All Good Things Not of This Earth...

[Tearen Wover]

The abyssal zone. A cold, largely lifeless flat plane of sand, pounded into a flat, undersea desert by the sheer, mind numbing weight pressing down on every particle that was unlucky enough to drift through the pitch black wastes. If one were to have some sort of illumination, however, they might see a strange, black, tetrahedron moving briskly across the sea floor, kicking up an immense cloud of pale sand in its wake. Its tip bare dragged through the mucky silt, leaving behind a thin, turbulent trail as it somehow scooted along. Contained within was Nealaphh, the god-mind. It had woven the black stone around itself to serve as a cocoon not against the incredible crushing pressure of these depths, but of the frigid temperatures that would otherwise swiftly kill it. The entire apparatus, really just a solid bauble of stone, was propelled exclusively by Nealaphh's mental power.

Within its perfectly polished faces, Nealaphh was held almost in stasis by its own design. It had pondered for a long time on whether or not it should attempt to return to Costa Del Sol after a third run-in with Imperial forces, but had eventually settled on the fact that it should seek out a base of operations much farther from the Empire's reach. To that end, Nealaphh had done some research about potential destinations within the Vasty Deeps that would not only be a safe haven, but also a potential wealth of knowledge regarding clandestine access to Coruscant. The god-mind had nearly been traveling a day, when its heretofore dimmed eyes spotted a slight luminance through the crystal clear water in the difference. The god-mind was excited, in spite of itself. From what it had gleaned from the Dataverse, Rapture was an almost idealistic human society, governed by those who had the will to improve themselves and cast aside useless social mores. As the tetrahedron crested over the top of a rocky underwater hill, the full city came into view; towering underwater structures laden with ornate neon tubes and signage pierced upwards through the water of the deeps. Transparent glass pipes criss-crossed between the myriad structures, like the strands of an immense spiderweb. Architectural artwork graced every precipice and corner, the brassy edges glinting in the warm glow of a million electronic lights. Nealaphh's tetrahedron gently lifted itself off of the sea floor, up into the reaches of the buildings. Its hard, aesthetic surfaces contrasted sharply against the decadence of the city, and Nealaphh could sense eyes upon it as it passed by the reinforced windows.

The god-mind spent a long time trying to find a way into the city, eager to explore what it had to offer Nealaphh in the way of information and artistic fulfillment, but transportation within Rapture appeared to be a largely integrated system that did not allow for foreign objects such as its own transport to integrate into its systems. The god-mind was going to have to figure out another way in. Fortune would have it, however, that one of Rapture's integrated transports...some sort of self-contained orb, was descending along a track from high above. Nealaphh willed the tetrahedron up higher, pursuing the bathysphere directly behind it, like a ghostly shadow, along its leisurely course. With a tentative grasp, Nealaphh reached a hand out through the hull of its tetrahedron, and latched on to the back of the bathysphere with a cold, stone hand. With this grip established, Nealaphh slowly began to absorb the black transport that had had heretofore carried it back into its body. The rainbow illumination glared brilliantly through the water, but Nealaphh was certain that whatever occupants were currently aboard the bathysphere would likely be too distracted by the vista presented to them to notice a slight aberration in lighting. After the period of about a minute, the shadow had fully reintegrated the tetrahedron into itself, and clung to the back of the bathysphere with its bare body.

...

After some further period of travel, the bathysphere docked itself in some sort of reception area. Thankfully, the water inside the building was warm enough that Nealaphh didn't immediately have to leap out of the salty brine. It considered simply making its way off in its own direction, but there seemed to be quite a bit of mental activity going on above the surface. The god-mind concentrated and began to share the visual thoughts of a random onlooker. Nealaphh watched, through this citizen of Rapture's eyes, as a waterlogged and injured young boy flopped from inside the bathysphere on to the carpeted ground. Intriguing, but not altogether important. What was important that, after a woman in a green dress gently guided the blue-haired man away, the crowd began to disperse. After a few minutes passed, the god-mind peeked its head above the water, its green eyes glaring out from behind the bronze sphere. There was still some light foot traffic, but it was sporadic enough that, after a short period of waiting, Nealaphh seized an opportunity to emerge on to the try land. After telekinetically pulling all of the water off of its body, Nealaphh quickly formed its beloved black cloak and skulked off into the shadows of Rapture.

