaum knew Sally was not at her side, and the girl who had brought the radio to her could not have been here by mere accident. Elizabeth was cautiously looking around the area. "Can you actually see me?"
"Yes. Turn three o'clock and take a look at the corner."
She did as she was told, and there it was. A camera encircled by tiny green lights, aimed directly at her.
"I have access to most of Rapture's security footage, but know this; if I see you, it means that Ryan does as well. I doubt you would be his biggest concern at the moment, but with that man you never know for sure."
"Okay, I'll keep it in mind. I'm heading for the Kashmir now. Please tell me if you see Sally. I think she could be easy to spot, she doesn't have a Big Daddy around as of now."
"Will do. Good luck, Elizabeth."
The line was cut off and she stuck the radio into her belt, opposite to where the air grabber hung while tightening her grip on the newly acquired pistol. Even though she told Comstock the truth by claiming she did not go out much, that did not mean she was not fascinated by the city's unique structure. At the time of her research in Rapture's various scientific breakthroughs, she could not help but study the stylish maps she came across in the book stores in hidden amazement, as it was the only real activity she did not mind spending her free hours on during her solitary months. A curiosity she was now grateful for.
The Kashmir isn't that far from here. I just need to go through the Medical Pavilion first.
In the corner of her eye she could even see the sign of the Rapture Metro on the Lower Wharf's far end. It was just before she approached the gate when she reminded herself of the sorry state she was in; cold, battered and sore. A nearby health station would certainly boost her chances of not collapsing like a broken toy soldier before she even reached Sally, better use it now when she was not yet surrounded by hostiles, or anyone else for the matter. After a short detour to the upper floor, her wish was granted and Elizabeth spent little time pondering whether she should insert the dollars she did not have into the greedy machine, or peel its metal case down with a few spins of her handy air grabber.
She extracted the first aid kits and the syringe from the damaged unit, hastily cleaning up her many cuts, replacing the dirty bandages and gulping a few painkillers. Hesitation caught her for a second when she looked upon the needle with the green, stem cell-based concoction in its small container, her trembling hand holding it above the exposed vein.
Damn needles. It looked a lot less unpleasant when I wasn't on the receiving end.
Dr. Powell's device attached to her back, shooting painful shocks through her whole body for hours on end still lingered freshly in her memory, the scar still unhealed. She enhaled deeply and forced her fingers to stop shaking while she injected the liquid, banishing the dark picture from her mind. Just as the needle got pulled out, she felt a tingling effect wash over her, rejuvenating her tired limbs with warmth.
"Much better," she sighed contentedly.
As she composed herself to head for the Metro again, a loud humming and a soft hiss greeted her at the transport's entrance right before she could open it. Elizabeth lifted her pistol as the door revealed a wailing woman in a bloodstained white robe alongside a less shaken but equally distressed older man. They both raised their hands at the sight of the weapon, the man clumsily hitting off his hat in the process.
"Please don't shoot!" he begged, the woman being too much of a teary mess to speak. Elizabeth lowered her gun slightly once she concluded they were not splicers.
"Where did you come from?" she curtly inquired. It was not the time for comforting small talk.
"The- the Medical Pavilion," stuttered the man, a drop of sweat freshly lining his clean-shaven face. "As soon as I heard of the attack I ran to get my sister out of surgery," he nodded towards the robed woman. "We barely made it out, i-it was a massacre in there! No place is safe anymore. I-I just hoped that we could use a minisub here or... something."
Elizabeth's heart suddenly started to beat in her neck. "Just listen for a second and tell me one thing," she took a deep breath before continuing. "Has any of you seen a blonde girl there? A Little Sister?"
The pair stood motionlessly with a frown on their faces as they looked at each other and tried to recall details from the chaotic events they had just witnessed.
The sympathy she might have to their plight any other time was pushed aside by the crushing urgency as she shouted "Have you?!"
"N-no, we haven't seen any girl," he said, both of them shaking their heads in unison.
