The Bathysphere was still bathed in darkness, but a voice, that of the second man, could be just barely be heard. The voice faint and echoy through the walls of the sphere. "Okay, just one more minute… the Sphere- the Sphere's Is coming up now."
"Be ready. We do not know who is waiting for us, of if they are friend of enemy." The Heavy said, his posture far tenser now than it had been on their descent. Something that seemed to set the rest of the men on edge as grips tightened on weapons and jaws clenched. If something set their largest man on alert, it likely meant trouble of some sort.
There was soft light again as the window passed up a soft pair of lights, and from the top water began to trickle down as the Sphere began to breach the surface. The figure of a man could just barely be seen in the darkness of the room they were ascending into. Back lit by the light pouring in from the large glass window straight ahead.
The radio gave another crackle, and the first voice came through. The urgency in the mans tone no less clear despite the fuzz of the signal. "Johnny, security's banging off all over… get a move on!"
For a brief moment, a part of the room was lit up, and now above the water, the mans voice could be heard a little clearer. His back was turned, his stance seemed fearful. "Please, lady… I didn't mean no trespass, just don't hurt me."
"There's somebody in there with him." The Sniper said, pointing a little past the man. Through the blur of the water running down the glass and the darkness of the room, there was movement, hovering just on the edge of where the lights did not touch, concealing the unknown figure from their view.
There was the bright white spark of something electric going haywire, and the lights cut off, leaving them all in the dark once again. The shape of the man only shown against the brighter backdrop of the window. Another flash of white, and another figure loomed against the blue. Presumably the woman the man was begging to.
"Just let me go…. You can keep my gun!" The lights flickered to life, illuminating the man, his back still turned as he took slow, frightened steps backwards towards the Bathysphere. The other figure looming ever closer. "You can-" The man was cut off by his own screams.
The lights flickered on and off as they fought to stay lit, but it was enough to see the woman darting forward, two nasty looking sickles in her hands catching on the light. She stepped back-
and charged the man again. Lifting him from the ground with the two hooks for a moment before she yanked down.
All of them were glad the mans back had been turned as he dropped from her grasp. Even in the darkness, it was obvious the man was dead. Effectively eviscerated by the unknown woman.
The lights seemed to be loosing their fight to stay on, but they could tell, if only for that sense of dread of being watched by something dangerous, they knew she was looking at them. Her silhouette swaying like a curious child stretching to see around something. "Is it someone new?" The curiosity in her voice as gone within a second, her twisted, marred visage lit up as the lights caught on, letting out a shriek of rage that had most of them jerking back from the blood spattered glass door. And in a flash, she was gone.
The cabin was filled with the sound of skittering, and all but two of them cringed as the sound of metal being dragged across metal assaulted their ears. "Christ, she's on the bloody sub." The Sniper exclaimed.
Men on either side of the Sphere had to duck and pull away as another shriek rang out, and two panels above them on either side were ripped away, dropping sparks of fire and electricity from now exposed wires as they were rent out of place. "She's gonna rip this thing to shreds!" The Engineer cried.
Yet with another frustrated howl the woman landed in front of the door, looking back once before she scurried towards the far wall, giving an impressive leap up and melting back into the darkness.
"Would you kindly pick up that radio?" The man from the radio asked, and Jacks hand snatched the radio in an instant.
"Hello? Hello? Who is this?" He asked into quickly.
"I don't know how you survived that plane crash, but I've never been one to question providence." The man on the radio said. "I'm Atlas, and I aim to keep you alive. Now keep on moving… We're gonna gonna have to get you to higher ground."
"May I see that for a moment?" Dell asked, holding out his ungloved hand. After a moment of reluctance Jack passed the radio into his hand. "Hello? Atlas, is that right?"
"Hello, who's this now?" He sounded surprised to hear another voice.
"You can call me the Engineer. Pardon my suspicion, but how are we gonna know if we go heading up to this highground of yours, we ain't gonna end up like that poor son of a gun that we just saw get himself ripped open."
"You won't." came the reply. "Out there, it's dangerous, I won't lie. But as you've seen, it ain't safe sitting like a duck there in that Bathysphere. You'll have to trust me, I'm afraid. Is it just the two of you, then?"