Watching.

Following.

Waiting.

[Tearen Wover]

The God-Mind had spent several days in Rapture now, and had quickly discovered that it didn't need to fear persecution from the local populace. Just as the rumors had suggested, Rapture was a place of free enterprise and exploration. The inherent death toll that accompanied such activities was marginally regrettable, but ultimately it just separated the wheat from the chafe. Currently, Nealaphh had taken to occupying itself with assisting an experimental surgeon in developing special genetic splicing formulas known as 'Plasmids'. It was fulfulling work, insofar as it let Nealaphh conduct some of its own experiments on the hapless subjects. Presently, Dr. Steinman swept into his office in a fury, shoving a stack of medical records off of his desk and onto the damp tile floor.

The shadow looked up from its work at a nearby lab table and let its telekinetically held instruments gently fall to rest on a bloody tray of tool. The god-mind dismissively slowed then flow of time around its current test subject in order to prevent the human from expiring while Nealaphh spoke to the doctor.

Doctor, it is distressing to see you in such a state. What has happened?

Steinman looked up from where he sat, slumpee forward with a blood stained glove grasping his sweaty forehead.

"Ooohhh nothing, Nealaphh. Just another failure. Another miserable attempt to bring true beauty to the human body." Steinman said, his voice on the edge of tears. Normal humans might be concerned that this sort of reaction from the 'atrocities' Steinman commited was a sign of psychosis, but Nealaphh knew better. It was simply the sign of a slowly illuminating mind.

There there, Doctor. Every set back a learning experience, yes? We have not even moved beyond the prototype stage; failure is to be expected. Nealaphh said, taking a step forward. Steinman looked up at the god-mind with bleary eyes, tears mixing with the blood of some random patient.

"But...but the goddess...Aphrodite...how can I please her, Nealaphh? How can I please her when all I can do is create...wretchedness?" Dr. Steinman asked, clinging to Nealaphh's heavy robe in desperation.

To please the gods is to attempt to surpass your own limits. They do not expect mortals to be perfect. Believe me when I say that Aphrodite is pleased with your efforts, and the pain you put upon yourself in her name honors her. Nealaphh said, gently prising Steinman's hand off of his robe. The doctor was not placated.

...Steinman...the failure of your experiments is due to the weakness of human flesh, not your own skills. Perhaps...there must be a Plasmid to alter the human body to suit your methods...

This caught Steinman's attention.

"...it...that's is possible, Nealaphh...Yes! A pseudo regenerative plasmid, that's what we need! Nealaphh, you mad genius!" Steinman said, rocketing up from his chair and grasping Nealaphh by the shoulders. The doctor rushed over to where he stored his ADAM, and overlooked his stockpile.

"...we will beed more Adam. Nealaphh! Would you do me the tremendous honor of acquiring some? I must begin working on formula notation!"

The god-mind nodded.

Certainly. You will have what you need by the end of the day. There is something I must do in the mean time. Nealaphh said, a thought suddenly occuring to it. It began to walk slowly out of the lab when Steinman called out to the shadow.

"Nealaphh, wait!" The doctor shouted. Nealaphh turned around slowly, with a quizzical look in its eyes. Steinman gestured to the table Nealaphh had been at.

"Your patient?"

Nealaphh paused for a moment before releasing the temporal lock. The young man strapped to the table immediately resumed screaming in pitched terror. Nealaphh winced. It did not want to kill the test subject yet...he still had some experimental worth. The god-mind flexed its telekinetic powers and crushed the dock worker's voice box, his screams suddenly becoming hoarse whispers of pain. Satisfied, Nealaphh exited Steinman's offices and wandered up on the the Medical Wing promenade.

Nealaphh had been annoyed, for quite some time now, that it did not have a direct line of contact to the outside world. Cat and Demetrie were good allies, but Nealaphh needed someone to act exclusively as its eyes in the Omniverse...someone that no one would ever associate with the shadow. Nealaphh thought back to its old Multiverse and recollected one such tool. A strong willed man, world-weary and fierce. Most importantly, totally irreverent and crude.

And so, Nealaphh called Drake Oneir unto the Omniverse. He was a scruffy, thin man, dreased in a weathered leather jacket and dark grey newsboy cap. His right arm was distinctly missing, and he wore a grey and orange satchel over his shoulders. In the few minutes it took to reconstruct Drake, Nealaphh also imbued the man's brain with a working knowledge of the Omniverse, so as to avoid the needless process of informing him of the situation.

