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Backing away from the jammed door, Elizabeth took a seat on the relatively clean stoop beside a vending machine. The fighting continued past the doors, shouting and electric bolts in the air. She was at a safe distance here, especially with the jam…
But with each bullet leaving its chamber, each plasmid used, an innocent man was closer to death and Fontaine was nearer to freedom and the hunt for Jack. The radio in her hand could make the difference or it could bring Ryan’s attention to their operation.
“There’s no time for doubt,” she scolded herself and pressed the button to make a transmission. “…Mr. Ryan?”
A fizzle of static, her heartbeat pulsing in her hands, and…
“Who is this?”
She let out a breath, almost a laugh. “My name is Anna, a citizen of Rapture. I saw–“
“How did you get this radio? Is Sullivan injured?” His words… Ryan spoke with that barely contained rage she’d heard in his announcements about ‘the parasites’ in his city.
“He’s not, Mr. Ryan, but he’s chasing ghosts. Fontaine isn’t at the docks!” He fell into silence again and she watched the exposed mechanics in the radio, catching light from the machine behind her. “I know you must have questions, but there’s no time to explain now. We need to stop this–“
“You listen to me,” he began his lecture. “I need not do anything. You are no regular citizen of Rapture and if what you say is true, you may very well be her enemy…”
His tone dropped, sending a chill through her as she tensed her grip on the radio, fear and determination blending.
“Mr. Ryan, I can explain everything once we–“
“Know this, Miss Culpepper,” he interrupted, raising his voice. “The man who dies tonight is either Fontaine or works for Fontaine. All parasites who stand against this fine city will meet the same fate. Even you.”
Letting the radio lapse into static, Elizabeth slumped to the wall beside her. All she’d done was endanger this Culpepper woman, and Fontaine would be loose again soon.
“Miss Elizabeth,” someone called to her and she jumped. “Blazes, this door… Miss, are you alright?”
Standing, she walked towards the door again. “Sullivan?” She strode to the door, looking at him through the opening. “Did you catch him? Is he alive?”
“So you’re alright, I guess…” He drawled, shaking his head and working on the mechanism that opened and closed the door. …if bashing it and gesturing for the nearest person to help was working on it. “We won, the man’s dead. Fell into the ocean, but not before we filled ‘im with bullets.”
– – –
What do you want to do, Elizabeth?
– – –
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Quillful 
2 thoughts on “BioQuest: Negotiate”