Elizabeth grumbled something under her nose then waved towards the empty wharf behind her.
"You two can hide here for a while. This place doesn't seem to be on their priority list. But I need to use this tram now if you don't mind."
"Are you s-sure? You'd be going straight into the middle of-"
"Move!" ordered the irritated Elizabeth, pointing the pistol at them to stress the point.
"Okay, okay! We'll be on our way," he whimpered, dragging his sister out to the eerily quiet docks.
She finally moved in to set a route back to the Medical Pavilion when the voice of the radio stopped her from hitting the launch button.
"I think I found her, Elizabeth. Near the Mercury Suites. You'll have to be most careful, Fräulein, the whole area is under siege."
"Thank you, doctor. Heading there right away."
After quickly correcting the destination to Olympus Heights, the metal door closed shut behind her and the tram began its short journey towards the overrun complex. Elizabeth counted the seconds while pricking her ears for the faraway noises of battle, taking position near the door with the pistol at the ready.
The shots and screams echoed ever louder as the tram approached the station. Before the heavy wheel could spin the exit open however, all lights went out in the cabin; the mechanism abruptly stopped during its sequence, leaving Elizabeth in the blackness.
"Oh, that's just great. They cut the power."
It took more than this to keep her from the goal, she thought, already bracing herself to summon a tear. She shuffled through her mind for an open door to replace the closed one which she found relatively easily this time, though the sight that welcomed her fell short of her expectations.
The darkened station was only illuminated by makeshift barricades put on fire, sounds of shattering glass and distant screams reaching her ears. She strained her eyes to look out for dangers looming in the shadows while turning at the junction towards Mercury Suites.
The first obstacle came in the form of a pair with torn plastic bags for a face herding a squeaking, scrawny teenage boy into the corner, leisurely weighing the wrenches in their hands.
"How do we like the ball in the ivory tower now, champ?" sneered the thug, his buddy snickering at his side like a vile chimpanzee. "'Twas time to bring some color back to your faces, eh? Don't you worry champ, I can give you some REAL color..."
He lifted his weapon to strike at the boy when two shots brought both of them to their knees, clutching their calves in pain.
The boy could not make out his unexpected savior in the semidarkness, and Elizabeth did not make any introductions in her rush to the apartments.
Upon reaching the hall she quickly dove into the darkest corner before she could be spotted by unwelcome eyes, assessing the area to avoid jumping headfirst into a war zone.
Many of the upper floor doors had splicers pounding on them with bats, axes, or just their bare hands, shouting obscenities and squealing with crazed excitement. Someone on the stairs threw molotov cocktails at the sizeable piles of broken furniture and dead bodies hurled down to the center, turning them into giant pyres. She could also make out an immobile Big Daddy lying on the other side, lunatics with tommy guns hopping up and down joyously on his defeated body.
The pair of glowing yellow eyes she was looking for was nowhere to be seen. Elizabeth wondered if the little girl perhaps managed to climb into the safety of the vents, but looking at the splicers who surrounded the nearest one she deemed that option unlikely. The light of the growing flames were getting closer to her vantage point, threatening to expose her location, so she decided to sneak up to the next floor by taking out the molotov freak on the stairs.
Following her now well-practiced routine of sneaking behind the unsuspecting victim and taking him out cold with the air grabber, she made use of a crook sticking out from the second floor's ceiling, letting herself dragged by the spinning hooks' magnetic pull.
Even if the rest of the rabble could not possibly see her having got rid of a single maniac, it was as if they noticed the sudden absence of their cacophony's core element. Hanging motionlessly from the crook, Elizabeth watched as a few members of the pack stopped their siege, unsteadily turning their heads back and forth in confusion.
She softly dropped to the floor and risked a quick look down from her elevated position, but still found no trace of Sally.