Several Rapture citizens watched in awe at the sight, as the rainbow glinting bouncee brilliantly off of the glass walls that surrounded them all. Once Drake was reconstructed, he rolled his head around on his shoulders and sighed.

"...couldn't give me my other arm though, eh Jeltz?" he scoffed, glaring at Nealaphh. Drake knew the god-mind as one Bartleby Jeltz, the head representative of an intergalactic technology company that had abandoned Drake after a symbiote had been torn out of his body. It was a long, long story.

You are aware why I called you here?

This ellicited another sigh from Drake.

"Yyyyeaaaahhh..."

Your first task is to go to the fountain. You will stay there and report on new primes entering the Omniverse.

"...uh...sure. I guess I'll walk."

Nealaphh blinked slowly and summoned a sleek looking vehicle for the secondary. It was black, had an enclosed canopy and was shaped like a bullet. Large thrusters dominated its rear section, and it hovered noiselessly above the ground. Drake beamed at the UNIBike; it was his prized posession back in Wing City. Drake didn't say another word as he mounted up and kicked on the ignition of the UNIbike with a deafening roar.

All of the Rapture citizens yelped and jumped back as Drake shot off down the wide hallways. He turned a sharp corner and was out of sight within six seconds. Satisfied, Nealaphh decided now might be as good a time as any to go hunt down some ADAM for Steinman...but perhaps there was time for a walk through the gardens first...

[Tearen Wover]

Nealaphh had found its way down into the deeper regions of Rapture. This was where it tended to get its test subjects from; ADAM crazed humans who were desperate for more power. It was really quite easy to lie to them, so luring them up to Dr. Steinman's laboratory was trivial for a telepathic, such as himself. Currently, however, Nealaphh was on the hunt for a different kind of prey.

The god-mind had seen the young human girls and their enhanced protectors a few times so far, but hadn't taken extensive notice. A few days ago, however, Nealaphh had learned the truth of their existence. They were able to produce large quantities of ADAM via a symbiotic grafting with a special species of sea slug found on the seabed around the city. They were subjected to mental conditioning in order to maintain their functionality, and were pheremonally bonded to their large protectors. It was a fascinating dynamic to observe from afar, but now Nealaphh needed that ever-so precious resource they carried within them.

The god-mind was no fool, however. While it was certain that it could defend itself from the so quaintly named 'Big Daddies', Nealaphh was not sure it posessed the ability to put one down. The first step would be to draw one of these pairs out. To that end, Nealaphh currently had a spliced-out ADAM junky telepathically bound to its whim, and the dullard walked with a stiff, inebriated gait as the shadow arrived at its destination.

There were chutes that had been built into most of Rapture's superstructure that the so called 'Little Sisters' used for hiding and as a means of escape. Nealaphh needed one such chute for its plan, and thusly located one near the bottom of a set of maintenance stairs. Next, the bait. Nealaphh waited at the top of the stairs for its enthralled subject to arrive, whereupon the shadow hit the hapless man with a telekinetic shove. The frail human tumbled and crashed down the long flight of dank, metal stairs, grunting and shouting the entire way. He wasn't quite dead by the time he hit the landing, but internal bleeding would kill him soon enough. Hopefully his agonized cries of pain would act as a siren song for Nealaphh's desired target.

All it had to do now, was wait...

[Tearen Wover]

It took slightly longer than Nealaphh had expected for a Big Daddy, Little Sister pair to show up, but the god-mind was nothing if not patient. Due to the out-of-the-way nature of Nealaphh's selected ambush location, there were no ocean windows to gaze out of, so the shadow contented itself with running simulations of the impending skirmish in its head. All scenarios allowed Nealaphh to escape alive, and over sixty percent of them resulted in a successful capture of a Little Sister. The winning scenarios all shared an element of confusing the Big Daddy protector via distortions in the regional quantum flux. From what Nealaphh had observed in the past, all Big Daddies shared a singular, straight-forward method of thinking, only ever reacting to stimuli, and never improvising or taking initiative for specific things themselves. This was the exact type of opponent that Nealaphh excelled in dispatching.

