Month: October 2017

BioQuest: Muse

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Booker would know what to do.

But he wasn’t there. It was just Elizabeth with a crossbow floating along in a Bathysphere at the will of the man on the radio.

“In that case, shouldn’t I know your name?” Glancing at the rumpled map in her hands, she tried to place herself based on the neon signs she passed in the dark corridors of Rapture’s cityscape.

“Sander Cohen is my name, and I’m the prize artist of Rapture’s crown!” He laughed from his throat, and she caught a whisper of piano music beneath the static. “But it’s my muse you’ll want to meet,” he teased.

Or was is threatened? He blended one into another so seamlessly unlike anyone she’d ever met.. Booker, Daisy, Slate, and even a slimy con man like Fink were so blunt when they threatened someone.

“…You’re taking me to Fort Frolic.” With all that time she spent looking over maps in her tower, it didn’t long to find her destination. But it wasn’t mentioned at all in the notes from Fink about Rapture.

Based on what she knew of Cohen, that made perfect sense. He was an artist and a vain one at that.

Well, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d appealed to a man’s ego as a distraction… Straightening her back, Elizabeth put on her act. “I am no artist, sir. What could I possibly do for your muse?”

“Oh, sweet songbird,” he chided. “I am here to show you!” The lofty kindness of his voice dissolved instantly when he spoke next, replaced with grumbling. “Then these ingrates will appreciate my art at last through your voice.”

So unstable… Of course. ADAM. That, Fink did mention and at great length. A man as self-centered as this would have abused that chemical, and the madness was already taking him. He continued again, buoyant and breathy as if nothing had ever bothered him.

“Of course you must see the honor of this! I have been failed by so many, but you… You… You will understand my art!” So he wanted her for her voice… That was a first.

– – –

What do you want to do, Elizabeth?

Read the next chapter.

– – –

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BioQuest: Little Bird

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Jack looked at her, and she saw something familiar there. The wide-eyed look of curiosity. A shine of fear that she could also trace to his eyebrows. His squared shoulders showing the fire to press on even as he was afraid of what he’d find.

She let out a breath. His life wasn’t hers. And there was no way to change what was done to her. Elizabeth knew that. She prepared a smile for him, as genuine as she could muster, and explained.

“This window is called a tear. It’s another world. Somewhat like a book.” He nodded, but she doubted he understood… At least she didn’t have to lie to him. He’d been deceived enough already. “It’s nothing to concern yourself with, Jack, I promise. Why don’t you help Tenenbaum?”

“…because I wanted to help you, Miss Elizabeth.” He stalled with slow steps and gave her a final glance before turning the corner out of sight.

On her way out of the safehouse, she picked up a crossbow from one of the locked cases Tenenbaum had secured. Nothing was safe from Elizabeth, of course, and she left with the map and weapon to do what she could for Booker.

Climbing the stairs to the damp, odorous halls surrounding the safehouse, Elizabeth felt a cold fear starting to settle in with the chilling, quiet air. She hadn’t been alone very much since Booker got her from the tower. Rebellion, fighting, tactics, all done as a team.

Her steps echoed in the tunnel walls she’d glanced over just moments before. Now was not the time for doubt, but action. “I’ll be there soon, Booker,” she promised herself and took another turn down the map in her mind.

It must have been late because there was no one out on her way to the small ships they used here– a Bathysphere, she believed they called them.

It felt a tad opulent with its overstuffed red seats and subtly artistic design on the walls. Even if it was cramped… She settled in with the crossbow beside her and checked her map again before the speakers set into the walls emitted static, then words.

“Hello, little songbird.” The man’s voice sounded so clear and close despite the wavering connection. His cadence of speech was as if he was about to recite a sonnet at any moment but couldn’t quite decide. “My, my, aren’t you so very lost?”

“Pardon?” She put her hand on the crossbow for what little comfort it could offer. “I… I’m looking for someone.”

He laughed from his chest, a small chuckle to himself. She had a feeling it was at her expense.

“Oh, we’re all looking for someone. Luckily for you,” he began, the Bathysphere rocking free into the ocean trail, “I am here to be the artist of your rebirth.”

– – –

What do you want to do, Elizabeth?

Read the next chapter.

– – –

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BioQuest: I Won’t Let You

Trigger Warning: Torture

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Booker… Stayed behind to ensure their safety. Air felt thick, and her feet carried her to the doors out towards the sewers. The voices of Tenenbaum and Jack were audible but indistinguishable from the pulse pounding in her head and the reverberation of each step she took.

