The Obsolete Protector

by M10m gas mask soldier

Upon being revived 10 years after being murdered by Sofia, Subject Delta has to fight his way back to his beloved master Eleanor. However, he is not alone. Upon being reunited, the two Alpha Series Big Daddies must get to their captured daughters before it is too late. Meanwhile, Eleanor wishes for Delta to be more than her father. Burial at Sea connections. AU BioShock 2.

31. Chapter 31: The Father and the Reporter

Ch. 31: The Father and the Reporter

---

A.N.:

Hey everyone!

Thank you for your patience!

As much as I love the remastered collection, it is making describing the maps of the levels so much harder and tedious. I honestly cannot imagine being on the team that made the levels of the BioShock games. Serious props to them for real...like no joke...they are so detailed and beautiful.

Also, I do apologize if there is some awkward wording here and there...if has been hit or miss getting my ADHD medication the past few months. Not that I'm complaining...I'm just counting my blessings, you know?

Just know that I am continuing to pour my heart and soul into these updates.

So...I really do hope you guys are at least entertained in one way or another by my stories.

Thank you all for the continued love and support!

I hope that I was able to brighten your day with this update and maybe even distract you for a moment.

Anyway,

I hope it was worth the wait!

Read and review if you want!

Update: Sorry about the typos! I've tried to go back through and get them all :(

I'm a little rusty on proofing it seems.

Sorry if I let you guys down with this update.

---

Upon making my way over to the control booth of the Ferris Wheel, I found Subject Alpha pointing down towards a set of objects that were on the metal floor of the booth. There were three items in the booth. One was a worn steel lockbox that had clearly seen better days. It was lying with its simple metal handle face up in the middle of the booth. Lying on its side closer to the entrance to the booth was a literal smoking gun. In this case, it was a break-action Webley Mk. IV revolver. Finally, near the wall to the right of the sidearm was a suspiciously clean Accu-Vox voice recorder that appeared to have just been used.

The small sidearm was clearly the source of the gunshots that we had just heard because of the fact that the barrel was literally smoking as it laid on the much colder surface of the metal floor beneath it and because its smaller caliber matched the report that we had heard. There were specks of blood on the weapon, but it appeared to be dried blood. The blood lacked the telltale green tint to it, which confirmed that its previous owner did not have any trace of ADAM in his or her system. Unfortunately, the actual cause of the blood was unknown from what I could see from just the weapon itself.

However, it was not the dried blood on the Webley revolver that my brother had called me over to see. It was the trail of fresh blood that created a path that went around the left side of the Ferris Wheel and continued on in the direction of the security door that was just past the Gatherer's Garden Vending Machine that was on the opposite side of the approximately sixty-five-yard-long by fifty-yard-wide vaguely rectangular-shaped room that comprised the area around what was once Dionysus Park's most popular destination for young families. Judging from the amount of blood, I could discern that the wound was easily survivable, even for a non-spliced individual, so long as he or she was able to treat it in a timely manner.

While I was sure that the true answer was on the audio diary recording, I was able to guess what had happened in the meantime. The man that I had just heard moments ago, most likely this "Mister Meltzer" that Eleanor had been talking about, had approached one of the Little Sisters, most likely Cindy, and a patrolling Big Sister had either recognized the man or simply wanted to interfere before one of the Tin Men found him so close to one of the Little Ones. Considering that an increasing number of the lithe armored young women were now on our side and were even actively helping us, as one had so delicately put it, "Burn it all down", I would have to imagine that she had merely retrieved Cindy and scared Meltzer off with a minor injury.

From what I had seen from Jennifer and her comparatively weaker siblings, a minor flesh wound was their equivalent of playful roughhousing. Especially considering that Meltzer was likely only armed with this .38 Webley Revolver and had never spliced in his life, the goddess had likely defied her orders from Sofia by not either capturing him or ripping him apart. Also considering that all of the Big Sisters seemed to have a particular tendency to be sadistic when it came to combat, she was most likely secretly supportive of the man's quest to rescue his daughter.

However, alone, and now wounded, Meltzer would not survive very long, especially in a place like the Splicer magnet that was the recently drained area of Dionysus Park. However, before I followed the blood trail, I needed to confirm that it was indeed Meltzer that had left behind the audio diary and revolver. Using my Telekinesis Plasmid, I lifted the device up enough for my temporary ward to be able to push the "play" button.

The beautiful little angel giggled slightly before she then pressed the worn button to play the tape. For a brief moment, silence filled the air as the old device seemed to have finally played its last tape. However, finally, after giving out a loud crackling sound, the tape finally began to play.

The same voice that I had just heard came through the ancient speakers of the Accu Vox as the man began to speak. Though I had never met either the man or his daughter in person, I genuinely felt my own heart fall as I heard the devastation and heartbreak in the man's voice as he spoke. It was as if the last shred of hope that the man had been holding onto had been taken from him and his entire world had finally come crashing down around him.

I forced myself to remain calm as Meltzer began, "I found her... found Cindy, by this...rusted Ferris Wheel. But she was just standing there, staring, waiting for the music. She doesn't even recognize me... What have they done to her? Listen to her..."

The man paused for a moment before he then moved the device so that the listener could better hear the Little Sister in question. Mark's audio diary picked up on Cindy as she was saying with the telltale edged robotic tone that confirmed that she was indeed a Little One, "…the man on the Moon is a girl, Mister Bubbles."

The newcomer to Rapture then moved the device back closer to him. There was brief pause before the man addressed anyone who would have potentially found his audio diary with a voice that had a renewed sense of determination, "...Uh... Listen, if anyone hears this, I have to know how to cure her. I -"

However, Meltzer was interrupted in mid-sentence as the organic yet also somehow mechanical-sounding screech of the Big Sister erupted from somewhere nearby. The transaction that I had heard moments prior began to play out through the device before it finally cut to silence as the tape ended.

By the time that the tape had ended, I had resolved myself to save both of them if I could help it. If nothing else, I would ensure that Cindy would see the Sun again come proverbial Hell or High Water. I knew that if it had been Eleanor, I would have wanted someone to see to it that she was safe and taken care of in my stead. In addition, I had to admire an unspliced man who had the guts to take on a Big Sister for the sake of his little girl.

However, I never got to voice my convictions before Eleanor remarked, "No...no...no! Father help me find Mister Meltzer. He needs to know the truth! I am the reason that all this madness is happening, so I owe him that much at least."

I smiled slightly beneath my copper façade before I replied, "You got it, kid."

Meanwhile, behind me, Emily commented, "A father's love for his daughter is very powerful…just like a daughter's love for her father."

Alpha gave off an agreeing grunt in response to his bonded partner's statement before he then addressed me, "Right behind you, sir."

Using my Telekinesis Plasmid once again, I raised the small revolver up until it was securely attached to the side of one of the magnetized weights along my diving belt. Then, after letting out a grunt as I manually forced fresh EVE into my body from the reserve tank on my back, I began to follow the blood trail around the left side of the still somewhat intact Ferris Wheel.

As I did, Eleanor remarked, "You know, I never did like this thing. The roof is pretty short, so it isn't as tall as the ones on The Surface."

I grunted in agreement, "It also kept breaking down all the time."

Jennifer added, "True, I hear a little girl got trapped at the top once."

Eleanor replied to her sister, "Ah…that's right…I heard about that. Some guy got quite the workout trying to save her."

A simple cursory glance at the once functional entertainment device confirmed that it would never work again. The base of the machine had actually partially sunken into the foundation beneath it over time. However, it was due to the fact that it had only sunken in at its back left corner that was the reason why it was now not only nonoperational but also a significant threat to the nearby load-bearing bulkhead of the back rear of the enormous room. In fact, the ten-car ride was leaning over at almost a twenty-five-degree angle. In addition, there was no telling how much being submerged for the past ten years had damaged the structure. As a testament to how long it had been exposed to seawater, I could see a thick layer of crustacean growth along its exterior.

I was not an engineer but, if I had to guess, I would say that the only reason that the ride had not completely toppled over was that it was much wider than its typical topside counterpart. This was due to its designers maximizing the width of the cars in order to counter the cramped nature of Rapture. Thus, the two halves of the "wheel" were much further apart than its counterparts. As a result, the base had been significantly widened to be able to handle the increased weight of the overall machine.

The cars themselves were once a glossy baby blue color with chromed steel trimming. However, years of being submerged had taken a severe toll as now only occasional traces of the paint were still visible while most of the chrome had long since lost its luster due to the thick layer of algae and muck that had accumulated on the cars. While the car of a typical Ferris Wheel might be able to accommodate up to four or five people, the ones on the Ferris Wheel in Dionysus Park could accommodate up to ten people. At the center of its base sitting beside where the left massive wheel support column was mounted into the thick concrete pad, was the control booth. The booth had once been fully enclosed like a phone booth on The Surface but now several of the panes of reinforced glass were missing. All in all, to say that the ride had seen better days was an almost absurdly comical understatement.

The area around the Ferris Wheel was essentially an octagon that had had the left, top, and right straight sections removed to allow access to the area of Cohen's Collection, the area of Lamb's Garden, and the staircase along the far right wall that led to the lounge area that had a piano respectively, and was topped with a vivid green and white, reinforced stained glass ceiling. The masterfully crafted piece of glass was sitting on top of a metal framework that resembled the ones used to hold up large circus tents in how the beams all rose up to met at a central point beneath the middle of the ceiling. Meanwhile, to complete the overall atmosphere of the room, the walls around the Ferris Wheel had ornate, golden stars embedded into them that would shine ever so slightly when the ride was in operation due to the natural light coming in from the stained-glass ceiling.

The sight caused a brief flash of the memory of U.S.S. Torrey sailing through the silence of the nighttime around the Arctic Circle to flash before my Mind's Eye. On a perfectly clear night, the inky black sea resembled liquid obsidian glass and the auroras above us lit up the starry sky like multiple glowing green rivers. Out on deck, the only sounds that interrupted the silence was the deep rumble of the converted Fletcher-class Destroyer's engines and the sloshing of the water against her hull. Every so often, the eerie sentinel-like giants of oceangoing icebergs would appear out of the darkness. The best way I could describe the feeling was that it was almost as if we were the only human beings on the entire planet.