"Ten," Said the Engineer. "Counting the man you just spoke to." There was a beat of silence, before Atlas' whistle crackled through the radio. "Ten of you. Yeah, I'm bettin' you'll have an easier time of it. Safety in numbers an' all that. Alright, step on out. I'll guide you."
Gave a nod, and passed the radio back to Jack. If there were any objections, nobody raised them.
It wasn't safe to leave the man behind, and with the damage to the Sphere, sending it back with him in it to wait wasn't much of an option. Without having come armed like they had, he was the most vulnerable of them all despite his impressive stature. Better to give him a use in handling the radio, then merely following along as dead weight.
The door to the Sphere opened, and Jack was the first to rise from his seat. "Take a deep breath, and step out of the Bathysphere. I won't leave you twisting in the wind. We're gonna need to draw her out of hiding, but you're gonna have to trust me."
"He want's us to do what?" Scout questioned. "You've got to be kidding."
"Ah, I know I'd feel better if the crazy sheila had a hole in her head instead of runnin' about." The Sniper muttered as Jack stepped out, and one by one the group filtered out of the Sphere.
The lights, while fairly dim, had seemed to finally make up their minds to stay on, giving them enough light to see the room around them decently enough. It might have been grand, if not for the cold damp in the air, and the sense of dread not knowing where the grotesque woman had gone.
"The Great Chain is guided by our hand." Jack murmured, pausing on the little walkway to red the bright red banner hanging across the far side of the room. "Huh."
"Looks like this was some sort of transport station." Said the medic, looking around at the scattered newspapers and piles of luggage laying about, before a strange, tubular machine alight with strange, crackling energy to the right caught his attention.
The Medic and Engineer stepped quickly to towards the strange machine, eyes lit up with curiosity. Followed a little less excitedly by the Heavy and Spy, as the others save for the Sniper and Jack, lined up along the window, watching the sea life and the jarringly bright signs and adverts with no small sense of wonderment.
The Snipers eyes, kept a steady scan of the room and the ceiling above as he leaned against the a pillar, even as he reached into a pocket of his vest. Pulling out small cardboard pack from his pocket. He set one of the sticks between his teeth before he eyed Jack, and held out the pack. "Fag?"
With a grateful nod Jack slipped another from his pack. "Thanks." The Sniper tucked the pack back into his pocket, producing a lighter from another. Lighting his own cigarette before he offered it over to Jack. "Ain't loosin' your wits like some blokes might, seeing that. Good on ya, I suppose."
The pair of scientists managed to pull the glass doors of the strange chamber open, and without a moments hesitation the Medic plunged his hand into the light. "Oh, It tingles." He said, gloved fingers wiggling for a moment before he was finally persuaded to pull away and continue on.
The sound of the Engineer clearing his throat pulled the men away from the window, and most stood close to each other. The Scout a few steps ahead of the group, stooping down to pick up a number of the signs scattered about the floor. "Rapture's Dead. Ryan doesn't own us…. Let it end, let us ascend. We're not your property…. Man, does not look like people liked this Ryan guy much." He said, dropping the signs as he read them.
"That one there. Says travels restricted." The sniper said, nodding towards a sign on the wall. "Being stuck down here… Reckon that's a good reason to protest."
The made their way towards a dark set of stairs. A few low lights trying hard to light up.
Scout let his hand trace along the wall as they slowly took to the steps. Letting out a small, choked sound of surprise as his fingers brushed against something wet. "Oh god," He exclaimed as he pulled his hand away, tips of his fingers smudged with an all too familiar red substance.
In the weak flickering light, words had been scrawled out on the stone in a messy, scrawled hand.
"You should not have come." The Spy read aloud. "Charming."
"C'mon fellas, can't let a little blood spook us. Ain't the strangest thing we've seen." The Engineer prodded.
"Speak for yourself." Jack muttered, his hand tightening around the radio.
The top of the stairs greeted them with dull, static filled television screens, and a flickering board listing off fare times, all of which listed as canceled.
The picked their way carefully across the floor and around spilled carts of luggage. A television sent a shower of sparks before fiddling out.
"Not much farther now." Atlas' voice was quiet through the radio. Yet as If to punctuate them, a thud came from further into the dark hall.
