Last of the First

Chapters

Chapter 2: Primary Directive: Protect... Ponies?
Chapter 3: Execute Prime Directive: Guard Little Sisters
Chapter 4: New Charges, Old Homes
Chapter 5: A Daddy's Normal Day.
Chapter 6: The Haggard Haphaestus
Chapter 7: A Father's Expanding Knowledge
Chapter 9: First Father's Solution
Chapter 10: Family Reunion
Chapter 11: Family Questions
Chapter 12: Daddy and his Shows
Chapter 13: Daddy?
Chapter 14: -P̛r̶og͢r͢a͢mmi͏n̨g ̴E̵rr҉or-̀
Chapter 15: A Breath Of 'Fresh' Air
Chapter 16: Day One of Free Thought
Chapter 17: A Moment Off Of Medical Leave
Chapter 18: Preperations; I Am Omega
Chapter 19: Starting Off 'Great'
Chapter 20: The New Breed
Chapter 21: Welcome To He- I Mean, Lower Rapture
Chapter 22: Adaption Comes In All Forms
Chapter 23: New Strength And An Odd New Friend
Chapter 24: It Can Never Be Easy... Can It?
Chapter 25: How Is This An 'Amusement' Park?
Chapter 26: Everyone Is Against Everyone Down Here... Even Your Own.
Chapter 27: Worst... Attraction... Ever!
Chapter 28: Oh You Have GOT To Be Kidding Me!
Chapter 29: Drill Vs Nothing... Easy...
Chapter 30: Daddy's Little 'Talk'
Chapter 32: Dine And Dash
Chapter 33: Out Of Sight, Out Of Sanity
Chapter 34: An Eye For An Eye
Chapter 35: Makes The Whole World Blind
Chapter 1: Yearly Traditions
Chapter 8: Rapture's New Messaging System
Chapter 31: Testing The Waters

Chapter 2: Primary Directive: Protect... Ponies?

"Oy! Over here!" I inwardly groaned as I heard a familiar, yet annoying, voice pierce the silence of the oceanic city. It was like any other splicer's voice really. Two-toned--like, literally two-toned, it's creepy as hell--garbled, and reeking of idiocy. Well, honestly I just added the idiocy part, but it's the same thing really. Let alone the fact that some have accents that I REALLY can't describe. "Metal feline! Over here! Those were some 'ell of fireworks eh? It's gettin' better every year 'innit?" See what I mean?

I turned towards the splicer, letting out a loud metallic groan as I did so. It was the only noise I could make after my voice box was removed after all. Well, that and growling, but that's only when I was annoyed. It didn't make much of a difference though, I always sounded as if I was mad. The splicer, who was currently holding onto a lead pipe he had scavenged, just chuckled however.

They had all gotten used to me being here. Especially since they couldn't get rid of me. "I take it that was a yes?" I didn't even bother to dignify that with a response as I just turned and left. "Eh, all right, all right, I'll leave ya be. See ya' round big guy!" The sound of his footsteps rushing away from me was a welcome relief. I would never understand splicers. One second, they act all buddy-buddy with me, as if they had known me for years, the next, they're trying to cut me up, beat me to death, burn me alive, or turn me into Swiss cheese... In that order.

It's things like these that make me realize, this is my life. I'm alone, I can't talk, I'm in a two-ton metal suit, annnnd I can't die.

Isn't life beautiful?

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"Now that everypony is present, I will go over the mission once more." Princess Celestia told the large group of guards and missionaries that stood before her. Prince Blueblood stood to her left, a bored expression on his face as usual, and Princess Luna stood to her right. The guards were all standing in attention in front of the royal family, though particularly Luna and Celestia, and the missionaries were trying their best to do the same. As for the two snooping ponies behind the pillar, they were carefully peering their heads around the side of their hiding places as they tried to get a better view of the situation.

"In a matter of moments, Luna and I will teleport us all into the unknown kingdom in the Ponycific ocean. Our mission is to find the leaders of this kingdom and attempt to make peace with them. We are not to separate from one another under any circumstances. The kingdom will only remain visible for twelve hours, and due to the conditions that it is under, my sister and I will only be able to make one large scale return teleportation spell. It is because of this that we must stay together." As the solar princess explained, Fluttershy felt her heart begin to beat at a faster rate. "Wh- what would happen if we weren't close enough? Oh dear." She thought. Rarity remained as excited as ever though, not even slightly fazed by the troubling issue that may arise on their journey.

"If everypony is ready, we will begin immediately!" Princess Luna continued, both her and Celestia's horns beginning to glow. It was at that moment that everypony in the room shared one respective thought. "This is it."

Fontaine Fisheries. A once bustling place of work, where fisherman and collectors of all sorts could once obtain exotic, undersea fish that could never be found near the surface. Now, however, it was a dark and abandoned place, long left to rot by time. At least, it used to be. A blinding light flashed in the center of the room, atop a boardwalk like platform that the workers of the area used to easily maneuver the room, before just as quickly dimming itself, revealing a large group of over 50 ponies, each one with proud and confident looks on their faces... until they actually looked around the room.

Several of them, the princesses included, looked towards the glass walls in wonder and awe, amazed that they were truly under the ocean. To them, this was unheard of. Not even the most advanced pony societies from ancient times could have been able to construct something such as this, and they all knew it. However, while they all marveled at the sight that surrounded them, two certain ponies simply found it to be damp and disgusting. One of which having been teleported under the boardwalk with her pegasus friend, luckily remaining hidden from the sight of any of the other ponies. "Ick, ooh, dirt. And my mane is getting absolutely soaked. What kind of kingdom is this? Underwater or not, they should at least have the decency of making sure that there aren't any leaks about the place. How dreadful." She exclaimed as quietly as possible towards Fluttershy. Fluttershy, however, was currently in as much of a state of wonder as the others. It was simply so... beautiful, for her to see the ocean from beneath, despite the ill-kept condition of the room.

There was a moment of silence as everypony fought to remove themselves from their states of admiration towards this remarkable sight so that they could continue their mission. Luckily, Princess Celestia did just that. "Everypony, we must stay focused. Remember, we have a limited amount of time to find the leaders of this kingdom and make peace. We will marvel at the sights in a later time." All of the gaurd ponies and missionaries moved their focus to the princess almost instantly, their two hidden tag-alongs doing the same. "Yes. Of course." Celestia's sister, Luna, confirmed, though she herself was as much glued to the sights as anypony else. "To start, we need to find one of the civilians of this kingdom. It is highly likely that they will be able to guide us to their leader." Everypony nodded in affirmation. The princesses both nodded back before heading off deeper into the fisheries, the squads following them tirelessly while their two spectators snuck from place to place at a reasonable distance, doing their best to remain hidden.

The two ponies were not the only ones sneaking around however. One familiar splicer, with which the 'metal feline' of Rapture had recently interacted with, had watched over and seen the whole thing. At first, he believed that he had simply taken a bad hypo of Eve, or perhaps drank too much old whiskey for his mind to handle. After his initial shock though, he quickly realized that he was not hallucinating the strange, talking creatures that had appeared before him from out of thin air. Curious as to where they were going, the splicer followed the group using the air vents above them, an ill conceived thought of their demise already forming in his tumor filled mind.

It had already been 9 hours since the group had begun their search, and still, they could not find any citizens of this kingdom. Rather, all they found was wreckage and ruins that surrounded them. Things that used to hold beauty, now rusted and crumbling with age and mistreatment. They were beginning to think of the kingdom as less amazing, and more abandoned. "Sister, how have we still not found anypony as off yet?" The younger of the two sisters asked the other.

"Yes auntie, how have we still not seen anypony? One would think that these peasants would at least be plentiful, even in such filth." Blueblood complained/agreed. Princess Celestia could not answer their questions though, for she as well was at a loss. The splicer who had been following them however, knew perfectly well why they hadn't seen anyone. Earlier that day, the splicers had suggested celebrating the New Years with a round of drinks for everyone, so it was likely that they were all still at the taverns, drinking themselves into comas. He knew that he couldn't take on this large group on his own, even with his demented mind. So he had decided to follow them instead.

"Perhaps... You both have a point. It is likely that this kingdom has been deserted for some time now. I believe it is time for us to return." The splicer's eyes widened at this. He couldn't simply allow them to leave! Not yet at least.

"Oy! Up here!" He shouted towards the group. The crowd of ponies looked towards the ceiling, slightly shocked to see such a strange and, at a lack of better words, hideous creature. They did not comment on this though, preferring not to make offense to what may be the average appearance of such creatures. Even Fluttershy, the kinder of all the ponies there, still hidden in sight with Rarity by her side, couldn't help but flinch at the creature.

The splicer, happy that he had gotten their attention, jumped down from his high position within the vents, landing feet first onto the floor, though rather sloppily, and looking towards the group with a creepy and eroded smile. The princesses pushed the appearance of the creature aside however. After all, he was the first citizen that they had met in this kingdom.

"Greetings." The pony of the sun greeted. "I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of the kingdom of Equestria alongside my sister, Princess Luna." She gestured towards her sister as she continued to look towards the disfigured being, a smile of kindness adorning her muzzle. The splicers demented smile grew, as he let out an inwardly sarcastic bow at the princess.

"'Ello princesses. Names Rodney Jarod, nice t' meet ya." He introduced himself in return. "Now then, what can I do for ya?" The princesses of day and night were slightly offset by the being's odd way of talking, along with most everypony that had accompanied them, but they ignored this issue nonetheless. Princess Luna took a step forward and began to explain their reason for arriving.

"You see, 'Rodney', my sister and I have come to this mysterious kingdom in the hopes of making peace. If you would be so kind as to point us in the direction of your leader, we would be most thankful indeed." The splicer barely held back a laugh at this. Peace? In Rapture of all places? Wherever these candy colored horses had come from, it obviously wasn't from here.

"Leader eh? 'Ang on a tick wuldja?" The splicer said as he raised his hand to his chin and began to think up a lie. It needed to be something convincing, that would work to his advantage in the long run. A mischievous grin passed about his face as he thought up the perfect 'leader' for this little ruse. "Well, normally I'd say we splicers run the show round this aquarium, but the metal feline would pro'bly be our leader in any case, he would." The princesses put on faces of confusion as he told them this fib.

"Metal feline? A feline is the leader of your kingdom?" Everypony else was just as confused as the princesses were, unsure of what to make of this 'metal feline'. The splicer burst out laughing, once again causing a majority of the ponies to flinch.

"What, like a cat? Hahahahahaaaa! Lord no, we splicers ain't that crazy we ain't." He explained to the confused group. "We just call him that because, no matter how many times we kill'm, he just won't stay dead. 'E's one persistent fish he is." Everypony in the room's mouths and eyes widened at this remark for two reasons. One, this being had just mentioned killing someone without even batting an eye, even though murder was rare in a place such as Equestria. Two, how could a being be killed again and again, yet still come back? "You'll know'm when ya see'im. Real big, glowin' eye, covered in heavy stuff made of metal, and reeeeaaal quiet-like. Mostly cuz the porpoise can't talk no more." As he explained this, he was cut off by the distant sound of heavy thumps, growing closer and closer little by little. This was his chance.

"'Ere 'e comes now! Spot of luck for ya 'innit?" He said before running off around the corner, stopping just short of exiting their sight. "Oh, I'll be gettin' the rest if the boys here t' meet 'cha! I'm sure they'd love to have all sorts of fun wit' ya!" Had they listened closely, they would have noticed the darker meaning behind his words. At the moment though, they were too preoccupied with listening to the ever growing sound of heavy footsteps, approaching in their direction.

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"Another damned leak. I swear, these fisheries will be the death of me."

My built in Rapture Maintenence System had pointed out this leak only moments ago, deciding to cooperate with the usual loud alarm to tell me of this issue. By now, the damned alarm had finally shut off, leaving me to head towards the leak in peace. It was another damned flaw to this piece of crap suit, and I honestly wished that it could be removed as soon as possible. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't do that without effectively screwing myself over in the future.

So far, aside from the yearly whatever the hell happens outside, nothing particularly interesting has happened. Of course.

"You know, after walking around a broken down city with nobody to talk to who wouldn't end up putting a bullet or blade in your chest, a person would probably go mad. Yet, here I was, bored and sane as eve-" My train of thought effectively crashed into a burning wreck as I turned the corner and was met by the eyes of several, and I'm not kidding when I say this, colored ponies. Ponies. Just...ponies? It was the only word I knew to describe them as, having likely heard the word sometime along my life, though I couldn't remember when. Nonetheless, I let out an inward sigh. I threw away a mental list with tallies on it titled 'Days since last phycological breakdown'. It's too bad too. I was about to break my record of 24.

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No noise was heard from the room as the ponies just stared in a combination of shock, awe, and fear at the giant that stood before them. As the splicer had told them, it was a giant metal creature, with a single eye that glowed an eerie green. Fluttershy hid herself even further into her hiding spot, trembling with fear.

Prince Blueblood, much to everypony's surprise and chagrin, decided to take the initiative on this. Not because he was enthusiastic about creating peace, but because he was missing his 10:00 hooficure appointment and wanted to return as soon as possible. "Ah, you must be the 'metal feline' we've heard so much about. Well, while you certainly fit the description, I still am not too certain as to why those hideous things from before would choose a filthy brute like yourself to lead them." Princess Celestia, Luna, and Rarity alike nearly slammed their hooves into their faces out of frustration as they listened to Prince Blueblood so 'kindly' introduce himself.

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"Is it normal to want to punch your hallucinations? Like, reeeeaaaally badly? Because that's what I want to do right now. Repeatedly."

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"I am Prince Blueblood, member of the royal family of-" Blueblood paused in his spiel as he noticed the behemoth begin to walk past him, as well as the large group of ponies that accompanied him. He was being ignored, and he didn't take too kindly to that. "Hey, are you listening to me?!?" The metal monstrosity didn't listen as it leaned down next to a cracked piece of glass that was currently leaking water and began to release a solvent from a compartment in its wrists. "How dare you ignore me! I am a Prince! I should not be treated like this! Especially by the likes of you!"

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"Ok brain, look. You want to make a hallucination to keep me mentally active? Fine, I'll understand completely. But would you ease up on the annoying factor? Honestly, does this guy ever shut up?" The pony continued to ramble on about being a prince and deserving better as I placed the last of the solvent on the leak, stopping the water in its tracks, and tapping on the glass ever so lightly to be sure the solvent wouldn't come off.

"Honestly, where does a hulking monster like you find enjoyment in treating royalty like this?" The light taps that I had given the glass turned into one hard slam, cracking the glass further, but luckily not causing any leaks. Now I was sure that this wasn't a hallucination. My mind, as twisted as it may be, would never use that word to describe anyone. Not the splicers, not these ponies, and especially not myself. The plus side? If this wasn't a hallucination, then I could punch it all I liked.

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"Honestly, where does a hulking monster like you find enjoyment in treating royalty like this?"

The metal giant suddenly slammed its hulking hand against the glass as Blueblood uttered this question. Everypony seemed to prepare for the worst at this point, the guards flaring their wings and readying their magic as they prepared for a fight, though in the inside, they felt a slight twinge of fear. The princesses felt it too, and Fluttershy and Rarity were no excuse for this fear.

Suddenly, in a speed impossible to imagine on a creature of such a size, the colossus stood itself in front of Blueblood, looking down upon him since he only reached the height of his stomach. It's once green eye had turned a vibrant orange, threatening to deepen to a tint of red at any moment, as it let out a loud and unearthly growl that seemed to echo within its own head. Blueblood promptly fell backwards in fear, not expecting such a violent reaction for his taunting.

Before anymore could occur though, a voice familiar to both the metal man and the ponies of this group resounded throughout the hallways. "This way. It's this way it is! Meat! And lots of it! Not only that, but I'm pretty sure they 'ave ADAM enough for a whole school of fish!"

"Come on! Lets go, gotta go, c'mon lets go!"

"Don't worry Paulie, you'll get your share! Right after mine!"

"Oh please! I'm going to eat before the both of ya's."

Several voices resounded along with the splicer known as Rodney, each seeming to get louder and louder as they approached. The grinding of weapons on concrete could be heard coming form the other room, along with the deadly sounding click of a revolver.

Within seconds, the splicer horde entered the room, each of them wielding makeshift weaponry that they had likely scavenged out of a nearby bathroom. Rodney, who had originally had a lead pipe as a weapon, had lucked out, and found a revolver on his trip to and from the tavern.

The ponies knew a threat when they saw one, and this large group of armed splicers did not bode well for their hopes for peace. Rarity and Fluttershy had now completely hidden themselves, only allowing the most minimal of view towards the situation. The princesses' eyes narrowed, as their horns began to glow yet again, though this time for the means of combat. If it was necessary, they were more than willing to fight the splicers to incapacitation, whether they knew what the odd metal contraption one of them held in their hands was or not.

Now, all that stood between this conflict was the 'metal feline' who had watched Blueblood with his orange tinted eye as he hid himself behind several of the guards like the coward he was.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Princess Luna shouted towards the splicers, seeming to ignore the metal being between the two groups. The splicers all laughed hysterically as Rodney pointed towards the ponies over his shoulders and grinned smugly.

"See, I told ya' 'idn't I? Now to answer your question ya' candy colored petting zoo, my pals an' I have gone for quite some time without ADAM, and we're not too sure if you 'ave some on ya' or not. So, the only thing we can do to be sure is ta' cut you open and see for ourselves. After all, ya said ya wanted peace, well so do we! A piece of ADAM along wit' your intestines that is!" The ponies all gawked at this, unable to comprehend such a profound level of violence. Never before had they heard anypony speak of something so... so... cruel.

"Now then, if the metal feline would kindly move out of the way, we'll just-" This other splicer was cut off, quite literally, as a giant shard of metal flew towards it at incredibly high speeds. It seemed to pass right through him, much to his and the other's dismay. He remained silent though as he felt pain course through his system. He looked up towards the 'metal feline', noticing he had his arm outstretched in his direction and his eye a pure shade of red, his hand was splayed out and a shard of metal much like the one that was thrown was in his other hand, likely ripped off of the floor during the rambling of Rodney.

"W-Why did ya-" He didn't finish his sentence as his upper half collapsed backwards into his lower half, blood and intestines leaving his now split body.

If there were any limits that the ponies could take, this was it. Blueblood, along with several guards and missionaries threw up at the sight, never before having seen such a thing occur. Celestia didn't say anything, as she was too shocked to do so, and Luna gagged, barely able to hold down her lunch at a sight that even Nightmare Moon wouldn't have been able to tolerate. Fluttershy began to tremble uncontrollably, tears spilling from her eyes as she curled herself up as best as she could, telling herself that this wasn't happening. Rarity took notice and ignored her own disgust and fear as she attempted to comfort Fluttershy to the best of her ability. Fluttershy had been correct after all, coming here with the princesses was a mistake from the beginning.

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I nearly gagged at the sight as I watched the splicer split into two and spill his guts onto the floor. I was only hoping for a warning shot, but I suppose that would have to do.

"INITIATIVE PROTOCOL: PROTECT. INITIATIVE PROTOCOL: PROTECT." That voice that had haunted me since my programming was back, yelling the same thing at me over and over again. In truth, it did not have to tell me even once to do so. I was annoyed because of the splicer from earlier, who just so happened to be leading this attack, angered by a prissy pony who could not shut his mouth for one second, and now I was downright pissed at the fact that I was at threat of being attacked by a group of splicers. A man as twisted as I had been could only take so much. Now, it was time to show why I was a Big Daddy in the first place.

I let out a loud metallic groan of anger, causing the floor to tremble and debris to begin to fall from the ceiling, before lifting my left arm and initiating the ESU that was on it. It let out loud sounds of crackling and popping as the electricity began to show around the supercharged rod. Normally, it was meant to be non-lethal. But after a few days of tweaking from a while back, let's just say that it was enough to stop the heart of a sperm whale.

Rodney took a step back, intimidated by this display, as he looked towards the other splicers behind him and pointed towards me.

"Well don't just stand there ya bunch'a krill, get'im!" Letting out several simultaneous cries of war, the thuggish splicers, splicers with melee weapons, all rushed at me, their impromptu weaponry raised above their heads as they did so. I performed a head count as I waited for them to draw closer. 36 thuggish splicers, and one leadhead (splicer with a firearm). Heh, they're getting sloppy.

Ten splicers jumped onto me at once, ready to slam their weapons down upon me. Unfortunately for them, I easily shoved them away with my right arm. Well, shoved being more of an understatement. Bulldozed is more like it, since they ended up embedded into a metal wall, several shards of metal piercing through their now broken flesh and bones. The other splicers were not too fazed by this as they continued to charge me. 13 of them went to my right, and 13 to my left. The two groups grabbed my large arms by the shoulders, keeping me from moving my arms efficiently enough to kill them. I glanced towards Rodney, noticing a smile on his face as he pointed the revolver towards me.

"Maybe this time you'll stay dead!" The last thing I saw was a small piece of metal as it came flying towards me, my sight turning black almost instantly... before being filled with green as a replacement, followed by the rest of the colors as my view of the world returned. I was in another vita-chamber again, unsurprisingly, and as I made my way to the next room that I knew them to be in, a single thought crossed my mind. "Fucking armor piercing rounds."

It didn't take long for me to make my way into the room again, noticing a laughing Rodney and his crowd of splicers standing over my dead body. The ponies from earlier were still there, shock and fear evident in their faces. If they thought that was surprising, then they'd love this.

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Celestia couldn't believe her eyes. A creature that had seemed so mighty, killed by a single blow from whatever mysterious contraption that Rodney had wielded against him. These creatures were much stronger than she had originally thought. Now, here they were, laughing at the death of the colossi despite the death of eleven of their group-mates. "Whew, it gets better er'y time 'innit?" Rodney told a nearby splicer.

"It sure does Rod-AAAAAAAAaaaaAaaaarGgGggghhhgh!!!"

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I decided I didn't want to hear anymore of these guys talking for the rest of the day, so I got behind the splicer, and gave him a light jab with my ESU. He quickly began to convulse and foam at the mouth, his skin starting to smoke as over 1.21 gigawatts of electrical power was sent through his body. Eventually, he fell to the floor dead, still shaking as he did so. Before Rodney or any of the other splicers could react, I spread out both my arms and shoved the whole lot of them off of the boardwalk. It wasn't a long fall, nor was the the water they fell in deep, but drowning or falling wasn't how I planned on killing them all. They all staggered to their feet, glaring at me from the knee deep water they stood in.

"Ya thinkin' a lil water'll be 'nough to kill us?!? That ain't gonna do-" he paused as he noticed me kneel next to the edge of the boardwalk, purposely moving my ESU to the water at a slow speed to give him a moment to realize his death. The other splicers noticed just as quickly as Rodney, as they began to scramble for a nearby piece of land to stand on. "N-no wait! Lets talk about this bu- DEEDedEerDeDdddd" The sound of several splicers being shocked to death was, at risk of sounding as looney as Sander Cohen, enchanting. It held a certain flair to it, one that could not be compared to anything else so easily. I left the ESU in the drink long enough to watch it boil before lifting it out of the water once again. At this point, the bodies were charred from the electrical jolt, still smoking and steaming from their recent case of shock therapy.

I turned towards the ponies, noticing the shocked and appalled expressions on their faces. I didn't want to have deal with this, but I had a feeling that leaving wasn't going to be as easy as it was earlier.

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"He...he really can't die." Rarity thought to herself as she continued to peer around her hiding space, Fluttershy already having calmed down after being told to cover her eyes and go to her happy place. The princesses, along with the ponies that accompanied them, were thinking similarly, unsure of how to react to the brutal massacre that had been created by this deathless being.

The 'metal feline' turned to their direction once again, his once red eye glowing a cautious shade of yellow as he closed in on the ponies. The guards took their battle positions ready to give their lives for their monarchs, though they had never thought for it to be so literal. The giant raised his hand, however, as if telling them to calm themselves as he looked towards the princesses and let out a metallic groan.

"Um, pardon?" Princess Luna asked. The metal giant placed his hand over his helmet in frustration, before letting out yet another groan. Having had enough, Princess Celestia fired up her horn once again, releasing an orb of light around the entire room.

"---WoulD YoU JuST LEAve AlrEaDy?!?" The creature paused, reaching for its throat with its large gloved hands with caution.

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"W-Was that my voice?" Honestly I wasn't sure. I hadn't heard my voice since I was programmed into the Big Daddy Initiative, and any sort of remembrance of it had disappeared almost completely at this point.

"H-hEllO? TeStinG ONe, TwO, thRee." It was garbled, the volume changing from high to low at random intervals. "HoLY cRAp I caN TaLk... I CaN TaLk aGaIn! FiNaLly!" The sound of someone clearing their throat caught my attention, as I focused on the large white pony with a horn and wings in front of me.

"I cast a spell that will allow you to communicate with us, but it's only temporary." Right, priorities. Under normal circumstances, I would either question the whole spell thing or thank her for giving me a voice again, if only for a little while, but I had to get them out of here. They obviously weren't fit for Rapture, and needed to leave through whatever way they had come, fast.

"RIGht. LOoK, FiRST thiNgs firsT, YoU neEd tO LEAvE." The two ponies that possessed wings and horns looked towards me with confusion, hints of disgust just as visible on their faces, which was understandable considering the slaughter they had just seen me cause.

"Not until we get some answers." The blue pony retorted, pointing a hoof at me as she did so. The white pony next to her blocked her with her wing, as if telling her to be silent.

"Though I'm more than slightly skeptical at the idea, I suppose introductions are in order. I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria alongside my sister, Princess Luna." She said.

"I just acted snarky with royalty? Scratch that off the bucket list." I thought to myself as she continued.

"We came to this kingdom in order to make peace, though it would seem that the attempt was rather... Unsuccessful..." She looked towards the burnt remains of splicers that floated in the water. "If I may, why did your subjects attack us, and why did you murder them!?" I could see pure anger in her gaze at this point and every other pony in the room had begun to slowly back away. "Nopony deserves to die, ESPECIALLY IN A WAY SO CRUEL!" As she yelled the last part, I felt the room around us tremble, much like the roar that I had let out earlier towards the splicers. The other ponies didn't seem to expect this side from their princess, as they had all gained a fair distance away from her. Not only that, but as she yelled, the sound managed to make its way into my helmet, echoing over and over again in the most annoying way possible. If she wanted to yell at me, then fine. I could do the same.

"...PeACe? YOu ReaLly donT knOw WheRe yOu ARe dO yOu? YOu aRe in GODDAMNED RAPTURE!" I yelled, rivaling her earlier shout just as easily, and I hadn't even begun yet. "THIS ISN'T SOME PEACEFUL KINGDOM, RAPTURE IS THE REMAINDER OF AN UNDERWATER HELL!!! MURDER, AS YOU CALL IT, IS SURVIVAL FOR ME, AND EVERYONE ELSE THAT USED TO LIVE HERE, EVEN AFTER RAPTURE'S INITIAL DOWNFALL!" The room was beginning to shake uncontrollably, the ponies moving even further back as I showed just how intimidating I could be. Celestia stood her ground, though I could tell that she was beginning to have second thoughts.

"RAPTURE FELL APART FROM THE INSIDE OUT A LONG TIME AGO, AND EVEN BEFORE THEN, IT WAS A CRUEL AND JUDGMENTAL PLACE! CHILDREN WERE CAPTURED FROM THEIR HOMES AND TURNED INTO VIABLE DRUG FACTORIES, PEOPLE STARTED TURNING INTO SPLICERS, LIKE THE ONES I JUST SAVED YOU FROM," I emphasized, causing the princess to flinch ever so slightly, "AND NOT ONLY THAT, BUT BECAUSE OF RAPTURE, I WAS TURNED INTO THIS... THIS THING!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, the 'spell' that surrounded us no longer able to contain my voice as my usual metallic groan permeated the air, only this time, it sounded more like a roar.

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Not even Celestia, the princess of the sun and arguably the strongest pony in all of Equestria, could compete with such anger, as the glass wall that the metal being had repaired cracked even further, a large trail making its way to the top of the wall and nearly buckling the glass under the intense water pressure. Rarity and Fluttershy, who had originally been looking away from the display of death and violence, peered their heads out of their hiding places once again, watching and listening as the giant went on. "I LOST MY MemoRiEs... My rIght tO fReedOm... EvErythinG... And To tOP iT aLl ofF, I've hAd tHis SuIt on FoR sO LoNg ThaT I DoNt eveN rEMEmbEr hOW I LOok UnDERNeath It..."

There was a noticeable shift of emotion in the room from anger to sadness. Celestia's glare fell, replaced by a face of pity and guilt. After all, he had helped them. Another moment of silence passed before the iron giant turned away from the group, looking out towards the now cracked glass wall. "ThiS iS a PlaCe of MiSEry. YoU're aLl bettEr oFf leaVIng. I caNt be KiLLed, buT yoU All stIll cAn. ANd bELieve mE, tHey wILl tRy to kiLl yOu."

Celestia and Luna both shared a look of concern with one another, before looking back to the apparently misunderstood being. "Perhaps... You can come with us? You could become a resident in Equestria and-"

"No..." The princesses were surprised by this response. For someone to live in such a life of violence and misery, and to choose to stay? "RapTuRe... IS dyiNg. ItS bEeN dYiNg foR yEArs, anD i'VE bEen All thaT hAs beEn hoLdiNg iT tOgEthEr. If I leAVE, RaPTUre wIll finAllY giVe in. As sAD aS iT mAY bE, RaPTUre iS aLl I kNOW."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I absentmindedly looked out the glass towards the clearer than usual ocean, watching as the rays of the sun danced among the waves. I wasn't lying when I told them that Rapture was all I knew, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn't tempted to leave. No matter what though, wether I could interact with anyone outside of Rapture or not, I would always be a Big Daddy. The bringer of metal death in the city below the sea. Nothing could redeem that.

"Very well. We will heed your warnings and leave immediately." I nodded as I turned back towards her.

"Your highness, it is almost 12." The white pony quietly thanked her guard before she looked towards her sister who seemed to nod in understanding. Both of their horns began to glow, slowly surrounding the crowd of ponies before me. Just as the light began to become unbearable, the sound of a falling can caught my attention.

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"Oh drat!" Rarity whispered to herself as she accidentally kicked a small can of peaches off of the small ledge that her and Fluttershy hid near. The resounding clang seemed deafening as Fluttershy let out a fearful squeak and hid herself even further. Rarity did the same as she noticed the metal colossus begin to turn to their direction. As the two hid, they awaited for the bright yellow light that flowed around their hiding spot to leave. Suddenly, a blinding white light accompanied the yellow light before fading once again.

The room seemed darker than before, the yellow light now offering a stronger contrast to the much darker atmospheric lighting. A few seconds later, the stamping of footsteps could be heard as the light moved itself from their location, allowing them to stand from their hiding places and glance towards the center of the room once more. The metallic creature was now repairing the giant glass wall with an odd sealant, lightly tapping on the glass as he did so. Fluttershy gasped, much to Rarity's confusion, before she slowly, shakily pointed towards their monarchs and the guards that accompanied them. The issue, however, was that they were no longer there. Rarity's eyes widened before darting left and right. There was no sign of them, anywhere. What she did spot though was an odd clock that was placed against the wall. It read 12:01.

"They...left without us?" Fluttershy whispered as she followed Rarity's gaze towards the clock.

"W-what do we do?!? You saw how horrid this place is, what with those 'splicers' running about and the like! Oh dear, what if the princesses don't find out that we're here. We could starve to death, or worse! Oh dear, whatever will we do?" Rarity began to ramble on in panic, her voice barely staying in the volume of a whisper as she began to overdramatize what may happen to them. Then again, in Rapture, these dramatizations could become quite possible. Before Rarity could continue though, Fluttershy gently prodded her side, effectively gaining her attention as she stopped her rambling.

"W-what about him?" Fluttershy offered, as she pointed towards the colossus that was currently repairing the large glass wall. Rarity paused, festering on the suggestion for a moment or two before coming up with an idea.

"Ideaaaa!" She whispered. "We'll simply follow this 'metal feline'. After all, not only can he handle those brutes from earlier... though a little vulgar in form, but he could probably lead us to food, and perhaps a way out of here!" Fluttershy nodded as she put on a slight smile at the idea of leaving this dark and scary place known as Rapture.

"Good idea."

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A few minutes after having repaired the glass wall, I still couldn't shake off an odd feeling. It wasn't loneliness, I had sealed that emotion off a while ago. If anything, it was sorta the opposite. I would constantly be glancing behind me, my glowing green helmet brightening the dark background, only to find nothing in my search. I wasn't sure why, but it felt as if someone were watching me.

Author's Note

And here's chapter 2! Alright, I've got three things to say about this chapter, one, f**k Blueblood, two, anyone else see the back to the future reference in the text? Finally, I hope I never have to make a splicer with an accent ever again. At least not like this one's. The reason I made him talk like this was a reference to one of the first splicers you ever see in a cinematic in bioshock, right before you first get a glance at a big daddy and little sister. Believe me, he talked a lot like this, and, like in the text, I could never figure out what accent he had.

On a sidenote, I felt as if there was something in this chapter that could be better, but I'm not too sure what. If anyone's finds it, kindly point it out and I fix the chapter as soon as I can.

Chapter 3: Execute Prime Directive: Guard Little Sisters

This was getting ridiculous. For some damned reason, the Fontaine Fisheries seems to be the epicenter of annoyances and excitement. I had just finished fighting off another 28 splicers, without dying this time, and I could already hear more coming. I could understand if they had decided to fight me for fun, they do that a lot actually, but they never do it this often. It's usually one fight, and that's it. I've been in three in the matter of two and a half hours!

"Aaararrarrrghhhh!!"

Four. Seriously though, what the hell was attracting them here!?!

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"R-rarity? Do you think they're l-looking for us?" Fluttershy asked her good friend as they both hid and looked away from the violence that the 'metal feline' was committing. Rarity, panting slightly from having to rush around so quickly while keeping herself clean, didn't answer as she heard the sound of the last splicer from the more recent group meet a painful death.

"Aaararrarrrghhhh!!"

It sent shivers up her spine, while Fluttershy simply tried to cover her ears and tune out the death and violence that would never be found back in their home. The two of them couldn't believe that they were actually following this... well, whatever it was. Nonetheless, it was unknowingly stopping the splicers from reaching them, so they couldn't complain. After all, if it died, it would come back within a matter of seconds. If they were killed, then...

"We'd better get moving darling." Rarity suggested as she peaked over the debris she and Fluttershy had chosen to hide behind, flinching as she saw the remains of the splicers that had fought with the metal behemoth, only slightly able to withhold a gag.

"This is your own fault, Rarity." The white unicorn thought to herself. "You're the one who decided to snoop around, and now, your friend is suffering for it." She looked towards the still cowering Fluttershy, a massive surge of guilt jolting through her as she saw the fear and confusion in her eyes.

"The sooner we get out of here, the better."

Rarity was cut off by another sound of a splicer meeting its demise.

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Five goddamned groups of splicers in a matter of two and a half hours. I listened closely to the silent cries of the dying city, glad to hear only the city was crying out instead of another group of splicers. They must have realized not to mess with me at this point... That, or they're regrouping. Lets just hope it's the former of the two.

As I scraped the remains of a splicer off of my boots onto a nearby rock, I couldn't help but get annoyed. Someone was still watching me, I could feel it. It's been like this since those ponies from earlier had left. Though I still question how sane I was at the time, I could tell pretty easily that they were real, their fear was real... their offer was real... I shook off the thought before I could get back into another slump. This was really not the time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The girls continued to follow the metal giant for hours, occasionally having close calls as either splicers would pass right by them, or the very being they were trailing behind would look over in their direction whenever they had accidentally made a sound.

These instances aside, they still managed to make it just fine. Perhaps they could survive this ordeal after all.

*Crash*

The sounding of a falling structure cut them off. They both quickly peered out of the bathroom that the two were hiding in, nearly screaming right then and there as they spotted what would have to be the biggest splicer they had seen yet. It was nothing but muscle in clothing, seeming more attune to a gorilla than a splicer. Its top half was obviously stronger than its much smaller and weaker looking bottom half, but that didn't mean that they could necessarily outrun it. It let out a horrible yell before jumping down in front of their unknowing gaurdian and sniffing the air, much like a dog. It was looking for something.

As for what it was looking for, Fluttershy and Rarity both began to tremble as it looked towards them and smiled. It was looking for them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They sent a fucking Brute Splicer?!?"

As if nearly getting crushed by a falling billboard wasn't bad enough, but a Brute Splicer would just complicate the narrative even more. Out of all the splicers, the Brute Splicer was the second worst one in all of Rapture. Having overdosed themselves on genetic enhancement tonics like Sportsboost and Armoured Shell, these splicers were a huge threat. Just my luck.

I noticed him looking somewhere before he smiled. I followed his gaze, but all I saw was a pile of rubble. Was there something he was after? I turned back to face the Brute and, due to my pure stupidity, I took a punch to the face. I staggered back as the splicer let out a roar of anger and began to punch me left and right. He wouldn't even let me ready my ESU as he lifted me off of the floor, which is impressive considering how much I weighed in my giant metal suit, and threw me into a nearby wall. I groaned in pain and annoyance. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, when I opened my eyes to look at the splicer, I noticed him holding a large piece of cement from the floor.

"Oh, son of a-"

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Rarity and Fluttershy watched from afar as their lead was crushed by a giant piece of concrete that the muscle-bound splicer threw at it. The lights of the metal behemoth faded from a dark red to an empty black, signifying the death of its host. The two held their breath as the splicer began to laugh.

"Go back to fairyland piss-pot." It said, before sniffing the air once again. It let out a cruel and sadistic smile, before turning towards Rarity and Fluttershy once again. "Come to poppy."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay then, that brings my death count up to... What? 47?"

Keeping track of your deaths isn't exactly the kind of thing most people would enjoy, I know. But, considering that I'm in Rapture, it's become more of a habitual thing than one of entertainment. I inwardly sighed as the doors to the vita-chamber opened, releasing me into the world once more. I took a look around to get a better bearing of my surroundings. By the looks of it, I had been reborn in the vita-chamber inside of the old police chief's office. I hated this vita-chamber. For good reason as well. One, the room is downright tiny, or at least it seemed so because of my suit. Two, the door almost always jams. Three, it just plain looks horrible. Honestly, who uses a plaid wallpaper!?!

I tested the door to leave the room and, surprise surprise, it was jammed. I groaned as I began to push against the door, barely feeling whatever was holding the door closed begin to budge. The day I find the splicer who kept doing this is the day I paint the walls red with their blood. At least then the plaid wallpaper wouldn't be as much of an eyesore.

I glanced out the paned window to the office as I pushed, watching the Brute Splicer run by the room, completely oblivious to me. It was odd actually. Usually, whenever they aren't fighting anything, they don't tend to do anything physical, preferring to act sophisticated instead of brutish, no pun intended. Before I could begin to wonder why it was acting like this, I heard a pair of screams ring throughout the room. Normally, this wouldn't bother me, but these weren't splicer screams.

"INITIATIVE PROTOCOL: PROTECT."

I broke the door down with a heavy punch, shattering the couch that was holding it back with little to no issue. I didn't like breaking anything in Rapture, but my directive comes first. If those really were survivors I had heard, then I couldn't afford to waste any time.

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"Come 'ere you!"

The two ponies were running as fast as their hooves could carry them, weaving and bobbing through debris and obstacles of all sorts, hoping to slow the muscled splicer down, if only slightly. No matter what they did though, the splicer simply tore through these obstacles as if he were a one man stampede.

As the two ran, they both eventually came up on a split in the path. "W-which way?" Fluttershy asked as she ran, panting heavily as she did so.

"Left! Go left!" Rarity yelled as she barely managed to make the turn with her current speed. Fluttershy and the splicer were not so lucky however. Slipping on an unknown liquid on the floor at the speed it was going, the splicer fell forward and began to tumble and slip. Before it had tumbled past Fluttershy however, it reached out for her, hoping to take her down with it. It was only partly successful as it nicked the back of one of her rear back legs, just enough to cause her to lose her balance and tumble as well.

After a few more seconds of running, Rarity noticed that she could only hear her own hoof steps, rather than a pair. She skidded to a halt and turned.

"Fluttershy?!?" To her surprise, Fluttershy wasn't with her. Her eyes widened as she once again broke out into a sprint, running back the way she had come from, hoping to find her friend. "Fluttershy!"

As she turned the corner, she gasped in fear. The large splicer was standing above Fluttershy, who currently had her eyes closed, a small bead of blood dripping down across her face. "Don' worry. I'll notch my belt for ya... Sweetheart." The splicer began to raise both of its large arms, ready to bring them down and end the life of Rarity's good friend. Fluttershy's eyes opened ever so slightly, looking upon what she believed would be her last sight. Rarity could only scream out Fluttershy's name in tears as the two arms went down upon their target.

Finally, when the moment of truth came, everyone/pony were stunned with surprise as a large metal arm broke through the wall behind Fluttershy, slamming into the splicer and sending him flying backwards into the wall opposite of it.

The arm then pulled back through the crater in the wall came from, before promptly breaking a much larger portion of the wall out, causing it to collapse and reveal an incredibly angry Big Daddy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wall fell down in front of me, finally allowing me to get a clear view of the situation I had come in on. The Brute Splicer groaned in pain before it began to pick itself off of the ground, delaying slightly as it continually flinched in pain. I heard a pitiful whimpering below me, and I quickly put my attention towards the source. There, laying its arms over its head, looking back at me in fear while also giving me a plea for help, was a yellow winged pony, much like the ones from earlier.

"Execute Prime Directive: Guard Little Sisters. Execute Prime Directive: Guard Little Sisters." I was confused when this message began to echo through my head. What did it mean, 'protect Little Sisters'? Suddenly, as I looked down towards the pony that laid below me once more, my vision seemed to flash, if only for a moment. I didn't see the pony anymore. I saw a Little Sister, crawling backwards as a splicer closed in on her with a machete at hand. The flash ended just as quickly, returning my sight to the pony and the splicer that had by now managed to stand itself back up.

I saw red, and not just from the tint of my helmet. I may not have known why this pony was still here, but I had already let my Little Sisters die out to these goddamned splicers, and I was not going to let that happen to this pony.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity could not believe what she had seen. The metal creature from before had come from out of nowhere and stopped the splicer. Her friend was safe, but for how long?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Brute Splicer let out a chuckle as he looked towards me, a sadistic smile splayed across his face. "Right big tough, ain'cha?" He said as he popped some of the joints in his neck. I let out a metallic groan in response. If I could talk, I'd be telling him to piss off. Since I couldn't though, I just stepped over the pony below me and placed myself in front of it, my ESU already beginning to crackle at the thought of ripping the splicer apart. "Right den, first you, den Baby Alice."

He let out a yell as he slammed his arms against the ground, preparing to charge. I let out my own roar as I ran towards him with my ESU primed, meeting him in the middle as he began the charge. When he hit, I slid backwards, my feet grinding against the metal floor as he pushed me back. Times like this that I wished that I was a stronger Big Daddy. Nevertheless, I managed to stop myself from sliding any further back and began to push back against him myself. The two of us were in a power struggle, trying to get any advantage we could use over the other as we struggled to push past each others grip. If I could, I would have turned him into a living example of a tesla coil with my ESU, but the arm it was welded too was being held back by the splicer's.

I glanced around the room using the peripheral vision my helmet provided. If I couldn't take him down with my ESU, then maybe I could improvise. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a blackened spill on the floor, the liquid coming out of a pipe that broke nearby. I knew what that pipe was, same with the liquid, and I let out a chuckle in response.

"W-...What's so funny den?" The brute grunted, glaring at me through my helmet's porthole. "Oh, you'll see."

I pushed off of him, causing him to stagger slightly, and grabbed onto his arm with both of mine before quickly launching him as far as I could. He landed exactly where I was hoping he would land, getting covered in the black fluid and slipping over himself repeatedly as he struggled to stand up. "What's all dis den?" He yelled in frustration before he slipped once again. I just smiled behind my helmet though, as I reached for the pipe that led to the spill and broke it again, making a trail towards the splicer and the mess that he was in. As I charged up my ESU for what would hopefully be the last time against him, a cynical thought escaped my mind.

"Oil can be used for more than just greasing my suit." I let out one last roar as I slammed my ESU into the trail of oil, making the spark that I needed to set the entire liquid trail on fire, the splicer joining in the flames.

"Augh, it burns! It burns!" He continued to yell for a minute or so, his screams of agony filling the room before he finally succumbed to death. About time too, his screams were starting to give me a headache.

"Fluttershy! Oh, are you alright dear?" I heard somebody behind me say. I turned around and saw that another pony was sitting next to the first one, having a horn rather than wings. While the winged pony was yellow with a pink mane, this one was white with a purple mane.

"I- I'm fine, Rarity... Ow." She wasn't a very good liar was she? I made my way towards the two, my heavy footsteps accompanying the sound of the crackling fire behind me. The white pony took notice of me quickly, as she took a defensive position in front of her friend.

"Don't you dare touch her you brute!" She yelled. I had to give her credit, either she was incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid. Ignoring her demands, I slid her aside and kneeled on one knee in front of the yellow pony, my helmet casting a faint green glow over her. She looked at me weakly, trembling slightly as I looked her over. There was a small amount of blood coming from her head, but other than that, she was fine. More than likely, she suffered a minor concussion. Aside from a headache, she should be fine. I heard the distant yell of a splicer and reached for the pink maned pony.

"Ill figure out what to do about them later. First, I'd better get them out of here."

Before I could grab her, the sound of several metal thumps came in through my helmet. I turned to my left and noticed that the other pony was currently hitting against my helmet. Daintily. As if she had just done her nails (hooves?) and didn't want to break one, let alone the fact that they were rather weak.

"I said not to touch her you brute! You ruffian! You- Oh dear!" I didn't have the time to deal with this, so I grabbed onto the white pony and held her to my side under my arm, much like an average man would hold a rolled up newspaper. She flailed against me, trying to loosen herself from my grip, but it was ultimately useless. As for the winged pony, I carefully grabbed her around her midsection, watching as she shivered from the coldness of my large rubber gloves, before putting her on my back and having her use her forelegs to hold on.

"Oh... thank you." She said quietly. I groaned in return, before turning with the two ponies at hand and heading to the nearest bathysphere. As I did, I put one arm below the pony behind me, giving her more support while letting me make sure she didn't black out. Her grip slightly loosened as she seemed to notice that I wouldn't let her fall.

It felt so familiar, having someone piggyback me while another, more fussy person, or pony in this case, was being held in my arm. It was almost like I had two Little Sisters again.

After I placed the two ponies down onto the cushioned seats of the bathysphere, blocking the door as much as I could so the white one wouldn't try to escape, I shut the door behind me and looked over the buttons to the different locations it could go. The buttons had labels on them, but...

"Let's see, 'For the house of the poor, go up once, then right once more.'" I mused to myself as I pressed the button that was up and right one from the bottom left corner. It was a good thing I made those rhymes a long time ago, or I'd have been lost more often than I would have liked. I looked out the porthole of the bathysphere as it sunk below the water surface and began its journey to its next location.

As we submerged, I heard a whimper come from behind me.

"Oh, poor dear. Fluttershy, are you sure you're okay? Does it hurt?" I turned towards the two once more. The horned one was sitting closely to the winged one, holding and caressing her gently in an attempt to comfort her. The yellow pony didn't do anything to stop her as she tiredly breathed in and out, her eyes struggling to keep open. This wasn't necessarily a bad sign, since concussions often caused people to struggle with their alertness and consciousness, but it was probably best that a bandage be put around the part of her head that was bleeding, just in case. I rummaged around the bathysphere, looking for anything that resembled a red cross. It wasn't easy with a suit as big as mine on, but I managed.

Unfortunately, no matter where I looked, I couldn't find the first aid. Had I forgotten where it was already? I inwardly sighed as I resentfully reached up to a switch near the top of the door and flipped it, causing a white screen to cover up the porthole of the bathysphere and an image of Andrew Ryan, founder of Rapture, to be projected, I took a step back and sat myself on the cushioned seat opposite of the ponies, watching the screen and awaiting the message I needed. The ponies opposite of me flinched, more specifically the white one, but watched the projection just as well, both having fascinated expressions on their faces. Within another moment or so of introduction music and advertising photos, the actual presentation began, as a woman quickly took her place as the overly peppy announcement lady.

"Hello, and welcome to your brand new bathysphere, one of Rapture's more effective means of private transportation. Designed by Frank Fontaine of Fontaine Futuristics, bathyspheres offer all kinds of useful things that a person may need for travel. For example, an area for food storage can be found under the left most seat, while a medical kit, which comes standard with your bathysphere purchase, can be found under the most right seat." I quickly reached under my seat as I heard this, fumbling with the small notch underneath and failing repeatedly. It wasn't my fault these gloves were so big. "So, enjoy your bathysphere, and remember, nobody wants to be a parasite!" The projection was finally brought to an end as the white screen once again lowered itself from sight, allowing for a clear view of the ocean once more, though this time, we were going through Rapture rather than open waters. As the two gawked at the sight that I had seen hundreds of times, I let out a mental cheer as I finally managed to gain access to the first aid cabinet below my chair, and by that I meant that I ripped the door off in frustration, but it worked nonetheless.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Though her head ached, Fluttershy, as well as Rarity, could not help but gawk at the much more clear view of the underwater city they were traveling through. It was hard to believe that such a beautiful place could hold such horrible hostilities. As they watched, they both flinched when a white box was put in their sights, a red cross drown on top of the casing. The two knew instantly what it was as Rarity hesitantly grabbed hold of the box from the large rubber hand that held it and quickly went to work on dressing Fluttershy's wound.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"T-thank you." I heard suddenly as I watched the pony get her head bandaged. She hadn't said anything, but the white one, who had originally been so resistant, did. "You certainly helped us in that... situation of ours." She continued before she took in a deep breath, finishing up the bandaging of the yellow pony as she did so.

"I've been... Rude haven't I? Please do forgive me, as I was simply trying to protect Fluttershy, and I wasn't aware if you had come to help or not." I nodded both my head and helmet in undestanding. She hadn't caused too much trouble anyhow.

"At the very least, allow me to introduce myself. I am Rarity, and this," she said as she gestured to her now bandaged companion, "is my good friend Fluttershy." She smiled softly and let out a low, almost inaudible 'Hi' in my direction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now if you would be so kind as to introduce yourself as well, I'm certain that we-" She was cut off as the bathysphere abruptly came to a stop, quickly surfacing itself as it reached its destination. "I suppose it can wait until later."

Author's Note

Chapter 3 is up and running everyone! Whoo! I'm especially glad that I managed to pull off the fight scene and introductions between the Big Daddy and everyone else. Also, I hid a little hint about a flaw that the Big Daddy had in the text. As an extra hint, lets just say that as of yet, we aren't too sure of how long the Big Daddy had been in that suit of his. >:D

Chapter 4: New Charges, Old Homes

Apollo Square. A residential paradise if you had the money for it back when Rapture was still alive and well. To those people, this place was a heaven I don't even know how many miles under the sea, but to me, it was just another damned trap. I was pretty sure that Apollo Square was one of the first causes to this apocalypse, but that was only my opinion.

The door to the bathysphere opened again, revealing a now ruined tram system that was originally used to head back and forth into Apollo Square without issue. The lazy man's way of travel, especially considering that it was only a 10 minute walk to the residential areas. I swear, you get a little money and you think that you're too good for everyone else all of a sudden, it made no sense. That mindset aside, I had more pressing things to deal with.

I made my way out of the bathysphere carefully, one of my charges, the one apparently named Fluttershy, hanging onto me from my back again. Her friend, Rarity, followed close behind us. As we made our way to the center of Apollo Square, a headache began to form. Not because of all the bashing my head had taken, or because I was getting sick, my suit didn't allow that. No, it was a certain white pony's whining that was causing it.

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"Oh this place is simply dreadful! So filthy, and... wet! It's positively covered in garbage!" Rarity whined as she followed the metal man. In her defense, Apollo Square was a veritable junkyard. Leaks had caused for water to reach knee deep levels along the tracks, trash and scrap had piled up along the walls over time, and several of the trams had either broken down or crashed, effectively blocking most of the tram system and limiting the square to certain places. It was among these places that the Big Daddy was planning to take them.

Rarity didn't know that though, so naturally, she was nervous. Every step they took became, aside from filthier, heavier and heavier as she felt her heart beat rapidly. In truth, the only reason she hadn't made a break for it was because the metal beast in front of her had Fluttershy with him, and she couldn't just abandon her friend, especially in such a poorly maintained area.

The other of the two charges was trying her best to stay awake. She felt so tired and sore, her eyelids barely remaining open as the giant carried her on his back. It was odd really, having a creature that was so thick-shelled and ruthless carry you from place to place. It was especially odd in that he was being so careful. It was as if he was a bear from their world. Big and scary on the outside, yet kind and considerate on the inside.

Suddenly, a sound rang through the square that brought shivers along the back of both of the ponies. The angered yell of a splicer.

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I mentally chuckled when I heard the splicer yell, probably thinking that he'd be able to get into Apollo Square. I ignored it and walked on, much to the shock of Rarity.

"W-where are you going!? Didn't you hear that? If we don't hurry, another of those horrid splicers will catch up to us!" If I could've laughed, I would have. There was a reason that we hadn't come across any splicers while we were in Apollo Square.

"I see you! I see you! I-" The moron's incessant rambling was cut off by the sound of a ringing alarm as a countdown timer appeared on the side of my helmet, counting down from 60 seconds. He had walked straight into the sight of the camera by the sound of it. I smiled through my helmet as I heard the beeps of several security bots, followed by the sound of their machine guns turning the splicer into Swiss cheese. He had barely made it to the 55 second mark.

I slightly sidestepped closer to the wall as we passed by what seemed like a large tally board, having been carved into the wall over time. I grabbed a nearby shard of metal that I had kept convenient and scratched yet another one in. The advantages of hacking kits being standard in Big Daddy models. I put the metal back to its original place and returned to my initial path, making a left turn where the square split into four.

It was silent as we walked on, surprisingly. Even the white pony had stopped her whining, leaving the room in an almost eerie silence. The silence was broken however, as the sound of small rotors began to buzz towards our direction.

"What is that soun- Oh my!" I heard Rarity exclaim in surprise as a familiar security bot made its way in front of me, causing Fluttershy to gasp as well.

Winston, as I had grown to call it, was much like any average security bot. It had a peculiar shape with an overall sleek design. Two lights were fitted where its eyes would be, separated by another sleek and rounded piece of metal with green lights on it. It had a turret attached to its bottom most part, with a box containing its ammunition attached to the back as it kept itself afloat using two small rotors near the top of it's head.

The reason Winston was so unique in comparison to the others though was because he had a red finish to his paint design and often acted as though he had a mind of his own. Most security bots would see me and go about their business, if I wasn't the one that triggered the alarm that is. Winston was different though. He would always stop by at random intervals, make a few beeping sounds, then just leave. It was almost as if it was making its rounds on a patrol, and I was one of the things it was supposed to guard. I found it slightly ironic that a security bot wanted to protect a Big Daddy, but I couldn't complain. After all, the fact that it had managed to figure out how to remotely activate the alarm was always interesting.

Winston hovered in front of me for some time, before letting out three consecutive beeps and looking towards both Fluttershy and Rarity. It kept its light on the two for some time, before pointing them back towards me. It let out one last beep and flew off with a buzz, flying itself into a hole in the wall that the security bots of the area usually came from. I never did figure out how they fit there, or how many there were, but I preferred to save myself the headache and just not ask questions.

"Well... That was... Interesting." Rarity commented. I rolled my eyes while Fluttershy let out a quiet chuckle.

"I thought that it was cute." Fluttershy said quietly. I'm not sure what her definition of cute was. If a soulless bucket of bolts armed with a 5mm machine gun that fired over 200 rounds a minute was cute, then yes, it was downright adorable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Just where is he taking us?" Rarity wondered as they continued to walk down the large hallway of ruins and trash. She couldn't stand the silence around them. It was almost as of she was in the Everfree forest again, expecting someone or something to jump out at her from the shadows. She ignored this feeling as much as possible as she followed the giant into a much larger room, surrounded by what appeared to be apartment buildings, a nearby sign reading 'Fontaine's Home for the Poor'.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I opened the door to the apartment as carefully as possible, knowing just how easily I could rip the door off if I wasn't careful, before reaching for the wall and flicking the light switch. A single bulb in the room flickered on, revealing an apartment room with two connecting hallways. Two large mattresses laid on the floor, bare and barren of any coverings or pillows, with a small lamp nearby. The walls were decorated with several different posters and paintings that I had found throughout my travels of Rapture. In the corner of the room was a large couch, partially ripped down the middle and revealing the stuffing that was contained within. Also resting along the wall was a single metal stove, two metal cabinets fused to its sides to serve as storage. The two hallways led to a bathroom, and a more... private part of the apartment. It wasn't much, but it was mine.

The first thing I did as I entered the apartment, the two ponies at hand, was reach for the pony that was hanging onto me and pick her up by her midsection, just below her forearms. I carefully placed her down on the mattresses and took a step back, allowing her to get comfortable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Fluttershy was laid onto the bare mattresses, she let out a content sigh, happy that she could finally rest after the days events, if even for a little. Before she drifted off to sleep though, she stopped herself and looked towards the metal being. He had taken a seat on the couch in the corner of the room, his green eye providing a stark comparison to the single flickering light of the room. Fluttershy lifted an eye in confusion as it simply sat there, staring ahead blankly. "What is it doing?" The titan of metal noticed her watching it, as it turned it's head to face her. Her eyes widened and a small blush appeared on her face as she realized she was staring.

"S-sorry." She apologized, her ears laying flat against her head as she put her gaze towards the mattresses she laid on. It was another moment or two before she decided to finally succumb to her exhaustion, laying her head down onto the mattress and slowly slipping into sleep.

While this was occurring, Rarity was doing one of the many things that she was good at. Snooping. She was looking over the entire room, occasionally flinching as she stepped on a part of the floor that was dustier than the rest, searching for some route of escape or useful resources. Eventually, she came across a pile of papers that laid near the corner of the room. Her interest piquedd, she attempted to pick one up using her magic, but proved unable to lift the paper even an inch. Water pressure and magic simply did not agree. She let out a sigh as she instead walked over to the pile and picked out one of the papers off of the top.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of crinkling paper caught my attention as I turned my head towards the other of the two ponies. Rarity was looking over one of the papers that I had put in the corner of the room. Truthfully, I had forgotten about those papers a long time ago. I had no use for them, but I couldn't bring myself to throw them away. Times like this that I wished I could-

"'Big Daddy' subject Omega 3-4. To be repurposed as a member of the security workforce, effective immediately'." She read aloud. Was that what it said? Those were my repurposing forms? Rarity continued to read the rest of the document aloud, occasionally going over an interesting tidbit about myself. By interesting though, I meant insulting. 'Fails to succeed in even the slightest of responsibilities', 'barely eligible to pass the most basic of necessary examinations for a Big Daddy', 'has lost several Little Sisters in his charge, followed by an emotional delay'. I cut her off there, letting out a groan and gesturing for her to stop. She rolled her eyes, but stopped nonetheless.

"Um, Rarity? Maybe you shouldn't go through his, I mean, 'Omega's' stuff, that is, if that's alright with you." Fluttershy told her friend from the bed she laid in, her eyes still closed as she did so. Rarity seemed shocked as her friend said this, as she placed the paper back down and rushed to her friends side.

"Omega? My subject name?"

"Fluttershy, you should be resting dear." Rarity whispered as she began to gently stroke Fluttershy's mane comfortingly. Fluttershy flinched as Rarity accidentally made contact with her head injury through her bandages, causing Rarity to stop her petting in fear of further hurting her friend. I flinched along with her. I'd had a concussion several times before, it wasn't pleasant.

"Sorry..." She said softly. I didn't get it, when someone has a concussion, they usually go to sleep in mere moments.

"The only thing that would keep them up would be-" I cut myself off as I noticed the wines pony let out a small shiver. "The cold." I removed myself from the couch and quickly made my way outside. Normally I didn't like to take anything from its place in Rapture, but the situation demands it. After all, its not like someone's going to stop me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity watched as the 'Big Daddy', as she had read to be called, left the apartment. She waited for a few seconds or so, making sure that it really had gone, before beginning to stir Fluttershy from her half-asleep state. "Fluttershy. Fluttershy!" She said in a whisper, carefully shaking her friend in an attempt to awake her.

Fluttershy slowly peeked her eyes open by a small crack, looking towards Rarity as she did so and putting on a weak smile. "Y-yes?" She asked softly.

"Quickly, we need to go while it's gone! Whatever it may be doing, I'm not sure how long it will be out there, so we have to go now, while the opportunity is still ripe!" Fluttershy listened to her intently, but ultimately, her mind was made up as her friend explained.

"I-I don't think that's a good idea, Rarity." Fluttershy stated. Rarity looked at her as if she had gone mad, an eyebrow raised high as she looked towards her in shock. "Think about it. If he really wanted to hurt us, he would've done it already, and he wouldn't have helped us back when that scary thing from before was chasing us." Rarity opened her mouth to argue, but no words seemed to escape it. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Fluttershy was right, yet again. The Big Daddy had indeed done nothing to hurt them, nor had it treated them badly when it had found out that they were following it. In truth, it had been nothing but kind to them. "Maybe you should give Omega a chance... If it's fine with you."

"Omega?" Before Rarity could respond however, the door to the apartment squeaked open,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good news, I had found what I was looking for. One of the other apartments in this 'House for the Poor' had it folded inside a cabinet, keeping it relatively clean. Bad news, I had to walk up four flights of stairs to get them. Not that easy considering my suit weighed about 50 times my average weight. It didn't really matter that much though. Success is success after all.

Unfolding the large and thick blue sheets, I made my way towards Fluttershy and Rarity, the two sitting/laying on the mattresses placed on the floor. I draped the sheets over the two of them to my best ability, slightly covering Rarity's head as I did so. Close enough. The two didn't seem to mind my clumsiness though, as they snuggled further into the blankets. "Thank you." Fluttershy said quietly as she finally was allowed to obtain the rest she so hopelessly needed. Rarity followed close behind, carefully making her way into the sheets, as if she was attempting not to wrinkle them, before looking in my direction. "Yes, thank you... Omega." With those as her last words, she followed Fluttershy into the realm of dreams, hoping to find peace and solace in her dreams. As for me, I have to deal with it.

I made my way to the large couch that sat in the corner of the room once again, sitting down with a heavy thump and letting out a mental sigh as I laid back to relax. It was going to be a long night after all. The problem with not being able to sleep, is that I would get bored fairly easily during the night.

Author's Note

To some of the more videogamecentric type of people here, Apollo Square is going to be a sort of... Hub, in a way. The reason being that, whenever I played bioshock, I always loved Apollo Square, debris and all. Also, as you may be able to tell from the chapter, technological allies (Cameras, security bots, cameras) are going to play a big part in this fanfic now. Finally, I chose the name 'Omega' as the Big Daddy's 'name' due to its relativity to Delta from Bioshock 2. I figured, if one big daddy could be named after a Greek alphabet letter, than so could this one.

Chapter 5: A Daddy's Normal Day.

"Daddy, look!" I heard my Little Sister, Beatrice, tell me. I stopped walking and looked to her, wondering what reason she could possibly want to stop. We were on a schedule after all, and she had only gathered from three bodies today. If she was going to be healthy, she'd need more.

Instead though, she was standing in front of a glass display window, looking through the glass casing and staring happily at some sort of stuffed animal. I didn't recall ever seeing anything like that before. It was as slender as it was brown and furry, with four legs that ended in hooved stumps rather than feet or paws. Its tail went straight down, and its back was adorned by what seemed like a straight line of hair.

"A pony, Daddy! A pony!" Pony? I wasn't too sure what this was, but it was impeding our progress. I let out a groan and gestured for the Little Sister to follow me so that we can go on our business. She didn't move though, preferring to stay and watch the stuffed creature, humming one of the little tunes she had made up about gathering. We weren't going to be going anywhere without that toy, I could tell. So, with a heavy sigh, I opened the door to the store as carefully as possible, thankful that shops were told to design bigger doorways for Big Daddies.

The moment I looked towards the shopkeeper, who seemed to be an Asian man, no less than 50, he ducked under his desk. There was a rule of thumb down in Rapture. If a Big Daddy came into your store because he wanted something, you let them have it. Detrimental for a store's health? Yes, but would you prefer it being detrimental to a person's health?

I ignored the hiding shopkeeper and made my way to the window that Beatrice was still looking into, as if she hadn't noticed me leave her. When she noticed me in there, she giggled and waved, her ADAM hypo swinging in the air with her small pale hand. I smiled behind my helmet at this, as I grabbed hold of the stuffed animal and lifted it for her to see. She was ecstatic, jumping up and down giddily while clapping her hands and screaming 'yay'. She reached out her hands, as if asking me to give it to her as soon as possible. I nodded through my helmet as I made my way towards the shop door once more, prepared to give my 'daughter' her toy.

When I opened the door though, she was gone, her hypo needle being all that was left. "Where were you, Mr.Bubbles?"

********************************************

I shot up in my suit, breathing rapidly while I looked around the room. I was still in my apartment building, sitting on the couch. That was why I couldn't sleep. Every time I would doze off, I would be bombarded by these damned nightmares that always seemed to focus on reminding me of my mistakes. Big Daddies didn't need sleep, which I was grateful for, but the person inside the suit could only go so long without rest before beginning to go mad. At this point though, I wasn't sure if I had already gone mad or not.

I sighed. One thing at a time, one thing at a time. I glanced towards the mattresses that laid in the center of the room, noticing the winged pony from the other day was still asleep, the bandaging on her head being a sharp contrast with her yellow fur and pink mane. The white pony, though, wasn't there. Suddenly, I heard the sound of water hitting the hard ground coming from the bathroom. Had a water pipe burst?

Shrugging my shoulders, I stood from my less than ideal seat and began to make my way to the bathroom, shuffling my feet rather than actually taking steps so I didn't wake up the resting pony. After a few more large shuffles, I eventually reached the bathroom door, noticing small hints of steam coming though its cracks. A hot water leak? Dammit, that always causes rust.

I opened the door and slowly made my way inside, steam fogging up the porthole to my helmet and the floor slippery from being wet. I glanced around me, not noticing the leak until I glanced towards the bathtub. A metal pipe looked like it was leaking water, but in an odd way. Most leaks either drip or pour, but through the flowery curtains, this leak seemed to be sprinkling. Let alone the fact that I heard an odd humming sound, rather than that of streaming water. "What the-" I reached for the curtain and quickly pulled it aside, revealing a now-soaking wet white pony, who seemed shocked to see me. The two of us shared a moment of silence, simply looking at each other, before Rarity blushed and let out a scream, throwing a nearby towel on my face, covering my helmet.

"Can't a mare shower in peace?!?" She said as I heard her close the curtains again. Shower? Is that what that thing is called? I've seen it before, but I had always thought it was just an easy leak to fix. After all, all you had to do was turn a handle. Well, now I knew that it was apparently made like that on purpose.

I took the towel off of my helmet and placed it on a nearby counter before making my way out of the room, slightly confused as to what just happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy's eyes flickered open, as she was awoken by the sound of a scream, followed by heavy footsteps. At first, she was worried, recognizing the scream to be Rarity's. She looked towards the source of the sound, seeing one of the doors down the hallway open, Omega standing in front of the door with a towel over his face.

"Can't a mare shower in peace?!?" She harrumphed, followed by the sound of closing shower curtains. Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle as Omega took the towel of of his head and headed out of the room.

Omega seemed to hear her as he looked directly towards her and made his way over. Fluttershy was a little nervous of course, but she wasn't nearly as afraid of him as she had originally been. He stopped walking just short of the mattresses that she laid on before carefully kneeling down on one knee to be more at eye level with her. She flinched slightly as his green eyed helmet shined upon her, but other than that, she didn't react too badly.

"H-hello, Omega." She greeted in her usual, quiet manner, smiling shyly as she did so. Omega groaned in return, being that it was the only answer he could give. Omega then began to slowly reach to her, to Fluttershy's slight chagrin. Having expected the hard and cold touch of Omega's gloves, she was surprised when he gently grabbed her by her chin and turned her head, inspecting the bandaging that she wore. He let out another groan as he did so, pointing to the bandaging she wore.

Fluttershy hazarded a guess at what he was saying.

"M-my head?" Omega nodded, slowly releasing Fluttershy's chin from his grip. "U-um. I-it's better than before." She told him. "M-my head still hurts though, if that's okay." Omega nodded once more, before standing up once again. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow in confusion. Pointing towards himself, then the door outside, Fluttershy hazarded another guess towards Omega's meaning. "You're going out?" Omega then pointed towards her and the bathroom where Rarity was currently showering, before pointing towards the floor. She got that message that he wanted them to stay put loud and clear, as she nodded to Omega in confirmation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Fluttershy nodded her head, I could tell that she had understood what I had meant. I didn't really want to leave the two of them alone, quite the opposite really, but there were some things that I had to do around Apollo Square, otherwise, it wouldn't stay as safe as it currently was. It was an annoying process, having to constantly perform maintenance on every turret and camera in the area, but it was necessary. Besides, if I had learned anything from caring for Little Sisters, the two would need food and water, and maybe some pain pills to help Fluttershy.

As I nodded my head one last time, I turned away from the injured pony and made my way out the door, leaving the apartment and entering the much better lit Apollo Square. I reopened one of my mental checklists and headed out towards the tram system. First, the cameras.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity exited the showed with a sigh, a towel wrapped around her mane as she contently walked down the hallway... only to step in more dust.

"Wha- I- Ugh!" She groaned in annoyance, having soiled her hooves after just getting cleaned. "Honestly, how hard is it for somepony to do something as simple as dusting!?!" As she grumbled to herself of the ill conditions of the apartment, she glanced towards the center of the room, seeing a bedded Fluttershy watching her from afar, an small yet amused smile on her face.

Rarity quickly forgot about her now dirtied hooves as she trotted over to her friend with a smile.

"Fluttershy, darling!" She said happily as she hugged her with one of her forearms, watching her placement so that she wouldn't accidentally irritate her friend's head injury again. Fluttershy happily received the hug as she returned the gesture. "How are you feeling, dear?" Rarity asked Fluttershy, separating from the hug she had held her in.

"I'm fine, my head just hurts a bit." She replied as she sat herself up on the mattress to be able to talk to her friend more easily. She quickly grew to regret it though as she began to feel as if the room was spinning, barely catching herself from falling. "...and I'm a little dizzy." Rarity frowned at this, not used to seeing her friend in such bad condition. Of course, had it not been for the Big Daddy from before, Omega, as Fluttershy had previously called it, she would probably have been in even worse condition, or beyond. Speaking of which...

"Fluttershy, where is 'Omega'?" Rarity asked as she looked around the mostly empty apartment.

"Oh, he went out." Rarity looked back to her friend with a raised eyebrow.

"Out?" Fluttershy nodded before pointing towards the door that he had left through. "Well, what about us?" She continued, slightly perturbed by the fact that he would simply leave like this.

"I-I think he wanted us to stay here." She answered. Rarity looked towards the door Omega had apparently left through, putting a hoof to her chin in thought.

"What could he possibly be doing?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright, what else is left? I'd cleaned the camera lenses, greased the turret gears, cleaned out the hole the security bots usually came from, and cleaned up the more recent mess that was made by the splicer remains. All of my usual chores were done. Now I had to move onto my caretaker duties.

"Now, where to find food?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While Omega was out, Rarity had begun to fix the issue of cleanliness as soon as she could. Having found a nearby cloth, she used what she could to clean the room to the best of her ability without her magic. Needless to say, it didn't go that well.

"Ugh, blech! I'm covered in dust and grime!" Fluttershy giggled, rolling her eyes at her friend's antics. "He had better be thankful for this! I ruined my clean coat!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Welcome to the Circus of Valuuuees!" I hated that machine so much. Seriously, out of all the horrors in the underwater hell of Rapture, there was none greater than hearing that creepy clown voice in the dark. "At least it has its uses."

I looked over the buttons on the machine as I moved the several loose bills I had found around in my hands. Finally deciding to press the button with a picture of canned peaches on its side, I inserted the bills into the machine and listened as the cans fell through. I bought several just to be sure. I still had enough for three more things from the machine, so I also bought two bottles of water, and one container of aspirin for Fluttershy.

"Tell your friends about the Circus of Valuuuees!" The machine said as I finished my purchases. Believe me, I'd prefer nobody else get nightmares because of this thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exhaustion could not begin to describe how Rarity felt at this point. Her mane was frazzled, her coat was wrinkled and gray from the dust and grime of the room, and she could feel herself begin to sweat, but as she looked around the now clean room, she knew it was worth it. One day with a filthy mane was not as bad as one moment within a filthy room... but it was close.

Suddenly, the sounds of heavy footsteps echoed through the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All together, I'd say that I had gotten off easy this time. All I had to do was clean and oil some things, along with using the nightmare clown for supplies. Usually, I would have to clean out blood and guts from the gears, or wipe down the walls. Besides, there was only one body to clean... what was left of it at least.

I shuddered as I thought back to it, opening the door with my right hand, since my left was holding onto the supplies I had gotten for my two new housemates. To my surprise, the room was utterly darkened. At first, I was worried, but when my helmet's green light cast over a pink mane that poked out of the blue sheets on the bed, I calmed down.

Closing the door behind me, I turned on the lights in the room on and groaned to let the two know it was me. The lump in the bed twitched ever so slightly, before raising and uncovering a yellow pony hiding beneath. Rarity peeked her head over the back of the couch as well, though I couldn't help but notice how her mane looked much more messy. Maybe I just imagined it. I was actually kind of glad that they were hiding. At least they knew what to do if a splicer ever came by and I wasn't around.

"S-sorry we were hiding. We didn't know it was you." I groaned again, hoping she would understand that it wasn't a problem, before I walked past the two and towards the metal stove. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Rarity pull herself up over the couch and onto the cushions.

I placed the 'groceries' onto the metal stove, beginning to organize the items into the two cabinets that were attached to the stove. It wasn't that hard really. EVE and medicine on the right, food and water on the left. I kept the canned peaches and water bottles out, along with one of the aspirin pills from the container, and quickly opened the containers using metal straps that were attached to them from the top.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While Fluttershy was resting on the mattress, watching Omega from afar, she picked up an odd yet irresistible smell that filled the room. Rarity noticed the same scent as she stood up in her seat on the couch. Glancing towards the Big Daddy, the two were surprised to see him holding two cans of, what seemed to be, peaches, alongside two water bottles. Both of their stomachs growled at the prospect of food, causing the two of them to turn an odd hue of red from embarrassment. The Big Daddy saw this, but rather than laugh, or even chuckle, he finished opening the cans and offered the two of them the food.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another advantage that this suit has: it recycles nutrients in my body and replenishes any inner acids and calories that I would ever need. In other words, I didn't need to eat or drink. Though, I was probably covered in tubes of all sorts inside of this suit. The two charges in front of me though were obviously the opposite. Though the two of them ate at a fairly normal speed, the amount of second servings they had asked for had the tendency of seeming unreal.

It was after they had finished eating and Fluttershy reached for her given water bottle that I offered her the aspirin. She seemed confused by the pill, as if she had never seen one before. Nevertheless, I managed to gesture her through the process with little to no issue, her friend, Rarity, watching from her position on the couch.

"Well, while it has been nice, I'm afraid we must be going Omega. After all, my sister, Sweetie Belle, and my other friends must be worried sick." She stood herself from her seat on the couch and made her way next to her friend, Fluttershy. "Now if you would so kindly show us how to leave this place, it would be most appreciated."

I looked at her as if she had grown another head. She was joking, right? Leaving Rapture, that was possible. Taking her back home? I wasn't so sure. Was she able to do the same thing that the larger ponies had done? What were their names again? Celestia and Luna?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the longest time, Omega just looked towards the two, not even making the slightest sound and appearing to be in thought. This worried Fluttershy, and this was not missed by Rarity. "You are able to get us back... right?" Rarity asked. The Big Daddy stood stock still for a moment, before moving his large metal head left and right. No.

Rarity's eyes widened, before slowly narrowing in anger. Fluttershy looked at her friend with a look of concern. She had already known of the chance of this occurring, and Rarity likely did as well. She likely just hadn't come to accept it yet.

"What do you mean you don't know? How could you not know!?! You've been here for much longer than anypony else has, so you must know of a way! I can't stay in such a horrible and disgusting place like this! There has to be a way out! There... there..."

Her anger subsiding, Rarity's eyes began to fill with tears threatening to surface. After everything she had gone through, watching several lives be extinguished, her friend suffer because of her, and now being told that she had no way of returning home so she could attempt to at least blur the memories... she broke down.

Fluttershy held onto her friend caringly, cooing her as she continued to cry, silently repeating 'there has to be' as she did so.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... Wow. Never in my life, never had I felt so useless. Unable to do anything to calm her, or at least not knowing how, I made my way over to the couch and took a seat, much like I had done previously. If there was a hint of doubt before, it was gone now. These two are stuck in Rapture, and I'd sooner take off my suit and give myself over to the splicers than watch them die.

Author's Note

Sorry this chapter took so long to make. I've been really busy as of late, and had to cut some of my writing time to make up for it. Aside from that though, I have to say, I'm surprised the story is doing so well. We're reaching the 100 like mark ^~^. Thanks for all the support everyone, and I'll post the next chapter as soon as its ready!

Chapter 6: The Haggard Haphaestus

I'm not sure how long the two stayed like that. Rarity crying all the pain she had built up to this point out, and her friend doing her best to comfort her, despite her own sadness and pain. It was like I was watching two people mourn the loss of a child, only this time, it was the possible loss of their homes.

I couldn't do anything to help. I wanted to, greatly, but I couldn't. I had learned long ago that if a Little Sister was sad, the best thing you could do is to let her cry. Besides, a giant metallic suit doesn't make you the best teddy bear, does it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was another hour or so before Rarity had finally managed to calm down. Fluttershy continued to hold her though, laying next to her friend and comforting her in her time of need. Truthfully, she too wanted to burst out crying at the thought of never returning home to see her precious Angel, or any other of her animal friends, let alone the fact that she may never see any of her other pony friends either, but she had to be strong, if only just this one time... for Rarity's sake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"WARNING: MAINTENANCE TO HEPHAESTUS CORE. WARNING: MAINTENANCE TO HEPHAESTUS CORE. "

This alarm system couldn't have picked a worse time. I groaned inwardly as I took one last glance towards my two charges and stood from the couch. The two didn't even spare me a glance as I made my way past them to the door. As I reached for the door handle though, one of the two spoke up.

"W-... where are you go-going?" Rarity stuttered, choking on her subsiding sobs. I stopped as she asked me this, looking around the room for someway to indicate to her what I was doing. Finally, I pointed to a poster that showed an image of a Big Daddy doing repairs on an outer wall of Rapture, his large drill hand causing sparks to fly off of the metal column. The two stayed silent for a second, looking between the poster and I as they seemed to understand what I was attempting to tell them. Deciding that I'd better get going, I turned and moved for the door again.

"... Can we come with you?" Fluttershy asked, continuing off of where her friend had left off. I had paused last time, but now I completely froze. Had they just asked to come with me? Rapture was an indecent hell, full of twisted and diseased people who know nothing more than suffering and how to cause it, and they wanted to come? Plus, one of the two was injured, while the other had just had a mental breakdown a matter of moments ago! I was about to shake my head 'no' when- "Please?"

... I was always a sucker for that word, even with my Little Sisters. "Im gonna regret this." I thought to myself as I let out a sigh and begrudgingly nodded my head. I heard the two make their way out of the bed, their hoof steps slightly echoing through the near empty apartment as they made their way towards me. As I opened the door, I thought to myself, "If we're really going to do this, then I'd better get some precautions."

The silence was deafening. The two hadn't made a sound since we had left the apartment, not one. They seemed to glow with sadness, and I hated that I couldn't do anything about it. Nonetheless, the two followed me in their downtrodden states, as we soon reached a familiar crevice in the walls of a building in Apollo Square. I looked around, ensuring that there were no loose splicers nearby, before looking back towards the hole and hitting the wall three times. Doing this always reminded me of when I used to call for my Little Sisters, but I tried not to think about it too much.

I waited for a moment or two before I heard the sound of rotors spinning and a single prolonged beep come through the hole. Before long, Winston made his way out of the opening in the wall, letting out two more beeps as he did so. He floated there for a few seconds, passing his light over me and my charges, before letting out a series of beeps and raising an antennae that was built into his system. That was the thing about Winston, he always seemed to know what I was saying before I could 'say' it.

Just as quickly as he had called, two more security bots came our way, each of them floating around both Rarity and Fluttershy, acting like personal guards. The two were surprised by this, but they didn't say anything to show it. Now we were ready.

The Hephaestus Core was basically the powerhouse of all of Rapture. Using several branching wings that all revolved around the undersea volcano that Rapture obtained its power from, it would flow this power through the city, providing heat, cold, electricity, and even plumbing. Without this core, Rapture would never have come to existence. Then again, I would also have to do about 50% less work than I normally would. The place almost always has something broken down, and it's my job to fix it, unfortunately.

The three of us exited the bathysphere, the two security bots following their respective hosts, and made our way to the latest of the core's many problems. I looked at my helmets display and nearly groaned as I saw what it was that needed repairing. The core. The fucking core had a crack in it. I've fixed the core before, and it was not fun. Why? It was impossible to do so without dying. I had to get inside the core's area, make my way to the three spinning glass power filters, isolate one of the three, and seal the crack. All this while boiling alive, which was not a pleasant way to go.

As we walked on, I glanced back and noticed both Rarity and Fluttershy were looking around the room, taking quick glances around the corners we cut or passed. Considering the fact that splicers were once again a threat while we were here, it was understandable. This just made me wonder though, why had they decided to come with me?

I glanced ahead and paused as I noticed a familiar door up ahead of us, marked with a skull and crossbones, alongside an image of a fire. This was it. I looked around the room, noticing a nearby vita-chamber in the very corner, ensuring that I'd be able to quickly return. The two followed my gazes towards the vita-chamber, before looking back at me with looks of confusion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Rarity were utterly clueless as to why Omega looked towards the odd green chamber in the corner of the room. It was about as odd as the two robots that currently circled around them, the sound of their buzzing rotors filling the air around them. When the two looked back to Omega, confusion evident in their faces, Omega began to explain as best as he could.

He pointed towards the two of them, then the floor they stood on, urging them to stay put. Then, he pointed towards himself, the door he had led them to, and finally, the chamber in the corner. The two understood the first message he had attempted to give them, but were unable to completely figure out the second. Despite their still confused faces though, Omega turned and made his way to the door, a red siren filling the room as the door pulled open and Omega entered the chamber, the door once again sealing behind him as he did so. For a second, nothing could be heard, but then, the sound of a second door opening came, followed by the metallic screaming of Omega as the boiling hot water poured into the chamber, exposing him to the core of Rapture itself.

Fluttershy's eyes widened as she saw the hulking body of now reddened metal make his way towards the core, each of his steps seeming to cause him more of a struggle than the last. Rarity, in turn, also dropped her saddened persona as she placed a hoof over her mouth in shock. The two watched the Big Daddy continue to make his way across the boiling hot water and closer to the core, his steps now being reduced to meager shuffles as he continued on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Almost... there. It was getting harder for me at this point, parts of my body going numb from pain, several nerves succumbing to the heat that surrounded them. My body was screaming at me, telling me to leave as soon as possible, and to escape an oncoming death. As I had stated before though, death was a given to me. This was no different.

Finally, after what felt like an hour of walking, I reached the core. To my surprise, the crack that I was looking for was right in front of me at the time, rather than on the other side of a spinning tube. Pushing off whatever pain and numbness there was in my arms, I lifted them and grabbed onto the tube, holding it in place as I adjusted the multi-use tool on my right wrist and began to repair the cracks in the glass. As I did so, I could feel darkness begin to close in around my vision, my body somehow starting to feel cold in the overheated water that surrounded me. Tapping the glass a couple of times, I began to lean to the right, threatening to fall off the platform and into the volcano below.

"...Finally..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two watched as Omega's taps on the glass of the tube became fainter and fainter. He was dying, and they knew it. Rarity began to bite down on her hoof in worry, while Fluttershy sat there as still as a statue, both of her hooves covering her mouth as she watched the metal being begin to lean, before losing his footing and sinking to the volcano below, a near silent groan echoing through the room as this occurred.

The next few moments were eerily silent, the tension in the air thick enough to be cut with a knife. It remained like this until a green glow came from behind the two.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Worst. Death. Yet. As the darkness I saw was replaced by a bright green glow, I mentally sighed as I began to feel parts of my body once again. My sight was restored, giving me a clear view through my metal helmet's porthole. The doors to the vita-chamber opened, revealing a shocked Fluttershy and Rarity awaiting me.

"Are... are you ok?" Fluttershy asked. I nodded, inwardly sighing at the fact that she was talking once again. It wasn't long after that I felt the same relief towards Rarity.

"Are you sure? That whole ordeal seemed... painful." Rarity continued. I wasn't going to lie, it was among the more painful things I had done in my life. I nodded again, confirming Rarity's assumptions. The two seemed ready to say something, but were cut off by the beeping of their security bots. They let out four beeps before I began to hear the clanging of metal on metal, followed by laughter. I shuddered as I readied the ESU on my arm and motioned for the two to get behind me. They didn't hesitate as they quickly ran behind me, cowering as they did so.

I couldn't blame them, especially in this situation. I recognized that sound of metal on metal, and if the Brute splicers were Rapture's executioners, then these splicers were its mass murderers.

"He told me you were here! He knew! Even under the sea, he watches! And now, he'll watch me kill!" The ceiling above cracked a little, small hints of debris falling as the two security bots that had accompanied us readied their turret guns. I, in turn, took an offensive position, my ESU raised as I awaited for what I had thought to be the worst type of splicer in all of Rapture.

Suddenly, a vent from the ceiling crashed onto the ground, followed by a grotesquely skinny splicer. It wore a mask, though some of its worse mutations and tumors could be seen through it, and it held two meat hooks in its hands. Balancing on these hooks, the splicer remained on all fours, rather than standing on two legs. A spider splicer.

"There you are!" The splicer screamed as it pounced towards me. The security bots beeped, cocking their machine guns, but I knew that they wouldn't be able to fire just yet, so I reacted as best as I could. I jabbed left, hoping to take out the splicer in one blow of my ESU, but, that just made the reason these splicers were so dangerous more obvious.

It avoided my punch as if it had never happened, before raising one of its two hooks and impaling it into my shoulder, my outer armor seeming more like a slice of cake, and it's hook being the knife. I yelled out in both pain and anger, shoving the splicer away from me and causing it to leave it's hook embedded in my shoulder... Not exactly a win-win, but still.

The moment it landed, the two security bots unleashed hellfire, blasting the splicer with a torrent of bullets. To my annoyance though, it jumped up high, clinging to the roof using its other hook and beginning to crawl along it. It was fast, really fast. Anytime the security bots would get a bead on it, it would just jump out the way and wait for them to aim again.

At the rate this was going, things weren't going to end well. The reason? Where there was one spider splicer, there were always more. Unsure of how long I had before any other splicers came, I searched the room for anything I could use to hold it still.

Nothing came up though, the room was completely barren of anything I could use to combat it. Soon, both the security bots let out clicking sounds, rather than the sound of bullet fire. They were out of ammo. The splicer seemed to smile at this fact, as it jumped to the ground once more and began to slowly crawl to its left.

"The lord works in mysterious ways, metal feline. He chooses who succeeds, and who fails. Who wins, and who loses. Who lives, and who dies!" The splicer pounced once more, it's only other meat hook raised and ready to kill. However, as it pounced, I noticed that it wasn't going in my direction. It jumped to my left, before jumping to the ceiling again and crawling forward. My eyes widened and I felt my teeth grind as I noticed that, rather than going for me, it was heading towards Rarity and Fluttershy. The two seemed to notice this as well, beginning to back up and try to get as much distance from the twisted splicer as possible.

He didn't give them the chance, pouncing once again, aiming for Rarity with its single meat hook. Time felt like it slowed to a still, as a single thought passed through my mind.

"I may be useless for some things, but protecting them will NOT be one of them! NOT THIS TIME!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity closed her eyes tight, expecting the worst as she mentally said her farewells to her friends and loved ones. Rather than pain though, Rarity just felt the sudden splatter of something warm against her fur. Opening one of her eyes, Rarity was shocked to see the splicer right in front of her, blood spilling from its mouth, small drips of it having landed onto her fur. Glancing lower, she saw that the splicer had been impaled by a large piece of metal, keeping the splicer from moving.

It let out a scream, causing her to stagger backwards along with Fluttershy as they realized it was still alive. The splicer began to struggle and flail rapidly, desperately trying to free itself from the jagged metal that held it in place. Suddenly, the splicer was lifted upwards, Omega holding onto the metal that had impaled it. The Big Daddy turned the splicer to face him, his one large eye glowing a crimson red as he stared down the one who had threatened his charges.

Hoping for a last ditch effort, the splicer raised his hook once more, hoping to free itself from the metal feline's grasp. It's attempt was quickly thwarted however, as Omega quickly grabbed onto its arm and began to slowly twist it. The splicer let out a bloodcurdling scream as the sound of snapping bones filled the room, causing both Rarity and Fluttershy to flinch. The splicers remaining hook fell to the floor, as it helplessly began to grip at Omega's hand with it's only working arm.

Omega brought the splicer closer to his eye, growling as he did so. He wasn't going to let this splicer go so easily, not after he had dared to threaten his two new charges. Keeping his grip on the splicer, Omega made his way to the door that lead to the core, tossed the splicer in, and sealed the door again, ignoring the pleas made by the splicer clawing on the door for freedom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn't long after I had put him in there that the siren to the room began to blare. I heard the splicer let out one last yell as the water that had recently killed me took another victim. The splicer wasn't wearing a metal suit like me, so its body didn't last long, leaving nothing but a skeleton under the superheated water, before even that began to crumble away under the heat.

The victory was short-lived, as I heard the sound of further clanging against the ceiling, and distant yells of madness. More were coming, it was time to go. I turned and grabbed my two charges, much to their surprise, before running back to the bathysphere at full speed. The two ammo depleted security bots didn't follow though, and I knew almost instantly why not. As I ran, I heard two prolonged beeps, followed by the sound of two successive explosions, and several perishing splicers. The two had played out their purposes, even in death.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Omega placed the two into the bathysphere, quickly turning and pressing the button for Apollo Square. The bathysphere shut and began to sink, allowing the trio to watch as over ten more spider splicers made their way into the room, letting out yells of frustration as they saw their targets fleeing. Fluttershy and Rarity let out two withheld sighs, relieved that they had managed to escape from that situation.

"Thank you, Omega." Rarity said to the metal daddy. Omega groaned in acknowledgement, turning to face the two once more. It was only then though, that the two let out gasps. "Oh d-dear." Fluttershy breathlessly uttered, as Omega continued to look at the two in what seemed like confusion. Fluttershy and Rarity pointed towards Omega's shoulder, causing the metallic giant to follow their gestures and finally spot what they were so surprised by.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...Ow. As it turned out, the hook was still embedded into my shoulder. I had completely forgotten about it in the heat of the moment, and by now it was almost completely covered in blood, along with the shoulder piece of my armor. I let out a mental sigh as I reached for the hook, grabbed the handle, and pulled as hard as I could. The hook came out quickly, followed by an immeasurable amount of pain as I let out another roar of agony.

My two charges covered their ears and flinched as they saw me pull out the hook, leaving a bloody hole in my armor. I didn't worry about it though. The wound was minor, at best, and it didn't open up my armor near enough to trigger my vita-chip's self-destruction. The two in front of me though, seemed to think differently.

Fluttershy floated over to me, using her wings to keep her stable as she kept eye level with me. "A-are you ok? If you don't mind me asking that is?" Before I could reply, Rarity made herself known. "Of course he's not ok! That... Ruffian positively impaled him!" She said. I carefully grabbed the flying pony in front of me and placed her back in her seat next to Rarity before I then waved my arm dismissively. I had taken worse hits before, and if anything, I should be the one worrying for them.

The two ignored my dismissiveness however, continuing to pester on about how I needed medical treatment. "Darling, if you would just remove that suit of yours, then surely we could-" I stamped my foot down at this, causing the bathysphere to shake slightly, and my two charges to effectively be quiet. I didn't like to, but if a little sister stepped over their boundaries, it was the Big Daddy's job to reassert themselves. These two seemed to react similarly. If I could tell them that I couldn't take off my suit, I would. Since I couldn't though, I simply pushed off the question, and shut them up.

...At least until I noticed Fluttershy begin to tear up. "Aaaaaaaand now I feel like shit."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two laid quietly on the mattress, sharing the single, yet spacious blue blanket between themselves as their metal watchman sat on the couch, his eye yellow in annoyance as Winston circled around him and beeped continually, as if chastising him. The two couldn't understand what the robot was saying, nor could Omega, but they still found it amusing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wheres the OFF SWITCH ON THIS THING!?"

Literally, where? I could never find it, and sometimes I swore that Winston removed it from his systems. Nonetheless, I continued to endure his chastising. I could only guess as to what it was for though. Maybe it was because of the destruction of the security bots, but that wasn't likely, considering that they wouldn't have made it anyhow... Personally, I'm starting to suspect karma was playing a part in this. Note to self, NEVER make Fluttershy cry.

After about three minutes worth of beeps and whirs, Winston finally seemed to finish, exiting the apartment through the still open front door. One of these days, I had to figure out how to turn him off, if only temporarily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity and her friend, Fluttershy, were currently outside of the apartment, looking over the ocean through the glass walls that surrounded Apollo Square. They had left the apartment after Omega had fallen asleep, so they wouldn't worry or anger him. The two weren't going to run, or do anything rash like that, after all, where would they go, but they felt as if they needed some time to think.

"...Do you think we'll ever get back home?" Fluttershy asked her white-furred friend. Rarity didn't answer, not really sure of how to respond. She didn't know anymore than Fluttershy as to wether or not they would be able to return. For now though, all Rarity and Fluttershy could do, was hope that their loved ones were doing well without them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I watched the two from afar, not daring to move and risk them seeing me. I had noticed the two leave a few moments ago, probably thinking that I had fallen asleep. Just because I don't move for a moment or two, it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm asleep.

"...Do you think we'll ever get back home?" I heard Fluttershy ask Rarity, not getting any response in return. As she said this, I felt a twinge of sadness as a mental conflict began.

"...They'll have to go soon."

"You don't know that."

"This isn't their home."

"Anymore than it is yours?"

"...They're not little sisters."

"They're close enough! Why else would you be trying to help them!"

"Because they have others who care about them."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Because I don't want anyone else to feel the same loss I felt!"

... I couldn't hear anymore conflict. That last rebuttal ended the fight, but, as to who had won, I wasn't sure. Shaking my head in frustration, I looked back towards the two, who were still staring blankly into the ocean. This had gone on long enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two friends flinched as they heard familiar sounding footsteps approach in their direction, each deafening stamp causing a growing feeling of anxiety in the two. They knew they were caught though, so they didn't move. Soon, the footsteps stopped, the shadow of the Big Daddy casting over the two as they lowered their ears in sadness, continuing to stare out into the ocean before them, rather than turning to face their likely annoyed host.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I kneeled down behind the two, still managing to stay in between them as I did so. I was a Big Daddy, a giant metal ~~monster~~ being that was armed to the teeth with genetic enhancements and strengtheners that I would use to protect my little sisters. Like I said before, not exactly the best teddy bear. I was supposed to just let my little sisters cry themselves out, this action was designed into me...

Then again, looking at the two, noticing the pain and sadness that seemed to emanate from them, even from behind... I figure an exception is allowed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Both ponies were surprised as the giant grabbed them from behind, carefully turning the two and pressing them into his chest. None of the two made a sound as they slowly began to process what was happening, realization coming to their minds. All this time, they had thought of Omega as a being, a host... A monster, when they should have been calling him the opposite. He was no simple being, he was a life, he wasn't a host, he was a caretaker, and he wasn't a monster. He, was a guardian.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I barely heard the sound of water dripping onto my suit through my helmet. I knew there wasn't a leak though, my helmet would have gone off if there was. My two charges were crying once again, as they both placed their forearms around my neck and helmet. I swore I would protect them, and I could just as easily swear to return them to their homes.

Author's Note

... Right in the feels. As some of you may be able to tell, I put this chapter in to show a bit of... Growth, in the characters. As to how, I'll let you guys figure that out (ain't I a stinker?), but either way, this chapter will hopefully reinforce a point I've been trying to prove. Omega isn't like any other Big Daddy. Not because he shows emotion, or because of his vita-chip, but because he thinks for himself, despite the programming from the Big Daddy initiative. Hopefully, this will answer a lot of questions some of you readers had.

P.S. Speaking of questions, I've noticed that the fic is approaching 100 likes... Holy crap! I'll be accepting questions for a special 100 Like celebration Q&A. Just send 'me to me over the messaging system and I'll answer whichever I can. Oh, and don't worry about the whole, ' I wanted another chapter, not a Q&A!' Thing some of you may say, I'll be posting up the next chapter along with the Q&A as well. It's a win-win ^~^. I hope to get some good questions from you all, but for now, I bid you, adieu!

Chapter 7: A Father's Expanding Knowledge

"Daddy? Where'd you go?" I heard my Little Sister call out for me. We had gotten separated again. Even after I had made sure to keep her next to me at all times, she still somehow managed to wander away from me. After what had happened to Beatrice, I didn't want to lose another one.

I let out a groan, trying to call out for my Little Sister. Ashlyn always was a smart girl, she could probably find me again. She thought of herself to be a detective, having seen a picture book about them during one of her gathering sessions. It was for that reason that she had always kept a small toy magnifying glass with her. After I called for her, there was a pause, before I heard Ashlyn giggle. "Marco!" She had decided to make this a game, and I was happy to play along. I groaned out loud, improvising 'Polo'.

"Marco!" I groaned again. I could tell she was getting closer.

"Marco!" Another groan.

"..." She didn't continue. I let out another metallic groan, this one being louder than the last few.

"..." This wasn't right. I began to run, my boots shaking the ground as I continued to yell for my little sister. There was still no response though. I cut corner after corner, seeking out my 'daughter' desperately, my rivet gun already beginning to heat itself in preparation for combat.

As I turned one last corner though, I saw that there was no need for combat. Why? There was nothing left to protect, except an empty ADAM hypo, and a bloodied magnifying glass.

********************************************

Yet again, I woke up in a cold sweat. Another nightmare, as usual. What wasn't usual though were the two ponies that were sleeping in the center of the room. I smiled, happy to see the two were resting so peacefully, especially after everything that had happened so far.

"Where is he then-" A far off splicer was cut off by the ringing sound of a turret. My eyes widened as the sound of a rocket came through the door, followed by a loud explosion, waking both Rarity and Fluttershy with a start. The universe just loved to make things difficult, didn't it?

The two ponies hid under the covers of the bed, startled by the sudden loud noise that woke them. Sighing in frustration, and mentally cursing the splicer who was stupid enough to come to Apollo Square, I stood from the couch and walked towards the two.

I kneeled down in front of the mattresses they were laying on and tapped on the two new lumps under the covers. The two peeked their muzzles out, much to my amusement, followed by the rest of their heads as they noticed that I was in the one trying to get their attention.

"...I take it that it was another splicer?" Rarity asked, rubbing one of her eyes with her forehoof. I nodded, confirming her statements as she let out a small yawn and hid back under the blanket. "I need more beauty sleep." She groaned, the blanket shifting slightly as she adjusted herself. There weren't many things that I would classify as 'cute' in Rapture, but this was definitely one of them.

Just as Fluttershy was about to do the same though, I stopped her, gesturing towards the bandaging that still was wrapped around her head. It had been there for a while now, and her injury had probably healed by now. She nodded tiredly, letting out a small yawn of her own as she stood and stretched out her limbs. I chuckled as I turned and made my way towards the apartment's bathroom, Fluttershy following close behind, though a little sluggishly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Omega led Fluttershy to the bathroom, she couldn't help but let out another yawn as her exhaustion began to overcome her again. She had been feeling much better since Omega had first given her 'aspirin', but she had also been much more drowsy.

Once Fluttershy entered the bathroom, Omega turned towards her and carefully picked her up, placing her down on a nearby counter and beginning to unwrap the bandaging that dressed her head. One by one, strips of gauze fell off of Fluttershy's head and to the floor, leaving a small pile of white, on top of the noticeable gray. Fluttershy struggled to keep her eyes open as the last strip of gauze was removed, but a pleasant petting near the top of her head made it near impossible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Little Sisters had always liked whenever you ruffled their heads a little, so I guessed that it would be the same for the two ponies. However, considering the fact that Fluttershy was likely to still be sensitive from her injury, I did it much more gently than I normally would, basically petting her, rather than ruffling her head. To my surprise though, she seemed to enjoy this light petting much more than how I had originally hoped. Not everything works the same I guess.

It was a minute or so afterwards, as I continued to pet her, that Fluttershy began to lean in her 'seat'. I caught her with one of my large gloved hands just before she could fall, her blissful breaths and closed eyes clear from behind my helmet as I held her in my arm. She had fallen back to sleep again. These two had a habit of making things cute, didn't they?

Good news, and bad news. The good news, I don't have to use that creepy clown vending machine anymore. Bad news, the reason was because I was out of loose bills. There wasn't much food left over after the last time the two had eaten, and water was running low. I glanced towards the glass walls of the square. Drinkable water, at least.

I'd have to go to the Farmers Market if I wanted to get more supplies for my charges, and that meant I had to deal with more splicers again. Originally, I had meant to go alone, shuffling to the door as quietly as I could so that I wouldn't wake the two from their slumber, but, as I said before, the universe just loves to make things difficult.

"Surely you don't think you're going anywhere without us, do you darling?" I heard Rarity call out, apparently having finished her 'beauty sleep'. I turned, seeing Fluttershy was sitting up in the mattress with her. Did they have a set sleeping period or something?

I nodded as an answer to Rarity's question, causing her to raise an eye, though I noticed a glint of mischief behind it. The two had already been in danger three times these past couple of days, yet they still wanted to come with me when there was probably more? I was not going to lose this argument.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're a reaaaall pushover, you know that?"

I had lost the argument, somehow. Truthfully, the entire conversation was a blur to me. It started off with Rarity asking small questions and me just nodding or shaking my head in response. Then, Rarity started making these double edged questions that, every time I answered, I would damage my own side of the argument, rather than hers. Couple that with Fluttershy's adorableness, I didn't stand a chance.

"Yeah, I'm a pushover."

The Farmer's Market was, as the name implied, a market for the farmers of Rapture. This was where the lower wage earning classes of Rapture would come to buy, and sell things such as food, drinks, and even a few random services here and there. Another reason so many people had come here back when it was so successful were the gardens that the market was connected to. One of the few places that hadn't been affected by Rapture's downfall, the gardens stood tall and proud, granting a beautiful touch of green to this city of gray and black. That, and it provided oxygen for most of Rapture.

The three of us continually watched our surroundings as we walked through the passageway that lead to the market, making sure there weren't any splicers that would cause us trouble while we were here. We wouldn't have to do this for long, but while we were in that hallway, it was more of a necessity than a recommendation.

The door to the market soon came to be right in front of us, squeaking slightly as it opened itself up, revealing the market that we had been looking for. I breathed a sigh of relief as a green light surveyed over us, before slowly turning itself away and looking elsewhere. I gestured to the girls as best as I could, trying to tell them that they could calm down while we were here. I had hacked into most of the security systems here during my last visit, so splicers had become a much more minimal threat while we were here. Nonetheless though, I knew that if the alarm to the camera began to blare we were better off leaving than staying to fight.

The two nodded in understanding, no longer surveying the area as they each began to search the stands scattered around the room, looking for anything they thought to be edible. Then again, I caught one of the two eating daisies from a flower pot earlier, so I would probably be better off going with them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just as soon as Omega gave the two the signal, Fluttershy and Rarity quickly began to search the market and its various stands. Food was plentiful, but not all of it was edible. Years of age and rot had turned the fruits and vegetables into nothing more than rotten masses, and bread had turned into a molded mesh, much to the disgust of the two ponies. It wasn't until Omega began to assist them in their search that they had begun to make progress. In a matter of moments, they had found enough drinks and preservatives to last the two over a week, and they hadn't even gotten past the first two stands.

Having found a sack originally used for holding the now molded bread of one of the nearby stands, Omega had begun to stuff the provisions that the three of them had found into the piece of burlap, making the amount of supplies that they had gathered seem much more pronounced. Rarity, believing that they had gathered more than enough supplies, began to look around market. Granted, she wasn't going especially far from Omega, or her friend Fluttershy, but it was far enough away that she could explore.

Most of the stands were covered in dust and grime, much to the discomfort of Rarity, containing old and inedible products like most of the other stands. As she searched though, she found an odd booth among the stands. It was labeled, "Lamb's Little Sister Daycare".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I placed the last of the cans into the sack, Fluttershy having been floating back and forth between the supplies and placing her own amount in, I heard Rarity call out for us. "Fluttershy, Omega, could you two come here for a moment?"

Fluttershy and I glanced towards one another, before I pulled the bag over my shoulder and began to make my way over to Rarity. She was only about three stands over, but as I glanced to where she was looking, I became confused. The last time I had come to do repairs on the market was over 7 years ago, before Sofia Lamb had ever taken over, but I had no idea that her influence had even reached upper Rapture. I saw an image of Lamb on the sign, holding onto a Little Sister and smiling as she did so.

"... What's a 'Little Sister'?" Fluttershy asked, earning a shrug from her friend. The two looked towards me, faces filled with confusion and curiosity.

"They do realize I can't exactly answer, right?"

There was a moment of silence as Rarity looked towards the booth once again, putting a hoof up to her chin in thought.

"Perhaps... there is something of use inside?" She passed the booth, opening a door that had been placed along the back walls and walking inside of the actual daycare itself. Fluttershy followed after her, and I came soon after.

I was delayed by the door, on account of the fact that it was about half my size, but after a bit of maneuvering, some careful consideration, and a couple of holes I knocked into the walls, the door was more than large enough for me to get through. After my... renovations, my two charges looked to me with skeptical, yet amused expressions, before splitting off and looking around the room for anything they thought to be useful.

The room itself was different than most of Rapture. It was colorful, using all kinds of reds, blues, and greens to keep a cheery and playful atmosphere. I could see posters on the wall, seemingly placed in a pattern, each with images of little sisters, or the needles they carried with them. Fluttershy was flying near one of the sides, looking over the small butterflies that had been painted into the wall. Funny how the pony with butterflies on her side is so interested by the paintings of butterflies.

"Omega? Isn't that you?" I turned to Rarity, seeing that she was looking at another of the posters. It showed a cartoon image of a Big Daddy holding hands with his Little Sister and leading her forward.

"Always stay close to a friend?" Rarity read.

Fluttershy let out an 'eep!', causing both Rarity and I turn just in time to see a small sheet of paper fall to the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy was shocked, to say the least, when one of the many butterflies on the wall pressed in, sending out a small slip of paper from seemingly nowhere. It fluttered around for a moment or two before soon landing before Omega. Omega kneeled down and picked up the paper, the green light from his porthole creating a square shadow as the slip covered a small part of it.

"...W-what does it say?" Fluttershy asked, immediately regretting her question as she remembered that Omega wouldn't be able to answer. For a moment or two, Omega didn't move, continuing to inspect the paper. Then, to her and Rarity's confusion, he shrugged, before gesturing for Fluttershy to take it.

"He doesn't know? Is there something wrong with the writing?" Rarity wondered as Fluttershy took the paper within her hooves. Fluttershy looked over the paper for a moment, utter confusion in her eyes. Not from the message itself, but from how easily she read it, despite Omega's cluelessness.

"Sofia, all Little Sisters have been moved to the orphanage." That was all it read. As Fluttershy read it aloud though, Rarity looked towards Omega, who just looked back to her through his helmet's porthole.

"...Darling, why did you say you didn't know what it said?" Rarity could understand that he couldn't answer them, per se, as to what was written on the paper, but she didn't know why he had shrugged, as if he didn't know. Omega paused, a slight groan emanating from him as he seemed to be in thought. He glanced around the room for a moment, walking off towards a small desk that sat upon a pink carpet, and picking up an odd red card.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I remembered this card from before, and it was probably all I would find that could even remotely explain this to the two, even if it would take some guessing on their part. I handed it to Rarity, and watched as she and Fluttershy opened it in curiosity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A, B, D, E, F, G~" The moment the card opened, the sound of a young boy singing rang through the air. Rarity and Fluttershy were... surprised, as they heard the boy begin to sing the alphabet song. Truthfully, they had no idea as to why Omega had given this to them. It was only when Fluttershy read the text, however, that she managed to think up a guess towards what her and Rarity's guardian may have meant.

"Rapture Prepratory School for Boys... Omega," she began, "did you ever go to school?" Rarity looked towards her friend questionably, before looking back towards Omega. She had never thought about it, but Omega didn't truly seem to be the kind to have obtained an education throughout his life. Of course, she meant no offense.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I shook my head left and right. No, I had never gone to school. At least, I don't remember having done it. If anything, the only reason I know what I know about today is from my Big Daddy programming, and from overhearing the citizens of Rapture over the years.

"Then... does that mean you can't read?" The two were looking at me with faces of sadness, to my confusion. Had I done something wrong? As I was about to answer, the sound of resounding beeping came from outside of the room. A 60 second timer appeared in the inside of my helmet, slowly counting down as the sound of security bots soon filled the air.

It was time to go, before any other splicers came. Adjusting the sack of supplies on my shoulders, I gestured for the two to follow me as I swiftly made my way out of the room, and into the market.

... I don't particularly like it when people talk behind my back, or in this case, ponies. The moment we had gotten back into the bathysphere, Rarity and Fluttershy wouldn't stop whispering. I wasn't sure if they were making fun of me, or something else, but it was definitely getting on my nerves. I pushed it aside as I stepped out of the bathysphere, my two charges following close behind.

As we reached the split that lead to the apartment though, Rarity spoke up.

"Omega." I turned my head to face her, readjusting the sack into a better position on my shoulder. "Would you mind taking the supplies back to the apartment on your own? Just this once? I think we left something back on the... Bathysphere, was it?" I continued to look towards her, not moving an inch from my earlier position. She rolled her eyes before looking towards me with a smile.

"Please?"

...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Rarity watched as Omega walked away from the two, lugging the large sack of supplies back to their shared 'home'. When they believed he was out of earshot, they quickly took action.

"Do you see anything up there dear?" Rarity asked her friend, who was currently flying near the glass roof as she scoured the area from above. As she awaited a response she continued her search of the ground floor, albeit a slower and cleaner search, as she didn't want to ruin her mane or coat, but she was searching nonetheless.

"Not yet." Fluttershy replied. She had to have looked over the area over a dozen times, but she couldn't seem to find what she or Rarity were looking for. Just as the two were about to call it a day, Rarity noticed something sticking out of the built up junk of Apollo Square. Ignoring her fur, if just for a moment, she called for Fluttershy to come down and assist her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You left them alone!?!"

I waited in the apartment patiently, the sack of supplies having been emptied and organized into piles. I was waiting on the couch yet again. Whatever the two had left behind, it must have been heavy. Otherwise, why would they be taking so long.

"Are you kidding me? If they had left something behind, don't you think you would have noticed!?"

Yeah. Just waiting here... patiently. There was a knocking at the door. Oh thank god, I hate waiting.

"Omega, could you give us a hoof darling? This isn't exactly 'lightweight', and we can't really seem to open the door right now."

Sighing in relief, I made my way over to the door and pushed it open. On the other side, was Rarity and Fluttershy, holding what seemed to be... a large white board?

The two pushed the board into the apartment, struggling slightly as they did so, eventually managing to lean it against one of the apartment's empty walls. The two were panting from exertion, so they didn't really say anything right away. "Ick, sweat." Except that.

After a moment or two of recovering, the two managed to look towards me with smiles on their faces. I shimmied back slightly, unsure of why they had seemed so smiley. Fluttershy craned her neck and reached behind her pink mane, pulling out a familiar pink card with her mouth.

... No. No. No! Hell no! I am not doing this! No way!

"See? Here's the letter 'A'." Fluttershy said softly, Rarity using the marker in her mouth to write out 'A' against the white board.

I just can't win today! This was embarrassing. A fully grown man, though I don't really know my own age, in a suit of metal and weaponry of all sorts, learning how to read from two ponies. Sander Cohen was probably spinning in his grave right now.

Then again, I can't say they're doing this for free. They had 'offered', more like forced actually, to teach me to read and write so long as I taught them more about Rapture. It was a fair deal, but something did throw me off about it.

The first thing they wanted to learn about were Little Sisters, and what I, or Big Daddies in general, had to do with them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Canterlot castle was currently a place of chaos, and not because Discord had been wreaking havoc as of late, but because it had now been three days since the disappearance of Rarity and Fluttershy, the elements of Generosity and Kindness.

The princesses were both currently in their throne room, looking over paper after paper of reports on the progress that their research team had made in finding the two missing elements. So far, they hadn't made a lot of progress. Try as they might, they couldn't figure out where the two had gone. One moment, they were here, the next, they had simply disappeared. Princess Celestia sighed as she heard a knock at the throne room doors, rubbing her head with her hoof in frustration.

"You may enter!" Yelled Princess Luna, slipping back into her royal Canterlot voice from stress. The pony behind the two doors flinched for a moment, slightly offset by the loud tone the princess had responded with, before entering the throne room in a sprint.

As the mare sprinted into the room, the two princesses of night and day lowered the papers in their magical grip and looked towards her. "Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" She yelled as she quickly bowed to the two.

"Has something come up?" Princess Celestia asked, hoping for even the slightest of theories as to where the two missing ponies could have gone. The mare nodded rapidly, causing Princess Luna to lift an eyebrow in curiosity, though her sister simply kept the same controlled expression.

"Yes. Princesses, this is only a theory," she began, already not boding well for the high hopes of the Princesses, "but hadn't you lead a peace mission recently?"

The princess stayed silent for a moment, raising an eyebrow while still seeming to be calm and collective. "Yes. We have indeed recently gone on a peace mission, but it was deemed a failure. Is there any reason you are asking me this?" She questioned.

Confidence grew on the mare's face as she faced the princesses and simply answered, "When was this mission exactly?"

The princesses eyes widened as they realized what the mare meant. Princess Celestia's calm and collected expression no longer remained, being replaced by one of anger and confidence. "Gather the archmage and any other unicorn guards that you can muster! We are going to need as large an amount of magical energy as possible."

Author's Note

Things are picking up now!

"Comment about the main plot point. Check. Now for the chapter in its entirety."

Now some of you may be may be wondering/ completely clueless as to where the whole 'Omega can't read' thing came from. Truthfully though, I'm kinda surprised nobody noticed, or at least didn't show it. Throughout the story, I've given small hints as to this. One example being in the earlier chapters of this story, where Omega mentions how 'the buttons had labels, but...'.
Other examples were when he saw posters and the like, but never mentioned the text written on it. Even in the latest chapter, before the two manage to piece this together, there's a hint to this when Omega saw the sign for the little sister daycare, but only paid attention to the image of Sofia Lamb, so this concept didn't really come out of the blue. (I am already waiting for someone to mention, 'How did I not notice that!?!' Or something of that regard.)

On a side note, anyone else notice how easily Omega uses an argument with one word? Consider this to be here for three reasons. 1. To further show that Omega is still human, so he isn't unstoppable, even in an argument. 2. A tribute to 'would you kindly', though its not really gonna control Omega like it did Jack from bioshock 1 3. Honestly, who can resist two adorable ponies saying 'please'? Omega never stood a chance.

Chapter 9: First Father's Solution

"And they lived happily ever after... Well that's just ridiculous."

I was back at the apartment with my two charges, reading a small children's book, which must have seemed hilarious, by the title of 'The Ugly Duckling'. Honestly, I think fate was playing a joke on me. Besides, the book in of itself was idiotic, at best! For a duckling to end up turning into a swan, despite the difference in appearance between the two, I just didn't get it! Then again, since when am I a critic? I just started reading the other day for fuck's sake!

... I'm taking this too seriously. Putting down the book to my side, I looked to my two charges, who were currently... Um... doing something with each other's manes. I think that they called it 'braiding'?

"A-are you sure of this Rarity?" Fluttershy asked her friend, unable to look behind her as Rarity continued to 'braid' her mane. The white pony smiled at her companion, crossing yet another collection of the winged pony's pink hair with the other.

"Of course, darling! The two of us have been so stressed as of late, and nothing is quite as relaxing to a mare as haircare. Well, at least in my opinion." Were it not for the fact that it would probably sound offensive, I would have chuckled. They'd been at it for some time, and by now, Fluttershy's long pink mane had ended up wrapped into an odd collection of spins and ties. "Annnnd weee'rrreee done!" Rarity said as she took a few steps back, marveling at her work.

"Oh, darling, you look simply gorgeous!" Rolling my eyes at Rarity's usual overdramatizing nature, I looked to Fluttershy and... Huh. Wow, maybe there was something to this hair braiding thing. If anything, Fluttershy looked, at the very least, adorable.

At the very most, I guess that I'd have to agree with Rarity after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy's cheeks were flushed with red as her two companions looked to her intently, taking in the sight of her and her new hairstyling. Not used to being the center of attention though, Fluttershy reached for the mattress covers and quickly concealed herself within them, hiding in her own 'fortress of solitude'. Rarity's smile quickly fell, changing her expression to one of concern. Omega also rose a brow at this behavior, unsure of what exactly had just occurred.

"Fluttershy, dear, come out from under there. There's no need to be embarrassed." Fluttershy didn't respond, instead letting out a squeak as she further hid herself under the bed coverings. Rarity sighed, not really sure of what to do at this point. Fluttershy was an amazing friend and all, but her seemingly constant lack of self-esteem always saddened her. Rarity could never seem to get Fluttershy to realize that she had no reason to shy away from others, especially from her own friends.

Suddenly, Omega stood from his seat and made his way over to the two, shuffling to keep his noise at a minimum. Kneeling down next to a confused Rarity, Omega reached for the blanket that was currently housing one of his two charges, and slowly pulled the closest part of the sheet up, revealing a shocked and tomato red Fluttershy.

Rarity watched as Omega reached his other hand into the blanket towards her and was shocked to see that, rather than move further away from his large gloved appendage, Fluttershy kept herself still as he reached for her head and began to pet her.

Fluttershy's reaction was instantaneous, as she closed her eyes and let out a small content sigh, the blush on her face disappearing and once again returning her to her usual shade of yellow. Omega looked towards Rarity and gestured to Fluttershy with a sidewards bob of his head. At first, she didn't understand, seeing his bobs as momentary twitches and nothing else. After about a dozen attempts at trying to communicate with her though, not losing contact with Fluttershy as he did so, Rarity finally seemed to understand, her eyes widening as she realized that Omega was giving her an opportunity to speak.

"Fluttershy, please come out from under there. There's nothing for you to worry about dear. If anything, the both of us really do think you look great! Isn't that right darling?" Rarity asked Omega, lightly nudging his side. Omega responded with his usual brand of a groan, nodding his head in agreement as he did so. Fluttershy, ever the unsure pony, looked towards the two of them with a shy, and slightly fearful, expression.

"A-are you sure?" Rarity and Omega both nodded again, bringing a small smile to Fluttershy as she uncovered herself from below the blankets.

"There we go. See? You look divine darling. I'm sure that any stallion in his right mind would simply love to go out with a mare like you." Fluttershy blushed slightly, but smiled nonetheless. Omega, though, didn't seem to be too happy at the thought of a stallion being with Fluttershy, as his eye turned a light shade of yellow and he made his way to the white board.

Rarity and Fluttershy watched as his scribbles slowly took form into a coherent sentence. By the time it did, the two felt ready to laugh for a good moment or so. On the board, Omega had written, 'ONLY AS LONG AS I GET TO MEET THEM FIRST', before crossing his arms and standing next to the board, his helmet continuing to expel a soft shade of yellow. Giggling, Fluttershy excused herself to the bathroom, telling the two that she wanted to see how she looked for herself, and leaving the room to Rarity and Omega.

Turning to Omega, Rarity snickered behind her hoof as she glanced to the message on the board again. "I suppose that's why you're called a 'Big Daddy', isn't it? You're just as overprotective." She smirked while Omega felt himself blush underneath his helmet, once again giving his silent thanks for having it on.

A sudden beeping from outside the apartment door caught the two off guard as Omega took one last glance towards Rarity and made his way to the door. Carefully pulling the door open, Omega was immediately met by his robotic 'pet', he may as well have been, Winston.

"Where did Omega go?" Fluttershy asked as she made her way back into the central room of the apartment, her hair now back to its original style. It had been nice and all, but Fluttershy much rather preferred her natural hair.

Rarity looked to Fluttershy in slight surprise, taking her eyes off of the stubborn spot that she was trying to rub off of the wall.

"Oh, hello darling. He just went out. That odd little friend of his came by and began to beep as if it was nopony's business. He left a 'note' on the board." Just like that, Rarity turned back to the spot and continued on with her stain removing rampage. "Oh, would you just come off already!"

Fluttershy giggled at her friend's antics. Looking to the white board stationed in the room, Fluttershy quickly noticed the large, crooked writing that had recently become Omega's. 'WINSTON NEEDS HELP WITH SOMETHING. NOT SURE WHAT. BE BACK SOON. STAY HERE PLEASE.'

As she read the message, slightly confused to who 'Winston' may be, she couldn't help but smile. Omega had been there for the both of them since they had arrived. Even earlier that day, when her timidity had once again gotten the best of her, he helped her feel better. To her, Omega was more than just a guardian. To her, Omega was a friend, and to Rarity, he was the same.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's amazing how different the city seems now that I could read. Granted, it was still the creepiest hell hole that I had, or probably will ever have seen, but hey, at least now I could actually read the messages that splicers left out of blood... They didn't like me very much. 'Go FUCK yourself, metal feline!' Isn't exactly the best thing for my self-confidence, but personally I don't give a damn.

Nonetheless, as Winston led me down the paths of Apollo Square, I couldn't really stop myself. Suddenly, Winston stopped dead in front of me, nearly causing me to smash into him. From inside of my helmet, I raised an eyebrow and let out a groan, basically asking him why he had stopped. He didn't seem to answer though, as I heard his gun let out a cocking sound. Before I could react, he tilted himself upwards and let out a barrage of bullets, launching it to the cieling.

"Arggghhhhh!" I heard a splicer yell as he fell from the ceiling he had been trying to sneak over us along, riddled with bullet holes and... fire?!? Winston had incindeary rounds? What the hell, how!?!

Glancing back to Winston, I noticed him stare at the charcoal of a splicer before him, before letting off a single beep and flying off, beeping for me to follow again. If I didn't know better, I'd say Winston had just flipped him off. Then again, crazier things have happened.

Another minute or so of following that flying bucket of bolts later, I was surprised to see that he had led me to the 'richer' part of Apollo Square. Originally, the only times I would come here were to make sure there weren't any surviving splicers that had managed to get past the security system. I'm not sure why, but they seemed to think of the place as a safe zone from all the other machines, even though I'd end up killing them afterwards. I'd once heard that insanity was basically 'repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting different results'. If that was true, then splicers were the epitome of insanity.

Flying over to a nearby door, Winston started beeping wildly as his built-in lights shined on the golden nameplate stationed over the apartment entrance. I walked to the door, Winston barely seeming to acknowledge my presence as I looked to the nameplate. 'Suchong'. The very creator of Big Daddies and little sisters, along with one of Fontaine's proudest 'descendants', Jack. I glanced to Winston in confusion. Why had he taken me here of all places?

I put my hand on the door and slid it open, the creaking of rust and metal echoing through the mostly silent remains of the square. Winston flew in before me, letting out another pair of beeps as he began to fly around the room. Taking a step inside myself, my jaw dropped as I noticed the several halls of bookshelves that surrounded the room. My first thought wasn't on what I would read out of all these, not at my current reading level. It was on how annoying it would actually be to find whatever Winston was trying to show me.

"I'm pretty sure that two hours is enough time for you to leave me guessing, Winston!"

Seriously though, what the actual fuck?!? He leads me through Apollo Square, scares the crap out of me on the way, and then randomly leads me into Suchong's old room, only to have me search the labyrinth of a place on my own! I was getting tired of this, and I was sure that the girls back at the apartment were getting worried, so I looked to Winston, who was currently spinning wildly around the room, and let out a groan. Winston stopped his spinning, much to my surprise, and looked towards me.

He stared at me for a moment or two, not really doing particularly anything but just floating there, before turning and letting out a loud beep, his lights seeming to intensify as he pointed to the top shelf of one of the bookshelves. Of course.

Sighing, I made my way over to the bookshelf and began to test the boards that the many books rested, seeing if they could take my weight. Needless to say though, as I stepped onto the first shelf, it didn't. The shelf broke in two, the neatly placed books falling into disorder before me and creating an awkward pile, causing me to groan in frustration. It was then though, that I had an idea. One so simple, yet so complex, that it had to work!

... I pushed over the bookshelf. The loud clanging and crashing sounds that resounded through the room were immeasurable, as hundreds upon hundreds of books fell over from their positions, followed by the wood that held it, smashing into pieces upon impact. I flinched as I saw this, and I swore that I saw Winston do the same. Somewhere in the universe, a librarian was probably cringing as well.

Winston didn't make a noise as he slowly brought his light over to me, as if saying, 'are you kidding me'? I ignored his gaze, making my way over to the pile and beginning to push books away from the mess, clearing it out so that I could find... whatever I was finding.

After about three dozen books though, I stopped, seeing an odd piece of metal sticking out over the colored hard covers of literature. I felt a brow raise as I dug my hand further into the pile, grabbing onto the metal box and carefully pulling it out, displacing even more books as I did so. Winston began to beep wildly again, leading me to believe that I had found what he was trying to show me. A tape recorder, with a single tape placed inside of its slot.

I hadn't seen many of these, since several splicers and survivors would collect these before I could, doing god knows what with them. Standing from the miniature mountain of books, I looked over the tape recorder. Aside from a single tag that had been attached to the back of the recorder, reading 'Suchong', it didn't have anything unique to it. I shrugged my shoulders and hit play on the recorder. The first thing I heard was the sound of glass breaking, and the tumbling of several heavy objects.

"Sir, it would be wise for you to calm down." I heard someone from the recording say, eerily calm despite the chaos that was happening before him. The sound of crashing stopped, if only for a moment, as footsteps could be heard coming to the speaker.

"What was that, Dr.Suchong? 'Calm down'? Tell me, good doctor, just how am I supposed to be calm when Fontaine HAS MY DNA BECAUSE OF THAT WHORE OF A WOMAN!" I recognized this voice. Everyone who had ever lived in Rapture did. It was the voice of Rapture's founder and creator, Andrew Ryan.

Suchong didn't speak for a moment, letting out a chuckle rather than an immediate response. "Because, Mr. Ryan, I feel as though I may have a solution." There was a momentary pause of silence, as I rose an eyebrow in interest. Something to stop Jack? Whatever it was, it didn't seem to work very well, did it?

"Well then, what is it!?!" Andrew yelled, impatience ticking at the back of his throat. Honestly, considering how he sounded over the recording, if I had ever met him personally, I probably would have punched him in the face.

"Fontaine believes that he could make a successful artificial life form, does he not? Then what, exactly, is stopping us from doing the same?" The recording stopped, the sound of the ongoing tape halting and suddenly drowning the room in silence once again. Confusion couldn't even begin to describe how I felt right now. Since when did Suchong make another artificial life, and why had I never seen it? Pushing the thought off for later, I took the recorder with me, thinking that it would be useful for the future.

Fluttershy and Rarity were going to get a kick out of this... if they didn't lecture me for taking so long that is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The train chugged along at it's usual speed, it's several passengers conversing amongst themselves as they peacefully awaited for the train to take them to their intended destination. Canterlot. Nearby the back of the train though, inside one of its many resting cars for its passengers, a certain purple unicorn cringed as a particularly strong headache reached her, disappearing just as quickly as it arrived.

"Everything alright Sugarcube?" An orange earth pony wearing a stetson asked, raising a brow as she did so. Next to her were two other ponies. An earth pony, with pink fur, an equally pink yet incredibly curly mane accompanying it, and a pegasus with light blue cyan fur, and a unique rainbow-colored mane.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got a wierd headache is all." The purple pony dismissed, rubbing her head slightly as she did so. The three ponies in front of her didn't seem convinced however, looking amongst each other in worry.

"Maybe you should get some sleep Twilight. We still have a few more hours until we reach Canterlot." The rainbow maned pegasus suggested, gesturing to one of the train car's window to further emphasize her point. The purple pony just shook her head however, smiling as she looked to the three.

"I'm fine girls. Besides, I need to stay as awake as possible. If Princess Celestia really found out where Rarity and Fluttershy went, then we need to be ready to help however we can." Suddenly, the door to the car slid open, revealing a small white filly unicorn, her mane a collection of different gentle shades of purple, much like a certain other pony. She was currently licking a large swirling lollipop, hanging onto the stick with one of her forehooves while she made her way into the room and took a seat next to the purple mare.

"Hey SweetieBelle! How are you doing?" The pink pony asked in an extremely peppy manner, glancing to the large piece of candy that the filly held from time to time. The filly ceased her licking for a moment and smiled at the mare.

"I'm fine Pinkie." She returned just as cheerily, as the other mares in the room look towards her with similar smiles. Truthfully, they were extremely worried about both Rarity and Fluttershy, but they knew that it was best that they didn't show it, lest they worry the filly.

"Are you excited to see your sister again SweetieBelle?" Twilight asked. SweetieBelle nodded her head, having distracted herself with the candy yet again and making herself unable to answer.

"We should have a party after we see them! Like, a surprise 'where have you been, we've missed you, please don't do that again' party!" The three mares in the room rolled their eyes, smiling at their friends behavior, while SweetieBelle giggled. "But first, something that's super duper important!" Pinkie Pie said suddenly, her expression shifting to one of utter seriousness.

All the ponies in the room leaned in closer, ever so slightly. They didn't normally see their pink friend seem this serious, so they had to be sure that they heard her. A moment of tense silence came upon the room, as everypony awaited for the party pony to say what she needed to.

Suddenly, she dropped her serious expression, popping up in from of SweetieBelle with a smile as she stared dreamily at the lollipop she was holding. "Where did you get that lollipop?"

Author's Note

Sorry this chapter took so long everyone! I had to make the introductory set for another story of mine before I could get to work on this chapter, but I think that it came together well in the end.

As you can tell, the recorder is basically a permanent part of Omega's apartment now. Whenever he finds another tape, he'll hold onto them until he can play them back at the apartment. Oh, and yes, I decided to include SweetieBelle into this story. I figure that, if anypony is going to be concerned about Rarity, her sister, and Fluttershy, her 'most favorite' babysitter, it would be her. The next chapter may take some time to upload, considering I plan on alternating between my stories, but it shouldn't take too long. Patience is a virtue after all. ^~^

Chapter 10: Family Reunion

If ever there were a time that these two acted like Little Sisters, it was now! Ever since the princesses had called and told us about the fact that they could contact us once a day, I had noticed that my charges were acting a lot more peppy than usual. Under normal circumstances, this would be fine, but right now, Rarity was skipping around the room chanting 'Its almost time!' over and over again, while Fluttershy couldn't keep herself still whatsoever! At least she wasn't chanting though.

"Come on Fluttershy, join in!" Oh hell no! I had to come up with something, fast! I cared for these girls, I really did, but a man can only take so much! It was then that one of Rapture's tiny miracles came through for me, in the form of a red security bot.

A beeping from the other side of the door caused the two to cease from their merriment, and in turn, caused me to let out a sigh of relief. I stood from the couch that I had been so patiently waiting on, unlike my two charges, and made my way to the door. No sooner than I had opened it had Winston quickly begun to revolve around me, repeatedly beeping in what seemed to be annoyance. It was like he was a bug. Unfortunately, I was out of extra large fly swatters.

After about a minute of listening to this annoying beeping, which actually turned out to be even worse than what my charges were just doing, I let out a loud groan, asking him what was wrong. Well, more like 'WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT!?!'. Details, details.

He seemed to get the message pretty quickly though as he stopped his incessant beeping and spinning, and flew out the door again, floating in one spot pointing his light to his left. Rolling my eyes I followed him outside, hoping that he wouldn't be as vague this time as he was when we found that recording. I stood next to him and groaned, once again asking what he wanted before following his gaze. His light pointed to a nearby junk pile that I had been placing emptied cans of food and bottles of water in, beeping as he spun around a few times before looking to me.

Had I mentioned that Winston was a selective clean freak? No? Well, now you know. I groaned, placing a hand over my porthole in frustration as I realized that Winston wanted me to clean the pile. Rapture was a sunken junk pile, covered in rust, filth, and people of similar fashion, yet he cares about this one group of trash.

"Is something wrong dear?" I heard Rarity ask, turning and noticing that both she and Fluttershy had been watching from the 'living room' of the apartment. Glancing to Winston once again, I made my way back into the apartment, scooting past the two as I grabbed the marker that laid on the white board and began to write again.

'WINSTON WANTS ME TO CLEAN. I'LL BE JUST OUTSIDE. YOU TWO WAIT HERE.' To my surprise though, as the two read this message, Rarity spoke out, walking over to me and standing on her hind hooves so she could look up at me face to face, face to helmet really, lightly jabbing me with one of her forehooves while the other helped keep her steady.

"Oh no you don't! You've done enough for the past few days! So we are going to go clean that mess, and you are going to stay here and relax!" Rarity chastised, Fluttershy nodding with a smile in agreement. I looked at the two wide-eyed as Rarity placed herself back on all fours, walking to Fluttershy and gesturing to the door. "Shall we?" Fluttershy nodded once again, following Rarity as they made their way to Winston, who let out another beep and flew in the direction of the mess. As they left in the same direction, Fluttershy carefully closing the door behind me, I wondered to myself:

"What the hell just happened?"

I still couldn't get over what had happened earlier. Fluttershy and Rarity, the two that I, the Big Daddy whose job it was to protect and care for the two, had been told to take a break... just... what?

I sighed and shook my head as I looked around the room, bored of sitting in one place for so long, even though it had only been about half an hour. There had to be something I could do while I waited.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two doors to the throne room groaned as they opened, revealing a group of 5 ponies, a pair of guards escorting them along. Princess Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna, quickly dropped whatever they were doing, smiling as they saw who had entered.

"Ah, you're all here." Celestia said, watching as the ponies made their way into the room, one particular filly letting out a 'wow' of amazement. SweetieBelle had never had the chance to explore Canterlot, let alone Canterlot's castle, so this was quite an experience for her.

"We came as soon as we heard, Princess." Both Luna and Celestia nodded their heads at Twilight's statement, making their way to the group from their thrones. Though everypony in the room was glad to see each other once more, they knew that this wasn't simply an average day to day visit. It was an important matter, dealing with the possible danger that was faced by two 'missing' ponies. SweetieBelle was blissfully unaware of this danger though, only believing that Fluttershy and her sister had gotten lost and the like. "Have you heard anything else about them?"

The monarchs gestured for the group to follow them, rather than answering the question, causing a majority of the ponies to let out unsure expressions. Regardless, they trailed after the two princesses, their hooves lightly clopping below them in a seemingly similar, yet unorganized manner.

"As of yesterday, we have kept in contact with Rarity and Fluttershy through the use of a large scale telecommunication spell." Princess Celestia began. Twilight's interest was piqued, to say the least, at the prospect of seeing a spell that normally would only be used as a last resort. As for the other ponies though, they simply shared in their confusion, never having heard of such spells due to either their inexperience with magic, or overall lack of necessity towards it. Celestia noticed all of this, but decided it would be more efficient if she would explain it later.

Soon, the group came upon a small white orb, no bigger than an average pony's forehoof, floating in place a foot or two above the throne room floor.

"This is the magic we have been using. Though we had some trouble at first, we managed to condense the magic of several unicorns into this spell, ensuring that it would be self-sustaining and efficient." Everypony looked at the orb in curiosity, occasionally reaching out and passing their hooves through it, the orb breaking apart, then quickly reforming before their eyes.

"Wow. Princess, I've never seen magic like this, even in my studies!" Twilight exclaimed in amazement, drawing further questioning looks from her many friends, while SweetieBelle continued to fiddle with the orb.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Egghead doesn't know about a spell? Geez, how serious is this?" Rainbow Dash interjected, slightly joking while at the same time showing a serious demeanor. Applejack looked to her friend with annoyance while Twilight let out a small blush of embarrassment.

"Now hold on there pardner. I'm sure that if'n Twilight don't know somethin', it ain't guaranteed to be somethin' worth frettin' about... right?" She added uncertainly in the end, glancing towards the princesses behind her.

"Of course not! If anything, that just gives us more to look forward to!" Pinkie added in, bouncing about in her usual hyperactive manner and bringing out a giggle from SweetieBelle. The other ponies in the room couldn't help but smile as well. If there was anything Pinkie was good at, it was breaking a bad mood.

"Yes, well, as my sister was saying, this spell will allow us to communicate with Kindness and Generosity once a day, provided that we don't attempt to over exert the spell itself." Luna continued for her sister, accidentally referring to Fluttershy and Rarity by their elements, rather than their names. Nopony seemed to mind though, knowing that Luna still hadn't completely mastered her new form of talking.

"Does that mean we can call her now?" Everypony's head turned to face a now excited looking SweetieBelle, a sparkle in her eye as she sat by the small white orb, returning the gazes of the ponies. Celestia and Luna smiled at the filly's cute form, nodding their heads to confirm her assumption. SweetieBelle's sparkle seemed to grow as she began to bounce in excitement, a manner similar to that of PinkiePie as she excitedly asked for the ponies to start the call.

"Please, please, please, please, please, can you do it now?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...Huh. So that's why this stove never worked. When I had told myself to find something to do, I hadn't really thought that I would prove to be this desperate. I had literally gone through all three rooms in the apartment, fiddling with everything that I could and trying to pass the time, including the one room in the apartment that neither I, nor the girls, had entered since they had arrived. At this point, the stove had ended up being the last thing I could look over. Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure that a stove isn't supposed to have rocks in it. Not like coal, I'm not that misinformed, but actual rocks. Whoever had previously used this must have been a complete moron.

Sighing, I began to pick out the rocks one at a time, holding them in one of my large gloved hands while I picked them out with the other. Truthfully though, I wasn't particularly interested in fixing this stove, or anything else in the apartment. I was just trying to distract myself at this point. Rarity and Fluttershy had been out for over an hour now, so naturally, I was worried. Every second that ticked, I thought of another situation that they could find themselves in, usually with Winston nowhere near them as they were surrounded by splicers, and on one occasion, Winston turning against them, his gun cocked and ready to fire at them, the two being blissfully unaware of their robotic friend's betrayal. Granted, it was just stress that was causing these thoughts, along with my Big Daddy programming. After all, Winston wouldn't hurt a fly if it didn't give him reason.

Still, these thoughts just... they wouldn't go away. It was around that time that temptation came to me. Maybe it was time to go into the room again. These thoughts were quickly swept away, however, as the one light to the apartment shut itself off, and the projector began to flicker.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ugh, I'm covered in grime and garbage." As it turned out, Rarity and Fluttershy, regardless of Omega's negative thoughts, were completely fine, if not a little smelly. The reason they were taking so long, however, wasn't because the pile of trash near the apartment was too much for them. No, they had taken care of that mess within minutes. Winston, however, had other ideas for them.

If Omega had been there, Winston surely wouldn't have made them do as much as they did. He couldn't take all the messes that were spread around Apollo Square anymore, so he had managed to get the two to clean nearly all of Apollo Square, moving the trash from its random placements to the side of the tracks with the rest.

He knew that Omega would surely rip him apart if he found him, but right now, he didn't care. He was just happy to see the mess was gone. Fluttershy and Rarity weren't as enthusiastic. Both of their fur coats were spattered with filth and the like, seeming darkened and in some parts, wet. Wings and horns alike were in similar condition, almost sticky with normally rotting garbage of metals, food, and miscellaneous messes.

"Winston, I don't mean to be rude, I mean, I'm sorry if I am, but, can we, maybe, go now? I-if that's alright that is." Fluttershy said shyly, unsure of how to really converse with this piece of machinery. She could converse with Omega fairly easily, almost never feeling timid around him, much like with her friends, but she didn't know Winston that well, so timidity was her natural defense.

Winston, noticing that the pony was talking to him, faced the two once again, pointing his built in lights to them, rather than the now cleaned area around him. He had had his fun, and it was about time to return the two before Omega got too suspicious. Little did he, or Omega's two charges know, a security camera had filmed the whole thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Screaming was the first thing I heard as the projector came on. Well, technically, it was silence, as a group of unfamiliar ponies, accompanied by the princesses, looked to me, and I returned their gazes in silence. It was about 20 seconds before they all pretty much freaked out, sprinting/flying/flashing out of the view of the projector screen, leaving only the princesses, and a much, much smaller pony behind.

I figured that she was a kid, considering her size, but the fact that she had stayed while the others ran was pretty... odd. The princesses looked on blankly as the two of us observed one another, expressing similar curiosity. My porthole light glowed yellow, while the little pony tilted her head to the side, an observant look on her face as she did so. Adorable, but now was not the time to think about that. Finally, after what felt like an hour, but was actually a few seconds, the small pony spoke up, her face of curiosity changing to one of youthful energy with a cute smile to adorn it.

"Hi there mister!"

... I wasn't sure how to react to that. I thought for sure that she would run and hide like the others, yet here she stood, greeting me. Apprehensively, I rose my right hand and waved, letting out a quick groan as I did so.

"I'm SweetieBelle, who are you?" SweetieBelle... Strange name, but considering the names of all the other ponies I had met, I figured it was normal. If anything, I thought it was nice. Though, something about her seemed familiar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Princess Celestia was barely able to contain her mirth as all but one of the ponies before her fleed at the sight of Omega, amused by not only their reaction, but by the fact that the foal amongst them was the only one who hadn't run. As for the four, they watched onwards from their various hiding spots, hints of curiosity and fear ebbing at them as they saw SweetieBelle stay put.

"What is she doing?!" Twilight thought to herself, SweetieBelle tilting her head ever so slightly in curiosity, before giving a smile as sweet as sugar towards the hulking metal being.

"Hi there mister!" Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight all felt their jaws drop as they heard the foal greet the strange metal creature, and they were even more surprised when they noticed the creature wave in return, letting out an odd groan as it did so.

The four glanced towards each other from their hiding spots, nodding their heads in unison as they all began to slowly make their way to SweetieBelle, one by one. As they went on though, Rainbow Dash noticed that Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm SweetieBelle, who are you?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before I could answer, Celestia and Luna both changed their blank expressions to those of kindness, and caring. I made a mental wager with myself that they wouldn't last more than a few minutes.

"Everypony, this is Omega."

Much to my mild surprise, three ponies soon managed to get into the view of the projector again, albeit cautiously, taking their places next to SweetieBelle as they looked to me in wonder, and some fear as well. Wait. Weren't there five pon-

"Hiya Omega! I'm Pinkie Pie!" Jesus mother splicing Christ! On the outside, it probably just looked like I had taken a small step backwards. Inside of the suit though, I was having a small heart attack as I tried to calm my now quickened breathing. She had come out of nowhere, pressing her face against the screen as if it were glass! Of course that scared the crap out of me! Not that I needed to actually use the bathroom, that is, what I meant was- You know, I'm getting off subject here.

Shaking off the evident surprise that I had felt after that small scare, I watched as the pink pony was surrounded by an odd purple energy, carried up and away from the screen before carefully being put down next to the purple pony with a now glowing horn. She definitely earned a few points in my book.

"Heh. Sorry about that Mr. 'Omega'. Pinkie Pie gets pretty excited when she meets new ponies." You don't say? Wait, I'm not a pony. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends, Rainbow Dash." She gestured to a nearby pony who was currently keeping herself aloft in the air with her wings, an odd combination of blue and, as her name implied, rainbow colorings. Noticing that she was being referred to, she quickly lost whatever small sense of fear that she had shown, replacing it with a cocky smile.

"Fastest flier in all Equestria. Nice to meet ya." Well, she wasn't much for modesty, but she was definitely confident, I'd give her that. Twilight rolled her eyes at the winged pony's behavior, gesturing to another next to her.

"This is Applejack." This pony didn't have any wings or horns, sporting an odd hat that I had only seen at a western store in Rapture, freckles, though I'm not sure how fur could show freckles, an orange fur coat, and a blonde mane, held together in a ponytail... no pun intended, that's just how it was.

"Howdy pardner!" She greeted, tipping her hat as she did so. Yeah, definitely western. I'd only heard that accent one other time, and it was, by far, the most memorable one.

"And you've already met Pinkie Pie." Unfortunately, I had. Glancing to the hyperactive pink pony, I noticed her waving at me, a party hat slightly pushing down her extremely puffy and pink mane onto her similarly pink coat, and a party blower in her mouth. Where she had gotten the party implements, I would never know, nor did I want to. Suddenly, I heard the small, high pitched sound of someone clearing their throat, everyone of the ponies in front of me looking behind them in slight surprise as they noticed the small pony who had long been trying to get through the wall of ponies in front of her.

"Oh, right!" She said with a smile, her horn beginning to glow again as she floated over the small pony, placing her in clear view of me and themselves. "This is Rarity's little sister, SweetieBelle." That's why she seemed so familiar. Her fur, the slightly purple hue of her mane, and even that small glint in the corner of her eye that just screamed 'Rarity'.

"Is she there now?" SweetieBelle asked, the ponies around her widening their eyes in surprise. I guess they had forgotten about the two in their introductions.

Timing was on my side there though, as the door to the apartment opened, adding a small amount of light to the darkened room, revealing my two, apparently filthy looking, charges. Geez, how much trash had I put in that pile?

"Next time Winston comes by asking for help Fluttershy, remind me to bring a large towel." Fluttershy nodded as the two made their way in through the door, apparently still not having noticed the projector was turned on. At the sound of Rarity's voice, SweetieBelle's eyes widened, along with the other ponies with her, and she grew an incredibly wide smile.

"Rarity!" She yelled out happily, bouncing slightly in her step. Both Rarity and Fluttershy froze, seemingly trying to process what they had just heard.

"W-was that?"

"I... think it was. SweetieBelle!" Rarity and Fluttershy quickly rushed into the room, skidding to a halt in front of me before Rarity quickly came as close to the screen as possible, smiling with small hints of tears in her eyes. At the prospect of seeing her sister again, SweetieBelle let out an expression of nothing less than pure joy. Fluttershy was a few inches behind Rarity, happily looking towards the group of mares that she had likely thought she would never see again.

Figuring that the group would want some time to catch up, I made my way to the couch and sat down, watching with my own controlled elation at both of my charge's happiness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"SweetieBelle, how did you get there? Do our parents know you're in Canterlot?" Rarity asked her little sister, wiping away forming tears as she did so. SweetieBelle giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Of course they do! I told them that I'd be visiting you for a while, and here I am!" Rarity could very easily see many things that were wrong with the explanation her sister had given their parents, but she ignored it for now.

"Well, it's still really good to see you SweetieBelle." The other ponies glanced to each other, having remained quiet as they watched this display of sibling love, as Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes with a smile and quite loudly cleared her throat. Rarity's eyes widened slightly as she realized that she had all but ignored her other friends, looking towards them with a sheepish smile. "Oh, and you girls as well, of course!" The group snickered.

"When did you all get there?" Fluttershy asked, her wings fluttering ever so slightly in happiness.

"We got here a few hours ago. You see, about two days ago, Princess Celestia sent us a letter about how you two had disappeared. We were worried, but we knew that there was nothing that we could really do. It wasn't until we got another letter from Celestia, telling us that she had managed to contact you, that we decided to come to see you." Twilight explained, glancing back to Princess Celestia and flashing her a thankful smile before looking back to her friends.

"Yeah!" Pinkie interjected, bouncing up as if she was on a trampoline floor. "And when SweetieBelle heard that you both were missing, she was soooo worried. So I tried to throw her a party to cheer her up, which kinda worked, like a lot of other things I do to cheer ponies up, since that's my job, well not really, my job is at Sugarcube Corner, where I make great sweets, but anyway, the party only cheered her up by a bit, which wasn't a lot, so when we got the letter about you two being found, we told her about it and brought her with us, now here we are, talking to you and you and you!" Needless to say, many of the ponies there weren't really sure of how she had pulled off saying that much without taking a breath, while Rainbow Dash and SweetieBelle giggled at her antics.

As for Omega, he thought that this was, by far, the most terrifyingly nonsensical sugar rush pony that he had ever met. Even now, he could feel a slight headache beginning to form, only quelled by the thought that this pony had still attempted to cheer SweetieBelle up in her sadness. Then, just as Pinkie was taking in a breath, likely ready to somehow continue her spiel, an orange hoof stopped her.

"Whoa! Hold yer horses Sugarcube. Don't ferget, we ain't got all day." Applejack was, of course, referring to the time limit that they had with the communication spell. All the ponies in the room, and Rapture, nodded at this.

"Y-yes. We have to use our time carefully. I-if that's okay." Omega slightly chuckled at Fluttershy's revert to timidity, attracting glances from the ponies in the throne room, but only short ones.

Suddenly, the sound of restrained laughter could be heard. Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack looked to a now snickering Pinkie, barely restraining a laugh behind the orange hoof of Applejack, who still had yet to remove it.

"What'cha laughing at Pinks?" Rainbow Dash asked as Applejack finally removed her hoof from her mouth. Pinkie continued to snicker for a small while longer though, eventually managing to control her laughter after a large amount of effort.

"S-sorry. Pffffft. It's just that. Heh. Y-you both look hilarious! HAHAHAHAHA!" Applejack and Rainbow Dash returned their gazes to Rarity and Fluttershy, only now noticing the filth that caked their furs as they began to restrain their own laughter as well, bringing about blushes from both Fluttershy and Rarity. Twilight and SweetieBelle just looked at the three, SweetieBelle not seeming to understand what was so funny about getting their fur dirty, and Twilight rolling her eyes at her friend's immaturity.

"Riiiiigggghhht. Anyway, how did this happen anyhow?" Twilight asked, raising a brow at the two. Fluttershy and Rarity both let out sheepish smiles as they stammered to explain.

"W-well, you see..."

"The thing is, darling, that... Well..."

"They had followed us." Princess Celestia cut in, deciding that it was best to save them the explanation. The other ponies looked to their now slightly blushing friends in confusion and shock, the laughter they had been attempting to withhold swiftly disintegrating.

"What!?!" Twilight exclaimed, looking to the two in slight annoyance. "Are you two nuts!?!"

"Twilight's right! What were ya both thinking?" Applejack agreed. "I woulda thought Rainbow to be the one ta do this kind of thing, but not you two!" Fluttershy and Rarity both flinched at this, Fluttershy tearing up slightly as her friends chastised them.

"Yeah! ...Hey!" Rainbow Dash turned and gave a small glare at Applejack, her agreement turning to annoyance as she realized that Applejack had partially made fun of her. Applejack just looked to her friend with an 'innocent' face, as though she hadn't said anything.

"Now, now. I understand that you girls are upset, but if there's anypony that you can blame for this mishap, it's me." Rarity said, taking a step in front of Fluttershy. Just the same, a heavy footstep came from behind the two. The four mares in Canterlot quickly quieted themselves as they noticed 'Omega' behind the two, his eye glowing yellow as he let out a small growl.

SweetieBelle turned herself to face the mares as well, giving them a similar, though still extremely adorable, glare. "... All right, maybe we went a bit too far there." Rainbow conceded, rolling her eyes as she did so. The other three mares nodded in agreement, bringing about a satisfied change in tone for both SweetieBelle and Omega, though SweetieBelle giggled as she looked back to the three in Rapture.

