The Man Who Stole My Mind

Chapter Four - Dr. Steinman

"Andrew Ryan!" Jack shouts into the radio. "Who the hell is Andrew Ryan and why is he trying to kill me?"

"Andrew Ryan." My voice grows cold just saying the man's name. "Is the bloody King of Rapture. And he'll do he damn best to keep it that way. Which means he's blocked off the entry to Neptune's Bounty, and you'll have to find another way through."

"Shit." Jack holds his hands in his hair, combing through it a bit. The strands are wet and stick together.

I spot a damaged security bot near the disheveled man. It's stuck between the door, still whirring. A perfect distraction to keep Jack calm. "Hey boyo." Jack nods to show he's listening, still combing, however. "There's a security bot to yer' left, if you can hack that piece of junk, it'll protect you."

Jack look up, to the left and sees the whirring machine. He steps closer to it, and begins to mess around with the insides. The bot's light turns green, a sign it's on Jack's side, and begins to hover in front of the man.

"Wow," I say shocked. "Where'd you learn to do that, boyo?"

"My Dad taught me a few things 'bout electronics and such." Jack smiles, proud of the fact.

"That's good," I mumble. "A skill like that will come in handy down 'ere. But if you want to use the emergency access, you'll need Dr. Steinman's key."

Jack wanders around, collecting ammo, food, and the sort. Even had a couple fights with some splicers, but he just smirked and said, "zap 'em and whack 'em!" He eventually found the lever that opens the pavilion itself, and pulled it. He also found a machine gun, giving a small smile as he checked the ammo.

He even found some more audio recordings, however, I told him not to be too interested in those, it would only slow him down.

I feel nauseous again, that Fontaine fucker's fighting hard today. It actually hurts today. I grab the nearest trash can and let my lunch out. I hear him chuckle. Something making your stomach upset kid? I ignore him, any reaction to his antics makes him feel cocky.

"-o alright?" I hear the radio crackle. "Hello? Atlas?"

"I'm...fine, boyo" Really? You don't sound too good! Maybe I'll take over for a little, yeah? "No!" I scream. "I-I'm sorry, boyo, I just feel under the weather."

"Well, you should rest Atlas." Jack's face grows concerned. "I can handle finding the way to Neptune's Bounty." I start to object. "But! You can still watch over from the cameras!" Jack says eagerly.

"Alright...I'll, I'll lay down..." My head begins to pound, his voice grows louder. "I'll talk to you soon..."

As soon as I hit the couch, I pass out.

Jack's POV

I hear a thump. "Atlas!" I shout into the radio. "Atlas are you there?" No response. I can only hope I'll hear from him soon.

Now, to find a way to Neptune's Bounty.

-/-/-/-

The Medical Pavilion, the splicers talk about a mad doctor. Someone who kills anyone he deems "ugly." He must be the "Dr. Steinman" Atlas told me about.

I hear banging on a door. "You promised me pretty Steinman! Why did I get this!" It's a splicer, she seems upset at the doctor for her "surgery."

She notices me and lunges, but shoot before another word comes from her mouth. I feel bad, but I can't linger too long.

I see a blood trail, it leads into the main surgery area of the pavillion. It must be where the damned doctor is. Regardless of how bad the idea sounds, I follow the red liquid.

"With genetic modifications, beauty is no longer a goal, or even a virtue." A man's voice comes over the loudspeakers. "It is moral obligation. Do we force the healthy to live with the contagious? Do we mix the criminal with the law-abiding? Then why are the plain allowed to mingle with the fair?" The speakers make a fizzing sound before cutting off. I understand why the splicers are afraid now. Dr. Steinman is absolutely nuts.

I continue and see a lab-coated man sitting over a dead body. He's poking and prodding the facial area. My throat makes a disgusted noise and the doctor turns around and starts screaming words. "Ah! You're not fine at all!" He runs away and I try to follow but he takes an explosive and blows the passage up behind him. I hear yells of "I'll fix you right up!" And more "Ugly!" Behind the rubble.

A splicer comes from the above terrance and begins to throw small pieces of dynamite at me. I dodge quickly, running back out the door I came from.

"Hey... boyo..." the radio gives out Atlas's voice.

Atlas's POV

My head is still pounding, but I feel the need to watch over Jack, "I heard the explosion, who'd you meet?"

"The doctor you were talking about." Jack seems out of breath. "He's blocked off the way to him. Exploded the whole entryway. And now there's a splicer throwing dynamite off the balcony!"

"It seem you need the telekinesis plasmid." What makes you think he'll be able to use it without blowing himself up? "Redirect he dynamite towards the rubble, and make a new entrance."

"Alright." And Jack sets off back the way he came, going to the downstairs area of the pavillion.
There's a shotgun lying on the ground, but when Jack picks it up, the lights around him go off and laughing is heard.

Jack makes a small squeal, and starts buckling at the knees. He's shaking at about every joint. "Jack, are you afraid of the dark?"

He doesn't get to respond as splicers begin to jump at him, but he puts the new shotgun to use, quickly blasting them away. Soon the lights comes back on and Jack's shoulders let down and his breathing slows down to a normal rate. He lifts his head and mumbles, "let's not...talk about that."

"It's alright Jack." I assure him. "Everyone has a fear. Hell, when I was younger, I got chased by a billy goat! Been afraid of 'em ever since."

Jack wipes his nose and chuckles. "I guess we all have those silly fears, thanks Atlas."

"You're welcome, boyo." Afraid of the dark? You really think he'll make it through Rapture? Pathetic!

Jack continues through the bottom levels, fighting more splicers, scavenging, before he comes to a lab area. The telekinesis plasmid sits on the ground across from a tennis ball launcher.

The sandy-haired man quickly injects the liquid into his system, cringing a little. But he begins to practice with the launcher. "I think I'm pretty good at this!"

I chunckle. "Sure are, kid."

Jack head back upstairs and begins to head to the crematorium for more loot, when the door bursts open and a ignited splicer comes barreling out screaming. She falls dead to the ground, her killer behind.

Jack goes into try hard mode. Dodging the splicer's fire attacks, before he zaps the fella and shoots. Jack breathes heavily, shocked from the experience. But he continues into the crematorium.

There's a security camera that glows red, warning Jack of the danger if it spots him, but it's easy to avoid.

Upstairs there's a room where the door is broken, but there's a crawl space with a trail of oil leading to the outside. He crawls inside and grabs the Incinerate plasmid on the floor next to the broken Gatherer's Garden.

Quickly injecting the substance into his forearm, cringing significantly less, splicers run from the outside and begin to break the glass.

"Jack! The oil...light it!" I shout, still woozy.

Jack does as told, the splicers ignite and start screaming as they burn.

"This will help take care of the doctor." Jack looks at his hand and the small flame coming from his fingertips.

"Speaking of which," I say a little more confidently. "I think you're ready to take him on."