As I followed the blood trail as best I could considering the floor was covered with approximately a decade's worth of accumulated debris, the Gatherer's Garden Vending Machine that was against the wall to the right of the security door that led to the path that allowed access to the second floor balcony overlooking the once lush, ornate grand entrance to Lamb's Garden caught my eye. The memory of the sight of the Houdini Splicer materializing directly behind me within mere inches of my precious little charge and then simply dematerializing just before I had been able to swing my Drill back behind me in time to protect her flashed before my Mind's Eye as I looked at the device that had been directly responsible for the countless attempts on my bonded partner's life all those years ago.

My pent-up thoughts and frustrations seemingly decided to finally demand that I listen to them in that moment as I continued following the drops of blood towards the far end of the room. While memorizing details around me such as the pile of garbage that consisted of a pair of dark brown couches and a large, pressurized metal tank that had the unmistakable pool of ignitable contents beneath it in the area of the bottom left corner the rectangular opening in the inner decorative wall around the Ferris Wheel on this side of the room, even more memories began to fill my laboring mind.

The rise of the monster known as Subject Delta during the exponentially escalating genetic arms race of Rapture on the brink of civil war played out before me as the all too familiar demand for even more power from my old, worn frame roared to life once again. Meltzer loved his daughter just like only proper father would love his child. No one would dismiss his extraordinarily heroic actions to save Cindy from the underwater nightmare of Rapture as being "fake". However, the disgusting lunatics that had a single-minded fixation on ripping the ADAM out of my beautiful Eleanor thought of me as a Tin Man that fought for a lie. They all believed that my love for her was just some delusion that had been programmed into my broken mind.

By then, I had followed the blood trail to the threshold of the ornate security door that was directly opposite of the massive Ferris Wheel. Beneath my weighted diving boots was the slightly raised concrete platform that flanked the inner part of the spacious room in an almost horseshoe-shaped walkway that connected the entrances to Cohen's Collection and Sofia's Garden. A massive crack ran along the middle of the walkway that resembled the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and must have been the result of the deceptively heavy Ferris Wheel settling in the center of the room and pushing the foundation up around it. Pausing, I turned to my right to face the Gatherer's Garden Vending Machine where it was approximately ten yards from the door.

The device was placed in the middle of the second rounded concrete platforms with the one below it being wider and the pair giving the impression of the machine being at the top of a flight of incredibly short steps. Meanwhile, the disturbingly exploitative façade of the vending machine was being complimented by it being set back into the wall in a shallow rectangular "cubbyhole" that had ornate trims in the upper left and right corners that vaguely reminded me of a fancy picture frame.

I began to walk towards the device as I looked at the rightmost of the two Little Sister cartoon mascots that were standing on either side of it. Bitter, burning fury rose up inside me as I saw the concrete statue's smiling face. While it was true that I had sympathy for the fools that had gotten themselves addicted to ADAM, about the time that December of 1958 had come around, the addiction feedback loop had reached a level that was causing the supply line of the entire industry to be pushed to its breaking point. With demand outstripping the Gatherers' daily capacity to recycle the green slime-like substance from the seemingly unlimited supply of fresh Splicer corpses, we were forced to work more and more in order to provide as much of the precious commodity as we physically could, which essentially boiled down to our daughters sometimes being awake for days at a time. Any sympathy that I had once had for the addicts had long gone as the strain and physical exhaustion of the Protectors and Gatherers had taken an increasingly obvious toll on us.

After stopping in front of the Gatherer's Garden Vending Machine, I inserted my left arm into the square slot about halfway up the dark red painted device. Moments later, the built-in retractable needle of the dispensing system lowered down and then plunged its hollow point into my canvas and leather armored hide of my arm. The machine's flickering display powered to life to show me what products were available for purchase.

I let out a soft, surprised grunt when I found that there was a vast variety of available Plasmids and Tonics. However, I realized that it made sense that it would be considering that Dionysus Park had been flooded. Therefore, the machine had not been used by increasingly warmongering addicts during the war and the years following its conclusion.

After first selecting the Health and Eve upgrades, I began to think about how to make the best use of my available ADAM to further genetically modify my already heavily-spliced frame. Now that I would be dealing with Houdini Splicers more regularly, it would do me well to increase my Plasmid arsenal.

There was the tried and true Winter Blast line. Alongside Electro Bolt and Incinerate!, Winter Blast was so often wielded by Splicers that those of us in the Alpha Series jokingly referred to them as the "Holy Trinity". Much like its name implied, an injection from a true sample of the Winter Blast Plasmid rewrote an individual's DNA to allow that person to wield ice at will. Knockoff and bootleg versions, such as the one I once encountered around Apollo Square all those years ago, tended to instead turn the arm bones of a Splicer into a kind of one shot cannon that shredded the limb as it fired the icicle-like bone shards at an assailant. There was also a lesser known drinkable variant known as Old Man Winter. The primary difference between the two ice-based Plasmids was that the drinkable version rewrote a person's DNA to produce Dry Ice instead of regular ice.

Upon hitting a Splicer with Winter Blast, the genetic ice coated his or her body with a thick enough layer to effectively freeze her or him in place in a manner that was not unlike in those old black and white cartoons. In their state of deep freeze, Splicers were easily shattered into pieces with either a single, strong strike or a pair of strikes. Upgrading to Winter Blast 2 allowed the wielder to "charge" his or her blast to freeze an assailant into a solid block of ice that could then be combined with Telekinesis to throw said individual in addition to making the Splicer's body searchable after killing her or him as it did not shatter the body of the victim.

However, due to the popularity of Plasmids such as Winter Blast, Incinerate!, and Electro Bolt, Gene Tonics had been developed to either boost an individual's defense against their effects or boost their offense with their elemental-based genetic arsenal. During my time protecting Eleanor all those years ago, such genetic enhancements were only just starting to become widespread. However, due to the limitations of the commercially available Teleportation Plasmid, I was still fairly certain that the average Houdini Splicer did not have Ice Storm spliced into his or her system and, thus, meant that Winter Blast was still a very viable counter to them.

My other choice to help counter the appearance of the advanced Splicers was Insect Swarm. When it was first introduced to the public, the bee swarm-based genetic wonder product was, for obvious reasons, met with more than a few raised eyebrows. After all, unlike Electro Bolt or Incinerate!, there was seemingly no real practical use for it prior to the rise of ADAM-fueled warfare. It did finally find a home in places such as Arcadia and the Farmer's Market assisting the pollination of the plants that kept the "lungs" of Rapture functioning.

Once the raids on Protector/Gatherer pairs and against other Splicers started, Insect Swarm found a second life as a Combat Plasmid. In such cases, its former rarity actually proved to be an advantage as no commercially available Tonic was ever developed, at least as far as I knew, that countered the biting, stinging swarm of genetic insects that it produced. Essentially, the wielder would have a minor "mental link" with the swarm of bees that would actively seek out any threats to "the hive". Once one bee stung an individual, the pheromones that would be released into the air would cause the rest of the swarm to converge on that threat. The mental link was added after testing revealed the need to give the wielder a measure of control over the swarm to ensure that they only attacked or pollinated the objects that that person allowed them to as the "queen" of the hive.

The lifespan of the insects were, for obvious reasons, limited to about a minute at most after being released. However, what made the Plasmid particularly effective against Houdini Splicers was the fact that the swarm was homing and would actively pursue their victim even if the individual tried to use Teleportation to try to flee from them. This was due to the pheromones that the bees used to coordinate their attack. Once a victim was "tagged", trying to flee from them using something such as simple as Teleportation was basically pointless. Upgrading to Insect Swarm 2 gave the wielder access to more aggressive, powerful swarms with the ability to target more than one victim at a time.

There was also another bonus to Insect Swarm that was often lost on the average person that was unfamiliar with close quarters combat. Much like Electro Bolt, the swarm would immobilize and disorient the victim, which would thus render him or her the perfect target for a "One-Two Punch" combo with a melee weapon. More importantly, as a specialist with my Drill, I was severely lacking in any form of an ability to attack an assailant beyond the reach of my weaponized tool. While I did have Incinerate! spliced, the issue was that it was just as dangerous to me as it was to a Splicer. Even with Tonics, fire was fire and it would never discriminate between master and target. However, with the mental link in place, I would never be on the receiving end of my own genetic swarm and not even the heavily armored Bouncers and Rosies were immune to the mandibles and stingers of the bees.

Having talked myself into what I wanted to purchase, I took a deep breath. Then, because I had the available ADAM, selected the more expensive, upgraded Insect Swarm 2. I let out a loud growl of discomfort as my body began to shake in response to my DNA once again being forcibly rewritten. Luckily, by now, my body had grown accustomed to the shock of a Plasmid being spliced into its genetic code and, moments later, it was over. Since I was satisfied for the time being, I selected to have the needle removed from my arm and then stepped back from the Gatherer's Garden.

Holding my left arm up so that I could see its underside and the palm of my gauntlet-encased left hand, I saw the recent edition of honeycomb-like growths with the most pronounced of which being located around the main port in the middle of my palm. Meanwhile, crawling along my blue canvas and brown leather-armored arm and hand, were multiple bees that were standing by to literally give their lives to defend their hive at a moment's notice. Each of the black and yellow insects were approximately the length of a child's index finger and about as thick as a child's thumb.

In an almost comical moment, one of the bees left its post and flew up to look at me through my glowing segmented eye as if it was curious about the strange appearance of its new master. Even beneath my copper façade of my armored diving helmet, I was able to hear insect's distinctive buzzing sound as it continued to hover before me. Though it could have simply been my imagination, I could have sworn that, for a brief moment, I heard the insect give out a distinctly different buzzing sound that was a mixture of awe and curiosity as it took in my appearance. Then, seconds later, it flew back to its place among my new ready-made army of defenders.

As I turned to face in the direction of the ornate, watertight security door that led to the area of Lamb's Garden, I casually took note of the small larvae that were in a few of the cells of the honeycomb growths along my arm. The small white "baby" bees were on standby to mature at an unnaturally rapid pace to replace their fallen brethren. So long as I had EVE flowing through my system and had Insect Swarm as my active Plasmid, my body would actively ensure that there would always be a small army of bees ready to deploy at my will. More importantly, after numerous trial runs, the eggheads in the laboratories had found a formula that made the Plasmid have a relatively low EVE cost per use.

I had to admit, however, having a mental link with all the small insects would take some getting used to. It was as if I could "feel" them all. As I took in the new, unique sensations bombarding my mind, I began to idly wonder if what I was feeling was similar to how Eleanor felt in regards to the mental link she had with the new Little Sisters. A renewed sense of responsibility began to swell up inside me as the thought took hold inside my mind.