"Seems as though she got a good first impression from him." Princess Luna mused to herself with a chuckle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deja vu. This is the second time someone tried to chew them out for their mistake. Second. I couldn't just sit aside while that happened. And apparently, neither could Rarity's sister. Though, as she looked back to us and giggled, I wasn't really sure if she was doing it to help her sister, or to imitate me. Hopefully its the former, because, lets face it, I'm not a good role model.

"Um, not ta be rude or nothin', but how exactly do both of you and the princesses know Omega?" Applejack asked, looking between me and the girls, occasionally glancing to the princesses. Curiosity is fine, but holy crap was that a bad question to ask. Both rooms fell silent almost instantly. Fluttershy, Rarity, and even the princesses seemed to cringe at the question, attracting the questioning gazes of all the other ponies. On the bright side, I won my mental bet. They hadn't kept their smiles.

"Um... did I say somethin'?" The ponies still said nothing in response though. Noticing that this wasn't going to get anywhere, I decided to help speed up the process. Moving away from the projector, I grabbed the white board and made my way towards the group. I'd need to talk again if I wanted this to go well. Honestly, I'm not sure why the princesses didn't just translate me when the transmission began, but I guessed they had their reasons. As the squeaking sounds of the white board's wheels filled the room, my charges both snapped out of their silence, looking to me in confusion as I began to write on the board.

'PRINCESSES. MIND GIVING ME A VOICE HERE?' I wrote. That should do it. I looked back to the projector screen, moving aside from the white board as I gave them a clear view of what I had written. I noticed the princesses nod, both of their horns glowing faintly and covering the room in a dim light, signifying that the spell had been used. The group of ponies in the projector screen looked around curiously, unsure of what had just transpired. Though, I noticed that Rarity and Fluttershy had put on smiles.

"To ANsWeR yOuR QUEstioN APPlEjaCk, itS a lOnG sTOry." The ponies in the other room all let out small squeaks, akin to those of Fluttershy, once again fleeing the scene and leaving only a now giggling SweetieBelle, and the princesses, who also seemed to be holding a chuckle or two.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

None of the ponies were expecting Omega to be able to talk, so they were nearly scared out of their furs when he did. Especially in his odd, multi-toned voice. It wasn't long after they had gone back to their hiding spots that they heard laughter come from the portal, a similarly chuckling SweetieBelle and monarch duo accompanying it.

"I TaKE iT tHEy wErE SCaREd bY tHat?" Omega chuckled, not quite used to having a laugh like that. Or any laugh for that matter. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie quickly made their way back to the front of the communication portal again, scowls on their faces.

"We were not scared!" Rainbow Dash remarked, her wings fluttering in annoyance as she said so.

"Yeah!"

"Darn tootin'!" Both Pinkie Pie and Applejack agreed, stamping their hooves to the floor in agreement. Omega's laugh rung through the room again as he watched this little display, an idea popping into his mind as he did so.

"Oh, REAllY?" Omega asked eerily, leaning closer to the projector screen over his charges, his porthole light turning a light shade of red. The three mares staggered back at the sight of this, Pinkie Pie falling onto her back as she did so.

"M-maybe a little." Applejack admitted, letting out a forced chuckle.

"WeLl tHeN... I SHOuLd prObaBLY teLl yoU tHAT tHerEs no ReaSOn tO." Applejack gave me a confused look, likely unsure of what I had meant. "SO lONg aS YOu dOnT giVE me REAsOn, saMe gOEs fOr thE OthErs, I WoNt bOThER aNY Of yOu." Applejack and her other three friends nodded in confirmation, if not a little jerkily. Maybe they were still a little scared of me?

"Um... what exactly would constitute a reason?" Twilight asked, raising a hoof up cautiously as she did so.

"ATTacKinG mE, UsIng thIs wORd," I momentarily went back to the white board and wrote out 'MONSTER', circling the word as emphasis. "Or tHrEAtEniNg thE sAFetY oF my TwO CharGes." Twilight had been nodding at each of my reasons, but paused at the last part.

"Charges?"

"What are charges?" SweetieBelle asked, raising a brow and tilting her head as she did so.

"It means somepony that somepony else is responsible for protecting, or caring for." Twilight informed her, looking back to me as she did so. "So, by charges, do you mean Fluttershy and Rarity?" Omega nodded once again.

"Does that mean that Omega is kinda like, I don't know, their babysitter, or something?" Rainbow Dash interjected, bringing about further blushes from my charges and I. I was not a babysitter.

'To be fair, you kind of are."

Ignoring my mental comment, I looked to the now snickering Rainbow Dash, rolling my eyes from beneath my helmet. It was then that Princess Luna took a step forward.

"Omega tasked himself with the duty of protecting the two before we had even communicated with him, and until we are able to bring the two back, he will continue to do so." I nodded in agreement, crossing my large metal arms as I did so.

"YoU hAVe nO IdEA."

Surprisingly, this projection had lasted much longer than the last one, going for up to an hour before it began to flicker. When I had asked Princess Celestia and Princess Luna about it, they had said that the spell had been able to stabilize, and contact us with more ease.

Overall, the small reunion the girls had with their friends and loved ones went swimmingly. Granted, there were a few occasions that proved to be a little strange, most of them involving Pinkie Pie, but nothing too bad. Personally, out of the entire group, SweetieBelle had definitely proven to be my favorite. She was sweet, caring, and adorable, albeit she had the tendency of being ignorant from time to time. Besides, she had told me all kinds of things about her sister that I found to be rather... Interesting. Rarity promptly told her to change the subject whenever these kinds of stories came up, but that didn't stop her. Fluttershy mostly interacted with her friends, asking how everything was going back in 'Ponyville', I couldn't make that name up if I tried, and how her animals were doing.

I didn't know that she was such an animal lover, nor did I know that Rarity was actually a successful tailor back in her home world. You learn something new everyday huh?

Regardless, despite the enjoyment that my charges, the group in 'Canterlot', and surprisingly, I, had gotten from this call, time soon came close to an end as the portal began to flicker, along with the lights to the room. All of the ponies, my charges included, seemed extremely saddened by the fact that they would have to wait another day before they saw each other again, but they knew that there was nothing to could do to solve it.

"I guess its almost time to go." Twilight inferred as the spell began to flash on and off, inspecting the aura that surrounded it. Though saddened, everypony in the room nodded, soon letting out their farewells to the three of us, rather than just Fluttershy and Rarity.

"See ya soon you guys!"

"Bye sis!"

"Take care!"

"Call back soon! Maybe we'll be able to throw an hour long, intercommunicational party!"

"Catch ya later pardners!"

"Farewell."

"Yes, and Omega," Celestia added just as the projector had almost completely faded to black. "Take good care of them." I nodded, the projector finally shutting itself off as the light to the room turned itself on again, allowing me to get a much more clear view at my charges.

They had seemed so happy, so content. I was glad, really. At the same time though, I couldn't help but feel a small part of my mind cry out at the thought of them preferring to leave me as soon as possible for their friends. Needless to say, I quickly sealed this thought away.

One thing I couldn't seal away though was the disgusting slop that I noticed was all over their furs. Now I see that there was a reason for showers.

I'm a Big Daddy. I don't like doing nothing, especially in my current position. So, when an alert came on about a small repair that was needed in an upper apartment in Apollo Square, I was more than glad to fix it, shuffling through the apartment as quietly as I could so that I wouldn't wake my two sleeping charges. If they saw me working after they had specifically told me to take a break, they likely would have chewed me out.

Nonetheless, it was a simple enough repair. Head up and fix a leak in the water pipes. Besides, what could possibly go wrong?

Suddenly, as I was walking upwards, the wooden stairs beneath me let out a loud creak, followed by a snapping sound. '... I'm starting to think that I make this too easy for the universe."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Rarity were bolted awake by the sound of an extremely loud crash, causing the two to quickly burst awake, hiding under the covers of the bed shakily.

"W-what was that?" Fluttershy asked. Rarity, however, didn't really answer, letting out a groan and further curling herself up under the blanket.

"It was probably just another splicer dear." She yawned. "Just try to go back to sleep."

Author's Note

That last part was for you sact3rnlang3l!

Anyways, I'm happy to say that chapter 10 had officially been posted. And you all know what that means! Double digits, Whoo!

Im happy to see that so many people have enjoyed the reading so far, and I hope to gain more viewers from this! Glad you all like it, and thanks for bearing that long delay of mine. Two stories plus busy schedule equals no time for Brightlight. -_-

Chapter 11: Family Questions

Aside from the previous day's events, and another message that the three of us would get later today, nothing much had changed when it came to our daily schedule in Rapture. More specifically though, mine. Why else would I be doing my usual chores today? Not like I wanted to, but it was still needed.

Turrets, check. Cameras, check. Security bots, check. Security room, che- woah, wait, what? Closing my eyes and shaking my head, I tried to make sure of the fact that I was just imagining things or not. Needless to say, I wasn't. No matter how many times I shook my head, or wiped off my porthole, it was still there, evident as ever.

Now, here's the thing. I'd been up and down Rapture everyday of my life. I'd explored every sector, fixed every leak, and I'd even managed to memorize every part of every area. Never, and I do mean never, had I seen this security room before, in the entirety of Rapture. In fact, wasn't there just a big pile of trash here?

I knew that I'd been losing my mind for a while, but it couldn't have been so bad that I was missing this one door over and over again, could it? Then again, I had gone three years without noticing a certain red robot following me.

It was then that the all too familiar sound of small rotors filled the air around me, followed by a menagerie of ever growing beeps. Speak of the robotic devil... Oh hey, maybe thats why he's painted red!

That thought aside, no sooner that I had begun to hear that sound had I turned to face it. Sure enough, Winston was right there, turning the corner and making his way towards me, beeping at a near constant rate and seeming to bounce in his attempts to stay airborne... Bounce? Where had I seen that before?

... Oh my god, he was the Pinkie Pie of my world. Nightmare fuel at its finest, if I do say so myself, I watched as the seemingly hyperactive robot flew over to me as quickly as possible. Odd how he seemed like he was in a rush, especially when he started circling around my head and beeping annoyingly, but I didn't think too much on it. If anything, I was more focused on the subject at hand.

Letting out a metallic groan, I grabbed him in midair so I could get his attention, also partially so I could shut him up, and pointed him towards the door that was clearly labeled with a red square and white writing that said 'Apollo Square Security Services'. Then again, I shouldn't say 'clearly' since it would have just been a jumble of symbols to me a few days ago.

To my surprise though, Winston's rotors stopped spinning, his lights went dim, and he didn't make a single noise, aside from the clicking of his inner workings. Had I hit the off switch? If so, where is it so I can do that more often!?!

Unfortunately, disappointment had its own way of making itself known, since his rotors immediately began to spin back up and his systems seemed to return to normal. Well, at least as normal as it could be for him. Letting out a few whirring and beeping sounds, Winston flew out of my hands and once again started flying around my head, his headlights lingering on several aspects of the place around us, except the door I was interested in.

It seemed like he didn't want me to go in there...

So there's a pile of wood and splinters in the corner of the room now... What? Winston didn't want me to go in, and that's all the reason I need to go in anyways! Besides, its not like I meant to break down the door. More like I was trying to push a pull door... with my boots... Yeah, even I question my logic sometimes.

Onto more important matters though. More specifically, the security room that I was in. Which, by all points and purposes, was virtually useless. Inside was a small red light that flashed at small intervals, and several TV monitors, showing the views of all the security cameras in the area. Granted, this room could probably prove useful if I ever needed it, but right now, I couldn't see anything that would be particularly helpful... That is, until I noticed something sticking out of one of the drawers.

Shining my porthole light on it, Winston, who had entered the small room with me, doing the same, I noticed that it was, much to my surprise, a film reel. One that would work perfectly for the projector that I had stationed back at the apartment with the girls. Convenient, isn't it?

Smiling at my luck, I grabbed the film reel and began to make my way out of the room, Winston letting out an affirmative beep as I did so. Before I could completely leave though, Winston seeming even more active than usual at the prospect of exiting the room, my helmet displayed a small notification message in the corner. 'New Recording In CCTV Room'.

Funny, I never got that notification before. Lingering at the door, I slowly turned back to face the monitors of the room. Winston, of course, seemed against it, as he was of everything about this room. So, naturally, that inspired me to do it anyways. I didn't sit on the chair, knowing it would probably break if I tried, and just stood in front of the monitors, pressing the play button on one of the recorders in the room. There were three, just as many as there were monitors, so this wouldn't take too long. The first recorder showed, much too my chagrin and Winston's amusement, a recording of me breaking through the stairs of the apartment buildings and falling to my death. Funnier when I look at it at this angle, but still not funny enough for me not to get annoyed. Pushing the rewind button, I was surprised to see a message pop up on the monitor. 'Film unavailable'. Unavailable? It was right here!

An eyebrow raised in confusion under my helmet, I pressed play on the next recording. The second monitor flickered away from its view of a hallway, showing a fairly recent, at least by the looks of the date in the corner of the screen, recording of a splicer, picking trash out of a nearby pile. Needless to say, since the idiot had somehow failed to notice the camera that was shining its now red light at him, he was promptly turned into Swiss cheese by a swarm of security bots. See, that was funny. Colorless, soundless, and kinda creepy, but funny.

After that recording, it didn't take me long to figure out how these cameras apparently worked. By the looks of things, the cameras would look over everything that would happen in their view, and record anything they found to be significant.

I had to say, that's a really handy featu- Wait, why is my falling through a floor important!?!

Growling slightly at the thought of the cameras having a sense of humor, I already had a robot to do that, I pressed the last of the recorder's play buttons. Once again, the camera flickered, this time showing the apartment blocks. In fact, at the very corner of the screen, I could see mine, Fluttershy's, and Rarity's. Once more, kinda creepy. The date of the recording was marked as just yesterday, and for one reason or another, Winston had completely shut up. Bliss.

From what I could see, Winston was outside of the apartment, Fluttershy and Rarity next to him, watching as his lights pointed over a nearby pile of trash. Just as I figured, they quickly began to clean it up. At first, it was pretty normal. They had done what I had expected and cleaned the pile, Winston lazily floating around them as they did so. The weird thing though, was that it had only taken them a couple of minutes. Why had they been out for over an hour?

Then, Winston flew off to another trash pile, which was quickly cleaned by my charges. And another. And another. And another... That bot of a bitch!!!

As I turned around to face Winston, a light red tint in my helmet light out of both annoyance and anger, I could only imagine what was going through his 'mind' as his headlights shone towards me, and he began to slowly float backwards away from me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ANALYZING SITUATION---
RESULT: DANGER IMMINENT---
LOADING SOLUTION---
LOADED---
SOLUTION: FLEE---

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A camera whirred to life, activating its primary recording function as a nearby roar echoed through the area, followed by several rapid beeps. Scanning around the area, it soon spotted the subjects of its recording, strafing its view as it watched an angry Big Daddy sprint after a panicking security bot, its footsteps shaking the ground and an arm raised in anger. Recording the rest of the event, it soon shut its function down moments after they had escaped its sight, setting the recording to one of its favorites. Even robots need entertainment sometimes.

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"Fluttershy? Darling, could you pass me the towel?" Rarity asked her now clean friend, reaching a hoof out from behind the curtains of the shower. After yesterday's mishaps, Rarity and Fluttershy felt as if they both needed a good cleaning. So, considering there was only one shower in the small apartment block, they took turns, Fluttershy having gone first.

Lifting her head from the mattress, she felt herself blush a light shade of pink as she realized that she still currently had the only towel wrapped around her mane, quickly undoing it and flying it to her friend.

"Oh. Sorry. I forgot." She said as she placed the towel onto her friend's waiting hoof. The white hoof disappearing behind the shower curtains, taking the towel with it, and the shower was quickly shut off, leaving small plinking sounds as the remnants of the water dripped from the shower head and onto the shower floor.

"It's quite alright dear. I'm sure that were our places reversed, I would have done the same." Nodding her head at Rarities statement, the small guilt she felt for her mistake quickly being removed, Fluttershy flew out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her so as to give her friend some privacy, before landing and comforting herself on the couch that sat before the white projector screen.

Truthfully, she, much like Rarity, were anxiously awaiting another call from their friends and, in Rarity's case, little sister. They knew that it would still be some time before they would call again, considering it hadn't been 24 hours yet, but that didn't sway the stress that they felt. Especially under the idea that they may be able to be brought back to Equestra as soon as possible, so they can enjoy their times with their friends and families, leaving this event behind them to be forgotten.

Everything about being trapped in this horrible kingdom. That is, except for one thing. One person. The very same that had saved and protected them since they had come to Rapture. To forget Omega, would be to forget a friend, and they could never let that happen. Suddenly, a loud roar filled the air, faint in volume, but clearly audible amongst the silence of Rapture.

"Was that Omega?" Rarity asked from behind the bathroom door, worry clear in her voice.

"I think so... Do you think he's okay?" Fluttershy asked, an ear flinching as she heard the familiar distant beeps of the robot named Winston. At the sound of these beeps though, Rarity let out a silent chuckle, scolding herself for worrying so much when Omega clearly didn't need it.

"I'm sure he is, Fluttershy. After all, it sounds like Winston is with him, and you know how well the two seem to get along."

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"Get. In. There!" I thought to myself as I shoved the now helpless Winston further into the trash pile. He wanted things to be clean? Then he could clean it himself. Otherwise, he was going to be stuck in that pile for quite some time.

Dusting my gloves off with one another, I turned away from the junk heap, and the pile of trash he laid in, and began to make my way back to my apartment, letting out a smile below my helmet as I heard the muffled beeping of a whining Winston. I loved how well we got along.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sitting next to one another on the couch, Rarity and Fluttershy chatted idly as they attempted to pass the time. They knew that they weren't allowed to leave the apartment without Omega's permission, though they knew he did have good reason, so they were willing to do anything they could to keep themselves busy.

Soon though, the sound of heavy footsteps could be heard through the wooden door of the apartment. Fluttershy and Rarity quickly turned to face the opening door, inwardly smiling as they saw Omega make his way inside of the small apartment.

"Hello Omega." Fluttershy greeted, waving a forehoof at her large metallic friend. Looking back to her, Omega returned the gesture, groaning slightly in his own greeting.

"So how did it go, darling?" Rarity asked. As a response, Omega reached behind him, revealing an old film reel to the girls.

-------------------------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-------------------------------------

As it turned out, I had really lucked out with that film. Even more so than I had originally thought. I had managed to find one of the rarest things that could ever have been found in Rapture, both before and after its downfall. A movie from the surface, likely brought down here by smugglers looking to make a quick buck.

It was stupid, but for some reason, Andrew Ryan didn't allow anything from the surface to come down here, be it a movie, or even a person's usual religion, saying that doing so would ultimately 'disrupt the pulling of the great chain', or some crap like that. Plus, by the looks of it, it seemed that the security guards didn't agree with this policy either, considering I found the film in their office.

Anyways, the film was, at a shortage of words, pretty good. It was a romance movie, so I had quite a few moments where I thought of the film to be too, whats the word, 'mushy', from time to time. Nonetheless, it was still a nice movie.

I was sitting on the couch with both Rarity and Fluttershy by my sides. Fluttershy was resting a head on my left leg, sighing as I pet her while she watched the movie with us, and Rarity was sitting on her haunches to my right, tears in her eyes as she watched the film's more 'tragic' segments. It had been over an hour since the film had started, and we were already reaching what I thought to be the film's end.

Richard 'Rick' Blaine was talking to the woman Ilsa Brund, both of them being in front of an airplane that Richard apparently had to leave in. They were saying their last farewells, and their regrets, about their doomed romance.

“I’m saying this because it’s true." Richard said, looking absentmindedly towards the plane in the fog, "Inside of us, we both know you belong with Victor. You’re part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you’re not with him, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.” Ilsa took in a deep trembling breath as she looked to him, obviously extremely emotional about the matter.

“…But what about us?” She asked, both of her hands interlaced with one another and wriggling in sadness.

“We’ll always have Paris. We didn’t have it, we lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night.” He assured her, turning to face her once again.

“…When I said I would never leave you…”

“And you never will. But I’ve got a job to do, too. Where I’m going, you can’t follow. What I’ve got to do, you can’t be any part of. Ilsa, I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you’ll understand that.” Lowering her head and putting her interlaced hands up to her chest, she began to cry. Yeesh, even I felt a little sad at this point.

“Now, now…” Rick told her, gently raising her chin with a finger so that the two would be looking at one another eye to eye. “Here’s looking at you, kid.”

One grand kiss and leaving plane later, the credits to the movie started to roll, displaying the producers and directors of the film. There was so much with so little time that I didn't even bother trying to read that. Rarity, unsurprisingly, was an emotional wreck, tears streaming down her eyes, a trembling lower lip, and even the occasional sniff. Fluttershy had held out better than her friend, but she still shed a few tears near the end of the film, when Richard left in the plane, never to be seen again.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Adorable. As for me, I was just impressed by the film. I wasn't nearly as emotional as the other two, though I admit that some scenes certainly saddened me, but the film was good nonetheless. Makes me wonder as to why Andrew didn't want these movies down here in the first place.

Rarity sniffled yet again, wiping off as many tears as she could with her forelegs. "Oh dear..." She said, fanning herself with her forehoof and looking up to the ceiling. "I fear my makeup's going to stain." What makeup? I chuckled at this, watching as the last of the credits to the film rolled off screen, followed by the image of a film photo with the word 'stop' written over it, meaning that the roll had run out of film.

Casablanca huh? This better have won an award or something.

The three of us spent the next hour inside of the apartment, waiting for another call from the princesses, and the friends of my charges. After that film, they had seemed to be much more content with their current situation, which was really saying something considering how bad it was. I figured that the movie probably just relaxed them, making them feel like they were back home again, relaxing and watching a movie with one another.

I could only imagine what that was like... well, I guess that I got a glance at what it was like. Being with the two by my side throughout the movie, it actually made me feel... normal. Like an actual person, instead of a Big Daddy. Though, deep down, I was still aware of my metal suit, my inhuman strength, and my twisted mind.

I was a Big Daddy through and through, but at least they helped me mask that fact, if even for a moment.

"Omega?" Fluttershy called, snapping me out of my incidental fall into my own thoughts.

I pointed my helmet to her, viewing her through the green glow of helmet's porthole. She seemed concerned, her forelegs folded beneath her as she laid on the mattress with her equally concerned seeming friend.

"Are you okay? You seem distracted." I shook my head, waving a dismissive hand at her. There was nothing wrong really, just a few thoughts, right? Fluttershy and Rarity seemed unconvinced though, both of their faces gaining skeptical features as they looked to me, though their concern didn't vanish. I didn't know why they looked at me like that, what should I have said?

Suddenly, the lights of the room dimmed again, the projector turning itself on once again. Good thing too, that was starting to get awkward.

Fluttershy and Rarity's expressions shifted from ones of concern, to those of surprise, then of joy as the projector began to fully display its image, showing the same group of ponies from before, Sweetie Belle and Pinkie Pie waving wildly at the screen.

"Hiya everypony!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed in greeting. "We're baaaaaaccck!" She said with a giggle. Many of the ponies in the group, along with my two charges, giggled alongside her.

"Hello Pinkie, everypony." Rarity greeted in return, looking to all of her friends, and her little sister, with a smile, her companion, Fluttershy, doing the same. "It's good to see you all again."

"It's great to see you too." Twilight replied, her own look of happiness as she saw her friend again. Rarity turned to Sweetie Belle, who was bouncing up and down in an effort to gain her attention.

"And hello to you too Sweetie Belle~" Rarity said to her little sister, using a voice that I had heard women use when they talked to children. Or babies. Or kittens. Or basically anything they thought was cute. Still, as these ponies usually made things, the whole scene seemed-

"CUtE." I froze momentarily at this, not having expected to hear my voice when I said that. "WhAt THe? WIerD, I dOnT seE tHE priNceSses aNyWherE." Twilight smiled proudly at this, raising her head slightly higher with a giggle.

"That's because I added a translator spell to the communication link. I figured it would make things easier, especially since the princesses are both in the archives right now, looking for ways to bring you both back right now." She explained, shifting her gaze to my charges near the end. I didn't know how magic worked, and no matter how much I wanted too, and believe me, I did, I decided not too ask. Besides, I still had to figure out the pink anamoly of energy next to her friends... On second thought, maybe magic would be easier to figure out.

"WeLl thAt'S hElpFuL." I said simply, crossing my arms and standing from the couch. I figured that if I was going to be in the conversation, then I should at least look like I was listening.

"That's what ah said." Applejack said, lightly bumping into her purple friend with an... I'm not sure if I could call that an elbow. Still, I got the gist of it. Twilight, in turn, blushed sheepishly, putting one of her forehooves behind her head while looking to the ground with a small, embarrassed smile.

"Geez Twi, I thought that Fluttershy was the shy one." Rainbow Dash joked, her friends giggling at this, aside from Twilight who just looked at her friend with a slightly annoyed, yet friendly, glare.

"So, what should we do no-" Fluttershy began, her quiet voice being boomed out of existence by a much more hyper and unexpected one.

"I have an idea! We can ask things to Omega about some stuff, like where they are, what its like, about himself, all that stuff. After all, Twilight said that she wanted to know more about 'Rapture', and I kinda want to know more too. We can do it so I ask a question, then you answer, then she asks a question, then you answer again- Ooh, we can make a game out of it! You go first Sweetie Belle!" She rambled, pushing Sweetie Belle closer to the screen upon her suggestion. Nobody said anything though, seeming to process what they had just heard.

"H-hoW dO YoU fUNcTioN?" I asked, completely dumbfounded by the sudden explosion of energy that had come from out of nowhere. The pink pony just giggled though.

"Silly! We're supposed to ask the questions! Besides..." Darting her eyes around the room, she put a hoof up to the side of her mouth, leaning closer to the screen before whispering, "it's a secret." I... Didn't even know what to say about that.

Finally, everbody seemed to recover from their confusion, slowly adjusting themselves once again as they took in Pinkie's idea.

"Pinkie, you're so random." Rainbow Dash said with a smile and a chuckle, her friend giggling in return.

"Um... Right. Well, I guess that... wouldn't be a bad idea actually." Twilight uttered. "And, she's not wrong when she said we do want to know about you and Rapture some more, Omega." No she doesn't. Believe me, she doesn't. Her horn started to glow slightly, a small flash of light appearing in front of her, somehow materializing a note pad and... a feather with ink on it?

"Okay, go ahead Sweetie Belle." Sweetie Belle snapped out of her silent pause at the sound of someone calling her, her eyes widening slightly as she looked back and forth between us and the group in surprise.

"Oh! Um... Okay... Ummmm..." She put a hoof up to her chin in thought, puffing out her lower lip like Rarity had during the movie, only out of thought, rather than sadness. Like sister like sibling I guess. "Is... Rapture a fun place to be?"

I felt myself flinch at this question, Rarity and Fluttershy doing the same as they probably recalled their experience so far.

"It... USeD tO bE... I guEsS yOu cOUlD SaY ThAt iT StILl is, DePEnDing on WhO YoU ARE." I said simply, unsure of what else to say to the filly.

"Oh, so can I come and visit too then?" I felt my eyes widen at this, pausing slightly out of the shock of the question. Luckily, Rarity had come in for the rescue.

"Sweetie Belle, darling, it's Pinkie Pie's turn now." She said hurriedly, trying to veer off the subject as best as she could. Good thing too. Sweetie Belle blushed at this, smiling an adorably sheepish smile.

"Oops." Chuckling at this, I faced my porthole to the Pinkie Pie. Truthfully, I kinda regretted that though.

"Hmmmmmmm. Ooh, ooh, I know, I know! Do you have cupcakes there?" Twilight let out a slight groan at this, placing her forehoof on her face in frustration while everyone else just rolled their eyes and giggled. Though, there was a bit of confusion for me as she asked this.

"WHaT tHe HeCk Is a 'CuPCaKe'?" Pinkie Pie's eyes widened at this question, as she jumped up into the air and let out an extremely prolonged and over-exaggerated gasp.

"Only the sweetest, yummiest, sugariest, mouth-wateringiest treat in the world!" Suddenly, she reached behind her, pulling out an oddly shaped sack and pouring out its contents onto the floor, leaving several odd pieces of food on the floor, paper wrapping around the bottom and creams of all colors and patterns on the top. "See?!" She exclaimed, taking one the 'cupcakes' and popping it into her mouth, paper wrapping and all, and eating it in a single bite.

First off, I'm pretty sure that its not healthy to eat paper, no matter what species you are. Second. "WHeRe dId YoU gET tHoSe?" I asked, motioning to the sweets and sack that she had seemed to pull out of nowhere. Biting into another cupcake, she let out a garbled answer through the sweet, before putting the rest of the treat into her mouth. In a way, it was probably better that I didn't know anyways.

"Mah turn." Applejack said, apparently unphased by Pinkie's behavior. I guess they were used to it. "Are ya completely made outta metal?" She asked, glancing at the many parts of my suit as she did so. It wasn't a bad question actually, considering that she, nor the other girls in the group with her, didn't know me that well.

"No, iT'S juSt a SUIt." I told her, putting my arms out to my sides as emphasis. "PrETTy sURe iM nOt mADE Of mEtAL INSiDe." A small smile of pride came to me when I heard Fluttershy, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle giggle at this. Which is weird, considering I wasn't making a joke.

"I'm up then!" The rainbow maned cyan pony exclaimed, flying herself higher into the air with a raised hoof. Excited, I take it? "How strong are you?"

... And straight to the point. Rather than answer her directly though, I reached behind me, grabbing the edge of the sofa, and lifting it high over my head. The look on her face was priceless.

"ThAT anSWEr YoUr qUEStIoN?"

She nodded her head, her open jaw shifting to a smile. "Awesome." Oh great, I impressed the extremist... That sounded offensive. Placing the couch back down onto the floor, I waited for my next question. "You're up Twi." No sooner had she said that, the purple unicorn materialized a scroll in front of her. Nothing major, right? Well, not until it rolled out, for about an entire minute, reaching outside of the projector's view.

"Ooooooh! What to ask first? Maybe how your economic system is in Rapture? Oh, or maybe how you are able to eat in that suit, or if you eat at all! What about-"

"Um, Twi?" Rainbow Dash interjected, thankfully. "We've only got thirty minutes, remember?" Twilight's look of focus devolved to one of sheepish embarrassment.

"Oh, right. Ummmm... I'll settle for species?" For a second, as she flashed another awkward smile, I thought I had heard a squeak in the background. As if I wasn't crazy enough.

"HUmaN. THOuGh, tO cLArIfy, HumANs dONt aLl looK lIKe ME. IM jUst ONe oF tHE UNlUckY feW ThaT wAS turNeD intO A BiG DAddY." The confusion in the group's faces was about as clear as a blue whale swimming by the city during low tide. "ItS a LoNg sTory."

Now lets see. We're going in a circle here, so next up should be...

"Um, Omega?"

Fluttershy.

"Sorry if this seems like I wasn't paying attention before, not that I wasn't that is, but, um, I think you should explain to them, well, what exactly Big Daddies... Do?" ... That... wasn't really a question, but I guess she had her heart in the right place. After all, Rarity and Fluttershy knew enough about the subject from that film I had shown them, so their friends probably had as much a right to know as well, right?

"GooD IdEA." I praised, Fluttershy blushing ever so slightly as I did so, smiling with delight. "Big DaddIes, LikE MySELf, aRe basIcaLlY guardiAns. We ProTecT oUr liTtLe SiStErs, aND tHeY gaThEr sOmeThiNg callEd 'ADAM'." As I said this, I could easily see that I was leaving a lot of holes in the explanation. Then again, I was only hoping to give them an idea of what I did, not really the specifics.

"Little Sisters? Like me?" Sweetie Belle asked, seeming to bounce slightly in excitement at this. How adorably ignorant. No offense.

"Heh. No, NoT exACtLy." I told her. Rarity hushed her little sister, likely for asking a question yet again though it wasn't her turn. Sweetie Belle just rolled her eyes at this though, sitting with a slight 'harrumph' at her sister's silent scolding. Speaking of Rarity...

"Which begs the answer darling," Rarity began, looking from Sweetie Bells to me as she put on a more curious, yet nonetheless serious demeanor. "Did you ever have a Little Sister assigned to you?"

... I... They... Should I really answer this?...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity's face shifted to one of concern as she noticed the amount of time Omega took to answer the question, Fluttershy sharing in this concern as she occasionally shared glances with her friend. Had she asked something wrong?

Fluttershy noticed that Omega's light was no longer its usual shade of green. It hasn't shifted to any other color, meaning that he wasn't angered or upset, but it seemed... dulled.

"Omega?" She asked, her many friends from beyond the projector screen looking to the scene in confusion.

"... I... UsEd To... I dON't liKE to tAlk aBouT iT..." He finally answered, the girls back in Canterlot nodding their heads in understanding of the answer. Fluttershy and Rarity simply looked towards one another in shared worry again however, knowing that all was not well with their friend. When Omega had answered the question, his voice had seemed... lifeless. Almost completely drained of whatever energy or personality he had previously shown to have.

"LetS juSt SaY... ThEy LefT."

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"And you're sure that you last saw him here." The blonde, aged woman known as Sofia Lamb asked one of her accompanying splicers, hoping to confirm the news he had previously told her of.

"Of course Ma'am. Y'know I'd never lie to th' family." He told her, smiling a seemingly forced, but nonetheless sincere smile in her direction. Truthfully though, he felt rather intimidated next to the current leader of Rapture.

Sofia nodded at him, moving her gaze back to the path ahead of her as she and her group of splicer guards moved along. She had a purpose for being here after all. In the now slummed remains of inequality and injustice that Andrew Ryan had so precariously built upon, now ruled by her and the various other members of her 'family'.

As of recent, word of a particularly well known rogue Big Daddy had arrived to her, known only by the name of 'Metal Feline', as the splicers called him. She cared not for the reason, nor for his being whatsoever. Even more recently however, she had learned of his location, which was much more valuable to her than the simple knowledge of this Big Daddy.Truthfully though, she had come to repay a debt that the family owed.

Turning a corner, the splicers around her seemed to jump in accomplishment, fear, and anger combined as they spotted the metal man they were after, lumbering around in the Tea Gardens for whatever particular reason. Sofia remained calm and blank at this though, beginning her silent walk to the only unregistered member of her family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that the leak's fixed, I can finally head back to- Oh goddammit. Of course, I couldn't go one day without getting into trouble. And who else to bring it than the 'great lamb' herself.

Mentally sighing as she made her way towards me, off all things she could have approached, I turned to face her, my porthole light glowing yellow with caution as I eyed the splicer group that accompanied her, the splicers giving me similar looks as I did so.

"So then, you're this 'metal feline' I've been hearing so much about?" Unfortunately, yes, that's what the splicers called me. I groaned at her question, my own form of 'yes', and felt my ESU begin to crackle to life, if only faintly.

"Good." She said, nodding her head and adjusting the glasses she wore further up the bridge of her nose. "Now then, I am going to be blunt with you. I do not like you. Not even a little." Feeling's mutual. "You are that one small grain of rice that fell out of the plate and onto the black table, sticking out and annoying anyone who sees the clashing white spec on the black surface. The one blemish that is both unaccounted for, and unwanted because of that." Yeah, well if I could talk, I'd say that you're an old and decrepit, smug, annoying bit- "But," she continued, almost irritably. "You also assisted the family when assistance was needed. I take it you remember the events from last week? Involving the occurrence of one of the family's Little Sisters?"

How could I not? Not only had they recently begun making more Little Sisters, as of recent, but they had little to no idea how to care for them. Time and time again, I would see one of these new Little Aisters with a new Big Daddy, acting much like Rapture's duo of danger usually would, but other times, Little Sisters would roam free, being promised city-wide protection by Sofia Lamb and her 'family'. Last week was one of those moments, and considering my programming, and soft spot for Little Sisters, I ended up getting the girl out a of a tough situation involving a drunk splicer, a scalpel, and an empty bottle of booze.

"Yes, well, despite the family's... disapproval of your neutrality, we still find it necessary to thank you." Looking to the group of splicers behind her, Sofia gestured her head to me, grunting as she did so, as if to add authority to her silent demand. No sooner than she had done so, the splicers quickly began to look amongst themselves, searching for a specific bag that one of the dolts were carrying. After a bit of chaos and stupidity, they gave the bag over to Sophia, who in turn placed it before my feet. Smart, considering I would've broken her in two if I wanted to.

"I had heard that you were searching for this item for quite sometime." She said as I slowly bent over and picked up the bag top between two of my large gloved fingers, lifting it up in front of my porthole to obtain a better view. "Consider our debt, paid." Looking back to her, I noticed that both she, and her groups of splicers were leaving, likely choosing to return to their base in Lower Rapture.

A moment or so after they had left my sight though, I carefully pulled open the bag and glanced inside to see its contents. Surprise was the first thing to come to me, followed by disbelief, and then ultimately, sadness. Reaching in, I grabbed hold of the now sacred treasure of mine, pulling it out with great care and looking it over. Within the bag, was the last item of my collection of momentos from the three little sisters I had. The third sister's gold coin. The coin was unlike any other I had ever seen before, its shape and imaging being far more ornate and unique than any other coin's I had seen down in Rature. It was her good luck charm... Unfortunately, it was the same day that she had lost it, that I had lost her.

Clutching the still pristine coin to my chest, I felt myself lean back slightly, soon filling the room with a large metallic thump as I sat on the floor, groaning in sadness and despair as I held her last keepsake. The worst part? For some reason, no matter how much I tried, or how much I wanted to, I couldn't remember anything about her. Her name, how she died, I remembered nothing from her. Nothing, except the coin, and her existence.

Author's Note

Crap. I am getting real tardy with these entries, and I have no idea why... *cough* Dark Souls 2 *cough*

Anywho, I'm sorry for the delay everyone, and as per usual, I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter.

Oh, and as some of you may have noticed from the story description, I'm currently looking for a better cover image for the story. Hopefully something involving Omega with Rarity and Fluttershy, or something of the like. If anyone out there has any ideas or submissions, please PM me. I suck with photoshop or anything having to do with art, so I desperately need the help.

Thanks!

Chapter 12: Daddy and his Shows

My nightmare was ended before it could corrupt any further, thankfully, a familiar blaring noise from inside of my helmet having been what woke me up, alerting me of yet another maintenance issue. One that, of course, I would need to be responsible for taking care of. Myself letting out a short groan, I stood from the couch, ignoring the dripping sounds coming from inside of my helmet and blinking away the blurry sting from my eyes. It was just another nightmare. I would always tell myself that, but I knew that they were more. They were memories. Memories that had been twisted and turned in an effort to remind me of my mistakes.

I shook the thoughts out of my head, looking around the small apartment that I and my charges had been rooming in. As I would have expected, the lights to the room were out, plunging it into a darkness that only my helmet light interrupted. My charges were both resting in bed, from what I could tell from the two lumps under the blankets, and they were doing so rather peacefully by the looks of it.

I smiled. They'd be safer staying here than going with me, and since they were asleep, they wouldn't say otherwise. It's for their own good after all.

Quietly shuffling my way to the door, I glanced to the alert message at the side of my helmet monitor, reading along with the voice that relayed the message to me. 'MAINTENANCE NEEDED AT FORT FROLIC-LEVEL B-CODE C.' I felt my smile grow even larger as I read/heard this. Not particularly because of the fact that I had to go to Fort Frolic, the place creeped me out if anything, but because of the last part of that message. 'Code C'.

Every repair in Rapture had its own classification code, centered around where and when repairs were needed. Code C happened to be my favorite. Why?

Code C, as the name so 'cleverly' implies, meant that repairs were needed somewhere outside the glass walls of Rapture. I would need to go into the open sea to do them. See where the whole, 'Code C' pun comes from?

This was always my favorite type of repair for one specific reason though. It made me feel free. When I was in the open waters of Rapture, I didn't feel like a man trapped in a suit, stuck inside of a dying city. No, I felt like a person traveling the world, and the city just happened to be another one of my intended destinations to visit. It's vibrant neon lights, criss-crossing sea floor roads, and the 'vehicles' and 'pedestrians' that the marine life would imitate. For the most part, I went off of pictures that I had seen, images that I had remembered, in order to see this city in that kind of way. It was my one moment of bliss in a home without rest. In a city where, if you would rest, it would often mean death.

Sighing at the thought, I grabbed the door handle and carefully, soundlessly, opened the wooden door. So far so goo- Oh no.

As soon as I opened the door, who better would it have been to greet me than Winston? Actually, the better question is, who wouldn't it have been better. I had no idea how he had escaped the pile of trash that I had trapped him in, but I could tell that knowing wouldn't really make a difference now. He was already out, and by the looks of the intensity of his lights, he was really annoyed.

His rotors spun noisily in the silence that I had been hoping to keep, causing me to panic slightly as I looked to my two charges again, the two shifting in their sleep under the thick blue blanket in an attempt to escape the noise, letting out small involuntary groans as they did so.

Looking back to Winston, I tried to shoo him away, desperately hoping that he wouldn't disturb either Fluttershy's or Rarity's rest. As I did this though, a quick thought came to my head. Winston can understand whatever I tell him, when I'd tell him. He was a devious little robot with no particularly set program. What was to stop him from doing the opposite of what I was hoping him to?

Winston seemed to have already known about this though, hovering closer to the door as I noticed him look to me, almost challengingly, with his headlights beginning to flicker. I swear, if he did what I thought he was going to do, I would-

I hadn't even finished that thought before Winston began beeping as loudly as he could, spinning around in the air as he basically flooded all of Apollo Square with noise. I could hear my two charges squeak and squeal with surprise, looking back and noticing the two go absolutely nuts under the covers, likely from the surprise wake up call that they had gotten.

Looking back to Winston, I noticed my helmet light turn orange as I saw that he was flying away, already rounding the corner by the time I had looked back to him, his beeping now sounding more like laughter as he left my sight. Mental note: The next time I see that floating rust bucket, I rip out his gyroscope. Maybe he'd be less annoying if he was flopping around and crashing into things. I certainly think so.

I sighed in annoyance as I turned from the door and made my way to the mattress, where a messy haired Rarity was trying to calm a trembling lump in the blanket that was likely to be Fluttershy. As I approached, Rarity looked to me with a tired, pleading face.

"Omega? Would you be a dear and help me calm Fluttershy down?" She asked, gently rubbing her forehoof up and down the side of the lump in her own attempt to relax her. "That last scare really got to her." Damn it Winston.

Looking to Rarity, I nodded, moving over to the mattress and kneeling down. Like I had done last time, I tried to pull open the blankets that Fluttershy had been hiding under. Much to my surprise though, the blankets didn't budge, Fluttershy letting out a small squeak as I tried to pull them. The last time this had happened, Fluttershy had been hiding out of embarrassment, and she hadn't really made too much of an attempt to keep the blanket over her. Now though, Fluttershy was doing this out of fear, holding the blanket down with her hooves in a death grip.

After a few more failed attempts of coaxing Fluttershy to release her grip on the blankets, I decided to take a different approach to the situation. I leaned further over the mattress, putting my arms around both sides of the blanketed lump, meeting them together in the middle, right under Fluttershy.

She released another cute squeak as I picked her up, bed coverings and all, minding her wings as the blankets fell down from her head as she lost her grip. I continued to hold her wrapped up in the blankets, like I had seen mothers do with their babies, her forearms hanging out of the coverings and over my arms as I sat down on the couch, as per usual, gently placing her down on my lap.

When I released my hold on her, she quickly made to cover herself again, but before she could, I had already begun petting her. It took her a moment or two to relax, longer than her normally instant reaction, but eventually, she melded to the situation, her eyes drooping closed and ears lowering in calm and pleasant alleviation.

I wasn't able to tell her anything to calm down, but I guess that, out of instinct, I let out a low and prolonged groan as a sort of substitute. She continued to stay there in a very relaxed and content form as Rarity climbed up onto the couch next to me, watching us with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No matter how many times Rarity would see this, she didn't think that she would ever actually lose interest in it, let alone that slight hint of surprise that roamed around in the back of her mind. Omega was, in her eyes, one of the most violent and twisted creatures that she had ever met, just after the splicers, and Prince Blueblood. He looked at death as if it was nothing, be it his own or that of others, often shrugging it off or, in some cases, seeming to take joy in it... And yet, he was also one of the most gentle, caring, and protective that she had met as well.

He was fearless when he needed to be, and sensitive whenever he didn't. He was strong and destructive, but only showed this at times of danger. He was, altogether, one of the most misunderstood friends that she ever had.

Thinking back to a few days ago, Rarity mentally flinched at the memory of her friends back home running away when they first saw him, as he had told them that they had done. It was odd, but he didn't really seem bothered by it when he was telling them what they had missed when they were out. What he had written to them next though, about 'being used to it', and by that he had meant others being scared of him, nearly broke Rarity and Fluttershy's hearts. It was a short conversation between the three, barely recognizable among the every day events that they shared in Rapture, but a meaningful one nonetheless.

Though, despite the sadness that seemed to have revolved around the conversation, despite Omega's indifference to the subject, there was one thing that happened that did make up for it, if even by a little. That, was Rarity's darling little sister, Sweetie Belle.

When Omega had told them about meeting her, they were shocked to have heard that Sweetie Belle, the youngest and most innocent of the group, had been the one to stay behind to greet Omega, despite the panic of the ponies around her. Even now, Omega and Sweetie Belle continue to show a near unnoticeable bond whenever they would see each.

If a filly like Sweetie Bell could so easily see the kindness and compassion behind the rough metal exterior of Omega, then one would think that everypony would. Perhaps, one day, after this whole fiasco was over, she and Fluttershy would further be able to get to know him. Outside of his metal suit, where they could see the real him.

Rarity's thoughts were interrupted as a faint blaring sound, almost completely silent, could be heard in the background.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And there goes the maintenance alert again. I mentally sighed as I looked down to my still relaxing charge, Fluttershy. Though I would much rather stay here, relaxing with my two 'little sisters', I knew that my programming wouldn't allow it. Sooner or layer, the voice in the back of my head would start driving me crazy, yelling at me to do my duty as a Big Daddy, despite the fact that I had 'little sisters' with me. It had done so when I was still programmed as a guardian, so it would probably do worse now that I wasn't.

Picking up Fluttershy by her blanket covered midsection, I moved her off of my lap and onto the couch, much to her disarray, before getting up and making my way to the door. I'd just need to get this repair over with. Then, I'd be able to come back and wait out the rest of the day with my charges.

"W-where are you going?" Fluttershy asked, causing me to turn to face her, my hand already at the door by now. She had gotten down from the couch, the blanket unceremoniously placed on the ground behind her as she looked at me with a questioning, and slightly saddened, face. Rarity stood next to her, sharing a similar expression.

I responded with a groan, bobbing my head to the door as way of saying that I was going out. "Oh." Fluttershy said, looking down to the ground in slight disappointment. Rarity though, just looked to me blankly for a moment or two, almost as if she was in thought, before she let out a small, sly smile. I can pretty easily tell that, by the looks of that smile, I was about to lose another argument.

Fort Frolic. The more... 'Artistic', center of Rapture. It was the hub to the many different routes a person would take to stores that sold more 'sophisticated' and 'expressional' products, like records, statuettes, or even paintings. Another big attraction in Fort Frolic though, was the theater. A place where people of all kinds and origin would come in the hopes to entertain, and more importantly, impress. The person to impress, being the 'legendary' Sander Cohen. 'An artist ahead of his time. Able to make art out of atrocities, and godliness out of garbage'. I'm so glad he's dead.

What many people didn't know at the time, was that Cohen was absolutely nuts. If a person searched up 'sanity' in the dictionary, they would see a picture of him with a line drawn through it. Same for most of the people who came to this place, losing their minds for the sake of their art, often being forgotten like yesterday's news. Good riddance to bad garbage I'd say.

As I exited the bathysphere, I immediately felt a shiver go down my spine as I looked around the room. It was surrounded by masks, creepy ones at that, in an attempt to make the room more 'Sander Cohen'. All it really did though was make it more terrifying than artistic though.

"Oh... Well this is... Different." Rarity commented as she and Fluttershy stepped out of the bathysphere behind me, the two looking around the room in very disturbed manners.

You know, I've got to learn how to win in an argument with these two. As it turned out, the reason that Rarity was smiling so smugly earlier was because she had thought of it to be a good idea to come along with me on my next repair. An idea that Fluttershy supported, and I rebelled against. Unfortunately, as my previous attempts at arguing with them had shown, I was bound to lose. Now, here we are. In one of the most disturbing, yet oddly charming, places in Rapture. Brilliant.

Gesturing for the two to follow, I looked at my helmet's display as we walked down the hall to the actual hub area, hoping for directions to the repair.

As it had turned out, the repair was actually pretty close. It was right outside of the clear glass walls of the gambling area in Fort Frolic, a few slot machines lined up just at the entrance of the 'artistic center'. Looking to the repair, which was just a loose oil pipe, thankfully, I could hear Rarity and Fluttershy behind me, looking over the more, admittedly, beautiful part of Fort Frolic.

"My word! This place is simply splendid!" Rarity exclaimed, a smile plastered on her face. She was one of the more sophisticated types of peopl- er, ponies, so it was actually pretty understandable that she would be so excited about this place. Fluttershy herself seemed to find the place nice as well, but it was pretty obvious that she didn't have nearly as much interest in it as Rarity.

Looking around the room myself, I noticed a familiar door in the corner of the room, marked with a drawing of a Big Daddy helmet, which the splicers had so kindly crossed out and written 'ASSHOLE!' on top of. That was the door that led outside of Rapture's walls. Into the open ocean.

Now that I had found the repair, and the maintenance door I would use to go outside and reach it, there was only one issue I had left to solve: The matter of where to put Fluttershy and Rarity to keep them safe.

After all, while I would be out there, I wouldn't be able to protect them. They would be inside, alone, with the only person who could protect them being separated from them by a thick sheet of glass that would flood a large section of Rapture if it were broken. Not the best circumstances.

There had to be somewhere here in Fort Frolic where I could put them. Somewhere where the splicers wouldn't expect to find them, and if they did, then they could easily get away. I stood there for a moment, thinking over my options as Rarity continued to gush over the room. "Such decor! And just look at the fabric used in these curtains!"

Maybe the shopping area? No, that wouldn't work. Most of those places were broken down, and rigged with unhackable alarms. They'd be more of a danger to themselves than the splicers would. The storage area? Oh what am I, nuts? The place is, at most, 10 degrees Fahrenheit! They'd freeze to death, or get sick! Plus, it wasn't exactly out of the way for splicers... Crap.

I sighed as I crossed out that option as well, my frustration starting to build. Through all of my thoughts though, I could barely hear the continued rambling of Rarity.

"Fort Frolic Theater!?! Oh how marvelous!" I heard Rarity gasp and exclaim in excitement. My eyes widened as she said this, a smile of realization hitting me as I mentally scolded myself for my stupidity.

Why didn't I think of that?

Rarity didn't know it, but she had just given me the best place for me to put them. The theater was extremely secure. There were turrets near the entrance, which I had hacked a long time ago, accompanied by a security camera. The doors were lockable from the inside, meaning that splicers would have an even harder time getting in. Finally, the room would be simple to maneuver for them, while the warped and limited mental capabilities of the splicers would cause them to trip over a chair, or something of the like, with basically every step they took. It was perfect.

Turning away from the broken pipe of billowing oil, I made my way to Fluttershy and Rarity, who was currently looking over the theater listings with her utmost interest.

Groaning, I got Fluttershy's attention fairly easily, Rarity's gaze still plastered to the theater board though. "Oh. Is something wrong Omega?" She asked. I shook my head, gesturing towards the staircase in the center of the room. We would need to go up if we wanted to reach the theater atrium.

"You want us to follow you?" I nodded. "Oh, alright. Rarity?" She asked, turning to face her still distracted friend. Rarity just waved her off though, too indulged to even pay attention.

"In a moment dear." She told her, not even turning to face her direction as she quietly mumbled to herself, something about 'The Sea Singers'. I sighed. At this rate, the oil in the pipe would be more likely to run out before Rarity would finish. Looking to Fluttershy, I gestured for her to step away from Rarity, which she did with little to no hesitation, allowing me to get closer to her. Kneeling next to Rarity, I groaned again, waving my arm in front of her in an attempt to gain her attention. Again though, she didn't seem to notice.

"Great. What now? ... Wait. Maybe... Well, it works on Fluttershy. Who's to say it won't work on her?"

My idea set, I moved my large gloved hand to her head, taking the utmost care to avoid her horn as I began to pet her head like I would normally do for Fluttershy. The reaction was almost instant, her eyes shrinking to pinpricks for a moment as her mind seemed to process the sudden feeling, before just as quickly returned to their normal size, her eyelids closing and a smile coming to her face as she leaned her head further into my hand.

"Ohhhh. That's nice." She said. Glancing towards Fluttershy, I noticed that she was smiling as well, a hoof over her mouth as she let out a short giggle at the sight of her seemingly entranced friend. I couldn't help but to chuckle myself, the sight of Rarity seeming to lose all other sense of mind as I pet her being more than a little entertaining. Still though, I had work to do, so I should probably move on with the next part of this idea of mine.

While Rarity was distracted, I slowly and carefully snuck an arm around her, wrapping it around her and, eventually, lifting her up. The relaxed expression on her face was replaced by one of surprise as I held her in both of my arms, her hind legs hanging loosely below her and her forelegs struggling for a 'grip' on my arms as her back wriggled against my metal chest ever so slightly.

"Oh dear!" She exclaimed, a red tint beginning to grow in her cheeks as she accommodated herself. Though I'd never say it out loud, not like I could anyhow, I couldn't help but to think of this as a bit of revenge for all of the times that she had easily beaten me in a disagreement. Maybe I was just being a sore loser... Meh, I'd get over it.

When I was sure that Rarity had stopped struggling, her face now a tomato red as she looked to the floor in a style similar to that of Fluttershy, I started to head to the stairs, Fluttershy following behind me, obviously struggling to contain her laughter at this point.

"... You know darling, you could have just asked." Honestly, if I wasn't holding Rarity at the moment, I probably would have slapped my hand into my helmet as hard as I could.

While I would normally try to provide some interesting comment or thought, trying to think over the situation and see what I could make of it, there's one problem that's making that near impossible. Rarity's squealing.

Literally, no more than a second, one second, after I had walked into the Fort Frolic theater, she started squealing and giggling like an excited little girl. She broke out of my grasp pretty quickly, since I was using as little of my grip as possible to keep her comfortable, roaming around the large and decorated room with glee. Fluttershy stood by my side as I looked over the room myself, examining every single detail as I tried to make sure that there was no easy way for the splicers to come in.

The room itself was, to be frank, in shambles. Granted, it wasn't as bad as it was a few years ago, before I started cleaning up in the hopes of making my maintenance work easier, but it was still pretty bad. Relatively speaking though, in comparison with most other places in the entirety of Rapture, the room wasn't necessarily that bad. If you ignored the filth and ruin of the place, which, surprisingly, Rarity was doing at the moment, you would see a magnificent stage, standing in wait for its next presenter to come up and entertain the audience.

Rarity saw this, but I, for the life of me, couldn't. Maybe it was just because of how long I had been down here in Rapture, but, unlike Rarity, and maybe even Fluttershy, I couldn't 'see the stage lights'. To me, a ruined stage was a ruined stage. Nothing more, nothing less.

Looking down to Fluttershy, since it was obvious that Rarity was, yet again, too distracted to really pay that much attention, I kneeled down and groaned for her to look to me.

Her blue eyes shifting to my direction, almost as if she could see me through my metal helmet, I gestured for both her and Rarity to stay here. The face she gave me in return felt just as bad as the face that a sad little sister would give me whenever something didn't go her way.

"You're leaving?" She asked, sadness, worry, and obvious hints of fear in her voice. In return, I nodded, my metal body slightly creaking at the motion.

Fluttershy... Didn't really say anything for a while, choosing to just stand there, looking to the ground in what seemed like disappointment, until finally, she spoke.

"... You'll come back... Right?" This is the saddest I have been in a while. It felt like I was actually a father among the normal people who had lived in Rapture, dropping my little girl of at school for the first time. Fluttershy wasn't my daughter, nor my Little Sister, or even a child, but it didn't really seem to make a difference. I cared for the two of them, a lot, so, rather than just nod, groan, or even pet her on the head for reassurance, I did her one better.

I brought my two metal arms around her, carefully bringing her in close to me, and hugged her. Fluttershy quickly adjusted to this gesture, almost as if she had been awaiting it, putting her own forelegs around me and returning the hug as best as she could.

"Good luck."

I wish, more than anything, that I could talk too. At least then I could tell her something reassuring as well.

It was always... Odd, to be outside.

It felt like I was heavy, but at the same time, I felt light. Anytime I would try to float up, I would sink like a rock. Yet, anytime I would jump, I would practically soar. I guess that thats one of the wonders of the ocean, huh?

... Nah. I don't really care that much for it. I'm just happy to be outside, as free as I'll ever get. A limitless expanse, full of mystery, and life. Not intelligent life, but... Actually, I'm pretty sure that even a goldfish could be considered smarter than most splicers. Nonetheless, the idea lives on.

The only real problem I had with this though, was that, at the same time that it reminded me of the idea of freedom, it reminded me of a prison. I would constantly look to the buildings of Rapture as I walked along the sea floor, making my way to the oil leak, the thought of being trapped there always returning to mind.

I sighed, trying to push off the thought as best as I could. I'm near the repair anyways, I should stay focused. Besides, the faster I do this, the faster I can get back to my charges.

I don't like leaving them alone.

A beeping in my helmet stopped me, a notification showing me that my repair was nearby. I looked upwards, a quick smile coming to my face as I saw the billowing oil pipe leaking its black, smoke like liquid into the normally dark blue ocean water.

On the plus side, it was an easy fix. Though, I groaned as I realized what the minus side was. I'd have to climb to reach it. A Big Daddy and high places do not mix. Especially after that incident with the stairs. Grabbing onto a nearby ledge to start my climb, I couldn't help but wonder what the girls were doing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity had calmed herself from her previous state of excitement by now, choosing to simply relax with her friend and calmly take in the sight of the room around her. It didn't compare to Canterlot Hall, not by the slightest, but it was an amazing sight nonetheless.

A cultural example of Rapture's art and entertainment, right before her eyes. Granted, it was in... Minimal condition. Still, a glimpse at the culture was better than none whatsoever. After all, there certainly were some things in this 'Fort Frolic' that still showed signs of beauty and elegance, despite the rather obvious stains of time.

While Rarity basked in the unique cultural splendor around her, Fluttershy sat nearby, her face partially buried in her hooves as she patiently awaited for the return of her friend, Omega. She knew that she wouldn't have to worry, that Omega could take care of himself, but she couldn't help herself but to worry. She sighed, looking up at the stage blankly.

Rarity, having heard her friend sigh, turned to face her, the smile on her face fading as she noticed her friend's saddened expression. "Is everything alright dear?" Rarity asked. Fluttershy glanced to her friend for a moment, smiling slightly before she returned her gaze to the stage.

"I'm fine." She replied. Needless to say, Rarity wasn't convinced. She wasn't sure what had her friend in such a negative hold, but at the same time, she felt as if she shouldn't pry into Fluttershy's business. After all, the last time that Rarity had been nosy, they had ended up here, trapped in Rapture.

"... Darling? What do you usually do to relax?" Rarity asked. Fluttershy looked to her friend completely this time, her face reddening, but not turning away.

"W-w-well, I usually s-sing to my animals..." A smile grew on her face as she recalled the memory of the various times that she had sang to her many furred and feathered friends, the happiness and bliss that she felt from simply being there, soothing her animals and her nerves. Fluttershy's smile didn't last long, however, as she also remembered that she would be unable to see any of them for some time. "But, they're back home."

Rarity looked to her friend with a hoof tapping against her chin, a thought coming to mind of a way to assist her friend within moments as she glanced to the stage one last time.

"... Well Darling, I'm not an animal, nor am I perfect, but there is a stage in front of us. And personally, I would love to be your audience for today." Fluttershy rose an eyebrow in surprise as she heard this, sitting herself up straight in the chair she as looked to her friend.

"I-I'm not sure Rarity." Rarity persisted though, pleading for Fluttershy to sing for her, just as she would for her animals. Rarity desperately wanted to help her friend, and, at the moment, this was the only way that she could. After another minute or so of pleading and cutesy eyes, Fluttershy's last walls broke.

"I g-guess that its fine." Rarity thanked her friend repeatedly as she made her way to the stage, her head held down in slight embarrassment as she walked through the rows between the seats and to the stage. Rarity let out a mental cheer of victory as she watched Fluttershy walk up to the stage, glad that she could assist her friend in relaxing, if even slightly, and, though she didn't know it, Fluttershy was glad as well, smiling as she walked to the stage, the thought of what a caring friend Rarity was echoing through her head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The dripping sounds of liquid as it slid off of my now water-coated metal suit was fairly soothing, to say the least. Though, the slight splash and squeak that came from my suit with every step I took was a little less than so. A lot less, actually.

Since I had fixed the pipe, that annoying alarm and voice in the back of my head had effectively shut up, leaving me to my much more quiet, and occasionally peaceful, thoughts and surroundings. I sighed as I felt a passing headache lessen in its discomfort, relaxation becoming a much more viable option for me when I would return to Apollo Square.

Before I do that though, I need to go pick up Fluttershy and Rarity from the theater. I had been out for around half an hour, by my guess, so I could only imagine how bored the girls were. Let alone the fact that I hadn't stopped worrying about them since I stepped foot outside.

Heading up the stairs, hanging on tightly to the wooden railings out of my distrust for these ceramic steps, I looked around the room with caution, making sure that there still weren't any nearby splicers. Thankfully, the room was completely barren of life, aside from myself, the silence being enough for one to hear a pin drop.

I couldn't see anything, but something didn't feel right. Splicers are ignorant, but they couldn't have been so ignorant that they wouldn't notice the only Big Daddy in Rapture walking around such a usually quiet place.

... Speaking of which, it actually wasn't that quiet right now. I could hear something in the background, but only faintly. It sounded high pitched, yet controlled, and soothing. What was that noise?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Omega made his way up the stairs in a slightly more rushed and curious manner, he failed to notice the red cloud that formed behind him, near the center of the room, materializing a person, seemingly out of nowhere.

As the splicer looked to the direction that the 'metal feline' had left in, listening carefully to the calming 'music' of her next masterpiece's heavy, metal footsteps, a smile came to her face.

"I can make such wonderful music with you." She madly mused to herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stopped in front of the theater door, my feet grinding and slipping against the floor from the remaining water that still coated me. The door was sealed shut, as I had expected. Before I had left for my repair, I had made sure to lock the door, showing Fluttershy how she could unlock it herself if she, at any time, found it necessary.

The lock itself was a simple dial pad. Four dials with numbers ranging from zero to nine, all of them currently set on the number five, waiting for somebody to input the right combination and open the door. Because of the fact that the lock was still as I left it, I felt myself relax ever so slightly as I realized that there weren't any clear indications that my charges were in trouble. Nonetheless though, I could still hear the muffled sound from before through the door, originating from the same room as Fluttershy and Rarity.

I quickly looked to the dial pad and started to input the numbers that I had set it to. 1952. I didn't know what the number was, but it had just popped into my head when I looked to the dial pad.

The door let out a soft click as the lock was released, lifting itself upwards and giving me a clear view of the theater room. What I saw though... It amazed me.

Rarity was sitting in one of the many theater chairs that surrounded her, near the front row, looking to the stage with a smile on her face and a slight twitch in her ear. Following her gaze, I was surprised to see, of all people, Fluttershy was standing at the center of the stage, her eyes closed in bliss as she sang a... Beautiful tune.

Neither she nor Rarity had noticed me, and I just stood there at the door, watching and listening as Fluttershy sang with her heart, the soft and calming sound bouncing perfectly off of the walls of the theater, giving the would be audience of the room a clear and comforting audio of the performance.

Out of the many people that I had recalled to having stood on that stage, singing, dancing, playing, or even joking, this had to be the best performance that I had ever had the grace of hearing.

Soon though, Fluttershy's song came to an end, the room once again being left in silence as it's performer let out her last note for the show. Fluttershy gave a bow to her 'audience', Rarity beginning to clap at her friend's amazing performance. "Bravo Fluttershy!" She said, gleefully clapping her hooves together.

Snapping out of my temporary stupor, I myself started to clap, the loud and slight thudding sound of my two rubber gloves slapping against each other providing a major contrast to that of Rarity's.

The two stopped as they heard this, looking to my direction with faces of surprise as I continued to clap. Soon enough, both of their faces then changed to smiles, Fluttershy gaining a slightly flushed color and looking shyly to the ground as she did so, drawing small circles with the tip of her hoof against the wooden stage floor.

"T-thank you." She said in her usual, quiet form. Rarity stood from her seat and made her way towards me, Fluttershy flying to her and then following suit on feet.

"So how did it go darling?" She asked. I just shrugged, groaning in my own way of telling her that it was basically the same old same old. She probably didn't understand what I said, I doubt anyone could, but she must have surmised that it went well, from the looks of her smile. "Well then, I believe we should get going?" She asked, glancing back to the stage yet again. "As nice as this place may be, its still not quite as nice as Canterlot Hall. Let alone how dusty it is." I had no idea what 'Canterlot Hall' was, but I had the oddest feeling that she was right.

I nodded, gesturing for the two to follow as I turned to exit the room... Only to crash into the closed door. The impact wasn't hard, but it was still surprising. Fluttershy and Rarity both giggled at this, but I stayed silent, just... Eyeing the door. Eventually, after another moment or two, Fluttershy and Rarity stopped giggling, likely having noticed my silent stillness.

"Um... Omega?" Fluttershy asked. I didn't respond, instead turning to face the two and telling them to get behind me, my ESU beginning to spark as I readied it. Though they were confused, they didn't argue with me, quickly following my commands and standing behind me as I raised my ESU and growled.

This wasn't good. Not at all. The doors in Rapture are all automatic. They wouldn't close so long as someone was standing near them, not unless they were locked. Still, the doors could glitch, right? Considering the horrible condition Rapture was in, it would only be natural that it broke down. Well, I thought so... Until I saw that the dial pad had been randomized again.

"Hush little baby, don't you cry." I felt myself growl even louder as I heard this, my porthole light brimming with red as I heard the twisted and maniacal singing echo through the room. Fluttershy and Rarity both grabbed onto me from behind, the two of them beginning to shake so much that I could feel it through the metal over my legs.

"Mama's gonna sing you a lullaby." Scanning the room, I didn't see any sign of the splicer. The room may as well have been empty, aside from the girls and myself.

"If with rest you won't tag along, mamas gonna sing you another song." I kept on scanning the room, looking for even the slightest bit of movement, but no matter where I looked, I couldn't see anyone. It was almost as if... They were invisible...

"If the songs don't end your cries, mamas gonna start to really despise." My eyes widened as a sudden sense of realization came to me, only to narrow again as it was soon replaced by annoyance and anger. I knew what this splicer was.

"If, from the stress, mama starts to sag, mamas gonna wrap you up in a bag." Looking for this splicer wouldn't do me any good, not yet at least. No, I had to wait it out. Grabbing onto one of the nearby theater chairs, I ripped it from its place in the ground, focusing on the sound around me as I readied myself to throw.

"While you cry, you squirm, you scream," A small red mist started to form on top of the metal supports that held the stage lights, along with the odd sound of whooshing wind. "Mamas gonna have herself a very nice dream."

Just like that, the red mist solidified, the sound of air rushing to come together almost deafening as the figure of a woman splicer seemed to appear out of nowhere, plasmid powered flames in her hand, prime to be thrown. I didn't give her the chance, throwing the seat at her as hard as I could when I got a clear view of her, knocking her clear off the metal structure and into a wall with a loud thud. Damn Houdini Splicers.

Houdini splicers were, to be frank, assholes. They weren't strong, nor were they fast, but they still made it in the top three of my list when it came to splicers, right after Spider Splicers and Brute Splicers. What these splicers didn't have in strength or agility, they made up for with their skills with plasmids. They would usually use a special plasmid that would temporarily turn them invisible, called, as their name implies, Houdini. After they believed themselves to be well positioned, they would switch their plasmids, returning to the sight of their opponent, but usually with a handful of fire, ice, and, on occasion, electricity.

I could hear the splicer groan as she picked herself up off the floor, bringing about another growl from me. As she stood, her right arm bent at an odd angle, though she didn't seem to care, a malicious smile on her face grew, laughter beginning to emanate from her twisted being.

"Aw. What? You don't like it when I sing?" I just growled again in response, my ESU's crackling seeming to only add to my intimidation. "Heh. Everyone's a critic. Lucky for me, I brought my own audience."

Putting two of her fingers from her left hand into her mouth, she let out a loud and shrill whistle. It wasn't but a second later that the stage walls behind her were broken down with a loud crash, bits of debris reaching all the way across the room to the three of us, harmlessly plinking off of my armor. The Houdini splicer just stood there smugly though, her smile growing as she glanced behind her.

A Brute splicer was the first to enter, pounding his hands together and cracking his neck as he made his way next to the woman, followed by a small group of two Thuggish splicers, and a Lead-head. "You called love?" The Brute splicer asked.

Ignoring the fact that the two were lovers, especially considering the size difference, I took a small step back, glancing to the locked door behind us. One of the splicers seemed to notice this though, not hesitating to make a point as he did.

"Too bad ya can't git, ey metal feline?" One of the Thuggish splicers asked, bringing about a short collective maniacal laugh from the group. I gave them an incredulous look, though they couldn't see it, and stood up straight, my porthole light turning yellow for a quick second as I realized something. These splicers aren't very smart, are they?

I didn't even bother to turn around as I extended my arm and brought it around over my two charge's heads, breaking the wooden door in two and sending its halves flying into the wall across the hall.

The splicers all looked to me with wide eyes, their slow witted minds cranking their ever-so-little used gears as I signaled for Fluttershy and Rarity to run.

The two looked to me with worried expressions, not yet releasing their grip on me as they continued to look up at me. My porthole light flashed an even darker red as I gestured for them to run again, letting out an involuntary, angered groan as I did so.

The two flinched at this, looking between me and the, unsurprisingly still confused, splicers, before finally nodding their heads, letting go of me, and quickly making their way down the hall and back to the bathysphere.

"Oi, they're gettin' away!" A splicer exclaimed, finally seeming to have understood what had happened. Took him long enough.

I cracked my neck as I looked to the now anger filled group of splicers before me. Looks like it's time for a different kind of encore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The guardian and the group of splicers glared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, though it was only for a few short seconds, waiting for one another to make the first move. A tense silence flooded the room, the metal that held up the stage lights seeming to creak from the weight that the air held.

Soon, his patience worn and boredom beginning to grow, one of the splicers let out a yell, raising a rusty pipe into the air and screaming for blood. The splicers around him joined in, rushing the Big Daddy in the hopes of ending him, while two stayed behind.

Omega let out his own roar, drowning out any other sound that could've been heard in Fort Frolic as his feet stamped hard against the ground in a charge, his ESU held in front of him, ready to stop and end all that got in his way.

The two sides clashed with one another, the splicers already losing a man as he was veritably impaled and electrocuted by the metal daddy's ESU. The Brute splicer and Thuggish splicer that had also joined in the charge quickly began to attack, one smashing a lead pipe into the Big Daddy's helmet while the other grappled with him, trying to lift and throw the heavy, metal daddy.

As the three struggled to get the upper hand, the Houdini splicer and Lead-head splicer took several pot shots from afar, firing bullets and flames at the Big Daddy, who had exposed his back to them during the fight.

Omega still pressed on, ignoring the burns and bullets, which he silently thanked not to be armor piercing rounds, his mind and body grinding as he fought off the unbalanced odds against him.

"This won't work. I need to even the odds. Otherwise, I'm as good as dead again!" Omega thought to himself through his struggle, momentarily slipping in his grip. It was this slip, however, that the Brute splicer was waiting for, moving his grip around the Big Daddy's neck and bringing his fist down onto his helmet repeatedly, the metal starting to falter and bend under the continued stress.

The Lead-head and Houdini held their fire, not wanting to risk hurting their group's muscle as he beat down the Big Daddy. The Thuggish splicer that remained continued to assist him though, slamming the pipe into his opponents porthole, small cracks starting to appear in the dark red glass.

The Brute lifted his arm again, bringing it back down with as much force as he could muster while the splicer with the pipe did the same. Omega's originally clenched eyes shot open in anger as he reached his arm up, stopping the punch of the Brute splicer and, using the leverage he had gained on him, throwing him at the annoying bug that had cracked his helmet.

A loud snap could be heard as the much smaller splicer broke the other's fall, breaking his own neck in the process and being crushed on the floor by the musclebound man on top of him, the life draining from his eyes despite the tight grip he still kept on his weapon.

The two splicers which had been ceasing their fire sprung to life again, quickly sending another barrage to their opponent. Omega turned to these two, his annoyance and anger starting to grow as he lifted his metal leg up and slammed it down as hard as he could with a mighty roar.

The ground shook, greatly disorienting the ranged splicers as they struggled to regain their footing. It was during this momentary setback of theirs that Omega took the situation to his advantage, charging at the two like a train careening down the tracks.

The Houdini splicer reacted quickly, a red mist engulfing her as she disappeared from sight, leaving the Lead-head as he was inevitably killed, smashed through the hole that the other splicers had made and into a wall, blood splattering behind his broken body with an impact similar to falling off of a ten story building.

Omega did not pay too much attention to this, knowing that he had to act quickly if he wished to survive and that he could not afford to be distracted. He turned to the Brute splicer again, who had now begun a charge at him, standing his ground and pushing back against the raging bull that rushed him.

Hearing the sound of the Houdini splicer beginning to reappear, Omega redoubled his efforts, pushing against the Brute as hard as he could, grinding his feet against the floor with a grunt until, eventually, he lost his footing, the Big Daddy pushing him along like a deer tethered to a truck, breaking through yet another wall in the room as he and the Brute came to a crash.

The Brute and Omega had both ended up on the ground, groaning as they slowly stood themselves up to end the fight. Ready to finish this, Omega rose his ESU and began to charge at the splicer before he could completely get to his feet. He was stopped short, however, as a ball of flame pelted his helmet, staggering him and stopping his charge.

"Don't worry Hun, I've got him!" The splicer yelled as she entered the room with them, launching another hail fire at the metal feline. Out of the three shots, two of them hit, barely phasing the guardian as let out slight grunts of pain and irritation, but the other went wide to the left.

Omega and the Brute splicer involuntarily followed the fireball's flight, watching as it flew through the air and into a group of familiar red canisters, cracking one of the containers and causing flaming gas to leak out of its side as it rolled to the others, pressure building in it as it threatened to explode.

Looking at the canisters, the three stopped their combat for the moment, both the Brute and the Big Daddy turning to look at the surprised looking Houdini splicer. "... Oops." She said, unsure of what else she could really say in this situation.

"Now dear, y'know I love ya," the Brute began. "but you're a right twit."

"You got that righ-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Rarity ran down the halls of Fort Frolic as fast as their legs could carry them, as per Omega's demand, desperately seeking the bathysphere as they heard the sounds of combat behind them. Loud bangs, crashes, and the roaring of their angered friend rang through the air as they ran, constantly scanning their surroundings to be sure that no other splicer had followed them.

Soon, the two mares made it to the entrance of Fort Frolic, where the four slot machines laid, momentarily slowing their run to a halt as they paused to catch their breath.

"Do... Do you think... He's going to be okay?" Fluttershy asked through her labored pants, worried for her large friend as she heard his continued roaring come from the direction which they had come. Rarity looked up at her friend, ignoring the fact that she herself was sweating, of all things, in her panicked state.

"Come now dear... Have more... Faith in Omega... Why, Im certain that he'll come out of there any sec-" Rarity was quickly cut off as a loud bang filled the air, the ground below the two of them trembling in aftershock.

Looking up the stairs, Rarity couldn't find any words as she noticed the smoke that stuck to the ceiling, slowly fading as the beeping of a fire alarm marked the sound of a large flame being washed out.

Rarity and Fluttershy stayed frozen like this for a moment or two, their eyes widened and mouths agape at the sudden violent explosion. A green glow appeared behind them, drawing their attention as they turned toward a green chamber similar to the one that Omega had recently exited just the other day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That makes 50.

As the light of the vita-chamber faded, giving me a clear view of my surroundings once again, I couldn't help but to chuckle as I thought back to that Hoidini splicer's idiocy. Funny, she was smart enough to stage an attack like that, yet she couldn't manage to correctly use the one thing that she could.

The chamber doors slid open, a slight sense of surprise coming to me as I noticed that Rarity and Fluttershy were already standing there, outside of where I had been brought back. Hadn't I told them to head back to the bathysphere?

I shook my head in slight irritation as I made my way towards the two. By the looks of them, I could tell that the recent explosion had surprised the hell out of them. I couldn't really blame them, I guess. Though, its not like explosions are rare down here.

Groaning, I motioned for the two to follow me, which seemed to break them out of their momentary trances. My repair was done, the voice in the back of my head was quiet, for now, and best of all, I had a new suit. Good thing too, I really didn't want to walk around rapture with a bent and charred suit.

The flickering of the projector screen and dimming of the room's light had become nothing more than a daily occurrence by now. Definitely an improvement from when I was tempted to smash the thing, it scared me so much.

Fluttershy and Rarity quickly made their way out from under the bed covers and in front of the projector screen, myself sitting down on the couch nearby, watching as the screen turned from its usual white into a much more colorful and lively scene, filled with ponies and glee.

... Something about that sounded extremely ridiculous.

"Hello girls!" Rarity greeted, herself and Fluttershy waving at the screen full of their friends and loved ones. The ponies on the screen happily waved back, Sweetie Belle even turning in my direction and doing the same. I gave her my own short gesture of acknowledgement in return, not wanting to interrupt my charges or their friends. Interestingly enough though, I could see that the princesses were there as well this time.

"Girls, I've got great ne-" Twilight stopped herself as she looked over Rarity and Fluttershy, raising a brow in an odd combination of curiosity and confusion. "Um... What happened?" She asked.

I looked to the girls in confusion, though it took me little to no time to realize that Twilight had been referring to the dirt and filth that had culminated into both of their coats, likely from their explorations in the theater.

The girls looked to each other with raised brows, blushing slightly as they only now noticed their dirtied coats and manes. "Oh my word!" Rarity exclaimed as she looked herself over. "How had I not noticed?! This is unsanitary!"

I rolled my eyes, a smile on my face as Rarity shifted to her more 'lady-like' self. Fluttershy seemed embarrassed by the condition of her coat herself, hiding under her mane and trying to minimize her friend's view on her.

Seeing that this wasn't going anywhere, I spoke up, preferring to save my charges from further embarrassment.

"We HaD a biT OF tRouBle. NothINg mAJoR." I told them, crossing my arms as the other ponies shifted their attention to me.

"Trouble? What do you mean 'trouble'?" Rainbow Dash asked, tilting her head questioningly to the side. Not really wanting to go into too much detail of what happened, especially with Sweetie Belle being there, I decided to just give them the short version of the story.

"LeTs juST SaY tHAt I fOunD oUt whY peOPlE in TheaTer tEll eaCh OtheR to 'BreAK a LeG'." Rarity and Fluttershy flinched at this, momentarily stopping their self-conscious episodes, while the ponies on the other side of the portal looked on in confusion.

"... Anyways, like I was about to say, I've got some great news!" Twilight said, bouncing slightly and smiling in pure giddiness. The princesses also seemed to smile as well.

"Yes. In our research, we believe we may have found a solution for the pressing matter that you two are in." Princess Luna added. My eyes widened as she said this, an idea of what news was to come already beginning to form.

Fluttershy and Rarity seemed to be reaching a similar conclusion as well, their own eyes widening as small smiles came to their faces.

"Y-... You mean?" Fluttershy stammered. Princess Celestia nodded at her, confirming her, Rarity, and I's suspicions.

"We believe that we have found a way to bring you back from Rapture."

Author's Note

Calm and cool. Just stay caaaaallllm, and coooooollll-

200 likes!!!!!

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YMPAH67f4o]

Whoo!

Oh, and on a side note, for those of you who may not know, I just wanna thank Shadow Bolt once again for his help with the new cover art! Helped me out a lot there bud! So everyone, don't forget to give a good ol' Internet thanks to your fellow reader.

As for the story wise part of my author note, lets just say that things don't always stay the same, as you can probably tell by now. Some changes can be minor, but some, may change everything.

(There's your hint. That's all you get. No seconds for you!)

Chapter 13: Daddy?

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

They'd found out how to bring them back? That's... Great... Right? I mean, they can go home now. They can be with their family, and friends. I can keep my promise of helping them back. I should be happy... Shouldn't I?

"Um... WoW..." I said, unsure as to what I should say or do next. Fluttershy and Rarity smiled with glee, excitement sparkling in their eyes as they heard the good news.

"Oh, I don't believe it!" Rarity exclaimed happily, putting her forehooves together and bringing them to the side of her head in her excitement. Fluttershy was showing a much more graceful and controlled version of this excitement, a slight spring in her step as she let out a quiet 'yay'. "However did you find out how to do this, darling?" Rarity asked through her excitement, she and Sweetie Belle sharing similar expressions and motions of happiness, bringing about a quiet, yet slightly saddened, chuckle from me. Luckily, nobody seemed to notice.

Twilight looked to us with a smile. "Actually, believe it or not, Pinkie Pie was the one who helped me figure it out." I'll be honest, I didn't see that coming. The three of us looked to the pink pony in surprise, watching as she giggled from the sudden attention.

"It's a funny story actually!" She said, bouncing up and down in her usual hyper manner. "See, while Twilight was reading through some books in the archive about stuff like magical, spellical, and sophisticated...ical, stuff, I was there reading about this cute little otter that found his way back home. You see, the story started off with this teensy tiny baby otter, that-"

"Um, Pinkie? We were talking about how you helped Twilight?" Sweetie Belle interjected. I made a mental note to thank her when I got the chance.

"Oh, yeah, yeah! Anyways, while I was reading, I said to myself, 'Hey Pinkie?', and I said 'Yes?', and then I said 'Do you feel thirsty?', and I replied 'Yes, I do!'. So then, I left the library and went to the Canterlot kitchen, asked for a glass of water, and came back. After that though, I noticed my water was warm, so I went back, got some ice, and came back again, putting the ice in the drink."

"Is THiS goiNg aNYwhERe?" I asked, yet again interrupting Pinkie's story. I didn't mean to be rude, but goddamn if she didn't get annoying from time to time. I was starting to get a headache already, and we were only a few minutes into the call.

"Shhhhhh. Its rude to interrupt Omega." Pinkie Pie hushed, giggling slightly as she did so. I looked to the other girls in disbelief, but all that they gave me were a few spread out shrugs as a response.

"Anyways, so after I put the ice in the water, I noticed that it had stuck to the bottom of the glass, instead of floating up, so I reached in and tried to grab it. It was hard to do it without getting wet, especially with Twilight pressuring me, but I managed." Twilight's eyes widened as she quickly sprung to protect her case.

"What?!? I wasn't pressuring you! You were spilling water all over the archive floor and-"

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhushhhh." Pinkie once again hushed. Funnily enough, I noticed Twilight's left eye twitch a little as Pinkie turned to face us again.

"So I kept trying to reach in and grab the ice, but it just kept on slipping. Then, I said 'Boy, its hard to get this out when its under so much water'. Then, Twilight let out a really loud gasp, like this." She sprung into the air and let out a prolonged gasp, coming back down and quickly shifting back into her story.

"Then, she started floating books around her like crazy. She said 'Pinkie, you're a genius!', and I said 'Really? Yay! We should have a party to celebrate my geniousness then!'" She took out a pair of overly sized novelty glasses and put them on, comically magnifying her eyes and bringing a laugh from Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, and, to an extent, a small chuckle from the princesses.

"Twilight just rolled her eyes and laughed, floating around books there, and there, and there, and there, and- mmpf!" Thankfully, before she could start to blather on any further, Applejack clamped her mouth shut with her hoof.

"Ah think that's enough Sugarcube." She said with a sheepish smile. Pinkie Pie nodded, her muffled voice still coming out as gibberish through her friend's hoof.

"... So, whAt?" I asked, unsure of where Pinkie Pie had been going with her story. The princesses spoke up again, stepping closer to the screen in what was likely an effort for us to hear them better.

"What Pinkie Pie had so happily tried to explain, was that, like the ice cubes in her drink, Rapture and you three are the same." Celestia said. I rose an eyebrow, still not understanding what she was hinting at. How exactly were we ice cubes?

"Under water, magic becomes a very difficult task to do, as you may know." I nodded, indeed having some prior knowledge to this from another talk that the group of ponies and I had. "Even with this simple telecommunication spell, a large amount of magical energy was needed just to get it fully functional." Her sister, Luna, nodded in confirmation, looking to us and adding in her own part to the explanation.

"However, as Twilight had so cleverly found out," she said, bringing about a blush and a smile from Twilight. "If you were to remove this water pressure from yourselves, then a teleportation spell to and back from your locations would be foal's play."

"So it's as simple as that?" Rarity asked. The other ponies nodded, confirming her statement. I, however, shook my head and stopped them.

"No, iTs nOT." I said, standing from my seat on the couch and looking to my two charges. They, along with the others, looked at me with confusion.

"What do you mean?" Sweetie Belle asked, speaking out for the ponies that stood with her. I sighed.

"'Act 42 uNdEr anDReW RyaN's nEw polIcY, VeRSion 5. No MaN nOr wOMan shaLl be aLloWeD to EXit RaPtURE oncE tHey hAve eNteRed.'" I quoted, reading out the law that had been so forcibly embedded into my head from my programming as a security unit. "BathYsphEre's LoST tHEir accEss To thE SurFace a LoNg TiMe aGO, OnLy accEssiblE unDer AnDreW RyaN's perMisSion."

Both of the girl's faces dropped as they heard this, along with many of the other pony's faces that were on the projector screen.

"So... There's no way to reach the surface?" Fluttershy asked, a sad tone evident in her voice. I glanced to Rarity, noticing that she as well had a saddened expression about her. I stayed silent for a moment or two, my thoughts beginning to argue with one another.

Should I tell them?

It would be what's right.

But I may never see them again.

So?

So, I'll be alone. Trapped in this dying city.

Why not just go with them?

You know I can't do that.

Then just help them already.

But-

Weren't YOU the one who wanted to get them back home? The one who said that it was important to get them back to the ones who cared about them?

... I care about them.

Then you would know that you can't go back on your word.

This time, it was obvious who had won that fight. I cared for the girls, with all of my being, and I had promised myself that I would keep them safe, and get them home. No matter how saddening it was, it was still the time for me to keep my promise.

"... ACtuallY, TheRe iS." Everyone's attention quickly shifted to me, their ears raised high in attention as they waited to hear what I had to say. It was a little daunting, but I shrugged it off. I sighed again as I moved to the couch, pulling off one of the cushions, flipping it over, and reaching into a large tear that was split into the bottom. The girls looked at me in confusion as I felt around the innards of the cushion, stuffing and fluff constantly getting in my way.

Finally, just when I was about to rip the damn thing in half, I felt something solid among the fluff. I grabbed hold of it and quickly yanked it out, ignoring the fact that the cushion was further torn when it got caught on a bolt. Though, I have to admit, the little sneeze that Fluttershy let out was adorable.

I shook the remaining cotton off of my arm and looked over the golden metal sheet that I held in my hand, intricate designs and a bulkier metal handle having been molded into it to give it a much more unique function. I nodded to myself, turning around to the projector screen again and giving my charges, and their friends, a clear view of the object.

"ThERe aRe OnLY TwO waYs tO LeaVE RapTuRE. ThIs Is onE of tHem." I said. The ponies all looked back and forth between me and the key that I held, confusion evident in their faces.

"What is it?" Rarity asked, carefully taking the metal key from my hand as I held it out for her and Fluttershy. As she looked it over, I hesitated slightly, my more paranoid side having put a dent in me as it worried about the key getting damaged. Then again, I trust that Rarity and Fluttershy will be careful. Besides, I've been sitting on the thing for the past I don't know how many years, so I really shouldn't be the one to talk.

"It'S thE GEnEtic Key TO rAPtuRe." I explained, my feet slightly shuffling in the now fluff covered floor. "I FOunD it a FeW yeaRS aGO."

"How will that help?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking to the key as if it were some sort of alien artifact.

"SIMplE." I said. "If We cAN geT IT to ANdreW Ryan's oLD offIce, I can FigUrE ouT hoW TO reStore BathYSpherE acceSS to tHe surFace."

That was it, huh? The plan was set, everyone was happy, and soon, the girls would head home. They're sleeping right now, getting their rest for tomorrow's events to come. Everyone had been anxious about the girls heading home, asking why we wouldn't just do it then and there so we could get it over with. I told them that we would need our rest, since we would need to be in our best condition if I were to get Fluttershy and Rarity out of here.

Though, I think its pretty obvious, when I look back at it at least, that I was only half telling the truth. Part of the reason for another night of sleep was so they could be rested for tomorrow, that was true. An even bigger part though, was so I could spend more time with them, if only a little.

It was selfish, I know, but I couldn't help myself. I looked to them as Little Sisters. I had lost so many before, so I didn't want to lose them again. Or worse, forget them.

... They're going to go soon, and its because of that reason that I can't sleep, even if I tried. The princesses needed them, their friends needed them, their family needed them... THEY'RE FUCKING TAKING THEM AWAY FROM ME!

I gasped at the sudden mental outburst, looking to my arm and noticing that I had been unconsciously crushing the armrest of the couch. I let go of the armrest and put my arm in front of my porthole, not really having any particular reason, but just...

I couldn't be angry. I shouldn't be angry. Its just my Big Daddy programming taking over again, telling me to keep my Little Sisters safe from anyone and everyone, despite the fact that they're a threat or otherwise...

I had said that going to 'Equestria', or whatever it was called, wouldn't work out for me because Rapture still needed me... That was a lie. Honestly, I'd prefer Rapture died. I wanted nothing more than for this place to finally break apart, forever ending the misery and suffering that this place had caused for everyone in one last bang! I hated Rapture, I HATED it, with all of my heart!

But because of it... Like I said, my programming makes me protect my 'Little Sister' from anyone and everyone, wether they were a threat or not. That's the reason I can't go.

********************************************

It was just another day actually. I was with my Little Sister, Beatrice, and we had just finished our ADAM run for the day. She was still so full of energy and life though, constantly telling me that she still wasn't tired enough to go back to her hidey hole and sleep just yet.

She was asking, no, begging, me to let her go to the playground that Ryan had recently installed near Apollo Square. The place has been long destroyed by now, having been removed once Ryan heard word of a rebellion starting to form, but at the time, we were blissfully unaware of that coming event. When it did happen, my next little sister, Ashlyn, was devastated, complaining that she had never even gotten the chance to go to the playground because I wouldn't let her, and there was a reason for that.

That day, I had been in a surprisingly good mood. We had done our ADAM run in record time, Beatrice had behaved herself extremely well, and for once, no splicers had tried to attack. So, I took her to the playground.

Parents and children reacted... Rather fearfully when we first arrived, worried that I or Beatrice would hurt them. I didn't pay them much attention, more focused on my gleeful Little Sister as she pulled me by the hand to a nearby bench. The bench was empty... After the people who were originally there noticed me coming their way, and it looked pretty sturdy. I tested it a couple of times, and finally, I sat down on it, leaning my Rivet Gun against my side on the bench.

I remember her asking me if I was really going to let her go and play, as if it were a whole other experience for her, a fantasy really. I nodded, holding my hand out and gesturing for her ADAM syringe. She wouldn't be needing it after all.

She happily gave it to me, skipping off to the nearest slide and humming a happy tune to herself. This was the first time that I had let my Little Sister go off on her own, and frankly, I felt happy about it. To give her a bit of freedom from her everyday monotony, it felt wonderful.

At first, the other children tried their best to avoid her, though she didn't really seem to notice, far too preoccupied with her own merriment to pay attention to the fact. Eventually though, there was this one little girl. A girl which, to this day, I wish I could've personally thanked.

She had casually walked up to Beatrice and, to everyone's shock, talked to her. It started off as idle chit-chat, the kind that most children would have, usually involving obvious questions and seemingly ignorant answers, and then, they started to play together. Tag, hide and seek, you name it. Everyone in the playground joined in soon afterwards. For once, they didn't see Beatrice as another species, or anything like that, but just as another girl.

Even the parents seemed to look at me differently, offering glances of what seemed to be... Respect. An hour or so afterwards, Beatrice made her to me and told me that she was tired. More importantly than that though, she asked if she could come back another day. She had so much fun that day, smiled and laughed so much, I couldn't say no.

It went on like this for the next few days. She would try her best to behave, stay on her ADAM schedule, and would basically do anything she could to return to her newly found friends. She was happy, and I was happy... But then... It all went wrong.

It was... Empty. The playground, that is. There was only one boy there, one that I hadn't seen before, and I could see his father sitting in the bench opposite of me, a newspaper at hand. The father looked up from the articles to me with a face of disgust, one that I hadn't seen before. I shrugged it off as best I could, placing my Rivet Gun in its usual place next to me, taking my Little Sister's ADAM syringe, and watching as she went off to play.

The boy though... That. Boy. Was nothing more than a tormenter for her. The moment she stepped foot on playground, he quickly began to bother her, a lot. Insults, ranging from bad to worse, constantly being hurled at her. I wasn't sure how to react, since nobody had ever treated a Little Sister like this, aside from splicers. For once, I noticed how much the creations of Rapture were looked down upon by everyone else.

Beatrice didn't seem to hear these insults, or maybe she just chose not to, continuing to play as if nothing was wrong. The boy's father wasn't helping to calm his rampant son whatsoever. Rather, he was encouraging him, telling him to 'show that little demon who's boss'. A demon? My Little Sister was a precious gift, not a demon!

I controlled myself, if only for the time being, taking in a deep breath in an effort to calm down. It was just one boy. One blemish in an otherwise kind community. I, and she, could live with it... But then, he did something. Something that brought out my programming to its fullest, and made me see red, in more ways than one.

He pushed her off the slide. Not from the bottom, where she would stand up after getting off, but all the way from the top, after the ladder. She cried, holding her head tightly through the pain, asking for her 'Mr. Bubbles' to come and make the pain go away. The boy was laughing, and the father was as well. Before I knew it, I had my Rivet Gun at hand, and the boys head in the other, his hands flailing against me to let go.

For the most part, I blacked out. But what I do know is that, as I tore the young boy, literally, limb from limb, I heard the father call me something that I had never been called before. 'Monster!'. He was quickly dispatched with one shot to the head from my Rivet Gun.

Suffice to say, Beatrice and I stayed away from that playground for the remainder of its existence.

********************************************

I can't leave. Rapture has already affected me too much, twisted me too far, for me to possibly reintegrate into society, let alone a pony society, where I would likely face more scrutiny than ever before! If someone were to just say something wrong, if even by accident... I don't want to think about it, or what the girls would think if they found out.

I looked to my charges again, their heads out from the blankets as their covered midsections rose and fell in a blissful rest. They'd be better off away from here, away from the splicers, and away from me.

... That doesn't mean that I have to like it though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Try as she might, Fluttershy wasn't currently unlike her friend, Omega, when it had come to the elusion of sleep. At the moment, she was laying in bed with her friend, Rarity, by her side, her eyes closed, but sleep coming no closer to her than it ever had so far that night.

For the life of her though, she couldn't really understand why. At first, she had put it off as excitement, considering the fact that she would soon be home with her friends and family again, but at this point, she wasn't beginning to doubt even that.

"C'mon Fluttershy. This shouldn't be so hard." She thought to herself, trying to encourage herself into sleep as her friend, Ranbow Dash, would often encourage her flight. It was to no result though, as the gap between her and the dreamworld seemed to grow larger still . She let out a quiet, basically undetectable sigh, frustration beginning to gnaw at her mind.

She couldn't understand why she was having so much trouble resting. Back home, she had slept through many things. She had slept perfectly well whenever she felt scared or excited, and no matter what, she could always manage to find her doorway to Princess Luna's domain of dreams. Now though, it was as if that doorway had been completely obliterated.

Opening one of her eyes, she looked to Rarity, noticing that she had indeed been sleeping perfectly well, unlike her.

Rarity had no trouble resting tonight, and she was just as excited as Fluttershy was, if not more. This brought about even more confusion and frustration from Fluttershy, a slight sense of envy as she watched her friend indulge herself in the wonders of sleep.

She wondered if even Omega was resting peacefully, though she couldn't particularly tell, considering the helmet that blocked her vision of him. Tilting her head up, she risked a glance to her other, larger, friend, his singular glass covered eye glowing a placid bright green.

For a moment or two, she began to believe that he had fallen asleep as well, her ears lowering in slight sadness as she believed that she was the only one that was so unrestful, but that was quickly changed, however, as his porthole light shifted to her direction, bathing her in its light green glow as she let out a surprised yet quiet squeak and quickly pretended to be asleep again, worried that she may upset Omega if he had known that she still wasn't asleep. By then though, it was already too late.

Omega had seen Fluttershy looking to him as clear as the ocean floor that surrounded them, and he was already asking himself questions as to why. Standing from the couch yet again, Omega then shuffled his way to his winged charge's side of the bed. Kneeling, Omega began to lightly tap Fluttershy's side, trying to get her attention while taking as much care as he could not to wake his other, sleeping, charge.

For a short time, Fluttershy didn't move, hoping that if she pretended long enough, that Omega would think that she had gone to sleep. After a minute or so though, Omega periodically tapping her side, though not often enough to bother her, she sighed, knowing that Omega obviously wasn't buying the act.

"...Sorry." She said quietly, apologizing for her inability to sleep at the moment, despite Omega's earlier advisement for them to get as much rest as possible. Omega didn't move, or make a sound, for a moment or two, looking over his restless friend in thought. Fluttershy, convinced that she had upset her friend, covered her eyes with her forehooves, awaiting a scolding of sorts, or something of the like that Omega would be able to do.

To her surprise though, it never came, Omega instead gently reaching both of his arms around her and picking her up out of the bed, bringing about a quiet 'eep' from his charge. Fluttershy, despite her surprise, didn't struggle, allowing herself to be carried off of the mattress and onto the couch, once again being placed on Omega's lap as he quickly began to pet her head again, her body almost going numb from the pleasant feeling that shot through her as he did so, a smile involuntarily appearing on her face.

Omega, though Fluttershy may not have known it, felt relaxed himself as he watched his charge smile from the petting, a small smile of his own making its way to his previously saddened expression. The two stayed like this for some time, both of them slowly drifting off to sleep as they pushed their stress further and further away.

Finally, as Fluttershy was on the epitaph of her search for her rest, a single thought came to her mind.

Maybe it wasn't the excitement of returning home that had kept her up, but her concern for her friend after she left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-------------------------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bathysphere swam through the city in its usual manner, managing to somehow direct itself in a near perfect route as we headed back to the Haphaestus Core again, despite the fact that it was only powered by a propeller or two. Fluttershy was sitting to my immediate left, and Rarity to my right, conversing amongst each other despite the fact that I was in between them. They were, of course, talking about heading back home. Telling each other the people that they couldn't wait to see, what they were planning to do when they got home and the like.

I was just sitting quietly though, more so than usual I mean, looking over the genetic key to Rapture as they chatted. I'll be honest, hearing the girls talk about their home, how cheery it sounded, the nice ponies that resided in it... It made me want to go more and more...

I let out a silent sigh as I looked back to the bathysphere window, noticing we had begun surfacing again. The girls had also stopped their conversing as well, both of their gazes focused on the bathysphere window as it once more gave the three of us a clear view of the Haphaestus Core entrance.

This was it.

Andrew's old office wasn't far from the bathysphere. It was, at most, a short 10 minute walk, but for some reason, the walk may as well have been an eternity.

The three of us were being ever vigilant of our surroundings, making sure that we neither saw nor heard any incoming splicers before we would move on to another room. Personally, I would've preferred to have come down here with another pair of security bots, but oddly enough, I hadn't seen any sign of Winston since yesterday. It wasn't exactly a bad decision for him, considering that I was still pretty peeved at him for having woken up the girls before, but still.

Looking back to the path ahead of me, I was surprised when something blocked my foot, causing me to stumble and almost completely fall over on myself. My two charges gasped as I turned around, immediately casting my eyes to whatever it was that had tripped me. Or, as the girls and I could clearly see, whoever it was.

A Rosie. Long dead, by the looks of it. His suit was torn to pieces, dried blood leading to the floor below him, his porthole light out, as if he were nothing more than a snuffed out candle, and obvious rust having formed on his suit. He was laid against the wall, his head tilted slightly down to the left as his arms and legs laid limp around him, his Rivet Gun held loosely by one of his hands to his right.

Rarity and Fluttershy looked to him in shock, placing their hooves over their mouths in total surprise as they looked over the body of the Big Daddy that seemed to share several similar traits with Omega, but I, contrary to their reactions, didn't feel any surprise whatsoever. Mostly, because I had seen him before, though back then, he wasn't really as nicely positioned.

He was originally impaled into a wall by several metal rods, likely the work of a Brute Splicer, with his arms and legs stabbed close to his body in a bloody positioning. I felt sorry for him, and I couldn't just leave him up there. After all, he was still another Big Daddy like me. So, I took his body and put it down somewhere... Better. Where people could see him, and know that he had done his job like the rest of us.

"Is... Is that?" Fluttershy asked, looking to me while her forehoof pointed to the dead guardian. Glancing to the Rosie again, I nodded, confirming her suspicions of it being another Big Daddy.

"... Omega?" Rarity asked. "Forgive me for never asking... But how many other 'Big Daddies' are there in Rapture?" I didn't answer, looking to the Rosie for another moment or two in silent respect before just walking away, not giving even the slightest gesture to answer.

The two kept silent themselves, their questioning gazes feeling as if they were burning into the back of my helmet before they quickly called out for me to wait, soon followed by the sound of their foot steps as they hurried to catch up to me again.

Once they were by my sides, I could see the odd expressions that they both held. They seemed to have their own looks of solemness, or unsureness, shared amongst them, though I couldn't really tell for sure.

I shook my head left and right, trying to get myself to focus as I noticed the door to Andrew's office was approaching dead in front of us. I felt a slight... Push, come from the door. It was my programming again, I could tell, yelling at me to stay away from my 'superior's' office. I had never actually come this close to it, though it's not like I hadn't tried either.

Often, I would try to enter the office to see what it held, out of curiosity's sake really. No matter what though, I would always turn back, right as I was only inches away from the door. This time though, I wouldn't turn back. This wasn't just a whim of mine to end my curiosity. No, it was something much more important. So, as I let out one last deep breath, I stepped forward, the girls watching anxiously from my sides, and opened the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the door to the previously abandoned office area creaked open, rust caused heavy friction between the many gears that allowed the door to move and filling the room with an unpleasant groan, before finally opening fully. The light from the hall filled the dark room, three large shadows looming over it as they came closer and closer.

Soon, the shadows trailed to their creators, showing an odd group as they entered the office, comprised of a winged pony, a horned pony, and a uniquely colored Big Daddy. The three looked over the room while they stood near the entrance, a green light from the Rosie model lighting the room like a lighthouse would a foggy night.

"It's rather... Dark, isn't it?" The white pony asked, squinting her eyes as she tried to improve her vision of the room. The Big Daddy groaned in agreement, moving to the side, past the other pony that accompanied him, and began to feel the walls in his attempts at finding a light switch. He found no success in doing so though, gesturing for his charges to stay put as he began to look around the room.

Shifting his light against the walls, he sought out some sort of fuse-box or light switch that could be in the room, hoping to give both himself, and the girls, a better view of the room. Eventually, after a full minute of searching, Omega came to a pause as he noticed a much more uneven surface appear along the walls. A sliding closet door, painted white, or maybe its paint had just peeled away over time, in an effort to make it contrast sharply with the rest of the room.

Omega, a small sense of suspicion coming to mind, reached for the closet handle and pulled it open. The door creaked at an unbearable volume as its rusted hinges rubbed against each other. Omega them looked over the suit filled room, ignoring the well dressed skeleton that laid to the side of the closet, a thin piece of metal jutting out from the side of its skull and its jaw cracked and broken to a state of near unrecognizable ruin as it looked blankly to the floor. Omega wasn't sure why, but he felt a large amount of contempt for the decomposed corpse.

Soon, much to Omega's silent relief, he spotted a rectangular metal box in the corner of the small room, hidden behind several layers of now ruined tuxedoes. Pulling the small latch that held it closed, Omega pulled open the small metal rectangle that was imbedded into the wall, a slight smile on his face as he looked over the fuse box and began to flip all the small switches upwards. The result was instantaneous.

"WELCOME BACK, MISTER ANDREW RYAN." An automatic machine spoke through the room's silence, giving both Rarity and Fluttershy a start as the lights in the room slowly began to turn on row by row, finally allowing its three visitors to gain a better view of the office.

Shifting his gaze away from the closet, Omega looked to the far wall of the room, a look of confidence replacing his previous expression as he saw what he, and the girls, had been looking for. At the end of the room, connected to the northern most wall, was a large metal control panel. It was designed to look like a more stylized version of Rapture, almost model-like, with a thin black meter that led to a small circular screen, and a single rectangular hole near the center of the actual panel.

Omega let out a silent grunt of certainty as he walked over to the panel, looking over the genetic key once more, almost out of instinct. His thoughts were amuck as he once again had an internal conflict, part of his being yelling at him not to do this, and to keep his charges there. A much stronger part of his mind though, quickly silenced these thoughts, causing him to, quite frankly, shove the genetic key into the empty slot of the control panel with a satisfying click.

The machine whirred to life as Omega leaned on the panel, both of his arms supporting him as he watched the thin black meter begin to fill itself with a deep blue coloring, raising itself up at a near agonizingly slow rate. Fluttershy and Rarity, having pushed off their earlier sense of surprise, made their way to Omega's sides again, watching in silence as the meter filled, almost as if the slightest noise would cause the meter to stop.

Though none of the three were making noise, that did not stop the machine itself from breaking the silence.

"-INITIALIZING-
-RAPTURE CONTROL SYSTEMS ONLINE-
- RE-INITIALIZING GENETIC ANALYSIS SLOT--- COMPLETE-
-REESTABLISHING RAPTURE CONTROL--- CONTROL REESTABLISHED-
-REINSTATING BATHYSPHERE ACCESS--- ACCESS REINSTATED-"

Omega and his charges stopped listening after that message had played, the meter only being half filled as smiles came to both of the ponies' faces. Omega let out a silent sigh, standing himself from the panel and turning to face his charges again, no longer interested in the filling meter.

"Well, it seems as if your plan worked Omega." Rarity exclaimed happily, earning a look from Omega. They looked at one another for a moment or so before, realizing her mistake, Rarity's eyes widened. "T-that is to say, its not that I thought it wouldn't work, per se, but rather, that I-" Omega rose his hand, gesturing for her to stop since he had known fully well what she had meant by her statement, much to her embarrassment, and partial thankfulness for him having stopped her before she made things any worse for herself.

Smiling sheepishly, her face tinted in a slightly red hue, she began to make her way to the office door, eager to head back to the bathysphere and, in turn, home.

"That aside, darlings, shall we get go-" She froze as the door slid open in front of her once again, bringing her face to face with a crooked, tumor-filled smile.

" 'Ello love."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My eyes widened as I heard Rarity let out a shrill scream, turning to her as she ran to Fluttershy and I as quickly as she could, a Thuggish splicer following close behind her with a wrench raised high into the air, laughing maniacally as he ran after her, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I was in the room as well. My porthole light quickly turned red out of anger as I charged to help my charge, Fluttershy letting out a yell for her friend as I did so.

Sidestepping Rarity, I clotheslined the splicer, knocking him to the ground hard with a loud thud. He remained still for a moment or two, his eyes widened by the shock of what had just happened as I lifted him into the air by the collar of his dirty plaid shirt. He started to struggle as he got over his earlier sense of shock, hitting his wrench against my helmet with all of his might over and over again, ultimately doing little to nothing to effect me, or my suit.

Holding onto the splicer, I felt the world fade into blackness around me, my charges becoming nothing more than blank spaces as an unbelievable rage filled me. The splicer, seeming to notice this anger, began to struggle even more, going so far as to yell for help. I was tempted to silence him before he could call anymore splicers to help him, but at the same time, I wanted them to come.

My wish was quickly granted as I heard more splicers make their way to the room, pausing at the door as they saw me holding their fellow group mate. My eyes slightly narrowed as I caught sight of them in my peripheral vision, all of them being Leadhead splicers, armed with revolvers of all kinds of design and calibers, already pointing them in my direction and readying them to fire. There was a moment of silence as I slowly shifted my complete gaze to the splicers, my porthole light now a deep crimson red. The splicers looked to me in shock, and fear, but nonetheless, I could still see the twisted confidence that resided in their eyes.

"Let'm go you metal monster, and maybe we won't hurt ya while we kill ya!" One of the firearm carrying splicers yel-... Monster? Did he. Just say? 'Monster'!?!

My grip on the splicer tightened, his shirt starting to rip as my porthole light turned into a much darker blood red, my arm beginning to tremble from the blistering fury that I felt. I could tell that this wasn't just anger from the splicers, but also another pent up source of irritance and rage that I had bottled up inside of me. As to what it was for, be it my past, my present, or even the fact that I was about to say what would likely be my last farewells to Fluttershy and Rarity as they left for Equestria, I wasn't sure. But, honestly, it doesn't really matter right now, does it? Right now, all that matters is my sudden desire to rip these splicers in half.

Out of the corner of my narrowed eyes, near the end of the view that my porthole gave me, I noticed Fluttershy and Rarity slowly walk back behind a thick glass wall, looking between the splicers and I with fear in their eyes. As to who the fear was directed to, the splicers or me, I wasn't sure, but at the moment, I couldn't care less.

One of the splicers from the group shakily stepped forward, his footstep echoing throughout the room in what felt like a loud clang, and, almost instantly, I felt myself snap.

I threw the splicer that was in my grip to the wall nearest to the other splicers, barely letting him give out a scream as he crashed against and was utterly disintegrated into nothing more than a messy stain on the wall. The splicers looked to me in shock as I readied my ESU, its crackling electricity causing the splicer who had stepped forward to quickly recoil back to his original position. I raised my arms above me, my eyes narrowing even further in anger as I brought them back down and let out a roar mightier than any other than I had previously done. The splicers staggered back as the ground below them shook, my charges covering their ears and eyes as they took cover behind the thick glass.

The firing squad of splicers didn't even manage to get a shot out before I had reached them, quickly smashing three of their heads into one another, leaving a single bloody clump, the remaining four splicers staggering back and readying their revolvers, fear evident in their eyes.

Looking to them, they quickly opened fire, thier shots bouncing off of my armor as I realized that they as well did not have armor piercing rounds, brining a small smile to my face as I once again charged.

Another one fell as I crashed my ESU into his chest, frying him from the inside out. The other splicers backed up a step and continued to fire, each stopping for a moment to reload their firearms while I pried the charred corpse off of my ESU.

I raised my fist and quickly brought it back down before any of them could react, grabbing one of them by their heads and crashing them into the ground, cracking the back of their heads open. Now, there are only two left.

Still, as they were so confindent to prove, even two splicers can prove to be an issue. They looked to one another in a shared moment of agreement, nodding as they both ran around me and into Andrew's office before I could stop them. I felt my mind go into overdrive as I realized what they were planning, running after them as quickly as I could.

Rarity and Fluttershy, who were both still cowering behind the thick glass, which was now riddled with cracks and imbedded with several bullets, were unaware of the two splicers sprinting towards them, raising their hands to grab them and use them as 'protection', of sorts.

A state of unawareness which they would remain in as I quickly grabbed hold of the two splicers by their throats, crashing them into the Rapture control panel in my blind rage. The two lifted their firearms and shot at me, point blank, in an effort to pierce my armor, loud clangs filling my helmet as they did so. It wasn't enough though as I lifted them and crashed them into the control panel again, one of the two gaining a woozy look while the other was 'lucky' enough to die upon the first impact, the back of his head having hit a corner and being broken inward. I let him go and placed my free hand with the other on the remaining splicer's neck, pressing tighter and strangling the life out of him. His flailing grew weak as he dropped his firearm and his arms slid downwards, out of my sight. I ignored it though as I continued to cut off his breathing, a slight sense of satisfaction filling me as I noticed his face begin to change color. I could've broken his neck right then and there, but that would've been too easy.

As he pulled his arm into my view again though, a smug smile coming to his blue face as he showed me the lit grenade that he had produced out of my sight, I quickly grew to regret this decision.

I have got to learn to keep my anger under control.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The girls heard everything that happened around them, despite their best efforts not to, the muffled sounds of death and pain filling the room as the two began to tremble in fear. They didn't dare to move or look though, already aware of the violence that was occurring around them, but choosing not to see it. On a couple of occasions, they heard the sounds come closer nearby them, but these sounds were soon ended as the even louder sound of an explosion reverberated through the air, along with a strong shockwave that had passed over them.

The room was then silent. Completely and utterly silent, a horrible smell in the air, likely being that of death and the metallic scent blood. The two continued to cower for a moment though, unsure if they should or should not allow themselves to see the scene that awaited them.

"... I-is it over?" Fluttershy asked quietly, hoping for a response from either of her two friends, Rarity or Omega.

"I t-think so." Rarity answered, slowly uncovering her ears and eyes, choosing to silently volunteer herself as the one to survey the scene. "Yes, I do believe it's o- Oh my!" She exclaimed, recoiling back in surprise as she was quickly given Omega's darkened helmet porthole as her first sight.

Fluttershy, as a result of this scream, opened her eyes as well, gasping as she saw the body of her once again deceased friend, Omega. Though the girls could clearly see the havoc that had gone out throughout the room, they didn't seem to notice it, instead looking at Omega's blood stained body, though they could guess that it wasn't necessarily his blood.

They stayed like this for some time, worry beginning to fester in the back of their minds. The reason being that, even though they had passed by one of the many green chambers that they had often seen Omega exit out of after his death, they could not see nor hear anything that indicated that it was bringing him back again.

Finally, after many tedious seconds of stress and concern, right as the girls were about to begin yelling for Omega, the body's right hand twitched. Both of the girls' eyes widened as Omega's body began to move again, lifting itself slowly onto it's hands and knees and bringing its gaze to them.

The two of them sighed in relief as they realized that Omega was still alive, rather than him having died without being brought back, but there was still one thing that kept their worry going strong. His porthole light hadn't turned on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... Ugh. I hate it when they have explosives.

The world looked like one giant, blurry bundle of images through my glass porthole, and it was pretty understandable why. An explosion like that, at a distance that close was not healthy for anybody.

Speaking of which, did I mention how much pain I'm in? Because, right now, I feel horrible. As I came to, the first thing that I could recognize was pain, and the odd smell of iron. Normally, I wouldn't think to much of this, being that I'm in a metal suit. Plus the fact that I was probably surrounded by a lot of blood from my earlier... Loss of temper.

The problem though, is that my suit is air tight, and, aside from my helmet, all the iron in my suit was welded above another, thinner layer of clothing. In other words, that was my blood that I was smelling, though I couldn't tell where it was coming from.

After a moment or two of laying on the floor, just trying to gain my bearings again, my sight started to clear. Rarity and Fluttershy were the first things I saw, the two looking to me in a concerned manner, glancing between me and the hallway that led to the room.

I let out a silent grunt as I put my arms together and started to pick myself up, pain shooting through me as I eventually managed to steady myself on my hands and knees, though I wobbled slightly. I looked to the girls, hearing them sigh in relief as they realized that I was still alive.

"A-are you okay Omega?" Fluttershy asked, tilting her head and leaning in closer to me, a brow raised in her obvious worry. I was stalled from giving an answer, my pain coming in surges every now and then, causing me to flinch and keep from giving her a response.

Eventually though, I groaned, though rather painfully, letting her know that I would be fine. Her look of worry didn't let up though, along with Rarity's, as they both looked to me in shared concern.

"Are you sure darling? You seem hurt, and I'm not sure if that light of yours is supposed to be out." I nodded, once again confirming that I was fi- WAIT, WHAT!?!

My eyes widened as I slowly relayed what she had said back in my mind over again. Darting my sight around the inside of my helmet, I felt my breath quickening as I noticed that she was right. The porthole light was out. Along with any other electrical indicators from within my suit.

Shaking my head, I hit the side of my helmet a few times in the hopes of it turning on again. Suffice to say, it didn't, and now my head hurt along with the rest of my body.

"Omega?" Rarity asked, a curious expression on her face. "Is everything quite al-" Rarity was interrupted mid-sentence by a sudden alarm, beeping a low sounding and constant tone. The three of us turned to the source, a slight sense of worry hitting me as I noticed an error message appear on the control panel's top screen. Ignoring my pain, as much as I could that is, I stood myself up and made my way to the charred and now broken control panel.

The genetic key had been split in two from the explosion, and the panel itself had a large metallic tear down the middle, exposing a large collection of sparking and burnt wires of all sizes and colors. What really caused my heart to rush though, was the meter that displayed the progress that the genetic key had made. It was dropping, and fast.

If the meter made it all the way to the bottom, then bathysphere access to the surface would be shut down again. And if that happened, then the girls would be trapped here.

Turning with a pained groan, I gestured for the girls to follow me as I ran as fast as I could manage, the girls lagging behind slightly as they realized what was occurring before quickly catching up to, and overtaking, me.

The halls echoed with our combined heavy and light footsteps as we ran, making turn after turn as we hurried our way back to the bathysphere before it could lose surface access again. A few minutes into the run though, the smell of iron was transferred to my taste, blood along with saliva starting to fill my mouth as I continually swallowed to keep my breathing as even as possible. Every step I took felt heavier than the last, adding another pound of weight onto the suit that I would normally find to be light. My vision blurred slightly, focusing and unfocusing in random intervals as I began to stumble in my run. Fluttershy and Rarity didn't seem to notice though, the two being too focused on their running to hear my labored running or to look back to check on me. I couldn't blame them, I guess.

Finally, I could see the last corner that we needed to round within my sight, the hall being slightly blurred as I did so, but I could tell nonetheless. Then, right as it seemed that we would make it, I felt my entire body momentarily go numb, causing me to stumble and trip. I was barely able to keep myself from hitting the floor as I crashed my side into the wall, leaning against it in an effort to keep my balance.

My breathing was heavy, and I could almost hear my own heartbeat thumping against my ears. Through my blurred sight, I looked back up in front of me, noticing that the girls were gone, likely having rounded the corner already. I wanted to call out for them, but I couldn't even manage the slightest of groans as my legs began to buckle beneath me, sliding me down against the wall and down to the floor onto my knees.

I was dying. Still, it couldn't be that bad, right? I'd died before, and I'd just come back... That's what I want to say, but one unavoidable fact remained. One that I couldn't ignore.

My suit, by the looks of it at least, had broken down after the explosion. Not only had my suit's porthole light and life support systems shut down, but, more than likely, so had the very thing that had kept me from death after all of this time. The Vita-chip.

My vision was starting to blur even more, the world around me seeming more like a giant intermingled menagerie of color. There was no way I could come back from this. Even if I could somehow manage to repair my suit, I still wouldn't be able to take it off to treat whatever injuries that I had without basically dooming myself nonetheless. Though... When I think about it actually, dying outside of my suit wouldn't be so bad.

Raising my trembling and unsteady arm up and over the back of my helmet, I began to feel around the back of my neck in search of a single, important object. Eventually, I felt something solid amongst the flat metal surface of my suit, encircling my fingers around it in a tight grip.

What many people didn't know is that every Big Daddy suit, ranging from Lancers to the Alpha Series, and even Big Sisters, had an emergency release valve at the back of their suit, almost impossible to tell apart from the other components of machinery that made up the metal shell.

My grip on the valve tightened even further as my mind began to become just as foggy as my vision. If I was going to die, then I sure as hell didn't want to die in this suit.

Taking in a deep breath, I turned the valve with a quick flick of my wrist, a loud hissing sound filling my ears as I did so. The various nuts and bolts that held my suit together shot out as a large burst of pressurized air hissed through it, my many self-regulating tubes that kept my body going separating themselves from me as well, causing me to let out a silent scream as the pain that shot through me became unbearable.

The world around me went quiet as I finally collapsed to the ground, my now loose helmet tumbling off of my head as it hit against the ground, clanging to the floor in front of me, exposing me to the outside world for the first time in years.

As I blacked out, my entire body going numb once again as a sense of exhaustion overcame me, I felt a small, strained smile come to my face as the cold air of Rapture came into contact with my skin.

More than likely, Fluttershy and Rarity had made it to the bathysphere, and were probably on their way home. At least I can die knowing that, aside from being a twisted, remorseless metal abomination, I was at least a man of my word, right?

Author's Note

... 0.o Well, that was unexpected.

Oh, and, by the way, I noticed the... Several comments that people had left, saying how they thought the story was coming to an end. Well, ya see that 'incomplete' tag there?

Believe me everybody, this story isn't over yet. After all, why would I have mentioned people like Sophia Lamb, and the like, if I didn't plan on exploring the other half of Rapture. (•.•)/

Ladies and gentleman, prepare for the hype.

Oh, and thanks for reading yet again!

Chapter 14: -P̛r̶og͢r͢a͢mmi͏n̨g ̴E̵rr҉or-̀

... All I could see was black. An endless void of colorless space, calling out to me, begging for me to delve deeper into it. An infinite bliss from my stress and struggles, one that I desperately tried to reach and escape into.

I had experienced this darkness before. Only, this time, it felt different. Special, actually. No matter how far I walked though, I could never really reach it, constantly being pulled back by some unknown force.

"...Daddy?"

The force that pulled me grew stronger, drawing me even further away from my escape.

"Daddy?"

It was unprecedented, how strong it had grown, threatening to tip me over, falling down an unknown, unaccounted height.

"Daddy!"

With one last tug, I was finally pulled over the edge, a moment of fear and panic filling my heart and mind as time seemed to slow down... Until, finally, I hit the floor.

Letting out a groan of pain, I opened my eyes, flinching slightly as the light of day permeated my sight, filling it with a stinging white. I gave my eyes a moment or two to adjust before opening them again, regaining my sight of the world around me.

The first things that graced my sight were the very things that had pulled me away from my peaceful darkness of sleep. My two daughters, Beatrice and Ashlyn, stood to my sides as I laid on the ceramic floor next to my bed, the two giving me cute little pouts as they looked down to me in their pajamas, Beatrice holding her stuffed pony toy close to her chest with both of her arms, and Ashlyn's 'detective jammies', as she liked to call them, contrasting heavily with Beatrice's pink ones, a magnifying glass having been sown into the front most part of her sleeping wear. They had probably just gotten out of bed.

"Daddy! Its time to get up~!" Ashlyn whined, grabbing onto my arm and pulling with all of her might, which, in retrospect, wasn't a lot, despite her obviously struggled grunts and groans. Her sister, seeming to also take the idea to heart, used one of her arms to pull at my other, still desperately holding onto her toy as she tried to help her sibling. Yet again, I didn't move, chuckling as my little girls meagerly pulled against me.

I smiled as I decided to turn the tables on them, giving them a couple of swift tugs from both of my arms, causing the two to fall over, landing on my chest with two adorable little 'oomph's. Then, while the two were still in shock of what had just happened, I struck, reaching for both of their necks, stomachs, arm pits, anything I could reach, and beginning to tickle them.

The two girls quickly began to laugh heartily, squirming against me in half-hearted attempts to escape my hold while I continued to 'torture' them, their laughter being like music to my ears.

"Da~ha~dy~. Sto~ha~p!" Ashlyn pleaded, her laughter barely allowing her to speak. Rather than listen to her though, I rose her up higher to me, partly lifting her shirt before then placing my mouth over and blowing into her stomach, bringing about even more laughter and squirming from her. The two never could handle their tickling, but they never seemed to mind either.

I was prepared to go on for another moment or two, laying with my two girls and watching them laugh with joy and cheer, but, as fate would have it, I had nearly forgotten about the other female that I shared this home with.

"So I take it that the girls woke you up?" Shifting my attention to the door, I felt myself smile as I noticed the woman that stood there, leaning against the frame with a bemused smile on her face. The girls, panting lightly and giggling from the aftermath of that little 'attack' of mine, followed my gaze, their eyes widening as they sprang up like bugs and ran to the woman.

"Mama!" They called, hugging their mother, my wife, from both of her sides. She, in response, bent over slightly, returning the hug to the two before promptly kissing them both on their foreheads.

"Good morning girls." She said, her voice sounding smooth and soft, like silk, as it flowed through the air. "Did you two sleep well?"

"We slept fine, mama." My wife smiled again, bringing the two in close for another gentle squeeze.

"That's good. Now, you two head downstairs. Breakfast is almost ready."

"Okay mommy!" With that, the girls quickly rushed out the door, the sound of their high pitches voices and their footsteps as they raced down the stairs still managing to echo into the room. My wife watched as they left, shaking her head with a smile as she turned to look at me.

Chuckling, I waved at her from my position on the floor, bringing about a giggle from her. I always did love that sound.

"That goes for you too, mister." She told me, waving her finger at me jokingly. "And don't even think about trying to go to sleep again, or I'll just send the girls back up here to get you." She left with a wink and a grin, her rose red nightgown trailing slightly behind her as she began to make her way downstairs as well.

I felt my smile grow even larger as I quickly decided to comply with her 'demands', standing myself from the floor and looking around the room that she and I shared.

The window curtains were spread and open, rays of sunlight beaming in, giving the room a pleasant and welcome glow. Along with that, the closet doors were also separated from one another, allowing me a clear view of the clothing that I would have to choose from before I started my daily routine with my family.

I love Saturdays.

As I buttoned the last part of my shirt, making my way down the stairs as I did so, I was quickly assaulted by the scent of my wife's cooking, seeming more like an angelic incense than the simple scent of toast and pancakes. I can only imagine how good it tastes.

I made my way around the doorframe to the kitchen, and dining room, where my family was waiting for me. My girls were sat down on their individual chairs, small cushions boosting them up so that they could more easily reach their meals, and my wife was standing nearby the door for me, a mug of warm, perfectly colored coffee held in her hand, outstretched to me with a smile. I returned the smile, happily taking the mug as she and I made our way to the table.

Out of habit, I sped up my pace slightly as I passed by her, placing my mug on my side of the rectangular table before heading over to my wife's side and pulling back the chair for her. She looked at me with a smile of gratitude as she placed herself upon the seat, myself pushing her inwards to the table, making sure to keep her comfortable as I did so, before moving back to my side of the table and taking my own seat.

Now, this would usually be the part where the girls would start eating, asking questions about what we were going to do today, when we would do it, and then some more random and unexpected questions. Today was no different than any other day in that regard.

"Mama, daddy, we're going to the park today, right?" Ashlyn asked, her voice slightly muffled as she spoke through a mouthful of toast, crumbs hitting the table and floor under her. I'd have to clean that later.

"Yeaaaahhhhhh. You both promised." Beatrice added, twisting slightly in her seat as she tried to overdramatize the situation, as she usually would. My wife and I were used to this routine of theirs by now though, so we were neither angered or annoyed by it.

"Of course we are dears!" Their mother responded sweetly, reaching over and wiping Beatrice's stained mouth with a napkin, despite her attempts to move away from her as she did so. "We'll head over in a little bit, right after we finish up a few things here." The girls both groaned in disappointment at the idea of having to wait longer to head to the park, bringing about a short chuckle from me.

"... I guess we can wait." Ashlyn said, looking down to the floor in a dejected sort of way, softly kicking her feet below her. Smiling, I reached over and ruffled up her hair, Ashlyn giggling while I sat back down in my seat, looking to her and her sister with a smile.

My wife looked to me and chuckled as she saw me cheer up our saddened girls, sighing happily as she then looked back to her meal and continued to eat, myself doing the same.

The four of us continued in silence for the next few minutes before, eventually, Beatrice asked a question of her own.

"Mommy? How much longer until our little sister comes here?" She asked. I felt a short surge of giddiness shoot through me as she asked this, taking a quick sip from my coffee mug as I shared a glance with my significant other.

See, our family wasn't exactly finished just yet. Though she may not look it, my wife was actually pregnant, 1 month pregnant at that, her stomach already starting to swell by a small amount as our next, and final, daughter grew within her.

My love was already expecting this question by the looks of it, having been asked it quite a few times since she had first announced her pregnancy, carefully placing down her drink next to her as she looked to our daughter. "A few more months now, Beatrice." She answered.

Beatrice didn't seem pleased with the answer though, lightly biting her bottom lip as she continued to look to her mother with a look of childhood curiosity. "Does she have a name yet?" She asked. The two of us shook our heads in response, neither having really decided on what would be the best name for our soon-to-be new arrival. We had plenty of time anyhow.

"Oh!" Ashlyn suddenly exclaimed, placing her fork back down onto the plate of half-eaten pancakes before her as she then scooted back her chair, letting out a loud scraping noise as a result. "That reminds me!" She scuttled across the room to the kitchen counter, reaching her short arms over the black countertop as she carefully grabbed hold of something and pulled it back into her grasp.

Upon doing so, she ran back to the table, opening her hand for us to see what she held. "I found this for our little sister. Do you think she'll like it?" In her hand, she held a shiny, golden, dollar coin, its writing seeming blurred and illegible, but the idea of the message obvious nonetheless.

Granted, it wasn't exactly a gift, so much as it was a lucky find, but the fact that she was willing to share something that she had found with her next sister, before she was even born at that, gave me a good feeling. My wife smiled as she looked down at the coin, carefully taking it from our daughter's outstretched hand and looking it over with a smile.

"Oh, honey, that's so kind of you. I'm sure that she'll love it." So am I.

As the girls dressed themselves in the next room over, I sat down on the living room couch with my wife seated next to me. She was leaning into me while I absentmindedly passed my hand up and down her arm, holding her in a securing grasp, her gentle breathing almost like a lullaby as I kissed her softly on the head, almost out of instinct.

Moments like these between us were rare and few, considering our two, closely aged, children would normally keep us preoccupied, but they were more than worth the wait. I never really spoke much whenever we found the time to lounge around like this. Hell, I barely spoke at all, but it was this silence and bliss between us two that made her so happy, so it wasn't really much of a problem.

"Mama? Can you come help? My zipper won't go up." Darn it. Like I had said, these moments were few and rare. Along with that though, they also had the tendency of being really short.

Letting out a sigh, my wife looked to me sadly, obviously not wanting for this moment to end, just as I didn't, before she hesitantly stood from our shared seat, giving me a quick peck on the cheek before making her way out of the room, calling out to our daughters as she did so.

I could feel my cheeks warm as I reached for the place she had kissed, reveling in the memory for a moment before letting out a deep breath. That was the thing about her. No matter how many times she had kissed me, it would always feel like it was the first. I guess that's what love is.

Smiling, I leaned myself further against the couch, sighing silently as I basked in the warm rays of the sun as they shined through the living room windows, closing my eyes and delving into my world of thought...

Then, the phone started to ring...

... I don't know why, but something about that threw me off. It was just a phone call, after all, so why did I feel so... Strangely about it?

Pushing this feeling off, I stood from my seat, the couch letting out a slight squeak as I did do, and made my way to the red dial phone that laid on the counter nearby. As I reached for it, it almost felt as if it were pushing me away, begging for me not to answer. Maybe I just are my breakfast too fast and it was going down wrong.

I grabbed hold of the receiver and quickly, almost too quickly, placed it to my ear, awaiting for the persons greeting, as most callers would normally do. Rather than a 'good morning', 'hello', or even a 'hi' though, all I heard was static. How could a phone have static?

Despite this, I waited, listening carefully as I expected some sort of answer, or speech, from the other line. To an extent, I did hear someone, or some people, but it was extremely faint, an difficult to hear, the static occasionally causing their voices to cut out completely.

"...o...ou... ee him?..."

"...re!... Dea..."

Before I could open my mouth and ask who this was, the call was completely cut off, the sound of a dial tone almost deafening as it seemed to fill the room. I pulled the phone away from my ear and just looked at it, my brow raised as I tried to process what had just happened.

Was it a wrong number?... No... Something about those voices, or at least what little of the voices I heard, sounded familiar... But from where?

"Honey?" I flinched slightly as my wife's voice broke my thought, causing me to turn to face her, the phone still at hand. She was looking at me with a face of concern, a brow raised as she looked to me from the room's entrance. "Is something wrong?"

Looking back to the phone, I slowly shook my head, placing the receiver back down into its appropriate spot with a click as I pushed the matter aside, not wanting to worry my wife. She looked at me skeptically for a minute or so, her arms crossed and foot tapping against the floor, but eventually, she seemed to let it go, letting out a sigh as she noticed that I wasn't going to tell her whatever it was that had bothered me so much.

"... Alright dear, I won't make you say anything if you don't want to. But that means that you have to do the dishes tonight." She said, smiling smugly at me. I looked at her blankly for a second, processing what she just said, before returning the smile, nodding as I made my way towards her. It's a deal.

The screaming and running of children as they played with one another, the sound of parents conversing with one another over seemingly random subjects, asking each other how their children are or day is going, and the gentle breeze of the wind that passed just over our heads.

At the park, more specifically, the park playground, these were the normal, everyday details that made it what it was. The girls had already rushed off to play with the other children, barely having given their mother time to kiss and tell them to be careful.

They played all kinds of games while my wife and I sat aside and watched. They played tag, hide n' seek, and, most of all, they liked to play a made up game of theirs. One that most of the other children were glad to play along with. I think that they called it 'Gathering Angels'. It seemed appropriate for my little angels, so watching them play this harmless game, in which they would basically tap a person on the nose whenever they would catch one and wave goodbye as they 'flew away', when really they just walked off, to 'help other gatherers free the other lost angels', was always a welcome sight.

Parents would constantly walk by us, greeting my wife and I in their usual, casual ways. Some of them we knew, having seen them here before, and others were new, either having come here for the first time or having just been missed by us since they usually came at different times.

Being here was bliss. It always was, has been, and will be for my family and I... A little hot though. Looking to my wife, I noticed that she was currently talking to one of her old friends, exchanging bits of gossip and the like with one another.

Not wanting to interrupt or bother her, I silently excused myself from the bench, looking for the nearest vending machine for something nice and cold to drink.

I walked along the park walkway for a few minutes, the sounds of the playground area becoming fainter and fainter as I made my way along. Eventually, the walkway came to an end at a circular platform of concrete, a pair of vending machines sitting there in the calm silence of the area.

The one on the right was basically useless, having been long broken down and vandalized with spray paint by some random group of teenagers who liked to call themselves 'El Banditos', or something like that. True to their names, they had spray painted one of these stereotypical 'banditos' onto the machine, comprised of a white man with narrowed eyes, an odd hat, and a cloth covering his nose and mouth. I rolled my eyes as I saw this, just glad that they had decided to vandalize purely broken, or unused, things, rather than the more useful machines.

I turned my head to face the vending machine on the immediate left, pulling out a dollar bill as I looked over the clean and functional machine, the closest thing to vandalism on it being a small clown sticker that some child had likely stuck to it. Harmless fun really.

Inserting the dollar, I pushed the button for a bottle of water, placing my hands in my pockets as I waited for the machine to drop the drink. A series of clangs and clunks came from the machine as, eventually, a single bottle of water fell out, landing in its slot as I reached in and grabbed the bottled beverage.

No sooner than I had grabbed it, I quickly opened it and placed the top of the bottle to my mouth, tilting it upwards and gulping down the ice cold liquid. Soon, I had to come to a stop, running out of breath from my continuos gulping of the water and needing to take a moment. As I lowered the bottle back down though, I noticed that I wasn't alone.

There was an odd, black blur reflecting off of the water in the water bottle, imitating the form and movements of a living being. I turned, looking off to the left, where I figured the water was reflecting. Sure enough, sitting there panting, its tongue lolled out and its tail wagging, was a small black dog, staring seemingly without end. Raising a brow at this, I tried to follow its gaze as best as I could, making out an invisible trail with my finger as I tried to see what it was focusing on.

Then, as I finished the pretend path, I felt my eyes slightly widen as I realized that it ended at the water bottle that I held. Curious, I rose it up into the air above, and sure enough, the dog's gaze followed. I guess its thirsty?

Looking back to the water bottle, I shrugged, turning it over and spilling the remainder of the water onto the floor. I already drank what I needed anyways. Almost instantly, the dog sprinted over here, fervently lapping up the water from the floor.

I smiled as I kneeled down next to the dog, instinctually petting its head as it continued to quench its thirst. Wait, is that a collar?

I tilted my head as I felt around collar, the dog not seeming to care as I looked for some sort of name tag. Sure enough, I found it, quickly readjusting it so that I would be able to more easily see and read it. Though, there's something... Odd about that name.

'Wͤ͋ͬ̃̀̚҉̰̮͉͎i̶̧̲͈͈̟ͪ͌̇̃̍ͦn͔̼͇͓͉͇̼͍̋̓̔͋̋̀͟s̢̤̬ͭ̑ͣͨͤt̴̬̱͖̣͗͗̔̅̇ͥ̓ͬͅo̫͇͓̲͒̑̊ͨ͗̄n̵̟̗̱̙̮̞͐ͬ̅̒ͭ͘ͅ'

Wait... Wasn't I just at the park?

Something's not right. Everything is here. The screaming and running of children as they played with one another, the sound of parents conversing with one another over seemingly random subjects, asking each other how their children are or day is going, and the gentle breeze of the wind that passed just over our heads.

And yet... Something felt different.

I'm... Probably just imagining things. Heck, if anything, I'm more worried about something else at the moment.

Not wanting to interrupt or bother my wife, I silently excused myself from the bench, looking for the nearest vending machine for something nice and cold to drink.

Besides, I felt kinda t̛͙̜̗̊̆ͪ͝h̷̻̫̯͂̕̕ǐ̧͕͚̩̓̐̆͊̀r̛̭̗̬̭͔͐̀͌̽ͩͧ̚͠s̶̷̗͖̤̖̎̑̌ͦ͋t̵̯̣̪̣̎̇ͮ̆̌ͬ͞y͓͎ͧͫͨ̊.

No... Actually, I could hear them perfectly. But, they sounded different. Had they changed? Or, had they ever actually been different in the first place?

"-Error-
-Programming Interuppted-
-Error-
-Programming Interuppted-
-̗̞̰̣E̠͎͉̖̩̱͢r̞r̘̕o̦̕r̲̘͎͝-̶"

Everything is here. The screaming and running of children as they played with one another, the sound of parents conversing with one another over seemingly random subjects, asking each other how their children are or day is going, and the wí̷n͡d̵́͢ļ̶e̶͝s̴͠s͘͞ ͘s̕t̢̢i͝ļln͘͟͏e͡͏s͝ş̕͠ ̡̕͟ that surrounded us...

Right?

"-Catastrophic Programming Error Detected-"

Looking back to the water bottle, I shrugged, turning it over and spilling the remainder of the water onto the floor. I already drank what I needed anyways. Almost instantly, the dog-

Where?... The bottle fell out of my hand in shock as I saw that the dog had somehow disappeared. And I don't mean that it had walked off while I wasn't looking, but actually disappeared.

I was flabbergasted, to say the least, and I wasn't sure how to react to this. Raising a brow, I looked back down to the puddle of water below, mentally questioning where the dog had gone off to as my porthole light shined back at me.

... My... Porthole... Light?

Everything is here. The screaming and running of children as they played with one another, the sound of parents conversing with one another over seemingly random subjects, asking each other how their children are or day is going, and the gentle breeze of the wind that passed just over our heads...

Everything is here... But... Some of it shouldn't be here.

Where... Am I? Where's Rapture? Where's anything?

"HoNeY?" My wife asked, snapping me out of my previously distracted state. Turning to face her, I noticed the face of concern that she held, gently placing her hand on my shoulder as she looked me in the eyes.

"Is evErything alriGHt?" Her voice was no longer smooth, nor was it calming. As I gazed into her deep, blue-... Weren't they brown?

... And her hair... It was black before, and now its blonde. Come to think of it, I'd never really described her, had I? She...

She... Isn't... No...

I-I never had a wife! If I did, I would sure as hell at least remember her name! And my daughters... Beatrice... She... She died, long ago.

Almost as if on cue, my head started to ache, like someone had put it in a vice, mercilessly tightening it's powerful grip. Holding my head in pain, I looked upwards, to the playground. All of the children that used to be there, playing with all of their joy and energy, were gone, instead being replaced with echoes of their laughter and screams.

Ashlyn and Beatrice were the only ones there, acting as if there were other children with them, tagging and talking to the inexistent. Beatrice though, was beginning to fade away. It had started from her feet, but little by little, it made its way up to her waist, and then beyond, Beatrice not even seeming to notice as she soon disappeared all together.

"HoNey?" My supposed 'wife' called, a slight tinge of fear in her now convulsing voice. I didn't pay her any attention though, my mind continuing to ache as I slowly dispelled whatever illusion I was in.

Ashlyn shouldn't be here either. She had died just like Beatrice!

The pain came in another throbbing surge, causing me to let out a pained groan as I watched Ashlyn begin to fade as well.

"HoNeY, thAtS enOuGh!" There wasn't fear in her voice this time. Rather, it was filled with anger and malice, and as if that wasn't enough, her voice was sounding less and less like a woman's, and more like some sort of program's, static riddled and monotone.

My eyes narrowed as I looked to her, the fake being that had insisted on keeping me here. Her face was filled with static, her features seeming to pop in and out in several different shapes and colors. Looking downward, toward her slightly swollen stomach, I felt my own anger begin to grow.

That last girl... Whoever she was... She was gone...

She shouldn't be here... My 'wife' shouldn't be here... I shouldn't be here!

-Catastrophic Program Error-

********************************************

My eyelids felt heavy, resisting me as I slowly managed to pull them apart, freeing my blackened vision with a near silent groan. My entire body felt as though it had been broken, pain throbbing throughout every part of me as I laid still on my back.

As for where I was... I couldn't really tell at the moment. My vision is pretty blurry at the moment, preventing me from actually even getting an idea of where I was. I felt really tired, exhausted actually, and weak.

But, another thing that I felt, oddly enough... Was the cold. It took me a moment or two before I finally managed to focus my mind enough to remember what had happened before. How I had pulled my suit's emergency release and... I should be dead.

Yet, here I am, alive, and for the first time in years, outside of my suit. Lifting one of my arms, I moved it into my view, letting out a pained grunt as I did so.

... And there it was... Heh, funny how some people would look at themselves normally, thinking that it 'was just them'. For me though, it was completely different. After having spent years inside of a behemoth of a metal suit, the sight of my own arm, my hand, my fingers, felt so alien to me. Honestly, I actually almost panicked when I saw my arm, a part of my mind registering it to be some kind of splicer sneaking up on me. Old habits, I guess.

I put my arm back down with a sigh and took in a deep breath of fresh air, as fresh as it could be that is, as I steadily accustomed myself to being outside of my suit, the drafty, recycled air of Rapture moving around me with surprisingly fluent and careful motions.

Soon, after about-maybe-three minutes of doing this, I moved both of my arms and elbows below me, silently screaming as I lifted myself upright, ignoring the horrible pain that surged through me as best I could.

Eventually, I managed to get myself to a well enough position where I could just lean on my elbows, pain still flowing through me, but a certain steadiness keeping me up. I opened my eyes, which I had apparently clenched shut while I was lifting myself up, and let out a series of quick, pain riddled breaths as I looked down at myself.

I was... Covered in bandages? And on a mattress? What the? Raising a questioning brow through my many, subpar, breaths, I took a glance around the room, my vision starting to clear into a more visible, though still slightly blurred, level.

Near the wall of the room, there was a large red couch, seemingly torn straight down the middle, several springs and spots of fluff popping out from the seats. Opposite of that, I could see some sort of worn down stove, unworking and rusted from years of misuse, and adjacent to that, a large white projector screen, haphazardly made out of a scavenged bathysphere screen and a metal rod to keep it standing...

Was this my apartment? It had to be, right? I mean, there was no other place that had the same objects, let alone in the exact same places that I had previously left them. It just had to be. Even now, I can feel the two remains of indentations into the mattress I laid on from... Fluttershy and Rarity...

I let out another sigh as my confusion and surprise shifted to sadness, my thoughts and memories of my two last charges hitting me like a full-speed Rapture tram... They were gone... They had likely left to Equestria some time after I had lost consciousness, and by now, they were probably with their friends and family... I was sad, of course, having once again lost my charges for, what would probably be, for good, and finding myself to be in the perpetual misery of Rapture... But, I still found myself smiling.

I'd kept my word after all. I protected them, cared for them, and, I had even helped them back, despite how impossible it had originally seemed. I had no regrets.

Though... I'm still pretty curious as to how I was brought back to my apartment... Let alone how I'm even alive in the first pla-

My body suddenly stilled as the door to the apartment creaked open, the sound of footsteps clear in my ears as my mind was put into a frenzy. Had the security system to Apollo Square been shut down?

Involuntarily gulping, I felt my hands tighten as I tried to figure some way out of the situation. An escape plan, or something that I could do to get away. Ultimately though, I knew that I wouldn't be able to fight, since I still felt so incredibly weak, and I wouldn't be able to run far with my injuries. Tch, figures that I would survive just to die again.

The footsteps came closer and closer, and I stayed stock still, unable to do anything else but just hope that I would live for another moment or two.

Then, just as soon as they started, they stopped, the final step seeming to echo throughout the dark, empty room. An eerie silence filled the room, unnerving me even further than I had previously been. This silence lasted for quite some time, and I had actually begun to count the seconds .

223, 224, 22- OH, WOULD SOMEONE SAY SOMETHING ALREAD-

"O-...Omega?" My eyes widened as the incredibly familiar voice rang through the air, my breath coming to a hitch as I slowly began to process what I had heard.

... Was that?

I turned my head as far back as I could, progressively getting closer and closer to the source of the voice until, finally, I saw it. Or, should I say, them.

Standing there, near the doorway of the apartment, were the two charges that I had thought had left. Fluttershy and Rarity.

Author's Note

... What? You didn't think that I'd really take out the main character so early in the story did you? That would just be silly! :D

Though... I suppose the way I brought him back was a little... Creepy...

As for the text, first and foremost, don't worry, I'm not hacking or anything like that, I just used an online text generator called Zalgo.

Next, as you can tell, things are going to pick up a LOT. We're talking weapons, plasmids, and a few other surprises. ;)

Oh, and don't worry, I'll give everyone a description of Omega next chapter, as Im sure many of you are curious about.

Until next chapter, keep on r͇͉̭͙̼͍̿̀̑̒̎e͇̺͕̋̂̌ͫͣȧ̤̥̰̼͚̝̌ͩ͗ͥ͗̍d̘ͩͣ͐̌ͬͨi̡̠̖̙̝̱̭͕̍̊̍͗̆ņ͋ͥ̋g̀ͪͮ̊̈!

Chapter 15: A Breath Of 'Fresh' Air

I... Can't believe it. A few moments ago, I had thought that the girls were gone, never to return again as they spent the rest of their lives happily in their homes. Yet, here they were, staring at me in what seemed like shock, and uncertainty, while I returned what I surmised to be the exact same expression. The girls and I looked at one another for quite some time, frozen to our spots near the doorway and, in my case, on the mattress, as we struggled to regain our thoughts and bearings.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, one of us finally broke out of this gazing pause.

"Omega!" Fluttershy exclaimed, practically flinging herself at me as she quickly brought me into a hug, her forelegs wrapping around me in their warm... Soft... Silky... I have been missing out on soooooo much while I was in that suit.

Reacting to her friend's suddenness, Rarity also broke out of her own state, following suit after Fluttershy and making her way to my other side, sharing in the embrace as she also called my name in what I thought to be excitement... Okay, I really like these hugs.

Despite the pain I felt, especially now that the two were constricting me, it was nothing compared to the happiness, and the warmth, that had basically enveloped me. I rose my own two arms up, though rather shakily, and pulled the two even closer to me in a gentle embrace of my own, my hands and fingers running through their smooth, clean fur as I did do, being careful to avoid Fluttershy's wings.

Honestly, I myself thought that the way I had done that was strange, but the girls didn't really seem to mind, tightening their grip on me, rather than pushing me away, and sending another wave of warmth through my body. Though, it was this last tighten that had ended up getting to me, if only slightly, a short spike of pain passing through me and causing me to elicit a grunt. Fluttershy and Rarity noticed this and, much to my chagrin, quickly released me, looks of concern on their tearful faces.

Wait, tearful? Had I made them sad somehow?

"Oh dear, you're in pain." Rarity exclaimed, wiping her eyes off with a foreleg. "Fluttershy, be a dear and grab that medicine that he had given you before, when you were hurt. What was it called?" She asked herself, tapping her chin in thought. "'Aspirin'?" Fluttershy nodded, her wings flapping and lifting her up as she carefully, yet swiftly, flew out of the room and into the bathroom.

Rarity watched her fly off for a moment or two before turning her attention back to me, a caring smile on her face. "Now, lets get you comfortable. You must feel positively awful." She said as she began to gently push me back down to the mattress, reaching her forearm out and grabbing one of the sofa cushions as she did so. She placed it below my back and head, elevating my upper half slightly while still not disturbing my wounds.

Pulling her hooves away as she believed me to be in a satisfactory position, she started to speak again. "There we go. Now we just wait for Fluttershy and that-"

"Here it is, Rarity." Fluttershy inadvertently interrupted, flying back into the room with the familiar white container of pain pills in the grasp of her two forehooves, outstretching it to her friend, Rarity.

"Ah! Thank you, Fluttershy." She told her friend as she turned to her, taking the plastic container from her extended hooves. She then began to open up the container, having a little trouble at first, but eventually popping it open with a satisfied grunt, pulling off the lid and placing it on the floor next to her. Next she tried to reach her forehoof in for one of the pills, which, obviously, comically, provided her with little to no success, her hoof hitting against the sides of the opening to the container and keeping her from reaching in further. Like trying to fit a circle rivet into a square hole. Then again, I don't really think that the shape matters in that regard, considering the rivet usually ends up being punched through the metal anyhow.

Rather than frustrate herself any further, Rarity rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh, grabbing the container in her maw and tilting it onto her hoof, gently tapping it against the flat of her hoof bottom until, finally, a single pill rattled it's way out.

Fluttershy took the pill from Rarity while she preoccupied herself with closing the container, moving to me and offering it with an outstretched hoof. "W-we're out of water." She said, glancing away from me for a moment, a slight glint of self repent in her eyes, before looking back to me. Well, that would make things difficult.

Rather than say anything... Or, in my case, groan, I reached out and took the pill, my arm wobbling as I slowly brought it closer and placed it into my mouth. Moving it around in my mouth, I couldn't help but to notice the odd texture. Hard, and seemingly inscribed with an odd shape to it. Weird. As I pushed it towards my throat with my tongue, a thought came to mind.

'Wait. How long has it been since last swallowed something agai- GAK!'

Well, apparently a long time, because, one, I was barely able to swallow that pill at all, my throat feeling extremely tight and sore, and two, I nearly choked on the god damned thing. This would take some getting used to.

I let out a breath as the last of the pill went down, though admittedly with some trouble, and left the confines of my mouth, into my stomach. Fluttershy and Rarity both smiled at this, likely happy to see me responding. It's... pretty ironic actually. I, the Big Daddy, the guardian, the caretaker, etcetera, was currently being cared for by my two charges. Definitely didn't see that coming. Then again, I didn't see a lot of things coming as of recent. Like the girls staying, for instance. I mean, what kind of reason would make the girls want to spend even a second longer in this hellho- Woah, dizzy.

My vision started to blur again as a sudden sense of fatigue came to me, my eyelids feeling heavier as I put my hand to my head and groaned. Fluttershy and Rarity seemed to notice this rather quickly, giving one another a similar glance before looking to me.

"You should get your rest, darling. It's the best thing for your condition, really." Rarity said, grabbing the blanket that had been layered on me with her teeth and pulling it up higher to cover my chest.

