5
Apollo Square Bathysphere Station
For a couple of stifling moments, Jack and Holly sat in the bathysphere, not even moving to sit properly in their seats after half-falling off of them. They just stared at the fogging glass of the door. Slowly, Jack turned to look at Holly, who hadn't yet looked away from the hatch. "Are you ready to go out there, kid?" He asked quietly, as to not be heard by whatever may be waiting out there.
"I'm about as ready as I'll ever be…" She breathed almost immediately. "And you?"
Jack flexed his left hand, letting the electricity pump through it, keeping a tight grip on the wrench with his other hand. His gun was loaded, he had his wrench, and he still had some EVE. There was really nothing else they could do but leave the bathysphere, now. "If you are." He replied simply.
Holly nodded and got to her feet. After lingering a moment in front of the door, she pushed it open and stepped out. The sound of a muffled song could be heard playing on the sound system. 'My Prayer' by The Platters. Jack stepped out after her, both of them glancing about the room, expecting everything and anything. Frankly, Jack assumed Sapphire would have a couple of the hulking Brutes waiting for them, especially after seeing the difficulty Jack had taking only one down.
There were bodies of Splicers littering the room, all riddled with bullets. Jack stepped up to one of them and kicked it lightly. "These are fresh…" He muttered. When it clicked in his mind, it was already too late. From behind, his arms were gripped and restrained. "Behind you!" Jack called out in an attempt to try and warn the kid. He tried fighting against the restrains, cursing his stupidity.
In front of Jack, the air made a sucking noise, and a man appeared out of thin air. He gripped one of Holly's wrists, ducked a punch she tried to swing at him, and gripped her other wrist. Shadows started to shoot towards him but froze mid-air when another man let out a sharp, commanding interjection and walked into both of their views. It was something about the air that the man had made her stop.
"My prayer…" The man sang along with the song, walking up to Jack as he flipped a pocket knife open and closed. "… is a rapture in blue… With the world far away…" He pressed the blade into the skin of Jack's throat – not hard enough to break skin, but hard enough to stop Jack from nervously swallowing. "… And your lips close to mine…" The man smiled at Jack and gave him a slight nod. He turned his head to look at Holly. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, kiddo." He warned Holly calmly, his accent a smooth, Southern twang. "Might surprise me. I'm skittish, see? I'd jump, and then this knife would cut your little friend, here. We don't want that to happen, now do we?"
Holly looked from the man, to Jack, and then back. Slowly, the shadows receded until they disappeared.
"Good girl." He smiled, straightening his back and walking back into both of their views.
"You need to let us go, or—"
"Or what?" The man interrupted, giving Holly a look of genuine curiosity. "You're not exactly in any place to be givin' out threats and orders, now, are you?" When Holly didn't respond, he smiled yet again. Then, as if remembering something, he took in a gasp. "Oh, where are my manners?" He held one hand behind his back, the other hand still flipping the blade. "My name is Wayne. Wayne Coleman."
Coleman was a fairly tall man with soft, seafoam blue eyes. His hair was sandy-colored, just starting to fleck with white, and his skin was pale – probably from his time in Rapture. Along with thin stubble, laugh-lines were prominent on this man's face, and the faintly creeping wrinkles on his face were a tell-tale sign that he couldn't have been older than 40. He wore a pair of tattered slacks, and a fully buttoned pin-striped vest over a white dress shirt.
"If you're going to kill us, just do it." Holly spat, wriggling in the man's grasp. "Don't treat us like meat."
"Oh, no!" Coleman pouted. "Oh, no, no, no, darlin'… I don't want to kill you. I just want your help, that's all."
"You expect us to help you after ambushing us like this?" Jack growled.
"Ambushin' you? I didn't ambush you. I simply didn't want you to attack us before we had the chance to speak. You were probably expectin' to walk into a trap. Were you not?" Coleman gestured to the bodies on the floor around them. "They were here when we arrived. We helped you. I think it's only fair you return the favour." He casually slipped a hand into his pocket, gesturing to Holly and Jack with the blade of his knife. "I had to have you both held nice and tight because, well… in Rapture, nowadays, when someone comes up behind you, you kill 'em."
Holly opened her mouth to argue some more, but Jack interrupted her, earning a glare from her direction. "If we help you, what's supposed to make us trust that you'll just let us go?"
"Well, I'm a man of my word, of course." He gestured to the men around him. "We are the People – Atlas' People, that is. And we… are gentlemen and gentlewomen, respectively."
"Oh, that's wonderful. Just what we needed." Holly drawled from behind Coleman. "More of Atlas' twits. I thought you all died out, already. You know… when he did."
"It's the principal, kiddo. Only those who believe in the cause remain." Coleman seemed to be forcing his voice when speaking to her. Walking over to the restrained man and wrapping an arm around his shoulders, Coleman gently put the knife to Jack's throat again. He continued. "So, here's the thing… I've been tryin' to get to Persephone for about a month, now. And Sapphire, the wonderful woman that she is, remains… reluctant to give me access. My genetic code, along with that of these here boys, is not only locked out of all bathyspheres, but is also to be attacked by all the Sentries down in Persephone, too. Not just that, but she's filled in in the only other passage we coulda taken to get down there…" He laughed, a charming smile spreading across his lips. "Can you believe that? She blocked off an entire passage!"