Sensing my train of thought, Eleanor reassured me from her throne on my back, "Oh my...don't worry, Johnny. The queen is beside herself with joy that her favorite soldier is returning to her side."

My bonded partner paused and then continued with an alluring tone that was alien to the body that she was controlling, "And that he is now fully willing to take her into his arms and mate with her over and over again until neither one of them can even move."

Various images flashed before my mind's eye before I could stop myself that elicited as soft almost purring-sounding noise from my beloved master.

From where she was on Alpha's back, Emily asked her partner, "Is Eleanor's honest, open lewdness not charmingly endearing, mi amore?"

My brother grunted with a flat tone in response, "No comment."

With my Drill and gloved left hand raised up at the ready, I turned to fully face the security door before me. The trail of blood continued on through the opening in the bulkhead though the blood drops were now more spread out as if the individual, who was most likely Meltzer, had recovered from the shock of the encounter with the Big Sister and was attempting to nurse the wound that he had received as he fled the scene. I could not help but smile at the fact that the fleeing man still had enough wits about him to avoid tripping or falling over the massive raised crack in the floor just before the door. Without even realizing it, I was starting to be impressed by the stubborn, determined father despite the fact that I had not even met him yet.

Standing before the ornate security door, I then cringed as I looked as the supposedly "watertight" bulkhead. The door was unique to this section of Rapture and, although it was manufactured and installed by Securis just like the rest of the ones in the underwater metropolis, it was far from reliable. Unlike the other security gates that were a single, thick metal wall that automatically lowered into place to prevent the spread of water in the case of a catastrophic structural failure, these gates were actually a pair of smaller, thinner halves that opened by going in the opposite direction of each other to the left and right.

The seam created in the middle of the gate halves rendered the door useless in the event of a flood scenario because the water pressure would simply force them apart and rush onward to the rest of Dionysus Park with ever increasing speed and power like a domino effect. Meanwhile, all throughout the area there were numerous other examples of visually pleasing aesthetics being prioritized over design safety and robustness. In addition, the plumbing network had a horrifically dangerous design flaw that made a catastrophic water main burst-induced flooding event even more likely than in other areas of the city.

When I informed Sofia about how her home was essentially a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment, she had, at first, politely dismissed my concerns though she had genuinely seemed grateful for them. However, when she herself began to investigate on her own, the reality of the situation finally hit home, and she secretly began to fund renovations and improvements to the watertight security measures and plumbing network. However, before any serious work had been done, she had been incarcerated and Stanley began to waste so much of her money on parties and other social events trying to ruin her that the renovations had halted. When he flooded Dionysus after I was no longer around to keep an eye on him or prevent anything from happening, the few improvements that had been done were useless against the power of the floodwater.

After stepping over the crack in the floor, I stepped towards the door. It opened with only a small amount of protest and I began to walk through the open bulkhead. As I did, I saw the once fancy pair of tables that ran from one end of the approximately twenty-yard-long wall that was directly before me about ten yards from the open doorway. The leftmost table had flipped over with its top facing me with its left corner now being sunken several inches into the layer of mud that covered the floor.

Meanwhile, on the right, slime-covered table, I saw that most of the once brilliantly shinning pieces of silver cutlery and bottles of alcoholic beverages that once provided high class refreshments and food to the guests were long gone save for four bottles of wine that remained upright on left side of the still tablecloth-covered five-yard-long by one-yard-wide tabletop and two porcelain plates that were next to each other in its center. Strangely, there was a yellow with green striped party hat sitting to the right to the bottles of wine and a First Aid Kit sitting in the front left corner of the table. As I entered the room, the vibration caused by my heavy footfalls caused the outermost wine bottle to roll off the end of the table. The bottle continued to roll along the dark green mud-covered floor towards me for a brief moment until finally coming to a stop less than a foot away from me.

However, I did not have time to study my surroundings further beyond the pair of mirrored staircases that, if I was recalling correctly, were "L"-shaped and led up to the second floor of the square-shaped path around the central wall of this room that was actually a disguised massive, critical load-bearing column that continued down deep into the bedrock before I heard a commotion coming from beyond the door that was to my right approximately thirty yards away. The door led to the area beyond that served as the main area of what was proudly displayed above it in bright green letters in the middle of a half circle sign with the "A", "M", "B", and "S" being ornately back by what looked like green leaves, "Lamb's Garden".

As I moved towards the ornate security door, crushing the bottle of wine beneath the copper heel of my weighted diving boot-entombed right foot as I did so, I heard a young woman ask what I had to assume was Meltzer with a voice that sounded as if the addict was actually genuinely curious, "Is it someone new?"

I heard Meltzer give some response that was too low for me to properly make out. By then, I had reached the door and it began to open with a noticeable amount of sluggishness as the old, waterlogged mechanism struggled to work properly.

Meanwhile, I heard the female Splicer ask with a disappointed tone, "I bet you don't even have any ADAM on you, do you darlin'?"

Knowing the denizens' tendency to sadistically toy with what they perceived to be easy prey, I reached out and gripped the left half of the gate with my gloved left while also pressing the right side of my Drill against the other half.

As I began to forcibly pry the door fully open, the seriousness of the situation became even more clear as I heard her remark with a darkening, low tone, "No matter…now, you're going to put that knife down like a good boy...I know something that you can help me with instead, darlin'."

I only had time to take note of the single, dead tree in the middle of a large pool of seawater in the middle of the of the approximately seventy-yard-long by fifty-yard-wide, three-story-tall main courtyard of the area as I descended down the short, rectangular flight of stairs in front of the now open door and then followed the pair of voices and now visible footprints in the mud that led to the entrance to the "L" shaped flight of stairs to my left that went into the wall and led up to the second story balcony above us along the left wall.

The bottom of the flight of stairs was in the left corner of the room and, forcing my heavily armored frame towards the voices as fast as it could go, I rushed to the aid of the injured newcomer to Rapture. Though their ADAM-ravaged bodies rendered all the Splicers as being, at least from a reproductive standpoint, little more than sterile, androgynous dolls, that did not stop them from at least attempting to entertain their more carnal desires.

I reached the slightly mud and rubble covered flight of stairs and began to ascend up to the landing a few steps up where the bend in the "L" was located. There was an abandoned but still completely full EVE syringe laying on its side in the right corner of the landing with its plunger facing in my direction and its needle pointed in the direction of the ascending stairs to the right. Meanwhile, the landing itself was illuminated in a strangely beautiful orange glow thanks to the small collection of bioluminescent seaweed that was growing along the upper left corner of the wall behind it and along the ceiling above it.

Nearly slamming my left shoulder into the wall as I turned, I managed to round the corner and then began to ascend the flight of stairs leading up to the main area of the balcony. As I ascended the rubble-covered staircase, I was able to just barely see the head of a young woman over the top of the landing above me. The homicidal addict was looking down at something off to the left and, as I continued racing up the steps, I was soon able to see that she was trying to pin down a middle-aged Caucasian man.

Upon reaching the top landing of the stairs, I was able to see that the approximately twenty five-year-old woman in a torn dark red dress that had a familiar style that was once very popular among the socialites of Rapture's Upper Class, except she was missing the hat that went along with it, was trying to physically restrain the much older man as she had the Noir detective-dressed newcomer pinned down in the middle of the grimy, slime-covered couch that was against the left wall of the approximately ten-yard-long by fifteen-yard-wide area that was connected to the small balcony to the right. Against the far back wall at the top of a small flight of stairs was a Circus of Values Vending Machine that was placed in a small slot cut into the wall around it just like the fancy display mount of the Gatherer's Garden by the Ferris Wheel.

To his credit, Meltzer was, albeit only temporarily, able to hold the Splicer back enough with enough strength to keep her from being able to completely straddle him. However, the ADAM-corrupted woman would have likely eventually overpowered him as she easily held his right hand down on the surface of the couch to keep his knife at bay as she moved her left knee up to be able to relieve her left hand from where it was holding his right wrist. Meanwhile, her dirty, bloodied right hand was roughly holding the older individual by his neck as she apparently was already holding down his left hand with her right knee.

There was one final short flight of stairs between us and, by now, though the pair had seemingly been so engrossed in their struggle that they had been ignorant to my approach until I had reached the bottom of the last flight of steps, they both finally became aware of my presence. Letting out an unintelligible cry of what might have been a mishmash of various crude expletives, the woman stood up and then began to make a move for the modified Thompson Submachine Gun that she had left on the ground in the middle of the room in order to have both hands to restrain Meltzer.

However, the denizen was only able to just able to reach down for her weapon before I was upon her. Swinging my Drill from my left all the way back across to my right like a baseball bat, I struck the young woman in the center of her horribly disfigured face. The sounds of ripping flesh and cracking bone filled the air as the raised grooves of my Industrial-grade tool gouged out chunks of the Splicer's face while the strength of my blow was powerful enough to send her flying back through the air to slam into the wall above the Circus of Values Vending Machine. The impact with the wall was enough to audibly crack the denizen's back as she left a shallow crater in the surface of the reinforced concrete beyond the wall's thin, ornate façade.

The Splicer landed awkwardly on her feet in front of the still functioning vending machine and was falling forward just before I thrust the whirling, razor-sharp tip of my weaponized mining tool into her chest while continuing to run forward. Green-tinted blood and torn flesh showered my heavily armored frame as I lifted the stunned denizen back up off her feet and then thrust her back into the middle of wall above the Circus of Values. However, the spray of blood was soon joined by clouds of pulverized concrete as my Drill deepened the crater as it easily bored its way through its victim to effectively disembowel her before continuing on through her spine and then into the wall behind her.

However, despite her horrendous injuries, the ADAM in her body kept the deranged addict alive. I forcibly ripped my Drill out of the denizen while grabbing hold of what remained of the woman's skull with my massive gloved left hand. Then, letting out a loud, guttural roar that shook the air around us, I swiftly turned and made my way over to stand before the concrete railing of the balcony.

The balcony itself was small, being only about five-yards-wide and only approximately one yard out from the wall. The opening out onto the balcony was actually rather ornate with golden accents along the top corners similar to the ones above the Gatherer's Garden. Meanwhile, the railing was rectangular and comprised of a row of vertical pieces sandwiched between two horizontal sections. There were four vertical lengths along the left and right sides and eight in the longer, middle section. The railing itself was simple reinforced concrete but there was a set of four chrome steel sections in front of the outside rails that were patterned to resemble ocean waves and had two shoulder high newel posts with one on the left and right ends.