After some time more, the god-mind registered the sound of distant stomping, and a low, doleful moan that signaled the approach of a harvesting pair. They were coming from only one of two directions Nealaphh had made available, and in this case they were approaching from behind the god-mind. As such, Nealaphh ducked into a nearby corroded doorway at the top of the steps and slunk into the shadows. The room that it found itself in was some sort of steam manifold access point, used for routing hydraulic pressure throughout the undersea skyscraper the shadow found itself in. The entire area, in fact, was quite dark, with only the wan light of orange-yellow emergency bulbs casting the surrounding metal walls into a sinister, umber glow.

"I heard the angel singing over here, Mr. B!" said the Little Sister, her voice echoing from down the hallway. Nealaphh was hoping to be able to capture the Little Sister for mental examination, as the god-mind was quite intrigued with the conditioning that had been ingrained in them. The god-mind remained absolutely still as the pair wandered past, not even bothering to look into the shadows of the rooms they passed by. Such complacency would serve to act as their downfall. The shadow was, however, quite wary of the Big Daddy's drill weapon. Nealaphh's outer carapace was as hard as stone, but fracturing forces like those applied by drilling apparatus were precisely the kind of thing that could gravely injure the god-mind. Nealaphh waited until they had descended all the way down the creaking metal staircase before emerging from the steam manifold access closet.

They took no notice of Nealaphh, standing ominously at the top of the long staircase, staring down at them intently. The Little Sister set about her grisly work with enthusiasm, driving her ADAM extraction device into the frigid corpse into precise locations which had been ingrained into her muscle memory. The Big Daddy stood nearby, seemingly to stare off into space, it's yellow helmet lights reflecting off of the steam-slicked walls.

"Angel, angel here you are, me and Bubbles walked so far. Down alone inside a cave, look at us we're very brave! Angel, angel here you are, how we-" the next moment, the Little Sister screamed loudly, as there was suddenly a very scary looking demon in front of her! From her perspective, Nealaphh appeared as he did outside of her fantasy realm, his own psychic eminence piercing the gilded veil which clouded her perception. The Big Daddy's eyes immediately flashed red and his drill roared to life. Nealaphh reached into the local time stream and slowed down the events happening just enough that it was able to narrowly dodge the devastating blow. Instead of shattering the god-mind into countless pieces, the Big Daddy instead drove an immense hole through the metal wall, allowing stunningly frigid sea-water to come flooding into the passage.

The three of them were immediately thrown against the opposite wall, and though the immense cold momentarily stunned Nealaphh, the god-mind was able to confirm that neither of the harvesters were looking at it. As such, it took advantage of their perceptive quantum uncertainty and reappeared at the top of the metal stairs, where they weren't looking. Due to the breach in the hull of the building, the bulkhead doors that separated this particular passage began to slide shut, orange klaxons flashing brightly. In and effort to save his charge, the Big Daddy plugged the hole with his drill again, stemming the flood of water just long enough that the Little Sister had a chance to run for her escape passage. Nealaphh, however, was prepared for this, and immediately snatched the Little Sister away with a telekinetic hold.

"Mr. Bbeeeeeeeee!" she shrieked as she flew through the air, up the flight of stairs towards the god-mind. Nealaphh deposited her a few feet behind itself. The Big Daddy immediately wrenched his drill arm out of the breach and began to surge up the stairway, roaring in such a profound rage as Nealaphh had rarely witnessed. The god-mind took a moment to focus its mind and accelerated the flow of time around the bulkhead door, accelerating its operation to the point where it slammed shut with a resounding bang. The roars of the Big Daddy could still be heard, muted through the thick steel barrier, and dents appeared in the bulkhead as he tried to smash the obstacle away. The Little Sister scampered to her feet and tried to rush up to the bulkhead door to reunite with her protector, but Nealaphh stopped her in her tracks with a mental wall of force. She slowly turned around and regarded the god-mind with wide, glowing, yellow eyes, saying nothing. In her world, she could never remember seeing anything nearly as terrifying as Nealaphh, and could not even find the words to tell it what an abomination it was.

Nealaphh knew this; the girl's conditioned mind was easy to infiltrate and observe using its telepathic abilities. As such, it was equally as simple rearrange a few critical components of her mental conditioning so that she came to regard the shadow as her protector instead of the ponderous, idiotic behemoth she had previously been bonded to. Once Nealaphh had completed this rearrangement, the Little Sister, whose name it had found to be Rebecca, blinked a few times before smiling widely at Nealaphh.