A spot light came on, showing the woman that had torn the man who had been waiting for them asunder, and she let out a feral shriek as alarms began to blare. "How do you like that, sister!" But before anyone could take a shot at the woman, from somewhere above, a small, boxy machine held aloft by a motorized propeller came hovering down, letting out a cacophony of beeps as it shot at the woman, who leapt for the walls like some mad monkey. The little machine chasing her up through into some vents. And once she was gone, the light from it turned a more soothing shade of green, and it went up without any fanfare.
"Now would you kindly find a crowbar or something? Bloody Splicers sealed Johnny in before they… Goddamn Splicers." He cursed.
"Keep an eye out for camera's, gentlemen." The Spy murmured quietly. "If he knew where that insane woman was, he must have eyes somewhere." Jack didn't seem to hear, the man already poking about the rubble, until he bent for a moment, and picked up a heavy looking wrench. Turning wordlessly to smash the cold metal against the rubble blocking the doorway.
The Heavy stepped forward, a large hand moving Jack aside before he gripped a larger piece of rubble in his hands, a low grunt of effort rumbling from his chest as he pulled- and heaved the debris away. Causing the rest to topple harmlessly to the floor. Allowing-with a bit of ducking-everyone to pass through the entry way, and into the stairwell beyond.
A couch lit ablaze waited at the top, the sounds of screams ringing out as something cause the couch to move, sliding down a few feet of stairs.
"Sounds like a party." Scout joked, even as his grip on his bat tightened, and he lifted it up defensively as they began their ascent.
"I can control myself…. I can!" A mans voice muttered as they came to the top of the stairs. But his actions proved him wrong. The mans eyes had only landed on the group for a mere second before he charged and swung the wrench he clutched in his hand at the Scout, causing the young man to let out a scream of his own as he swung his bat in turn. His own aim proving much steadier than the twitching mans, the bat making a hearty Thump as it connected to the mans temple and sent him toppling to the floor.
"What the hell's wrong with people here!"
The stairwell led out into a spacious room, its doorway set into a wall between two sets of staircases.
Straight ahead set into a wall of windows lined with the now familiar statues of a man reaching for the sky was another doorway. Heavy and metal. Metal letters above declaring their welcome to Rapture, and that opportunity awaited. But even from across the room they could see the level that must have controlled the door was sparking and broken. "Must be the door he was saying they sealed." The Engineer mused.
Off to the side was a Diorama in a glass display case. Showcasing a small model of a section of the city.
"One mans vision, Humanities salvation." The Demoman read off the plaque, peering at the model in the case. "Man must have the biggest bloody head there is. This ain't no salvation. I'sa underwater hell, if ye ask me."
On the wall above sat a very large painting, showing was seemed to be a happy family, each using some apparent power. A small flickering light embedded into the middle of it in the middle of the smiling little girls hand gave off the impression she herself was sending sparks out of her palm. The words "Pick your Plasmid, and Evolve." Painted on in bold lettering. Beside it, set onto the stair wall, was a bright neon sign in the shape of a hand, lighting bolts coming from its fingers also bore the word "Plasmid" above it.
The sound of a little girls voice, though obviously recorded, wafted down from the entryway at the top of the stairs, drew them up the stairs. The girls voice boasting of her fathers apparently amazing abilities, and challenging others to reach those standards, came from the oddest looking vending machine any of them had seen, certainly, with two statues of identical girls leaning on either side of it.
The same strange red bottle they'd seen advertised in posters were branded on its side. One such bottle sitting temptingly in its dispenser tray besides an empty hypodermic needle.
The Demoman was the one to pick it up. Squinted as he turned the bottle around in his hands. "Alls it says is "Electro-bolt. Bloody hell kind of a name fer a drink is that?"
"Well, judging by the pictures of men lighting cigarettes with their fingers, or that painting out their of the little girl. I would say its supposed to, well, that." The Medic replied. "Go on, I'm quite curious to see what happens!"
"Not a chance in hell, doc. Not unless I know what it bloody is."
"Oh don't be such a baby."
"Jack, call him up, ask him what in sam hill it is, would you. If it's something dangerous, might be better to take it with us, or smash the thing."
"Right, yeah." Jack nodded, fishing the radio from his pocket. "Atlas? You hear us?"