"Oh, yes, that's right. If you need anything though, Rarity and I will be right here, so don't hesitate to ask." I was going to raise an arm to gesture to them... Or, was I going to nod?... Too dizzy to really think straight... Wow, that pill works fa-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity and Fluttershy watched as their damaged guardian slowly slipped into the world of dreams, small smiles coming to their faces as his chest rose and fell in calm restfulness, and eyes came to a slow close. To say that they were happy to see that he had awoken, if only for a moment, would have been an understatement. Rather, they were thrilled.

Putting a hoof over her mouth to gesture for silence as their friend rested, Fluttershy bobbed her head to the door, hoping that she would be able to talk to Rarity, outside, for a short moment. Rarity nodded, following her friend with quiet, measured steps while Fluttershy used her wings to keep herself afloat a few inches off the ground. As they opened the door and exited the apartment, Rarity gave one last glance to her sleeping guardian, a sense of happiness coming to her before she closed the door.

It wasn't until the two were completely outside of the room, the door pushed to a close behind them, before they began to converse again, a more cheery aura to their tones.

"Oh, thank goodness he's okay." Fluttershy said, glancing to the closed door and her lips curving upwards into a smile.

"Especially after all that he's been through! My word, do you remember the condition we found him in?" Fluttershy nodded again, the memory coming to her mind as clear as crystal. It wasn't exactly a pleasant experience, but it was an experience nonetheless.

********************************************

As Fluttershy and Rarity ran to the bathysphere, the ground felt almost inexistent below them, they were running so fast. Their breaths were becoming labored, hearts beating at almost unbelievable speeds, but they ignored these signs of exhaust, their minds set firmly on one simple fact. If they made it to the bathysphere, then they had essentially also made it home.

Corner after corner, the turns seemed to get tighter and tighter, tripping the two up every now and again, only to quickly recover and continue. This went on for what felt like an eternity, but was really few mere minutes, until finally, turning past one last hall, they saw it. The bathysphere was right there, it's odd, rusted and chipped outer covering seeming more like a beacon of serenity than a machine of age as the two felt their spirits skyrocket at the sight.

Rarity was the first to jump into the machine, turning and waving for Fluttershy to hop in. "Hurry!" She cried out as Fluttershy made her way in as well, her breathing heavy and shallow as she struggled to regain her composure.

"We... We made it..." She managed through her breaths, turning her head to the bathysphere door as Omega made his wa-... Where was Omega? Her brows rose in surprise, then confusion, as she glanced around the outside of the bathysphere, her friend, Rarity, going over the several buttons that the bathysphere was internally comprised off.

"Lets see... 'Apollo square', no. 'Fort Frolic', tempting, but no... Tah, tah, tah... Ah, here we are! 'Surface'!" Rarity exclaimed, reaching her forehoof to the currently flashing red button. This was it. Their chance to head home, be with their family and friends again, and try to put this whole mess behind them. Seconds before she could push it though...

"Rarity?" Fluttershy asked, her friend pausing as she turned to Fluttershy, who was currently looking out of the bathysphere with a questioning brow raised. She turned to Rarity, giving her the same look, and asked, "Where's Omega?"

This threw Rarity for a slight loop, her head tilting and brow raising as she, giving another glance to the button before doing so, came to her friend's side and followed her earlier gaze outside of the bathysphere. "Wasn't he right behind us?" She mused, just loud enough for Fluttershy to hear.

The two were silent for a moment, waiting for the sound of the heavy footsteps and loud metallic groans that they had come to know to be customary of their friend. Sounds that, much to their worry, never came. "D-... Do you think he's alright?" Fluttershy asked.

Rarity gave a slow, unsure nod, putting a hoof to her chin in what seemed like a combination of thought and confusion. "...Yes... I'm sure he is..." She hesitantly told her friend, an ear involuntarily twitching. To her though, just as it was to Fluttershy, this was highly unusual. Omega had never left them for long, even if it was death that had forced them apart.

It was with that thought though that Rarity's eyes widened, her head shaking as she let out a chuckle, gaining a questioning look from Fluttershy. "Yes, yes, I'm sure he's fine! After all Fluttershy, this has happened before, hasn't it?"

Slowly, uncertainly, Fluttershy also nodded her head, beginning to understand what her companion had meant. "Um, right?..."

"Perhaps Omega simply got caught up with something. Or, he had another repair to do?" She assured to Fluttershy, and partly herself, as she made her way to the bathysphere control panel again, her eyes on the button that would end this mess.

"Y-yeah. I guess." Fluttershy turned and moved to one of the seats behind her, climbing up and seating herself as she continued to look to the hall expectantly.

Her hoof now on the button, Rarity looked to Fluttershy one last time, giving her another reassuring statement. "Omega is a very strong individual, darling. He's fought and... Well, died, various times, from what we've seen. What's to say this time will be any different?"

As Fluttershy heard this, a light seemed to go off, her eyes widening as she realized one single fact that Rarity, and her, seemed to have been neglecting.

"Why, I'm sure that he's-" Before Rarity could even half-complete her statement, Fluttershy bolted out of the bathysphere, her friend's eyes widening in both shock and surprise as she saw this. "Fluttershy?!?" She yelled out, watching in paralyzed anxiety as her friend rounded the corner and left her sight.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was in a state of panic. Not for herself, but rather, for her friend. Whenever Omega would... pass on, his light would go out, and he would reappear in one of the green cylindrical chambers that they would often pass by. However, when she had last seen Omega, his light was already out, even though he hadn't been killed. Could that mean that, if he were to die, he wouldn't come back? She wasn't sure, but that was the last thing that she wanted to take a risk on, and she was prepared to run as far back as she needed to in order to her, apparently missing, metal companion.

In the end though, she didn't have to travel far, rounding only a pair of corners before, despite her seemingly hurried state, she froze, mid-gallop. Her eyes were wide as she stared down the hall, her body irresponsive as she gazed at the one thing that awaited her there. Near the end of the passageway laid the one thing that she had never thought she would see, at least, on its own. A large, metal helmet, it's porthole facing the cold floor, lifeless and dull, a blue color outlining the now emptied and split headwear. This was Omega's helmet.

Not saying a word, mostly because she found herself to be unable to, she made her way over to the lost piece of her friend's armor, her hooves half-dragging beneath her from their sudden weight. Much like her hooves, her mind was also weighed, thoughts of the worst flowing through her mind as she gradually came closer to the hollow helm.

It was but only a few mere moments before she reached the molded metal, her forearms involuntarily trembling as she reached for it and, with a considerable push on it's edge, leaned it upwards, pointing the porthole to face her. The glass was cracked right down the middle, fragmenting off to the sides and pointing inwards to the wearer, and stains of crimson could be seen staining spots of it from within.

Fluttershy's trembling grew as she saw this, tears forming in her eyes and threatening to spill as she pulled the helm in closer to her being. Omega, the one who had protected her and Rarity, who had cared for them, was... Was...

Before she could finish the thought and allow herself to break down, a familiar sound filled the hall, though only resounding as a faint echo. One that caused Fluttershy's eyes to widen and a small spark of hope to stir within her. A groan.

"Omega?" She called, her head turning as she looked around for her friend. She didn't receive a response, but that did nothing but to further spur her efforts. She was certain that it was Omega who had made that noise, and she would not allow herself to leave without ensuring that he was alright.

"Omega? Omega?!" She yelled, much to her own surprise. This time, it was not her usual quiet and involuntarily controlled yell, but a full fledged yell as she carefully placed the helmet back down and began to look around. She turned the corner closest to her, and the helmet, in the hopes that her friend would be there. "Omeg- Eep!"

She quickly retreated around the corner again as the first thing she saw was the pale, cold face of a splicer, face down and pointing sideways on the ground, a small pool of red surrounding it, and covered in... Metal? A brow of hers rose in confusion as she looked to the corner again, mentally processing what she had just seen. "W-... Was that?"

Ever the cautious one, Fluttershy slowly peaked her head around the corner once more, regaining a view of the face down figure. Narrowing her eyes for a better view, Fluttershy could make out that the metal that surrounded the splicer had been split into pieces, basically falling apart at the hinges. Each of several pieces were spread out above, to the sides, and below the splicer, seeming to revolve around the being.

Of everything, the only thing that remained attached to the being were a pair of large rubbery gloves, metal cuffs around the clothing articles, and attached to one, the left one specifically, was... An ESU.

Fluttershy gasped as she noticed the familiar piece of machinery attached the downed figure's gloves, dropping her cautious approach as she ran around the corner and skidded to a halt to it's side, the blood partially staining her hooves, the warmth of it causing a nauseated shiver to go through her. She ignored these stains and sensations as best she could, looking down to the obviously unconscious being that laid below her.

At this point however, she knew fully well that this wasn't just any splicer of sorts that she had come across. It was for that reason that the helmet was so close, the metal that surrounded it seemed so familiar, the groan that had come from so close, and the ESU, though she didn't really know what it was called, was so firmly attached to it's gloved wrist. As much as she couldn't seem to get her mind around it, if not from surprise then from utter shock, this 'splicer', as she had thought it to be, was Omega.

Though she wasn't 100% certain of this thought, she was still sure enough to give him a once over, looking him over, despite her apprehension at the sight of such blood and pain, occasionally pushing away pieces of metal to clear her view. She wasn't a medical pony, but she didn't need to be to see that the condition that 'Omega' was in seemed horrible, at a lack of better words. Deep cuts and large bruises were spread throughout his torso, some of which seeming to have gashed across him, while others seem to have impaled his chest.

It was a fairly sickening sight for one like Fluttershy, especially as she pushed aside some odd, clear tubes among the metal, fluids of unknown substance leaking out of them and adding to the pool below the two, but she persevered, continuing to shove the metal and plastic off of Omega.

By the time she had finished, she felt her heart tighten as she looked upon the sight before her, the pale figure that laid before her's every detail seeming numb. She took in a deep, shaky breath as she leaned in closer to Omega, laying her head sideways against his chest. The first thing to register in her mind was cold, the body feeling cool and clammy as she came into contact with it. The second, and much more important thing she felt though, was the faint rising and falling of his chest, a weak, near silent beat accompanying it. He was alive, but just barely.

"Oh dear." Fluttershy acted as quickly as she could, circling around Omega, desperately seeking some part where she could grab him without harming him. Eventually, she settled on his hands, approaching his right arm and gently picking up his large, gloved hands before she then gave it a pull... Only to fall flat on her back with an 'eep' as the glove slipped off, revealing his bare hand.

"Ow." Fluttershy said as she picked herself up from the floor, her wings fluttering slightly as they winced in pain from the sudden fall. Despite this discomfort of hers, Fluttershy continued on, standing once more and making her way to Omega again, lowering her head as she made to grab his hand, hopefully this time with more success.

"Fluttershy! What are you doing?!?" Fluttershy's head shot up as she turned to see her friend, Rarity, rushing to her, a look of concern clear on her face. "Get away from there! Oh, Celestia, you're covered in... Ick." Rarity said as she reached her friend, grasping and turning over Fluttershy's forehoof to reveal the crimson that stained the bottom of it. "Tch... Oh, never mind that! What in heavens were you thinking?!? Running in the manner that you did when we only have a limited time to return, let alone the fact that I found you here next to this splicer! He could've hurt you if you weren't careful!"

"B-but Rarity, I-" Fluttershy began, her voice almost a whisper as she tried to explain the situation to her friend, who would evidently have none of it as she interrupted her.

"Granted, this splicer won't seem to cause us much trouble, but you really should be more careful. Omega isn't here to protect us at the moment, after all."

"Rarity, that's what I-" she was yet again interrupted by her friend as she gave her a considerable pull, turning to face the direction that led to the bathysphere.

"Now, come along. If we hurry, we may still be able to make it back home." Fluttershy looked back to the unconscious Omega behind her as she began to be dragged by Rarity back towards the bathysphere. Seeing him there, hurt, weak... dying... something gave way. Fluttershy's eyes narrowed as she stamped her three unheld hooves firmly to the ground, nearly causing Rarity to fall due to the sudden stop, regaining her balance just in time to keep her grace. "Oh, that was close." She said with a sigh before turning to face Fluttershy. "Now, why did you-..." Rarity stopped herself as she came face to face with, much to her, and likely anypony's surprise, a seemingly angered Fluttershy, her eyes narrowed as she stared her down.

"Rarity," she began. "this splicer is Omega!" She told her in a shockingly serious tone, gesturing her hoof to the figure that laid face down in a small pool of crimson behind her. Rarity rose a brow at this, glancing at the figure before returning her gaze to Fluttershy.

"I- you- what!?!" She stuttered, flabbergasted at this seemingly ridiculous notion. "Fluttershy, darling, this is not Omega. Why, this can't be! Just look at him!" Despite her case though, Fluttershy didn't back down, her narrowed eyes continuing to look upon her companion in a serious demeanor.

"Just look at him Rarity! Look at me! I know Omega, and this is him!" Rarity wanted to say something, but she was in too great a state of shock to do so. Fluttershy normally wouldn't act like this, so for her to suddenly have this change in attitude was beyond stunning, to say the least. "I found him here near Omega's helmet!" She said, pointing to the hollow metal helm at the corner of the halls. "He was covered in metal, like Omega's armor!" This time gesturing to the metal scattered around him. "And, he has the same thing that Omega used to protect us attached to his arm!" One last gesture to the remaining glove of the figure, the familiar looking metal contraption attached, brought about a look of uncertainty to Rarity, lightly biting her lower lip as she looked over the figure.

"..." Rarity sighed, shaking her head as she looked to the floor. "Well, even if it is Omega, why should we be so worried? After all, he'll simply come back in a matter of seconds." Fluttershy's eyes seem to narrow even further at this, causing Rarity to openly flinch at her demeanor.

"That's just it! What if he doesn't come back!?! This entire time, he's always been brought back in that suit of his. Now, its broken! What if, instead of come back, he stays gone?!!" She said with one last stomp of her hoof, the sound somehow echoing through the hall and adding even more authority and emotion to it. Rarity, in response to this, simply looked to the floor, her ears flat against her head as she wordlessly stood in thought.

"... If it is Omega-"

"I'm sure it is."

"And he really won't come back-"

"I'm not going to take that chance."

"Then how do you expect for us to get him back to the bathysphere in time to return to Equestria?" To this, Fluttershy went quiet, a thought filled look on her face as she looked to her other companion.

"... I don't think we can..." The two shared a moment of silence at this, unmoving and still as they sat in deep, contemplative thought. It was but a few seconds later though that Fluttershy seemingly broke free of these thoughts. Rarity looked back up as her friend approached 'Omega', bending her head downwards and taking his wrist into her maw.

In all honesty, Fluttershy was well aware that, if she did this, she wouldn't be able to make it back to the bathysphere in time to reach Equestria again. At the same time though, she knew that she wouldn't be able to leave if she wanted to. Not without making sure that her friend, Omega, would be alright.

Planting her hooves firmly on the ground, she gave out a short grunt as tugged at Omega's wrist, his shoulder and body following along with it, but ultimately, barely moving at all. Even outside of his suit, Omega was still larger than her, and by logic, heavier too. As the worry that she may not be able to return him to the bathysphere, where the first aid kit that Omega had previously showed them laid, in time, Omega suddenly moved further, and with much more ease.

A feeling of confusion came over her as she opened her eyes, which she had inadvertently closed in her struggle, and glanced around her. Much to her surprise, Rarity hadn't left. Rather, she was opposite of Omega, his adjacent wrist in her mouth's grip, despite the glove that was still attached to his hand, and pulling along with Fluttershy.

If Fluttershy could at the moment, she would likely have smiled at the sight of her friend helping her, despite the risk, and likely the sacrifice, that she was making.

********************************************

"... Sorry for yelling at you like that Rarity." Fluttershy apologized as she remembered the events, only now realizing how aggressive she must have sounded. Rarity just waved her off however, a smile on her face as she shook her head.

"That's quite alright, darling. After all, you had your heart in the right place, and as you can tell, it paid off, did it not?" She replied, gesturing to the door where Omega was currently resting behind. Fluttershy smiled as a small blush came to her from Rarity's praise, looking downwards and absentmindedly tapping her hooves together.

"... Thank you, Rarity."

"Any time, dear."

The room was dark as three, familiar figures rested for yet another night in the city below the sea... At least, what they believed to be night. It could be so hard to tell when they're so deep under the ocean's surface.

Omega lay calmly in the mattresses that he had originally given as a resting place to his charges, enjoying a drowsy, and slightly drug-fueled, slumber through his weakness and pain.

Fluttershy rested nearby her friend, on the couch, though it only had two cushions remaining at the moment, with Rarity at her side, her quiet and peaceful breaths adding to the room's sense of serenity.

As for Rarity though, sleep had not proven to come easy. She would dose off every now and then, but she would still end up reawakening from her slumbered state. Truthfully though, the reason for this issue was well known to her, despite how much she would try to push it off. Guilt.

When Fluttershy had found Omega, she had doubted her, and tried to pull her away from her other companion and guardian, possibly leaving him to have died. She had even outright called him a 'splicer', which, looking at him now, he simply couldn't be.

Unlike splicers, he seemed more... Controlled, and normal. Not that she was that sure of what a normal human looked like, that is, but it just seemed like it. His skin was pale, but it still managed to keep, what she surmised to be, a surprisingly healthy, and flawless tone. At least, except for the odd, and attention-grabbing, sickly black collection of lines that traveled along the side of his neck, to his right cheek, and leading just to the bottom of his eye as it split and traveled along his veins.

His eyes, from what she had seen when he was still awake, were near colorless, and hazy, as if he were blind, and his hair seemed to be white. Not a regular sort of white, but, more bleached, as if the color had been burned out of it. Along with that, there was also a large scar that went around the entirety of his neck, a thought of Omega's lost voice constantly coming to Rarity's mind as she looked to it.

As she had thought before, Omega looked much more different than a splicer. In fact, he looked quite...

Shaking the thought away, she let out a quiet sigh as she closed her eyes again, hoping that she would be able to get a better time of rest this time.

In her mind though, she knew that it would prove to be more of a chore than a simple task. After all, it was because of her that Omega nearly wouldn't have been rescued. And more importantly, there was another matter that weighed her mind.

Though she hadn't told Fluttershy, the thought of what her likely angered friend would do to her if she had informed her, there was a reason that she hadn't necessarily inmediately run after her friend when she had left to find Omega.

She had, much to her personal shame, stayed behind in the bathysphere, the thought of... Leaving both Fluttershy and Omega so that she could return to Equestria more than causing a small sense of temptation. After all, she wasn't sure if Fluttershy would return in time at the moment, and she certainly didn't want Sweetie Belle, or her friends, to worry about both of them, rather than just one...

"'Element of generosity'... Why, I dare to say, I may actually be more selfish than Blueblood..."

Author's Note

Ok, here's a few chapter notes.

Omega likes hugs... Yup.
Apparently, Fluttershy can and will get angry if you screw with her friends... Though, had she ever actually yelled before? Man, she must really care.
Now we know what Omega looks like without his suit. (Cue sounds of triumphant choir.)
I'm pretty sure that this chapter got a little wonky near the end there. So, I'd appreciate any, if at all, tips on how to fix it.
If anyone actually managed to make a picture of Omega from what was read in this chapter and send it to me, they'll get a sneak peek at the next chapter, online credit, and their image shown.

So, in conlusion, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and see you all next time! :)

Omega Fan-art so far:

By: Ketvirtas
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By: Brightlight24 (Figured I'd give it a shot. :))

By: Papa Bear

Chapter 16: Day One of Free Thought

The halls of the Hephaestus Core were in turmoil. Splicers of all kinds and sizes roamed through the halls, each of them going about themselves in a festive manner, breaking down doors, destroying machinery, and, on occasion, killing one another.

Was this another splicer uprising? Were splicers once again organizing themselves as they had so incredibly done years ago? No. For this was no riot, not yet at least. This gathering and chaotic reign of the splicers in this area was with no true ill intent, by splicer standards that is. Rather, this was a celebration.

It was during a splicer's patrolling of the Hapheastus core that he had first found it, and since then, word had spread quickly over the span of the following days, and eventually, splicers from all over gathered, if only for this one time, to cheer and let loose at the thought of the one thorn in their side's to finally be 'swimming with the fishes', as one of the crowd members had referred to it as.

They were celebrating the death of the 'Metal Feline'.

"Good on ya mate!" A Brute splicer told one of his inferiors, nudging, though it might as well have been a push with his considerable strength, the Leadhead splicer next to him. The splicer nearly fell over, out of his seat, with this, but he simply let out a laugh, taking another gulp of his bottle of whiskey, which he had found among one of the other room's wreckage, as he looked to the Brute with a chuckle.

"Thanks, ya bloke. Glad t' see that we won't never have t' deal with that metal biggun again." The splicers around him all cheered and groaned, giving the splicer who had found both the helmet and suit remnants of the metal feline several shoves, most of his whiskey spilling right out of his bottle, though he was much too far gone at this point to notice.

"Ey, 'ow about you show it again, eh? One last time for this barrel of fishes?" A Houdini splicer suggested, his voice just barely audible among the rest of the crowd. It was as he said this though that the other splicers quickly began to yell in agreement, all of them asking for the splicer to show his 'trophy' one last time, if only just for the laughs. His voice garbled, the Leadhead responded.

"Ahhhh, ya bunch'a lugs. Alright, alright, once more then, once more..." As the splicers all gave a cheer at this, the Leadhead nudged the Brute splicer next to him, unsteadily gesturing to the prize of his below the table. The Brute nodded, the two of them reaching under the flat surface before, with a grunt from the Leadhead and a chuckle from the Brute, the two lifted the souvenir that the Leadhead had recently obtained, the crowd going into a frenzy as they saw it.

Within the unbalanced grasp of the splicer, assisted by the Brute as he steadied the thing, was a now heavily marked and cracked Rosie helmet, profanities and colorings of all sorts now inscribed to the mask, given from most of the splicers out there.

"Folks," he slurred, his cheeks turning red. "the metal feline is as good as-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Asleep?" Rarity quietly asked, her voice a whisper as her brow rose in the direction of the large lump that had hidden itself under the blankets.

"Yes, he's still asleep. Oh, he must have been really tired." Fluttershy returned, her wings adjusting as she pulled herself up onto and laid on the couch, despite it's still missing cushion. Rarity's face twisted as a sense of worry came to her, glancing to the white screen and projector that still stood by the far wall.

"Tch, oh, but what if he doesn't wake up on time! The girls have been worried sick about him since we first told them about our... 'Extended stay', and I'm certain that they would like to see him." Fluttershy looked up from her resting place and gave her friend a reassuring smile, an ear twitching as her mane adjusted.

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine. Besides, I-I'm sure that he wouldn't mind if we woke him, that is, if only so the girls can see that he's fine." Rarity bit the inside of her cheek at this, once again glancing at the lump before returning her gaze to her friend.

"... Yes, I... Suppose so..." A third glance to the lump under the blankets again, which had begun to shift and shuffle in it's rest, and a twisting sense in her stomach began to grow, virtually ineffable in nature.

"...Would he still be in such a horrid condition if I had just listened to Fluttershy earlier?" She thought to herself as she let out a sigh, heading to the bathroom for a quick wash of her face. Perhaps she just needed to clear her thoughts some.

"Is it time yet?"

"No."

"How about now?"

"Not yet, Sugarcube."

"Now?"

"No, Pinkie."

"...Now-"

"PINKIE!" All the ponies shouted, their friend's constant badgering having gotten to them after the two hours that they had been forced to patiently wait. Pinkie, at the sudden surprise that she had felt at the shouts, let out a giggle, gesturing to her mouth as if closing up a zipper and throwing away the key. Then, just for good measure, and likely for the heck of it, she reached behind her, into her overly-sized cotton candy mane, and pulled out a roll of duck tape, taking it in both hooves and giggling as she wrapped it around her mouth as many times as possible. The ponies around her all looked to her in confusion and amusement, though mostly confusion, as she did this, but shrugged it off as 'just Pinkie' before they returned their gazes to the floating orb that still rested in the throne room of Celestia and Luna.

Since the day that Fluttershy and Rarity were supposed to come back, the girls had become much more vigilant of the magical communicator that kept them, Rarity, Fluttershy, and even Omega, in contact. Admittedly, during the first day after they hadn't returned, they were in a slight panic, the fear that their friends, and sibling, in Sweetie Belle's case, hadn't made it out coming clearly to mind. It was only when the time interval between communication attempts ended, however, and the girls were able to make a successful call did their worry calm... Only to be replaced by anger.

Statements such as, 'what were ya thinkin'?', 'where were you?', and 'why didn't you head back?' were the first things to greet the two when they were called. Statements which, by all means, were then quickly silenced by one simple response.

'Omega got hurt... Badly.'

The girls hadn't seen Omega since they had first heard that he was hurt, and they could only hope that he would get better as time passed. The princesses, the four remaining members of the elements, and even the little filly, SweetieBelle, watched and waited as time passed, hoping that their newly met, and though admittedly not well-known, companion would be well.

Now, they were only about a minute away from their next call, all of them, excluding the princesses, who had royal matters to attend to, waiting as the white orb slowly, ever so slowly, began to take a more definitive shape again. The fluctuating mass stabilizing more and more, the edges of which becoming smooth as everypony narrowed their eyes in what seemed like focus, as they willed for the communicator to finish its recharge, all of this in silent, tedious, unfiltered, qui-

"BOO!"

Everypony in the room jumped and yelped at the sudden surprise, some worse than others, before turning to the chortling pink pony behind them, who had somehow managed to remove all the layerings of duck tape she had placed on herself without so much as pulling a hair.

"Ah, horse apples, Pinkie! Now ain't th' time fer tomfoolery!" Applejack said with a sigh, adjusting her Stetson, which had moved out of place from that earlier scare, to tilt itself up higher.

Pinkie Pie giggled again as a response, her hooves clopping together as she began to bounce slightly in her usual, sugar-filled excitement.

"Oh, I couldn't help it. You all were just there, looking super duper serious, not talking, or moving, or blinking, and I figured, 'hey, why not?' and just went for it! So, did i get ya? Huh? Huh? Huh?!?"

"Pin-" Before Twilight could even begin her spiel to Pinkie, likely subjected on the importance of taking matters such as these with more seriousness, there was a bright shine from behind them, the white orb finally gaining its full, smooth, and circular shape as it signaled that it was prepared for another call.

"Ooh, I got it!" Pinkie yelled in excitement as she sprinted for the orb, inevitably passing through it as she forgot that magic was needed in order to access it, and became slightly discombobulated, causing for her to pause and look around as she gained her momentary bearings.

"... I think I missed!" Twilight placed her hoof on her face at this, her horn glowing a soft shade of purple as she enveloped the white orb, the other girls chuckling at Pinkie's jokingful ignorance, and prepared to begin the communication spell once more. Hopefully, this time, they would see that Omega had made progress in his recovery. Or, at the very least, they would just get to see Omega.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... Well, I managed to get some sleep, at the very least. Didn't really try to, but I still did. That's a good thing, I guess. Plus, I actually don't feel that bad anymore. Granted, I'm still pretty sore, and by that I mean a 6/10 when it comes to pain, and kinda shaky, but I still feel better nonetheless. Thank you ADAM laced, Rapture brand pills!

Oh, and speaking of which, did you know that Rapture brand pills are designed not to have a hallucinogenic or dizzy side effect? Because they aren't, but for some reason, the floor still feels as though it's moving. I raised a brow from under the blankets, which I had apparently covered myself with in my sleep, and placed my hand on the mattress, thinking that, if I just held something steady, that I'd be able to regain my bearings... No, I still feel like I'm moving.

It wasn't until I actually started to listen, hearing the grunts of my two charges and the shifting of the mattresses, that I realized that I actually was being moved. Just... What the?

"GIRls, WhAT arE yOu DoI-" I stopped myself as, rather than a groan, I heard my own 'voice', my eyes widening in surprise at this. Odd, the only time I'm actually able to hear my voice is when-... OH CRAP!

I jolted out from the covers as quickly as I could, my torso protesting the entire time, but not nearly enough to really impede me. Fluttershy and Rarity, from what I saw out of the corner of my eye, both jumped back at this, watching as I, basically, wrestled with the coverings to get them off again.

"JUst- woUld yOu- oKaY, YoU knOw WhaT!?!" I ranted to myself, eventually settling on putting myself back under the covers before, literally, shoving the entire thing off from top to bottom, sending it just far enough to lay atop of my lower chest and waist, keeping my bottom half covered while I was now able to turn and look with my top. Not exactly how I was expecting that would go, but it would do.

"FiNallY..." Letting out a sigh, I looked to my right, where the projector was, and was immediately met by... About 5 pairs of wide eyes. A moment of silence came as everyone looked to me, Fluttershy and Rarity's gazes seeming more worried than anything though, my brow raising in both confusion and slight discomfort as this went on... On a side note, I probably should have checked if I was clothed before I went through that little episode there, so its a really good thing that I noticed that I had shorts on now, and that the blankets ended up covering me. Well... Really they were boxers but- I'm getting off subject.

"O-... Omega?" Twilight asked, her head tilting and brow raising as she looked to me. I, in turn, I rose my hand up and gave her a quick wave, signaling that I heard her... And maybe that I was Omega in the first place.

"Um... hI?" I uttered, unsure of what else I could really say. Another moment of silence passed as Twilight looked me over, from top to bottom, a curious gaze on her.

"... You look... Different." Well, I'm glad that we've come to a consensus. Rolling my eyes at the obvious statement of hers, and quickly regretting it as I remembered only after that they could see me doing that now, I pushed my elbows below me and, with a pained grunt, adjusting myself into a better position, leaning on the mattresses against my elbow, to be more comfortable, even if only slightly.

"I'vE notIcEd. StiLl nOt sURe EXActly hoW difFEreNt, bUt I'Ve noticEd." The ponies in the projector all followed Twilight's lead, looking me over and, slowly, but surely, absorbing my new appearance. Again, this is making me really uncomfortable.

"Well, I think he looks great!" ... Um, thanks? My eyes slightly widened as none other than Sweetie Belle exclaimed this with a small hop, a smile on her face as she looked to me gleefully. "Besides, now we know that he's okay, right?"

The other ponies slowly moved out of their observative shells as Sweetie Belle said this, each of them looking to one another and muttering in agreement. As they did this, Sweetie Belle looked to me and gave me a smug wink, as if she knew about the rather uncomfortable moment that she had just brought to an end. Man, I love that kid... Pony... Kid pony? Whatever it was.

I gave her an appreciative nod in return, my neck cricking slightly as I did so, making me flinch. Maybe I'd been laying down for too long?... Actually, how long had I been lying dow-

"Yeah! Especially after the three whole days we spent without seeing him!" Pinkie Pie added, my eyes widening as I processed what she had just said.

Three days?!? How could I have been out for three days!?! It barely felt like an hour! I mean, I guess that would make sense, really. After all, the last that I remember, I was basically on the very verge of death. A permanent death. But still, three days? Fluttershy had said that they, and by that I mean her and Rarity, had run out of water some time ago. If I had stayed unconscious longer, or if I just didn't wake up at all...

"Omega?" Fluttershy's voice broke through my thoughts, my head slightly lifting as I turned to face her, noticing the expression of concern that she currently had on. "Are you okay?" Taking a quick glance around, I noticed that, much like her, everyone else seemed to be giving me their own faces of worry. Guess I got little too in my thoughts.

Shaking my head, I let out a sigh as I pushed my mental statements aside for the moment. "YeAH, I'm FinE." I reassured, waving off the subject as best I could.

Rarity, Fluttershy, and, to an extent, Sweetie Belle, gave me momentary looks of concerned skepticism, but eventually, they shrugged it off, the other's continuing to look to me questioningly as this happened.

"... Um... Right..." Twilight chimed, trying to move on from the subject. "Anyways, it's good to see that you're well, Omega. Or, at least as 'well' as you can be at the moment."

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash agreed, flying upwards to the upper edge of the projector as she looked to me with a smile. "Besides, if you were gone, who would take care of Flutters and Rare over there?" She said jokingly, drawing a scowl from Rarity and a blush from Fluttershy. "Plus, its not often that I find somepony who's almost as tough as me." She boasted, seeming to pose herself as she went on cockily.

Rolling my eyes, I felt myself chuckle as the other pony, Applejack, made her way into the coversation. "Now hold yer horses Dash, Omega ain't playin' second fiddle to ya. Heck, he's stronger than all of us. I reckon even Big Mac."

"Psh, with his suit, yeah! But now, I could probably take him." A brow of mine rose at this, a spark of challenge going through me as she said this.

"YoU knOW, I doNt teChniCaLly nEeD thAT suiT. mY gEneTic moDiFicatIonS caN MorE thAN mAKe UP foR It." Despite my explanation though, Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes, her hoof spinning as she gave me a face that just said 'yeah, sure'.

Alright. If that's how you want to play it...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Honestly Rainbow Dash, now is hardly the time!" Rarity thought to herself as she watched her friend egg Omega on, though she knew fully well that it was only a joke of hers. Even Omega seemed to be playing along, 'arguing' back his own reasoning.

Fluttershy, Twilight, and the others, watched as this went on, amused looks on their faces as they watched the display. Nonetheless however, Rarity and Fluttershy also felt a great sense of worry as this continued. After all, Rainbow Dash did have the tendency of going too far without knowing it, despite not having done so just yet.

"Oh, come on! You're too pasty! There's no way that you could beat me!" Rainbow continued, a smile on her face and her eyes narrow in 'confidence' as she went on.

"ReALly?" Omega replied, a glint of his own confidence in his eyes. "ThEN hoW AbOuT I liFt thE CoUch Up AgaIN thEn? YoU thInk ThaT wIll coNviNce yoU?" Both Fluttershy and Rarity's eyes widened at this, only doing more so as they noticed their friend make to get up. Omega, despite his persistent and hard shelled nature, was not in the condition to even try any sort of physical labor. So, being his friends, and momentary caretakers, Fluttershy and Rarity quickly jumped into action... Literally.

"No!" The two yelled suddenly, practically jumping onto Omega as they gripped him between their forehooves in an attempt to keep him from doing anything rash.

"Are you mad?! You're barely able to move, let alone do anything that would seem more extreme!" Rarity exclaimed as Fluttershy looked on with an almost pleading look, the two drawing a raised brow from both Rainbow and Omega.

"... Um, GiRls, I wAS OnLy kIddINg." Omega reassured, a sense of confusion from their sudden reaction in his tone.

"Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't really try to get him to do something like that... Yet." Rainbow added, a similar tone in her voice to that of Omega's.

Now, with everypony's, and human's, attention set on the girls, the two's faces heated up from the, admittedly embarrassing, situation they were in, the two releasing small, sheepish smiles as they released their companion and took a slight step back, Fluttershy attempting to hide herself behind Omega as her timidity reared it's head again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well... That was... Different? The girls let go of me, once again separating me from their warm 'embrace' as they put on sheepish smiles, their cheeks turning slightly red from, what I guessed to be, embarrassment, as they both moved off of me. Though, Fluttershy ended up moving behind me, trying to hide herself under her mane and behind me to keep herself out of the sight of her friends, her usual shy nature taking over again. Rarity, in the meanwhile, was trying to keep a straight face, looking forward as the red on her face continued, likely trying to compose herself.

"Heh, good to see that nothing's changed..." I took a glance down at myself and mentally rolled my eyes. "Well, nothing much." Shrugging, I looked to the projector once again, moving to make conversation again.

"SO... I'm JuSt goIng tO MovE oNTo thE ImpoRtant matTEr fOr thE mOmeNt... WhAT NoW?" Now, when I say this, I mean that, since the girls weren't able to get home before, (And I feel extremely responsible about this) and that the bathysphere systems were probably locked down from their surface access again, that they would have another idea for getting the girls home.

After all, injured, suitless, or otherwise, I was still a Big Daddy, they were still my charges, and I would not go back on my word to bring them back safe.

"Well..." Twilight began, putting her hoof to her chin as she looked to the ground. "I'm still not sure. That plan from earlier was our best shot, wasn't it?" I let out a sigh as I nodded, well aware of just how good of an opportunity we had missed. For a moment, everyone in the room gained a seemingly solemn view. Everyone, except Sweetie Belle, who just rose her hand- er, hoof, in excitement.

"Wait!" She exclaimed, waving her hoof slightly as we all looked to her. She let out a small, adorable smile as we gave her our attention, putting her hoof back down and looking to us happily. "Didn't you say that there were 'two' ways to reach the surface?"

Huh, she remembered that? Everyone's eyes widened at this, small smiles coming to some of them as a similar sense of excitement to SweetieBelle's came to them.

"Heyyyy, she's right!" Pinkie agreed, a face of hyper-realization about her before she rose her hoof up slightly and put it in front of SweetieBelle. Her smile growing, Sweetie Belle quickly bumped her hoof against Pinkie's in a sort of, er, high hoof.

The ponies quickly began to converse with one another at the prospect of another method in retrieving their friends, my charges, from Rapture, a small spark of annoyance, likely from my programming, passing through me as they did so.

"Yes, yes, that perfect!" Twilight squeed, clapping her forehooves together as she looked to the three of us again. "So Omega, what's the other way?" She asked excitedly.

... I really wish they didn't ask that. I mean, there was a reason that I never told them about what the second method was exactly.

Hesitantly, I began to open my mouth, a response already in mind for her question, when suddenly, the projector started to flicker. Both the girls, and their friends, seemed to notice this, putting on faces of annoyance and disappointment.

"Aww. Already?" Sweetie Belle asked, a pout on her face. Twilight let out a sigh as she took another glance at the fading screen, before looking back to the three of us.

"We'll have to talk about it later. Maybe by then, the princesses will be available too." I, and my charges, nodded, giving the group out own scattered farewells as, eventually, the screen flickered out, returning the room to its original light as the projector shut down.

I guess that, now, all we can do is wait... Does that mean that I have to stay on this mattress longer?

Yeah, no, I couldn't manage to keep still. The entire day, I was always looking for some way to keep active, sometimes having to do so out of Fluttershy and Rarity's view, otherwise they'd go nuts and start lecturing me, or something of the like.

As the day went on though, the two had really proven to have made it their mission to take care of me. If I started to feel hot, Rarity would try to be sure that I wasn't getting a fever, and Fluttershy would use her wings to fan me. They'd fluff the cushion below me, adjust the mattresses, basically, they just tried to keep me comfortable throughout the entire day.

As nice of a gesture this was though, it made me feel... Broken. I mean, its my job to care for them, right? Not the other way around. Ugh, well, at least they didn't seem to mind.

Anyways, by now, the day had already come to an end, the girls' having started to prove too much for them, yawning and eyes drooping as, eventually, the two fell asleep, practically passed out actually. As for me, lets just say that the past three days had put me through enough sleep to keep on for a while longer.

Though I waited for about an hour, laying silently in bed and waiting for the girls to go into a deep sleep, I figured the wait would be worth it. Then, soon enough, I felt a glint of confidence go through me as I deduced that my charges were well enough into their rest, placing my elbows below me and beginning, what would likely be, the arduous process of standing up.

The aspirin from before numbed most of this pain, but even then, as I sat myself up straight and started to pick myself up onto my, apparently wobbly, legs, it was still incredibly apparent. Even more so considering that I had to do all of this quietly, or else Fluttershy and Rarity would wake up.

Grunts and groans fought against me as I put weight onto my legs, barely being restrained, if only by pure will, as I, for the first time in a long period, stood myself up without my suit. It felt... Light. I'd always been wearing a two-ton piece of metal over me, though it didn't really feel like much, and now that it was off, I felt as though if I jumped, I would go through the roof. After all, I'd already gone through the floor enough times, same with walls, so what's to stop the ceiling from being any different?

Mentally chucking at this mental comment of mine, I glanced around the room from where I stood, both making sure that the two were still asleep, and looking for something to actually do. My gaze was, rather quickly, shifted to the bathroom, a burning curiosity ebbing at me as a thought came to mind.

"How different did I look?"

"Right, left, right, left... God this is tedious."

As you can probably tell, walking wasn't exactly easy for me at the moment. My legs were fine, sure, but the blood loss that I had probably from suffered before and the burning in my chest didn't really help me keep steady.

I had made it to the bathroom entrance, one foot already past the doorway, when I began to stumble, my legs starting to fail me as a large dizzy spell hit me, the room spinning around me as I fell forward, barely catching myself by grabbing onto the bathroom counter.

After that close call, I stayed where I was, taking in deep breaths as I tried to calm my nervously beating heart, before, with one last exhale, I pulled myself up straight, finally putting myself in the reflection of the bathroom mirror as I leaned on my elbows and hands for support on the counter.

... Well, I guess it could be worse. It was kind of a shock to see myself for once. It felt as of I was looking at a stranger, but I knew that this... Was me. The white hair, thin, almost undetectable, body hair, the lean build, which had been made fit by the programming I went through, and the black vein leading up to my lower eye, an eye that was almost a pure white, by the way, showing the genetic corruption that the genetic enhancements had done to me.

All together, I guess that I was just glad I didn't look like a splicer. Tumors, disfigurations, and all that. Though... Something bothered me about this.

I had been in that suit for over ten years, yet, for some reason, I barely looked a day over twenty. Just... What exactly had they put me through during my programming? Had they taken me while I was young? No, that wouldn't make sense. A child's body couldn't handle these genetic modifications, unless they were little sisters...

I felt my eyes slightly narrow in curiosity as I continued to look myself over, trying to take in every detail I could for memory's sake. Trying to stand myself up further, I felt my bare foot brush up against something, something cold and hard, causing me to jump slightly. I glanced down, and rose a brow at what I saw.

Near my feet, almost laid neatly, yet haphazardly on the ground, was the ESU from my suit. Had the girls brought it with me?

I secured my arm around the counter and sink, taking a breath as I lowered myself, pain flaring as I did so, to the rubber glove with electric metal attached to it, reaching out for it and, eventually, picking it up with a silent grunt. Yet again, I stood myself, inspecting the weapon that I had so often used.

The weapon and glove itself looked like they were in good condition, that much was true, but at the same time, they were stained, and slightly encrusted with dried blood... My blood.

Curious, I leaned on both of my elbows as I put the glove back onto my left hand again, seeing if it was still functional. I gave it a quick flick once it was on, the coil for the ESU quickly letting out a small spark, signaling its functionality, as I gave a curt, thankful nod. Though, I'd likely have to work on this a bit. The glove itself, when put on my hand, seemed ridiculously oversized compared to the rest of my arm and hand, and that's not really something I want to have to constantly deal with over time.

The mirrors reflection of me confirmed this observational bit of amusement, the bulky glove standing out just as much as the pink mane near the doorwa-... Fuck...

Mentally flinching, I slowly turned my head to face behind me, quickly taking notice of an awake, and incredibly concerned looking, Fluttershy.

"O-omega," she said, her voice a whisper, likely to not disturb her sleeping friend. "w-what are you doing out of bed? You should be resting." Letting out a silent exhale, I gestured to the mirror as an answer, unable to verbally communicate at the moment, and hoping that she would understand.

For a moment, her face shifted to one of confusion, then to thought, then to a hopeful realization. "You're looking at your reflection?" I nodded, looking back to the mirror as the man before me also nodded, a familiar, pink maned, yellow, winged pony, reaching about the size of the man's upper chest, came into view next to him, her wings flapping lightly as she floated her way next to him, the man scooting over slightly to give her room as the two gazed, almost blankly into their reflected doppelgängers. Us.

For a moment or so, nothing was said, the two of us just purposelessly watching on. Soon though, Fluttershy gained a small frown, looking downwards and, in turn, earning a questioning look from me.

"... Are you mad at us?" Um... What? Now I was really unsure, my curious gaze growing in intensity as I turned to her. She noticed this quickly, glancing to me, but returning her gaze below her nonetheless. "F-for not going when you told us to?"

... I... Wasn't mad. How could I be? Sure, I was a bit annoyed, but more at myself, really. If anything, and I'm kind of ashamed to say this, I glad they stayed.

"I... Wasn't sure if you were okay. We were already at the bathysphere, and you... Didn't come..." I listened to her intently as she went on. "Rarity said... That you'd be fine... And I thought so too... But... I remembered that your helmet wasn't... And I thought... Omega?" She suddenly asked. "Without your suit... Can you still come back if you..." She trailed off, looking to me for once with great hints of sadness, and worry, about her.

Now, should I have lied to her? It would have probably been better if I did, for her, Rarity, and myself, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. So, with a short period in between the question and my answer, I shook my head. 'No.'

Fluttershy's gaze went downwards, then, slowly allowing herself to touch the floor again, her forehooves leaning against the counter like I with my elbows, looked to the mirror, solemnly staring ahead... And tears began to form.

"... I-I'm so, sooooo sorry, Omega." She stuttered, her whispering voice beginning to crack as a single droplet slid down her cheek. "If Rarity and I hadn't come here... Y-you w-would still b-be fine. You w-wouldn't have to c-constantly care for us. You could care for this city, l-like you told the princesses you wanted to... And now..." Her lip quivered as she fell silent, silent sobs escaping her as she placed her head with her hooves and closed her eyes, allowing for the tears to drip into the porcelain sink below her.

As for me, I was in shock, to say the least. Fluttershy was blaming herself for something that was out of control, and now, here she was next to me, in tears about it. Did Rarity feel the same? Were the two really feeling this guilty about this?

Unable to talk, or tell her that it'd be fine, I did the next best thing. I turned myself completely, so that I had my back leaning against the counter, put my arms around Fluttershy, her eyes opening slightly to look at me as I did so, and pulled her close to me, giving her what I hoped to be a reassuring embrace.

At this, she didn't hesitate to cry even more, her silent sobs becoming even more forced as she struggled to keep herself quiet, tears dripping onto my chest and the bandages around it, bringing a cold and almost bitter feeling with them, as Fluttershy's forehooves hung around my shoulders, gripping me as she continued to let out her sadness.

It was a few minutes before she calmed down, lifting her head slightly and looking to me with a sniffle, sadness still clear in her expression and her face slightly matted with moisture. Almost instinctually, though I'm not particularly sure where the idea even came from, I passed my the thumb of my still hand over her cheek, slightly moving off the moisture as I gave her a kind, reassuring smile.

She gave one of her own in return, though small, using a forehoof to wipe off her face as she removed herself from me, letting out one last sniffle as she did so.

"... You know," she said. "I think that's the first time I've ever seen you smile." Heh. Yeah, I guess it was. First time I've smiled since I got out of that suit too. "... It looks nice." I chuckled at this, lifting myself with a grunt from the counter and retuning my full weight to my feet, wobbling slightly as I did so. Fluttershy, in response, moved next to me, allowing me to place a hand on her and keep myself relatively balanced. I have her a thankful nod as the two of us made our way back into the living room in silence, myself removing my ESU so that I could put it elsewhere, more than ready to get some sleep.

One day that I've been awake without that suit now, and I have to say, it feels great. No voice in the back of my head, though I'm not exactly sure how that had anything to do with it, no alarm or notifications to bug me, and I looked like less of a freak... Though I'm still not really normal.

... I just hope that I can still protect the two like this... Hmph, wether I can die again or not, I'll be damn sure to try. No matter what the cost.

Author's Note

D'awwwwwww. That was cute little moment. :3

As for the rest of the chapter, I have to say, writing the first half was annoying, which is by it took so long, but the second half's payoff was definitely, in my opinion, worth it.

So, now almost everyone has seen Omega, including Omega himself, and they seem to respond relatively well to it.

Now, we (I.E. you) can only hope that all goes well for this long time survivor, first time truly human, Omega.

Oh, and next chapter, expect to involve yourselves. Believe me, you'll see what I mean.

Chapter 17: A Moment Off Of Medical Leave

... Oof. Note to self, Rapture brand medicine, plus severe injury, equals horrible hangover. Honestly, I didn't even know that I remembered what a hangover was, until now. Groaning, I lifted a hand to my throbbing head, the mattress below me squeaking at the sudden movement that I had made against it.

Honestly, it was pretty bad, but definitely not as painful as it was when it was spread throughout my body. If anything, I'd much rather prefer a migraine than whatever I would feel under these bandages.

I took in a deep breath as the silence of the room allowed for it to echo, opening my eyes as-... Silence?!? I was about to shoot up from the bed again, but with a quick impulse from my mind, comprised mostly of memory, I decided against it, and the pain that would follow, instead carefully raising myself onto my elbows and taking a look around.

The room was empty, aside from myself and the furniture inside, with no sign of charges anywhere nearby... Was that... Was that whole thing a dream?... I swear to GOD, if that was just another FUCKING dream, I am going to- Oh hey, what's that?

My upcoming mini rampage stopped short, and admittedly pretty comically, my gaze shifted to the large white board that stood near the edge of the room, new, neatly written text upon it, it's fancy font standing out from most anything from Rapture. Definitely Rarity's handwriting... Hoofwriting?

Letting out a sigh of relief at the prospect of not being crazy after all,-On this occasion- I squinted my eyes a bit in an attempt to get a better view of the far off writing. 'Dear Omega, the two of us have headed out into Apollo Square to look for more water. We'll be back soon, Rarity and Fluttershy.'

... They... Went out... To get water... In RAPTURE?!? See, now I jolted out of the bed, no longer caring for whatever impulse my mind sent me, or seemingly small amount of pain I felt. My charges had just gone out alone in one of the most dangerous places on Earth, and maybe even outside of their world!

Granted, the security system was still active, so they would probably be fi-

"Dont even think[ about finishing that sentence! Those two are always in danger the moment they leave your sight!"

Oh, shut up! Now is not the time for a mental argument! My charges are out there, and I need to go after them!

"And how do you plan on doing that?!? You don't even have you're suit anymore!"

Who says I need my suit?

My eyes narrowing in confidence, and a bit of annoyance, I reached under the cushion that I had been laying on, grabbing hold of the single, cold, hard object that I had placed underneath it last night, before I had gone to sleep. My ESU.

I pulled it into my sight, giving it a quick once over before, in my haste to find Fluttershy and Rarity again, shoving it back on, ignoring the ridiculous look the oversized glove gave as I stood myself up with a groan. Alright, weapon? Check. Any idea where I'm going? Not really. What else?

"... Um... Maybe some clothes?"

My eyes widening slightly at this, I took a glance down to my half-naked self, my cheeks warming slightly as I remembered the obvious, and embarrassing, fact.

... Bah, it doesn't matter! I can find clothes later! I need to get to my charges, now!

"Yes, because I'm sure that a splicer will take you seriously in that getup."

Sighing, I made my way to the apartment door, stumbling slightly, before quickly catching myself with the wall, and leaving my place of rest. See, it's times like these that I wish that I could just shut down my mind for a moment.

"You can. It's called dying."

Can you just SHUT UP!?!

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"... So, you were right after all in your earlier assumptions, darling?" Rarity asked, a solemn look about both her and Fluttershy as they continued to converse with one another in their search for water throughout the junk heap known as Apollo Square. Looking to her friend, Fluttershy nodded faintly, and almost hesitantly, as she confirmed her friends remark.

"Considering what he told me last night... Yes... If he... You know, again, he won't come back." The two were, of course, referring to Omega's lost invulnerability of a seemingly infinite life, this cycle abruptly shattered by the loss of his metal suit.

Rarity, feeling as guilty as ever, looked to the floor silently, her mind a mess with thoughts of worry and concern. If not only for their health, but now, Omega's. "... Then, what do you suppose we do, darling?" She asked her friend, hoping that she would have a viable answer.

Much to her disappointment though, she didn't, instead shaking her head in silence rather than giving any response whatsoever. Rarity sighed at this, moving her gaze ahead of her as she tried to get her mind off the subject. After all, they had gone out for a reason.

"Fluttershy," Rarity said, attracting her friends attention. "perhaps we should focus on the task at hoof, rather than something so... Disheartening." Slowly, Fluttershy nodded, bringing her focus forwards as well as she silently scanned the area, looking for even the smallest hint of drinkable water near them.

As the two went on however, cameras and turrets constantly shifting their sight over them, as they continued to survey the area for their programmed threats, one of these so-called 'threats' had already snuck past these defenses, his feet tamping softly on the visible ventilation shaft that went above the room, a smile on his face as he gave his revolver a spin.

All that he had to do now, was wait.

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Come on, come on! Why does this place have to be so big?!

Groaning as I shuffled through the garbage and dirty water that filled Apollo Square, myself shuddering as these odd textures and temperatures came against my bare feet, I would continually glance left and right, mentally hoping to find my charges as soon as possible.

My body, up until this point, had been complaining throughout the entire search so far. Despite this though, I ignored it, instead focusing on what my mind had asked of me, to find Fluttershy and Rarity, rather than what it had suggested of me. And, may I add, at the moment, it was suggesting that I take it easy... loudly.

Walking on, I was partially comforted by the fact that the security system that I had long set up was still well and operational, despite the days they had gone without the usual maintenance I would give them.

Cameras would glance over me, almost in confusion, and a couple of them had even turned red out of alarm for a moment or two, before just as quickly returning to their usual state, watching as I exited their field of view. Turrets and stray security bots were no different, giving me similar reactions to those that I had received from the cameras. It was almost like, they were getting used to the fact that I was out of my suit, for the first time in so many years. Heh, I guess that I'd be surprised too, were the circumstances switched.

Still, like I had said, the fact that the systems were operational were pretty comforting, especially with Fluttershy and Rarity being out there. Nonetheless though, I still felt as though it were necessary to find them. I had no real idea where they were, but they didn't have many places they could go, without them being safe that is, more or less. Maybe if I just narrowed down my options, I'd be able to find them sooner.

Putting my hand to my chin, and crossing my arm over my bent elbow as I did so, I made up a small list that came to mind.

The east quarter of Apollo Square was fine, but there was basically nothing but garbage there, so they probably hadn't gone that way, especially considering Rarity's cleanly nature. West leads to the bathysphere, and, unless they had completely lied to me in that message of theirs, they wouldn't have much need to go that far for water.

North Apollo Square is covered front to back with security, so, even if they had gone down that way, there wouldn't be much to worry about, so I could probably leave that section for last. The only other place left was the southern quarter of Apollo Square, but I could still remember that the security systems there were just as bountiful as those in the north. The only difference, really, being that I hadn't really gotten around to doing maintenance in that area... Longer... Oh, fuck me with a freezing lancer drill.

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Their search areas narrowing, Fluttershy and Rarity continued forth on their 'quest' for drinkable water, the two trotting side by side as the sound that surrounded them grew more and more barren, to a point where it was almost silent, even.

There was no humming of any nearby machines, no whirring of mechanic movement, left and right, and no clicking of a looped camera, constantly rearranging and refocusing its lenses in an attempt to keep itself active.

The girls found this worrisome, of course, but they knew they were safe, for they could still see the embodiments of machines around them, the only true difference seeming to be the odd layer of rust that had grown around them, and the occasionally flickering light.

Fluttershy, having been re-introduced with such a creepy setting, as was usual in Rapture, began to walk even closer to her friend, occasionally shivering out of fear. Rarity faired no better, though only internally, as she fought to keep herself composed. After all, one of them had to.

Minutes felt like hours as every sound around the girls felt like it would bring a threat with it, whittling away at what little courage the two had brought with them on this search. In fact, the only thing that kept them going, was the fact that, Omega, who had been through much worse than this for them, was in need of their assistance for once, and they couldn't just let him down.

Still, the two much rather preferred that Omega, be it in his suit or otherwise, was with them. He had always managed to make the two feel safe, even when the situation really wasn't, and frankly, they felt they could use this morale help that he provided.

Taking in a deep breath, rattled with shivers and small whimpers, Fluttershy glanced around the garbage filled hall, silently praying for some sort of sign that they were getting close to what they needed.

Then, as fate would have it, a sign was exactly what she got. Jumping slightly, a spark from nearby, one of the many lights of the area flickering in darkness and light, showing that, out of the rubbish that filled these partially flooded halls, there was a single reflective, smooth, and seemingly transparent, surface.

Her eyes widened as her wings gave an involuntary flap in excitement, her hoof reaching for her friend as she fought to speak. "R-rarity," she said, not noticing the jump her friend was given at the sudden contact from her companion's hoof and voice. "there!"

Pointing forward, the fashionista mare followed her friends gesture, her own eyes widening as she saw that the two had quite possibly, as she would say, 'struck gold', in this matter. Rarity smiled as she thought of the prospect of a warm shower after this was through, gesturing for Fluttershy to follow with a bob of her head as she quickly began to climb the mountain of rubble that obstructed her from her target, soiling her once perfectly tended, though now long tainted, hooves as she did so.

Had she simply paid more attention though, she likely would have noticed her friend, Fluttershy, fly her way to the top in a matter of a short few moments, her hooves barely touching the mound of filth whatsoever as she carefully took the glass container below her in between her hooves, small grunts escaping her as she began to pull.

By the time Rarity had arrived, Fluttershy had already shaken it loose, the container lifting, and, through its stained, outer glass layering, proving to be exactly what they had been looking for. A container of clean, relatively fresh, and drinkable water.

"Oh, finally!" Rarity let out exasperatedly, wiping off a small bead of sweat that had formed on her forehead from the climb up there. "I must say, it took ages to finally find this. Though, I must say, it seems it was worth it."

"... Oh? Y' think so too, d'ya?" At this, both Fluttershy and Rarity felt their veins turn to ice, their fur standing on end as the twisted voice echoed through the hall, the source coming from... Above.

Slowly glancing upwards, Rarity and Fluttershy's eyes widened, their mouths slowly opening in silent screams as they caught sight of the smiling splicer, waving at the two dementedly, the same metal tool that had been used to kill many, in his hands, a revolver, as the two had so often see splicers use, before he jumped down with a chuckling grunt, landing with a hard thump near the two, Fluttershy and Rarity recoiling away violently at this, the glass water container dropping and rolling down the rubble with a collection of clinks and clangs, now completely forgotten as it's holders became engulfed in fear.

The splicer almost took pleasure in watching the two slowly back away from him, raising his revolver in the air and giving it a short spin before pointing it at the two. Since he had first heard of these two, these colored horses before him, he had been looking forward to slitting their throats, and feeling their warm innards as they poured out of their sliced stomachs, but, as he had been so prominently told, the metal feline had been careful to watch over them... Now though...

"No metal feline t' keep y' two safe now." He said, chuckling as he spoke, his smile almost splitting his face in half as the two backed themselves against the glass walls of the hall, the cold seeming almost impossibly numb, compared to the emotion of dread and fright that the two felt, unable to even express it with a scream or a shout.

"Aw, c'mon then. Le's hear 't." Moving the revolver closer to the two, he purposely grazed it over their heads, watching as they flinched, before plopping the barrel down onto the now sweating forehead of Fluttershy as her pupils dilated to an almost impossibly small size, her friend, Rarity, looking on in fear as the splicer shifted his gaze to her. "... I wan' t' hear a yell."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gladly, you SICK, MOTHER FU-

The splicer barely turned his head as the rubble below my feet shifted almost deafeningly, myself letting out a loud, though not really metallic at this point, roar as I punched the side of his head with a satisfying crack, managing to launch him far off into the hall, his landing bouncing up several pieces of debris from the garbage below him.

My eyes narrowing, I shifted my footing as I heard the son of a bitch groan, slowly standing himself from the far off pile of garbage. He was lucky. If I hadn't slipped on something on my way up here, his head wouldn't even be connected to his neck.

"O-omega?!" Rarity said, in almost a whisper, Fluttershy just staring blankly ahead with still stunned and fearful eyes. I'm guessing she had gone into minor shock? Looking back at the two, I gestured for them to stay here, and for Rarity to tend to Fluttershy, before, with a loud groan from both my sore body, and myself, I moved my gaze back forward, jumping forward off of the large mountain of rubble, easily landing on an adjacent one, though my leg giving slightly as I did so.

Funny thing, actually. Having the same strength I did in that suit, now being without the extra weight, speed and maneuverability felt like a much more viable advantage of mine... Though, I'd still prefer the armor. As the splicer finally recovered from his sense of shock, and pain, he looked to me with wide eyes, a twisted smile coming to his face as we gazed to one another with similar intent. To kill the fucker we were looking at.

"Well, hello there. Someone new, I take 't?" He asked, raising his revolver to me as he spoke. "Hehehe. 'Ow fun! Now I git three fun toys, for th' price 'f two!"

Time seemed to slow as he pulled the trigger on his weapon, myself glancing down and, just as quickly as he fired, kicking up a stray sheet of metal with a smile, placing it in front of me as it began to dent inwards at small scales, the sound of a firing gun and clanging bullets clear in the air as it went on.

Personally, I would just love to charge this guy and take him down already. But, considering the fact that now, a single bullet could easily end me, I would need to play this 'game' more defensively.

I heard the splicer let out a growl of annoyance as, rather than simply aim lower, as I figured that the moron wouldn't, he continued to fire at almost the exact same spot, bullets clinging as I slowly counted them out. I'll give him points for consistency, at least.

1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6! Almost on cue, I heard the sound of the gun open it's chamber, the now used up bullet casings clinking down the rubble below them as the splicer hastily began to fumble for more ammunition. Way too easy.

Throwing the metal sheet down, no longer having any use for it, I once again heaved myself through the air with another jump, landing myself on the same rubble pile as the splicer, him falling backwards in surprise, the clip that he had been loading tumbling with the even more useless empty rounds.

My eyes narrowed as, reaching downwards and picking him up by his scrawny little neck, I watched him struggle in a craze. Eventually, his eyes narrowed as well, as he, without warning, reeled back his arm as far as it would go, and thrust it to my face.

It hit me dead on, to say the least, letting out a loud thump as it came in contact with my cheek, my head turning from the force. I didn't release the splicer though, and, from what I could tell from his laugh, he thought he had gotten a good shot in... Key word, thought. Myself putting on a smile, which I'm guessing he saw, considering his gasp, I cracked my neck as I slowly turned back to him, giving him a face that basically said, 'really?'

"W-who are ya?" Rather than answer, for more reasons than one, obviously, I raised my gloved hand into his view, his eyes widening as he noticed the familar, and oversized rubber handwear, along with the metal rod that's title had been passed into Rapture's infamy by my hands, extending from it's hold, and crackling sharply with long held back voltage as it closed in on him.

"M-m-metal feli-"

I've had enough of that name! A slight spark of anger going through me, I shoved the ESU into his mouth, and through the back of his neck, a combination of bloody gurgles and electrified stutters coming from him as he cried out in pain, followed shortly by death, his eyes rolling far behind his head, one of the two even popping a blood vessel from the proximity of the intense shock, and his neck blackening and smoking.

After about a minute or two, I had gotten bored, and satisfied, pulling the ESU out from the splicer's mouth and throat, his charred blood splattering on my arm and left side as I did so. Guess that's another good reason that I didn't need clothes at the time. I would've just ended up staining them.

Turning around again with a sigh as I quickly my mindset to my charges, I saw Fluttershy holding tightly onto her friend, Rarity, back where I had left, Rarity carefully caressing her friends as she did so, seeming to whisper to her in comfort, though I couldn't really hear her. I quickly made my way over to the two, my feet tamping below me as I did so, and the sound of muted sobs and silent whispers growing.

It was only when I got to them that my current... condition, caught up to me, leaving me gasping as I put my arms on my knees, a surge of pain coming to my head and ribs in waves, each one losing intensity as they went on, but far in doing so for my taste. A moment of deep breathing, and pushing aside the pain, later, I looked up once more, more than ready to chastise the two for going off alone... Then again, seeing them how they were, I think I could let this one slide, pretty easily at that.

I had barely made a noise, no more than a quiet grunt, before the two turned their attention to me, Fluttershy with eyes that were filled with a slowly fading fear, and Rarity's with a similarly passing emotion. It seemed that, for them, one look was all it took before they moved their grasps from one another, to me, the two holding me around opposite sides of my lower chest, apparently too emotionally drained to stand on their hind legs... But not too so to stop one of them from surprising the hell out of me.

Softening her grip, Rarity looked to me with her two, soft blue eyes, as they slowly shifted from fear, to, like I had said, surprisingly, anger. She stood herself on her hind legs now, despite the fact the she hadn't done so earlier, and, keeping her face of narrowed eyes, slapped me, of all things! What the actual hell?!?

"That was for coming here even so you're in such horrible condition!" Okay, you know what? The slap didn't even hurt, so much as it just surprised me, and she did kinda have a point, so I'm just gonna let that pass... Still not hoping it becomes a usual kind of thing though.

Rolling my eyes, I gave her a sheepish smile as her glare went on, before, finally, she dropped it with a sigh. "... Still though... Thank you for rescuing us once again, darling." There. Was that so hard. I have her a simple nod and a smile as she released me, placing herself back onto her hooves as I shifted my attention to Fluttershy, who, at the moment, still hadn't moved since she had first began to hold me.

Feeling concerned, I gave her a light tap on her shoulder, which was only met by a shuffle of movement from her, and what sounded like her saying 'just a little longer, please?'

... Well, she wasn't really doing any harm anyways. Besides, she must have gotten really scared when that splicer attacked. Especially considering how she literally had death resting on her forehead no more than a few moments ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy's heart pounded against her chest as the fresh memory of the splicer made it feel as though he were still right in front of both Rarity and her, the cold, metal barrel of a gun placed firmly on her head, prepared to end her life in a short, almost instant, moment.

She had felt so cold, at first. The same temperature as the crafted steel that threatened her. Now, however, this cold, and her fear, were quickly being replaced. Shoved away into an almost inexistent place of her mind, and switched for a warm, comforting glow. This 'glow', as it was, was her and Rarity's defender, Omega.

How, even in his own state of disrepair, no longer able to do so without risk, his life completely on the line now, he had still come to protect them. A tingle came to her as she held him close, the sound of Rarity's voice, and all other surrounding sound, becoming bleared as all she could seem to focus on, was him, and him alone.

In the meantime, Rarity had begun to slowly descend down the pile of rubble that the three stood on, her eyes on the object that she and Fluttershy had come down for in the first place, jutting out clearly at the bottom of the garbage heap, a smile on her face as she came upon it, grabbing hold of it and, with an almost measured heave, pulling it up off the ground, moving the glass container into her mouth, though she had some trouble holding onto it's slippery surface, and heading back up to her two companions.

She arrived just as Fluttershy had finally begun to release Omega, the yellow pegasus looking to their shared protector and flashing him a thankful smile, which he happily returned with a nod, as Rarity approached the two, her hoofsteps causing the two to turn to her as she began to speak. Or, at least try to speak.

"Mmpph hm hmph!" She garbled, drawing a raised brow from the two.

"Um... C-could you please repeat that?" Fluttershy asked, her friend promptly, and unassistingly, repeating her garbled message once again. Omega chuckled at this, as he reached his hand out before Rarity, silently offering to take the bottle from her hold so she could speak.

Looking to Omega for a moment, she placed the bottle into Omega's hand, his fingers curling around it as she pulled her head away, pulling the bottle upwards and, with a rub of it against his bandaging, cleaning off the small amount of spit that had, embarrassingly to Rarity, transferred onto it from Rarity's hold.

"Ahem." She began again, both clearing her throat, and attempting to move away from that unladylike hand off of hers. "Yes, well, like I had said, 'I suppose that we should be going now'. After all, we have what we came for, and I do believe that I am in need of a desperate shower." Glancing down to herself, Rarity felt herself almost faint at the sight of the grime and imperfections that had begun to build up in her fur, in need of some much awaited care.

Glancing upwards, she saw that Fluttershy was in no different condition, her fur also matted with filth. Out of the three of them, surprisingly, Omega was the only one that seemed without bother, himself being in a relatively clean state, in comparison to the two mares, that was, aside from some blood that stained his bandaging and arm, along with some grime that was beginning to build up on his feet from the garbage beneath him.

"... And I suppose that those bandages of yours require a changing as well." Fluttershy nodded in agreement at this, though almost too quickly, as Rarity let out a smug, mental smile at the win-win situation she had before her.

She would be helping her friend, and getting a better look at him... For medical reasons! Of course!

-------------------------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two had been more than willing to help me on our way back to the apartment, taking turns in their attempts to keep me as stable as possible whenever a dizzy spell, or surge of head pain, would hit. For the most part, I felt fine. I mean, I had just killed a splicer with little to no problem, for frick's sake! But, recovering meant recovering, even for me... To an extent.

Eventually, the three of us had finally made it back to the apartment, security systems and all, the large bottle of drinking water that the girls had been so determined to get in my hand, and the two by my sides.

The relatively dark interior of the apartment felt as though it were a blessing, honestly, and I would be lying if I had said that I wasn't tempted to just flop onto the mattresses the moment I got into range.

Unfortunately, my charges still felt as though it were necessary for them to change the bandaging that I wore, which was admittedly helpful on their part, so, rather than let me flop, they pushed me onwards, Rarity doing so by pulling my hand gently from her mouth grip, and Fluttershy by pushing on my uppermost back, her wings flapping as he used the flat of her head to do so.

The two moved me to sit at the edge of the bathtub, pushing away the curtains to keep me more comfortable, before the two, once again, took positions opposite of me. One at the front, Rarity, the first aid kit that I had first given them from the bathysphere by her side, opened and revealing it's plethora of medical tools, though she was much more focused on the rolled up white strips at this moment, and the other behind me, Fluttershy, sitting in the tub as her hooves gently gripped the knot that held the bandages to me.

"R-ready?" Fluttershy asked. Honestly though, was the question really necessary? I probably would have agreed to it even if she didn't ask in the first place, my own curiosity having ebbed away at me as I felt myself wanting to see the severity of my near death injuries more and more. Nonetheless though, I nodded, Fluttershy then carefully beginning to pull at the knot until it came apart, the bandaging around me following shortly, hardly offering any resistance as Fluttershy removed the stained medical strips from me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the last of the bandaging hit the floor of the tub next to Fluttershy, a clear view of himself was finally revealed to Omega, as he glanced down to his torso. From what he saw, there were various scars that riddled him, some of them having recently sealed themselves up, while others still allowed for hints of blood and stitching to be seen, occasionally dripping downwards.

The sizes of each scar varied. Some were no more than points, left behind after Omega's life support systems removed themselves. Others were gashes, either having been created by the shrapnel from the explosion that first disabled his suit, or from a bad seperation of the various tubes and needles that sustained him throughout much of his life.

Omega grimaced as he saw this, Rarity, in the meanwhile, readying the new layer of medical strips as Fluttershy clumped together the used up an stained bandages, so that she and Rarity could more easily throw it away afterwards.

"Now, do forgive me for my rather... Disreputable work. But you must realize, I normally use a needle and thread for clothing purposes. Not... Well, you know." Truthfully, this was an understatement. Having to stitch up another living being, rather than her usual brand of threads, and the like, was one thing. Doing so without magic, was another. Having been reduced to using her hooves and mouth, she would have been lying if she had said that she did not pass out a couple of times as she went on. And, if it hadn't been for Fluttershy's intervention, she likely would have stayed out.

Nevertheless, Omega waved the issue off, holding himself steady as both Rarity and Fluttershy began passing the bandages between one another, wrapping Omega once more, and hiding the scarring and injury that be had so unfortunately gotten.

-------------------------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright, so lets go over the facts, huh?

I got new bandages now, so that's a plus. A lot less itchy than before... And blood stained.

Girls nearly got killed, and I basically mutilated the fucker who had tried it, so thats both bad, and good. Though, obviously, the bad outweighs the good.

We have a large supple of drinking water now, though we're still going to have to ration it.

And, now, Rarity was taking another of her usual showers, Fluttershy awaiting her turn next to me as we both sat patiently on the mattresses.

So far, a pretty normal day in Rapture. Now, all that was left was the call from the princesses and all the other ponies.

Well, this ought to be fun, I guess.

Author's Note

1, or 2?

Its a simple question really, 1, or 2?

Funny how the simple things can make a person wonder, huh? But yeah, for anyone who wants to, in their comments, add a vote for 1, or 2. Along with that, add something that you'd like to see happen in the next chapter. The winning side of this vote will have a random voters submission added somewhere into the next chapter, and a small shout out in the next authors note's.

Oh, and don't worry, I'll explain what the vote means, and how its important, next chapter. Till then, enjoy. ^~^

Chapter 18: Preperations; I Am Omega

Two recently cleaned ponies at my sides, and a new layer of bandaging, signified that we were more than ready for the call that would soon arrive through the projector. At the moment, the girls were just conversing with one another, though I found myself zoning out as this went on, and I was just sitting there in my usual silence, staring boringly ahead as I awaited for the lights of the room to dim. If anything, I just used this time to think.

For instance, I found myself thinking back to the splicer from before. It was obvious that, considering how easily I had handled the situation, even in my current condition, I was still able to hold myself in a fight, even better than usual in fact, to an extent, so I'd basically be more than ready to head out again with the girls, if need be.

Though... There was still something that bothered me. It was still about the splicer. More specifically, when I had killed him. I had, admittedly, done so quite... Maliciously. I felt boredom as I ended his life, which had only come after a short bout of satisfaction.

This, wasn't normal, even for someone as twisted as me. I couldn't hear the voices from my programming in the back of my head anymore, and that was fine and all, but I didn't necessarily say that I still couldn't hear voices. They were faint, almost unnoticeable, but, as I had ended the life of that splicer from before, I had only recently noticed that, at the time, they grew louder, though just barely. What exactly were these voices saying? And, more importantly, why did I only start to hear them after having lost my suit?

"Omega?" Fluttershy's voice rang, breaking me out of my thoughts with a quick snap as my eyes refocused, looking to my two charges as they gazed at me with expressions of concern. Maybe I had spaced out a little too much. "Are you okay?"

Despite my thought filled psyche, I gave the two a small smile, nodding and waving my hand dismissively. The two didn't seem completely convinced at this, but I didn't see any real reason why. After all, I was just thinking. Doing so wouldn't make any difference anyways.

Rarity, likely sharing the same concern as Fluttershy, made to speak, but was quickly cut off as the light in the room dimmed, both her, Fluttershy's, and I's attention quickly bieng shifted to the projector. Hmph, seems as though the timing on this thing has always tried to make itself work out for the best. Not that I was complaining, that is.

Adjusting my seating position slightly, the girls and I watched as the projector screen took its usual beginning of white, followed shortly by the developing image of a large group of ponies, all of them seeming ecstatic to hear from us again. The princesses, as I quickly noticed were indeed among the group this time, their large sizes dwarfing over the other ponies in front of them.

"Hi everypony! Did ya miss us?" Pinkie Pie greeted excitedly, waving as she did so. My charges and I gave our own greeting in return, Fluttershy and Rarity giving their 'hello's while I just gave a small wave back.

The rest of the group followed shortly after Pinkie's example, giving their own signs of recognition, almost by order, as it went down the line. Eventually, it was the turn of the princesses to say their hellos.

"Good greetings, all." Said Luna, followed immediately by her older sister, Celestia.

"Yes, it is good to see you again." Yet again, I gave a small wave, which, oddly enough, was met by the curious gazes of the two. Awkward couldn't begin to cover it as the two practically studied me with their eyes, seeming to take in every detail that they could.

"... Hmmm... So this is what a human looks like?" Celestia asked in a tone of both curiosity and interest, bringing about a deadpan from me, along with a raised brow.

"FoR thE moSt pARt, YeS." I responded, silently hoping that we could move off the subject. Being the center of everyone's sudden interest, let alone when the reason is because you're another species, is not fun. Clearing my throat, I rolled my wrist as I motioned for us to move on, which, thankfully, the princesses quickly did, shaking their heads as they moved back to focus.

"Yes, well then... I believe you are aware of what the call refers to this time, correct?" Princess Luna asked, myself nodding in return as I put on a more serious expression.

"Of CouRsE." I said simply, leaning forward in attention. Looking down to Twilight, Celestia and the purple mare both exchanged an understanding nod, before she then cleared her own throat, taking a small step forward to address the obvious matter at hand.

"Omega, yesterday, we had come to the topic about how there was another way to exit Rapture, before the spell's time limit had been reached. Would you mind explaining it to us?" Twilight said, seeming to take every precaution to sound as professional as possible. If I had to guess, she was doing it because the princesses were behind her, at the moment. Honestly, were it not for the fact that I knew her a little better than that, I would have thought her a kiss ass. Mentally rolling my eyes at this, I gave the pony a quick nod in confirmation, and acceptance, as I quickly made to the explanation that I had so owed them.

Granted, I was hesitant in doing so, knowing fully well of how dangerous this path was compared to the other we had attempted to take, but, I still had a promise to keep, and this meeting of ours couldn't afford and interruptions, if even short.

"AlRighT, whEre to StaRT..." I mused to myself, much to my mental disappointment. So much for not wasting time. "LEts SeE... wE KnoW thAt, In RaPTuRe, TherE ArE tWo WaYS tO rEACh tHe SurFace. oNE, bEinG thRoUGh BAtHyspHere aCCesS, WhiCh, As Of A FEw daYs AgO, iS nO lonGer aN opTioN."

All the ponies nodded at this, though some seemed rather solemn, as I then made to continue. "THe oTheR thOuGH, iS sTilL, froM wHaT I RemEmbER, a PoSSiBle oPtion Of oUrS. An aNDreW ryAN BranD EscApE SuB, mADE foR A SitUaTioN iN whiCh RapTurE woUlD gO throUgH anY SorT oF cATAstrOphy, wHerE a GroUP oF peOpLe, oR PonIEs, iN thIs cASe," I corrected, gesturing to my charges as emphasis, "WoULD bE aBlE tO sAFElY ExIT thE ConFinES oF RaPturE, deSpiTe tHe PerMissiOn oF ANdrEW RYaN, oR OtheRwise."

Having been listening intently, one of the ponies, Rainbow Dash, spoke up, a question of hers having been hanging as I spoke. "Well, if that's the case, then how come you didn't just go that way in the first place?" She asked, many ponies murmuring in similar thought as she did so.

Shaking my head, I let out a sigh as I made to answer, knowing that they, just like I, would not like the response. "ThE reAsOn iS beCaUsE eScapE sUbs liKE thoSE aRe 'AgED TeChNOlogy' iN RaPtUrE, aNd aLL aGed teChnoloGy iS SenT to LoWeR RaptURe, WhiCh, aT thE moMENT, iS abOUt 100 tiMeS MorE danGerOuS thaN uPPeR RaPTurE, WherE wE aRE."

The ponies, Fluttershy and Rarity included, obtained faces of sudden worry, likely inflicted by my statement. Despite this though, Rainbow Dash still went on, her cocky nature pushing her to a slight skepticism of this threat.

"Psh, it can't be that bad." Okay, she's pushing it a bit. Narrowing my eyes, I looked to her as seriously as possible, causing her to flinch back slightly.

"... LeT mE pUT iT tO yOu lIkE tHiS. DuRing tHe SpliCeR uPriSing, yEaRs AgO, OveR 90 pErCenT of ThE biG DaDDy pOpulAtion wAS doWn theRE, mySelF incLudEd. We WeRE aLl wIpeD ouT in MinUTEs." Again, she flinched at this, along with the other ponies that accompanied her. "THe oNlY reASOn I SurVivEd wAs thAt I CoulDnt Be KiLLed, aNd evEn thEn, thEy tOOk me DowN a GooD fiVe TimES iN a RoW beForE thEY goT bOrED."

Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it for them, or anything like that. Lower Rapture was the most dangerous region in all of Rapture, the sea, the WORLD, and possibly any world! Where as, up here, the worst threat would be a group of five Spider Splicers, down there, that would be nothing more than a small get together. Among the worst that I had seen there, I had once been attacked by over five Brute Splicers, three Houdini's, and twelve Lead-heads! Even then, I could tell that that was still a small group, by Lower Rapture standards!

Thats the reason I was, and am, so hesitant to tell them about this escape route. It could very well mean death, even more so than Rapture already has to deal with!

The ponies, now having gone silent, looked to me in shock, a small sense of dread coming over me as I noticed Sweetie Belle shake slightly in what I presumed to be fear. "God damn it." Maybe I should have toned that explanation down about.

"... W-well... If it really i-is that dangerous, then m-maybe we should just wait until the y-year passes?" Fluttershy asked, Rarity giving a slow nod in agreement as the two looked to me. I glanced to the two of them before, with a sigh, I looked downwards.

"... I wIsH iT couLD bE tHaT SimpLe." I said, the ponies all looking to me questioningly as I did so, some of their ears twitching as I went on. "LikE I HaD sAiD lOng AgO, wHeN yOu pOniEs haD fiRST ComE to RapTurE, thiS cItY iS DyiNg. I WaS thE oNly thIng HolDing It tOgEthEr, anD noW... I'd GiVE it AbouT a mOnTh beFore tHe glAsS AdHEsivEs I haD uSed in My rePaIrs Give waY. ShortLy AftEr thAt, the cOrE wOulD sHut dOwN, lEaVing RapTure WithoUT poWEr. EvEn sOonEr thEN, FlooDs wOulD breAK ouT evErywhEre, aNd wIthiN the NexT tWo WeeKs, RaptUrE, woUlD fiNaLLy BrEaK APaRT." There was another moment of silence as I said this, my charges looking to me with large concern, and obvious fear in their eyes.

"So... You can't get out... But you can't stay there?" Twilight summed up, a nod from me all but confirming it. Hearing her say it, it does sound pretty bad, doesn't it? "Then... What do we do?"

... What else can we do... Rapture has basically been disconnected from life support now, and is slowly nearing its end. If the splicers don't get the girls and I, then, more than likely, the collapse of Rapture would... Glancing upwards, I noticed the sad expressions that everyone held. Thoughts of how hefty a loss this would be for them, family and friend wise. How, despite their best efforts, the ones they cared about could be lost in mere moments... Just like me when I still had...

My eyes narrowing, and a short grunt escaping from me, I stood myself up from the mattresses, the ponies all glancing to me as I did so, a surge of confidence going through as I looked to them. "... WE'rE goiNg thrOUgh loWeR RaPturE." I said determinedly, all the ponies eyes widening as they looked to me in shock and surprise.

"Pardon? Didn't ya just say-"

"LowEr RaPtuRe is DanGerOus, yEs, bUt aT lEaSt, TheN, thE gIrLs hAve A ChaNce oF mAKinG it oUt oF hERE." I said, interrupting Applejack as I crossed my arms together.

"B-... But darling, you could-..."

"IM weLl aWaRe oF thE faCt thAT I CouLd dIE foR gOoD NoW, RaRitY." I said. "BUt, I'd raTheR mYsElF diE tHaN eiThEr of YoU tWo." At this, Fluttershy and Rarity both slightly reddened, gaining faces of surprise, before they slowly shifted to small, thankful smiles.

Moving my gaze upwards, to the projector screen, where the ponies were all looking to me in... Actually, I'm not that sure what emotion they looked to me in. It was an odd combination between concern, gratefulness, and a little bit of an impressed feel from the princesses and Sweetie Belle. "So, WhAT dO YoU aLL thInK?"

As I figured, the group took a moment of thought at this, looking to one another questioningly as Fluttershy, Rarity, and I, awaited their responses. Eventually,-after about, say, two minutes?- the group seemed to come to an agreement, princesses, ponies, and fillies alike giving one another an affirmative nod before they all looked to us again.

"You'll keep them safe?" Celestia asked. In return, I chuckled, looking to her with a smile.

"YoU reAllY nEeD tO aSK?" Though she didn't respond immediately, glancing between the three of us for a short moment, she eventually put on a smile of her own, chuckling just as well.

"I suppose not." She said, drawing a nod from me.

"When shall you begin this journey?" Princess Luna chimed in, the girls and I giving her out attention in return.

"We'll head out tomorrow."

"What!?!" My brow slightly rose at this exclamation, which had come from almost every pony that was present, all of them looking to me in surprise. What? The sooner we got going, the better.

"Are you sure thats a good idea? You aren't exactly in the best possible state for this." Twilight remarked, gesturing to my bandaging and upper torso.

"Yeah. Maybe you should take it easy?" Sweetie Belle added, a look of worry about her small, innocent being.

"We wouldn't want you to pull something while you're out there! Oh, or trip and fall, or slip on an ice cube, ooh, or mayb-" Not really wanting to go through the situation of an infinitely talking Pinkie Pie again, I rose my arm as a signal for her to stop, which, much to my surprise, she quickly did.

"LooK, wE dONt HaVe a LoT Of tiMe, aND thE SooNEr wE gET gOinG, ThE BeTTeR." I explained. "BesIdEs, I fEEl fiNe." The amount of skepticism that came into the room as I said this would have been enough to keep Rature afloat, to say the least. So, with a roll of my eyes, I continued. "IM sEriOus. ANywAyS, LowER RaPtuRe isNt BatHYspHerE aCcEsSiBLe, sO we'RE gOinG To HavE tO TaKE thE lOnG WaY. I'M goiNg tO sPenD thE reST oF tOdAY PrePAring. ToMMoroW, afteR yOu AlL CaLL AgAIN, thE ThREe Of Us arE gOinG tO hEaD out."

"We'll help you!" Fluttershy quickly offered, Rarity nodding in agreement as I gave the two a smile and a silent 'thanks'.

"What kind of 'preparations' do you need, exactly?" Rainbow Dash asked as I gave her a deadpan.

"WeLl, FoR onE thInG, CloThes." I said simply, gesturing to myself in emphasis. Oddly enough though, this just drew raised brows from both her, and the others.

"Yeah, why do you wear clothes all the time, anyways?" Sweetie Belle asked, much to my chagrin. Honestly though, out of all the ponies, and all the questions, it had to be her to ask this? I mean, in a way, I probably should have known that they'd ask this, considering that they're all usually walking around naked, but still!

"Um... Er... WEll..." Christ, this is awkward. "... To pUt iT As sIMpLy,"

"And as vaguely,"

"as pOSsiblE, huMAns doN't hAve fUr, Or aNytHIng, to CoVEr tHEm." Sweetie Belle rose a brow at this, not seeming to understand, luckily. As for the other ponies, Fluttershy and Rarity especially, they all seemed to realize what I was implying almost instantly, red coming to all of their faces as their eyes widened.

"... I don't get i-" Thankfully, before she could finish, the light started to flicker again, signaling the coming end of the call as the projector screen began to lose it's image. There is a god! A very, very inactive god, but still a god.

"Oh, would you look at that! It seems as though it's time for us to go!" Rarity started to say, obviously moving away from the subject.

"Y-yes! W-we should start preparing for tomorrow!" Seems as though Fluttershy wanted to push off the subject as well.

"But what abou-" And I was no exception!

"YouLl fiGurE iT oUt wheN yoUrE OlDer, We'Ve gOt tO gO, ByE-..." The projector finally fading to black, my farewell devolved back into a groan as the spell that had kept my voice translated also shut down, leaving me speechless again.

Placing my hand on my head and letting out a sigh of relief, I made my way over to the whiteboard at the end of the room, picking up the marker, and writing to the girls.

"CLOSE ONE. HEADING OUT FOR SOME THINGS. WON'T BE FAR. GATHER OUR FOOD AND WATER. USE THE BAG FROM BEFORE." As I wrote that last sentence, I pointed over to the burlap sack that we had gotten from the Farmer's Market, during our last scavenge. The girls, quickly reading my message, nodded in understanding.

"Very well then, darling. Um, when can we expect you to be back?" Putting my hand to my chin for a moment in thought, I erased the earlier message with a quick swipe of my arm, swiftly writing another.

"GIVE ME HALF AN HOUR." Another nod from the girls gave me all the answer I needed, as I began to make my out, leaving them to their own 'duties' as I went to mine. Alright, so, all I had to do now was find some clothes, and make a short stop afterwards. Simple... God damn I wish it was simple.

Five minutes into my half hour limit already, and I still couldn't find anything. I must have been through half of the other apartment blocks around here, and I still had yet to find a decent piece of clothing that I could use! Well, actually, there were a few articles that fit me, but, I'd rather not go into combat wearing a dress... Yeah.

Shutting another cabinet with a groan, I could feel my frustration growing as I continued to tear the room apart, small tinges of guilt hitting me as I did so. I had said so many, many times before. I don't like to take anything from Rapture out of its place, unless I have to. But, in a case where Rapture is only a couple of months away from reaching a complete and total collapse on itself, well, I can make a small exception.

"Dress. No. Scarf. No. Oh, hey, here's a shir- and it's a size XXL... Awesome. "

As you can tell, progress is just going great.

"Childs clothing. Really? T-shirt that says, 'Ill show you a fun time'... H-E-L-L no. Ugh- just- there has to be something in this goddamn apartment!"

Slamming the drawers shut as I reached for my face and pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration, I couldn't help but to wonder how my charges were doing at the moment.

Heh, probably better than me- Oh, hello closet!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of clacking metals and shifting fabric had long filled the room since Fluttershy and Rarity had begun their own part in the packing of supplies for their upcoming journey to the lower, forgotten depths of Rapture.

Having no true indication as to how long their trek would be, the two were ensuring that everything that they packed would be secure, and would last. Reaching for another of the metal cans, her eyes on the filling insides of the bag as she did so, Fluttershy lightly bumped the tip of her hoof against a can, knocking it off of its precarious position atop the others and sending it rolling as it clanged against the floor.

"Oh dear." Said Fluttershy, as she moved away from the sack, Rarity continuing her own neat stacking of the sack's inventory as she glanced to Fluttershy and the fallen can. Maneuvering herself around the various other conservatives that currently surrounded them as she followed the path of the can, leading her to the projector screen's 'stand'.

Glancing to the screen as she ducked down for the can, Fluttershy felt the corner of her mouth lower as she gave a worried expression, with a vivid, good-mannered, yet concerning memory coming to mind.

'I'd raTheR mYsElF diE tHaN eiThEr of YoU tWo.'

"..."

"... R-rarity," Fluttershy began, grabbing hold of the loose can of peaches that had rolled away from the others. "are we sure this is a good idea?"

At this question, Rarity's craze for neatly placing the supplies into the bag was momentarily diminished as she turned to her friend, who was, at the moment, absentmindedly rolling a can around in between her two hooves. "Whatever do you mean, Fluttershy?" She asked, raising a brow as she placed a currently held can down next to her on the floor.

"I-I mean... Omega said that it was really dangerous, and-..."

"Fluttershy, we'll be fine, darling. Omega said that he'd do everything in his power to protect us." Rarity offered in the hopes of calming her friend down, only to be met by a sigh, and a shake of Fluttershy's head.

"T-that's just it. Rarity, I know that Omega said that he'd rather himself get... Hurt, than either of us, but..."

"But you don't want him to get hurt either." Her eyes widening slightly as Rarity completed her unfinished statement, Fluttershy looked to her friend, who was currently showing a saddened expression as she gazed blankly to the sack before her.

"... I know exactly what you mean, darling." Glancing down to the loose can that she held again, Fluttershy floated her way over to her friend's side, absentmindedly placing down the can as she did so.

"So, w-what do we do?" Rarity continued her blank gaze for another moment or so, an honest sense of uncertainty passing through her. Just like Fluttershy, she greatly cared for her friend, Omega, as well, and, as noble of a gesture as it was, she didn't want him to risk himself for them either...

Her eyes narrowing in her own confidence, Rarity 'valiantly' heaved her chest outwards, raising a hoof in emphasized importance. "I propose that we help Omega, just as much as he helps us!" Glancing to Fluttershy, who was currently giving her a confused, and slightly amused, face, she felt her smile grow as she returned to her normal posture. "It's the least that we can do, after all."

"But... How would we do that?" Fluttershy asked, drawing a shrug from her friend, and a playful roll of her eyes.

"Well, while we may not be able to provide in the means of combat, there are still other ways we can assist, I'm sure!" Though slowly, a small smile came to Fluttershy's face as she thought through this suggestion of Rarity's. If she, and her friend, could indeed assist Omega in whatever way he would need them to, she would be more than happy to do so.

"R-right."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Passing through the Apollo Square halls, I could feel my new–sorta–clothing itching, a few parts of it being too tight for my tastes. Don't get me wrong, I was happy that I had found something, even if it was... this, but I still would've preferred something that completely fit me correctly.

Grunting in annoyance as I adjusted my sleeves, yet again, I continued on my way down northern Apollo Square, where the next object of importance was. Garbage crunched beneath my shoes as I went on, a feel of smugness coming through me as I thought through my reasoning for being here.

I remember that, when I was first reprogrammed into a Security Daddy, and they had traded out my old gear for my ESU, they had thought that they had trashed the thing. Well, they did... Just not in the right place. Counting the various mounds of garbage, I worked from memory as I finally found what I though to be the right pile, letting out an exasperated sigh as walked my way upwards, looking for a certain landmark... As it were.

Water dripped around me, occasionally tamping onto my newly obtained shirt, much to my surprise, as I glanced upwards to the ceiling. A small hairline fracture, by the looks of it. Nothing major... Yet. With nothing to fix it though, it wouldn't take long before it would get worse. Much worse.

Sighing, I shook my head as I continued to look around the garbage pile. All I had to find, was something that was big, white, and square- There it is!

I felt a smile come to my face as I saw the far off refrigerator sticking out of the area behind the mountain of trash, trudging through the trash as I carefully made my way to the, no longer white actually, large broken object.

Funnily enough, when they had first 'disposed of' my rivet gun, and the like, it only had taken me a week to find it... In a dumpster... Where I usually did my repairs... In APOLLO SQUARE.

Honestly, those 'geniuses' up there were idiots. Yet again adjusting my shirt sleeve, I reached to the door with my gloved ESU hand, the rust on the handle creaking and coming down like dust as I opened it, a large, familiar, looking metal tool, covered in dust as cobweb, along with a few clips of rivets, and three glowing, green, metal orbs... Which all rolled downhill... Brilliant.

Deciding to get them later, I pulled the large metal weapon of my former self into my view, looking it over and dusting it off. It wasn't that big, really, but, then again, that was probably because I hadn't turned it on yet. Rivet guns, or at least, some of the later rivet guns, are made to be compactable. The only reason I had gotten one, was because I was turned into a Big Daddy along the start of the second generation. Convenient, really.

Picking off one particular piece of cobweb as I reached for the weapon's ammunition, I started to make my way down the trash hill, looking for the dropped pieces of my old gear. Sure enough, the three orbs were waiting right there on the ground, each of them shifting slightly from their recent trip. Placing my old rivet gun down, I kneeled down to pick up each of the objects, a chuckle escaping me as I looked them over, a quick memory going through me as I did so.

********************************************

"Daddy?" Beatrice said, looking to me in confusion as I stood to the side, tapping my rivet gun patiently as I awaited for whatever splicer that had been threatening the two of us to make his way through the door before us.

Patting her head in reassurance, I felt myself smile as I heard the coming footsteps of the idiot.

"Hand her ova ya wanker! I'll-" As he finally made his way into my, and my little sister's, views, his excuse of a weapon raised in the air threateningly, I gave the man a curt wave, before, much to his chagrin, and my entertainment, a series of rapid beeps rang through the air, the splicer disappearing in a ball of flame as my trap finally sprang with a huge bang.

"... Teehee. Yay, confetti!" Heh. Ah, I love my daughter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chuckling at the thought, I shined the proximity mine that us Rosies were usually given against my chest, the explosive chemicals that had been placed within moving about slightly as I did so. I gave a small nod of approval as I looked the explosive over, a glint of my reflection visible as I held the object in my arm, along with the ammo clips of my rivet gun.

I picked up the other two explosives, and, as I did so, I felt something cold, and metallic, brush against my hands, drawing a raised brow from me as, digging through the pile slightly, I grabbed hold of something, pulling it out with a quick flick of my wrist.

A revolver, by the looks of it, like the one I had seen most splicers use. Glancing down to my rivet gun, which still laid adjacent of me, I felt a small amount of conflict go through my mind.

In most regards, I would have just taken the rivet gun with me and pushed the revolver to the side, but this was actually a pretty important decision, so I started to weigh my options.

In one hand, literally, the revolver was much more lightweight, and convenient. Ammo would be simpler to find, but, it would have less ammo in its clips. Six shots, against the rivet gun's twelve. Plus, the rivet gun was much more powerful. Heck, I could probably punch through a Brute Splicers head with a single shot of this thing, unlike the revolver.

... Ultimately, it felt as though something were pushing me to go for the rivet gun, myself dropping the revolver to the floor as I picked up the compacted rivet gun and started to make my way back to my apartment. With two minutes to spare too!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Just... One... More... Ah, perfect!" Giving triumphant nod of approval, Rarity stepped back to get a better look of the perfectly stacked, and well organized, sack of supplies before her and Fluttershy, duly noting the large amount of extra space that had been left over.

"Thank goodness we're done! For a moment there, I had thought that I had mixed the peaches with the orange slices. The stress was simply awful!" Giggling at her friend's small performance, Fluttershy made her way to the mattress in the center of the room, folding her legs beneath her as she decided to patiently await for her other companion's return, Rarity unknowingly voicing these thoughts for her.

"Now, all we have to do is wait for-" As if on que, the door to the apartment clicked and creaked behind her as it opened, signaling the return of their guardian of Rapture. Both Fluttershy and Rarity turning to him with smiles, Rarity began to give her greeting, in an attempt to tell their companion of their finished 'duty' of theirs.

"Ah, there you are! Fluttershy and I have-..." Both she and Fluttershy froze, their eyes widening as slight blushes came to their faces.

"Oh... My..." Fluttershy managed as Omega looked to the two with raised brows of confusion, groaning in question. Omega was, as he had said he had gone out to find, wearing clothes. To be more specific, rather... Well-versed clothing.

He wore a tan blazer, its sleeves reaching down to his wrists, the cuff-links having apparently been discarded in an attempt to keep the sleeves from tightening any further, though it still seemed snug. A white dress shirt hid his bandaged chest, with a few stains near the bottom, but easily ignorable. Further still, he wore navy blue pants, and a pair of hard black shoes, rounded near the tips.

All together, he looked...

Rarity, almost out of complete shock, fell backwards, letting out an odd breath as she did so. Out of concern, Omega quickly placed the odd objects that he had been holding on the couch, moving to his fallen charge and kneeling by her side, shaking her as he realized that, much to his confusion, she had apparently fainted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, WHAT THE HELL?!?

I take a step in here, and she faints!?! Where did that come from?!?

Placing my hand on her chest as I kneeled next to her, I gave her a quick shake to wake her up, Fluttershy, out of the corner of my eye, standing from the mattress and making her way towards us.

Soon enough, she began to stir, her eyes peaking open as she began to mumble.

"Mm... I'll have the hay a l'orange, with a side of daffodil flakes."

... Um... Okay? Turning to Fluttershy with a questioning look, the red on her face having started to fade now, she quickly made to answer.

"S-she'll be fine." She said, giving me a sheepish smile, and what sounded like a nervous chuckle, as she started to help the slightly babbling, and dizzy, Rarity up, moving her to the mattress... Seriously, what the fuck?

The girls fell asleep, about, five minutes ago, maybe. They had, despite their efforts to do opposite, been given the mattresses while I rested on my old spot on the couch.

Oh, and on a side note, I missed being on this couch.

Anyways, the only reason that I wasn't asleep though, was because, despite what I as the girls had already packed, we didn't really have... Everything. And, as for these last few items... Well, I'd just prefer to do this part alone.

Lifting myself from the couch, I took another glance at the girls sleeping figures, a small, involuntarily smile coming to my face as I noticed them peacefully resting. I looked to the other side of the room, where, along with the bathroom door, there was the other, sitting, just waiting. It had been a few days since I'd entered, and now, it could very well be the last time.

My legs felt moved on their own as I made my way to the door, grabbing and pushing it open before just as carefully closing it shut, filling the room with an even blacker darkness. Putting my hand against the wall to guide me, I slowly made my way forward, silently wishing that I had my porthole light back so that I could more easily maneuver myself.

Letting out a small grunt of satisfaction as I finally felt the light switch, I gave it a quick flick as the lights of the room began to flicker. They never really did work right, but, I couldn't be bothered to fix them, especially if they already worked as they needed to.

Inside the room that niether Fluttershy, nor Rarity, had thankfully not entered in their stay here, were a scant few things. Three blankets were on the ground, folded up and made to seem thick, each of them a different color and pattern. Atop of these blankets, were three simple, odd, yet important objects.

On the blue sheets, lined with small stars, was a small stuffed toy, shaped like a pony, one of its button eyes missing, and a small tear along its body. The green sheets with small smiles on them held a magnifying glass, the glass cracked, but still functional, and the object itself slightly bent. Finally, on the pink blankets, its pattern having been removed over time, was a small golden coin, relatively fine aside from a small amount of rust along the sides.

My three Little Sisters... All that was left of them... I had saved these objects all of these years, keeping them as safe as I could. Now that I was leaving though... Look, I'm going to Lower Rapture, along with Fluttershy and Rarity, and the chances of us all making it through are... Slim. Even if I did manage to get them to the escape pods, the chances of me making it back to Apollo Square would be next to nothing. The reason I wanted to bring these things was because, if I died... When I died, I would want to be sure that they're kept safe, one way or another.

Taking a deep breath, I approached the objects as carefully as possible, wrapping each one in their individual blankets, linking the three together with a knot, before making my way back to the door, ready to put them with the other supplies.

On my way out though, I stopped, looking down to the covered objects of my past and, almost out of habit, bringing them close to me, imagining three little girls, one of them faceless, in my grasp.

This was it. The night had gone by in what felt a moment, and now, all of our preparations were done. For the most part, that is. The only things left now was something for me to write on after this next message from the other ponies, so I could still talk to the girls, and the projector, which I would put into the bag afterwards.

When the girls had woken up, all the way to now, they had, luckily, not noticed the increased weight and size on the bag. I mean, no offense to them, but I wasn't really ready to talk about... That part of my past yet.

The lights of the room dimming as I adjusted one more thing on my rivet gun, the girls and I quickly turned to the projector screen, each of us aware that, this, would be one of the last messages that we would obtain for a while. As I had expected, every pony from before was there, looking to us with concern, good fortune, and confidence.

"HeLlO aLl." I said, continuing my fiddling with my weapon as Fluttershy and Rarity took their seats in front of me. The ponies looked to me... Oddly, to say the least.

To be more specific, a certain rainbow maned pony with wings was holding back her laughter. "... What's with-... HAHAHA!" Were it not for the fact that she was currently flying at the moment, she probably would have fallen on her back as she continued to laugh. Eventually, she managed to piece together a sentence through her laugh, though just barely. "W-what's with the suit?!? Ha!"

Giving her a look, I glanced down at myself, rolling my eyes as I shifted my gaze back to her. "IT wAS aLl i CouLD fiNd thAT WoULd fIT Me." I said, Rainbow Dash still laughing despite this.

Oddly enough, I noticed that, barely of the outer limits of my sight, Fluttershy and Rarity were giving her their own looks. "Well, I think he looks dashing." Rarity said, Rainbow Dash just waving her off as her laughter turned to chortles.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Can we just move on already? "Anyways, you guys ready?" There we go.

"Indeed. It will be quite some time before we may be able to can't act you all again, what with you leaving the area you're in." Princess Luna said, earning a nod of understanding from the three of us.

"She's right. Though, that doesn't mean we won't see each other again." Twilight added.

"Durn right it won't! Next time ya'll find a place ta hold up, try ta give us a holler." Said Applejack, tipping her stetson as she did so.

"Try to be careful out there everypony!" Sweetie Belle said, looking between the three of us adorably.

"Yeah! When we see you again, we can even try to have a small celebration! Ohhhhhh, I'll get started on the cake!" Pinkie Pie encouraged, reaching behind her as she somehow pulled out a white chef's hat, placing it firmly on her head and licking her lips gleefully.

"So then, we say to you, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Omega. Are you ready for what lies ahead?"

At Celestia's words, the three of us looked to each other, Fluttershy and Rarity smiling before, looking back to the projector screen, they nodded.

"Y-yes!"

"Without a doubt!" As for me, hearing them so confidently speak their willingness with this, I gave a smile, giving the rivet gun one last tighten before bringing the mechanism that had long been designed to reject my old suit to my arm. Now that the suit was gone though...

Three metal clamps sprang out as the weapon came into contact with my left arm, securing themselves with individual clangs as, pulling my arm back, I reached for and released the safety, small amounts of steam exiting the machine as it began to extend itself, barrel, tubing, and ammunition holder, now loaded with twelve rivets, nearly doubling its size until it reached its full, former splendor; an odd symbol was painted into the sides, similar to the one they used for my subject name. Giving the ponies, who looked on in wonder, a confident smile, I laid the rivet gun's weight against my shoulder as I gave them my own nod.

"MoRe thAN yOu KnoW."

Author's Note

The weapon! The vote was for the weapon! =_=

1 was for bioshock one, meaning Omega's first weapon would be a revolver. 2 was, obviously, bioshock two, making Omega's weapon his old rivet gun.

Kinda funny how most of your suggestions were about the thing you were voting for. XD

Seriously though, if you wouldn't mind, the next time I have an interactive chapter, don't suggest for things like new plasmids and the like. You can suggest finding ammo, and eve, and all that, but the suggestion of plasmids and weaponry should be out of the question unless I say otherwise, considering i plan on showing them, later in the story.

Also, since some of the suggestions were, well, already in the chapter, others have been stored for later chapters, which I will give shout outs for when they are given.

Either way, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. :)

(On a side note. Epic music for that ending, anyone? ;p)

Oh, and I'll be posting inventory notes of Omega from here on out, to help you all keep up.

-Inventory

Proximity Mines (3)
Rivet Gun (48)
ESU
EVE Hypo (3) [In case you're wondering, he got them from that huge supply of his. You know, just in case. ;)]
First Aid Kit (1/2)

Chapter 19: Starting Off 'Great'

The transmission had come to an end just as quickly as it had first began. It was... Simple conversation, throughout the time that it lasted. None of us wanted to really address anything other than the coming journey, and, in a way, I couldn't really say that it wasn't the right thing to talk about. Concern was the main emotion that revolved around the meeting, along with fear, and a little bit of something else mixed in. Anxiety?

Either way, I guess it didn't really matter anymore, huh? When the projector had shut off, for what would likely be quite some time, I ripped it out of the place I had set it up in, before stuffing it in the sack with the rest of our things. Along with that, I had also broken off a small segment of the whiteboard, before grabbing the black marker with it and putting it into my pocket. Now, if I ever had the time, I'd still be able to easily communicate with Fluttershy and Rarity.

At the moment, my charges and I weren't in the apartment anymore; We were making our way to the bathysphere, down Apollo Square. Turrets and cameras would look at us, as well some loose security bots, almost as if they knew what was going to happen, and were giving us a final farewell... I kind of felt thankful, really. I mean, at least I can be certain somethings will miss me if I... Unfortunately though, there was certain security bot that also just felt it absolutely necessary to be a part of these goodbyes. One that I could go without.

As we walked on, the sudden clang and crash of a piece of metal against the floor caught my attention, myself turning and extending my rivet gun in a single, swift movement as I prepared to take down whatever had been stupid enough to sneak up on us.

"Omega, wait!" Rarity exclaimed, soon followed by Fluttershy.

"I-it's just Winston!" My brow raising, I watched as, like they had said, the familiar, red-trimmed robot made his way out from behind the garbage pile I was aiming at... Still don't have much reason not to shoot then.

Regardless of this tempting-and I mean really tempting-thought, I lowered my weapon with a grunt, watching as Winston slowly made his further out from his cover and towards us. As I figured, he started to make a huge ruckus, beeping and spinning in the air as he floated around me.

It had been a few days since I had seen him, actually. In fact... Didn't I still need to kick his metal can for waking up the girls before? As I crossed my arms with a growl, Winston quickly quieting himself as he heard me, I groaned out a question. 'What do you want?' I 'said', the girls looking to me curiously as I did so.

In response, the annoying robot spun in the air a couple of times, flying over to me and blinking his headlights at the sack that I had slung and tied around my back. Was he asking where we were going?

It wasn't really his business, but I had an odd feeling that if I turned him away, he would just annoy us some more; The last thing I would want. So, with a sigh, I just 'told' him to get it over with. '...Lower Rapture.'

And-lo and behold-the definition of an overreaction everybody! As soon as I told him where we were headed, the bucket of bolts started to go nuts; Almost as bad as a splicer, even!

Not wanting to deal with this, I gestured for the girls to follow, barely being able to take a step forward before Winston stopped me, his headlights coming to eye level as he floated in front of me. Oh, and did I mention how I nearly went blind because of that? Because I did.

I squinted my eyes at the intense lights, grabbing Winston and moving him to the side as I rubbed the spots out of my sight. The girls and I didn't have time for this, we had to get goi-

The sudden loud sound of an object hitting the floor stopped me, as I turned to Winston, who, oddly enough, wasn't there anymore. Raising a brow, I looked to the girls questioningly, only getting unsure shrugs in return.

"Oh, I think that he left something!" Rarity suddenly said, her gaze shifting to left, soon followed by Fluttershy and I, as we saw a recorder on the floor, a tape already in its slot...

Curiosity, and confusion, flooded through me as I bent down to pick it up, a bit of grime coming off of the recorder as I lifted it. Where... where did this come from? Giving one last glance to the girls, and the area around me,-partly so I could figure out where Winston had gone as well- I pressed the play button on the recorder.

"Entry 552-C, Dr.Suchong. Progress on the Counter Assassin Project has been... Not good, very not good." I raised a brow as I heard this, Suchong's voice causing me a bit of annoyance, yet interest, as I, and the girls, listened on. "Since Andrew has assigned the project to Suchong, Suchong regrets to say that there has been a rather... Limiting issue that comes to attention. The issue, being that Fontaine, that swine, has seemingly sabotaged Suchong's machinery and equipment."

Now I know what he's talking about... Sorta. Winston had once shown me a recording that mentioned Suchong and Ryan arranging for a method of stopping Fontaine's greatest creation; Jack. Though, it hadn't really given much detail in that recording. This must have been one of his records for the project.

"Suchong is not sure how, but Fontaine has stopped my equipment from accepting Ryan's DNA. Suchong also believes he contaminated it with his own; a precaution to keep Suchong, or Ryan, from creating anymore weapons like 'Jack'... Ah! Suchong has acquired the idea!" Listening even closer as he went on, I heard the creator of Big Daddies, such as myself, and Little Sisters, chuckle, sounding quite proud of himself. "If Suchong cannot use the DNA of Ryan, then Suchong will simply use what Fontaine has left. To think, a 'son' for Ryan, and a 'son' for Fontaine. Oh, the rivalry will be so interesting to witness!"

With that, the message was brought to an end, the play button pushing itself outwards again as it awaited to be activated again. As for me... I guess confusion would be the only accurate word to describe what I felt now. Some time ago, I hadn't even known about this 'other living weapon' that Suchong had created for Ryan. Now, I learn that it, or he, as the message implied, was made from Fontaine's DNA, rather than Ryan's? What does that have to do with-

"Well, that was... Odd, wasn't it?" Rarity said, ending the small moment of silence that had come shortly after the recording's end. Shaking some of my thoughts away, I looked to her and gave a slow nod, rolling my eyes as I looked to the recorder and nonchalantly tossed it over my shoulder, landing it among one of the many other trash piles behind me.

It wasn't anything important, I'm sure. Probably just Winston trying to mess with me, like he usually does.

The bathysphere felt different that day. Almost thick, and heavy on the inside. I guess it's the last moment jitters, or something stupid like that. Glancing to the girls again, who gave me nods of, what seemed like, permission, I pushed the appropriate button with a breath, watching as the bathysphere sank, the water and glass showing my reflection back at me as we submerged... I could almost see my old armor over my now suitless self, gazing back at me, just as I gazed at it.

So, this was it. It had been a long time since I had even come close to this area, especially since, for a long time, it had no use for my repairs...

Point Prometheus. The home of scientific exploration and historical education... Turned bad. Originally, this place was another branch of Fontaine Futuristics; where they would develop new plasmids, gene tonics, and 'make all kinds of scientific discoveries'! Though, the moment Little Sisters and Big Daddies were introduced into Rapture's mix, everything went into a complete overhaul. Labs were changed into storage and construction areas for Big Daddy armor; Little Sisters were taken to a previous storage area, where they would await their 'well-deserved' fates; and the once highly popularized museum was changed into, my worst enemy over the years, the Big Daddy Proving Grounds... God, I hated this place.

As the bathysphere door opened, the girls and I took our first steps out, Fluttershy and Rarity tentatively peaking their heads out and glancing around as they did so. Smart.

Right now, we weren't really in Lower Rapture yet. Unfortunately, the bathysphere didn't have access to that region of the city; it wasn't even listed in the buttons. However, Point Prometheus, as I remembered, had an old maintenance tunnel that led to Lower Rapture, hidden inside the Proving Grounds. I wasn't really sure why it was there in the first place, but, if i had to guess, it would be because this part of Upper Rapture was pretty old, compared to the rest, but, I digress. For now, that maintenance tunnel; that was our goal.

Still, though Point Prometheus wasn't anywhere near as bad as Lower Rapture, splicers were a major problem here nonetheless. No matter what, the girls and I would have to keep our guards up.

Narrowing my eyes as I released the safety from the rivet gun, I bobbed my head for the girls to follow me, the two giving nods as they quickly began to trail behind me, shadowing me as we made our way to the atrium of Point Prometheus, just past the main hall.

As we walked on, we caught sight-though we also tried to ignore it-of the remnants of the survivors that had been unlucky enough to cross through this area during the splicer uprising, practically stapled to the wall in a splicers form of art. Corpses and remains lined the walls, now dried and crusted blood along the floors that they were held over, some having decomposed almost entirely, leaving a blackened, bloody skeleton. Every now and then, I would hear a gag from Fluttershy and Rarity, myself cringing at some of the more... Unsavory kills that the splicers had made. Truthfully, the only thing that kept me from turning around right now and taking the girls and I back to Apollo Square so they wouldn't have to walk through this anymore was the fact that this was a short trip. At least, to Lower Rapture.

The Proving Grounds were a small area, barely comparing to the rest of Point Prometheus, and, as a result, it wouldn't be long till we reached the maintenence tunnel... And then Lower Rapture... Talk about 'out of the frying pan and into the fire'.

Eventually, the girls and I reached Point Prometheus's atrium. It was a simple, empty room, with a first aid machine opposite of us, along with a 'Power To The People' machine, now long broken down; too bad too. I could've really used it. To our left was a door, or, series of doors really, that led to the Little Wonder's Educational Facility, and a pair of stairs that would lead up to the Optimized Eugenics area, and the Big Daddy Suit Assembly floors.

Thankfully, we'd be able to save ourselves that trip, since, at the moment, we didn't have any need to go there. Looking to our immediate right, I felt myself shudder and growl in anger. The Big Daddy Proving Grounds. The place where, after having barely made the qualifications of being a Big Daddy, I would constantly have been assigned a new Little Sister to protect, only to lose her some time later...

Sighing, I made my way to the door, kneeling as I opened the even smaller door that had been imbued into it by force, and reaching my arm in, searching for the small button that Little Sisters would have to press to let their Big Daddies in. Honestly, it was a good thing I had learned how to do this over the years, otherwise-...

What the?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Rarity watched as Omega felt around the door, obviously searching for something that lay out of sight on the other side. The two would, from time to time, glance around themselves whenever they would hear the far off echoes of groaning metal, or a muttering splicer. They silently prayed for Omega to hurry, while at the same time hoping for him to be careful, as he continued his endeavors to open the doors before them.

However, they also noticed that, as time passed, Omega's face grew more and more frustrated, a small sense of anger growing in the back of his eyes as he continued in his ministrations.

"Is... I-is this suppose to take this long?" Fluttershy asked herself in thought, slowly trotting over to Omega's side as he continued... Whatever it was he was doing.

"Omeg-" That was all she could get out before Omega suddenly groaned out in annoyance, slamming his fist into the ground beyond the door, Fluttershy letting out a small 'eek' out of surprise as Omega pulled his arm out from the other side. In doing so, Omega turned himself around, sitting himself against the doors with a hand over his face in irritance; Silently mumbling to himself as he rubbed his face.

Fluttershy, having quickly recovered from her sudden shock, timidly made her way next to her guardian again, slowly reaching out and tapping him lightly on the shoulder. "Omega?"

At the call of his name, and feeling of the tap, though just barely, subject Omega turned his head slightly to his winged charge, peaking an eye out of his still covered face as he looked to her.

"I-is everything alright?" Hearing her voice as he looked at her concern showing face, along with Rarity's, who was at his feet at the moment, Omega let out a sigh, reaching into the sack of supplies that the three had brought with them, and pulling out his whiteboard segment.

Alongside this, he also reached into his pocket and grabbed hold of the black marker he had brought with it, popping open the top with his teeth as he began to write a message to the two.

He took longer than usual, not being so used to writing at such a small-scale yet, but the mares patiently awaited him, themselves aware of the trouble that their companion still had with his recently obtained knowledge of literature.

After a few minutes, filled with various scribbles and frustrated erasings, Omega showed the message to the two. 'IT'S NOT THERE.'

Naturally, at this rather broad, and unspecific message, the two looked to Omega questioningly, unsure as to what he meant. "What isn't, dear?" Rarity asked, Omega quickly letting out a sigh as he erased the message, writing anew.

'THE WAY TO OPEN THE DOOR.' Now, reading the more or less completed message, both Fluttershy and Rarity's eyes widened, their hearts momentarily quickening in tension as they began to realize what this meant.

"Y-... You mean we're stuck here?" Fluttershy asked fearfully, her breath slightly shaking as she did so.

Omega didn't respond, once again closing up the marker and putting away the whiteboard segment as he silently looked ahead of him, to the adjacent passage. Surely, there had to be something he could do. It couldn't possibly be that this escape attempt would end before it began. It just couldn't.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seriously though? The switch is gone?!? Of all the things that could have stopped us, it ended up being a stupid little switch?!?

Ugh, it was things like this that made me hate Rapture. I mean, honestly, I can barely believe this!

... There had to be another way to open it. Rapture was designed by fool-hardy, greedy, malicious, and self-prideful assholes, but not by idiots... Most of the time. More than likely, the door had some kind of failsafe to it, just like everything else in this goddamned city. All I had to do-all we had to do-was find it...

As I looked ahead to the passageway in front of me, leading into the further depths of Point Prometheus, I couldn't help but to let out a mental groan. I guess we were going to have to go through the place after all. I probably should have figured, honestly. In Rapture, if something seems too easy, that's because it really fucking isn't, and its likely going to make itself much more difficult.

Lifting myself up off the ground again, I put my hand against the side and back of my neck, moving my head to the side and loudly ridding myself of a crick in my vertebrae. This wasn't going to be fun... Actually, maybe it will.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A bout of confidence surrounded Omega as he once again gestured for the girls to follow, the two giving him questioning expressions, but doing as he said nonetheless. With every step that he took to the door, he knew that, despite his best interests, there was only a small chance that they would find some sort of failsafe, or the like. Either way, even the smallest chance could prove to be all that was needed. After all, they were trying to go to Lower Rapture, weren't they?

The automated doors opened with a screech, the gears and components likely having rusted over time, as Omega, Fluttershy, and Rarity made their way in, the two charges making sure to stay close to their guardian. A small window to their right showed the inner workings of one of the many abandoned laboratories of Point Prometheus, paperwork having been hastily and messily stuffed into boxes and spilled onto floors from the previous scientist's efforts.

As they noticed the dim red light of the room though, the girls quickly felt a chill go up their spines, moving more to the side as they attempted to gain their distance. Omega wasn't deterred by this, mentally comparing the room with some of the rest of Rapture, and almost laughing at the similarities.

Drawing his attention forward again, he heard Fluttershy and Rarity jump slightly as the next door before them opened, revealing an open area with what looked like a large block of smaller rooms in the center of the two story region, small walkways being above them for the second floor.

He quickly recognized the area to be the Little Wonders Educational area, slightly cringing at the memory of the goings-ons at this place. As the three walked into the room, Omega's attention was quickly drawn to the first aid machine on the wall before them, making a mental note of it as Omega glanced around the rest of the room.

Ignoring the inexistent screams he heard in his mind from the previous 'tenants' of the area, Omega once again pulled out the whiteboard segment he had brought with him, a message already in mind as the marker was once again revealed and popped open.

'GOING ROOM TO ROOM. SEARCH FOR SOMETHING UNDER 'FAILSAFE'.' He wrote, having to constantly erase and rewrite to accommodate fir the room. Fluttershy and Rarity nodded as they read his words, showing their understanding to a satisfied Omega.

Returning the nod, Omega randomly chose one of the two passageways before him, choosing to take the path on the left as he replaced his writing board and marker back in with his supplies. Their foot-and hoof-steps could be heard echoing through the room as they approached the first of many doors in the block, Omega grabbing hold of the lever that accessed it and, with a quick flick of his wrist, pushing it down, the door to the small room opening shortly after.

Upon entering, Omega and his charges felt themselves flinch as they caught sight of the room, and, more importantly, some of the features that had stayed inside over the span of time.

In the room, there was a small bed that was laid along the side wall, about the size of a small child, with only slightly more room to spare. Toys like blocks with letters on them, a teddy bear, and even a few small dolls, were spread here and there, and there was writing on the walls and floor, drawn with small figures, all in crayon. Obviously, a little girl's attempts at keeping herself entertained while she waited for her ill-timed fate. The same fate that awaited all other Little Sisters when they would complete their duties.

Pushing this matter aside, Omega quickly began to search the small room for even the smallest hints of resources that he could use for their current situation. As he did so, Rarity and Fluttershy also made their way around the small quarters, often getting caught up as they saw each creation that had been drawn on the walls by the blissfully unaware Little Sisters.

Rarity's attention was shifted to a small piece of messy writing that was on the floor, saying 'I don't wanna go on the table. I'll be good.'

"Whatever could that mean?" She thought to herself as she looked to the message questioningly.

Fluttershy, in the meantime, had put her sight to the drawing of a small girl, her hand, though only drawn as a small collection of lines, held with that of a much larger figure, with multiple yellow eyes, and what looked like a drill on his arm.

"Is... This another Big Daddy? Like Omega?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aside from an EVE hypo that laid under the bed, there wasn't really anything of use in this room. Not even the smallest piece of writing that tipped off at the location of the failsafe for the door to the Proving Grounds. Well, there were still three more rooms on this floor, along with the four that were above.

Sighing as I picked myself off the floor, dusting off my pants from the bent position that I had taken, I turned to my charges and gave a short groan, quickly drawing their attention. I pointed out the door to the room, the two following after me as I slowly made my way outside, flipping the lever back to its original position and once again closing the doors to the room shut.

Alright, now on to the next one.

Well, that was quick. The next room over was, annoyingly enough, completely empty. It didn't even have furnishings in it, like a bed, or anything like that. It was... Unnerving, to say the least. Especially since the only thing I and the girls could hear in the room was the blowing of the air conditioning, and, even more creepily, the sound of giggling. Suffice to say, we barely lasted three seconds before we shut that door faster than Cohen would change his mind about a tune.

Rolling my eyes as we exited the room, we walked on, turning the corner as-

"Welcome to the Circus of Valuuueessss!"

Jesus Christ why!?! Well, that was a heart attack! Myself and the girls having jumped at the vending machine's sudden self-introduction, Fluttershy nearly having screamed, were it not for Rarity covering her mouth with her hoof at the last second, I took a breath as I gave a glare at the machine from hell.

My shoulders hitched as I made my way to the automated vendor, grumbling to myself as I began to look the thing over. I didn't have any money on me to use the damn thing, obviously, but as I looked it over, mostly the control panel on the side, I felt a small smile come to my face as I pulled the covering off of the machine, revealing its inner wirings.

It'd been a while since I had last hacked any sort of machinery, but I could still remember the basics. I could feel Fluttershy's and Rarity's eyes on me as I carefully rerouted the machine's flow of electricity to its appropriate places, using inhibitors and other small, varying wires to both slow and speed up the machine's flow. As I nearly finished though, a loud clang from afar drew both my charges and mine's attention, our heads turning warily to the source of the sound.

Luckily though, from what we could see that is, a pipe had just given way, having fallen to the ground as a result of some rusty screws and bolts. Shaking my head at this, I looked back to my musings, mentally wondering as to- Oh shit!

My eyes widening as I quickly made to move the wires piece by piece, I mentally scolded myself for my distraction, having allowed for the wires to have come dangerously close to initiating the alarm systems. With pure skill, intuition, and an incredible amount of luck-mostly luck-I managed to connect the wires to their places, the alarm chips of the machine literally ending up millimeters from being tripped as I let out a sigh. Definitely not going to try and risk that again.

As I had hoped, the machine began to let out a series of chirps and whirs, the eyes of the creepy clown flashing as it reconfigured itself to its newly adjusted wiring... Yeesh. Makes me get goosebumps every time I think about it.

Eventually, with one last distorted mechanical laugh, the machine plopped out two free objects from its tray, to the floor. Rarity, with a raise of her brow, made her way over to the objects, looking them over before grabbing one of the two with her mouth, the other being held with a hoof against her chest, and bringing them to me; I gratefully repaid her with a pat on her head, which she smiled at, as I gently took the objects from her grasp.

As to what had fallen from the machine, it was a medical kit, loaded with standard issue Rapture medicinals, and, as an added bonus, a container of specialized rivet gun ammunition. Heavy rivets, made to pack an even greater punch than their close relatives.

I placed the items in the sack with the rest, letting out a sigh as I stood myself up and-

"Tell your friends about the Circus of Valuuueeessss!"

I fucking hate this thing! Another short moment of surprise afterwards, I would have personally shut this thing down were it not for the fact that it was a kick away from activating its alarm systems.

Moving away from the thing, and sidestepping from it, the girls and I moved on to the next side of the block of rooms, reaching the third door on the floor... Which had its switch removed... Fuck.

I could easily break the door down, sure, but I had no interest of attracting every splicer in the area with the noise, so instead, I looked over the remnants of the lever. It was sparking slightly, thankfully enough, meaning that its wiring was still mostly undamaged. Which meant...

Moving for Fluttershy and Rarity to step back, which they quickly did, I reactivated the safety on my rivet gun, causing it to compact itself again, before then bringing out my ESU again, charging it to its max, and connecting it to the broken switch.

The clanking and grinding of gears brought a smile to my face as my efforts proved to be in the right, the door slowly grinding itself open... Before promptly getting jammed. Really?!?

Slapping my hand against my head in annoyance, I made my way to the door, peeking in through the small opening that had shown itself in the entrance. My point of view was fairly limited, to say the least, as I looked through. Putting my hands to join my head, I pushed against the opening to try to force the door open, only to be met by a loud grinding sound from nearby. My brow raising, I followed the source of the sound downwards, sighing as I saw a large chunk of broken off metal was jammed between the door and the wall, just out of my reach.

Glancing more around the room, I saw that it didn't really seem any different than the others anyhow. A small bed, some toys... A whiteboard?

It was turned around, facing away from me, and, in a way, though it wasn't guaranteed, I felt as though there was a pretty big chance that it could have something useful written on it. It was a bit of a longshot... Okay, a lot, but still, crazier things have happened. Now, I just had to find a way inside.

As if on que, a small amount of debris fell from the ceiling, drawing my attention upwards; There was a huge hole there, some of the floor structuring and the room above clearly visible. A smile came to my face as I made my way back out of the opening, looking to the girls.

They looked to me questioningly, likely wondering as to why I was smiling. As an answer, I pointed to the room behind me, gesturing for the two to follow as we made our way down the hall, to a nearby set of stairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His mind set as to what they should do next, Omega led his charges down the hall, to the stairs, meaning to make his way to the second floor of the area. That is, until-...

"He said he'd meet me here! Why isn't he here?" The three stopped as the twisted voice of a splicer rang through the air. Following the voice, they saw that, unlike the other small accommodations made for the Little Sisters of the area, the last one on the floor had its door open, meaning that someone was already inside. Omega, letting out a short, silent growl, gestured for the girls to stay where they were, not even waiting for a response as he began to make his way down the hall, and into the room.

Rarity and Fluttershy felt their concern climb as they saw this, glancing to one another as Omega exited their sight.

They had managed to come this far without dealing with a splicer, and now that one was so close, they couldn't help but feel worried. Especially since Omega was apparently going to handle it on his own.

Th girls listened closely as they heard the continued nonsense that was being muttered by the splicer, awaiting for a sign that Omega was well.

"Ugh, I'm running out of patience! Where is h- Gack! Let go of me! You won't stop me from seeing hi-" Before the splicer could go on any further, a loud series of snaps was heard from the room, Rarity and Fluttershy flinching as the thud of a body hitting the floor soon followed.

Dusting his hands off on one another, Omega soon exited the room, a nonchalant expression about him as he turned to his charges and gave them a nod, signaling that the problem was taken care of.

The two mares slowly nodded at this, making their way over to their guardian, who gestured for them to follow as he made his way up the nearby staircase.

Fluttershy followed quickly after, not daring to look behind her as she flew up the stairs, shortly behind Omega. Rarity, however, stayed behind, her curiosity ebbing at her, despite her mental protest, as she slowly made her way into the room that she had previously heard the splicer.

She quickly grew to regret it though, as she saw the now even more twisted, and pale face of the female splicer staring back at her, her eyes lifeless as her neck jutted itself out, turning her head in an unnatural angle. Biting on the inside of her cheek, Rarity made her way out of the room again, her breath short as as she attempted to push away the sight from her mind.

"For such a gentle, kind, and caring being... Omega can certainly be ruthless whenever he feels it necessary."

Snapping out of her slightly disturbed state as the sound of a loud groan from Omega echoed downstairs, she shook the thoughts out of her head as best as she could. "Oh, uh, coming!" She yelled after Omega, quickly making her way upstairs to meet with her awaiting company.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Rarity made her way up the stairs, panting slightly from having sprinted up the whole way, I looked to her with a raised brow, Fluttershy sharing a similar expression as Rarity's breathing slowly began to return to normal.

"Forgive me... I got... Distracted..." She panted, myself rolling my eyes as I waved the issue off. I didn't know what exactly had distracted her, but, hey, so long as she was okay, I guess that it wouldn't be a problem.

Changing my direction and moving down the hall, I mentally went over the last place that I had seen the hole in the ceiling, passing room after room as I did so, eventually coming up on what I believed to be out destination.

Unfortunately, unlike the doors from downstairs, the doors here didn't have switches. Instead, there was a keypad. Of course.

Growling, I grabbed hold of the keypad and took the logical approach. I ripped it out, exposing the inner wirings. It's a good thing that this wasn't one of those reinforced locks.

Twirling my wrist, I reached into the exposed components of the keypad and starting up the hacking process. Out of the corner of my eye, though I kept most of my focus on the wires, I noticed Rarity and Fluttershy take a seat nearby, along the walkway railings.

So far, so goo-

"Oh, dear!" Rarity suddenly exclaimed, my attention immediately turning to her as, to my stupidity, the wirings overloaded, a large jolt of electricity running up my arm as I pulled it away with a roar of pain... A loud one.

"Eh, whassat?"

"Someone new! Someone new!"

The far off shouts of splicers began to grow louder as, narrowing my eyes, I slowly turned to Rarity, who, at the moment, was looking to me with a sheepish smile.

"Uh... There was a spider..." She explained, chuckling nervously as I narrowed my eyes even further at her. I could hear the splicers closing in on our location, the sound of their grinding weapons and insidious laughter echoing down the halls, to the room.

Groaning, I quickly started to hack the control panel again, my charges gaining expressions of fear and panic as they backed away from the railings and made their way to me, Fluttershy grabbing hold of me, shaking as she did so, and Rarity sticking extremely close to my side.

I was pressed for time as I connected wire after wire, inhibitor after inhibitor, to the system, leading it off into the door's output slot.

"P-please h-hurry!" Fluttershy stammered, her grip tightening as the splicers footsteps now became audible; They were downstairs.

"Almost... Got it!" I thought to myself in success, the door pulling itself open, revealing a relatively empty room, the very hole that I had been looking for being in the center of the room. Grabbing hold of Fluttershy and pulling her off of me, drawing a whimper from her, I stepped into the room, looking down the hole and into the room below.

It wasn't a far drop, by the looks of it, and better still, the bed for the room was right below. Groaning for the girls, I pointed down the hole, the two of them giving me looks of surprise as I did so.

"What!?! Are you mad? We can't-"

"I call the sissy one first!"

"Well, I suppose that we'll see you down there!" And with that, Rarity quickly made her way down to the room below, landing with an 'oomph' as she hit the mattress with a plop. Fluttershy followed shortly after, making her way into the room and her wings fluttering as she began to fly to the structural flaw.

Before she went down though, she glanced to me, an obvious look of worry about her. "W-what about you?" She asked.

Waving her off, I gave her a reassuring smile, gesturing that I would follow shortly after, the safety from my rivet gun being removed at the same time, as I extended both my ESU and my rivet gun.

She looked to me with concerned skepticism, but, thankfully, she flew herself down after Rarity nonetheless, leaving only me on the second floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the splicers finally made their way to the second floor of the room, they felt smiles come to their face as they spotted their target, waiting for them just at the doorway of one of the many smaller, compartment-like rooms of the area.

Being comprised of four Leadhead Splicers, one of them using a submachine gun rather than a revolver, a Spider Splicer, and six Thuggish Splicers, the tommy gun wielding splicer stepped forward; He began to ramble in his crazed state.

"Now jus' give yaself up, little fishy! It'll be nice n' bloody for y-" A splatter of blood and gray matter was all that was left to finish the splicer's rantings as the loud bang of Omega's rivet gun rang through the air; The smile on Omega's face, though small, showed a surplus of satisfaction.

"Yeah, definitely aim better with my left arm." Before the splicers could react, Omega shot three more rounds into the crowd, ridding himself of the Leadheads, his main threat, and catching one Thuggish splicer off-guard with a stray round through the eye.

Blood continued to splatter around the room and onto the splicers as they quickly began to charge at Omega, the Spider Splicer taking to the ceiling as he followed behind the Thuggish Splicers, the lot of them yelling furiously as they did so. Omega's eyes narrowing, he unleashed a flurry of rivets into the crowd, mowing them down with little to no effort, the lucky ones being taken down with shots to the head, while the less fortunate had their limbs forcibly parted from their bodies.

As the pile of mutilation continued to grow, blood beginning to drip off the side of the walkway, the Spider Splicer, who smiled smugly as he saw opportunity, pounced towards Omega, his hooks readied to gut their target. Shifting his gaze to the splicer, Omega pointed his rivet gun to the crazed ADAM addict, his eyes widening as the click of an empty weapon echoed in his ears.

Unable to take the splicer down with his long range weaponry, Omega instead opted to use his rivet gun as a sort of shield, holding it out broadly in font of him, the splicer's hooks circling around the weapon as he began to push against him in an attempt to gain the upper hand.

Omega, his strength not to be bested, reeled his remaining arm back and hit the splicer with a strong jab to the head. The splicer slid back against the floor, hitting the metal railing behind him with force near enough to knock him through, instead bending the metal, as he held his now broken nose. It was during this moment of distraction for the splicer that Omega once again reached into the burlap sack slung around his back, grabbing hold of the one thing that he was sure would end this quickly.

"Why you- I oughta-" Pulling his hands away from his bloody face, the splicers eyes widened as he saw a green orb sitting at the floor in front of him, beeping in rapid succession. Glancing upwards, now wordlessly, his last sight was Omega, smiling as he gave the splicer one last wave before jumping down the hole that his charges had previously gone down; a fireball and shockwave followed shortly behind him, disintegrating the splicer and causing the ceiling to cave in on the second floor door, sealing off the way into the room.

Omega, having landed with grunt, felt his eyes widen as the mattress below him's wooden bed frame snap. Flailing his arms as his previously well-maneuvered landing ended in embarrassment, Omega turned his head to his charges, who, at the moment, were looking to him in a combination of amazement, worry, and amusement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well... I guess people don't kid around when they talk about starting something off with a bang... Ow."

Author's Note

Well, nice to see that we're sticking with the old Rapture tradition of making things harder than they have to be, eh?

Things are probably gonna hear up from here, I mean, they already have, and they aren't even in Lower Rapture yet.

Oh, and, to keep you all informed. This is one of those moments where the choice on weaponry mattered. Had Omega been given a revolver, rather than his Rivet gun, I would have made it so that he would have fired at the leadhead's just the same, and, as he would run out of ammo, unable to take out the other thuggish splicers, he would have had to use two proximity mines rather than one to compensate. Plus, his face off with the would have been more him out-maneuvering the splicer, rather than using his weapon as a shield, as he did here.

Different paths, same end! Choice matters!

Chapter 20: The New Breed

Stupid bed. I swear, how is it that, if something is made of wood, I usually end up breaking it? Doors, cabinets, not to mention that incident with the stairs!

"A-are you okay, Omega?" Fluttershy asked, her wings fluttering softly at her sides as she made her way next to me, concern evident in her eyes.

"Yes. That was quite a spill you took." Rarity added, following shortly after her friend, her own similar sense of worry visible.

Turning my head towards the two from my bent and awkward position on the broken bed, I chuckled, giving the two a nod before, letting out a groan, I stood myself up again, the mattress squeaking in response; A new layer of dust fell from me as I did so, Rarity seeming to wave it away while Fluttershy just let out a small, near silent sneeze.

Adorable, but that's a side note, isn't it? Putting foot over foot out of the snapped, wooden frame that held up the bed, I made my way past the girls, lightly ruffling their manes as I did so, almost out if instinct, and towards the backwards whiteboard. Now's the moment of truth, isn't it?

Taking in a breath, I grabbed onto both sides of the board, spinning it with a quick flick of my wrists, its wheels squeaking below it, and turning it to face the girls and I...

'5-28-16-12. Library. -Joshua.'

... Well that's... Useful? Honestly, I wasn't sure. I guess that, in circumstances like these, it's a bit of make or break anyhow. Raising my brow as I looked to the worn, almost illegible, message written in black, I felt myself dig into my older memories of Prometheus Point, schematics and maps flipping through my mind as I tried to remember about this 'library'.

Let's see... In Point Prometheus, there were four major areas. Little Wonders Educational Facility, which is where we were now, Optimized Eugenics, the Big Daddy suit factory floor, and, just beyond that... Mendel's Family Library!

That's right! If we head back to the atrium and take those stairs from before, we should be able to reach the Suit Assembly Floor, and just beyond that, the library! Whatever was there, whatever it meant, I would have to find it, and, hopefully, there would be something of interest. Mentally nodding my head as I went over the plan, I turned to the girls again, Rarity currently adjusting her still slightly ruffled mane.

"Did you find something, dear?" Rarity asked, giving me a short glance as she distractedly continued to tend to her mane. Chuckling at this sight, I nodded, Fluttershy stepping forward, her eyes on the message on the whiteboard.

"W-what does it mean?" She asked. Glancing to the numbers on the board, I gave a shrug, unsure as to what they meant. As for the location though, I took out my marker from my pocket, uncapping it and, with one swift motion, circling the word 'library'.

"A library?" I nodded, Fluttershy gaining a look of worry about her as she looked to me. "W-will it be safe?" She realizes we're in Rapture, right?

Rolling my eyes at this, I kneeled down next to her, giving her a nod as I reassuringly pat her head. This didn't seem to assist her worry that greatly, but, after a flashed her a small smile, she seemed to calm, the slight fear in her eyes fading back to imexistance as I stood myself to my feet again, both Fluttershy and Rarity smiling to me as I did so.

Making my way to the still jammed door of the room, I reached for my rivet gun, pushing the nearby release as the empty rivet container on it's side fell to the ground, clanging as it bounced against the metal floors. I moved my hand into the burlap sack tied to me, grabbing hold of another container of rivets and, with a quick clank of it against the rivet gun's metal, and a spin to put it in place, finishing the reload of my weaponry.

Now much more confident, since my rivet gun was once again loaded with twelve, splicer killing shots, I reached for the metal shard that currently jammed the door in front of the girls and I, ready to free the door and begin our tread to the Mendel Family Library... Until-

"I think that James an' his crew came dis way!"

"Ya best be right 'bout this!"

As soon as I heard the sound of more splicers heading towards the area, their footsteps and voices echoing down the hall and into the room, I released the metal shard that I had been gripping, choosing to leave it in as I scrambled behind me. Running past my currently confused charges, I grabbed hold of the mattress that laid limply in the room, lifting it and, with little to no taking it across the room, over my charges' heads. Soon, the voices and sounds that came from the splicers coming this way became muffled, a mattress now adding to the small barrier that the jammed metal door had created.

Wasn't I trying to make my way out? Well, yes, why the heck would I do that now? No, I wasn't trying to take down the doors, so much as I was trying to close them off. There were only two ways into this room. One of which now being sealed off by rubble from the explosive I had thrown back on the second floor, and the other currently being blocked off by the mattress I had just placed.

As to the reason, well, it was mostly caution. I was in no mood to get into another fight with a large group of splicers, considering the limited ammunition that I had, and closing off the ways and views into here would definitely help to make sure of that.

As the girls turned to me curiously, their brows raised as they looked to me, I made my way to the whiteboard again, my marker top being pulled off with a pop as I started to a message of my own, just below the note that had been left here by 'Joshua'.

'SPLICERS OUTSIDE. NEED TO WAIT.'

Both of the girls' eyes widened as they read this; The two going silent as they both gave me nods, backing away from the door a little bit further, then moving off to the side of the room so that they wouldn't be in its direct front. It was a smart move, actually.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since Omega had first blocked off the way in and out of the room, the group of three had been sitting against the far wall for quite some time, silently listening as the footsteps and mutterings of splicers would come and go.

Fluttershy and Rarity had unknowingly huddled themselves close to Omega as time went on, though he didn't show any signs of minding whatsoever, finding comfort in his presence near them. As for Omega, he had readied his weapon sometime ago, keeping it pointed towards the door, just in case the splicers did manage to get through.

Soon though, the sound from the other of the blocked off doors began to calm. Footsteps of a crowd lowered to that of a group, then a few, and finally, to none. Remaining wary, however, Omega retained his position, ready to fire at even the slightest-...

Nearly pulling the trigger to his weapon as a loud growl filled the room, Omega jumping in slight surprise, along with his charges, as he glanced around the room, searching for the source. As he stood himself, scanning the room with his original Big Daddy firearm as his charges looked to him with both bemusement, but even more so, a slight sense of humored solace.

"Um... Darling?" Rarity whispered, Omega momentarily stopping his search as he turned his head to the two, partially lowering his rivet gun. "I... Uh... I do believe that that was your... Stomach." As she said this, she forced herself to hold back chuckled, a sense of nervousness itching at her as she told Omega of this... Admittedly degrading fact.

Omega looked to the two with a raised brow, now completely lowering his weapon, and even reverting it to it's compacted form, as he turned to them.

Yet again, a growl filled the room, loudly and abruptly; Only this time, Omega's face reddened, having felt the twisting and rumbling if his stomach as it groaned out a feeling that Omega had long gone without, and as a result, forgotten. Hunger.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... Well, this is embarrassing. I mean, how often does somebody's stomach scare them? It sounds ridiculous, I'm aware, but its the truth. After all, over a decade of being stuck inside of a suit that regularly tended to your human needs... Well... It makes pretty much everything surprising.

Letting out a small, nervous chuckle, I scratched the back of my head as I pointed my gaze elsewhere than the girls, in a similar fashion to Fluttershy, I cleared out my throat, hoping to push the moment aside.

"... M-maybe we should take a lunch break while we're here?" I heard Fluttershy suggest, myself returning my gaze to the two as I gave them a nod. Red still on my face, though I could tell that it had faded significantly, I made my way over to the two again, sitting with my legs crossed in front of them as I untied the sack from around my back and placed it to my side.

Reaching in as the girls adjusted their seating positions, creating a small triangle comprised of the three of us, I brushed aside ammo, explosives, momentos, and utilities as I grabbed hold of three cans that laid along with a much larger pile, taking them out one by one through random choice and placing them in the middle of the girls and I. Soon after that, I also pulled out the large container of water that the girls had found in Apollo Square, placing it off to the side for later; I re-tied the bag again, assuring that nothing would spill out as I left it to stand on it own, despite the fact that it dropped slightly.

Turning back to the girls, who were both waiting patiently as I went about my process, I grabbed hold of the three cans once again, holding them in my gloved ESU hand, while using my bare hand to rip off the lids. I, not wanting the girls to be unhappy, placed the cans back down for them, gesturing for them to choose those which they preferred.

In front of us was a can of sliced peaches, a can of orange pieces, and a can of diced pineapple. The three fruits looked... Odd. Not that they had gone bad, thank god, but its just the way they were colored and-... And wet. I kinda had some mixed feelings to the impressions they gave me in my hunger.

At first, the girls both reached out for their individual cans, Fluttershy having chosen the peaches, while Rarity chose the pineapple. But, centimeters away from actually taking the food's, the two stopped, pulling their forehooves away as if they had just been scolded for doing something wrong before glancing at one another, similar expressions of relent on their faces.

Is something wrong?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Omega looked to the two in concerned confusion, Fluttershy and Rarity looked to one another, sharing the same, simultaneous thought as they looked between the food in front of them, and their companion, Omega.

"...W-well... He has been in that suit for a long time." Fluttershy thought to herself, Rarity, in the meantime, only seeming to unknowingly add to it.

"And I'm sure that he's curious as to how these foods taste like, after having gone so long without.." Rarity mused, a slight sting of guilt hitting both her, and Fluttershy, from very nearly having selfishly taken two whole cans of the meals before them.

"Plus, Rarity and I-"

"did promise to take care of Omega, just as he took care of us."

The two felt their eyes mentally narrow as I glint of sureness passed through them.

"I-it may not be a lot-"

"but perhaps,-"

"it would make Omega happy?"

The two's minds set, they both looked to Omega, having shared an unheralded agreement as they slowly began to speak up once again, thinking up ways in which to explain their thoughts to their currently confused guardian.

"Um... Omega, darling, perhaps we shouldn't be so... Self centered." Rarity's explanation only drew even more confusion from Omega, as he looked to the two with an added sense of skepticism now about him.

"I-I think that, what she means is... Um... That, maybe, if you'd like, that is, you'd prefer to... Um... Share them?" Finishing this prolonged sentence of hers, Fluttershy and Rarity both flashed small, nervous smiles to their protector, who just looked on at the scene in what appeared to be thought.

Omega, after having heard this... Suggestion of theirs, couldn't help but be confused as to their motives for doing so. After all, he likely wouldn't have minded whatever canned food he was left with, and he certainly didn't think of the two as 'self centered', or anything like that. Still though, if what they wanted to do was to share the three cans amongst one another, then, by all means, Omega couldn't really find reason to decline.

Shrugging to the two as a response, basically telling them that he didn't mind, he felt himself mentally raise a brow as the two let out silent, though still noticeable, sighs, almost in relief. He figured that he would have to rack his mind on it later. Especially since, at the moment, his stomach was about five minutes from punching him against his throat in an effort to tell him to find food.

So, reaching for the cans at random, Rarity and Fluttershy watched as Omega grabbed onto one of the many split apart fruits, before then just popping it into his mouth, his mouth chewing as he slowly processed the taste and texture into his mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... You know how I said that I was 'missing out' when I had first hugged the girls without my suit on? Well... This was no exception!

I mean, holy crap! This tasted freaking amazing! The orange pieces gave a nice, acidic, yet sweet taste. The peaches were even more so, being even sweeter than what I figured sugar would taste like, all the while managing to spread it about. As for pineapple, it was the most refreshing thing I had ever had! Every bite felt like it released a small splash of sweetened water in return, trailing down to my neck, and soothing my long unused throat.

Better still, after I had taken one piece of each of the fruits to taste, the girls had begun to dig in as well, pacing themselves, just as I did, as we slowly emptied the cans of fruit, eventually ending out small break as we began to feel the cold, smooth bottoms of the cans.

As I popped one last piece of peach into my mouth though, I noticed that the girls were looking to me with smiles, myself being unsure as to why. I had eaten relatively cleanly, aside from the whole 'eating with my hands' thing, and I'm pretty sure that none of it had stained around my face, or clothing, for that matter.

Raising my brow at the two, I untied and reached into our supplies again, taking our my whiteboard segment, since, honestly, I was too lazy to just get up and write it on the bigger board, and began to scribble a message for the two, eventually turning it to face them as I finished.

'WHY ARE YOU TWO SMILING?'

Much to my surprise, as they read this, the two giggled, drawing even more confusion from me in doing so.

"Oh, darling, we're simply happy that you enjoyed the food. After all, you did tell us that you were in your suit for a long time, some time ago." Rarity answered.

"Y-yes. W-we're just glad that you liked it."

... I know I'm a sucker for cute, but damn this was adorable. The two were cheerful at the fact that I actually liked the first meal that I had in years, and, just the thought of it... Well... Unable to really express it in words, I thanked the two in one of the only ways that I could.

Pushing the littered cans between us aside, I reached my hands for the two's heads, the two calmly keeping their positions, doing so even more firmly still then, as I set myself to gently petting the two of them, scratching them lightly nearby their ears, feeling the warm, soft fur below my fingers as I did so.

They both leaned into my hands as I went on, drawing a chuckle from me as their smiling, almost entranced faces, leaned along with their heads. Eventually, after a few more moments of simply enjoying the girls contentment, and happiness, I pulled away from the two, their heads slowly reverting to their previous positions, their eyes slowly looking their dazed looks, as I grabbed hold of the water container that I had left off to the side during our meal, opening the container and holding it out to the girls.

As they finally recovered from their states, they both took turns with the water, Rarity having gone first, taking small, measured sips from the water before passing it on. They had a bit of trouble, considering the slippery glass and the fact that they were using their hooves, but with a little assistance from my end, adding slightly more support to the bottom of the bottom of the container so that they could more easily drink it, they managed.

Soon, as the glass reached me, I took in a breath as I put the tip of the container in between my lips, slowly tipping it until, finally, the formless... Cool... Refreshing... Okay, this was just water, right? It was great. I mean, its supposed to be flavorless, but to me, it felt like it was a blessing in liquid form. I took measured sips, like my charges, but for one reason or another, I had do so, let alone when I pulled away. It was as if... All my dilemma and pain were washed off.

Shaking my head slightly as I pulled the container away from me, closing it up once again before replacing it into our sack of supplies, then tying it around my back again, I stood myself with a groan, the girls shortly following the example, and turned towards where the mattress currently blocked off the door; I released the safeties on both of my weapons. While it was a nice break, it was time to get going. Time to head to that library.

Glancing to the written numbers on the whiteboard in the room again, I mentally repeated them over and over again, trying to set it into my memory as I made my way over to the blocked off door and pulled away a small part of the mattress, giving me a small view of the hall.

It was desolate, with not a single splicer to be heard, or seen, in the area. Smirking at this, I pushed aside the mattress fully, before then grabbing hold of the metal shard that blocked the door and, with little to no effort, pulling the bent metal out from its entrapment, and allowing for the door to finally slide open.

About ti-

"Oy!"

Oh, come on! Turning to the source of the sound, I saw a single thuggish splicer looking to me angrily, having obviously been scavenging from the Circus of Values vending machine as he stood himself to face me. The girls, still currently hidden behind the doorframe, stood back, keeping themselves in cover as they watched me. At least I was sure they were safe.

"Th' boys 'no I was lookin' for you! They think I'm a right loon now, y'hear?!?" And that would make then wrong, how? "I oughta-"

As he hit his lead pipe against his hand, myself letting out a silent sigh as I compacted my rivet gun again and sparked my ESU, knowing that it would be a waste of ammunition to use any rivets on this guy, I nearly slapped my palm against my face as he tripped over the vending machine and fell flat on his face, having basically kicked the thing... Wait, 'kicked'?

I felt a chuckle escape me as the familiar sound of an alarm rang through the air, the splicer looking upwards in shock as he sprang to stand himself up. The idiot had actually kicked the wiring of the machine I had hacked into turning on the security alarms! That's just rich!

The security bots were soon about him, the splicer flailing his weapon uselessly as the bots few around him a few times, before, with a cock of their guns, letting loose a maelstrom of bullets. The splicer fell quickly as the alarms soon shut off, the two security bots beginning to fly past me as they made their way to whatever location they had intended to return to... Until I plucked one of the two from the air, gripping it tightly as its rotors began to spin rapidly in its attempts to escape my grip, though I didn't let go.