"Hey daddy! I though you were on the other side of the door!" she said, rushing forward and clasping Nealaphh's leg. Her ADAM extraction device had been lost in the initial flood of water, but that didn't matter to the god-mind. The Little Sisters themselves were natural producers of ADAM, at least in conjunction with the sea slug that was bonded to their internal organs. Nealaphh did notice, however, that the incessant banging on the bulkhead door had stopped. Was the protector dead? No...Nealaphh knew for a fact that they were equipped to survive underwater. Had it given up? Unlikely. This troubled the god-mind. Better to move on with its plan of action than linger and be taken off guard.

"Where are we going, daddy?" Rebeccas asked, skipping along Nealaphh's side as the shadow briskly walked away from the dented metal door.

We are going to see a friend.

"Oh...I don't always like meeting new people..." Rebecca said, looking down at the ground, a shy expression on her face.

It's okay. I'll keep you safe. Nealaphh said softly. The two walked on, making their way back to Dr. Steinman's clinic in the medical pavilion. Along the way, multitudes of people murmured and whispered as the pair walked past. Nealaphh could feel the suspicion and...jealousy? That was odd. What was it about these Little Sisters that made them such huge prizes? Nealaphh knew that they had something to do with ADAM production, but was it really that much of a precious commodity? It was curious to the shadow. On the one hand, it could understand the desire to enhance one's genetic makeup to be able to perform any of the wondrous feats that ADAM could provide; it was an easy way to accelerate the process of personal realization. On the other hand, such crazed dependence on a substance was inherently limiting. The god-mind considered reevaluating its opinion of the people of Rapture.

As Rebecca and Nealaphh entered Dr. Steinman's office, the cosmetic surgeon looked up with wide eyes at who the shadow had in tow.

"Nealaphh, you..." he paused and approached the god-mind, his voice following to a mere whisper. "You brought her here?"

The god-mind blinked slowly.

Yes. You said that Little Sisters could produce ADAM for us. I retrieved one. What is the issue? Nealaphh asked, its eyes squinting just a little bit. Steinman ran a hand down his perfectly sculpted features and let out a melodramatic sigh.

"You can extract ADAM from them, yes. That's what we're after." Steinman said with an exasperated flourish of the arms. Nealaphh looked down at Rebecca, who was clinging to Nealaphh's robe and holding it in front of her face. He slowly looked back to Steinman, his telepathic voice taking on a frigid edge.

...And how is this accomplished?

"We need to extract the sea slug from her body. It serves as the central conduit and storage place of the ADAM inside of her." Steinman said, moving to walk into his laboratory. Nealaphh could hear the doctor's frantic thoughts. He planned to kill this Little Sister. Rebecca. Granted, his surgical procedures were humane enough, but ultimately, removing the sea slug from her body would kill her. This did not please the god-mind.

I will not let you kill this girl. Nealaphh said simply, watching as Steinman rummaged around in his desk drawers. He was looking for a weapon. An automatic rifle. Nealaphh could hear this. The shadow told Rebecca to stay behind it, and the Little Sister obliged quickly, finding a place out of sight. Unfortunately, there were no escape chutes for her to utilize, but Nealaphh was sure it could handle Steinman, if it came to that.

"That doesn't seem like you!" Steinman called from inside his office, his voice echoing out from the doorway. He emerged, carrying a heavy looking gun which had a round magazine to provide a high rate of fire. For the moment, he held the weapon upwards in one hand, his tone of voice and posture adopting a casual nature. Nealaphh gathered its mental faculties in preparation for any sudden movements. "I thought it was your mission to help everyone reach their full potential? Now you're going to hinder that?" he asked, raising a challenging eyebrow.

This girl has more net potential alive than she would serve the greater whole with her death. An immortal human, immune to all forms of damage. Think of it! All we need to do is remove her mental conditioning and she could be beyond powerful. Nealaphh said, trying to pique the doctor's sense of scientific enterprise. Steinman only scoffed.

