06-17-2018, 11:33 PM
Eleanor Lamb awoke to the melodic but all too familiar beeps, buzzes, and boops of a laboratory. Before she could even take in her surroundings, memories of her time strapped to tables in Rapture inundated her mind. Her mother, standing over her, watching with decided apathy as the scientists she’d hired pumped ADAM into her bloodstream. What types of advancements could they make in her biology, since her little sister conditioning had fucked up her DNA?
The piercing pain of a blaster wound re-emerged in the small of her back, and she arched away from her bed only to find she’d been strapped in here, as well, by her ankles. She jerked, wrinkling the hospital gown she now sported, and a sharp burning sensation shot up her arm, driving her attention to the needle stuck deep within it.
She blinked. At first, she thought perhaps whoever had captured her had begun to pump more ADAM into her system, but that wasn’t the case—whatever fed through the tube was heading in the opposite direction.
Out, not in.
With a grunt she slapped a hand to the needle and gave it a forceful tug, ripping it out of her forearm. Blood spurted from the wound—it was a large needle—and threw herself over the side of her bed. Her ankles caught her and she swung back, slamming her head into the frame of the bed.
“F-fuck,” she muttered to herself, hanging limply off the side of the bed frame. She wrapped her fingers around the posts and pulled, hard, until her ankles broke through the restraints and her whole body rolled off the bed and onto the ground.
Seconds later, she’d pulled herself up onto her knees. She wouldn’t be kept down.
But where was she?
For the first time, she took in her surroundings, memories of Rapture finally beginning to fade away. As opposed to her mother’s experimentation chambers, this one wasn’t ratty and decrepit, filled with architecture that might’ve seemed steampunk if it wasn’t so dilapidated. This one was pristine, kept perfectly clean, and every inch of it was blanketed in monochromes—white, grays, and the spit-shine of stainless steel. She’d somehow gotten herself in some deep shit with people who had deep pockets.
She scrambled toward the door, fumbling for the handle and jerking it down. The door swung open, and she crawled quickly into the hallway.
Blinding fluorescent lights welcomed her, as well as a contingency of doctors and nurses shuffling down the corridor. Upon seeing the black-haired girl’s limp form ooze out of her room, they all paused for a moment.
They then immediately rushed her.
“Excuse me, miss, you need to get back to your room!”
“Miss, what are you doing out here?”
“Could someone call Bastien and let him know the girl’s awake?”
Lab coats and scrubs converged on her and almost immediately were swatted aside. Eleanor broke upward, shoving through their grabby hands and emerging on the other side of the doctor orgy, shambling down the hallway. She turned a corner and ducked into a slightly ajar door, out of sight of the gaggle of medical professionals.
Doctors, nurses—not guards, not soldiers. What was going on?
She turned into the room and there, sitting wide-eyed on the bed, was the girl from the underground chamber, wrapped up in a robe that looked more comfortable than something a prison or something equally nefarious might bestow.
“It’s you!” the girl said, hopping up. She seemed slightly peppier than the last time Eleanor had run into her.
“It’s you,” Eleanor replied, stepping back. “And you’re not chained up.”
The girl’s eyebrow quirked. “Chained up?” she asked, “but I’ve been rescued.”
Rescued? By who? She rescued her. The man in the red velvet coat had been there to… well, now that she thought about it, Eleanor wasn’t exactly sure what the man in the red velvet coat had been there to do.
“Well, Roger - you’ve not died in vain, it seems.”
Eleanor’s face flushed with realization. The man had never seen the underground chambers before. He wasn’t the one holding those boys and girls hostage—or, well, held. This one, it seemed, was the only survivor.
“I’m Jiang Shen,” the girl introduced herself, breaking the former experiment’s thought process. “Thanks for trying to save me.”
“Yeah,” the same lisp-filled voice came from behind her. Eleanor spun around and instinctively backed up toward Jiang Shen, holding out one arm to shield the girl and pressing the other hand to her abdomen, the blaster wound beginning to burn from too much movement. “No need to be alarmed,” he pursed his lips, “I’m Sergeant Bastien of the Empire Peace Division—people call me Bassy, though—and I’m not here to hurt you. Anymore. Sorry about that.” He gestured to the wound and contorted his face into a reticent frown. Eleanor flinched.
“Empire… Peace… Division?” the big sister stammered. Jiang reached out and grabbed her, leading her to the bed and sitting her down.
“Did you not put her through bacta treatment?” the robed girl asked.
“She’s a prime,” Sergeant Bassy shrugged, “the higher ups said we needed to run some tests first. And also were worried that she may have been involved in some way, despite your testimonies.”
