Beyond The Sea (A Bioshock Story)

Chapter 1: Sinking Into Madness

When Rapture first sank beneath the waves, the surface dwellers called it "the beginning of the end of mankind" , we had called them crazy at the time but little did we know how right they would be. It was perfect in the beginning, a beautiful place where we could be ourselves, where we could do what we want, where we had the freedom of choice.

"A man chooses, a slave obeys" , the woman giggles madly, "what a load of bullshit" . She picks her way along the debris ridden hallway, humming and giggling to herself. "Where oh where could my ADAM be?".

Why did things have to end this way? How did it all go so wrong? How could she have ended up like this? The woman looks out the window at the sea and depleted city that surrounds her, then notices her appearance in the reflection of the glass. She used to be so beautiful, all the fellas used to line up at her door just to catch a glimpse of her beautiful face. But now...

The woman picks at her rough and peeling skin with the claws that replaced her perfectly manicured nails. Lightly, she touches her head, where hideous bumps and growths have formed, leaving next to nothing of her gorgeous hair.  She tilts her head and smiles, revealing her broken, sharp teeth where pearly white ones used to be. She considers her body, once the perfect example of a young woman in her prime, now a husk. A broken, peeling shell.

"Oh what a pretty girl I am~" she croons to herself, internally cringing at her craggy, scratchy voice. What's left of her sanity is little more than an internal monologue now, trapped in her own mind, no way out. Forced to wander through this wretched city with no escape, no freedom.

Something shiny catches her eye, she cackles and claps delightedly, it's a vial of ADAM. They're becoming quite rare in the destruction of the city. There is no more rational thought, only ADAM. She sprints towards it, grinning like a fool,. She tugs at the ADAM, it doesn't come free. She tugs again, harder this time, still nothing. She frowns and begins to curse under her breath as she tugged with all her might, it finally pops loose, causing her to lose her balance. She holds it up triumphantly and laughs to herself.

A drop of water drips onto her forehead, she pauses and looks up.

Oh no.

Where the ADAM was, now a crack in the upper part of the window, water slowly dripping from it. Right onto her head.

Oh well, she has her ADAM now, that's all that matters. She clutches it close to her body and smiles contentedly, wanting to revel in her moment of victory.

The drips of water become more frequent and the crack grows wider and wider. Soon it's a trickle, then a pour. She ignores it, still on the floor, cradling her ADAM. The stream becomes bigger and bigger. Soon the water is up to her chest. Somehow it doesn't matter, the world has shrunk to just her and her ADAM.

The water rises up to her neck, her chin, and soon the water has completely covered her head. She opens her mouth to say something insane no doubt, water suddenly enters her mouth and throat. She tries to scream, nothing but bubbles come out. Her body begins to shake, not in fear, but in laughter. She laughs and laughs, she can't stop laughing, even as her lungs fill with water and her vision fades to black.

Freedom, freedom at last.