"Sounds like she really doesn't want you in Persephone," Jack prompted, not returning the smile. The fact that Sapphire doesn't want Wayne Coleman in Persephone means either that he, too, was trying to stop her…. or he was just trouble.
"Agh, tell me about it…" Coleman sighed, obviously irritated by the mere thought of Sapphire. "It's like she took a distinct dislikin' towards me, for whatever reason…" He laughed softly. "I mean, no offence to the woman, but I think she just might be a little bit… crazy." Coleman thoughtfully pursed his lips as he daintily tapped the blade of the knife against Jack's bare skin for emphasis. "Of course, there's nothin' particularly wrong with that – it is, after all, how things get done – but she's messin' with Wayne's buddies, and they didn't do anythin' to deserve that. If she has an issue with me, than we two can speak it out like respectable adults… But my men should be allowed to move as they please, don't you think?"
"That's very mature of you," Holly commented, just barely containing the full-fledged sarcasm she was obviously doing her best to hold back on. "But I don't see how we can help you. This sounds like a problem you and Sapphire need to work out on your own." She writhed in the man's grasp, letting out a frustrated cry. "So if you freaks would be so kind as to let us go…!" The man holding her had to reposition himself just to keep a grip on Holly. She kicked about furiously, but to no avail. It was only when she stopped, realizing that this would get her nowhere, did Coleman continue to speak.
"You may want to sit still for a bit, little lady. And it's not your help that I want," Coleman patted Jack's shoulders, then gripped and shook him, as if they were old buddies who met up at a pub. "It's his help I want."
"What's in Persephone that Sapphire is trying to stop you from getting at?" Holly demanded childishly, eyes narrowed.
"A doctor," Coleman answered immediately, patting Jack's shoulder and straightening his own back. "One Dr. Sofia Lamb. She owes me, ah… an appointment."
"So then what do you want me to do?" Jack asked petulantly. "Because I can't—"
"Dynamite." Coleman interrupted sharply. "I need dynamite. The ingredients for it, anyways. All I need is nitroglycerin, sodium carbonite, and some sort of diatomaceous earth… probably clay or sand. And my boys will take care of the rest, so long as you can get what we need." He flipped the blade one last time before pocketing it. "And all you need to do for the Sentries is get to the Rapture Central Control and remove the settin' that makes those bots attack us."
"Dynamite?" Jack echoed, shocked. "What did Sapphire block the passage with, and why does it need dynamite?"
"She got a bunch of those goddamned Brutes to fill up the entire passage with rubble – old parts of Rapture from here and there that have fallen off. Some of it's even furniture." Coleman scoffed, narrowing his eyes in anger. Apparently, he really didn't like Sapphire. "Either way," he continued, "it's more than my group can handle. We can't move all the debris out of the way, and Telekinesis is only so strong. Frag grenades only clear a little of what's blocking the passage at a time… but they're precious resources."
"So you decided dynamite was a better solution?" Holly gave Coleman a dry glare.
"Right," Coleman seemed ignorant of her sarcasm that time. "And all I need you to get for it is the nitroglycerin and sodium carbonite. In the interest of time, however, I might send someone else out to get some sand for you. And then you gotta remove the codes that made the security in Persephone attack us specifically."
"That's all?"
"That's all, young man. Then you may leave as you please."
Jack exchanged a glance with Holly. She looked at him with tenacious eyes, but eventually nodded firmly. They both knew that, even if they got out of their restraints, these Atlas Fanatics would probably hunt them down again. Jack looked back to Coleman. "And what happens if you don't keep your word?" He asked malignly, his tone quiet.
"Don't you worry about that, boy." Coleman pointed his finger at Jack, wiggling it, as if scolding him. "I can personally assure you that we, as a collective group, will keep my word." He smiled at Jack expectantly, his dark eyebrows raised. "So whaddya say. Hm? Have we got ourselves a deal?"
"It's not like we have much of a choice." Jack growled pointedly.
"No," Coleman laughed good-naturedly. "No, you really don't. But-" he held up his hands, "-enough of this gobbledygook." He turned from Jack, nodding to the man who held the Ryan, and then to the man who restrained Holly. "Lay 'em out, boys – nice and gentle like."
The man gripping Holly pulled out a needle from his breast pocket, pricking Holly's arm and injecting her with whatever it was. She struggled for a moment to stay on her feet, but failed, falling to the floor like a bag of books. When Jack started to protest, trying to pull away from the man who held him, Coleman just turned and smiled at him. "Hey, now, tough guy, calm down…" He hushed Jack tenderly. "It's OK. She's only knocked-out. Lonnie, here-" He gestured to the man who had been holding Holly. He had bushy hair and chop sideburns… most unflattering. "-he's a practiced man. A, ah, doctor of sorts. He's worked a lot with Atlas, who gave him more resources to learn and train. He knows what he's doing."