"Aye, I hear you, lad. There a problem?"
"No, not a problem, but a question. There's a… I don't know, a vending machine of sorts. There's a bottle here. Something about electricity-"
"Take it." The reply was blunt, urging. "Would you kindly take it? If you've got what you're saying you've got, then you've got a ticket to gettin' that door open."
"If you say so." Jack replied, holding out his hand. With a shrug, the Demoman made to pass over the bottle and syringe, but the Medics hand shot out between them, snatching them both. "Allow me."
He pulled the cap from the bottle, humming lightly as he filled the needle from it, letting the bottle drop unceremoniously to the floor once it was empty. "Now, hold out your arm, and do try not to squirm." He said, his expectant gaze on Jack as he held out his empty hand out. Jack held out his arm, still as a stone as the Doctor angled the needle and plunged it into the young mans wrist. Watching the odd red fluid drain away.
Jack let out a groan as he shook and stumbled back, his very veins alight under his skin and his hands let out a symphony of crackles and pops as streaks of electricity jumped from one hand to the other.
"Steady now!" Atlas' voice called out. "Your genetic code is being rewritten. Just hold on and everything will be fine!"
"Everything'll be fine?" The Sniper spat. "Mans lit up like a damn Christmas tree!"
Jack stumbled back, further and further as he watched his hands with open terror written on his face. Nearly going over the railing of the little balcony between the stairs before the Soldier caught hold of the back of his sweater, pulling him back and helping him to the floor. Writing and crackling where he'd been sat against the railing.
"Oho, this is fascinating!" The Medic exclaimed before he turned and nudged the Heavy with his elbow. "Help me open it up, I want to see if there's anymore in there."
The larger man's face pulled as if he wanted to argue the idea, but then with a small shrug he turned, first breaking off one of the heavy statues from its place, and then an arm from the statue. Swinging the heavy piece over and over into the machine until finally a crack large enough for him to pull at formed, and with no small amount of effort, he managed to rend a part of the machine open. Just enough to reveal it was empty, save for one lonely set of bottle and syringe, stuck in place in the bottom slot.
With more effort, the bottle and syringe were finally knocked loose, and with the use of Scouts arm, finally retrieved.
"This one says the same thing." The young man said, passing the set over to the doctor.
After a few minutes, the worst of the glowing and sparking had seemed to subside, and Jack seemed to slowly come around again, and Atlas' voice filtered through the radio. "You alright, boyo? First time Plasmid's a real from from a mule. But… There's nothing like a fist full of lightning, now is there? Give her a go, eh? You'll see what I mean."
Jack sat up a little straighter as the Medic crouched on his heels beside him. A flex of his hand brought back the lightning and a glow beneath his veins. He flung out his hand, and a heavy moment of silence fell over the group as a steady string of light shot from his palm and to the ruined vending machine. Causing the busted speaker somewhere within to let out a crackling, static filled bit of its jingle.
"Fascinating!" The Medic exclaimed, leaping to his feet. "Engineer, give me your arm. If this Plasmid, can cause an ordinary man to harness the electrical impulses in his body, just think of what the reaction could be in a man who's already been improved on!"
"You wanna shoot up Engie with that crap? It knocked Jackie boy here on his ass." Scout exclaimed, throwing a hand out towards Jack.
"Well, yes. But as we see, its perfectly survivable, if a bit unpleasant. I'd be happy to take it myself, but given his inclination towards the mechanical and electronic, our friend here is the most suited to take possession of the ability to control electricity itself, yes?"
"Sawbones has a point." The Engineer spoke, giving a clench and a flex of his gloved hand. "We ain't average Joe's off the street, and if there are other folks with their heads screwed on wrong like the lady and that fella who can do it too, might not be a half bad idea to give ourselves a leg up on em. I'll do it…. I'd be lyin' if I said I wasn't a mite curious about it too." He offered his arm to the doctor, setting his jaw with a nod.
The Medic happily took the Texans arm, neatly jabbing the needle into his wrist. Dell backed up a few steps, hunched over in his distress. But to his credit, and likely knowing what was going to happen, he merely sunk to his knees, a hand braced on the floor as his own skin glowed and sparked. Finally letting out a deep gasp and a curse as he shakily pulled himself to his feet again. "He's right, its like gettin' kicked in the head by a mighty angry mule."