"No, god-mind. That is not the way things work in Rapture. The ADAM must flow. We...I must...I must have it!" Steinman said, his voice now taking on a slightly deranged edge. Nealaphh squinted at the man. So, he too was a slave to addiction. Pathetic. Steinman's endeavors no longer intrigued the shadow, for they were fueled only by dependence and self-enslavement.

Put the weapon down, Steinman. Nealaphh said, its voice remaining steady.

"Hah! No, my dear Nealaphh I'm afraid-" Steinman started to say. He was abruptly cut off with the sound of a large crack and shattering glass from inside his laboratory, followed by a monstrous rush of water. Both of them whipped around to see the source of the commotion.

There, in the laboratory that was rapidly filling with ocean water, was Rebecca's original protector. He had apparently climbed up the side of the medical building and smashed in the window in Steinman's lab.

Its eyes flicked red.

[Tearen Wover]

Steinman immediately started screaming and opened fire with his machine gun. The Big Daddy rushed forward with an enraged scream, causing an immense spray of water to fly up within the lower-level laboratory. Nealaphh watched from the top of the short flight of stairs, unable to see through the dense shroud of ocean spray. When the water settled back down, Steinman was crumpled against the wall, but his face was twisted in agony, indicating he was still alive. This made sense, insofar that Steinman was not the Big Daddy's target. Rebecca clung to Nealaphh's robes and whimpered softly as the immense mutant slowly turned back around to regard them. The girl was liable to be an immense tactical liability, but Nealaphh could not simply throw her out into the hall without risking having her taken by another one of Rapture's ADAM hungry mongrels. The Big Daddy rushed forwards with startling speed before Nealaphh could process what was happening, and sent the god-mind flying back towards the door into the clinic. His impact rendered a large dent in the cold steel, but thankfully, Nealaphh's body was not reliant on a circulatory system, and as such, its ability to process events was unhindered.

It was, however, currently at a large disadvantage. The Big Daddy was fast and heavily armored, and Nealaphh did not doubt that a single solid blow from its augur weapon would kill it very quickly. Nealaphh concentrated its attention on all of the light sources in the room, squeezing them with enough telekinetic force that they all flared and broke at once, leaving the only source of illumination in the room from the Bouncer's furious, red viewports. The beast's rage was all-consuming; the god-mind, with all of its mental power, could not penetrate the boiling nexus of rage that was the Big Daddy's mind. Fortunately, in the gloom, the monstrosity lost sight of Nealaphh for a moment, allowing the god-mind to quickly teleport to the far side of the lab, out of sight. The shadow could hear Rebecca calling out for it, searching the darkness in vain for any sign of her adoptive protector. The surging ocean water was starting to creep into the upper level of Steinman's office now, leaving the laboratory itself submerged. Nealaphh had no idea where Steinman currently was, but that was unimportant; the shadow had devised a plan. Nealaphh shifted itself to the top of the staircase of the flooded laboratory and flung a nearby chair at the Big Daddy, causing it to whirl around with a loud roar. It caught sight of Nealaphh's glowing eyes in the darkness and charged forwards again. Unbeknownst to the beast, however, Nealaphh had shifted a majority of its component particles into a different phase of reality, causing the cyborg protector to pass through the god-mind like a truck through a bank of fog.

The monstrosity went hurtling into the deep waters of the flooded laboratory with a momentous splash, and its confusion gave Nealaphh a moment to reform its physical body. As it did so, it detonated the space-time around the set of steps that lead up into the waiting room, causing the aluminum structure to crumple and fly to pieces. This didn't stop the Big Daddy from trying to climb its way back into the waiting room, however. Nealaphh considered simply leaving the monster to its fate, but it had managed to track the god-mind down once before; it would be foolish to give it an opportunity to do so again. Nealaphh was aware that it lacked enough firepower to outright injure the Big Daddy, but the god-mind had noticed that the creatures relied on a supply of oxygen to operate. Now that it was trapped in the sunken part of the laboratory, Nealaphh could take its time in dispatching its foe. The god-mind could just barely make out the outline of the beast's oxygen tank in the gloom of the office, and ferociously grabbed a hold of it with its telekinetic power. The Big Daddy roared and raged, its turmoil muted by the cold waters it was trapped in. Finally, with one final tug, the oxygen tank pulled free, releasing a cloud of bubbles. The god-mind callously flung the stolen air supply back at the Big Daddy.