As she retreated into the shadows, the faint echo of a nursery rhyme met her ears from behind one of the bashed-in doors. Curiously closing in to the sound, unsure she had even heard it right, Elizabeth skipped over the rubble with gun in hand. There was no sign of the intruders in the ransacked apartment even though most fixtures were either missing or broken, but the soft singing that drew her in was indeed real, the childish tone now recognizable.
And there the girl was, humming to herself while being busy arranging a wall of books on the outlines of an upturned table in the middle of the living room.
The woman released the breath she did not remember holding; her upheld arms fell to her sides in quiet relief.
"Sally!" she half whispered, not to get the attention of any lurkers nearby.
The flustered Little Sister threw a few bird-like looks around the room before settling her big yellow eyes on the newcomer and squealing with joy. "Lizbeth!"
"Tschh!" she signed the child to keep it low with an index finger on the lips, but Sally paid the warning little mind as she sprinted forward to lock her leg in a fierce hug.
"Thank Goodness you're alright. Come now," said Elizabeth, stroking the girl's tangled hair. "We can still go to Lilly Poppy."
"We can?"
"Sure. The nice lady is waiting for us to get there."
Her eyes wandered to the odd little fortress her ward had been working on. "What were you up to, Sally?"
"It's a boat."
Elizabeth could not help but stifle a laugh. "A boat for what?"
"So I can get to you. It had to be big so you would fit."
She could feel her heart soften a tad as she observed the charming little construct the child would have been eager to rescue her with.
"Sweetheart, you shouldn't have-" her smile faded as she noticed two pair of legs sticking out from the table's shadow. Stepping a bit closer, she could make out the two dead bodies, a man and a woman lying on the bloodied carpet, both their faces smashed beyond recognition.
"Oh, God..."
Elizabeth turned to herd Sally away from what she assumed were the remains of the owners, though the girl did not seem bothered by the sight in the least.
"They're not angels."
"I know, little one. Just... Let's just go now."
She took some cautious steps ahead of Sally and back to the corridor, slightly disappointed that the attackers had not miraculously disappeared during these few minutes.
"We have to get out of here in one piece so be very quiet, okay?" she mouthed, the child obediently nodding. The woman's face fell however when she heard a strange buzzing noise closing in, then spotted movement ahead of them.
"I spy with my little eye..." started the approaching splicer playfully. "An eenie-meenie brat with no Atlas holding her meenie-miney hand."
Elizabeth reflexively shot towards the assailant at the same time that he released a swarm of bees from his extended hand. The two made a run for it, past the bent over thug whimpering over the wound in his stomach, Elizabeth wildly flailing with her arms to disperse the aggressive insects in their way.
"I hate these things so much!" she grumbled, attempting to shield Sally from them the best she could. She did not expect her gunshot to go unnoticed; the gathering of the agitated rebels on the lower floors and the sound of hurried footsteps in the dark confirmed her fears.
It did not take long for the two tommy gun wielders to eagerly dash up the stairs in hope for an easy kill. She quickly sent two bullets their way before they could get an angle on her, one of which missed; the second shot sent the rear one tripping on himself with a hole in his back.
"Dinnertime, my dearies!" shouted the other gunner, his gleeful words slightly distorted by his half-melted mouth. Elizabeth only had a split-second to duck behind a column, awkwardly tossing Sally out of harm's way, the onslaught of the incoming bulletstorm almost catching her.
She checked the cylinder while she was waiting for him to stop for a reload and found only a single slot filled among five empty ones. The splicer finally exhausted the tommy gun's clip, giving Elizabeth the gap she needed. Taking a deep breath, she jumped out of cover, pulled the trigger and watched her last bullet embed itself in his head. Just as she decided to leave Sally's side to get the dropped tommy gun, Elizabeth turned back at the girl's sudden shriek, only to see her levitate above the handrail; the woman's arms reached her a second too late as she got snatched away from her by a giggling splicer's Telekinesis on the ground floor.
"No! Sally!" she cried, looking with dread at the frenzied group below her, greedily tearing the child from each other's grasp.
No. You will not.