In the brief moment I had while I was making my way over to it with the Splicer held in the air above me frantically and futilely clawing at the thick leather and canvas skin of my left arm, I saw that there was a tall, cylindrical, black painted metal ashtray in the left corner of the balcony. Strangely, there were also two Proximity Mines and a bullet shaped Frag Grenade on the ground around the ashtray.

Letting out a final guttural roar, I thrust the Splicer neck first down into the middle of the center railing. The sound of snapping vertebrae filled the air as the force of the impact snapped her neck as the concrete railing gave way and the addict finally came to a stop as she hit the top of the chrome steel panel beneath it. A sick metal thud was just barely audible over the sound of cracking bone as the woman finally met her end.

Leaving the still twitching, broken corpse on top of the panel, I turned back to face Meltzer. The non-spliced newcomer to the hellish sunken city was now on his feet. With Subject Alpha blocking the way back down to the bottom floor, he was still holding his knife, which resembled a smaller version of the United States Marine Corps' infamous KA-BAR Combat Knife, in as best of a correct, tactical stance as he could manage given the small wound that was visible around his left pectoral area. The blood pool had bled through his now dirtied white business shirt to stain his blue leather trench coat.

His matching blue brimmed hat was still on the couch, which caused his slightly greying black hair to be visible. I had to admit that I had respect for anyone, let alone a newcomer, that was able to stand before me as I powered down my blood-soaked Drill and then stood a few steps away from him without showing even the slightest sign of fear on his weathered, moderately tanned face.

However, before the situation could escalate out of control, Eleanor ordered everyone, "Stop, all of you! Put me down, Father."

Despite my wariness, I obeyed my bonded partner and knelled down before then gently lifting the delicate child off my back with my gloved left hand. Upon being placed down on the ground, the Little Sister took a step towards the man and then stopped.

Above the sound of me standing back up and then moving to stand directly behind the precious child, Eleanor addressed the man with a courteous, refined tone, "Please, do not be alarmed, Mister Meltzer."

A brief expression of surprise appeared on the man's face before he demanded, "How do you know my name? Who are you?"

My daughter's tone never wavered as she replied while ever so slightly lifting up the left and right side of the hem of her dress while she gave a shallow bow by putting her left leg behind her right one and then lowering herself down, "My name is Eleanor Lamb. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

Then, letting go of her dress and standing fully back upright, she continued, "I know much more than your name. I will explain everything…just let us help you…you will not be able to save Cindy in your current condition."

As Meltzer continued to eye me, Eleanor explained with a disarming tone, "Be at ease, he is my bonded Big Daddy: Subject Delta. He is the best and most powerful Protector in Rapture, but he does not bite unless you harm one of my sisters or I order him to."

She then pointed toward my brother with her right index finger and introduced them, "That is Emily and her bonded Big Daddy: Subject Alpha."

Alpha casually saluted the injured man with his free gloved left hand while Emily lowered her head slightly before raising it back up as she addressed Meltzer with a serene, enchanting tone, "Bonjour Monsieur. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Whether the man was actually convinced that we meant him no harm or he simply realized that it was best to play along for the time being, I did not know, but he finally sheathed his survival knife in a dark brown leather sheath that was attached to his worn black belt.

With the situation seemingly pacified, Eleanor approached the newcomer with a graceful, refined pace as she continued with a British-accented voice that was dripping with an almost supernatural amount of charisma, "I apologize for not being able to greet you upon your arrival. We had instructed all of the patrolling Big Sisters to be prepared to rendezvous with you when you used the Bathysphere in the Lighthouse to enter the city."

The Little Sister stopped directly in front of the trench coat-clad man and then finished, "However, I had not anticipated for my Father's revival to be discovered so quickly. As a result of my miscalculation, the Big Sister in Adonis was ordered to switch from patrolling the resort to shadowing him instead. Thus, she was unable to meet you when you docked, and you were gone by the time that he had reached the remains of the Bathysphere. No matter..."

Raising her delicate, free left hand towards him, Eleanor said with a lighter, kind tone that was somehow still laced with traces of unimaginable intelligence and confidence, "I know that you have been in a living nightmare and I truly do apologize for you and your daughter getting mixed up in my Mother's madness. I intend to make everything right. Now…allow me to be the first to formally welcome you."

After pausing for a moment, she stated, "Welcome to Rapture, Mister Meltzer."

There was a moment of hesitation before the middle-aged man gently shook my beautiful, bonded partner's hand as he thanked her while glancing over at me as if he was still concerned that I would strike him down for so much as touching the Little Sister, "Thank you…Eleanor."

Trying to help resolve his unease around me, I attempted to extend a proverbial "olive branch" by using my Telekinesis to return Meltzer's .38 Webley Mark IV Revolver back to him from where it was still held in place along the exterior of one of the special, magnetized weights of my diving belt. As the small caliber revolver levitated in the air before him with the butt of the weathered, wood-inlaid grip pointed towards him, the latest addition to the growing team around me eyed me for a moment with a somewhat surprised expression on his dirtied face before he then took his sidearm back from me.

As he did, my built-in shortwave radio powered to life. Moments later, Sinclair addressed me with his Southern-accented voice, "I see that we have another addition to our merry band o' thieves. We will need 'em. Now, head over to the train station and see what deal Poole is sellin'."

My radio powered down and I turned my attention to the wounded individual before me. However, before any of us could speak, the sound of suction drew our attention back to the corpse of the Splicer. There, we saw Jennifer casually drawing the ADAM out of the body with her weaponized needle as she calmly looked over at the newcomer to the dying city from beneath her bulbous, armored diving helmet. In her free right hand, the lithe young woman held a First Aid Kit, which was likely the one that had been on the table in the previous room.

Without even missing a beat, the Elite Big Sister tossed the lifesaving kit to the injured newcomer. Meltzer caught the small rectangular object in his left hand and then simply looked at the armored assassin before him with a wary expression. The young woman let out an amused mechanical-sounding noise as she causally ripped her weaponized needle out of the corpse at her feet.

As she continued to look at the middle-aged man before her, Jennifer began to raise her gloved hands up to her helmet while she started with her normal, if muffled angelic voice, "You need not fear me, Mister Meltzer…"

With a hiss of pressurized air, the Elite Big Sister unlocked her armored diving helmet and then lifted it over her head before finally bringing it down to hold it steady in front of her chest. The silver-haired goddess looked at the shocked newcomer with her enchanting, glowing viper-like eyes for a moment with a faint smirk as she seemed to enjoy his reaction to her appearance.

Then, the unimaginably intelligent young woman finished, "…I am not the monster that you have probably taken me and my sisters for."

Meltzer's reaction to the sight before him was about what one would have expected for an outsider. To be fair, even most residents of Rapture would be shocked to see the face of one of the armored young women that now patrolled the halls of the dying city. Similar to how the residents of the metropolis had reacted to the first appearance of my brethren and I, I would imagine that Cindy's father had either assumed that the Big Sisters were either some kind of machine or were simply inhuman monsters beneath their armor.

Due to her sister's social awkwardness, Eleanor stepped in and informed Cindy's father, "Once you get to know us, we are all good girls at heart…"

My daughter paused for a moment and then said, "…just like Cindy. Lovely, clever little girl by the way…you should be proud. She has been such a delight…she has solved every puzzle and riddle we could think of and find for her. Do not worry, once we exorcise the sea slug inside her, she will be cured and will be at least physically back to normal."

A look that was a mixture of shock and relief erupted on the newcomer's face for a moment before he fell to his knees before Eleanor and then asked with a desperate tone, "There…there's a cure?!"

My bonded partner smiled and then assured him, "Yes…I will explain and answer all of your other questions later. For now, we need to keep moving. Splicers are about and it is not wise to stay out in the open for too long."

Moving forward, I began to reach down with my free gloved left hand and then gently picked the tiny little girl up before finally placing her on her throne on my back.

Looking at Meltzer from beneath my segmented glass porthole, I grunted, "The ADAM in their system makes them far more durable and dangerous than normal humans. The only way to efficiently kill a Splicer is to destroy the brain completely or sever the brainstem."

After Eleanor translated for me, Meltzer replied as he applied the First Aid Kit, "Thanks."

I let out a simple grunt in response before I then turned back to face the staircase and then began to make my way towards the train station. As I did, I felt the now all too familiar feeling of bliss fill my mind before, moments later, my vision was partially obscured by a soft, pinkish hue as Eleanor's beautiful, accented voice filled my being as she remarked, 'Cindy will certainly be happy to see her father again.'

I replied with my gruff, weathered human voice, 'More importantly, it is another variable that we will have more control over.'

My daughter let out an exaggerated, fake cry of shock before she remarked, 'Oh my…Daddy is so manipulative. Oh dear...oh dear...could it be that he is the one that corrupted poor sweet, Eleanor?'

I let out a short laugh before I replied through our Pair Bond, 'If anything, it was the other way around.'

My now grown bonded companion let out a low, dark laugh and then said with a tone that sent a shot through my system, 'Daddy loves it. After all, men love being corrupted by darkness.'

By then, I had reached the bottom of the stairs and had stepped out into the main room. In the middle of the far wall to my left was the entrance to the main indoor forest-type area of Lamb's Garden. The collection of foliage was actually, in its prime, somewhat of a rival for Arcadia and the Farmer's Market. Sofia had created it to be a communal alternative to the profit-driven latter set up by Ryan. A small army of volunteers maintained the grounds but the often overburdened supporting infrastructure was only just barely kept in functioning order by the small group of maintenance workers that I was in charge of and, most of the time, I was the only one doing the work itself.

Now, however, the ornate entrance to the area proper appeared to have long since been inaccessible. In addition, the identically ornate security gate that allowed access to the side area directly beyond tree was not only inaccessible but also on the verge of complete structural failure as water was cascading down the front of it from a rupture in the seal along the top of the door. Meanwhile, of all the lush greenery had once occupied the center of the room, only the gnarled, dead remains of a singular tree now remained as it was bathed in a pool of seawater due to the ruptured seal of the nearby security gate.