Looking on with confusion and interest, Fluttershy and Rarity watched as I opened the control panel in the back of the bot, already setting myself to replacing wires as the robot continued to struggle. After a few seconds worth of annoying wires and inhibiting energy flow, I managed to get the wirings into the appropriate, at least by my current standards, place, even managing to upgrade the speed in which it fired it's gun, ergo, upping the damage that it would cause.

The security bot's once yellow outlining lights turned green as it let out a series of beeps, its rotors momentarily stopping, before once again spinning themselves up, myself letting it go as it flew into the air, spinning itself slowly around my proximity as it searched for foes.

"W-Wow." I heard Fluttershy say in astonishment as she and Rarity made their way out of the room, purposely keeping their attention away from the splicer remains that now festered down the hall. "... You make a lot of these little friends here, don't you?"

Lifting my hand, I tilted it from side to side in a 'more or less' manner, the security bot that circled around me lowering itself to the level of both Rarity and Fluttershy, keeping itself stationary as the two looked it over, having never really gotten a good look at one up close, aside from Winston. This put a point on a mental chart that I kept, entitled 'reasons that I'm sure the robots here have minds of their own'.

Making our way back to the atrium, I kept on repeating those numbers from before, doing my best to keep them locked in my head while, at the same time, hoping desperately that they would actually prove to be useful.

Fluttershy and Rarity both walked to my right, occasionally making short conversation with one another as we went on, and the security bot, who I had deemed 'Clarke', floated to my left, constantly surveying the area for danger; I wasn't sure why I named him, along with many other security bots that had served me over the years, but I guess that it had just turned to habit. Besides, it was better than saying 'security bot 1' and 'security bot 2'.

Within a few more minutes, we eventually reached the atrium of Point Prometheus, the door to the Big Daddy Proving Grounds mocking me as we passed it. If it wasn't for that rusted piece of tin, we would have been out of here by now... And into Lower Rapture... Talk about bitter-sweet.

The girls, Clarke, and I made a left as we reached the atrium, turning our attention to the stairway that was now in front of us as I took the lead, loosely lifting my rivet gun onto my shoulder as I carefully grabbed the railing of the wooden stairs, which was already a red flag for me, with my right hand, slowly beginning my, and my charges, climb to the next floor of the area. The Big Daddy Suit assembly floor.

Honestly, aside from the prospect of more wooden stairs, I was pretty excited to go the through this place. See, there was a huge surplus of Big Daddy armor pieces around here, as the name implies, and I figure that, if I can manage to find some chucks of armor in well-enough condition, I may be able to add to my defenses. After all, a vest and dress clothing does not have the tendency of protecting me from lethal issues, like meat hooks, or firearms.

The four of us circled the stairway, eventually coming up on a floor with red tinted lighting, the kind one would see in a factory, as a small smile came to my face, our small group eventually fully entering the room and marveling at the full splendor that was... Nothing...

WHAT THE FUCK?!?

The room was empty! Construction gear, assembly lines, and even some broken down machines remained, but I couldn't even see a single boot in the place. Over 1,000 tons worth of Big Daddy armor and metal, just gone?!? It made no sense!

Groaning, I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration as I looked the apparently ransacked place over, my charges looking to me questioningly as I did so...

You know what, that's fine. Those suits weren't an absolute necessity anyways! ... Though they would help. Nonetheless, our objective isn't here! It's somewhere in the library.

Putting my gaze upwards again, I shrugged off my momentary irritation with a sigh, continuing forward as I made my way down the room, my charges and programmed bodyguard following shortly behind. Room after room of factory floor, we passed by dozens of empty conveyer lines, and bent metal robotic arms, which the engineers would usually use to hold up the Big Daddy chest pieces. Something else that drew my attention though, were the wreckages of turrets, camera, and security bots that laid on the ground.

This place was, believe it or not, teeming with security. The path that the four of us were taking was out of the way of those pieces of machinery, so we wouldn't have had to deal with them anyways, but still. It was as if a splicer just... Had it out for them... Speaking of... I didn't see, nor hear, a single splicer around the place either... Where were they?

Tch, I should just leave it as is, really. After all, why look a gift horse in the mo-... Glancing to both Fluttershy and Rarity for a moment, I mentally kicked myself for that phrase, returning my attention ahead of us,

Eventually, the four of us reached a turn in one of the many halls that made up the assembly line, leading to a pair of closed, and rusted doors. Taking one last glance at the mental map of the area that I had, I realized that this was our intended destination. This, was the Mendel Family Library.

Looking to the girls, I bobbed my head towards the doors, basically telling them that this was where we needed to go. The two of them smiled and nodded, seeming to understand, as we all entered the room, the automatic doors closing with a creak behind us as we did so.

Upon entering, we were quickly greeted by a round, wooden desk at the center of the room, with four large wooden columns circled around it, and various pieces of equipment spread amongst the desktops. Books were placed haphazardly across the floors of the room, some being in piles, while others simply laid individually with their cover either facing up or down.

Bookshelves lined the room, as per usual in a library, and signs stood above each 'aisle', showing letters and genre from the previous librarian's attempts at keeping the place organized. Pfft, lotta good that did him.

Scratching my head as I glanced around the room, a single thought coming to my head as I did so.

"Okaaaayyyy... Where the fuck do I start?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No! No- ARGHhhhh!" Another splicer was torn in half as his aggressor gave a single flick of her arms outwards, her inhuman strength proving too much for the splicer's body to handle as she stepped over the recently spread about organs of her victim, having lost their place to be kept as they were exposed to the cold air of the outside, only to be crushed under the metal boot of the very one that had introduced them to this new setting.

She had no interest in playing with her food... Not this time. Not when there was fresh, new meat about. She could smell it. One was much like a canned fish, only having recently been pulled from its package, yet already so tough and grainy. Two more simply oozed innocence, and fear. They were a little on the raw side, but she was certain that, once she skinned them, she would find use for their meat.

She also smelled the faint scent of exhaust fumes, drawing a growl from her as she continued down the halls of the Big Daddy Assembly Line, her legs heavily being brought up and down, all the while allowing her to somehow keep silence.

This hunt couldn't be any simpler. Her food had already trapped itself. Now, all she had to do, like the predator that she was, was go for the neck, and bleed them out; Slow, and painfully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Rarity were on opposite sides of the room, though they were still clearly in my view, as I and Clarke continued to search around the front desk of the library, not leaving a single piece of equipment unturned, literally, as we searched the room.

It had been about ten minutes since we had started and, aside from a few books that I had found of interest, we hadn't come across anything useful. I couldn't get it. Why would that message have told a guy to come to the library, along with have those numbers written down, if there wasn't anything here?

... I just don't get it! Kicking a book that sat near my feet away in frustration, I let out a sigh as-... Well... What do you know?

Below hardcover book that I had basically punted, was a small, metal floor safe, bolts holding it down into it's place as a number dial looked back to me.

"Number dial?!? I am on a roll!"

Turning my head to Clarke as I gave the floor safe a couple of good taps from my shoes, I gestured for him to get the girls, kneeling myself down next to the metal container as I began to repeat the numbers that I had gotten from the whiteboard.

5 right. 28 left. 16 right. 12 left. Almost instantly, the safe let out a loud click, a smile coming to my face as I held tighter onto the number dial, using it as a sort of handle as I pulled the locker open and searched its contents.

The sound of trotting hooves informed me that my charges had returned, the two of them by my sides, as I individually pulled out every object that I could find in the safe.

There was about 112 dollars worth of money, which would definitely prove useful when necessary, another EVE hypo, adding to my previous four, and finally, and most importantly, there was a recorder, with a tape already in the slot.

I gave myself a nod as I looked to Fluttershy and Rarity, who both seemed to share a similar excitement to mine, and glancing up to Clarke, who was currently floating just above my head, his headlight on the recorder in his own interest.

Taking in a breath, I allowed for the moment of truth to play through, pushing the play button on the machine and starting the message.

It started off with the sound of clattering objects, as if someone had been pushing things from their place and then shuffling their way in. A man was gasping, seeming to have just recently gone through some sort of run before he had left the message.

"... George... George, its Joshua..." He panted. "I... I've got good news... And bad news... The bad news?... Splicers have gone nuts -- And I dont just mean their regular kind of nuts, but Im talking full blown murder everything nuts! ... I'm not entirely sure why, but they've started to take down everything that's not them! Big Daddies, Big Sisters, survivors like us, you name it!"

This must have been taken only a few years ago. During the last splicers uprising.

"It's... Pretty bad... But, like I said, I've got good news!" I hope you do. "I heard that, down in Persephone -- you know, the lowest part of Rapture, and all that crap, that there was a couple of escape subs left! Now, nobody else besides me knows about it, and now, nobody else but me or you. Though, the hard party's probably going to be getting there... The way to Lower Rapture, I've heard, is in the Big Daddy Proving Grounds. Problem is, that unless you're one of those metal jackasses and you've got one of those little abominations with you," I'm gonna ignore that one for now. "you can't get in, right?... Wrong-o! As it turns out, the door was designed to have a sort of... Just in case to it. I've seen some of the scientists do it all the time! All you have to do, is zap the top left corner of the door with a bit of Electro Bolt and, badda-bing badda-boom you're in! Great, right?"

Oh, buddy, you have no idea! As a smile made its way to my face, punctuated by the quiet 'yes' that Rarity let out as the message gave out the information we needed, I found myself paying less and less attention to the message.

"... One more thing, Georgie." Until he said that. "... I'm... Probably not going to be seeing you there... I had forgotten to tell ya but... When I first came here, I noticed that it was real quiet-like. As if it were a ghost town. No splicers, no machines, nothin' but a bunch'a broken parts. Though, that's the thing. The place was usually filled with Big Daddy armor. For a while, I wondered where it had gone, how it could have disappeared... Then, it hit me... Well, she hit me... Cut my damn leg off before I could manage to get in here... Georgie, I'm hurt pretty bad, and even now, I can hear her just outside of the room, eating... Eating me..."

... This... Was really creepy actually. What the heck was this guy talking about?

"Georgie... They're using it as armo-" The message cut off there, ending in a static filled silence before the play button eventually popped itself out.

The girls and I had lost out smiles, now replaced by looks of confusion, concern, and most of all, fear. He had said that the place was silent when he first got there... Kinda like it was...

My eyes widening, I motioned for the girls to get down on the floor, barely having time to glance over the front desk of the library before the library doors were all but blasted inwards, dents upon the metal showing that they had simply been kicked out of the way.

There, standing at where the doorway to the room was, was something that I had never seen before. She... It was a splicer. Braces were spread about her legs, joints allowing it to move freely, while the metal also gave her a strange stiffness. Her stomach, just above her waist, was tightened to an excruciatingly uncomfortable form, likely not even leaving enough room for her intestines as they were forced to reaccomodate elsewhere from the tight fitting metal clamp around her stomach. She had a white undercloth on, using primarily that to cover herself. Her arms and legs were covered in a familiar metal... Big Daddy suit metal, forming gauntlets and boots, each held tightly in plac by chains. She had an air tank tied to her back, though, instead of moving to some sort of respiratory system, the moving loved directly into her chest, likely puncturing her lungs, and feeding it air directly. Two meat hooks, much like those of spider splicers, were in her hands, only, longer, more distended. Finally, the not terrifying feature of all, in my opinion, was the mask. It was as if she had skinned a mannequin, somehow, using its scalp, face, and neck to cover hers, red splattering all around it.

This... This couldn't be. I had never seen a splicer like this. One that had adapted Big Daddy armor onto themselves. It's... It's like watching a messed up puppet move.

Narrowing my eyes as I shook these thoughts out of my head, I glanced to Clarke, who seemed to give me a 'nod' of sorts, as I jumped over the front desk of the library, taking a few steps forwards as Clarke followed shortly behind me, cocking his gun. Fluttershy and Rarity were left where they were, myself thinking that they'd be safer this way.

Growling loudly, I heard the splicer speak... Or at least, try to.

"Mahhhh meeeht." Her voice was raspy, next to impossible to understand. More than likely, it was because of the 'scuba gear' that she had on. "Mahhhh meeeht." She repeated as I rose my rivet gun to her, prepared to fire.

"MAHHHHH MEEEEHT!" She screeched this time, my eyes narrowing as I let out a yell and fired a rivet at her. Much to my shock, and slight horror though, she quickly avoided it, jumping high into the air and clinging herself to the ceiling of the room, crawling her way towards me. She was like a spider splicer!?!

Clarke took his turn this time, firing at her with all of his might. Yet again though, she seemed to withstand this, armor on her back absorbing and ricocheting the bullets as if they were nothing. That was the Big Daddy armor in effect.

As the splicer turned its head Clarke, she let out another deafening scream, pouncing from her place on the roof and, within and instant, breaking Clarke in two with her meat hooks, his separated halves sparking and leaking fluid as his lights went out for good.

The splicer landed on the ground and, without even missing a beat, charged to me, her arms outstretched, though her meat hooks were absent, as she made to take me down.

Heh, I guess I gave this thing more credit than I thought. Sure, it might have had some annoying, and creepy, elements, but taking on a Big Daddy one on one in a clash? Not the smartest choice.

Chuckling, I held my arms out in return, adjusting my footing as I awaited for a light pu- Oof, holy shit!

My eyes widened as the splicer finally clashed with me, sending me grinding back by a good few feet before the two of us reached a momentary stalemate, both of our hands entwined as we pushed against one another, her mask centimeters away from my face.

This thing not only had the maneuverability of a spider splicer, and armor of a Big Daddy, but apparently, it even had the strength of a brute splicer. That is so bullshit!

As the two of us continued to push against one another, an idea popped to mind. It was simple, really. All i had to do, was use my head... So I did.

Reeling my head back, I slammed it back forward as hard as I could, myself feeling just as much pain as the splicer did, if not more, as she flinched backwards. Pulling up my rivet gun again, I fired a barrage of rivets, point blank, at the splicer.

Many of them bounced off, or got partially embedded into the metal armor of the splicer, but two of them, one in the shoulder, and in the hand, managed to do some damage, launching the splicer back and riveting her to a nearby wall.

My breath was quick, and shallow, as I slightly fumbled for another clip of rivets for my rivet gun, replacing the old with the new as I looked over the... New breed of splicer... Rarity and Fluttershy came rushing to me once they realized the fight was over, the two of them asking me over and over if I was okay, or if I had gotten hurt, before then gasping as they came to the front of me.

Raising a brow, I felt a peculiar warmth against my forehead, reaching for it before just as quickly flinching my hand back as a shark surge of pain went through. And, sure enough, on my finger tips, was a dark layer of crimson.

"... Maaahhh meeeeht." My eyes widened as the three of us looked to the splicer again, watching, though with great dificulty, as she began to pry herself from the wall, yanking her now bloody hand out of the wall with a yell before looking to us again.

"MAAAAH MEEEHT!" Oh hell no! Grabbing hold of my two charges, much to their surprise, I started to sprint my way back the way we had come, running for the atrium.

She had just survived over twelve rivets, point blank, from a Big Daddy rivet gun! I didn't have nearly enough firepower to stop this thing! The only thing that could come close to doing that is my ESU, and personally, I'd rather not get in another close meeting with that thing!

The stairs seemed to take forever, especially as I heard the faint sound of crumbling drywall far behind us, as the girls and I got to the atrium, myself quickly making my way to the doors to the proving grounds as I placed them down next to me, extending my ESU and, at a speed that would impress light, hitting it against the upper corner of the door. Sure enough, it quickly began to open, letting out a series of clanks as grinds as it opened-

"MAAAAHHHH MEEEEEEHHHT!" At a speed to slow for my taste! Moving to the door, I pushed it the rest of the way open, gesturing for Fluttershy and Rarity to hurry inside, which they did in record time, as I went in after them, grabbing hold of the door once again and beginning to pull it closed.

As I did so, I saw a shadow going down the staircase, the spliced maniac following shortly behind as she looked to me with mania. She yelled out loudly as I pulled the doors to a close, twisting them inwards so that, even if she tried, she'd be unable to open it. And, boy, did she try.

The metal of the door bent and dented under her crazed will, every single yell and thump of the mad woman bringing another cringe of fear from my charges as she continued to take out her frustration on the door.

This went on for what must have been twenty minutes, before, finally, as she let out one more yell, the sound of the banging stopped. She had gone.

Sighing, I made my way over to my charges, sitting myself against the nearest wall to them before, soon enough, all but collapsing as I sat myself down.

The girl, despite their fears, quickly began to tend to me, urging me to keep awake as I reached into our sack of supplies again, and pulled out the half of a a medical kit that we had, along with the other, just in case.

That splicer had done a number on me, that was for sure. Both physically, and inventory wise.

She had just gone... Berzerk.

Author's Note

Introducing the newest member of the splicer family, The Bezerker!

Believe it or not, the idea for her came to me in a nightmare. :D Go figure...0.0

Things are going to be a lot tougher with her around. But, hey, now they head into Lower Rapture, and things should get better!!!!....

Okay, if you honestly think that the above statement is true, you're crazier than the berserker.

Hope you enjoy!

(Btw, almost at 500 likes. Yay!)

Chapter 21: Welcome To He- I Mean, Lower Rapture

"Sorry!" Fluttershy quickly squeaked as I flinched in pain. Rarity was off to the side, next to the half used first aid kit, and handing supplies to Fluttershy as she asked for them. Fluttershy, in the meanwhile, was currently doing her best to wipe off my head, using an alcoholic rag -- which, might I add, stung like hell, as she both cleaned off the blood from my forehead, and disenfecting the wound. I couldn't do anymore than sit back and wait as this happened, both because I was slightly dazed from the earlier knock on my head, and because Fluttershy and Rarity wouldn't let me... Mostly the latter.

The berzerker, as I had grown to call that armor-stealing, cannibalistic, bitch, had really done a number on me back there... Well, actually, I more did a number on myself, considering I was the genius to literally butt heads with her, but still.

Honestly though, the fact that she even existed is just... Terrifying. It made me think. If all of these years in Lower Rapture had made... that, then who's to say worse hasn't happened. Plus, she was wearing a bunch of armor, yes, but, not over 1000 tons of it... That recording did say that they were using it as armo- Ow!

"Sorry!" As the cold, stinging sensation of the alcohol covered rag passed over my head again, myself currently only having a view of the standing Fluttershy's underbelly, and Rarity to my right, I let out a mental sigh.

This was embarrassing. I was supposed to keep them safe, yet here I was, getting my head cleaned after getting a small gash on it. I had broken every bone in my body, been blown up, boiled, steamed, shot, cut up, beaten, and gone through more death than I can even bother to remember, but suddenly, this nut shows up out of nowhere, and suddenly, I'm an injured patient again?!? Just... Ugh.

After what felt like hours, Fluttershy finally removed herself from me, taking a couple of steps back using her hind legs before dropping back to all fours in front of me. The now red rag followed suit, no longer being held by her front hooves as it fell to the ground before me with a low 'plop'.

"Well, is he alright darling?" Rarity asked her friend, moving to her side as she glanced between Fluttershy and I with worry.

"H-he doesn't need any stitching," she began, already drawing a mental 'thank you' from me at the good news, "but we should still put a bandage around his head. J-just until the cut on his head closes up, that is." Turning her gaze to me, her eyes met mine for a moment before, much to my dismay, she pointed them away again. "I-if that's okay with you, that is." Man, that timidity of hers really has bad timing, doesn't it? Though... Does shyness normally have a blush with it?

"I'll get the bandages." Rarity said as she quickly made her way to and from the white, plastic box, bringing a small, near used up roll of bandaging in her maw. Fluttershy took a few steps back as Rarity took her place, assuming a similar position to the one that Fluttershy had recently been in as the sound of unrolling strips of cloth came faintly to my ears, followed shortly by the chilly, flat, and soft tightening of it around my head.

As she gave the bandages one last pull, securing them around my wound with a small knot near the back of my head and giving a small grunt as she did so, I noticed her give a satisfied nod at her handiwork -- I know she doesn't technically have hands, but screw it, I'm still calling it 'handiwork'! -- before returning to her original place back on the ground.

"There we are, darling! That should keep it held for the time being." She said, giving me a light, apparently meant to be, reassuring pat on my head... Yeah, I think it works better when I do it. She seemed to notice this herself as she and I gave odd looks at her action. Giving a nervous chuckle as she pulled her hoof away from me, though it lingered for a bit, she took a step back as she looked to me with a more stern face.

"Now, do try to be more careful, Omega!" Shouldn't I be telling them that?! "I, or rather, we understand that you are trying to protect us, but you still have to care for yourself as well, darling." The two of them looked at me with small, friendly smiles as I looked on blankly. "After all, we all have to get out this mess alive, don't we?"

... We should get moving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Rarity's smiles quickly disappeared as, rather than answer them in any way, shape, or form, Omega simply stood himself from the wall he was leaning against, gesturing for the two to follow behind him as he began to make his way down the halls of the Big Daddy Proving Grounds.

The two gave one another similar looks before, with a silent sigh from Rarity, the two trailed shortly after Omega. This was why the two had sworn among themselves to help Omega as much as they could. He had practically devoted himself to protecting the two over these last few weeks, now being no different, but the issue with that, however, is that he seems to be a smidgen too devoted. He doesn't seem to mind being hurt in their place, despite the pain that the two felt nonetheless from watching their friend get hurt, and its because of this that he needed help.

Even now, he wouldn't even allow himself to stop for a short moment, even though he had just suffered an injury at the hands of that, in the words of Rarity, physchotic wench.

"He's brave, and kind, but Celestia darn it if he isn't stubborn!" Rarity thought to herself as the she looked off to the side of the room, catching sight of an... Odd sight. Practically lining the walls of the room were severely metal platings that, though on their own wouldn't be too odd of a sight, seemed to have several metal protrusions, much like those of Omega's odd weapon, and large dent marks, punched through near the middle, and seemingly twisted into one direction.

Odder still was the fact that, as they went along, passed the strangely positioned corpse of a woman, her hands held over her chest peacefully, almost as if she had been meant to look like she was in a blissful death. Her neck seemed filled with small pinpricks on either side. Below her, there was a metal grating, some of the metal being stained red with dried blood, and above her, there was a poster.

An illustration of a Big Daddy similar to Omega when he still had his suit stared back at Rarity, a small child hand and hand with him, likely a little sister, as they seemingly skipped along. 'Always Be Sure To Have A Buddy Nearby'.

These sights did not go unnoticed by Fluttershy, of course, but, at the moment, she was currently focused on another sight. Omega had been acting... Strange as they went on. He wouldn't glance to his sides, keeping his eyes firmly in front of him until he needed to turn, and he seemed out of it.

A sense of concern growing in the back of her head, Fluttershy began to speed herself up, if only slightly, before her wings began to shift, opening themselves and beginning to flap, lifting her quietly into the air as she made her way next to her and Rarity's guardian, Omega.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every step I took felt all too familiar. I kept hearing the voices of the scientists through the course's speakers, though they had long been shut down; They kept yelling at me to move on, for my Little Sister to hurry, for the next wave of splicers to attack.

Tiny footsteps echoed in my mind; The footsteps of my 'daughter', as the two of us made our way through the exam, my little girl looking to me with her small, innocent demeanor, her mind completely revolved around the idea that she 'needed' to feed from the 'angels', and that I, her daddy, her 'Mister Bubbles', would keep her safe.

... Nothing but memories now, I guess. As the three of us passed by the first 'checkpoint', as the scientists of the area had referred to it as, myself barely having given a glance to the familiar female corpse, the sound of sifting air drew my attention.

I moved my eyes to my left, quickly noticing Fluttershy as she flew next to me. A face of regard was about her as she looked to me, and Rarity, from a glance, seemed to be busying herself by looking around the area as we went on.

"Omega," Fluttershy began, "is everything alright?" Taking in a breath, I put my gaze forward again, giving Fluttershy a short groan in answer as I turned my attention to the path before us. Next to me, I could hear her wings flap ever so slightly quicker before, as she made her way in front of me, she came to a stop and began to hover.

I had no choice but to stop as well, or risk crashing into her, as I came to a sudden halt with a silent groan. Rarity, who didn't seem to notice this at first, lightly collided with me from behind, taking a step back with a surprised 'oh dear' before looking to the two of us curiously. I didn't pay her any mind though.

My winged charge, Fluttershy, looked at me with worry, flying herself slightly closely as she placed a hoof gently on my newly placed bandaging. "Oh, I-is it your head? I knew I should have been more careful."

Letting out a breath, I grabbed hold of Fluttershy around her barrel, herself emitting a squeak of surprise as I did so, before I then removed her from her mid-air positioning and carefully placed her down behind me, next to Rarity. The two looked at me with continued expressions of concern and the like, but I pushed it aside, instead gesturing for the two to follow again as I turned and continued to walk on without a second thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"W-was it something I said? Or something I did?" Fluttershy asked her fashionista friend, Rarity, in a whispered tone, the two occasionally glancing to and from Omega in their attempts to ensure that he would not overhear them.

Fluttershy was, at the moment, of course referring to Omega's recent and odd behavior. She wasn't sure if, perhaps, it was somehow her fault, or maybe if he was just in a bitter mood from what they just went through with that... Thing, from before. Either way, she wanted to know, and, maybe, help, if she could.

Rarity, who took a glance between her whispering friend, and Omega, as she said this, couldn't help but to wonder herself for the exact reason. But, unlike Fluttershy, she herself had a theory or two.

Omega had been just fine through all the places that the three had been in Rapture so far, and had only seemed to act odd here. Alongside that, Rarity had noticed earlier how, when the three first came to the door that led into this area, he had given it several blank, almost thought filled looks.

"I'm... Not particularly sure, Fluttershy," she began, "but perhaps it's a more personal matter?" Fluttershy rose a brow at this, once again glancing to Omega.

"Personal? Well, I-I don't mind if he keeps secrets, or anything like that, but..." As she trailed off near the end, Rarity quickly picked up in response.

"Now darling, don't forget that Omega has been here for a much longer time than us. For all we know, his experiences might not have been so... Limited, as ours." As Fluttershy moved her gaze to the floor, letting out a small 'oh' as she did so, Rarity gave a small, reassuring smile, placing a hoof on her friend's shoulder as support. "Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine once we move on, dear. If not, well, I suppose we have to do out best to cheer him up, now don't we?"

Fluttershy's eyes slowly made their way from the ground back to her friend, and, in doing so, her upset frown turned about face, herself giving a meek nod of agreement before she put her attention back on Omega.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright, hopefully, if I remember this right, the tunnel should be just around this collapsed dinosaur skeleton.

I mindlessly fiddled with my rivet gun as my charges and I carefully made our way around the fallen exhibit of the used-to-be museum, Fluttershy and Rarity both seeming to look at it in curiosity as we circled around it, giving them clear views of the fossil.

I wasn't really much of a paleontologist, or anyone with a knowledge higher than what I was allowed to remember for that matter, but I'd say that the sharp teeth, tail, and lack of legs easily allowed me to identify this as a sea creature.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of sharp teeth, I feel like it should be important to note that the girls flinched when they saw them. I guess it makes sense, considering, and this is more based on what I've seen so far, ponies don't seem to eat meat, but, it still makes me feel a bit awkward... You know, being an omnivore and all that.

My eyes suddenly widened by a small degree as the obnoxious sound of metal clanging below my and my charges' feet was replaced by, an even more annoying, 'plopping' sound. I took a glance downwards, noting the sudden stickiness to my steps, as I realized that there was a minuscule layer of water lining the floor now. Rarity and Flittershy had, as I figured they would, quickly flinched at this, likely not having expected the sudden damp and cold feeling.

I couldn't blame them. I had shoes, while they were on their bare hooves. Heck, same thing happened with my first little sister, Beatrice, when I had first gone through this course. It was often filled with leaks, and Big Daddies were constantly called in to fix them. I was among that list of 'repairmen', but it was rare for them to call me, or for me to even respond. I didn't, nor do I, want anything to do with this place aside from when it was necessary.

"Oh, just why does nopony seem to find it in their hearts to dry these floors!?" Rarity exclaimed dramatically, seeming to now tip-toe across the floor as she attempted to limit the wetness of her hooves in vain. Fluttershy, in the meantime, had fluttered her wings slightly at the sudden drop in temperature and dampness she felt in her hooves, but powered on nonetheless, which drew a curious glance from me. She could fly, so why wasn't she?

As the sound of our plopping footsteps grew louder and louder, the small water levels beginning to grow below us and causing bigger splashes, I began to feel the coolness of the water transfer through my shoes, giving me goosebumps as I let out a shudder.

This went on for another minute or two, with my charges taking measured and balanced steps as they walked across the wet floor, and myself scanning the area for any visible, and familiar, landmarks, until, finally, we came to a stop.

Further ahead of us, at a point where a curving hall came to a complete turn, there was a vent. It was about half my height, by the looks of it, and at a higher reach than the floor, keeping it dry and clean. A sense of thankfulness washed over me as I caught sight of it, letting out a sigh as my charges came to my sides and followed my gaze. That was the maintenence tunnel... Well, okay, it wasn't technically a tunnel, but it led to Lower Rapture nonetheless.

"Um... Is that what we're looking for?" Fluttershy asked me curiously, pointing her hoof to the closed metal vent. I nodded, looking to both her and Rarity before... Why were they both frowning?

Raising a brow at their faces, I looked forward again, wondering as to what had them s-... Oh... How had I not noticed that?

The floor we were standing on was wet, and slightly flooded, that much was obvious. What wasn't as obvious, however, was that the floor had a small slope to it, putting it at a lower height around the vent to Lower Rapture. In other words, what was originally shoe sole deep water, became knee deep.

Letting out a groan, I pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance before looking to my two charges, who both just glanced at me. Gesturing for them to follow, I made my way into the flooded hall, my pants feeling as though they became heavier as the material became slightly waterlogged with moisture, and my shoes quickly becoming filled as the water seeped in through even the smallest openings. A shudder passed me as, despite my now soaking wet and slowed self, I began to trudge through the water as quickly as I could, expecting to hear the sound of water splashing behind me as well from my charges. 'The sooner we got out of here, the better' I kept telling myself as I soon reached the halfway point to the vent... That is, until I noticed that the sound of shifting water was only coming from one source. Me.

My eyes narrowed as I let out a groan, turning myself to see what the hold up was.

Honestly, what's taking the two so long!?! I just want to get out of this fucking place.

Looking behind me, I saw that Rarity was, at a lack of better words, hesitant as she entered the water, her hooftip often only coming into a slight contact with the water surface before quickly recoiling away. She was mumbling to herself about the cold, and how her mane and fur would not do well with the water. Fluttershy was by her side, waiting for her to go, one of her forehooves already half into the water as she looked to her friend, urging her gently to go on with a look of her eyes.

What was with her? This was not the time to care about her damn hair, or whatever. And why was Fluttershy even trying to walk through the water!? Again, she has wings! Why would she-

"Because she cares enough to stay behind and stick with her friend! Unlike YOU right now!" My eyes slightly widened at this, a tinge of guilt following as I flinched at my inner mind's yells. "You've only been here a few minutes, yet you've treated them worse than you have ever done! This place brings bad memories, fine! But remember, this isn't about YOU!"

... My eyes softened as the ting of guilt from earlier grew to a surge, a silent sigh escaping me as I began to trudge back to my charges.

My conscience was right, as per usual. Since we had gotten here, though I hadn't really noticed, I'd been... Well, I'd been an ass. I was focused on moving on, and escaping this horrible part of my past as soon as possible... When really I should be focused on why I'm here in the first place. Them. My charges. Rarity and Fluttershy.

The two's gazed shifted to me as I closed in on them, stopping as they were as I made my way in front of them, looking to them softly. "W-what is it Omega?" Fluttershy asked.

Rather than answer, I took another step closer to the two, reaching both my arms out to Rarity. She didn't move, nor struggle, as I picked her up around her sides, below her forearms, and brought her to me. I held her against my chest, holding onto her around her back with one arm, and below her with the other, keeping her supported, and above water level. Considering how I'd been acting, I'd say that I'm the only one who deserves to be cold and wet.

As her warm body was met with mine, her forehooves circling around my shoulders as she added to her support, and a sigh escaping her as she placed her head over my shoulder, I glanced to Fluttershy. She was smiling, giving me a look of thankfulness, which I happily replied to with a smile of my own, before her wings unfurled themselves, and began to lift her.

Now, with Fluttershy flying by my side, and Rarity in my hold, the three of us made our way down the flooded hall, eventually reaching the closed metal vent. Water sloshing below me as I stopped, I slowly pulled one of my arms away from Rarity, her grip tightening to counteract the sudden loss of a chunk of her support; I put my hand to the vent, tightening my fingers around the metal covering's many openings. I kept on increasing the force behind my grip on the vent more and more, until, with a loud groan of the metal, it gave. The vent was crushed inwards, the small screws that were holding it in placing being snapped off of their hinges as I nonchalantly allowed the broken covering to splash into the water.

Turning to Fluttershy, I bobbed my head to the vent, my neck brushing against Rarity's as I signaled for her to enter. She gave a nod as she carefully flew herself over to the opening, landing in the narrow metal passageway with little to no trouble before taking a couple of steps inwards to make some room.

Shortly after, myself having bern satisfied with the space she had opened up, I began to lower Rarity in, her head turning to the vent and her hind legs extending outwards to meet the metal as I placed her in, Fluttershy watching on from behind as Rarity adjusted herself as well.

The two looked to me as they finished, Rarity gesturing to me to enter with a smile as I chuckled in return. I moved closer to the vent, placing my arms in it before, with a slight heave, I lifted myself inside. My legs and feet felt weighed down by the water, which harmlessly began to drip off as it met the air, but other than that, there was no real issue.

The vent made me feel claustrophobic, to say the least. Especially after I went through constantly having my Big Daddy armor getting itself stuck in narrow passageways and doors, kind of like my rivet gun was doing now, constantly needing my adjustment. Even Rarity and Fluttershy were affected by this issue, having to lower their heads slightly in response to the size of the vent.

Thankfully though, the vent was only small in height, rather than height and width. It was easily able to allow my charges to turn about on a whim, though I would have some trouble, and gave them more than enough space to move about their legs, while I had crawl on my hands and knees.

As the metal in the vent shifted and resounded to my weight, and that of my charges, I looked to both Fluttershy and Rarity, groaning for them to continue onwards. The two nodded, with Fluttershy turning herself about and beginning to take a few steps forward, and Rarity, to my confusion, simply staying put for a moment, just looking to me with a smile. Before I could groan out a question, I was surprised as the brief, soft sensation of her lips against my check brought a warmth throughout me, the light sound that came with it only seeming to better the feeling as Rarity quickly pulled back, looking to me with her two soft blue orbs.

"Thank you, darling. That was quite chivalrous of you." As a reply, I just chuckled, giving her move of my hand to say that 'it was nothing'. She giggled, myself only now noticing the small, yet present, red on her face, before she turned herself and began to follow after Fluttershy.

"There. Now, doesn't it feel better to do a nice thing?... Hello? ... Anyone there? ... Oh boy..."

Give me a moment, I just um... Actually, I don't know what's wrong with me right now... Huh.

Aside from that... Er... Odd pause of mine, Fluttershy, Rarity, and I had made our way through the vent with relative ease. I would've preferred to have a little more space for myself, and my rivet gun, but it still wasn't much of a hinderance.

We walked on, or crawled on, in my case, through the ventilation system do what must have been half an hour, coming upon several twists and turns that made the whole scene feel as though we were making our way through a broken down roller coaster.

Time and time again, I would hear my charges whispering ahead of me, but I pushed it aside. If they wanted to talk in private, then I didn't see anything wrong with it. Another thing that seemed to happen over and over, was the fact that the two would often come to a stop when they thought themselves to be too far ahead, waiting for me with smiles as I caught up. Heh. They're acting better than I did earlier, that's for sure.

Eventually, as my knees were beginning to get sore and my shoulders were starting to cramp, the vents started to become more open. They lead to a much larger, square metal area, with several more ventilation shafts leading elsewhere.

Letting out a sigh, I was able to crouch for once, rather than crawl, as we made our way to the ventilation center. I stirred my shoulders as I took a glance to the center of the small cube, a single ventilation covering pointed downwards being there, small cracks of light coming through the room below.

I shuffled my way carefully past Fluttershy and Rarity, who watched me as I positioned myself next to the metal covering, looking through the many gaps in an attempt to see what was below.

Immediately, I was met with a small room, with two doorways leading outwards. Several pneumo-tubes, which were basically Rapture's way of delivering objects to and fro at great speeds, one of them severed, and a label having been placed over one of the four. 'Jet Postal', it read.

This was great news... Kind of. Jet Postal was Rapture's previous organizer of objects that were sent to and from different places and people through the pneumo-tubes. At least, until people started to get private pnuemos for themselves, putting the company out of business.

In other words, an out of business company, meant that it was old, and obselete. And where does most of the old and obsolete objects of this city go? There was no question about it, really. This was it. This, was Lower Rapture.

I gave a grunt as I moved one of my legs forwards, positioning it over the vent and, with one quick kick, sending it tumbling to the floor. I put myself in a seated position in the vent, my legs hanging out from the newly opened hole, before pushing myself out, and into the Jet Postal mail organization room.

Initiating the safety release on my rivet gun, I glanced to the girls and raised my hands to tell them to stay where they were. They nodded, myself quickly beginning to look around my surroundings once they did so.

With my rivet gun pointed outwards, I made my way around the room, checking every nook and cranny as I made sure that there were no splicers nearby. Once I did that, I moved to the halls that were around the room.

They were relatively clear, aside from some debris, and the occasional corpse, and there was even a gated door that sealed off the way in here, the only way to open it being from a nearby button. It wouldn't hold back a brute splicer, and certainly not the berzerker, but it would at least give some breathing room.

Though, there was... Odd about it. I couldn't really tell at first, but, the door was sparking slightly, seemingly stuck. I glanced down to the floor, to where the gate met it's railing, and felt my eyes widen at what was there.

A seemingly golden metal orb, with a circular reticle attached to the top. There was a small launcher on it, no bigger than the average man's thumb, and there several dart-like objects spread around it; Some broken while others seemed functional.

A remote hack tool. Well, five seconds in Lower Rapture and something good happens? That's a first. Though, I feel like this is a sort of... Pre-given apology gift from fate, for what was to come. Guess I'd have to wait and see.

I leaned over a small pile of debris in front of the door and reached my arm out, grabbing hold of several hack darts that I seemed functional while, at the same time, grabbing hold of the hack tool as well. I yanked out the tool from its jammed placement with ease, the gate finally coming to a complete close with a clang as I looked the object over... And nearly dropped it with a shudder.

For one reason or another, the entire bottom part of the thing was covered in, what seemed like, slime. It was groddy and cold, but after quickly shaking it off, I put it, and it's many darts, into our burlap sack of supplies.

This place seems clear, from what I can tell, so I guess that it's safe to call the girls down here.

I made myself back into the room from before, looking to the vent above me, where Fluttershy and Rarity could be seen, and giving the two a wave. As I walked below the vent, something caught my eye. A button to my left, connected to the system of pnuemos before me, and labeled 'Rapture Grocery And Supply'.

I wonder if this thing still works. Figuring I had nothing else to lose, I shrugged my shoulders and pushed the button. Quickly after, I heard a series of puffs and hisses as the pnuemo-tubes began to receive a delivery... Only, the ones that were connected didn't seem to be getting anything.

Letting out a sigh as a predictive thought came to mind, I risked a glance at the unconnected tube. Sure enough, it was shaking, and the sound of several clanging objects was coming through it...

Ugh, at least I knew it worked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As he watched the odd splicer fumble for cover, the metal tube shooting out several cans of food before they collided with a nearby wall, he couldn't help but to feel amused at the sight.

These splicers had been chasing him for years now, after all, and for him to see one at risk of getting hurt was a welcome sight. Still, like he had said to himself, the splicer was still very odd. He didn't seem nearly as disfigured as the others he had seen over his many years here, and for some reason, he also seemed to exude sanity; A quality that was near impossible to find anymore.

Of course, he could be wrong. There was no particular reason for him to believe that some random splicer that had come from above would be act any different than the others.

From his hidden position, he watched as the white haired splicer stood himself up, brushing off the dust that had now covered him as he made his way back below the vent he had come from, grumbling as he did so. Then, oddly enough, the splicer looked upwards, giving a nonsensical groan and a wave above him.

The hidden being felt as though he should roll his eyes at what he saw, now under the impression that this splicer was crazy after all... That is, until he saw something else make its way out of the vent.

A yellow furred creature, which he had never seen before, with wings and pink hair. Soon after, another came down, though it held a different appearance to it, including the lack of wings, but appearance of a horn. The splicer held out his arms for this one, since the other had just as easily flown down, and waited as the white furred creature leaped down, landing safely in his arms before it was quickly placed onto the floor next to the other.

The two gave the splicer smiles, and he gave one back. Not a sick, twisted smile of psychopathy, but a genuine smile. Even more surprising, he patted the heads of the two gently, earning soft giggles from them.

This splicer... Was strange. He had never seen this kind of behavior before. It was almost as if he actually cared for the well-being of the two creatures, though that was highly unlikely... Right?

The splicer moved his arm and bobbed his head, the two giving him a nod as they voluntarily began to follow. He reached for his arm and, with a flick of a switch that lied on the metal object secured around it, expanded the now-memorable weapon he had.

It was the same one that he had seen those metal beings from before use. What were they called again? 'Big Daddies'?

It would seem as though he would have to keep a close eye on the group.

Author's Note

Words to some up my thoughts on the chapter:
-...Asshole.
-D'awwww ^~^
-Don't push that button, its a trap!
-Who the fu-

Heh, yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Oh, and, since its been a while since we last did an inventory count for Omega, I'll put one up at the end of this note. On a sidenote, and mostly out of curiosity, Omega has shown a lot of personality lately, combat wise and socially. What would people think of him as? A defensive kind of fighter, or offensive? And what would be the reasons?

Inventory:
-Rivet Gun (24)

Heavy Rivets (8)
-Proximity Mines (2)
-Hack Tool (3)
-First Aid Kit (1)
-EVE Hypo (5)
-Money (112)

I hope you enjoy. ^~^

Chapter 22: Adaption Comes In All Forms

As I carefully lowered my charges to the ground, their hooves lightly giving out a series of clops as they came in contact with the mail room's wooden floor, they smiled to me, giving me their silent thanks as they did so. I returned the smile, having been more than willing to assist them,

Shortly after though, I took yet another wary glance around the room, ensuring that everything was still in order. The small moments I had with the two were great, don't get me wrong, but they would likely be decreased in number in our time here. We were in Lower Rapture now, after all, and we couldn't afford to make any mistakes, or get too distracted.

Turning to one of the two doorways that lead to the sealed halls around the room, I reached for my rivet gun, pulling the release and extending it to it's full size. I glanced to the loaded clip, making sure that everything was as it needed to be, before gesturing for Fluttershy and Rarity to follow. They nodded, taking a few steps closer to me before keeping a similar distance as I began I began to walk ahead, my shoes tamping against the floor, and their hooves clopping, as I did so.

Rounding the corner of the room entrance, the three of us entered the small, debris filled hallway, dust shifting beneath my feet as I and my charges made our way in front of the gated door out of here. With a grunt, I began to move aside some of the other debris and filth that blocked our path, pushing it off to the side where it collapsed itself into a bigger pile.

"My word. This place could certainly use a cleaning pony of some sort." Rarity said, stepping back slightly as the mess spread itself outwards slightly, coming awfully close to her. As I have her a short glance of amusement, I felt myself mentally roll my eyes at this. "Believe me, I know." I thought to myself as the last of the obstructions in front of us were moved aside, giving a clear walk to the door now. Adjusting the bandaging on my head, I used my other arm to press the opening mechanism for the door, aka, the red button to the wall adjacent of it, and took a small step back as it began to whir to life.

Almost instantly, a loud, though thankfully short, buzz filled the room as the gate began to creak open, layers of rust falling away as the long unused gate began to move once again. It was tedious to watch it rise, moving at an agonizingly slow rate as it would soon reveal our first step into the dangers of Lower Rapture.

Eventually though, the gate finally came to its final position of rest, the door just beyond it sliding open automatically, with a much more quick and clean motion. Within a few seconds, I had my rivet gun raised as the three of us entered the room, poised and prepared to punch a hole through someone's skull if they threatened us.

I scanned the room once, twice, three times, before letting out a sigh, slightly my rivet gun as a sense if relief hit me.

Thankfully , there was no one here, the door instead having revealed an empty room, full of cabinets and desks. An office area, basically. Again, I'm happy that we're being given a break, but, how long exactly will it last?

The three of us slowly entered the room, my charges staying close to me as we started to make our way through the small office. We circled around corpses in the room, and, time and time again, I would check the cabinets to see if there was anything I could use. Anything at all, really.

I knew that I could, and probably should, check the bodies as well, but... Well, that's seems a bit macabre to me, and I doubt that Fluttershy and Rarity had any need to watch me look through the bodies of the dead. I digress though.

As I looked through the various drawers of the room, I did happen find a few items of interest. A few rivets, about seven to be exact, another medkit, and, much to my surprise, a proximity mine. Geez, what kind of business were these people running down here anyhow?

Shaking my head as I put the items in the burlap sack of supplies that I still had tightly fastened around me, I put the weight of my rivet gun to my shoulders again as I let out a prolonged sigh, looking through the glass walls of the room and out into the ocean.

... You know, I still can't believe that such a beautiful place had such a twisted way of life within it's walls... The sea, in my eyes, was stained red by this city. More blood had been spilled here than anywhere else in the world, though I don't really remember the outside world in the first place. Still... It makes me wonder sometimes...

A soft tap on my leg drew my attention, my eyes shifting their attention to the yellow mare who was looking up to me with both concern and curiosity. Smiling, I patted her head, silently assuring her that it was nothing, before I turned myself to my other charge as well.

She was currently looking over a photo on one of the many desks of the office area, it's glass portrait casing cracked, but the image still clearly visible. Curious, I made my way over to her, standing myself at her side as I looked to the image as well, my arms crossed as I did so.

A father, his son, and a mother. A regular family photo. From what I could surmise, at least by the clothing that he was wearing, the father had probably worked down here before Rapture had gone to hell, and had long brought this portrait to remind him of his family whenever he went off to provide for them.

Looking to Rarity, I noticed a saddened look about her. She let out a sigh as she put the portrait down, looking to me instead. "... Do you suppose they made it out?"

I... Asked myself that question all the time in Rapture. Upper, and lower. I would always see photos, remnants, recordings, of family and loved ones who, of my knowledge, may or may not have died some time ago. I couldn't bring myself to really answer yes or no, nor could I not respond at all, so, instead, I shrugged, unsure of how else to answer.

"... I see..." Rarity's gaze was pointed at the desk again, now solemn as she looked to nothing in particular. Fluttershy quickly made her way over to her friend as she noticed her sadness, placing her hoof on her shoulder in a small gesture of comfort.

Rarity, in return, glanced to Fluttershy at the feeling, giving a small smile of thanks before she, and Fluttershy, once again moved their gazes to me, their blue and teal eyes looking to me for guidance. To lead them on.

I gave another quick look around us, turning my head side to side as I looked and listened for anything out of the ordinary. Satisfied, I began to exit out of the office, Rarity and Fluttershy, of course, following shortly behind me.

Shortly down the hall, there was a small flight of stairs that lead upwards, it's wooden steps inviting us to climb it with a sort of... Intent. Of course, I was probably just being paranoid. The three of us carefully climbed these stairs, each step followed by an almost deafening creak, as we made our way upwards. At the end of the flight, in the wall to our left, there was a single door, which slid itself open quickly after realizing that there others before it. Glancing to the floor, I noticed that the doorway seemed to cause a clean split, one side, where the girls and I were, being comprised I of a wooden floor, while the other was of a metal floor. Taking in a breath, I entered the large room, quickly taking in it's surroundings as I did so.

To the left, there were several wooden cabinets, and boards with blueprints on them, seeming to show parts ranging from engines to pistons. The room was lit by a linear series of suspended bulbs, providing it with just enough visibility to get a look around. To my right, I could see that we were on heightened ground, a slightly limited veiw of the area showing a suspended rail car of familiar model, along with speakers that were built into the wall, many more suspended and colored lights, and a series of glass windows built along the top of the room, providing a large, open view of the ocean outside. In my mind, this was a good thing, likely meaning that we were arriving to our first destination in Lower Rapture. The Atlantic Express Depot. The maintenance area, to be accurate.

The Atlantic Express was the previous means of transportation in Rapture, before bathysphere's came along and put it out of business. People would pay a few bucks for a ticket, climb aboard the machine, and, within a few hours, they could be halfway across Rapture... Not very efficient sounding, is it? It's for that reason that the bathysphere won over the public, rather than the Atlantic Express. 'Why travel with lots of strangers for hours at a time, when I can go around Rapture on my own, with only minutes of wait?' That was what everyone said when the bathysphere was introduced into the Rapturian populace, and the rest, as they say, was history.

A smirk came to my face as I stepped further ahead, glancing around the small metallic balcony that we were standing on and making my way to its edge on the- Oh shit!

Quickly after looking to the rest of large room to the right of us, just beyond the metal balcony floor, I scrambled to hide behind one of the metallic support beams of the balcony, my rivet gun held close to me as I sat myself down against the large pole. Looking to my charges, I felt myself give a silent thanks as I saw that they hadn't moved for their previous positions at the doorway.

They glanced between one another as they caught sight of my panicked run for cover, Fluttershy about to take another step forward, her mouth opening to say something, before I quickly rose my hand and signaled for her to stop. She complied quickly, her hoof retreating at a much greater speed than it had gone out and her mouth closing shut as she backed away slightly from the door, Rarity following shortly after.

Nodding at their compliance, I slowly peeked my head around the metal beam that separated the heightened ground that I was on, from the ground that the current threats were.

Twelve splicers, easily, were spread about the room below us, either individually acting in nonsensical manners, or talking to one another in pairs, or groups. I hadn't seen them before purely because of the angle of view that I had. Now that I was near the edge of the balcony though, I could see them clearly.

They were all leadheads, three of them having machine guns, rather than pistols like the rest. The worst part? There were probably more just out of my sight. Maybe they were behind the suspended Atlantic Express car, or behind one of the walls of the many smaller sections of the depot; I couldn't tell.

Christ. I knew that things wouldn't be easy for long, but this was a hell of a difficulty spike! I had enough ammo to take these guys out, sure. Problem was though, that the same thing probably applied vice-versa. Even if I managed to take a few of these guys out, the rest would just pepper me with bullets.

Not good... But, maybe not impossible? Taking in a breath, I tried to calm my slightly panicked mind as I began to look around the area, hoping to see something of use. Anything that could assist me in this situation.

In the far corner, there was an EVE dispenser, though that wouldn't really prove useful in any way, at the moment. Alongside that, there was also a first aid machine, firmly planted against the further off wall in the corner. Anything else that I saw in the room was useless, made up of junk, and, for some reason, remnants of blown incendiary canisters. Too bad too. I could've really used those.

Crap, there really wasn't anything I could use, was there? The only thing that would even be slightly helpful is the medical unit, but that wouldn't really shoot the splicers for me now, would it?

... Would it?

An idea slowly started to spring into mind as a smile formed on my face, though it was also shadowed by a large portion of doubt. Really, It was a longshot, but... Reaching into the supply bag, I pulled out the remote hack tool that I had just recently found, loading in a dart and taking aim at the machine.

Now, here's where a normal person would think, 'what exactly do I plan to do with a hacked first aid machine'? Well, the answer is simple, really... Fail the hack.

It sounds nonsensical, I know, but there's behind my madness. See, if a splicer gets close enough to the machine, and I set off a security alarm, the machine may scan the splicer's genetic information, rather than mine. Security bots would be sent over to take down as many splicers as they possibly could, and, while they're doing that, I could provide support, occasionally taking down a spare splicer every once in a while, whenever I would get a clear shot.

... The other possible outcome of this plan though, is that I could mistime it, have the genetic code of the security system set to mine, and the security bots would go after me instead... It was a 50-50 chance... Okay, 70-30 chance, that it would work. Not the kind of odds a person would normally bet on, but it was the only option. Otherwise, my journey to help Fluttershy and Rarity out of Rapture would end before it even began, and I couldn't let that happen.

Glancing to my charges, who were both looking to me nervously, I let out a long breath, taking aim with the small golden projectile launcher, and pulling the trigger. With a near silent burst of air, the dart was launched across the room, not seeming to attract the attention of the splicers as it came in contact with the first aid machine. Quickly after, the hack tool opened a small screen, signaling that it had begun its hacking process.

It's a little known fact, but there's actually a difference between hacking a machine normally, and using a hack tool... Aside from the obvious, that is. Hack tools don't need any rewiring or the like to turn a machine for your favor. Rather, they used a sort of timing system. Giving a spark of electricity, the hack tool uses that energy to change a machines programming, be it for a set amount of time, or permanently, depending on the circumstances.

When the spark goes off, the user would click a button on the hacker, sending it into its next phase. Every now and then, a stronger spark would pop up, meaning that the machine had not only moved onto its next stage if you clicked it, but that it was also likely to give you a little bonus. If the button was clocked when there was no spark, it meant that the hack was failed, and finally, if clicked during a red spark... Well, you'd be in trouble. The red spark would work similarly to an alarm chip on a vending machine, alerting the nearest security system on a search and destroy basis. The same kind of alert that I was trying to use to my advantage.

It was a pretty bad bug in this thing's design, and it usually made hacking tools a much more risky device, which is why I personally preferred manual hacking, but, if this is what I needed to do, then so be it. I waited as time clicked by, myself watching the hack tool as it continually let out sparks for me to systematically act upon.

Stage after stage, I waited for even a hint of a red to appear, signaling an alarm bug in the hack. At first, nothing came up, and I began to worry that my plan would be a flop. But, finally, at the last possible stage, it came up, my eyes widening slightly as it passed through the tool. It only lasted for a split second, meaning that the time interval was extremely short, but it was there nonetheless. All I'd have to do now, was wait for a splicer to get close enough... This is going to take a whil-

"Ey... 'Ang on a sec 'ere..." I heard a male splicer mutter to himself loudly. "Anyone else see that?" My eyes widened as he said this, along with those of my charges, who were anxiously watching as I continued in my ministrations. Gulping at the thought that the splicer may have somehow spotted us, I risked a peek around the balcony support once more, hoping that I wouldn't be met with an angry looking splicer...

I wasn't, instead catching sight of a leadhead splicer as he made his way across the room, his eyes squinted slightly as he looked to the first aid machine. Had he seen the dart?

A sense of disbelief, and slight amusement, passed through me as he made his way over to the machine, leaning his head in as close to the dart as possible, as it continued to work it's magic, with me behind it's controls. "Was this always here?" That would do it.

The moment a red spark appeared on the hack tool, I mashed the button to confirm the hack, the tool quickly shutting itself down as I caught sight of the dart imploding itself, it's job now done. "What th-" The splicer exclaimed as he recoiled from the blown dart, before his head started to spin again and again as loud series of blares filled the room, the splicers beginning to grow antsy at the sudden noise.

Soon after, I heard a series of whirs and beeps come from the hall that Fluttershy and Rarity were currently in, the two letting out near silent sounds of surprise as two security bots flew over their heads and into the room. I gulped again as the security bots made their way over to me, their lights aimed in my direction, seeming to scan for genetic information.

Now was the moment of truth. If the plan had worked, the bots would move on, going in after the splicers below me... If not...

Seconds felt like years as the security bots continued to stare at me, splicers beginning to sound off wildly behind me as they caught sight of the flying automatons. "Wha's those two doin' ther'?"

"Well, that ain't right."

"They know somthin'! Somethin' that we lot don't!"

Oh great. If these security bots wouldn't be the end of me now, the splicers may. Attracted by the two machines, I heard the clanging of one of the splicer's footsteps as he made his way up the stairs to this balcony, myself looking to the girls and gesturing for them to hide. They didn't go far though, instead simply hiding a small portion of themselves behind the doorframe and wall as they continued to look in towards me.

Turning my view back, the splicer made his way into my line of sight, a revolver in his hands as he turned his view over to the direction of the bots. Then, in correlation, he turned his sight to me. His eyes widened as he raised his revolver up, myself pointing my rivet gun at him as I put my finger to the trigger, mentally cursing my luck as I prepared for what would likely be a tough battle.

"There's one over he- Argghhhh!" I didn't even get the chance to fire as the security bots unleashed a series of bullets onto the splicer, the two letting out a series of beeps as the splicer was turned into a bloody mess. Glancing, to my charges as this happened, I noticed Fluttershy and Rarity clench their eyes shut, thankfully saving themselves of such a horrid sight.

"Charlie, what's wrong?!" Another splicer yelled, this one female. In response to it's cries, the bots quickly sprang into action, flying themselves completely over the balcony, and opening fire on the unsuspecting gene mutants

I... Honestly can't believe it was working. The security systems were fighting against the splicers!

As the loud series of bullets being fired echoed in the room, I took action as well. Aiming around the metal beam, I took a few pot shots on the distracted splicers, who, may I add, were horrible shots on their own. The security bots flew around them faster than they could aim, turning themselves mid-flight and taking down splicers with little to no trouble as the fight went on.

The ADAM crazed lunatics didn't even seem to notice me as I blasted their heads open from behind, too distracted by the blinking, colorful lights of their current intent to kill for them to turn around. Not that I was complaining.

As the fight continued, Fluttershy and Rarity both having their heads down as they awaited for the chaos to end, I found my previous assumption to be true, as more and more splicers came into sight to help destroy the security bots.

First it was three, then five, and eventually, up to eighteen more splicers fell along with the previous group, their arms -- and by that I mean both their weapons and limbs, falling to their sides as they were all torn apart.

It was after a two full clips of rivets, and about ten minutes of fighting, that the splicers finally stopped coming, the security bots scanning the room once more, along with me from above, before letting out several beeps and whirs of satisfaction. It was over... Thank god.

The two flying weapons ascended themselves higher into the room, turning themselves in my direction again and beginning to return to their previous positions before the security alert had gone off... Yeah, not gonna happen.

As the two floated towards me, their rotors whirring loudly above them, I stood myself on my feet, crouching down slightly as I readied myself. The moment I saw the lights of one of the two, I jumped, grabbing hold of the bot, who noisily complained as I did so, and quickly shutting it down through it's maintenance slot.

Before I could start to hack it though, I heard a familiar pair of grunts come from nearby, turning my head to my charges out of reflex. It was easy to see that they were the sources of the grunts, but the reason... Well, it surprised the heck out of me.

The two were currently holding down the other security bot! They must have caught it while I was preoccupied with the first. Rarity was holding the machine by its center, her forelegs tightly circled around it as she struggled to keep it still, while Fluttershy was doing her best to steady the two, using her head and legs to keep the security bot from causing Rarity to fall over.

"Um... Darling..." Rarity grunted as the security bot wriggled in her grip again. "If you would be so kind... As to hurry... That would be wonderful..." My momentary shock being pushed away with a shake of my head, I stood myself from the ground and made my way over to the two, the shut down security bot in my arm as I did so.

As I reached the two, I quickly opened the maintenence slot on the security bot that my charges were keeping restrained, initiating it's shut down process and watching as it's whirring rotors came to a halt, it's built in lights fading to black.

As soon as the machine stopped, both Rarity and Fluttershy both ended what they were doing, panting slightly as they released the now non-struggling machine from their grips, allowing it to drop to the floor.

I picked it up quickly after, placing it, and it's other, on one of the nearby wooden drawers before making my way back to my charges and kneeling in front of them.

As their panting slowly subsided, the two of them looked to me as I gave them a small, thankful smile, and a rub on their heads for their helpfulness.

Now with two security bots by our sides, of which I had individually named Edward and Auburn, the three of us made our way through the large workshop of the Atlantic Depot. I had set the security bots to protect Fluttershy and Rarity, rather than myself, and it was for that reason that they were staying so close to the two of them. They didn't seem to mind the proximity if the machines either, Fluttershy even going so far as to talk to it in an... Odd voice. The kind I would hear a mother talking to a baby in, or a girl with a kitten... Cute.

As we passed the metal carcass of an unfinished Atlantic Express car, it's engine having been separated from it by a large, and strong, series of ropes and pulleys, we came across one of my more hated pieces of machinery in the room. A Circus of Values machine.

It was just next to the doorway that led to the next room over, its clown face giving me the chills as my charges and I approached it. Truthfully though, the only reason I was even coming close to this thing was because I was running low on rivets.

I had shot a grand total of 24 rivets into that crowd of splicers from before, leaving me with only seven in a partially filled clip. Plus, I did have some money for the thing now. 112 dollars may not exactly get me far, but it would work for the time being.

Reaching into the bag of supplies, I fished out the money in handfuls, placing it on the machine before, with a grunt as I closed the bag up again, looking over the clown's many selections.

Rivets were among its listings, sold at 28 dollars per clip. I groaned as I saw this price, an idea quickly coming to mind as I crouched next to the machine and opened its maintenence slot. Within a few short seconds, I had the machine working to my will, the hack proving to have been child's play as the machine adjusted to it's new format.

Glancing back to the 'vendor', I saw the price of rivets go down to 22 dollars, along with a new listing appearing near the bottom for heavy rivets. Eight for 25 dollars. Plus, as if only to add to this small bounty, the machine let out a loud clunk as it released a free product into its metal tray for use, slightly surprising my charges as it them dropped onto the floor in front of them.

I smiled as I recognized what it was, resembling the many darts that I had collected for my hack tool, only it was red in color, and more sleek. An auto-hack dart.

I smirked as I picked the dart up, giving it a quick once over before putting it with the rest of the ammunition. It was quickly joined by three more clips of rivets, some more heavy rivets, which I transferred into the container with the other few I had, and even a medkit that I had managed to get for only 20 dollars.

Grabbing what little change I had left over after my purchases, I gave the bag on my back a good shake, allowing for the objects inside to settle. As they did so, I turned to my charges, ignoring the automated farewells that the creepy machine gave as I gestured to the doorway next to it, indicating that it was where we had to go next.

They nodded in understanding, the security bots, oddly enough, seeming to do the same shortly after.

Making our way through the doorway, and up another flight of stairs, we entered a large room, dome-like in its overall shape, with two colossal metal structures resembling men holding up the roof of the large chamber. Large wiring could be seen on the ceiling, now loosened from it's previous holdings as the gears and machinery from above continued to work and move in vain. From that machinery, there hung a crane, swinging slightly in its place from the movement above.

The room was filled with several Atlantic Express carts. One was sitting in the middle, awaiting maintenance that would never come, and several more came from the walls, stacked upon each other as they awaited their turns.

Near the side of the room there was a single open path, with nothing more than some wooden boxes, and loose furniture, providing some slight, if not easily avoidable, obstructions. Likely, this was the cargo that the Atlantic Express was meant to take with it.

Along with that, the path had a broken down camera, just barely hanging off from a small series of cables in the wall, a few sparsely spread lights, and a far off service elevator at the end, a label reading 'Train Platform', placed above it, it's light flickering from age.

Keeping my rivet gun raised, the girls and I made our way down the eerily empty room, with our programmed assistants following shortly behind, passing several misplaced oddities of cargo, including a stray sink, and a body bag.

We ignored this to the best of our ability though, soon reaching the small service elevator that awaited us at the end of the path. Pushing a green button that was placed near the elevator, my charges and I waited as the machine let out a wide series of clunks and whirs, meaning that the elevator was coming down.

Along with this though, we also heard the sound of grinding metal, and laughter. Splicers were nearby, by my guess, but they hadn't really noticed the elevator yet, or, as result, us. Nonetheless, I rose my rivet gun towards the metal and cargo that seperated us from the other half of the room, waiting for any signs of unwanted guests.

Fortunately however, as the many minutes passed, we didn't receive any, the elevator letting out a ding behind me as it arrived to our floor, the gate that was keeping the shaft closed off moving to the side, allowing for people to come on board.

Gesturing for Fluttershy and Rarity to enter with a bob of my head, I grabbed hold of Edward and Auburn again, temporarily shutting them down for the elevator ride up... What? I said it was a small elevator, and I wasn't kidding. Last thing I needed was for one of these things to get too close with one of their rotors and give me an unwanted haircut.

Listening as the girls entered the elevator, with the now shut down security bots in my arms, I walked into the moving platform after them, the two having to scooch over slightly to make room for me. It was a tight fit, but it was forgivable. Reaching behind me, my hand fumbled for a button, missing a few times before, finally, I managed to press the elevator button, the gates closing before us as the elevator began to rise.

Fluttershy and Rarity seemed... Surprised by this, the two gripping onto me as the elevator began to move, their eyes scanning the room as we rose up. First time on an elevator? It would make sense, considering the fact that, from what I saw from their world, they weren't that technologically advanced.

Either way, as the two shakily held onto me, I groaned, meaning to tell them that everything was fine, and that this was normal. They couldn't understand me, of course, but they at least seemed slightly calmed by my 'words', their grips easing by a bit.

As the elavator rose, we lost sight of the previous room we were in, instead being given sight of the upper workings of the dome. Pumps, pistons, and steel girders were easily seen, along with with several suspended Atlantic Express carts, sparking slightly from disrepair. In the distance, I could see a large steel sign, the words 'ATLANTIC EXPRESS' emblazoned into the metal in all caps, as if adding to it's own title. Gears spun, and the shadows moved with them as we rose, the true engineering ingenuity of Rapture being visible before our eyes as we rose further still, eventually moving onto yet another floor.

This was where we stopped, a glass door in front of us sliding open with relative ease, lifting itself up into its slot as it gave us sight of our current location.

Upon exiting, we were greeted by a much more well designed room, of which Rarity practically gushed over. The paint was in a shell pattern, using a combination of pale gray and black to add to it. The ocean's light, or at least the city's light, came in through a glass wall behind us, shaped to allow the fitting of the elevator.

As the girls spread out slightly into the room, though no more than a few feet away from me, I activated the security bots again, Edward and Auburn whirring back to life with several beeps and hums. I looked around the room as the two claimed their individual masters, the only particularly 'bad' thing I could see being a vita-chamber to our right, pretty much mocking me.

The room had several pieces of luggage, through which I quickly began to search through for anything of use.

There was little to nothing as I made my way further into the small checkpoint area for the tram service, passing under the half raised metal shutters of the place as I took another glance around.

In front of us was a wooden door, with a gold plated 'R' on it, likely from Ryan's design. In large and showy lights above this door was the individual letters that spelled out, you guessed it, Atlantic Express, a smaller, less flashy, sign below it reading 'Ryan Amusements'.

"Um... Omega?" I heard Fluttershy call, her security bot, Edward, beeping for my attention as well. Turning to her, I saw her looking into a small room behind me, the words 'manager's office' clear in my mind as I looked it over. "Would anything in here help?"

Smiling, I gave her a nod, Rarity quickly make her way over to her friend and giving her praise for noticing this. Fluttershy just bashfuly looked downwards, saying that 'it was nothing'.

As I entered, I saw the two move to a couple of nearby small couches, made to be what I would assume was a waiting area for patrons of the transportation service. They made small talk as I searched the small room, though I didn't pay any mind to it, not wanting to eavesdrop.

I pushed aside a wooden chair and opened up the desk that it led to, revealing about 12 dollars worth of cash, and some bandages. Next, I searched the wooden filing cabinets of the room, this time finding a couple of spare rivets, and a bottle of water.

A relatively good find, sure... But not as good as what else I saw. Off to the side of the small room, there were several wooden crates, most of them broken apart, aside a single, certain one. Picking it up, I noted the weight it had to it as I looked it over for some sort of indicative text.

Sure enough, it was along the bottom of the crate, written in a bold, black, and faded text. 'Handle With Care. 60mm Sensor-Released Trap Rivets'. My eyes widened as I read this, a feeling of glee coming to me as I quickly began to peel the box open.

I noticed Fluttershy and Rarity stop talking as I did so, likely interupted by -- and to this I apologize to them, the amount of noise I was making. Soon, the wooden casing of the crate was no more, revealing two filled rivet containers, painted a light green color, rather than its usual light orange, or a heavy rivet's red, as indication of its different function.

"Did you find anything, darling?" Rarity asked. Turning to her, I nodded, momentarily switching out my normal rivets for the trap rivets as I did so. I wanted to test them out. To see if I still knew how to use them correctly.

So, making my way out of the office, I aimed my rivet gun to the floor, Fluttershy and Rarity watching from the sidelines with raised brows of interest. Without even hesitating, I pulled the trigger, launching one of the rivets into the the ground.

Almost instantly, the rivet initiated a system of machinery, spreading itself further out on the floor and making a miniscule circular platform, with a small laser coming up from it. Fluttershy, Rarity, Edward, and Auburn all watched as I grabbed hold of a random piece of rubble on the floor, giving it a light underhand toss over the rivet.

The moment it came in contact with the laser, the rivet fired again, this time upwards, breaking apart the small piece of rubble as it planted itself firmly in the ceiling, this time staying there. I noticed Fluttershy and Rarity flinch slightly as they saw this, either from surprise or purely from the rather violent mechanics behind this form of ammunition, but they still had a look of wonder and amazement to them.

This ammo would definitely prove useful, I could tell.

The five of us were currently looking over the route that the 'train' of this city took, following the dotted and lit up lines from stop to stop, as we neared the end.

We had left the waiting room from before moments ago, continuing down another hall before, having made our way down another flight of stairs, we made our way to the ticket booth area, just next to the train's stop.

The shutters of each and every booth were closed, giving us a clear view of the bronze metallic pattern that they had been given as design. The walls of the room shared the same shell design as the previous one, giving a more homely feel to the setting.

Seats of both wood and cushioning were to our left, lined against the wall, and the center of the room, for it's station's customers to rest as they waited for their trains.

In the middle of the room was the board of locations and stops that the girls and I were currently looking at, some of the bulbs made to turn red and green, differing the current location of the train. The issue, however, was that none of them were green at the moment.

Scratching my head in confusion, I looked around the room again, putting my attention to the closed ticket booth in front of me as a guess came to mind.

"... Where do you suppose the train i-" Before Rarity could finish, I had already slammed my hand into the metal shutters of the ticket booth, causing both her and Fluttershy to jump as I punched a hole through it, and some protective glass.

Pulling my hand out again, and shaking the slight sense of soreness from it, I pulled the shutters up all the way, giving myself a full view of the inside of the small square booth.

A screen, no bigger than an average sized board, was there, flashing an error message over and over again in a repeated fashion. Below it, there was an image of the map that the train followed, the line between Ryan Amusements and here flashing wildly.

The train must have stopped itself in between tracks. I sighed as I saw this, but not out of frustration, so much as it was relief. This wasn't even something you had to fix, really. These trains were old, and, from what I could remember, would jam up like this every now and then. All you had to do was call it back, and it'd be good as new.

Putting my hands against the glass window that separated me from the inside of the booth, I pushed against it, slowly adding more and more force until, with a satisfying sound to add to it, it began to crack. It was then that I stepped back from the thing and raised my rivet gun, preferring to take out the rest of the glass from afar so that I wouldn't hurt myself. I had gotten lucky with my hand when I punched a hole through the shutters, and personally, I didn't want to take that risk again.

Two shots to the top corners was all it took for the glass to finally give way, and for me to enter. Placing my hands on the relatively emptied window, watching out for the loose shards of glass that remained, I hopped myself into the ticket counter, looking over the control panel there for any familiar looking switches.

Lets see... Ticket Ejector, Security, Management -- Ah-ha! 'Call Train'!

... Well, at least they made things relatively easy to find, eh?

Rolling my eyes at the thought, I pushed the button inwards, the machine giving a small ring of confirmation before the error message on the screen in front of me disappeared, now showing the image of a small, digital train moving backwards along the 'track', to where we were.

I gave a silent nod of satisfaction as I noticed this, jumping myself back out the ticket booth window, and quickly being met by my waiting charges. "Did you find anything?" Rarity asked. In return, I nodded, pointing to the gate where the train would come through and surface from as response.

She and Fluttershy looked to the gate in confusion, obviously unsure of what I meant, but, rather than voice this, they just nodded. It was nice to know that they trusted me so much.

Gesturing for the two to follow, I sat down on one of the many seating areas for the ticket booth, my arms crossed behind my head as I patiently began to wait for the train to come. My charges followed my example, sitting themselves at both of my sides as they began to wait as well, though, it was obvious that they were unsure as to what they were waiting for.

I have to say that I'm pretty surprised. I mean, sure, we had gotten a bit of trouble earlier, but, aside from that, this portion of the trip was going relatively simply.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He continued to watch from their first few moments being here, to now. Since Jet Postal, where he had decided to keep an eye on them, all the way to the train station. He watched as they, more specifically the splicer, managed to take down an entire room of other splicers, using nothing more than a glitch in the security systems, and some ingenuity.

How he reprogrammed the two robots, and sent them to protect his two strange companions. How he actually continued to show care for the two, unlike most other splicers he had seen over the years.

He simply couldn't figure it out. Why would this splicer do this? How was he such a good fighter?

His inner frustration growing, he felt himself begin to tremble in annoyance.

It didn't make sense!

Raising himself up, he slammed down again in frustration, his place of hiding shaking and sparking slightly in response... And accidentally breaking apart a pair of wires below him.

His eyes widening as he realized what he had done, a single thought came to mind as he saw the splicer, and the two with him, jump in surprise, looking around the room in confusion as a loud alarm began to blare.

"Oops."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, what the fuck!?!

How did that even happen?! One second, I'm trying to calmly wait for the time to pass along with Fluttershy and Rarity, the next, some random alarm starts blaring? Seriously universe, what the fuck did I do to you?!

"O-Omega? What's going on?" Fluttershy asked, a tone of fear and worry in her voice. Looking to her and Rarity, I made to answer, but was quickly interupted as the far off sound of screaming and whooping splicers began to flood the room, my eyes widening as I glanced to the door of the station.

Without a second thought, I grabbed hold of both Rarity and Fluttershy, moving further into the train station and placing the two behind cover. They looked to me in concern, but I just gestured for them to stay where they were, not wanting them to get hurt.

They were hesitant, glancing to one another before answering, but they eventually nodded.

Satisfied by this answer, if only for the moment, I gestured for the two security bots to follow me, the two letting out a series of beeps in response before doing just that.

Moving to the inside of the ticket booth again, Edward and Auburn took positions to the walls around the corners of the doorway, while I began to set up a perimeter.

I lined a wall of trap rivets along the bottom of the staircase, making a barred of wall for any splicers that would come too close. Along with that, I placed a couple on the walls near the middle, having them positioned in slightly different distances. Satisfied with this, I switched back to my normal rivets, taking aim down the doorway as I crouched myself down, giving myself as much cover as possible.

The sound of the several arriving splicers on the other side of the door caused me to tense as I placed my finger on the trigger... Bring it, you fucks.

Almost as if on que, the door to the room was blasted open, a plume of smoke hiding the splicers as I, and my security bots, awaited for a clear shot.

There was a tense moment of silence as the smoke began to clear, the footsteps of a single splicer soon reaching my ears as he stepped through the smoke. He held a wrench in his hand, moving his gaze to me and giving a smile.

"... Someone new, eh?" Before I could groan or do anything in response, the splicer let out a loud yell, which seemed to echo from behind him. Only, it wasn't an actual echo. Rather, it was the sound of several other splicers yelling along with him.

Out of annoyance, I fired, punching a rivet through the splicers neck and splattering his blood onto the wall and floor behind him. This seemed to be the pebble for the avalanche, as it were, as an instant surge of splicers began to come through the door.

Several kinds of splicers were there, ranging from thuggish to spider, as they stampeded through the door. There were about thirty, from first glance, made up of twelve thuggish splicers, five leadheads with machine guns, nine more with revolvers, and three spider splicers.

Letting out a yell, I opened fire on the group, Edward and Auburn reacting by coming out from behind their corners and unleashing their own hell storm of lead. Within seconds, we took out about half of their numbers, including two of the spider splicers which had come too close to the trap rivets, thankfully.

The splicers with firearms peppered the three of us, occasionally hitting Edward and Auburn, but not doing any serious damage as the bullets pinged off of their metal coverings.

Pulling the trigger again, I felt my eyes widen as a small click came from it, rather than a fired rivet. I quickly removed the emptied container, reaching behind my back for another clip of rivets.

As I grabbed hold of the container, I pulled it out from my bag and quickly moved for my rivet gun in an attempt to attach it. Before I could do so though, the third spider splicer decided to make himself known, having avoided the trap rivets by using the cieling above, before pouncing into the ticket booth and knocking me down to the ground. Laughing crazily, he raised his meat hooks into the air, bringing them down repeatedly in an attempt to end my life.

I managed to avoid these slashes, though just barely, with a few movements of my head, before, giving an angered growl, I pushed the splicer off of me, crashing him into the side of the booth.

I stood myself before he could recover, grabbing hold of his head and pushing it back, making sure that his lower body would stay where it was as his upper body was bent backwards over the side of the booth. He screamed and struggled, but I eventually shut him up as his back was broken with a loud snap, not killing him, but paralyzing him.

I dropped his unresponsive body into the booth as I finished loading my rivet gun, aiming it back at the doorway before-

"Oy! 'Ave a taste of this den!" A loud clanging sound inside of the booth I took cover in drew my attention, my eyes widening as I spotted a lit explosive along the floor, landing next to the paralyzed splicer's face. Fucking brilliant.

Grunting, I quickly jumped out of the booth as it blew, all of its shutters and glass flying outwards as I hit the floor with an 'oomph'.

Shaking my head, I looked upwards to the doorway again, watching as several more of the splicers were massacred by Edward and Auburn, who kept their fire on them. Two of them ran back for the door, though only one managed to get there, the other taking a shot to the back of the head from my rivet gun as I fired from my prone position.

"Oh crap!" I heard the splicer yell as I stood myself up, the weapons of the security bots cocking again as they prepared to go after and finish off the splicer. "Sen' in Bruno! Sen' in Bruno!"

Bruno? My brow rose as he yelled this Auburn beginning to float up the stairway to finish off the splicer before he stopped in place, a loud, familiar roar echoing into the room. A brute splicer.

Narrowing my eyes, I groaned for the security bot to get back. It did so reluctantly, its gaze focused on the door as it floated backwards to Edward.

As the sound of heavy footsteps began to fill the room, I reached into my bag again, pulling out a proximity mine and arming it. Honestly, I wanted to end this as soon as possible at this point.

I waited and listened as the footsteps and grunts of the brute splicer came closer and closer, before, with a grunt of my own, I threw the mine into the doorway. My throw ended up being right on target, a series of beeps echoing through the door before the explosive went off, followed by the loud yell of both the cowardly leadhead, and the brute that had thought himself to be tough.

A plume of smoke and fire came through the door as the explosive went off, ending the life of the two threats in mere seconds. Just in case, I waited a few moments, listening in silence as the smoke continued to clear from the explosion sight, an echo of quiet going through the room.

... Sighing, I allowed myself to lower my rivet gun again, turning myself around and beginning to make my way back to my charges... But then... I noticed that neither Edward, nor Auburn, had left their spots.

Turning my head to them, I groaned for them to follow. Rather than do so though, they just cocked their guns again, keeping themselves aimed at the doorway.

What were they doing? No splicer, brute or otherwise, could survive a proximity mine to the face! It was impossible! They would've been killed by the explosion, or the fire it had caused!

"That all you got, li'l poppit?"

What the-

I had no time to react as an entire cabinet was thrown at me through the door, my arms basically acting as a miniature cushion for the impact, but still not softening its blow enough to stop it from sending me flying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Rarity waited and listened as the several death screams and sounds of violence echoed their whereabouts. They tried to think of otherwise as the violence went on, but they also couldn't help but to silently hope that Omega was doing well.

Time dragged by as the sounds of death went on. An explosion caused them to flinch from it's loud sound and intensity, and eventually doing so again as yet another echoed down the station.

A moment of silence came as the two slowly opened their eyes, peering their heads over the cover that Omega had so caringly placed them behind.

The two glanced around the room, looking for some sort of indication for their friend, Omega's location. Within a few short moments, Rarity caught sight of him, tapping Fluttershy's side for her attention before pointing next to the ticket booth.

Omega was barely visible off to the side of the booth, seeming to be heading towards them, a look of slight exhaustion to him.

Fluttershy let out a breath she hadn't been aware of holding, while Rarity smiled at the sight, the two being more than glad to see that Omega was unharmed.

However, they both rose a brow as Omega came to a stop, turning himself again and giving a groan. For a moment, they couldn't hear anything, wondering to themselves as to what could be stopping him. Within mere moments though-

"That all you got, li'l poppit?" The two gasped as Omega was all but launched towards their location, crashing into a nearby wall with a grunt and a painful sounding crash.

Omega groaned as he removed the wooden cabinet from himself, shakily getting to his feet as he heard the gunfire of the security bots from before, along with, much to his confusion, the clanging of metal. "Omega! A-Are you okay?" Glancing behind him, Omega gave Fluttershy a nod, before just as quickly turning himself forward again, raising his rivet gun in front of him.

The brute laughed as he made his way into the view of Omega, and his charges, their eyes widening in a combination of surprise, shock, and fear as they noticed something... Different about the splicer.

It was obviously a brute splicer, as could be told from the over-muscled build, and his voice, but it could also be seen that he was still much more different than any brute splicer that they had seen before.

The bullets of the security bots, which the splicer seemed to ignore, impacted harmlessly into the splicer as he looked to the three with a twisted smile. Most of his head was surrounded by bent metal, a familiar shape to it, aside from a missing porthole. His body had metal plates and parts about it, surrounding all of his previously exposed vital parts, while still allowing him a fair amount of movement.

"Oh mother fu- This is what happened to all the armor?!?" Omega thought to himself in a shocked frustration, raising his rivet gun and quickly opening fire. Like the bullets of the security bots though, the rivets just ricocheted off his armor, only a few making any solid hits.

The splicer laughed at Omega's attempts, slowly stepping forward again as Omega reached into his bag once more, pulling out another container of rivets, though this time of a different color, and attaching it to the rivet gun before he once again aimed to the splicer.

"Hahaha! Really? Again den? Right den, tell y' what. I'll let y' git a free shot den." At this, Omega's brow rose, himself honestly in disbelief that the splicer would say such a thing. He had often referred to them as idiots, but they couldn't possibly be this idioti- "Go on. Try it."

"... If you say so... Dumb ass." With a smirk on his face, Omega fired three shots in rapid succession, each of them aimed at the splicers chest plate. The splicer's eyes widened as pain shot through him, himself recoiling back as the heavy rivets punched straight through his armor.

His face contorted in anger and pain as he began to charge at Omega, who kept on firing in response. A good five more heavy rivets were shot into the splicer before he came too close for Omega's comfort, causing him to jump to the side as the splicer foolishly ended up crashing into a nearby pile of rubble.

Omega took the opportunity to take potshots at the splicers back, just as the security bots continued to do, his yells of pain growing as he struggled to stand himself up.

Growling, Omega raised the aim of his rivet gun, hoping to end this chaos with a well placed head shot. Before he could do so though...

"Omega, look out!" Rarity shouted, much to Omega's dismay. Suddenly, Omega found himself kneeling as a sharp, white hot pain shot through his leg and mind, bringing about a roar from him. Turning his head, he caught sight of the leadhead splicer from before, part of his face and body severely burned as he looked to Omega with a twisted smile, his partially melted revolver still in his hand.

Narrowing his eyes in annoyance, Omega quickly reacted, raising his rivet gun to the splicer with a growl and firing a series of shots. The splicer's leg was the first to go, as a sense of 'eye for an eye', before the next to go was his head, splattered into a bloody mess with a well-placed shot down the middle.

Among this, Omega also attempted to fire once more, if only purely out of spite, before a clicking sound came out instead... It was only then that Omega realized his mistake. He hadn't switched out the heavy rivets for regular rivets.

He was barely able to turn himself around before he felt a strong impact on his chest, the armored splicer, having had enough, managing to have closed the distance between the two of them, before, with a loud roar, sending Omega flying back.

Omega hit the far wall, the force behind his impact not yet being deterred as he soon broke through even that, the wall crumbling as he was sent through, Omega now completely disappearing from the sight of his charges, security bots, and attacker.

"Omega!" Fluttershy yelled, gasping as the splicer made his way in front of her and Rarity, a sick smile on his face.

"Oh, don' worry. You'll join 'm soon 'nuf." The splicer raised his arm up into the air, but, before he could bring it down again, the security bots began to fire again. This time, they actually were able to injure him though, purposely aiming for the openings in the splicer's armor as had been opened by Omega.

The splicer yet again recoiled back, giving out a growl as he looked to the two piece of machinery, and then to the ponies.

"Alright. I'll leave y' two for last." As he said this, he let out a yell, Edward and Auburn attempting to protect their remaining programmed masters to the best of their ability while the splicer charged them in his attempts to destroy them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... That hurt... A lot... Ugh...

As I came to, I could feel the world spinning around me, a loud series of clangs and crumbles sounding out from behind me as I struggled to pick myself up. My mind was swimming, but I was still partially aware of what was going on, and what had happened.

That armored brute splicer had gotten a good hit on me, from what I could remember. I recall hitting some drywall, it crumbling as I was launched through with considerable force. I also remember the fact that the fucker had hit me while I wasn't paying attention. Just like a splicer to do that kind of thing. Though... Despite this, I felt... Fine? That hit... Should have hurt me pretty badly, at least.

As the ringing in my ears began to fade, along with the dull throbbing in my head and back, I grew more aware of my surroundings.

A soggy feeling was the first thing to register in my mind, my eyes closing themselves as they were continually flooded with water that leaked in a continual stream from above. My legs and waist were below water, splashing as I bent and moved them about.

No pain there, that's good... I was sure it was worse though. I pulled up my pant leg up and, much to my surprise, I didn't see any sort of injury on my leg, where I was almost sure I was shot... I guess that the bullet just grazed me. It had even left a couple of holes in my pant leg from the bullet's entry and exit... Lucky, huh?

My hands sloshed in the fairly shallow water below me as I started to pick myself up, reaching behind me before, just as quickly, flinching back as I felt a sharp sting of pain. I let out a short groan as I put my hand before my face, quickly gaining notice of the cut across my palm, slowly releasing a small amount of crimson down to my wrist.

Grunting, I dove my hand back into the water again, my currently inactive ESU and rivet gun lightly hitting the ground below the water as I did so. The clear liquid was given a small mist of red as I turned my head behind me, to see exactly what I had ended up crashing into.

I nearly fell forward as I was quickly met with the bent, shining metal face of a caricature girl. It's paint was chipped off in various places, the little sister look-alike staring me down with its bent and broken face.

I recognized these machines, if only because of how much I hated them. It was a Gatherer's Garden machine. This was the result of a twisted man's aim for ADAM. It was because of this machine that ADAM was so important. If you get ADAM, you can give it to these machines to get plasmids, or gene tonics. And, to get ADAM... Well, lets just say that one of my daughters could have easily ended up being used in these machines.

The thought made me sick to my stomach really, almost enough to make me gag, but I pushed it aside as I slowly slid myself forward, away from the machine. The reason I had cut my hand, apparently, was because the glass display case of the machine had broken when I had hit it, and I had been unfortunate enough to come in contact with it when I tried to pick myself up.

The machine itself, by the way, was empty; Likely having been removed of it's stock as ADAM obsessed splicers continued to abuse it's inventory. As I continued to slide myself forward though, I felt my foot come in contact with something, a loud clang, followed by the sound of rolling glass, causing me to quickly turn my head to the source.

There, I saw a colored glass container, lying next to a smaller, differently colored object. The color, though, wasn't from the container itself. But, rather, from its contents.

One of the two was a vivid red, a wider design to it, and a small face-like figure on the top. A plasmid, with it's label worn out, though I could still barely make out it's image. The other was smaller in size, with a bright yellow to it. A gene tonic, this one's label completely worn beyond recognition.

I looked to the objects of Rapture's downfall in disgust, sneering as I stood myself from the wet floor and looked to the crumbled drywall in front of me, determined to get back to my charges as soon as possible. Edward and Auburn would only hold out for so long against that armored son of a bitch. I needed to get back to Fluttershy and Rarity as soon as possible. They would need all the help they could get!

Reaching the debris that blocked off my path, my eyes narrowed as I reeled my arm back, and launched it forward with as much force as I could muster... Before I found myself stopping...

Despite my annoyance and disgust at the subject, I found myself slowly glancing back to the two objects on the floor behind me... I was out of heavy rivets... That armored fuck was still out there... And I wasn't really collecting all of those EVE hypos for the hell of it, was I?...

Sighing, I made my way to the gene tonic and plasmid, giving the two another scowl before I reluctantly picked them up. I had collected those EVE containers because... well, a part of me knew that this was always a viable option, despite my distaste for it. I made my way to the gatherers garden machine, reaching my arm into its open slot, feeling around for something of use. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, I found it, pulling it out of the machine and looking it over with a cringe.

An empty hypo, used to inject plasmids and gene tonics, though they could only be used once before they had to be disposed of. Holding it with my left arm to my chest, along with the glowing glass container's, I continued to search the inside of the machine. Nothing more came up. There was only the one.

Rolling my eyes as I pulled my arm out from the machine, I grabbed hold of the plasmid again, looking it over, from the very symbol on it to the overall shape... Was I really willing to do this? To just give up what little humanity I had left over from the protector program?

My eyes widened as a faint explosion came through the debris of drywall, followed by a loud scream. To hell with my humanity, they needed me!

Without another thought, I grabbed hold of the empty hypo with my left hand, and the plasmid in my right, placing the gene tonic with the rest of my supplies. I injected the hypo into the top of the plasmid container, pulling the plunger back and allowing for the gene altering liquid to enter into the needle before I carelessly dropped the now emptied glass container to the floor.

Holding the hypo in my left hand, I shakily raised it over my right arm, exposing my wrist for what was to come. Now, normally, a person is supposed to inject a plasmid or tonic into their left arm, due to the fact that the arteries and veins there are usually more pronounced; Considering the fact that I have most of my weaponry is already on my left arm though...

As another faint explosion came through the debris, likely signaling the end of the other security bot that I had hacked, my eyes narrowed. I pulled back the hypo with my arm and, bracing for what was to come, jammed it into my wrist with a pained grunt, before then slowly pushing down on the plunger, and watching as its contents were emptied... Into me.

Author's Note

M-m-m- MEGA CHAPTER!

Whoo! That's right everyone! Commemorating both the five hundred like mark, and the whole '4th of July' tradition, I've made this chapter exceptionally longer than the previous ones, with lots of butt kicking fun... And an interesting end. :D

Full Rapture Experience everybody! Yeah!

Now, this was actually another interactive thing... Sort of, to determine what plasmid I would give Omega to start him up.

And, judging from what I learned from your guys' answers in the previous chapter, I've already figured out what, and am sure you will agree when you see it... Next chapter.

C: Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 23: New Strength And An Odd New Friend

He watched from afar as the two security bots continued to pepper the armored splicer, despite the loss of one of their masters. They aimed for where he was most vulnerable, managing to further injure the splicer throughout half of their fire, while the rest ricocheted harmlessly off his armor, only succeeding in making him angrier.

The gargantuan ran after the mechanical beings of Rapture, the two flying around him like bee's from an Insect Swarm, narrowly avoiding his wide, uncoordinated swings as they lured them away from their final two programmed escorts.

Having been here for many years, he knew that those machines were loyal, to say the least, once they were given the correct hacking method. Several splicers would attempt to use them to their advantage, only for a smarter, less ADAM addicted, person to come along, and obtain the bot for themselves.

Once this was done, the machine would fight until the very end. Flames would escape its beaten inner workings, sparks and embers colliding with the ground and walls as it struggled to keep itself afloat, it's mental capacity only allowing it to revolve around one thought. To keep its current master alive. Even after 'death', it would still attempt what it could to stop the splicers, purposely engaging it's own self destruct protocol in its attempts to both end the life that had ended it, and keep itself from being used against it's master.

Nonetheless, despite this sort of loyalty that was shared among the many security systems of Rapture, he was still aware that this alone, would not equate strength. These mechanized guards would avoid this beast of a man's blows, delivering their own counters as recompense, but for how long? At least, before they run out of the ammunition that they so desperately needed.

The two creatures that the other splicer had actually been... Guarding... They were on their own at the moment. It was obvious that they thought the splicer to be dead, or at least close to it, by the tears that welled in their eyes whenever they would look to the rubble of drywall that the splicer had been crashed through. He could tell that they desperately wanted to dig him out; To seek out their other group member, and ensure that he was well.

Unfortunately though, they were frozen, unable to move from either shock, or fear.

... This was all his fault... He felt it in his depths. If he had simply let it all go, and allowed for the three to pass, this would never have happened. Instead, he has quite possibly doomed them to the fate he has long been trying to escape as well, the splicer likely only being minutes away from destroying these machines, and then, the two.

Much to his chagrin though, and further displeasure, these minutes were turned to seconds in what felt like an instant.

One of the two bots, having easily been avoiding the brute, suddenly sparked as a metal hook slashed through it's side, interrupting and slowing it's movement before, with a mighty slam of the brute, it was crashed into a nearby wall, it's built in explosive doing nothing more than scorching the wall.

Turning his head, he watched as two more splicers entered the room, likely having been attracted by the noise that had been emanating from the room. Dry, twisted laughter was apparent as the splicer with hooks looked on at the seen, the other, who was holding a large, industrial flashlight, shadowing the other's gesture.

"Having a tidbit o' trouble with this one, eh, Bruno?" His nail against chalkboard voice rang through the room as he mocked the giant, the two from before hiding themselves as the newly arrived threats came into their sight.

"Oh, piss off ya tosser! Argh!" His insult proved to be a mistake as the bot opened another series of ballistics upon the oaf, causing him to stumble forward as he powered through the pain, having his ADAM fueled haze to thank for that. "Why don'cha do something' useful den? Grab the two Alices and don't let them go nowhere! As for you, 'elp me take this bugger down!"

Upon his command, the two splicers smiled, their twisted and rotten teeth revealed to the world as they quickly went to it, their feet, disorderly and incorrect, hitting the floor as they followed their superior's instruction. The hook wielding splicer, his face much more contorted and split from his overuse of the wonder drug, jumped to the ceiling, adding to the robot's difficulty as he added projectiles to its attempts to dodge, keeping it from firing at the same time.

The other, who's body, though not as hideous as that of the one who crawled on ceilings, had lost most motor control, only allowing for him to wield simple weapons, such as he was now, made his way to the two with a grin of enjoyment upon his tumor filled face; The white being gestured for the yellow to retreat behind her, moving a forearm in front of her and backing the two until they reached the rubble wall behind them.

"Now... Jus' hold still!" He felt himself growl as the splicer grabbed for the two, them just barely sidestepping him as he then, instead, began to swing his weapon, hoping to gain a solid hit. If he could, he would make his way down there and kill that freak of nature. He still knew though, that, despite this will of his, he would only prove a further hindrance as he did so, killed within an instant, without ever having been noticed.

"The more you move, the more it'll hurt when I skin ya!" The splicer babbled as he continued to have trouble reaching the two, the both of them using their much clearer, though likely fear ridden and adrenaline driven, minds to avoid his maneuvers.

"C-can't we just- Eep! T-t-talk this out instead?" The yellow one seemed to bargain, or perhaps say in earnest, only drawing a laugh from the splicer, and his currently busied companions, who had only half-heard this question of hers.

"Sure. We can talk bout it over dinner. We're havin' meat, and ADAM!" A shudder of cold filled the room as his obvious intention became even more clear from this statement. He felt himself wriggle in his hiding spot as he found the thought of the two being hung, gutted, and treated far worse than any other living being should be... If they weren't 'used' first, that is... Or, afterwards.

It was a horrid thought, but he would be lying if he believed he hadn't seen the splicers, male and female, do so before. Another growl escaped him as he watched the splicer corner the yellow pony against a corner, herself only suddenly realizing her mistake as her rear met the rubble behind her.

Moving growths and twisted muscle came to the splicer's head in the form of a smile, as he raised his weaponized tool yet again, an intent to kill or capture in his mind. "Got ya now ya pretty li'l- Hey, get offa me!"

The splicer nearly lost his footing as the other of the two, a bout of courage having filled her as she saw her endangered companion, circled her forearms around the filth ridden mutant, tightening her grip and attempting to pull back. "Fluttershy, go!" She yelled.

The yellow being, though obviously hesitant, gave a nod, her wings which had, for quite some time now, been unused beginning to unfurl. She lifted herself above and over the reach of the splicer, landing around him as the white furred female continued to try to hold him.

"What the- Why ya li'l-" He reared back his weapon, threatening to strike the being of white fur, as she opened her eyes to him. Quickly noticing her imminent danger, she released the man that was no longer a man, and backed herself with great haste.

His mind foggy with ADAM and craze, much like his body, his swung long after she had left, spinning himself upon the loss of his footing, and falling to the ground. He could feel his inner mind cheering at her, and the other's, efforts, and payout, despite the fact that all they had done was brought the murderer to a fall. Take what you can get, as he long learned to be a great rule in this hungering city without sanity.

"Bitch!" He yelled, shakily standing himself onto his anatomically incorrect limbs, glaring at the two as they regrouped, looking to him in their own fear. It was then that he heard a sound that fell his stomach, along with several of his hopes, turning as he saw the final security bot fall to the ground from his hiding spot, it's explosion only serving in irritating the two other splicers.

The wielded of a tool turned weapon turned to the two slowly with a toothy smile, along with his other group mates, as they began to close in on the two, who simply kept backing away. His breath held as he saw the alarm of the station go off again, this time signaling the arrival of the train, as the large metal doors that gave the transport entry began to creak open, heavy and aged.

He hoped for the object to make it, but he knew that it was not quick enough, another growl surfacing as he now desperately wanted to stop this coming scene of suffering.

"They caused ya trouble, ya sardine you?"

"Sure did. Deserve some trouble of their own."

"Maybe have some bits with our tea den? A nice little snack of them for later?" The three almost casually conversed with one another. This was no more than a future dinner plan for them now, as they knew that nothing could keep them any longer.

The two were beginning to tremble as they continued to walk back, their own knowledge of their coming deaths dawning upon them with great intensity... Suddenly... Crumbling...

It was faint at first, and had long gone unnoticed by the six as they watched and awaited for what was to come, but soon, it began to grow. The splicer's began to hear this one by one, along with the two, and him, as they turned their head's to the source.

"What's that sound that taps the glass of the aquarium?" One of the three deliriously asked, apparently believing the drywall to be glass, or something similar to the like.

Something waved through the air... A familiar that he, and only he could recognize, having a great understanding of it from years of proximity. ADAM. Pumped freshly into a new strand of DNA.

Floor followed walls as the crumbles turned to trembles, the splicers, and creatures, losing their footing as they fell to the ground, panicked and questioned expressions about them.

The wall seemed to thicken, but not by content. No, instead, by the air around it, growing heavier and more visible. It kept on growing, intensifying, strengthening -- A sense of power filled the room from another. One accompanied by anger, and strong will.

Before the splicers, creatures, or even the unknown watcher, could begin to think of explanations, a roar filled the air, the room, and likely all of the Atlantic Depot, most of the crowd needing to cover their ears.

The crumbled wall, alongside most of the wall around it, disintegrated into morsels and debris as they were pulled out from their previous positions, and seemingly collapsed inwards, towards the epicenter of the roar. Only, as they collapsed, they did not hit the ground, instead gaining speed as they retained their height, and beginning to spin.

No reaction could possibly be made as the wall was no longer there, revealing a familiar figure, his face twisted in anger and pain as sweat beaded down his slightly bandaged head. His eyes narrowed, veins bulging, mouth scowling, as the plasmid worked its way into his system for the first time, forcibly rewriting his genetic code.

The pieces of wall, remnants of rubble, and even the plentiful of water that surrounded him, bent to his uncontrolled will, circling around him as he struggled to push through his waves of pain. A newly pinpricked wrist, coupled with their glowing capillaries and veins, proved his splicing, the more mutated of his kind looking on in utter shock, and slight fear, while the other two watched with faces more akin of glee, and relief.

"Omega!" They both called out, though utterly dumbfounded by the events that went on, as he continued to attempt to put his sight and power in focus. The hidden watcher could only wonder as to what was going through this splicer's mind right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So... Much... Pain!

I had been crushed, boiled, burned, cut, beat, and much, much more, but nothing, and I mean nothing, could possibly compare to the agony I felt now. Burning knives slashing their way through my veins and heart, spread to my body like wild fire. Another sense accompanied it, one that I couldn't quite recognize at the moment, but, I couldn't honestly care less!

I knew this would hurt, I knew it. This was a plasmid, a tool of mass destruction that I had never used, and a powerful one at that! People would take their first plasmid and feel pain, before they would ultimately collapse, their discomfort quickly pushed away as a sudden sense of power flowed through them.

Those were first level plasmids though! The one I had found was a level three plasmid! Even now, the fact that I was even standing, or concious, seemed like an ill made miracle... I had reason though. Reason that, as the telekinetic storm destroyed the wall before me, was empowered as I felt an anger flow through me.

The sight of my charges backing away from the group of twisted fucks that dared called themselves human. And the sight of them looking to me in pure relief, and happiness, despite the chaos that was currently running through me, and around me.

This was my reason! My will! My strength to stay standing, and try to gain control!

"T-the hell is that!?" One of the splicers yelled, taking a step back as the three looked on in shock. I felt a great hatred for him, much like the others of his kind, as I forced myself to look at him through my pain, just barely being able to focus myself.

The chaos of the plasmid seemed to respond to this, though not of my control, the splicer's eyes widening and a yell of useless struggle escaping him as he was pulled in by an invisible force, making his way to me. The girls covered their eyes, thankfully, before they could see what would happen next, as the splicer became nothing more than a mist of blood, joining the other rampaging rubble and liquid around me.

The spider splicer, suddenly snapping out of his state, though his arms and legs trembling in what I thought to be well deserved fear, rose his hooks up high, letting out a roar as, without even slightly thinking through his actions, he tossed his meat hooks towards me, hoping to slash at my flesh.

They joined the tornado of force as well, spinning several times, much to the foolish splicer's dismay, before, almost as if subconsciously following my orders, 'returning to sender', as it were. He was impaled by his neck and chest, stuck to a wall where he flailed for a few short moments, blood gurgling up through his throat before he finally succumbed to his painful death.

Lastly, there was the armored brute. The original of this trio, who had brought about lots of difficulty. Like the thuggish splicer, I forced my gaze upon him, already feeling a small portion of my still out of control power beginning to grip at him with its invisible tendrils.

He grinned against the floor slightly, but, upon slamming his hands into the floor below, gripping the metal below, he stopped himself from suffering the same fate as his previous companion... He, who had threatened me, and my life... More importantly, who had threatened those of my charges... Nobody... Nobody threatens my charges! Not anymore!

All of that chaos, that anger, that pain began to manifest now, myself slowly gaining control of my aching and pulsating body. That splicer... Would. Not. Live! Letting out one great roar, I pushed my right arm forward, through the discord surrounding me, causing it all to freeze before, all at once, launching with the last burst my body gave as it readjusted to my new genetic code.

To put what followed simply... One second, the splicer was there... The next, all that was left were his armor plated arms, still stuck firmly into the ground, where he had been gripping, and separated by the shoulders down.

As the many walls and towers rubble behind his likely broken body continued to break down in the distance, my breath began to shake as I made my way completely into the room, though it wasn't really divided as a room anymore, due to its loss of a wall.

Step over step, I made my way over to my charges, who still had their eyes shut, and gave out a tired groan. As they opened their eyes, now giving me their attention as they realized the fight to be over, I felt my legs give, forcing me to the ground, onto my hands and knees, as I heard the seemingly far off gasps of Fluttershy and Rarity.

Their hoofsteps could be heard, hurried in pace, as they made their way next to my sides. I looked away from the metal floor that had currently been keeping me up supported, meeting with the two teary eyed, though smiling, faces of my charges.

Through my still hazy mind, I was able to register a smile on my own face as I looked to them. Before I could even attempt to stand, the two pulled me into their embraces, holding me tightly against one another, despite my rather... Awkward position.

"Oh... Thank goodness you're alright, darling!"

"W-we thought you were... W-were..." Though she wasn't able to finish, hiccuping as she gave out a quiet sob, I could tell it wasn't from sadness she was crying, my legs shuffling forward, giving me better support as I circled my arms around the two as well...

We stayed like this for few minutes, barely even giving notice as the train completely finished pulling into the station, sending out a loud ring in doing so. It was only when the two felt satisfied, and the last remnants of double vision and dizziness passed, that they pulled away from me, though keeping their forehooves on me as they looked me over.

"A-are you hurt, darling?" Rarity asked, sniffling for a moment before wiping off a stray tear. "You seemed hurt earlier, and that crash... Oh, you must be in pain."

"Y-yeah." Fluttershy came into the conversation at this point, mentally easing her troubled mind as she did so. "W-we saw you fall while that you were fighting that splicer... And even worse when you came back."

Heh. Yeah. That first plasmid's always got a kick to it. No matter what... Didn't hurt anymore though, so, that's a good thing. Heck, if anything... I feel empowered. Shaking my head, I insisted to the two that I was fine, not a scratch being on me that wouldn't heal with some time.

"I must ask though," Rarity suddenly began, looking to me curiously,"how did you put up such a display? I didn't think that humans could use magic, especially this far under the water." Magic? I couldn't help but to chuckle at this. The fact that they apparently thought that I was able to use magic was... Entertaining, I suppose I could say. Still, they'd never really seen a plasmid in use yet, have they? Aside from that incident involving that Houdini splicer from Upper Rapture. And even then, they hadn't really gotten a good look at it.

Petting the two's heads, drawing sighs and hums of contentment from the both of them, I slowly stood myself up from the ground, my mind finally coming into a state of acceptance to my newly engineered genetics.

Raising my right hand up to my face, I looked it over on a whim, the place of injection in my wrist having swollen shut, and the veins nearby it practically glowing. Wanting to test out this new strength of mine, I looked over to the large pile of rubble nearby us.

I gave a breath as I pointed my arm towards the pile, Fluttershy and Rarity watching as, with a single mental command, the veins around my wrist gave a faint glow for a moment, the air around my hand growing in intensity and thickness. Sure enough, a piece of rock made its may to me, reaching the air in front of my hand with high speeds, before coming to a sudden stop.

I kept it there for a moment, simply getting used to the feeling, before, with a move of my wrist, and another mental command, I released the object from my grip, not wanting to waste any of the EVE that was now in my systems.

I let the rock fall harmlessly into the waiting grip of my other hand, giving it a few throws up and back before lightly tossing it back into the pile I had found it.

It was about time we got outta here. Especially at risk of another random alarm going off... As for the new addition to my systems... Well, I'll explain it to the girls once we get in the train.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was in absolute disbelief at this point. Splicers had obtained plasmids, tonics, all kinds of genetic adjustments, but never had he seen one use them with such power, and control. To be able to overcome a first time plasmid surge, of such caliber, and actually use it against a foe, let alone three, it seemed... Impossible...

Even more so, he had done it to protect them. He guarded them, saved them... Embraced them... This splicer... No... This man... He was different... Perhaps... It was time he revealed himself...

He could only hope though, that this one wouldn't react the same as others. With a hungry look in their eye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Entering the train, I moved for the two to come aboard, holding the door to the passenger's seating open for them, and gesturing for them to enter. They gave me appreciative smiles and two sincere 'thank you's as they stepped aboard, and into the seating area of the train.

While they did that, likely adjusting to their new surroundings, I stuck around at the head of the Atlantic Express cart, closing the door that had let us aboard shut, a satisfying hiss exiting it as it provided an airlock. Once this was done, I made my way over to the large control panel built into the rail car, looking over its various blips and buttons before, with a scoff, reaching for the lever above me, and pulling it down.

The machine suddenly pushed forward with a start, causing my charges, and I, to stumble slightly, before it began to slowly move towards the large open gate that would lead to the rail systems, delving into the oceanic background that surrounded the city of Rapture, the gates then closing slowly behind us.

As we submerged, I gave out a sigh of relief, knowing that, for a while at least, we would be able to relax again. I left the train to it's work, exiting the conductor's area and entering the same area of the train my charges, sliding the door closed behind me.

The two were already in their seats, but they were on their hind legs, rather than their rears, watching the train submerge with wonder in their eyes as they stood next to one another. Their forehooves pressed against the sides of the glass windows, but I didn't worry about it. Quadruple paned, Rapture brand, plexiglass. The stuff could take a heavy rivet dead on, and it still wouldn't give.

A silent chuckle escaped me as I walked over to the two, watching as their eyes scanned the city through this point of view, differing from that of a bathysphere's in that it provides more... Focus on the ocean, rather than the city. Shining coral, waving seaweed, and several more bits of undersea plant-life that, on the surface, would likely be seen as beautiful, or impossible in their existence.

As I closed in on the two, chuckling as I myself started to enjoy the view, they quickly caught sight of my reflection on the glass, turning to me and smiling. I returned the gesture, before, with a quick nod to the two, I removed the bag of supplies I had around my back, carefully placing it onto the floor before taking my seat with a sigh; Fluttershy and Rarity both sat on either side of me.

Stretching out my arms as I began to relax, I noticed the girls lower themselves from their hind legs and sit themselves down as I reached for the bag, lazily opening it before I started to pull out a few things for the trip.

This train would take hours just to get to it's next stop, let alone how long it would take to reach our actual destination, so I figured that now would be a good time as ever to rest, and eat... Not in that order, of course.

The girls watched intently as I pulled out a few cans of food, along with the previously used of the two bottles of water that I also had in there. Finally, I pulled out my whiteboard segment, just in case I needed to talk to them, and a couple of books that I had gotten from the library. One was titled '1984', while the other was named 'Every Man Dies Alone'... Why did I pick out that second one again?

Like we had done back at Point Prometheus, we spread the food about us, picking from the cans and eating, while still making small talk as we did so. It was a nice way to pass the time.

"Oh darling, you did just fine! You reacted just perfectly in light of the situation, and you shouldn't look down on yourself for that."

"I-I don't know. All I did was fly above him. You were the brave one, grabbing hold of him like you did." From what I could tell, they were talking about what had transpired before I had intervened, back at the train station that is. I have to say... It filled me with some pride to hear that the two had managed against a splicer. They hadn't injured it, purposely that is, but I suppose that baby steps were in order... Though... I hope they don't end up walking too far... They'd lost enough of their innocence as is.

"Be that as it may dear, you still pushed through your fear! That is an impressive act of courage, if I do say so myself!" Blushing bashfully at Rarity's comment, a smile came to Fluttershy's face as she pointed her gaze downwards, attempting to hide behind her mane. She reached for the water bottle that was currently to the left of our 'feast', if you could even call it that by Rapture standards, likely wanting to take a drink. As she did so though, I noticed that her aim was off, instead crashing the top of her hoof into the bottle and causing it to tip.

"Eep!" Fluttershy squeaked as she realized her mistake, her eyes widening as she watched the glass bottle begin to fall onto it's side, waiting for it, and the liquid inside, to make contact with the floor. I didn't let that moment come though, instead, almost reflexively, moving out my right hand and pointing it towards the bottle, stopping it mid-fall. I smirked at this, a sense of self accomplishment coming to me as I managed such a task with a plasmid that I had only recently gotten.

I tipped the bottle back to its original position, carefully releasing it with a slow gesture of my hand, and a thought. As I did this, I barely noticed the glowing in my right hand fade from it's apparent arrival.

Fluttershy and Rarity looked to me, the two seeming impressed by the small display, while I simply looked back with a chuckle. "My... You certainly are handy with that, aren't you, Omega?" Rarity asked. I tilted my hand left and right, giving her a face of 'more or less'. "Nonetheless, I am still curious about... Well, where this came from. Fluttershy and I have never seen you do something such as this before."

"Y-yes. If you don't mind our asking... How did this happen?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fact that they had yet to see him was a miracle of its own, as he had slithered his was into the train, mere moments before it had left, taking the three with it... Or, rather, the four.

He watched as time passed. As the three ate, and conversed, acting like nothing had happened... He could see that the two cared for him very much, just as he cared for them.

At the moment, the man seemed to be explaining something to the two, though, oddly enough, he would not speak. Or, perhaps, could not speak. A scar on his neck, having just been noticed by the follower, indicated a sort of incident from the past, perhaps leading to such an event.

He wrote on a white surface, his hands shakily shaping out letters little by little as time passed, before showing it to his patiently waiting companions, either receiving a nod of understanding, some response of sorts, or a flinch, depending on what he wrote... He knew that he had said to himself that he would reveal his presence... But he felt as though now wasn't the time...

Or, to be more accurate, he was too scared out of his wits to show himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So... You went through all that, just to help us?" Fluttershy asked as I finished the lengthy explanation of plasmids and gene tonics, and what I had recently done, having been made especially long due to my poor writing abilities. I nodded, confirming her theory as I took a small sip of water from the glass bottle, my marker and board on my lap as I sat in front of the two.

Fluttershy and Rarity both shared a similar, concerned glance, before they looked back to me. "... Darling, while we do certainly appreciate this -- In fact, we are flattered to know that you would do all this for us, but, I still must ask you... Why are you so willing to put yourself through all this?"

Heh, that was an easy one. Smirking as I picked up my marker and started to write again, the message came relatively quickly as I turned it to my charges, drawing blushes and smiles from them... 'BECAUSE I HAVE TWO IMPORTANT REASONS TO.'

And by reasons, both they, and I, knew that I was referring to them.

Another couple of hours passed before the girls grew tired, their content stomachs and tired minds nagging at them to get some well deserved bed rest. I had turned down the lights to the seating area of the train through it's controls, watching over them as they slowly, and peacefully, drifted into rest.

As for me... I just didn't feel that tired. The plasmid in my system felt like a jolt of energy, in more ways than one, keeping me from sleeping. So, having decided to put this energy to better use, at least until my body would got used to it, I waited as the girls both fell into their slumber, only leaving the passenger seating and making my way into the conductor's station once I was sure that they wouldn't be disturbed by my movement and noise.

I turned on the light of the station, the door to the passenger area having been quietly closed behind me as I opened up one of my recently acquired pieces of literature, '1984', and began to read it through...

I quickly figured out why Ryan had approved it's arrival into the city. The gist of the book, from what I saw in the first few pages, seemed to be about an over-controlling government, and those behind it. How 'Big Brother Was Watching' became a common theme, referring to the governments constant surveillance of one's actions, lives, and even thoughts.

This basically perpetuated the idea that the government of the outside world would be humanity's downfall in our future. A concept that Andrew would have been more than happy to agree with... So long as the government in question wasn't his.

Despite it's rather biased reason for being here, among the many dark themes that I could see throughout it, it was still really interesting of a read. I found myself delving into the book as time passed, all but becoming the character who, coincidentally enough, was named Winston, following him on a tour of his twisted reality... Not that mine was any better.

Time and time again, however, I would pause from my reading, placing my ear on the door behind me, or cracking it open by just a bit, in order to continually check on my charges, smiling as I saw their restful selves, hugged close to one another for companionship in their dreams.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door closed yet again, the small hints of light that had been following alongside it quickly being extinguished as he let out another silent sigh. His curiosity had been gnawing at him, what with the two odd beings currently sharing a room with him, though unaware of his presence.

Though he felt he shouldn't show himself just yet, every part of his mind knowing him to be procrastinating the inevitable, he felt it necessary to get a better look at the two... To... Observe them up close, as it were.

Gulping down the fluid that formed in his mouth from his nervousness, he constantly looked to and fro of the closed door that opened to the control booth of the train, moving closer and closer to the unrecognized species before him.

Moving at a crawl, he hefted himself up to the seats, reaching eye level with the sleeping, furred beings of unique nature. He curiously scanned the two, taking in every detail, and every breath that they took, as they took it, before he would always return to where he started. In front of them.

No matter what he looked over, he simply couldn't relate these beings to anything else he had seen in the past, even during the time he had spent crammed into a library, being forced to look over picture books as he awaited an almost impossibly large group of splicers to give up their hunt for him.

Momentarily turning away from the two, he was unaware of the fact that he brushed a small part of himself against the tip of the white furred being's muzzle, her eyes squinting slightly at the sensation and nostrils releasing a slightly larger amount of air at the disturbance.

He looked to the opposite wall in thought, searching his, admittedly small, mind in his attempts to pin down something to call these two... He had heard them call something to one another. They weren't necessarily species names, but, they were still names... Now, if only he could remember them...

Turning back to the two, he figured that, if he took another look at them, that he would be able to refresh his memory, if only slightly... The issue with this, however, was that, as it turned out, he wasn't the only one looking, his heart nearly stopping as he saw the gaze of the white furred creature on him, her eyes wide, and her pupils the size pinpricks, as she looked to him in silent shock, him doing the same to her.

"..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three chapters in, and they were already starting to bring up a more... Disturbing theme. A passenger ship, making its way across the ocean, passing by this fictional land of regulation and force, found itself in horrible waters, air forces having mobilized to end them, upon order.

Helicopter's, which I only knew of barely, rained down bullets and bombs from above, the passengers of the ship screaming, burning, dying, with no pity shown by the pilots, or their fellows.

Life boats dispatched from the larger ship, only to quickly be dispatched once more, and for all, as the lives of hopeful 'survivors' were snuffed out.

Soon, only one miniature of the ship remained, the helicopters purposefully having saved it for last. A single woman, middle aged, and trembling with fear, among several children, one of which being her own, and the others in tears at the loss of their parents and various siblings. She clutched her own child tightly to her, his shaking overshadowing hers, tears being streamed from his face into her bosom as he attempted to push himself into her grasp, as if doing so would save him.

A single aircraft made their way above them, it's bottom hatch opening, a single barrel of incendiary chemical, armed with an easily ignitable fluid around it, showing itself to the forcefully ignoring few below it.

A command through the radio, garbled and emotionless, a knife cutting the rope holding the barrel in place, the whistle of wind as it encircled the tool of suffering, and finally-...

I accidentally gave the book a telekinetic discharge to the ceiling of the train, the loud clunk of metal being bent by the propelled hardcover echoing through the room as I practically heard the following scream exit the book, making itself clearly known... Wait... I did hear a scream... Oh fu-

Scrambling to stand, I readied my plasmid once more, extending my ESU and rivet gun to their active stated before, with a hurried grunt, I slammed the sliding door to the side, all but charging into the room as I looked around the darkened area for whatever may be threatening my charges; I mentally scolded myself for not having turned on the lights again.

Upon entering, Rarity quickly ran to my side, blubbering some sort of... I'm not too sure, honestly. "I-I-it-...Beady eyed-... So close-... Terrifying-..." See what I mean? Moving myself down, I picked Rarity up and held her close to me, attempting to comfort her as best as I could. Her shaking was quickly stopped, but her blubbering was not...

It was then that I noticed something else... Where was Fluttershy? My eyes widening at this, I hung Rarity around me, carrying her piggy back as I made my way further into the darkened train, letting out a groan as I cried out for Fluttershy.

At first, there was no response, my heartbeat quickening as a spike of worry cleaved through me at the thought of my charge being in danger. Soon though, I began to hear small, gentle whispers in the dark.

"It's alright... You can come out..." Fluttershy... Following the voice, I, to my relief, quickly found my winged charge, laid belly down near the corner of the room, seemingly attempting to... Talk to something below one of the chairs?

Groaning out for her attention, she turned her head to me and slowly gestured for me to be silent, and drawing a raised brow from me. Rarity, having seemed to gain back some semblance of her speaking ability, seemed to realize what Fluttershy was doing, though I still did not.

"Fluttershy, are you mad?!? You shouldn't be near that... That thing!" Seriously, what the hell is she talking about. "It tried to attack me, after all!" Okay, what?!? A growl escaped me as she said this, myself pointing my rivet gun to the corner of the room, where this possible foe was, ready to open fire on whatever had threatened my charge.

Before I could though, and much to my great surprise, Fluttershy stepped in front of my rivet gun, looking to Rarity and I almost pleadingly. "N-no, it wasn't trying to hurt you. I-I think it was just curious, is all." She said.

"Curious?!? Well it certainly has a way of showing it, doesn't it!"

"Rarity, please, it's scared, and we need to try to be calm. I can-"

"It's scared?!" Rarity interupted. "Well, I suppose that we both share that trait, don't we?! Not that I feel comfortable comparing it to myself, that is." She quickly added in. "Nonetheless, you didn't see it like I did! It's slimy, large eyed, toothless-"

Groaning that I got the picture, and partly to remind the two that I was still right here, I looked to Fluttershy firmly, crossing my arms as I looked between her and the corner of the train. "Please Omega... Just... Let me try once... At least..."

... Her lips are quivering, eyes are shining, and she said please in her adorable and soft voice... Ugh... Alright... One try. If this thing, whatever it is, even takes one misstep though, I'm making it a permanent stain on this train's floor.

Giving out a sigh, I compacted my weaponry, and shut off my plasmid with a flick of my wrist, Fluttershy giving me a thankful smile before she returned to her previous ministrations.

"What!? Darling, you can't be seriou- Ohhh~" Not your turn to take an approach yet, Rarity. Let Fluttershy do her thing... For now. Petting Rarity's head and quickly causing her to grow silent in her relaxation, I watched in silence as Fluttershy once again began to call to... Whatever it was she was calling to.

"Its okay... Nopony's going to hurt you... You can come out..." She said this so softly, and gently... It was like, though it didn't make sense, listening to silk... "There you go... That's it..."

Her foreleg, which she had reached under the seat with, began to pull back as she looked to the black under area of the seat with an encouraging smile, guiding her object of interest outwards, ever so slowly.

Eventually, after what felt like hours, but was only a few short moments, the creature came into view... And I felt my jaw drop.

A black, slithering, serpent like figure, though relatively puny in size, made it's way out, able to reach from the fingers slightly over my wrist in it's length, and able to be a handful were it to come to it's width. It was shining with, as Rarity had said, slime, and its body was seemingly engraved with grooves and two symmetrical circular patterns, mirroring off one another as they made its way down to the thing's tail. It's cheeks, if you could call them that, were slightly protruded outwards, with two sidewards, faintly orange in color, eyes, surrounding by a sea of black.

This... This was incredible... I had long these things to be extinct, yet... Here it was... An ADAM slug...

The slug looked around its surroundings, aiming focus to me, Rarity, and then back to Fluttershy, before opening it's seemingly rubber mouth open, and letting out an odd, high pitched squeal. I admittedly flinched slightly at this, Rarity, who I had stopped petting in my distraction, tightening her grip around me and shuddering. Fluttershy did not seem bothered though, instead continuing to give a gentle smile to the slug as she lowered her head to eye level with it.

"Awwww... You okay little fella? You don't feel afraid, do you?" As she said this, she slowly reached a hoof over to the slug, it recoiling away for a short moment, before, taking an even slower approach, Fluttershy made contact. She passed her hoof along the slug's head, and down its entirety, with an almost practiced touch, the slug releasing an odd trilling sound in response.

Fluttershy chuckled softly at this, reaching her other hoof below the slug, soon following it with her other, as she began to pick the slug up. Seating herself with the slug in her grip, it's tail hanging loosely below it as she continued to hold it at eye level, she gave the small creature a small muzzle of her nose, to which it responded positively, returning the gesture.

Looking to us, Fluttershy's smile did not fade as Rarity and I continued to look at her in shock, and surprise. "See? It was just scared."

Rarity and I gave two simultaneous, slow, and incredulous nods, before the slug let out another trill, once again taking Fluttershy's attention as she looked to it cheerily. "What... What is that thing?" Rarity asked.

Without even looking, I aimed my arm behind me, bringing out my plasmid once more, and, with a single smooth motion, floating my white board segment and marker from the bag at the center of the room, into my hand. On a side note, I gave a mental cheer at this. I honestly didn't think I'd be able to pull that off. Heh.

... Anways, popping off the top of the marker, I quickly wrote out a message to answer her question. 'ADAM SLUG. THOUGHT THEY WERE GONE.'

As Rarity picked up the board and read the message, her face shifted into several forms, including that of slight disgust, as she then handed the board back to me. "Well, friendly or otherwise, do keep that... Revolting thing away from me... I apologize, but it just..." I felt Rarity let out a shiver as she trailed off.

Fluttershy, turning to her friend, gave a calm and friendly smile, holding the slug to her chest as she began to float her way off from the ground, and towards the two of us. "Oh, but he's really not a bother to anypony." Did she just say 'he'? "And, I think he's really cute... See?"

Holding the slug centimeters from my face, it practically stared dead at me, wriggling slightly in Fluttershy's grip and giving out a short squeak as the two of us stared one another down, almost observing each other at that point. It was at that point that I felt the weight on my back disappear, the sound of distance gaining hoofsteps, followed by a squeaking seat cushion, allowing me to guess that Rarity had 'abandoned ship'.

Fluttershy seemed visibly hurt by this, but didn't say anything about it, instead moving her gaze to me, and giving me an offering smile... I felt a nervous chuckle escape me as I eventually gave into her silent pleads, reaching for the large slug and giving it a single, light rub against its cold, clammy head... It trilled again.

Admittedly, this felt... A little odd... But... It wasn't necessarily bad. This time chuckling in earnest as Fluttershy handed off the slug to me, happily watching as I took him in both hands and continued to pet him, the slug let out a loud another series of noises before, faster than I could've imagined, it slithered it's way up my arm, tickling me and leaving a small, near invisible, trail as it went along. Before I knew it, it was on top of my head, giving out a playful squeal of 'dominance' as it settled at it's new height.

Fluttershy started giggling at the sight, myself chuckling, and Rarity, though only to an extent, giving off a faint chuckle as well.

"I think he likes you." Well, that's a new one. An ADAM slug attracted to a human that wasn't a little sister... You couldn't make this up if you tried. "... Should we keep him?"

At this, I could practically sense Rarity's goosebumps from afar at the thought, myself putting my hand to my chin in thought.

I... Wasn't really sure if bringing an ADAM slug along was such a good idea... I mean, wouldn't that just give splicers even more reason to try and hunt us down? Plus, it wouldn't exactly be easy to take care of him... I'm not really familiar with an ADAM slug's diet-

Before I could even finish the thought, the slug leaned itself over my head, using its surprisingly dexterous and strong tail to keep itself supported as it looked to me upside down, now eye to eye, and practically giving me a pleading look, a small trill echoing through it's throat... Gah, does everyone here have a cutesy face?!? And why do they always use it on me?!

Giving a relenting sigh, I smiled faintly as I gave a short nod, the slug letting out another, even louder trill before lifting itself back up onto me head, just as quickly slithering down to the crook of my neck and nuzzling against me, ticklishly drawing a series of chuckles from me.

Fluttershy seemed gleeful as well, lightly clapping her hooves together as she looked between the slug and I. "Ohhhh, that's great! What are you going to name him?"

Glancing to the slug again, I smiled as an idea quickly came to mind, myself writing it down on my whiteboard. Considering the fact that we found him on our first trip of the Atlanctic Express, I figure, maybe, we should give the inventor of this transport system some honor then?

Finishing the name, I showed it to the slug, who seemed to wriggle in agreement, before I then showed it to Fluttershy, who read it aloud.

"Mill."

Author's Note

"Enemy in your way? Not anymore! Throw him with the power of your mind!"

And we have. Our. First. Plasmid! The gene tonic that he has will be analyzed and placed into his systems later, considering he doesn't have the supplies he needs to put it into his systems, but still, plasmids!

Now, I suppose I should explain why I chose this plasmid as a starter, along with the other.

See, I had narrowed the choices down to Winter Blast, and Telekinesis, both being at level 3.

' Winter Blast, in a way, reflects much of Omega's past, his cold and lonely heart heart showing its hidden persona in one freezing blast of power. An offensive approach to combat, Omega can be able to turn the surroundings into his advantageous forms of use. Freezing the floor and taking his foes down, weakening structures to be had, stopping machines in their tracks, and even easing his hacking. More importantly though, allowing him to take opponents apart Piece. By. Piece. '

' Telekinesis reflects Omega's defensive nature of his charges, putting them first before him. With it, he can make shields, both human and inanimate, reach places that he, nor his winged charge, could reach before, and fully use his surroundings to his advantage. Though, a savage mind can only be held for so long, even in this form. '

As you can see, this is why I needed all of your opinions earlier. I was actually unsure as to what I could use for a first plasmid, but I had narrowed the decision down to these two. As to why I didn't use any other... Well, think of it this way. If you were able to use something like, say, insect swarm from the beginning of the Bioshovk games, what kind of challenge would that be? Besides, I find Electro Bolt and Incinerate to be... Overused, though still among my top 5.

As we go along, I will introduce more plasmids for Omega's use, and tonics. Oh... And a special little bit as well. :D

Inventory:
-Rivet Gun (14)

Trap Rivets (15)
-Remote Hack Tool (2)
Auto Hack Dart (1)
-ESU
-EVE Hypo (5)
-First Aid Kits (2)
-Money (2)

Plasmids:
}Telekinesis 3

Hope you enjoy! And, as Mill would would say, '*squeak, slick, squeak, squelch*'
(See you next time!)

Chapter 24: It Can Never Be Easy... Can It?

The lights of the city beneath the sea lit the waters in a vibrant shine. Movement could be seen throughout the area. Some of it made by the undersea life, maneuvering its way through the vast, yet unknown, wonder of mankind. Other forms of movement came from within the buildings, being caused by the maddened shells of humans, now turned splicer.

Among these many motion creating objects though, a single, rectangular hunk of steel rode along it's rails, it's front most headlights on as it continued to guide itself onwards. Three silhouetted figures could be seen through the lit windows. Two of them sat together on one side, seemingly enraptured in conversation. The other seemed distracted, his head facing downwards, and an odd, seemingly moving shape atop his head.

The passengers of this train, this long used member of the Atlantic Express, were simply passing the time, in the hopes that they would reach their wanted destination as soon as possible. Little did they know, however, as all things are in Rapture, things would prove to be more difficult than they were believed to be.

A vicious being, her hunger set on the taste of the flesh, clawed her way through the many ventilation and maintenence systems of Rapture. She cared not for whatever she destroyed as she went on, as she was more focused on a single, twisted, and lustful thought. The hunt of her prey. That man, and those two others that he was with.

Their scent was faint at this point, having long been integrated into the air of the ventilated systems. She could not care less though. She was focused to do nothing more but to kill, and consume them.

In most cases, she would give up a failed hunt of these sorts. After all, there was plenty more meat to go around. However, she was no longer doing this for the purpose of feeding. She had, for the first time in years, been injured by that man. Even now, she felt the dull ache in her hand and shoulder, a small amount of blood leaking from the rivet induced wounds.

She would not allow for them to get away with this. For her, the deadliest and most infamous of splicers, to be humiliated as she was, she would not allow it. She would enjoy hearing their screams, as she ripped them apart piece by piece. And, she would make sure that she left that man for last.

As she tore her way through the city, and any splicer that dared to come within two room's length of her, a certain cable was cut, sparking as it's intended target lost signal, and data.

Several parts of Rapture reacted violently to this. Lights flickered, ventilation systems shifted in temperature for a scant few moments, and, more importantly, a series of several alarms went off. Small rooms, nearly hidden from light, were bathed in red. Within these rooms, several pieces of advanced, and unseen, pieces of machinery laid. A large screen, among the center most of these rooms, flashed a large message.

'-BEGIN ANTI-PROTOCOL: WYK-
-INITIATING SEQUENTIAL LOCKDOWN-'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's not often that a scene such as this one plays out. Two ponies conversing with one another while an ex-metal behemoth reads through a book, a slug on my head and seemingly reading along, though I knew. All this, while riding in an underwater train. Weird, eh?

Anyways, since the girls had found, and I had ended up adopting, Mill, things had been a little... Different. I mean, sure, I guess I could deal with taking off something else... But Rarity... She was absolutely afraid of Mill.

In fact, that was pretty much the only reason she was sitting across from me, rather than next to me. Fluttershy, having been wanting to keep her company, had excused herself and went with Rarity. I didn't mind. I really didn't.

I'm not really sure why Rarity's so afraid of him, but I don't have any complaints... It's a little funny, actually, when you consider the fact that she's more afraid of Mill, a harmless slug, than she was when she first met me, a two ton, lumbering metal giant, who had slaughtered I don't know how many splicers before her eyes... Actually, that last part doesn't sound that funny when I think of it.

Glancing around, I felt Mill shift slightly from atop my head, seeming to adjust to my movement. Through the windows, I saw the train start to approach a large, metal gate, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips as I noticed this. The first benchmark in our trip to Inner Persephone.

Momentarily closing my book as the gates began to open, placing my thumb at the page I was on, I moved my gaze to my two charges.

For a moment, I just watched them. As to why... I wasn't sure. Maybe it was because I just enjoy having charges again... Actually... There was another word for it... I know what it is, but I also don't. It's strange, I know.

Suddenly, as the two were talking, Fluttershy seemed to take notice of me, both she, quickly followed by Rarity, turning their gazes to me and smiling. Fluttershy, amusingly, raised her hoof and gave me a wave.

I chuckled at this, before just as soon returning the wave. Even more amusingly though, I noticed Mill stir, rushing from my head, to my shoulder, before letting out a squeal, almost as if he were 'waving' as well. Fluttershy giggled at this, and Rarity shuddered; A reaction that I sorta figured would come from her.

Again... That word... What was it...? And why couldn't I say it...? I... I think it was- Oh Jesus!

The sudden screeching of metal and the rumbling of the cart interrupted me in a matter of seconds. Mill, my charges, and I nearly fell from our seats as the cart started to shake, barely getting our collective footing, hoofing, and... Whatever it was Mill got as we began to brace ourselves.

Focusing myself, I raised my own leg up, before, with a growl, bringing it back down. Again, the cart started to shake. Only, this time, it was the kind that I was used to. I pushed myself off the seats and to my feet, quickly, though with a stagger, dashing my way to the conductor station of the train.

I slid the door open with a grunt, my eyes quickly widening as I noticed something. We were hitting the next metal gate! I rushed for the controls, all but mashing the buttons and levers into the console to readjust the train's bad positioning. Almost instantly, the groaning and shaking of the train came to a halt, myself, and from what I could hear, the girls, letting out sighs... Also, if I didn't know better, I'd say that Mill did the same.

Giving the console a quick once over, Mill moving from my arm to the metal, I left it with a groan, heading back into the passenger section of the train to check on Fluttershy and Rarity. The two had, apparently, ended up on the ground, which caused even more worry from me as I rushed over to them.

Kneeling down next to the two, they both let out groans as they slowly picked themselves up, Rarity rubbing her head with her hoof as she did so, while Fluttershy gave hers a shake. As they opened their eyes, I found my hands were already moving on what seemed like their own.

I gently held both of their chins, their eyes widening for a moment as I them started to look them over one by one. From what I saw, there wasn't any noticeable injury, aside from some red on their faces. Just in case though, I groaned in question, asking if they were well. They seemed to understand.

"W-we're fine darling."

"Y-yes, thank you." I let out another sigh at this relief, giving the two pats on the head before standing myself up again, and moving back into the head of the train. Maybe the red on their cheeks was just embarrassment... Yeah, I'm sure it was.

As I re-entered the conductor's station, Mill still waiting there for me, I started to try to see what was causing the issue. At first, nothing. Nothing that I could see, that is. Mill, however, seemed to notice something. He started to squeal and squirm near the side of the panel. Looking to him, I saw him circling around a small screen, which was currently flashing. Raising my brow at this, I looked over to the screen, the slug raising his head up and seeming to wag his tail as I looked it over.

'Area Lockdown Initiated''

... Can it never be easy?! I nearly slammed my face into console out of sheer frustration. I mean, for fuck's sake!

I absentmindedly started to pet Mill as he let out a trill, myself giving a sigh as I started trying to figure out what we could do next...

We were in Ryan Amusements... And like any other place in Lower Rapture, from what I could remember, lock downs were always a possibility... All I'd have to do was find the console that caused it... Yeah... That'd be fun... And easy... FU-

It had taken me a while to take control of that mini mental breakdown of mine, but, by now, I had pretty much just accepted the fact that things would never be easy.

Fluttershy and Rarity were both patiently awaiting me in the passenger area of the train, likely to see what it was that was causing all the commotion. Upon telling them, I could immediately see the concern, and exasperation, in their eyes. Not that I could blame them, really.

I myself let out a groan, both in agreement and annoyance over the subject as a whole, before I gestured for the two to follow me, once again beginning what had become our usual cycle of here and there. They both took a moment or so to ready themselves, which I had no problem with, before finally giving me their all clear; Signaling that they were ready.

As for me, I had picked up our large bag of supplies and once again wrapped it me, securing it to my back. Mill, who had been riding on my shoulder for some time now, immediately took interest in this bag, practically diving himself into it.

As I looked to the bag, I saw his head pop out for a moment; A single squeal escaped his mouth before he dove right back in.

I rolled my eyes at this and chuckled, adjusting the bag, Mill's apparent new hiding place, further up onto my back before making my way to the train exit. The sound of hooves could be heard close behind me.

Sliding the metal door open, the train releasing a hiss as it's airlock was broken, I took a quick glance around the area. It was an obviously designed train station, with a raised platform, an Atlantic Express security booth just across the way, and two doors; One to my right and, one, of more flashy presentation, to my left.

Taking in a breath of the 'fresh', recycled Rapture air, I opted to check the security booth before we would go anywhere.

I stepped from the train to the platform with ease, turning and watching as my charges did the same, a small part of my mind having worried about them tripping up.

Once they were down though, the two of them moving their gazes to me for guidance, I gave a nod, turning my head forward again and beginning to make my way to the security booth.

The door clanked and groaned open automatically as we approached it, wordlessly giving us it's permission to enter the small room.

I immediately set myself to look over the various control pads and panels of the room, hoping to see a quick solution to our problem. My charges plopped themselves down onto the floor behind me, silently waiting for me to finish.

Several sequences of buttons and levers made their way into my mind as I tried to turn off the lockdown that currently had us trapped here. Sequences that, despite my best efforts, proved useless. The same message appeared over one of the many small screens of the console. 'Area Lockdown Initiated'.

I gave out a mental sigh as I took a step back from the console, pinching the bridge of my nose and the inner edge of my eyes as another small bout of frustration hit me. I brushed it aside though, giving a small glance to my charges and instantly calming myself for the time being...

The inhibiting console was somewhere further into Ryan Amusements. We'd just have to find it... I could myself that as simply as I wanted, but I knew it would end up the opposite no matter what.

The girls stood themselves as they took notice to the fact that I had found nothing of use, trailing behind me as I moved to the more presenting of the first two doors in the room.

Atop this door, there was a large structure; Protruded and obviously created to be a sort of presentation worthy showing. Two large, though differently colored and sized, words shone with bright light, perpendicularly intersecting with one another. 'Ryan Amusements'.

Two smaller, and more official looking, signs were off to it's side. They advertised Rapture's 'Jorney To The Surface', and 'The Hall Of The Future', alongside some other useless babble.

Rarity quickly took notice of these signs, raising a brow as she read them, and a small, hopeful glint in her eyes. "Journey to the surface?" She read. "... Omega, is this-" I shook my head before she could get any other misinformed ideas of the place, her ears quickly splaying themselves back against her head as she momentarily looked to the ground. "Oh..."

Just another reason to hate this place, I guess. False hope.

We all went through the large doors of this presenting place, making our way through the preliminary station room with ease as we then reached the next room over.

I nearly flinched back in surprise as the first thing I saw was what looked like a large, painted fabric, bailed onto the wall. Candles, all of which having been snuffed out by time, surrounded the adjacent wall and image as I quickly, and confusedly, looked it over.

An image of what seemed like a silhouette figure, drawing light into an overall pitch black room. A blue, seemingly fake, butterfly covered her face, with white, hastily written text was above, and below, this creation. 'We will be reborn. She is our savior.'

I shook my head at this nonsense. It was obviously some sort of remnant from Sofia Lamb's rule of Rapture. Glancing to my charges, who both seemed to be looking at this 'artwork' with their own sense of curiosity about them, I gave a groan for them to follow.

"Eh? Wha'ssat?" And quickly regretted it. My eyes widened as I started to hear footsteps, though few in quantity, heading towards our direction. Without another sound, I turned to my charges and bobbed my head for them to follow hurriedly.

They nodded, already beginning to stay at an even closer distance to me as I made my way around the corner of the path way that held the odd painting, entering a much larger, though not by much, room.

A large, but broken down and tipped over clock laid in the middle of the room, it's hands unmoving and pointed towards the floor. Seats were to the sides of this clock, likely as a semi-functional wait area, and painted by a layer of dust. Further ahead of us, I could see the actual entrance to Ryan Amusements, four large, brass pillars -- Though two of them were unbalanced-- leading to the actual doorway, with a metal ticket taker to it's side.

To our immediate right, there lay a few pieces of junk and paperwork. Three fragmented filing cabinets, a stack of what looked like small stand-up billboards, and pair of newspaper machines, obviously dated with age. Further still, there was a large, circular glass wall, with two oddly placed chairs, likely for the abandoned idea of 'shoe shining', facing outwards towards the sea.

To our left, just past the metal seats, there was what looked like a ticket area. Two cashier posts, each with their respective cash registers, stood in attention for customers and employees that would never come, with two individual signs reading 'TICKETS' above each. Alongside this, there was an employee entrance, it's door having been ripped off and leaned against the further off wall.

It was from this ticket area that I could hear the sounds coming from.

The girls and I quickly took cover behind the seats, and the thin metal walls that accented them, as I released the safeties on both my ESU and rivet gun. I could faintly hear Mill seem to growl from within the bag, apparently having taken notice to the sudden threat.

I aimed my rivet gun towards the ticket area, controlling my breath to a calm, and at ease rate as I saw about three shadows running across the halls through the cashier openings.

Though I wasn't able to see much, I noticed that one of the three had a firearm, while the other two seemed to be holding some sort of melee weaponry. A mental question popped up as to why there were so few, compared to the much larger groups of this place, but I pushed it aside for later.

The moment I saw the first splicer take a step out of the employee doors of the ticket area, I took action. One well placed rivet to the head silenced his cries, as the other two quickly followed after their now dead comrade. Before I could get a shot, the other splicer, who was wielding a tommy gun, began to open fire, causing me to retreat back into my, and my charges', cover as we were peppered by gunfire. Bullets shot around the sides of the wall we hid behind with seemingly no end as I struggled to get a good shot on this asshole.

Soon enough though, the bullets stopped, followed shortly thereafter by the sound of sliding and clanging metal. He was reloading. A smirk came about me as I pointed my rivet gun around the corner again, hoping to end this splicer's life.

However, it was then that I realized that the thuggish splicer was not in my sights. A wrench hit against my rivet gun from the side, throwing off my aim and causing me to misfire as I thuggish splicer came out from his hiding place.

I heard the leadhead scream, "Bloody hell!", as the rivet passed centimeters near his head, myself now having to preoccupy myself with the swinging thuggish splicer in front of me.

For the most part, his strikes were plain, and simple to avoid. I was all but ready to give him a swing if my own, followed by a few thousand volts of electricity, were it not for the very clock that laid in the center of the room.

In my focus on avoiding the thuggish splicer's blows, I had stumbled back from cover, ultimately tripping over some of the rubble that was behind me and ending with my back leaning against the large clock.

The thuggish splicer grinned at this, raising his wrench up menacingly as he sought to bash my brains in, my charges both letting out two loud gasps at this.

Narrowing my eyes, I focused myself again as I stopped his swing, along with the rest of his voluntary movement, with what seemed like a single thought... Actually, it was a single thought.

I smirked again as I held my right arm towards the now paralyzed splicer, my veins giving off a faint glow as I held the splicer in my Telekinesis plasmid's grip.

The sound of a cocking gun drew my attention, as I turned my head to the now reloaded splicer, who was currently aiming his tommy gun towards me again.

An idea quickly came to mind as I looked to the splicer in my hold with a smile. The moment I saw the splicer's finger move to the trigger, I stood myself upright, lifting the other splicer into the air before then holding him in front of me.

Again, a barrage of bullets rained. This time though, I had mobile cover. A meat shield.

The splicer screamed and cried out as the bullets of the leadhead hit him, rather than me, his blood splattering back and forth as the various pieces of lead pierced through him. Some of this blood landed on me, but I paid it no mind, instead slowly starting to move myself forward as my shield continued to absorb damage for me.

Eventually, the splicer in my grip died, a painful death, but the other kept on firing. Once I was close enough though, I showed him exactly how powerful the plasmid I was using was.

With a flick of my wrist, the body of the splicer was jettisoned towards the splicer at unbelievable speed. He had no time to rect as his previous buddy's corpse hit him dead on, snapping several of him bones, collapsing his lungs, and, though this goes without saying, killing him.

He and the corpse ended up embedded into the wall of the ticket area they had just come from, blood spilling from their broken bodies, creating a small puddle and trail of crimson below them.

I waited another moment, my guard still raised as I scanned the room for anymore threats. Once I was certain that no one else was coming, I gave out a sigh, finally allowing my weapons to lower, and my plasmid to conceal itself again, as I gave a groan for my charges.

I saw the two slowly peak their heads around the corners of the cover we had taken, themselves glancing around the room before making their way out, and towards me.

"Well, that was... Something." Rarity said, flinching as her gaze shifted over to the three bodies of the now dead splicers. Fluttershy, in the meantime, had her focus completely on me, likely trying to avoid even glancing to the dead, mutilated bodies.

Another thing though, was that I noticed what looked like a grimace momentarily flash across Fluttershy's features. "Um... O-Omega... You're covered in..." She trailed off, her forehoof pointing to my shirt and waist.

Following this, I looked down at myself, a sigh escaping me as I noticed just how right she was. The tan blazer that I had been wearing had several splatters of blood about it, some of it dripping downwards. My white dress shirt was even worse, seeming as if someone had taken a can of paint and poured it on me.

My pants were relatively fine, considering they were already black, and made the blood hard to see, but my arms were covered from the shoulder down to the elbow in red. Just great.

I shook my head as I wiped off a small amount of this excess blood, mentally cursing the splicers for their fault in this, and partially myself... Its going to be a while before I can touch Fluttershy or Rarity. At least as long as it takes for me to find some place to wash this off, that is.

As I was doing this, Mill once again peaked his head out of the supply bag, seeming to take a look around, now that the splicers were gone. I glanced to him and just patted him on his head, before then motioning for the girls to follow me again.

As I turned back to face the entrance to Ryan Amusements, I noticed there was a sort of... Sign, near the door. One I didn't recall seeing before... Or at least just didn't care enough to remember over the years.

'Please insert tickets into booth. Warning: Parasites will be punished.'

In other words, if you tried to break into the place, a security system would go off... Damn it. And that was the easiest way too!

Looking back to the area that the three splicers had just recently come from, and were even more recently resting in death, an idea quickly came to mind.

It was a ticket booth, after all. What's to say that there isn't at least one?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upon entering the ticket area of the Ryan Amusements entrance, a rectangular neon sign against the far wall quickly greeted the four, alongside the stench of iron and bloodshed. 'Security Monitoring Room', it read, stationed above a scant few cushioned chairs, a lamp providing a slightly more atmospheric light to the scene.

The entrance area of Ryan Amusements had always been very bundled and disorganized. So much so, that the ticket area even had to share their gifted space with the department of security. Many complained, of course. But then again, what choice did they have.

As Omega and his charges walked through the small room, leading to another hall, Omega would search whatever filing cabinet or cash register that he could find, hoping to obtain some objects of his use. About fifty-five dollars worth of money was had reward, alongside a bottle of pop-up cola, which he had decided that he'd save for later.

Once the room was searched, Fluttershy and Rarity having taken part in the seeking of resources as well, Omega called for the two, groaning that they should move on. He allowed them to go slightly ahead of him as they went through the doorway, and into the next hallway.

Unbeknownst to Omega, however, his bag lost a small amount of weight as a certain slug silently made his way out, eyeing the corpses that the former Big Daddy had left behind.

Upon entering the hall, Omega was quickly met with another view of the open ocean, what with the glass walls leading him onwards. To his left, there was a shattered glass casing. It seemed as though various weapons had previously rested there, including a rather large, and oversized one. Now it was empty though, completely void of ammunition and the like.

To his, and his charges', right, the hall continued, stopping downwards in an odd slope. At the end of this slope, however, lied something that caused Omega's eyes to widen. An oversized metal machine, firmly implanted into the wall. What seemed like two large, novelty pistols were pointed outwards from it, their barrels nearly double the size of the actual weapon itself. In between these gun barrels, there hung a fabric, with bold, though slightly faded, text written upon it.

'Power To The People'

Without a word, Omega quickly made his way over to the machine, giving it a quick once over as his charges followed shortly behind him. The two looked over the machine with curiosity, having not yet seen one of it's kind here in Rapture.

"'Power To The People'?" Fluttershy read aloud. "W-what does that do?" Omega smiled as she asked this question, nodding in satisfaction as he seemed the machine to be working at it's full capacity.

He did not directly answer her question though. Rather, he removed one of his two pieces of weaponry from his arm, his ESU, and pushed a button on the machine. A metal compartment was opened by the electronic weapon upgrade station, which Omega, almost excitedly, stuffed his ESU, glove and all, into.

Upon detecting that it held something in it's metal container, the machine closed itself again. For a moment, nothing happened, once again drawing questioning looks from the girls, and this time, an anxious one from Omega.

"...I swear, if this thing just ate my ESU, I'm gonna-" Omega's thought remained unfinished as the machine started to let out a series of whirs and beeps. Several tools sprouted from it's sides, before then using a small opening in the container to put itself to work.

Fluttershy and Rarity watched in awe as a variety of processes occurred within the machine, ranging from the simple addition of a few screws, to the welding of new metals.

Minutes passed as this continued, before, with a satisfying ding released from the machine, the several tools retreated to their previous locations, and the compartment which held Omega's weapon opened with a hiss.

He couldn't help the smile on his face as he saw the new product of the upgrade's work.

His ESU had been given an overhaul, to say the least. The large, bulky glove that originally was fitted for his Big Daddy suit seemed trimmer, and more natural in size. The metal workings of the weapon were sleek, clean, and new. Finally, and more importantly, three metal prongs surrounded the weapon, seeming to come together at the actual center of the mass.

Omega retrieved his weapon with an almost careful grasp, circling it in his grip a few times before fitting it back onto his left hand, just under his rivet gun. To him, it even felt new. As if it was a totally different glove that he was wearing altogether. He knew, however, that it was still his old weapon... And that it had been changed in more ways than just its looks.

As the Power To The People machine switched a small sign that was under it to 'closed', as it would need quite some time to recharge, Omega aimed his ESU further down the hall, aiming down the next slope that he and his charges would need to go down.

His charges were unsure of what he was doing, but, before they could even ask, his ESU began to let out a deafening crackle. Then, as if it were some sort of contained bolt of lightning, it focused all of it's electrical energy forward, and fired it with a flash.

It hit the far off glass wall, burning a black spot into it as Omega gave a seemingly gleeful chuckle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This. Is. AWESOME!

Haha! Who needs Electro Bolt when I've basically got ranged, mobile taser in my hands! Whoo!

Of course, the small shot of electricity that this shoots forward will only be enough to stun someone, but I don't particularly care! The only downside about this is that, every time I fire, the ESU needs a small time to recharge, making it nothing more than a piece of metal attached to a glove in that short span of time. But, hey, I can live with it!

It's a shame that the Power To The People machine is disabled though... Bah, maybe we'll find more on the way. Either way, this is great!

As the ESU regained it's electrical sizzle once more, I glanced over to my charges, who currently had wide eyes pointed to the scorch mark that I had just created into the far off wall. I chuckled at this, but held myself from petting them, or the like. I was still covered in blood, after all.

So, instead, I loudly cleared my throat, quickly attracting their attention as I gestured that we should move on. Though glints of shock were still, comically, in their eyes, they nodded, quickly following my lead as we continued down the hall.

In our short walk, we came across a break area, with a few chairs and a TV spread about it, though nothing particularly interesting of it, and a Vita-chamber, which I mentally cursed out. After this though, we came upon something else.