A thick cloud of crimson rage blinded Elizabeth's senses at the sight, one she had not experienced in any of her highly unusual life's past plights. The massive tear's appearance in the hall and her arms' fitful movement to open it happened without any conscious thought. There was only desperate anger.
An all too familiar winged monstrosity emerged from the grey noise above the pyre with smoke flowing around his body, his unbearable screech making the followers of Atlas freeze in their place with shock. Songbird's eyes would surely have lit up as burning red, had his enormous form be given any color, but the giant metallic claws sinking into the hard stone in front of the splicers left no doubts concerning the creature's intentions.
The now panic-stricken group quickly abandoned its tussle over the Little Sister to flee for their dear lives as the bird pummelled them apart by the twos and threes. Elizabeth ran down the stairs to get Sally away from her former guardian's rampage, barely able to dodge the sharp turn of his extended wings in the narrow space.
"Gotcha!" she said almost triumphantly once she swooped the girl into her arms again and fell back to a safe distance until the mechanical monster disposed of every immediate threat.
The area was now clear, causing Songbird to throw an uncertain glance in Elizabeth's way with a slightly lighter shade of grey clicking into his eyes, as if he was waiting for further requests. The woman gave him a slight nod and a silent 'thank you' that the creature somehow seemed to understand, giving a tiny gesture of his own head before Elizabeth let him disappear back into the world he came from.
"We're free to go now," she told the trembling Sally.
Just when she reached for the radio to contact Tenenbaum again, the device came to life on its own.
"Elizabeth, are you there?"
"Barely alive and not that well, but yes, I'm here doctor. I found her."
"Gut. I cannot help but wonder what that beast was, however, I have never seen such a creature here before. Say, Fräulein, was that perhaps your-"
"I'll explain later, doctor. We'll meet you at the safehouse. Please ready the gate at the sewers in a few minutes."
"...Yes, of course. But... I do not remember ever telling you the location."
"I'll explain. I promise," she sighed, already cutting off the line.
The two were about to make their way back towards the square when Elizabeth heard the last thing she wanted to hear; a woman's mad snigger from somewhere in the area.
"Just great. The one that got away."
The air grabber that hastily found its place in her hand was the only weapon at her disposal. She thought about running for the tommy gun again, but the spider-like figure leapt right onto her from the ceiling so abruptly that all her sang-froid got shattered by her own terrified scream.
"She's gonna CURE me!"
Elizabeth struggled to push the madwoman away from herself as they rolled around on the hard floor, the air grabber stuck between their bodies and keeping the splicer's sharp hooks from reaching her neck.
"Back off, damn you!" growled the Lamb behind gritted teeth, pulling the trigger to make the grabber spin under both of their chins. This proved to be enough to cause the attacker to release her and flip-flop a few feet back while Elizabeth regained her footing.
Changing tactics, the spliced-up freak threw the curved blades at her like deadly boomerangs. They met the metal case of the air grabber with sharp tinkling as Elizabeth tried to protectively hold it against her chest.
The blades returned to the shrieking mutant's hands who prepared to send them for another round; a movement that Elizabeth sought to prevent by charging at her with full force. She was only a step away when the hooks hit again, one passing just near her ear and the other harmlessly ricocheting from the outstretched weapon. Their collision knocked the splicer further yet.
"This piggy belongs to ME, Kate! It's MINE dammit!" screamed the abomination as she hopped to the first floor's balustrade with a series of acrobatic jumps. "I'll be there the moment you turn around! You won't stand in my way forever, Kate!"
Elizabeth took note of the metal railing the splicer was clinging on, the air grabber's magnetic lock pulling at her ever so slightly. A determined push of the index finger sent the hooks reeling when she aimed right at the blabbering woman.
"Your toys aren't that scary down there, dearie! Better just- what?"