In the place of the once lush garden, there was now a collection of bright orange bioluminescent seaweed growing along the middle of the short flight of stairs that surrounded the perimeter of the pool around the tree and also along the bottom corners of the compromised security door. As I briefly glanced around, I saw that, in fact, the entire room was now partially covered with seaweed that was dark green with red tips. The fact that only the dead tree now remained of the entirety of the original foliage of "Lamb's Garden" seemed like it could have possibly been some kind of metaphor. However, I did not have the time to properly ponder that as my attention was drawn by the sound of a young man rambling back in the direction of the previous room.

I let out a low, rumbling roar as I lifted my Drill back up at the ready. The genetic insects that had once covered my gauntlet-encased left hand were replaced by arcs of bright blue genetic electricity in anticipation of dealing with the singular individual in the tight confines of the area just before the much more open room with the Ferris Wheel.

'Conspiring with another newcomer? Are you getting arrogant again, old man?'

The voice of the monster Subject Delta rolled through my mind like an icy wave.

'You and I both know firsthand that a new face in this dump awakens the hornet's nest more than a Little One being paraded through Apollo Square. Steel yourself, old man…this is not the time to start holding back.'

With that, the monster retreated back to the confines of his prison deep inside my mind. While we rarely saw eye to eye, in this case, I had to admit that the psychopath was correct. Splicers reacted to newcomers worse than they did to a Little Sister. While the beautiful angels were seen as a rare treasure that required bringing down their Big Daddy Protectors to even get close to, outsiders were, as Ryan so passionately labelled them, "Parasites". A new face was seen as nothing more to them than an insect that was to be hunted down and exterminated. Having Meltzer in our group would attract even more attention than we already did but that was a small price to pay if we succeeded in reuniting him with Cindy.

As I neared the security door and it retracted into its open position with a loud, metallic screech, I saw a young, Caucasian man in his late twenties or early thirties clad in a tattered, plaid, brown vest and torn green pants with a lumpy, bandaged head standing on top of the closest table. Despite being barefoot, the modified Thompson Submachine Gun-wielding Splicer kicked a heavy, silver serving tray at me.

I let out an annoyed grunt as the object harmlessly bounced off the thick copper exterior of my reinforced, armored diving helmet after only leaving a small indent along my already battle worn face as it let out a dull metallic thud. Apparently oblivious to just how useless his effort had been to try to harm me with a simple kicked serving tray to my head, the deranged addict let out a smug, victorious cackle as he then jumped forward off the table to land about ten yards away from me just at the edge of the pool of water caused by the waterfall cascading down the flight of stairs to the right.

I had to admit, for a Splicer, the man still had a fairly decent amount of awareness to be able to not only utilize the tray to try to get the drop on me but to also avoid standing in the water when his opponent was visibly wielding the Electro Bolt Plasmid. The addicts were notorious for not exactly being all there when it came to being aware of the reality around them and would often wander haphazardly into environmental traps or would fail to utilize their environment in ways other simply using tight quarters or open spaces to their advantage. Either the man had always been an extraordinarily observant person such as an artist or someone how made a living based on his attention to detail, or he had recently managed to scrounge up some ADAM and his mental faculties had partially returned. However, unfortunately for the denizen, he was facing an adversary that simply far too powerful for him to have been able to defeat.

Letting out a low grunt, I willed a blast of Electro Bolt from the ported digits of my gauntlet-encased left hand into the Leadhead Splicer. The denizen howled in agony as his frame was surrounded by arcs of genetic electricity. The man's clothing was actually being to smoke as I stepped forward as the high energy arcs threatened to ignite the tattered remains of his attire. Before he could recover from the effects of my Plasmid, I thrust the razor-sharp tip of my Industrial-grade Drill into the denizen's head.

Blood mixed with skull fragments filled the air along with the sound of cracking bone as the force of the blow sent the Splicer stumbling backwards to collide with the side of the table that he had just been standing on top of only moments prior. The now nearly decapitated individual actually hit the piece of slime-covered furniture with enough force to send him face first onto the top of the table where he landed with his legs still hanging over the side. His bare, malformed feet began to partially sinking into the pile of mud that had grown up around the table as what was likely fresh ADAM allowed the genetically augmented addict to recover from now having most of his face missing enough to begin to push his upper body back up with his arms just in time for me to stop directly behind him.

The denizen's movements finally ceased forever when I brought the armored heel of my right diving boot down onto the back of his skull. The force of the impact was not only enough to completely crush the Splicer's skull but it was also enough to partially demolish the thick table beneath my weighted diving boot-entombed right foot.

As I stepped back from the mass of bloodied wood and flesh, Eleanor remarked with her angelic, edged, accented voice, "Resourceful but futile."

Taking the lead, I began to make my way over to the security door that allowed access to the large room beyond that housed the Ferris Wheel. Fortunately, as I passed through the ornate gate, I was met only by the sounds of flowing water as the large space was seemingly devoid of any wandering Splicers. From where we were, there were two different routes to the station. The first was through the security door that was directly to our left and, to be fair, it was more of a side path than anything else. The other was through the door at the far back of the room and it was the path that went directly through the main part of Dionysus Park.

As I did not have a strong desire to lead a parade that included two Little Sisters and a newcomer straight through the main area of Sofia's former residence if I could avoid it, I decided to use the side route and began to make my way through the ankle-deep pool of seawater at the base of the somehow still functional Gene Bank that was mounted on the wall beyond the Gatherer's Garden Vending Machine as I proceeded towards the nearest security door on the left. I casually glanced at the sideways dark blue with gold trim trash can that was partially submerged near the edge of the pool of water with the top of it facing in the direction directly behind me as I passed it and then exited the icy seawater while I continued on towards the door.

The watertight Securis security door that I was making my way towards was not one of the ornate ones since the path it allowed access to was used primarily only by maintenance crew personnel and Big Daddies. I actually felt a small feeling of nostalgia as I saw the now slightly crooked rectangular white sign that had a somewhat fancy brass frame above the gate that was now cast in an orange glow by the three stalks of bioluminescent seaweed that hung from the roof of the thick concrete frame that the door itself was mounted into that had the two black lettered-words "Employees Only" with the first word on top of the second word in the center of said sign. With no expense being spared on opulence, there was, of course, a large brass half sun embedded into the wall directly above the top of the doorway that was tall enough to reach the ceiling.

Fortune apparently still favored me as the gate opened without much protest upon reaching it. However, in Rapture, luck only got you so far. Upon stepping through the open doorway, I heard two distinct voices coming from beyond the bend of the "L"-shaped ten-yard-long path before me. The path itself was divided by an open archway that was nearly identical to the one that the security door was mounted into that was about two or three steps from the door itself. Meanwhile, at the end of the path where it made a ninety degree right turn, there were three more identical archways with one leading off to the left, one merely serving as the far wall, and the third leading off to where the path continued to the right.

In the middle of the far wall beyond where I was standing in the middle of open doorway, I could see that there were four identical rectangular black signs that were mounted parallel to each other into the wall. In now slightly yellowed white letters, the top three signs said, in order from top to bottom, "The Promenade", "Triton Cinema", and finally, "To Trains". The last sign was merely a large, yellowed white arrow pointing to the right. Meanwhile, the once pristine walls and floor were now covered in thick green mud, outcroppings of fist-sized barnacles, and bioluminescent deep-sea plant life.

As I continued forward with my Industrial-grade Drill at the ready and the arc of genetic electricity around my gauntlet-encased left hand now replaced by a ready-made army of genetic bees, I was able to make out that the two voices were of a middle-aged woman approximately in her forties and a younger man that was either in his late twenties or early thirties. The woman was lamenting her current state and how "disgraceful" it was. However, while the female Splicer's ramblings were nothing that I had not heard before from one of the fallen former elite of Rapture Society, her companion's rantings proved to be far more interesting.

As I listened while I made my way towards the right turn, I heard the addict rant on to either himself, the woman, or maybe even to no one in particular about some betrayal that he seemed to have suffered recently. The denizen was saying things such as, "Partners, we were partners" and also something that sounded along the lines of, "Share and share alike, we said." What remained of my humanity grimaced slightly beneath my emotionless copper façade as I heard the addict's statements.

One of the symptoms of long-term ADAM abuse and withdraw was extreme paranoia. Friendships and alliances meant nothing to a Splicer if he or she got even the slightest bit suspicious that someone was holding out on her or him. I had personally witnessed two men that had served together during The War go from laughing and having a drink together to one of them trying to beat the other to death with his bare hands literally seconds later because he had suddenly got the idea in his twisting mind that his longtime comrade was either going to or already had stolen his ADAM while he was not looking.

Upon making my way through the open archway that was a few steps away from the security door, I was able to see that there was a functional Vita Chamber in the middle of the leftmost archway of the three that were directly in front of me. I had not been able to see if from where I had been moments prior due to it being obscured by the archway that I was currently making my way through. The miraculous devise had not been there the last time I had walked down this maintenance route and the space it was currently occupying had simply been just another chubby hole that was used primary as extra storage space.

Upon reaching the end of the hallway, I turned right and saw the rectangular shaped storage room that was beyond the open archway. However, though I could still hear the Splicers in the room beyond and even saw their animated shadows on the far right wall approximately twenty yards from where I was in the middle of the entrance to the room, which was in the far left corner, the remains of the grime-covered, ten-yard-long shelf that went from directly against the left wall about five yards from the entrance and went directly out into the room blocked my view of the rest of the room and, more importantly, my view of the denizens beyond its now rotten planks. Even at the bottom of the shelves, where most of the backs had completely rotted and fallen away, there was still a massive, almost boulder-looking object that was covered by a white sheet placed on the ledge directly in front of the last section of the shelves and, thus, blocked of my view of the part of the room where the Splicers were moving around.

There was a small river of seawater originating from a crack in the skylight in the ceiling just in front of the shelves that traveled all the way around in front of the shelf and then down the short flight of steps to the right of it that ran between the shelf and the far right wall as it created a shallow channel through the layer of seashell-filled mud on the floor. Had the water been deeper, my Electro Bolt Plasmid would have been perfect to use to surprise any assailants that walked up the flight of steps to try to attack me before I could make my way around the shelf. However, it was simply too shallow for me to use the Plasmid to create a proper environmental trap.