A small maintenance area, holding a few toolboxes as workbenches here and there. Near the corner of the minuscule room, there was an automated door, a label that said 'manager's office' having been screwed into the wall above it. Walking up to it, I felt a growl of annoyance escape me as it didn't open, instead letting out a metal clunk. It was locked. Now what were we supposed to d-

"Omega," Rarity called out, my head turning to her in reaction, "perhaps this will help?" She suggested, pointing her forehoof elsewhere.

Following where she pointed, I saw there was a small opening in a glass window that separated the office, from here. And through that window, I could see a familiar, metallic box. I smirked, again desperately wanting to show Rarity my thankfulness, though instead having to settle on a grateful nod in her direction.

I reached into my bag of supples and grabbed hold of the hacking tool I had stashed there. As I did so though, a faint thought came to me. Wasn't Mill supposed to be in there? For a moment, I was worried about this, before, suddenly, a sense of self idiocy came upon me. He was probably just further down in the bag. He certainly seemed like something that could go through small spaces, so its likely that the material in my bag were no different.

Removing the hack tool, along with a single dart, from the bag, I took aim with it towards the control panel, letting out a breath as I pulled the trigger, and fired. The moment the dart stuck into the control panel, the hack tool beeped to life, already beginning to let out small sparks as it started it's procedure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a matter of seconds before the door to the manager's office was opened, the control panel's previously red light turning green as it allowed it's intruders, turned guests, entrance.

Inside of the room, there sat many file cabinets and folders, likely being comprised of the many financial and statistical files of the manager's station. A glass window gazed into the park, providing a small, narrow view of what was within, such as what looked like an animatronic, and an office scene.

Near this window, there was a large, wooden desk. This was the first thing that Omega started to dig through after getting into the room, his mindset on a single, bright yellow, and large ticket.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cabinet after cabinet, I emptied the contents of the desk onto the floor, building a pile of papers beneath my feet as I searched for a ticket. Rarity and Fluttershy were currently looking about the room as well, but more out of interest, than search. I didn't really see any fault with that though. Besides, they didn't really know what I was looking for in the first place.

Eventually, after what felt like hours, I managed to narrow my search down to a single, remaining cabinet, myself giving a gulp as I gripped it's handle, and began to pull. Please be there. Please be there. Please be there!

Giving out another breath, I slowly started to pull the cabinet open, listening and watching as I slowly gained a better view of the dark box, it's greased wheels being guiding along it's bearings as it did so... Nothing...

The cabinet was empty... Damn it all.

Giving out an exasperated sigh, I leaned myself against the desk, the paperwork beneath my feet shifting from my movement, and the desk being bumped forward... As I did so, however, I noticed something.

Far back, into the corner of the wooden cabinet, there was a small, almost impossible to notice, scrap. My brow rose as I reached my for it, my curiosity piqued as I grabbed hold of it in between my fingertips. I pulled at it with the utmost care, shifting it left and right so I would have less risk of breaking it.

Eventually, as more and more of became visible, my eyes started to widen. With one last flick of the wrist, now pulling the sheet completely off of it's held place, I put the rectangular piece of paper before me, and almost disbelievingly read it's text.

'RYAN AMUSEMENTS- ADMIT FOUR'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the collective terminals continued in their processes, activating their long abandoned procedure, a far off capsule could be seen in the corner of the room. A red light continued to flash above it as 'Anti-Protocol: WYK' continued in it's progress.

It was foggy, outside and inside, of the capsule, disallowing any sight of the inner room whatsoever... However, that did not stop the large series of cracks that started to appear in large clusters. Each of them, having been caused by impact.

Impacts... That came from within.

'-Anti-Protocol: WYK-
-Subject Echo Initiated-'

Author's Note

I have to say, I was really excited for the first of many Power to the People machines. And here it is! Now, the reason I chose to upgrade the ESU, rather than the rivet gun, was because the rivet gun was still a damn effective weapon. Upgrading it at this point wouldn't really be sensical in this regard, compared to this.

Now for chapter comments.
-The hell is Mill doing?
-The fuck is going on?

Hope you all enjoy. ^~^
There will be an inventory update next chapter!

Chapter 25: How Is This An 'Amusement' Park?

Yes! Yes, yes, FUCK yes!

Now, I know that this may sound as though I'm getting a little carried away at this point, but come on! Considering that practically little to nothing has gone according to plan since the moment we stepped foot in Lower Rapture, having found a ticket into Ryan Amusements was HUGE!

Of course, outside of my mental cheering, I had settled for a satisfied grin and a nod, not wanting to embarrass myself with such a reaction, but it was still a great miniature victory... Wow, that sounds much more underwhelming when I say it like that. Oh well, a little bit of positivity never hurt, right?

As I gave the ticket a quick once over, bits of blood that still remained splattered on my hands and clothes migrating into it to create speckles of crimson among it's faces of yellow, I turned myself to face Fluttershy and Rarity.

The two were, to my slight surprise, but appreciation, still looking about the room, despite not having known exactly what they were looking for. Nonetheless, they had still seemed to have found a few objects of use, with a couple of hacking darts and a few spare dollars by Rarity's side, while Fluttershy continued her own search with a heavy rivet container, loosely held on its side, in her maw.

Loudly clearing my throat, I gained the attention of the two, teal and ocean blue orbs pointing to me as I raised the ticket up in their view, waving it around a couple of times for emphasis. "Oh! Is that what we needed?" Rarity asked, to which I responded with a nod.

The two smiled at this, before then glancing to one another as Rarity followed Fluttershy's example, picking up the objects that she herself had found using her mouth. As they trotted towards me, I kneeled myself down to their level, holding out my hand for them to place the objects, while also keeping contact between them and I at a minimum. After all, I was still covered in splicer blood.

One after the other, the two allowed their found resources to fall into my grip, before then backing themselves slightly as I placed the objects into our bag of supplies. I did so carefully though, so as not to disturb the currently resting Mill... At least, I guessed that he was resting. He was certainly being quiet enough.

I gave the two thankful nods as I stood myself again, cramming the ticket into my pant pocket before taking a glance out the large glass window that glimpsed into Ryan Amusements. Next stop, I suppose.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mill felt very much satisfied at the moment. He had all but quenched his thirst, and no longer craved that which haunted him. He was content with simply laying where he was, and enjoying the feeling of fullness of his now stuffed, and slightly distended, stomach ... Unfortunately, he was very aware that he could not.

In his hunger, he had inadvertently left his newfound owners, and he knew very well that they would not... Appreciate his doing so. Quite the opposite in fact.

He may have been an invertebrate that lacked a brain any bigger than a pea, but he was anything but an idiot.

Rolling himself over from his back, which he had involuntary laid himself on in his relaxation, and onto his belly, he let out a literal sluggish groan.

Lazily lifting his head, the slug scanned the room for viable use, a plan already formulating in his concoctive, though foggy, mind. Soon, his black and glowing eyes spotted a high shelf, most of it's previous belongings having been tipped over, taken, or just destroyed with the passage of time.

He groaned at the knowledge that he would need to climb, his current gluttony arguing with him to stay where he was. Mill ignored this mindset, however, slithering and slicking his way over to the wall, as he then slowly began to attach himself.

Once he was certain that he was secure, his already viscous slime now having changed into a thicker and more molasses-like form, he began to make his way upwards, pacing himself during which... Until he began to hear footsteps coming towards him, resonating from the same direction that his caretakers had recently gone down.

With both the possibilities of those being his owners, and not being his owners, suddenly comings I mind, Mill rushed his progress, lowering his estimated time of arrival from a few minutes to a couple of seconds.

As several objects more fell from the shelf to the floor, letting out a few thumps and clunks as they did so, Mill laid there panting, silently cursing himself for having had that third serving... Before then telling himself it was worth it.

As three familiar shadows made themselves visible, the ADAM slug feeling relief at the thought that it wasn't some sort of random splicer, he moved himself back, lowering the visibility they may have had on him. He waited and watched as the three came around the corner, Omega and his charges sharing satisfied smiles on their faces, before they began to pass nearby him.

This was his chance. As he once again neared the edge of the shelf, using his tail to hang himself downwards, he awaited the right opportunity, Omega passing right under him. As he was just above the supply bag that his owner carried with him, he gave a quick mental prayer that this plan would not end badly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I made it a point of mine to continually check my pocket as the girls and I began to make our way out of the security area, and into the ticket booth. It was from both a combination of slight paranoia, and the obligatory law of Rapture that makes it so that nothing is simple, that I did this... So yeah, pretty understandable in that regard, isn't it?

Fluttershy and Rarity were both to my right, furthest away from the corpses of those splicers that we would soon pass. They didn't seem to even glance to my side because of this, but, I couldn't really take that personally, so I just shrugged it off. If anything, I was glad that they were trying to avoid looking at the splicers that I had so mutilated.

With every step that I took, my shoes tamped against the floor, a sense of annoyance hitting me as the soles of my shoes continually stuck to the floor, likely due to the drawing blood that coated them. So much so, in fact, that I almost didn't notice the sudden downward shift in weight that came from my bag... Almost.

As the feeling registered in my mind, I quickly turned my head around, raising a brow as I looked to the slightly opened supply bag. The top of the bag then shifted, before, lo and behold, Mill lifted his head up through the opening, giving out a small squeal as he saw me.

I guess he's done with his nap... Or whatever it was he was doing... Note to self, check if he had an 'accident' in there... Actually, do slugs even do that?

Giving a mental shrug at the thought, I rolled my eyes at the slug's antics, moving my hand to him and petting his head. As expected, he resounded positively, before then slightly lifting himself even higher from the bag. That's... When I noticed something strange.

Pursing my lips, I carefully grabbed hold of Mill, who let out a soft squeal, lifting him out of the bag and in front of me. I rose a brow as I looked him over, turning him left and right while his head rested on my arced index finger.

Did... He get bigger? It was barely noticable, really, but Mill just seemed... Plump. On top of that, the odd engraving-like marks on his skin, along with his eyes, seemed even brighter in their color... Before I could even begin to question this, however, I stumbled, quickly regaining my footing as something nearly tripped me...Huh, Deja vu.

Turning myself as Mill squirmed from my grasp and moved up to my shoulder, I rose a brow and widened my eyes as I caught sight of something... Troubling. The two corpses of those splicers from earlier were still there, but they were different. Thinner, and paler too. Along with that, the pool of red that was once around them was gone, leaving a clean metal floor.

I... I had to be seeing things, right? I mean, I've hallucinated before. What's to say that I'm not doing the same now?

"Omega?" I suddenly heard Rarity call. Shaking my head, I took a quick glance around me, a sense of confusion coming about me as I realized that the girls weren't there. Instead, I had heard Rarity's voice come from outside the ticket booth, likely near the entrance to Ryan Amusements.

How had they left without me noticing? Had I really been that distracted by this? I mentally cursed and scolded myself for leaving my charges unattended, as I then rushed out of the room, exiting the ticket area and making my way to the girls. As I did so, Mill, who hung tightly to my shoulder as he bounced slightly from my run, let out a sort of... Burp.

If I could, I would've apologized immensely to my charges for having left them alone, and so out in the open. Even though I couldn't though, Fluttershy and Rarity didn't seem too bothered by the fact that I was gone. Rather, they instead just took great joy in seeing me back. Though, Rarity flinched away as Mill made his presence known with a loud squeal.

At the moment, we were facing the entrance to Ryan Amusements. To our left, the same map that guided people through the area remained, it's singular red light informing us of where we were, which was relatively obvious. To our right was the ticket machine, it's metallic and specially cut out slot awaiting for it's paper counterpart to fill it.

Without any hesitation, I reached into my pocket once more, grabbing hold of the rough, and slightly crumpled, ticket as I then pulled it out. I grabbed both sides of the object and tugged at them, flattening the ticket out before I then inserted it into the machine.

When barely an inch of the paper was in, the machine began to whirr and click, a series of parts starting to pull at the paper in an attempt to take it from me. I did not resist to let the paper go, watching as it was pulled into the machine... Then sent back out.

My brow raising at this, I attempted again, repeating the process of straightening the paper, inserting it into the appropriate location, and waiting for it to take the ticket. Again though, it just gave it out.

My frustration beginning to grow, I repeated the process yet again... Only this time, as soon as the machine began to spit the ticket back out, I gave a growl, all but shoving it back in before it had the chance, and bending the metal slightly so as to make sure it wouldn't deny it.

The machine whirred and clicked again in response, before then going silent. For a moment, Rarity, Fluttershy, and I looked to each other in slight concern, the thought of the machine being broken, or the ticket simply not working becoming very viable to us. This thought, however, was quickly dashed away as the door before us let out a single, loud clunk, signaling that it had unlocked itself.

I gave out a quiet mental cheer as the door slid upwards, and opened itself to us, gaining us entry into the park.

Looking to my charges, who returned the attention to me as well, I gestured for them to stay close, as I then re-extended my rivet gun, removing it's safety. Mill, in response to this, moved from my shoulder into the bag again, peeking his head out once more before then just as quickly hiding it again.

Alright. Lets see what this run-down place of 'fun' has in store.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryan Amusements. To many children, this seemed to be an area of enjoyment and glee; Nothing more, nothing less. To the adults of this now destroyed city though, it was well known as to what it was truly built for. Intended to teach Andrew Ryan's philosophy to the children of Rapture, the ride and exhibits were designed to convince the visitors to fear the various 'evils' of the surface world. Ideas such as the holding back of minds, and the forcing of other citizens to work for other causes than themselves became the talk of nightmares to the many young that had come to this area. An area that, as many knew, was simply meant to corrupt, and placate.

Upon entering this play place of the subliminal, Omega and his charges were quickly met with darkness, up ahead, at the end of the corridor. To either side of them, there were two small and rectangular glass walls, which gave them limited views of another, more infamous, area of the park. Two signs reading 'Journey To The Surface' were suspended there, and the faint view of what looked like a miniature version of a narrow city made up the background.

Fluttershy and Rarity found themselves moving even closer to the still bloodied Omega, barely staying themselves from contact as the three continued into the dark corridor. As the glass was replaced by wall, and the silence seemed to grow deafening, interrupted only by their echoing footsteps, Omega grew tense, raising his guard, along with his weaponry, as they went on.

After another dozen steps though, what little light they had, generated by the open entrance to the park, was soon removed as the door behind them closed with a clunk. As soon as this happened, Fluttershy and Rarity no longer cared for the blood that smeared their guardian, stopping where they were and embracing him in their fear, looking for the comfort that his mere presence gave them.

Omega, aware of his charge's sudden reactions, froze, his rivet gun raised as he waited and listened...

"HELLO. MY NAME IS ANDREW RYAN," The three jumped slightly as an automated recording began to play over the park's speaker systems, the lights around them flickering on one at a time, and finally allowing them sight once more. Immediately after, a small spray of colored confetti was blown out from a small stand before them. On this stand, there was a wax mannequin of a woman, wearing a tight white shirt, a long red, frilly dress, and red heels. The figure was positioned to be gesturing towards a table, which, at the moment, was bare. In front of this stand, and nearest to Rarity, stood a small sign, reading 'Free Sample!', with a picture of what looked like a gene tonic container on it. "AND WELCOME TO RYAN AMUSEMENTS. PLEASE, HELP YOURSELF TO A SAMPLE OF ONE OF OUR MORE POPULAR TONICS TO DATE, AND ENJOY YOUR VISIT."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the machine finished it's recording, I felt an involuntary growl escape me, as yet another point was added to the reasons of why I hated that man. To introduce the concept of something like splicing to children... God, I wish he was still alive so I could kill him myself. Points to that Jack guy, though.

After another moment of keeping my guard up, looking around the room from my 'trapped' position, I lowered my rivet gun with a sigh, instead focusing my attention to my charges.

They were still holding onto me, their forearms circling around my upper stomach, and their heads pressed to the sides of my chest. As they dod this, I noticed some of the blood that was on me begin to rub off on them. So much for trying not to touch them.

Having decided that continuing that effort of mine would be moot at this point, I lowered my arms around the two of them, holding each of them in a comforting half-embrace of my own, my hands being placed on their shoulders.

Again, despite the fact that they were being stained in... Someone else, they continued to hold onto me, what little remnants of their shaking coming to a complete and total halt.

Nonetheless, the feeling of movement was still there, as Mill made his way out of the bag again, silently slithering up to my shoulder as I looked to him, and almost questioningly tilting his head. I looked to my charges again, and Mill seemed to suddenly understand... Heh... Yeah, right. A slug understands what I'm trying to say?

No, I think it was more that he could just tell that something was wrong. Now, where was it that I had heard that animals could do that again... The Tea Gardens in Upper Rapture, I think?

Either way, as soon as Mill caught sight of the two, he began to look at them oddly...

Making his way down my arm, Mill slithered over to one of my charges, before then beginning to nuzzle his head against them, in what I believed to be his own attempt to comfort them... The problem with this? Well, he had chosen to try and comfort Rarity.

"Mm... Thank you, Omega, that feels wonderful darling." Her eyes were closed at the moment, so she wasn't really aware of the fact that I wasn't the one petting her. Fluttershy, whose Rarity's sudden statement had drawn her attention, opened her own eyes and looked to her friend, before then looking to me.

She and I shared a silent chuckle and smile as we watched the scene, simply enjoying it for the small amount that we knew it would last.

Speaking of the time it would last, I began a mental countdown as Mill let out a soft trill, and Rarity's ear twitched at the sound.

3... Rarity's smile wavered, and for a moment, her body gave out a single shudder.

2... She seemed to start noticing the difference in 'my touch', including the slime and texture.

1... She peeked one of her eyes open, allowing herself to see what it was that was in contact with her... Annnnd 0.

Within milliseconds,--I'm not even exaggerating--Rarity's eyes widened as she let out a yell, ducking out of my grasp and gaining a fair distance of over five feet from my side.

Mill, having no longer been supported by Rarity's presence, and having been shaken by her leaving, fell to the floor with a harmless 'plop', before then raising his head again and giving it a quick shake.

And to think, it was going so well.

"Awww." Fluttershy said as she removed herself from my hold as well, before then making her way over to Mill. Likely having heard her coming, he turned his head towards her, and then began to let out another sound of contentment as she carefully picked him up, lightly touching his 'nose' with hers. God. Damn. Adorable. "He was just trying to help you feel better, Rarity." Fluttershy assured her friend, who seemed to have none of it.

"Well, do kindly tell him that I said 'no thank you'." She told us from her further away position, myself rolling my eyes with a smile as she did so.

She seemed to notice this, her face turning into one of scold as she looked to me. Another chuckle escaped me as I decided to then 'give into her commands', giving her a nod so as to say that Mill would be kept away from her... For the time being. After all, sooner or later, the two are probably going to start getting along... Probably.

"..." Her scowl shifting to a face of... Oh... Fuck...

In my distraction, I had not noticed a very... Blatant fact, which now stood before me. Rarity's side, starting from around her eye, and leading down to torso, was now caked in blood, along with both of her forearms. Fluttershy was no different, some of the crimson even having mixed into her gentle pink mane, creating a sloppy mess.

I wasn't the only one who hadn't noticed this though... And now it seemed as though Rarity was.

Turning her head and looking to her side, then her forearms, she caught a clear view of the blood that covered her once pristine and white fur, though she did not seem to say anything in response.

Fluttershy, who seemed to follow her friend's example, Mill balancing perfectly atop her head, could be heard taking in a breath as she caught sight of the large amount of blood that was on her, before releasing it in a much more forced, and stuttering form. She looked to me with almost pleading eyes.

It was at this point that Rarity finally managed to make a sound, in the form of a dry gulp. "... Omega..." She began, her voice slightly faltering. "Would... You mind if we find somewhere to clean ourselves off before we go on?"

Believe me, I'd like nothing more than that. The sooner they're clean, and no longer have to think of the fact that it's someone else's blood they're covered in, the better. I gave her a nod as I carefully took Mill from Fluttershy, placing him onto my shoulder, from which he just transferred himself to the supply bag again.

I looked to the two with worry, but they seemed to power through their current... Circumstances, taking in several deep breaths before they both looked to me to lead.

I decided not to waste anymore time, tightening my ESU glove and rivet gun clamps before gesturing for them to come with me. They wordlessly came along as we made our way past the wax figure of a woman, and turned the corner.

Shortly upon doing so, we were met with, what could only be called, the main area of Ryan Amusements.

At the moment, we were standing on the raised portion of the area, with a small staircase leading downwards to the open, clearly visible lower floor, and a pathway that leads from side to side over this floor, connecting the raised footing that we were on.

Several support columns were spread about the room, holding the weight of the intricately designed stone ceiling, with what looked like a domed glass skylight view towards the ocean above, while also providing a fitting design feature. To the intersecting wall nearest to our right, there was a metal sculpting of what looked to be a muscular man's arm, it's biceps contracting as it struggled to pull at the chain that it held. 'The Great Chain', and all of that bullshit, basically.

To the sides of the room were several displays, each of a different design and making. Unique illustrations filled these displays, and a singular button atop a voice speaker was welded to the fencing separating these displays from the audience. I did not remember that much from Lower Rapture, but I was able to faintly recall the general idea of these showings.

Supposedly, they told of 'the origins of Rapture', and the buttons would start up a voice recording that would inform it's audience of what each one meant. For instance, the one closest to us, though I would not be pushing that button anytime soon, showed an image of a suited man, whom I could easily guess to be Ryan, riding atop a large boat. The night sky was shining brightly, the moon also gazing down upon him from behind, adding a sense of dynamic as Ryan pointed towards the sea below. In other words, this was when he had decided to build the city, and where... On a side note... This is probably the closest I, along with many other people, had gotten to actually seeing the moon, or night, in a while... I digress though.

Anyways, in the room, a few points of interest were spread about, no longer including the vita-chamber that stood nearby... Seriously, screw the universe for constantly rubbing it in... Of these points, three of which were on the floor that the girls and I were on.

A blue neon sign in large text rounded above one of these points. 'Hall of the Future', it read. This was basically where people would go if they were interested in buying plasmids and gene tonics, and they'd be taught about their many uses... In other words, a living commercial, with purchase.

Another thing that caught my eye was the simple sign that read 'Gift Shop', lifted relatively high above the main door. Notice the pattern so far? How you basically had to pay to enter somewhere... Where you pay to to do anything else... Tch, welcome to Rapture.

Near the far off corner of the room, there was another indicator that pointed just around another wall. 'El Dorado Lounge'. This was basically a place that a person would go to if they wanted to drink themselves under the table, while still getting some entertainment.

In the lower floor, there was a center beam that supported the raised walkway interconnecting the left and right sides. Surrounding this beam, there were three familiar machines. One with the face of a clown, one with that of a desperado, and the other having a red cross painted over it.

Aside from that, nothing major stuck out in the room... Oh, wait, I forgot one. Did I mention the unimportant, insignificant, GIANT, FUCKING SIGN! Quite frankly, it was the biggest thing in the goddamn room! It was oversized and lit up, as most things in Rapture tended to be, with large and unmistakeable text. 'Journey To The Surface'. The door to this 'attraction' was on the lower floor with the vending machines.

Rolling my eyes at the likely overcompensating sign, I began to search my memories of the many plans I had of this place. My priority, at the moment, was doing just as Fluttershy and Rarity wanted. Washing them off.

"Hmmm... If memory serves... Sort of... There should be a couple of bathrooms inside of the gift shop." My gaze was moved to the comparably underwhelming store to the opposite side of us, my lips pursing at the thought.

Now, a public store bathroom isn't exactly a shower, or a bath, obviously, but it did have something that all the other places here didn't have. Clean water. I mean, hey, I'd personally prefer not to wash off a mess with another mess.

Giving myself a mental nod, I began to make my way along the raised pathway of the room, the sound of hoofsteps close behind me as we closed in on the store in question.

As we walked, I chanced a glimpse at my two charges. They were-... They could've been better. Outwardly, they seemed fine, if not slightly bland in the way they went on. From their eyes though, I could practically hear their screams of revulsion, and their pleas of wanting to be rid of their current covering of external color.

I quickened my pace a little.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thump after thump rang through the once popular attraction of Ryan Amusements. With them, the ground would shake, groaning under the weight of it's newly found visitor. Of the few splicers that resided in this previously closed off area in Lower Rapture, most of them would run off at the sound, shouting nonsense, and blithering like fools.

'Most', however, did not mean 'all'.

"And just where do you think you're going!?" The sound of heavy and thumping footsteps were suddenly brought to a halt, as a mist of red materialized a female houdini splicer, a small flame engulfing her hand. "You think you can just go through our turf like that? How dare you!"

Laughter and manic screams echoed around the area as more splicers began to surround their newly found target. The ceiling became riddled with spider splicers, their necks twisting as they looked downwards. The houdini was joined in her madness by two others of her kind, each wielding frozen tufts of misted air. Leadheads revealed themselves from cover, all of them cocking and aiming their firearms, while a wave of thuggish splicers, accompanied by a brute, filled in the rest of the vacant spots.

The target in question did not react to this, verbally nor physically, instead watching and waiting, with a sort of analyzing patience.

"We've killed your lot before ya tinbrain! Jus' have ta do it again!" Yelled the brute splicer, his various comrades letting out several whoops and shouts in agreement.

Another moment of stilled silence passed as the figure looked on, a familiar yellow light enveloping the room, and the various shadows of the splicers being grown and misproportioned behind them.

"Get 'im!" Barely a moment passed after another splicer yelled this that the yellow light shifted to one of a deep red. The sound of whirring and grinding could be heard as the ground once again began to shake, the war-like screams of splicers echoing through the narrow corridor area.

These screams of battle, however, were soon turned into those of agony, and death. From the shadowed figures, flashing with bullets and flame, one could make out the death of many.

One of the more brutal being the impalement of another, as he was then raised into the air, still screaming, and further mutilated, his blood spilling and soiling the far off walls as his object of impalement was switched on, spinning and grinding his innards apart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was only once I was sure that the trap rivets I had placed on the entrance of the bathroom were secure that I gave out a sigh, deciding that we would at least be safe for the moment.

Fortunately, as we had entered the gift shop, there were no visible threats of any sort. I had led the girls through the place with no issue, scanning the room with care as I did so, and my guard having constantly been up.

As we had passed the room, I spotted several objects that could actually prove useful, but had decided to leave the looting for later. There was a more important matter to deal with, after all.

Soon after having entered, the three of us quickly made our way into one of the bathrooms... Preferably the women's bathroom, in this case... Not because of any... Weird reasons, but mostly because the men's bathroom was... Ugh. I never thought I could be so disgusted, and I'd seen splicers ripped limb from limb.

Along with that, the women's bathroom was also gated off, accessible through a broken off lever, which was simple enough for me to use with a shock from my ESU. Once we had entered, I closed the gate again and spread what remaining trap rivets I had around the door, leading to the situation that we were in now.

Scratching at an itch at the back of my head, I switched the safety on my weapons back on, returning them to their placid states before I looked to my charges.

The two looked back at me with similar gazes as they had before, the blood that was on them dripping and staining the floor. "... So... How would we do this, exactly?" Rarity asked, her voice seeming a bit strained, which brought about a mental flinch from me.

Truthfully, I had already had a pretty good idea as to how to do this... Though I doubt that it was the most regular of ideas.

Without making a sound of response, I turned to one of the nearby sinks, making my way over to it before starting to fiddle with it's handles and systems. Sure enough, water started to come through it's faucet, it's clean and clear liquid splashing into the porcelain below, and going down the drain.

I placed my hand under the water flow as I continued to change it's temperature, attempting to find the right combination of warmth and cool.

"O-... Omega?" I heard Fluttershy ask as I finally found a satisfying with the temperature. Turning my head to my two charges, I gave them both reassuring smiles... Before I then grabbed both sides of the sink, and, with a great pull, ripped it out from it's place.

Upon doing so, the now unconnected water pipe began to spit out it's water wildly, the pressure behind it causing it to hit the ceiling above, before then splashing downwards onto us. Within a few seconds, the girls and I were soaked, as the temperate water slightly began to flood the room, the single drain in the middle of the floor struggling to keep it level.

As this went on, I began to rub some of the excess water out of my eyes, wiping it off as I allowed the sink in my grasp to fall to the floor with a loud thump. I'm glad that had worked... A little too well, but still.

Again turning to the girls, I noticed that their eyes were squinted slightly, likely from the sudden large scale, make-shift shower I had just created for them, as they then looked between the broken off sink and I. Their fur and manes were becoming heavy, by the looks of it, sticking closer to their bodies as the two were slowly washed off... Something about this made me feel a little odd... Eh, it was probably nothing.

The larger amounts of blood, on both them and I, was washed off of us, staining the water below us red as it began to then flow down the drain. For a moment, I felt glad, a small smile coming to my face as I looked to the two. In doing so, however, I noticed something else, my lips then pursing.

Though the excess of the blood was flowing off of them, there were still some pretty visible stains of it that had set into their fur and manes. I was no different, with only my tan blazer having been cleared of it's stains, while my previously white dress shirt, and further darkened pants, continued in their filthy states... Let alone the blood I felt below my garb... Ick.

Grabbing hold of our supply bag, I pulled it off of my back, placing it down on the wet floor so as to ease my movements. Mill, who had been hiding there, quickly made his way out upon the first drop of water that entered the bag, before then happily starting to squirm and slide around the wet floors, giving out several squeaks and high pitched cries as he did so, and bringing about a chuckle from me. ADAM slugs always did prefer being in water, so I could see why he was doing this.

Momentarily interrupting the water flow so as to completely clean off my hands, I made my way over to the girls, who, by now, had opened their eyes completely, and were now standing in a state of unsureness for what to do... I guess this was kind of awkward.

"Um... Omega? What are you doing?" Fluttershy asked as I made my way towards the two. I shrugged my shoulders as I took hold of the blazer I was wearing, pulling it off before I then nonchalantly threw it aside, followed shortly after by my horribly stained dress shirt.

Here's an odd thing though. Once I had done this, and I got a clear view of the girls again, I noticed that they had gotten red. And I'm not talking about the red from the blood stains still on them. No, a different kind of red, more similar to a tone of pink, and centralized around their faces. And it was severe, at that.

Suffice to say, I was confused by this, raising a brow as I tossed my dress shirt with my overcoat.

The two had snapped out of their earlier states, but they had now gotten into an even odder and stuttering state. "O-Omega-... Uh, w-what are you- I-I mean, uh..." Before she could go on any further, I heard Rarity let out an odd breath, before she then started to fall onto her side.

Fluttershy and I widened our eyes as we quickly caught her, sitting her back up as she had just been.

Did-... Did she just faint again?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Rarity were not expecting Omega to have done what he did, ripping out the sink from the wall and managing to create a sort of way for them to clean off. It had surprised them, but they soon welcomed the feeling shortly after.

However, they had expected even less of Omega's next action, as he removed his upper clothing, baring his bandages and built chest to them. The two were unable to find any certain reactions aside from shock, and a little bit of something else, as this happened, Fluttershy turning into a stuttering mess, and Rarity momentarily losing consciousness from the sudden unbearable heat she felt, despite the temperate water.

She was, fortunately, caught before she could hit the floor, but she was still slightly light headed, and, like Fluttershy, she was a deep shade of red from the warmth in her face.

The two's heart neared against their chest as Omega kneeled before them, looking to them in what looked like confusion. "D-darling... W-Why are you-... That is to say... Uh..." Rarity, like her friend, was unable to find the correct words-- or any, for that matter-- to use in the situation, only drawing even more confusion from their guardian.

Eventually, having decided that there wasn't really any need for this to keep on, Omega relaxed the two in the best way he knew how, reaching for and petting their heads. The red in their faces, rather than dissipate, only seemed to grow at the feeling, though they did relax and calm themselves under his touch.

Omega kept this on for a few more moments, simply enjoying their contentment, before he finally stopped, the two opening their eyes and looking to him much more calmly now.

Smiling at them, Omega carefully moved the two so that their left and right sides would be facing him, giving him a clear view of the more set in stains in their fur and manes.

After giving the two a quick once over, he set himself to work, carefully washing off these stains to the best of his ability, doing so carefully in order to keep his charges from feeling discomfort. Unbeknownst to him, however, they currently felt the exact opposite of discomfort, practically cooing under his touch as he began to carefully return their coats to their original colors.

His bandages began to feel heavy as well, filling with water, but he did not mind, the feeling of the warm water on his skin easing his mind. "That reminds me... This is the first time I've cleaned myself in a while, isn't it?" He absentmindedly thought, a slight sense of self disgust coming to him before just as quickly passing.

This went on for a few minutes, Rarity and Fluttershy gladly allowing their guardian to clean of their fur, enjoying every moment of his contact as his fingers creased through their fur and mane, and Mill simply having a miniature swim.

As the last of the red color went down the drain, now leaving Fluttershy and Rarity clean, Omega gave a smile at his work, a mental nod of satisfaction forming itself in his head as he then pulled away from the two.

They both seemed to notice his absence almost immediately, their eyes, which they had unconsciously closed in their distraction, slowly opening as they looked towards Omega, then each other. "W-wow... Thank you, Omega." Fluttershy said, nervously shuffling her hooves below her as she met his gaze.

"Yes. I dare say, that was almost... Spa quality treatment!" Rarity added. Omega, though he was not precisely sure of what a 'spa' was, gave the two a nod, as he then stood himself up and made for his clothing. After all, he had found himself to be clean enough, the sticky feeling from the blood having gone away by now. Before he could, however, he was stopped as Rarity blocked his path.

"What are you doing?" She asked, looking to him with a raised brow. In response, the former big daddy just gestured towards his clothing, indicating that he was trying to get dressed. Rarity, though, seem to have none of it. "Surely you're joking?" This caused Omega to raise a brow of his own, which, when noticed by Rarity, caused her to let out a sigh. "Now, dear, you can't dress yourself just yet."

"I can't?" Omega asked himself.

"After all, you're still positively filthy." Glancing down at himself, Omega was unable to see what she had meant. Granted, he knew that it had been quite some time since he had cleaned himself, but he didn't think that he was necessarily that bad. "And aside from that still, Fluttershy and I do owe you for having helped us."

"Oh, um, yes! S-she's right!" Fluttershy suddenly added, agreeing with Rarity's statement as she then made her way next to her.

Looking to the two, Omega was unsure of how to answer, finding a slight sense of awkwardness to the situation. Before he could make to groan some sort of answer though, he was interrupted by a nearby voice.

"Who's there? Don't you hide from m-" The splicer's spiel was stopped short as the sound of several triggering trap rivets filled the room, followed shortly by the splash and thump of his body as it hit the floor.

Fluttershy and Rarity grew silent, flinching as they heard the body fall to the floor and quickly realized what had occurred. During this distraction of theirs, Omega had given out a sigh, rolling his eyes at the foolish splicer's actions as he walked around the two, picking up, wringing out, and beginning put on his clothing.

Though there were no immediate objects that the girls, or Omega, could use to dry themselves, they managed to make due, before they then went back into the gift shop of the area.

This time, they began to search the room, Omega constantly glancing back and forth between the door and his musings as he did so, his weapons ready to fire at any time.

In their search, the three had, together, been able to find several spare dollars, as taken from the strewn about cash registers of the store, and a few other supplies, including a bottle of pop-up cola,--Rapture brand soda-- and one of Arcadia Merlot--Rapture brand wine.

Omega had placed these two drinks in his supply bag, hearing Mill shift around them as he placed them in, with the idea that they could be used for another occasion. Besides, he was curious as to how they would taste, and what exactly some people from before had found in these drinks.

Another interesting thing that they, or rather, Fluttershy, had found, was a sort of machine. It stood on a small podium, with metal bent and painted to look like curtains, and a mechanical man's head and hands, all as he looked over a glass orb. There was a small slot with writing that read '$1' to it's side, and above the machine, a larger sign read 'EDSTEIN THE SWAMI: FORTUNES'.

Curious, Fluttershy called over her two friends, both in an effort to show what she had found, and to ask as to what exactly it was. While Rarity was, of course, unsure as to it's belonging, Omega was, and gave out a groan as he recalled it.

Omega that these machines, so-called fortune tellers, were money traps for the people of this city. You would put in a dollar, get a bogus 'prediction', and be on your way.

This was exactly what Omega had told them through the use of his whiteboard, but this only seemed to spur the two's curiosity, as they then asked for a demonstration. At first, Omega refused, claiming that it wouldn't be worth it whatsoever. Once the two had began to look at him with their usual brand of cuteness though, adding in a childlike and even more adorable 'please', his resolve fell like a house of cards.

Rolling his eyes, Omega reached into his bag yet again, attempting to grab for one of his spare bills. As he did so, he felt something tug back against him. He momentarily raised a brow at this, pulling the rest of the bill out, despite the resistance, and in front of him.

As it had turned out, Mill had apparently decided to teethe on this bill, despite his lack of teeth, ending up hanging from the other end of the dollar in front of Omega, squirming slightly in his attempts to win the tug of war.

Omega chuckled, Fluttershy smiled, and Rarity shuddered at the slug's actions, as Omega then grabbed hold of Mill using his other hand, pulling him off of the bill with relative ease before placing him atop his shoulder and giving him a pat on the head.

With that matter resolved, Omega, reluctantly, placed the dollar in the slot, and awaited, with his charges, what he knew would end up being useless or incorrect information. Within an instant, the machine turned on, sounding out a musical strum of what Omega guessed to be a guitar, and the mechanical fortune teller's eyes shining yellow.

"Hmmmm... I don't think so." The familiar strum of a guitar, though this time at a lower note, and the darkening of the teller's eyes signified that it had shut down. That was supposedly their prediction.

A moment of awkward silence passed the three, four if one would count Mill, as they looked to the machine with an odd combination of surprise, and confusion, before, eventually, Rarity turned to Fluttershy; Fluttershy did the same as she turned to Rarity.

"Well... That was..." Rarity began, momentarily pausing as she seemed to search her mind for the appropriate words. "... Disheartening..." She and Fluttershy continued to look to one another for another moment or two, Omega looking down at them as they did so, before, finally, Fluttershy began to giggle.

This giggle became infectious, as, with a smile, Rarity soon followed along. Within moments, the two were laughing, loudly expressing their amusement from the event. Omega, who could do nothing else but to chuckle, watched on with a smile on his face, happy to see that the two were well out of their previous states.

Once the two calmed themselves, their laughter dying down to lingering snickers, they both looked to Omega, the three sharing a smile as Rarity spoke up once more. "Perhaps, we should just let you decide on what we should and shouldn't buy." Another round of chuckles escaped the three as they silently agreed with this statement, before they then began to make their way out of the store, having cleared it out of all the possible items of use they could find.

Omega, once again, took lead as they entered the central area of Ryan, his rivet gun raising as he momentarily scanned the room. Only once he was certain that there were no visible threats, did Omega signal for his charges to follow.

Upon walking into the main area, Omega immediately set himself to thinking, his eyes looking to the three remaining areas as he wondered where they should be heading to next.

These thought of his, however, were cut short as he heard the cocking of a gun some distance behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The moment that sound reached me, I quickly turned myself around a full 180 degrees, my eyes narrowed as I aimed my rivet gun forward, and my charges hid behind me... Only to raise a brow in confusion.

In front of me, there wasn't any sort of leadhead splicer, or any splicer for that matter. Instead, there was simply the empty pathway. An emptiness that, to my and my charges surprise, was filled as the sound of gunfire filled the air, followed by a scream of pain.

From what seemed like out of nowhere, the body of a spider splicer fell from above, Fluttershy and Rarity hiding themselves from the sight as the currently burning and bullet-riddled splicer landed... Wait... Fire... And bullets? Where have I seen that before?

As it had turned out, I shouldn't have said that, as the universe decided to answer for once, in the form of several repeating beeps, and the familiar, but faint, whirring of rotors.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me...

I let out an annoyed groan as, sure enough, I saw the very much recognizable security bot, Winston, make himself visible to us, before then propelling himself in our direction.

Stopping just in front of us, he blinked his lights and gave out several beeps in rapid succession, while I spent the moment wondering how the FUCK he had gotten here! Seriously though, was there some other maintenance tunnel around here, or do security bots just get special treatment in that regard!?!

"O-oh! Hello Winston." Fluttershy greeted, as both she and Rarity moved out from behind me, the two looking to Winston as he continued in his seemingly random act.

Winston, in turn, aimed his lights towards the two, lowering himself and giving out another few beeps before returning to me.

Alongside that, as if aware of the fact that something was occurring, Mill wriggled his way out of the bag again, climbing atop my head and lifting his own as he looked to the new being. Winston looked back in, surprisingly, silence, as the two seemed to observe each other. As Mill tilted his head, Winston did the same, though with much more difficulty, and when Mill gave out a cry, Winston let out a beep.

The odd thing? After a while of this, I wasn't sure who was imitating who. And I started to get a little annoyed. So, clearing my throat, I gained the two's attention, crossing my arms as I looked to Winston and groaned out a question of what he wanted.

His headlights stayed on me for a moment, before, giving a single blink, he began to spin in the air, giving out several beeps as he then flew around me, Mill, Fluttershy, Rarity, and I watching as he went to the far off corner of the room, next to the El Dorado Lounge sign.

Well... I guess now we know where to go next... By following Winston... Is it too late to pretend I never saw him?

The doors to the lounge slid open as the four of us, five counting Mill, came before it, triggering it's sensors. Winston, being the one that had taken us here in the first place, was naturally the one to lead. His whirring rotors echoed through the room as he hovered himself inside, moving on ahead before turning a corner and exiting our sight. I really didn't want to follow him. Not because I didn't trust him, partially, but because I just personally didn't like him.

Either way I saw it though, he, unfortunately, was the only sort of lead that we had. So, taking in and releasing a breath, I made my way shortly after him, Fluttershy and Rarity following closely behind.

As we entered the lounge, I quickly found my eyes wandering around the room, both scanning it for any splicers, and simply looking over our surroundings. To our left, and following along the walls, there were several booths, with semicircular tables and cushioned seats built in, a glass half-done built in over each one, allowing the light of the city to flow in through the ocean. To our right, there was, what I could only describe as, a bar, several stools strewn about it, though some were knocked over, and a few glass alcohol bottles in the bartender's area.

The wood plank floors below us creaked, and the flickering lights above us clicked as we went on, moving around a collapsed part of the floor as we then began to follow after Winston, myself still disagreeing with this idea.

Upon circling the corner, we quickly caught sight of, what used to be, the entertainment area of the lounge. In the center of the room, there was a shallow, square pool of water; In the middle of this, there was an odd statue of two women, mirroring one another's movements in a sort of dance.

A small stage at the end of the room accented it's purpose, two broken down headlights pointing to where it's next act would stand to perform, along with a microphone stand leaning against the wall.

The room also had a small spill of oil on the ground, with a familiar looking red barrel positioned right next to it. In other words, a viable disaster waiting to happen. The girls and I, of course, sidestepped this with care, as we continued on, through the room.

Winston, however, was not here. Instead, I could hear him further still, around an even farther off corner. Figures that the impatient gas guzzler couldn't be bothered to wait for us.

Giving out a mental groan, I glanced to the girls, making sure that they were doing okay, before walking onwards, turning another corner.

This time, I was able to see the headlights of the programmed annoyance, as another series of his irritating beeps echoed down the hall. I let out a groan in response, telling him that I was on my way as I continued to drag myself towards him.

A part of my mind, and a rather large one at that, was already beginning to come with ideas as to what to do to him if this turned out to be a waste of time. Ripping out his gyroscope was still a very viable option, of course, but now I was starting to think that was too good for him.

... At least, until I, and the girls, reached him. The moment we had stood in front of him, Winston to spin and beep again, the feeling of an oncoming headache becoming very clear to me as he went on.

Before I could groan for him to shut up though, he suddenly stopped, his headlights flickering a couple of times before, with one last beep, he flew upwards, into a hole in the ceiling. Raising a brow, I looked to Fluttershy and Rarity, who both gave me shrugs, before I then returned my gaze to the hole he had just gone through, wondering what the hell he was up to.

From where we stood, we could hear Winston as his rotors spun in the narrow space, the occasional sound of shuffling debris and thumping metal accompanying it.

After a few minutes of waiting though, something came through the hole, falling downwards towards the floor, where it then clanked and rolled in it's place.

Curious, I grabbed for the glass object using my Telekineses plasmid, barely noticing as Winston came back out through the hole and gave our a short series of beeps.

As the object came inches from touching my hand, I grabbed hold of it with my other, giving myself a quick once of it.

I was quick to realize what it was, and, upon cleaning some of the day that was layered on it, it's contents.

My eyes widened as I realized this to hypo, containing a red, glowing liquid. A plasmid.

Holy... Crap Winston just got me something useful... Huh... I feel kind of guilty now... Annnnnd it's passed.

Yeah, still don't like him that much.

Tightening my grip on the hypo, I looked up to Winston, who, in response, began to fly around me, acting some sort of annoying mosquito. Like I said, still don't like him that much. In fact, Im still very tempted to-

"Omega?" As Fluttershy's voice rang through, I quickly found my thoughts of annoyance being washed away, as I turned to face her and Rarity. The two were looking to me with raised brows, likely wondering as to what the object was.

Without a second thought, I showed the two the hypo, allowing them to get a clear view of it.

Quickly after they did though, they both let out two visible flinches. By now, they knew enough about ADAM and it's workings to recognize what this was... And what it had meant.

"Darling... Are you going to... You know..." Rarity made some extremely vague motions with her forehoof, but I knew perfectly well what she had meant.

Looking from them, to the needle of the hypo, I took in and let out a breath. I wasn't really a fan of doing this... But any advantage helps, at this point.

Again tightening my grip on the needle, I steeled my nerves as I raised my right arm slightly, my wrist bent and exposed upwards. The needle in my hands seemed to guide itself as I rose it upwards, moving it so it was directly above my right arm.

Fluttershy and Rarity, seeming to both realize my ungiven answer, both closed their eyes shut, their ears folding against their heads as they awaited the inevitable to pass.

Finally, as Winston watched, silent, aside from the whirring of his rotors, and Mill shifted slightly in my bag, I gulped down an excess of saliva that had built up in my maw, before, with one last grunt, I slammed the needle downwards.

The quick jolt of pain registered even faster than last time, as I then began to push on the plunger, the cold, yet somehow burning, liquid of weaponized ADAM surging through my veins. As the last drop exited the needle, and entered my bloodstream, I yanked out the hypo with another grunt, tossing it aside in my slightly pained irritance.

My heart began to beat faster for a moment, and my arm shook, it's veins glowing once more as a new piece of genetic information was written in. Just as soon as these unpleasantries had begun though, they soon stopped, leaving only a faint, though quickly fading, glow up my arm.

It was only natural-- As natural as rewriting your genetic code could be, that is-- that the addition of another plasmid into one's system would be much less painful after the first. That did not stop the discomfort that one would feel though.

I panted slightly as a gleam of blood came from my wrist, dripping around my arm and down to the floor. The faint sound that it made caused Rarity and Fluttershy's ears to twitch, as the two then opened their eyes; They began by peeking open one, shortly followed by the other.

Their eyes quickly shifted from me, to my wrist, to the drop of blood on the floor as they both grimaced, looking to me in shared concern. "A-are you okay?" Fluttershy asked.

Looking to her, my breath still heavy, I managed a small smile, giving the two a nod as I then closed and opened my hand a few times, trying to get used to the feeling.

Once that was done, I stood myself up straight, having unknowingly arched my back forward during the process, and looked over my arm, taking notice to the slightly increased glow that now resonated from them.

Alright... So, I've still got Telekineses on at the moment... Now, let's see what this other plasmid is.

Narrowing my eyes as I began to focus, I flexed my fingers once, twice, as I wriggled my wrist slightly. Then, with a sudden twist of it to my side, the familiar sense of mental control that accompanied the Telekinesis plasmid was replaced, by one of instinct.

A blue orb formed into my hand from seemingly out of nowhere, myself gripping onto it as it appeared. The orb was odd in its shape, with several craters and protrusions coming from it. It glowed a bright blue, and what seemed like several small, and similarly glowing, insects flew around it, barely discernible from the orb itself. Along with this, the ball, surprisingly, seemed to have no weight to it whatsoever, and, despite it's shape and texture, it felt relatively smooth.

Glancing to the girls, I saw that the two were looking to the orb in what seemed like wonder, their eyes plastered to the odd sight. "W-... What is it?" Fluttershy asked.

Smiling at her curiosity, I began to hold the orb up to the two, in order for them to get a closer look. Before I could though, Winston stopped me, flying right in between me and the girls.

I gave out an annoyed growl as he did this, pulling back the plasmid as I made to groan at him to back off... Oddly enough though, he followed the ball. Raising a brow at this, I now noticed that his headlights were a different color, sharing a similar blue to that of the ball.

... Maybe...?

Raising the ball up higher, Winston followed, and lower, he did the same. I moved it in every sort of direction I could, but, no matter what, Winston would follow. It was as if he was under my... Command... God damnit I'm an idiot.

Giving out a self pitying chuckle, I realized that this was a security command plasmid. Not a bad find, actually.

Security command was, in essence, a ball of nanobots that a person would throw at another being or object. Once this was done, the nanobots would temporarily swarm that area, releasing a series of high frequency signals as they did so.

With these signals, security machinery, such as cameras, turrets, and especially security bots, would lock onto these targets, and immediately follow the orders of whatever the bots would be programmed to do. For instance, if, say, I threw one of these towards a splicer who was nearby a turret, I could give the mental command to attack, and the nanobots would give out a signal to have the turret to do just that.

It was a handy, if not often underrated, plasmid if I did say so myself. Especially in it's upgraded forms... In fact...

Deciding to test out a small theory of mine, I began to put force onto the blue sphere, Winston still watching in his entranced state as I did so. Soon enough, the ball collapsed under the force, all but evaporating in my grip. From this, however, several nanobots flew outwards, a faint hum filling the air as they released their signal.

Within moments, the sound of beeping joined in, as, from around the corner that the girls, Winston, and I had just come, a security bot made itself visible, the spinning of it's rotor joining with that of Winston as it arrived before us.

I grinned as flexed my hand once more, looking to our newly obtained, though with little effort, member of the team... I'd call it Garrett.

As Winston snapped out of his earlier daze, the security command orb having yet to be summoned by me again, he looked to the other security bot, then to me, before he gave himself a quick spin in the air. It was as if he was celebrating, or something like that... Well... I guess I do have to give this to him. After all, it's the first time he's gotten me something that didn't come with a ca-

Suddenly, the floor began to tremble slightly, as a series of muffled thumps echoed into the room. Seems as though I thought too soon... As usual.

Turning my head to face the corridor we had just come from, I glanced over to my charges, gesturing for them to get behind me as I readied my weapons again. They did so without question, as I then heard both Winston, and Garrett, cock their own built in machine guns.

Knowing that, at the moment, we were in a pretty bad place for combat, being in a narrow hall and all that, I moved for the girls, and bots, to follow me as I made my way back to the lounge.

Once I had done that, the floor continuing to shake with every thump that flooded the air, I made my way over to the bar area, having both Fluttershy and Rarity stay where they were behind the large wooden countertop. They nodded, as I then told Winston to watch over them, myself taking Garrett as he and I took aim at the door, myself switching out my plasmid for Telekinesis 3, as would be more useful in the situation.

The thumps grew louder and louder, as what I presumed to be another brute splicer began to head towards us, myself then switching out my regular rivets for heavy ones, despite only having a few.

Even if it wasn't a regular brute splicer though, I was more than ready for whatever would come through that door... Until it actually came.

The moment the door opened, my finger was already on the trigger, and had half squeezed it to fire. I was stopped short though, as a familiar, yellow light flooded the room. My eyes widened as I quickly realized what was before me, and, off to the side, I could hear Rarity and Fluttershy gasp.

Clad in a very distinct heavy diving suit, the entire torso of the figure was covered by a thick metal carapace. It's head protruded directly forwards from its upper chest area, and was encased in a hemispherical helmet, studded with eight lit portholes. On one of it's hands, a heavy, though familiar, thick rubber glove was easily visible, attaching to the rest of it's armor. On the other, there was fully-functional conical drill, placed just a little forward of it's elbow.

I... Was unable to react... Here before me, despite what I had long thought to have been impossible, was the impossible.

A member of the Protector project. The original class. Model: Bouncer.

Author's Note

'Command the security system! Charge up, to summon a friendly bot anytime!'

Well, here you are. A new being, a new ability, and a little bit of something else. ;)

Plus, Winston's back! (You didn't think I'd leave him in the sidelines for too long, did you?)

All together, I have to say that Im pretty satisfied with this chapter. Took a few days, and a lot of self corrwcting, but still worth it. Hope you enjoy, and I'll see you soon. :)

Inventory:
-Rivet Gun (12)

Heavy Rivets (9)
-Remote Hack Tool (4)
Auto Hack Dart (1)
-ESU*
-EVE Hypo (5)
-First Aid Kits (2)
-Money (61)
Plasmids:
}Telekinesis 3
}Security Command 2

*ESU Upgraded: Three supercharged electromagnetic conductors focus the device's charge to fire through a mid-range outwards jolt. CAUTION: Recharge required after use.

Chapter 26: Everyone Is Against Everyone Down Here... Even Your Own.

Disbelief was, at the moment, a close and personal friend of mine, as the Bouncer big daddy and I just... Looked to one another.

How... How was it possible? I thought for sure that all the big daddies, aside from myself, had been wiped out years ago. Even if one had survived the initial uprising, it couldn't have possibly done so for this long, in Lower Rapture of all places... It just didn't add up...

Still, I can't say I'm not glad to see this. Another tortured soul trapped inside of a metal shell, having been forced and obligated to protect the twisted products of humanity. Even if it was a Bouncer, which, believe it or not, were pretty much the rivals of Rosies such as myself.

I wasn't particularly sure of the reason, so much as I had a guess. Two of the original big daddies constantly competing with one another for the limited territory, and supply of little sisters. Yeah, it had built up a sort of inbred sense of competitiveness and annoyance for whenever we would see one another. Even for the second generation big daddies.

In fact, this rivalry would often lead to conflict, and, from this, we had pretty much learned that these big daddies were formidable opponents, just as they did us.

Classed as the first breed of the protector project, Bouncers were made to be much stronger than its latter brothers... In some regards, that is. It was created, is created, with the strongest and thickest armor of all the other protectors. Alongside this, it, despite it's lack of ranged weaponry, was more than able to take out several opponents with ease. They were much more agile than they appeared, and, in the cases that this would not be enough, they were created with a special, highly vibration conducting metal alloy. This is where they get their names, as, with even the slightest of heavy stomps, a Bouncer can knock down an entire room of splicers, and so on. Rosies, and many of the later big daddies, were less than able to do so, their ground trembling slams needing much more force behind them, and even then still proving inferior. This, was the Bouncer.

... Speaking of which, he seemed a little... Off, for one. Overall, his general appearance was what was to he expected from a Bouncer class big daddy. Some details, however, were different. For instance, his armor was, rather than it's usual brown metallic self, a dark yet vibrant red– The carapace for his helmet was smaller, and pushed slightly higher up onto his body. Another thing of interest was that, on his signature drill, seemed to be what looked like a symbol. The word 'Epsilon' popped into my head at this. It reminded me of the symbol I had on my rivet gun, meaning Omega. Finally, most Bouncers are only supposed to have one protruding canister on their backs, used to recycle the air inflow, and allow most other of it's body's processes. This one had two. This second metal canister, which was placed square onto his adjacent shoulder blade, had several small rubber tubes coming out of it, connecting itself into the Bouncer's drill – And even that seemed modified, besides the Epsilon inscription, being made of a stronger and more layered series of metals almost entirely up his arm.

This drew a questioning gaze from me, but I pushed it aside with a shake of my head. I mean... Another big daddy... I was still pretty much stuck on that, let alone everything else.

For another moment or two, there was silence, partially filled by the sound of Winston and Garret's rotors as they hovered in place. The green of the two security bots' headlights merged with the yellow of the Bouncer's portholes, the faded, dying white of the ceiling lights above us, and that of the city that surrounded us from beneath the water's depths.

Neither of us moved, nor made to, as we seemingly scanned one another from our individual positions. He seemed more like a statue, though, as he did this, not even moving by the smallest of centimeters.

For a moment, my eyes narrowed, searching for any visible threat he may pose... But then I instantly felt like an idiot. Big daddies, as built into their programming, were made to only be a threat when they are threatened in return. Or when their little sisters are endangered.

Glancing to my own charges and back, I slowly, hesitantly, lowered my weapon. Still, there was no signs of hostility, and at this point, even Garret seemed to lower his guard.

Cocking my head slightly to the side, I raised a brow as I made yet another quick scan of the big daddy. Expecting some sort of answer, considering big daddies could actually understand one another fairly easily, I gave out a groan.

'Hello.'

Simple? Yes. Short? Most definitely. But, hey, I wasn't really sure what else to say at the moment. I was still relatively frozen in shock.

The Bouncer, however, didn't answer in any way at all. The silent type, maybe? It was a little ironic, considering most big daddies were made to be relatively silent, but, its not like I haven't met those kinds of protectors before.

Turning my head to Fluttershy and Rarity, who were still partially hidden behind the lounge's bar counter, I noted that their maws were still wide open, from what I guessed to be surprise. Even Mill, who I could feel shifting around in my bag, seemed to have suddenly become excited. I chuckled at this, taking a step towards the two, the idea of trying to calm them already clear in my mind.

As I did so though, there was, what felt like, a larger, heavier echo of my footstep. Again raising my brow, this time at the sound, I partially pursed my lips as I turned towards the source.

The Bouncer had, oddly enough, seemed to have taken a step to the side, just as I had. Aside from that though, it didn't look as though he had moved in any other way.

Curious, I took another step, which was again echoed by the big daddy... What the fuck?

Both out of confusion, and slight irritance, I let out another groan, trying again to get a response from him.

'Hello?' I repeated, this time in question. Just like he had done previously though, he stayed absolutely silent.

Scratching an itch at the back of my head, I once again looked to Fluttershy and Rarity. Their looks of surprise had turned to those of similar questioning and confusion as mine, which I had quickly found as they met gazes with me. Gesturing towards the Bouncer with a raised brow, I was met with an unsure shrug from Rarity, and a wordless open of Fluttershy's maw, as she seemingly struggled to make a possible explanation.

I crossed my arms as I looked to the two, and then to Winston, who seemed... Actually... He was quiet as well? That's... not normal...

The girls, glancing to one another for a short moment, looked back at me, before then gesturing for me to go on... Go on? Did they mean, like, talking to the Bouncer? That hadn't exactly proven to bring forth any results so far. Oh well... Anythings worth a shot, I guess.

Giving a quick exhale through my nostrils, I once more looked to the living statue of a protector, giving out another, louder, series of groans.

'Are you... Going to say, or do... Anything?'

Nothing.

'How'd you make it through the splicer uprising?'

Nothing.

'... Was this your assigned area?'

And more nothing. This was getting ridiculous.

Understandably, Bouncers were the more focused of the bunch. Their mindsets were, usually, almost completely replaced by their programmed intellegence and objectives. That, however, didn't mean that they would be completely blank. I remember having conversation with a few some years ago, when they were still, despite it's emotionless disposition, so, what made this one so different then?

Rolling my eyes at the possibility of having met a malfunctioning big daddy, of all the possible protecters to prove their existence, I crossed my arms, glancing to Garret skeptically. His headlights aimed towards me in what seemed like a similar gaze as I tried to think of some way to better approach this situation.

Before I could though, I finally heard a groan in response, deeper and more guttural than mine. What it had said though, left me confused.

'Execute... Protocol.'

"Ah! Look out!" I heard Rarity yell, as a loud stomp filled the room, followed by the grinding of metal, and the whirring of a drill.

Turning back to the big daddy, now with wide eyes, I was barely able to react as the Bouncer charged at me at incredible speeds, his drill spinning and moved before him. Even more shocking though, was that, by the time that I had looked, he was already in front of me, his drill no less than a couple of short inches from my face.

Instinct took over as I leaned and sidestepped around the bull of a protector's drill, time seeming to slow as it caught with the bandages that were still wrapped around my head, barely missing me as it shredded the covering as if it were paper.

Having leaned too far to the side in my avoidance though, and the sheer force of the air that circled around the surprisingly fast 'protector' pushing against me, I fell sloppily to the floor, giving a short grunt as the side of my ribs were pushed inwards for a moment, winding me.

The Bouncer, having narrowly missed me, continued in his charge until, finally, he was stopped upon his impact of the lounge stage, all but causing it to collapse around him as his drill was embedded into the wall.

Faintly hearing the panicked calls of my charges, I picked myself up from the ground in a rush, my heart beating in my ears from the near death encounter as I called out to the Bouncer one last time, my eyes narrowing, and my plasmids returning.

'What are you doing?!?' I groaned loudly, and angrily.

For a moment, the Bouncer held in it's ministrations, it's drill still entrapped in the wall as it slowly turned it's head and helmet towards me. It was only now that I saw the familiar crimson glow resonating from it, and I quickly realized that there was no arguing with him.

I, of all people, should know... Once a big daddy has been angered to this point, no matter the reason... It's a frenzy.

And with that, he reared his head back, the air thickening with tension, and then just as quickly, filling with a loud, ground trembling metal roar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was no doubt in Omega's, Fluttershy's, or Rarity's minds anymore. This big daddy, of which they had actually been relatively glad to see alive, was no more than a large threat to them, adding to Rapture's torment.

Omega's teeth ground at this as he raised his rivet gun towards the trapped lumbering being, the thought of having to kill one of his own out of nothing grating against him like a razor would a rusty piece of metal.

"No... Not one of my own... Not anymore." A small part of his mind argued, as the security bot next to him, Garret, once again readied his weaponry. To him, this Bouncer must have been having a major malfunction in it's programming, or, worse yet, it had lost what little humanity it had left to call itself a protector. Before long, Garret opened fire.

As had happened on the previous occasion that a security bot went against a being with such armor, back in Atlantic Express, these bullets did next to nothing as the Bouncer reactionlessly pulled out his still-spinning drill from the wall with a heave, taking down a large portion of the wall and it's debris with him.

It was at this point that Omega gave out a roar of his own to rival the Bouncer's, opening fire upon his protector class rival as he dug his way through his surrounding debris. As these rivets and bullets flew across the room, ricocheting off of, or embedding themselves into, the armor of the Bouncer, Winston began to move about.

Moving himself in front of the girls, and thus blocking their views, he began to slowly usher them out, backing them up little by little towards his intended direction. This was, of course, met negatively by the two.

"What are you doing?!" Rarity exclaimed indignantly, drawing Omega's attention, though he did not let up on his fire. "We are not going anywhere!"

To her, the idea of leaving their friend, even if they wouldn't be useful in such a situation whatsoever, seemed absolutely awful. Especially when she, and Fluttershy, had promised each other to stay close and help Omega in any way possible. Winston was slightly backed himself as Fluttershy, much to the surprise of Omega, glared at him, taking an authoritative step forward.

Before Winston could give up in his attempts to move the two somewhere safer though, he was quickly stopped from doing so as further support was added his way from another source. Omega.

Having momentarily taken his attention off of the Bouncer as he removed the empty rivet container from his weapon, before then, to his silent thankfulness, being handed a new one by a waiting Mill, he turned to his charges, groaning and moving for them to leave as Winston was instructing them. The two raised their brows at this, in both confusion and surprise.

"W-what? But, O-Omega, we can't just-" Omega interrupted his winged charge before she could finish, yet again repeating his previous gestures and groans for them to get somewhere safe, this time more aggressively.

He didn't like the concept of leaving them himself, but he felt that, at the moment, it was the better thing he could do. This wasn't just some splicer, after all. This was a rouge and rampaging big daddy! Outside of, possibly, the berserker splicer from before, this was the only real threat that would even remotely require such an action! Especially since, as far as Omega knew, this Bouncer was completely alien in comparison to the rest.

That charge from before had proven it. No big daddy, no matter it's size, should have been able to move so fast! This Bouncer was changed in more than just it's overall appearance, but it's combat traits as well! Who knew what else it had in store.

And besides, even if they weren't being watched by him, they would still have Winston with them.

"... That doesn't really help me feel any better."

Being brought to silence by their guardian's assertive command, the two shared gazes with the man, before, with reluctant nods, they began to make their way out of the room, Winston following shortly behind them.

Tightening the new clip of rivets into it's place in his weapon, Omega gave a silent nod as the door to the room closed shortly after the leaving of his charges, assuring their momentary safety, if only from this threat.

The sound of shifting debris quickly drew his attention, as he once again turned towards his and Garret's current target, who was now through the wall of debris that once surrounded him. As he raised the barrel of his rivet gun yet again, taking aim at the corrupted behemoth, a growl reverberated through the room.

With little to no warning, the Bouncer lifted his leg up high, Omega's eyes widening as he quickly realized what was about to happen. Before he could fire though, there was a deafening slam, followed by the roar of the Bouncer, as the room began to shake uncontrollably.

The tremors being much more intensified and powerful than any that Omega had ever brought about, he stumbled into a kneeling position, no longer able to take aim as he struggled to gain even a moment of struggle-filled balance.

Looking towards Garret, who he expected to have been continuing his fire, he was shocked to see that the machine seemed to be... Short circuiting.

It's headlights were flickering repeatedly, with a small spark occasionally showing itself from the bot's side, and it's altogether flight was suddenly made unsteady.

"H-... How...!?"

Despite the unanswered question in his mind, teeming with shock and bewilderment, Omega shook his head left and right,–Not unlike the rest of his body–focusing his vision ahead of him again. It seemed even that was shaking as well though, as he was provided with a blurred and strenuous picture of what was actually before him.

His eyes narrowed as he was barely able to make out the porthole lights of the Bouncer among the other melded imagery, all of them glaring and seeming to leave a small trail of light as they moved about without control.

Within moments, there was another roar of ferocity as the lights grew in their intensity and focus. Omega quickly realized what this meant as he moved both of his arms towards the floor and pushed himself off to the side.

He could make out the sound of the Bouncer's charging as it passed right by him, grinding to a halt somewhere nearby, rather than crashing into another wall, as it then turned to face him.

Omega momentarily was stuck on his back, feeling akin to a turtle that could not flip off it's shell, as the ground below continued to refuse it's inherent provision of balance or footing. He stayed like the for some time, his hands braced against the timber floor as he struggled to inhibit his, almost-siezuring, mind and body.

Thankfully, this wish of his was granted as the vibrations began to calm, his eyes finally regaining of the world around him, just in time to catch sight of the drill plunging towards him.

Not even being able to catch his breath, Omega quickly rolled to the side, making yet another narrow dodge of his opponents strike–For the most part.

The wooden floor below him, and the Bouncer, groaned and collapsed into the shallow water below, the small drop of a few inches surprising him more than the attack itself had.

Nonetheless, despite his daze, Omega quickly retaliated as the Bouncer lifted his drill yet again.

Planting his legs against the big daddy's chest, he gave a powerful push against the former protector, shoving him backwards by a fair distance, and allowing himself the time to stand up.

His legs shook slightly, seemingly in aftershock from the previous tremors, as water dripped off of his now standing figure, much like it did the Bouncer, and he fired off even more rivets. Like last time, they again began to embed themselves into the weaker parts of the Bouncer's armor, causing blood and pressurized air to begin leaking from it's suit. Along with this, the security bot, who had recently regained control of his systems, took aim at these now vulnerable areas of the armored attacker.

With these sudden bouts of pain surging through his body, the Bouncer let out an infuriated roar. Lifting his leg again as he sought to end this fight, Omega quickly reacted, outstretching his arm out to his side and grabbing hold of a random object with his Telekinesis plasmid.

He launched it towards the big daddy with full force, the object, which had turned out to be a fallen stage light from when the Bouncer had collided with the wall, causing the Bouncer's armor to dent as it collided with him, and for the big daddy himself to stagger backwards, stopping his earth-trembling attack before it could occur.

A smirk coming to his face as he realized the effectiveness of his attack, he once again mentally grabbed hold of a broken down piece of the stage, before tossing it at him. This occurred again, and again, until, finally, the Bouncer had enough.

With various dents in his armor, and cracks in several of his portholes, the Bouncer batted away the next strike with his drill, growling in fury and irritance as he did so.

Giving his own growl in response, Omega tried yet again to grab hold of a prop, only to be met with nothing, as the glow in his arm and the flow of a foreign strength in his blood came to a halt.

His eyes widened as he looked to his hand, then back to the Bouncer, who seemed to have noticed this change, as he once again began to lift his leg.

Omega scrambled for an EVE hypo that he had long held in his bag of supplies as the Bouncer yet again prepared his unusually powerful shockwave of an attack. As he grabbed hold of it, it's cool and smooth glass exterior feeling odd against his hand, he extended forward his ESU, and sparks and jolts of electricity cracking along it and it's three separate electrical conductors, setting it to overcharge.

Within an instant, an incredibly fast, almost unperceived, jolt of electricity shot out towards the metal daddy. The Bouncer was stunned a short millimeter before it hit the ground, the water that still covered parts of him increasing it's effect as he released an odd, stuttering roar.

While this went on, Omega had finally grabbed hold of an EVE hypo, lifting it out of his bag, shifting it between his hands, and, with a quick breath and brace, sending yet another pinprick into his right arm's wrist. It's contents were emptied within a few short moments, and Omega quickly felt his plasmid's latent ability returning to him quickly after.

By the time the big daddy had recovered from his shock, the bullets that peppered him from the security bot continuing to be more of an inconvenience than an issue, Omega already held another piece of the stage in his plasmid's power, launching it forward.

The metal man saw this coming, his drill revving as he placed it forward, shredding the speaker to bits as it was brought towards him, like a branch to a wood chipper.

Omega did not yield, grabbing hold of yet another object, and preparing to launch it forward. Before he did, however, a quick glance at the object stopped him, and for good reason.

Within his telekinetic grip, the red barrel from earlier was held, small droplets of oil falling from it's bottom. An idea was quickly formed in his mind as the Bouncer let out another yell, his feet steadying against the ground before he lashed out in a charge.

Omega and Garret were both able to easily, for the most part, avoid this attack, the barrel of flammable chemicals remaining juggled in Omega's mental grip as he did so.

His metal boots screamed against the ground as Omega took careful aim, knowing that he only had one chance at doing this. In the meantime, the Bouncer had already turned himself around and was once again beginning another charge.

With a cock of Garret's gun, and a partially reluctant sigh from Omega, the telekinetic grip was released, and the barrel was flung forward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three could easily overhear the muffled sounds of combat from the main room of Ryan Amusements, Fluttershy and Rarity worriedly watching the door as Winston continued to fly around them, prepared to fire upon any threats... If only because he knew what Omega would do to him if even a single tuft of their fur was out of place by the time he got back.

Rarity and Fluttershy just couldn't believe what was going behind those very doors that they had been sent out of, no matter how much they tried to. The first sign of another big daddy that they've seen since they arrived, aside from Omega, and... He goes wild.

They had thought that, from Omega's description, big daddies were meant to be guardians, even if they didn't nessecarily have anything to protect. From the sudden, unprovoked charge that this one had brought upon though... They wondered about this.

Of course, as much as they found negativity in this, they also, oddly enough, were partially grateful. After all, this big daddy had likely been around for as long as Omega, if not longer, and it had lost all of it's control.

Omega, on the other hand, had retained his humanity, despite the hard outer shell that contained over these years, and the death that surrounded him on a daily basis. He was certainly unique, and they were grateful for that.

They had thought themselves to be lucky when they came across a caretaker such as Omega when they first came here. Now, they thought themselves even more so.

... And it was for that reason that they felt so bad remaining away from him. Even if he was doing it for their own good, which they understood completely, they were still breaking a promise that they had made; To stay by his side no matter what.

The sudden sound of a loud crash brought them out of their thoughts, Fluttershy giving out a silent gasp of surprise and concern from the sudden sound.

The air became filled with a thick tension as the sounds of combat behind the door came to a momentary stillness. Even Winston, who had stopped his scanning of the area at the sound, was now focusing intently on the door, awaiting for another noise to come... And it did.

A roar filled the air, alongside the sound of an explosion, as the door to the lounge was shattered to pieces. From it, the heavy body of a limply collapsed big daddy was launched, parts of it's body charred and burning, along with punctures and dents in it's armor.

Fluttershy, Rarity, and Winston watched in shock as the body tumbled down the stairs that led to the lounge, ending it's voyage shortly in front of them.

Fluttershy and Rarity backed themselves away, gaining a distance from the corpse of similar kind to Omega, Rarity's hoof over her mouth and Fluttershy's eyes doing their to look away from the sight. This was... A horrible sight for them to see.

If not because of the mere appearance of the crippled corpse, but because of how it seemed with it's darkened portholes, and bloodied armor breaches... It reminded them of the times they had seen Omega die, and the agony he must have gone through each time.

As the sound of footsteps, accompanied by that of whirring rotors and tired panting, entered the room, the three pointed their gazes towards the broken down door, where an exhausted Omega was being accompanied into the room by a single security bot, his rivet gun slightly dragging across the floor behind him as he entered.

In an instant, the three made their way over to the exhausted Omega, who kneeled to meet them, also doing so out of the weariness he felt overcome him.

"Oh dear! Omega, are you all right?" Rarity asked as both she and Fluttershy came before him, concern clear in their eyes.

Omega felt as if it were a struggle just to lift his eyes towards them, the overuse and exertion of his plasmids from earlier having finally caught up with him, but he managed to give the two a nod, as Winston and Garret seemed to converse with one another.

"Oh, a-are you sure? We were so worried, and, we didn't know of we should have... Or..." Noticing the apparent stress that was building in her and Rarity's voices, Omega gave the two smiles, lightly and reassuringly patting them atop their heads.

They took these gestures kindly, giving small, though still concern riddled, smiles towards him.

As he pulled his hands away from them though, Omega found his gaze slowly shifting towards the dead Bouncer, followed shortly after by those of Fluttershy and Rarity.

"..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... I couldn't just leave him like that. No matter how badly he tried to hurt me, or how twisted his mind was in comparison to mine... I just couldn't.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I already had the body in my grip, all of the exhaustion I felt being pushed aside as I secured my arms around the big daddies corpse, dragging him to a nearby wall.

Fluttershy, Rarity, Mill, Garret, and hell, even Winston, were silent as they walked along with me... I appreciated this more than they could imagine.

Finally, after what felt like an hour of pulling, and a time filled with the continual grinding of the big daddy's armor on the floor, leaving behind a small trail of scattered blood, I managed to make it to a relatively clear and clean wall.

Taking in a breath, I heaved the big daddy around me, placing his lumbering form firmly against the wall, so that he could be in a seating position. His arms, drill and otherwise, laid limply to his sides, and his helmet pointed slightly downwards, in a dead stare towards the ground.

Once I was sure that he wouldn't fall over, I pulled away from his corpse, standing up as I, and my current companions, looked to him in silence...

This Bouncer... He was different from the rest. That was obvious, really. The way he fought, how fast he was, the strength behind that drill and stomp of his... He was made for something different, because there is no way that he could've been assigned to a little sister when he was still in commission. Not with weapons like these.

Even his programming was off. For him to turn hostile for next to no reason... And what he had said earlier, about 'executing protocol'...

Whatever they had done to twist his mind and body to such an extent... At least I can that I ended his suffering in that regard... Even if I am back to being the last big daddy, in a matter of moments after meeting one too...

Before I could dwell on this for too long, I felt my bag shift once more, as Mill wriggled his way out, and onto my shoulder. I glanced to him for a moment, taking notice in the fact that he was, as well as the rest of us, looking towards the fallen big daddy. He only did this for a short second, however, before he began to softly nuzzle against the side of my neck and head, almost comfortingly.

The corners of my mouth tugged at me from his attempts, as I reached for him and softly pet his head, eliciting a gentle trill from him.

Glancing to my charges, and programmed escorts, I quickly gained their attention with a clear of my throat, all of their respective eyes and headlights looking towards me...

We had to get back to looking for that terminal. This... This was a matter that would have to wait.

Gesturing for the four of them to follow, my charges solemnly nodded their heads, and the two security bots gave two simultaneous beeps of confirmation.

Without another sound, I turned myself to a nearby staircase in the room, beginning to make my way down it, and towards one of the two only other areas in Ryan Amusements.

The Hall of the Future was nothing more than a place to buy plasmids, and I was certain that we wouldn't find the monitor we were looking for there. The one other place here though, with it's impressive scale and branching pathways, was much more likely to hold what we sought for... Though I wouldn't like it.

On to The Journey To The Surface, I suppose.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the door to the more 'popular' attraction of the amusement park closed behind the group mismatched beings, a light flickered in the main room.

The air, which was once quiet, began to become filled with an odd humming noise. The corpse of the Bouncer was bathed in a light that came from the far corner of the room, it's eerily shaded green shining brightly off of the few uncharred pieces of metal on his suit and pools of blood on the floor around him...

Or, as would better be worded, that used to be around him.

Author's Note

Well... Fuck. There goes that... I think.

Now, as you can tell, this chapter focuses solely on the conflict between Echo, and Omega, with only a scant few references to everyone else. Now, the reason I did this was because, as a big daddy himself, this sort of thing brought about quite the mental conflict to Omega.

In other words, plot development!

... Especially if you figure that little hint at the end... :D

Until next time everyone, I leave you with this!

(Thanks Papa Bear. ;D)

Chapter 27: Worst... Attraction... Ever!

I... Really don't want to talk about what had just happened. None of us did.

I mean, we finally find another big daddy. Another member of Rapture's artificial family... And I'm forced to kill him...

I'm aware that I can't change things that have already happened. I'm also aware that festering on these events isn't healthy... But that doesn't stop me from thinking of my little sisters every now and then; Why should I do any different for a fellow protector... Or, former protector, I suppose.

Hm... I should stay focused. If my mind keeps on lingering on this recent event, then we won't get anywhere soon.

Shaking my head, and moving these heavy thoughts off for later, I quickly took note of where we were, giving a quick scan of the small room that we were in. At the moment, we were on raised flooring. A stairway was clearly visible just ahead of us, around the corner of the adjacent wall. Two stone columns accentuated this staircase, connecting the relatively low ceiling, for our current position at least, to the tiled stone floors we stood on. Thin metal railings surrounded the squared off staircase, ensuring that even a bumbling idiot would be able to get through here scot free... Before the splicers started to go nuts, I mean.

Further ahead, past railings and all that, there was a large glass wall, as would normally be found in Rapture. It's view, however, was obstructed by several large, two dimensional cut outs of city buildings. A couple of there were tipped over onto their sides, while the rest were slanted in an uneven and unaligned form... I could see the frustration in Rarity's eyes now as she looked to this, her inner neat freak likely screaming at her about the matter. Joining this not too far off wall, there was another raised platform stood in the furthest left corner of the room, though several miscellaneous objects blocked any good sight I had of it. To our immediate right, there was a locked door, with red light enveloping a text that read 'Maintenance Entrance. Employees Only.' I rolled my eyes at this. Nothing is easy. I get it.

Turning left though, there was a different, more disturbing sight to greet us. It seemed like a small square room, built the wall at the possible minute, missing whatever door and front wall could have further been added to it. It was slightly raised above our ground level, by about a step's worth of height, and was entirely outfitted with a red carpeting floor, rather than the stone tiles of the rest of the place. In this room, a glove and a lamp were placed in the closest, leftmost corner of the room, just to the side of a bare glass cabinet. Against the wall opposite to us, there were two bookshelves. At first, this had excited me, my mind already beginning to wonder if I may find even more interesting pieces of literature... Until I realized that the book spines didn't have any covers or titles to them. They weren't real books. No, they were just decorative pieces used to fill up the shelves, giving it a more professional look...

Damn it.

Of everything in this small room though, there were two that were the most blatantly obvious. A smooth wooden desk, adjusted and positioned so that it would be right in front of the 'office' area, and behind it, a wax mannequin, made to look exactly like Andrew Ryan, his left elbow resting on top of the back of his seat, and his right leg crossed over his left. Creepy, and infuriating.

To the girls though, it was mostly the former. They both gave out light, barely visible, shudders as they glanced at the wax dummy, Fluttershy even going so far as to take a step or two behind me. As for me, I just sneered at my former 'leader's' likeness.

Garret, on the other hand, didn't seem to particularly care towards the display, instead focusing himself more on his programmed duties of protecting us. Winston... He reacted differently.

While I was busy grimacing at the son of a bitch before me, I managed to overhear the sound of Winston's constant beeping, growing in volume with each one. Glancing towards him, a sigh escaping me as I hoped to shut up the annoying bot, my brow rose as I noticed him flying... Oddly. It was rather wildly, in fact. As if his inner gyroscope had- Oh, damn it, I wanted to do that!

Before I could mentally complain any further about the loss of a good method to get payback on Winston, if only by a random glitch, he let out another prolonged beep, his radical and out of balance flight taking him into the small office room.

Fluttershy, Rarity, and I watched as he tumbled through the air, his entire body seeming more like a flailing mess as, eventually, he actually went so far out of control that he knocked off the wax figure's head... And then he just stopped... I'm serious.

Immediately after he hit the duplicate's head and knocked it off of its shoulders, he started to fly normal again, as if nothing had happened. In fact, he had even turned to me for a moment, and, after a second of two, let out a quick tone, before then just returning to hi own duties... Had... Had he done that on purpose...?

If so, then I guess that he's earned a few points from me after all... Still don't like him.

"Um... Omega... C-can we go?" Turning my attention to Fluttershy, I noticed that she was shaking a little more so than before, her eyes glancing to and from the fallen wax head, which now seemed to be pointed straight towards her.

Okay, yeah, that's a pretty good reason to go.

Reaching behind and patting her head, causing her to look up towards me instead, I gave her nod, turning myself on my heels as I started to make my way towards the stairway, allowing me to gain a clearer view of what was below, and to our sides.

Garrett and Winston were the first to make their ways down, flying over the railings and awaiting us high in the center of the room, also giving themselves a clear point of surveillance.

As the girls and I made our way downstairs, myself constantly looking behind me to make sure they were fine, I took notice of the several hollow boxes and wooden pallets that littered the way, all made clearly visible by a light positioned above the middle of the stairway. Another thing that I noticed was an overhanging pathway, placed above the corner right in front of us. It was closed by glass walls, and pretty much up it of all of our reaches... Aside from Fluttershy's, that is. Through these glass walls, I could see an empty hallway, and another closed off security door, bathed in red light.

Raising a brow, I made a note of this for later.

When we finally reached the bottom of the stairway, Garrett and Winston making their way towards us quickly after, we were quickly greeted by the sight of several empty pods. Each of them seemed similar to bathyspheres, but with their own distinct differences to them.

For instance, it looked as if it had been shrunken down and hollowed out for the convenience of the rider.

There was no longer a glass covering to it, or a large seating area. Instead, the metal was simply cut out into an upside down 'u' shape, allowing a clear view of what would be ahead, and there were a few red cushioned seats bolted down against the inside wall of the pod. It seemed like it could fit two people; Three if they didn't mind squeezing themselves in.

Alongside that, the flooring of the rides were made of patterned metal paneling. In fact, of the many that were currently in front of us, resting motionlessly on its metal and mechanical railings, one had it's floor covered in dried blood... And vomit...

Gross. I made sure that the girls and I avoided that one.

Following the railing, it could be seen that the pods had piled up, and allowed themselves to be broken apart, vandalized by splicers, and even flipped over in some cases. In this pile, there were several spread about metal panels, the patterns on them similar to those on the flooring of the pods.

From where we stood, we could also see another locked door straight ahead of us, labeled 'staff only'. I suppose it's pretty obvious where we have to go from here.

Urging for Fluttershy and Rarity to watch their step as we walked over the railing of the ride, and started to make our way around the obstructing pile, I started to unconsciously take note various pieces of fallen rubble and broken down girders, the cut-out city buildings seeming like giants now that they were next to us. I could even hear rubble and glass cracking below my shoes as we went on.

Thankfully, I had told the girls to be careful.

Some of the parts of the ride's railing could be seen still moving, likely operating itself from its lack of command or operation.

Walking around the pile of rubble and trashed pods, I saw what I presumed to be the lead-in to the next area of the park. The supposed ride's entrance itself. It was sloped upwards in a relatively steep manner, its railing made visible from its raised form, and continued movement of machinery. Above this, there was a large sign that read 'Journey To The Surface', themed in an eerie format, with what looked like red-eyed seahorses circling around it...

Really? This is what they think of when they're asked 'what's scary'? Seahorses?

... I swear, the people who once ran this city were a special kind of stupid.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This place was... Odd, to say the least. Fluttershy and Rarity had never seen anything like it, but, then again, they'd never seen many things before they had arrived in Rapture.

This was, of course, no excuse.

As Omega had wordlessly asked of them, they were being very cautious with every step they took. After all, they knew well and good that he had his reasons for them to do such things, and they had no issue with trusting his judgement.

In fact, as if to further prove this point, Rarity had stepped over quite a few glass shards that she would have missed were it not for her extra care in the matter. Fluttershy had taken to flying, though only by a few centimeters off of the ground, in her own care, keeping herself nearby Rarity and Omega while the two security bots circled around them.

When they passed by the pile of rubble, their footing now becoming much more safe than it was before, Omega stopped where he was, scanning the room once more.

His attention lingered on the sloped entrance to the actual ride, already well aware of the fact that this was likely where they would need to go.

However, this was one of the latter figments of his attention, as a nearby light reflected off the railing that he looked towards, causing him to turn to face it.

For a moment, his eyes widened, as both he, and his charges, turned towards the source of the light. Behind them, just off to the side of the pile they passed, opposite of the path they had taken, was a small security booth with two rectangular glass windows. A bright light could be seen through one of these widows, lighting the room and, as well as that, a bit of where the group was.

Glancing to one another, the three, and their accompanying security units, made their way over to the security booth. Omega had figured that, since it was such a small room, and they weren't exactly straying far from where they were supposed to go, that this would be a good opportunity to see if there were some sort of terminal or control panel in the booth. Maybe then they'd be able to remove the lock down and leave this place.

And if not, they'd at least be able to find some resources that they could use.

As the doors to the small room slid upwards, giving out its usual series of clanks and clicks as its gears shifted against one another, Omega was the first to enter, taking a quick glance around the room while his charges, and security bots, followed shortly after. The room itself gave out a rather depressing overtone.

Once vibrant and colorful paints that smeared and decorated the walls in their complex designs had become faded and chipped to the point where it was almost unrecognizable. Small splashes of water littered the room, but that was to be expecting. In a dreary fashion, fitting towards the room though, moving pistons and pumping engines could be seen to the groups immediate right. It was silent, small, and clean; Unlike most things in this broken down city.

Omega deducted that this was the reason for the still functioning rails. To think, people who could create power sources that ran this long and cleanly without fail had also been the cause of the city's fall. "Ironic." Omega thought to himself half-halfheartedly, having grown used to this idea long ago.

Along with this apparent engine, however, there were also a few more scantily placed objects, such as a cleared out wooden shelf sitting in the corner of the room, two metal filing cabinets, and an opened wooden table, which currently held up one of the imbalanced and fallen over cabinet. Atop of this desk, there sat a familiar container of ammunition, red in it's color.

Omega checked the closed and straightly stood cabinet with haste, believing that there may have been something for him to use within its contents. All he could find though was three spare dollars. Not even enough for a single cream-filled cake from one of the vending machines around here.

Rolling his eyes at this, Omega then mentally beckoned for the more useful of items in the room, the container of heavy rivets moving into his palm with an almost perfected and practiced grace. He barely gave his improved use with the plasmid a second thought as he began to count out the rivets in the container, for when the situation demanded. In total, there were four.

The former big daddy had barely been able to near his new set of ammunition to his bag before, suddenly, and without provocation, Mill popped his head out of his self-proclaimed comfort area and grabbed hold of the container using his toothless and flexible maw. It wasn't anymore than a millisecond that he had gone up, and even less so than he had gone back down, taking the rivets with him; Omega's hand gripped at the nothingness it now held, himself looking to the situation incredulously before shaking it off as another usual day of strange happenings. Besides, Mill was only trying to help after all.

With his looting of the small room done, his charges and bots clear in the back of his mind as they awaited patiently for him to finish, Omega moved his head to face his left, nearby the glass windows that allowed view into and out of the room.

Metal and electronic machinery was what met his gaze, a hopeful twitch of his lips coming about him as he recognized the design of the control panel in his sight.

He knew that, through the use of logical reasoning, this was likely the same panel that was used to monitor and work the ride, its managers and mechanics using it to push and pull the pods along this tracks at set speeds in set directions.

Nonetheless, he also knew of the fact that a security lock down, which was currently what plagued him and his companions, could have been initialized from even the smallest of control points. This was no different.

With a stride of his legs, Omega made his way over to the panel, setting himself to inspecting and fiddling with the over-sized control device. Right off the bat, he could tell that it was in bad shape. Buttons were rusted to the point where he had to force them in before then yanking them out with his plasmid, layers upon layers of dust had gathered upon it, and several parts of it had become shutdown from its own deteriorating status.

His deftness at the switches and knobs of the machinery proved to be for naught as the only thing that respond to his ministrations was a small screen, repeating an already well-known message. "Area Lockdown Initiated."

"I should've guessed as much..." Kicking the defunct panel and allowing for the loud clang of its circuit-filled metal to echo through the small room, Omega sighed at his misfortune.

"... No luck?" Rarity asked caringly, her and Fluttershy taking a step closer to their stressed guardian. He shook his head in response, turning towards the two as he leaned against the metal of the panel. That's all it was useful for now anyways.

Rarity put on a kind-hearted and positive smile on her face, hoping to cheer up her slightly downtrodden friend. "Well, I'm sure that things will lighten up soon enough. Everything has a way of working out. Right dear?" She said with a small gesture towards her timid friend, who gave out her own smile in return.

"Oh, yes. E-everything has a positive side to it in the end... Like..." She momentarily trailed off here, her face catching a light tint of red to it as her gaze shifted to the ground, and back.

"Like when we met you." Rarity nodded at this supporting of her attempts by Fluttershy, though, a small part of her mind questioned as to why she chose those specific words, or that specific example, in doing so.

Omega gave a partial grin at the kindness of his two charges, giving them thankful nods before, with a quick heave, he moved himself from the panel and started to move towards the door out of the security booth. He had not aboard ones his growing tradition of patting and ruffling the two's heads though, gaining two soft giggles from the ponies.

A certain robot of immature programming, however, couldn't help but to professionally comment on this though, giving out a progressing beep as he did so.

"ANALYZING SITUATION--
RESULTS INCONCLUSIVE--
LOCATING CLOSEST RELATABLE TERM--
RESULTS: 1--
'UGH'--"

Had Omega heard this, or even understood it, the robot would have been made into a tin can by now. Thankfully his binaries had forbidden this sort of thing, of which he was greatly thankful for.

"Back out here again." Omega thought to himself as he and the rest of his small group began to approach the upwards sloped floor that led into the Journey To The Surface ride.

To him, it was beginning to feel monotonous; Going one place, backtracking, going to another. Still, he couldn't necessarily believe that it was purposeless. It had often gotten them some useful materials, after all, despite its time consumption in doing so.

Of this cycle, it was now time to return to the journey at hand, as the group now faced the elevated and slanted floor and railing before them. Glancing to the two security bots, Omega soundlessly motioned for them to fly ahead and scout out the area. Accepting electronic tones answered him as the mechanized drones both flew upwards and into the area, disappearing behind the angled floor no sooner than they had done so.

It was short moment before they were heard from again, loud resounding beeps signifying that the area was clear.

Omega nodded at this, glancing towards his charges and sending them his usual gesture for them to follow as he went on ahead, his rivet gun at the ready despite the all-clear of the bots. He wouldn't take any chances after all.

Upon his first step onto the raising floor however, he quickly found his eyes widening as his feet nearly slipped out from under him. Water soaked and slipped up the smooth, metal and already unstable footing below him, making something as simple as a walk seem as though it were an extreme.

His shoes giving a soft squeaking sound below him, he was barely able to secure himself, the rough and rubber soles of his shoes helping to keep him in a climb, though having to take slow and painfully uneasy walk. An unsure look came across Rarity, and Fluttershy, as they saw the issues that Omega seemed to be having, constantly losing and gaining his hold on the flooring below him as if he were skating on ice for the first time.

Nonetheless, taking a quick and confident breath, Rarity soon followed after Omega, placing her front-most hoof up onto the angled flooring while Fluttershy again unfurled her wings.

For a moment, she felt this would be simple, her fetlock only momentarily trembling at the upwards and slicked ground below her hooves before she managed to hold it steady. As she was spurred forth by the ease of this first step though, it was the slight raising of her other forehoof that proved to be her literal downfall.

Omega heard an audible yelp and a clang, followed by a pained whimper, as Rarity's hoof lost all semblance of friction that it had believed itself to have gained from the surface, prompting him to quickly turn himself around, again almost losing his own footing.

The moment he caught sight of a downed, and seemingly hurt, Rarity though, Fluttershy seemingly attempting to assist her hurt friend to the best of her ability, he dropped his focus without another thought, allowing himself to awkwardly slide the floor towards his charges.

He hurriedly made his way over to the white and purple unicorn, kneeling himself opposite of Fluttershy, who looked towards him with what seemed like shared concern, and looking over Rarity.

She was prone on the ground, her hind legs to her sides and faces forward while she held tightly onto her muzzle with her forelegs, her eyes scrunched together, her nose wrinkled, and her ears splayed tightly against her head as she released small and pained whimpers. "Oof... Ah..." She muffled through her covered muzzled, tightening and just as quickly loosening her hold over her face, as if unsure of what would be the best course of action.

Momentarily grimacing at this, Omega gained the attention of his charge with a caring hand atop her neck. One of her eyes squinted open as she looked to Omega, who in turn returned the gaze with a clear sense of solace.

A small groan was heard from him, as if any louder a volume would further hurt his dependent, as he attempted to ask if she was alright.
Rarity was aware of his implied questioning of her well-being, but she was also hesitant in giving any sort of answer. Especially in a situation in which she had caused her own injury. It felt almost shameful to cause Omega even more of an issue than he normally had to deal with, more so when it was something so minimal and easily avoidable.

Noticing the silence Rarity had taken, Fluttershy was able to quickly read her friend, if only due to the fact that she knew that she likely would have felt similarly to her friend. She lowered her head towards her friend's ear, softly assuring her that she had nothing to worry about.

"It's okay Rarity," she said, "we won't be mad, or anything. Just move away your hooves so we can see... Please."

Peaking open her other eye, Rarity glanced to her friend, who gave her a kind and assuring smile. She found a distinct irony to this, considering that she had often been the one attempting to comfort or support the timid mare, rather than how it had so quickly changed in the presence of Omega.

Nonetheless, as her sight went almost guiltily to the floor, she followed Fluttershy and Omega's gentle urgings, pulling her hooves away from her muzzle and allowing the two a clear view of it.

Omega inwardly flinched as he caught sight of the forming bruise along the furthest forward right side of her muzzle, but he gave Rarity a supportive and thankful pat on her neck nonetheless.

Sharing another glance with Fluttershy, Omega gently placed his gloved fingertips under and around Rarity's chin, lifting and tilting her head up as he and the pegasus looked over her discolored blemish.

"Ah! C-careful." She said, a small jolt of pain hitting her as Omega gave the bruise an experimental, and light, tap. Aside from this, she did not so much as cringe whenever Omega, or Fluttershy, would near the bruise in their examinations, nothing but the utmost trust in their ability in her mind.

Eventually, with a simple sigh, and a flashed smile, Omega reached into his bag again, feeling around for one of the two medical kits that they had found some time ago. He had, to his own gratefulness, seen that the bruise on Rarity's muzzle was simply just that. A bruise. No broken bones, or anything of the like.

As he had done before, Mill took notice in the hand that entered his small hideaway, an excited squeal exiting through his throat as he began to seek out whatever it may have been that his master was in need of.

He watched as he grazed his palm over the more visible and reachable choices, ignoring food cans, ammunition containers, and even EVE hypos as he went along. Mill took an educated guess as he noticed that this wasn't what Omega was seeking, digging himself further into the cluttered mess that was Omega's bag.

Passing by several cans of food, and three oddly shaped and colored blankets, Mill saw what looked like a thin white container, among another of twin similarity, with a red plus sign emblazoned atop of it. A squelch of sorts resounded in his ears from his squirming self as he gripped onto the pack, pulling it bit by bit through the rest of the collapsed mess inside of the burlap bag.

Omega, in fact, raised a brow as he felt this shifting of items on his, followed shortly by the introduction of a smooth and cold surface onto his palm. He grabbed hold of it nonetheless, a silently thankful smile adjoining his features as he realized what had just occurred. "Someone earned themselves a treat for later... Do slugs even eat treats, or am I thinking cats and dogs?"

With a shrug of his shoulders at the thought, Omega pulled the medical kit out of the bag, undoing it's small latch and exposing it's contents to the air and atmosphere of Rapture.

Fluttershy passed her hoof soothingly along Rarity's, who had currently been holding her pained muzzle with a forehoof again, as Omega searched through the kit, eventually finding what he was looking for with a satisfied grunt.

Placing down the container next to him, Omega pulled out a small tube of medicinal cream, followed by a small square bandage, before looking to Fluttershy for a hand. "Er... Hoof."

Handing the two objects to Fluttershy, who took them within the careful vise of her two fore-hooves, Omega once again took hold of Rarity by her chin, shifting her facial direction appropriately so that he would be able to obtain a better angle of it... And inadvertently, though not to Rarity's displeasure, putting her face mere inches from his.

A tinge of red moved across her face, some of it even being visible through it's discoloration as her eyes shrunk slightly at the proximity between her and Omega. Her guardian, however, did not see to notice this, instead focused solely on the current cause of her discomfort as he motioned for Fluttershy to hand him the medicinal cream.

She did so, and then some, having noticed that his other hand was preoccupied and opened the tube with a twist of it's top in between her teeth. She had then poured a small amount of it onto Omega's outstretched hand, receiving an unexpecting, but still thankful, expression from Omega as he returned to his musings.

Not yet releasing his hold on Rarity, he cautiously dabbed and smeared the cream atop the bruise on her face, eliciting a chilled squeak and shudder from the unicorn as the cream's cold and clamminess made itself known. Finally, after Omega had been satisfied with his work, he once again looked to Fluttershy, who nodded in understanding as she made her way over to his and Rarity's side, the bandage in hoof.

She peeled off the bandage covering with her teeth, as Omega held the functional part of it between his fingers, the two ending with their own halves of the medical covering. Again looking to Rarity, whose eyes had been closed as he had placed the cream on her, he positioned the bandage over her lathered bruise, placing it in a fashion so as to keep the substance in, while allowing the bandage itself to stick.

Once he was done, he gave a content smile, releasing Rarity and petting her head to let her know that he had finished, eliciting a sigh from her before he began to put away the medicinal cream into the first aid kit once more, closing its latch together and replacing it into his bag of supplies.

Omega stood himself from his kneeling position, dusting off his pant leggings and giving his back a stretch as Rarity followed suit, lightly rubbing at the newly placed bandaging near her snout. "... Thank you." She said with a smile of her own, glancing to both Omega and Fluttershy.

The two gave her nods as Omega then looked the raising flooring before them, pursing his lips in thought.

It was apparent that this was... A rather ensuing issue, at least for Rarity. Granted, Fluttershy could easily fly over this obstacle, and Omega could even manage to make go way up, but even then, he had great trouble in doing so without losing his balance. "Hooves," he surmised, "probably don't make things any easier."

The thought of simply carrying Rarity, like he had done in a previous situation of similar manner, came across his mind, but was quickly dismissed. He was barely able to balance his own weight on that slope, let alone that of another's.

Glancing around various parts of the room however, hatched an idea, snapping his fingers together in realization as a smirk came across his face.

Fluttershy and Rarity watched as Omega walked opposite of their intended path, heading over to the large pile of broken down or fallen over pods. He inspected each one of them, seeing if they were, at least, in minimal condition for his formulated plan.

The moment he had found one, it's only fault being two cracked headlights and a few scrapes along the metal shelling, he quickly turned himself to face the girls, motioning for them to move back by a small degree. They did so without hesitation, though curious expressions adorned them.
His charges now away from the metal rails of the floor, as he had hoped for, Omega returned his attention towards the pod, taking a breath before he gave his neck a quick crack, and positioned himself next to it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This could either be very smart... Or very stupid. For the most part, I've tried to favor the former of the two... Tried.

Rolling my eyes at these thoughts, I gave my right shoulder one last roll, my mind already set on what I was about to do. I moved my feet slightly outwards and reached my arms out for the fallen pod, grabbing hold of its top and bottom with as strong as a grip that I could muster–Metal bending from the force–before giving out a quick heave, and lifting the pod right out of its pile.

Scraping and crashing metal could be heard as the build-up of pods lost one of its supports, but at the moment, I was more focused on what I was doing, the metal pod now held high above my head in both of my arm's holds.

I staggered for a moment as I turned myself around, silent curses escaping me as I moved with the weight.

It's not even that it was heavy, honestly. Rather, it was more because its weight was horribly shifted to one side, in preference to the other. It was as if I was lifting a barbell with most of its weights stacked on one side. Not fun.

Nonetheless, I made up for this imbalance of weight as best as I could, even going so far as to lean myself in doing so.

Turning myself around and moving at an agonizingly slow pace towards the railing on the floor, I barely noticed my charges watching the scene from the sidelines, their mouths slightly open as they saw me move the pod along.

At this point, one would think that they would be used to seeing me do things like this, considering the frequency in which I actually do it. At the same time though, I'd say that it's pretty understandable. Especially now that I'm out of my suit.

It was much easier to believe a metal behemoth could perform such acts, as opposed to a normal human... Okay, 'normal' isn't the right word.

My breath catching as I yet again almost fell over in my distraction, I gave out a quiet groan as I finally reached my target, being right next to the metal railing that was molded into the floor.

A grunt escaped me as I practically slammed the pod down onto the metalwork, forcing the metallic wheels on its underside to hug around the railing, keeping it in place.

With that done, I took in a few deep breaths to calm myself, wiping off a small bead of sweat that had formed in my exertion before giving the pod and experimental push to either of its sides. It moved smoothly back and forth of the railings, a satisfied smile gracing me as I then turned my head to my charges and called for them.

They were, apparently, still in their states of amazement before the sound of my speechless voice rang through to them, the two shaking their heads–Much to my amusement–as they then began to make their way over to me.

The two reached me with soft smiles, of which I returned, as I then stepped slightly to my side, motioning for them to enter the pod. Making sure that they watched their footing as they took their seats within the attraction's usual mode of transport, even having gone so far as to take their hooves and help them in, I gave the pod and track another once over, making sure that everything was still fine before I began to make my way behind it.

"Again, thank you Omega."

"Yes, t-thank you." I overheard the two say as I moved out of their sight, my small smile becoming even broader as I heard them.

The more difficult part of my idea having been gone through by now, I positioned myself behind the pod, placing both of my hands flat against it's back before, with minimal effort this time, pushing it forward.

I did so for a short amount of time, moving the ride along its rails before, finally, I felt it catch on something, momentarily shaking as it did so, before then starting to move on its own.

It's a good thing that the moving parts of this railing still work, otherwise this may have proven to be more difficult. In fact, my only other option would have been to lift Rarity over the floor using my Telekinesis plasmid... And... Well, lets just say that I don't exactly have the necessary finesse for that sort of thing yet.

As the pod transferred from the flat floor to the angled, I made my way over to its side, grabbing hold of it and using it to better climb the platform. I know I could've just gotten into the pod myself, but Rarity and Fluttershy seemed comfortable with the space that they had, and I really didn't want to bother them for that. I digress.

Metal clanged and clunked as my charges and I finally managed to reach the higher floor, the floor's colored metal shifting to, oddly enough, wooden planking.

Winston and Garrett were among the first things to attract my attention as we came into the room, the two seeming to have been patiently waiting for us as we entered... Pfft. I can't even say that with a straight face really, so let me clarify. Garrett was patient. Winston, on the other hand, gave out a beeping time of annoyance.

Really? Rarity gets hurt, and you-... Save the fun for later, Omega. You can always tear off his rotors on your own time.

"'On your own time'? Since when is this a job!?!"

Gah! Just when I thought I had gotten rid of you!

"You know, you can't get rid of yourself... Well, technically you can, but-"

Shut up! For fucks sake, I'm kinda in the middle of some-

Before I could go off on a tirade against... Yeah... I heard the faint sound of crumbling come from above me, and a sudden itch come to head.

Rubbing off the small pieces of debris that had, apparently, sprinkled onto my head, I glanced around the room, having been brought back into my focus.

The ceiling of the room, the cause of the debris, had inwardly collapsed on itself, barely allowing for its retained place as several of its inner metal supports were exposed, bent and rusted. Grimacing at this, I moved myself over to the side slightly, sidestepping the falling bits of ceiling, along with a more than visible water leak.

The room in its entirety was made to look like an old dock. A painted on background, made to look like a sky and horizon, served as the now faded backdrop of the scene. Fake plastic shrubs, and similarly false trees, swayed in the artificial winds of Rapture's ventilation system. The wooden dock floor led towards the left, with the ride's metal railing, and right, moving over shallow water meant to represent the offshore ocean. It was about ankle high, rippling continuously as several more leaks in the roof flowed into it, causing it to flood and flow over it's sides, including over the sloped flooring we just had trouble with.

Yeah. That figures. Still, I have to wonder what it would've been like to have been assigned this area for repairs and patrols as a big daddy. I had to deal with all of Upper Rapture over the years, and I could tell that those repairs were nothing with what was needed down here... Huh, I never thought I'd ever be grateful for the job that I had.

As if to prove my point even further, up ahead, following the rails along the left passage, it seemed that another part of the ceiling had actually collapsed, a large portion of the path ahead having been blocked off, leaving only a narrow pass along its side. Well, that made my previous efforts relatively fruitless, didn't it?

Sighing, I yet again grabbed hold of the pod, stopping it in its place with minimal effort; The moving parts of railing below it groaned and screeched in complaint.

I made to look to the girls and tell them that it would be best if they got out before the pod jammed, but, by the looks of things, they had already gotten the hint, the two giving me prompt nods the moment I looked towards them.

Like I had helped them in, I helped them back out of the pod, taking their hooves and escorting them out, before then releasing my hold on the pod. It went for a few more feet, its previous metal complaints now silenced, before it grinded its way into the pile of rubble that blocked its set path, blocking off its railings and effectively shutting it down within an instant... I'll be honest, that was extremely anti-climactic.

Oh well. Nothing lost, nothing bothered.

"Well... This is... Surprisingly pleasant." Rarity said, glancing around the oddly themes room herself. Personally, I couldn't really disagree with this statement. After all, it did all look really nice... It made me wonder if the really was how the outside world looked...

"You're getting distracted agai-"

You're not helping!

... Ahem. Now then, which way should I go? Left. Or right?

I ended up putting it to a sort of mental coin flip, settling myself to go right with a bob of my head.

Fluttershy, Rarity, Garrett, and Winston followed without a word–Granted, the security bots can't really talk anyways, but the point stands–as I walked along the wooden pathway that led to an open area on the right, and...

Well, lets put it this way. People often end up going in circles without even knowing it, right?This city being no different, of course...

This was one of those situations. That raised platform in the corner of the room earlier? That's pretty much where the path led, so I'd say that the slap I gave my own face was well deserved. If anything, the only thing this had provided was another viewpoint of the room from earlier, a broken first aid machine on one of the walls of the small path that led to it, and another mocking vita-chamber... Fun.

Oh, another thing. Rarity and Fluttershy giggling at the sight? Fine with me. In fact, it's welcome. Winston laughing at the sight, or at least seeming like he was laughing...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I must ask, was that absolutely necessary?" Rarity asked her now smirking friend, as the group now walked with a soaking wet, and blissfully quiet, security bot. It had taken a bit, but simple thought, a push, and telekinetic blast, Winston was practically drowned underneath the–Now even more shallow–water.

Of course, Omega had made sure not to aim his plasmid towards the machine, and instead towards the water itself, causing it to blast upwards. He didn't have a particular preference towards the machine, but he still wasn't going to be destroying him just yet.

Whether he would confess it or otherwise, he still believed that the robot had it's uses... And besides that, he found great enjoyment in its comedic presence. He had something to let out his stress on.

Having left Rarity's question unanswered, though a soft chuckle did escape him, she rolled her eyes at him, instead finding interest in what currently surrounded them.

Some time after that bit of petty vengeance from Omega, though he found it to have been completely worth it, the group had made their way down the opposite passageway, following the partially buried railing.

The entire area was, to put it kindly, in ruins. Though most of the ride was simply a narrow pass, it seemed to have been made to appear as otherwise, as if they were in an alleyway, or walking down a road of sorts. The backs and fronts of houses were painted and decorated into the walls, their window lights seemingly turned on, and a familiar pattern appearing between each one; House of brick, house of wood, house of brick, house of wood.

Lamp lights lit the way, along with the dim lights of the house interiors, as they walked down the wooden floors of the attraction, taking care to avoid the railings in between.

Like any attraction though, the ride also had small... Attention grabbers, so to speak. The first of which had come into their view no more than a few feet into the ride.

Momentarily slowing their pace, the group found themselves looking towards the scene with gazes of interest, and partial confusion, as they went on.

In the scene, a grown man, a farmer, was clearly visible, and iron hoe in his hands as he tilled the field... Or, at least his front lawn, due to the small size of the area. "I may not know how to grow anything short of a... Okay, I don't know how to grow anything, but I'm pretty sure this scene is all wrong in that regard."

Behind the farmer, there was a small house. It was quaint, but it was cracked and chipped, practically falling apart at its hinges. At the doorstep of the house, there was a woman, who I guessed to be the farmer's wife, and a relatively grown boy, another farming implement similar to that of the farmer's hung over his shoulders, and a cheery smile on his face as he looked over to the working man. Unbeknownst to any of these family members though, a large suited hand overhung the house, threatening to come down on it.

This was Ryan's addition to the work. Another piecing of his insipid ideology. 'On the surface, the farmer tills the soil, trading the strength of his arm for a home and lands of his own. But the Parasites say, 'NO! What is yours is ours! We are the state, we are God, we demand our share!''

"Wow," Fluttershy found herself commenting, "this... Reminds me a lot of the ponies back home." Her voice was almost distant, really, but at the same time, it had the utmost attention to it.

Omega rose a brow at this, looking over the scene another time over to try to understand what she had meant.

"Hmmm... I suppose it does." Rarity mentally agreed, momentarily picturing earth ponies in the place of the human figures, smiling and sharing similar looks of pride about them.

As the sight of this scene was lost, the following corner of it now having blocked the group's view of the scene, and their heads all turning to face forwards again, Omega shrugged his shoulders.

Up ahead, a small green sign, shaped like an arrow, pointed out the obvious. 'This way', it read, unknowing of the sort of barricade, make-shifted of several boxes and used props that blocked the path. It wasn't particularly large in it's size, nor was it a major issue, so much as an inconvenience. Especially considering the fact that two wooden boards, likely having been placed by some of the earlier survivors that once resided in this city, allowed for someone to easily just walk over it. Exactly what the group did, in fact; Save for the security bots, which flew over the blockage with ease.

A short upwards walk, not even relatively comparable with that of previous, and a small drop from which afterwards, the group continue on, soon coming upon another point of interest.

This time, upon Omega's silent command, the group stopped, looking to him as he glanced around the area.

To his left, there two doors. One was fake, having been decoratively embedded and painted into the wall.

The other was labeled under 'Maintenence Acess', but broken down, and its metal bent inwardly.
On the right, a 'building' with a large, golden, and horizontal sign reading 'Censorship Bureau' stood, making up the corner of the narrow passageway, before a rightward turn. An opening in the building's wall, a small trail of oil nearby it, revealed another room for the group to explore.

As for further ahead, following the railing and the ride's pathway, even more wreckage of the park's attraction could be seen, including another sign that read 'this way', but this time sparking, and some its wires clearly visible.

"...I... Think I'll go... This way...." Omega thought to himself as he looked over his, and his group's, options.

He pointed towards the opening as he looked back to his charges and programmed escorts–Though one was only doing this for his own reasons–receiving nods of understanding, and confirming tones, in return.

Forwards, right, and left. It was an odd path for the opening in the wall to follow, but not an unbelievable one. Many parts of Rapture had confusing structuring and the like, and for Omega, who had lived in this city longer than most, it had turned into something he was used to.

Nonetheless, the path did eventually lead somewhere different. An open, though not really that large, room with a protective wall, and a thick glass window built into it. This allowed for a clear view of the room in it's entirety as they approached this structure, their eyes once again wandering as they did so, with Omega keeping his gaze focused forwards.

Empty shelves, similar to the many had seen before, accented parts of the room, with layers of dust having gathered on them; A few broken stage lights, which they once used for the scenes spread throughout the ride, were littered on the floors and hung on the walls nearby these shelves. Through the glass, from afar, Omega could see what looked like another of the ride's pods, its inner wire circuit exposed through a panel, and the machine itself placed flatly upon a raised circular pad. Along with this, he could make out an 'Ammo Bandito' vending machine in the far corner on the right, and about three workbenches, one with tools hung neatly above it, and one with a slightly worn phonograph, spread about the room.

A ride cart garage. This was where the maintenance members of the Ryan Amusement ride management would repair any malfunctioning, or simply dirtied, pieces of its equipment. Of course, not much of that was occurring anymore, but its reasoning for being there still stood.

As Omega and his party made their further into the room though, the once limited glass providing for a now clear view of the entire room, the protector of the group felt his eyes widen, and his heart momentarily seem to stop beating, before the starting to pound his chest.

Within an instant, and without warning, Omega ducked down below the glass window's view, taking his charges down with him in a swift, and admittedly jerking, movement. So much so, in fact, that were it not for the fact that he had placed his hands over their mouths, they would have yelped in surprise.

Leaning his back against the wall under the window, and both of his charges still in his grasp, Omega moved his head for the two security bots to hide themselves. They did so without complaint, or even a sound of agreement, as they quickly caught sight of the situation, moving adjacent of the window, but remaining out of sight.

Satisfied with how they had hidden themselves, and with the fact that he had not heard anything to make him think otherwise, he looked over to his charges again. Fluttershy and Rarity were both looking to him questioningly, confusion clear in their eyes as Omega realized that they had yet to see what he had seen. He figured that it must the size difference between them, and the fact that they weren't exactly that close to the windows themselves when this occurred.

Gesturing with his hand, which he pulled away from Fluttershy for a moment, he put his finger to his lips before she could even make to ask her question, telling them that they needed to be silent. Fluttershy, though she still did not understand, nodded, and Rarity, whose mouth was still covered, did the same.

Now freeing both of his hands, Omega glanced between the two one more time, before then putting his gaze to the window above. His eyes narrowed as he turned himself in his position, moving to his feet and slowly raising himself up to the window again. Fluttershy and Rarity did the same, though with much more care, and a slight hesitation.

This time their eyes widened, as the three now looked at the forming situation at hand. In the center of the garage, three splicers could be seen in plain view, each of them crouched over, and busying themselves incoherently. With what, exactly?

A turret. It seemed as though they were trying to repair, or do something of that like, as could be seen from the sparking and shut down machinery. From Omega's viewpoint though, despite not even being close to the machine, he could see that it actually didn't need to be repaired.

It was likely just set to seek out the genetic code of anything that wasn't a splicer, like them, and, considering the fact that that's not exactly a common sight anymore, it hasn't had reason to turn itself on. It was basically out of a job.

"...Not for long." Omega thought to himself as an idea began to form. Lowering himself into a crouching position, Fluttershy and Rarity removing themselves from the glass just the same, Omega pointed the girls, then towards the ground, asking for them to stay here. Again, they nodded without hesitation.

Shifting his gaze to his security bots, Omega flicked his wrist to the side, once again activating and switching out his plasmid as a familiar blue orb of small insect-like creatures appeared in his hand.

Winston and Garret no longer seemed to care about their previously given instructions, lowering themselves in front of Omega, their headlights focused on the orb. Omega cursed his luck at the sight, having forgotten about the two's obsession with it, along with every other piece of artificial intelligence's. Despite this, Omega just rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders, deciding that this wouldn't be too much of an issue.

Moving himself slowly, and carefully, around the right corner of the wall that him and his charges from the splicers, also moving past Fluttershy in the process, Omega silently peered his head around the corner; He held the Security Command orb behind his back, allowing the security bots to continue in their trance-like states without being seen.

"You get that thin' working yet?" One of the splicers–The one on the left– answered, a revolver visibly holsters around the hoop of his belt.

"Probably not. Fish couldn't fix a nick in his shirt, let alone dis!" The splicer on the right answered, twirling his meat hook in his hand as he impatiently crouched by.

"Quiet ya's blokes! I ain't able t' concentrate wit' all that noise!" The final splicer answered, his iron pipe lying lazily behind him as he continued in his work.

Pursing his lips and raising a brow at the performance of the idiotic splicers, Omega began to move the plasmid out from behind his back and around the corner of the wall, Garret and Winston of course following it with great interest as he did so. He started to count as he continued to watch the three, glancing between the splicers and his plasmid as he lined up the shot. Finally, once he reached ten, he gave the orb a quick, and powerful, toss.

It hit the splicer in the middle square in the back, but no impact or force could be seen in it, as it instead simply splattered on the back of the splicer, and a little of it even transferring to the other two. How they hadn't noticed this sudden color change, Omega would never know, but as the turret's light turned itself on, and its inner motor began to work, he realized he couldn't care less.

The turret first lifted and moved its gaze to the splicer in the middle of the group, its built in, singular light bathing the splicer. "See that!? I think I got it!" He exclaimed, Omega mentally chuckling as he did so.
Holding back both of the security bots, so that they would not be tempted to follow the guidance of the Security Command, Omega watched as, with Rarity and Fluttershy still firmly behind him, the turret cocked its gun. "What the-" One the other splicer's exclaimed, backing away from the machine as it fired upon the one in the middle, his blood staining the glass of the walls that Omega and his charges hid behind, Fluttershy and Rarity cringing at the sight and sound.

Among this initial pepper storm of bullets let out, one ricocheted of the metal wall, hitting the side of the phonograph and, while not having caused it any major damage its internal components, causing its needle to fall upon its record and begin to play its song. A horribly unfitting, yet somehow even more so, song.

"Children have you ever met the boogie man before~
No I'm sure you haven't, you're much too good I'm sure~
Don't you be afraid of him if he should visit you~
He's a great big coward so I'll tell you what to do.~"

The two splicers, though initially surprised, quickly began to rush to shut down the turret, the leadhead firing desperately at it while the spider splicer slashed at it wildly. The turret, however, was relatively unaffected by this, aiming itself at the leadhead and once again cocking it's gun.

While the spider splicer continued it's slashing, the leadhead ran to the nearest piece of cover it could find, choosing to hide behind a nearby wall... The wall already occupied by a smirking, and waiting, Omega, his charges behind him with their eyes closed and ears covered. Before the splicer could even stammer for words to this situation, Omega had already released his two security bots, switching out his plasmid yet again and aiming it towards him.

"Hush, hush, hush, here comes the boogie man~
Don't let him get too close to you, he'll catch you of he can~"

The spider splicer's attention was moved from the turret to the nearby corner of the room, next to the protective wall that his splicer friend had run to cover for. He was practically launched into the wall there, embedded deep into the metal, and a large cracking sound echoing through the room. As if this wasn't enough though, two security bots flew into sight and, with the continued assistance of the turret, peppered the body with lead until it was nothing more than unrecognizable mush.

It was then that a man came around the wall as well, making himself visible as he flexed his hand and wrist. With a grin on his face, he turned to face the remaining splicer, along with the two security bots and the turret, as he raised the large weapon he had attached to his left arm.

"Just pretend~
That you're a crocodile~
And you will find that boogie man will run away a mile~
Say 'shoo shoo'~
And poke him with a pin~
Boogie man will very nearly jump out of his skin~"

The moment the splicer noticed his odds, he pounced onto the ceiling above him, narrowly avoiding the fire of the turret and the security bots as he began to move his way across the room, towards another open passageway on the left.

Omega narrowed his eyes as he moved his gaze to the splicer's targeted area of escape, his irritance quickly turning to smugness as he took notice of a familiar looking red barrel that lied near the path entrance.

"Say 'buzz buzz'~
Just like the wasp that stings~
Boogie man will think that you're an elephant with wings~"

Landing down near the barrel, the splicer began to run, causing Omega to only roll his eyes knowingly, as he quickly put his finger on the trigger to his rivet gun.

"Hush, hush, hush, here comes the boogie man~
Tell him you've, got soldiers in your bed~
For he will never guess that they are made of lead~"

With one more punctuating note from the band from the phonographs music, Omega fired, the rivet instantly piercing the barrel's outer covering and causing it to violently rupture, creating a sizable fireball, and loudly booming shock wave, that all but vaporized the splicer.

Omega lowered his weapon as he nonchalantly made his way over to the still slightly entranced turret, the music playing an instrumental that simply screamed 'marching music' as Omega found his head bobbing side to side with the tune, moving about the wiring of the immobile sentry.

"Say 'hush, hush', he'll think that you're asleep~
If you make a lovely snore away he will soon creep~
Sing this tune, you children one and all~
Boogie man will run away, he'll think it's Henry Hall~"

With one last wire, the small red system lighting on the turret turned green, as it harmlessly began to look Omega over, scanning its recently removed threat. Omega smirked as he removed himself from his kneeling position, giving out a groan and calling for his charges.

"When the shadows of the evening come across the sky~
And your mummy comes upstairs to sing a lullaby~
Tell him that the boogie man no longer bothers you~
Uncle Henry is so kind, he told you what to do~"

Peeking their heads around the wall they had hidden behind, opposite of the clump of flesh and blood that used to be identifiable as a splicer, Fluttershy and Rarity caught sight of Omega, a smile on his face as he waved towards the two.

With soft smiles of their own, though they shuddered when they glanced towards one of the other nearby corpses, the two made their way to Omega and the reprogrammed turret, Winston and Garret following shortly after, having been released from their previous trances.

"Hush, hush, hush, here comes the boogie man~
Don't let him get too close to you he'll catch you if he can~
Just pretend, your teddy bears a dog~
Shout out 'get him teddy' and he'll hop off like a fro-"

Having reassuringly patted the two's heads, Omega moved over to the phonograph and removed the needle from the disk, silencing it and muting the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well... For once, that song didn't stink... Huh.

After that little spat, I had decided to check the Ammo Bandito vending machine. I mean, normally, I wouldn't really have used this machine, considering it specialized in its selection of ammunition, and I much rather preferred the selection of that creepy clown machine, but hey, I figured that I'd at least be able to find something of interest if I looked it over.

"Bienvenidos, amigos!" The machine said as Fluttershy, Rarity, and I neared it, very nearly causing us to jump out of our skin. Seriously though, does every vending machine down here have an interest in giving people heart attacks!?

"... Um... What did it say?" Rarity asked, drawing a shrug from me. I wasn't programmed to understand any language but English, so this wasn't really my specialty. Besides, for all I know, the language that this thing is talking in wasn't even existent in the world of my charges.

Stretching out my arm and shoulder, I looked over the machine's selections, thankful that they were at least written in an understandable language.

Rivets, specialized ammo, hack dar- Oh?

I felt my brow raise as I caught sight of a particularly interesting sight amongst the listings. Under a subheading that read 'Maintenence Only', an Auto-Hack Dart was listed.

Having taken interest on this, I kneeled myself next to the machine, grabbing hold off and pulling off its control panel.

This should be easy enough.

About a few seconds worth of wire adjustment, 5 free rivets, and an $18 Auto-Hack Dart later, Fluttershy, Rarity, the security bots, and I were making our way out of the room, following the same path that the spider splicer had attempted to go down before he was turned into a charred stain on the wall.

Speaking of which, there he is now... Yeah. I guess it's a good thing that Fluttershy and Rarity have started to adapt to this sort of thing... Wow that's a bitter-sweet.

Forwards, left, right. It was like the mirror image of the path from before. The only difference being that it led to a different part of the 'Journey To The Surface' ride.

In fact, we were only a little bit further ahead from where we were before, parts of the wreckage from the ride still clearly visible towards our left.

I guess some progress is better than no progress.

As we turned ourselves to go right, following the familiar trail that the railing of the ride made up, I started to notice that several more signs than before were hung up around the pass, likely to further the thoughts of Andrew Ryan.

'Laws', 'Sanctions', 'Courthouse', it was all made to seem as if these were horrible things, caused by the people who ran life on the surface.
Like Rapture was any better. Tch, talk about hypocrisy... Funnily enough, I had only recently learned that word from the book that I was reading.

Another thing about the pathway was that, oddly enough, it had started to look nicer than before, despite still being in ruins. Fake balconies hung from the prop buildings that made up the attraction, and the ceiling had been painted black, with white dots on it, likely to imitate the night sky.

Of course, with every piece of good, there was always a bit of bad... Shaped like Ryan, in this case.

Along the narrow trail of the ride, a wax copy of Ryan, similar to the one from before, yet again sat casually against his seat, looking towards us with its lifeless eyes. In fact, the only difference that this room had from the one before was that the desk, and all the other furniture, had been placed on the opposite sides of the room.

'Variety and originality', and all of that bull.

I ignored this copy of idiocy as best as I could, walking straight past it as we reached the first real scene that we had seen since the farmer and his family.

In it, there was some sort of lab, three wax scientists busy at work, typing in their seemingly random annotations and texts while the third stood before some beakers and test tubes. His arms were raised up high, as if exclaiming to the skies above that he had succeeded at something grand and revolutionary. Seemingly out of his attention though, another large and suited arm was beginning to come down upon him from above, ready to 'push off his happiness and surprise his success'.

'On the surface, the scientist invests the power of his mind in a single miraculous idea and naturally begins to rise above his fellows. But the Parasites say, 'NO! Discovery must be regulated! It must be controlled and finally surrendered.''

Yadda, yadda, yadda. Same shit as before.

Either way, we needed to go through this small lab, the path ahead of us having been blocked off by more rubble.

The girls followed close as we maneuvered our way around the false lab, Garret and Winston, in the meanwhile, flying over the blockade and to the other side.

As we zigzagged across the blockages of the path, we also came across another scene, this time of an artist.

Three paintings surrounded him, and, to be perfectly honest, I thought they looked pretty nice, despite the giant arm that was attempting to clock of one of them.There was one of a woman, one of a detective, and one that was... Abstract? I wasn't sure, but the colors and overall pattern of it was still nice to look at either way.
'On the surface, an artist strives to frame his ideals in an image, to challenge his audience and make his vision immortal. But the Parasites say, 'NO! Your art must serve the cause! Your ideals endanger the people!''

Rarity and Fluttershy seemed to like them as well, lingering as we passed by them. Heh. At least there were some parts of this city that they found pleasant.

As we finally passed the blockages, returning to the path of the ride with Winston and Garret waiting there for us, I noticed even more signs hung from the buildings, again giving a 'worrisome' appearance. 'Turmoil', 'oppression', 'curfew'. Along with this, there was another wax Ryan to our right... Oh to hell with it.

I didn't even spare it another glance as we continued forward along the rails.

Soon, we came across another Maintenance entrance... Only this one was open. It's door was pretty much jammed upwards, sparking slightly as it continually attempted to close, only giving out a struggling clunk.... Maybe... There's another terminal there? After all, it was a maintenance area.

Shrugging at the possibility, I gestured for the groups to follow me, my Telekinesis plasmid and weaponry at the ready just in case we ran into trouble.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upon walking inside the room, the group was immediately greeted by a first aid machine embedded into the nearby wall. This felt as if it was... An omen, of sorts. Omega wasn't really sure why, but he wasn't certain if its being here was a good sign, or a bad one.

His eyes narrowed at this, but he continued nonetheless, his guard raised for just in case. Even more so, however, when they actually entered the room, and a cold shudder passed through all of them.

Inside the room, several wooden shelves and unused hooks were placed near the walls, centered out by four large tables that stood upon the wooden floor of the room. These shelves and tables, however, were not unoccupied.

Wax heads of all shapes, tones, and sizes adorned them, the flickering lights of the room flooding it with an atmosphere of absolute eeriness.
Omega could feel Fluttershy and Rarity walk closer to him, occasionally brushing past his legs from their proximity. He didn't mind, of course. In fact, he found that it was well prompted from them, having felt a chill of his own as they entered the room. He patted their heads reassuringly, before, with a quick breath, they continued to make their way into the room.

Their shadows appeared and disappeared with the dying lights above them, as they were continually gazed upon by the several severed heads of attraction models.

Winston and Garret's headlights only provided minimal light to the room themselves as they went on, shining from corner to corner as they sought out any visible threats.

The walk felt like it had gone on for hours, despite the room's relatively small size, but eventually, they made it to a smaller, adjacent room with ease.

One last shudder passed them as they left the room, and entered the other, still feeling the endless gaze of the wax heads upon them despite their lost line of sight with them.

Thankfully, the group was able to give out a hefty sigh, as they noticed that the room they were in would allow them an even further escape from the infinite glares of the wax beings. A stairway, pointed to direction itself downwards, stood before them, it's lights having been completely shut down with the passing of time.

Glancing to his charges for a short moment, Omega gestured for Winston and Garrett to take the lead, their headlights serving as a temporary godsend as they then navigated their way downwards.

The air became thicker, and the floor became wetter, as they walked down the steps, enveloping themselves in even further darkness, only interrupted by the two security bots.

On occasion, Mill could be felt shifting around against Omega's back, through the bag, causing him to flinch at the sudden sensation through the dark air.

After a few minutes more of walking downwards, the group came upon an odd, labyrinth-like area of metal, fenced walls, and wax arm holding metal hooks. For a moment though, Omega needed to do a double take, having believed them to be real arms rather than those of wax.

Along with that, a headless wax figure leaned against a nearby wall, seemingly sized and shaped to be similar to that of a child.

Alongside this, clean, working pistons and engines were scattered about the walls of the room, likely having previously been used to power the ride as a sort of reserve energy.

Wanting nothing more than to finish here, and move on, Omega took in another breath, the group and him making their way through the labyrinth of a room bit by bit.

They came across several dead ends, and spare pieces of wax figurines, but they remained relatively unperturbed by this, continuing in their attempts.

As they finally reached the end of the miniature maze though, allowing themselves to gaze upon their earned prize, Omega felt himself freeze.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... This... Was what we did this for...? Just...

All of that work, that repetition, that trial and error... Just to bring us to another bad memory of mine?

From its tall metal structure, embedded into the wall, to its familiar design and engraving, I knew what this was in an instant, memories flooding through me as I gazed upon the previous safe place for my old charges. A 'little sister hidey-hole', as the developers of this design had called it.

A vent that little sisters could fit through, and hide inside of as they made their way around from place to place, waiting for their 'Mr. Bubbles' to come and protect them...

"Omega?" I heard Fluttershy say, calling out to me as I gazed blankly at the vent...

We... We should get going... This was obviously just another waste of time, being down here. There was no terminals for him to find, nothing of any relative use...

Just... Just the vent... In its usual, clean, and self-preserved sta-...?

What the?

Before I could turn myself around and leave these bad thoughts of mine behind, Winston's headlight moved slightly, glinting off of something to the side. Raising a brow at this, my shoes tamped lightly across the damp floor below us, as I made my way towards the sight.

What seemed like... A small shard of metal was embedded into the wall. This wasn't just a single point that had been damaged by this shard though. It wasn't simply a piece of metal that had been thrown too hard. Rather, with the shard, the wall seemed to have a thin, vertical line, almost cut into it...

Narrowing my eyes at the sight, a sense of curiosity came over me as I grabbed hold of the metal shard, pulling it partially to the side. It slid out with relative ease, but in doing so, the line that it had been jammed in opened even more so. It was from this that I saw something inside.

Small lights, of different colors, could be seen through the small opening...
Okay, seriously, what the fuck is this?!

Without another thought, I jammed my hands into the opening, grunting as I slid it open, the vent moving along with the wall, as if it were nothing more than another door.

As the opening became even larger, light flooding into our room from the other, I, and the girls, were finally given sight of this... Oddity...

Like them, I gasped...

What the... What was this?

Author's Note

Super chapter, goooooo!

... Yeah...

Ahem. So anyways, I don't really know what to say right now... Lazy mind at the moment...

... Welp, I'll just leave you with the song from the story, and that cliffhanger, and hope you enjoy. :)

Chapter 28: Oh You Have GOT To Be Kidding Me!

... It seemed like it would be another normal day in his routine. These were his first thoughts as he opened his eyes, exiting the plain of dreams that he had entered hours ago. An uncomfortable crick in his neck and a yawn escaping him, he involuntarily glanced down at himself, taking notice of his upwards and barely comforting position.

He had dozed off in his seat again. A sigh escaped him as he stretched out what little of himself that he could, his eyelids heavy, but forcefully lifted as he pointed his gaze forward again.

His vision momentarily blurred and cleared itself as he looked to the several screens that sat before him, creating a vast wall of live and recording film. He could already feel the first of the several migraines he obtained every once in a while beginning to form as he noted that, as usual, practically all of the screens showed static, or black screens.

Despite the mental curse that escaped him, he did not take this issue too badly. After all, he had gotten used to it by now. After so many years of this though, he was surprised that he had managed to retain his knowledge, let alone his sanity.

"The mind adapts." He unconsciously said to himself aloud. Not that it would have mattered, that is. From where he was, he had long ensured that he would be safe, lacing the hall that led to the room, and even the vents above, with security cameras and turrets.

The same security cameras that made up the few working screens that shone before him.

He would be greeted with the refreshing sight of a few–By his standards, that is–splicers every now and then, which, if they were not dealt with by his security, would be dealt with by him.

He abhorred having to so constantly resort to violence, finding the entire concept as redundant and ineffective as the continuous reorganizing of the many books that sat along the walls behind him to pass time–Yet he still continued to do so. How else was he to keep himself on the right side of the plain of his psyche, after all?

Despite thinking himself as a more... Intellectual type, which was already a rarity in its own for the city of Rapture, he still was well versed in the art of ending another's life; Everyone who was down here used to be, though some were better at it than others. 'A city of people trying to survive', he had heard long ago.

"A city of deranged killers and imbeciles, more like it." He mused as he stood himself from his seat with some sense of both dread and glee, before then turning to the many bookshelves behind him to find a viable subject to keep him busy.

Though he knew, with large clarity, that he was truly no better than even the splicers in regards to killing, he still would always distract these thoughts of his with a good study session. Granted, he had already read most of these squares of text walls that sat readily on their predetermined–by him–spots, but he always found it to be enjoyable to refresh the mental photographic image he would have of every single page that came before him.

Grabbing a hardcover book under the heading of 'Advanced Physics Under Ryan'–One of the fewer, and less biased, books that could possibly have been released within Rapture–he glanced to a few specific terminals once more, of course being met by static filled screens, before then shaking his head with a self-pitying chuckle.

"Heh. That would be the day."

Until that day did arrive though, he would just sit here, reading his books and using what little peripheral he was given to glance back and forth towards the-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Terminals...?

And... Lots of them...

That was the first thing to greet the girls, and my, sight as the rest of vent and wall segment was moved to the side, seemingly sliding into place inside of a hallowed out region of wall. The lights of these screens, that is. The rest of the room, however, was dark, and difficult to examine from afar.

My brow had been stuck upwards as a sense of complete and utter confusion overcame me.

I had pretty much been forced to remember every last, individual part of this city, top to bottom. Never, though, have I seen or heard of anything like this. It was almost alien, honestly. Especially considering... Some of the things I could see in this room, I had no idea what they were, or even did.

... No sense in just standing here like a statue, I guess.

With a shake of my head, a glance to similarly curious charges, and a seemingly bored look from the security bots that escorted us, the five of us–Excluding Mill–made our way into the relatively small room; Oddly enough though, despite its relatively small size, the opening that led inside was pretty high, and wide.

As the shallow water below us continued to slosh, myself imagining that Rarity had already been dreading every watery step that she took since we got here and regretting not having offered to help her in that regard, Winston and Garret once again took the lead.

Their headlights, like before, provided minimal light to the room, just being enough to make out a few more details as I glanced around, moving towards the large collection of terminals with my rivet gun already heated, and my Telekinesis plasmid at the ready.

I could practically feel Fluttershy and Rarity as they stuck closely to my sides, their nerves likely beginning to get the best of them. I can't really blame them at this point either. This place, whatever it was, had already begun to give out a really ominous air to it.

After what felt to be an hour's worth of wading, my socks and shoes pretty much being filled with 99% water at this point, I, and the rest of the group, positioned ourselves in front of the only visible light source in the room, the control panel to these various terminals and screens only barely being lit and visible.

Unconsciously passing my hand over the terminal, I looked over the many screens that made up the wall before me, and my companions. For the most part, they showed nothing but static, and garbled binary text. Of these however, one stood out. The familiar message from before was, of course, clear in the middle of it. 'Area Lockdown Initiated.'

However, at the same time, different, smaller text also had been written beneath this message. Text that, until this very moment, I had not seen before.

"-Anti-Protocol WYK Initialized-
-Error Detected-
-Initialization At 28%-"

'Anti-protocol'... 'WYK'?

Big Daddies have plenty of programmed protocols and rules programmed into them, each with their own specific actions and responses to certain situations. Anti-protocol WYK though... I've never even heard of that procedure. Hell, I'm not even sure what the heck an 'anti-protocol' entails to!

... Moving on from that, I momentarily rose a brow at the text, taking only a few guesses as to what it may be, before, with a shake of my head and a mental urging to move on, I did the same with the panel before me as I had done to previous control panels. Entering a forcibly memorized series of commands into the one of the terminals, and managing to display it onto one of the screens, I searched for any sort of reaction from the piece of machinery, hoping that, perhaps. this would be the terminal to access the lock-down through.

At first, all that I could see happening was, to put it bluntly, a whole lot of nothing, and I could already feel another bout of frustration building at the possibility of this just being another waste of time. As I input one last command though, the screen lights just barely gave a noticeable flicker, before then displaying another message.

"-Welcome, User 1637-
-Please Enter 4-digit Passcode-

_ _ _ _"

Yeah, that about figures. Giving a grunt of annoyance at the message, I rubbed my face for a moment or two...

Fuck it.

Without another thought, I grabbed hold of the control panel's outer covering, gripping and bending my fingers into the metal on the sides before then pulling it with a quick breath.

The bolts that held the panel down gave in what may as well have been an instant, some having fallen to the floor while others stayed vainly attached to the panel as I then shuffled it slightly in my grip.

Ignoring the many multi-colored cables that connected the metal control-board in my hands, I placed the covering, with its many buttons and all, down near the side of the control panel, hanging precariously over the shallow water as the cables continued to hold it up...

I... Better do this quickly. I mean, in retrospect, I probably could have just used a remote hack tool to deal with this thing, rather than have out the girls and I at such risk of electrocution, even if it would only end up being slight, and relatively harmless.

Nonetheless, I felt that, in this regard, it would be best to use the manual method. The less risk I had of activating some built-in security system, the better.

With a faint source of light from Winston and Garret's headlights, along with that of the screens, I grabbed hold of several wires and tiles, moving them all little by little into place while, at the same time, watching out for any alarm or overload tiles.

Fluttershy and Rarity could faintly be heard behind me, taking a few small steps in their place as they waited for me to finish. Were it not for the fact that I was currently occupied, in fact, I would have at least given them a glance to make sure, or maybe reassure, that they were okay.

The fur that occasionally brushed softly against my pant legs told me that they were, but... Oh shit, the tiles!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite this having been the third time that Omega had gotten distracted during a hack, he yet again managed a speedy recovery, connecting wire after wire to their unspecified places.

Fluttershy, as he did this, stayed as close to Omega and Rarity as she could, their dark surroundings serving well to unnerve her in a great degree. Even Rarity found herself to slightly back towards their guardian, though not quite as closely, also seeming to catch sight of the imaginary horrors that could very well await them.

Horrors that, believe it or not, may actually have been worse than her currently wet and matted hooves and fetlocks.

The three other members of the 'Rapture Family'–Excluding Omega–as well could sense the nerve wracking air around them, the security bots just barely able to keep their lights of the wiring, as Omega needed, and Mill beginning to squirm in place from his hiding area within the group's supply bag.

With one last wire, Omega finished the hack with relative ease, glancing up to the computer system yet again to see if he had succeeded in his ministrations.

Sure enough, the passcode area of the screen had now been filled, Omega nearly giving out a disbelieving groan as he read it out and slammed his hand into his face. "RYAN".

Rolling his eyes, Omega grabbed hold of the loosely hanging control board of the panel, holding it up with his right arm as he began to enter his commands manually through it.

The machine confirmed the pass, moving to another screen where, despite Omega's progress, it simply displayed a large 'error'.

Pursing his lips, the unarmored protector took another glance to the inner wirings of the machine, narrowing his eyes before, with a decisive grunt, he placed the controls back to the side of the panel and reached his arm into its components.

Cables moved around–And occasionally entangled themselves with–Omega's arm as he shoved his arm further downwards, searching for whatever it may have been causing the issue. He rummaged through the electronics for a moment or two, drawing curious gazes from his two charges, until under the small and focused lights of the security bots, he spotted an oddly colored cable, in comparison to the rest.

It took only a moment of mental searching as he revealed more of the cable that he found a match as to what it was.

A power adaptor, made to take energy from various sources and connect it to wherever it may have been needed. Ironically enough though, upon following the cable, Omega found that the adaptor was currently doing the exact opposite of what it was needed for.

As it was draining power from the systems and outputting it to nowhere in particular, Omega grabbed hold of the wire, making sure to have used the rubber hold of his ESU's glove as he then gave it a solid yank, rapidly unplugging it from it previously jammed in position.

A spark escaped the wire that Omega, a small addition of comparatively blue light joining that of the security bots, and a loud whir instantly filled the air.

Before even the swiftest of thoughts could form in the minds of the group as to what was happening, a series of clicks sounded out, accompanied by a bright red glow.

Omega raised a brow as the lights to the room, apparently having been turned off and functional this whole time, turned on in an eerie fashion. A questioning thought as to the color of these lights nagged at the back of his mind as he, along with his charges and security units, looked around the now visible room from their individual positions, distractedly keeping the cable of the power adaptor in his grasp as he did so.

Along the walls, several strange, and unrecognizable pieces machinery were spread about, most of them having been covered in dust, and in some, cobwebs; Spiders scrambled under the sudden light, hiding behind the various nooks and crannies around them as Rarity gave a shudder at the sight.

Among these, Omega, and Winston, found their gazes focused to one specific piece. One that seemingly stuck out in both of their minds, though it was only Omega that did not know why.

At first, Omega had thought it to be some sort of vita-chamber, more than prepared to give another silent curse at the seemingly never-ending mocking that the universe was so enjoying to the concept of giving him. Upon giving it a second once-over though, he realized that that wasn't the case.

Comparably, this glass capsule was... Larger, than a vita-chamber. It lacked the former's color and shape, even being adorned with several tubes that led from several indiscernible places, and it seemed, almost... Familiar.

Even stranger though, the capsule was open, with large shatters and cracks spider-webbing the glass of the open doors.

"This is... Weird." Omega thought to himself as he continued to, almost hypnotically, look at the large apparatus. Before he could go on for much longer though...

"Omega?" He overheard his winged charge, Fluttershy, call. "Should... that look like that?"

Again raising a brow as he pried his gaze away from the capsule, glancing to Fluttershy before then following her gaze, Omega caught sight of a new, though far from unwelcome, change in the working terminal of the wall before him.

"-Error Resolved-
-Manual Override Initiated-
-Disengaging Area Lockdown-"

Rarity, Fluttershy, and even the security bots and Mill, found themselves flinching as Omega gave out a loud groan, meaning to say, without any sort of reluctance, "THANK YOU," as he was finally able to rid himself of the irritating issue that had long been holding the group to this god-forsaken area of the equally god-forsaken city of the sea.

It was only a few seconds after Omega had done this that he remembered the company around him, turning his head to face his charges and quickly noticing the odd looks they gave him. He gave a sheepish smile as he then moved to place the control panel's covering back to its original positioning, mentally hoping that they wouldn't catch sight of the light shade of red that he could feel begin to adorn his cheeks.

The metal of the panel clinked against its placing as Omega balanced it atop, uncaring of the screws that he had long ripped off or lost in his initial removal of the covering as he glanced to the power adaptor in his grip. "... Whatever may help." He decisively thought to himself with a shrug, as he half placed the wire into his bag, half had it pulled into the bag by the helpful slug he called Mill.

Allowing a quick chuckle to escape him, he turned to his charges yet again, offering them a more confident smile as he, almost pridefully, slung his rivet gun over his shoulder, drawing a giggle from Flutttershy, and a muffled laugh from Rarity. Omega chuckled as well, before he then gestured with a bob of his head towards the direction that they had just come from, wordlessly telling them that he had done all he had needed to.

Winston and Garret moving from Omega's sides to those of his charges, and Omega carefully excusing himself past the girls, the group began to make their way out of the odd, and once hidden, room, and into the labyrinth-like room that they had preciously been in.

Aside from how he felt for having to re-navigate their way through the maze again, and this time backwards, Omega felt himself to be in a near gleeful mood. So much so, that he didn't notice the rest of the text that formed onto the screen of the terminal he had just left.

"-Anti-Protocol WYK 100% Initialized-
-Linking Available Data-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... 'And so, it is with this singularity that the possibility of other planes are possibly brought into existence. Furthermore, it with this point that, despite great debate, it is likely that it is possible to, even temporarily, link these planes, and-' Honestly, I cant take anymore of this trash." A groan escaped the man as he read these lines, straight from his selected piece of text. The reason, of course, being that he was skeptical, to say the least, as to the possibilities of this 'multi-verse theory'. It was only the more factual and less lenient part of his mind that drove him to this conlusion of thought and action, but it was this region that made up a LARGE percentile of his mindset. After all, the overall concept was foolish, and fictional, at best. It especially irritated him that he had found this entry inside of a book based on fact, rather than theories.

"These moronic and mindless fools that made up the staff of Rapture's 'top notch' science department will be the death of me, I swear it. Of all the ill-conceived and flawed texts that I have read from their writing, this has to be the most-" Before his rant could go on any further, a loud, though short, tone filled the room with noise, as the man then raised his gaze from his book and scanned the room in confusion. "What in the worl-" As his gaze was then moved to the terminals before him, his eyes widened, and the book he held became forgotten, falling to the floor with a loud thump.

"-Anti-Protocol WYK Fully Initialized-
-Admin Control Established-"

He sprang from his seat with surprising, even to him, agility, making his way over to the panel in flash.

He reread the onscreen message once, twice, three times in an effort to make sure that his eyes weren't playing a trick on him, and that his mind wasn't beginning to go again from his many years down in Rapture. Once he was sure that they weren't, he swiftly put his attention to the controls of the machine, a smile now plastered on his face.

"Well I'll be..."

With an almost automated response, the man quickly began to type and move his hands wildly over the control panel, scrambling to remember what commands and entries he had long thought he would never need to input.

One by one, the static-filled terminals began to change,–More specifically, the topmost row–displaying several near-identical images, as the main screen relayed the progress.

"-Active Subjects:

Beta 2-1
Echo 2-5"

A small growl of annoyance momentarily filled his throat as he glanced over the subject name 'Echo'.

"-Initializing Subjects:

Zeta 9-8
Lambda 4-3
Theta 1-1
Psi 5-7
Gamma 3-4"

On the many screens, he was given visuals of several glass capsules beginning to open, hints of steam and gas escaping their once sealed selves. His smile grew even broader, however, as several metallic figures, each unique in shape, color, and form, came into his view through the small cracks in the doors that formed.

As he reached for another switch on the panel though, momentarily taking his attention away from the screens, he heard a loud shatter and crash through the audio monitors.

Turning his attention up towards the screens again, he noticed that one, particular capsule had been broken to pieces, the figure behind it lifting himself out with large and lumbering steps.

The familiar red light that adorned his porthole caused the man to quicken his pace, as he began to realize what was occurring.

He continually moved to and fro from the panel, while also occasionally glancing at the screen to watch the subject's movement.

The subject looked around the area for a moment, eventually focusing his sight to the control panel of his own room. A growl could be heard through the central room's speakers, practically echoing in the man's ears, as he noticed the subject beginning to make his way over to the panel.

An unspoken and unprovoked race began as the man and subject committed to their individual acts, one working on the panel, and the other threateningly walking towards it.

Finally, as one last command remained, the subject reached his destination, raising an arm up high, a pink ribbon that had been wrapped firmly around its wrist momentarily flicking through the air, before he brought it back down, destroying the panel, and the floor below it, with one swift movement.

Within an instant, several of the feeds that were shown to the man were cut off, his eyes widening, and jaw dropping at the now black and error-filled screens.

He stayed like this for a moment, his mind seeming to momentarily set itself into a reset before, from the bottom of his stomach, he began to feel an unbridled fury grow. Years of waiting and patience, keeping himself busy with reading–not to say he didn't enjoy it–all flushed down the metaphorical toilet because one protector woke up on the wrong side of the... Pod...

A shake passed through him as, with a deep breath, he regained a sense of calm, loosening his grip on the now bending edges of the control panel.

"... Theta isn't going to ruin this. No, not yet... Besides, its not like he made me lose all of my feeds." Settling for the conciliation of the remaining screen that continued to function, the man looked at the room from which subject Echo had left from some time ago, giving a sigh as he switched the camera feed from that of the room, to a more mobile, and lumbering view.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With a slight skip to my step–not literally though, I had to retain some of my masculinity in that regard–Fluttershy, Rarity, Winston, and Garret followed me out of the miniature labyrinth that was a room, climbing ourselves up the stairs that had once led us down.

I know this kind of good news isn't going to keep things rolling like this for long; Sooner or later, someone, or something, will try to get repayment for the good with twice as much bad, if not worse. Either way, I still couldn't help being slightly more... Positive.

A small victory is still a victory, I suppose. Especially when it means we can finally get back on track to Inner Persephone, where the escape pods were. There, Fluttershy and Rarity would be able to go home, and I will have kept my promise!

... Despite being left... No. No, this isn't the time for those thoughts... Besides, I can at least say that I had met another Big Daddy in my travels, right? Even if I, technically... Blew him up... Details.

As the flickering light of the wax statue inventory area came into view, soon followed by the several severed heads of these figurines and animatronics, I felt a shudder build up in my spine, before just as quickly dying out.

Though I could tell the same couldn't be said for my charges, myself having offered them sympathizing smiles before continuing on our way, we still went on with a relatively quick pace.

My rivet gun firmly to my side, and ESU just a quick flick from being turned on as well, I gave the room a quick once over as I went in, the girls lagging behind for a moment at the prospect of once again going through this creepy room.

Its a just reason, to say the least. Not even Fort Frolic was this bad, in all of its 'glory'.

Besides, these heads looked really, really eerie. Though they weren't meant to be, each one gave out that sort of vibe nonetheless. Hell one of them even seemed to follow me with its eyes, as a smile came to its face. Honestly, if that doesn't creep a person out, I don't know what wi- OH FUCK!

"IDIOT!"

Mentally cursing myself out as my mind and body suddenly realized what I had seen, I turned myself towards the more realistic seeming head just in time to see it grow arms from the side of the table, each having its hands moved to a single, metal firearm.

Instinct once again took over as I gave the table that the splicer was hiding behind a gestured flick of my wrist, my Telekinesis plasmid going off and launching the wooden table, the wax heads that laid upon it, and the hiding splicer into the nearest wall.

Though the view of the kill was mostly blocked off by the furniture that had now become embedded into the wall, the drips of blood sliding down the wall, and onto some of the fallen wax heads, pretty much gave me all I needed to know.

Hearing footsteps, I heard Winston and Garret ready their weapons as I did the same.

Priorities first though.

Glancing to my charges, who were still out in the open, and seemingly frozen in shock of the sudden situation, I gave a silent grunt as I grabbed hold of the adjacent table with my plasmid as I did the first. This time though, I did not send it flying, instead simply leaning it onto its side and placing it in front of Fluttershy and Rarity for cover.

As I released my plasmid's hold though, Rarity glancing over the table towards me and giving me a concerned look, a sudden hot and burning pain in my shoulder caused me to give out another, more audible grunt, as I unceremoniously allowed the table to fall the rest of the way down, giving an unceremonious thud.