Eleanor looked up at Jiang Shen, wordlessly asking her a question. “I told them about how you said you wanted to help me,” she smiled weakly. The girl seemed brighter, but not altogether luminous.
What had happened to her? And what was happening now?
The piercing pain of a blaster wound re-emerged in the small of her back, and she arched away from her bed only to find she’d been strapped in here, as well, by her ankles. She jerked, wrinkling the hospital gown she now sported, and a sharp burning sensation shot up her arm, driving her attention to the needle stuck deep within it.
She blinked. At first, she thought perhaps whoever had captured her had begun to pump more ADAM into her system, but that wasn’t the case—whatever fed through the tube was heading in the opposite direction.
Out, not in.
With a grunt she slapped a hand to the needle and gave it a forceful tug, ripping it out of her forearm. Blood spurted from the wound—it was a large needle—and threw herself over the side of her bed. Her ankles caught her and she swung back, slamming her head into the frame of the bed.
“F-fuck,” she muttered to herself, hanging limply off the side of the bed frame. She wrapped her fingers around the posts and pulled, hard, until her ankles broke through the restraints and her whole body rolled off the bed and onto the ground.
Seconds later, she’d pulled herself up onto her knees. She wouldn’t be kept down.
But where was she?
For the first time, she took in her surroundings, memories of Rapture finally beginning to fade away. As opposed to her mother’s experimentation chambers, this one wasn’t ratty and decrepit, filled with architecture that might’ve seemed steampunk if it wasn’t so dilapidated. This one was pristine, kept perfectly clean, and every inch of it was blanketed in monochromes—white, grays, and the spit-shine of stainless steel. She’d somehow gotten herself in some deep shit with people who had deep pockets.
She scrambled toward the door, fumbling for the handle and jerking it down. The door swung open, and she crawled quickly into the hallway.
Blinding fluorescent lights welcomed her, as well as a contingency of doctors and nurses shuffling down the corridor. Upon seeing the black-haired girl’s limp form ooze out of her room, they all paused for a moment.
They then immediately rushed her.
“Excuse me, miss, you need to get back to your room!”
“Miss, what are you doing out here?”
“Could someone call Bastien and let him know the girl’s awake?”
Lab coats and scrubs converged on her and almost immediately were swatted aside. Eleanor broke upward, shoving through their grabby hands and emerging on the other side of the doctor orgy, shambling down the hallway. She turned a corner and ducked into a slightly ajar door, out of sight of the gaggle of medical professionals.
Doctors, nurses—not guards, not soldiers. What was going on?
She turned into the room and there, sitting wide-eyed on the bed, was the girl from the underground chamber, wrapped up in a robe that looked more comfortable than something a prison or something equally nefarious might bestow.
“It’s you!” the girl said, hopping up. She seemed slightly peppier than the last time Eleanor had run into her.
“It’s you,” Eleanor replied, stepping back. “And you’re not chained up.”
The girl’s eyebrow quirked. “Chained up?” she asked, “but I’ve been rescued.”
Rescued? By who? She rescued her. The man in the red velvet coat had been there to… well, now that she thought about it, Eleanor wasn’t exactly sure what the man in the red velvet coat had been there to do.
“Well, Roger - you’ve not died in vain, it seems.”
Eleanor’s face flushed with realization. The man had never seen the underground chambers before. He wasn’t the one holding those boys and girls hostage—or, well, held. This one, it seemed, was the only survivor.
“I’m Jiang Shen,” the girl introduced herself, breaking the former experiment’s thought process. “Thanks for trying to save me.”
“Yeah,” the same lisp-filled voice came from behind her. Eleanor spun around and instinctively backed up toward Jiang Shen, holding out one arm to shield the girl and pressing the other hand to her abdomen, the blaster wound beginning to burn from too much movement. “No need to be alarmed,” he pursed his lips, “I’m Sergeant Bastien of the Empire Peace Division—people call me Bassy, though—and I’m not here to hurt you. Anymore. Sorry about that.” He gestured to the wound and contorted his face into a reticent frown. Eleanor flinched.
“Empire… Peace… Division?” the big sister stammered. Jiang reached out and grabbed her, leading her to the bed and sitting her down.
“Did you not put her through bacta treatment?” the robed girl asked.
“She’s a prime,” Sergeant Bassy shrugged, “the higher ups said we needed to run some tests first. And also were worried that she may have been involved in some way, despite your testimonies.”
Eleanor looked up at Jiang Shen, wordlessly asking her a question. “I told them about how you said you wanted to help me,” she smiled weakly. The girl seemed brighter, but not altogether luminous.
What had happened to her? And what was happening now?