Month: June 2018

BioQuest: Reunion

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She returned his second gesture to sneak around their potential attackers and he gave a curt nod, giving his attention to the thugs outside the bathysphere.

“H-he’s not here,” a third, jittery voice muttered, seeming on the edge of screaming, crying, or laughing. “He’s not, he’s not, he’s not.”

Elizabeth ran her hand along the floor of the bathysphere, smooth wooden flooring even underneath the seats.

At least Ryan’s consistently over the top…

Her fingers grazed the box, and she pulled it towards her as Booker wrapped his hand around her arm.

“I can smell him,” the woman breathed, her voice fading as if she’d turned away. A ploy…?

Booker led her out of the bathysphere in a walking crouch, passing them by towards the battered entrance of the Kashmir.

“Elizabeth,” he whispered, shooting her a half-hearted scowl. “When did you start keeping secrets?”

“I’m not, not from you,” she answered, resting her hand on his shoulder. “Jack was here. And so was Fontaine.”

Booker shook his head, but he held his position and simply waited. Seconds passed in stillness and the people waiting for them had wandered off in whatever madness had them…

Although Elizabeth knew. She knew too well exactly what it was.

“Well, they’re not here now and we don’t have much in the way of time,” he advised, taking out a pistol in addition to his shotgun. “We’re going to Fort Frolic, that’s where the Vita Chamber’s hidden.”

He stood and held out the pistol to her. “I am a detective, Elizabeth.”

“Booker.” That was a quiet, steady voice she recognized. “Can we go home?”

She stood and took him in, dried blood set into his suit. A sleeve was ripped at the shoulder and right over his chest, an entry point showed where he’d been shot… But he was here. “Jack, I…”

Booker grabbed them both, pulling them down, and then she heard it. Metal clacking overhead, faint humming, and last, an Irish brogue.

“Boyo,” the man’s voice was clear but far enough that she knew they could evade him. If only barely. “Where are ya now, boyo?”

But to where? The bathysphere, Kashmir, the tunnels? Jack held her hand tightly and met her gaze. She held onto the gift box in her other hand, and in his other hand, he had the pistol from Booker.

What do you want to do, Elizabeth?

– – –

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BioQuest: Pickup

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Jack.

She could see him waiting outside the Kashmir if she closed her eyes, blood speckled on his white suit jacket and something between fear and determination in his eyes.

At least he had the crossbow… And seeing him in her mind’s eye, even like that, was better than the Big Daddy that almost drilled into their bathysphere. Drastically better.

Elizabeth reclined against the bench, crossing her legs. If nothing else, she could appear more poised than she felt.

“He’s at the Kashmir Restaurant, I…” She could tell Booker about the gunfire that started right before she left for the labs. She could tell him that Jack was sure Fontaine was in there and he went to find him. But with Booker injured in a confined space at the bottom of the ocean, nothing to do about it but wait…

She pulled a kerchief from her pocket, reaching out for his hand. There was no need to distress him now. The bathysphere wouldn’t move any faster and Elizabeth could always tell him later. “I’m sorry I broke the flask.”

He scoffed, but Booker put his hand in hers to let her wrap it tightly. “Come on, Elizabeth, I said forget it.”

Yet somehow, he changed in a matter of seconds. When she would look up, he would look out at the lights or schools of fish passing instead.

No wonder he lost so much money on gambling.

“Jack won’t even notice, I’d bet. Just couldn’t stop mentioning that party.” Booker forced out a breathy laugh, but the smile was genuine. However slight.

“Speaking of which,” he cleared his throat, digging in an inner vest pocket with his good hand.

“Booker?” She’d finished wrapping his injury, and Elizabeth leaned back. She tilted her head and felt a smile she couldn’t fight any easier than he had. From his vest, he took out a dark blue matte velvet box with a thin pink bow keeping it shut.

“Happy New Year’s,” he almost whispered. “Figured it was about time I got you a new necklace.” He held the box back at first and she teasingly scowled at him, crossing her arms. Of course she had already guessed Booker would stall like that, but half the fun was humoring him. “Before you ask, Jack helped.”

As the bathysphere settled in, he held the gift box out to her.

A bullet whizzed between them, lodging into the thick metal frame of the window. They both reacted in an instant, taking cover, although Elizabeth hadn’t the slightest idea where the box went.

“That was ‘im,” a woman cackled, “Place’s gone to hell, but I’d know that pretty fella in any ol’ place.”

“Shut your hole,” a man hissed, somewhere to the northwest of Elizabeth.

She looked to Booker and he made two gestures, one after another. From their time in Columbia, she recognized them: go through the thugs or around?

What do you want to do, Elizabeth?

– – –

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BioQuest: Accident

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She took the bottle from him, and it was light, but dense, it was… Elizabeth pouted at it, lost in thought, and turned it over in her hands. Booker let out a tense breath as he sat, rubbing his neck.

“Getting old, Booker?” She teased, and they both chuckled together.

“I’m still south of forty.” He rolled his shoulders, leaning back as the city passed behind him.

“And still north of me.” Elizabeth smiled, running a hand over the bottle. This would be the first step in freeing Jack. She wanted to scold him for such a reckless decision, but…

What other sorts of decisions did he make?

“Listen, Booker, tha–”

“Elizabeth!” The bottle slipped from her hands, she fumbled as it spiraled away.