Moving my hand to my shoulder, which, thankfully, had only been grazed, focusing my gaze forwards, I felt my eyes narrow as I saw a group of ten leadhead splicers staring me down, sadistic smiles on their faces as they held to their individual firearms.

Of them, three had machine guns, while the rest, of course, had revolvers. A growl escaped me as I pushed aside what discomfort I felt in my shoulder, slightly moving my legs outwards as I aimed my rivet gun ahead.

This seemed to be the cue for battle, as, within an instant, the splicers began to fire, along with the security bots and I.

Having no cover to hide behind, I aimed to whichever member of the group that I could, playing off on my previously done trick as I gripped on of them in my plasmid and brought him before me, functioning him as a human meat shield.

He was dead within seconds as his 'buddies' fired relentlessly at me, though they only hit him. As this went on, I would fire a few potshots into the crowd with my rivet gun, while Winston and Garret would pepper the crowd with their own weaponry.

Splicer after splicer went down with relative ease, leaving only two others left as we all took aim at them.

As I looked down the barrel of my rivet gun though, I took notice in the odd, orange coloring that overtook its reflection. A small, almost burning color... That's because it was.

Looking to the source of the reflection, I saw, and quickly avoided, the Incinerate fire that had been launched in my direction with a quick step to my left... Garret hadn't been so lucky, sparking shortly after getting hit before, with one last whir, the bot shut down.

Another growl escaped me as I kicked the rapidly beeping husk of the fallen bot forward, landing it between the last two leadhead splicers and watching as they were blown to smithereens.

Once this was done, Winston and I quickly looked around the room again, our respective eyes and headlights looking from place to place, occasionally seeing the smallest of red mists accompanying the Houdini we now knew to be in the room with us.

A woman's laughter could be heard as I caught sight of a forming red mist, aiming my weapon towards the center of it and awaiting the materialization of the splicer.

Within a few seconds, I got my wish, a woman appearing from, practically, out of nowhere, a handful of fire already aimed in my direction. We traded fire, quite literally in her regard, for only a scant second, myself managing a good hit on her leg and her missing her shot as a result before she yet again disappeared.

Winston fired at the last place the splicer was, failing to get the kill by only a few milliseconds before the Houdini had hidden herself through the use of her plasmid.

A demented laugh could be heard filling the room as the splicer hobbled in her invisible state, likely thinking she had the better of us... And she would have... Were it not for the bloody trail she left with every step she took.

Honestly, I feel like, were it not something twisted for me to say, I should think of this as comical, considering how idiotic this splicer seemed to be.

"Can't find me no more, can you, ya little fish?"

This... Actually made me lower my weapon for a short moment, sharing a glance with Winston, who seemed to feel the same sense of disbelief as to the level of stupidity in this splicer, before, barely batting an eye, him and I raised our weapons and fired.

I shot once, getting hitting on the splicer directly, which caused another red mist to appear, though this time it wasn't from the plasmid. As for Winston... Well, if there used to be something visible left of the splicer before, it was doubtful that there was now.

A wet thump filling the air from what little likely remaining of the splicer filling the air, and the lifting red mist that had hidden the body confirming these thoughts, I raised my rivet gun in front of me, focusing my attention on the clip that was currently loaded in. Looking over the silhouettes through the colored glass, I counted out 10 rivets left, myself giving a self-satisfied nod once I was sure that everything was as it was.

Now, normally, I wouldn't have been this careful, but the thing is, that ambush wasn't necessarily that bad. Aside from a grazed shoulder, along with a partially torn shirt and vest in that regard, I had come out of that situation relatively unscathed.

In other words, I was still, technically, owed something bad happening to me, and I didn't want to take any chances with that.

Pessimistic? Maybe? Realistic? By Rapture's standards, very much so.

Having checked in on, and retrieved the girls, we made our way back onto the ride from the maintenance area we were just in, once again following the tradition of following the tracks.

I was, of course, aware that the area lockdown had been removed, and that we could've just started making our way back the way we came, but I was also aware of the fact that there was a shortcut just up ahead, which lead back to the entrance of the ride, and the main room to Ryan Amusements.

Why take the long route when you can just as easily take the short one in this case?

As to the reason that we were still only a group of 4 right now, myself having not yet called for another security bot with my Security Command plasmid... Well, I had figured there was no need to right now.

The path that led back to the main room wasn't exactly an open area, so, even if we did come across some splicers, there would likely only be five, or six. Something that Winston and I could easily take care of within a few short moments.

So, yeah, not really any need for that use of EVE.

My footsteps, and their hoofsteps, gave out a familiar echo as we went on, the sound of Winston's rotors adding to the reverberations in a near deafening form... Seriously though, they couldn't have made it so that security bots would at least be a little more quiet?

As the track gave one last curve to the right, the mental map I had telling me that this would be the last upcoming 'people and government' scene before we would then soon reach the exit, I found myself looking preemptively to my right, watching as it soon came into view.

The scene was... Simple, I guess one could say. A family. Not a family working at their farm, or worshipping Ryan, or any of that bullshit... Just a family, with the mother and father seated on a couch in the back, hold one another lovingly, the wife's head resting on the husband's shoulder, and a young boy laying on the floor further up front, his legs slightly kicking upwards as he and his family watched the TV...

For a moment, they all disappeared, replaced by my own mental images. The father's place was replaced by me, my armor secured around me once more, as my porthole shined a bright green and I myself stared forward. There was no 'mother' to join me. I was just... There. Another change was that, rather than a young boy, there were three little girls; Two of them, Ashlyn and Beatrice, seemed to be playing with one another, while the last laid in front of the television, her face blocked from both my imaginary, and real views.

Suddenly, the three distinct lumps of blanket covered objects became much more distinctive from the other items I had stored away in the bag on my back...

A tap on my leg brought me back from my, apparently, distracted state, my eyes momentarily widening before refocusing with a shake of my head.

Putting my attention down to my side, I noticed Rarity, of course alongside Fluttershy, looking to me with a face of concern, her hoof still partially held out from when she had tapped me.

I offered the pair a reassuring smile, patting Rarity's, as she was the closest one, head to add to the point.

I was fine...

... I drew my gaze away from the scene again, having started to get distracted again, though this time on the small, sewn portrait that hung above the wax figures of the mother and father, reading 'home sweet home'. Yeah. Right.

Moving my attention to a door at the side of the room, the rest of the railing ahead of us blocked off by a substantial amount of debris and waste, I, alongside my charges and Winston, made our way through the scene, making sure to avoid the wax figurines that rested there.

...If only out of a sort of respect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A short squeak of a yawn barely reached Omega's ears as he and the others made their way down the brightly red-tinted halls of the 'Journey To The Surface's' maintenance hall, his head involuntarily turning towards the source as he went on, and a small smile adjoining his features as he noticed it to be his winged charge, Fluttershy.

Truthfully, of the two, both Fluttershy and Rarity were exhausted.

After all, they had been walking through the various halls of this former place of Rapture for, what seemed like, hours. The constant stress and concern that came from the spats that occurred every now and then in between rooms didn't help either, often putting them on edge for a late duration of their trek.

The infectious yawn of Fluttershy then affecting Rarity as she released her own 'lady-like' yawn, the white-furred mare glanced to Omega. "If we feel tired," she thought to herself, "then he must be utterly exhausted." This was sound reasoning, to say the least.

Omega had been the one actually fighting in the first place, consistently pushing himself to go on despite whatever recent injury or hardship may face him, and doing so while always ensuring that they were safe and healthy.

She found one of her fore-hooves unconsciously shifting to the small bandaging on her face, atop of her muzzle. She flinched slightly as she came in contact with it, the skin still being relatively tender, and likely bruised, underneath.

"Come to think of it... I don't recall seeing him having gotten even the smallest amount of rest either."

She and her friend could only wonder as to how Omega was holding at this point, thinking that, even if they asked, it would be unlikely of him to indicate to them if he was alright or not; He was much too prideful for that– Actually, it wasn't prideful so much as it was determined. He had been gravely injured before, but had simply pushed it aside as nothing, claiming that he'd still be in the condition to protect Fluttershy and Rarity.

He was right, in that regard, but still.

At the very least, they could be glad that, for one reason or another, Omega had found/done something of great importance, considering his earlier reaction back when they were in that odd room hidden behind the walls.

Rarity barely withheld a giggle at the thought. The smile on his face, the way he practically shouted in excitement... The overall movement that he made as he gave a not-so-silent cheer, his body flexing and in just the right-"Oh dear... I'm doing it again." She thought as she barely caught herself from fainting for what would be the third time since Omega had lost his armor.

Not to say that she was particularly glad that he had lost it, of course, but just that...

She gave her head a quick shake, whatever warmth she felt in her cheeks quickly dissipating as she focused her gaze ahead of her once more. She gave a quick glance to Fluttershy as well, a silent sigh escaping her as she realized that her friend had not noticed her... Distracted state.

Omega, in the meanwhile, had been keeping a chuckle held in the back of his throat since he had heard the second yawn escape from his charges, his amusement mostly being derived from the outright adorableness of the sounds.

He could tell fairly easily that they were in need of rest, especially after all they had been through in a matter of hours. Thankfully, they weren't going to be here for much longer. Not since he had disabled the area's lockdown.

Now, they would be able to leave when they got back to the Atlantic Express, and hopefully move on to Lower Rapture without issue.

It was funny, to Omega at least, how he had been so concerned about something bad happening. Aside from a few splicers here and there, there wasn't really much of a threat in this area to begin with anymore. The only one that had been here, had been killed some time ago, and likely wouldn't bother anyone anymore... He still wondered as to what that Bouncer had meant when he had mentioned that 'protocol' of his, much like wondered as to the 'anti-protocol'.

Momentarily pursing his lips at his thoughts, Omega shifted his shoulders as the group eventually reached the end of the maintenence path, being met with two familiar glass walls that created a corner, and a metal, automatic door with a lever next to it.

Recognizing this to be the first maintenance door that he and the others had seen when thy had first come into this area, and being able to see the same pile-up of carts and ride entrance through the glass of the walls, Omega reached out and grabbed hold of the lever, momentarily holding his fingers against the cold metal before giving it a swift tug downwards.

A series of clanks and whirs could be heard as the door began to open, pulling itself upwards to allow its passersby both exit and entrance, and revealing a directly parallel scene of a wax Ryan figure, his position just as unmoving and stiff as when he had first been seen.

Exiting the maintenance hall, and glancing to the two ponies that kept themselves closely behind him, Omega made for the attractions entrance, more than ready to leave Ryan Amusements behind him and his charges.

As he approached the door, however, a sudden thump could be heard, echoing through the room as he then stopped himself in place; His charges and accompanying security bot did the same, taking preference in the maintenance doorway.

Momentarily raising a brow, before then narrowing his eyes and readying his rivet gun, Omega made a quick scan of his familiar surroundings, confirming his suspicions that the sound was coming from beyond the door.

"Figures," he thought to himself with a roll of his eyes, beginning to walk closer to the door. "It would be a brute splicer. Who knows, maybe if I'm lucky–which is very likely–it'll be an armored brute."

Already groaning at the thought, Omega watched as the door began to whir, raising itself up... Before promptly stopping no more than an inch off of the floor.

Raising a brow, Omega scratched the back of his head as he wondered why-

A loud crash and the grinding of metal as the door bent inwards filled the room, causing Omega to recoil back by a step or two, his eyes momentarily widening before just as quickly narrowing as he raised his weapon. Fluttershy and Rarity reacted as well to this violent sound, their ears quickly splaying against their heads, a small yelp escaping either of the two, and the both of them backing slightly further into the maintenance path they had just taken. Winston stayed with them, strictly following one of Omega's much earlier orders to make them his first priority... Mostly because he knew Omega was right there.

His weapons and plasmids primed and ready, Omega waited as a moment of silence came about, his shoulders momentarily tensing as he took in a deep, calm breath.

... A shatter in the silence came as the door finally gave, itself as a whole managing to barely keep hold of its place, but the center part of it being broken inwards towards Omega's direction. As the former big daddy caught sight of the tool that had been used to do so, however, he froze.

Fluttershy, Rarity, and even Winston, did the same.

Before them, was a cold, steel series of blades, formed into a double helix. Before them, was an object of weaponry and repair. Before them, was a drill, jammed in through the door; Just beyond, they could hear a deep, metallic growl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's... A big daddy drill?!

H-how! Had a splicer somehow managed to figure out how to use a protector drill?

No, that wouldn't explain that groan, if that was even really what I had heard!

... Was it... Another big daddy? That doesn't make sense though, where was he!?! Even if he was hidden, it shouldn't have been that hard to find him! Plus, why would he be hiding!?

As the drill moved slightly in its place, seemingly jammed on the door, I heard the–Yeah, it was definitely a big daddy–give out a groan. No words behind it. Just a groan. A particularly annoyed sounding one at that.

My foot barely shifted an inch against the floor before the drill started to whir and spin. Within seconds, the door was ground down to nothing but shards, revealing-... How the FUCK!?!

There was no doubt about it. As I stood there, practically frozen in utter shock–and taking a wild guess that my charges were pretty much the same–I could see this was... The same one. The same one from before!

The symbol, the smaller helmet, the red coloring and extra canister–Everything!

Plus, somehow, whatever injuries, dents, breaks, chars, ANYTHING that had indicated his death was GONE!

How in the-

'Execute... Protocol...'

Oh great, he's still stuck on that!?!

'Main... Threat... Found...' Annnnnd apparently I'm his favorite now. As his drill began to spin even faster now, his once yellow port lights turning a vibrant red, I glanced behind me, noticing the railing that was currently the only thing seperating him and I from a pretty big drop onto a pile of riding pods. I smirked as an idea came to mind.

This guy's fast, sure. But, he's not impossible to avoid. This should be a quick... Er, rematc-

'Critical... State... Granted...'

Wait, critical wha-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A single flicker of light. That was all it took from the maintenance hall that they watched from before the once thought to be dead big daddy had made his way over to Omega, a strong wind streaming behind him as he slammed his gloved fist into Omega's stomach.

They managed a glance at his face of shock before he was lifted from his feet, practically arching himself around the blow, the bag on his back loosening and falling to the floor, and he was propelled forwards through the small railing that led to the stairs, and to the far side of the room.

They wanted to scream as they caught sight of him, already crashed through the building shaped props, and into the glass wall behind it, fracturing it into a large web; at the same time, the surprise of the moment left them silent, Fluttershy's hoof near her maw and Rarity's mouth agape as they looked over the scene.

Omega was in a different state, surges of pain reaching him just before his adrenaline could, essentially causing him to go into a momentary still as he struggled to keep his consciousness. Through his blurring vision, as he opened his eyes with a great amount of struggle, he could see the Bouncer standing where he used to be, the Bouncer's arm held outwards in a fist.

Narrowing his eyes as he began to loosen one of his arms, ignoring the jabbing and gashing glass that broke through his screen as he did so, he already subconsciously thought up many things that he could do to finish this 'protector' as quickly, and painfully, as possible.

With a grunt, he freed his arm, small streams and drips of crimson falling from it and to the floor as some of the glass remained within. With the lack of remaining support though, the glass directly behind him cracked even more, his eyes momentarily widening as he realized what this meant, and the glass finally allowed him the one last push he ever needed to free himself... In the form of gushing water.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hit the floor with a loud thump, glass shards breaking around me and water hitting me with enough force from above to simulate a falling refrigerator.

As to how I know how that would feel, lets just say that death number 35 wasn't very... Usual.

Despite this, I managed to push myself up against the force, my arms as body trembling as the stream of water flowed off around me to the floor, and even greater surges of pain than before left me close to collapsing again.

"Ngh... At least... He didn't use the drill."

Glancing at myself from my currently kneeling position, I gave a grunt as I quickly took notice of the several other viable shards of glass I had embedded in my arms and legs–let alone the ones I could feel in my back, painting the water a slight red as it flowed.

Gritting my teeth and giving out a mental curse, I reached for the nearest shard of glass I could grab, settling for the one embedded into the back of my shoulder. Grabbing hold of it with my gloved ESU hand, I took in a deep breath before, with a withheld yell following quickly after, I yanked the shard out.

I found myself to be panting as the pain of that particular source faded, if only slightly, under the contact of the cool ocean water hitting my back. Looking to myself again though, this relaxation quickly turned to aggravation as I was reminded if the several other shards I had in my limbs and back.

This was going to take a while.

One that, as a loud roar filled the room, and I caught sight of the Bouncer as he jumped down to the floor I was on after me, I realized I didn't have enough to do.

Gritting my teeth again as an idea came to mind–One that I hated in every aspect of, might I add– I dragged myself up onto my feet, the familiar tingle of a plasmid surging through my bloodied right arm.

The Bouncer looked to me in what looked like confusion for a moment, as, all at once, I felt the sensation of over a thousand blades piercing me at once.

On a side note, it gave me an eerie reminder of death 25.

Narrowing my eyes as I finally got to my feet, I gripped my hands together, and, with a great roar of both anger, and especially pain, sent out every shard of glass that jabbed me with my Telekinesis.

Again, my vision blurred for a moment, and my consciousness momentarily slipped from my grasp.

I staggered slightly as the water around me once again turned a misted red, but I held my ground nonetheless, growling as I looked to the Bouncer.

He returned the growl graciously, his drill spinning up once more while I raised my rivet gun, knowing very well what would happen if I would have, at that moment, used my ESU.

The two of us glared at one another for sometime, myself panting while he gave out a barely audible breath, and the refreshing ocean water continuing to stream against me in a light red tone.

One particular drop of water made its way down my arm, gliding over my gashes, turning itself downwards as it reached my elbow, and, eventually, falling off my arm, into the flooding water below me with an echoing drip.

This was the unspoken 'go' as the Bouncer moved himself forward, myself only being able to slightly raise my rivet gun as a shield as he got to me in what seemed like a millisecond.

I couldn't even give out a thought before I was pinned against the cracked and partially broken glass wall behind me, the pain in my back increasing tenfold as my arm struggled to keep itself raised, and my rivet gun screamed at the incoming stress and grinding of the Bouncers drill.

He was faster. Somehow much faster than before. I suspected that 'critical state' that he had mentioned earlier to be the culprit, but that only left me even more confused as to what it was, and how it worked.

"Priorities. Priorities! PRIORITIES!"

Pushing the thoughts aside for later, I finally gained a foothold, one foot on the floor, the other against the wall. Pushing back against the malfunction in front of me, his drill, along with his entirety, began to slide back as I gained my second wind.

This guy was focused on speed, not strength.

With one last shove, and a roar to accompany it, I pushed him even further back, this time staggering him as his drill lost its mark and was pushed aside.

Before he could even gain a direct sight on me again, I had already reeled my right arm back, hitting him hard in his center-most porthole, before then following the blow with a surge of Telekinesis.

The air gave a sharp ring and distorted slightly as he was blasted back, much like I was, and crashed into the metal walls that made up the side of the stairway that led down here.

As the steel plates bent and gave under his propelled weight, I heard what sounded like a pair of yelps come from higher above, drawing my attention as I rose a brow at the noise.

My eyes widening as I noticed both Rarity and Fluttershy to be standing there, in the open, near the blasted apart railing as they watched the fight; They staggered from the impact of the Bouncer below them, my heart momentarily stilling at the thought of them falling over, before they quickly gained their balance.

Despite taking notice of Winston near the two, I still felt a growl escape me.

What were they doing! ?They should have been hiding!

Deciding to chew them out for that later, I put my attention back to the Bouncer... Just in time to see him slam his foot back down... Really had to start paying more attention in these fights.

I was on the floor before I knew it, and from a short glance I had managed, I noticed that Fluttershy and Rarity were no different; Winston began to malfunction, just as the previous security bot, Garret, had done in my last fight with this Bouncer.

The sound of cracking and shattering behind me worried me that the glass walls would completely break apart at the stress it was currently under, what with the violent vibrations, and the large hole that had already weakened its structure.

It seemed to hold though, as the shattering lessened to silence, though new leaks were starting to show.

Through my trembling vision, I could see the Bouncer making his way just fine over to the large pile of broken down pods to his right, before then grabbing hold of one, and lifting it over his head.

Reeling it back, I watched as the Bouncer took aim at me, launching the pod as powerfully as he could, and giving out a groan as he did so.

Time slowed for the second time that I had fought this thing, my left hand gripping onto the floor below me, bending the metal for a hold as I raised my right arm in front of me.

I was NOT going through death 47 again!

Enveloping the pod in my plasmids hold, I stopped it a few mere centimeters from reaching, before then launching it back at the Bouncer with a yell.

He didn't even flinch as he avoided the pod with ease, practically disappearing from where he was before he appeared in front of me, his speed once again being expressed as he raised his drill above me... And stood in front of my right arm... I see he also traded out his brains for his speed as well...

Smirking through the weakening trembles of the room, I fired off another telekinetic blast, staggering the Bouncer in his place.

Taking my given opportunity as I swapped hands between gripping at the floor and attacking, I raised my rivet gun to the Bouncer's leg, placing its barrel straight onto his armored knee before repeatedly slamming at the trigger with a yell.

Several of the shots could be heard clanging onto the armor, likely embedding themselves into one another as they continually pushed through bit by bit. Eventually though, a spurt of blood, and a sickening, yet satisfying, crack could be heard through the shots, soon followed by the sounds of further breaking flesh and bone.

The Bouncer gave a pained roar, swinging his drill at me and clipping my side, before then launching me off to the left. I could hear a snap of my own as something inside of me gave, and I tumbled across the floor.

The water splashing below me was my only indicator as to how far I may have gone before I managed to regain some sort of grip, grabbing onto the sides of the recently submerged railing of the ride.

In fact, it was only now that I realized that the water had reached knew deep depths, myself having momentarily been submerged from the impact.

Lifting myself from the forming sea of blue–And ignoring the small cloud of crimson that had formed in it around me–I coughed out some of the water that had made its way into my lungs, along with some blood, as I looked up to the Bouncer.

As I had hoped, he was currently on one knee, his other practically inexistent at this point, with great bouts of red liquid and pressurized air billowing from it.

I'd like to see that son of a bitch go fast now!

Smiling through my pain and at the opportunity in front of me, I stood myself on the wet, and now still, floor, taking aim with my rivet gun at his helmet.

How about you STAY dead this time, motherfu-

Click.

... How appropriate...

Growling at the lack of ammunition, I reached behind me for a new cl-

WHERE THE HELL IS MY SUPPLY BAG!?! SHIT!

My eyes widening as I realized that the bag must have been knocked off when the Bouncer had first attacked me, I instead raised my right arm again, with intent on using another telekinetic blast... Only to be met with nothing.

REALLY?!? I WAS OUT OF EVE TOO?!? OF ALL THE-

An angered groan from the big daddy ahead caused me to turn my attention towards him, as he began to slowly lumber over to me, a noticeable limp to him as he began to rev his drill again. That was pretty much his only defense now, aside from his armor and strength.

... Damn it all, this was my chance to end this, and I had nothing that do even that... Except...

Moving my gaze to my unused ESU, and the growing water below me, I gave out a groan as an idea came into existence... A very, very bad idea...

This was going to hurt.

Bracing my legs and feet below me, I began to launch my way through the water, greatly slowed, but not by too great of a margin to keep me from reaching the Bouncer.

Noticing my movement, and proximity, the Bouncer attempted another swing of his drill. Lacking his earlier speed to help him though, I was easily able to duck under the blow, reeling my arm back and extending my ESU without yet activating it.

Giving a roar as I sought to end this, I aimed my punch specifically for his center-most porthole. My inactivated ESU crashed through the glass of the porthole with ease, coming into contact with something much softer, but still giving a loud thump.

Before the man inside of the suit could even give out a yell of pain, I braced myself as I flicked on the ESU, activating its hidden electric potential.

Within an instant, the electricity of the ESU, coupled with the large amounts of water that surrounded and covered us, sent an incredibly immeasurable amount of pain jolting through me, and the Bouncer.

It felt as though most of my body wouldn't respond, as both he and I had out shaking yells of pain.

Taking note of the fact that the Bouncer had yet to go down yet though, I managed to slightly narrow my eyes, as I set the ESU to overcharge.

The pain gradually grew more and more intense, leaving me without the breath to even give out another yell, before, finally, the ESU launched its even more electrical blast forward.

I could see the jolt punch through the back side of the Bouncer's helmet, hitting off of the water, back through the helmet, and to me.

The jolt hit my ESU, and with that backwards flowing energy coming into contact with its opposite, a series of resulting electric blasts launched me back.

The resulting pain, and jolt, left me motionless.

I couldn't move, or shout, or even breathe, especially as I landed back first into the water of the flooding room.

Through my haze of pain, I could see the Bouncer collapse, his port lights going out as he hit the floor, and splashed up the water. I couldn't hear any of this though, the water around me muffling the sound, and the ringing in my ears degrading it to near deafness.

I could feel myself going back and forth between consciousness as I looked towards where the Bouncer had been, a mental grin forming as I realized that I had won...

Suddenly, I took notice of something... In the far corner of the room.

From the raised up platform, I saw a familiar glow... One that, I only knew... From experience... A green glow.

As it faded, I could feel the light vibrations of thumping footsteps, my eyes trying to widen, but unable to, as I caught sight of the same big daddy...

"Now... That's just... Bullshit..."

And with that, everything went to black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Rarity struggled desperately to make their way around Winston, who continually blocked the two's paths as they tried to make their way down the stairway to help their friend, even stopping Fluttershy from flying by doing the same.

Winston just as well did not want to leave Omega as helpless as he currently was, but he knew his orders–despite not particularly wanting to– and he also knew that he stood no chance whatsoever against that other big daddy, what with the unpleasant short-circuiting it had caused to his systems.

Fluttershy and Rarity were, of course, greatly perturbed by this.

"For goodness sake Winston," Rarity whispered angrily, "let us through! He needs us!" Despite her protest though, Winston continued to block their paths, moving himself in front of the white unicorn as she attempted to take a step forward.

It was at this point that Fluttershy had had enough. Narrowing her eyes into a familiar glare, which Rarity knew of all too well, she stomped her forehoof into the ground as she began to stare Winston down; He seemed to flinch at the look.

"Winston," she began, a silent anger in her voice, "if you aren't going to do anything to help, then... Just go."

For a moment, Winston simply hovered there, utter shock, and a slight sense of fear, rearing itself to him as he looked to the often timid pony.

Glancing to the ever closing Bouncer though, and taking note of certain... Features it held... A set of instructions began to form in his binaries.

"ANALYZING-
SITUATION SCAN COMPLETE-
ANTI-PROTOCOL ACTIVE-
TARGET RESULT: RESTRICTED-
WEAPONS DISABLED-
EXECUTE OBJECTIVE: 'CONTROL'-"

With a single prolonged beep, and a flash of his headlights, Winston spun in the air a pair of times, before promptly flying himself upwards and through a high up vent. The sound of his rotors could be heard echoing down the vent as Fluttershy and Rarity watched him leave.

"... Well that settles that, I suppose." Rarity mused with an insulted 'harrumph', before rolling her eyes and beginning to make her way down the stairs. Fluttershy followed shortly after, a small amount of guilt ebbing at her from how she had acted towards Winston as she did so.

As the two reached the end of the stairway though, panting slightly from their exertion, they froze, seeing that the big daddy had already reached where Omega was submerged.

Their breaths stilled as they saw the 'protector' reach his arm into the water, holding it there for a moment before then lifting it, along with Omega, who was currently held up by his neck.

He hung limply in his grasp, water and small hints of blood falling from his body as he was raised to the same height of the apparently reborn big daddy.

The two gasped as the armored daddy gave out a growl, whirring his drill into a violent spin and lifting it to aim towards Omega's unconscious body.

As he pulled back the drill, prepared to end the life of the 'main threat' that had plagued him.

"Omega!" The two shouted as the drill closed in on the fallen protector, only a few centimeters from actually coming into contact when-

"Echo, stand down!" Instantly, the drill stopped in its place, as the new voice echoed through the room. The girls widened their eyes at this, momentarily looking around the room for the source of the voice, but finding nothing in their search.

"... Who said that?" As the big daddy began to turn towards their direction, Fluttershy gave a near-silent 'eep' as Rarity, in her panic, hurriedly pulled her friend with her under the water to hide.

Fluttershy was barely able to catch a breath of air before she was pulled under, her eyes wide as Rarity placed her hoof over her muzzle, pushing aside her mental complaints as to how her mane was being ruined, though ruefully, as she saw the light of the big daddy shine over where they used to be, then opposite.

"... No matter Echo. I'm sure they'll show themselves soon enough..." The voice continued, a sense of both confidence and arrogance to it. "Now, if you can hear me," it began to shout, likely aimed towards the two, "I'm going to be having Echo take... Omega here to the Hall of the Future. Follow him, if you wish."

The two stayed silent from their positions, their lungs starting to scream at them for further oxygen.

"... Echo," the voice said, no longer referring to the two mysterious voices it had heard, "take him... And, if any splicers bother you, wait for my orders to attack..." The big daddy gave a silent nod, his port-lights now turning a neutral yellow as he dragged the unconscious body of Omega behind him, and towards the stairs.

The girls felt their fear spike as a heavy boot stepped next to them, mere inches from having hit Rarity, before lifting, and moving towards the stairs.

"... Oh, and, do be kind enough to grab that bag of his for him. We wouldn't to mistreat our friend here, would we?"

Author's Note

... Well fuck...

THE PLOT THICKENS!!!

Chapter 29: Drill Vs Nothing... Easy...

... Ugh.

That was the first thought to come to mind, honestly. Granted, it wasn't much–hell, it was barely even a word–but it at least let me know that I was alive.

Despite this though, everything, for the most part, was still hidden behind a layer of black. It took me a moment, my mind feeling hazy and slowed, before I realized that my eyes were still closed.

It was an odd feeling, this literal aftershock I mean.

It felt as if every nerve in my body had been backed up, dulling my senses by a significant margin and making it feel as though... As though I was below water...

In fact... It even felt like there was water sloshing against me, its cool and welcoming relief greeting me with every small movement I made.

Through my paled senses, I could make something else out; something lightly touching my face, just near my chin, its overall texture seeming to be a... Familiar combination of smooth and slick.

As if to further its familiarity, I then heard an odd trill echo through a muffled-like form...

That's...

As the feeling continued to push and pester against my face, I slowly regained the energy and thought I needed to open my eyes, a short ache throbbing through my mind for a moment as I did so.

Immediately, as my eyes were cracked open, I was met by the two glowing and pupil lacking eyes of my 'pet' ADAM slug, Mill, who gave out another sound as he seemed to realize I was awake.

The dim light around him and I barely served to make him distinguishable from everything else my still rather unfocused eyes could spot, myself barely managing to keep them open in exhaustion.

Mill, who swayed slightly from side to side upon his place on my chest, most of his body leaning just over my face, gave out a short squeal as he then looked to his side, moving towards that direction shortly after and off of me.

What was so distinctive about this, though, was that, as he left my current point of view, I could hear a small splash accompany him.

I rose a brow at this, deciding to finally try and get a look around me despite my lack of energy in that regard.

The first thing I had tried to do was move my arms below me, so as to more easily raise myself. This was quickly proven for naught, however, as my left arm felt restricted by the wrist, easily twistable to the left and right, but otherwise held to one place. As for my right arm... I felt a jolt of pain hit me hard as I tried to move it, in turn, obtaining little to no response.

I could still feel Mill as he brushed against it, allowing me to give a sigh of slight relief that it was still there, but as for moving it, or my hands... It was numb from the shoulder down.

Adapting to this as best I could, I focused my efforts to just my left arm, using what limited movement I had to place myself in a seated position, my right arm dragging itself along with me, albeit painfully, as I did so.

I took in a somewhat panting breath as I then felt a large amount of blood suddenly flow from my head to the rest of my body, my vision momentarily swimming in a jumble of colors and discomfort.

My hearing was no longer muffled as I did this, and for two good reasons. One, my ears gave a loud pop as I righted myself, restoring a good portion of this. Two... The water that surrounded my ears was no longer in the way.

Yeah, as it turns out, that feeling of water that dulled my senses... It was actually water.

This became especially clear as the sound of dripping and sloshing water went through the room, the cold liquid dripping down and off my arms, along with through my clothing; my vision cleared shortly after, revealing the fact that I was, indeed, sitting in a small pool of water, Mill easily recognizable among this water as he swam quickly around me over and over, creating ripples as he went.

The water was fairly shallow, honestly, its level just low enough for my head to have stuck out far enough for me to get air, but just high enough to have submerged my arms and legs, alongside a portion of my torso. Furthermore, my left arm, at least from what I could see, was restrained by the wrist, a few chains keeping it firmly planted to the floor.

As my body ached, I... Faintly remembered what had happened... I think... My mind was still pretty foggy at the moment.

Some sort of fight, from what I could recall; one that, during which, I had gotten pretty badly hurt.

Though, as I looked myself over... There was nothing. Tears and bloodstains were clear in the fabrics of my shirt and vest, but through these reddened holes, I couldn't see any injuries whatsoever, save for a few newly forming scars.

The first thing to come to mind was... Well... Where the fuck was I?

Sure, the fact that I was somehow okay despite having been hurt so badly was something to think about, but, for the time being, I think I'd like to focus on the more obvious and present issue.

... From what I could see, there were several broken screens that lined the walls; television screens, protruding from the walls from small posts, decorated to look... Homelier?

Of the few screens that worked, they would consistently flicker, static periodically showing, alongside images of, what looked like, plasmid labels...

... Hall of the Future... The one name that popped up in my aching head, forcibly shoved outwards by my programmed memories.

Yeah. I remember this place; this so-called 'children's attraction'. It basically told people of the 'wonders' of plasmids and tonics, and why it was absolutely necessary to have them, and all of that bull. I could even see a Gene Bank machine, where people would swap or add plasmids and tonics to their bodies with ease, near the furthest corner of the room.

Below this machine, I also saw a familiar sight for sore eyes. My bag, the one that I had been carrying our supplies in, though it seemed limper, emptie-

... 'Our'...?

Within an instant, several layers of clouds and fog that filled my mind cleared, as a repressed growl began to scratch at the back of my throat.

Fluttershy and Rarity... And that Bouncer.... That goddamned Bouncer!

I pulled against the chains that held me for a moment or two, testing their strength, before once again trying to move my numb arm, only getting nothing in return.

Ugh. I swear, when I get my hands on that overgrown, dysfunctional, multi-eyed son of a bitch, I am going to-!

"Heh, not a good rest, I'm guessing?" My struggling held as... This voice rang through the air. It was loud, and held traces of static, but... It didn't sound like... Like one of mine.

"Nope, sorry, can't take the credit there."

Oh, great, now I can hear you!

"You're quite the interesting subject, do you know that?" My eyes darted around the room as I looked for the source of the sound, expecting some sort of splicer to show his ugly face at any moment.

Mill was brought to end what little fun he seemed to have been having as well, moving from the water and onto me; it took me all of a second to realize that he had quickly hidden himself under my shirt, a shudder escaping me as I felt his squirming and cold form againt my skin, before he then peeked his head out from the collar and gave out his best attempt at a growl. I would have likely lingered on this action of his, were it not for the situation at hand.

Try as I might though, I couldn't see anything. No shadows, no figures, nothing... As far as I could tell, I, and Mill, were the only ones in the room.

"... Confused, I take it?" The voice sighed, and I heard what sounded like the faint sounds of a squeaking chair and rolling wheels. "It is actually fairly miraculous, in all honesty, how an intercom system had managed to make it through Rapture's initial and secondary ends. It would be best of you don't squander your time trying to find me. I can see you, but you, to your misfortune, cannot see me."

... 'Squander'?

The fuck does 'squander' mean? Also, who even says that?!?

This voice... This man, from what I could hear of him, lacking of any sort of accent or unspecific gibberish that made up the sounds of most splicers, seemed to notice my apparent confusion as he spoke.

"... Perhaps... I should put myself down an academic level or two? That is to say, to match what limited education you have likely received."

... I'm taking that as an insult.

At the mention of his obvious undermining of my intellegence–granted, I was aware of how limited I was in such, and I had only gotten that phrase from the book I was reading–a growl began to rumble from the back of my throat, seeming to momentarily silence the voice as it filled the room.

"... Quite." Smug ass motherfu- "Any-who, I... Must apologize for your current settings of situation, but I simply had to be sure that you would not go berserk upon reawakening."

A little too late for that asshole. Plus, you're not making the situation any better.

"Oh, and as an added note, I also apologize for your arm in a more specific sense. You see... I had my associate dislocate it during the time that you were unconscious. Couldn't have you using any of those plasmids of yours, after all."

Associate? The hell is he talking about- WAIT, HE DID WHAT?!?

Glancing towards my arm again, it was only now that I noticed the odd looking shoulder that held it, unnaturally loose and extended. As another spark of pain flowed from my arm, my growl grew in its intensity, my eyes narrowing as I looked around for some sort of camera system, or the like.

After a moment of looking, I heard a faint whirring and clicking, turning my head promptly to that direction and catching sight of a smaller, more discreet brand of security camera near the door of the room.

"Now, now, now, no need for hostilities, Subject Omega." How did he- "I have no intention of harming you... Well, anymore than I need to, ostensibly."

Three things: One, that is absolute bull; two, how in the hell did he know who I was; and three, what the actual fuck does 'ostensibly' mean?!?

I practically snarled as I pulled against the chains that held my functioning arm down, already beginning to hear it groan as it neared breaking point, digging into my skin and beginning to leave cuts as it did so; cuts, of which, began to tint the shallow water a light red.

"Ah, as expected, you're already trying to free yourself... And succeeding... Now, realize, I have no doubt that this will not hold you. No, members of the protector program were created to be much stronger than that. Though, I would appreciate it if you calmed yourself, if only for a moment."

I growled at the last two words he used. He was not my friend. In fact, so far, he couldn't have been further from that role!

As the chains began to noticeably bend under the strength I put against them, just about ready to snap with one more-

"Honestly, however, wouldn't you prefer nothing happen to your 'companions'?" I froze...

The chains, which had been near breaking point, practically gave a sigh of relief as whatever force I used against it disappeared within a millisecond. To top it off, I found myself looking to the camera with a combined look of shock, disbelief, doubt... The list goes on.

"Ah... Now I have your attention." He seemed to revel at this, a slight tint of accomplishment in his snarky voice. "Yes, I know of your 'friends'. The ones you've been accompanying, or vice-versa, for some time now... In fact, I ordered the one who restrained you, knocked you unconscious, all of this, to seek them out."

Is... Is he talking about the Bouncer?He's giving that thing orders?!?

"Forget that! He just sent that malfunctioning metal moron to find your charges! " I was tempted to let loose another growl, but at the same time, doubt was beginning to ebb at me.

All of a sudden, I was on the defensive. Anything to make sure that the two would be fine... Including having to be more quiet, despite the many things I would like to say–not that that one would have mattered–or do to this guy.

"I must commend them for one thing so far though. They are... Quite evasive. The subject that you faced has yet to find them, but he has already begun to narrow his search area to a tee. Soon enough, they'll be in his restraint." His tone changed from one of momentary seriousness back to that of fake–at least it seemed fake–friendliness.

"But do not worry, I have no plans to harm them, and I made sure to specify this to your previous opponent. I simply sent him to find them, bring them here, and allow us to more effectively and peacefully discuss a certain... Matter of importance... However, I cannot guarantee their safety should you attempt to escape. I am not the sadistic nor cruel sort, as the splicers in this city are, but I am willing to do what need be done nonetheless."

... Bastard...

"Now... Until your companions are found... Perhaps we can have a calm, simplified, moment of silence? Wouldn't that be relaxing?"

Mill gave out another loud and 'threatening' squeal at this, quickly drawing my own mental agreement to his judgement...

Either way... I didn't have a choice... At least not while he was watching... So, swallowing the anger that I had built, I made myself as comfortable as I could possibly be... And waited...

If I see so much as a scratch on them, so help me, I'll make sure he dies painfully when I find him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Rarity," Fluttershy whispered, taking another small and silent step further behind the fallen stand, "d-do you see him?"

Looking to and from her friend at the question, Rarity took in another shaky breath as she peered her head slowly around the cover the two were using as a hiding place. With ease, she spotted the subject of Fluttershy's question, its drill momentarily spinning as it patrolled around the area, and a bright yellow light emanating from the many portholes in its helmets, lighting its sight as it looked in the direction opposite of them.

"Yes, dear, he's still there." Rarity returned, lowering herself back into place and turning to look to her obviously frightened friend. "He's looking away though."

The pegasus audibly gulped at this, already beginning to dread what she knew this to mean. Nonetheless, she gave Rarity a short nod, the two quickly after peeking their heads up and watching the oblivious Big Daddy as they both mentally counted down.

"3... 2... 1... Now!" Almost simultaneously, the two separated from their places of hiding, Fluttershy flying to hide behind the sign that made up the 'Journey To The Surface' entrance–just behind the 'J' and 'O'–while Rarity his herself in another nearby hiding place on the floor; one of which the Bouncer had more recently checked already.

They barely managed to settle themselves as the light of the Big Daddy shined over in their previous directions, a groan momentarily escaping the strange 'protector' as he then made his way over to the stand in a sort of programmed state.

How long had it been since they had begun to do this seemingly endless cycle; since they saw Omega's bloodied form dragged into that odd room, and, before possibly having been able to follow after him, were forced into hiding as the very being that had put him in such condition exited the room.

"Search and retrieve", they had heard the voice from before command to the drill-wielding alternate of Omega, receiving a simple nod in return as it set out to find them. Even worse yet, the being had slung a pair of objects over his back, easily recognizable as those of Omega's; His ESU and his rivet gun.

It hadn't been long afterwards before they found a viable strategy to keeping themselves hidden, consistently moving themselves from place to place, so as to make sure they would not be easily found. It was not like they had much of a choice in this regard either.

The Bouncer would consistently look to the doors of the central room that made up Ryan Amusements, so as to make sure they would not escape unnoticed, and aside from that, the two certainly weren't going to leave Omega behind, especially in the condition that they had last seen him in.

Ironically enough though, it was Omega that they needed now more than ever, being unable to do anything more than continually hide themselves until the Bouncer left; something that, in its entirety, did not seem likely to occur anytime soon.

This was further proven as the sound of shifting and scattering objects was heard, Rarity and Fluttershy quickly taking notice as the Bouncer lifted the stand they had just been hiding behind up above him, giving it a quick shake as he momentarily scanned the area around it.

Having found nothing, the Big Daddy's grip on the stand seemed to become tighter, before, with a groan of frustration, he threw it back to the ground, splintering it into pieces with a loud series of snaps and crashes.

This was another issue that seemed to becoming more evident to the two. Not long ago, the Bouncer seemed to have grown tired of continually searching the same places over and over again. So, in an effort to keep that process from dragging on for an indefinite amount of time, he had begun to break apart any and all possible hiding spots as he went on.

Though Fluttershy's options were still quite wide, considering her much larger reach of areas using her wings, Rarity was grounded to the floors of the central area. Fluttershy had offered–continually–to not use her wings and stay by her friend's side, but each time was met by a similar response.

"Don't let me hold you back, darling, just go." Though she was well aware of the fact that Rarity was doing this purely out of good intention, she was nervous and guilty of this fact nonetheless, often watching as her friend's list of places to hide became smaller as moments passed; the occasional thought, though she would try her very best to block off this image, of Rarity being found, or worse, having been inside one of these hiding places when it was destroyed was a constant concern.

Rarity was, despite her assurance to Fluttershy, arguably in a much worse state than her timid companion. Her composure was constantly on its very edge of breaking as she mentally counted off every smashed object left behind the angered Bouncer, biting onto her hoof every time this sound echoed through the room.

What was especially worrisome to her was that, normally, she would be able to much more easily hold her composition. Perhaps it had been the exhaustion she felt, the hunger, Omega's near-deathly state, a collection of various others–she was not sure. Whichever it was, it stressed her with every heavy step taken by the Big Daddy she could barely see through a crack in the fallen over cabinet she hid within.

"Oh dear, oh dear!" She thought to herself in a near panic, fanning herself slightly with her forehoof.

It, however, was only a few short seconds before she realized what she was doing, her eyes momentary widening as she glanced to and back from the Bouncer and herself, firmly, quietly, placing her hoof back down and taking a deep, shaking breath.

"Calm down. Calm down. This is fine. This is... fine." She gave out a mental and physical breath as she mentally assured herself. "You're better than this. There's no need for you to panic. You and Fluttershy are going to get Omega... Somehow... And get going, leaving this whole mess behind us. You'll be fine... You'll be-"

As if taunted by her mental words, a sudden, and rather audible, sound came clear through to her ears. One that could only be described as a growl, emanated from her hungry stomach; one of which had apparently been just audible enough to have the Bouncer hold in his place.

"... Dead..." Rarity's eyes turned to pinpricks as the steps of the Bouncer suddenly changed in their direction, becoming louder and louder with every passing second.

Fluttershy had taken notice of the path of the behemoth as well, her own eyes widening as a light gasp escaped, both her and Rarity's hearts beginning to pound against their chests in a combination of nervousness, anxiety, and fear.

The white pony felt her rear touch the cold wood that made up the back of the cabinet, sending a shiver through her body, as she inadvertently backed herself away from the doors, her ears splayed tightly to the back of her head and her breath feeling rushed.

Never before had she panicked like this. Not even when she and Fluttershy were cornered by that splicer while Omega was supposedly asleep, back in Apollo Square.

As to the reason, she couldn't really tell, at first. When the boot of the Big Daddy suddenly gave out another loud stomp though, her mind froze, momentarily resetting as a jolt suddenly felt as though it passed through her mind.

That was it... 'Big Daddy'...

Though she showed no fear to Omega, Big Daddies, in their entirety, were... Different... By now, she knew what they could do; the damage they could cause; the death that follows them.

Now, the be on the opposite end of one of these brutal and deadly being's weapons...

As the doors to the wooden cabinet she hid behind were grabbed and crushed by a large gloved hand, suddenly distinctly different from that of which Omega previously had, her breath stilled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know it's... Only been a few minutes now... But despite the supposed 'silence and calm' this fuck had asked for, I kept on hearing something just outside; smashing and breaking objects, just barely audible through the metal doors of the room.

The man didn't even sound as if he was paying attention to this though, the occasional whirring and clicking of the camera being all I could really use to tell he was still clearly there... I glared at it whenever at all possible.

Honestly, 'tempted' couldn't even begin to describe how I felt about the idea of just breaking free and looking for the girls myself... Even going so far as to find that Bouncer that this prick was apparently commanding, as killing him again!

... But I couldn't risk it. If he was serious about what he sad before, about finding and bringing the girls here, and his earlier threat, I couldn't–I wouldn't–allow myself to be the one to put them in any further danger than they were already in.

In fact, to an extent, I half wanted that drill-using rust-bucket to find them already, so he could bring them both here and I could be sure that they were fine.

As to whatever this guy was planning to do when they were here... Tch, probably couldn't have been worse than what I'd do to him so far, if I had the chance. I've already lost track of how many mental entries I've made to that list, in fact.

Aside from this, Mill would constantly rub up against me, switching from the small pool of water around me to me every so often, squeaking and trilling every so often, practically out of anxiety. If I was able, I would have pet him to at least to calm his nerves; since I couldn't though, I was forced to content myself with glancing to him every now and then, allowing him to ride out his hyperactive and nervous state.

As time continued though... I noticed something just suddenly sound out through the intercom. A sort-of beeping sound, loud and tone-like, repeating itself perfectly in an evenly spaced pattern.

"... Ah... Finally." A brow of mine rose in confusion of the man's sudden statement, alongside that odd noise, before once again quickly narrowing.

"Oh don't give me that. I think you and I both are aware of the fact that you are in no position to give me that 'tough' facade of yours." He said, a soft chuckle escaping him as he finished; I growled at the sound.

"Now, as I was about to say... It seems as though one of your companions has been found." My eyes partially widened at this information, but they retained a relatively similar glare of anger to them nonetheless. "Yes, my associate has just called for me, and likely has, at least one, in his possession now. Truthfully, I cannot say this surprises me, what with the two seeming to have remained so relatively close to your current proximity. It was only a matter of time."

... All of my hate...

"If you'll excuse me now, I have to... Introduce myself to this friend of yours. I'll be polite, I can assure you of that, but do keep yourself in control nonetheless."

So easy... It would be so easy to kill this guy, I can just tell.

"Until then, my friend."

And with that, the intercom became absolutely silent, and the camera, which previously resounded and ticked with every passing second, went quiet.

... Please let the two be okay...

"Wait, I just realized... How do you think he'll react to the fact that they're... Yeah...?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As one of the many screens before him went to static, the man turning at a dial in his attempts to find the right frequency, and his sight of the obviously irritated Subject Omega was lost, the current controller of the console gave out a heavy sigh.

"... 'I cannot guarantee their safety'? Yes, because nothing is more likely to have him trust me than sounding like an absolute brute of distasteful origin in every mannerism. Nothing at all!" This had not been the first time he had gone over what he had said to Omega in his attempts to keep him still, but it was certainly the most outright, having previously been doing so in the back of his mind while he and the subject were waiting in silence.

Granted, he was not the most peaceful person in all of Rapture, he was well aware of this, but he certainly could not help but to flinch at the supposed 'threat' he had given as it relayed over and over in his mind. He knew very little of what companions Omega had with him, only having caught glimpses of a pair shadows and the sounds of a voice from Echo's recordings of his previous encounters with Omega, but he could at least infer that they were unlikely to be splicers, or anything such as that.

To even think of purposely harming someone of innocent intent, it disgusted him. Then again, having been so long without actually seeing anyone with this sort of 'innocence', this feeling had long since dulled by now.

Either way, he needed to have Omega retain what little composure he obviously held during the time he spoke to him, in any form necessary.

If he had escaped, there was no ensuring that Echo would be able to stop him before he could escape once more. Especially now that he was aware of the Bouncer's full capabilities. What element of surprise he had held was now gone.

"Bah. I'm causing myself unnecessary stress by dwelling on this." The man mentally yelled at himself, rubbing at his eyes as he gave the dial one last turn. "I should simply stay focused. The last time I allowed myself to slip like this, I began to hallucinate. Not a pleasant experience."

As he then adjusted his chair ever so slightly, clenching his eyes closed so as to help dull the headache he was beginning to feel, he heard the screen flicker as it connected to the correct frequency, followed shortly after by the sounds of what seemed like a struggling woman.

"Oof! Let me go, you brute! Right this instant!" He was honestly surprised; not just by the fact that one of Omega's companion was truly sane, as could be heard in her voice, but that she was a woman in the first place. Why would Omega even attempt to watch over this one?

"Hello Ma'am," the man said, momentarily swaying in his seat as he heard the woman gasp, "I take it you're one of the two accompanying Omega?" He made sure to sound as polite as possible, of course. He knew very much of what it was to be chivalrous, having been raised to do so quite some time ago, and felt it especially necessary after everything that he had put Omega, her, and the other through... Well, rather what Echo had done, but still.

"Y-yes, but that's hardly any concern of a ruffian like you! Nngh!" Again he heard her grunt as she tried to escape Echo, only drawing a sigh from him at her resistance.

"... Very well then. Perhaps, can you inform me as to where the other is? I am well aware that there is two of you." He questioned as he now began to rub his temples, his eyes still closed as he attempted to will away his head pain.

"I reiterate," She yelled angrily, "that's hardly any concern of yours! Now, tell him to let me go! He's ruining my coat!" The man raised a brow at this 'demand' of hers. Apparently, not only was this a normal woman, but also one who cared very much for her overall appearance. Wether she was simply shallow in that regard, or she held a very high opinion of herself, he was unsure.

"Oh come now, a simple ironing and whatever wrinkles there may be will be gone." Again, he heard the woman gasp, this time sounding, oddly enough, insulted.

"In fact," he then wondered, "why not simply find another one? I'm certain that there is a copious amount of such things spread throughout this city." She didn't seem as if she would have taken this suggestion well though, quickly beginning to provide her own response in a very... Angered form.

"Wrinkles?! How dare you! Maybe it's been a while since I've cared for it, but I'd like to see you try to find any haircare supplies here that isn't covered in absolute filth!" This... Confused him. Were they not just talking of a coat? Of clothing? What did this woman mean, 'haircare'?

Finally opening his eyes to look at the woman as his headache began to dim, he quickly made to question her of this. "Haircare? What-"

He froze. All at once, every thought he held faded–vanished in a puff of smoke. His words escaped him, disassembling into an incoherent and quiet breath of outwards air, and he simply stared ahead of him, towards the screen.

He blinked several times, unable to do anything more than watch, attempting to see if, in fact, he really had begun to hallucinate again from stress.

On the screen before him, he saw what Echo held, gripping onto it... her by what looked like the back of her neck... But... Rather than a woman, who he would hold by a jacket, standing her upright and exposing her peach skin and long hair–at least, this was the general idea he had gotten of her from the sound of her voice–he was met by a... Different sight.

One of a white... Fur 'coat'. Long hair, as he had thought, but in the form of a mane. One who was not stood so much as she was lifted by the... Scruff of her neck, a flailing figure of hooves, a bandaged... muzzle... and a horn... glaring back at Echo... At him.

"... What... Are you?" He finished, the ending of his sentence brought to a sudden change at the situation before him.

She did not answer, instead jerking her head to escape Echo's grip. In doing so, however, she further pulled at her mane and fur, which was held powerfully alongside the back of her neck by the Bouncer. She gave out yelp at the sudden pain, a tear forming at the sensation, though she forced it to remain where it was.

Unsure of what else to say or do, this
issue being–to say the least–one of the last things to come to mind in his planning on finding and speaking with the two. Seemingly out of pure mental instinct, all other semblance of logical thought momentarily leaving his mind, he instead reacted to the yelp.

"Echo, down, now!" Obediently, thought too much so to an extent, the Bouncer released the being from his hold; she down to the floor with a slight thump, leaving her to whimper again at another small jolt of pain.

The man, in the meanwhile, was left in a rambling state. "Some sort of... Equine... And a horn... Speaking..." This, in its entirety, was illogical. It made no sense, and it seemed entirely fake! How?! How could something such as this exist?!? Something so strange, so unusual, so-...

As the... mare picked herself up the ground, dusting herself off and taking a wary step from the Bouncer–a swift growl from such ensuring that she would then still herself–the man found his gaze shifting towards an object in the room he inhabited; the same book from before, of which he had previously scoffed at... And began to laugh...

"Heh... HAhahahaha! So–heh–there's some sense to it after all! Brilliant!" Again, he looked towards the screen, a smile firmly on his face. "And of all the time in the world for it to occur! What a radiant and incredulous collection of coincidental transgression!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watching from her place behind the large attraction sign with nervous eyes and trembling legs, a certain timid yellow pegasus couldn't help but to marvel at the courage her friend showed, despite the situation she was in. How she was able speak out against the Big Daddy, and the voice that came from it, with relative ease and confidence.

She had flinched on the occasions in which Rarity would be hurt, though not specifically by the Bouncer, and given out her own share of nervous gasps whenever the voice spoke up; especially after Rarity had been so suddenly released, the voice from the 'protector' suddenly gaining a mad and rather frightening tone to it.

"What a radiant and incredulous collection of coincidental transgression!" He had said, laughing shortly after. Rarity was very clearly nervous, but still held herself where she was, worried that on the next occasion she would attempt to move, the Bouncer would not settle for a warning.

As for Fluttershy, who was more than certain that she would not be able to retain what courage her friend had shown, she moved herself slightly further forward away from the cover of the sign, slipping in between two of the letters as she attempted to get a better vantage point.

In doing so, however, she was barely able to restrain a yelp of her own as her hoof was put atop a rusty and old piece of metal, which gave way promptly after.

Her eyes widened and heartbeat jolted upwards as she watched the metal piece fall towards the floor, everything else becoming mute as she scrambled back behind the sign.

For what seemed like an eternity, all she heard was her own rapid breathing, in and out, in and out, until finally, as sharp as a pin drop in silence, there was the loud clang of metal as it clattered onto the floor.

"... Ah... There you are."

Despite her desperate need for more breath, she held her breath, practically forcing herself up against the wall that accompanied her in her hiding place, hoping that she wouldn't be found.

Though she could not see what was occurring, she could hear, in sharp contrast to the momentary silence, the sound of the Big Daddy growling, and her friend, Rarity, yelling out to him.

"Wait! Don't–"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the ground began to shake below me, water splashing and rippling while Mill took even further cover under my shirt, my eyes quickly widened, my attention shifting over to the door that led out of the room.

What the hell was going on out there?!? That fucker said that he wouldn't hurt them so long as I didn't try to break out! Why in the hell would he have that Bouncer use that stomp of his if he wasn't going to hurt them!?!

This was worrisome, of course. Well beyond it, in fact. My hand had begun to tremble as it gripped at nothing, a tight fist against the ground easily portraying this emotion for anyone with half a brain to see... So, in other words, anyone who wasn't a splicer.

I held a growl steadfast as I glanced between the camera and the door again, the chains that held my functioning arm rattling loudly as my arm began to involuntarily tremble.

"What the hell do we do?!"

What do you mean 'we'? I'm the one who does all the work while you just criticize me!

"That's besides the point! What is the point though, is that prick and what he may be doing to your charges!"

Yeah, no shit! I've got to break out of here, now!

"It's not that easy though! For all we know, that guy's still watching us from the camera, and he may be more than ready to really hurt those two if he's found them!"

But-

"I don't want to hear it! Look, I'm not exactly happy about this either, but we can't just rush in at a small chance that-"

Suddenly, my mental argument was brought to a stop as a loud, deafening, and metal crunching crash echoed through the room from the door, causing the ground to tremble even more.

...

"... Go. Go now! Go, go, go, GET GOING!"

Without a second though–sorta–I gave a swift pull against the chains that held me down, easily breaking them apart like brittle drywall. A snap of metal, couple with several light clangs, could be heard beyond the fading grinding and crashing of metal from the other room as I gave my wrist a quick once over; aside from a few cuts and chain marks, I was fine.

I noticed Mill give out another squeak as he slid up my side and onto my shoulder, settling himself in and watching as I stood myself from the small pool I had been in, my waterlogged clothing dripping the entire way.

With a grunt, I made my way over to my supply bag left underneath the gene-bank machine, picking it up and momentarily taking a glance at what was inside. Mill entered seconds after, settling himself and drawing a short chuckle from me.

The first thing I noticed was that, well, my ESU and rivet gun were not in there. Bastard must have taken them while I was unconscious.

As I looked further into the bag though, Mill passed by something, moving aside some of the the objects inside and allowing for a faint glow to shine through... I had almost forgotten I had that.

Smirking as I looked to the machine in front of me, I gave my shoulders a roll and- OW!

... Right.

I groaned in annoyance as I looked to my loose, and incredibly aching, right shoulder, scolding myself at my moment of stupidity. Really, there was only one way to deal with this, wasn't there? I... Just wish it wasn't going to hurt so much.

I pursed my lips as I set the bag down again, Mill peering his head out while I moved my attention to my lame limb.

A sigh escaped me as I gritted my teeth and grabbed hold of my right arm with my left, steeling myself, and with a quick shove upwards and inwards–

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy's breath was thin to the point of being inexistent, her eyes little more than specks as she flew above the fallen and broken apart sign that used to be her hiding place, now brought down by a single powerful stomp of the Bouncer.

She had barely been able to make it out of the incident unscathed, having more than a few pieces of heavy and sharp come dangerously close to hitting her. It was especially difficult in that, for one reason or another, she was hardly able to fly throughout the duration of the attack, the air around her seeming to have lost its 'form' as well, becoming little more than a mess of scattered particles that would not allow her a simple flight. Even now, she could feel the strain in her wings from having had to flap even harder and faster than they ever had before.

Rarity, who was currently on the floor, the trembling ground having provided her little footing to retain, watched with a fear of her own as 'Echo' looked to her frightened and nervous companion. Having been forced to be a spectator as her companion narrowly avoided injury, her flight becoming feeble as she seemed to tumble and fall through the air, Rarity now found herself to be without words, in her own struggle to calm her heart.

"Ah, and there's the other!" The voice from the suited man spoke, his voice irritably filled with an odd enthusiasm of sorts. "And with wings, no less! More and more variances to see! How brilliantly gracious!"

It was obvious, even if only to the man, of the excitement he held towards the opportunity before him. After all, it was not often that a new sentient species was found, be it here, or the world!

And, if only to better this 'deal', it was these two that Omega, the subject of his utmost interest, had been accompanying... For some odd reason.

"Bah!" He thought to himself, moving off that thought from his mind. "The reason is not of my concern! Why linger on those such subjects when these two beings, these possible specimen, are right in front of my sights!" A chuckle could not be held back by the man as he watched from Echo's viewpoint, his mania having allowed him to stray ever-so-slightly away from his previous motions of bringing the three together, if only for a moment.

"Echo," the man called, the subject in question quickly responding with a confirming nod, "retrieve this one as well, and bring them both to the Hall of The Future! It is just about time that this... Odd group, and we, had words."

The yellow, cautionary lights of the Bouncer momentarily flashed a threatening red as he registered his order, a short groan being his response as he focused on his new objective of capturing the winged creature before him, raising his leg one more time in the hopes of completing the task.

Both Fluttershy and Rarity gasped as they took notice of this action, well aware of the fact that, considering the amount of strain that was already put upon the fragile wings of the butter yellow pegasus, Fluttershy would not be able to keep herself up from another oncoming slam.

For a time, everything seemed to slow for the pair as the heavy metal leg of the Big Daddy began to make its way down.

Already, they began to imagine some of the worst possible things that could occur once the metal being, mindset opposite of their own familiar one, and the man who commanded him had them in their clutches.

It was through this haze of fear and worry, however, that the two heard something; a sound that was, in its entirety, simple to make out among the 'peace before the storm', for the two, and the man who commanded the unit. A single, loud, pained, and angered roar.

Before any of the three could ponder on the sound, the ground, and air, began to tremble and shake violently, the loud crash of the Bouncer's leg hitting the floor echoing through the room, alongside a pairing roar that accompanied it.

Rarity, her mane disheveling even further from the near constant stress it had been under in the matter of a single day, watched helplessly from the floor as the tremors became too much for her, and quickly after, Fluttershy, whose wings seemed to lose whatever semblance of remaining force they held to them, a sharp pain from the pegasus' back being the first thing to inform her that one had stiffened down to the very muscle, swiftly breaking her flight and causing her to fall.

She and Rarity were barely able to give out a yell as she closed in on the ground, unable to do anything more than wait for the inevitable...

That is, what would have been inevitable, were it not for a single factor.

What seemed like inches from impacting the ground, Fluttershy shut her eyes, awaiting the oncoming pain and capture that would accompany the fall. Two things that, as she felt an odd, tight, yet somehow secure grip surround her, would never come.

It wasn't before the shaking and trembling of the ground and air began to fade that she, confused by her lack of impact, peered a tightly closed eye open in an effort to investigate. Upon doing so, she quickly took notice of the fact that, before her, was the ground, almost right in front of her face. However, rather than it closing in, it stayed exactly where it was, not moving a centimeter as she eventually opened her other eye as well and looked around.

Rarity and the man were just as equally surprised, Rarity's jaw dropping while the man's brow rose at the sight of the, strangely, floating creature, despite the fact that it was not using its wings.

Words were left unspoken as the ground finally stilled, and the mare was lowered carefully down onto her hooves, leaving her in utter confusion, coupled still with relief.

"... Strange..." The man finally said, dumbfounded. "Perhaps, you have another method of flight, or-"

The man was unable to finish his statement as, with nothing more than a sudden breeze to warn the unicorn behind him, the Bouncer was sent flying to the side by a seemingly invisible force, barely able to regain foothold and grind heavily against the floor, before crashing against the wall he had inevitable careened towards.

The girls were, of course, left speechless for another moment or two at the sight, unable to show even the slightest of signs of emotion or thought as they attempted to collect their minds.

It wasn't until a growl flowed through the room that the three were finally able to put their attention towards the source, just behind the railing of the second floor to the central room.

The two ponies smiled while the Bouncer gave a growl of his own at the sight, and the spectator, several distances away, felt a brow raise even further.

"Omega!" Rarity called, sheer relief and joy in her voice as she saw their guardian, here to defend them, and miraculously seeming unharmed, despite his previous state.

Glancing to his two charges, if only to assure himself that they were unhurt, the original of the two protectors in the room gave a glare to his opposite as it moved itself off from the wall, placing a hand on the railing before, with a grunt, lifting himself over it.

He landed with a comparatively light tamp as the Bouncer aimed its red lights towards him, the drill he possessed already beginning to spin in an effort to intimidate him.

"Hm... I suppose I can't say I did not see this coming. Likely, were there some sort of wager between you releasing yourself from your holdings, and awaiting for me to collect these two... I myself would have added a grand to the former." Omega growled at the man's words, looking to the rivet gun slung over the back of the Bouncer—his own—coupled with an ESU tied along the barrel.

"Now, we can do this in one of two ways: Either you simply calm yourself, and allow me to speak my mind, as I had planned, or you can attempt another meaningless fight, with even less of a possible advantage now that your weaponry is in the possession of my associate here." Rather than respond, Omega instead looked towards his two charges, the veins in his arm giving a faint glow as he reached out his invisible telekinetic tendrils towards the pair.

Both of their eyes momentarily widened, yelps of surprise escaping the two, as they were suddenly lifted from the ground, lifted carefully to the second floor and placed down with ease, where Omega believed they would be safe.

Once this was done, the suitless Rosie returned his attention to the Bouncer, shifting his footing and, with a quick breath, letting out a mighty roar.

This was quickly returned by the Bouncer, the man who watched from behind the screen giving a sigh of futility as he shook his head at Omega's answer.

"... Very well then... Take him down, and do not hold back," he commanded, the Bouncer moving his revving drill before him, "if need be, we can simply do as we did last time after this is through."

Placing his plasmid arm out before him, Omega readied himself for battle, his charges watching from their newly obtained position as he and his opponent held a silent stand off with one another.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That one sound... I could tell, we were just waiting for it. The one unspoken signal that would begin this third fight.

In the end, that sound... Was a spark, released by a loose cable of the fallen sign that adorned the entry to the 'Journey To The Surface' attraction.

With the first step that the Bouncer took, I already felt a smirk appear on my face, the entirety of his next move clear to me. It was, oddly enough, predictable. And besides... I had a little surprise for this disgrace of Big Daddy.

Sure enough, he came at me with a forward charge, his speed still not at that which was his previous, which made it all the more simple to avoid.

I jumped to the side as he closed in on me, making my way out of the direction of his charge and managing to land on my feet in doing so.

As he passed by me, I could practically sense the anger that came from him, his helmet turning in my direction by a small degree, and his red porthole lights shining over me, before he attempted to stop himself; his feet grinded him to a halt next to me, and I could see, with barely a small glance, as he reeled his drill arm to his side and swung towards me.

Smirking, I held my ground, not moving myself and inch as I instead raised my right arm to meet the strike.

The spinning drill crashed against the side of my arm, but, rather than break apart the bone, or leave any really significant injuries, it was instead stopped to a dead still, the grinding metal doing little more than to make a few cuts in my skin and clothing from the current position it was in.

"Hm... Odd..."

Drawing my left arm back and, with a smile, hitting it against the helmet of the 'protector', I hit him with as much force as I could muster.

The metal of his headwear gave a groan as it bent inwards, the Big Daddy giving out a roar of pain as it was forced to a somersault, tumbling with several loud metal crashes before it was finally able to dig its drill into the ground below, the floor breaking and cracking as it left a small trail of debris; even as it did this, it was unable to stop itself fully, crashing into the pillar that brought together the two sides of the room, and causing the walkway to crash down atop of it.

The crash that followed was loud and near deafening, but through the debris and dust that followed, I was still easily able to make out the figure of the Bouncer, raising itself up from the kneeling position it had apparently taken in its attempts to stop itself from collision.

"... Something's different. For you to take that attack as if it were nothing all of a sudden, despite the fact that it should have torn you apart..." I could hear the man give what sounded like a chuckle; smug, and annoying. "A minor miscalculation."

Arrogant bastard, isn't he?

Growling, I ran towards the Bouncer at full speed, reaching behind me with my plasmid arm and grabbing telekinetic hold of a large portion of fallen over debris, in the shape of a letter from the recently broken down sign. More specifically, the letter 'f'... How appropriate.

"Keep him at a distance!" Taking the voice's advise, the Bouncer raised his leg up high, attempting to bring it down and put himself at an advantage. I didn't allow it, aiming and firing the sign letter at him, hitting him square in the chest, having been distracted, and pushing him down onto the pile of rubble from the fallen walkway.

My eyes narrowed as I reached his side, the dysfunction before me struggling to get up from his back as I raised my arms up above him, brought them together, and plunged them towards him.

Before I could hit though, ending this fight...

"Initialize critical state!" I heard the man command, as my arms instead met rubble, breaking it apart even further and bringing about another small cloud of dust and debris.

I gave a cough as I waved away the cloud and scanned the room, quickly finding that the Bouncer had now made his way opposite of me, having managed to stand himself up and gain a large distance in a matter of milliseconds.

My eyes narrowed as I turned to him, brushing off a small amount of filth from my shirt sleeves and arms.

"I admit, this is a much more impressive display to witness live." Again, there was that smug chuckle. That same, blood-boiling chuckle. "Unfortunately, your chances of being able to win a battle with him a third time, his critical state active, and no weaponry in your possession—'slim to none' would be a generous prediction."

... I like those odds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No warning was given as the Bouncer of incredible speed became a blur once again, Omega's eyes darting to follow him as he circled around him, doing so at a rate almost too quick for him to react.

He barely caught sight of the Bouncer in his peripherals, mentally grabbing hold of and shielding himself with another piece of rubble around the area. It was promptly shattered to pieces by the Bouncer's imperceivable drill, throwing his aim off in the process, and leading Omega's falling to the ground as the side of the drill clipped him.

Fluttershy and Rarity gasped as they saw this, worried that Omega had once more been hurt. It was only when he stood himself up, shortly after, that they then released those breaths, taking note of the fact that all that had been damaged was the shoulder of his shirt sleeve, baring the skin underneath.

It was a thing of wonder to them to see Omega unscathed after how they had last seen him, but for him to simply return for yet another fight with the very being that had done that to him, without his weapons–Rarity made a mental promise to speak to him about his recklessness after this was over... And after she had thanked him for saving them again...

"Resourceful. A good trait." The man smiled as he relayed this message through the suit of the Big Daddy, ignoring the slight sense of dizziness that came about as he ran literal circles around his opponent, who struggled to keep up.

"I commend you for this, Subject Omega, but I wonder... How long can you keep it up?"

Omega's eyes widened as he caught sight of the Bouncer changing its direction towards him, again grabbing telekinetic hold of a nearby piece of size able rubble and using it as a shield. The moment it shattered once again, he took a step to the side, learning from his mistake and avoiding another clip to his side from the charging animal that was the Bouncer.

Before he could even revel in this small victory though, the heavy wind that was whipped by the incredibly fast Bouncer shifted, Omega barely able to turn himself and repeat the process as another charge was aimed at his direction.

The man's grin grew as Echo began to wear down the suitless subject's energy, his EVE still likely remaining unaffected, as he would need to throw the rubble in order to use any of it, but a noticeable slow beginning to come into visibility in the rocks and metal he used as guards.

Fraction by fraction, an opportunity to strike would make itself clear. From there, the end of this battle would be certain.

This went on for only a few minutes, but to Omega, and his charges, it felt like hours.

As he continued to fight, following the same repetitive pattern of defense became progressively more difficult. Though the use of plasmids was not exactly a process that depended on one's physical prowess, or even mental, it still needed quite a bit of energy to keep it going.

Under normal circumstances, by the time this strain could be sensed, the user was already out of EVE in their systems, and would need to refill themselves with more; EVE often supplies a smaller boost of energy to its user, easily compensating for whatever was lost.

Omega, however, was not using any of the EVE in his systems, and ergo, he had no need to refuel them, exerting his own strength in order to follow through.

Strength that, as could be seen by the building sweat and shortening breaths that he gave, was quickly being lost.

"... It seems that you're at your limit already... Very well then... Echo!" With the signal given, the Bouncer gave one last charge towards the panting and sweating Omega, just as he was unable to being himself to use his plasmid anymore.

"Omega, look out!"

"G-get away!" His charges yelled, watching as he stood tiredly in place, a blur of red metal closing in on him.

Despite their warnings though, Omega held his ground... And slowly, but surely, as the Bouncer closed in, a smile appeared on his face.

Echo stabbed his rapidly spinning drill forward as he closed in on Omega, prepared to finish his given commands.

Closing his eyes for a moment, if only to bask in his success, the man leaned back into his seat, crossing his arms behind his head and smiling cheerfully.

"I did warn you... Now, Echo," he continued, peering out of one of his eyes, "take him back to the- What!?!" Suddenly jumping from his seat and leaning against the headboard of the console he controlled, the man was surprised to see that, rather than have Omega neutralized... It seemed as though the opposite was occurring.

On the screen, Omega stared back at him, a smile of his own fashion of smugness on his face, as his eyes narrowed. Firmly in his grasp, only a few centimeters from his chest, he held Echo's drill, sparks and cranks escaping it as it struggled to spin, and drops of blood beading off it from his hands.

This was the second time that the man had been dumbfounded today... And frankly, he couldn't help but to scold himself for it.

"...I need to stop looking away from the monitors." He thought in defeat, watching as Omega placed a leg onto Echo's armor, and, with a single pull, ripped the drill off of his arm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Armored shell 2... Gotta love it."

As I pried the drill from the Bouncer's arm, I couldn't help but to imagine how surprised the moron who commanded him must've been. After all, he had certainly vocalized it as he spoke.

'What?!?' Heh. Priceless.

... Right, back on track.

Once the Bouncer's drill was off, leaving nothing but a metal stump where it once was, I grabbed hold of it with one hand, and the Bouncer with the other, making sure that he wouldn't escape.

My hands stung as I turned the drill around and as the Bouncer struggled to escape, hitting me hard with his arm in his attempts. As blood went down his helmet from my palm though, and his punches did little more than to cause pain, rather than any really significant damage–"still hurt a crap ton though–I knew this fight was over as I took aim with the drill.

He threw yet another punch as I let out a roar, plunging the drill towards his helmet, and taking out his arm mid-punch in the process. With little more than a loud grind and slam of metal on metal as the drill broke apart each and every one of his portholes, punching a hole through his armor, I watched as the pain in the neck grew silent, what remained of his arms falling to his sides and twitching as an abundance of blood spewed forth from his helmet, and his porthole lights went out.

If only to make sure, I held his corpse up for another second or so, grinding the drill further into his helmet and hearing a squishing and squelching sound as I further agitated the paste that likely used to be his face, skull, and gray matter.

Once this was done, I gave a satisfactory nod, pushing the bastard off to the side, where he fell with a loud thud.

Glancing up towards my charges as I wiped some of the sweat off my brow, I saw the two seem to give sighs of relief, before waving towards me with smiles on their faces.

I gladly returned the smile before looking back to the corpse of the Bouncer. More specifically, towards the possessions of mine he had stolen from me.

Not even wanting to touch the body of this disgraceful 'protector', I kicked him over with little care so that he would end up with his back facing the ceiling, allowing me to reclaim the objects strapped to his back.

Kneeling next to his body, being careful to make sure not to get too much of his pooling blood on me, I grabbed hold of my ESU first, pulling it on over my hand with a loud snap, and gripping my fingers within.

I could notice as my charges began to make their way down to me, though carefully, Rarity's hoofsteps audible just as were Fluttershy's wing flaps.

"I must say," Rarity stated, a hint of... Cheerfulness in her voice, "I know I didn't tell you this before... But I'm more glad it was you that had first found us more than ever."

I chuckled at this, nodding in silent agreement as I unstrapped my rivet gun from the dead Bouncer's back.

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay Omega. A-Are you sure you're not hurt?" Fluttershy then added in questioningly, worry in her voice as she landed lightly next to me. I gave her a short glance and a smiling nod as I moved the rivet gun towards my arm, giving it a quick once over so as to be sure it hadn't been damaged, or anything like that.

As I did this, I felt the bag over my back shift as Mill made his way out, moving onto my right shoulder and giving out a loud squeak as he looked to Fluttershy.

"Oh, Mill! Sorry. I'm glad that you're okay too." Fluttershy picked up the ADAM slug by his midsection, lightly hugging him against her and eliciting a content trill from Mill. Rarity, of course, shuddered at the sight, before once again returning to silence...

At least... For a moment...

"Omega," she said, "he... He came back before." Whatever smile I had quickly went away as I heard her restate this known fact, my rivet gun securing itself onto my arm as I twisted it to and fro.

"It was like you before you lost your suit... Just before he dragged you off and then starting looking for us..." That last part caused a small flare of anger to spark in me, but I managed to keep it hidden.

"... Is it... For good?"

... No. He wouldn't come back.

There was no way.

I was aware that, somehow, he possessed a vita-chip as well... But I had made sure to destroy his suit thoroughly. That's why I ripped off his drill, rather than just blasting him with a Telekinesis plasmid from point blank–which, since I was holding him in place, would've killed anyone inside of that suit.

Missing two parts of both his arms, and a large chunk of his helmet ripped to shreds by his own drill, it was impossible for that vita-chip of his to bring him back again. More likely, it had self destructed, like mine was designed to do.

Looking up to her as I secured a clip of rivets into its appropriate slot, I was mid-way through a reassuring nod when, all of a sudden, I took notice of a faint green glow behind me.

My eyes widened, along with those of my charges, as Mill began to squeal wildly, moving up from Fluttershy's grip and into her mane, where it hid itself to be near undetectable.

I barely felt a draft behind me before I reacted, quickly expanding and drawing both my weapons as I stood myself up and spun around.

Sure enough, at the end of the barrel of my rivet gun, its metal illuminated by the sparking of my retrieved ESU, was the Bouncer.

His lights were yellow, and his arms laid numbly to his sides, but that didn't stop me from keeping my finger directly on the trigger, one shot through the center porthole currently being all that was necessary to kill him again.

Before I could do so, however, the girls and I heard... Him again...

"Now, now, now... What would the point of that be at this point?" I could feel my two charges behind me as I growled at the two; the man, and the Bouncer.

Rather than be intimidated by this though, the man simply gave a short laugh.

"Ha! Please... You and I both know, Subject Omega, that, as much as you clearly outmatch my associate, you cannot fight him forever..."

... Fucking hate to say it, but he's right... Doesn't mean I can't try though.

I shoved the barrel of the rivet gun further towards the Bouncer's face, shoving him under threat of fire.

"Hm... I take it you have an issue at the moment...? Well, do realize that, no matter what this culmination of occurrences may be, I can honestly tell you one thing..."

Oh great. Here comes the stupid monologue or gibberish that most splicers would give, or some insulting bull crap that would just be for the pure purpose of-

"I, yet again, am sorry..."

... What?

No, seriously, this actually surprised me for a moment. So much so that, for a split second, I lowered my rivet gun, a brow raising in confusion before I shook my head and promptly raising it again.

"I was not lying before when I said I held no intention of purposely harming you or your rather... Unique friends there." I felt the two come even closer to me as he spoke of them, Fluttershy going so far as to grip onto me.

"I only commanded Echo here to do as he did in order to bring you three together. As to the lethality of his attempts in doing so, I had only ordered the third and more recent one, since it was apparent you were refusing to listen to reason." Yeah, sure, fuck you.

"His previous attempts at attacking you, in fact, were not of my accord. He was simply following his protocol. And besides, were it not for my command, he would have finished you off after your second 'meeting'." The Bouncer's gaze momentarily shifted towards my charges, but I quickly straightened it again with another shove of my weapon.

"Even your two companions here can likely testify to that... Correct?" Of all the asinine, illogical, nonsensical, and just plain idiotic lies I'd ever heard, this is the most-

"H-he d-d-did..." I only barely heard Fluttershy say this, her voice a near whisper, but just loud enough for me to overhear.

I looked to her for a second, if only for confirmation, but saw that her gaze was elsewhere, towards the ground and the Bouncer. Rarity also did not make to speak out against this as a lie, instead stilling herself silently.

"See? Oh, and let us not forget the matter of your previous condition after that same battle, of which, I had Echo tend to."

... How is dislocating my arm and chaining me up 'tending' to me?

"... Subject Omega, all I ask is that you hear me out." Before he could continue, the far off cries of a group of splicers could be heard. "Preferably somewhere more... Secure."

...

Author's Note

Holy crap, the amount of delays I had... Yeesh. Things were hectic, to say the least. But, hey, at least its finally up!

The Ryam Amusements arc is coming to an end guys... And so begins the next.

Inventory:
-Rivet Gun (4)

Heavy Rivets (13)
-Remote Hack Tool (4)
Auto Hack Dart (2)
-ESU
-EVE Hypo (4)
-First Aid Kits (1&1/2)
-Money (43)
Plasmids:
}Telekinesis 3
}Security Command 2
Gene Tonics:
}Armored Shell 2
}———

Chapter 30: Daddy's Little 'Talk'

I watched Rarity and Fluttershy in silence as they patiently awaited for the lights to dim completely, leaving a level of darkness that was only broken by the lights of the city at the bottom of the sea. The glare from which was only slightly relaxing to me as I gripped my bandaged hands, Mill, in the meantime, content with simply resting in the train's control area, along with the supplies and an open can of orange slices.

I had still owed him a treat, after all.

Anyways, it had been over an hour since we had boarded the Atlantic Express again, journey-bound towards our next stop from Ryan Amusements, and it had been even less so of a time since I had rigged that projector up; though, it wasn't particularly running on the most reliable or safety prone of... 'Generators', comprised of the projector's spark plug cable, the power adapters I had found, and even my detached ESU.

Granted, I had made sure to keep the active and running electrical weapon out of pretty much anyone's reach and convenience, but I digress.

Anyways, the reason I had reconnected the projector again, or reasons as I should more appropriately put it, are because, one, its been... A while since Rarity and Fluttershy have seen their friends and family back home.

When I figured out that I could fix that issue, I of course jumped at the chance. I mean, after what's recently happened, there shouldn't really be anything wrong with trying to help lift their spirits, right? Even if only slightly.

As for the other reason...

"... Hello?" The voice of a familiar pony began to ring through as one of the walls to the dark passenger area was suddenly painted over by the white screen of the projector, initially displayed as nothing before slowly blurring into an image.

Despite not being able to see anything yet, both my charges immediately seemed to gleam at the sound of the voice, smiles appearing on their faces while I watched from the sidelines.

"Twilight! Darling, can you hear us?" Rarity called back to her friend, seeming to squint her eyes as the blurred image slowly came into a more clear and visible form, practically at a snail's rate.

"Oh, Rarity! Yes, we can hear you! Though, um, we can't exactly see you very well." Heh. I guess that went both ways then.

"I-it'll probably clear up. I think that it's just... Um... Warming up?" Fluttershy looked to me for confirmation at the statement, a tad bit unsure of her own word's truthfulness, before I replied with a reassuring nod. Truthfully, I had half guessed this would happen. What with the fact that the electrical stream going into the projector is a lot less consistent and efficient, since I had to lower my ESU's output to its absolute weakest just to keep it from frying the projector, and the fact that it had taken a few bumps and hits while we were out, it's practically a miracle that it worked whatsoever.

"Really? Hm, well, if you say so-" Before Twilight could finish her statement, the sound of a loud and drawn-out yawn cut her off, drawing a raised brow from both my charges and I.

"Ugh." I suddenly heard another familiar voice utter trough the projector line. "Yeesh, no offense, but couldn't you two have given us some sorta warning before you called? I mean, I'm all for the whole 'keeping us updated' thing but-" Yet another yawn, though this time shorter, cut her off. "It's the middle of the night."

I blinked at this, honestly surprised by... quite a good bit, considering the fact that, apparently, it was much later than it had seemed to be. Truthfully, I had thought we had only been out there for a few hours, but an entire day? And then some? Guess time flies by when you're trying to survive.

My charges seemed to share this surprise, though Fluttershy, in particular, gained more of a guilty expression.

"Oh, really? W-we're so sorry, we didn't know that-" Beforer she could continue any further with her timid apology, one of her other friends interuppted her through the transmission.

"Ah, dont put too much dern worry inta it, sugarcube. Rainbow's just bein grumpy, is all." Quickly recognizing the western tone of Applejack, I could barely overhear thhe sounds of grumbling in the background, likely belonging too that same certain 'grumpy pony'.

"Heheh. Yeah, Dashie's not very good with waking up this late at night. Though, I don't see why. After all, it's one of the funnest, bestest, chilliest times to have a party! Oooooh, can we do that Twi? Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we?"

... And my headache is coming back.

"Uh... Maybe next time, Pinkie." Don't even give her that chance, Twilight. I have the oddest feeling that's all she needs.

Despite the odd interuption on the hyperactive, though still currently blurry pink pony's part, the conversation continued to go on wihout a hitch.

"Well, nonetheless, it can't be pleasent to be woken up in such a time. Believe me, if there's anypony who knows about the importance of beauty sleep, it would be moi." I barely was able to surpress a chuckle as Rarity said this, both simply because of what she said, and how she had used that word, 'moi'... Now if only I knew what that meant...

"... Though, I have to ask, is SweetieBelle there as well?" Her sudden change in tone was clear to me, much like her expression as it shifted to one of concern. The others didn't seem to notice this, or, at the very least, looked over the fact.

"No, actually, she's asleep. Same with the princesses. In fact, the only reason we knew about the spell working again was because a guard on patrol had told us." Talk about your useful coincidences, eh?

At this, Rarity gave out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good, she needs to get her rest. She's still a filly, after all..." Rarity paused, her lips pursing before both she, and Fluttershy, looked towards me. This glance only went on for a moment, but I could already see what was behinnd them with the utmost clarity: Worry.

"... That, and I wouldn't want her to worry about any of this..." I know the feeling...

"Um, what do you mea-"

"Ooh, ooh, I think I can see them now!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the hyperactive party pony had indeed taken notice to, the blurred image of the spell began to clear at a much more rapid pace. At this, the four remaining Elements of Harmony smiled, though some more groggily than the others.

"Oh, great! Maybe now this can go a little mor-" Suddenly, Twilight felt herself freeze, words clogging in her throat and her smile, much like that of her friends, disappearing. Even PinkiePie, the one who almost always had a way to bring positivity into a room, had her chaotic mental train brought to a screeching and violent halt.

There, in front of them, were their friends; their coats and manes even filthier than last time, with stains comprised of faded, though still not completely irrecognizable... blood. Scrapes and bruises were visible as well, though thankfully not quantiful, with the worst seeming to be the one on Rarity's muzzle, which had required a bandage. Finally, thier eyes seemed absolutely paled with exhaustion, duller than the last time they had conversed.

It had only been two days--two--since they had last been able to talk... What had happened?

"Dears...? Are you quite alright?" Rarity asked, easily taking notice of their sudden change in expressions from those of cheer to shock.

The four were practically unable to speak, seeing their friends in such a condition, after such a relatively short period. Finally though, Rainbow Dash managed to swallow down this shock, if only barely, as she was the first to ultimately speak up.

"Uh... Woah... What did we miss...?" Every bit of that question, as poorly worded as even Dash had thought it to be, was laced with heavy concern. Raising a brow at her question, both Rarity and Fluttershy found themselves unsure of what she had meant.

"Hm?" Rarity questioned wordlessly.

"Well... Er..." She gestured vaguely towards the two, more specifically towards their overall current appearance. The two seemed to understand this time, eyes momentarily widening in realization before they gave themselves a quick once over.

To everypony's even greater surprise however, the two simply... chuckled. "Oh, heh, just a good bit of Lower Rapture..."

She had said this so very simply, it was offsetting. One of the two were, after all, the same pony who prized their appearance and hygiene atop a pedastel, and she had simply brushed off her current state as if it were nothing. The other was an incredibly shy and fearful pny, and, despite the remains of blood and the poor state she seemed to be in... she had joined her friend in laughing this off...

"D-... Dear Celestia... Are you two okay? You look-... Y-you look-"

"Positively awful? Yes, I thought so too. Unfortunately, we haven't exactly been able to find a very good way to clean ourselves up, save for a broken sink, let alone stay clean." As she said this, Rarity blew a stray hair from her partially frazzled mane away from her face. "My word, if ever there were a time for Fluttterhy's and I's weekly spa days, it would be now."

The butter-yellow pegasus nodded in return, another soft chuckle escaping her at the small joke; It did not hold up as well with those on the other end of the screen, unable to find any such humor in this situation.

"W-well," Fluttershy now chimed, "Omega did say it wouldn't be easy." Rarity gave her friend a nod, while, inadvertently, causing a slight surge of guilt to go through her friends. Granted, they hadn't exactly been the ones who made it so that they go to Lower Rapture... But at the same time, they werent the ones that tried to stop them. And now, more than ever, they wish they had, wether or not this was supposedly their last option.

"S-say ya'll, where is Omega anyhow?" Applejack questioned, taking note of their lack of his supervision. He was the one who was charged, if not just by them, but himself, with caring for them, so where was he?

At this qestion, Fluttershy and Rarity quickly grew silent; This time, the one who found themselves speaking the most was Fluttershy, as her friend silently pleaded for her to explain for them with a single glance.

"O-oh... Um, well, he's... with our guest..." The last part of her explanation had been near silent, but her friends were barely able to hear it nonetheless.

"G-... Guest?" Twilight asked. Little did she know, however, that she would quickly gain a response.

"Yes. Guest. And I do so appreciate you referring me to one." The girls gasped as they heard the sound of a new voice come from seemingly out of nowhere, not a one of them recognizing it whatsoever. Before they could question this though, both Fluttershy and Rarity silently stood from where they were seated and took several steps back, opening just enough room for this 'guest' in question to be... Escorted in front of the screen.

Again, the girls found themselves speechless as another metal being, much like Omega had initially been, walked before their view; many differences could be seen in his ones armor, all very significant, but they were put down towards the group of mare's lowest of priorities.

The being was currently restrained, with what looked like several metal girders holding its arms close to its body, each one bent to tightly fit around its torso. Shortly behind the retrained protector unit was Omega, who, with his rivet gun armed and ponted to the back of the being's large head, pushed and turned it so it would be facing both him, and the screen.

"... Another... Big Daddy...?" Twilight questioned, shock again barely enabling her speech.

The voice, which seemed to originate from this new Big Daddy, gave out a short laugh at this. "Hm, yes, and no. The one you see is a Big Daddy, yes, but I am simply speaking through his built-in communications systems... Speaking of which, I must ask, what sort of technology is it that you are using to enable this system of yours? Perhaps, some sort of spontaneous electrical impul-"

"ShUt. uP." Rather than do as asked, the man, from his place seated atop his chair, found his eyes widening as he looked through one of the many screens before him. With a flick of a button, he rewound the audio again, and again, and again, trying to ensure that he had heard correctly.

"Did... Did you just talk!?!" To him, this was absolutely flabbergasting! Not only had he, in the span of a single day, witnessed the reactivation of the anti-protocol and discovered the existence of a completely new intelectual species--of which he saw through what seemed like an impossibly generated screen--but now, apparently, he was witnessing a man without vocal cords speak! "H-how on Earth are you-"

"I SaID ShUT. Up." Omega's voice was much more forceful and agressive this time, and, paired with a swift shove from the barrel of his weapon to the BIg Daddy's helmet, alongside the equally as threatening glare he gave, the mares in Canterlot couldnt help but to momentarily recoil at the sight. They weren't used to seeing him so... Hostile...

Oddly enough, as the man quieted himself, finally taking note of the circumstances that forced him to do so, Omega's expression of hostility shifted to one of genuine apologeticness as he looked to the screen. "... NoW, I JuST WAnT tO Be pRomPt anD SAy thAt I ApoLoGIzE fOR ThIS. ThIS WaS THE OnLy WaY FOr mE tO EffeCTiveleY haVe a LitTle cHAt WiTH ThIS AssHolE... WhiCH Is WHy iM reaLly GlaD SweeTiE bEllE IsnT HerE FOr ThIs."

Though fairly impressed with Omega's sudden caring tone as he spoke to the other sentient equines, the man pursed his lips at the obvious insult Omega had decided to include. "Really? 'Asshole'? Is this how you plan on conversing with me from now on?"

Omega gave out a growl at this, his eyes narrowing as they returned to his opposite. "AnY MOre SniDe RemArks LikE ThaT aND I'lL GlaDly mAKe It SO wE canT taLk fOR a GooD WhiLE." His finger slowly and deliberately slipped over his weapon's trigger, giving it a light squeeze and ensuring that the man, alongside the Bouncer, could see.

"... Well, that's rather unkosher of you, isn't it?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Unkoshe'- What in the actual fuck? WHO SAYS THAT!?!

"OkAy, oNE, I HavE No IDea wHat THaT meaNs."

Well, it's true. Fucking human dictionary, and I had to deal with him?

"TwO, iF i DiD knOw, I haVE tHe OddeST FeelInG I WoUldN'T GiVe a FuCK." I continued, this time prompting a response from the man.

"Kosher means to-"

"AnD ThREe!" I interuppted, both in annoyance, and the fact that I did not need a lesson from this guy! "I'd SaY i HavE EverY RiGhT tO bE... Er-"

"Unkosher..."

"WhatEvEr tHe HeLL iT WaS! YoU, anD ThiS fuCkiNG BouNCer,' I yelled, accentuating it with another jab of my rivet gun, "tRieD To kIll mE... ThREe TimEs!"

Yeah, we're not gonna be getting off that subject for a good while. Technically, we have maybe an hour before the tansmission between my charges' world and ours ended, but I would definitely make use of every second I had, if only to chew out what I couldn't kill.

"In my defense, I was not responsible for his first attack-"

"In wHIcH hE aLmOSt tOoK mY hEaD ofF anD KiLLeD me."

"... Yes, well, I did stop him during that second fight, and have him tend to your wounds-"

"AftER hE aLmOSt KilLeD mE, anD i'D haRDlY CaLl DisLoCatIng My ArM anD ChaInIng mE dOWn 'TenDiNG tO My wOUnDs'." Again the man paused, though this time, for a longer period of time. Who knows, hopefully, he was beginning to see the pattern.

"... And... On the third occasion-" Okay, maybe not.

"YoU StrAIghT uP OrDereD hIm To kIlL Me..." Yet another pause from the moron on the losing side of the argument.

"Ahem, perhaps we... Got off on the wrong foot." Gee, you think?!

"I nEvER WouLd HaVe nOtiCED." I growled at him, anger and sarcasm positively dripping off of my voice as I did so. Nonetheless, the man, and the Bouncer, did not seem to flinch in even the slightest as I spoke, or as the rivet gun was continually pointed towards them.

"... Very well then. If that is the case, then let us begin anew, shall we?" That tone... That same 'polite' tone from before... God I hated it. It just sounded fake in absolutely every way, and yet, he managed to somehow make it seem otherwise at the same time! It was frustrating, to say the least.

"To start, I would say introductions are in order, are they not?" I only growled louder as he said this, adding to the statement even further as I grabbed one of the girders that kept the Bouncer restrained and pulled him closer to me.

"LIkE HeLl wE ArE! AfTEr EvERyThIng, yoU rEAllY exPeCt anY Of US tO-"

"F-Fluttershy."

... What?

Freezing for a moment as my mind went through a momentary reset, I turned my head to Fluttershy as she spoke up again.

"M-my name is Fluttershy..."

The Bouncer's head turned much like mine, and through his audio, I could hear the man chuckle. Hell, I could practically hear the smile that he probably had on.

"Ah, there we are! The first official introduction, and, might I add, it is nice to formally meet you, Miss Fluttershy."

... Seriously, what the fuck just happened?

"..." Taking notice of my bewildered expression, Fluttershy momentarily moved her gaze to the floor, half seeming to be out of a sort of shame, while the other half simply was a resurfacing of her timidity.

"W-well, its just that," she began to explain, though rather silently, "you let him on board so you could talk to him, right?"

Well, that's a sort of half-truth, but, yeah, I suppose so. I nodded.

"Right. Um, then, maybe, instead of, well..." She gestured towards my rivet gun, still held to the head of the Bouncer, and the grip I held him in. "M-maybe we can actually just... Talk to him? I-if that's okay, I mean."

"Yes, Omega," Rarity agreed, moving my attention towards her, "today's had quite enough... Violence, wouldn't you say? Perhaps we can try a more peaceful approach, just this once?"

Okay, no offense to them, but, this isn't their home. I can sorta get where they're coming from, considering the fact that, in their homes, it's likely normal to just talk through problems, and the fact that someone was apparently willing to talk probably seemed like a refreshing bit of civility from Equestria... But, this is Rapture. Civility is dead here. No matter what a person says, or how they say it, they always have some sort of alternative motive. Always. So, for me to just drop that, and give this one random guy, who tried to kill me, a chance, the answer was n-

"Please?"

Fuck!

"..." Hearing Rarity's plea, and glancing towards the two just in time to get a good view on a duo pair of puppy eyes, I gave out a sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose as I swallowed up as much of my anger as possible. Soon after, I nodded, though my neck practically refused to comply with me as I did so, following the stiff command of my annoyance and rage rather than that of my own force. "Thank you. Now, lets calm down now." As she spoke, her tone shifted to one of a more soothing and placid nature, likely to help her place me in a similar state.

"Take a deep breath; In, and out." As demeaning as this seemed, mostly because that man was probably laughing his ass off as he watched this play out, I followed Rarity's instruction, taking deep though partially heavy breaths. Ever so slowly, my overall stance lost tension bit by bit, but I still held my guard up nonetheless.

"Good. Now, I need you to lower your weapon, Omega." Like hell I will! No offense Rarity, but I am not taking the chance of putting my weapon with this guy here, even for a sec-

"Omega..." Fluttershy chimed in quietly, having apparently taken notice to my hesitance. Again, I sighed, forcing my weapon holstered arm away from the bastard before me, pointing it downwards to the ground by my side. The amount of effort this had taken from me was even greater than last, practically causing me stress pain as a result.

"Good..." Rarity commended, seemingly gleeful at her success so far... She was lucky that she and Fluttershy were so cute... That somehow sounded odd, didn't it? "Finally, give him a proper introduction. Believe it or not, simply doing something like saying your name to another is calming in its own right."

With grit teeth and narrowed eyes, I looked straight towards the Bouncer, and, in relation, the man likely hiding behind his screens. "OmeGa..." That still came out as a sort of growl, but, considering what I likely would have done otherwise, it was definitely an improvement.

Nonetheless, this seemed to satisfy Fluttershy and Rarity, the two offering small smiles at my relative complacency. Unfortunately though, the two were not the only ones that were satisfied by this.

"Hm, nice to see that you're so willing to be negotiable after all, Omega. Though, I suppose the circumstances are rather... Questionable." My grip on the Bouncer momentarily tightening as the man spoke, I barely withheld another growl as I gave the physical and audible pair a shove, staggering the Bouncer as he regained his footing shortly after.

"... DoNT puSH iT." I warned, crossing my arms as I continued to glower at him. Before I could go on any further with this though, Rarity cleared gave her throat a quick clear.

"Yes, well, on the note of introductions; my name is Rarity." Placing a hoof upon her chest, so as to likely add just a little bit more clarity to her self-reference, Rarity then moved her attention towards the projected image of her companions. They, even after the sizable amount of time they had been given, still didn't seem used to the situation, continuing to give odd looks towards us.

"And these are Fluttershy and I's dearest friends: Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and PinkiePie." At her introduction, the group began to speak up, though still warily so.

"Um... Hello?"

"Howdy."

"Er, sup."

"..."

Ironically, PinkiePie was the only silent one of the four, sporting a- wait, where the hell was she?

No, I'm serious, she's fucking gone, with all that's left of where she was being what looked like a small pile of confetti...

"Um... Excuse my question, but, were there not... Four of you?" At this, my charges and their companions all looked to the spot where the pink pony used to have been, all gaining questioning looks as they did so.

"Strange." Twilight remarked. "She was here just a second ago."

"Well, that's Pinkie for you." Rainbow Dash then quickly added in with a short laugh... Though, I didn't see anything funny with this. If anything, now I was worried.

"...Well, I must say, it is a pleasure to meet you all. I do so hope that we ca-" Right, I have to deal with this first...

Somehow, it feels as though my priorities are somehow in the wrong here; Pinkie's planning something, sure, but so is that man, and frankly, I have a feeling what he has in that mind of his is much more sinister...

I think...

"SaVe iT." I interupted. "YoU'rE nOT HeRE FoR fUn, aNd YOu kNoW iT." Crossing my arms, I watched as the Bouncer's yellow porthole light shifted between the projector image and I. Beyond the Bouncer's audio link, I could hear the man sigh.

"Yes, well... That does not mean I should not get to know those who are involved with this... Situation."

Interrogation is more like it. I'd make sure to it.

"ReALly? I ThINK iT ShoULd... BuT, coNSidErIng iT WaS a ReQUEsT fRoM mY ChArGes tO hOLd a MorE peACeFul nEGoTiatiOn wItH yOu, I sUppOse aN EXcEptiOn iS NecESSaRy..." I heard the man give out a soft chuckle, which, in of its own, annoyed me to no end.

"A Big Daddy through and through, aren't you--despite the lack of your suit, or the difference in species, you hold the interest of those you're 'responsible' for before your own... Noble..."

Was that supposed to be a compliment? If so, how did he actually make that sound insulting?

"YEaH, whAtEVer, noW cUT tHe CrAP aNd LetS gEt dOwN To BuSinESs. FiRsT oFF, whO iN tHe HelL Are YOu?!" There was a momentary pause after I said this; and already, I could hear the cogs of this mans mind grinding. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was trying to think through what he would say.

In theory, it wasn't a bad idea, considering I was already in a pretty bad mood anyway, but, in practice, it just served to annoy me even further. For all I knew, he was thinking of some sort of lie to make his way through all of this, and that was one of the last things I needed.

"Of course." Clearing his threat, I heard the man take a short breath inwards. "To begin, why not introduce you to my associate here? After all, you're likely dying to know what to refer to him as, correct?" As he spoke I gave him a look, and it took him all of a second to realize what he had just said. "... My mistake, that was a horrible choice of words."

Maybe he wasn't thinking through what he was saying after all...

"Ahem... Subject Omega, meet Subject Echo 2-5, Bouncer class, second generation."

"Subject..."

"EcHo?" I questioned, finishing my thought aloud as I mentally repeated that name over and over again. "YoU're jOkinG, riGhT? 'EcHO' iSnT a sUBjecT naMe."

Never once had I heard that name; once. From what I was made to remember, subject names were supposedly made out of some weird alphabet--'Greek', I think it was called. Hell, the Epsilon symbol was engraved into this Bouncer's drill! So, why in the hell is he saying that his name is Echo?!

"Unfortunately... I am indeed being serious..." For a moment, he seemed to lose his controlled and 'friendly' tone, instead gaining one of irritation. "Though he was supposed to be referred to as 'Epsilon', as you may likely be able to tell, there was a... mistake in his programming... and believe me, it irritates me to no end."

I rose a brow, alongside the ponies who watched with me, as the voice of the man began to gain more anger behind it. "An organized system, originally so perfect and structured, brought to a screeching, undeniable halt by a simple misplacement of a few binaries. It's as if someone began to count downwards from 100, only to skip a number as they did so; a single floor tile that was made to be vertical rather than horizontal; a misplaced book on a shelf; a-"

Taking note of the fact that he was practically shouting now, I cleared my throat, effectively interrupting and silencing him as he returned his attention towards me. The Bouncer, or 'Echo', had remained calmly in place as his puppeteer of a master had gone on a short tirade, with nothing more than an awkward silence escaping from him now as he watched us, and we all stared oddly back.

Nonetheless, with a clear of his own throat, the man soon spoke once more. "... Forgive me, I have a rather... Strong opinion towards the organization of things. A slight case of... Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, you see..."

Obssessive Compulsive Disorder... I know Ive said this before, but, you must be joking me. Before I could even remark on this, or how ridiculous it sounded, Twilight made a comment of her own. "Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I'm a bit of a neat freak too, so, I can see where you're coming from. Especially that 'misplaced book on a shelf' thing... Come to think of it," she then added as she put a hoof towards her chin, "did I remember to alphabetize the library before I left...?"

So... That's different... Still, that certainly seemed to gain the man's interest. "Oh? You work as a 'librarian' for your kind? Hm, seems our worlds are even more similar than I had originally thought." The man paused for another moment, seeming to hum in thought. "Back on subject, however... Subject Echo is, as you may have been able to tell, a custom-designed Big Daddy Bouncer. He was made to be a prototype-- an improvement into the Big Daddy line."

A... Prototype? I guess that would explain why he looks so different, but, it doesn't explain exactly how. Raising a brow, I gave the Bouncer another once over as I addressed the man.

"So, tHAt's wHy haVenT I evER SeeN AnY otHeR mODeLs lIkE hiM?" I questioned, receiving a prompt chuckle in return.

"How could you have? His model design was terminated before it could gain any true use, and he was given a different job instead." Crossing my arms, I pieced together the last of the man's story with ease, remembering all the occasions in which I'd caught sight of this... Role of his.

"... ThE aNTi-pRoTocOL." The man gave a short chuckle at this before promptly responding.

"Correct. The anti-protocol."

Ten points to me then. Still, before I could say another word, Rainbow Dash decided to go ahead and be the one to ask about the now more present elephant in the room...

On a side note, kinda wish I knew what an elephant was.

"What the heck is an 'anti-protocol'?" She blurted out questioningly, receiving a short scolding and scowl from both Rarity and Twilight in doing so.

The man gave another soft chuckle at this from amusement. "Now, now," he told the two, "no need for that. There's nothing wrong with a perfectly appropriate question."

Despite my continued annoyance with this guy, and pretty much my overall dislike of him, I nodded. "iF anYtHInG, sHe maNagED tO tAke tHE WoRDs rigHT ouT Of My mOuTH. WhAt eXAcTly iS 'aNtI-pRotOcol WyK'?"

Over the Bouncer's systems, I heard the man give a short hum in thought, before what sounded like an odd creaking in the background soon came through shortly afterwards. "Hm. Yes, I suppose you and your companions deserve an answer. You see, the anti-protocol is a sort of... Fail safe..."

A fail safe?

"A fAIL saFe tO wHAt?" I persisted. Yet again the man chuckled, which, honestly, was beginning to annoy me to no end. It was as if he was laughing at our ignorance, outrightly so at that.

"Think about it. For anyone that has survived in Rapture as long as you likely have, the term itself should be the very answer you seek."

Gee, thanks, because I definitely asked to be given a riddle, or some bullshit like that. Don't bother to give me a straight answer, by all means!

Sighing at this, I momentarily began to rack my mind, repeating how stupid this was as I mentally sounded out the protocol name again and again.

Anti-protocol WYK...

At first, it made no sense to me, seeming like nothing more than just a pair of words with a few random letters near the end... But then I focused on the letters...

WYK... 'Would you kindly'...

"It wAs mEaNt tO be UsEd aGAinST jaCK?!?" I suddenly exclaimed in realization, my outburst apparently having been so unexpected that Rarity, Fluttershy, and their three friends all recoiled in surprise.

"Ah, perfect answer; yes, the anti-protocol was made in order to stop Fontaine's 'ace in the hole'. A plot to use the most powerful beings in Rapture, Big Daddies, in order to do so." He explained, only causing me to raise a brow in confusion.

"BuT... DiDNt yoU sAy eChO wAS TeRmiNateD FrOm hiS eArlIeR dUtiES? WhY iS He A paRT oF tHIs?" I questioned. In all honesty, it that hole in his story was pretty damn noticeable. A little too much so, in fact, for me to just look over, and it seemed as though he was aware of this too.

"Yes, indeed, Echo was a deemed failure. In fact, many had suggested that he be rid of as soon as possible... But his status as a failure was exactly why he was placed in the anti-protocol."

Yeah... Still clueless...

"The idea was simple enough. On the day that Jack came, all one would have to do was release these members of the anti-protocol; protectors with unique weaponry, and a different set of mental programming."

Again, I narrowed my eyes at this. "WhiCh wAs...?" I asked warily, recalling the first occasion Echo and I had fought--how he had mentioned 'executing protocol' before attacking me.

"Hm. To put it frankly, there were two things they were made to understand, and only these two things. One, to serve as a sort of proxy for whomever would be given the title as the 'head' of the protocol; I assume you can add two and two to recognize who that might be by now."

I may be insane, hold the overall reading and writing level of a child, and hold no memory of my former life whatsoever... But I wasn't stupid. Anyone with a brain, ergo anything that wasn't a splicer, could clearly be able to tell that this jackass was the one in charge of this whole protocol crap.

"AnD tWo?" I pestered, rolling my eyes at his earlier statement. Infuriatingly and oddly enough though, this just made him chuckle once again. This was starting to feel like a bad cycle.

"Why, couldn't you tell by now? How he mercilessly fought and killed anything in his way, including you?" I stayed silent, just glaring at him. Bringing up the incident originally in question didn't exactly help the situation. "His other set of programming, the reason behind the protocol only being a last resort, was to wipe out whatever remained of Rapture upon activation; city, life, and all."

What?! My eyes widened at this, as that sentence echoed over and over in my head. Hell, I could just barely hear my charges gasp just as well in the background, holding seemingly just as much surprise as I did.

The anti-protocol, apparently made just in case Jack ever arrived, was made to destroy the entire goddamn city?! I knew most of the people down here were extreme, but Jesus Christ!

"W-wipe out... Rapture?" Fluttershy questioned, a short glance in her direction telling me all I needed. Her features showed nothing more than shock as she, and Rarity, looked towards Echo.

"Pardner, ain't that takin' things a little too far?" The added input from Applejack also showed that the other group of ponies shared a similar opinion as ours, furthering my case of 'crazy even by splicer standards'.

"As a matter of fact, it is. Nonetheless, this was created under Andrew Ryan's orders. 'Should the secrets of Rapture be endangered', he had said, 'I would rather it crumble than belong to any other'."

"AnD eCHo wAS sUppOsED tO Do ThaT?!"

"Not on his own, no, but he is certainly capable. After all, you've seen for yourself that Echo was designed to be the fastest ground-based Big Daddy, able to travel from one end of Rapture to the other within a matter of a few minutes, if he so wanted. He is especially fast in the water, his speed essentially able to reach levels just short of breaking the sound barrier. This is due to the third tank that he has on his back, consistently supplying him with a near infinite supply of EVE, mixed with sharp traces of a modified Aero Dash plasmid." This thing was splicing?! Ugh, no wonder it was so fast! Still, I've seen people with that Aero Dash plasmid, and not even they reached speeds close to what Echo had come to... Guess he isn't really joking when he said 'modified', as experience has so eagerly proven.

Looking glancing to the third tank on his back, I kept my focus on it as I continued in. Echo sounded as though he would have been the strongest Big Daddy in the city, able to take on even the Big Sisters, so, why was his role changed?

"... BUt...?"

"... As you know, he was deemed a failure, from the very beginning. As it had turned out, his programming needed to be absolutely perfect in order to keep him under control, and, well..."

"ThErE wAS a GliTcH, rIgHt?" I finished for the man, gaining an affirmative grunt in return. Big Daddy programming was almost never perfect, despite what those moronic scientists always claimed. Mine had let me keep my emotions, after all, despite the fact that I was supposed to be blank.

Bouncers, especially, were prone to glitches, if only because of the fact that their programming processes followed an inferior model. The original wasn't always better, I suppose.

"He was accidentally programmed to follow orders as 'Echo', not Epsilon. As a result, he never even gave them a hint of attention whenever he was assigned to do something under the alias of Epsilon, and soon after that, he was given his role as the first in the anti-protocol."

Rather than answer, I continued to look towards Echo and the man with narrowed eyes, my arms crossed as I silently urged for him to move on already.

"... AnD wHaT DoeS thAt mAkE yoU?" That same goddamn chuckle.

"... A man hoping to end the nightmare that is Rapture. To bring an end to this story, and begin a new one..." Bullshit.

"YOu knOw, LaMb sAiD thE SaMe tHinG..." I reminded him, referring to Rapture's last 'enlightenment'.

"Yes, I suppose she did... But I have a different idea on how to do so... Which is why I must ask, why are you heading through Lower Rapture in the first place?" Tch. This outta be fun.

"AnD wHy dO YoU wAnT tO knOW?" I interrogated.

"Well, its just that, I answered all of your questions, so what's to stop me from gaining answers of my own?"

How about the fact that I trust you just as far as I can throw you? Then again, by the sound of him, I can probably throw him pretty far, so... Scratch that.

Still, I guess he's not exactly wrong... Ugh...

"ThE EsCaPE pOdS In iNNeR pErSePhoNe." I answered plainly.

"Oh? You wish to leave Rapture?" I shook my head at this, gesturing to my charges with a bob of my head.

"NoT mE. ThEm. ThEY dOnT beLOng heRe, anD Im tRyIng tO GeT tHeM hOmE." Though I couldn't see it, I could almost feel the man's gaze shift from me to my charges, as he then momentarily held silence.

"... Hm. As curious as I am to your exact methods, considering..." He paused for a moment, Echo shifting his gaze towards the other ponies on screen before returning towards us. "But, I suppose that's a subject for another time. The issue at present, you see, is this: I have... A request to ask of you."

A request?

"This can't be good."

"Echo, as you may be able to infer, is not the only member of the anti-protocol. There are several more, each one spread throughout Lower Rapture, executing their protocols as designed... However, as of recent, I lost contact with them. Echo here is the only one who's signal still comes through, while the others simply give me nothing more than static."

"ANd... WhAT doEs tHaT hAvE tO Do wItH US?" I asked warily. I already had an idea as to what he was suggesting... But if he was honestly thinking it...

"I wish for you to go through Lower Rapture, just as you already have, but with one distinct difference. Echo will be accompanying you, and you will be seeking out the other members of the anti-protocol in your travels."

Okay, hell no. No. No, no. No!

"Oh, fUcK oFF! YoU pUt Us ThrOugH sOmE mAJoR cRAp, aND yOu waNt uS tO HeLP yoU?!"

"I understand that the request is rather bothersome to you, but you must believe me when I say-"

"AlL I haVe To bElIEvE iS tHaT YoU aNd EcHO tRiEd TO kIll Me ThREe TimEs!"

"Back on that, are we?"

"JuSt WhY In ThE HeLl sHouLd I dO AnYthIng fOr yoU oF AlL peoPlE?!"

... Silence... And then... That same, repetitive, double-toned chuckle for what must have been the umpteenth time, or some crap.

"Well... How about the fact that, if you do not do so, your trip will be made all the more difficult." His tone took a dangerous shift as he said this. One that, upon coming through Echo's speaker systems, caused both Fluttershy and Rarity to move themselves behind me.

Reaching for my rivet gun safety, I narrowed my eyes as I looked to the man.

"... Is thAT a ThrEaT?" I asked in a growl.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no! I have no intention of harming you, and neither does Echo, now that he has returned to my command... The other protector units, however, may not react just as kindly to your appearance. And besides that, there's also the matter of the mass area lockdown."

As he said this, my mind flashed to the trouble we had just getting through Ryan Amusement, including how far we had to get just to find that one console, and how it had seemingly been hidden away.

"You happened upon one of the protocol stations by pure fortune, so how swiftly do you think you would be able to find the next? Hours? Days? Years? Believe me, Omega, this is not a one-sided agreement. You return my communication link with the other protector units, and I assist you on your way through Lower Rapture. In fact, if you still don't believe this to be a fair agreement, I could always add to the agreement at a later time."

Almost as if on cue, Echo's eyes turned to a light shade of red as he suddenly began to struggle against the bindings that held him, giving out a groan as he did so. One that, because of the same spell that gave me a voice, turned into speech.

"... FrEeEeEEEe..." He had said, seemingly struggling just to speak as he did so.

Before I could even react, his drill revved on, grinding apart the girders that restrained him in one fell swoop, and causing the scrap to fall to the ground around him.

By the time he was free, I already had my rivet gun aimed at one of his portholes. Similarly so, he quickly closed whatever little distance held between us in a blur, pushing my rivet gun and arm slightly inwards as he placed his spinning drill inches away from my neck; just in case, I had grabbed the drill with my hand yet again, the bandaging that I had more recently placed upon it peeling off, along with some skin, as I halted the drills spinning.

The two of us stood like this for some time in silence, glaring at one another with equally threatening gazes, daring one another to make the next move... Surprisingly enough... That move never came...

Instead, the Bouncer's porthole lights just turned yellow once more, as he then moved himself off of me, blood partially dripping off his drill, and finally held his gloved hand out towards me.

"Hm... So Echo can talk as well now...? I suppose that's besides the point though isn't it? Omega, do we have a deal?"

... Four times... He tried to kill me four times, yet, he held his hand out to me through Echo, hoping for me to agree? This is either the most idiotic person I've ever met, or insane...

Crap. Even worse, I don't think I can say no, no matter how much I want to-- and believe me, I want to. He wasn't really wrong about that whole 'finding the other rooms' situation.

So, begrudgingly, I glared at Echo and the man once more, lifting my bloodied hand to meet Echo's gloved one, and shaking it; a small drip of blood hit against the floor, seeming to further emphasize the deal I had just made, likely foolishly.

With grit teeth, I spoke again. "GueSs I dOnT hAvE a chOiCe..."

"Splendi-" Before he could even finish that statement, I once again moved myself close to Echo, butting my head against his helmet with a loud clunk and glaring directly into the center porthole.

"BuT reAliZe thIs... YoU wErE alReaDY oN tHiN ICe wHeN EChO heRe tRiEd tO kiLl mE beFoRE... AnD nOW, YouRE dAMn wELl sUrE To Be WITh a fOoT iN tHe wATeR. CrOsS mE, oR My cHaRgEs, eVeN onCe, aNd I'lL cRusH yOu lIkE thE RaT yOu ArE..."

For once, the mans tone changed to something much more honest. A tone that seemed to hold glints of genuine fear to it as he spoke.

"Er... Um, yes, I'll... Leave you to get acquainted with your new friend here... Echo, as of now, you follow orders from Subject Omega, second-priority to mine..."

And with that, the sound of a short static-filled comm being shut down, before just as quickly returning on afterwards. "Oh, and you may call me 'Seidon'." Again the static, and this time, he thankfully didn't come back.

More interestingly enough, for the first time since I had encountered him, Echo's porthole lights turned green, like mine had used to, and he then spoke again.

"Fr... IEnd...?" I growled as he said this, pushing him off as I returned my rivet gun to my compact form and glanced at my bleeding and pained hand.

"... JuSt wAiT aT tHe FrOnt Of tHe tRaIn. AnD doN't gEt yOuR HoPeS Up..."

True to his obedient nature, Echo, now wordlessly, turned himself and left the room, sliding open and closing the door to the head of the train behind him, only leaving me and... The spectators to what had just occurred...

Taking in a breath to calm myself, as Rarity had told me to do, I gripped my torn hand as I turned myself to the screen of ponies before me, alongside Fluttershy and Rarity...

This was gonna be fun...

"..."

"... So, uH-"

"SURPRISE!"

"JESUS!!!" Before I could even get a word out, I found myself falling flat on my ass out of pure surprise as the sudden pink amalgamation of sugar and pony, Pinkie Pie, seemed to pop out of nowhere; she held what looked like a large cake balanced on her back, wore a bright red party hat, and had what looked like a party blower in her mouth.

"Hmhmhm, whoops!" She giggled. "Sorry, but I told you all that we'd have a party the next time we talked, and when I saw you, I suddenly remembered 'hey, Pinkie, aren't you supposed to throw a party now?' And I said, 'yes, Pinkie, I did!' So I rushed to the kitchen as fast as I could and got the cake I had made, along with my party supplies, and decided to put on this whole mini party! I mean, its probably gonna be a little hard for any of you to have any cake, but we can still-"

It was at this point that my mind thankfully hit its mute button, blocking out the pink piny to the best of its ability... Though, by then, the migraine was back again.

They... Had a lot to catch up on. Hell, we spent pretty much the entire rest of the transmission just recounting what had happened over the last two days--of which I hadn't even known it had already been.

The trip to Lower Rapture, the Atlantic Express, my splicing, Mill... Everything, though we spared them the details of the more violent and foreboding things we had seen and gone through.

Nonetheless, the entirety of the meeting seemed... God... Pinkie was the only one who felt truly happy, I could tell.

Everyone else was far too preoccupied with what had occurred... With Echo and Seidon, as his name was apparently.

It's my fault, I know. I brought them onboard, and I used the one way my charges had to communicate with their loved ones just to give the two a piece of my mind... Only to have the entire situation flipped over on me at the last second...

Damn it. Damn it! Damn it!!!

Selfishness is one thing, but unsuccessful selfishness...?

I ended up leaving a short while before the transmission could end... I felt terrible about this whole thing...

Even now, I stand at the head of the train, Mill resting peacefully in the far corner of the control panel with a now chubby stomach and an empty can of peaches next to him. I had no such comfort, having to give up a good half of the room I originally had here just to accommodate Echo.

The reason I had kept him in here, with me, was simple enough though. There was no way in hell I would let him, or Seidon, be alone with the girls.

Shoving him even further off to the side of the room, considering he had the tendency of wandering off from his side a bit, I sneered at him as I glanced down to my hand, still a mess, as it had previously been.

Fluttershy and Rarity had offered to help me with it, but I had already bothered them enough by now.

Besides... That just brought up the next point of my overall concern didn't it?

Reaching into my supply bag, which I had so haplessly left in the room here with Mill during my... 'Meeting' with Echo and Seidon, I pulled out a fresh strip of bandages, and a simple bottle of water.

Nothing else. No stitches, antioxidants...

Instead, I just opened the bottle and turned it over, spilling a bit onto my hand, which just as quickly then spilled onto the floor in a combination of misted, watery, and pure red. Instantly, that familiar feeling of coldness and refreshing bliss came over me, dulling whatever pain I felt to levels that seemed as though they were nothing... Before then just as quickly being nothing at all.

My eyes, which I had incidentally closed during my moment of bliss, opened to spot a now completely healed hand, with little more than a few scars left upon it... Again, I sneered, wrapping the bandages I had brought where the wound would have been.

Now, not only did I have to deal with this crap... But also some guy who's biggest goal is to destroy Rapture? Plus, after everything that he's already caused...

He'll pay... That's a promise.

Author's Note

Fucking WRITERS BLOCK!!!

Hit me like a goddamn truck this time... Loaded with Tnt... ON THE FREEWAY!

But, yeah, heres the next chapter. Sorry about the huuuuuuge delay, and I hope I can be better with my time management. But, for now, onto work with my other stories...

Oh, and, renewed inventory check time. :D

Inventory:
-Rivet Gun (4)

Heavy Rivets (13)
-Remote Hack Tool (4)
Auto Hack Dart (2)
-ESU
-EVE Hypo (4)
-First Aid Kits (1&1/2)
-Money (43)
Plasmids:
}Telekinesis 3
}Security Command 2
Gene Tonics:
}Armored Shell 2
}Fountain Of Youth (WHAT THE PLOT!?!!?)

Chapter 32: Dine And Dash

Paupers Drop. Originally a maintenence junction for the Atlantic Express, it soon became a sort of makeshift housing area for workers and their families, essentially being a repurposed version of Apollo Square in its entirity. It was an area for people who were down on their luck, and couldn't afford to go anywhere else; a place that was pretty much a jackpot for businessmen looking to make a quick buck off of others, and for a certain manipulative bitch of a therapist to gain supporters from the bottom all the way to the top. If I had thought that Apollo Square was full of assholes and greed, it was pretty much nothing compared to this place.

Having only more recently gotten over the stupidity that was Echo, and the fact that I'd likely have to deal with him and Seidon for a good while, Fluttershy, Rarity and I followed close behind after he had managed to stand himself up, making our way out of the train stop and into Paupers Drop. Naturally, the moment the door opened, the first thing to greet us was a heaping pile of rubble below a collapsed sealing, leaking ever so slightly as it was lit by the city's light, compliments of the glass and semi-circular wall to our immediate left... and, for some reason, a randomly placed mattress... Wierd.

Nonetheless, having been the one who was repairing this city for so any years, I couldn't help but to sigh at the sight. Especially since, before the splicer uprising, I recalled actually fixing this same problem. Hell, I was called to Paupers Drop for repairs, alongside other Big Daddies, more than any other place throughout the entirity of Rapture. Granted, it wasnt the biggest fix I ever had to help make--flashes of Siren Alley and how rumors of the infamous Subject Delta's apparent flooding of it entirely came to mind--but it was certainly a tedious series of them. And now, it had been years since I had last been here, so suffice to say, I didn't expect anything to seem fixed, or at least decent.

Giving a quick glance out towards the ocean through the glass wall, watching as the pillars of kelp and seaweed swayed in the seas, the four of us--five counting Mill--made our way around the pile of rubble with relative ease, following the passageway as it took a right, leading to another door, even having to pass by a Gene Bank machine, and what seemed like a... refrigerator?

I don't even...

Anyways, through this door, rubble was apparent again... but not quite as much so as a certain shrine that had pretty much taken over what was left of the room. It was very vibrant, for a lack of better words, with long blown-out candles in copious amounts spread out around a Little Sister hidey-hole, alongside several blue sheets and blankets, including one that covered what seemed to be a table, which held small, notable bloodstains upon it. Furthermore, the walls were lined with scrawled on text that the splicers had haphazardly written or scratched into the walls, alongside several fake blue butterflies. As to what the text said, it ranged from the simple 'Lamb lights the way' to the more foreboding 'We are but the storm to pave the way'. Most significantly of these writings was a banner that hung above the hidey-hole, reading 'Give yourself unto her'.

I growled as I realized what this was, more than slightly tempted to break everything in this room to bits.

"My word..." Rarity seemed to gasp, taking a step or two closer to the shrine, though being careful not get too far.

"W-what is this place?" Fluttershy asked, glancing between me and the same shrine Rarity seemed so fixated on. Before I could even answer though, a certain annoyance made himself known again...

"Ah, yes, one of the leftover shrines to Lamb. An odd woman that one. Driven by the belief that she could remake Rapture in a more 'utopian' image through the simple recreation of a cycle between ADAM and death, she made it so that splicer's began to see Little Sisters as deities off sorts, of whom they were supposed to offer themselves to continue the cycle of ADAM in Rapture. It was practically a religion to the splicers in Lower Rapture, especially here in Paupers Drop. However, once Lamb left, this belief in this 'cycle' was made to fall alongside her reign. Odd how one who believes there to be no hope or truth, such as a splicer, is so willing to believe such cockamamy in an instant." He literally turned on the communication system just to explain this to the girls, before then leaving again with another small bout of static. He's gonna be one of those people who try to teach you everything you may or may not know despite wether you want him to or not, isn't he?

"Well, wether or not this was meant to hold an... odd purpose to it, I must say the fabrics they used here are simply divine! I mean..." Seeming to bite her lip for a moment or two, Rarity turned back towards me and, grabbing my right hand with her maw, which felt pretty strange, began tugging me towards the shrine. I didnt really wanna get any closer to it, but, at the same time, I didn't want to upset Rarity by declining what she was trying to show me... whatever it was. Fluttershy, of course, followed closely behind, giving out a smile at Rarity's antics.

With one last tug, I was suddenly standing in front of the shrine, just before the blood stained cloth that had been laid over the table. Rarity swiftly grabbed hold of an unbloodied part of the fabric in between her hooves, rubbing it between them with a gleeful smile on her face.

"Oh, I absolutely knew it! Just look, Omega. It's silk, and an absolutely divine blend of it too!" Without even a moments notice, she held the fabric out for me to feel, which, with some hesitation, I soon did. The first word to come to mind was... smooth... like, really goddamn smooth. It was odd, but, despite it just being a fabric, and not exactly the cleanest of ones either, it was pleasent to the touch, almost relaxing in fact.

"See?" Rarity asked. "Isn't it wonderful?" Smiling towards her, Omega gave a small nod as response, which seemed to only make Rarity's smile grow even brighter.

"Ooh, if only I had my sewing kit with me! A few stiches and seams, a few cuts to get rid of the more... unsavory parts, alongside a bit of a good cleaning, and I could easily make this into something wonderful!" She proclaimed, drawing a chuckle from both me and Fluttershy.

"Sewing?" Oh c'mon. Can't you stay quiet?

"You... sew?" Seidon asked, as Echo then wandered over to the side of the shrine, grabbing one of the fabrics on the wall and rubbing it between his fingers. Again, useless attempt, stupid idea.

"Oh, y-yes. Rarity's one of the best dress and suit makers I know back in Equestria." Fluttershy responded to Seidon timidly, half-hiding behind her mane. It had been a while since I had seen her do that, and somehow, outside of my suit, it looked even more adorable than before.

Smiling at Fluttershy's words, Rarity waved her off with a motion of her hooves.

"Oh do go on darling." She said with a laugh. Seidon, however, seemed more curious than amused.

"But... how do you... do you have special tools to use with your hooves where you come from or...? And, why do you even need clothing? You aren't wearing any now."

... I'll be honest, he wasn't far off on that second question. Hell, I was fairly curious as to the reason too.

"Well, darling, when it comes to looking your best, be it at a formal arrangement or simply an extravagant party, a mare, or stallion, simply has to look their best." Hm. Fair point, I guess. This seemed to go along similarly with Seidon, as he gave out a seemingly satisfied hum at the answer.

"Understandable, I suppose. And, as for my first question?"

"Oh, that's an easy one dear. I just use my magic." And just like that, there was a notably lengthy period of silence in the room. I'm not sure what prompted it, myself and my charges raising brows as we took note of it, but, there it was...

"... I-Im sorry, but did you say 'magic'?" His voice was... different, about an octave or ten higher, in fact. Rarity nodded at the question.

"Yes, magic. Why do you ask?" She inquired. From the other side of the communication systems, a series of what sounded like stammers could be heard, followed shortly thereafter by the sound of Seidon clearing his throat.

"... Um, heh, simply put, there's no such thing as 'magic'. I mean, perhaps you have simply have a different wording than we humans do or it, and-'

"Oh, no, I assure you, it's magic. In fact, most unicorns like myself are able to use magic." Again, there was another moment of silence.

"... Now, by magic, do you simply mean a telekenetic ability, like the plasmid Omega uses? I mean, its a stretch, but I suppose I can believe that Unicorns of your species are gifted with larger frontal cortexes that allow you to-"

"Well, yes, magic comes in useful when it comes to my sewing--in fact, it's what I mainly use to do my sewing--but the occasional spell to bring out my tools from my storage room and bind a few loose threads together always prove themselves to be a convenience."

"... Spells?"

"Why, yes. Like the one that allows us to talk with our friends back in Equestria. I mean, how else would we do so?" The amount of stutters and, to my slight confusion, odd noises that followed shortly after Rarity had said that were astounding, to say the least. I mean, yes, the concept of magic was a bit odd for me at first, but I got over it fairly quickly. Seidon, however... well, it seemed like it actually broke him. Even Echo stopped whatever the hell he was doing to pay attention to Seidon's meltdown, as he soon became more and more quiet, to the point of being absolutely mute.

"... Im going to... lay my head down for a moment or two... maybe find some pain pills... I'll be back shortly..." And with that, the radio shut off again, and I made a mental note to ask more about Rarity and Fluttershy's homes. Who knows, if I find something else that would be 'inexistant' again, I may manage to have myself an essential coupon to shut Seidon up whenever I wanted him to... That was a nice thought.

"Um, did I... say something?" Rarity asked, looking to us for answers. Whereas Fluttershy simply shrugged, I, with a smile on my face, simply waved the subject off, gesturing that it was probably nothing. Rarity seemed to purse her lips at this, but dropped the subject nonetheless.

Besides, as enjoyable as that short moment was, we still had to get going.

'Echo.' I ordered. 'Take point again. We can't stay here all day.' The Bouncer gave me a nod as he obediently moved away from his previous position, making his way down the rest of the path the shrine laid in with me and my charges following shortly behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not long afterwards, the group of charges and protectors--and slug--came across yet another door, passing by a Vita-chamber on the way, as Echo was the first to take the initial, albeit lumbering, steps into the next area, followed by the others.

The once narrow and rubble filled path suddenly opened up as Echo, Omega, Rarity, and Fluttershy made their way into what was arguably one of the more notable areas of Paupers Drop, which many had, long ago, referred to as 'the fishbowl'.

The reason? The eroded and eggshell white building that sat in the middle of the large room; a well-known diner to the previous residents of Paupers Drop which went by the name 'Fishbowl Diner'.

The diner itself was, for a lack of better words, in shambles of its former self, but still relatively intact compared to most of the other things that currently surrounded the group. The white paint that colored its outer walls had suffered from several signs of chipping and unknown stains, some being visible as blotches of black, others as dried sprays of red. The neon lights that had been added to it as decoration by its old owners, which surrounded the top part of the building in a fluid, cornerless form, and made up the large sign above the diner itself continued to stay alight despite the ages of time withoout care, though occasionally flickering from time to time. The sign atop of the diner itself held two differently formated and sized texts for 'Fishbowl'--which was made to be thinner with a blue coloring--and 'Diner'--this one more noticable in every regard, standing out boldly with red neon lighting--alongside the consistently flashing neon image of a fish jumping from a fishbowl into a frying pan.

The interior of the building could be seen through the several large windows that were designed to it. also seeming to have fared relatively well with time, the classic booths and tables that were visible through the dusty windows continuing to hold their form save for a few stains and tears, alongside a few working lights and the flickering jukebox in the far corner. All in all, the diner seemed surprisingly welcoming in comparison to most of the other places Omega, Fluttershy, and Rarity had seen in Lower Rapture.

Omega, however, could only glare at the building, sneering as he recalled with ease as to the reason that, despite the appearance of the building, it had long been labeled as a place to be avoided, both to whatever survivors had once remained, and Big Daddies of all kinds.

He found himself focusing more on the hastily repaired ceiling he could see through the windows of the building, noting the shoddy craftsmanship, seeming entirely unfocused and rushed: traits adherent to anything a splicer might attempt to make or do.

While he did this, both Fluttershy and Rarity instead focused on a different aspect of the building; more specifically, the sign showing the fish leaping onto the frying pan above the diner.

The two, especially Rarity, seemed to hold rather uncomfortable faces as they watched the sign repeat its cycle again and again, recalling just what significance it brought up in their minds. That is to say, how it brought up the diet of humans.

Yes, at this point, they had become well aware that humans indeed ate meat, as well as fruits and vegetables. The many threats they had heard and sights they had seen had been vivid reminders of this fact, now so more than ever.

Granted, Fluttershy was fairly understanding of this diet. After all, she had taken care of many creatures who had meat among their necessary dietary listings, much like Rarity's remembrance of some of her Griffon patrons back in Equestria occassionally eating meat themselves. To the two, these sights were to be expected, but, at the same time, it was the mere thought of Omega digging into some sort of animal or dish for sustenance, the mere envisioning of this happening, that was the reason behind the two's discomfort with this fact. Even more so, the two had seen very little signs or images of humans that looked anything that was not akin to those of splicers, more often picturing them eating over some carcass rather than what Omega had shown or described to them as regular humans. This was a disturbing image, to say the least. The thought of something that used to be civilized taking the role of nothing more than a dangerous predator...

But then again, that was what made up most of the life in this city. Dangerous predators.

Glancing between each other, and then to Omega, who was now using his time to scan the room where he stood, they couldn't help but to want to reprieve their previous thoughts. If there was anything he had shown them, after all, it was that he was far from even similar the many others that made up Rapture's popuation. If one were to describe him as nothing more than a predator, it would be an injustice in their opinions. Though, yes, he had long adapted the brutality of the city in order to survive, he had retained his sanity, his self, and his humanity throughout it all, treating the two with kindness and care throughout most of their stay here.

It was for this reason that, though unspoken, the two charges shared a thought...

Was it possible that, perhaps, Omega was beginning to crave some sort of meat as well? And, if so, would it not be for the best that he be given the freedom to sate this hunger?

It was an... odd thought for the two, or anypony for that matter, to really have, but, again, they had promised to help him as much as they could and, really, allowing him to do what was only likely natural among humans was hardly any form of doing so whatsoever, even if it may be against the norm to them in their homes.

Before the two could fester on these thoughts any further, however, one of the two protector units with them, of whom's large metal suit and viable immortality still remained functional, gave out a slow series of groans, which seemed to also attract Omega's attention.

'Gamma... further ahead...' Echo informed the group, though only Omega was able to truly have any sort of understanding as to this. Fluttershy and Rarity, however, were left to watch on as Omega returned the incomprehensible groan with his own, though oddly with a more aggressive tinge to it.

'And you know this how exactly?' He inquired expectantly, disliking of the fact that he was left in the dark of how Echo had possibly obtained this knowledge. Had Seidon relayed this message to him? If that was the case, then he was more than slightly sore at the fact that he may have apparently believed he was better of giving this message to Echo, of all beings, to give.

'Can hear... signal... from Anti-protocol...'

Omega rose a brow at this, skepticism clear in his features, alongside bouts of confusion and curiosity.

Echo was able to somehow hear the signals from other Anti-protocol members, after all? It was no more sensical to Omega as a splicer attempting to add when, more often than not, they knew they were far beyond the point of doing simple math. Still, despite Omega's clear face of doubt at Echo's answer, he decided to simply go along with it. After all, he wanted to save himself the headache that was conversing with Echo in its entirity. So, pinching the crook of his nose, Omega gave out a sigh, shaking his head as he looked away from the Bouncer and around the room again.

Whether or not their objective really was further ahead or not, a light shake to Omega's rivet gun reminded him quite clearly of the state of disparity he was currently in, lacking of a significant amount of ammunition which, if he wanted to be able to deal with many other threats that resided around Paupers Drop and protect his charges in the process, he would very likely need.

'... Fine then. But, we're going to look around first for some supplies.' Echo, in response, tilted his head as much as he could though his suit at this.

'Su... pplies?' He repeated, leading to Omega rolling his eyes at him. At this point, Omega was beginning to see a reason why the Bouncer's name of 'Echo' was growing more and more appropriate to him.

'Yes! Supplies! Rivets, First Aid Kits, EVE, anything like that!' Seeming to list of the items witth his movements, as well as his groans, Omega then let out a heavy breath through his nose as he then looked to his left, past Echo. There, he spotted a familiar, though far from enjoyably so, vending machine, sporting of its usual circus clown 'face' and distinct colorings. A Circus of Values machine, leaning against the wall perpindicular of the one the group was nearest to.

Omega smirked at this, though quickly hid it away as he then looked to Echo, gesturing for him to go first again as they then made their way over to the machine.

Rounding an old news booth, which was visibly emptied and bare save for its surplus of dust and cobwebs, Omega internally cursed as the machine seemed to have taken note of his approach, sounding out its usual preogrammed greeting.

"Welcome to the Circus Of Values!" The built-in recording resounded, practically causing the group, including Seidon, who was quite a distance away, to jump out of their skins. At this point in time, it was a shared ideology among the group of humans and ponies that these machines were no less than a loud annoyance, albeit necessary as well.

As Omega then crouched near the access panel of the machine, he glanced up towards the listings it held, praying that it held rivets of any kind within its inventory. Thankfully, he could see that it was indeed among that same list, alongside a few EVE Hypos, First Aid Kits, and, curiously enough, containers of water... However, he also took note of the 'out of stock' label that was placed over it, bringing about a sigh from him. Either way, the other supplies among those listed did have some use to them and, though he wouldn't start wpending what little money he and his group had on them, he certainly wouldn't mind gaining any of them for free.

So, with little trouble, Omega then removed the bag of supplies he had with him from his back, placing it down on the floor next to him, where it slumped ever so slightly. Mill, having noticed this sudden series of motions from within, peeked his head out of the bag with interest, giving out a small squeal in the process.

Fluttershy giggled at this, watching as Omega gave out his own short chuckle and pat Mill on the head once or twice before returning his attention to the machine's access panel.

Not noting any clear place for him to grab hold of the panel, however, Omega instead opted to use his plasmid as a method around this issue, encircling the panel with his telekinetic hold and, with a thought, ripping it from its previous placements, screws and all. The following hack that he followed through with was, for a lack of words, simple enough; Turn one tile, swap the other, avoid the alarm, and done.

With an audible click and shift of the mechanisms from within the machine, it gave out a prerecorded laugh as it then plopped out two different objects; one being a container of aspirin, which caused Omega to raise a brow, considering it wasn't even on the listings of the machine, and one a container of water.

"Seriously?" He thought to himself in annoyance, glaring at the machine which had so happily held what it had not even said it had, but not what they had needed.

Nonetheless, despite this, Omega moved for what the machine had dropped, only to be stopped as, before he could, Mill swiftly moved out of the bag in what could only be described as faster than the blink of an eye, his suddenness causing Rarity to recoil back ever so slightly, as he then grabbed one of the containers with his comparitively small maw. He seemed to have gained a hold of it though, despite the size difference, as he then quickly brought it to the bag with him, shortly after doing the same with what other object was left.

This threw him and most of the others of for a moment, but Fluttershy showed no hesitation to praise him for his help as he then peeked his head out of their bag of supplies again, earning a pleased trill from him.

"Thank you very much, Mill." She praised appreciatingly, passing a hoof gently over his head for a moment or two, causing him to then linger before, shortly after, retreating back into his preferred hiding area.

Watching this with a curious stare, and a nearby, recently open container of headache medicine, Seidon couldn't help but to wonder how odd this group was, before shortly reminding himself that that was also part of the reason they were so intriguing...

Though it seemed to drag on, in Seidon's opinion, he patienly waited and watched as the group searched the rest of the large room, save for the diner, taking note of what they saw, how they reacted, and what they obtained in the process.

It was certainly quite the show for him, watching as they walked around the diner in a seemingly casual, though catious manner, avoiding a few stray oil slicks, Omega carrying one of the other members of the group, Rarity, over a shallow pool of water that had grown within a large, collapsed portion of the floor, with the other, Fluttershy, flying over, and it was especially interesting to watch as Omega seemed to linger at a certain pile of rubble, which closed off one of the many paths that originally branched out the area. More specifically, he lingered as he saw the glove and arm of an unmodified Rosie Big Daddy seeming to reach out of this rubble, having long stilled as a result of its untimely death.

This moment of, what seemed to be, respect was reminiscent to what Seidon had also seen through the recorded deaths of Echo at the hands of Omega. How, after his first encounter with him, Omega took the time to reposition the fallen body of Echo, sitting him up and passing him a moment of silence before then moving on with his charges in tow.

Ironically enough, this was the only occasion of respect that Omega had given Echo for some time now, instead choosing to now only glare and, from what he could contextually guess, snap at the Bouncer.

Nonetheless, while this seemed rather illogical to Seidon, Omega held no doubt as to the reason, long having lost any respect he may have held for the Bouncer after having continually endangered his charges.

At the moment, however, this wasn't what Omega was currently focused on, in terms of his thoughts. Rather, he was more affixed to a sense of annoyance that he currently held to what they had found in their search of the area. Or rather what they hadn't found: rivets.

Two hack darts, an auto-hack dart, an EVE hypo, two First Aid Kits, and about 58 dollars, counting what they had found in the train station, yet not a single stray regular rivet in sight! Even more frustrating to him was the fact that they had also come across three trap rivets, which had been barely visible to him under a piece of random furniture, yet no semblances of its more quantiful cousin.

It made no sense to him whatsoever.

Aside from the other supplies they had found in their search, the only other bright side he could see from the situation was that, in their search, he had come across a small flowers shop that had been built into the wall, containing a pair of bright, and comparitively colorful flowers... which his charges enjoyed both through vision and taste.

Pinching the bridge of his nose as he took one more glance at the area, catching a glimpse of the white colored light that came from a security camera he had hacked while his charges had looked around the room, his gaze eventually fell upon a makeshift wooden ramp that lead up to the roof of the diner. In other words, the only place that he had yet to check for himself.

Though the idea of going anywhere near the deathtrap of a diner was less than welcoming for him, Omega eventually, begrudgingly, weighed his options, deciding that it was best that they at least try to see if there's any possible leftover rivets atop of the diner rather than pass by any he had missed.

'Echo, head up to the roof of the diner.' He commanded to the Bouncer, before then remembering another important fact.

'Oh, and, whatever the hell you do, DON'T step on any wooden planks you may see while you're up there!' As he had noted when he and the rest of his group had first entered the area, the roof of the diner held several holes in them, of which had been scarcely covered through clearly splicer brand repairs. These 'repairs' would barely be able to take the weight of an average person, from what Omega could see, let alone the weight of an entire Bouncer.

Echo, in response, gave a pair of acknowledging nods as he then moved his attention to the ramp that led up to he roof. With unhesitating steps, Echo lumbered towards the ramp, eventually placing a boot upon it and lifting himself unto it entirely, not so much as testing whether it would be stable under him or otherwise. Why would he, after all? It was not what he was commanded to do, and so he would instead follow through with what order he was given, whether it would lead to his injury or otherwise. At least, that was his mindset.

As he headed up though, Omega, Rarity, and Fluttershy watched from afar, with both ponies seeming to do so with features of concern about them, especially as the wooden ramp below Echo began to groan in protest.

"Oh, be careful dear!" Rarity called out to Echo, though he seemingly ignored her, not registering what she spoke since, techinically, she was not among those he was listed to take orders from.

Nonetheless, Omega couldn't help but wonder as to why the two seemed so worried about Echo in the first place. For one thing, due to Echo's Vita-chip, even if he did die, he would just come back. Second, this was the same Bouncer that had nearly hurt them not so long ago. If anything, they should want that he get hurt. It was odd to Omega, this and their many earlier attempts to be friendly with the Bouncer, and Seidon. In fact, it was this that further showed as evidence as to how different the world they came from was to his.

Despite their worries, however, Echo was eventually able to climb onto the roof without so much as the slightest hint of an issue, holding in his place upon doing so and, turning towards the group, giving them an affirmative wave that all was clear.

Seeing this, Omega looked towards his charges and bobbed his head in Echo's direction, gesturing that they follow as they then made their way up to the roof themselves, though with some more cauton to their stride than that shown by Echo.

Upon reaching the roof, the three were able to see that there was, indeed, a few stray objects scattered around it, alongside the tops of the wooden repairs that splicers had made to the diner. Most of these objects, however, were useless, ranging from stray splicer masks to dropped pipes and bits of rubble. Near what seemed to be an air conditioning outlet--lacking of any functionality, of course--there however seemed to be what looked like a broken down turret, lying next to a partially opened box.

Hopeful towards there being something that could be remotely useful for them, especially rivets, being within that same box, Omega made his way towards it, signaling for Rarity and Fluttershy to stay where there were, and ordering Echo to head over to a further corner of the roof so as to be sure he kept his distance from his charges.

He was careful with every step he took, avoiding the abysmal woooden repairs that the splicers had made and keeping his guard up the entire way he went. They were atop of a well-known splicer ambush area, after all, and though he couldn't see them, he was more than certain there were several of these splicers watching and waiting for their chance to strike.

After what felt like an eternity, Omega soon reached the broken down turret and box, lifting the lid the rest of the way off and glancing inside. There, at the bottom, he could see two things. A box of revolver ammo, and a proximity mine... Undoubtedly he was fairly appreciative of the additional explosive, but he only grew to be even more annoyed by the fact that, not only was there a lack of rivets as he had wanted, but there was instead a box of pistol ammunition, mocking him, as it were.

It was suffice to say that Rarity and Fluttershy could not help but flinch as they then saw Omega slam his right hand against his face as hard as he could, while Echo and Seidon simply looked on in a mix of confusion and curiosity.

Omega then took a moment or two to remain in that same position, hand flat against his face as he grumbled to himself in silence, before then finally giving out a sigh and reaching his available left hand in to grab hold of the proximity mine that sat there.

Wrapping his fingers around the green explosive, Omega moved it around in his left hand's grip, absentmindedly eyeing the bandages that were still, unnecessarilyy wrapped around both his hands, alongside the distorted reflection of his that appeared on the circular mine. In the process of his doing so, however, what seemed like a spark came from just out of his view, prompting his sudden surprise as he quickly shifted his attention towards the source, his eyes ending up laying upon the broken down turret next to him.

As he had inferred, the machine was, in fact, the very source of these sparks, continuing to release an occassional pair or so every other moment, even as he looked towards it. However, what he hadn't noticed before, having previously been too far, or unfocused, to see it before, was that the machine was lacking of any signs of rust or friction along its joints. This was unusual in that, of all the parts of a machine that was left behind in Rapture, these same joints were often the only ones left with relative cleaniness or functionality to them, the machine's constant scanning pattern keeping rust from forming by keeping it in motion, and a self-lubricating mechanism allowing it to turn with ease.

In other words, in terms of Rapturian machinery, the joints of these turrets, cameras, or whatever they may have been, would only rust or begin gain friction to its movement after being shut down for a fair amount of time.

The turret next to Omega, however, held completely clean joints, indicating that it had only more recently been destroyed. Raising a brow at this, Omega then placed his right hand over the machine, further confirming this thought as he noted that it was still relatively warm.

His curiosity now thoroughly piqued, he began to more closely examine the turret in an effort to find what exactly had destroyed it. The result that came from this, however, only served to gain a growl from him, as he then took note of what seemed to be severa entry and exit wounds on the metal and circuitry of the turret, alongside one, singular rivet that had not completely passed through the machine, trapped within its innards.

"Well..." Omega thought to himself exasperatedly. "At least now I know what happened to all the rivets around here... As to how a blind Rosie model managed to even find them though, I'm completely clueless!"

Well convinced at this point that Seidon had, quite likely, left out more than a few details about Subject Gamma, Omega stood himself up from his place next to the turret and box, placing the proximity mine he had found in his supply bag in the process.

His back gave out a loud crack as he did this, causing him to flinch as he then, with a groan, further stretched it out to relieve his discomfort.

'Agh! Sure, back problems now, why not!? Hell, why don't you just give us a miniature earthquake next?!' He muttered with a silent groan to himself, addressing whatever forces above that were causing his further dislike of them with the passing of time.

Unfortunately, what he was unaware of, at the time, was that Echo had overheard his muttering.

'...Order?' He questioned, drawing a questioning glance from Omega.

'What the hell are you talking abou-' It was only after Omega saw Echo lifting up one of his legs that he realized what Echo was referring to, his eyes widening as they darted between Echo and his charges, who, if caught in any sort of shockwave that Echo caused while on the already unstable roof they stood upon, would likely fall through it alongside them.

In a panic, Omega aimed a telekinetic blast below Echo without a second thought, blasting open a new hole in the cieling which, for a lack of better words, quickly caused Echo to fall through in a form akin to a square going through a circle peg, allowing him to bring down even more of the cieling with him as he fell through with a loud groan, followed shortly thereafter by a series of crashes, bangs, and clangs, of which even Omega couldn't help but to recoil at, let alone Rarity and Fluttershy.

"Oh my word!" Rarity exclaimed as this went on, barely taking a step or two away from her previous position, whereas Fluttershy was far too shocked to react, and towards the newly formed hole in the roof just before Omega gestured for them to halt with a loud groan. As to the reason?

More than likely, it was due to his worry that, with the roof's integrity further compromised by its newly formed hole, Rarity had high chances of falling through if she went anywhere near the hole. Nonetheless, though she heeded his gestures, she still spoke out worriedly for the fallen--literally--Bouncer.

"W-Well, shouldn't we check on him? To see if he's alright, darling?" Omega furrowed his brows at this, giving out a sigh and shaking his head before, for the first time in quite a while now, reaching into the bag on his back and seeking out his writing implements. He had a bit of trouble, Mill brushing by his hand from time to time as he sightlesly, single-handedly searched, but he eventually found what he haad been looking for, giving out a successful grunt as he pulled whiteboard fragment and marker alike out of his bag. Instantly, he set himself to scribbling on it in an effort to respond to his charge.

It was barely a moment before he finished, turning the fragment to face Fluttershy and Rarity once he was done. Though the two had some trouble reading it out, mostly due to the distance between them and Omega, they did so with relative ease.

