//------------------------------// // Vacation // Story: Bioshock: Forgotten Elements // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// January 2nd, 1969 Atlantic ocean floor, city of Rapture, Saturn Estates community, disused service tunnel "Daddy, can we please slow down?" Paul's son asked him as his father held his hand and guided him quickly down the service tunnel. "No Alan, we have to keep moving." he told his son, eyes darting from corner to corner as the pair hurried down the service tunnel. They had to keep moving; any number of things could happen. The compartment could depressurize and flood with all the damage the city's taken, they could be mistaken by the automated security as a threat or worse, they could come across other people. Of course, what passed for 'people' in Rapture became a looser term every day. The lights in the service tunnel flickered overhead. "Daddy I'm scared...", Alan said, his voice drenched in the sorrowful tone of innocet fear that came with being in place unknown and not understanding. Paul turned around to Alan and saw tears in his eyes. This was a lot for an eight-year old to take in. This morning, after Paul's preperations had been complete he'd told Alan they were going on vacation. It had been easier to explain than trying to tell his son that the home they lived in was no longer safe. "It's going to be okay Alan. Come here.", Paul knelt down and hugged his son. "You know daddy wouldn't let anything bad happen to you right?" Paul felt his son nod into his shoulder as tears dropped onto his wrinkled shirt. Paul looked down and was just slightly surprised to find himself crying too. He was probably more scared than his son, scared for their safety. But he had to keep them both moving. Rapture, the city that Paul Kurtis and his family had called home for all these years was dying. What once had been a paradise of free enterprise had become a nightmare of psychotic, drug-fueled violence and biomechanical destruction. Rapture had been the shared dream of Andrew Ryan and those like him that felt government on the surface interferred too much into business. People looking for opportunities of all kinds came to Rapture and they found plenty, including ADAM, the mysterious gene-altering substance that allowed people to harness abilities that could only be described as god-like. But the price they payed for such abilities had been heavy; it had cost them their humanity. When ADAM had first been discovered, it had been called a miracle. Found as a chemical that existed only in sea slugs found on the ocean floor, ADAM allowed the citizens of Rapture to manipulate their DNA in almost unthinkable ways. Producing fire with a snap of your fingers, hurling lightning bolts or summoning blizzards were only some of the powers ADAM granted people. Two major corporations that would later become key players in the civil war that would follow created gene tonics, plasmids and other products that allowed anyone access to the amazing power of ADAM for the right price. People sank their entire fortunes into these products, the demand for ADAM grew and soon new methods were needed to produce more ADAM for the population. Paul prayed that he and his son would not run into one of those methods as their escape to the last known bathysphere in Saturn Estates. Paul and his son had not given into to temptation and used ADAM. He and his family had been happy to live their lives the way they were, unfortunately they were the minority. The majority of Rapture had used ADAM freely using the substance as a substitute for excercise, cosmetic surgery or just to liven up their social lives. Far too many had become addicted to ADAM, craving the substance like a drug. Splicing one's DNA so many times had consequences though; individuals that did so suffered from mental and physical deterioration to the point that they became deformed and psychotic. "Splicers", as they were called, roamed the streets and killed anyone and anything they came across for any ADAM they may have had on them and they were everywhere. But Splicers were not the only reason Paul wanted to get his son out of Rapture. Paul and Alan continued down the narrow passageway. Occassional steam hissed out of the pipeworks overhead and the air grew hot and humid. They shaft turned up ahead. Paul slowed down and took a quick glance beyond the corner. The bathysphere bay was just up ahead, an emergency access port for maintenance crews not that maintenance was performed on the city any more. They rounded the corner carefully and headed towards the door. The intercom system crackled overhead. A loud beep was heard and a voice cleared its throat. Paul cursed, not loud enough for his son to hear. He recognized the soft-spoken voice immediately. It was that of the current overseer of Rapture, Trent Arnold, one of the only lawyers that had been allowed in Rapture. Quite possibly the only one left now. "Paul, you know we can't allow you to leave with him.", Trent said. As Paul and his son approached the door, two men rounded the other corner across the corridor from them. Niether of them had guns or weapons of any kind. Paul knew the men wouldn't need them. Paul positioned his son directly behind him and stood his ground. "Mr. Kurtis, how nice of you to join us.", one of the men addressed him. They walked towards Paul and Alan, ducking down to avoid some low hanging pipes. They stopped right in front of Paul like they were about to have a pleasant conversation, despite the fact he'd never met the two men in his life. "Why are you trying to do this now Paul? You know your son is necessary to the future of Rapture. Why turn your back on your own work?", Trent said again over the intercom. "It's for the good of the city Mr. Kurtis. Now please...", the first man spoke and the other cracked his knuckles. As he did, a spark of electricity flared out of either one of his hands. "...make this easy on all of us", he finished. Splicers, while not crazed yet, they were clearly on Trent Arnold's payroll, which means they weren't going to stop splicing any time soon. It also meant there was no chance of trying to take them in a fight or run for that matter. But Paul wasn't going to give up his son. "Look, there's room in the bathysphere for all of us. You can come with us. We can get out of here together." Paul tried to reason with the men or distract them, whichever worked. He reached out to the door control and pressed the access button opening the door. The hatch swung open, temoprarily seperating Paul and his son from the two men by a heavy metal airlock door. Paul rushed himself and his son inside the bathysphere and tried to close the door. He pulled on the handle and the door swung back. Just as it was about to close shut, a hand stuck itself in the crack between and stopped the door from moving. The hand sparked with electricity. "Why do you insist on making things difficult Paul?", the voice asked and groaned. The door swung backwards. The second man yanked Alan out of the bathysphere with his right arm. Alan screamed for his father, Paul reached out after him only to be blocked by the man's left arm. With a single push, the man shoved Paul to the floor the bathysphere. "Daddy! Daddy!!!", his son screamed and cried, kicking the attacker. "Alan!! Damn it give me back my son!!!", Paul shouted at the men. The other man closed the door on Paul, trapping him inside the bathysphere. Paul got up and grab the door handle, trying to push. The other man looked at him through the access port window. "Paul, this is for the good of all of Rapture." the man said to him calmly. "I don't care about Rapture you spliced-up bastards give me back my son!!!", Paul yelled with the rage of an animal and pounded the door. "I think you need a little vacation Paul. Some time off to see what makes Rapture the place that it is. New perspective.", Trent Arnold said over the radio in the bathysphere. A mechanical grind reverberated through the bathysphere. Another door slid down between the hatch and the access port. The bathsyphere shook. Paul looked through the two porthole windows to the man standing beyond. He held up his son in one arm. The man grabbed Alan's left hand and made him wave 'good-bye' as he sobbed. The man then looked up and smiled. Tears streamed down Paul's face as the bathysphere shook again and began to rise up the access bay. He fell onto his hands and knees and sobbed, pounding his fist on the floor. The lights on the bathysphere turned off. Paul cried alone in the dark as he rose to the surface.