14
Fort Frolic, Atlantic Express Train Station
The train's doors opened for Jack and Holly, leading them into yet another train station.
They stepped out of the train, looking around the station cautiously. It was a very dome-shaped room, with all the walls almost completely made up of glass. Outside of the station, the sea life passed by the windows at a casual pace, paying no attention to the man-made structures in their domain.
A layer of thick dust lined most of the surfaces. There were some footsteps that led to the Securis door on the other side of the room, and then some more prints that led back into the station. This was clearly a station that had little to no traffic. There weren't even signs of any sort of foul play – No blood, and no bullet casings. Not one drop, not one shell. This was a strange experience to have in Rapture – to see a room untouched by insanity
"Where are we?" Jack muttered thoughtfully, not entirely speaking to Holly. He found it hard to believe that he was never aware that there was a train station in Fort Frolic…
In response, the radio on Jack's hip crackled to life. "Medusa's Resort…" An older voice loudly drawled with a thick Dublin accent. Jack didn't recognize the voice. "The house of ill repute - the house that breeds sin…"
Holly looked over at Jack inquisitively, silently asking who it was on the radio. Jack could do nothing but shrug his shoulders. Hell if he knew. Into his radio, Jack asked: "Who are we speaking to? Is this Father Wales?"
"Aye, my Lord…" The man confirmed quickly, as if he wanted to move on as fast as possible. "Yer wretch of a servant, Lord. The Acolyte of the Family."
"Are you here at the station with us?" Jack glanced about the room, looking for any sort of camera. "Or are you watching from a distance?" A safe distance.
"My Lord, I am unclean!" Father Wales stated abruptly. Jack's suggestion was apparently something out of the question. "I am impure! A wretched Acolyte! To even be in the same room as ye would make ye impure… I will not encumber ye, my Lord. I won't!"
The duo in the train station exchanged skeptical looks. "Father," Jack cleared his throat tentatively. It felt like thin ice that he was walking on. "You called this a 'house of ill repute'. Someone else had called it a museum. I'm not sure I understand."
"We have been waiting for yer return, my Lord, and you finally have spoken. Ye smote down the Sinful Brother, Wayne Coleman, and now ye have prepared another for their absolution: the False Mother." Father Wales raved. Jack was never in his life surer that someone was insane - completely out of their skull - than he was at that moment in time. "But, my Lord, ye know not the beast that ye fight. For ye, I have created a museum. Ye will be enlightened, so ye may faster deliver punishment."
Holly had wandered away from Jack, moving to one of the windows to look at the building that was at the end of the tunnel behind the Securis door. When she heard Father Wales' statement, she turned to look at Jack, her brow furrowed.
"Sofia Lamb let me bring someone along," Jack glanced at Holly, hoping that Father Wales wasn't going to cause any more problems for them. "It won't be an issue if she goes into this… 'museum'… will it?" Jack didn't know why this Dubliner chose him as their messiah, but he wasn't going to argue with it – It gave him a sort of authority. He was able to question people who could kill him… Perhaps he could even use this new-found title to subtly sway things in his own favor.
"I cannot rid her of her concupiscence, my Lord, but ye can exculpate her sins. With ye, she is free to be enlightened."
"I'll take that as an invitation…" Holly sniffed indignantly, turning back to the window.
"Alright, then, Father…" Jack wasn't quite sure what Father Wales was talking about. "… you'll see us off, now. We're ready to see this museum of yours."
"Of course, my Lord – Go through the door, follow the tunnel. Tis the door at the very end." Jack started towards the door, letting Holly catch up before entering the tunnel together. While they walked, Father Wales continued. "The Family collected items in anticipation of yer return – We waited patiently. This house of sin has been converted into a house of learning… for ye. Know thy enemy. This building now contains the knowledge ye will need to fully bring the False Mother her full absolution. In the blood of the Lamb… she will be baptized." Father Wales seemed to revel in his own words. After an appreciative pause, he continued: "Now, my Lord, I'm afraid I must take my leave. Even mine own talking to ye is dangerous. I wish ye good luck, and hope to aid ye again very soon."
Their radios went silent, leaving Jack and Holly in silence as they entered the tunnel cautiously. "Now, what do you suppose that was all about…?" Jack mused quietly as they brusquely made their way towards this 'museum'.
"I haven't a clue in the slightest," Holly responded absent-mindedly, slowing to a stop. She pressed her hands and cheek against the tunnel's glass, looking outside, towards the large building that awaited them. "Medusa's Resort…" She frowned. "I didn't even know this place existed, up until now."