There was a huge deluge of water flowing down from a large crack in the actual ceiling itself just on the other side of the shelves. In addition, there appeared to be a deep pool of water along the right wall further back in the room from what I could see around the side of the far end of the shelves. Finally, and by a seeming stroke of luck, there were two algae-covered Ferris Wheel seats sitting longways parallel to each other in the right corner that would force anyone coming around the end of the shelves into a kind of pseudo choke point created between them, the large sheet-covered object, and the end of the shelves.

Sudden cries of alarm from the two individuals alerted me to the fact that they had become aware of my approach, most likely due to my heavy footfalls, and yet I could still not be certain of their exact location. Realizing that this was as good a time as any to test out the latest addition to my Plasmid Arsenal, I thrust my left arm out in front of me with my open palm held towards the ceiling as I willed my genetic insect army into action.

The swarm almost immediately proved their worth as my original assessment of the situation proved to be incorrect when a middle-aged woman clad in a tattered formal blue dress and wielding a modified Thompson Submachine Gun, a younger man that was maybe in his early thirties dressed in more casual attire of a blue vest with a long sleeve undershirt and dark blue pants along with a worn welding mask and was wielding a pump action shotgun, and an older man wearing a white bird masquerade mask along with a torn white business suit and dark tan pants and was wielding a modified Thompson Submachine Gun, all walked out around the far end of the shelves with their weapons at the ready only to be simultaneously and uniformly assaulted by the genetic insects. The denizens all howled in both shock and agony as they were viciously assailed by their respective swarms. More importantly the impassioned efforts of the bees allowed me to quickly turn right and then make my way over to the Splicers with my Drill and now genetic electricity-wielding gauntlet-encased left hand at the ready.

The woman, who had been more or less leading the group around the shelf, never even had a chance as, in her panic, she had turned her back to me when I reached her. With a perfect angle, I thrust the razor-sharp tip of my weaponized mining tool into the base of her skull. My blow successfully severed the brainstem and the Splicer collapsed into a heap on the mud-covered floor dead as a doornail.

The welding mask wearing individual, who had been flanking the woman on her right, never had a chance either as he failed to fire his shotgun before I picked him up by the front of his head and then used his own welding mask like a press to crush his skull flat like a watermelon as I thrust his frame into the nearby wall to my right that was parallel with the shelf and, incidentally, where there was a large, framed advertisement poster of Dionysus Park. The poster, which had been white with the red lettered words "Dionysus Park" at the top, two now grime obscured figures in the center, and finally the black-lettered words "Go Wild" at the bottom, crumpled up in the center as blood and brain matter was sprayed all over it. The now ruined poster was left just barely managing to stay hanging on the wall after the Splicer had been thrust into it.

By then, I was standing directly across from the middle of the short flight of steps. Hearing a cry of surprise that was then silenced by a dull metallic thud, I swiftly dropped the limp body of the deceased Splicer while simultaneously wheeling back to my left to face towards the rest of the storage room. There, about five yards from the base of the steps, lying face down on the ground only inches away from the rear of a badly damaged Ferris Wheel seat, which had placed longways just to the left of the bottom step so that it faced in the direction of the back of the thirty-five-yard-long room, was the now the almost comically immobilized bird mask wearing man.

Apparently, in his vigorous attempts to fight off the swarm of genetic insects, he had lost his footing as the man's miraculously still intact shoes lost their grip due to the slick mud, which caused his feet to slip out from beneath him. Upon falling, the unfortunate individual had apparently then hit the exposed side of his masked head on a section of the metal bars of the Ferris Wheel seat, which had effectively almost knocked him out cold. With the remaining insects now all rallying to furiously attack him en masse while he was still on the ground, the dazed denizen attempted to get to his feet, leaving his beaked mask stuck in the mud beneath him as he did so. However, he only managed to raise his now badly bitten torso up slightly before I stomped his head back down onto the floor and crushed it flat beneath the heel of my weighted diving boot-entombed right foot.

Before I could even remotely celebrate the success of my latest Plasmid, however, my helmet's built-in shortwave radio crackled to life.

Moments later, Sofia addressed me with a thinly-veiling accusative tone in her British accented voice, "Dionysus Park was my home, Delta…an experiment in social unity, cut short by human folly. You dishonor its memory with every step…"

Sofia had no more finished before Poole addressed me in an annoying manner that had him trying and failing miserably to not sound suspicious, "Now that…see: Lamb knows you're here but I'm incognito. Thing is, since you drain out the Park, the Little Sisters are already startin' to nose around, lookin' for ADAM. And I can't have that."

My instinct to thrust my face into the nearest wall in annoyance of being stuck in the middle of some inane, pathetic triangle between Sofia and Stanley was mirrored perfectly by Eleanor as she commented through our bond with her entrancing voice, 'Oh my God, this is more awkward than watching a Lover's Triangle.'

I calmly reminded my bonded Little Sister, 'Keep playing it cool, kid. We have the advantage so long as they aren't aware of how intact my memories and mind are.'

Now speaking out loud in my Alpha Series voice as I turned to look at our newest addition to our merry band of thieves, I remarked, "More importantly, if this is going to go down how I think it is, this will be a perfect time to train and teach Mister Meltzer how to protect Cindy once we find her."

My brother, who was standing at the base of the flight of steps remarked that only someone that genuinely knew him would realize was a joking tone, "Subject Omega then, sir?"

I let out a series of grunt-like laughs before I replied, "Something like that."

Eleanor remarked, "I don't think there are any more intact Alpha Series Suits left unless Mother and The Family have one stashed away somewhere."

I smiled slightly before I replied, "Don't need one. A Protector isn't the Big Daddy Suit…it is the individual inside of it."

Eleanor asked with an amused tone, "Oh wow, you have been waiting to crank out that gem for a while haven't you, Father?"

Instantly falling into her trap, I shot back, "Oh yeah...you know it, El. As the great, charismatic leader, I'm entitled to these things."

My comment caused my partner to let out a loud, genuine laugh before she remarked, "You are such a dork, Father!"

However, catching me off guard, she then leaned over and positioned herself so that all I could see through my segmented glass eye was the Little Sister's angelic face. Eleanor silenced my confused grunt as she narrowed her eyes and smiled in a way that was alien on the face of such an innocent child.

Then, through our physiological bond, she remarked with a sultry, adult tone that actually managed to send a jolt through my frame with its almost unnerving yet still entrancing intensity, 'But you are MY dork, Johnny.'

She then kissed the surface of my porthole gently before retracting. Due to the camera that was mounted on my helmet being positioned directly on top, and her using our bond to communicate the last part of the conversation, anyone watching through the camera would have had no idea what she had just done and the layman, such as Meltzer, would have likely just assumed that it was just a Little Sister kissing her Big Daddy Protector as a cute, innocent gesture.

This was proven moments later when Cindy's father actually smiled slightly from where he was between Alpha and Jennifer before he then commented, "You two sure are close."

Emily let out a soft giggle before she remarked, "Ja…Monsieur Topside and Sister Eleanor are very close, Mister Meltzer."

The newcomer gave her a confused look, prompting Eleanor to cryptically state as she repositioned herself back onto her throne on my back, "Love is both a blessing and a curse, Mister Meltzer."

Turning back around, I only just barely took note of the grime-covered crates in the middle of the pool of seawater in the far right corner of the room, the shelves spanning the entire back wall, the corpse of a middle-aged woman in a tattered formal blue dress with exposed white undergarments positioned on her left side between the pool of water and the security door with her head facing towards the door, which was up a short flight of stairs in the far left corner of the room, and the various stalks of deep-sea plant life that dotted the muddy floor around me as I turned to face the door. As I began to take the three or four steps between where I was standing and the watertight security door, however, I saw that the corpse of the woman had fresh slashes of green-tinted blood along the back of her head that appeared to have been caused by a single, savage blow from behind. Respectfully stepping around the lifeless body, I briefly speculated that she had likely been the "partner" that I had heard the Splicer rambling about moments prior. If that were true, then her demise were even more tragic than the average denizen of the fallen city as she had trusted the man enough to not only share loot with him but to also let down her guard around him.

Upon reaching the Securis watertight security door, the bare metal object opened without any mechanical protest to reveal one of the iconic glass-lined tunnels that could be found connecting many of the large buildings of the underwater metropolis. I grimaced as I saw that this one had a thick layer of mud covering the floor, several stalks of bright orange seaweed sticking out of said mud in multiple locations, and several spots where cracks in the metal skeleton and glass lined ceiling that were allowing seawater to drip down into the tunnel.

However, I had seen tunnels in far worse shape that proved to still be perfectly safe. Casually glancing up at the visible schools of fish swimming beyond the glass exterior of the path, I began to calmly make my way down the tunnel towards the train station.

As she examined the world just beyond the outside of the tunnel, Eleanor remarked, "Still does not feel real sometimes…"

I let out a questioning grunt in response, which prompted her to explain, "This city…I mean, I cannot imagine what it is like for everyone else…I was born down here…this is my 'ordinary' while The Surface is the great, extraordinary mystery."

After a moment, she corrected herself, "Well, actually, I do not need to imagine…I can sense how you feel every time you look at the world down here…like an awe-struck child."

I became alarmed as her tone shifted to being more sorrowful as she continued, "Though…lately, you are different…you do not love the sea like you did when we first met."

Then, though my bonded Little Sister knew the answer already, she asked, "Why?"

When I had first been trapped in Rapture, I had indeed managed to keep going by finding comfort in the fact that I was surrounded by very thing that I had long found so fascinating. It had always been my life-long goal to try to understand and explore very inch of the sea. However, down in my newfound prison, I found something far more awe-inspiring and mysterious than the ocean could have ever been. However, unlike the deep sea, which I had previously been so driven to unravel all of its secrets, I found myself perfectly content to simply be at her side and let her remain a mystery that I would never solve.

With a flat tone, I explained simply, "I found a girl that turns me into an awe-struck child by just being around her."

Eleanor remarked with an equally flat tone, "She sounds like an amazing girl."

I smiled slightly beneath my copper façade before I replied, "Well, she is my other half."

My partner sighed before she said with a mock disappointed tone, "How cliché…but I would not want you to be any other way."

She paused and then finished, "My turn...shall I compare thee to a summer day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate...so long as I can breathe, or eyes can see, so long lives this poem, and this gives life to thee."

Feeling like said awe-struck child once again, I grunted, "I love you too, El."