Satisfied that it had dispatched the foe, Nealaphh turned around and began searching for Rebecca in the cold darkness of the office space. It bumped into furniture here and there as it looked for her luminescent eyes, the sounds of the Big Daddy's death throes slowly subsiding in the background. Finally after a minute of searching, Nealaphh spotted her yellow gaze from the corner next to the office's door. Water was beginning to creep up around her, so it was good that Nealaphh would be able to escape from this pointless sidetrack soon.

"Daddy, look out!" Rebecca shrieked. Nealaphh turned around just in time to be pinned against the wall by the powerful hands of the Bouncer. Its eyes held just a barely noticeable flicker of red light, but this weakness did not hamper the functionality of its drill which growled into action in such a timbre that Nealaphh may have interpreted it as being excited to dispatch its prey. Nealaphh cringed as the drill pounded into its midsection, but the blow was not nearly as powerful as Nealaphh had feared. After a final, haggard moan, the Big Daddy keeled over from suffocation and slammed into the ground, and the shadow along with it. Nealaphh could feel its abdomen was fractured and splintered, but despite being severe, the damage was not fatal. Rebecca, however, was beside herself. She grabbed Nealaphh's soaking wet robe and sobbed over her protector.

"Daddy! Please don't die! Don't die! Please!"

Nealaphh was writhing in pain, but it found enough strength to soothe her anguish.

Do not be afraid, Rebecca. I am wounded. Badly, yes. But I will live.

"What're...what're we gonna do?" she asked, her gleaming eyes flicking over to regard the fallen Bouncer. Nealaphh took pains to try and sit up, but it was difficult. No...no it hurt too much. It sagged back to the ground, clutching at its stomach.

Give me time, child. All I need is time.

Rebecca nodded tearfully and sat upright again, drying her eyes.

"This is...this is a doctor place? Right? Do you need me to get doctor things?"

No, just...make sure the door is locked...and...close the shutters in the laboratory window

"Okay!" Rebecca said, scampering over to the large, heavy looking door and struggling for a moment before pulling the latch into place with a loud clang. Nealaphh watched this and closed its eyes, summoning the Omnilium from within its body. If the substance could be used to create brand new matter, Nealaphh could not see a reason to assume it could not be used to repair existing objects. As such, it focused its efforts on repairing its damaged frame, as Rebecca watched it in the darkness...

[Tearen Wover]

Some time later, Nealaphh rose back to its feet, however slowly. Rebecca clapped and cheered in a matter befitting her puerile bearing, even as the shadow pitched over and leaned heavily against the wall. It was still far from fully operational, but the god-mind needed to ensure progress towards its goals was maintained. It had lingered for too long in the halls of Rapture, and very little good had come of it. Still, it made for an agreeable safe haven from the reach of the empire, and Nealaphh could not itself venture into Coruscant before finding a place to send its resources to.

Furthermore, Nealaphh needed to know that Demetri and Cat were still performing their respective duties. Perhaps it should check in soon to see that the various bits of Institute business were being addressed. It had no doubt that Drake and the two Aspects were performing their duties; it had programmed them for flawless, unquestioning obedience. It occurred to Nealaphh that it could, perhaps, create yet another secondary to infiltrate Coruscant on its behalf, but the god-mind did not have anyone it knew of that would not attract substantial attention. Ideally, Oneir would have made an ideal candidate for such a role, but he was already dedicated to the Ashen plains. The god-mind cursed its own shortsightedness; this kind of thing didn't happen when it had access to the entire time stream.

There was nothing for it; Nealaphh would have to infiltrate Coruscant on its own. The god-mind immediately began to run various scenarios, trying to figure out how best to sneak into the lower tiers. Disguising itself as a stormtrooper had worked better than expected before, but in this instance, Nealaphh would be trying to get past Empire detection, not simply evade it. Perhaps...

Nealaphh looked back to where the hulk of the Big Daddy lay in the deep darkness. Earlier it had managed to phase itself out of local space time for a limited period. Perhaps it could also phase itself into a mental form, to 'hitch a ride' on other living denizens. Interesting. The god-mind then turned to look at Rebecca. It couldn't simply leave the girl to her fate...but...perhaps she could be a tactical asset after all.

Rebecca. You trust me, yes?

"Of course Daddy! You're the very most special person to me!" Rebecca said, hopping up and down some more. Nealaphh nodded in the darkness.