"Now don't go getting too zap happy with it, you hear. You'll be running on fumes before you know it if you go zappin' things willy nilly You'll be needing somethin' we call EVE, if you go burning yourself out." Atlas said. "And another thing, do us all a favor and would you kindly not go around destroying the Gatherers Gardens? Now, if you want to get a move on, giving the broken door lever a jolt ought to get it workin' again."
"He's right, We shouldn't stick around to long. We oughta keep a move on." The Engineer said, nodding towards the stairs. "Time to get a move on, boys." The group filtered down the stairs stopping in front of the thick metal door.
The Engineer stepped forward, the crack of something being struck by lighting filling the air as he placed his hand on the lever, causing the heavy slab to smoothly slide up into the wall, opening up to a tunnel made of glass windows. The sea clear around them on three sides. There was a sense of ease as they stepped into the tunnel, being able to see that might come there way.
No ones eyes were on the sea above them.
Not until a great shadow bore down on them, and the tail end of the plane came crashing through the glass and metal of the tunnel. A part of it wedging itself into the tunnel as seawater rushed in, and the door shut behind them.
"Move it, men!" The soldier cried, waved his fellows on as he charged through the tunnel and into the opening of the wrecked plane. Which thankfully had been a part of the plane with a door. Several cracks in the glass spat water at them as they ran.
"Oh crap." Scout said as in the distance in another tunnel came an explosion that rocked their already fragile one, and a door from their tunnel into that one bloated under its stress, threatening to burst.
No one paid any mind to the fish they're feet kicked in the shallow water as they slogged for the only other door there was. This one built into the side of a building, and hopefully, safety.
The door, by some manner of providence, the lock on the door spun, and it began to rise, allowing the group to spill into the dark hall beyond. Thankfully shutting itself behind them, and blocking out the quickly rising water. Water filtered in and dripped down the walls from cracks, but the danger of drowning was stayed, at least for a moment.
This new room was dark, but lit up just enough by the red light emitted by the Airlock sign over the door across the room. To their left was a small set of stairs that led down by another of the strange tubular chamber the Doctor had examined before. To the right, an area that, judging from the cushioned chairs, was a waiting area. Or perhaps just an area to sit and watch the water outside.
The sound of metal being dragged against metal bounced off the quiet room and from the darkness of the side room a man came charging. Jacks hand flew out- more defensively than anything, but the sparks that flew from his hand hit home regardless, and the man seized like a man tazed until the soldier brought the folded shovel he'd hand from his belt down against his head.
They scrambled away from the door as it gave a deafening groan of protest. Bulging against the growing pressure from the other side until it gave another creak and water sprayed from around its sides in steady, thin walls.
The light above the door across changed to green, and it lifted. Another man loomed in the entry way, and this time it was the Engineer who sent bolts streaking across the dark room, and no one waited to charge, knocking the stunned man aside and tossing him into the room.
The Stairs through it were warped, but serviceable enough. No one caring about the explosion that happened somewhere in the room at the top. Getting away from the water the more pressing issue at hand. Whatever or whoever was there could be dealt with, but no one had gills.
At the top of the stairs appeared a man, his entire being lit ablaze, likely from the explosion they'd felt as much as heard. But as he began to run full for towards them, he rumbled, collapsing and tumbling a few feet down the stairs as the echoes of a shot rang out their the air. The spy tucking a revolver neatly back into some hidden pocket of his suit. "Watch where you step."
The top of the stairs led out into a tall, circular room. Colorful banners hung from the ceiling, each with a word such as "Liberty" and "Independence" in big, bold letters.
Two small rectangles were set in the middle of the floor. The wetland plants growing within clearly having gone uncared for, for some time now.
The source of the confusion could be seen through the fence across the room. Elevators of some sort were set into the wall behind a stretch of fence and a much posh looking door than the heavy metal things they'd seen thus far. A clock set into the woodwork above it told them it was just barely past seven in the morning.
The doors opened, just as the glass above the space above the elevators cracked, and water hissed as it passed through the glass.
One elevator thankfully stood open, and with no other apparent options, they piled inside. Men pressed against the walls as they crammed into the tubular space like so many sardines in a can.