Our lighthearted moment became more somber seconds later as I reached the first turn, this one being to the left at a ninety-degree angle in order to allow the tunnel to snake through a towering rock outcropping and skirt the building less than a few yards to the left, approximately forty yards from the security door. There, floating only a few inches from the roof of the tunnel above us, was the body of middle-aged man in a white business, dark blue pants, and white and brown leather shoes. The man's body was in perfect condition with even his hair still being in place and his black plastic comb still being in his coat's right pocket. The relative lack of telltale deformations revealed that this man was likely from before or shortly after the start of The Rapture Civil War. Most likely, he was one of the unfortunate victims of the flooding of Dionysus Park.

However, the man was not alone. As I made way through the short "S"-shaped section in the path before proceeding towards the security door where the tunnel ended where it had been connected into a burrowed-out hole in the rock outcropping, I saw four additional bodies, two men and two women, that were all in almost identical condition as the corpse of the man. I felt a slight shiver run down my spine as I was reminded of the corpse-filled shipwrecks at the bottom of the Great Lakes on The Surface. Even centuries-old wooden sailing ships and human bodies remained in perfect condition down in the cold, black abyss of the Great Lakes, which provided one of most unique, if eerie and morbid, diving experiences in the world.

Pressing on, I reached the security door about a minute later. There, off to the left of the watertight metal barrier in the middle of a collection of bright orange bioluminescent seaweed, was the body of yet another middle-aged man dressed in a white suit and dark pants. The corpse was slumped up against the bottom section of the metal skeleton of the tunnel with a pump-action shotgun on the ground next to him and two open green boxes of Black Falcon Solid Slug shotgun shells directly in front of him.

This body was in about the same condition as the ones floating outside the tunnel around him. His rail-thin body told the story all too well. The man had been trapped inside the tunnel as the flood overtook The Park and both security doors slammed shut in their emergency lockdown mode. The minor deformations on his body also indicated that he had been abusing ADAM and, in his drug-like delirium, he opted to grab a weapon and ammo rather than fresh water or food. As such, he likely died within days of the flooding as he slowly succumbed to lack of food and water. Tragically, he apparently thought that rescue was always only moments away until the very end as he did not opt to simply kill himself to save himself from the misery of his slow, painful demise. Either the doors had given out at some point later on to allow the mud to enter the tunnel or it had all simply slowly accumulated over the years through the cracks that had developed due to the lack of maintenance.

I made a mental note of the shotgun and decided to bring Meltzer back to it should our meeting with Poole go the way that I was anticipating it would go. The door opened and I carefully stepped around it and the body.

Upon making my way through the now open bulkhead, I was met by the shocking sight of two Splicers with their backs to me. Apparently, the two were so consumed by trying to get into the metal safe that was over by the other security door in the far right corner of the ten-yard-long by fifteen-yard-wide room that they remained completely oblivious to my presence where I was in the far left corner of the room. The room itself was fairly empty besides the safe save for the Health Station mounted on the wall just to the right of where I was standing, the Circus of Values Vending Machine against the wall directly across from where I was standing nestled between four large vertical water pipes with two on each side of the device and a third pipe, this one being a red gas pipe to the right of the rightmost water pipe, and the Power to the People Machine that was mounted on the far wall just to the left of where the two Splicers were standing.

The only other noteworthy objects were the two smaller horizontal pipes running along the wall to my left that were protected by metal cage-like structure that was mounted over them. The walls and ceiling of this room were actually made of solid rock as the room had been craved out of the massive rock outcropping that I had seen from the tunnel. Meanwhile, the sections of floor that were visible were revealed to be sections of thick metal plates that had been placed over the slippery sections of rock beneath them.

There were four vertical sections of the metal cage that was over the two horizontal pipes that were spaced out evenly along the wall and it was on the third section that four black signs with yellowed white lettering that were identical to the ones that I had seen in the middle of the archway in the previous area of the maintenance route to the train station. However, a long stalk of kelp hanging down from the ceiling was blocking my view of the top two signs and, thus, I could only see the bottom sign that was an arrow pointing back in the direction behind me and the fallen sign on floor that read "Piano Bar".

Meanwhile, the two Splicers, a middle-aged man in a badly torn black business suit with matching pants wielding a modified Thompson Submachine Gun and a woman who was also middle-aged and wearing a damaged white upper-class dress. The man was standing guard directly behind his partner while she attempted to force the safe open.

As I observed the pair, the man began to grow increasingly impatient as he said while lifting his firearm up into the air with his right hand, "Crack it open already! I want my goddamn toy surprise!"

Where the pair were standing was just in front of a growing pool of water created by a waterfall coming through a massive crack in the ceiling near the left wall. However, they were so close to each other that I had no need of any environmental hazards. In addition, they were both so engrossed with trying to get the safe open that I had more than enough time to take a few steps towards them while I charged up a blast of Electro Bolt. I closed to within five yards behind them and then willed the charged bolt of genetic electricity from the ported digits of my gloved left hand.

The two denizens howled in both shock and agony as their bodies shook uncontrollably as my genetic assault hit home. With his clothes beginning to smolder as high powered blue arcs of electricity danced along his frame, the paralyzed man never even got a chance to know the identity of his attacker before I thrust my Drill bit into the back of his neck to sever his brainstem. I actually trampled over the corpse of the dead Splicer as I swiftly made my way over to the still screaming, paralyzed woman. Since she was still in a slight keeling position, I simply reached around to firmly grip her chin with my left palm and then broke her neck with a smooth, twisting motion. Finally, I dropped the denizen's now lifeless form into a heap on the metal floor directly in front of the safe.

After knocking the bottle of Arcadia Merlot off the top of the safe with my Drill, I stood before the locked, yellow, grime-covered metal box, I jokingly requested, "Drum roll…"

To my somewhat delight, both Emily and Eleanor began to gladly provide a drum roll by using what was likely their left index fingers and tips of their Gathering Tools to tap repeatedly on the top of both Alpha's and my helmet respectfully as I reached down and firmly gripped the downward facing handle at the bottom left corner of the hinged front of the safe. Then, in one smooth motion, I ripped the door completely off its hinges and calmly tossed it aside before finally examining the contents of the safe.

Ceasing their collective drum roll, Eleanor asked, "What toy surprise did we win, Father?"

I dramatically exclaimed, "Paper money and an EVE Hypo!"

Both little angles began to happily clap in a mock, excited manner. Reaching in, I grabbed the stack of paper money from inside the safe and, upon turning to face him, I reached out and gestured for Meltzer to take it. It was about one hundred and fifty dollars by my estimation, and he would likely be able to make use of it more than one of us. Cindy's father gave me a somewhat surprised look before taking it from me.

As he stuffed it into his coat pocket, he remarked, "Thanks I guess…Subject Delta."

I laughed and then grunted in response. Eleanor translated, "No problem…we are allies after all."

Our latest addition to our team gave me an unsure smile before calmly moving back to stand between Alpha and Jennifer.

Remembering the EVE Hypo that was also in the safe, I asked my brother, "How's your EVE?"

The veteran Protector explained while giving me a soft wave with his gauntlet-encased left hand, "Tip top, sir…just like you taught us. Do not worry about me."

I smiled slightly before I replied, "Good man."

I then turned back to face the safe while I simultaneously let out a low grunt as I manually forced my EVE Reserve Tank to refill by body with the precious glowing blue liquid through the intravenous system of my suit. As I stood before the safe once more, I used my Telekinesis Plasmid to will the Hypo into the air and then injected it straight into the IV Port along the interior of my left arm. With the excess EVE pumped into my Reserve Tank, I simply discarded the empty Hypo onto the ground at my feet, once again grateful that the Telekinesis Plasmid did not actually consume any noteworthy amount of the precious liquid if one did not use it to launch an object at someone or something. I then turned to my right and then began to make my way over to the security door.

With the Circus of Values Vending Machine, Health Station, and the Power to the People Machine all being in this room, I would definitely be bringing Meltzer back here after our meeting with Poole. However, for now, I simply pressed onward towards the now very nearby train station.

The door opened without protest and revealed the last section of glass-lined tunnel between us and the building that housed the train station. The pseudo-question mark shaped tunnel was actually in a kind of courtyard in the middle of the modular-like buildings around it that, at least as far as I could tell, served more of an artistic purpose than an actual practical one as it seemed to be for showing off the majesty of the ocean floor around Rapture and also the ornate facades along the exterior of the buildings of Dionysus Park.

Directly before me was the curved section of the tunnel. Floating above the first bend was yet another almost perfectly preserved corpse with this one being of a younger man in his mid-twenties dressed in casual dress attire of a dark blue vest and tan pants. However, my attention was drawn to the slowly approaching male Leadhead Splicer clad in a tattered business suit and wielding a Thompson Submachine Gun. The remarkably oblivious denizen was idly humming to himself as he walked down the curved section of the tunnel somehow remaining unaware of our presence despite himself being incredibly visible to me due to the mostly glass exterior of the tunnel.

I began to raise my Drill in anticipation but Alpha simply placed his left hand on top of my weaponized mining tool. Letting my brother have this one, I simply quietly moved off to the left side to move out of his way. As the oblivious Splicer finally rounded the corner, he only had time to let out a short cry of shock that was almost immediately silenced as the high-pitched report of Subject Alpha's heavily modified Prototype Rivet Gun roared through the previously peaceful tunnel. The veteran's aim was true and the super-heated rivet actually succeeded in causing the denizen to be engulfed in flames as he dropped to the mud and seashell-covered metal floor of the tunnel in a heap as he was dispatched by a single round from the Protector's weapon without ever even raising his submachine gun.

As I observed my brother's handiwork, I could not help but once again feel a sense of pride as it was once again obvious why Subject Alpha was considered once of the most dangerous combatants in all of Rapture. In his prime, the second ever successfully bonded Big Daddy was a perfect counterpart to the monster Subject Delta. Even now, the old veteran could still likely give the armored beast a run for his money.

Continuing forward around the corpse, I began to make my way towards the far end of the approximately sixty-yard-long tunnel where it was connected to the nearby buildings between two three-story tall art deco-style towers. I noted with mild astonishment that the rectangular light fixtures at the base, in the middle, and along the top of the towers were all actually still functioning with the fixtures on the right one being the brightest of the pair despite the years without any actual maintenance. In fact, the vibrant orange yellow lights were a stark contrast to the heavily decayed and darkened skyscrapers of the skyline of Rapture that were towering over them in the distance.