Do you want to help me with something?

"Sure!"

I need you to relax your mind. Think happy thoughts. Think of daddy. Nealaphh said, slowly shifting to an incorporeal form. Rebecca nodded and smiled eagerly, scrunching her eyes tightly shut. With that, Nealaphh began to bond his essence to Rebecca's body. The ADAM infused frame easily accepted the raw power of the god-mind, and Rebecca breathed deeply of the inky vapor that was Nealaphh. When it was done, the little sister's eyes blinked and took on a vibrant green hue, as opposed to their usual, ghastly yellow. Nealaphh was not in control of the body, fully, but it could think in tandem with Rebecca. Separate, yet one. With that, Rebecca strode confidently towards the door to Steinman's office and wrenched the latch open with a telekinetic yank, causing the heavy steel frame to slam upwards into its slot.

Cold ocean water spilled out into the clean tile hallway, and Rebecca's presence was immediately marked by several passing Rapture citizens. Her wary green eyes watched them as they slunk away in suspicion, utterly convinced that the little sister had a Big Daddy protector nearby. After walking towards the Bathysphere center, Rebecca heard a low chuckled to her left. In the shadows lurked a...pitiable creature. His face was contorted and twisted from an overabundance of ADAM in his system. Slimy, sore ridden arms hefted a heavy lead pipe.

"Oi there luv...got's lost from ye daddy have ye?" he said in a voice dripping with both bile and malice. Rebecca turned towards the man calmly and offered him a sweet, simple smile. The splicer raised his pipe, prepared to strike the helpless, poor little girl down. Rebecca glanced off to the right, and then the left. Honestly, splicers were the boogeymen of Rapture, and their existence was usually covered up quite heavily. The fact that one apparently had the gall to lurk around in the shadows of such a high traffic area was a bad sign. That was neither here not there, though. It was time for Rebecca to see what the surface world looked like, and no mere addict would stand in her way.

There was a sudden, sharp squawking scream as the lead pipe was wrenched from the splicer's hands and sent careening into his mutated features with a wet thud. He stumbled around in agony for a moment, blood oozing from his unfortunate face. Rebecca was disgusted. Normally, Nealaphh would have left the pitiable wretch to flounder around and moved on, but now Rebecca's own emotions dictated the ensuing carnage. Over...and over...and over...the lead pipe bludgeoned and beat the man senseless, cracking bones and slicing open half-fetid flesh. Blood went everywhere, especially on to Rebecca's beaming face, which held a gleeful grin long after the carnage had ceased.

Daddy was so proud...

[Tearen Wover]

Rebecca emerged from the dank confines of the Rapture lighthouse and slowly blinked her sullen, glowing eyes. The light was beyond bright; brighter than all the angels in all the world could have ever made! She stared in awe for a long time, watching the giant bright light in the sky moving in a big arc overhead. Rebecca watched until it went away, below the ocean horizon. Daddy was so patient with her; she was very lucky! Once that was over, the little sister went skipping down the steps to the water line and let daddy take over a for a little while. He built the two of them a nifty looking black boat that slipped silently through the waters.

Rebecca drank the passing landscape in as she and her daddy sailed on, even though there was hardly ever anything to look at. The little sister would ask Nealaphh questions, and the god-mind would answer in kind, happy to help the young girl along towards her path of excellence. Upon returning to Costa Del Sol, the bonded pair disembarked their obsidian creation and absorbed it back into their body, removing all trace of it. Rebecca felt nervous walking through the streets of the island city, but people here didn't look at her the way they did back home. That hungry look...replaced with an emotion that Rebecca wasn't quite able to process.

Pity.

At least, that's what daddy called it. Rebecca didn't understand though; how could they be pitying her if she was taking a nice long walk with her daddy? These people were just silly. Occasionally, as Nealaphh gave Rebecca instructions, she would notice a strange emotion from within him...from within the back of her mind. Was it fear? No, daddy wasn't afraid of anything. Concern? More likely. It had something to do with those angels in the big, shiny white armor...but they didn't seem to pay any attention to Rebecca so she didn't think there was a problem.

In soon enough time, the pair arrived at a big shiny, swirly door of some sort. The shiny men didn't pay any attention to Rebecca as she skipped through into the portal. Daddy said they were going to live in a new city! She was so excited!