Jack gazed up at the neon-sign above the tunnel, glowing brightly in the dark waters. It was a green and purple sign, the words written in cursive, though the 'M' was large, and stood out with a flowing calligraphic majesty. "Neither did I…" Jack murmured, continuing down the hall.
He had to admit – Despite the fact that they were sidetracked yet again, it was rather nice to have someone who, instead of constantly trying to kill him, was in the interest of helping Jack. The man might be crazy enough to think Jack a god… but there were no complaints to be heard. Jack was OK with being able to move forward without it resulting in a fight.
"Doesn't exactly sound like a museum," Holly commented in a contemplative tone. "'Medusa's Resort'…"
"Father Wales said it was converted into a 'museum'," Jack wasn't all too confident that it was really a museum, though. Words used in Rapture were often misconstrued. "And he called it the 'house of ill repute'. Maybe…" He trailed off, looking at Holly with a sideways glance. He cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"Maybe what?" Holly narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "'House of ill repute', what does that mean? Do you know what it is?"
"No - no…" He scrunched his nose up. "Nothing. I was thinking out loud, forget I said anything."
"It's clearly not 'nothing'. What is it?"
"I think it's a… 'massage parlor'. Ever heard of something like that?"
"Once or twice," Holly shrugged. "Father would bring it up a couple times. Didn't seem all too happy about it, either. Why? What is it?"
"It's a place where Joes can go to… find female company."
"... That's all? Well that doesn't seem like such a big deal. That wasn't so hard, now, was it? No need to get your trousers in a knot." She continued forward, rolling her eyes condescendingly.
Jack followed with a frown. Something about that response led him to believe that Holly didn't quite understand what he meant… He, however, had absolutely no desire to elaborate on the subject – What the girl didn't know about this place wouldn't hurt her.
The elegantly engraved metal-and-gold door opened unceremoniously before the duo, and the smell of burnt paper, wood, and cloth bluntly hit them, leaving a pins-and-needles tingling sensation in their noses. The old smell of burnt debris mingled with the smell of rotting wood and sea water.
"I don't like this…" Jack grunted as they carefully entered the building, looking around their surroundings. They passed by two scorched Pneumo Tubes. The light that should have been emitted from the letters was stifled by slushy soot. "I don't like this at all…"
The building itself was rather eerie on the inside. On the black-and-white tiled floor, puddles and ash mixed. A lot of the walls, which seemed to have had deep purple damask wallpaper while in their prime, were torched, yet wet to the touch, on some. There appeared to be a leak, and it was spreading across the walls, being absorbed by the exposed wood that would have been diluted by water when the fires were put out. The once-posh furniture lay where it was seemingly left, scorched by fire and stained with smoke. Had the place not been lit, it might have looked surprisingly nice. Posh, yet invitingly comfortable.
The room they were standing in appeared to be the foyer of the building. At the very end of the room, directly across from the door, was a large semi-circle desk, which had two staircases on either side. Wedged between the stairs was a wall that curved to the shape of the desk. The wall held both the building's name in a similar, but plain metal, sign as the one on the face of the building, and a door, both residing behind the desk.
Seeming oddly out of place, the desk – and some of the furniture that was further into the room – had several white sheets draped over it. Lit candles were placed erratically on the sheets, proving a decent enough light source. White books randomly were scattered among the candles.
Someone had written on the curved wall, and on either side of the door, in white paint. Many brash arrows where pointing to the door behind the desk, surrounded by the words 'Sinful Brother' and 'Wayne Coleman'. Likewise, 'False Mother' and 'Ingrid Sapphire' were painted with a jittery hand on the scorched walls above the stairs, which were adorned with white sheets and candles much like the desk.
The place was practically gift-wrapped.
When Jack and Holly cautiously walked up to the desk, kicking up dust, splashing through puddles, Jack took up one of the white books. It was simple enough: A white, leather-bound book with a butterfly, and the title Unity and Metamorphosis: By Sofia Lamb, which were both stamped into the front. Jack thought that it was perhaps a novel, maybe even a textbook, but he knew that it couldn't possibly be – Not when it seemed to hold such reverence. It was more like a bible.
Jack had seen the book somewhere before. He couldn't remember where from for the life of him...
As he turned the book over in his hands, opening it to peak into its pages, Holly spoke quietly. She, too, appeared to be in deep thought. "Bible of the Lamb…" She hummed contemplatively, picking up one of the 'bibles'. "The people in that cult vary from 'reserve a padded cell for me' to 'let's sacrifice each other for the sake of an imaginary friend in the sky'…" She barely glanced at Jack as she flipped through some of the pages in the book. "… Not entirely the sanest of people… But, then, who is?" She laughed gently, tossing the book back onto the table, moving on to look at something else.
