The Fate of Elizabeth (Bioshock Infinite)

Chapter 4: An Unexpected Help

After a cart ride, surrounded by hostile policemen, Mathias is taken to Columbia Central Prison, where all the most dangerous criminals are locked up. Arrived in the large hall of the prison lit by a light bulb, Mathias looks around him with quick glances and sees on the walls of the posters "Wanted" showing a young black woman with a determined look and holding two weapons in his hands. According to research, her name would be Daisy Fitzroy and she would be a former leader of the Vox Populi group, a rebel group that has existed for several years and who is fighting Zachary Comstock and his order. In addition to being a hell rather than paradise, Columbia seems to have plunged into civil war, although people do not seem to be afraid and continue their lives as if nothing had happened. Detained by a police officer on each arm, handcuffed, Mathias is taken to the corridors of the prison. Behind iron doors locked with padlocks, he can hear the cries of anger and despair from the prisoners, some of them violently striking the doors of their cells. The soil is wet and should not be cleaned frequently. The air smells of death, rust and coal. Passing by a room, Mathias sees two policemen torturing a prisoner, on a sort of metal chair with claws and spikes. The man screams in pain as a policeman asks him questions in a threatening tone. Mathias has a lump in his throat when he saw it.

The police take Mathias to an empty room at the end of a corridor and forcefully sit on an iron chair and immobilize the young soldier's wrists and ankles with solid locks. The police leave the room and leave Mathias alone for the moment. The young man looks around, but apart from his chair and the old light bulb that illuminates the room, there is nothing here. Mathias tries to force the barriers that hold him back but he knows it's useless. He acted as if nothing had happened when suddenly Zachary Comstock entered the room, escorted by two armed guards. But Mathias does not allow himself to be intimidated by the prophet and speaks to him sarcastically.

(Mathias): "A prophet authorizing weapons and escorted by guards with machine guns? Machines to torture prisoners are not very Christian things may I say."

(Zachary): ".. you are not in position to sarcasm, Mr. Mathias Booker. I know why you are here, you come from Sodom below to kidnap my daughter, Elizabeth, and stop her from fulfilling her destiny. "

(Mathias): "What? What fate and why would I take your daughter? Even if she is really beautiful, I admit it, I do not know her, I am there by accident."

But Zachary did not believe him and hit him once in the jaw. Mathias sounded but quickly revived.

(Zachary): "Do not think that you can bother me with your words, false shepherd, you are just like all those who live in the Sodom ... Corruption, greedy, violent ....."

(Mathias): "Oh? Because you think you're different?"

(Zachary): "I became prophet at the request of god. Our Lord told me to purify the world of the Sodom, by any means. The archangel Gabriel himself appeared to me, while I was only a peasant, to reveal to me that one day I would be the man who would become the founder of a perfect and pure nation. And when my time will come, Elizabeth will continue my work. Soon, this world will become.....Perfect."

The old man speaks as if possessed, and Mathias think he is crazy.

(Mathias): "And what will you do to me, if I may ask?"

(Zachary): "You will suffer the same fate as all abominations of your kind. You will be hanged tomorrow at the first hour, and after, your body will be thrown from the top of the sky, to be returned to the hell from where you come."

Mathias had a lump in the throat but from that crazy fanatic prophet, he expected something horrible. Zachary, confident, leaving the cell escorted by his guards, leaving Mathias alone, tied to the chair and locked in the room. The young soldier tries to force the barriers of the chains several times, but no chance of success. He stays several hours, until nightfall, sitting on the chair, hoping to find a way to escape, but nothing. Around midnight, the cell door opened slowly, pulling Mathias from his thoughts. A woman, her face hidden by a hood and draped in a large black cloak, enters in the room and approaches Mathias, who had the beating heart, not very reassured again.