I only vaguely took note of the floating corpses of a middle aged woman and a younger man, the lazily swimming school of dark purple fish, or the abandoned red, algae-covered fuel barrel, which was on its side on the floor of the tunnel, as I made my way through the final bend of the "question mark" and then began to approach the watertight Securis security door at the opposite end of the tunnel. As I finally rounded the last bend, I saw that there was one final floating corpse, this one being of another middle-aged woman, floating just off to the left of the glass exterior of the tunnel near the base of the left tower near the bottom light fixture.

Upon reaching the door, it opened without any protest just such as the last one had not. There before me, I found the rather large room that we had used to store items that either had no real place among the other collections or were items that were due to be shipped off to other areas of Rapture via the Atlantic Express. Upon entering, I only just had enough time to note the three vases near the supporting column in the middle of the room, the nearby abandoned red fuel drum, the former auxiliary ticket booth that occupied the majority of the right side of the room, and the three algae-covered, ceiling-tall humanoid statues in the far back left corner of the fifty-yard-wide by fifty-yard-long storage space before Eleanor let out a curious-sounding humming noise.

Concerned, I let out a questioning grunt, which prompted her to explain via our bond, 'Mother is…looking…right at me…and her face.'

She then continued by speaking through the Little Sister riding on my back with a mocking tone, "Ah, are you finally starting to put the pieces together, Mother? Well, I guess the final horse had to cross the finish line eventually."

My bonded partner paused and then finished with a proud tone, "Now, as you are looking at me inside my prison in Persephone and not spying on us through the feed from Father's camera, allow me to rehearse my confession for when you finally put all of the pieces together, I…Eleanor Althea Lamb…was and still am a direct contributor to the events that have transpired over the past few hours."

Eleanor then finished with a darkened tone, "You locked me in cage, Mother. So, I will burn the prison down around me to escape to The Surface with the man I love...and…there is not a damn you can do about it this time!"

From where she was riding on her throne, Emily asked, "Shall I return to keeping an eye on things in Persephone, Sister Eleanor?"

Eleanor replied, "Oh no...no. Please, I insist that you continue to enjoy your reunion with Alpha, Emily...this day has been your dream as well."

As they continued with their conversation, I looked around and noted that there was another vase in the corner directly to my left as well as five rather large paintings further down along the left wall with the first stack being of two paintings and the second being of three though one had fallen over. Meanwhile, there were two more paintings along the far back wall almost directly across from where I was standing. The identity of what was painted on them was lost beneath a coating of grime except for the outer painting of the first stack along the left wall which still had the image of a man looking over the right shoulder of the viewer wearing a yellow coat over his dark grey business suit with a white undershirt and an impeccably tied black tie.

Before moving deeper into the room to investigate the former ticket booth, I saw the Gene Bank mounted to the far-right wall in the corner that was directly across from the entrance to the tunnel. It had been mounted there shortly after the room and tunnel path itself had been repurposed to be used by maintenance crews instead of visitors. It was intended to allow spliced members of my teams to be able to quickly and efficiently switch out Gene Tonics and Plasmids to allow them to be able to tackle a wider arrange of tasks and jobs. In reality, it was actually less than optimal because, being the only non-publicly available Gene Bank in all of Dionysus Park, members of the maintenance crews still had to walk all the way back to this machine in order to use one without having to wait in line at the others once splicing had become more common and widely practiced among the populace.

I stopped and turned to briefly look inside the mostly empty ticket booth. The skeleton of the algae-covered, three-walled booth was mostly bare save for the short ladder leaning against the left wall near the near left corner of the open back. The ticket window in the far-left corner was now completely covered by a large, green rectangular metal plate that had been riveted into place with a double seam along its entire perimeter. The sideways red , rectangular sign with white letters that declared "Staff Only" was near the top of the plate and would have been perfectly centered in its spot if the plate had been placed properly upright instead of being placed sideways to cover the opening of the ticket window. Finally, unlike the rest of the darkened room around it, the interior of the booth was cast in a bright orange glow by the bioluminescent deep-sea plants growing along the bottom of the back wall.

Moving on past the ticket booth, I made my way along the left exterior of the booth towards the security door that was just beyond it in the corner that was directly opposite of the Gene Bank. Beyond it would be the train station, as indicated by the large, rectangular metal "Atlantic Express" sign that was clearly visible above the watertight door due to the almost three foot long patch of bioluminescent seaweed growing in the middle of the path along the left exterior wall of the auxiliary booth. According to Stanley, he would be waiting for us in the booth at the far end of the station.

However, I was curious as to which one he had locked himself into because there were technically two main booths. At Ryan's secret urging, the Atlantic Express had played hardball with Sofia by refusing to offer tickets for the rest of The Park. Even when they agreed to finally sell the tickets to the various attractions of Dionysus Park, they went against the owner's wishes by refusing to give them to visitors for free. The Clinical Psychiatrist, never one to be pushed around by Ryan and his little games, countered him by having a second booth constructed and operated by her own staff that gave away the tickets to her home and its amazing variety of attractions and art collections completely for free to literally everyone. They even set up it so they could also gladly accept donations by visitors all in that one convenient location that Ryan could not touch via his business or political connections despite being literally only inches away from the booth that he could bully into doing his biding.

As the door opened, I saw Jennifer standing before me approximately ten yards from the doorway. At her feet were the now beaten and bloodied bodies of two Splicers, one being a younger man in his mid-twenties with a bandaged, deformed head and a middle-aged woman in a tattered dress that had barely been covering her malnourished body due to how damaged it had been. Meanwhile, directly behind her in approximately the middle of the station was a badly damaged and disabled Security Turret. Directly to her left, waiting next to the raised platform itself was our new, undamaged train that Sinclair had commandeered for us. Directly to her right, past the upright sign that served as the directory of the railway, was the slime-covered metal skeleton of the security gate that surrounded the station much like the ones that the rest of them had as well. A now faded, grime-covered red banner welcoming visitors to The Park was still in place above the main opening of the gate directly across from where the platform's staircase was located near the rear of the station. Finally, at the very rear of the rectangular platform was the "L"-shaped collection of ticket booths.

Soft, peaceful music was playing over the station's speakers and, though I could not name the exact song that was playing, it did sound familiar. However, over the sounds of dripping water and the damaged turret giving off electrical sparks as the valiant sentinel continuously tried to will itself back to life, the only parts of the song that I could hear were a woman's distant sounding but still admittedly pleasant voice as she sang in pace with an equally distant sounding piano.

Casually motioning behind her, Jennifer confirmed that our target was indeed waiting for us in one of the ticket booths. Pointing at the Security Turret with my left index finger as I began to walk along the other side of the railway directory to make my way over to the booths, I grunted, "Alpha…Emily, see what you two can do with that turret."

Without missing a beat, Alpha replied, "On it, sir."

Meanwhile, Emily replied mere moments after her eternally bonded companion, "Just leave it to us, Monsieur Topside."

Walking calmly and slowly towards the Atlantic Express Booth where I could now see Poole waiting for me, I purposely made my footsteps even louder and heavier than normal. I needed to play up my reputation as the Apex Predator of Rapture as much as possible. As I had taught my brethren, theatrics were just as effective as any physical weapon or armor to deter a potential assailant if used correctly in the proper context.

As I took my final step directly outside of the ticket window of the booth, I purposely made it so forceful and heavy that the metal platform beneath me audibly protested. Then, I slowly flexed so that my blue canvas and brown leather diving suit audibly stretched as it struggled to contain my tree-trunk like limbs before, finally, I let out a low, prolonged Alpha Series Big Daddy call that vibrated the air all throughout the entire section of Rapture.

As intend, my display succeeded in unnerving the easily frightened former reporter. Poole, who was lightly built and wearing a light tan shirt that was tucked into slightly darker brown pants held up by a brown belt, and a simple analog watch with brown leather straps on his left wrist, fidgeted nervously before me for a moment as he realized, due to my overly dramatic display of raw physical power, that even the lock on the thick, metal security door would only prevent me from getting to him so long as he did not even remotely get on my bad side.

The man that had sold Eleanor to The Orphanage and turned me into Ryan and his thugs began as he explained his situation and his "deal" in the meekest way possible, "Okay. So dead men tell no tales right? Wrong. See, with ADAM involved, every stiff's got a story - - and Lamb knows how to read it. If that stuff gets back to her, I'm an obituary."

Shifting nervously once again, the former reporter finished, "So, I want you to take the story of Dionysus Park…and bury it. Get rid of the Little Sisters for me…your way. Do that, and I'll unlock the station here. Scout's honor."

My helmet's built-in radio crackled to life seconds later.

Sinclair addressed me with his Southern drawl in a way that showed that he did not actually care whether Stanley could hear him or not, "Well, I'd say 'he's hidin' somethin'' – but he's sort o' took the fun out of that one. He's locked in the security booth however…so we'll have to play along. Find those Sisters."

My radio then powered off and I was left in relative silence. After enjoying Poole's growing panic and unease as I simply glared at him from beneath my glowing segmented porthole for a moment, I turned to face the rest of the station behind me. There, I saw that Alpha and Emily had repaired the Security Turret and also "hacked" it to be friendly to us. Meltzer was idly examining the Health Station mounted to the wall next to the door that led back the way we had come. Meanwhile, Jennifer was absentmindedly writing complex-looking mathematical formulas on the floor of the station using the green-tinted blood of the Splicers that she had just killed.

Alpha and I walked towards each other and then stopped as we stood about an arm's length apart directly in front of the main opening of the security gate where the banner was hanging.

As he looked back at me, my brother calmly addressed me, "Right behind you, sir."

Emily calmly looked at me and then threw her Gathering Tool like a throwing knife to my left without ever even batting an eye. The razor-sharp tip of the Jerry-rigged tool easily pierced through the front of the skull and then out the back of the brainstem of the Houdini Splicer that had been trying to eavesdrop on us from behind the corner of the security gate. As the corpse of the now dead Splicer audibly slumped to the ground, Alpha used his Telekinesis Plasmid to retrieve his eternally bonded companion's tool.

After she took her Gathering Tool back, the beautiful, black dress-clad Little Sister smiled gently as she calmly held her now bloodied "toy" back up in the air for a moment before she assured me with her unique, mysterious accent that was eerily enchanting, "Ja…you lead and we will follow, Mister Topside."

I let out an appreciative grunt and then began to lead the way back to the abandoned shogun and ammo inside the tunnel in order to get Meltzer armed and up to speed on how to fight and survive in Rapture.