Booker was on his feet, his hand under the bottle, but too late. The shatter filled the bathysphere for a few terrible seconds, and then…

Booker hissed a swear, cradling his bloody hand and pushed himself back onto the bench. Elizabeth glanced out the porthole window at the coming dock.

“Almost there, let me see,” she insisted, pulling his good hand off his injured one. The blood had shards of glass mixed in, embedded in his hand in places, but there was also a swirling, glowing quality.

“It’s just an accident, Elizabeth. I’ve been stabbed worse than this.” She stared up at him, studying his face. No symptoms yet, but how would she know? Would it take seconds? Days? Never?

“Forget it, there’s another dose in Rapture. And we’ll find it.” He took his hand back, wiping the blood on the bathysphere seat with a dry smirk. “Where’s Jack?”

What do you want to do, Elizabeth?

Read the next chapter.

– – –

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BioQuest: One Dose

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The coming Big Daddy had all of Booker’s attention, he hadn’t even noticed the bathysphere arrive. That was his only tell. His hands were steady as he reloaded and he stayed in motion even as he sought out cover behind filing cabinets and surgical tables. Elizabeth fell right into their rhythm, crouching as she rushed to his side.

She was fortunate he hadn’t left much for debris, only the odd bullet hole or scorched mark on the wall. Once she was close to him, her fingers found the strap of his holster and he nearly found her with the butt of his gun. “Elizabeth?!”

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“To the bathysphere, this way,” she whispered, not that it would do much good stalling a Big Daddy. ‘Lucky’ for them, it was a Bouncer and not a Rosie… There was no outrunning a rivet. Booker and Elizabeth matched each other’s pace down the hall, the rumbling closer now. “Hurry!”

“I’m sure as hell not stopping,” he shouted over the groan behind them and knocked over a filing cabinet behind them as they passed.

“There’s no point, Booker—” A drill cut off the rest of her sentence, whirring down to an enraged roar and falling paperwork. “What were you thinking, coming here?!”

“Not this!” She could only scoff at that. Now was not the time for his sarcasm, but of course… Elizabeth got into the bathysphere ahead of him as he fired two more shots at the Bouncer, backing up into the bathysphere and slamming his fist down on the door button.

Its red eyes fixed on them, or it felt like that way, unfazed by the blasts. A robotic woman’s voice droned overhead, “Security protocol 52-C: travel locked.”

“Booker!” The footsteps in the hall were resonating through the bathysphere now, its eyes tinting everything red as it lumbered closer.

“On it,” he answered, pushing his gun into her hands. He typed a code into the numbered panel on the wall and the security message stopped mid-sentence.

The Bouncer was almost there, felt close enough to touch, until they rocked out of the port and onto the rails. Its eyes faded to that sick yellow-green and the security message explained. “Security clearance approved. Travel permitted. Rise, Rapture, Rise!”

She dropped to the bench, resting the gun beside her and finally breathing. Booker stayed and stared out at the Bouncer. Silent. Elizabeth slid forward in the seat and broke that silence with a question she knew she deserved an answer to. “What happened?”

He still didn’t look at her, holstering his gun with unnecessary focus on that task instead. She narrowed her gaze and scowled at the back of his head. But she would wait until he found the nerve that let him do this in the first place.

“This,” he offered, taking the flask off his belt. The solution looked like a star made liquid, shifting colors and giving off its own light. “Lot 192, one dose.”

What do you want to do, Elizabeth?

Read the next chapter.

– – –

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BioQuest: Be Safe

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Jack already had speckles of blood of the cuffs of his sleeves, standing over one of Sullivan’s dead men with the corpse’s gun in his hand. He stared at her, nodding towards the labs. “Go! Please, go.”

The outline of the crossbow nearly blended into the wall, but it almost neon for how difficult it was to tear her gaze from it to look down the halls outside the Kashmir…

Her dad, he could handle himself in a fight even if he couldn’t handle anything else on his own. But… Elizabeth looked back towards Jack, just as stuck as she was. And she closed her eyes, gunpowder and stale air filling her lungs as she breathed.

Booker, patch yourself up! I think there’s more of them.

She was part of his team now, whether either of them liked it or not. Elizabeth pointed to the crossbow she hid, shouting, “There, it’s a crossbow! Keep yourself hidden, stay safe.”

“No, you–”

She didn’t wait to hear the rest. Her heart beat in the effort and in concern– she ran through the notes she saw in Suchong’s files about Jack. Designed to fight, stronger than most people his physical age, and then there was the Vita Chamber.

The only one of its kind, a rushed prototype stationed in Fort Frolic where it could be concealed as decoration.

It wouldn’t come to that. Her heels echoed with every step down the halls, screams resounding behind her. It couldn’t.

The bathysphere was empty. The door sealed shut as security bots whirred and beeped towards the restaurant. She rested a hand against the glass, Apollo Square waiting out ahead. “Be safe.”

Bathyspheres were not fast, calibrating for fish and other sea life. She stretched, she hummed, she recited chemical compositions, she sat with legs folded and unfolded and folded. At last, the door swooshed open and she pushed her way out the moment she could.

“Shit,” Booker hissed, gun raised as he retreated. A vial hung from his belt, a mixed liquid shining from within. The camera at the front lay shattered on the ground, sparking, but…

She felt it first. The lumbering boots resonated through the floor of the lab, a low groan following.

What do you want to do, Elizabeth?

Read the next chapter.

– – –

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