I heard a scuffle of feet in the other room and quickly hit the stop button on my Accu-Vox. I then hid the recorder under the shadow of the stretcher. Tenenbaum came into the room carrying a tray of assorted items. There was a glass of water, a small piece of what looked like to be gum and a pep bar. I looked at the food with slight disgust, but more confusion. I had no idea what this woman had placed on my plate, and she quickly realized I was dissatisfied.
"What is wrong?" Tenenbaum asked, concerned.
"What is this stuff?" I replied not taking my eyes off the so called meal she held before me.
"A glass of water, Vitamin-D gum, and a pep bar to boost your strength." She said.
"What the hell is vitamin-D gum?" I asked, looking even more confused.
"Well, obviously there is no sunlight down here in the bottom of the ocean. Zhe sun makes vitamin-D. So, to make sure you have a source of vitamin-D, I'm giving you vitamin-D gum." Tenenbaum explained.
"Seems useful." I said as I took the items off the tray and placed them on the end of the stretcher. Tenenbaum just stared at me with the same look I looked at the food with: dissatisfaction. I just stared back, for a moment, and time seemed to stop completely because of the empty silence.
"And what exactly do you intend to find out?" Tenenbaum finally said. I was shocked, she had heard everything I recorded. Dammit! She knew that I didn't trust her! She knew what I was up to.
"Nothing, I don't what you're talking about." I said, trying to shake her off my trail. I opened up the pep bar and took a bite.
"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about."
"No I don't!" I said quickly, in between chews. I don't know what it was, but I was already feeling better, stronger. My eyes shifted from Tenenbaum to the glass of water. I picked it up and started gulping it down.
"…Alright. Whatever you say." Tenenbaum said.
"I'm tired, I'm going to sleep." I said nervously as I finished the water and stuck the gum in my pocket. I wasn't really tired, but I really didn't want another awkward silence with Tenenbaum. To put it frankly, she intimidates me. She just has this appearance about her: a mother, but the cold-stepmother-kind-from-Cinderella type of mother. She doesn't seem evil, but it seems she has something that she regrets. Her very own pair of skeletons in the closet. However, maybe she's hiding two pairs in that closet: hers, and mine. I can tell, it's pretty obvious, that she knows more about me then I do. I just wish she would tell me. Then I wouldn't have to wonder, or fear, or-
"Good night, mein child. I hope you have peaceful dreams." Tenenbaum said calmly. I was shocked at her kind words. Even though she has been so kind to me already, it still surprised me that she said something like that. It's almost like she IS my mother, and I AM her child. I lay my head down and closed my eyes, and a dream slowly tiptoed into my mind.
I see darkness, pitch black nothingness. I'm on my hands and knees. I crawl. I keep crawling and suddenly I light breaks through the black. I crawl toward the light and finally reach my destination. I crawl out of the darkness, and light is washed over me like a peaceful storm. I take a deep breath of relief. I turn, and I see, what looks to be a soldier, his armor glinting in the light, shining like a star. I smile, but then I blink. His armor is no longer shiny, but rusty. I am frightened and I back away. He moans, as if he is terrible pain. I look up and see his face, but it is not a face. It is a big round shape with many circles of the color green. I close my eyes and shake my head. I look back up at him. But the image does not change. I still the rust, the dirt, and now something else: the blood.
I look down quickly, afraid to make direct contact with this man, no, this monster. I see I am wearing small shoes. Shoes that would only be large enough for a child. I see that I am wearing a small, faded and slightly tattered purple dress. My socks are rolled down, and I can see a few grass stains on them. I look at my hands. They are callused and dirty. I turn, and see my reflection in the window next to me. I am a little girl. I'm wearing a ponytail tied up in a perfect bow that matches my dress. I blink again. I look back at the monster, and he waves me to move. I stay where I am, but then I turn and run. I keep running. I skid in around the corner; I am jumping over boxes and garden tools. I skid around another corner, and another. I round the next corner and am stopped dead in my tracks. I see a woman. She is wearing a dress, and has long, curly brown hair, and lips that seem pursed, but not quite. Wait…its Tenenbaum!
"No no. You are not going any further. Mein child, take my hand." Tenenbaum holds out her hand as she says this. I reluctantly take her hand, and we walk. We pass another woman. She has curly dirty-blonde hair and she is wearing thin, round glasses. She looks at Tenenbaum.
"Good day Brigid, what seems to be the problem." The woman says. She looks at me, and I glare at her with discontent. She looks back at Tenenbaum.
"Oh nothing Julie, just this little von seemed to escape her big daddy." Tenenbaum said brightly. Who is this Julie? What was she doing here? How did she know Tenenbaum?
"Ah, I see we have a bit of a troublemaker." She laughed slightly.
"Yes, well, we will straightener her up. Sorry to bother you Julie."
"Oh, no bother at all Brigid. It was a pleasure seeing you."
"You as well." Tenenbaum said, and with that we were walking off again. I looked around at every little sight, trying hardly to contemplate and understand my surroundings. I remained silent. We kept walking, and then we arrived at two large doors. She took me into a room, and I saw many other children. They were playing games, coloring, talking, singing, but one child caught my eye: a boy. He had brown hair and he wore an off-white sweater and brown pants. He looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back and waved. He looked so familiar. Suddenly a tall man with thinning black hair and glasses entered the room. He was fully clothed in doctor's garments and walked straight over to the dark-haired boy. I couldn't what they were saying, but the doctor man took the boy out of the room. The boy looked back at me. I ran after them, but the door closed before I could catch up. He was gone.
I woke up to the slam of a door. Startled, I sat up straight on the uncomfortable stretcher. Tenenbaum came running into the room. She was carrying a pistol and looked furious. She ran up to me.
"Hurry, ve have to move!" Tenenbaum exclaimed.
"What? Why?" I asked, even more startled than before.
"Zhe splicers, they have found a way into the safehouse. Ve have to find another hiding place. Scheisse! No doubt it was Ryan and his damn pheromones!"
"Holy crap! They got in! Where are we going to go?" I said as I jumped out of bed and grabbed my pistol. My veins were still glowing a vibrant blue that appeared even brighter in the darkness of our now useless safe house.
"Ve vill have to find shelter in Neptune's Bounty. Did you take the plasmid I gave you?" Tenenbaum asked.
"Yes, I didn't want to, but I did. Surprisingly, nothing really happened. I didn't faint or anything. I mean, I was completely scared for no reason whatsoever!"
"Shh! There is no time for small talk! Ve have to get out of here! I've blocked the exit, so that should buy us some more time, but ve have to move quickly! Here, take this."
"What is 'this'?"
"A short wave radio. We can use this to communicate if ve get separated."
"Ok. Let's go!" I said, I grabbed the radio, and my Accu-Vox, and we ran out the back exit.
The Bulkhead rolled open slowly, and we ran out quickly. I looked up. I saw fish, fish, and more fish. Fish hanging on racks, fish in boxes, fish on the floor, fish outside the windows. And then I saw something all too familiar: a shellfish sign. I was in Neptune Bounty, and now I am back.
"You go that way, and I'll go this way." Tenenbaum said.
"Wait! You're leaving me out here alone?"
"You'll be fine, if you need me, call me on the radio. I promise I'll find someone to help us."
And with that, I was alone again. This was going to be a long day. I just stood there in the crawling silence for a few moments. BANG BANG BANG. The silence burst into gunshots. But they weren't me, they weren't Tenenbaum, and there were no splicers around at all. If none of the gunshots were ours, then whose?