“Always leaving,” she breathed to herself, resting her forehead and a hand against the cool doors. She didn’t know how to reach the docks or where he may have been taken.
Or if the worst had happened. This city was dangerous and she had little research on it, but Elizabeth…

Her hand tightened into a fist at her side. “Well. I won’t let you leave me this time.” The energy of a tear surged from her core to her hands, and she opened one right before the door. Shimmering and deep blue, it cast a light back at her and she heard a man.

‘So you don’t work for Fontaine, huh?’ A heavy voice, an accent from New York, and the tone of a man who knew his orders well. He wasn’t where she could see him, the tear was behind something… A waterfall?

Another man was tied by the wrists to the pipes, his head hanging down. And yet she recognized him instantly. “Booker,” she whispered.

‘Not a day in my life. I’m a guard to the doctor–‘ She took a careful, deep breath. This was not her Booker, only one option of many. If she could just get a map, Elizabeth could begin her search.

Tentatively, she tried to seek the map she knew had to be in there. If she could pull through a turret from another reality, she could get a piece of paper.

‘Yeah, yeah, and you ain’t ever been to her place. We heard the story.’ The other man circled around, standing beside a device strapped to Booker. ‘Now we wanna hear the truth.’

A dry laugh, barely a breath, and he answered. ‘The truth hasn’t got anything to do with me. You want Fontaine, Sullivan. Get him under the docks.’

‘Have it your way.’ Sullivan walked away again, his voice still ringing clear. ‘I’ve got all night.’

She wasn’t ready for the shock, Booker’s convulsions, the screaming– but the tear finally closed, a folded, damp piece of paper in its place. Elizabeth knelt to retrieve it and unfolded it delicately, trying not to damage it further. It was Rapture, all of it, and uneven red lines pointed her to the docks where Fontaine worked.

“Miss Elizabeth…?” Turning, she saw Jack standing in the hall leading back to the safehouse. He looked to her with a furrowed brow and slipped his hands into his sleeves. “What was that window?”

– – –

What do you want to do, Elizabeth?

Read the next chapter.

– – –

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BioQuest: He Stayed

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Booker focused on the men left to fight, his back to her and Jack. He had only just met this child, but… Tenenbaum slipped her hand around Jack’s arm and led him away.
The gunfire faded as they went back to Bathysphere, Jack going in first and falling back on the seat as she closed the door. A shift, and they were off, directly to Olympus Heights this time. Travel to Port Neptune was restricted, but fortunately it seemed Ryan had not done the same in reverse.

“Dr. Tenenbaum,” he questioned her, eyes catching the lights they passed. His hands were folded in his lap, and he stared up at her with such concern. They had done so much to this boy, a feat of science and their egos, but still he was so innocent and trusting…

“Who was that man?” His eyes flicked to the buildings behind her, and it occurred to her that he had only travelled by Fontaine’s submarines before this. “Is he going to be okay?”

“I don’t know, child,” she answered, dropping to the seat herself. Her limbs were heavy, her mouth, dry. She lived with death in the German prison camps, and it didn’t matter then.

So why did the thought of Booker lying dead in that port, this man she barely knew, sit like rocks on her chest?

They rode in silence, his hand resting on her shoulder. And when they docked, he held her hand as she led him through tunnels to his new home. Born from Ryan and his whore, raised by Fontaine, Suchong, and herself… Where did he learn such quiet kindness?

As they descended the stairs to the double doors to her haven, his hand tightened on hers and she stopped. “Are you scared? Jack?”

“Who’s in there?” There it was, a sign of the damage they’d done. She crouched in the dark, dirty stairway to be at his level.

“There are children like you, little girls, who need our help.” Even in shadow, she could see the smile come to his face. He had never met any other children; Jack had been hidden for his entire life.

“And there is a woman watching over them, Elizabeth.” She took his other hand in hers, standing tall again. “This is not a lab, but our home.”

“Home?” She nodded once, and the door opened to spill light onto the staircase. Elizabeth and one of the little ones waited there.

“Someone’s come to play,” the girl shouted, running to tell her sisters as her bare feet smacked against the stone floor.

“Oh, you found him!” Elizabeth brightened, but she was searching beyond them and did not see who she was looking for. “Where is Booker?”

“Booker?” Jack looked from Elizabeth to her, his smile gone. “Is that the man from the port?”

“Yes, that’s him,” Elizabeth reassured him and herself, walking out to the first step. Tenenbaum let his hands go. These two had come to help her and already, one was gone. “Tenenbaum, what happened?”

Before she could answer, Jack spoke. “He didn’t come with us. He stayed to fight so we could run.”

– – –

What do you want to do, Elizabeth?

Read the next chapter.

– – –

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