Lonnie exchanged a glance with Coleman before tossing the empty needle to the floor, pulling a new one out. Without a word, Lonnie walked up to Jack and pushed the needle into his skin, compressing the plunger and letting the fluid inside it run free through Jack's bloodstream.
"Now, just relax. If you go under while you're tense, you'll wake up sore all over…" Coleman soothed as Lonnie pulled the needle out, letting it fall to the floor.
Jack blinked, trying to keep his eyes open against the drug, but it was utterly useless. He was finally freed of his restraints, and fell to the floor, trying to get back up. The last thing Jack remembered was Coleman giving orders to Lonnie.
"Careful, now – set his head down real slow, alright? He's got a lot of work do to, and a bump on the noggin ain't gonna help…"
Mercury Suites, Suchong's Apartment
When Jack awoke, it took him a few minutes to realize what had happened. He was lying on his back in the middle of a dimly-lit room, the floor covered with rubble. He sat up with a jolt. Coleman was right – his body now ached. But he at least recognized his surroundings; if his memory served him right, he was in Suchong's apartment in Mercury Suites. "Coleman…" Jack hissed under his breath angrily.
"Good mornin', sunshine." Coleman's voice crackled its way onto the service radio that was still clipped to Jack's belt. "It's time to wake up. You've got a lot of work to do." Jack got to his feet with the aid of one of the tables that was propped onto its side. "We brought you as close to the Rapture Central Control as we could – and that apartment was about the only empty one there." Coleman continued. "So you oughta be careful. It should be clear sailin', from here, but don't take any chances. Sapphire's still got you in her sights."
Jack checked to make sure that all his possessions were as he left them; his looted items and Elaine's wedding ring box. That confirmed, he unclipped the radio, bringing it closer to his mouth. "If you brought me all the way over here," He growled, "why didn't you just go do this all on your own?"
"Because Lamb is a very smart woman. A doctor… a scientist. And a lot smarter than both you and I combined, my boy." Coleman answered with a huff. Soft music was playing in the background of him speaking. "Sapphire's smart, too. Not half as smart as Lamb… but smart enough. She doesn't want me down in Persephone, either, and she's got the means to keep me out. The security down in the Rapture Central Control is centered on me and my boys. I lost a few men when they tried to get in there, last week."
"Why not get some other poor shmuck to do this, then? There's gotta be someone down here willing to do it."
"Isn't that what I'm already doin'?" He paused, and Jack could almost hear the grin on his face. When Jack didn't respond to his poor joke, Coleman cleared his throat and continued once more. "Lamb probably won't expect someone outside of Atlas' group to be helpin' us, so you've got the element of the surprise."
"And what about Sapphire?"
"Sapphire? Well… I only suggest you move on through as timidly as possible."
"What a real confidence booster…"
Coleman ignored his comment. "After you get to the Rapture Central Control, you'll have to take a bathysphere to get to Arcadia – that's where you'll find the sodium carbonite. And the nitroglycerin... I do believe there is some in that Kyburz's office, up in Hephaestus."
"And if that's already gone?" Jack asked slowly. He remembered quite well that there was some nitroglycerin in Kyburz's office – he also remembers stealing it for an even larger explosive. He didn't know if there'd be any left.
"Already gone? Did you use it?" There was a pause. "Hold on a minute." The transmission ended.
Jack lowered the radio and looked around the room while he waited. It was empty, with long-dry blood caked onto the floors and walls. While he waited for Coleman to get back to him, Jack decided to look around for any supplies he could find, though he didn't expect much, especially not from Suchong's apartment. The most he found was an old pep bar and a couple of sodden Rapture Dollars. By the time Coleman came back on the radio, Jack had searched the entirety of the dining room and the kitchen.
"Alright," Coleman's voice came back on the radio, "so instead of Nitroglycerin, we're gonna to have to use ketone and nitrocellulose. The boys tell me that that Langford broad should have some in her office up in Arcadia. A paranoid nutcase, that one was… Always afraid of thieves. Not a bone o' trust in that tiny little body of hers. Lucky for you, she ain't blessin' us with her lovely presence, anymore, so you can just run up there and get what you need. We have bottles of the ketone and nitrocellulose in the nearest Pneumo so you can see what it looks like."
"Great." Jack muttered sarcastically.
"What are you whinin' about, boy? That's less time you have to spend away from your little fem, here. Now I suggest you get to the nearest Bathysphere and make your way to the Rapture Central Control." He spoke with a faintly-dark tone that suggested far more than he actually said.
"Anything else?" Jack asked unenthusiastically.
"There's a mattress behind you, dear. Go lift it up, why don't you?"
Jack walked over to said mattress, using his foot to kick it away from the wall. A brown bag lay on the ground underneath, flattened from the weight that was on it. "A mailbag?" He asked skeptically.
"Consider it my gift to you." Coleman said lovingly. "You'll need it for transportation of 'goods'. You can keep it when we've finished doin' business. Your pockets are practically burstin' open." He then proceeded to laugh rather unnecessarily, as if remembering a past joke. He sighed, then continued speaking, all business once again. His voice now had an irritated edge to it. "So get movin', kid. We can only be patient for so long."