When she felt the magnetic force to be strongest, Elizabeth released the blur of spinning machinery from her hand. It caught her enemy completely off-guard as the flying weapon cut through her ramblings and nailed her neck to the metal bar. She spat out some inarticulate, confluent curses along with her blood then went limp as she was, hanging in the air like an ill-fated ragdoll on someone's wall.
The tired victor heaved her biggest sigh yet, but the sense of uneasiness refused to leave from her mind; it hit her however when she turned to collect Sally again. The two yellow orbs were only half open in the shadowy corner, making Elizabeth too afraid to ask what she feared the most.
The girl's faint whimpers could not form words even when she got near her and realized just how big the trouble was.
She knelt beside her, hands shaking above the hook that protruded from the little one's bloody stomach. From what she could tell, it cut into her way too deep, ADAM regeneration or not. Elizabeth decided not to remove the blade in case it would only cause more bleeding and instead carefully lifted the barely responsive Sally from the ground.
"It's okay, sweetheart," she whispered with a trembling voice. "Just hold on for a little more. Don't fall asleep, you hear?"
The girl's eyes narrowed to a slit as she tried to moan in acknowledgement. Her silent burden's warm blood started to seep into Elizabeth's blouse as she jogged back to the Metro station, slowly but uninterruptedly reaching the gate to the sewers. Panting too heavily to speak, she banged the metal door with her fist until she could catch a breath.
"…Doctor, open up! It's us."
The gate creaked open, revealing the pale doctor at the wheel inside. There were no explanations needed for the situation's urgency when she caught sight of the gravely injured Little Sister.
"Scheiße," cursed Tenenbaum. She motioned for Elizabeth to step inside so the door could be closed behind her. "I have to operate her immediately. If it cut through the slug in her belly then it could… " she shook her head defiantly, adopting a focused look. "Come with me. Schnell!"
They ran along the zigzag of dank tunnels with the doctor systematically closing all the doors behind them that she left open on her way outside. Upon their arrival at the disorderly safehouse, a small group of little girls stared at the newcomer in awe from their dirty bunks, but the troubled grown-ups had little time to spare for greetings as they rushed into Tenenbaum's separate room, lit only by the blue of the ocean and the monochrome security screens on the wall.
The doctor swept everything from her table to the floor, hastily producing a relatively clean sheet to cover it with upon which Elizabeth could softly place the now unconscious girl onto. Tenenbaum gathered every medical device she kept all over the hideout and moved to usher the younger woman out of the room.
"No, doctor, I won't leave her side," she protested.
"It is not a request, Fräulein. Trust me, you would not want to see it."
"But-" Elizabeth could not finish the sentence after she was shut off by the door in her face. Moving to the room's window in hope for a good look, she was only met by dark, impenetrable curtains. Unsure of what to do, she started to walk in small, irregularly shaped circles in the bigger room, trying to focus on the steady noise of the water flowing in the pipes, but unable to banish the sickening worry.
The children continued to observe the stranger's antics for a little while, then turned back to each other and their worn building blocks on the floor after they silently concluded she was not dangerous.
There was no clock in the place, or if there was, it must have been in the doctor's room. It almost drove Elizabeth mad, being unable to shift her thoughts to anything else. She watched as the girls grew bored of the wooden blocks and started running around playing tag until they were tired enough for a nap. It must be hours now, she concluded.
At last, the locked door slowly swung open, a crestfallen Tenenbaum stepping up to her with reddened rags in her hands and dark stains on her dress. She looked Elizabeth in the eye but did not say anything. Instead, she just gave a rueful shake of the head.
The Lamb's heart jumped up to her throat as she tried to move past the biologist and see the child herself, but she gently stopped her with an extended arm.
"Elizabeth… don't. For your own sake."
"You don't understand, doctor. She can't die. I-It couldn't have all been for nothing… the Luteces… they must have…"
The laconic doctor put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.
"The slug has been cut in half. There was nothing I could do. She is gone now."
The tears were flowing freely now, bringing Elizabeth to crumble to the cold ground, damning the city under the sea between bitter sobs of sorrow.