Jack stopped flipping through the pages. "Vary…" He murmured painfully as he struggled for the root of the memory, closing the book to look at the cover. "Variables…" The memory clicked.
He had seen one of these books before. The lady who spoke in riddles, Rosalind, was reading it on the plane. Why? Who were those people? And what is it exactly that they're up to?
"Seems like Father Wales planned on us being here before Coleman got to us," Holly's voice had a slight echo in the tall foyer. She looked at Jack. "He was just one more sinner for you to bring to absolution... just like Lady Sapphire."
"Absolution doesn't exist, not in Rapture…" Jack set the bible down on the desk, walking around to the door. "And definitely not the way Father Wales imagines it."
"What do you mean?"
"It's a living Hell, down here, and death would release you of it…" He stopped in the doorway, which quietly shifted open for him. "… But it wouldn't… 'pardon'… your sins. You would still die a condemned man."
Holly blinked, thinking about the statement Jack just made, and nodded. She walked away, towards one of the flights of stairs. "… I'm going to go have a look around upstairs," She announced quietly, not pausing for an answer. As she walked up the first few steps, she tapped the radio on her hip. "Shout if you need me…"
"Watch yourself…" Jack watched her disappear, becoming hidden by the curved wall that blocked the rest of his view to the stairs. He frowned. They would have to have a word with when they met up, again. In the meantime, he wanted to see what Father Wales had put together for Jack to use against Coleman.
The hallway beyond the door was rather long, and it was untouched by the flames. There was still a fair amount of water damage, but that wasn't exactly uncommon in Rapture. Walking down the hallway, Jack passed two doors: The first read 'Staff Only', and the second read 'Tea Party Room'. Both were boarded up well, the actual door busted in so that it can't open. The door at the very end of the hallway read 'Office of Mr. Wayne Coleman' in print on the frosted glass window, much like the other doors. Candlelight from the inside of the room shone dimly through the foggy-looking glass.
Quietly, the door opened for Jack, sliding up its runners into the top of the doorframe.
The candlelit room held nothing of a huge notable interest. There was a desk at the back of the room which, much like the one in the foyer, had a white sheet draped over it. Candles were placed all about the room, though, so Jack could see well enough. What was of some notable interest were the several Accu-Voxes that were exhibited on top of the desk. On the wall behind the desk was another painted message. 'The Family invited him with open arms, but the Sinful Brother blindly refused'.
Jack scoffed loudly.
Admittedly, Jack was rather glad that Coleman wasn't some religion fanatic. Things might have gotten a lot worse if he was… But Jack couldn't stop himself from wondering if Coleman would have even been there to stop had he joined 'The Rapture Family'. Perhaps in some weird, upside down world, maybe. But here? Coleman was the average kind of crazy thug.
Frowning, Jack turned around, looking at the room, and then turning back to the desk. It wasn't a huge room – not as big as Andrew Ryan's office – but it was pretty spacious. Some filing cabinets, some bookshelves… not a lot of furniture. That wasn't what Jack had a problem with.
There didn't seem to be anything in that room that Jack could have possibly used against Coleman. No weapons, no Plasmids, no Tonics… there wasn't even any Hypos that could have come in handy. There were just a couple of Audio Diaries, a few newspapers, and a lot of candles on top of stained, white sheets.
Jack curiously walked over to the desk, turning on one of the Accu-Voxes at random.
Struggling to play its message with a waterlogged whirring noise, the chosen Accu-Vox was just barely able to repeat its tune for Jack:
"Welcome to Medusa's Resort," Wayne Coleman's voice purred with an obvious smile. He sounded younger by several years. "We only have a couple of rules here, ladies. Rule number one: Don't judge the clients. They come here to feel loved – if they want you to talk to 'em like they're a baby for a week, you can't complain… especially if you're pullin' a couple dozen grand outta their pocket 'cause of it." He laughed lightly. "Rule number two: Bargain hard, and bargain well. The higher your pay, the better. Some of these men will pay a quarter of a million dollars for a weekend out. Always try to up it. Oh, and, for God's sake, don't forget to check their Johnson – that's rule number three: Check their fuckin' Johnsons. You're lookin' for anythin' that ain't healthy. Some men ain't above tellin' you if they got the bumps…" He paused, then said "Rule number four: Every shift is eight hours. Now, you have the right to decline any client you want, but you hafta complete your eight hours. I can let it slip here and there, but it's your own money that you're losin'." His voice suddenly got slightly darker. "And rule number five: If you're havin' issues, or a client starts to get a little too 'hands on' with you, go ahead and send him my way, darlin'. I'll set him straight, for ya…"
"Right," Jack huffed, trying not to think about what kind of things happened in this building because of Coleman. "Once a thug, always a thug…" Jack turned on another one of the Audio Diaries, unable to see how Father Wales thought this would help stop Coleman.