"NO POINT. EVEN IF HE DIED, HE'LL COME BACK. IF NOT, HE CAN USE THE BACK OR FRONT DOOR." The oversized text was clearly mashed closer together near the end, so as to fit on the small surface, but it still gave little to no issue to either of the two girls as they read the message out clearly, though pursing their lips as they did so.

It was then that Fluttershy once again found her voice, if only to explain an issue she saw with what Omega had relayed.

"U-um, Omega, that's true but, still, shouldn't you make sure he isn't hurt too badly? Even if he did... you know, and he's brought back, wouldn't it be best to go meet him when he does come back anyway?" Rarity nodded in agreement at this, following Fluttershy's example and expressing her own concerns as well.

"Yes, she's quite right, darling. After all, wouldn't that be among the better things you could do to help your friend, Echo?" Omega deadpanned at this, turning his whiteboard back to face him and, in one swift movement, wiping off the previously written message and beginning to replace it with another.

"HE'S NOT MY FRIEN-" Mere milliseconds before he coud finish this message, Omega suddenly overheard a loud creak come from below him, practically drowning out any other sounds that may have come from around the three. His previously deadpan expression switched to one of surprise, then trepidation as he glanced down at his feet, noting the several cracks that were beginning to surround where he stood--the biggest of these cracks originating from where Echo had fallen not a few feet away from him--and then to one of disgruntlement as another, louder creak echoed from below him, and he felt himself go lower if only by a few centimeters.

Then, just before he was made victim to the same fall that had befallen Echo, he managed to give out one last, unfinished thought within the confines of his mind.

"... I swear to god, if the universe is taking Echo's side in this now, I'm going to be pisse-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You know... I honestly expected falling through the cieling to hurt a little more than that. Though, while we're still on that subject, SON OF A BITCH THAT STILL HURT!

It wasn't enough to kill me--what with it being a relatively short fall, and whatever debris that had fallen on me not being being particularly heavy--but when you add in the fact that I ended up landing fairly awkwardly on my side, only to have various other objects of varying weight land on my other side, yeah, it hurt. A lot.

Groaning as I took a moment or two to regain my bearings, which had pretty much been scattered around the room with that fall, I was barely able to hear my charges seem to call out to me in the process.

"Omega! Oh my, are you alright?!" I heard Rarity call out, clear concern in her voice.

Albeit dazed as I did so, I pushed off some of the debris that had landed on me with a grunt, coughing as what felt like dust from this same debris fell and mixed with the air in an attempt to invade my lungs. Though I wasn't able to give out any sort of louder indication to the girls that I was fine at the moment, they seemed to have heard grunts and coughs I had given out, taking it as a way of saying I was still alive.

"J-just stay there! We're coming down to help you!" I then heard Fluttershy yell, which resounded through my mind loudly as I then tried to give out another loud groan, only to have it cut off by another series of coughs. I may have been slightly out of it, but I was still well aware of where it was I had fallen, and the fact that it was still a splicer death trap. Yet, before I could even clear out my airways to warn the girls not to come down here, I had already heard their footsteps as they made their way off the roof and down the ramp in a hurry.

I mentally cursed at this as I, with some relative composition regained, managed to roll myself over onto my stomach, pushing off even more rubble and, apparently, clanging metal objects as I pushed myself onto my hands and knees. Collecting as much dust and saliva that I could from the inside of my mouth, I spit it out to my side as I then gave my head a shake left and right, creating another small cloud of falling dust as it fell out of my hair; my scalp itched like hell, leading me to believe that there was plenty more where that came from.

It was at this moment that I felt movement coming from my back, and, within the next few seconds, I saw Mill pop into my point of view, balancing himself off my shoulder so as to look at me face to face. At first this surprised me, the sight of him just suddenly appearing and taking up about half of my sight with the proximity he held to me, but as I heard him give out what sounded like soft whimpers, nuzzling himself against my cheek as he did so, I knew that he was just trying to makee sure I was okay as well. Hell, I had been worried myself that, in that fall, he had been crushed with the supplies. I guess that was the only advantage I held to having landed on my side, which, of course, was practically throbbing.

Patting Mill's head in assurance before then putting that same hand to my aching sides, I looked up from the floor as I attempted to get a glance at my current surroundings. The first thing to greet me was... well, a large kitchen. Sinks, freezers, plates--though many of these fallen over and broken, if not stacked or teetering close to fallng-some ovens and stoves, pretty much the average kitchen. I could even see several pots and pans that were hung on metal racks to dry, though several more were skewed among the floor, alongside an abundant amount of metal utensils--most of which were knives of varying shapes and sizes.

I also took note of a few cans of food that were strewn atop some of the empty kitchen tops, but really there was nothing more that was visible from where I stood... er, laid.

That is to say, there was nothing more other than a notably larger pile of rubble than that that I had made, comprised of a good seventy percent of the pans and pots that had fallen over, with two or three yellow portholes from a certain someone shining through the rubble, giving faint movements and causing bits of debris to fall from it with each one.

From this same pile, I heard a groan...

'...Echo... Omega... Fell...' It was at this point in time that I really wished I wasn't so winded from that fall. It would've made it so easy to go over and just cave that moronic protector's head in!

A growl escaped me as I looked up to Echo, his green porthole lights shining back at me, though rather dimly due to the new layer of dust over them, in what I could only assume to be ignorance. Unfortunately for me though, this same growl seemed to attract a certain someone else's attention.

"Well, that was certainly quite the event, wasn't it?" The familiar voice of Seidon said as the communication systems in Echo's armor turned on yet again, making way for, quite possibly, the most babbling jackass in Rapture! And that was pretty damn impressive, considering he was competing against the braindead splicers!

"I digress though. Truthfully, the reason I'm here is that you seem rather... nettled." Nettled... Okay, look, from the context, I can guess that he means annoyed or angry, or something. That's fine. What isn't fine though, is the fact that he's using that word at all in the first place! Seriously though, who talks like that?!

"Now, you need to realize that, while you may indeed be feeling angered or upset by Echo's actions, and likely my own, from both the past and present, it is almost absolutely necessary that you begin to trust him. Otherwise-" A loud growl escaped me as he said this, coming out as a snarl of sorts and quickly shutting him up, and seeming to cause Mill to give out a slightly alarmed squeal as he then rushed back into my supply bag. He really thinks that I can trust that Bouncer? That I can trust a Big Daddy that stopped protecting those they were assigned to, just because they were programmed otherwise!? Let alone him, for fuck's sake!

"Hm... 'A Big Daddy that stopped those they were assigned to just because they were programmed otherwise'... Tell me again, what was it you were doing? Acting as a security unit and repairman, right?" Shut up. Shut up. Shut up! That's completely different! I was reprogrammed because I was a failure, not because I was some plaything for Seidon to experiment with!

"A failure? You mean like Echo, who's flaw was his obedience, and the misplacement of his name? Or Gamma, who ended up being blind because of what those scientists tried to do to him?! Or literally anyone else in this Anti-protocol?!? And don't you dare say you weren't a 'plaything'! Maybe it wasn't to Seidon specifically, but the moment those Rapturian scientists dragged you away from whatever life you may have had before becoming a Big Daddy and stuffed you in that suit, that's all you were! And goddamn if you dont know it!"

... He is nothing like me... The only time he was a fellow Big Daddy of any sort was when we first met, up until when I first killed him and tried to give him a respectful place to rest. After that, once he started going not only after me, but especially my charges, he became nothing to me. That is all he is... and all he will be...

As for the other Anti-protocol members? Tch. To hell with them too. Once this was all over, if they really wanted to destroy Rapture, then they'd have to go through me. Even if I can't keep this city alive myself anymore, I'd rather die with it than let them kill it themselves.

"How is it that even when you're the only one talking... you still don't manage to listen?" Piss off already.

Another growl escaping me as I aimed my gaze downwards to the floor below me, partially sighing as I soon realized that the voice in my head had finally gone silent with that last remark, I overheard the sound of the door behind me slide open. I shifted my attention in the direction of the noise as quickly as I could, expecting to see Fluttershy and Rarity standing there. However, just as I began to move my head, the sound of another door opening came, this time from the front of the diner.

"Omega! Are you there?" I heard, the voice easily being recognizable as Rarity's.

"Oh, b-be careful not to move too much! We want to make sure you didn't get h-hurt." And Fluttershy's...

At this, my entire body froze, my mind suddenly going into overdrive as a single question popped into my mind...

If Rarity and Fluttershy were up in front... then why had the back door opened?

"Knock, knock, ya blokes." I jolted at the sound of this deep, unkown voice from behind me, making to turn my head and stand at the sound. Before I could though, I was slammed down onto the floor once more as an oversized hand grabbed me by my head and pushed me back down on the floor, the impact causing my vision to momentarily swim as my body also twisted to match my face's upwards postioning.

Through the small gaps of the hand that gripped at me, not allowing me to groan or, to an extent, even breathe, I could see an Armoured Brute Splicer, glowering down at me. As I looked to him, he seemed to take notice, curling his lips into a sick, twisted smile.

" 'Ello there. Fancy meetin' someone who ain't spliced up like we is 'ere, it is." He spoke, his voice practically oozing with cynicism as he continued with his 'prim and proper' speech. Narrowing my eyes at this, I released the safety on my Rivet Gun, more than prepared to blast him in what little exposed and armorless parts of his body there were. Specifically, the face.

However, he seemed to notice this, using his other overly built hand to hold my left arm down, violently twisting it as he did so, eliciting a muffled groan of pain from me as he did so.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Can't 'ave you bringin' one of the metal tea kettle's gun's to our party, sonny. 'Sides, looks a bit big on ya, don't it?" That option crossed off of my list, I instead decided to try and use my unheld arm instead, holding it out towards the Brute Splicer and, with a thought, trying to blast him away. My veins gave out a faint glow for a moment or two, which seemed to grab the splicer's attention, his eyes momentarily widening as he caught sight of this glow... but, ultimately, nothing came. Not even the smallest puff of outwards force. Instead, the glow in my arms faded, and I was left there with my arm out, completely useless.

How had I run out of EVE already? In my panic earlier, when I blasted the floor out beneath Echo, did I somehow expend too much? Or had I just not refilled the amount of EVE in my body since Ryan Amusements?

Either way, I was in trouble, as I then heard the splicer give a hearty laugh.

"Awww. Out of juice, are ya? That's a right shame..." As he finished that sentence, he lifted my head up slightly from the ground, before then slamming it back down again, even harder than previously. I managed to keep my focus as pain shot through me, but just barely.

"Too bad I'm gonna have to make sure you don't try something like that again, ain't it you lil-... well then, what's this?" The splicer then suddenly said, his gaze shifting away from me and upwards towards something just out of my sight. Unsure as to whatever the hell it was he was talking about, I moved my head against his grip as best I could, managing to follow his gaze to the point that I could see whatever had interested him so much in my uppermost peripherals. And when I did, I felt my blood begin to boil, catching sight of Fluttershy and Rarity, whom both were stood there with wide eyes of their own, their eyes darting from the splicer to me as they remained stock still.

I wanted to tell them to run, somehow, but I couldn't, instead managing to make vague gestures with my arm, which seemed to go right over their heads as they just continued to stand there.

"A couple of baby Alices, eh? Well, ain't that nice. Now, what's say you both make your ways over here, and we can have a nice, friendly, tal-" Furious at the fact that the Brute Splicer was staring at them with that clear indication of what seemed like hunger in his eyes, and at the fact that he was speaking to them at all, I reeled back my free arm and gave him a solid blow to his head, which he had distractedly lowered in his spiel, causing him to recoil ever so slightly. This, however, was not enough, as it seemed, as I wasn't even able to budge an inch from my original position before the splicer was able to recompose himself, shaking his head and, with a grunt, once again slamming my head and arm back down onto the floor. He had done it so forcefully that time that I was certain that were it not for my Armoured Shell 2 tonic, he would have caved my head in then and there. All it left me with though was an unbeliveable migraine, and a good bout of dizziness as well. Hell, maybe even a concusssion.

"Ome-"

"Quiet! The both of ya!" The splicer yelled at the two, silencing their almost simaltaneous cries and, as a result, leaving them nothing more than fearfful whimpers to give out. I growled at this beyond my daze, able to recognize what had happened, albeit not as clearly as I normally would, and feeling my anger only grow as I looked up at the Brute Splicer... Or, all three of them from what I could see as a result of my head injury.

The splicer looked down to me as well, his previous grin lost, instead replaced by a rageful glare, practically oozing of murdurous intent.

"Alrighty then... If it's a rumble you want..." The splicer grunted out slowly, replacing the hand that held my left arm down with his foot with a quick change of his position, allowing him to have his other arm free. "Then I suppose it'll be a rumble you'll be gettin'!"

His arm began to move back behind him, the muscles on it, though hidden away in some portions by the Big Daddy armor he had on, clearly straining as he prepared a tremendous amount of force behind it, likely ready to bring it down on me and kill me. I strained against his grip with my free arm as he did this, but was unable to get any grip, or leverage, so as to get away. In the bacckground, I could just barely hear my charges seem to gasp fearfully.

There had to be something I could do. There just had to be!

Glancing at my arm, I strained to bring out another Telekenetic blast of sorts, my veins repeatedly flickering as I attempted to use even the smallest possible drop of EVE in my body. Again and again I tried to shoot my arm forward at the Armoured Brute Splicer, and again and again I was met with similar results. Nothing.

Then, just as the splicer's arm stilled itself, shooting forward a second or so afterwards, I flinched, gritting my teeth and shutting my eyes as I awaited the inevitable feeling off pain that was to come...

That feeling... never came...

Instead, I was met with the sensation of something wet spilling onto me. Wet and uncomfortably warm... The familiar feeliing of blood.

Curious as to what had happened, and why I was still alive, I slowly pried one of my eyes open to get a look at what was going on. There, in the same place and position as before, was the splicer, his other arm no more than a centimeter or two from actually hitting me. The expression on his face had changed completely as I looked to it, his eyes wide as he looked back, and his mouth agape, giving out faint breaths. Jerkily moving his head downwards, I followed his gaze, and, upon doing so, was surprised to see a metal, bloodied drill impaled through his stomach, the metal of his armor bent outwards as though it had been nothing, dripping with crimson. It was hardly another second afterwards that the drill then spun around a countless amount of times, moving as it did so and, in the process, eliciting a loud series of yells from him as he was forced off of me.

Once this was done, and I was able to regain my mobility, I was also able to gain a full view on the situation. I could see Echo there, his porthole lights a deep red as he pulled the drill from the splicer's abdomen with one swift, cold movement, causing him to stumble as he reached his arms around his stomach, attempting to keep his innards from pouring out, alongside his blood, which came out in pints at this point. The splicer panted and yelled as he visibly seemed to become dizzy from blood-loss and pain, slowly able to look upwards towards Echo as he gained some semblance of footing, likely attempting to speak, but clearly unable to as all that came out was a series of odd stutters and grunts.

Giving out a growl, Echo then began to spin his drill again, poising it beside his head as he then gave out a groan.

'Leave... friend... ALONE!' And thus, with a loud roar, he didn't even give the splicer one more millisecond to regret his actions, piercing the drill through his head at an almost unseeable speed, that, and the spinning of the drill, essentilly leaving behind noting more than a bloody stump where the splicer's head used to be, the sound of his crunching skull and mushed brain matter barely able to register as it was quickly launched backwards against the far wall of the kitchen. The body of the splicer seemed to take a moment or two to catch up to its sudden lack of a head, one arm seeming to shoot upwards to where his head had been before then numbly falling back down, alongside the rest of the Brute Splicer's body, giving out a notable as it did so, and then began to twitch heavily on the floor below, blood pooling with it.

I was... speechless, to put it lightly. And for once, not just because of the fact that I had no vocal cords. Even as I heard Fluttershy and Rarity run up to me, asking if I was okay, to which I responded with a dumb nod, all I could do was watch as Echo looked over his work, panting under his helmet as blood dripped down his drill, beading at its tip before then dripping onto the floor.

Why... why did he help me? And why did he say what he did...?

Before I could really linger on these thoughts, the sudden sounds of loud, shrill beeping echoed loudly around us.

A sound I knew to be that of a Security Camera locking onto something in its sights. However, before this could finish, normally to be followed by alarms and the whirring and beeping of a pair of Security Bots, another sound was instead heard, akin to the likes of metal being crushed, followed swiftly after by the sound of sparking, broken-down electronics.

I was quickly snapped out of my thoughts at this, as I realized what was happening within an instant.

'... More... Coming...' Echo then groaned, growling as he did so and once again whirring his drill. I gave out a growl of my own at this, my eyes narrowing as I attempted to pick myself up, though with some trouble as I did so, my head feeling as though it had already been split open, and my sight still not yet completely clear.

"O-Omega, don't be so hasty! Y-you're hurt!" Fluttershy pleaded of me, placing her front hooves over my chest as I supported myself onto my elbows.

"Fluttershy's right, darling! You aren't well!" Despite their words, I ignored them anyways, brushing off Fluttershy's hooves as I sat myself up, and, with a bit more trouble, planted my foot against the ground, placing a hand on my knee, and standing myself up. As I did so, I practically fell over, only to be stopped by Rarity, who gently butted me with her head in an attempt to keep me balanced, being careful to avoid using her horn as she did so. I moved a hand to my head, subconciously trying to steady the world around me, and gave it a quick shake, before then reaching behind me and into my supply bag. It was hard to focus enough for me to feel out an EVE hypo in there, but, thankfully, I felt it as it was moved into my grip, rather than be found by me, allowing me to guess that Mill had pitched in here.

I gave a mental thanks to him as I shakily grabbed hold of the hypo with my left hand, taking it out and turning over my right wrist as I tried to hold it over my arm and aim for a vein. That process, however, suddenly felt as though it were impossible, the needle unable to stay on target as it swayed from side to side. I grunted at this as I began to hear the sounds of footsteps come from above, on the ceiling of the diner, and plunged the needle of the hypo in where it was...

I completely missed the vein, feeling the needle as it futily entered my arm, attempting to find a place to inject itself, and being met with failure as it did so. I gave out a mental swear at this, removing the needle from my flesh, leaving a small pinprick bleed, and the needle slightly bloody, as another surge of dizziness and pain flowed through my head, causing to drop the needle altogether and, alongside that, collapse onto ground, kneeling as I held my hands against my murdurously aching and unsteady head.

"O-oh my! Omega, you can't fight! I-if you do, while you're like this, you'll..." Fluttershy trailed off as she spoke, but it wasn't hard to figure out what she meant. Nonetheless, I had to fight. I had to keep them safe, and there was no way a possible concussion was going keep me from doing that!

I had been through worse, I know I had... I just needed to stand up again... I JUST NEEDED TO STA-

"Oh for god's sake, will you just listen to them!?!" Seidon suddenly could be heard yelling, seeming legitimately frustrated for... well, the first time, actually, It was enough to gain both my charges, and mine's, sudden attention as we looked towards Echo, whom he spoke through.

"I couldn't care less if you believed that you were able to go through hell and back and still keep fighting, this is not your confrontation to face! And even if you did try to do so, what would you really do?! You would prove to be more of a hindrance than an asset!" I growled at this, glaring at Seidon--or, techinically, Echo--as I did so.

"Be as upset with me as you prefer, but you are well aware that it is true! Your involvement would be far less than tactile, to put it benignly , and would only serve as an impediment throughout the ensuing conflict of arms and quietus!"

... My head hurt too much to even try to make sense of what the hell he just said there...

"H-he's right, Omega... I-I think." Fluttershy agreed, though she seemed just as confused by some of the words he had used as I was.

"Quite. Now, use the alotted oppurtunity to recover from your aflictions. As you do so, Echo, deal with the splicers outside! Ensure that none get inside this diner and make sure none of them remain."

Echo seemed to give a nod at this, already beginning to walk towards the door that led outside with heavy, lumbering steps.

'Protect... friend...' He then groaned as he went on, again repeatining that word...

He wasn't... He wasn't my-

"Omega, please!"

... Fucking, goddamn it all!

Feeling my hand clench tightly into a fist as I swallowed my heavy desire to fight myself, if only to work out some of the frustration that I felt, I gave into Fluttershy, Rarity, and even Seidon's request, nodding at my charges slowly and heavily.

I could hear them both give out audible sighs of relief at this, as they then helped me to stand up, myself grunting flinching and stumbling as I did so. Once I was stood up, the two quickly stuck tightly to my sides, walking with me at an agonizingly slow pace as we moved to an empty corner of the room, furthest from both the back door, and the doorway that led to the front of the diner.

Though it took a bit, we made it there relatively shortly, my charges occassionally stopping on the way so as to make sure I was still keeping my balance well enough, before then going on.

Once we were there, the two took care to help me as I then leaned my full weight backwards against the corner, sliding downwards until I was seated on the floor.

"There you are, darling." Rarity said soothingly as she and Fluttershy gave me a bit more room, but stayed close to me nonetheless. "Now, just close your eyes and get some rest. Everything will be fine, we promise."

"Y-yes. We promise." Fluttershy then repeated, a small smile on her face as she and Rarity watched me.

Taking in a few breaths, I indeed did begin to feel... tired, my eyelids becoming heavy as, even without my own input, they lower on their own.

Just as they were about to close entirely though, as my vision blurred to the point of being almost completely black, I heard a loud roar reverberate through the room, alongside the screams of several splicers, and the sounds of firearms being unloaded...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... It wasn't hard to hear.

The sounds of gunfire; of splicers yelling out their usual madness; of splicers being silenced, often followed by yells and roars of all kinds.

It wasn't hard to hear...

As he trekked through the halls of Pauper's Drop, unsure of where exactly he was, a colorless void being all he could see as he went on, his grip on his Rivet Gun continually tightened and loosened, almost out of habit.

It was among the few things he could still do after all. Feel. Even if this sense was dulled by the gloves he wore, he was happy to experince what little of it he could. One grows tired of doing nothing more than listening after all.

A seemingly far away footstep suddenly came through, resounding clearly through his mind as he reacted within the blink of an eye.

Turn, grab, fire.

A pained yell followed as he stood there, waiting and listening to see if the splicer was still alive, or, perhaps, there were more coming.

... Silence... The most deafening of noises...

Gripping and loosening his hold on his Rivet Gun, he allowed himself to relax, turning his body back to it original position and continiung on his way.

He had lost count of howw many he had killed already... Yet, something about their yells was so satifsying. Something about the sound of their flesh being torn by his rivets, and the dripping of blood onto the floor... It felt so right...

His programming... to clear out the area of splicers... Never before had he looked at this obective with such a sense of glee...

C̹͓̻̮͈̠͆̽̌ͦ̈̓r̛̺̙̝̙̪͚͓̿͑ͧi̪͆ͫ̍ͮͪ͋t͚̥̀̂ͥͭȉ̫̱̟̺̥́c̲̙͚̬͆̅ͬ͢ả͓̗̺̻̰ͭ̎ͮ͌ͧ̎̕l̫͔̪̪͚̆̔̐͒͒̀̈ ̢̬̘̟̙̙E̢̥̙̠̥̳̞̳̋̉̎̐͒̚r̻̩̙͔ͤ̋̃̆͛̿̉rͬo̰͕̫̞ͤ͌ͧͯ̈́r̼͉̝̞͐͘:͈̱͓̟͖͙̽̈́ͅ ͬ̍ͦͫ҉͙͖̼̖Ä́D͇͖̩̣ͣͦͮ̓ͮA̜͎͔͎̠̲̻ͣ̐̌͆̆̀̚M̧͉͒̆̀ ̘̠͕̙̩̯͂Į͙̲͉͕̐͊̇̐m̯̻͉̂b̬ͯ̀͂̆̒͠ă̓͢l̖̖̯̮̬̪̐ͥͫ͞ą̘̭͓̎̈ͯ͑̓̐n̹̻̾ͥc̟̱͇̲̤̫ͭ̋͞e̵̪̺͍̜̤ͯ̈̓ͅ ̴̳̆̿͌̐D͕̪͉͟e̴̘̺͕̿̽ͬͩ̌͋̃t̠̟̪e̼̰ͭ̇ͨͥ̚̚c̺̩̹̘̱ͥͭ̅͆t͉e̶͚̺̬ͨ̈́͆ͫd͖͕̠̞̜͐͆͠.

Author's Note

You know... a part of me wants to say this chapter was easy to write...

But to hell with that part, GODDAMN IF THIS WASN'T ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT CHAPTERS I HAVE EVER WRITTEN!

If I had a box of thin mints for every time I had to rewrite this chapter entirely, I'd be able to put the Girl Scouts Of America out of business!

Yeesh.... Well, nonetheless, the story goes on, everyone!

And with some progression to it as well!

Oh, and um... I'm gonna involve you guys a bit next chapter so... be prepared. 0_/\

Chapter 33: Out Of Sight, Out Of Sanity

... Owwww! Headache, headache, headache!

Seriously, holy crap talk about a migraine! Jesus!

Suffice to say, I woke up groaning, my head swimming as I reached up towards it with an arm of mine, planting my hand firmly over my head and rubbing at the area of my greatest discomfort--in other words, the entire thing. It didn't help me feel better, whatsoever, but I guess that it was more instinctual for me to do so than it was practical.

Giving my head a quick shake--and quickly regretting it shortly after as my mind then felt as though it had been through a stationary round of tennis with both sides of my skull--I pried my eyes open as much as I could, as slowly as I could, while also doing my best not to instantly puke as I was initially greeted by a series of swirling colors and blobs.

Yeah. Concussion. Definitely a concussion. Ugh. Hated these...

Anyways, focusing my thoughts as best as I could, I blinked my eyes repeatedly, clearing out the nonsensical masses of color and shapes.

Shapes and colors which, as I gave out another slight groan, ended up tackling me. Or, at least as close to it as they could.

"Omega! Oh, darling, you're awake!" Yeah, I'm guessing that white and purple blob is Rarity, which means that the other pink and yellow one was Fluttershy.

Though, gotta say, as pleasant as the hug is, the whole 'excited yelling in my ears' part of this whole thing was a little less than fun.

"O-oh thank goodness. Are you okay? Do you feel dizzy, o-or pain, or...?"

Is there an 'all of the above' option here?

Still, not wanting to worry the two any more than I had, I shook my head--which I regretted yet again--giving out a light, albeit forced smile as I did so.

"Are you sure?" Rarity then asked, to which I nodded.

It was barely noticeable, but as the two blobs of color began to become clearer before me, I noticed them seem to turn their heads towards one another for barely a moment or two.

"... He's not a particularly good liar, is he?" Oh crap...

I'll be honest, the moment I heard Seidon's voice, I couldn't help but to slam my hand into my face in frustration--to which I barely withheld a yell of pain.

"Mother fu- STOP DOING STUPID THINGS!" And apparently my conscience wasn't enjoying any of my actions either.

'Omega... Okay?' And he's here too. Great... Then again, I probably should have guessed, what with Seidon's voice, that Echo would have at least been near me.

'Fine.' I replied swiftly and bluntly to Echo with my own groan, rubbing at my eyes so as to hurry my vision in its clearing.

"As admirable as it may be that you are attempting to ignore your own injuries, you should realize that you aren't exactly in the most superb of conditions to do so. After all, you've been unconscious for well over three hours at this point." Three hours? Huh. Yet again, time flies by when you aren't awake to see it. I mean, it wasn't as bad as when I was out of it for days, rather than just hours, but still.

My sight finally clearing as I gave my head yet another shake, much to my own pain, I waved off Seidon's words as though they were nothing.

He didn't seem to appreciate this.

"For god's sake. At this point, I'm not sure if you're doing this because you're just so adamant about moving forward, or purely to spite me." I raised two fingers, indicating both.

"... Surely the two of you should be able to talk him out of this." Seidon then said, this time aiming his focus towards my charges. I gave him--or at least Echo--a rather notable glare at this.

I mean, really, trying to use Fluttershy and Rarity to get me to do something? I wasn't sure if I should think of that as something a kid would do when they 'tattled' on someone, or if I should take that as just downright insulting that he would think it was that easy...

Well, yeah, I'd probably listen to them if they asked me to do something, but my point still sorta stands... a little...

I don't know, I'm concussed, okay? My thought processes are a bit off right now.

Back to the matter at hand, as Seidon spoke to my charges, the two of them glanced over to him, then to one another, then finally towards me.

In the small time that they did this, they seemed to be pondering their options, their faces shifting to reflect this as they did so.

For a moment, I just waited, mentally hoping that I wouldn't have to chalk a point up to Seidon, or anything like that.

Soon enough though, the girls finally spoke up again, Rarity being the first to vocalize herself.

"Darling, are you absolutely certain you're well?" Rarity inquired, shortly followed after by Fluttershy.

"Y-yes, are you? I mean, when I hurt my head when we first met, I didn't feel that well either. I-- I-I mean, we don't want that you force yourself if you aren't feeling up to it."

I'll be honest, I barely held back a flinch when I heard Fluttershy bring up her own previous head injury.

Nonetheless, we needed to keep moving. Sure, maybe I was a bit dizzy, but it would pass quickly enough. Especially since I've been like this for a few hours already.

I'd had head injuries before, after all. Hell, is there really even any injury I haven't had? If there was, I certainly couldn't recall... Which may be taken as a bad sign, in that context.

Looking towards the girls, I gave out a smile and a firm nod, which, again, brought about a greater amount of head pai-

"STOP SHAKING YOUR HEAD YOU ABSOLUTE MORON!"

Er... Right then.

After I gave them my response, the two looked at me for a moment or so, Rarity having one of her brows raised doubtingly while Fluttershy sucked on the inside of her cheek ever-so-slightly.

The girls then gave a sigh, however, as they finally seemed to give in.

"... Alright." Rarity conceded, rolling her eyes. As she did this though, a small tugging at the corners of her mouth let me know that she hadn't done so in any really negative manner.

"J-Just try to take it easy though. O-Okay?" Fluttershy then added in, the concern on her face still clear, but softening.

I nodde-

... I gave the two quick pats on the head so as to signify my agreement.

"Hm. 'Relation between Subject and equine specie seems closer than originally believed'." As Seidon spoke up again, I looked past my charges, assuming that the sudden bouts of red on both of their faces, and the squeak that Fluttershy had let out, were from surprise--what with Seidon having only suddenly popped back into the conversation.

"Oh, do forgive me, I was simply taking another note here. After all, this is rather interes-"

I gave a loud, deep, distinct growl.

"Alright! Alright!" Seidon then said, giving out a sigh as he did so. "Echo, await the three of them outside of the building."

Sure enough, Echo followed his orders, a short, wordless groan escaping him as he then began to make his way out, his boots stomping heavily with every step he took

As I made to stand, however, grumbling as I watched Echo make his way out of the kitchen, I was suddenly halted as Fluttershy placed a gentle hoof on my lap.

"Um, Omega, w-would you mind waiting here? Just for a second, that is." Looking between her and Rarity with a raised brow, I noticed that the two held rather thoughtful expressions, allowing me to surmise that whatever it was they wanted to talk about, it wasn't something that they would prefer to leave for later.

"In other words, you better sit your ass down." Geez, you're awfully bitter.

"You gave yourself a concussion! It hurts like hell for me too, jackass!" Ignoring that mental remark, I gave the two a shrug seating myself back down and crossing my arms as I looked towards them, waiting for them to speak.

The both of them seemed to gain small smiles as I did this, but they didn't last long, quickly reverting to their previous expressions as Fluttershy then began to turn herself, moving for something behind her.

"Well... Omega, while you were resting, Fluttershy and I took the opportunity to look for your writing utensils, which you had dropped when... You know." Rarity began to explain, vaguely gesturing towards the hole in the roof as she finished. I gave her a nod of understanding as she spoke, but a slow one, not quite fully getting her point just yet.

"Granted, it didn't cause us too much trouble, but, when we finally found it we... saw what you had written." As if on cue, Fluttershy turned back to face me just as Rarity finished, the whiteboard segment I had lost hanging from her mouth, whereas the marker that came with it was between her two front hooves.

The writing that was on it, though faint and--for the most part--faded from the board, flashed by my eyes with ease as I swiftly grew to realize what the issue was.

'HE'S NOT MY FRIEN-' I recalled that that was all I had time to write at the time before the roof caved in, myself giving out an involuntary sigh as Fluttershy gently placed the whiteboard piece face-down before me, along with the marker on top of it.

"Now, dear, I understand that you and Echo have had your differences," Rarity began, myself barely withholding from rolling my eyes at the understatement, "but you need to understand that, whether or not you and him started off on bad terms, it would be for the best if you simply gave him a chance."

There were so many reasons I couldn't do that at this point. I mean, honestly, why the hell should I give that nimrod the time of day, which I was clueless about either way, let alone the slightest glimmer of care whatsoeve-

"Hey, you know what's really interesting? The fact that you got a concussion! You know why it's not any worse than just that? Because of a certain 'nimrod'! So suck it up!"

... Okay, I have two things to say to that. One, from now on I've apparently got to make sure not to get anymore concussions, since it makes for a pissed off conscience... at least that's what I thought that voice was. Two... as much as I'd hate to admit it, it was a fair point that it had brought up.

That moment from before I lost consciousness was practically flashing before my eyes on replay, with Echo pulling that Splicer off of me and killing him coming through over and over. His words especially echoed in my head.

'Leave... Friend... ALONE!'

That word he had used. 'Friend'. Why the hell had he used it? He had used it before, when he and I were first stuck with one another after Seidon's crap, but I had just brushed it off at the time. And yet...

"Omega," Fluttershy suddenly chimed in, bringing me out of my thoughts, "just think about it, okay?" Giving me a warm smile as she said this, Fluttershy gave me a simple pat on my leg, signifying what I could only imagine was the end of the conversation as a whole. Sure, I hadn't really said anything to add to it, but still, that shouldn't be news at this point, should it?

So, glancing between the two one last time, I have out a sigh, reaching out for and grabbing my whiteboard piece and marker before wiping off what remnants of words remained on the shard and stuffing it back into the bag on my back. I could feel Mill shift around ever so slightly at the introduction of the new item, but aside from that, nothing else was said or done as I then put a hand on my knee and, with some effort, pushed myself up to a stand.

For a second or two I experienced a spell of dizziness, stumbling as the world spun around me and my entire body suddenly felt about as out of whack as a splicer's mental status. The girls seemed to notice this with ease though, since, before I could even slightly regain my bearings, they were already by my sides keeping me steady, doing just as they had done before and planting their sides against me so as to make sure I wouldn't tilt too far left or right.

Shaking my head as the world slowly came to a still again, though the migraine from before still remained evident, I managed to give the two gestures of appreciation for their help, softly patting their heads, before then making my way outside of the diner, where Seidon and Echo were likely to be waiting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Omega made his way outside the diner, leaving through the backdoor, just as Echo had, with his charges following shortly behind, he held his head in his hand, his eyes closed shut and fingers rubbing at his temples as he already began to regret not taking any aspirin. It wasn't that he wasn't in pain--far from it in fact--but he was aware of the fact that the aspirin had the notable side effect of making someone drowsy within mere instants of taking it.

He knew this from experience, both from a third-person perspective and first-person perspective, and felt as though it would only be counterproductive if he spent another period of time sleeping.

"Oh dear, Omega, are you certain you don't want anything for your pain?" Rarity asked Omega with worry in her voice, seeing the discomfort that her and Fluttershy's guardian clearly felt. Omega, however, simply gave her a shake of his head as he went on, step after step practically echoing painfully in his head.

"Darling, you really shouldn't make things more difficult for yourself like thi- Oh, watch your step!" Rarity suddenly exclaimed, her voice jumping in volume and, as a result, sending a large wave of pain through Omega's head, which caused him to grit his teeth. Unbeknownst to him though, it was this same pain that had all but halted him in his tracks, keeping him from doing... whatever it was Rarity didn't want him doing.

Rarity gave out a sigh at this, before then speaking up once more.

"Oh, thank goodness." She said with relief, much to Omega's confusion.

"That could've left an absolutely dreadful stain if you had stepped on it." Unsure as to what she had meant, and as to why it would apparently 'leave a stain'--which, when he thought about it, was a curious fact in of itself, considering the fact that his clothing was already beyond the point of no return in terms of filth and overall condition--Omega moved his hand away from his head and opened his eyes to get a look around.

Upon doing so, Omega quickly realized what the issue was...

Blood, practical gallons and gallons of it, painted a large percentage of the area around him and his charges, some of it still seeming fresh and dripping even now as he looked it over. These layers and layers of dark scarlet also hid many more, though barely perceptible sights within them, some shaped out to corpses, others what little remained of them.

Even directly in front of Omega, just where he was about to step mere seconds ago, Omega couldn't help but to slightly flinch back as he spotted what he could barely make out to be a pile of displaced intestines, partially ground to mush.

It didn't take long for Omega to realize what it was that had happened, vividly recalling seeing Echo make his way outside of the diner earlier when he had lost consciousness.

To an extent, Omega was impressed, being able to make out at least forty distinguishable corpses among the blood bath that surrounded them--forty and a half if he counted the one that somehow hung from the ceiling. However, despite this, he couldn't help but to feel ever so slightly more worried as a result, not having really seen Echo's full potential against splicers up until now, and even then this was only what he could guess to be a small glance at the big picture.

Looking down towards the more notable pile of gore before his feet and cringing at the thought of any of it managing to get through his shoes, Omega sidestepped the splicer remnants, moving further into the bloodied floors of the outside of the diner in the process. Behind him, he could hear his charges seem to comment.

"Yes, well, do watch where you step, Omega. Echo left behind quite the mess while you were resting." Rarity then commented as Omega then suddenly realized that he was essentially leaving his charges behind, trapped by a sea of blood.

Practically hitting himself over his head for having forgotten this, though swiftly voting against that idea shortly after, Omega made to turn around so as to help them.

To his surprise though, when he had turned little more than his head towards them, they were already right behind him, well into the ocean of crimson and gore that surrounded them.

He blinked.

"Omega?" Rarity questioned, noting Omega's sudden pause, alongside the expression he had given.

Fluttershy, in turn, rose a brow just as well.

As they did this, Omega couldn't help but to notice how... relatively casual there were about the entirety of the situation.

Not a few days ago, the girls would seem ready to gag or break down at the slightest of sights involving death, be it brutal or otherwise. Yet, here they were, among what was practically a sea of blood and misplaced innards, yet, save for the short breath they had likely taken to steel themselves, they hadn't particularly reacted to what was around them.

Omega wondered if, despite the fact that it has barely been a week or so since they had gotten here, they had already adapted the Rapture methodology of just getting used to sights such as these. He wondered if they had really lost so much of the innocence he had known them to have at this point that the sight before them seemed to be like another day to them.

And, most importantly, he wondered about, and hoped against, the possibility of them losing what little innocence they had by doing what he did everyday in this damned city. He wondered if, if things went on as they were now, they would soon end up having to kill themselves...

Gritting his teeth and curling his gloved hand into a tight fist, Omega did what he could to empty that thought out of his mind as quickly and effectively as possible, shaking his head and moving on, his charges following closely behind as he ignored the headache plaguing him.

When he was guarding Little Sisters, he knew that they had lost a good bit of their own naivety, their lack of corruption, shortly after having first being programmed. He had heard rumors from other Big Daddies, back when they were still alive, that Little Sisters saw the world completely differently than anyone else did, and as a result, were practically oblivious to the horrors around them.

Fluttershy and Rarity, however, did not have this benefit on their sides. Every sight, every sound, every scream and cry that a splicer gave out as they died a horrible death came through to them as clear as can be.

They were not the same as Little Sisters... Omega knew this, but couldn't care less, instead busying his mind on the single other focus that resided within it.

Perhaps they had not quite been the models of total innocence themselves, but Little Sisters had never truly had to take the lives of others, as far as he knew. Not until they became Big Sisters in the second generation, that is.

That was how it was for them, and Omega was certain that he would at least help his charges be similar in that one regard. The lack of blood they would see on their hands--or hooves, in this case--every other time he looked at them. The sight that he nowadays just brushed off as normality.

"Hm. I take it the three of you were preoccupied with something?" As the voice of Seidon suddenly rang clearly through the air again, Omega was swiftly dragged out of his thoughts, looking to Echo, who stood in front of one of the pathways that led further into Pauper's Drop. As he did so, it was only now that he noticed that his armor was much more red than usual.

Fluttershy and Rarity looked towards Echo in a similar fashion, their ears twitching ever so slightly at Seidon's voice.

Omega didn't comment, a low, quiet growl escaping him.

"... Well, I suppose that, whatever it was, I shouldn't think to pry, should I?" Seidon then added shortly afterwards, an audible sigh accompanying his words.

"Nonetheless, the four of you should get going soon. Gamma's signal shows that he's just up ahead." Rarity and Fluttershy both gave short nods at this information, Omega busying himself in the meantime by staring Echo down. Echo, in turn, only tilted his head ever so slightly as response, not quite understanding what was occurring.

"Furthermore," Seidon then added in, "there's something up ahead that may interest you, Omega. An opportunity for improving yourself, in a sense." At this, though he was unable to fully show it, Omega's attention switched from Echo to Seidon, a brow of his raising at his statement in unsureness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"In the garden we are growin', many changes will be flowin'. If you want to be amazin', see the flowers we are raisin'!"

Really? Just... really?

My reaction to the Gatherer's Garden machine that sat pretty much immediately ahead after turning the corner into the pathway was less than phenomenal, to put it lightly. Hell, I think Seidon seemed to have noticed this himself, what with the fact that he wasted no time trying to speak up again.

Then again, the fact that I had deliberately looked from the machine towards Echo and him in a slow, deliberately threatening fashion may have sped up his reaction time in that regard.

"Now, I understand that Big Daddy's such as yourself find the idea of using these machines to be rather controversial, what with the fact that you were originally given the duty of guarding the Little Sister's that led to the very development of this machine and its products, but you need to understand that you won't be able to rely solely on the stray Plasmids and Gene Tonics that you scavenge from time to time. It's inefficient, let alone impractical." As Seidon explained this, I had already proceeded to roll my eyes at him and, essentially, tune him out as best as I could.

I really couldn't give any less of a crap as to whether he thought something I did was 'inefficient' or otherwise. His opinion was just about as worthwhile to me as the wood used on most of the stairs in this city. And considering the poor experience I had with that very same thing, it was suffice to say I only ended up translating Seidon's words into some kind of gibberish.

I didn't need him to convince me to use the machine in front of me... mostly because I was going to use it whether he wanted me to or not.

I mean, don't get me wrong, when it came down to what little I had heard from Seidon before blocking his annoying voice out--about how Big Daddies found the use of a Gatherer's Garden machine to be more than a little controversial--he wasn't wrong. Up until now, the Plasmids and Tonics I had found had, in fact, just been scavenged as leftovers. Even if the Telekinesis 3 Plasmid I had was originally from one of these machines, I had still never technically used it.

Even now the idea of using it just felt... off...

But, that didn't really matter, did it?

The further into Lower Rapture we went, the more trouble we would run into. The fact that my shoes were currently leaving behind bloody prints behind me with every step I took as a result of making my way through what was likely the conglomerated remains of what may have been dozens of splicers only served to further drive that point in.

If I wanted to have any chance of keeping the girls safe, I'd need to get stronger along with the splicers.

So, rolling my eyes as I tuned back in on whatever the hell Seidon was saying, I made my way past Echo, gesturing for him to move aside with a quick bob of my head. He did so, obviously, with no hesitation, remaining obedient to his very core.

Reaching into my bag, I rummaged around for a certain glass jar of... preferably forgettable substance. Forgettable, that is, in regards to how we had gotten it.

Sifting through cans and first aid kits, I felt Mill graze by my hand as I, eventually, grabbed hold of a warm jar of liquid.

With little effort, I pulled this same container out of our bag of supplies and into the open, the red, glowing liquid that lied inside sloshing around ever so slightly at the sudden movement.

I could practically hear both Fluttershy and Rarity alike flinching as they saw the substance I held, likely being able to just as vividly recall its origin as I had myself.

Despite this though, I ignored my memories to the best of my ability, removing the lid of the container and, immediately afterwards, jamming it into a slot on the Gatherer's Garden machine where one would usually place their arm.

It was admittedly tricky trying to get the thing to work, but, with some maneuvering, I managed, watching as the needle that lied in wait above the slot plunged down all the way towards the bottom of the jar, giving out a notable clink as it did so, before then beginning to take as much of the ADAM that lied within as possible.

I flinched slightly, alongside my charges, as I recalled that this same, clearly merciless needle was the same that would end up pricking me, but I moved that thought aside.

This needle worked on what was essentially the same spring-loaded mechanism as any other injection based machine in Rapture, so there really wasn't much of a reason to complain about it now.

Anyways, as the last of the ADAM was sucked out of the container, and into the Gatherer's Garden, the machine gave out a low ding, followed shortly thereafter by what sounded like clicking as a small dial of four numbers that lied on the far right of the machine began to spin.

One after the other, the numbers clicked as they halted in place, displaying the amount of ADAM the machine had managed to process from what it was given.

The number '160' eventually settled into place, the digits clicking still and displaying themselves one by one, from left to right. Admittedly, this number had thrown me off. After all, from what I had been able to recall, Mill had only drained the blood of two dead splicers before he had coughed up this ADAM. Plus, under normal circumstances, the production of ADAM was normally much more effective when done through the use of a Little Sister. That was what I was programmed to know at least.

Still, I only ended up shrugging this off, watching as, in response to the sudden introduction of ADAM, the vertical row of buttons on the machine suddenly lit up, the long panels next to them suddenly flipping, revealing what the machine had in stock.

From top to bottom, I could see that the choices were... minimal. More than likely from the years upon years of overuse the machine had gotten, several of the buttons simply had dulled entries next to them, implying that these such products were out of stock. In the end, all that remained in the machine were a few Gene-Tonics called 'Booze Hound', 'EVE Saver', and 'Sports Boost'--all of which were priced at 40 ADAM, except EVE Saver, which was 50--and a single remaining buyable plasmid--alongside the obligatory bodily modifications such as the mutations that allowed one to hold more EVE, Plasmids, or overall survivability in their bodies. This plasmid was 'Decoy', which cost 60 ADAM.

Admittedly not the best possible plasmid, I know, but that wasn't to say that it wouldn't have its uses. After all, what Decoy essentially did was, as one may easily have guessed from the name of the plasmid, make a Decoy to keep splicers and the like busy. Granted, the base form of the plasmid had no real way of doing anything in return to the spllicers that attacked it, but, hell, the simple possibility of getting more splicers of my and my charge's backs already seemed more than good enough for me on its own.

Nodding at myself at this decision, I began to input what it was I wanted from the machine.

Due to the fact that I already had two plasmids in my body--Telekinesis 3 and Security Command 2--I was already at what was essentially the max possible Plasmids the average human body can initially handle, leaving me with no place to put the Decoy plasmid. So, the first thing I did was push the button next to 'Plasmid Slot', which I never cease to question in terms of wording anytime I would see it come up in the past, followed shortly afterwards by Decoy. The two added up to 100 ADAM, the number on the dial going down to accomadate this newly requested use of ADAM until it then remained with two remaining digits, signalling the amount of ADAM left was 60. This was where I had a bit more trouble deciding what to get next, to be honest. 60 ADAM wasn't a lot, clearly. With it, I'd only be able to get one more thing from the machine, whether it be another bodily enhancement, or a Gene-Tonic.

Right away, I crossed out the option of using the Booze Hound tonic. I didn't even know the taste of alcohol, let alone whatever 'negative effect' it may have on the EVE in my body, as the Gene-Tonic's description showed it would prevent, so that was out. Sports Boost was notable, I guess, but all in all, would it really be a good idea to try and get it? After all, what use would running and punching faster do if the splicers were already aiming at me with machine guns. Last time I checked, Echo is the only one who I would guess even stands a chance at outrunning bullets, and even then, he was wearing armor...

In the end, my choice was between more EVE, or the use of less EVE with every Plasmid. Not much of a difference, was it? There was also added survivability, but, let's face it, a shot to the head is a shot to the head. You're dead no matter how 'healthy' you are. If not, well, at that point you just go ahead and call bullshit, or thank whatever god may have not yet completely abandoned you at that point.

Anyways, back on subject, on one hand, I'd be able to use Plasmids more frequently with less need to worry about the cost. On the other hand, I'd be able to use Plasmids more frequently with less need to worry about the cost. Notice the difference? Because I sure as hell don't.

Suffice to say, I simply went for the more advanced and complicated method that I knew would be of use to me at the moment: The method of 'eeny, meenie, miny, moe', taught to me by one of my Little Sisters from long ago.

Singing the tune in my head as I glanced between the two choices, I eventually settled on the Gene-Tonic, shrugging my shoulders as I then nonchalantly pushed the button next to it, once again causing the dial to spin as it recalculated.

As the dial settles on the digits '1' and '0', I knew that I had no more use for the machine at that moment, moving my hand over to the very most bottom button on the vertical row which read 'Finish'. I pushed it as I did all the others, watching as the machine slowly processed my requests with a series of whirs and clicks.

Eventually, after what was likely, I don't know, maybe one or two minutes, the machine gave out another ding as the needle that was once jammed to the bottom of the glass jar that held the ADAM from Mill rose, and a small symbol of a human arm began to flicker above it. It didn't really take a genius to guess as to what the machine wanted.

Rolling my eyes, I barely even began to reach for the jar when, suddenly, a pair of yellow hooves suddenly circled around it and carefully removed it from its place. Seeing this, I turned to the source of these hooves on my right, seeing Fluttershy, who flew ever so slightly off the ground, looking from the jar towards me with a smile.

"I-I'll put it back." She said simply, before then making her around me, leaving my sight as she went behind me. I couldn't see it, but I could definitely feel it as my bag shifted from Fluttershy's interactions with it, ranging from a slight tug to a simple shift. It was barely even a few seconds before she, from what I guessed, finished, flying back to her previous position on my right and flashing me another smile as she did so.

I returned the gesture, appreciative of the albeit small action, before then raising my right arm and, with a breath, placing it into the same slot as the jar had once been in, allowing it to relax on the arm-rest as I pulled back the sleeve of the jacket I wore as far back as possible.

At first, nothing happened, the machine simply losing the flickering light it once held and giving out a click as it adjusted. Things even grew silent for a moment, nothing whatsoever occuring as even the machine became utterly mute, lacking of any sound.

"... Is something wro-" Before Rarity could even finish, the loud sound of escaping pressurized air and an expanding spring fired throughout the room, causing both Fluttershy and Rarity to recoil at the suddeness of the sound with their own individual 'eeps' and 'oh dears'. As for me, my reaction was much more... noticable, I guess I would say. Mostly because, the moment that sound went off, the needle practically launched itself all the way down to my bone, much unlike the other needle based machines and products of Rapture, which, in culmination with the suddenness of it all, left me reeling.

Gritting my teeth at the pain, I felt the hand of my now trapped arm tighten into a fist, my other arm occupying itself by banging against the machine a couple of times or so to try and subconsciously take my mind off the pain.

The same mind and sub-conscience that were currently giving out their own opinions on the matter that groans and moans could not describe.

"Motherfu- Holy goddamn- WHAT THE FUCK?!?" Case and point...

Nonetheless, despite this, and the overall discomfort I felt, I powered through the pain as best as I could, my teeth grinding as the machine began to give out a slight whirring sound as it injected me with a veritable cocktail of processed ADAM.

The feeling was... odd. It wasn't like the injection of a single plasmid, which was simply empowering, nor was it like getting spliced for the first time. It was a wierd mixture of the two, yet at the same time, it was niether of the two. It was just unusual, alright?

Whatever this feeling was though, it disappeared soon enough as, within seconds, the machine emptied out what it needed to inside of my systems, finally retracting the needle, albeit at a pace much slower than what I would have preferred, and allowing me to pull off my arm from the rest it laid on, bloodied and ever so slightly more irritated than the rest of my body, the veins on it much more visible up towards the beginning of my upper arm.

"Hm. Seems as though those Gatherer's Garden machines still weren't calibrated to be more gentle, even after all these years." Ignoring Seidon's words, as I usually did, I shook my arm a couple of times to ring off whatever discomfort remained, muttering under my breath as I did so. Granted, I was mumbling groans, but mumbling nonetheless.

"Oh my. Omega? Are you okay? That didn't hurt too badly, did it?" Fluttershy questioned worriedly, looking at my arm as I then proceeded to cover it, and the blood on it, with the sleeve of my jacket.

Gripping my hand once or twice, I barely answered with a slight nod as I slowly grew accustomed to a new feeling that laid in my body, alongside the sudden knowledge that accompanied it.

Narrowing my eyes, I flicked my wrist once, my veins glowing ever so slightly as what I recognized as the Telekinesis 3 plasmid came up. Noting this, I flicked my wrist again, the glow in my arm suddenly becoming more centralized in my hand as, alongside a few odd bumps that appeared, a glowing blue ball with small, bug-like lights swirling around it appeared. Security Command 2.

Then, finally, with one last flick, the ball disappeared in my grip, and glow in my veins disappeared completely. Instead, my arm suddenly seemed... blurry. It was as though I had double vision, or as if I was looking an image of my arm from the reflection of a pool of water, accompanied by a small, though barely noticable and quickly fading mist. My charges seemed to notice this as well, the two approaching even closer and, as I looked them over, seeming to try to squint their eyes and lean their heads as they looked towards my arm. Altogether, this sight was rather entertaining, drawing a quiet chuckle from me.

"Well that's quite odd." Rarity observed, watching with absolute attention as I then made a simple movement of my arm towards myself before then flicking it outwards just behind me. Within an instant, that same small mist appeared again, but this time centralized in the area I had motioned my arm to, and at a much larger scale. It quickly began to take shape before me, my charges, Echo, and even Seidon's eyes, starting from below and forming the familiar shape of shoes and pant-legs all the way to the top, where it formed a shirt collar, and a head to rest in it.

"... As is that." Rarity then added on shortly afterwards, again making me wish I could laugh.

There, before me, stood what seemed to be a clear, slightly colored outline of myself, simply looking around its surroundings, pretending as though it were actually a living being. Now, to me, it was just that, an outline with no discernable features whatsoever. But, I had seen this Plasmid in action before, and, in essence, this was only what I saw. I wasn't sure how, but, despite what I saw, anyone else that looked at the Decoy would see an exact copy of me; skin, clothes and all.

Maybe it was made like this so that the maker of the Decoy wouldn't somehow get confused--however that would work--or maybe it was because the scientists that made the Plasmid didn't want to keep looking at their ugly faces when they used it; whatever the reason, that was simply how it worked.

And it seemed to be rather effective, judging by Rarity and Fluttershy's reactions, of whom the two began darting their gazes between the Decoy and I. In fact, for a moment or two, it seemed they had forgotten which was which, Rarity reaching out for the Decoy at first before, upon quickly seeing her hoof phase harmlessly through the Decoy, then placing it on my leg, looking up at me and giving an awkward smile before giving me a soft pat or two.

"Hehe..." She giggled meekly, before then looking back to the Decoy.

"... Darling, if you would please do us the favor of somehow warning us whenever you're using... this, that would be grand."

"Y-Yes, please." Noted.

Giving the two a swift nod, all the while chuckling as I did so, I looked back at the Decoy once more... right as a certain Bouncer's hand began phasing though my Decoy's face, repeating the gesture about ten times over before he then moved his attention away from the Decoy and towards me, proceeding to move his hand in my direction as he did so.

With whatever showing of previous entertainment or enjoyment I had on my face effectively obliterated, leaving nothing more than a blank expression, I grabbed Echo's approaching arm with one of my own, raising it and effectively stopping him from touching me. It was cute when Rarity had done it. Not so much when he did.

'Don't.' I told him simply, flicking my arm towards where the Decoy was and causing it to disappear in mere moments.

Honestly though, what was with him and touching things? Ugh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As footsteps echoed down the long emptied and forlorn halls of Pauper's Drop, their sounds ranging from the lightest taps of hooves against the floor to the heavy rumblings of an armored being's heavy steps, a stray pool of oil granted a clear reflection of the source of these unique noises, the group of indiscernible relation passing by one after the other, the largest of the beings seeming to lead while the others followed at a distance.

It was this same group that could be clearly seen as it made its way down one of the many pathways that made up most of Rapture, with little more to give them distinction between one path and the other save for the occasional out of place bloodstain, chip in the wall, or advertising poster.

The group, in of its entirety, had only been walking for what was likely to be a few minutes now, and by then the hall that they had been making their way down had begun to grow, the roof rising ever so slowly, and the hall itself widening just as well.

"It seems as though we're closing in on Subject Gamma." A voice from the group observed, emanating from the large metal being. With it, the armor-less protector unit known as Omega rolled his eyes, not particularly caring of either the voice's sound, tone, or even overall message.

Truthfully, the only thing on his mind was the very idea of finishing what he, and his charges, had unfortunately been caught up in during their original journey and moving on.

Any implications he showed of this, however, went unnoticed on that occasion as his charges held little to no hesitation on the questioning of this voice.

"Oh, r-really?" The more timid of the two charges asked, receiving a barely audible hum in return.

"Yes. From what I can tell, Echo's systems are becoming more reactive to the signal from Gamma's systems. More than likely, the difference of time between his and our travel through here was no more than that of a few minutes." The voice explained, this time earning a more earnest reaction from the former Big Daddy as he rose a brow at the explanation.

"That close already? This'll be over before we know it then." He mused to himself as he looked further ahead, towards where the hall completely opened up into a larger, much more notable area.

Keeping their guards up as they did so, the group slowly made their way into the new, more open area, quickly taking their given chance to scan the environment around them.

The area itself was smaller than the last one they had been in, but seemingly held more use throughout it just as well, leaving very little barren walls in comparison to the singular dinner that stood in the middle of the last open space they had come across.

The room they had now entered was much more closed than the last, large piles of rubble and interconnected structures filling it with ease. In the very center of the room was one of these such piles of rubble, placed precariously, almost purposely, next to a small, unlabeled metal booth, which had been heavily rusted and decayed with time. Water leaked continuously downwards from above, though fortunately the ceiling was not of glass that led directly towards the ocean, what was left of it being made of what was likely a structural combination of stone and metal, once structurally sound but now long failed. This leak formed a small pool of water on the floor, just deep enough for a body to rest and drown within, should they be laid down.

Other more notable structures in the area were the two buildings that made up a large amount of the room in the open space. One of these buildings was, more than likely, about two stories high or so, practically reaching all the way up towards the roof, though coming just short of actually touching it. The building itself was almost entirely white, though the paint had long begun to wither and chip away, with a single, large sign placed above the door that made up its entrance. The sign itself was comprised of what many knew to be the caduceus symbol, gilded in gold, alongside the heavy seeming and bolder words of 'Fontaine Clinics', neon green lights serving to underline and accentuate these words.

The other, smaller building was much less impressive in comparison. Whereas the clinic was two stories, and more expanse in of itself, one could easily see the entirety of what laid inside the other building through the windows that surrounded it. Even the sign that stood on the roof of the building held less significance than its counterpart, gold being traded out for what seemed like wood, and a few bits and pieces of metal. The sign itself had even gone through worse wear over time, with nothing more than outlines of where some letters used to be upon it, spelling out 'King Pawn' with a notable lack of an initial 'N' and a later 'W'.

One last thing that the group noticed, however, was the abundance of makeshift wooden pathways that interconnected the roofs of the buildings with one another.

Altogether, this comparatively small open area, as far as the group could tell, seemed to hold more to it than it let on...

"Hm... He should be somewhere around here. Search the premises immediately." Hearing the apparent order, and noticing that it didn't seem to be specifically aimed towards the Bouncer of the group, Omega looked towards the armored member of their group with a noticeably cold glare, a light growl emanating from him as he awaited for the voice that spoke through the Bouncer's systems to correct itself.

And this voice just as quickly noticed this same glare.

"Er, that is to say, I would recommend that you search the premises... immediately..." Omega was tempted to keep on glaring just to see how far into his own stupidity the voice known as 'Seidon' would go, but decided against it, thinking to himself that, if he did so, he would be there waiting for him to reach his plateau of idiocy for what would likely be months.

So, with a shake of his head and a roll of his eyes, Omega gestured for Echo to make his way to the small alleyway between the buildings; an unspoken order that he was quick to follow, as programmed.

Footsteps echoing once more as the two went ahead again, Echo in the lead with nothing more on his focus aside from the machine he was commanded to head towards, and Omega's eyes darting around the area as they went on, the two that he accompanied, Fluttershy and Rarity, followed shortly behind, just as similarly making sure that there wasn't any chance that a splicer of any sort would sneak up on them.

However, it would have been a lie to say that they did not hold more focus on the pair in front of them than what surrounded them.

Mentioned earlier towards their guardian, Omega, the two were largely concerned with how he and the Bouncer, Echo, were interacting with one another. Initially, the two had believed that, after having joined with them, Echo would simply be something that they'd have to grow used to. And for the most part, they had done just that--grown slowly accustomed to Echo in his entirety. They still weren't fully used to him being around, occasionally flinching away from the Bouncer whenever he would suddenly speak, or take a particularly close step near them. But, all things considered, it was still rather close to being so.

Omega, however, didn't seem to be making even the smallest of notable efforts.

Though they couldn't understand the two whenever they did converse--these occasions albeit few and far and between--they held no issue in noting that they were never in any particularly friendly nature.

Whenever Omega would give out a groan to them, he would make it clear that it was in good nature. Fluttershy, nor Rarity, were sure how to describe the exact way in which he did it--perhaps it was the simple way he would carry himself as he did so, or even a faint sign that could be seen on his features--they still knew that he hadn't displayed these such signs of behavior on any of the occasions in which he had spoken with Echo.

Let alone the time that Omega purposely blew out the floor below Echo, before then showing that he held no interest in knowing if he was okay or otherwise.

Sure, Echo was able to come back from death, like Omega had previously been able to, but whenever Omega had died they had always shown their concern well into the point that he had already come back. Omega... didn't even seem to pass a second glance towards Echo in response to his deaths.

Perhaps it was nothing but nonsense in the world they were in now, so full of violence as it was, but the concepts of their world were built almost entirely on friendship; on not only the companionship of others, but, as a result, the forgiveness of those that had done them wrong.

"Then again," Fluttershy then mused to herself downtroddenly, "ponies would never try to actually... kill one another." The butter-yellow Pegasus allowed this thought to fester in her mind for a moment, momentarily looking towards the floor below her, before quickly snapping herself out of it with a shake of her head.

Whether the action committed by another was horrible or otherwise, if they wanted to show that they were sorry afterwards, then they couldn't possibly be as bad as one would think them to be.

"And besides," Rarity then mentally chimed in, individually, yet seemingly in sync with the thought process of her friend, "Echo didn't do what he did by his own choice, did he? He was supposed to be 'obedient' after all. What he did couldn't possibly be his own fault..."

Before the two could dwell on these thoughts for much longer, they found themselves, along with Echo and Omega, coming to a sudden halt, only then taking note of the fact that they had indeed moved in their thought-filled states.

Whereas before they had stood at the end of the pathway that led to this new area, now they were in the middle of the tall space, holding a newly filled and complete view on the entirety of the area.

The two watched as Omega scanned their surroundings, seeming unsure as to where to go from there, before then turning to face Echo and giving out a groan.

They couldn't really understand him, as per usual, and could only really wonder as to whatever it may have been that he was saying.

They could only hope that it wasn't anything of an insulting or just plain overall negative nature.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Any chance you're going to tell me where to go from here, drill-arm, or are you just gonna stand there and wait for another order?'

'... Identification... Echo...'

'I know that, I'm just... Forget it.' It was almost involuntary at this point; me moving my hand up to my face and pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration, that is. That, or rubbing my temples. Or slapping my hand against my face. Either way, whichever of these from an even longer list of tells came up, they all showed that I was getting irritated in some way, shape, or form.

It was so hard to insult somebody who pretty much took everything at a literal level.

'Forget... What...?'

'What I just told you!'

'What... tell... me?' Did he actually make himself forget that?! Okay, this is exactly what I mean! Honestly, at this point, I'm not sure if I should be mad at the fact that he's so overly obedient, or impressed by it!

"I take it you're gonna go for both?" Probably!

'Just... Which building is he in?!'

'Signal... From tall one.' Thank you! Christ! Getting any answer from this nimrod is like trying to get directions from a splicer, I swear!

"Or you just don't ask him the right questions." Oh, fuck off!

Putting my thoughts behind me to the best of my ability, I turned back to my charges, if only in assurance of the fact that they were there.

They seemed... distracted with something. As to what, I wasn't sure, but it was still clear nonetheless. I was tempted to just stop and try to figure out what was on their minds, but the more this idea came along, the more it seemed to develop as something that I should actually avoid doing.

Maybe it was because a part of me knew what they were distracted by, or maybe it just didn't want to know, either way I stayed silent, doing little more than to grunt for their attention and gesture towards the clinic building.

They responded as expected, looking to me and nodding their heads slightly, but even then I could see the subtle differences in the way they did so.

"You sure you want to just pass over this like it's nothing?" As I said, putting my thoughts behind me.

With little more than a few strides to the building Echo had directed my charges and I to--albeit with some notable difficulty in how he had understood the order--the front door of the clinic was suddenly before us, similar to any other automatic door in Rapture, save for a differently colored trim, and a broken down dial lock that hung limply from its outlet to the left of the door.

More than likely, one of the stronger splicers had wanted to see if the clinic had any notable drugs in it left over--mostly ADAM--and had gotten irritated with the lock. That is to say, on this occasion, I was less mindful of the splicer's impatience and more thankful. It certainly made things slightly easier... even though I, and Echo, could easily break that same door down with ease if need be, but still.

Taking one last look around the area, before then giving a satisfied nod as I took note of the fact that it was essentially barren of both resources and splicers, I took another step towards the door, tripping its sensor and causing it to slide open with a loud, unpleasant grind. It was so unpleasant, in fact, that not one of us failed to react to it in our own negative ways.

I felt my teeth grit as this noise did little to help my splitting headache, Echo took a step or two back, and both of my charge's ears moved flat against their heads, with Fluttershy practically jumping out of her skin at the suddenness of the sound.

Just as quickly as it had begun though, it ended, the door managing to open itself fully, giving us entrance into the clinic.

I made a mental note at this. Fontaine may have been more than happy to try and make things look nicer, but it was sure as hell obvious that he needed to work on functionality just as well.

Not that he would be doing so anytime soon, that is.

Growling through the suddenly deafening sound of blood flowing through my ears, I looked to the less than effective door with a scowl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door to the clinic now bent and broken beyond the point of ever being useful again, Omega gave out a satisfied harrumph as he dusted his hands off one another, flesh clapping against the thin rubber of his ESU glove as he looked back behind him, inside of the building.

Awaiting his gaze were the tiled floors and walls of the inside of the clinic, both sharing a similarly white color, though heavily brandished with accumulated much and filth, with the only real distinction between the two being the size of these tiles, with those on the floor being only slightly smaller than those of the wall.

Decoratively speaking, however, there were some notable things to take to mind.

For instance, the large wooden counter that sat immediately in front of the clinic door, likely to have been where patients were first admitted back when the building, and its employees, were still in working order. The upper left corner of the walls just behind this counter held the remnants of a small Rapture television, long since turned into a jumble of random, sparking wires that hung loosely from their placements.

Random posters hung from the walls of the room, each of them having to do with medicine in one way or the other. On one of these same walls a red plus had effectively been etched into it, though years of age had already started to make the paint on it weather to the point of being near inexistent.

The room itself even held a pair of small couches that faced one another, with an even smaller table in between them, which was, incidentally, where Rarity and Fluttershy had decided to seat themselves as they waited for Omega to finish taking out a comparatively small portion of his frustrations.

Appropriate the use that the room likely served.

As for Echo, he simply stood closely beside Omega, having watched his handiwork with a tilted head of curiosity throughout the entire time he had made the loud, rusted door immovable. Of course, this was barely notable, what with his heavy and structured armor, but one could still tell if they observed with enough care.

And, if one could do so, they would also notice a man who sat before a series of screens--several of which being blank--as he looked on at the scene that played out before Echo's eyes with a palm planted firmly on his face. If Seidon wanted to, he could easily bring himself to comment on the futility and overall waste of time that Omega had brought about in his apparent need to destroy a door simply for being noisy.

However, he chose against it on this occasion as he realized that Omega may just as quickly believe him to be noisy, and carry out a similar procedure, either through him should they ever meet face to face, or with Echo then and there.

As for Omega, he was soon able to regain his composure as he took in a breath or two, leaving the bent remains of the door he had so painstakingly sabotaged with a quiet, uncaring groan as he then made his way over to his charges.

The two quickly noticed this as they seemed to sit up ever-so-slightly straighter than they had previously been, likely expecting that they'd now need to stand so that they could move on again.

Stopping before the two--and holding back the need to punch whoever it was that had bumped into him behind him as he did so, likely to have been Echo, who he hadn't noticed was acting as his shadow--he gestured towards the two with a bob of his head, as they had expected, wanting for them to follow once more.

As they made their way off their seats, making to head to their usual places behind or beside Omega, the former protector unit halted them for a short instance, kneeling before the two and placing his hands on both their heads before offering them a small smile.

He didn't know why, but, at the time, he had felt that this seemingly insignificant gesture was necessary. Perhaps it was some sort of subconscious issue, after having seen how the two were clearly preoccupied with thoughts of their own earlier.

Stroking his thumb upon their heads, barely moving his hand as he slightly ruffled their manes, the two took the gesture to heart, offering smiles of their own and already seeming to physically lose some of the weight on their minds.

Omega was glad to see this change in their demeanor, albeit small, as he then stood himself up once more and glanced behind him, towards Echo. The Bouncer did not seem to react to him as he did so, doing little more than to slightly lean his head in the other direction, which he easily shrugged off, rolling his eyes in the process.

Not saying a word--whatever he could say--Omega gestured for Echo to follow just as well as he looked towards a further back area of the waiting room, noting a single staircase that led straight to the next floor up.

Believing that there was nowhere else to go, Omega, followed shortly thereafter by his charges and forced upon companion, followed the stairs upwards, a twinge of unpleasantry gnawing at him with every groan that the steps let out as he moved up them, vividly remembering just how much he and stairs did not tend to mix well.

Armored anymore or otherwise, on this occasion he was more worried about Echo's weight, and clumsiness, than his own in terms of bringing them all falling down, just like on the diner roof. Granted, he had been the one to bring himself down on that occasion, what with the telekinetic blast he had shot off but it was for good reason.

Despite his worries though, and a few acknowledging groans of the stairs as the group went upwards, the structure held below them, allowing them passage to the second floor of the building.

Much like downstairs, the room on the second floor had a similarly tiled floor and wall, posters once again plastered on individual walls, and another couch placed against a nearby wall, with a built in sink installed into the wall next to it.

However, though it's general appearance was fairly similar, making this room seem like it was yet another place for patients to await treatment, there were still some much more notable differences it held. For one, there were two doors, by technicality that is.

One of these doors was, in fact, an actual door, placed on the left side of the room, likely to be leading to the treatment room at last. The other, which sat right in front of them, was not truly a door so much as it was a large hole in the wall, leading to one of the many, seemingly unstable wooden walkways that lead around the roofs of the buildings in the area.

Looking to and fro between these two paths, Omega couldn't help but to raise a brow, unsure as to what direction they should go next.

'... Echo.' He addressed the other protector unit coldly, his voice not quite showing irritation or anything of the like on this occasion, but far from showing kindness.

The Bouncer, in turn, looked towards Omega as he spoke.

'Which way is Gamma from here?' He then asked, absentmindedly raising his river gun to rest atop of his shoulder as he did so.

Echo, curiously, did not answer instantly, as Omega had believed that he would. In fact, there was a notable moment of silence that had come up mere seconds after he had asked the question, leading him to believe that he was either being ignored--which Omega highly doubted, what with the lack of any real individuality Echo seemed to hold--or that Echo simply hadn't heard him in the first place.

It was at this moment that Omega was tempted to turn and repeat the question, with a louder more serious tone to it, but decided against it as he glanced to his charges, who stood mutely beside him as they awaited direction.

'... Don't... Know...' Echo finally answered, looking at the two possible directions with what could only be described as uncertainty.

Suffice to say, Omega found this response to be less than nominal.

'You don't kno- Are you joking me?!'

'... Joking...?' Planting the palm of one of his hands firmly against his face, Omega gave out a meaningless groan of frustration as he then proceeded to drag this same palm down his face, before then sliding it off completely. Just as it seemed as though he was going to speak up yet again though, he found himself interrupted by a familiar burst of static.

"Hm. I take it the signal has become too broad to track from here?" Suddenly even more willing to toy with the concept of knocking himself unconscious at the sound of Seidon's voice, Omega deadpanned as he looked towards Echo, or indirectly towards Seidon.

"...I'll take that expression of yours as a definite 'yes'." Seidon then interpreted, gaining a sigh from the former protector he spoke to.

"Oh quit putting up such a fuss over what is comparatively nothing. Honestly, at the rate you're going, you should be more worried about stress and anger related health issues rather than splicers and missing Anti-Protocol members. Perhaps you've heard of high blood pressure?" Though he didn't say it out loud, Omega was more than happy to mentally adress a simple way for him to resolve any of this stress, mostly involving Seidon, one of the metal boots that Omega used to wear, and an unwarranted colonoscopy.

"Then again," Omega thought to himself, "it's not like he would be able to understand me..."

A smile suddenly appearing on Omega's face at the realization that he could insult Seidon with little to no repercussion--in terms of him being understood, that is--he quickly took the opportunity to take in a breath and, with a crack of his neck, briefly give out his frustrations...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Johnny! Johnny, where are you!" A female Splicer shrilled from a nearby staircase, looking for her partner and conditional 'lover'--just as long as he found ADAM for her every now and then.

"Argh! Can't you see I'm busy, tramp!" This so called 'Johnny" returned, not even bothering to look towards wherever she may have been, instead continuing to busy himself as he looked through the various turned over and abandoned pieces of furniture in an attempt to find something he could drink, preferably alcoholic. In all honesty, he had grown quite tired of hearing that female Splicer's voice. She was just another Thuggish Splicer, after all, who had wandered into where he looked around with nothing more to offer besides a good lay, and... that's it.

He was a Leadhead, after all! Armed with a tommy gun, and more than his fair share of explosives he had managed to find, one would think he wouldn't have to deal with 'some random bitch' telling him what to do.

"Busy? Busy with what?! What could you possibly think is more important than taking care of me!" Finally spotting Johnny, the female Splicer made as much of a scowl as her tumor-ridden face would allow.

"Johnny! Johnny!"

"Oh for the love of- WOULD YOU SHUT U-" Before the two could argue any further, the sudden, though seemingly distant sound of what may as well have been roars, though came more similarly to be an odd series of loud groans, cut through the air, making the of them turn their heads towards the direction of the sound.

"... What the hell?" Johnny muttered to himself, unsure of what that sound even was.

"... Tch. How come you can't make me groan like tha-" Just as suddenly as she had begun to speak, the female Splicer stopped, albeit involuntarily, as her head was blown into a cloud of red, brain matter and bits of skull losing their place as they left nothing more than a shredded neck, with some remnants of a jaw, upon a suddenly limp body. A body which quickly fell over to the side and onto the floor, twitching as the its heart vainly continued to pump, pooling its remaining blood onto the floor.

As for Johnny, who now stood holding his tommy gun, blowing off hints of smoke from his firearm, he just gave out a small, satisfied grin as he then returned to his search.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having suddenly been bombarded by a series of loud, clearly aggressive groans of seemingly nonsensical form, the man who sat before the terminals was... surprised, to put it lightly.

In fact, as Seidon looked towards these same screens, watching as Omega gave out a breath following his rant--albeit one he did not understand--and crossed his arms, looking ever so satisfied with himself.

As for the two other figures of his interest, Fluttershy and Rarity, they could be seen removing their hooves from atop of their ears, likely having placed them there in reaction to the... intensity through which Omega had spoken.

"Omega, was that really necessary, darling?" The horned member of the two asked, a half-scowl appearing upon her features as Omega looked back towards her and Fluttershy, replying with a sort of half-and-half gesture, easily meant to show his depiction of 'more or less'.

In the meantime, Seidon, who had taken the opportunity to recompose himself, shook his head and cleared his throat, once again gaining the attention of the three as they looked towards Echo as a result.

"I... suppose that, moving on from that... we should focus more on what to do from here, correct?" Finishing is statement with a slight cough, Seidon couldn't help but to kick himself for having, apparently, once again angered Omega. He didn't particularly mean to do so, so much as he had simply addressed a possible issue that may have arisen if Omega had continued in his aggressive form. Then again, conveying a message in an understandable, rather than simply blunt, fashion has never been a part of his repertoire.

This was easily exemplified by most, if not all, of the other attempts he has made to speak with Omega, met with similarly aggressive response.

"Though, I suppose we didn't meet under the best circumstances..." Putting this thought of his aside, Seidon addressed Omega and his self-proclaimed 'charges'.

"Now then, more than likely, Subject Gamma has made his way down one of the two paths before you all. As such, it would be less than optimal for you all to go down one path together at a time, lest he slip past you all by taking the opposite path." Seidon explained clearly, leaning forward in his seat as he planted his elbows firmly upon the control panel before him, interlocking his fingers and, immediately after, resting his head upon them.

"As such, the best possible recommendation I can give is that you all, in essence, divide and conquer, with Echo making his way through the doorway, and you, Omega, taking the opposite path over the scaffold-" Having closed his eyes shortly after he began explaining, a groan from Echo broke him out of his speech, leading to him opening his eyes and, as such, swiftly quieting himself as he took note of the fact that the three had already gone.

"... At the very least," Seidon then said to nobody in particular, his voice still resonating from Echo's communication systems, "you could have waited for me to finish..."

Though he didn't understand it, Echo once again gave out a groan towards Seidon, requesting his order.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You know, darling, it's very rude to simply leave while somepony else is speaking." Rarity chastised Omega as she and Fluttershy followed shortly behind him, the aged, makeshift scaffolding below them giving out groans with every step that they took.

Were it not for the fact that the distance between the two buildings the scaffolding connected was small, and their more current focus on the fashion in which Omega had simply gestured for the two of them to follow in the middle of Seidon's spiel, the two likely would have been more focused on, and afraid of, the height that the scaffolding provided between them and the floor. Or, at the very least, Rarity would have been, what with her lack of wings and a more durable body, such as those Fluttershy and Omega have respectively.

"D-do you think Seidon or Echo will be upset about how we just left them like that?" Fluttershy then asked of Omega, already beginning to feel guilty of the action they had taken not seconds ago.

Omega, who had been walking forwards without even the slightest sign of regret--so much as he held showings of satisfaction--looked over his shoulder towards the two and, with a warm smile, gestures that everything would be fine.

In his mind, after all, the moment that Seidon had recommended splitting up was essentially a godsend to Omega, giving him a clear opportunity to rid himself of the two annoyances that followed him and his charges.

Granted, he had taken into mind that his charges wouldn't be too glad about having left Seidon and Echo then and there, but, considering they were planning on splitting anyways, Omega had figured that it wouldn't have been an issue.

"The sooner, the better." He had thought to himself, just before he and his charges went off.

Nonetheless, despite the gesture he gave, Rarity and Fluttershy continued to show their doubts, both in forms of worry and skepticism, even as the three finally came upon the entrance to the adjacent building, which was essentially another large hole in the wall that the scaffolding led to.

Turning towards this entrance, alongside Fluttershy and Rarity, Omega was instantly greeted by the broken down remnants of an Ammo Bandito vending machine; sparks flew from its sides, which seemed as though they had been torn off, revealing the inner wiring of the machine in its utterly irreparable entirety, and the image of the 'bandito' upon it was riddled with holes and scratches, flickering every so often so as to show its once working condition.

Seeing this machine here, in its condition, Omega couldn't help but to feel some of the frustration he had just taken out moments ago return, this time aimed towards the recurring fact that, throughout the entirety of the time they had spent in Pauper's Drop, there was not one loose rivet to be found. Even from the machines that were made to dispense them, it seemed.

This annoyance did not go unnoticed by his charges, who, in response, tried to calm him as best as they could.

"Now, Omega, deep breaths." Rarity reminded her and her friend's guardian, gently placing a hoof on his side as she did so.

Though they didn't want to admit it, both Fluttershy and Rarity knew that, since he had met Seidon and Echo, Omega had been much more prone to showing anger and frustration.

To them, it was saddening, really. After all, the two desperately wanted, at least, for Echo and Omega to get along, what with what they held in common, despite the fact that Omega refused to acknowledge these such facts.

However, they had already said their piece by now, made their suggestions to Omega as to how he should give Echo and Seidon more of a chance. As to whether or not he listened to them, if not when he took their advice to heart, only Omega would really be the one to decide.

In fact, it was this same advice that consistently nagged at the back of Omega's head, even as he grumbled to himself at the sight of the broken down Ammo Bandito before him and his charges, taking in a breath of two as Rarity had asked to calm himself.

It wasn't that he was ignoring what his charges had told him, he would never do that, but to him it wasn't quite so simple of a concept to understand--putting behind whatever another individual had done to him, whatever threat he may have been, and instead treating them with friendliness rather than their well-deserved rage.

He had told himself this multiple times over, and it would likely never really change: his home worked far differently from theirs, period.

"Um... Omega?" Fluttershy suddenly spoke, catching Omega's attention as he then looked towards her.

The timid pegasus, at the time, was not looking towards her and Rarity's guardian. Instead, she was looking off to the right of the group, down the hall of the building immediately after the scaffolding that brought them there.

"Isn't that... the same thing you used in that place where Echo was?" Raising a brow at this, Omega followed Fluttershy's gaze, alongside Rarity, and upon seeing exactly what it was she was talking about, standing out from the barren, chipped wall at the end of the hall, he barely withheld himself from breaking a blood vessel of sorts on his face from the grin he gained.

There, standing out sharply from the hall, was the ever so familiar shape and styling of a Power To The People machine, awaiting a user as the light on its switches flared ever so slightly.

Giving out a cheerful chuckle, he looked towards Fluttershy and, without a shred of hesitation, brought her in for a sudden, and certainly unexpected hug.

After everything the three of them--mostly Omega--had gone through since they had met Echo--falling through a ceiling, having his head nearly caved inwards by a Brute Splicer, breaking or fracturing a few dozen bones by now, let alone the fact that there had been little more than tense silence since they had grouped up together, with only the occasional short comment or mumble--this seemingly small sight was like a godsend to Omega. It was for that reason that, despite the lack of warning, and the clear surprise on Fluttershy's face as she suddenly found herself to be lifted upwards and pressed against Omega's chest, along with the squeak of surprise she gave out, Omega took the action that he did.

It was a short, snug embrace, just enough for Omega to display the silent gratefulness he felt towards the sight of the machine, but even as Omega allowed Fluttershy to take her place back on the floor next to Rarity, notable hints of shock could be seen on her face as she was returned to her previous position, herself staring blankly ahead, a notable shade of red on her features, and her mane slightly messied from the abruptness of the embrace.

As Omega then took the opportunity to make his way over to the upgrade station, Rarity could be seen with a small smile on her face as she then leaned in towards her still recovering friend.

"Hm. Seems you've made him quite happy, darling." She whispered with a slight giggle, finally snapping Fluttershy out of her trance and, upon doing so, watching as she looked between her, then Omega, and then down towards the floor, hiding herself behind her mane as best she could as the red on her face deepened and spread. Though Rarity gave out another soft giggle at Fluttershy's timidity at this fact, Fluttershy couldn't help but to also hold a small smile on her face beneath the cover of her mane.

As to whether this smile was due to Omega's happiness, or what had just occurred, she wasn't sure, and truthfully, she didn't particularly care.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you! Thank! You!

Jesus Christ, after all of that crap that's been going on, after all of that bullshit, finally, finally, something goes right!

God I've needed something like this!

"Uh... Calm down there, it's just an upgrade machine. It's a good thing, sure, but you're taking this a bit too far, wouldn't you say?"

Nope! Perfectly appropriate reaction in my opinion!

"... You haven't slept, have you?"

Does blacking out or being unconscious count?

"..."

I'll take that as a no, but I don't care! I'm just glad that something is finally going righ- Oof! What the hell?!

Just as I was barely two or three steps away from the machine, I suddenly felt something push against me, holding just enough force, and suddenness, to cause me to stumble backwards by a short distance.

Now, the impact didn't hurt. At all, in fact, but, like I said, the fact that it came from pretty much out of nowhere was more of the cause of me moving backwards than anything else.

Anyways, shortly after I stumbled I was able to quickly regain my footing, and look ahead of me to try to make sense as to what the hell has just happened. What I saw was... different, to put it lightly.

Before me, practically coddling the Power To The People machine, was a Splicer, seeming to mumble to the machine as he did so. He was definitely an odd one, compared to any of the other splicers I'd seen. Even more so than that Berserker.

The Splicer itself was skinny, practically nothing but skin and bones, in fact, with nothing more than a couple of metal plates--which I assumed was once part of Big Daddy armor, considering how it was shaped and colored--serving as the front and back part of his 'shirt'. Honestly, I could see the sides of his ribs and stomach with ease, it was weird. Thankfully, he was wearing pants of sorts, though thoroughly torn to all hell, but he lacked any footwear, simply walking around on his bare, boney, and worn feet. His face was almost entirely covered by a welder's mask, save for a small part of it that was chipped off near the bottom, revealing his distorted jaw and mouth, alongside the fact that he was missing more than a few teeth. Alongside that, a part of the tinted glass from the welder's mask that covered his eyes was cracked open just as well, revealing a bloodshot, unblinking, and unsteady eye. Finally, slung over his back was what looked like a bag made up of various, hastily stitched together cloths and fabrics, making a bag that, compared to him, seemed as though it should've been snapping his spine from the weight that was in it. Proportionally, and muscle-wise, I mean.

To surmise, he was one ugly looking bastard...

As I looked him over, I could barely hear him as his muttering a became slightly more audible.

"Shhh. Shhh. It's alright. Daddy's here! Daddy won't let anyone touch you with their filthy hands! He'll keep you clean, keep you happy! He promises, I swear he does!"

Ugly, nuts, and creepy. Great, he's a trifecta of crazy.

"When did you learn 'trifecta'?"

Read it in a book. Anyways, back on subject!

Looking to the Splicer with a raised brow of confusion, before then looking back to my charges, who seemed just as confused than me, if not more so, as they both gave me looks and shrugs of uncertainty, I returned my attention to the meatless Splicer as I gave out a slight growl.

Crazy or otherwise, which didn't really make his mental state too different from other splicers in that regard, he was in the way. So, not wanting to waste any of my limited ammo, or time, I switched on my ESU with a roll of my eyes and moved it towards him, knowing that one tap would be more than enough to kill him, what with his pathetic overall physique and everything.

That is, that was the plan, until he suddenly looked back towards me.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Just as suddenly as he had yelled this, he turned around to face me, his back firmly against the machine and his left arm suddenly gaining a familiar glow to it as he aimed it to me. I was barely able to react, lifting my rivet gun to shield myself as I was suddenly propelled backwards by a telekinetic blast, causing me to skid further backwards, though I was able to keep my footing throughout it all. As for the impact of the telekinetic blast itself, there wasn't really any damage caused by it, thanks to my using my rivet gun to take most of the blast, barely leaving me with anything more than a dull ache on the arm that held it.

"Omega!" I heard Rarity yell from behind me as I finally halted myself, leaving my fair share of scuff marks on the floor in front of me.

Growling as I looked up towards the Splicer, I saw that, somehow, his eye had become even more bloodshot, his pupils dilated to the point of being a mere pinprick.

"You don't appreciate her! Nobody does! Not like I do! Not like I do!" What the hell was this moron babbling about?!

Barely even a second later, he suddenly reached behind him, into the oversized bag on his back, and yanked out a revolver, aiming it directly towards me.

Curiously, the same revolver was cleaner than he was. Hell, it was practically gleaming.

"This is how you take care of them! This is how you take care of the girls! You keep them clean! Clean, clean, clean, clean! No dirty fingers, no unappreciative bastards! None, none, none!" Alright, I've had enough of this sideshow.

Giving out a short grunt of annoyance--yeah, so much for something good happening for once--I released the safety on my rivet gun, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. As I did so, however, the splicer before me and my charges seemed to get a... weird look. I'm not sure how to describe it, but I know that it was uncomfortable as hell to see.

"... You stole one of them..." The splicer finally spoke, his voice almost a whisper, oddly enough, as I took aim for his head.

"... You made her unclean... How dare you... How dare you!" At this point the Splicer started screaming and yelling like mad, spouting more and more of his nonsense with every word.

He wasn't even aiming his revolver at me anymore, he was so distracted.

I couldn't help but to role my eyes. Not only was this guy too out of it to really function, but he was completely displaced in terms of actually, you know, being a splicer! I mean, come on, a Houdini Splicer with only a telekinesis plasmid, and some gun they had found? Clearly this one was trying to make up for his clear placement at the bottom of the Splicer chain.

Figuring that I might as well save the few rivets that I have instead of wasting them on this moron, I instead charged up my ESU, readying an electric blast. Normally, I know, that shock is meant to stun. But considering how scrawny this splicer was, I wouldn't be surprised if I inadvertently killed him.

As the electricity crackled and jolted over my gloved hand though, the Splicer suddenly began to laugh.

"Heh... Heheheheh... Don't worry, dearie, don't worry. I'll save you, I swear it." The same arm of his starting to glow as I recognized that he was using his own telekinesis plasmid, I watched as he quickly reached behind him and, faster than I could have guessed, he removed the bag on his back, allowing it to fall to the floor. Rather than a distinct this though, there was a series of clacks and clangs...

"We'll all save you! Clean you up again! We will! We will!" Yeah, fuck this.

Having had more than enough, I thrusted my arm forward, a sharp jolt of electricity escaping my ESU and making its way towards the defective Houdini.

Just as it was about to hit, though, a loud grinding sound could be heard, and in what seemed like a millisecond, a chunk of the floor in front of him came loose, blocking the blast. And when I say a chunk, I don't mean that a few floor tiles came out, or anything like that. I mean an actual goddamn chunk of the floor came out, supports, piping, and all.

Okay, so, many he's not as pathetic of a Hoidini as I had guessed...

Hearing his laughter from behind the risen floor, I was barely able to see the bag he had planted on the floor shift, emptying itself out until, finally, it flopped limply downwards.

"Now then..." The Splicer then said as he lowered the shield he had made for himself downwards ever so slightly, giving me a full view of him... and the several tommy guns floating behind him...

"Time for her to join her family!" With a half-visible smile, the Splicer raised his revolver up towards me, and, almost in sync, the machine guns behind him followed suit, all giving out a notable click as they had their safeties released.

"So, I'm starting to think this isn't a Houdini Splicer. Or a Leadhead. You?"

Agreed.

"Now give her up you bastard!" The Splicer then yelled, the glowing of his arm brightening ever so slightly as he pulled the trigger on his revolver, firing out a single shot that was echoed, and beyond, by the various tommy guns behind him.

Out of impulse, I followed the example he had taken earlier and, with a heavy stomp, cracked the floor, weakening, before then pulling a portion of it up and using it as a shield as he had.

Planting myself against it, so as to keep it up without overexerting myself through the use of my plasmid, I looked back to Fluttershy and Rarity, who had both essentially hit the decks, covering their heads as some of the stray rounds that didn't hit the barrier I had made planted themselves firmly into the wall just above them.

Seeing this, I tried to get their attention with a groan, motioning for them to get head back onto the scaffolding, where they'd at least be out of the crossfire. They seemed to catch this, or at least Rarity did, as she then tried to get Fluttershy to stand with her so they could leave, but barely after they stood themselves up by even a centimeter, another stray bullet hit the wall just between them, barely missing the both of their heads and, as a result, causing both of them to swiftly plant themselves down on the floor again.

Seeing how close they were to being hurt, I growled, turning my attention away from them and to the Splicer, who was still hidden behind both his, and my, makeshift shields as he continued to unleash a flurry of bullets, consisting of both pistol and machine gun rounds.

If I could've, I would have already broken his neck to the point that his head spun in a complete circle. But, I can't even get close to him while he's keeping this crap going! What's worse is that, every now and then, I can hear the weapons he's using run out of ammo, one by one, but before I can actually take advantage of this, he's already finished reloading another of his weapons, and, as such, is able to keep himself covered while he loads another! It's an endless cycle of bull, limited only by how much reserve ammo this guy may have!

WHICH I HAD NO IDEA AS TO HOW MUCH!

For all I knew, my charges and I could be here for hours! Add to that the fact that we're under a time limit, what with the fact that Gamma is somewhere around here, and may leave at any time, and a bad situation turns even worse!

Wracking my head for an idea, I barely took notice of the faint squirming I felt against my back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the gunfire continued, the used up cartridges of the Splicer's weaponry began to pile up on the floor around him, clinking at an almost constant rate as they continued to fall. Despite the fact that his vision was limited, he could see all that he needed to as he continued to fire at the rubble that Omega and his charges hid behind, slowly, but surely, raising his arsenal higher and higher with his telekinesis plasmid in an effort to take out whoever would be so cruel as to 'abuse' the machine behind him; to take a weapon and dirty it with his own filthy fingers and skin.

He could not stand it, he simply could not!

It angered and frustrated to no limit. It clouded his vision with insane drive, the emphasis being on insane, as he crazily tried to reclaim the lost one taken by the one he targeted now. So many other lives of his so called brothers and sisters that he had brought to an end to save their weapons, what they called 'their' guns despite the fact that they believed them to be tools and nothing more.

He was the only one who understood them. The only one who cared for them. At least, this is the process of thought that went on within his deformed, deranged cranium.

So deranged, in fact, that in his fury, he did not notice the beeping, green orb that suddenly came towards him until it had made it just between him and his opponent, his eyes widening as he caught it sight of it in his peripheries and, out of instinct, turned his weapons towards it and fired.

This proved to be a great mistake as, upon him doing so, a sudden flash, followed shortly after by a blistering amount of heat and an invisible force, knocked him off his feet to the ground behind him.

Giving out an involuntary yell of pain before then scrambling to his feet as best he could, he was barely able to look ahead of him just in time to watch as the debris brought up from the explosion shrouded the hall in a cloud of dust and dirt, ridding him of his vision on his opponent.

Seeing the possible issues that this could cause, the Splicer, who had not loosened his physical and telekinetic grip by even an ounce on his weapons, brought the rest of his arsenal back from the cloud so it would take his side. At least, he brought what remained, that is.

Upon reclaiming his weapons again, he felt his eyes widen as he saw that, of his five tommy guns that he had so carefully cleaned and cared for, only three had survived the explosion, whereas the other two were either melted from the heat to the point of being unusable, or simply broken to pieces. Even those of his weapons that made it through seemed scratched and burned to the point of being far from renewable, scarred beyond any point of repair or renovation.

Anger was the first, and only, emotion that the Splicer felt as he looked on at the 'horrific' sight before him.

"Why you- HOW DARE YOU! WHERE ARE YOU?! I'LL KILL YOU THREE TIMES OVER FOR THIS! I SWEAR I WILL!" He yelled as he uncaringly allowed the two no longer working weapons to clatter onto the ground below.

Practically trembling with fury, the Splicer frantically looked around him, searching for some sort of figure in the thick cloud of dust and debris.

"I KNOW YOURE HERE! COME OUT AND FIGHT YOU GODDAMN MONSTER!" The Splicer shouted as he turned his head for what must have been the fiftieth time.

By this time, his sense of direction was completely gone, himself having forgotten how to tell backwards from forwards in the midst of searching for his newfound, hatred inducing foe. He couldn't care less, however. Especially as he turned himself about once more and, just barely, caught sight of a single silhouette through the dust cloud.

A smile threatening to split his face in half, the Splicer yelled once more.

"Found you!" His weapons primed, both in his telekinetic and physical grip, he fired everything he had at the figure, the dust shifting violently as bullet after bullet began to lift the veil that lessened his sight.

As his bullets continued to be sent outwards in an undeniable torrent of anger, the Splicer slowly began to gain sight of his likely dead target, who had done little more to avoid these bullets than stand there, and held his fire, awaiting the sight of blood to signify his victory.

The debris finally clearing after what felt like an eternity, the Splicer finally caught a clear sight of the figure, confirming that it had been his target. However, despite this, the Splicer only ended up widening his eyes, giving out an odd stutter as he saw that his opponent, despite the clear hellfire he sent in his barren direction not seconds ago, was completely unharmed. In fact, he seemed cocky about it, a smile on his face as he held his arms crossed, looking towards the Splicer.

"What?! H-how the he-" Just as soon as he had taken a breath in to speak, all the air in his lungs suddenly escaped him as those same lungs almost simultaneously collapsed inwards, allowing the Splicer to only speak with bloody gurgles, rather than words.

Pain suddenly registering in his mind, the Splicer looked down to his chest, catching sight of the sparking, though not yet fully recharged, ESU that only a certain Big Daddy used, having pierced through his chest, covered in blood and, what he barely recognized to be, parts of his lungs.

This pain spiked as the ESU was abruptly yanked outwards, taking bits and pieces of his organs and ribcage with it, and alongside that, what little was allowing him to keep standing.

Just as his knees buckled though, his mind threatening to black him out for the sake of mercy, something caught him, two hands grabbing him by his head, leaving his lower half dangling as blood began to fall and pool below him.

Next to him, though he couldn't turn around, he heard a familiar growl, and began to feel pressure build-up on his skull. Pain continued to stack atop of pain, though any means he held of screaming had escaped him with most of his lungs.

The grip he held on his revolver tightened, his knuckles becoming white from the force he exerted, until finally, all he could hear was a single snap, followed by black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Attacking me is strike. Putting the girls in danger is strike two through seven. And calling me a monster accounts for eight and beyond.

So, suffice to say, as I crushed the Splicer's skull between my hands, feeling brain matter and bits of skull make their way between the fingers of my bare hand, while my gloved hand held little more than a feeling of pressure, I was fairly satisfied.

As the body fell to the ground, I shook off what remained of the Splicer's cranium from my hands and onto the floor, allowing it to splatter down to the ground with the rest of the twitching, skinny body below me. In doing so, I noticed that the cloud of dust, though relatively cleared by now, was still rather present.

A cough escaped me as I accidentally inhaled a small bit of this, to which a certain slug on my shoulder responded by giving out a questioning trill.

Glancing towards Mill, a small smile made its way onto my face as I rubbed a finger under his chin--at least, the closest thing to a chin I could find on a slug--earning a soft sound of appreciation from him.

It's weird, really. I'm not sure if I should admit that he was the one who passed that proximity mine to me while I was trying to hold off that Splicer, ergo quite possibly implying that I had less thinking power than a slug, or take the credit for that action and end up feeling like a total jackass later...

"So are you gonna give Mill his next treat now or later?"

Meh. When things are a little less... 'bullet-y'.

"Bullet-y'?"

Just go with it...

Anyhow, barely glancing towards the dead splicer below, so as to mentally give out one or two more variations of a few choice words I had for him, I couldn't help but wonder as to what the hell he really even was.

I mean, it's become painfully obvious that he wasn't just some kind of Leadhead, or Houdini Splicer. He had some traits from both, sure, but...

He was more like an entirely separate thing altogether. A much more crazed thing, at that.

The fact that his knuckles were still bone white, displaying that he still had a grip on the revolver in his hands despite lacking, well, a brain, kinda proved that.

Hell, the guy was a nut for his guns...

"Gun-Nut it is then!"

Wait, what? No! That's not-Ugh!

Whatever! Fine! The point is that he was some weird combination of Splicers! Much like a certain bitch that the girls and I had first come across on our way to Lower Rapture.

"Speaking of the girls..."

"O-Omega? Are you okay?" I suddenly heard Fluttershy ask through remnants of dust in the air, followed shortly after by a small, almost inaudible sneeze.

Cursing myself for having forgotten about my charges for a moment or two in my anger, I turned myself towards where I heard one of the two's voices from and, with a quick blast of telekinetic force, blasted out the rest of the cloud that had remained after the fight.

Upon doing so, I was greeted by the sight of both Fluttershy and Rarity, who had not yet moved from where they had previously been, their manes slightly frazzled from the combination of the telekinetic blast and the layer of dust that had been cleared their way, and small remnants of said dust on their fur.

They would definitely need another shower...

Glancing down at myself then, noting the blood and bits of brain matter that had managed to stick to my upper shirt and blazer, I made a similar deduction to myself as well.

As I wiped off whatever was solid--or at least mostly solid--from my clothing to the best of my ability, making sure to use my ESU glove as I did so, I gave the girls a short, simple groan, so as to catch their full attention--one of the two being busy trying to salvage what they could of their previous hairstyle as best as they could--and ensure that they were okay.

A short pause later, as Rarity continued in her 'business', Fluttershy looked up towards me and, with a soft smile, gave me a nod.

Satisfied with this gesture, I gave one last look towards the body of the Splicer before then proceeding to step over it, barely feeling Mill continue to balance himself on my shoulder as I made my way to the Power To The People machine that the Gun-Nut had been so carefully guarding.

Ironically, a stray bullet or two had made its way from the Splicer's unfocused firing to the machine, but, save for a few scratches and dents, the machine seemed to have held up just fine.

And I say that with caution, since it seems fairly clear that I can't have nice things at this point...

Anyways, glancing around as I finally was able to do what I wanted in the first place and turned the machine on, I decided that the best thing I could do at the time was upgrade my ESU again. After all, I still had next to no ammo in my Rivet Gun, so if I upgraded that instead, I'd be making much less progress than I would otherwise.

"Ugh! That was certainly an ordeal." Rarity finally commented, catching a short glance from me as I took of my ESU, bloody glove and all, and placed it into the machine to upgrade.

Rarity, of course, seemed more than a little annoyed by what had just occurred, with Fluttershy offering a small comforting smile towards her as she busily continued to work on her mane.

I, in the meantime, managed to give out a soft chuckle as the upgrade station began to sound out as it did its job.

Watching as Rarity eventually gave up on her mane with a huff, before then standing herself up from her place on the floor, followed shortly after by Fluttershy, I barely overheard the machine as it gave out a sharp ding, indicating that it had finished.

Upon hearing this, I turned my attention back to the machine, just in time to see my ESU come into vision again, though now with a few clear differences to it.

For one thing, the three tesla coils on the ESU now had what looked like a a small emitter in between them, connected to the coils by what looked like several thin wires which then seemed to embed themselves into the glove, before then making their way into the fingertips and knuckles of the glove. Furthermore, though it was faint, bits of the blood that had been on the glove from the splicer seemed to have been integrated in, parts of the glove now seeming darker than the rest.

I guess this was why you weren't allowed to add two or more objects into the machine at once, but that was besides the point, really.

Taking out the ESU before then eagerly giving it a test run, putting it on and trying to grip with it a few times, I then proceeded to turn it on, electricity already crackling off the coils.

As I did this, I felt a sudden, unfamiliar tingle all along my arm. It wasn't necessarily a bad feeling, but it wasn't good either.

A curious hum escaped me as I turned to an empty part of the hallway the machine was in and reeled my arm back, before then punching at air.

The difference from earlier as I did so was as clear as night and day--not that I personally knew exactly what that difference looked like--as every muscle in my arm seemed to involuntarily contract even further as a small jolt was sent through my arm, only causing mild discomfort, but being just enough to shoot my arm forward even faster.

Gripping the glove again, I raised the ESU to my face a gave a smile before then turning my attention back to Fluttershy and Rarity, who were now patiently looking towards me.

At first, I had thought it was because they were waiting for me to finish with the Power To The People machine. But, as my mind so happily pointed out...

"Uh, you may want to repair the hall so they can pass. You know, the one you and that splicer took chunks out of."

I blinked, focusing my attention on the fact that, before my charges, they were two notably large holes in the floor in front of them, alongside the parts of the floor that used to actually make up what had once been in that hole, now stacked haphazardly atop one another, crumbling ever so slightly as they seemed to shift under one another weight.

The two's initial reaction was of a blend of surprise and panic, which I couldn't really blame them for. When I was still in my armor, before I met them, there was a number of occasions I've found myself suddenly lifted off my feet by some surprise Brute Splicer that had decided to make a visit, so I know what it feels like... More or less.

Interestingly though, despite the fact that this was only the second time I had done this to them--the first being out of panic that Echo would have hurt them, whereas this one was because I was much more confident in my ability with the Telekinesis 3 Plasmid--their initial feelings towards it were surprisingly short. They were barely even an inch or two away from where they had previously been when, almost all at once, they calmed down, relaxing in the Plasmid's hold.

I couldn't help but to raise a brow at this, and the girls both seemed to notice.

"Heh... I suppose it's just something that takes some getting used to." Rarity said, answering my unasked question as to why they were so calm. "And besides, you're getting much more talented with this, aren't you, darling?"

Slight boost in my ego aside-

"Because you clearly need that."

-I gave the two a smile as I started to bring them towards me, steadily having them make their way over the holes in the floor.

"U-um, Omega, n-not that I don't appreciate it, but you didn't have to carry me over." As if to emphasize her point, her winds unfurled and gave a short flap, before then returning to their previous position.

Oh, right, wings...

"You're absolutely brilliant..."

Despite the now very clear fact that I didn't really have to use my plasmid to lift them both over that mess, I shrugged at the two, putting the point aside as a small detail.

The familiar smile of Fluttershy reappearing for a moment or two as I did this, I was soon able to get them completely over the ruined hallway where I was, taking a step to my side as I then carefully placed them down next to me, releasing my plasmid's grip on them once I was sure they were safe.

The two barely fell a centimeter or two to the floor below them, their legs momentarily bending to show this, and they seemed to have taken the 'trip' well, tamping their hooves a few times as if to become re-antiquated with gravity.

"'Re-antiquated'? Really? Are all of your words going to come from some book you read?"

You were there with me while I read, so you should know, jackass.

"You're calling yourself a jackass now?"

Anyways, returning to the actual matter at hand, once my two charges seemed comfortable on the floor again, they both turned to me, beaming.

"Thank you, darling." Rarity then said, to which I responded with a small nod, before then gesturing for the two of them to follow with a bob of my head.

Turning and beginning to make our way down the path of the building's halls, I overheard Fluttershy say something to Rarity.

"I-I hope Echo has had better luck than we have."

Meh. For all I care, he could've blown up for all I ca-

Before I finish that thought, what the hell was that loud bang? Also, why is the ground suddenly shaking?

"Oh crap..."

Before I could so much as slightly process what was happening, I suddenly found both my charges tightly gripping onto me, giving out surprised yelps and squeaks as there was a loud crash just behind them and I, air being whipped up against my back, so as to show how close something was to hitting me, and Mill almost instantly scrambling back into the bag on my back in panic.

As for me, I pretty much froze. Not just because I was taking a few moments to reset, my mind not yet having caught up with my body, but also because I'm pretty sure that my heart had skipped a few beats.

Barely hearing what sounded like fizzling flames and crumbling debris, I was only brought out of my reactionless state as I began to feel one of my charges, Fluttershy, begin to tremble against my leg, her grip tightening periodically.

Shaking my head as my body suddenly began to respond once again, and my heart slowly began to beat at speeds detectable by human eyes and ears, I looked down to Fluttershy and Rarity, so as to make sure they were okay.

Rarity, for the most part, seemed comparatively fine. Shaken up, of course, but not too badly.

As for Fluttershy, well, let's just say that she has a stronger grip than she seems to. Seriously, I felt like I was going to lose blood flow in my leg if she kept it up. Let alone the fact that she was shaking tremendously, practically buzzing in fact.

As I saw this, I shifted my current concerns between the two, planting my hands atop of their heads, so as to let them know I was here. Rarity seemed surprised by the sudden gesture, having been too preoccupied focusing on whatever had hit the wall behind us, but ended up leaning into it for comfort nonetheless. As for Fluttershy, her shaking all but stopped, and I could hear her give out a short, stuttering breath as she then slowly looked up from my side, where she had buried her head within, to me.

As she did so, the amount of fear she had felt at the moment became even more clear, her eyes watery and seeming on the edge of shedding tears. Despite this, I offered her a small, comforting smile, petting her gently as I looked down to her. It took a moment or two but, eventually, like Rarity, she began to lean into my hand, her breath becoming more steady and the grip she held on me lessening ever so slightly.

"Well that could have gone better." Withholding the urge to punch myself, if only to get my mind to be quiet for a bit, I turned so as to see what exactly had happened behind my charges and I, following Rarity's lead in doing so.

As to what it was, I ended up finding more than just one of my brows raised, my breath catching for a second or so--for some odd reason--as I caught sight of Echo's limp, charred, and broken body embedded into the wall behind us, his armor practically torn to shreds, allowing substantial amounts of blood to flow forth from it, all the while being all the more emphasized by the slightly brighter amount of light that came through the hole his body had made on its way in, a sharp comparison to his now black and empty portholes.

"O-oh my goodness..." I heard Rarity silently mutter, whereas Fluttershy, whom only now looked towards the same direction we did, gave out a gasp.

Turning myself around so as to face Echo's body completely, both my charges releasing me as I did so, I couldn't help but to note that the way his armor was showed clear signs of him having been through a massive...

"The words you're looking for is 'explosion'. Hey, how about the next time you say something along the lines of 'he could blow up for all I care' or something like that, you do so on splicers? After all, it seems to be an effective method of yours..."

"H-how did this happen?" I managed to hear Rarity ask to nobody in particular as she, Fluttershy, and I continued to look at the more recent armored corpse.

Unfortunately, her question was something that ended up being answered shortly after.

"Hm... Curious, the velocity in which Echo's body was expelled led him here?"

Suffice to say none of us were expecting to hear Seidon's voice come from Echo's body while we were looking towards it. Hell, I practically raised my arm and shot it out of surprise.

And by practically, I mean I already had my rivet gun raised and my finger on the trigger.

Yeah, it was bad...

Anyways, no more than a second after the three of us reacted the way we did upon hearing Seidon's voice come from Echo's corpse, Seidon once spoke up, though notably quicker as he did so.

"Woah, hold on now! There's no reason to panic! That means you, Subject Omega. Echo's surveillance systems may be damaged, but I can still see you with that weapon of yours pointed here. No need to do something else idiotic..."

...Oddly enough, the more I heard his voice, the less I felt like holding myself back from shooting.

Despite this though, and the expression of irritation I suddenly grew on my face, I could hear Rarity speak up next to me, taking a step forward in the process.

"My word. How did this happen?" She questioned, referring to Echo's broken and limp body, which still held itself firmly embedded into the wall, hints of smoke that come from it now starting to clear.

"Hm. Unfortunately, it would seem as though Echo ended up going down the wrong path, unlike the three of yours. On the bright side, however, I am happy to report that Subject Gamma is indeed following his own objective at a successful and efficient rate." Wait, what?

"Y-you mean that the Big Daddy we're looking for did this to Echo?" Fluttershy then chimed in with a hushed tone, joining her friend Rarity as she took a step closer to Echo's corpse.

"Well, yes and no." Seidon then promptly responded, earning a confused look from not only from Omega, but from Fluttershy and Rarity as well.

"You see," he then continued, "as it turned out, Subject Gamma had been down the path Echo had taken earlier. This was made all the more clear by the several bodies and corpses that Lau mutilated along said path, most riddled with rivets."

Yeah, I'd say that's a pretty clear indicator..

"Even more interesting, though, was that Echo had entered the room just as Gamma left, myself having barely caught a glimpse of his armor as he walked out of the room."

"And that's even more clear."

"However, as I then ordered Subject Echo to pursue Subject Gamma... Well, I failed to take into account the fact that Rosie models, even modified ones such as Gamma, were prone to lay proximity mines."

Yeah, that seems about right. Hell, when I was still assigned to Little Sisters, I would almost always have some proximity mines handy to get rid of the more annoying of issues, or, in some cases, make sure nobody followed. I just used one not a couple minutes ago, for fuck's sake!

Still, like I said, Rosies usually only actually put down proximity mines in seemingly random places when don't want to be followed...

So, was Gamma aware of what was happening?

Before I could really think on this, I heard a faint scream from a Splicer. A multitude of them in fact, each and every one of them being followed by the familiar sound of a rivet gun firing.

"Ah, speak of the devil and he shall appear..." Glancing behind me, away from Echo's body and instead towards where the sound came from, I felt myself give out an involuntary growl.

I don't know why, but something felt... off...

"Anyways, I would recommend taking your attention away from Echo and I and instead moving forwards. Gamma should be there if you follow the rest of this path. As for Echo, I'll have him join you again once he is returned at the nearest Vita-chamber." I disliked taking orders from this moron, but as I heard another rivet shoot off in the distance, I ended up just shoving my opinion back into the furthest part of my mind as I groaned for Rarity and Fluttershy's attention.

They turned around quickly, and once they were facing me I bobbed my head towards the direction of the sound, down the rest of the hall in the building.

As I was just about to turn though, Seidon spoke up one last time.

"Oh, and before you go, Omega, I have a question to ask of you." Was now really the time?!

"Tell me, if you were given the choice between ensuring that several absolute strangers lived, at risk of your own life, or vice versa, which would you choose?"

What in the actual-- to hell with this. Glancing to Echo's body for a second before then returning their attention to me, my charges both nodded as I then turned myself completely around and started to hurry down the path. Just behind me, I could hear the footsteps of Fluttershy and Rarity as they rushed to keep pace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was so simple, really. So incredibly simple to kill the mindless Splicers that believed that they could take him down.

Even where he was now, on the roof of the King Pawn store--though he had no means of knowing this himself--he didn't have to worry about them being inaudible, or his aim being off in any regard. Whether he saw them or not, he could hear their crazed yells and unsteady footsteps with ease.

When they had first arrived, attempting to surround and overtake him, from what he could infer from how many pairs of footsteps there had been. Now, he could only hear two pairs of feet left.

Granted, he had held some difficulty when something tripped the proximity mines he had placed down, practically deafening him for a moment or two, but other than that, he had little to no issues fulfilling his programmed objective.

Hearing another of the Splicer's yell, followed by the familiar, notably obnoxious click of machine gun, he turned, quickly turning his rivet gun to the direction he had heard the sound and firing.

And there it was. That same sound as before; that of shredding flesh; of shattering bones; of dripping blood, accompanied by the faint metallic smell ever so different from that of his armor.

It was so different to the boredom he had long ago experienced, observing the world around him through non-functioning eyes. So... invigorating...

As he pondered on this, he could hear the last pair of footsteps begin to grow distant. He had been so distracted that he had almost let one get away.

How careless of him...

With barely a flick of his wrist, he lifted his rivet gun again and purposely withheld his next shot.

He could have killed the Splicer a dozen times over by now, but he wanted to savor his next shot; he wanted to thoroughly enjoy that sound once more. That sound that seemed to give him more life than he had ever had.

He was just following his programming after all...

In that next instant, the sound of a rivet gun firing sounded out, only, on this occasion, it wasn't his.

No, the sound was the same, but he hadn't felt that slight kick in his arm. He didn't hear the sound of a well-placed rivet exiting his weapon's barrel. And, interestingly enough, though that sound of death rang through just as well, it somehow wasn't the same.

It was bland, uninteresting, almost painfully dull in fact...

He was confused, to put things lightly. After all, he had heard the sound just the same, so why was it so different.

He was so preoccupied with this thought that he cared little for the next pair of footsteps that suddenly came running in. Though, to his mild interest, he did note that there was something odd about the group. For one, it sounded as though there were five pairs of footsteps, but at the same time, four of these steps sounded almost too close together, and they made a different sound.

The closest he could relate it too was an old memory of an animal, but this was a faint memory in of its own.

As for the other pair of footsteps, it seemed to handle itself differently. He wasn't sure what, but there was something about it...

With another thought to ponder on, though made a much less significant priority compared to his earlier one, he stood stock still as he heard the footsteps make their way into the same place he had been.

These footsteps, unbeknownst to him, were those of the same odd group that had been making their way through Lower Rapture up until now.

The same group that, as they made their way onto the roof of the building where the one they searched for was, stepping over and around the body that was fallen by the former Big Daddy of them, ended up stopping as they finally caught sight of him.

A slight pant to his breath, Omega looked over his modified counterpart, taking every difference he held from a normal Rosie into detail.

For one, the cloth and under armor that he wore was a different color altogether. Rather than the usual shade of orange or yellow, it was a vivid green, though clearly dirtied and mangled to the point of this being near unrecognizable, blood stains of vast quantities only serving to further this issue.

His armor plating seemed even more unique, covered by a layer of thick leather atop of every individual plate, save for those of his helmet and legs, with those on one of his thighs seeming to hold several oversized pockets for some sort of storage.

As for his helmet, though it, overall, seemed relatively regular, the key difference was in the porthole that normally gave a Rosie sight. His was seemingly cracked and fractured beyond any possible repair, no light even coming through from it so as to indicate whether this Rosie was alive or otherwise. Alongside that, the paint on the Rosie's helmet held a certain darkness to a part of it, making it seem as though there were an faint 'X' that went over his porthole.

Finally, there was his rivet gun; the Rosie's signature weapon.

As Omega looked at the weapon that the modified model held, he couldn't help but to raise a brow or two.

Frame-wise, it seemed to be a generation one industrial rivet gun, unlike the one that he used, reliant on the canister of air on the Anti-protocol subject's back--and the flexible rubber hose that connected it to his weapon--as a firing mechanism rather than the portable air mechanism that was imported to the later frames.

Rather than one, it held two separate barrels, with one over the other to serve its function. As to whatever Omega though that function to be, however, he wasn't sure. The upper barrel held the Gamma symbol upon it, clearly made as part of the weapon.

Furthermore, hanging from the under barrel of the rivet gun was a sharpened piece of steel seemingly welded underneath it, slightly worn and heavily bloodied from recent use.

Glancing around at the various bodies that had been spread about the rooftop--some littered with holes while others seemed to be missing limbs and, in some cases, entire halves--Omega grew ever-so-slightly nervous, moving his arm out in front of his charges, gesturing for them to get back.

After all, he hadn't exactly had the best experience with Echo, so his knowledge of how Anti-protocol members acted was clearly dampened.

Taking in a breath, Omega finally spoke up, much to other Rosie's interest as he did so.

'Subject Gamma, I take it?' He groaned, the very same subject of his conversation seeming to turn his head as he did so.

A moment of silence reigned as the Anti-protocol Rosie then proceeded to turn completely towards him, his heavy footsteps resounding loudly as, eventually, he completely faced Omega and his charges.

'... Oh? Another protector unit? Well, color me intrigued then."

Author's Note

So... Anyone else wondering why this chapter took so long?

Well, a variety of things, actually.

Most significantly though, I purposely made it longer.

Why? Because--

pause for dramatic effect...

--Last of The First has officially reached the 1000 like mark! Woot!

This is among one of my first 1000 like stories on this site and, as such, I wanted to make it special somehow. Ergo, biggest chapter yet.

I would like to thank you all for reading and enjoying this story this far, and I would be making an understatement if I only said I appreciate it.

Thank you!

Oh, and, like I said last chapter, I do need your help here, audience...

Seidon rose a very notable question, after all. So, personally, I would like to know all of your opinions on it.

As to what it means? Oh, you'll see, I'm certain...

(Yeah... I'm just gonna go ahead and cross off my 'ability to be mysterious' bullet off of this chart. This was just awful...)

P.S. The idea for the Gun-Nut Splicer was actually due to the help of another reader, believe it or not.

I wanted to include another type of splicer besides the berserker, but I originally couldn't think of anything particularly interesting, so I was originally gonna scrap that idea. However, a reader sent in an idea and, Lo and behold, I thought it was perfect. So a special thanks to them! Announce yourself in the comments my friend! You have earned the glory!

P.S.S. Good ol' Papa Bear, a fellow writer on this site who I have grown to be happy to call a close partner and help in this story, provided yet another rendition of our new subjects! This time, everyone, Gamma!

Chapter 34: An Eye For An Eye

Did... did he just talk?

"Well, technically no, but-"

Yeah, shut up and let me finish. Did that Rosie, the one in front of me at this very moment, just communicate with me clearly?

No half-sentences, no one or two syllable responses, no empty groans or anything like that. No, instead, did he actually just say something sensical?

"... Are... you mocking me right now or- YES, YOU IDIOT!."

Confirmation from my mind coming clearly through at this point, though mostly because it was essentially yelling, I stood there in a state that was practically... I don't know!

Surprise, shock, glee?! I legitimately didn't know!

Here I was after having to deal with a complete idiot for the past few hours, and the ever so irritating voice that came with it--whom was more than happy to flaunt his comparatively vast and 'ever so important' knowledge with every goddamn sentence--and now a Rosie, a Big Daddy of the same model as me, was actually talking to me!

This is a joke, right? A cruel joke that fate has decided to pull on me? I mean, I likely misheard, right? There's no way this is actually happening, right?!

Well, wether or not it is, the girls seemed to notice my rather unmoving being, as I then felt a light tap from behind me.

"Um. Darling, are you alright?" I heard Rarity question, causing me to swiftly shake my head, so as to regain my hold on reality, and glance towards her.

She, and Fluttershy, held rather similar expressions, both having a brow raised or head slightly tilted as they looked to me like I was crazy. Well, no, that wasn't really a good way to describe their expressions. Knowing them, they'd never really do anything to call me that, or imply it.

"Which is ironic considering you are crazy, and have told them this multiple times."

Fair point, but shut up.

Before I could so much as make a gesture to them, however, the Rosie spoke once more.

'Oh? Is someone else there?' I then heard the modified Rosie before me groan curiously, my head turning back towards him just in time to see his rivet gun swinging lazily by his side, a small part of the sharpened steel that was welded to the bottom of it scraping momentarily across the ground as he did so.

'Well, actually, don't answer that. It's a rather stupid question, I admit. After all, I heard the five of you make your way here by your footsteps.' He then swiftly added on, lifting his free hand slightly before gesturing it in a slight halting and shaking motion.

Yeah, I wasn't hearing things. He was, in fact, talking-

"Well-"

GROANING sensically! There, you happy now?! Goddamn!

Anyways, hearing the Rosie speak, a feat which in of itself seemed amazing to me, I couldn't help but to be more than slightly confused when he had mentioned five of us.

A brow raising, and lips partially pursed, I glanced around me, noting that, indeed, aside from Fluttershy and Rarity, nobody else was nearby. Something I found to be rather relieving, if only because it meant neither Echo not a splicer was nearby.

'Uh... Five? Yeah, you may want to try again there.' Huh. That... actually came out rather casually. Then again, I guess it's because I'm talking to a Rosie, right now, which make things at least slightly more relatable.

Said Rosie then proceeded to tilt his helmeted head ever so slightly to the side, though most of his emotion was still unclear as a result of the nonfunctional porthole light he held within his suit.

'Oh? But I was quite positive of that number. I mean, granted, a few of these footsteps sounded off, but there were five sets of two. Unless of course, some were walking on all fours, but that'd be ridiculous, wouldn't it?'

I blinked. Then I blinked again. And then once more.

"Wow. You are an absolute master at conversation, aren't you? I mean, seriously, why bother fighting when you can just talk your way out of this city? Heck, you'd probably be able to talk the splicers into letting you lead it, if you tried."

High amounts of sarcasm noted, and ignored, I legitimately was not sure as to how to respond to that. Why?

Because for a moment, I had genuinely forgotten that my charges were ponies. Yeah, kinda a big deal. And kinda obvious as to how the blind Rosie in front of me would be confused by that.

Reaching my gloved hand over the back of my neck, I scratched at a sudden itch I had as I took in an awkward breath.

'Uh, actually... it isn't all that ridiculous...' Silence. A moment of pure, empty silence. There was nothing coming in. No sound of dripping water, no groaning city, no breaths or scraping metal. Instead, silence.

Yeah, it made me more than slightly uneasy. Extremely so, in fact.

'... Oh... So they are on all fours? I... don't understand.'

He doesnt understand? What does he mean by that?

'They're... on all fours. Ponies.' I attempted to explain, though this didn't really seem to help all that much.

'... 'Ponies'? What are 'ponies'?' Does he seriously not get this? I mean, really? I mean, granted, I wasn't a genius when it came to names of species myself, what with being stuck here in this city and having my memory wiped, but even I managed to figure out what a pony was as time passed. So, what about this was so hard for him to-

"Hey, nimrod, you just mentioned the whole 'memory wipe' thing that every Big Daddy goes through, right? Okay, well, now add onto that the fact that he cant see. Tell me, do you think he would have much to learn from because of that?!"

... And yet again, fair point.

"You're damn right it is. Now try to use something he can actually, y'know, understand! Something he can relate to!"

Something... he can relate to?

But, there aren't any animals in Rapture. None with four legs--aside from the two with me--that is. I mean, I remember there being a few dogs and cats before, sure, but they died out rather quickly when splicers started getting hungry for more than just ADAM. Plus, I wasn't sure if Gamma had even ever seen a cat or a dog, so that wouldn't work.

So what does walk around on all fours that he may be able to get?

... Aha!

Snapping the fingers of my bare hand in realization, and pointing it towards Gamma, not like he could really see it though, I gave out what I figured there was no way of him not recognizing, what with him living in Rapture and all that.

'I got it. Y'know Spider Splicers, right?' I could barely see Gamma faintly nod his helmeted head. 'Think of it like that. They walk on four legs because it's easier for them.'

I'll be honest, comparing the girls to a splicer of any sort, especially one of the ones I hated the most, felt as though I was insulting them. It internally stung a bit, no joke, but it was also the only way I knew that Gamma would understand. After all, being a Big Daddy, Gamma had likely met with his fair share of splicers, including Spider Splicers.

You know, if the several corpses of these same splicers that riddled the roof around the four of us didn't serve to hammer that point in hard enough.

In fact, it did seem to get through to him.

'Oh! Oh, I see now!'

Okay, that was a horrible choice of words on his part. So horrible I couldn't help but to flinch at least a little. He, however, didn't seem to care very much, raising his free hand up to his helmet before, curiously enough, placing his pointer finger onto the cracked glass of his porthole.

'Yes, yes, it makes sense now. Truly, thank you for this insight! It makes things so much easier.'

Uh... Okay?

'No... problem?' I gave out unsurely, watching as Gamma then proceeded to pull back his pointer finger, if only slightly, and tap the glass on his porthole. A slight 'tink' sound could be heard, although faintly, as he did so.

Was he, maybe, thinking at the moment? Was this a common thing for him? Eh, whatever it was, albeit strange, it didn't seem too major. If anything, I was just glad that I was, apparently, talking to somebody that wasn't nuts, or an idiot, or both. Mostly both.

A slight smile growing on my face at the thought, I crossed my arms, at least as best as I could without my ESU or rivet gun getting in the way, and gave out a light chuckle.

This, again, didn't go unnoticed.

"O-oh, Omega, you're smiling." Fluttershy noted, a slight smile of her own brightening her face as she took a slight step forward, coming closer to my side than behind me. "A-are you and Gamma getting along well? Is that it?"

"Indeed." Rarity then added, her own smile evident as she then raised a brow, as if to show her own curiosity. "Don't just leave us out of the loop, dear. It's dreadfully rude to leave us out of your conversation, you know." Judging by the slight glimmer I saw in her eyes before she then proceeded to raise up her nose and look away from me, giving out a slight, and adorable, harrumph as she did so, I could tell she was clearly kidding. It didn't help either that she had that same smile, albeit now sly, on her face the entire time.

Seeing this, I rolled my eyes at her antics, a light chuckle escaping me before, her own half-attempted facade fading, she gave out a surprised giggle. A hoof momentarily covered her mouth, stifling her laughter, I could hear Gamma give out a groan up yet again.

'Well,' he gave out, 'they certainly sound quite nice.' At first, I nodded at this, turning my head back in his direction to see that he still held his hand before his porthole, though he wasn't poking the glass at the moment. However, I quickly realized how stupid it was for me to nod--all things considered--and instead spoke as I mentally kicked myself. Repeatedly.

Honestly, how much had I made that mistake already? Forgetting he was blind, that is.

"Thanks for the totally necessary clarification."

Ignoring you. Anyways, back to me talking with Gamma again.

'Heh. Yeah, trust me they are.' I assured, my arms crossing as I addressed him.

'Ah, that's good. It can be very... difficult to find beings that you can trust in this city. Really, everyone seems to have gone mad. Even those you wouldn't expect.' Again, he moved his index finger, flexing it back before, in a single motion, it tapped against his glass.

As he spoke, though, I couldn't help but notice... something in his tone.

'Now then, what is a protector unit such as yourself, and company, doing here anyways?'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watching his screens with the utmost attention he could summon, Seidon watched as Echo was brought back once more, the familiar glass, cylindrical walls of the Vita-chamber coming into vision following a short burst of green before then opening with a hiss.

He noted how Echo, in of himself, barely seemed to fit in the chamber. Granted, most Big Daddies would see this chamber as relatively small and cramped, but most of these same Big Daddies didn't have to deal with the oversized helmets that Bouncers held. Even with Echo's helmet having been made smaller, streamlined by some degree so as to keep his speed at its optimum output and efficiency, it still caused him some trouble as he exited the glass cylinder, one of the metal bars that surrounded it momentarily clanging against the glass as Echo ever so slightly tilted his head, if only to regain his bearings.

This occurred one or two times before, ultimately, Echo learned from his mistakes, turning himself sideways, though only slightly, and making his way out of the chamber with relative ease.

This was his... unspoken pattern of sorts. Sure, he would learn to make his way out of the Vita-chamber without banging against it, but he would then proceed to place this process so far back into his head that it was practically nonexistent. Then, by the time that he inevitably died to the hands of the city below the sea, he would already have forgotten and the cycle would begin anew.

Seidon, however, was surprisingly unbothered by this. After all, he had dealt with Echo for quite some time now, even before he had been placed into stasis to ensure he would be ready to act upon the anti-protocol. In fact, he knew a great abundance of the anti-protocol members.

It wasn't as though they would see him and instantly recognize him, of course--he kept his interaction with them to a minimum, with only one or two ever really having been face to face with him--but he has observed them long enough to have a basic understanding of how they acted, and reacted, depending on the situation.

He would say he held an understanding of their 'personalities' but... there's only so much you can learn from another without being able to understand them.

Nonetheless, he knew how they acted. He understood the basics of every last one...

Which was exactly why he felt uneasy about Gamma.

Something about the way he was moving about Pauper's Drop was not at all similar to him.

At first, Seidon questioned the route and pace at which Gamma was making his way through Pauper's Drop. Granted, he was aware that his programming, of course, deemed that he eliminate the splicers in the area. He was the one who oversaw this programming, after all. But, having followed the faint signal that came from the Rosie, and gained an approximation of where he was and had made his way through, Seidon noticed that his pace was slower than usual.

Test runs had been done with every last anti-protocol subjects, so as to understand their effectiveness in the roles they were given. In every test, Gamma followed through at a rather constant rate. He was never too fast, what with having to take care due to his lack of vision, but he had never gone slow either.

Now, it seemed as though that was exactly what he was doing, even sometimes stopping altogether.

Of course, one might think of this as paranoia. They were many splicers in Rapture, especially its lower region, and they had only really grown over the years, becoming stronger and smarter--no, that wasn't the right word. Conniving seemed more fitting. 'Smarter ', however?

Seidon barely withheld from rolling his eyes at the thought as he watched Echo make his way down the path he had previously taken, making his way back to where Omega and his two self-appointed charges were last seen by him.

Returning to the subject at hand, Seidon then immediately countered his mental possibility of paranoia with another, much more significant and undeniable point.

Back when Echo had split up from the others, when he walked into that room littered with proximity mines and bodies that Gamma had likely left behind, Seidon was able to, if only for a scant moment, look over the corpses of the splicers that were strewn about the room.

One must understand that, again, Gamma moved at a constant rate. He was efficient as a result of his reflexes, often only firing once--and occasionally making use of the blade attached to his rivet gun whenever the need arose--in attempt to kill his targets before then swiftly moving on. He usually only needed one shot, after all.

So why? Why was it that the room was painted red? Why was it that a good portion of the splicers were absolutely littered with holes and blown apart limbs, many having hit vital areas that, alone, would have been enough to kill, but instead were coupled with up to seven more?

And furthermore, why was it that, of every last body, there was always one thing in common? A rivet to the head, each and every time. Some even seemed to have been done after death, but he couldn't truly confirm this. After all, it was barely a few seconds before the proximity mines gave out a loud series of beeps and promptly went off, removing Echo, alongside his view, from the room instantaneously.

"Im certain of it. Something isn't right..."

His eyes narrowing ever so slightly, Seidon glanced to the static filled screen that would normally show Gamma's vitals, positioned just above a screen which would display his point of view--a term used lightly in this case--through his internal surveillance and communication systems.

With little more than a breath, Seidon immediately set himself to fiddle with his control panel, his hands moving meticulously over the thick metal lined with several buttons, dials, and switches.

Perhaps, if Echo continued to get closer to the faint signal emanating from Gamma's suit, he would be able to at least get a glance at the Rosie's vitals.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well this is going surprisingly well."

I know, right?

"... We're definitely keeping an eye out for a splicer to come by and ruin this, aren't we?"

Oh yeah. Haven't taken off my rivet gun's safety yet, and I don't plan on it.

Now, look, it wasn't that I was paranoid, it was just that... Actually, no, it was exactly that. I'm paranoid as all hell.

Rapture is a city of misfortune; a city where bad things are meant to happen to you no matter how well off you may be at the moment. So, yeah, it's not normal for a good thing to happen, such as apparently meeting a sane Rosie.

"You know, I feel like you've made this point before. Like, a lot of times by now. Don't you think you're overdoing it?"

Fuck no, if anything I'm just getting started.

But, that's for later, I suppose. For now I still had to deal with Gamma, who had asked me a question about a minute ago without me answering...

'Um... Hello?'

Yup. Definitely seem like an asshole right about now.

"Sound like one, in this case."

Okay that one just came off as a jackass comment. Anyways...

'Oh, uh, sorry about that.' I groaned, a nervous chuckle escaping me. 'I spaced out a bit.'

As I groaned this out, the Rosie shook his head dismissively.

'Oh, it's no problem really. None at all.' He responded, before then giving his porthole glass yet another slight tap.

Seriously, why was he doing that? It was more than a little off putting.

It was like watching a child pick at a scab or a scar, both interested in seeing wether or not it would magically make it go away, yet also curious as to its very existence. I mean, I guess that's an appropriate comparison, all things considered, but still.

Then again, it wasn't like that was the oddest thing I've seen in this city, so was I really one to judge?

"Yeah, there was still that time you walked into that pair of splicers as they-"

Agh, no, no, no! You are not bringing that up! We are not mentioning it in any way, shape, or form! I left you in charge of bidding that memory as far into the back of my mind as possible, and you are going to keep it there! Got it?!

"Alright, alright, geez... I'm still curious as to what they were doing with those beer bottles though."

And back to ignoring you! Again! Honestly, it's like you make it your mission for me to do that!

'But, seriously,' I finally managed to give out, repressing the urge to gag as the 'bottles and beds' incident momentarily flashed across my mind for a moment, 'the reason we're here is because of... well, you, actually.'

As I told him this, the slow poking of the opening in his helmet suddenly came to a halt, his gloved fingertip all but freezing against his porthole glass as the rest of his body seemingly followed suit.

'... Oh? Is that so? If I might ask, why is that?'

... I... can't be the only one who noticed that, right?

"You mean the way his tone changed all of a sudden? That depends, do I count as a different person, or not?"

You usually say you're me...

"Yeah, but that's only when you insult me or ask me to shut up. It helps me win more arguments."

... I'm not even gonna try and dignify that with a response.

A brow of mine raising ever so slightly as I looked on in Gamma's direction, I gave out another groan.

'Well, I can tell you it's not my idea, that much is sure.' I responded honestly, eyes narrowing slightly as I thought back to the two other morons, one specifically, that had gotten the three of us wrapped up in their mess to begin with. 'To put it simply though, I guess I'm supposed to re-establish the anti-protocol systems, or whatever the hell it is that Seidon wants me to do.'

Waving my hand and giving a single roll of my wrist, I gestured so as to emphasize my point. An action that I quickly realized only benefitted me, rather than the party before me.

Seriously, I am bad at this.

'Oh, so you know of the anti-protocol then? Hm, I suppose I should have guessed, what with you knowing my subject identification as well.' I nodded at first, but then, realizing my mistake--seriously, this isn't that hard to get--I ended up slapping my bare right hand across my forehead.

'...Yes, that would be the reason.'

'And, you also know of what it is that I am supposed to do?'

'... Yeah?' I hazarded, noting the slowness to his speech.

'Ah, thank goodness! That makes things much simpler!' He then groaned, suddenly with much more pep and cheeriness in his voice. Certainly an odd shift, if I do say so myself.

"... Why... did he phrase it like that?" Oh shut up and take this as a good thing for once, eh mind? I'd like to go one moment without being paranoid.

"Darling?" I then suddenly heard behind me, turning my head towards my charges and seeing the clear looks of curiosity and interest upon both of their expression.

"Omega, please, do catch us up to what's going on here. Fluttershy and I are beginning to feel as though we are third-wheels at this point."

"N-not that we mind!" Fluttershy then quickly, quietly, added in, waving a forehoof slightly as she spoke. "I-if you prefer to keep talking with Gamma, t-then we won't bother you."

Looking towards the two, and smiling at their adorable and innocent inquisitiveness, I gurgled that I might as well try to at least somewhat clue them into what was going on. Seriously, I could only imagine how awkward this was for them, watching as two individuals speak to one another in languages that they can't really understand.

Especially when they're less speaking more making noises that they had simply come to understand.

"When you put it like that, Big Daddy language sounds weird."

It does. That's the point.

Glancing towards Gamma, I noticed that he was starting to tap his glass once more, but really just put this fact aside as I gave him one last groan.

'Give me a second. I need to explain what's going on to these two.'

'Hm? Oh, go right ahead. Take as much time as you need. I'm patient, so I'll just wait for you to finish.'

Seriously, this guy is actually... pretty nice, surprisingly enough. Heh, and here I thought I was the only sane human in this city... more or less.

Taking the opportunity given to me by Gamma to turn myself completely towards both Fluttershy and Rarity before reaching into the bag on my back, my hand grazing by Mill's likely lax form, and grabbing hold of the whiteboard segment and marker I held within it, much to Fluttershy and Rarity's visible glee as I did this.

They were likely to be excited to finally have an explanation of sorts towards what was happening. I could tell because Rarity suddenly grew a large smile on her face, hooves shifting slightly as she looked towards me like a child waiting to be told a story or funny rumor. Fluttershy's smile was much more stunted, alongside her reaction, but it was still very much there, and, in her own timid fashion, showed off just as much, if not more, excitement as Rarity.

Chuckling at this, I uncapped the marker with my teeth, compacting my rivet gun and shutting down my ESU for the first time since we had gotten on top of this roof, so as to allow myself to more comfortably write, before then grabbing hold of the marker with my left hand, my right holding the whiteboard piece, as I set myself to writing.

I could feel Gamma behind me as I did this, though of course still retaining that same distance from before. It was likely that he had heard me as I placed my marker against the whiteboard and started writing, alongside throughout the very process of wringing these things out of my stuffed supply sack, and that he was now just listening as I wrote.

Like he had said, he was probably just waiting for me to finish writing.

"Yeah, 'before finishing'... Seriously, something about that just feels wrong..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was perfectly aware of how redundant it would be to say he was having a sense of Deja-Vu as he noticed Echo go down the same hall that he had before, approaching his previous area of progress. After all, he had died, and he had been walking down the exact same path.

Yet, Seidon didn't particularly care. Why did this thought come up then?

Why, simply to ease his mind as he continued working to get Gamma's vitals on one of the many screens before him. It was beyond irritating at this point. The amount of signal amplification, proxy routing, and overall quality-of-life fixes that he had needed to make his way through just to get one screen working for him was beyond frustrating.

To him, it was like repeatedly smashing your head into something until it worked, at least started to look nicer through all the blood that would eventually cake your face through such an action.

It especially wasn't made any easier by the fact that he knew perfectly well that it would only get easier as Echo got closer to where Gamma was. Why? Because he would eventually get to the point where he would be able to do this easily enough as a result of their proximity, and then he would proceed to question why he hadn't simply done it this way to begin with, kicking himself for the next hour or so.

He had started this process barely ten or twelve minutes ago, and, being as stubborn as he admittedly was, he wasn't simply going to stop all of a sudden. If he did, then he'd only end up kicking himself harder for the next hour. It was as text-book of a case of 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' as Seidon could possibly get.

So that gave him all the more reason to continue, really.

Had he been stressing himself at this point? Well, he had been doing so for quite some time now. Since the anti-protocol was initialized, really.

It was ironic, he was originally so ecstatic when his systems had suddenly come to life, signaling the beginning of what he had been waiting years to complete. Now, he had never been more anxious and stressed in his life. Then again, he never had to deal with several unchecked Big Daddies at once, a possibly inter-worldly incident of epic proportions involving equine-like beings, and especially not a sarcastic Big Daddy that saw him to be the equivalent of the plague.

Really, Seidon could only wonder as to why he hated him so much.

Well, not exactly, he held a pretty good idea, what with what occurred back in Ryan Amusements, but even then it didn't really merit anything this bad at this point, did it?

"Then again, most Big Daddies have a sort of inbred hatred to the scientists that put them in their suits."

"Maybe,' Seidon pondered, "he just thinks of me as one of them?"

Suddenly, as this thought came into his head, he froze, hands no longer moving as he instead blankly looked down towards the control panel before him. His arms coming to rest over the panel, hands partially hanging over the sides, he remained in that position for a moment or two. This moment, however, was shortly after brought to an end as he started gripping the panel with both of his hands, doing so tightly, to the point where his knuckles turned white and veins began to pronounce themselves. To the point where the metal on the panel began to bend.

No, he wasn't like those scientists. They certainly didn't think so, after all, so why should he? They were the ones who believed him to be inferior. They were the ones who often ignored him, claiming he was no better than some idiot among the filth of the city. He wasn't among those scientists, not at all, he worked too damn hard at this point to so much as slightly hold any resemblance to those imbeciles whatsoever!

He would not lower himself to believe he was like them, no matter wha-

A sudden groan catching his attention, specifically from Echo's screen, Seidon suddenly realized that he had apparently been panting, his teeth clenched and hands tight from his thoughts. He stayed where he was yet again for a moment, though this time he used the opportunity to take a breath, removing his hands from the side of the panel before then leaning back against the chair he sat on, swallowing so as to help his suddenly sore throat as he looked up towards Echo's surveillance system.

Through it, he could see that Echo was, by now, barely a foot or two away from the area he had died in; the one that held the clinic, and the King Pawn store. Seidon also noted, however, and more importantly so, the fact that he, and likely Echo, could see a pair of individuals upon the King Pawn store, through a small gap between the King Pawn sign and a smaller, less flashy billboard referencing some kind of frozen dinner that used to be particularly popular before Rapture fell, which so happened to be placed nearby the King Pawn sign for, what Seidon imagined to be, better advertisement.

Further on the left was, of course, Omega, who was currently occupied with... something, whatever it may have been. His gaze was downwards, towards a familiar whiteboard piece that he had occasionally made use of, and seemed to be focused on something else that was behind it, before him.

Seidon figured that, perhaps, he was simply speaking to his charges. The small gap that both he and Echo could see him through was, after all, 'a small gap', so it was likely that they were just out of Echo's, and by extension his, sight wherever they were.

Further to the right on this roof, though, was something that made Seidon's eyes suddenly widen.

A Big Daddy, model Rosie, that looked towards Omega as he did whatever it was he was doing, simply watching and, seemingly, waiting. It wasn't hard for Seidon to realize who this was, recognizing the additions made to his suit, and, more notably, the deadened porthole upon his helmet.

Quickly sitting up as he saw this opportunity, what with the sudden proximity Echo held with Gamma, Seidon set himself to work on the previous process he had been stressing himself out with.

He followed every step, having practically memorized them by heart as he repeated them once more, amplifying the signal from Gamma, filling out proxies, and so forth.

As he had imagined, the process was, in fact, much quicker than it had been before, and alongside that, much more functional; as in, it actually worked.

"And so, let the kicking of oneself begin." Seidon thought to himself as he gave out a mixed sigh of relief and exasperation before then finally bringing up one of the other screens aside from those focused on Echo, attempting to display Gamma's vitals and surveillance systems.

The surveillance systems, as he had expected, were still not functional, giving him only static. Really, he hadn't expected that they would have worked. It was more of a 'nothing to lose' kind of impulse to him, a long shot, but he didn't regret doing it nonetheless.

As for the screen relating to Gamma's vitals, this has been much more successful in terms of retrieval, all the information one would need on such a subject popping up, though initially with some difficulty, on screen for whoever may be observing to see.

The one observing, of course, being Seidon; and the observing, not quite as predictably, finding themselves slowly, but surely, widening their eyes as they scanned over the information before them.

"This is..." His thoughts died out. Now wasn't the time for thought. Far from it. If anything, this could be very bad.

How bad, one might ask?

Simply put, bad enough that Seidon suddenly found himself shooting up from his seat, knocking his chair over behind him, but not caring in the slightest, as he suddenly yelled to Echo.

"ECHO, GET UP THERE NOW! YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO USE CRITICAL STATE, ALONGSIDE LETHAL FORCE!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, where was I at this point? Halfway through explaining what was going on? A little further than that?

"I'd say somewhere around 70%, give or take."

Right, thanks.

Yeah, I was pretty far into recalling everything that was transporting to the girls, to put it simply. Now, of course, I mostly gave them a summarized version, so I didn't really use exact quotes. Especially not the one where I told Gamma that ponies were kinda like Spider Splicers. No, I left that detail out very purposefully.

That aside, both Fluttershy and Rarity paid close attention to everything I wrote, no matter how long it took me to write it out. Every grammatical mistake--which, let's face it, I made--and misused words they would do little more than to point out kindly and occasionally. Not that I could blame them. They were just trying to help me after all, and I was more than willing to learn at this point.

Albeit with a small part of my mind finding the whole thing demeaning, but I never let the girls see that.

Besides my grammar, they would also give their two cents on what I had written down itself, more often than not asking a curious question or simply talking about how nice it was that things were going so well between Gamma and I.

And, honestly, I had to agree with them.

Gamma was much, much less irritating than either Echo or Seidon. Especially Seidon, come to think of it.

He spoke rather cleanly, held an overall friendly demeanor, and, aside from the occasional quirk I sensed from him, seemed like an altogether fine protector unit.

"Granted, you may just be tricking yourself into thinking this because he's a Rosie like you are, and you still don't really have any place so as to decide whether or not he's a good guy, but sure lets go with that."

God you are irritating today.

"I'm telling you, something isn't right. I mean, even now he's being off! How long has he just been standing there behind you? Completely still at that!"

My mind, admittedly, was not exactly wrong about that last part. In fact, it was pretty much exactly true. Since I had started writing and giving the girls a rundown on what had been happening, I hadn't heard a sound come from Gamma.

Well, actually that isn't completely true. There was one sound. That odd tapping that he did against his porthole. We're it not for the girl's talking every now and then as I wrote, that would pretty much be the only sound in the room, aside from the occasional drip of water or groaning of the city's walls under the pressure of the sea. Definitely would be more off-putting if that were the case.

"And it's not off-putting now?!"

Seriously, what is with you?! Can you just shut the fu-

"Hang on, hang on, before you yell at yourself like an idiot... Do you hear that?" Momentarily scrunching up my face at both apparently being ignored and insulted by my own psyche, it took me a second before I realized what it was even referring to in the first place.

A familiar sound was echoing--or more fittingly thumping--throughout the room, reminiscent of large heaps of metal falling upon even larger chunks of metal. A light trembling accompanied every occasion that this sound came through, which the girls themselves seemed to note what with the fact that, no more than a moment or two after this had begun, the two began to look around.

This sound was obvious to me; mostly because I made them with every step I took when I still had that suit of mine. These were Big Daddy steps, without a doubt. Now, on any other circumstance I would have imagined that this would have been Gamma, what with him being the closest protector unit with his suit on, but upon noting the fact that sound wasn't really seeming to come from behind me so much as it was from my side... the more I was tempted to give out a sigh as I made another, more annoyed guess.

One that was swiftly confirmed by Fluttershy who, having followed the sound, gazed over the edge of the building that was not obscured by the two large signs that lay upon its sides.

"Oh, Omega, he's back." She informed me with a hint of cheerfulness in her voice, likely from seeing who I could easily guess to be Echo back; an emotion I couldn't really say I shared. Like, at all.

Taking in a breath, I reluctantly held back a sigh as I capped the market I held once more, so as to keep it from drying out. Now that the idiot was here, along with the jackass--as to who is who, I'll let you decide--I figured that any semblance of 'fun' or 'enjoyment' I may or may not have had at the moment was essentially obliterated to the point of being inexistent. Maybe I could explain the rest of what had happened to the girls later, since I really didn't want Seidon or Echo butting in on what wasn't their business.

Well, technically Echo probably can't even read, like I couldn't before I met my charges, but my point still stands goddamnit!

Interestingly, as much as I wanted to make a comment of some sort, though I ultimately settled for some grumbling thoughts and curses, it seemed as though Gamma was the one to talk instead.

'Oh,' he groaned suddenly, 'are you done?'

Noting his question, I glanced behind me, so as to look towards him, and noticed that he had stopped tapping his porthole glass. He was still looking away from where I, and my charges, were, but I couldn't really take that into account all things considered, could I?

As another step came through the previously relatively calm atmosphere, originating from a certain lumbering Bouncer, my eyes narrowed as I found myself following the sound.

Through the gap in the signs I could clearly see him making his way inside of the room, still lower than us in terms of elevation, what with us being on the roof of the pawn shop, but still just as audible and present.

Another thing I noticed was that, at this point, Rarity had joined Fluttershy's side by this gap, looking down towards Echo as he slowly approached.

'... Yeah, I guess I am.' I ultimately answered to Gamma with a groan, both made up of speech and exasperation, before then moving both my whiteboard chunk and marker over my head behind me and placing them into my supply bag.

As I did this, I momentarily closed my eyes. Was it out of exhaustion? Frustration? Maybe just reflex? I'm not sure.

What I am sure of though, is that this was all it took for the next few seconds to become what may as well have been a blur.

First, I heard Rarity speak, if only for a scant moment.

"Hm? That's odd. Wasn't he there just a moment ago-"

She didn't get to finish as, next, the seemingly deafening sound of two rivets firing rang through the air. A sound that was not accompanied by the familiar kick against my arm, or momentary sting that it brought about whenever I fired one.

A strong breeze came and went by my side, threatening to blow me over from my unprepared position, momentarily filling my ear with loud gusts that barely allowed me to make out the sound of clanging metal, or that of crumbling concrete.

All I had done was close my eyes for barely a few seconds.. yet, when I opened them, everything suddenly seemed out of place, shockingly so in fact.

My eyes went from shut to wide as all these sounds came through seemingly all at once, with only the faintest bit of difference in time between them registering in my mind. And before them, the scene had changed completely.

Fluttershy and Rarity, who had previously been looking towards Echo as he made his way towards into the large area, were now both upon the floor, Rarity being atop of Fluttershy as the two laid on their sides, their heads both lifted, however, as they gazed in the direction of where Gamma was, their own eyes wide as well, with Fluttershy's mouth slightly ajar.

Oddly enough though, they didn't seem to be looking towards Gamma, their eyes seeming far too raised upwards to really bring doing so.

Follwing their gaze from my position, my mind momentarily reeled as I saw Echo, the Bouncer that had previously been downstairs, now immediately to the side of my charges. He was positioned rather oddly, his several porthole lights tinted reddish-yellow as he stood with his drill raised before him, pointing to nowhere in particular really, and his other arm outwards to his side, as if gesturing for both of the girls to stay where they were.

For a moment, I wondered as to when and how he had really gotten here, despite the fact that I already knew the answer to both of those questions. However, as I looked towards him, still not yet having moved from place, I felt a breath escape as I took notice of something. On Echo's helmet, just between two distinct pairs of portholes, were a pair of rivets, both of which were still red hot from having recently been fired. Flows of blood came forth from these rivets, and the holes that they had clearly made into Echo's hemispherical helmet, yet he still didn't make so much as a sound, continuing to hold his ground.