"There have been complaints about Medusa's Resort," Andrew Ryan's strong, authoritative voice rang out of the Accu-Vox. It sounded as if he were in a large room – Somewhere he could have his voice reverberate for a public announcement. "And while some of these complaints may appear to be justified, these complaints are still idle." The great man's voice grew almost angered. "Must Iremind each and every one of you that we are no longer on the surface? The surface, where these petty complaints of so-called 'ill moral and repute' are accepted? Rapture was built on the very foundation of being freed from the constraints that the governments on the surface held us down with for so long." Ryan paused, and the sounds of an angry crowd were heard. When they settled down, he continued. "The founder of Medusa's Resort has every right to hold his business. If he were a danger to the citizens and the city of Rapture, that would be another matter. But he is not – In fact, his entrepreneurship has strengthened the Great Chain. He has manufactured paying jobs in a safe environment." Over the rowdy crowd, he yelled: "No measures will be taken to demolish Medusa's Resort – Not because a few puritans have thrown a tantrum. Nothing more will be heard of such complaints." Again, the crowd snarled with discontent.
Of course Andrew Ryan would vouch for a brothel. Jack would have been surprised if the man didn't.
Underneath some of the Audio Diaries were several intact newspapers. One read something about people who strongly disagreed with Medusa's resort, one read about the speech that Jack just listened to, another read about the torching of the Resort, ending in it being forced to shut-down, and one read about…
"… Patsy Oswald…" Pensively, Jack snatched up the newspaper, staring into the picture of the girl who smiled broadly. He recognized her, but he didn't know where he could have possibly seen her. She died years before Jack was sent back down to Rapture. The column of text under her picture explained that she had been shot to death in 1955. She was found dead in her room at Medusa's Resort. So where had he seen this woman from?
"Jack.." Holly abruptly called into the radio. She didn't sound panicked, but she did sound frustrated.
Setting the paper back down on the desk, Jack absentmindedly answered. "Yeah…?" He picked up a leather ledger.
"None of this old junk is going to help us," She hissed, and then something toppled over in the background. She probably kicked something. "That old fool was just wasting our time."
"Father Wales put this together in the interest of bringing Sapphire and Coleman to 'absolution', right? Maybe he meant it literally…" Jack flipped through the pages until he found something that caught his eye. "… These are their sins…" He muttered distractedly. "… and they must be paid for…"
"Well, throwing words of God at Sapphire isn't going to help us any… Not unless we throw the bible at her. And even that would only get us so far…"
"What now?"
"You're the messiah – You tell me. I don't—" Holly cut to silence for a few heartbeats. Then she cleared her throat. "I don't know. You finish up with whatever you're doing – I just thought of something…"
Jack barely noticed that Holly had stopped talking. He was too busy trying to wrap his head around the thought of something else.
There were some folded pieces of paper tucked into the cover of the ledger. On one of the papers that Jack had looked at, a chart for weekly pay checks, there were two familiar names printed on it. The first, OSWALD, PATSY, wasn't a shock. But the second name was the one that had him frowning.
SAPPHIRE, INGRID.
Didn't Holly say something about Sapphire being in one of those rich families that came down to Rapture? So then why would she need to work in a brothel?
"Jack," When Holly's voice returned, she sounded overly excited, "Come upstairs." There was a crashing sound, the sound of something shattering. "I need to show you something."
Jack blinked. "What was that?" He demanded, tossing the clipboard back onto the desk. "Are you OK?"
"I'm fine; it was a mirror. Are you coming up here, or not?"
"I am, I am…" He was already leaving Coleman's old office. "What are you so excited about?"
"I've found something that I want to show you," She answered slowly, her tone blatant.
There was a quiet gap, filled only by the sound of the doors closing and Jack's footsteps as he walked out from behind the crescent desk. As Jack reached the stairs, he broke the silence. "What, exactly?"
Holly hesitated, thinking about something silently. And then she answered in a very simple tone.
"My mother."