It was only then that I finally regained control of my body, which had apparently been lost to me as a result of the shock of the moment, myself turning rapidly so as to face the only direction the rivets could have come from, if not from me.

Fittingly enough, I was swiftly awarded by the sight of Gamma, who now stood with his modified industrial protector unit rivet gun aimed forwards, it's upper barrel still smoking slightly from having recently been fired. Aside from that though, his overall stance had not changed even slightly, his gloved finger still upon the cracked glass of his porthole as he stood there.

'... Hm... Something got in my way?' He groaned questioningly, lowering his free hand down to his side. For a moment, he stayed there in silence once more, just as I began to piece together what had happened.

"He... just said something 'got in his way'... Was he aiming for-"

"Subject Gamma, stand down now!" I suddenly heard the voice of Seidon come forth from Echo's communication system, practically yelling, really, as he addressed the Rosie that had just fired upon Echo.

Hearing this voice, Gamma finally changed the direction of his dysfunctional gaze, moving it so as to look at the source of the sound.

'Oh? The anti-protocol director? When did he arrive?' He asked, though clearly not expecting an answer. It was more as though he was asking himself in actuality. Still, I didn't particularly care. All I cared about was the fact that he had just tried to shoot my charges...

HE JUST TRIED TO KILL THEM!

'WHAT THE HELL JACKASS?!' I roared, turning myself around completely so as to face the modified Rosie, raising my Rivet Gun towards him as I did so.

I wasn't the only one yelling either. It seemed as though Seidon still hadn't finished speaking, and he clearly wasn't going to be stopped by the noise I made in my own outrage.

"Gamma, stand down damn it all! This is an order! You are to lay down your weapon and put aside your duties to the anti-protocol immediately!" Despite being called out from two distinct sources of anger, however, Gamma seemed to only listen to me, his free hand gesturing towards me as he addressed me.

'I don't understand? What seems to be the issue?'

Was he serious? Was he actually asking that?

What does he think the issue is?!?

'ARE YOU AS DUMB AS A PIECE OF CORAL OR SOMETHING?! YOU JUST TRIED TO SHOOT AT FLUTTERSHY AND RARITY, DIDN'T YOU?!' I interrogated, my finger already half squeezing the trigger to my Rivet Gun as I did so.

For another moment, both he and Seidon stayed silent. I could barely hear the sounds of both Fluttershy and Rarity getting up from their previously fallen positions to my immediate right as I glared at the Rosie before me.

'... Well of course I did. You said it yourself, after all, the two are 'similar to spider splicers' aren't they?'

'They aren't actually spider splicers you moron! I told you they're ponies!' I returned with another roar, myself feeling the veins on my right arm flaring slightly with ADAM as my plasmids began to make themselves known once again.

'... Oh? But you said... Ah, I see, you're trying to protect them, aren't you? Now, understand that I can get that you are apparently somewhat close to those two. After all, I gave you that moment prior so you could say your goodbyes to them, and explain to them that they were about to die. It is my duty, after all, to purge all the splicers from this area, as the anti-protocol dictates.'

That was what he was doing?! He was waiting for me to finish just so he could kill them both? He was aiming to shoot them from the very fucking beginning, and I didn't see that!

"I would tell you 'I told you something was wrong', but right now I think both you and I are just about ready to tear this asshole a new one."

You're damned right I am! I'm going to shove that Rivet Gun into his helmet, down his throat, and fire until he has a whole new orifice to bleed from!

"Okay, I didn't need the play by play, and that was just a figure of speech."

Not when I'm done with him it won't be!

"Subject Omega," I barely heard Seidon say from beside me, myself growling and seeing too much red to really do so, "I advise that you take those you are escorting with you and leave. Gamma is unstable, and he won't hesitate to-"

Whatever else it was he was going to say, whatever other bullshit that was going to come through Echo's systems, I wasn't going to hear it.

I was too busy pulling the trigger as I let out a roar, more than ready to make it so that this poor-excuse for a Rosie would see one thing for the first time. And that one thing would be his own blood!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"God damn it you nimrod!" Seidon found himself suddenly yelling in frustration as he saw Omega recklessly charge in, not so much as waiting for him to finish. He didn't mean to come off as someone so conceited or negative as he did so, but to his credit he had dealt with quite a bit coming from Omega up until now. And this, somehow, managed to top all the other reckless actions Seidon had witnessed Omega commit up until now.

Why, one might ask? Well, Seidon--clearly unlike Omega at that very moment as he thoughtlessly ran towards the modified Rosie, his ESU unit charging as he began to close in on the blind protector unit--was aware of a very notable difference between Gamma and Omega. That difference being that Omega, in of himself, stood absolutely no chance against Gamma in a one on one fight.

Let alone at close range, where Gamma's reflexes truly shined. A fact that Gamma seemed to be well aware of himself.

Watching the Rosie through Echo's visuals, Seidon noted how he had not moved so much as an inch since Omega had started his charge. Not one muscle on his armored body so much as twitched as Omega closed in, despite the fact that, surely, he could've easily heard him coming.

His footsteps were far too rushed to be silent in any way whatsoever, the shards of rubble and splatters of blood that laid beneath Omega's feet from Gamma's last slaughter splashed and cracked with every move he could've made, let alone the much more obvious deafening roar he had given out just seconds prior to his charge.

Gamma had the range and firepower to have stopped all this the moment it had begun, no doubt about it. However, unlike the more composed and efficient Gamma that Seidon knew of, this one was unstable and seemingly sadistic.

It was as though he wanted to drag things out further than they needed to be. This was made clear in the previous room he had lined with proximity mines, what with the bodies each having more than simply one rivet or slice etched onto, or into,them, and it was even made clear now as Seidon gave the rooftop of the pawn store a quick once over, seeing that many of the bodies were in similarly mutilated conditions.

There wasn't a single doubt in his mind; the moment Omega got even remotely close to him, he would be shred to ribbons within seconds.

This was a possibility that neither he, nor Omega's charges--or so Seidon imagined--could afford!

"Echo, defensive maneuvers immediately! Keep Omega, Fluttershy, and Rarity out of Gamma's path and take him down!" Something about what he had just said, he noted, lost a notable amount of its authority and sense of urgency as he uttered the names of the ones Omega was escorting through Rapture.

Shoving that irrelevant thought aside though, Seidon observed with narrowed eyes as Echo swiftly registered the order he had been given.

Milliseconds after the command, Echo sprang into actions, whatever pain and/or discomfort he felt as a result of the rivets impaled into his helmet being swiftly shoved aside followed Omega's example and rushed towards Gamma and Omega alike.

Due to the head start he had gotten, and the relatively short distance that their had been between him and Gamma in the first place, Omega was barely a few feet in front of him by the time Echo reacted.

He hadn't seen it, far too distracted by his own rage to so much as give it a glance, but for a mere moment before Omega reeled his arm back and readied himself to electrocute the modified Rosie, Gamma could be seen tightening his grip on the rear handle of his rivet gun.

A series of blurs ensued as moments before Omega could throw the blow he had so desperately been craving to give onto the 'oh so deserving' Rosie, he was suddenly shoved backwards, his balance and footing quickly made foreign to him, along with the air in his lungs, as he fell onto the ground below him, sent skidding.

As he fell though, he felt two distinct gusts pass over him, both in completely different directions, paired only by the faint sight of sparking metal.

Before he could so much as take a breath to react to what was happening, Omega was on the floor, the sudden force that was placed upon his mid-torso as he ran having thrown him in a rather awkward form, causing him to land on his side.

He heard a pair of gasps behind him as he felt himself violently scrape backwards along the roof of the long closed store, little more than the occasional puddle of blood, among other remnants of splicers, easing the discomfort this friction had caused him if only slightly. Of course, a small part of his mind easily guessed that the vest and pants that he wore heavily disagreed with this supposed 'ease'.

Still, Omega's mind cared very little in regards to this fact, himself focusing more on the fact that he had suddenly been taken down in the middle of a fight and that, as a result, he was now open to attack.

His teeth gritting as he swiftly regained what notable amount of air had been forcefully expelled from his lungs as a result of the sudden force forced upon him, he dug his hands, gloved and otherwise, and shoes into the roof below him, causing whatever 'trip' he had been sent on to swiftly be shortened by a significant amount before he then looked towards where Gamma was.

Unfortunately for him, much like before, the scene had suddenly changed once again.

Whereas, before, Gamma had been standing completely still, alone as Omega mentally and physically threatened to turn him into little more than scrap and broken bones, now Gamma was accompanied by Echo, the two clashing, drill against blade, as they practically stared each other down. A stare down which, of course, was rather one sided, but the equivalent of one nonetheless.

'Friend...,' Echo then called out towards Omega, though said former Rosie disagreed heavily with this label, 'stay... back!' He managed to force out of his heavily programmed mind and into reality, barely able to shortly after react as he noted that Gamma's blade had slightly shifted against his spinning drill.

Two more blurs transpired before Omega as Echo was suddenly several more feet away from Gamma, and Gamma's arm was now pointed downwards, the blade from his modified rivet gun now deeply embedded into the spot on the roof Echo had been on not seconds ago.

'Oh?' Gamma then suddenly commented, tearing the blade of his weapon from the roof--alongside bits of dust and pulverized material--as Omega quickly picked himself back up with a grunt and a growl.

'Echo, is that you? It's been quite some time since I've last spoken to you!' Even as Gamma spoke Echo seemed entirely focused on taking him down, ignoring his groans as he rushed him once more, his drill revving and threatening to grind Gamma's armor to shreds. Yet, once more, nothing more than sparks flew as the two clashed again.

On this occasion, however, Gamma was prepared. No more than a second after Echo and he had collided, much like a speeding freight train into a mile long brick wall, Gamma gave a swift twist of his elbow, grabbing the other handle of his rivet gun so as to better his leverage forced Echo's forwards momentum aside.

Within the span of a second Echo's attempted charge had been diverted, causing him to go further down to roof just past his intended target. Echo, realizing this, stumbled to stop himself, the metal of his boots scraping heavily against the roof, alongside the blood and corpses stop it, and barely giving him enough friction to stop himself before he could fall off altogether.

'You know, it's actually a shame that you, and apparently the project director, appear to be going against your assignments in the anti-protocol. After all, you're one of the only beings I know to be able to match my reflexes.' Not even turning to face where he had heard the Bouncer grind to a halt behind him, Gamma pointed his rivet gun behind him and fired two distinct rounds from both barrels of his rivet gun. Each one hit their mark, clanging loudly against Echo's rear armor, and partially piercing it, as the Bouncer was now unable to withhold a roar of pain as a result.

'And besides, I really don't want to waste my time with you. The sounds that come from you are less satisfying; they're quite irritating, in fact. Metal on metal, really it's disgusting, enough to make me come close to gagging.' Gamma then proceeded to groan faintly to himself, releasing the rear handle of his rivet gun from his left hand's grip as he then moved said hand up towards his porthole.

'Yes. It's so very... repulsive.' As he spoke, he seemed to finish his sentence with a tap to the glass through which most Bug Daddies would normally see. He only managed the one though as, from further away, he began to hear a faint beeping, alongside the sound of spinning rotors.

It was so very mechanical to him. So unnatural. So artificial.

And as he swiftly turned and took a shot towards the quite obvious sound, hearing the sparking of electricity, the grinding of his rivet against the machine's metal shell, and the sudden burst of noise that came from he could only imagine to be an explosion, he realized that this sound, and what has made it, was just as equally unsatisfactory to him.

Where was the flesh? The bone? The groan that was one's final breath, be it clear or through gurgles of blood. None of it was there.

As he pondered this, Omega couldn't help but to watch as the security bot he had brought forth with his Security Command 2 Plasmid fell faster than it had even entered the room, not having so much as fired off one round upon the modified Rosie before him.

"Didn't even have time to think up a name for it." A faint thought echoed through his mind, though he just as quickly moved it aside.

Another growl escaping him, Omega tightened his grip on the EVE hypo he held in his left hand, having known that, more often than not, use of Security Command's secondary function often drained one's internal EVE reserves at an alarming rate.

The very action of refilling the EVE in his body has become one of what was practically muscle memory at this point, himself doing it while barely so much as feeling the pain the came with it. Instead, he focused on the revitalizing strength that came from it, flexing his hand once or twice before, keeping his eyes on his opponent before him, who had yet to move after having destroyed the security unit, he plunged the needle of the hypo past his flesh, into his bloodstream, and proceeded to to empty its contents within.

As he did this, the faint sound that accompanied it was not missed by Gamma.

There it was: the tell-tale sound of piercing flesh, of dripping or flowing blood. The sound he so enjoyed.

Yet, it lacked substance. It lacked grace, it lacked precision, it lacked so much more than Gamma could count. And, most importantly, it lacked one specific thing. His handiwork.

It was a noise not caused by him, and somehow that sickened him more than anything else.

It wouldn't do. No, not at all.

'... Are you... mocking me?!' Gamma then suddenly roared, his hold on his rivet gun tightening as then began to take aim towards Omega, whom had just thrown away the recently emptied EVE hypo.

Before he could fire upon him though, his aim was suddenly thrown off as he reflexively moved to the side to avoid what he could hear to be something stomping and grinding towards him from behind.

Said something was Echo, whom had by now recovered from his previous bout of pain and stumbling just in time, though this was seemingly missed upon by Omega, who instead only found himself inwardly cursing as he was forced to jump to the side to avoid the charging Bouncer shortly after, landing with a notable thud.

'You're getting to be quite the annoyance, Echo!' Gamma roared angrily as he repeated the process from before, firing towards where Echo grounded himself to a halt and, once more, gaining a solid pair of hits upon his rear armor. Unlike last time though, small puffs of compressed air began to come out from these punctured pieces of metal, signifying a possible compromise of the Bouncer's armor; something that was just as painful to Echo as it was significant.

This was exemplified by the next roar of pain that escaped him, just as he then proceeded to turn himself around, his porthole lights now a much deeper shade of crimson red, and began to charge at the Rosie again.

Omega, in the meanwhile, found himself giving a grunt of annoyance as he yet again lifted himself into his feet, eyes narrowing as he watched Echo and Gamma continually clash again and again, this time with no pause as that same loop played over and over: the charge from Echo, Gamma's deflection, the rounds fired into Echo's back, and then it would begin all over again, often accompanied with a roar or groan of sorts.

By now, it had become blatantly obvious to Omega that he was not going to be able to get in close enough to Gamma for a head on fight; not only was this because of the fact that, clearly, he was not going to be able to land so much as a single blow before he was cut in half, but now because of the fact that Echo was making it inevitably impossible to come in close without being accidentally charged.

It also didn't help that the roof he, his charges, and the two metallic brawlers were upon was not only covered in blood, debris, and corpses, but also seemed to hold a few weak points to it, similar to the Diner from before.

A thought that, as it came to Omega, brought about a sudden look of realization to his face, before it was then replaced by that of a smug smile.

"Well, that could work." Omega thought to himself as he then proceeded to hold an arm out towards where Gamma stood, his arms a blur as he consistently blocked and diverted Echo's attacks.

As a faint glow began to flow through the veins of his arm, the air around Omega's arm beginning to distort as the latent strength of the plasmid he readied returned to him once more, his charges, whom were essentially unable to move at the risk of a stray round from Gamma or misplaced charge from Echo putting them in danger, easily took note of what Omega was doing. This was especially reinforced as they glanced between his extended arm and the direction it seemed to be pointed towards: the still clashing Gamma and Echo.

"Omega, wait!" Rarity called out, having to raise her voice if only to be heard over the sounds of grinding metal and combat.

Fluttershy followed shortly after.

"Y-you'll hurt Echo too!" She added, stuttering as she strained herself to speak over her own fear. Of the two, Fluttershy still held a notable amount of shell shock from the rounds fired from Gamma that had nearly hurt--or worse, killed--Rarity and herself.

To say that Rarity had pushed herself to get over that fact would be a notable farce just as well though, the fashionista's breathing and heartbeat still unsteady from her more recent, and of course horribly unexpected, brush with death.

Still, the two spoke, attempting to urge Omega to, perhaps, think of another course of action he could take. They weren't asking that he simply stop fighting Gamma; from how things seemed, doing so would be a death sentence, what with Echo's clear disadvantage throughout the conflict. However, they could not simply allow Echo, who was on their and Omega's side, come into harms way unnecessarily.

"Then again," a small portion of Rarity's mind echoed, though partially drowned out by the severity and significance of what was currently transporting before her, "Gamma seemed to have been on our side not moments ago just as well... No, this is not the time for doubts!"

Yelling at herself mentally, shaking her head as she did so so as to regain her focus on the current situation, she watched as Omega looked back towards her and Fluttershy, a look of confusion upon his face.

A look that perfectly reflected how his mind and body felt.

To him, he could only help but wonder as to why the two were telling him to 'wait'.

So what if Echo was hit as well, he mentally questioned.

He wasn't a friend of theirs, more so he was some annoying tag along that had been forced upon the three of them under threat of never being able to reach the escape pods at the end of Lower Rapture as a result of the several area lockdowns that had been triggered by the anti-protocol.

Besides, Echo held a Vita-chip built into his systems. No matter how many deaths he would suffer, he would just come back, even if his suit was too heavily damaged, from what Omega could tell; a perk that Omega had, unfortunately, not been blessed with whilst he still had his suit.

To him, Echo was among the most expendable of things in this suit, just after Seidon of course, and just before a certain security bot.

In fact, now that he held that thought in mind, where exactly had that security unit gone anyways-

'Ah, so that's where you two are.' Omega suddenly heard Gamma groan, his eyes widening as he looked towards the Rosie just in time to see him raise his rivet gun towards the girls, Echo having been once again thrown to the side and still mid-recovery as he did so.

There was no doubt in his mind. If Omega didn't take action at that very instant, Gamma would soon open fire, and neither he, nor Echo, would be able get close enough to distract him in time.

His eyes narrowed, and a growl escaping his throat, Omega allowed the gathered kinetic energy of his Telekinesis 3 plasmid to blast forward, aimed specifically towards the part of the roof below Gamma.

The blast went outwards with a notable think and crack as it shifted the air and swiftly hit its target, just below Gamma's feet, causing the Rosie to stumble as a result. Simultaneously, a notable depression was made into the roof, weakening its stability to the point that, alongside the extremely heavy metal armor of the stumbling being that stood upon it, it shortly after chipped and crumbled away, ridding the Rosie of his footing as one of his armored legs fell within this hole left by the kinetic blast.

However, as he fell, a groan of surprise escaping him as his leg was suddenly wedged inside of the roof, just short of allowing to fall, but not nearly enough to allow him to unwedge himself and effectively continue the fight, the sound of a single round being fired off resounded throughout the area.

And on this occasion, the round came from the underbarrel of his weapon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y'know, fate is a funny thing. One second, you could have victory in your sights. Literally, right before your eyes you could be watching it transpire, your odds of succeeding at whatever it is you're doing visibly growing to the point that it seems guaranteed that nothing can go wrong.

The idea I had come up with had worked, more or less. The telekinetic blast I had fired off was meant to cause the floor below him to completely collapse. Simply put, I was trying to do the same there that I had done to Echo at the Fishbowl Diner. Minus the whole 'me falling in shortly after' bit, that is.

The roof itself, however, ended up being either much more effectively constructed or much less weathered to the elements the Fishbowl Diner had been, causing it to only partially collapse below Gamma. It was only enough throw off his aim, what with the blast having partially hit his legs, and for a smaller than intended hole to be created beneath one of said legs.

Despite the fact that Gamma hadn't fallen through completely, his right leg had still been completely wedged from the waist down into the roof, leaving him in a rather awkward position in which his other leg seemed bent to its maximum possible angle with his armor, struggling to get somewhat of a footing to help him pull himself out, but failing to do so as it instead uselessly slid across its side over the roof. His left arm, which had been holding the rear grip of his industrial rivet gun, was now planted flat against the roof, pushing against it as he tried to at least keep himself upright in his current position. As for his right arm, it still held onto his rivet gun's middle grip, and trigger, though the rivet gun itself held its blade jammed into the roof as another support that the Rosie used to keep himself straight.

Simply put, from his position, there was no way he could fight back. His improved reflexes couldn't help him for crap if he couldn't so much as move his rivet gun.

Like I said, with fate, one second victory is in your sights... and the next, it's not quite as clear.

For me, it seemed as though that had taken a more literal sense.

It's an odd sensation, actually, to one second be looking towards a fallen malfunctioning Rosie, a smile on my face and a chuckle in my throat as I noted how ridiculous and helpless he seemed, and to suddenly note that your perception of depth has taken a drastic turn.

I blinked. Then I blinked again. I blinked a good amount of times, really, and each time I did I noticed something. No matter how many times I would close my eyes for the split second that I would blink, the thin layers of skin that were my eyelids changing what I saw to black just before they were raised again, a portion of this black, this darkness, stayed.

Looking past Gamma, I noticed that Echo now staring directly at me. Not towards Gamma, who continued flailing to release himself, but me.

'... Friend?' He groaned, seemingly questioningly.

"O-Omega..." I heard Rarity suddenly give out in a faint breath; a shuddery, cold breath.

Fluttershy didn't speak at all, though I could faintly hear her giving out and odd noise herself. A sound of almost... choking?

Not sure as to why she was making these sounds, and more than a little concerned, I turned my head to face my two charges. As I did so.

In doing so I noted how much further I had to turn my head than usual just to get them in my sights.

And when I did, I partially wish I didn't. Rarity seemed... think of it this way. Compared to her earlier expression, when those rivets from had nearly hit her and Fluttershy, she somehow seemed even worse for wear than that. She was practically trembling, one of her forehooves slightly raised as she looked towards me. Fluttershy didn't seem even the slightest bit better. In fact, I realized what she had been apparently choking on.

Sobs. Or, something like that. I could tell because her eyes were already filled to the brim with tears, though she didn't say a word, nor did she move, instead just looking at me, her forehooves covering her mouth as she did so.

Why...

I didn't get it. What was going on?

Nobody said anything, anything at all that might tip me off towards what was happening.

Hell, I was actually tempted to ask Echo...

At least until I heard something drip onto the floor.

I could barely hear it, but the sound was there. And as I followed it, I noticed that it was coming from just below me.

Naturally I looked down, and spotted this small puddle of blood, just in front of me. In fact, it seemed as though some of this blood had ended up on top of my shoes, somehow... and on my upper shirt?

Suffice to say I felt more than a bit offset by this.

"Where... Is that coming from?"

You ask as if I know.

"... Why does our face feel warm?"

Another blink. Another case of lingering darkness.

Another question that... I wasn't really sure if I wanted answered.

Was it curiosity? Necessity? I wasn't sure what drove me to it, but as I felt a brow of mine raise, I similarly raised my right arm up towards the right-side of my face, where I felt most of that odd warmth centered around.

I grazed my cheek, feeling my finger just as I did so... but it was then that I realized that I couldn't see it. Not even slightly.

Abruptly I raised my other hand and did a similar test with the left half of my face. I could see my hand approaching; I could see it close in on my cheek; I could almost see it touching it.

Yet for the other side, I didn't see anything...

What I did see though, as I moved my right hand in front of my face, just enough so that so it could come into my somehow limited sight, was the crimson that layered over my right index and middle fingers; the ones I had used to touch my right cheek.

... Why didn't I feel anything?

It was goddamn clear something was wrong, so why didn't I feel anything damn it?!

'Hm... A misfire?' As I heard Gamma groan again, though much more controlled than he had previously been, I instantaneously turned my head to face him.

He was now still where he awkwardly laid, his leg still well inside of the roof as he now just pointed his dimmed helmet downwards in a blank state.

'I heard the round; I felt the kick; I heard tearing of flesh, and breaking of some bone... but no scream... Yes, a misfire, unfortunately. Much like the situation I'm in, fittingly enough.' Watching as he then proceeded to lift his head towards my general direction, if only slightly, I could already feel my teeth begin to grind.

'... Well, I suppose there's always opportunity for a redo, isn't there?' In that same instant as he spoke, his left arm darted behind him, seeming to grab hold of something before then just as quickly pulling it back in front of him.

As he did so, a series of clicks and clangs could be heard as his arm then came back into view. With it, he now held something else.

A certain green orb of explosive tendencies; a proximity mine. This one, though, much his rivet gun and armor, held its own difference. Specifically what seemed like a thin metal string-like line that tied around it, reaching around Gamma's back. With a tug, Gamma seemed to pull this string, along with the mine.

As he did so, another green orb popped into view, secured by this line. Then another, and another, and so on until it seemed he had an entire line of six around his left side.

'It's a shame that it's come to this. Really it is. I had thought that things would go over at least a little better than this. But, I suppose that this is how it has to be in someway or another, hm?' Momentarily fiddling with the first of the many explosives he had with him, I watched as he raised his gloved thumb, placing it square over the button that triggered the mine.

'If you survive this, Omega, then I suppose a sort of congratulations are in order. Though, know this: whether it's you, or Echo, or the anti-protocol overseer himself, I will fulfill my programming and eliminate every splicer in this area, including the two that are with you... And if need be, you.'

And with that, he pressed the button, allowing a series of beeps from not just the first, but every explosive on the line he held with him to be heard.

Author's Note

... You... Don't actually think you're gonna have to wait another month or two for another update do you?

I still haven't used the comments from last chapter for gods sake!

Alrighty. Timer starts... Now!

Chapter 35: Makes The Whole World Blind

"Ha! Told ya that it's hollow!" The machine gun wielding Leadhead Splicer mocked, tapping the butt of his weapon against the helmet of a long fallen Rosie model.

A smirk on his twisted face as he then took a moment so as to adjust the mask he wore, fashioned to seem like that of a ceramic fox though chipped and degraded to the point where it was barely recognizable as such after years of abuse, the splicer turned towards the five others that accompanied him; specifically the armored Brute that had accompanied them.

"In your face, Jimmy!"

Rolling his eyes, the overly-spliced man known as Jimmy couldn't help but to give out a groan.

"All right, all right, you fuckin' sodomite, ya won our little wager. It's all tea and crumpets for you, we get it den." The splicer replied, though clear bitterness and sarcasm could be heard sprinkled over his words.

It didn't particularly brighten his mood either when the other three that were there, all of which were armor wearing Leadhead Splicers, began to chortle and laugh like madmen. Fitting, considering that's exactly what they were.

"Ya thought that ol' Henry didn't know what he was talkin' bout. Now you're the one who's the idiot! And I get your next two finds of ADAM." Whooping as he continued to enjoy his victory the way only a mentally inept, and physiologically inept, man such as himself could, the splicer named Henry then began to almost jump in place, his yells and the sound of the one shoe he wore hitting the floor repeatedly echoing down the corridor he and the others were in.

Every now and then, the splicer would accompany his little 'celebration dance' with a random kick to the remnants of the Rosie corpse that laid just to his right. The same one that had one him his bet.

He wasn't sure how this Big Daddy had died; in fact, he was almost certain that nobody was. The Rosie had already apparently decomposed a long time ago, as evidenced by the fairly hollow sound that came from the splicer's strikes to its helmet again and again. Really, even as the body stirred slightly from the splicer's consistent agitation of it, one could only imagine that all that had really remained within the suit was bone, if any.

Of course, many splicers had thought of taking this one's armor, like they had done all the other Bug Daddy corpses that were spread about Pauper's Drop, and most of Lower Rapture, but there was one notable issue that stopped them from doing so.

A large metal pole that had impaled the Rosie's leg into the floor, seemingly having gone directly through its ankle, armor and all, and into the concrete flooring below.

One would think that maybe the Rosie had just starved or something like that, but one would also have to recall that Protector units didn't have need for that kind of thing. Sleep, water, food, it was all about as necessary to them as baths and hygiene were to splicers.

No, what had likely taken the life of this protector unit was the several gunshot holes that pierced through its midsection, many of them still crusted over with long dried blood, along with several layers of rust.

The floor was similarly stained with aged blood, long turning the once dirty gray concrete into a filthy red and gray flooring that kept the Big Daddy almost highlighted among the rubble and destruction that was Pauper's Drop.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it ya tosser. Now quit making an arse of yourself before you b-" Barely halfway into his sentence, the Brute watched as the ever-so-modest Leadhead before him have yet another kick to the rusted and crumpled body of the Rosie. What said splicer hadn't expected, however, was that the body would then be moved slightly to the side from a misplaced kick, causing the splicer to slip as his foot slid across the metal along the side of the fallen Big Daddy's helmet.

"Lord and heaven above!" The splicer yelped as his footing was all but destroyed by this single, almost poetic, moment, flailing his arms he fell backwards, away from the rest of his group.

However, rather than fall all the way down towards the floor, as gravity insisted upon him doing, he instead was stopped barely a quarter of the way by a solid, glass cylinder; one which gave out a notable thunk as his thick skull and horribly aligned upper back made contact with it, smudging it ever so slightly in the process.

The entire scene was, of course, well within the sight of the other splicers; it was also something that turned previous chortles and small laughter into uproarious cackles and fits.

"Hehe. I'm the idjit, eh? Heh, whatever keeps you from turnin your arse on end." The Brute laughed, watching as 'Henry', from his rather awkward position, placed his hands behind him, laying his palms upon the glass cylinder he was leaning on, and pushed himself upright once again with a grunt.

He grumbled to himself as any other splicer would, speaking gibberish under his breath as he glanced back to the corpse of the Rosie once more.

He blinked...

Then, as a scowl appeared on his face, he grabbed hold of his machine gun, which has fallen on the floor when he had fumbled with his footing, and cocked it.

"God damn metal piece of shit!" He yelled just seconds before he took aim at the corpse and, without a second thought, pulled the trigger.

Sparks flew and gunshots rang, rather loudly at that, as the splicer senselessly took out his anger on the corpse of the protector unit, adding more holes and dents to the armor it wore to join the other ones.

The clanging of metal and rapid fire of gunshots echoed down the relatively narrow corridor the five splicers were within; a fact that caused the other four, whom were not wasting their ammunition or effort on a dead body, to cover their ears and give out a series of curses at the very intensity of the sound.

Under normal circumstances, the sound of gunfire didn't particularly bother any splicers. It was nothing they hadn't heard before, after all.

However, in this context, what with the narrowness of the corridor within, the sound essentially became heightened to an absolutely unbearable level, practically deafening the splicers that were there.

All except for the one firing off his weapon, 'Henry', who was too busy laughing to really take notice of his eardrums yelling at him to stop.

"Ha! Bet ya ain't makin' fun of ol' Henry from the dead now are ya, metal head!" He mindlessly yelled, watching as the armored body before him sparked and shook in response to the bullets that grazed and pierced it.

He could've gone on like that, really. He had no better things to do with his time really, and he certainly wasn't ready to leave his mentally declared 'opponent' escape without any repercussions.

Though, unlike the splicer's apparent stupidity, the ammunition within the weapon he held was, in fact, not limitless.

As a result of the machine gun's high rate of fire, and the splicer's lack of interest towards releasing the trigger for even a millisecond, he ran out of ammunition rather swiftly, hearing the telltale click of his gun replace the constant sound of ballistics that he had momentarily believed to be the only sound in the world worth living for.

Noting this sudden change, unlike many other things, the splicer blinked again, looking down to his gun with an almost confused expression, as though he had no idea what was going on, before then pulling the trigger again and again.

It only dawned on him that he may have been out of ammo as he then raised his gun to his head, staring down the barrel of the tommy gun as though he had expected to see one more spare bullet waiting for him; one that, if the splicer had any logical thought whatsoever, he might have held second thoughts about gazing into whilst repeatedly pulling the trigger.

Rolling his eyes, the splicer lowered his gun before he looked back towards the Rosie, now riddled with holes in comparison to the five or six that had previously been upon his armor, before then agitating the back of his throat with his tongue, bringing up some phlegm that he then proceeded to spit into the corpse for good measure.

As he did this, he didn't seem to notice the angry glares of the other splicers just to his right. At least, not until the Brute practically threw him against the glass cylinder from before, causing him to his his shoulder, and part of his head, against the object, leaving him in a slight daze.

"You lil' fuck! Are you trying to make us deaf, or 'ave you gone and lost your lid?!" The Brute angrily yelled at the Leadhead, glaring at him as he shook his head, of only to momentarily get rid of the stars in his eyes, before then turning his international towards said Brute.

"What? He was asking for it, he was! Just look at his smug little face!" As he rebutted with this, he used his free hand to point towards the defiled corpse of the Rosie that slumped against the wall.

"Listen here mate. You pull some shite like that again and I'll-"

Unfortunately for the Brute, he would be yet again interrupted mid-sentence. However, on this occasion, it would not be as a result of another splicer, be it by their voice, actions, or gunfire. Instead, it would be by a loud, echoing bang that came down the corridor the five splicers were in, alongside a momentary trembling of the floor beneath them; the city could be heard groaning as it attempted to withstand this sudden force, and the splicer's could be seen jerking their heads towards the direction of the corridor the sound had come from in the first place.

Further off, other splicers could be heard yelling, mostly out of surprise or uproar that was caused by the sudden noise.

"... The bloody hell was that?" The Brute questioned to nobody in particular, just listening and waiting as the trembling beneath him and the others eventually died out, alongside the loud bang that came just before it.

"Fuck if I know." The Leadhead responded, turning his head back towards the others among his group. "Any of you lot got any ideas?"

Aside from the Brute, who continued to look down the end of the corridor, the other four Leadheads simply shook their heads, some looking between one another and muttering about what the sudden sound and almost earthquake-like shake had been caused by.

Their muttering, however, was cut short as a sudden green glow came from the large glass cylinder behind Henry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Within the walls of Pauper's Drop, many buildings and businesses of old had long begun to fall apart. Be it the result of lack of maintenance or abuse as a result of the constant galavanting done by splicers as they made use of their corrupted senses of freedom, walls had begun to collapse; structures had gone to heavy decay; stands previously set up by older shop keeps and posters once lined over the walls had mostly been burned, written over, or overall ruined.

Truly, it fit the rest of the long forgotten city.

However, it had been quite some time since one of these such buildings, one which had previously been relatively sound and safe, had been blasted into nothing more than smithereens, small remnants of molten metal from the inner framework and crumbled rubble from the materials that had made both the in and outside of the building littering the area it had been within.

This building was, or rather used to be, the King Pawn shop.

No longer did it or its billboards stand in the small yet somewhat open area it was confined to; instead, remnants of smoke billowed from the smoldering wreckage of what remained, dust coating the air in layers, it's wispy filth giving a somehow alive vibrancy to the long dead part of the city beneath the sea it resided in.

The air smelled of charred wood and drywall, alongside remnants of staunched airflow and life. The concrete and metal that surrounded the immediate vicinity of the building was visibly blackened, some parts of which even seeming to have been heavily cracked or dented, only truly imaginable as a result of the mere shockwave from the explosive force that had bombarded them.

Pieces of the once standing walls of the small store had traveled as far as the exact opposite side of the area it had been located in, the previously proudly standing sign that stood atop of the establishment--allowing all to see its name in awe--had been utterly obliterated, little more than one half of the 'K' from the name surviving to tell the tale, instead taking its new place embedded within the walls of the clinic building located just next door to it.

As for the billboards that once had been placed upon the building, they suffered a similar fate to the rubble upon which they had previously been supported by, any advertisements they may have previously implied towards burned to the point of being unrecognizable, leaving little more than the metal frames and partially melted supports to continue its existence.

In fact, it was one of said frames that, among the silence that one would only recognize as that which would arise after a storm of violence and, in this case, explosives, groaned and creaked as it began shift left and right.

The frame of the billboard, likely to weigh more than any normal human could possibly carry outside the realm of fantasy or mad science, began to rise ever so slowly. Were anyone to see such a sight, they would claim it impossible.

However, one must remember that this was, again, more than any normal human could possibly carry outside the realm of fantasy or mad science; and it was mad science was precisely what kept the heart and soul of the damned underwater city known as Rapture going.

As such, it could only have been one of the results of this such a science that could be seen lifting the billboard, his hemispherical head and drill flat against the large metal so as to make up for his lack of a second usable hand as he, with a groan of both forceful empowerment and exasperation, toppled over the billboard so that it fell opposite of him, essentially flipping it as it fell to the floor with a loud, metallic thud that echoed through the room.

The Bouncer known as Echo could barely be heard making sounds somewhat similar to labored breathing through his heavy metal helmet, himself being more accustomed to displays of speed and agility than that of strength, such as that one had required of him.

His helmet lights glowed a cautious yellow as he scanned the now even more rubble filled and somewhat darkened--as a result of the large amounts of dust and smoke that caked the upper ceiling and lights of the area--for any threat that may have been around.

Granted, even through his heavily programmed and, as such, rather limited mental capabilities, he was able to easily predict that the supposed 'threat' he had been worried about, in the shape of a modified Rosie, had likely been obliterated in the blast. After all, he was the very epicenter of it, having chosen to take his own life in an attempt to take as many as he could with him rather than be killed at the hands, or drill, of his enemies.

Nonetheless, Echo couldn't help but to be cautious, as was programmed of him in these such situations.

For a moment, Echo waited and listened, if not for the sound of the Rosie were it somehow possible for it to have survived, but for commands of sorts from Seidon, the head of the anti-protocol he was made to follow orders from as a primary priority, just before wiping out any splicers he came across.

Instead, all he heard was garbled static, and the sound of still settling rubble.

Knowing little else to do, Echo rose his gloved hand and slammed it against the side of his helmet in an effort to see if that would better his internal communication systems.

Save for causing him some pain, however, it did nothing.

Had Echo known that the explosion had momentarily scrambled the signal to and from Seidon's base of operations, and as such only temporarily kept him without one to receive orders from, Echo likely would have stopped there and simply waited for communication signals to strengthen. However, he did not.

And as such, he once again hit his helmet. And again. And again.

It was only around the fourth time that he did so that he finally heard something. However, it was not the sound of his programmed leader of sorts giving him any orders, or asking for a status report.

Instead, it was the sound of two relatively light, yet pained moans, emanating from behind him; from where he had been buried beneath the billboard frame just seconds ago.

His yellow porthole lights providing stark contrast to the darkened ambience of the area around him, Echo turned around to the source of the sounds, his light shining upon the sources of the sounds as he did so; of whom, one could not help but to shield her eyes from this sudden light, whereas the other momentarily panicked in surprise from the sudden light, hiding behind the former of the two as a result.

"Echo... would you please turn that down, if you could?" Rarity asked as she looked towards the Bouncer, herself still somewhat dizzied and shell shocked from the explosion.

As for Fluttershy, she was more focused simply trying to get her breathing under control, a whirlwind of emotions catching up to her all at once as she tried to somehow remain at least relatively calm.

It did little good, as she could be heard giving small sobs and gasps as she took in these events as any other pony naturally would.

Perhaps she and Rarity had gained some small semblance of immunity by now to many of the things the city of Rapture had to offer, be it blood, gore, or otherwise, but life threatening situations were another thing in of themselves. Especially those of such violent and abrupt nature as an explosion.

The only reason Rarity wasn't reacting similarly was that she held a somewhat stronger resistance to fear than her dear, timid friend Fluttershy, and even then it was just barely, herself constantly hearing her own heart in her ears as it beat rapidly and powerfully, as if to prove to itself, as well as her, that it was still going.

Upon hearing these sobs, however, Rarity swiftly pushed aside her own thoughts and such as she turned to face her friend, her ears folding back against her head as she saw the poor condition her friend had been in comparison to her.

"Oh, Fluttershy, Darling. It's alright." She cooed softly as she sat herself down by her still panicking friend and brought her forelegs around her neck, bringing her in for an embrace.

"It's alright, dear. You're okay. We're okay." She continued as she attempted to comfort Fluttershy, passing her forehooves carefully through her friends mane as she herself returned the embrace, albeit more tightly, and slowly gained control of her breathing and sobs.

Echo could only watch, his porthole light turning a much more gentle shade of green as he slowly accepted that the previous threat had likely passed. He did not groan, nor do anything as he simply watched the display between the two, his head only momentarily tilting in curiosity before just as quickly returning to normal.

Minutes passed before the butter-yellow pegasus was able to regain control of her emotions and breathing, little more than an occasional hiccup affecting her as her friend nuzzled gently against her.

"There we are. Better?" Her friend asked, almost in a whisper, before she shortly after responded.

"Y-yes... T-thank you, Rarity." Fluttershy thanked with the utmost gratitude, watching as her friend slowly separated from her, keeping one of her forehooves over her shoulder whilst the other wiped away a stray tear from her face.

"Think nothing of it, dear." Rarity returned, before then turning towards Echo.

"And thank you, Echo, for saving us back there. Might I say, if you weren't present, we may not still be here to express our gratitude." Echo, in response, could only tilt his head ever so slightly.

What Rarity had been referring to was, of course, what had occurred just a few moments ago, when the other anti-protocol member Gamma had set off his explosives.

Perhaps, at the time, Echo was not in optimal shape. He had several rivers embedded into his armor, some leaking blood and occasionally hissing out compressed air even now, and his processing of the situation was in fact rather slow.

However, as Echo had long grown to get used to, whenever his mind would fail him, his instincts would not.

He wasn't sure of the route he took. He wasn't sure of whether or not he had used his critical state to do so. All he was certain of was that he acted, and it seemed to have been enough, for the most part.

He felt as though Seidon had given him an order to act. It would only make sense, after all, for him to act on such a regard, but he couldn't for the multiple lives of himself recall what it was. Instead, he simply brushed that thought aside, as he had done with countless others that did not immediately hold utility towards his objectives; as was designed of him.

Though, there was one thing bothering him that related with one of his imposed objectives. One thing that caused him to look away from the two mares before him, his porthole light seeming more like a spotlight as he searched for that same thing. One thing that one of the two with him soon after came to realize.

"E-Echo..." Fluttershy began, her eyes momentarily widening with sudden comprehension of what Echo was doing as she herself glanced around the room, "w-where's Omega?"

At this, Rarity could only blink.

"... Well, darling, he should be right..." She began, if only to trail off as, looking over the large room once--if not twice--she soon also came to the realization that Omega was in fact nowhere in sight.

Echo, in the meanwhile, gave out a groan. It held no meaning behind it, mostly meant to attempt to gain an answer of any sort as response. Though, no such response was returned.

This was what bothered him so much.

He didn't have the time, the maneuverability, to have helped all three of the other beings that had been on the roof with him and Gamma. All he could have done was follow his instincts. And among those such instincts was the immediate thought that he should help those who were in more immediate danger, those who were too fragile to survive something like a point-blank explosions, while hoping that the more hardened member of the group could survive.

He didn't think of it too greatly, but the thought was there.

His instinct had been to leave Omega behind.

The thought bouncing around in his head, Echo's porthole light once again turned yellow, though this time not out of caution, as he gave out another, louder groan.

Fluttershy and Rarity, of whom it had only begun to dawn on the possibility of what may have occurred, pushed aside whatever other thoughts may have been in their heads at the moment, all of which being replaced by one question.

Where was Omega?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... Y'know, I think I preferred it when I couldn't feel anything.

I mean, sure, after Gamma fired off that round, I wasn't sure what was really wrong. I couldn't feel any pain to indicate that anything was really wrong in the first place, and that worried me, but uh... still, the painless part was a plus.

Now, don't get me wrong. The entire right side of my face is still pretty much numb... BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IS NOT!

Seriously, ow!

I couldn't really help but to groan, but even just doing that just raised a sharp pain from my chest; it was an almost stabbing sensation, really, and I know because I have been stabbed enough times to compare the feelings!

So, yeah, either I was being stabbed right now, or my ribs were broken. Not sure which is worse though... which says a lot.

"I'll say... Ow..."

Oh what are you complaining about?! I'm the one in pain here.

"... Do-... Do we really have to go over this again?"

... Anyways, despite my pain, and relative disorientation, I had actually managed to stay conscious this time...

That's a very small victory, especially considering the amount of excruciating pain I'm going through, but it's something.

Though, when it came down to where exactly I was? Yeah, that was pretty much a blur.

"Yeah, might wanna get a quick assessment on that."

I know, I know. Yeesh.

... Well, if anything, I can already tell that I'm in a rather... claustrophobic spot. It felt as though moving any of my limbs was met with physical resistance, several objects crumbling and clattering against one another with every movement I made.

It wasn't particularly heavy, whatever it was, but it was certainly there. In fact, among these several masses that seemed to have been stacked on top of me, one seemed to have taken residence upon my face... And was rubbing against it.

"Uh... How about opening your eyes, eh? That might give you a better idea of what's going on."

I was getting to that, don't rush me.

"We've just been through a goddamn explosion. I'll rush you all I want."

Ugh. Whatever.

Another groan escaping me, I pried my eyes open to the best of my ability, blurred, and slightly off, vision being the first thing to meet my gaze.

Oh, and darkness. Lots and lots of darkness. Seriously, it felt as though all I was seeing was black, with little more than a few stray cracks of dull light coming through to provide some contrast of any sort.

From this darkness, however, I could barely make out bits and pieces of different things: chunks of drywall, metal framework, stray bits of what seemed to be stone or wood.

Pretty much everything that made up piles of rubble one would normally see throughout Rapture... And I was under it...

Great.

Another groan escaping me, though this one was more akin to one of exasperation than pain--pain was still extremely present though--I barely so much as moved another inch before that same rubbing sensation came from before.

As I focused on it, I took note that it felt rather... familiar. It was smooth all around, with an almost varying entirety of consistently alternating density. Atop of that, it felt rather... slimy.

Oh...

Okay, I think I know what that is now.

No more than a few seconds after my initial realization, my theory was swiftly proven as a small, squirming figure came into my somewhat currently limited range of sight. It was easy enough to differ it, or rather him--at least I've been assuming it to be a 'him' up until now--from everything else, what with the fact that he has a slight glow to him as a result of the ADAM he genetically has in his blood.

I watched as Mill seemed to notice just as well that I had woken up, his gaze meeting mine as he tilted his head before, with a trill of what I guessed to be happiness, he practically shoved his form into me, nuzzling me repeatedly.

As much pain as I was in, I couldn't help but to chuckle at this.

I wonder... did I still have that bag of mine with me? I mean, Mill was apparently trapped here with me, so it was probably very likely.

My lips pursing slightly as I started to move my right arm, Mill not so much as momentarily halting his affectionate gestures as I did so, I could hear the rubble that held my arm down shift as I slowly maneuvered my limb out from it. At first, I was tempted to just pull out my arm as quick as possible and be done with it. But, seeing as the fact that the only reason I may have a small space for me to actually move in may have been pure structural luck, I didn't want to really risk causing the equivalent of a cave in right about now.

With every movement of my arm, I could feel something scraping against it. Sometimes, it was pretty much nothing, like drywall or chunks of what I guessed to be cement. Other times though, I would flinch as I felt a sharpened piece of metal or shard of glass grind against my skin.

I was certain that, were it not for my gene tonics, the entirety of the process would have likely left my arm bleeding to the point of being near useless. Thankfully, that wasn't the case, myself eventually pulling my arm free, with little more than a slight shift in the rubble above me, with a grunt.

As I gave my arm a quick test, gripping my hand and the like before then checking to see if my supply bag was still on my back--and, thankfully, it was--Mill seemed to suddenly stop his movements, himself standing himself to be somewhat upright, by slug standards, and seeming to move his gaze slightly more to the right.

I didn't know what he was looking at really, I didn't really have all that much space to turn my head in the first place, but whatever he saw didn't really seem to be something he liked, a low, but high-pitched squeal escaping him.

Really, it sounded more akin to some kind of whimper than anything else.

I could feel myself involuntarily raise a brow as I saw him do this, mentally questioning as to what may have been wrong. Before that thought could really take a moment to develop though, Mill suddenly shifted, myself watching as he made his way over my nose--and odd sensation in of itself, which caused my to cringe by more than a little bit--and... nothing.

Just like that, he was gone...

At first, I blinked, thinking something was just off with my vision or something. I mean, my eyes were definitely open, that much I knew, though, like I had said, the right side of my fake was numb. But, I couldn't see Mill. I could some pressure from where he was, but he himself was nowhere in my sight.

What the actual fuck. Is something covering my eye or some... thing...

And that's when I remembered: when I remembered the last shot that Gamma fired; when I remembered the blood; when I remembered Fluttershy and Rarity's faces as they...

Oh fuck, the explosion-where the hell are they?!

My eyes suddenly shot open, or at least I thought they both did, as I instinctively looked around from my current position, so as to see if I could find my charges.

"Oh, yeah, that'll work. Look for them from inside a giant pile of rubble and debris. That'll totally help you find them."

Okay, okay, I get it, but how about we focus here jackass! I may have been able to survive that explosion, sure, but they aren't genetically modified like I am! So, yeah, their chances are lower by a long shot!

"Oh for the love of- Look, I'm worried about them just as much as you are, but panicking and rushing into things isn't going to help you find-"

"Omega?" A voice suddenly came through everything else, muffled and extremely faint, but still there.

I stilled, and Mill, whom was still out of my view, suddenly came into my far right peripherals as he pulled himself upright, likely having heard the voice.

It wasn't long after before another, just as faint, though just as familiar voice rang through.

"Omega? Darling, where are you?"

I could also hear a groan accompany these voices, but I mostly tuned it out...

"... Hey, uh, you know what I said about taking your time and not rushing into action? Yeah, so, how about we momentarily put that aside so we can GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE RIGHT NOW!"

... You're not very stable with your thoughts, are you?

"THIS COMING FROM THE GUY ARGUING WITH A VOICE IN HIS HEAD, NOW MOVE!"

God you're annoying. Can't say I disagree though!

"Whatever, just watch it, I don't think you can manage a huge loss of EVE all at onc-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lifting another notably large piece of rubble, Fluttershy and Rarity by his sides, Echo's porthole light--yellow, so as to reflect the caution he took in his actions, the possibility of another proximity mine possibly being left over in his mind--shined upon the previously darkened area beneath the rubble.

Beneath it, however, laid nothing more than additional, though smaller, pieces of debris from what used to be the King Pawn shop. Essentially the exact opposite of what, or rather who, Echo and the girls were searching for.

Their ears splaying over the back of their heads as the somewhat hopeful look that had been on their eyes faded, Fluttershy and Rarity looked around the area from their current positions once more, looking for another possible pile of rubble their guardian may have been under.

"Omega?" Rarity yelled once again, desperately awaiting some sort of response as Fluttershy shortly after echoed her cry.

"O-Omega? Where are you?" Fluttershy gave out, following Rarity's example with her own shout--not her usual, relatively quiet shout either. No, her concern had caused any semblance of worry she may hold towards disturbing someone with the noise she made to be shoved aside entirely, at least for the moment.

Every yell she made, though not quite as loud, held a similar intensity to it as Rarity's, riddled with concern and bother.

Were the situation not so grave, Fluttershy mentally noted, she likely would have been surprised at herself for creating so much noise. But the situation was grave, so suffice to say that this thought wasn't among the most important of ones to enter her mind.

Echo, in the meanwhile, had still remained where he was, the heavy chunk of rubble from the recently obliterated building held up by his gloved hand as he once more tested his internal communication systems; static seemed to have become the more popular form of transmission, it had seemed.

"Oh for the love of Celestia, where could he be?!" Rarity then suddenly exclaimed, her head darting left and right as she scanned the room for what must have been the hundredth time since the explosion.

It was faint, but one could tell that her breathing was off. It was hollow, almost inexistent really, and held a notable amount of strain behind it.

Rarity knew that this sort of thing wasn't like her, much like Fluttershy had known her shouting to be unlike her, but she couldn't particularly help it.

Back in Equestria, she knew she had a slight tendency of jumping to conclusions, but usually that wouldn't cause little more than a small issue that often blew away moments after it had occurred. Those instances were insignificant.

But, she reminded herself of one little fact: this wasn't Equestria. No, here, she had long noticed, one small mistake doesn't just blow over. Instead, it could cost a life.

Or, in this case, it may very well be caused by a life, Rarity's mind going into a sort of overhaul as she suddenly galloped away from Echo and Fluttershy's sides, much to the two's surprise, and towards another pile of rubble.

"Omega! Please, darling, SAY something!" She yelled, her voice momentarily straining itself as it grew even louder than it had previously been, louder than she could ever recall yelling even before she came to Rapture.

For a moment, Fluttershy could only watch, her mind reeling as she attempted to understand that this was Rarity; that this was the friend who often did her best to keep her composure; her friend that often held the role of calming her down; her friend that, as she watched her suddenly proceed to get even closer to the large pile of rubble and practically burrow her way through it as best as she could with her hooves, was currently in a state of pseudo-panic.

Blinking, the more nurturing and assertive part of Fluttershy--a part of herself which she has had to make use of a multiple amount of times since she and Rarity had arrived in the city beneath the seas--took over almost all at once, herself shaking her head for a moment as she suddenly bound towards Rarity.

Even as she came close to her, Fluttershy took note that Rarity was not slowing in her digging whatsoever, if anything only seeming to further in her efforts as her breath suddenly began to sound much more hoarse and forced.

Knowing Rarity's tendencies to faint under situations of extreme stress, and certainly deeming this such a kind of moment as one of those such situations, Fluttershy took action, placing a hoof upon Rarity's shoulder and giving her a momentary shake so as to gain her attention.

"R-Rarity. Please, y-you have to calm down for a moment. You're-"

"Calm down?!" Fluttershy flinched at Rarity's abrupt outburst, Rarity seeming to pair this such an action with a stamp of both of her fore-hooves as she momentarily held her shoveling

“Omega, the one who has been caring for us all this time, not only ended up getting hurt trying to save us again, but is now very possibly buried under several feet of filth and rubble—of which Celestia knows this kingdom may as well be made of—and you are asking me to calm down?!” Rarity rambled aloud, her voice momentarily having gone hoarse through her momentary total lack of composure. Though, as to whether it was due to the fact that she did not usually yell so loudly for so long, what with it being overall unladylike to do so, or the emotion behind her words, she did not know.

Interestingly, though even Echo seemed to take a slight step backwards at the pony’s actions, a small part of what little of his unprocessed mind yelling at him to be cautious around this being which he was still not fully used to, Fluttershy didn’t back down, instead patiently watching and waiting as Rarity took a moment to take a breath and gather herself, her focus shifting to the ground before her in thought.

For a moment, the unicorn blinked, a flash of clarity coming over her as she glanced up towards Fluttershy, noting the look of patient concern that she held. And with that, a good portion of her panic shifted to regret as she realized she had just yelled at one of her best friends purely because she was being hysterical; she still very much held a great deal of worry for their suitless guardian nonetheless.

“My… my apologies, dear.” She then uttered in a much more quiet voice. “I-it’s just… how can I be calm when it’s possible that Omega might be-“

Before she could finish her possibly mournful thought, Fluttershy took a step closer to her, stamping down the same assertive and certain hoof that she had used back when she had convinced Rarity of the fact that a supposed Splicer they had found so long ago was in fact Omega.

“He isn’t.” She said—or rather, stated—as she confidently assured her friend. Perhaps one might say that it was simple hopeful thinking or delusion, but Fluttershy instead saw of it as certainty that their friend, their protector, was indeed alive. After all, he had already been through so much, with and without his suit, and throughout that time he had made it his utmost priority to keep them safe and happy. Surely, he wouldn’t have allowed himself to suffer from such a fate. He was much too stubborn, and much more caring, to do so.

These were the thoughts that went through the normally timid mare’s mind as she looked to her friend; that same thoughts that Rarity could practically see emanating from her friend, from her posture down to what seemed like something in her eyes. The same thoughts that, if only for a moment, seemed to calm Rarity, her previously mournful and concerned expression cracking, if only for a moment as the two shared their instance of self-assurances and comfort.

“... Thank you, Dear.” Rarity responded, taking in another breath before garnering a similarly confident look on her features as her friend. “Now, where to ne-“

And in that instance, Echo found himself falling backwards over a loose piece of rubble that was unfortunately placed behind one of his boots with a spill and a groan, whereas the two mares could only barely let out their own individual squeaks of returned timidity and ‘eeps’ of regathered appropriateness as a sudden, and just as loud, burst of an indescribable mix of sound among the blasting of air and rapid clatter and twisting of metal and stone as a nearby mountain of rubble suddenly reacted like a volcano. An eruption of recently created scrap and debris flew high enough to reach the ceiling, some with the force and trajectory to wedge itself into the metal of the ceiling, others loudly clanging or crashing against it before then falling back down in a much more spread about and haphazard manner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Were one to listen to the one hall within the furthest southern side of Pauper's drop, just next to the supposed 'Reliable Pharmacy' that stood in defunct condition among the market area within this portion of Lower Rapture, one would initially believe themselves to hear utter silence. An eerie silence, unlike any other throughout most of the city, which somehow came through in several volumes.

Were one to listen more closely, however, one would hear another sound; one would hear a slight dripping sound, barely noticeable from whatever other, similar sounds that one would expect to arrive from a city beneath the seas, yet somehow all the more distinct in its nature. And, if one were to travel down said hall, seeking an answer for such a scenario, one wouldn't so much as make it a few feet inside before being either gutted alive, their intestines and innards strewn about the walls and floor, or riveted to the nearest wall to await whatever fate may await them. That is to say, one would go through this as a result of the bloodied Rosie that stood in the middle of the carnage that surrounded him, his porthole light giving no light whatsoever as he held his modified rivet gun in his bulky and gloved hand.

Yet, none of the blood was his. In fact, one would have more trouble finding so much as a part of the area around him that was not stained red as opposed to a part that may have held any evidence of him having so much as struggled to clear out the group of Splicers that had so kindly volunteered themselves to provide him with another symphony of sound.

He graciously stood silently for, simply enjoying the sound of blood falling from its place on the wall to its later position among its sea of brothers on the floor. He basked in the sound he had filled his covered ears with only moments ago, remembering and enjoying every detail: the sound of bone as it was either sliced by his blade or torn and shattered by his rivets, the screams that had once surrounded him, some quiet and others loud, as he brought them to an end, often listening as they became such that they were gurgled by blood that filled their lungs or mouths. Even, and especially, the bliss that was the current silence, comparably to a sort of afterglow that one such as he may only ever become acquainted with in moments such as these.

Truly, to him, these things were all magnificent, unrivaled by anything else that he had ever heard or done in his albeit limited memory of his life. There was only one word to describe it all.

Ecstasy.

Raising his other arm, a slight groan escaped the bloodied Rosie as he tapped at the cracked and nonfunctional glass of his porthole, the sound of which managing to echo and resonate almost beautifully with that of the falling droplets of crimson that continued to forever stain the hall with his legacy.

What fortune that he had come across such kind Splicers after having returned from his momentary rest of sorts. He had only truly died on one or two other occasions since the anti-protocol had begun, having been caught off-guard whilst he was in moments of bliss such as the one he held now, but each time he had returned he had felt more and more driven to regain sense of the beautiful sounds that came with the ending of lives. Truly a wondrous form for which to encourage him to comply with his programming.

After all, that was all he was doing, wasn't it? Simply fulfilling a job that he had been mentally programmed to do, and if he happened to enjoy it, well so be it.

He was not one to question the turn of events that led him to where he was. No, he was more focused on the 'now'. That is, whichever 'now' that held him in a similar situation as he was then and there; covered in the liquid instruments that flowed through the bodies of those he dispatched; releasing the beauty which those beings held within them, granting them fulfillment in life and death. To release them from such horrid existences, never truly aware of what magnificent cacophony they held within their skins, how merciful he truly was.

All of which to follow his programming, so he told himself. All from his programming...

So, it was without wonder that he grew curious.

Curious as to when he'd see the four that had been there when he had more recently died. Of course, he had hoped that he had not ended them then and there. What a horrid way to go that would be, burnt and torn by an explosion without having any around to hear, their internal instruments being disintegrated rather than being given the joy of expressing themselves.

Yet, somehow he know. Yes, somehow he knew they had lived. And again his curiosity grew.

And with that curiosity came a thought.

"What,", he wondered, his hand stilling with his finger upon his porthole, "yes, just what wondrous sounds might those supposed 'ponies' make when their limbs are removed one by one?"

To allow them the pleasure of listening to their own orchestras play from within rather than dispatching them before they might hear such a thing, truly Gamma was a merciful, merciful Rosie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Huh... Didn't know that blasting away all that scrap with my Telekinesis 3 plasmid would make me feel so much better. I mean, really, most, if not all of my pain from before is gone.

"Yeah, unconsciousness tends to do that for a bit. Way to hold back like I told you to by the way. Really helped us out there, I'm sure."

Instead, I felt... lighter, if that makes sense. Which it probably doesn't, but, hey, fuck it, it works. Oh boy does it work.

"Oh, great, you're ignoring me..."

Whereas before my body had felt like it was surrounded and impaled by several different bits and pieces of differently shaped and formed shrapnel--specific example, I know--now it felt as though I were surrounded by a much more cool and calming sensation, flowing over me like, uh...

Goddamn it, I know this.

"Like water?"

Yeah, that's it! Just like... water...

Come to think of it, I'm only now realizing that there's another, instinctually familiar, though much different sensation that's starting to come through.

"Oh, you noticed that too? Funny story, that's actually the sensation of yours lungs filling up with water! Cool, right?"

Oh... I'm drowning right now, aren't I?

"No, no, whatever gave you that ide- GET OUT OF THE WATER YOU DUMBASS!"

Though it was delayed, what I can only imagine to be my internal adrenal reaction came through seemingly all at once as I opened my eye at the sudden realization that I was, in fact, currently underwater. I didn't really focus on anything in, my mind being more focused on getting out of the water to gain some semblance of oh so necessary oxygen rather than gathering insight as to where I was. Though I didn't mean to, I involuntarily ended up opening my mouth, barely stopping myself from yelling and wasting whatever little else oxygen I may have held in my lungs at the time, yet filling my mouth, and a small portion of my throat, with the currently life draining liquid as I did so.

Naturally, most of my limbs flailed at the sudden wake up call of utter emergency, and in doing so I barely noted that not only did they not move far back, hitting a large solid surface as they moved, but they also momentarily became lighter when I raised them, holding sensations of less resistance.

To most in this situation it would probably seem like nothing. But, for someone like me, who has consistently been underwater throughout most of what life I could remember, it meant one thing. The water I was in was shallow.

I swear to god if I end up dying because I couldn't get out of a few inches of water, I'm never living this dow-

... OH MOTHERFUCKER.

My body tensing for a moment, I quickly responded to the fact and moved all of my limbs down against the surface below me, which I guessed to a floor. Once that was done, I then tried to lift myself up out of the water. Key word: tried.

See, it's kinda hard to lift yourself up when something is holding you. It's even harder to do so when, looking down to see whatever may have been causing said phenomenon, I end up spotting a large gloved hand holding me down.

Seriously, WHAT THE ACTUAL FU-

"E-Echo, please stop, h-he's awake!"

...Was that-?! Before I could so much as begin to process even the slightest of things involving what was going on, the water around me suddenly began to rush past me, muffling itself against my ears and forcing me to close my eye from the sheer force of it all as all the good sensations that came from the water disappeared, leaving only the bad which remained in my longs as I suddenly felt myself well out of the previously surrounding substance.

No sooner than a second after I had been lifted from the water, my body reacted, coughing up water and inhaling air in gulps as my breathing tried to regulate itself. As this occurred, I could barely hear the sound of water dripping of off me whilst I inched my eye open.

The first thing I saw, the very first goddamn thing, was Echo, his porthole lights yellow as he stared me down, his one hand holding me outstretched from him by my throat. He wasn't choking me, so much as he was just holding me, but seeing as he was essentially just trying to drown me...

It was barely a second after I was lifted up and spotted him before I raised my right hand up towards his helmet and fired off a blast of Telekenisis 3, point blank.

A small portion of the metal on his armor visibly dented as the force of the plasmid blasted him back, causing him to let me go and drop back into the water. Water which, now that I had landed on my ass in it, was more comparable to a goddamn puddle than anything else.

Not like it mattered, that fucking Bouncer was gonna get a few dozen rivets up his ass right the hell now!

A growl escaping me, though coming out somewhat low due to the small amounts of water that I still had in my lungs and had not bothered to cough up in the suddenness of the situation, I moved myself into a kneeling position, my hand momentarily submerging itself back under the shallow water as I looked up towards where I figured Echo would have been after that plasmid blast. I hadn't really bothered to watch him as he flew off, though I can't really say one could blame me all things considered.

Sure enough, he was some distance in front of me, currently on his back--and disoriented by the looks of things, what with the fact that he made very little moves to get back up--which gave me ample time to react.

Snarling, I made to get up and rush Echo while he was down, my leg moving to lift me and-

"Omega, wait!" The sudden voice that came through exclaimed, just as quickly being followed by a certain white, horned pony making their way just in front of me, directly blocking my path towards the Bouncer.

I blinked, looking at the pony in silence and shock as my mind slowly tried to catch up... very slowly.

"Hey, don't blame me for this asshole. You're the one that didn't realize you were drowning in the first place! Of course I'm having some trouble!" Thoughts aside--"Fuck you!"--Rarity, who continued to stand in my way, looked towards me pleadingly, her very expression practically forcing me to stop right then and there.

Why did she want me to stop? That defective bastard just tried to drown me!

"S-she's right, Omega! P-please wait a moment!" As this other familiar voice came through, this time being that of my other charge, Fluttershy, who made her way next to Rarity. I barely took note of the fact that Mill, who I thought for sure was with me after that explosion, was on top of her mane all of a sudden.

Just what the hell had I missed?!

"Could have known if you had just listened to me..."

NEVER IN MY LIFE HAVE I WANTED TO STRANGLE MYSELF ANYMORE THAN I DO NOW.

"See, that's a lie and we know that. Also, pretty sure a lot of splicers are kinda into that so-"

STOP TALKING!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In truth, either of the two would have been lying if they had claimed that they were certain that Omega would have reacted even neutrally to waking up in the situation that he did. They were already aware that the relation that the two held with one another was... tense, to put it lightly, and they couldn't imagine that having been out into that position with said tensions still abound would have helped in any way.

In fact, it wasn't a little more than moments ago that the girls, having headed towards the sudden burst of debris that they had deduced would only have been caused by Omega--and were fortunately correct about--were rushing to help Omega in whatever way they could after having seeing him. They weren't sure exactly what had occurred, but all they knew was that he was there before them, alive, but horribly injured.

From just a glance, the two could clearly see several spots throughout his body, mainly his torso and arms, where Omega had suffered several gashes and burns of differentiating severity. Of course, his legs, though not as heavily injured, still held some wounds in of themselves, even holding a small bar of metal impaled into his lower right leg.

These injuries were even easier to see because of the fact that, seemingly as a direct result of the explosion, much of Omega's clothes had been singed and torn in several places. His right pant legs were practically non-existent from the knee down, with similar such tatters being visible along his right arm's sleeves, all the way up to his shoulder, then down to the middle of his torso, where an especially large part of his shirt had been torn or burned off vertically, leaving several blackened remnants hanging loosely over what little of the shirt had remained somewhat undamaged, and also leaving the shirt to only be supported by what remained over his left shoulder and sleeve.

Finally, there was the most notable sight of all. One that, to this moment, practically glared back at them as the two now looked towards the bandage over one of Omega's eyes, still visibly bloodied from the carnage that had been below it. Had they not been exposed to what they had seen in their time in Rapture, both of them believed that such a sight would, at the very least, have caused them to have frozen up, and at the very most caused them to release the contents of their stomachs for all the world to see.

But they had been exposed to Rapture, and they had been running out of time, from what they could have imagined from seeing Omega in such a state. With Fluttershy taking Mill and moving him onto her mane, almost by second nature as she did so without even truly realizing that Mill had been there in the first place, squealing in his own little panic as he looked to the girls from atop of Omega's head, both Rarity and Fluttershy barely exchanged one or two words with one another before agreeing that they needed to lift Omega, if not only to move him elsewhere, but to also gain access to the bag that he had on his back, which held all of the first aid kits that he and they had collected up until now.

Initially, the two moved so as to get on with their minimally worded plan, Fluttershy moving around towards the back of Omega and moving her head under his back so as to push him up from behind whereas Rarity had positioned herself by his torso, using her forelegs to support his head whilst trying to pull him up from her side. Though this in of itself wouldn't move him, it would allow them to find the medical supplies that were needed, which was clearly much more necessary at the moment.

However, as they were raising his body, Echo suddenly took over, unexpectedly wrapping his arm around the fallen protector unit and lifting him up with little effort. Though it surprised the girls at first, even causing Fluttershy to stumble for a moment as a result of the now missing individual that she had previously shifted most of her weight against, the two were glad to see that Echo was willing to help them. They had even thanked him, watching as he took Omega down from the pile he had previously been on and down to the floor...

Then they grew unsure when he kept going, heading over to the small pool of water in the center of the room as a result of the notable flood from the ceiling that had been there since they had arrived in the area. And then they completely panicked and rushed over to where he was when they saw Echo adjust his grip on Omega and put him inside of the small pool of water, head and all, without a single shred of hesitation.

They, of course, quickly went about questioning his actions, pleading for him to stop and let them help Omega, only for their pleas to go unheard as Echo continued in his actions. Their minds scrambled as they tried to stop him, Fluttershy continuing to try to stop him while Rarity, being just as shocked and afraid for the health of their guardian as she was, began tugging on one of his legs in a poor attempt to have him either lose his balance or release Omega. Even Mill seemed to partake in these actions of meager resistance, giving out loud, irritated squeals of varying pitches towards the Bouncer.

This went on for a solid minute or so before, finally, Echo lifted Omega from the water, groaning towards the others and jerking his head as much as he could noticeably do through his armor and helmet, so as to signal for them to look towards the still unconscious body of their friend. At first, they had, of course, been more occupied with what Echo had been doing, yelling at or scolding Echo for his actions. It wasn't until Fluttershy had glanced towards Omega whilst Rarity continued her lingual onslaught on the protector unit, hoping that his injuries hadn't been further aggravated by Echo's actions, that she had taken notice of the fact that, conversely to what she had been concerned of, some of Omega's wounds had begun to seem better. In fact, his more minor wounds had seemed as though they had completely disappeared, as though they had never been there; a few scar-like discolorations along his skin had taken their place.

From that moment, it wasn't long before Rarity took notice of this fact themselves and, though they were still wary, and overall unsure as to what exactly was occurring, they allowed Echo to continue as he was doing. Offhandedly--or perhaps off-hoofedly--both the unicorn and the pegasus mentally took note of the fact that Echo did not proceed in his actions until he had received confirmation of some sort from the two ponies. It was something small, but, really, it truly was those small gestures that mattered the most in a city such as the one they were within.

Of course, that didn't stop them from keeping close watch of Omega as Echo went on, taking in every small detail so as to ensure that all was well. Omega would continuously repeat the same actions over the span of just over half an hour, dipping Omega's entirety into the shallow water, causing it to momentarily mist with red from his blood before the continuous leak that had led to the small body of liquid eventually cycled out the blood for freshly fallen water, before lifting him up for a few seconds so as to--at least they assumed--allow him to take a breath of air.

It was in those short periods in which Omega was lifted that the girls focused on him the most, their sight on him being somewhat obstructed by the continuously rippling and reddening water he was in and as such leading to them only truly being able to gain information on his condition whenever he was raised. They watched as his still limp body came up, initially taking a moment or two so as to ensure he was still breathing, their breaths often hitching until they saw his torso expanded to allow oxygen in. Once they were certain of his continued respiration, they then took whatever remained of the short moment in which he had been lifted from the water so as to look over his injuries, watching as they were slowly replaced with scars and discolored tissue. Blood that had previously been leaking forth from those wounds would soon only be identifiable from the stains and singe-marks on his tattered clothes.

The only injury that didn't seem to change, save for a lack of bleeding after what had effectively been the Rapturian equivalent to waterboarding--though, of course, that concept never existed within the world the girls had come from to begin with--was that of his right eye, which continued to hold a rivet partially lodged within. Both Fluttershy and Rarity, though a part of them wished otherwise, were unable to decide whether to put their focus on this feature or not.

On one hand, the sight was certainly not a pleasant one. The rivet had, for a lack of better words, practically obliterated the eye that it had impacted, its metal entry point jamming itself well into the cornea of Omega's eye, with his previously already faint pupils and sclera becoming jumbled together in a blotchy, hard to identify mess. Many of the blood vessels within the same eye had burst as well, as one may expect from such a significant trauma, leaving an overall reddish tint to whatever bits of white may have been identifiable from the eye. It had been a much darker red before, but whether it was from the loss of the blood that had been pooling within the eye out through entry of the rivet, or Omega's apparent aptitude for healing whilst in water, was unknown.

On the other hand, a much simpler, clear cut reason was present to prompt the two ponies to look towards the unsightly injury of their unconscious protector. It was an injury that Omega had sustained in a fight through which he had attempted to protect them. It was possible, very possible, that Omega had just lost sight in one eye completely as a result of them being there in the first place. Coupling that with the fact that the two had promised to assist Omega in whatever forms they possibly could, be it big or small, then of course their minds were somewhat frayed as to what they could do or how they should react.

That was their main concern then--and it is still very much prevalent in their minds now. At the same time, the main worry of the present was clearing up the misunderstanding between Echo and Omega, lest the latter unwittingly wrongfully kill the former.

"I-if you would just give us a moment to explain." Fluttershy pleaded, having noticed the hostility Omega held towards Echo after waking up just as Rarity did.

"Yes, please darling, don't do anything rash!" Yet, neither of the pony's words came through to the former Rosie, a growl being their only answer as Omega's sights continued to be focused on the fallen Bouncer--whom was only now beginning to pick himself up from the ground. Omega's hand momentarily shook, though whether it was due to the trauma he had recently suffered or the sheer rage that he felt was unclear, as his finger clearly made its way to his rivet gun's trigger.

The sight did not go unnoticed and apparent tunnel vision that Omega seemed to be suffering from did not go unnoticed by his charges who, with one short, albeit panicked glance towards one another wordlessly shared their thoughts with one another and took action. Seconds before Omega could pull the trigger, both the unicorn and the pegasus suddenly grabbed hold of him from either side, their forehooves encircling him in their grasps whilst their heads dug into the crooks between his neck and shoulders. He stumbled for a moment, the sudden momentum that had been added onto him pushing him back, but still his focus was kept on the Bouncer before him; Echo had just now gotten himself in a kneeling position, practically stood by now, yet somehow oblivious of Omega's intentions.

"Omega!" Rarity cried out, "please, just take a moment to calm yourself!"

Omega, however, didn't seem to hear her--or perhaps it was that he chose not to--attempting to balance his swaying aim towards the Bouncer before him. In his mind, from the moment that he--the mentally lacking, poorly coordinated, exceptionally pathetic excuse for a protector unit--had appeared before Omega and his charges, as well as the self-contrived ringmaster that hid himself behind the mask of said protector unit had appeared, everything had gone wrong. The initial attacks upon himself and his charges, the lockdown stopping them from proceeding in their quests towards the escape pods in Lower Persephone, the continued endangerment of his charges at the hands of subject Gamma, and now the fact that he had notably less depth perception than he recalled; it was all their fault. If he could kill them again, and again, and again, and again-

However many times it would take, perhaps then they could be done with this. He could get his charges home, he could die in peace if need be, he could say that he had finally pulled through on all his promises.

"No." Omega thought to himself, "There's still that promise that I would find Seidon after this all was through. And I will personally make sure that he gets to watch as I tear his HEART OUT AND-"

"O-Omega... please..." The quiet voice of his other charge rang through, practically choked out from the deepest depths of her chest as she struggled to keep herself emotionally stable. Something that gave both Omega and Rarity pause.

Ponies, as a whole, were social and emotional creatures. Their history was fairly all over the place, what with the constant occurrences and involvements of magical entities, celestial events beyond their control, and of course what chaos beings like Discord had brought to the mix, but there was one thing that was certain about it. Conflict was not widespread. Sure, there had been disagreements between ponies, and instances in which ponies were mobilized in order to defend themselves against magical beings, but conflicts among their own kind never lasted. And when they did, they usually ended up with those ponies talking things out and moving on.

Rapture was violence incarnate. Corruption and hedonistic views taken form under the eyes and hands of a man that was so fixated on his own views of utopia, he failed to realize he had ultimately fallen for whatever corruption and manipulative semblances of madness that he had built the city in order to escape. Bodies filled hallways, blood stained the vast oceans around them, children were used as drug factories whist men were taken and programmed to be numb to anything else except their desire to protect what was essentially other people's profit margins and guinea pigs.

It was difficult to adapt to, a world in which one being could not co-exist with a being of the other. That Fluttershy and Rarity had found Omega was a miracle in of itself. And that stress, that fear, that concern--it grew on a pony.

Fluttershy, despite everything, had remained strong and hopeful. Rarity had done her share, yes, but Fluttershy had made sure to hold her ground despite everything that happened. To be that pillar even when she was in just as bad a mental shape, or perhaps even worse, before Rarity so as to ensure that she would also go on was something she almost couldn't afford avoiding. Why? Because it was the kind thing to do.

But how does one hold their will--their strength--when everything keeps breaking them down to their core values. When they are unable to help the one thing that had been keeping them safe in ways that couldn't be seen as little more than errand running whereas the other was fighting an entire war on their own. When said being is constantly in conflict with another of his own kind, constantly snapping and clashing against them because for said being, forgiveness is not as simple as a nod of their head and a life continued just fine. When the being protecting them, that they could do nothing for, that was unable to change to their lifestyle through no fault that could be given to anything except the horrid world they grew in, ultimately lost parts of their own body that they could never hope to recover.

Could there absolutely be no hope for this world in that regard? Was it truly just impossible for something, anything, to be resolved without hatred, contempt, or anger? z

As Fluttershy held Omega back, her voice growing harder and harder to find, the pillar she had attempted to be throughout all this time buckled, and collapsed.

"Please... Please...."

And she broke.

Author's Note

Life is an interesting thing. Throughout everything you do, there's always that ebbing feeling that you should do something else.

Maybe you dont actually like woodcarving despite doing it throughout your entire life up until this point? Maybe you dont actually want that achievement in a game you had set out to obtain, going through already 70% of the requirements to obtain it but stopping nonetheless?

... Maybe you don't want to write?

But maybe, you do want to write? Maybe, as you do your college work and work at your job, you want to finish the story? Not just for the satisfaction of doing so, but because, though you have the ending in your head already, you wanna know what you do for everything in the middle.

Whatever the reason, life finds a way.

And here I am, having followed that way.

I started this story in 2014... I started many stories long ago now. But, despite the incredibly inconsistent updates, despite the silence, despite everything, I will finish it, as well as the others.

I can't imagine the ones who read this story back in 2014 are still here. I don't blame them. People grow, times change, fandoms cycle, so on and so forth. To those of you who are here though, I suppose I only have one thing to say.

I am brightlight24. And I WILL finish what I have started.

Nice to meet you all again.

Inventory:
-Rivet Gun (4)

Heavy Rivets (13)
Trap Rivets (3)
-Remote Hack Tool (6)
Auto Hack Dart (2)
-ESU
-EVE Hypo (5)
-First Aid Kits (4)
-Money (126)
Plasmids:
}Telekinesis 3
}Security Command 2
}Decoy
Gene Tonics:
}Armored Shell 2
}Fountain of Youth

Chapter 1: Yearly Traditions

"Oh rise, Rapture, rise!
We turn our hopes up to the skies!
Oh rise, Rapture, rise!
Upon your wings our dreams will fly.
A city in the ocean's deep
A promise that we'll always keep
To boldly turn our eyes upon the pr-pr-pr-pr-pr-" I quickly smashed the aged record player, finding nothing but annoyance from hearing yet another broken record skip continuously. I never did like that song anyways.

As I pulled my arm off of the now shattered music machine, I noticed that my rubber gloves had begun to dispatch themselves again. More than likely, it was because of the recent trek I had made outside for repairs. Bottom of the ocean or not, someone had to keep this city alive. Even if it was already dead.

I sighed as I looked around for a nearby mirror or reflective surface. See, one major flaw of my suit's design was that I could not seem to do any self repairs whatsoever without a point of reference. Personally, I blamed it on the delay that the suit caused my motors skills. Factually though, it was just because the suit was so large that it was hard to figure out what goes where without getting stuck. Nothing quite as embarrassing as trapping your arms together because of one loose bolt.

I lumbered around for a few minutes, my heavy footsteps echoing throughout Fontaine's Department Store, before I found a large cracked mirror near the display table. Comically enough, the mirror was in the best shape that I had seen any other in Rapture for the past seven years. "Seven years. I feel like fate just set that joke up on purpose."

I stepped in front of the mirror and began my repairs, watching as my hand reached over my wrist, avoiding the electrical shock unit, or ESU, that had been clasped over my glove. I was, as many would call it, a Big Daddy. Sorta. I was, like most Big Daddies, covered in metal and armor of all kinds. I had a white under-cloth, barely visible under any of my armor platings and sealants, coupled with several blue strips of paint that ran along my armor, mostly along the edges. The chest plate that was welded to my single, small eyed helmet, was made portruding outwards; Purposely made to look that way purely for intimidation, and protection. My gloves were big and bulky, like those of all the other models. Though, unlike a Bouncer, a Rosie, or even an Alpha series model, I was given an ESU as a weapon, rather than a rivet gun or a drill.

Notice anything odd? A Big Daddy with no lethal weaponry, painted blue, and overly armored platings. Like I had said, I wasn't exactly a normal Big Daddy. If anything, I was more like a security gaurd. The reason? I had to be the worst guardian in existence. When I was first "volunteered" into the Big Daddy Initiative, I lost three Little Sisters within my first year. Knowing that I had lost them, whether I knew they were my daughters at the time or not, always resulted in a strong emotional whiplash.

I would go days on end mourning the death of the little girl that I had known as my daughter, even if I was only made to believe so. What baffled the scientists at Ryan's laboratories though was the fact that I could mourn at all. I was originally a Rosie model after all. Made to be without emotion, thought, or any sort of mindset that deviated from protecting my charge. Try as they might though, they could never seem to truly remove these issues from my system.

After about two more attempts at proving my worth, both of which failed miserably, the scientists finally decided to downgrade me. My suit design and weaponry was changed, and they even went through the trouble of "programming" me to protect people rather than Little Sisters. So, that's what I did. For the next five years, I carried out my duties as a 'Security Daddy', as I had become known as, making sure that everyone abided by Ryan's laws no matter what. I still remember the day it all went wrong, starting off with a bombing on the New Year's Day party, leading to dozens, if not hundreds of rebellions everyday. Rapture fell apart from the inside out.

Splicers, that is to say, once normal people who had taken genetic enhancers called Plasmids, were among the bigger problems. They became obsessed with EVE, a concoction that allowed people to continually use a Plasmid at will, and more specifically, ADAM, a miracle drug that was extracted from rare sea slugs from underwater, often used to buy Plasmids or heal wounds at near instantaneous rates.

Friends began to strangle friends, babies were smothered in their cribs, and even family members began to turn on each other, just for another small dose of ADAM. Time went on, and things continued to occur of this nature, even after Rapture's downfall. Ryan and Fontaine, the two competing heads of Rapture, were both killed by a man known as Jack, who had come and left without a word, taking several little sisters with him as he did so. Their replacement, Sofia Lamb, did little more than to encourage the rising up of splicers on Big Daddies before she, along with a well known Alpha series referred to as Delta and a large portion of Rapture, fell into the briny pits below.

Now, things had gotten worse. Much worse. Before, Big daddies and Splicers weren't the only things that roamed around, with the occasional Big Sister of course. There were survivors, people who had gone through most of Rapture's downfall without any issue whatsoever, and managed to make it by just fine on their own. Soon though, about three years ago in fact, a splicer killed the last available Little Sister in Rapture. That was when all hell broke loose.

Faced with little to no ADAM left, the splicers turned on anything else that wasn't themselves. Survivors were swarmed and killed, along with Big Daddies, and even the mighty Big Sisters. All of them fell like trees, each heavier than the last as they toppled over. Now, I was the last Big Daddy, or survivor, or anything that wasn't a splicer.

Luckily, I couldn't be killed so easily. Well, technically I could, but not really. When the scientists had first demoted me, they believed that I should be made to last. My suit was given an automatic vita-chamber chip, reviving and helping me at any nearby vita-chambers every time I seemed near death, which was often. After enough deaths to make a cat green with envy, the splicers eventually gave up on killing me, claiming me to be a 'metal feline'. It's a good thing too, death wasn't exactly painless after all.

Though death was a given to me, I wasn't immortal, nor was I weak. Anytime I would be swarmed, usually by fifty or so splicers, I would manage to take out an average of about half of them before I would finally succumb. At some point, I had a lost count of exactly how many splicers I had killed after the first hundred or so. As for the "not immortal" bit, the vita-chamber chip actually held a major flaw to it. If at anytime any part of my suit was removed the chip would self-destruct. It was clever in that it wouldn't give anyone else a near endless life, but it was flawed in that, if any part of my suit came off, even by accident, there would be nothing to keep me alive. That's why I had to repair the gloves as soon as possible, to keep myself alive. Not that I had any reason to stay alive that is, but I did want to see what else would happen as time passed in the underwater hell known as Rapture.

As I tightened the last of the bolts holding the gloves in place, I felt the ground below me start to tremble, if only slightly. Splicers from all around the city yelled out monstrously as the trembling began to grow in volume. Screams of excitement. I pointed my helmet towards a nearby window, looking out towards the deep ocean floor as a bright light appeared and grew brighter and brighter, enveloping the outside in white, before fading back to its original level of of darkness. Only this time, the sea floor was gone, and the city seemed to be floating, rather than resting at the bottom of the sea. The ocean itself had a much more clear and vivid appearance, rays of light occasionally making their way down from what was likely the water's surface. "Has it been a year already?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the two princesses of day and night calmly waited in their throne room, the royal guards diligently on stand near them, a loud groan could be heard coming through the door. Both of the princesses seemed to flinch, if only slightly, as the guards opened the door for one of the more infamous members of the royal family, Prince Blueblood. He came in with a grimace, unsurprisingly, and immediately began to do what he was widely known for. Complaining. "Auntie, do I have to go on this diplomacy mission? We don't even know anything about this kingdom!" The 'prince' whined. Several of the guards in the room rolled their eyes while the princess of the sun sighed and forced a smile towards her snooty family member. Were it not for the Prince's arrogance, he could have easily seen through this facade.

"Yes, nephew. If we are to make peace with this kingdom, then we must all be present." She explained in her kindest possible tone, though she held nothing but her utmost contempt behind it. "After all, this kingdom only appears once a year, so you'll only be gone for a day." Blueblood let out a resentful sigh, but he knew fully well that there was no arguing with his 'auntie' once she got like this, so he held his distasteful tongue and once again exited the throne room to await his calling.

The moment the doors closed behind him, nearly everypony in the room sighed in relief. They were stressed as is, Blueblood would only add to the issue. Let alone the fact that they had to deal with him throughout the entire mission. Nevertheless, they resumed to their posts and awaited patiently.

Unbeknownst to them, however, two more ponies had decided to join them in their voyage as well, having hid themselves behind one of the several large pillars that decorated the room. "Are you sure about this, Rarity? We only came to Canterlot to visit Mr. Fancypants. Besides, wouldn't the princesses be... mad, if they found us here?" A timid yellow Pegasus with a pink mane whispered to a white unicorn with a purple mane.

"Don't worry so much darling." Rarity reassured. "While we may be here to fulfill an order, that doesn't mean we can't... look around a little. Besides, I've been hearing a lot about this new kingdom. Apparently, it just a pops up out of nowhere, deep in the Ponycific sea, only to disappear into the night. Oh, it's so mysterious it gives me jitters just thinking about it!" Rarity quickly covered her mouth with both of her hooves, muffling an oncoming squee of excitement. Fluttershy, however, was no less concerned by this display than she originally was. Truthfully, she was afraid. Afraid of what the princesses would say if they were found, afraid of traveling so far away from Canterlot and Ponyville, but most of all, afraid of what this new kingdom would hold.

Suddenly, the loud chiming of a clock rang through the air, the bells seeming to count themselves along. 1...2...3...

The guards stiffened ever so slightly as everypony in the room counted along with the clock. 6...7...8...

Both Luna's and Celestia's eyes narrowed, they're horns beginning to glow in preparation. 10...11...12...

Rarity and Fluttershy's breaths caught. Rarity's out of excitement, while Fluttershy's was due to her anxiety.

"It is time." Princess Luna stated as she looked towards the guards. "Retrieve Prince Blueblood and any other royal guards that you can at once! We have until the clock once more strikes 12 to return!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I could never get used to that. For some reason, once a year for twelve hours, Rapture would be surrounded by a blindingly white light, and the ocean around it would seem... different. I could never get my head around it, but then again, it made no difference did it? If anything, it at least made for a good light show. Even the splicers agreed that it was a welcome change of pace from Rapture's usual dull and red. Red being blood, that is. Honestly, I just wish something exciting would happen for once...

"I have the oddest feeling that I'm gonna regret that wish."

Author's Note

Yup. For any of you who are confused, allow me to explain. See, throughout my life, there have been three games/ game series that have always caught my eye. Fallout, Dark souls, and Bioshock. As homage to both my pony and bioshock fandom, I have decided to create this story. Oh, and as a side note, this occurs after the good ending for Bioshock 1, and bad ending for Bioshock 2.

Chapter 8: Rapture's New Messaging System

So as it turns out, I'm left handed. That explained a lot of things really. Like, why my ESU was attached to my left arm, or why I had horrible aim when I still used a rivet gun. Mostly the rivet gun though, I couldn't hit the side of a whale.

My two charges had spent the entire day teaching me the basics on reading and writing. It had come to me pretty quickly actually. Vowels, consonants, and sounding out words. Though, I have a deep-seeded hatred for the letter 'K'. Why did they ever make a letter that made the same exact sound as the letter 'C'? It made no sense! Plus, I had nearly crushed the marker over a dozen times out of frustration.

Nonetheless, I appreciated what the two were doing, even if I was resentful at first. I wasn't going to be writing any novels anytime soon, but it was still more than enough.

In fact, I was writing down my own name at this point. Well, subject name. Fluttershy and Rarity were standing to the sides of me, ready to rectify any mistakes I would make, like they had been doing since we began. Annoying, but useful. 'O'-'m'-'e'-'g'-'o'... Oh, forgot the line. 'a'. There we go.

"Good job." Fluttershy praised, smiling as I moved to the side to give the two a clear view.

"Indeed. You've certainly improved from when we began." Rarity agreed. To be fair, I'd say learning what an 'A' was had already improved from how I began. "Now if we can just help you adjust your grammar, then you would be golden, darling." Fluttershy nodded in her own form of agreement before flying over to me, reaching eye level.

"Um... Would you mind telling us more about Rapture now? I-if it's no trouble that is." I mentally chuckled at her timidity, nodding my head as I reached up and pet her slightly. She giggled as I did this, before moving away from the whiteboard and taking a seat on the couch.

I began to ponder as to how I teach them in the first place. Whether or not I could write, it was still minimalistic at best. It took them hours to teach me the basics, so it would take me days, considering I could barely even manage my own name, let alone the history of Rapture.

...Then again, maybe my newly obtained ability to read, though pushing it, could help me teach them after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two waited for me outside of the bathysphere as I rummaged through its many compartments. I had remembered finding some recordings throughout Rapture, and stashing them in here. I never really cared for them though, since I couldn't really figure out what they were about. They were silent films, the kind you would play on a projector and have to read in order to understand. Of course, when I first played them, I was a little more than annoyed by the fact that I couldn't understand them. In fact, I was tempted to throw them away. As I pulled out the first of many recordings, titled 'Rapture's Founding', however, I realized how glad I was that I didn't.

I put the film into the projector and gestured for my two charges to enter. I moved to the side of the bathysphere as the two took their appropriate seats next to one another, and I closed the bathysphere door behind them. I flicked on the bathysphere's projector and sat down in my own cushioned seat as the white screen once again rose up over the porthole, the lights of the bathysphere dimming.

"Andrew Ryan welcomes you to-" I hadn't even managed to read the first line when the film had moved on to its next image and text. Practice made perfect, right?

Somehow I doubt it, because I just missed the next slide.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"If I may sister? What is your plan, exactly?" Princess Luna asked as she looked over the large menagerie of unicorns that stood before her. Celestia didn't seem to notice however, as she stood from her throne and began to address her guards.

"Everypony, we are at a time of dire need." She began, silencing any whispering that had been occurring in the crowd as she obtained their undivided attention. "During our most recent attempt at diplomacy, to a kingdom known only as Rapture, two members of the elements of harmony, Rarity and Fluttershy, had somehow followed us, and were left behind." Ponies began to converse again, elements of confusion and worry clear throughout the crowd.

Suddenly, one of the guards spoke over the crowd, barely audible to the two princesses. "Princess, if that's true, then why don't we bring the two back?" He asked.

"We are only able to teleport to and back from Rapture once a year, during the time that it appears for 12 hours." More uproar began as the same pony continued to question the two.

"Then why don't we just wait until a year passes?" Voices of agreement arose, while a small group of unicorns in the room stayed silent, the group that had accompanied the princesses on their mission. Princess Celestia paused for a moment, unsure of how to explain the situation to them. She glanced over to her sister and noticed that she was just as uncertain.

"...I suppose I should start from the beginning."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you for your time, and we hope you have learned from thi- Oh, come on!" It was official, I hated these films with all of my heart. Granted, I managed to learn a few things about Rapture's history that even I didn't know about, but still.

As the built-in bathysphere lights turned to their full brightness again, meaning that the projection had come to an end, I looked over to my two charges. I nearly burst out laughing... chuckling, as I saw the looks of confusion on their faces.

"So... to get away from what he thought was a corrupt government... he went to the bottom of the ocean... and built a city?" Rarity asked, carefully piecing together all the information she had learned. It did sound stupid didn't it? I nodded.

The two made to talk, gesturing and the like, but no words came out. Eventually, they both let out sighs, planting their hooves against their faces. I wish I could laugh. I really do!

Chuckling, I reached back into the projector's compartment and pulled out another film. As I read the title, I flinched inwardly. 'ADAM and its production'. The two had wanted to know more about Big Daddies and Little Sisters, and they were unfortunately going to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The room was enshrouded by silence, neither guard nor princess making a noise as Celestia and her sister Luna finished retelling their experience in Rapture. Faces of disgust, anger, and utter shock filled the room, none of the ponies having neither heard or seen such horror. Princess Celestia took in a deep breath.

"As you may all be able to tell, we cannot afford to wait a year for the kingdom to reappear. Though we may not be able to retrieve the two directly, we may at least be able to contact them." There was a moment of silence as the crowd began to slowly recover from their earlier shock, before another unicorn rose their hoof up into the air, this one being a mare.

"Princess, with all due respect, none of us, including the group that went with you, had managed to get Rarity or Fluttershy's magical signature. Who would we contact?" Princess Luna answered for her sister, a look of confidence about her.

"We will contact the being that knows Rapture like no other, and is virtually the lord of this kingdom." Everypony's attention was immediately cast upon their princess of the night. "We are going to contact the 'metal feline'."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had just gotten past the part where the film had shown what ADAM and Little Sisters were, and how they had Big Daddies to protect them. Fluttershy and Rarity were both watching attentively, taking in every detail that was presented to them. I wasn't worried really about this, since it wasn't really anything that needed worrying about to begin with.

As if it was perfectly timed though, a title card saying, 'How to extract ADAM' appeared on the white screen. My eyes widened as I stood and scrambled for the projector, much to Fluttershy and Rarity's confusion. Fumbling slightly, I managed to finally stop the film and remove it from the projector, the lights of the bathysphere once again returning to normal as the white screen fell.

"Is something wrong?" Fluttershy asked, genuine concern in her voice. Sitting down, I began to look over the film, repeatedly reading the title over and over. Fluttershy and Rarity obviously weren't used to things like violence or death. The fact that they had made it so far without drifting to insanity was a miracle, if anything. If I were to let them see exactly what happened to a Little Sister after their job was done...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two could only watch as Omega looked over the film, slumping ever so slightly in his seat. They hadn't seen him be so dejected since they met him, so this was truly a surprise for them.

"Whatever it was that he saw was in that film, he didn't want us to see it." Both Rarity and Fluttershy thought as they watched Omega scoot the film back into the compartment he had found it.

Suddenly, the lights to the bathysphere flickered, dimming themselves once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I didn't do that." I thought to myself as I watched the screen of the bathysphere raise itself once again. Normally, I would have guessed that the bathysphere was malfunctioning. It had done that before after all. When the projector turned on without being activated though, I threw that theory out into the ocean. Pushing aside the white screen, I tried to push open the bathysphere door. It didn't budge, no matter how hard I pushed and shoved.

I looked back to Rarity and Fluttershy. The two seemed worried, almost scared even. I would have been lying if I said I didn't feel the same. I could see my porthole light turn yellow as I positioned myself between them and the door. Something was happening, and whatever it, I was prepared to protect my two charges to my 'last' breath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The room was enveloped by the lights of several unicorn horns, as they simultaneously tracked a single magical signature, and tried to reach it. The princesses were doing the same, their faces showing focus as a large white orb began to before them, about the size of a large circular mirror.

The sphere of magical energy shifted slightly, before doing so again, and again, the shifts increasing in their intensity each time. Soon, the orb had become a writhing mass of energy, pressurizing the very air that surrounded it.

The princesses didn't waver though, narrowing their eyes as they poured even more of their magical power into the mass. The mass began to shrink, collapsing on itself until finally, it ripped.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remember how I said I was prepared for anything? Well, I wasn't prepared for the projector to turn itself on and show the very same white pony that I had met a few days ago, during the 12 hour event that always happened once a year. Celestia, and I could barely see her co-ruler, Luna, in the background. The background being a bright and colorful throne room, almost radiating happiness and peace. It was the polar opposite of Rapture.

"I-is that?" I turned my head towards Fluttershy and Rarity, noticing the two were hiding behind me, looks of shock on their faces as they peered around my sides.

"T-the princesses." Rarity whispered, her mouth slightly agape. "They found us." I saw the corner of her mouth lift ever so slightly. A smile, one of the few I'd ever seen her do that was accompanied by happiness. I looked over to Fluttershy, noticing she was doing the same.

"Metal feline, can you hear me?" I quickly turned my attention to the large pony that was being projected onto the screen before me. Oh great, this song and dance again. I nodded to her, 'telling' her that I could hear her loud and clear with a groan.

She smiled ever so slightly as I answered, probably pleased by the fact I could actually hear her.

"Good." She lost the smile on her face just as quickly as she had gained it, an air of seriousness revolving around her. "I am going to be honest with you 'metal feline'. I did not call for a casual conversation or anything of the sort." Jeez, happy to see you too. "I have contacted you due to a serious matter. One that I am unable to accomplish myself."

I nodded as I carefully crossed my metal covered arms and listened to her intently. So long as she didn't bring out 'Prince Fuckstick', I'd be willing to hear her out, even if I did have a pretty good idea as to why she was calling.

"You see, recently, during our visit to your kingdom in fact, two other ponies had followed my sister, nephew, guards, and I into Rapture. The issue with this being, that we didn't bring them back with us when we returned, since we weren't aware of them being there in the first place." Fluttershy and Rarity weren't supposed to be there? Then, why were they? "I ask of you a great favor, metal feline. I need you to find the two, and keep them safe."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To Celestia, her sister, and all the unicorns in the room's surprise, the metal being known as the 'metal feline' began to chuckle repeatedly, almost as if it were laughing. Princess Celestia rose an eyebrow in annoyance, while her sister felt her eyes narrow in anger.

"Is there something funny, metal feline?" Princess Celestia asked, her question holding a tone as sharp as a knife, if not sharper. The metal feline wasn't perturbed though, unaffected by the princess's obviously double edged question as he simply took one hefty step to the left, revealing a sheepish looking Fluttershy and Rarity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The look on the princess' face was priceless. Same went for my two charges, who were smiling awkwardly at their princess. I guess when you're found in a situation after doing something you weren't supposed to, this is a pretty normal reaction.

"H-hello your majesty." Fluttershy greeted quietly, bowing as she did so. Rarity followed her friend's example and did the same, glancing over to me as she did so, as if expecting something.

"Show some respect, darling." She whispered. If she was expecting me to bow, she was crazier than I was, and I kept track of how long I would go without mental breakdowns. Rolling my eyes behind my helmet, I uncrossed my arms and gestured towards the two as I looked to the princess, her surprised expression slowly beginning to shift. I didn't exactly like what it was shifting to though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... Everypony, I thank you all for your efforts. Now that the spell has been cast though, it is self-sustaining, so you will no longer be needed. Now, if you would all please exit, my sister and I wish to speak in private." A slight gleam of anger accompanied the last bit of her request, but nopony seemed to notice as they all began to quietly exit the throne room, leaving their monarchs to speak.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Rarity looked up from their bowing positions, not daring to make a sound, or even move, as Luna joined her sister, and the two began to obtain faces of pure anger.

"I... Won't even BEGIN to describe how FURIOUS I am!" Princess Celestia began, causing the two to flinch, clenching their eyes shut. "How could you two deliberately eavesdrop on what was supposed to be a private meeting, then stowaway on a what may have been, and was, a dangerous mission!"

Princess Luna chimed in soon after, expressing her own anger at the two. "We cannot comprehend as to why the both of you had thought this to be an wise decision whatsoever! Not only did you endanger yourselves, but you endangered the lives of several other ponies by risking your places in the elements of harmony! If you two were gone, and chaos ever set foot in Equestria again, there would be nothing that we could do!" The two felt nothing but guilt, shame, and sadness as their normally kind and caring monarchs unleashed their anger upon them, causing the two to begin to tremble involuntarily. "And furthermore, you-"

The princesses were cut off and immediately silenced by a piercing roar that reverberated through both the bathysphere and the throne room, causing the ground to begin to shake and both of the princesses to flinch back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mess with a bull, you get the horns. Mess with a Big Daddy's charges, and you'll wish you had gotten the bull. I had cut the princesses off with a roar, having gotten really tired of their anger, really quickly. Granted, Fluttershy and Rarity had messed up. But after everything they had been through in their short stay in Rapture, I'd hardly say they deserved a punishment.

I put my arm out in front of Fluttershy and Rarity, as if shielding them from the both of the monarch's yells. Fluttershy and Rarity looked towards me with confusion, hints of gratitude sprinkled about it, while the princesses wavered as they saw the crimson red light coming from my helmet.

"..." Princess Celestia sighed, while her sister just looked down to the floor in her own guilt, her ears flat against her head. "Forgive us, my little ponies, metal feline. We were simply worried, and tired from our recent attempts at searching for you. "

Figuring that neither she nor her sister would continue to yell at the two, I pulled away my arm, giving them a clear view of my charges once again, my porthole's light slowly reverting to its original green coloring as I did so.

"It's no problem at all, your majesty." Rarity reaffirmed. The fact that they continually called her 'your majesty' was a bit of a bother, but I shrugged it off. "If anything, we're glad that you found us. Omega has been an impressive guardian, but I'd still prefer we return home whenever we could." Fluttershy nodded in agreement, glancing towards me with apologetic eyes, but I dismissed it. I had sworn to get them home after all, so this wasn't really an issue to me.

"...Omega?" Princess Celestia asked. Fluttershy and Rarity didn't move themselves from their bowing positions as they gestured to me. Celestia looked to my direction with a face of surprise, though only slight, and confusion. Nonetheless, her face shifted to one of stunted amusement, and she let out a small laugh. "I suppose that is a better name than 'metal feline'." She said.

You don't say? Pushing that obvious statement aside, I let out a groan, leaning against the side of the bathysphere.

"... A moment, if you would." Princess Luna said, breaking out of her silence. Her horn began to glow an odd midnight blue, before a small light slowly enveloped the bathysphere, only noticeable because of the chamber's dimmed lighting.

"There, that should lessen the difficulty of this." Luna said, much to my confusion. The room was silent, everyone's eyes being on me, once again raising my thoughts of being expected something.

"...I'm NoT boWInG." A small twinge of surprise passed through me as I heard my own voice once again. "Oh, tHiS AGaiN." I said... I could never get used to that. I glanced back to my two charges, noticing that they themselves were surprised. Hadn't they heard my 'voice' before though? The problem, however, is that the two hadn't stopped bowing.

"...YoU KnOW, royALTy oR nOT, YoU TWo dOnT HaVe tO KeEP BOwiNg." The two looked at me with questioning expressions, but they slowly rose from their bows nonetheless. "THaNk yOU." I put my attention back to Celestia and Luna, noticing that they as well had raised eyebrows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Rarity were honestly surprised to hear their guardian sound so... casual. Almost as if he was just another regular being, despite his large metal casing. The princesses shared in this sentiment, having only previously heard Omega during a more dire time.

"WHaT?" Omega asked, growing uncomfortable from the constant gazes upon him. Everypony moved the matter aside, as the monarchs of Equestria once again spoke up.

"Ahem. Moving on from... that." Celestia began. "My previous request still stands. I ask that you protect the two in their time there."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"YoU mEAn yoU Can'T bRiNg tHem bAck?" I asked, noticing the looks of worry on both of my charge's expressions. Celestia looked to the two sadly, before letting out a sigh.

"Unfortunately, no. Neither I, nor my sister, are able to bring them back from Rapture at this time. The magical conditions within Rapture are extremely negative. It had taken an entire room of unicorns, plus the addition of magic from my sister and I, just to establish this communication system. " She explained. I nodded, following along every detail. That would explain why Rarity hadn't been able to use magic, despite being a unicorn herself. "Until my sister and I are able to think of a way to bring the two back, you are the only one who can care for them."

Before I could say anything in response, my two charges gave their own.

"P-princess, with all due respect, Omega has already been doing that." Fluttershy stated in a near whispered voice, rubbing one of her forelegs with the other.

"Indeed. Throughout the time we've been here, Omega has been nothing less than a proper gentleman." Rarity agreed, a hint of proudness in her voice. I could feel a rising warmth in my cheeks, silently thanking the fact that I was currently wearing a helmet. The princesses remained silent for a moment or so, before they both allowed for smiles to grace their faces.

"Then, I suppose we are in your gratitude, Omega." Luna told me, her sister nodding in agreement. "Yes, thank you." Celestia added, furthering her sister's gratefulness. I must be red as an elite lancer's suit at this point, but I pressed on.

"It'S nO pROBlEM." Suddenly, the projector started to flicker, the image of the princesses beginning to fade. The princesses seemed to notice this as well, their smiles being replaced with annoyance. They can't seem to keep those smiles for long can they?

"It seems that we do not have much time left. This intercommunication spell has a limited amount of time on it, so we wont be able to talk again until tomorrow." The three of us nodded, the projection further fading away to black. "Omega, take care of them, and be careful you two."

The projection faded to pure black, no noise being audible aside from the spinning of projector's film reel, as the bathysphere lights once again lit themselves, and the white screen lowered, allowing me to open the door once again.

Before I did that though, I glanced back to the now shut down projector.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the window to Rapture closed once again, leaving a small white orb floating in its place, Celestia began to make her way back to her throne, materializing a scroll and a quill as she did so.

"Sister? What are you doing?" Luna asked, taking her own seat on her throne. For a moment, Celestia remained silent, the scribbling of her quill being the only thing audible. Then, as she rolled up and teleported away the scroll, she answered.

"I've sent a letter to Twilight and her other friends. If anypony deserves to know about this, it's them."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After quite literally ripping the projector and screen out of the bathysphere, I managed to drag them back to the apartment, my two charges following close behind. I was back to being silent, mostly, again, since the spell that the princesses had cast wore off the moment the projector shut down, but I didn't mind.

The moment we had entered the apartment, I immediately set myself to setting up the projector, finding a nearby spark-plug and hooking up the severed cable of the projector, holding the screen up across from it using a metal rod from outside.

As I worked to set up the 'communication system', I could hear Fluttershy and Rarity talking excitedly in the background, reveling in the idea of returning home. I was glad that I would be able to help them get back... Right?

Author's Note

From now on, other characters of the MLP series, such as the other members of the mane six, shall play a part in this story. That is all.

Enjoy! :3

Chapter 31: Testing The Waters

'...'

'... What... doing...?'

Oh for FUCK'S sake! How many times is he going to ask that?! It had been three hours--THREE HOURS--since that man, 'Seidon' as the asshole had decided to introduce himself as, had shut up, two since the girls had gone to sleep in the passenger's area, one since Mill had left to be with the girls as well--more likely Fluttershy over Rarity, considering the lack of screams there had been so far--and ZERO since Echo last shut up! By god, he was like an overly energized five-year old! If it wasn't a question about what one of the button's on the control panel did, or whatever the name of a fish that swam by the window was, it was some sort of other stupid and irrevocably annoying question instead!

Am I overreacting slightly? Well, let's see, between Echo attacking me three--no, scratch that, four times between Ryan Amusements and our next intended destination, alongside the fact that I had a lot of stress as is, what with the sudden realization that I had another Gene Tonic in my systems--which, by the way, I NEVER PUT IN, and found out about AS I WAS USING THE GENE BANK MACHINE TO ADD ARMORED SHELL 2--and the worry of what Seidon may have planned-

... YES I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO REACT AS ANGRILY AS I AM NOW! Can a guy not just get a single fucking moment of peace!?!

Nooooo, of course not, this is goddamn Rapture! The only place in the goddamn world where something that tried to kill you moments ago would apparently try to make half-assed smalltalk with you in any intellectually-limited way he knew how!

"... Okay, yeah, maybe I'm taking this a little overboard. But my point still stands!"

Sighing, I looked up from the book I had been reading to pass the time, grumbling slightly as I looked up towards Echo, while also involuntarily flaring my plasmids ever so slightly. Quite obviously, I was still fairly on edge with the Bouncer before me, making sure that I held every single one of my defenses up no matter what. Hell, this was the reason that Echo was in the control room with me; I didnt trust him to be anywhere near Fluttershy and Rarity for even a millisecond, especially after how he and his apparent puppet master, Seidon, endangered them back in Ryan Amusements. That same lack of trust was also the reason I was still awake, with my Rivet Gun and ESU still firmly in place on my arm, despite how tired I was--I mean, seriously, the over the top use of plasmids and physical strength I've had to give in the past few hours, excluding the Echo and Seidon issue, was exhausting to say the least. Still, I willed myself to keep on, if only out of worry towards what Echo, or worse, Seidon, would possibly do to my charges while I slept.

Granted, less than half a clip of rivets wasn't particularly the best thing to have myself armed with at the moment, but I had more than enough heavy rivets as back-up to get the job done if need be.

'...Reading.' I replied to Echo, half muttering as I did so. A part of me wanted to hope that the answer I had given would be enough to quell Echo's curiosity for the time, but-

'Rea-...ding?'

A greater part of me knew he'd want me to elaborate. He had done the same thing with all the other questions he had asked, even the ones I had no initial answer for to begin with, so it was only to be expected that he'd do the same here.

'Yes. Reading. As in, something that would be easier for me to do if it was quiet.' I snapped back, giving him a short glare before promptly returning my attention to the book before me, raising it slightly so as to block my view of him, and vice versa. It was meant to get the message across that I really didn't want anything to have to do wih the Bouncer. A message which, unfortunately, he didnt seem to get.

'Reading... How... Read...?'

FOR THE LOVE OF-

'Okay, I'm going to be honest with you, I don't like you. Like, at all. And, personally, were it not for your Vita chip being able to bring you back, and the fact that Seidon has pretty much blackmailed me and my charges into dealing with his crap, I would kill you again right now. Without any hesitation. So, unless you've got a damn good reason that I should do anything even remotely decent for you at all, you're better off just shutting up until we get to Pauper's Drop. Got it!?' I exclaimed, practically slamming my book down as I gave out an annoyed series of growls and moans to Echo.

'Or...der?' He then asked. I swear, if I could strangle him through that helmet of his, I WOULD!

'Yes! Consider that an order!' I replied. And, just like that, he turned around, instead facing forward in the control room rather than towards me, his dim green porthole lights shining awkwardly against the glass as he finally allowed me to gain the peace and silence that I had so desperately wanted...

And on a related note, I feel like I'm going to have to kick myself later for having forgotten that Echo was made to follow orders without a second thought. Including the order to be quiet, which I could've given him three hours ago!

"Ugh. Whatever, forget it, at least I should be able to have a moment of peace no-"

"Omega!" I suddenly heard Fluttershy call out from the passenger's room, her voice evidently filled with what seemed like concern and fright.

... Seriously universe, go fuck yourself...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tapping his fingers thoughtfully against one another, Seidon took in a prolonged breath as he continued to moniter the progress of Echo, and, by extension, his latest subjects of interest: the formerly armored Subject Omega, the winged equine Fluttershy, and the horned equine Rarity. Beings and lives of unimaginably interesting background and existence, among the first of few things of relative excitement to come about Seidon's inhabitance of Rapture.

A factor of differentials and intricasy, seemingly left for him to provide his analysis, with little more than a few momentary arguments and surprisingly peaceful introductions to provide added insight towards this margin of oddity. Simply put, it was beyond whatever simplistic formatting that the word 'interesting' may attempt to put it under.

Even more beautiful, the fact that this wonder was nothing more than a side additive towards the accomplishment of his long sought after goal; the completion of the Anti-protocol, after so many years of tired waiting and watching. It was brilliant.

So many points that attracted his pursuit, yet so few he was able to describe in comparison to what else he felt possible to use for such, it was for this reason that he had not even gained a single second of rest, watching the moniters before him intently, with no other sound save for the occasional environmental occurences of the rusting city around him and of what came from the monitors.

It wasn't even truly any sort of challenge for him either. After all, he had pulled several all-nighters over the years, practically coming to the point in which the only thing that would truly be able to stop him once he became this dead set on a subject was his eventual collapse as his body finally would start to shut down from he lack of rest.

Would this possibly be considered obsessive, rather than interested? Even he would have to agree, shaking his head from time to time at his own apparent madness, though always with a thin smile, accompanied by a scant chuckle.

Letting out the prolonged breath he had apparently forgotten he had been holding with a calm sigh, Seidon listened and watched with care as Echo turned to Omega for what must have been the twentieth or thirtieth time in the past three hours, allowing him to gain a clear view on Omega. His eyes were clearly moving from side to side upon a familiar piece of literature that Seidon himself vaguely recalled reading at some point in the past few years, also remembering its odd philosophy behind its vague sentences and paragraphs, easily complementing its overall setting and plot as a dystopian future lacking of any other literature unknown to the superior 'Big Brother' figment.

Truthfully, Seidon would be lying if he claimed he wasn't initially surprised when Echo had first looked over towards Omega, allowing Seidon to catch a glimpse at him as he took out a book from the bag he kept with him and began to read. After all, the very concept of literature was what may as well have been an impossibility to Big Daddies, as he had long ago learned of from his knowledge of Big Daddy programming. So, to see Omega accomplishing that very same impossibility of using an ability that had long been yanked out of his mind, as with many other protector units, he could not help but to reach the conclusion that either he had picked this ability up himself, or gained it from elsewhere.

Through his monitor, Seidon heard Echo give out a series of groans and moans to Omega, as was characteristic of protector units, before shortly after gaining an abruptly short groan in response. Times like these that he wished that he knew of the technology that those equines had used to give both Echo and Omega an improved range of understandability, so as to make it so he wouldn't be in the dark quite as much as he was now.

"Perhaps I should ask the subsequent time those other beings make contact." He pondered to himself, half-listening as Omega gave another series of moans in response to Echo, this time more aggressive in nature.

He sighed, moving one of his hands to his head and rubbing one of his temples stressfully.

Omega was... untrusting.

Not just of Echo, but of him as well. Seidon especially saw this after the threat he recalled Omega giving him some time ago.

'CrOsS mE, oR My cHaRgEs, eVeN onCe, aNd I'lL cRusH yOu lIkE thE RaT yOu ArE...'

The withheld rage in his voice, the tone of absolute seriousness, and worse yet, the eyes of a man that would very gladly live up to his words of ending another life in as cruel and painful of a way as he could possibly muster. Even now, it made him shudder.

Seidon had gone through a great many things in Rapture and, as a result, had practically become numb to it all long ago. In truth, there had only ever been one other occassion in which this reaction of nervousness and anxiety had beeen brought about from him, and the one that had even done so was, by now....

"Omega!" Seidon was suddenly brought out of his thoughts as one of the two other beings aboard the train which Echo and Omega rode in called out for the latter of the two, a sense of urgency in her tone.

Omega was, as Seidon had expected, quick to respond, throwing aside the book he had with him as though it were nothing more than garbage--Seidon decided to let his sudden compulsive feeling to scold Omega for this slide, considering the differences in intimidation factors he and Omega had--and making his way towards the door to the passenger area, with Echo following him through his gaze. Seconds short of opening the door however, Omega paused, turning and glaring directly at Echo. That same guise of seriousness was upon him again practically making it feel as though, rather than look at Echo, Omega was instead looking directly at him. A part of Seidon knew better than this, but a much larger part knew there was a substantial amount of reasons to have doubts.

Not even moving as he did so, Omega groaned what Seidon could only assume to be some kind of order, as evidenced by the fact that Echo swiftly turned himself away from Omega and the passenger door, instead looking blankly towards the sea ahead of the train.

There was a short moment of silence before, with an audible humph, Omega finally slid the passenger door open, the sounds of his footsteps being all that both Seidon and Echo could use to gauge that he had left into the other room, before promptly sliding the door closed.

For a lack of better words, Seidon felt... reasonably offended. Granted, he wasn't the one given the order, but the mere form in which it had been given to Echo, aggresiveness and all, made it feel as though it were a metaphorical slap to the face aimed towards Seidon.

As much as Seidon did want to establish better relations with Omega and his charges, this wouldn't do at all.

"And besides... Omega's orders are second priority to mine. Whereas he may tell Echo to 'stay', I am the one who specifies where, when, and how. And at this very moment, this is not the where, the when, nor the how."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Closing the door behind him as he entered the passenger area of the Atlantic Express, relatively satisfied with the order he had given Echo to turn around and not go near the door until he say so, the first thing to greet Omega was a relatively dark room, its lights still being turned off from when the girls had been resting. Omega mentally cursed at himself as he realized that he had forgotten to turn these very lights on before leaving the control area of the train, having been too much in a hurry to do so, before focusing his sight as best he could in the dimness of the room.

Through this dimness, Omega could make out Rarity sitting upon one of the seats, likely having been resting upon it not so long ago, as evidenced by the fact that she was rubbing one of her eyes using one of her forelegs, her messy and unkempt mane, and the small yawn she gave out, which punctuated itself with an appropriately adorable squeak near the very end. Alternatively to Rarity, Fluttershy was not resting upon one of these same seats. Instead, she sat in the center of the room, any hint of exhaustion she may have had instead being replaced by several features of worry as she looked down towards the floor.

Omega followed her gaze and, upon quickly taking note of her subject of interest at the moment, felt his eyes widen. There, spread out upon the floor, was Mill, who laid weakly on his side, faintly squirming and squealing, with the outlines of ADAM that comprised his veins and outer skin holding a noticeably paler glow than they usually held. Unsure of what else to do, Omega quickly made his way over to Fluttershy and Mill, kneeling down to the two as Fluttershy softly moved her forehoof as soothingly across the ADAM Slug as she could, so as to help comfort him.

"H-he just started to let out these strange noises, a-and woke me up while he was doing it. I thought that, maybe, he was tired, o-or fussy, but then he just stopped making noise, and fell over and..." Fluttershy trailed off here, visibly becoming choked up as she looked down to the clearly unwell Mill, unknowning of what she could really do. Back home, she had helped plenty of sick animals of all shapes, sizes, and species. But, she also knew how to care for those animals as well, if not from books she had read on the subject, then from simple experience. Now, however, she was utterly clueless. She had never taken care of an 'ADAM Slug', as she recalled it being known as, and the closest things to it that she had cared for, average garden slugs and snails, had never really acted like this at all, never really becoming noticably ill before.

As for Rarity, who by then had completely woken up from her previously calm slumber, she also looked on with noticable concern on her face, though she didn't dare come any closer. It wasnt that she didn't care for Mill, or the worry that Fluttershy was clearly displaying, but she still found herself shuddering every time she looked towards the slug, cringing in slight disgust as she remembered how she had first... come across it.

She felt positively guilty for being unable to be by Fluttershy or Omega's sides to help them in any way she could, but...

"Oh dear, perhaps he's hungry?" She suggested as a possibility, raising her hoof in a subconscious attempt to gain either of the two's attention.

Omega shook his head at this, turning to look to Rarity before, with a bob of his head, gesturing towards the bag of supplies they had in the corner of the room. Omega specifically remembered feeding Mill some time ago, having given it to him as a 'treat'. He even watched as Mill ate the entire can of food from lid to lid, cleaning it out to the point that it was practically brimming. Even the small burp that Mill had seemed to give was clear in his memory.

Both Fluttershy and Rarity were swift to realize what the gesture Omega had given had meant, unfortunately leaving them without any possible guesses once more in the process.

"W-well then..." Fluttershy mumbled, looking down to the quivering form of Mill. "W-what do we d-"

"Interestingly enough, for all intents and purposes, Rarity was actually onto something with her suggestion." A familiar voice rang through the passenger car, causing both Rarity and Fluttershy to gasp in surprise as they looked towards the source. Sure enough, the two were able to clearly see the Bouncer, Echo, standing in front of the open door between the control area of the train and the passenger area. They hadn't even noticed it had opened, likely too caught up in what was happening to pay any real attention to the fact. Upon seeing the Anti-protocol member now however, the voice of Seidon having abruptly returned after a long period of silence alongside him, both Rarity and Fluttershy reacted in similar ways, moving ever so closer to Omega; Fluttershy seemed to try and hide herself behind their guardian, whereas Rarity simply backed herself towards him, remaining upon the long row of seats that moved towards the other side of the train all the while.

Omega's reaction was... rather different. Before so much as another breath was taken after hearing the voice of Seidon, Omega was quickly stood up as fast as possible, his Rivet Gun extending and plasmids readying themselves as he took aim towards Echo. A notably loud growl could be heard coming from him as he stood his ground, glaring threateningly towards the Bouncer and his controller.

"Well... Impressive reaction time. Albeit not the fastest I have seen, but still rather-" Omega didnt even pay a hint of attention towards Seidon's rambling--or, as Omega himself would prefer to term it, 'bullshit'--as he growled out towards Echo instead.

'I told you not to come in here! Why the hell are you in he-'

'Omega's commands... Second priority...' Echo interrupted, quoting what Seidon had previously told him in terms of Omega, and how far he was expected to listen to him. This earned yet another wordless growl from Omega, both because he now knew that Seidon was apparently the reason behind this, and he held a slight inkling that he may have done this just to mess with him--an unspoken challenge, so to speak.

"Now, now, I assure you, I'm not here to bring about any conflict. If anything, I noticed that you needed assistance, and felt that it would only be right if I were to help fill that role." Though the trio could not see it, Seidon leaned ever so slightly further into his seat.

"That is, of course, if this doesn't pose any issue." Narrowing his eyes, Omega glanced to and fro between Echo and their bag of supplies, a low grunt escaping him as, with little more than a flick of his right wrist, the bag in its entirity was brought towards him. He grabbed it with little difficulty as it honed in on where he willed it, before then putting it down next to him.

"... I take it you did that as assurance, correct? To be certain you had ammunition if needed?" Omega gave him a deadpan expression, confirming his suspicions. Nonetheless, before Omega could so much as 'say' or do anything else, he felt the light touch of a hoof on his side. With a raised brow at the sudden sensation, Omega turned and looked to Fluttershy, finding that she was giving unto him a look that an odd mix of both pleading and sterness; a short glance towards Rarity proved to hold similar result.

It was slightly frustrating to him, but since the transmission--when the girls had first actually asked the favor of him--Rarity and Fluttershy had not changed their opinions on how they felt Omega should treat their new 'guests'. Granted, they themselves were still rather nervous around Echo and Seidon, as past experience had expectedly caused them to be, but they still felt as though there wasn't really any need to hold that same grudge, especially when Seidon, to them, did seem to legitimately be offering them help; not only in regards to Mill, but also through his very accompanyment--or rather, Echo's accompanyment. The same accompanyment that Omega would have very easily preferred to refer to as assurance that he and his charges wouldn't interfere with anything Seidon was planning.

Suffice to say, Omega held a great many doubts towards both Echo and Seidon, and felt as though any and all 'help' that they would offer would somehow be some sort of ploy of theirs. It was a tad bit paranoid, even he would admit, but well founded in reason, considering the setting that surrounded them. Were there any place to suddenly trust someone who was once a threat to you, Rapture was most certainly not that place.

"Omega, darling," Rarity was next to say, her previous expression now beginning to lean more to its pleading side than its one of sternness, "please, lower your weapon and take a breath."

Omega felt his jaw clench as he heard Rarity say this, more than slightly reserving of her request. Despite this though, he eventually could be heard taking in a deep breath through his mouth, relunctantly lowering his Rivet Gun as he then let this same breath out. The glare he held on Echo, and Seidon, did not falter in any way, shape, or form though.

Still, this seemed to satisfy Rarity, who gave him a small smile so as to express her thankfullness. Fluttershy was also glad to see Omega lose his previously aggressive stance, but did not say or do anything save for a short smile of her own towards Omega to express it, her focus too preoccupied with the situation at hand to do so.

Peeking around Omega, who was still standing between her and Echo, Fluttershy spoke up as best she could in an attempt to address what Seidon had earlier said.

"U-Um, sorry, but, um, earlier you said Rarity was... 'Onto something'?" Her voice was just as low and timid as Omega had remembered her having it when they had first met, if not even more so. Omega couldn't help but wonder if, maybe, this was how she acted with people she didn't really trust all that much yet...

The scant feeling of happiness at this thought being moved aside, Omega awaited an answer from Seidon, alongside his charges.

"Hm, yes, as a matter of fact I did." Seidon confirmed, earning a raised brow from Rarity.

"So... he really is just hungry?" Rarity questioned. As response, Seidon gave out a light chuckle; a rather annoying sound to Omega.

"No. As I said, you were merely into something. You see, the issue does have to do with hunger, but it is, in fact, quite the opposite of him having it." This, in term, confused the three to no extent.

"S-so, the problem is that he's... full?" Fluttershy hazarded as a guess, looking down towards Mill curiously as she continued to try to comfort him. Another weak squeal escaped him as Seidon went more into detail.

"One of his digestive systems are backed up, yes." This earned him an... Odd stare from the group. Especially Rarity.

"Um... 'One of'...?" She questioned, glancing to Mill with a noticeably perturbed expression.

"Again, yes. You see, despite their small size, ADAM Slugs have a very complex system of organs in their bodies. Part of this system bring two separate digestive systems." This was something that even Omega was surprised about, raising a brow of his in interest. Big Daddies were not very knowledgable about the specifics on ADAM Slug anatomy. In fact, very few were. All they really cared about from them was the ADAM itself; nothing more, nothing less.

"One of their digestive systems works as any other would. It processes foods that an ADAM Slug would eat, mostly plant-life and whatever variants may arise from them, including fruits and vegetables, and eventually leads to their later... ahem, 'disposal'." Not a very difficult concept for the three to really understand, in terms of what he meant by 'disposal', yet Seidon still took care in doing so. Again, rather irritating to Omega, but he was easily able to push this aside.

"However, despite this first digestive system, it lacks the ability to process a certain group of components required to keep ADAM Slugs alive and well, not so easily obtained from what one may consider 'normal' food. These components being a mixture of water, dissolved proteins, glucose, amino acids, and so on."

"Get on with it already." Omega thought to himself, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes as he silently wished for Seidon's rambling to reach whatever point it was trying to make... If there even was one...

"In other words, blood." And just like that, Omega, Rarity, and Fluttershy all the same felt their eyes widen in shock, not really having expected that answer.

"B-... Blood?!" Rarity exclaimed in a silent yell.

"Indeed. You see, the very thing that ADAM Slugs need to not only survive, but produce ADAM in that same process, is genetic information. And what better way is there to do so than from the blood of another organism?" The group was silent, either being unable to answer, or unsure of how to.

"Returning to my previous point however, the other digestive system that ADAM Slugs have within them, which hold the blood they ingest, is much larger in scale than many of the other organ systems in their bodies, their flexible skin proving to be more than necessary to mold depending on how much they consume." The memory of Omega having believed that Mill seemed to have gotten bigger, if only slightly, came clearly to mind, as he gave a short glance towards Mill. Alongside that, he also recalled the two bodies that he had passed when he had noticed this, and how they had seemed... drained, and paler.

"Using this digestive system, ADAM Slugs refine the components they need in the process of obtaining their necessary components, resulting in a different type of waste. In other words, ADAM. However, the issue with this is that this same digestive system within these slugs are... well, they essentially lead to a dead end, serving purely as a sort of holding area for their ingested blood in an effort for them to place it somewhere while processing it."

"As a result, ADAM Slugs are forced to rid themselves of this leftover waste in their systems, the ADAM, through the forced expulsion using the same path they had initially taken; in other words, they essentially purge it from their bodies."

"This process, however, is not passed down through ADAM Slugs by pure instinct. Rather, they are taught it by parent generations mere days after birth, which were taught by their parent generations, and so on, and so forth." Throughout most of this long-winded explanation, both Rarity and Omega had gained rather disturbed expressions, glancing at one another from time to time with every, rather unpleasant, fact that Seidon spoke of. Fluttershy was far opposite in this regard, intently giving her attention to every little fact she could learn of about Mill, and other ADAM Slugs like him. It wasn't often she could learn about animals she didn't already know whatever she could about, so to her, this was all anything but disturbing, let alone boring.

"This is where we humans, and Rapture, come into play. Ourselves having discovered the utility of this ADAM, and a form of which to produce even more at a faster rate-" Omega flinched at this, his mind going back to the thought of his previous charges, and other Little Sisters before them.

"we began to find and harvest vast amounts of these ADAM Slugs, eventually causing the latter extinction of the wild parent generation in favor of a more 'domesticated' amount, meant for breeding and continued harvesting. In our doing this, however, the later generations of ADAM Slugs were left without the knowledge of how to expel whatever ADAM may be in their bodies on their own."

"Population wise, ADAM Slugs began to go into a sharp decline, if not because of the consistent harvesting, but also due to an overabundance of waste in their bodies, without the ability to rid themselves of it." For the first time in what seemed like ages to Omega, and Rarity, Seidon paused, seeming to take in a breath as Echo aimed his gaze past Omega, towards Mill.

"I believe that this is what's ailing your... 'pet'." He finally finished, shortly after quieting himself, as though he were awaiting questions. Questions that, in culmination amongst the three, ranged themselves around the dozens.

"... So... he needs to... throw up?" Rarity concluded, shuddering, her voice going an octave or two higher in disgust of the thought.

"Yes."

"And that is where most ADAM comes from?"

"Yes." Not losing her expression by even the slightest of ways, Rarity looked towards Omega, who shared a similar look about him as he glanced down to his right arm, his veins giving out a scant glow before returning to their previous state of relative normality.

"S-so, what do we do?" Fluttershy then asked, hopeful that, since Seidon was aware of the cause of Mill's sickness, he would know how to fix it.

"Well, under any other circumstance, when one would find a 'bloated' ADAM Slug, they would extract the ADAM in their bodies through actually harvesting it." At this, Omega quickly lost his previous expression, glaring coldly towards Echo and Seidon whilst giving out a deep growl. It was clear by the pause Seidon held afterwards that this attempt to intimidate him was very effective.

"... Yes, um, but considering the fact that you three seem rather fond of this one, there is another, much less harmful method of extracting the ADAM from its body, albeit less effective and efficient." With this answer, Omega eased his previous showing of intimidation, letting it go with one last fading rumble of his throat.

"First, I would recommend you find some sort of empty container. Preferably one without any leaks, and a large opening. A jar, for instance." Though with some hesitation, Omega followed Seidon's instruction, opening the supply bag he had with him and beginning to search for any sort of object that could be even relatively similar to what he was asking for.

The search ended up being much shorter than Omega had originally worried it would be though, with him swiftly finding one of the glass containers of water that he had inside. Lifting it out, Omega noted that there was still, indeed, a small amount of water inside, and elected to move it into another of the not-quite-filled containers.

Once that was done, he placed the object down next to Fluttershy, with his winged charge quickly grabbing hold of it and carrying it nearby Mill, at the ready.

"Alright. Next, place the jar down on the floor so that it is on a flat surface, and lean the ADAM Slug with you on the rim of the container, so his front half is pointed in towards the bottom of the container, and his rear is along the outside of the body." Omega and Rarity looked to Seidon oddly at this, but Fluttershy showed no hesitation to do so, carefully placing the jar down before, with even more caution, grabbing hold of Mill by his sides to lift him onto the jar.

He gave out a whimper-like squeal, which tore at Fluttershy's heart, as she soon placed him down as gently as possible.

"Perfect. Now, all you need to do is place your hand... Er, hoof, I suppose, down upon his back, where it arcs due to the jar, and give him a light squeeze downwards." Giving a small nod as response, all eyes were on Fluttershy as she tentatively placed a hoof onto Mill's back, taking in a breath before slowly beginning to add pressure. The response from Mill was almost immediate, as he gave out a shrill, clearly pain-filled cry as a result of the sensation; Fluttershy quickly flinched away, apologizing to Mill profusely as she realized the discomfort she caused; Rarity cringed at the sound, her ears laying flat against the back of her head; Omega was right back to glaring and growling towards Seidon, this time somehow managing to add even more coldness behind his gaze.

Seidon would be lying if he said he didn't attempt to back away from his monitors ever so slightly as a result of this look, feeling as though, despite the distance between them, Omega would somehow manage to kill him at this very moment. In fact, Seidon could almost swear that he even saw Echo, the being who is unable to die as a result of his vita-chip, take a step or two back himself. Nonetheless, he quickly attempted to regain himself, wasting no time to explain.

"N-now, calm down." He said, almost tripping over his own words as he did so. As to who he was saying this to in the train car, even Seidon was unsure.

"This is only bound to happen. As I said, the systems that facilitate ADAM production in an ADAM Slug are dead ends. Under normal circumstances, ADAM Slugs would have been able to control the muscles they have in this system of theirs to painlessly rid themselves of ADAM. But, unfortunately, that is not the case anymore. As a result, we essentially need to force the ADAM out of the slug, which, as you can tell, is more than slightly uncomfortable for the slug." Fluttershy looked to Echo and Seidon apprehensively, clearly distressed over the situation in its entirity.

"However, I can assure you, if the ADAM stays within the body of the slug, rather than be purged now, it will only make things worse for the slug, all the way towards death, and an extremely unpleasant one at that." At these words, Fluttershy whimpered, her own ears going flat against her head and body beginning to tremble at the thought of Mill dying, looking down to the floor in front of her in the process. Signs that Omega clearly did not appreciate as, with one last look, he swiftly quieted Seidon with a near silent 'oh dear'...

Giving out one final grimace towards Seidon, Omega turned as he heard Rarity seem to remove herself from her seat, no longer being able to stand watching her friend struggle through this alone. As... strained as her relationship with Mill was, Fluttershy was still Rarity's good friend, and if she cared for him that much, then what kind of 'friend' would she be if she werent there to help her when she needed it most?

With little more than the faint sounds of discomfort from Mill, and the tamping of hooves on the floor of the Atlantic Express, the humans aboard watched as Rarity made her way next to Fluttershy, just behind Omega, placing a comforting hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. Almost immediately, Fluttershy, who had not noticed her friend approach her in her distress, gave a light gasp, her trembling halting as she looked to Rarity. Rarity, in turn, offered a small, reinforcing smile in return, wordlessly showing her support as best she could. Fluttershy blinked, glancing to Omega, who gave her a smile of his own, alongside a reassuring nod, before finally putting her attention back to Mill. Taking in a slow, shaky breath, Fluttershy again put her hoof onto Mill's back.

"... M-Mill," she said softly, "I know you're feeling sick, but I'm going to try to help you feel better."

Watching with astute interest and care, especially from Seidon, everyone in the car was absolutely silent as they watched Fluttershy speak to Mill in an attempt to comfort him. Mentally, Seidon and Omega alike took note of how motherly Fluttershy seemed to sound at the moment, with Omega gaining a faint smile to his features as he did so.

"Now, you aren't going to feel good as I do this, but I promise, you'll feel all better after it's over... Okay?" There was a scant moment of silence before, soon, Mill gave out another faint squeak; though they weren't sure, Omega, Fluttershy, and Rarity alike were almost certain that it seemed as though Mill had given them acknowledgement of what Fluttershy had said.

Either way, this was all the prompting that Fluttershy needed.

"Okay... H-here I go..." Carefully, so as to not cause Mill too much pain, Fluttershy began to push down on his back even slower than before, watching Mill's reactions as she went along. Sure enough, mere seconds after she began, Mill began to squirm and cry out once again, causing bothe Omega and Rarity to cringe. Fluttershy, however, made sure not to retreat this time, pressing on with her efforts.

"Shhh, shhh, shush. It's alright, Mill. Mama Fluttershy's right here." She comforted, pressing down even further on Mill as his cries grew.

"I know, I know, it hurts. But, you have to be strong, okay? It'll all be over soon..."

Every second that passed felt agonizingly long, filled with either the hushed sounds of Fluttershy's voice, or the various squeals of pain that came from effort. For a time, it seemed as though it would last an eternity. But, finally, Mill's cries soon grew quiet as they were instead replaced by a rather... different sound.

One of what seemed to be gagging.

Once it began, there was little to stop what soon followed, which was Mill beginning to, essentially, throw up a rather significant amount of glowing red liquid, which practically flowed from his mouth to the glass bottom of the jar, beginning to fill it. Fluttershy felt a smile come onto her face as she saw this, believeing it to be rather promising. Omega, though, seemed to flinch at this sight, whereas Rarity had to force herself to hold back a gag, before looking in any other direction whilst attempting to imagine she didn't hear the sounds of a liquid hitting a glass bottom.

"See? There you go. Thats it, let it out. Let it all out." Fluttershy continued to encourage, using her other hoof to pet Mill where she could so as to further comfort him.

The next few minutes went by shortly as, eventually, nothing more than small drops of liquid dripped from Mill's maw, occasionally dropping down with an audible plop into the rest of the liquid in the container. Fluttershy gleamed as she saw this, surmising that Mill had finished, as she then gave him one last light squeeze to be sure, before then putting both her forehooves on his sides and lifting him up towards her. Turning him, Fluttershy was ecstatic to see that Mill no longer seemed to be in discomfort, once again healthily squealing and squirming in her grip as she looked at him eye to eye.

"There, see? That wasn't so bad, was it?" She asked, carefully maneuvering her hooves so as to wipe off what little amount of liquid that remained on Mill's mouth onto her fetlock. Mill gave out a light trill as response, earning a giggle from Fluttershy.

"Awww. Glad to see you're all better." As Fluttershy caringly nuzzled Mill, who returned the gesture, Omega could see that, in fact, Mill really did look much different than he did before. His eyes and the grooves along his body had regained their previous red shine, his every action seemed suddenly much more energetic and free, and, most noticablly of all, Mill seemed to have gone significantly down in terms of his size, practically being half the size of his previous state.

Altogether, Omega, and Rarity, were just happy that everything was fine again.

"What's that? You want to see Papa Omega?" Hearing this, Omega felt his brow raise, not only because of the fact that Mill hadn't really 'said' anything so much as he had squeaked, or the fact that he had just been referred to as 'Papa Omega', but mostly because of the fact that she had called him that after having called herself 'Mama Fluttershy'.

Before Omega could really dwell on this fact, Omega found himself staring directly into the eyes of Mill, who, with Fluttershy's assistance, was now face level with Omega. Smiling and giving out a light chuckle, Omega gave Fluttershy a light pat on the head, earning a giggle, before taking Mill from her offering hooves, whom quickly moved up his arms and onto his shoulders, where he then began to rub himself against Omega's neck lovingly, earning even more light chuckles from him. Both Fluttershy and Rarity smiled at this; past events, after all, had made for quite a notable gap between now and the last time Omega had legitimately seemed happy, or at least stress-free. To the two, it was a refreshing breath of air to take.

"Ah, now isn't that a nice sight?" As the voice of Seidon suddenly entered the room again, the trio turned themselves around to face the Bouncer he spoke through once more, Omega losing his previously smiling expression in favor of a more disgruntled one.

"Now, your slug... 'Mill' is all better, and you have a notable amount of ADAM with you." At this, Omega glanced towards the glass jar that Mill had just been leaned into, a good fifth of it filld with the familiar wonder-drug ADAM, straight from the source... which, truthfully, Omega partially wished he had not witnessed watching unfold, considering the fact that he now wondered as to wether or not all the ADAM in his bloodstream was essentially slug vomit.

A rather perturbing fact indeed.

Nonetheless, despite what had occured, Omega continued to look towards Seidon with a negative disposition. He still didn't like him, even a bit, and if he thought that this was all it would take for him to even come close to trusting him, then he had another thing coming.

"S-Seidon," Fluttershy said, her voice returning to its previously timid state, "t-thank you for helping Mill."

A chuckle could be heard coming from Seidon as, without missing a beat, he gave out a response.

"Ah, consider it nothing, Fluttershy. After all, if we are to be together for the next few legs of your and your friend's journeys, then I should believe it to be best if we do so in good spirits with one another." For a moment or two, Echo looked towards Omega, allowing him to guess it was by Seidon's muted command, before Seidon then spoke once more.

"Though... I do wonder, as a result... If that is how you react to the possible death of Mill... how would you react to the actual passing of Omega?" Perhaps the tone in his voice had been missed by Rarity and Fluttershy, but Omega, and Mill, had caught the sudden sinisterness behind it without any issue.

It was at that moment that the two had the same thought. 'What was he planning?'

Suddenly, the train shook, causing its passengers to all momentarily lose their footing, before scrambling to get it back. Omega, who was among the first to regain his balance, looked outside the window of the train, noting that the open ocean view it had originally provided was now blocked off by metal.

"Hm. It would seem that it's a good thing this issue was resolved when it was. I advise that you all prepare yourselves, with Echo being no exception. The train has arrirved at Pauper's Drop, and with it, the location of an Anti-protocol subject."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watching as the train surfaced from the water, the once thick ocean walls that surrounded us suddenly lowering themselves as though they were merely some odd kind of sheet that had been embracing the train in a luxurious hold, leaving nothing more than small droplets to fall down the windows and metal of the train, I looked back to my charges, making sure they were ready. Nervousness was an obvious sign to see, the two seeming to be unable to remain entirely still where they stood, but the two seemed to give me positive looks anyhow, as though to signify their readiness. I gave them a curt nod as I then looked to the Bouncer next to me. Echo, unlike my charges, did not even spare me a glance, though I certainly didn't mind. I had no idea what he was doing under that helmet of his, and the last thing I needed was the thought that he could quite possibly be mocking me under there.

If anything, all that would do is lead me to punch him despite the lack of obvious prompting; that, obviously, wouldn't go over too well with either Fluttershy or Rarity.

I shook my head at the thought as I then glanced towards me Rivet Gun and ESU, adjusting my glove and restraints ever so slightly, while also glancing at the rivets I had in my clip--a mental note to self, try my damnest to find some more ammo when I can.

In that moment, the train finally became still, and the doors that led outside of the train slid open, replacing the relatively stale air from inside the train with comparitively less stale air from our stop.

Again looking to Echo, albeit with a slight grimace, I gave him a light shove, motioning for him to go out first. Two good things came from doing this: One, if there were anyone waiting to attack, the guy who was actually able to come back from death would be in the frontlines, and two, there was NO way I was letting him behind us.

Anyways, Echo didn't seem to mind whatsoever, or at least he didn't vocalize that he did, making his way out of the train with several heavy stomps, its vibrations easily being felt by me, and likely the girls, from onboard the train...

I can already tell, doing this quietly isn't going to be that much of an option anymore, is it?

Ugh, to hell with it.

As Echo made his way outside, my charges and I looked on as he held his drill out, looking about the room with a cationary yellow-tinted porthole light, which lit the room like a dim flashlight. After a few seconds though, those same lights turned green, as he then lumbered his way over to a clearly visible column that sat upon the checkered train platform, moving his hand over it like a curious child once again, feeling each bump and feature through his gloves.

I know how that feels, at least the touching something with your glove bit that is, and I can easily testify that it is pretty much the most useless thing you can do. Big Daddy gloves are pretty much thick walls of rubber that you wear over your hand. Sharp, soft, hot, cold, everything you touch will be exactly the same no matter what; it'll feel like goddamn rubber all the same.

Rolling my eyes at this, I groaned for Echo to try to do something less stupid, word for word, as I then gave the supply bag on my back one last tug to make it slightly more comfortable. From this, I felt two things; Mill squirming ever so slightly as he moved along with the supplies inside, and the oddly warm sensation of the jarred ADAM we had recently... obtained...

Seriously though, I'm trying my best not to just call it slug puke at this point, especially since that's what's flowing my veins. Ick.

Anyhow, with a bob of my head towards my charges, I made my way off the train, taking care as to step over the slight gap between the actual train floor and the platform. I also watched as Fluttershy and Rarity followed me out, just in case they might slip as a result of this very gap. The bandage that still sat plain upon Rarity's nose was a clear reminder as to how much of a possibility of happening this was.

It was only once they were off the train, and that I had closed the door behind them, did the three of us really care to glance around the room.

The platform we all stood upon was just about as simple as the last one, complete with dirty, partially wet floors, stylistic railings with white glass between them--as to wether or not the glass was intended to be this way, or just filthy, I couldn't even tell anymore--and, interestingly enough, both off and on the elevated floor, there were a few wooden benches, along with small lights which attached themselves to the same column Echo had apparently been so interested in, if only to slightly illuminate the area around these seats.

Far to the left of the platform, a ticket/control booth, similar to the one in Ryan Amusements, stood upon similar elevation, though with some notable differences to it, such as a slightly bigger size, close proximity, and, more importantly, a Vita-chamber. Otherwise known as the place where the jolly jackass himself, and his annoying commander, would come back to whenever he died. Just perfect. As for the right, there was another, smaller booth, with pretty much nothing in it save for a health station, a poster of Lamb--appropriately drawn on with what looked like marker, making her seem like she had a mustache--and a cash register... which I quickly gave out mental dibs on checking first.

As for the rest of the room, there wasn't really much else to say. Save for a few briefcases and luggage containers, and a sizable leak from the cieling above, which was the cause of the floor's dampness, it looked like any other train stop, schedule, map, and all.

Though, it was fairly decent for one to note that the name plates of the room, which were, of course, above the door and map of the room, were covered by wooden planks that had long been nailed over them as replacement, with hastily written text reading 'Pauper's Drop'... with an upside down 'e' and a backwards 'p'. I know splicers weren't the smartest bunch, and that I myself would have probably done the same when I was first learning to read and write a few days ago, but goddamn did this bother me.

"Ah, here we are." I suddenly heard Seidon say through Echo's communication systems, drawing a silent groan from me.

"Now, I should inform you, the one you are looking for here, your first anti-protocol member to seek, is known as Subject Gamma 3-4. A second generation Rosie model."

Oh, great, something I can relate to.

"Of course, much like Echo, Gamma has been given improvements, so as to better suit his role in the Anti-protocol."

Okay, nevermind, not as relatable anymore.

"Alongside the usual weaponry one would find a Rosie capable of wielding, as I'm sure you're well aware of Omega, Gamma has also been suited with a customized Rivet Gun, made to hold a larger capacity of rivets whilst deliviring double the firepower, and modified proximity mines. Alongside that, much like Echo, he has had a certain aspect of his speed improved through means of splicing and genetic modification. However, unlike Echo, it is not speed that was transferred to how he moved, so much as it was how he reacted." This earned a raised brow from me and my charges, the three of us silently urging that he explain.

"If you recall Omega, back on the train, I mentioned that your reflexes were good, but not quite the best I had seen. Gamma is that 'best', with his mental and physical reflexes upped to the point that he would be able to take two seperate foes on opposite sides of a large room out in a near simultaneous fashion, merely after they had taken no more than a single step into the room. In essence, the moment you come anywhere near him, it's more than likely you've already been shot without even knowing it." This earned a fairly audible gulp from both Rarity and Fluttershy, who nervously glanced between me and each other as they swallowed this information. I... didnt fare all that much better. I already had to deal with someone who travels faster than a bullet whenever he gets serious, but now, apparently, there was also someone who shot faster than a bullet could even reach you... just fucking fantastic.

Still, I couldn't help but to be... curious about something. Some time ago, Seidon had mentioned that every member of the Anti-protocol were failed prototypes, in of their own. Echo's failure was a misprint in his programming, giving him his current name over the name 'Epsilon'. So, what was Gamma's failure?

Before I could even get my trusty whiteboard and marker out to ask this, Rarity seemed to beat me to the punch.

"Um, question, if I may?"

"But of course."

"Yes, well... why exactly was he made a part of the, er..."

"Anti-protocol."

"Yes, that." Seidon responded, annoyingly enough, with a light chuckle.

"If, by that, you are asking as to why he was deemed a failure and placed in the group, then I suppose that it is only rightful that you all know. You see, during the process of instilling the improvements towards his reflexes, the plasmids and tonics we inserted into his mind caused a... short-circuit, if you will. In other words, part of his brain function ceased itself from actually presenting itself. More specifically, his sight." So... he's blind?

"The scientists that were working on his development noticed this occurence mere moments after it had arisen, and were more than prepared to rid themselves of Gamma, and his entire concept altogether. However, I was able to see that, despite his blindness, Gamma's reflexes were still unhindered. Even the slightest off sounds set him off, leading me to believe that, what he had lost in sight, he made up for in hearing. With every test to this theory I took, I noted that he had not once missed a target whenever he would hear even the slightest of sounds from it. As a result, I welcomed him to Anti-protocol WYK, and had him situated in Pauper's Drop." Okay, so good with hearing, great with reflexes, and absolutely horrible with sight. Still not the best situation, but... better, I suppose.

"Now then, if there are no further quuestions, you should be aware that I will be monitoring you as you progress, updating you from time to time on your proximity to Subject Gamma. Once you find him, I'll transmit a signal through Echo's systems, which will hopefully allow me to restablish Gamma's connection with the Anti-protocol WYK systematics. After that, I can have Gamma lead you to where he was originally held, similar to the room Echo came from, and I will once again use Echo's communication systems to link those computers to mine and release the area lock. From there, you simply return to the train, and move onto the next area. Are we clear in this regard?" We're not idiots, nor are we splicers---which would be much worse in terms of lack of intellegence. Honestly, if you're really going to walk us through this process like we are, then thats only going to further how much I will want to hurt you when we meet face to face... If we meet face to face.

Giving Seidon a begrudging nod of my head, I heard him seem to move himself through the com.

"Brilliant. Now, your first route to go through should be just up ahead. I'll unlock the door controls so you can move on." And just like that, the sound of the communication systems in Echo's suit shutting off could be heard with a loud static to accompany it, followed shortly thereafter by a notable click that came from the only door in the room.

I could tell with ease... this was going to stink, horribly.

With another groan, and an albeit admittedly immature mocking gesture I made of Seidon, which he had hopefully seen, I gestured for Rarity and Fluttershy to follow close behind me as I made my way over to the cash register I had seen earlier, making sure to give Echo the order to stay where he was all the while.

About $25 dollars worth of loot later, and a hacked health station which provided us another health kit, my charges and I gave the room one last lookover before I called for Echo.

'Echo, head through the door and take point. If you see any splicers, feel free to take them out... Or at least make them waste their ammo trying to kill you. Either way, it works for me.' Earning a nod from the Bouncer, Echo was quick to make his way past us... Or, at least he would've been, had it not been for the fact that he tripped over a suitcase and fell flat on his face only a few steps from where he had originally been, causing a loud crash and thud of metal on metal to echo throughout the room, causing Rarity and Fluttershy to flinch, and me to, inevitably, slam my hand against my face in exasperation.

Like I had said, this was going to stink.... Horribly...

Author's Note

IM BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

ONTO PAUPER'S DROP EVERYONE!

Oh, and, as a note, Mill now has more than one use involving being adorable. :D