The transmission had come to an end just as quickly as it had first began. It was... Simple conversation, throughout the time that it lasted. None of us wanted to really address anything other than the coming journey, and, in a way, I couldn't really say that it wasn't the right thing to talk about. Concern was the main emotion that revolved around the meeting, along with fear, and a little bit of something else mixed in. Anxiety?

Either way, I guess it didn't really matter anymore, huh? When the projector had shut off, for what would likely be quite some time, I ripped it out of the place I had set it up in, before stuffing it in the sack with the rest of our things. Along with that, I had also broken off a small segment of the whiteboard, before grabbing the black marker with it and putting it into my pocket. Now, if I ever had the time, I'd still be able to easily communicate with Fluttershy and Rarity.

At the moment, my charges and I weren't in the apartment anymore; We were making our way to the bathysphere, down Apollo Square. Turrets and cameras would look at us, as well some loose security bots, almost as if they knew what was going to happen, and were giving us a final farewell... I kind of felt thankful, really. I mean, at least I can be certain somethings will miss me if I... Unfortunately though, there was certain security bot that also just felt it absolutely necessary to be a part of these goodbyes. One that I could go without.

As we walked on, the sudden clang and crash of a piece of metal against the floor caught my attention, myself turning and extending my rivet gun in a single, swift movement as I prepared to take down whatever had been stupid enough to sneak up on us.

"Omega, wait!" Rarity exclaimed, soon followed by Fluttershy.

"I-it's just Winston!" My brow raising, I watched as, like they had said, the familiar, red-trimmed robot made his way out from behind the garbage pile I was aiming at... Still don't have much reason not to shoot then.

Regardless of this tempting-and I mean really tempting-thought, I lowered my weapon with a grunt, watching as Winston slowly made his further out from his cover and towards us. As I figured, he started to make a huge ruckus, beeping and spinning in the air as he floated around me.

It had been a few days since I had seen him, actually. In fact... Didn't I still need to kick his metal can for waking up the girls before? As I crossed my arms with a growl, Winston quickly quieting himself as he heard me, I groaned out a question. 'What do you want?' I 'said', the girls looking to me curiously as I did so.

In response, the annoying robot spun in the air a couple of times, flying over to me and blinking his headlights at the sack that I had slung and tied around my back. Was he asking where we were going?

It wasn't really his business, but I had an odd feeling that if I turned him away, he would just annoy us some more; The last thing I would want. So, with a sigh, I just 'told' him to get it over with. '...Lower Rapture.'

And-lo and behold-the definition of an overreaction everybody! As soon as I told him where we were headed, the bucket of bolts started to go nuts; Almost as bad as a splicer, even!

Not wanting to deal with this, I gestured for the girls to follow, barely being able to take a step forward before Winston stopped me, his headlights coming to eye level as he floated in front of me. Oh, and did I mention how I nearly went blind because of that? Because I did.

I squinted my eyes at the intense lights, grabbing Winston and moving him to the side as I rubbed the spots out of my sight. The girls and I didn't have time for this, we had to get goi-

The sudden loud sound of an object hitting the floor stopped me, as I turned to Winston, who, oddly enough, wasn't there anymore. Raising a brow, I looked to the girls questioningly, only getting unsure shrugs in return.

"Oh, I think that he left something!" Rarity suddenly said, her gaze shifting to left, soon followed by Fluttershy and I, as we saw a recorder on the floor, a tape already in its slot...

Curiosity, and confusion, flooded through me as I bent down to pick it up, a bit of grime coming off of the recorder as I lifted it. Where... where did this come from? Giving one last glance to the girls, and the area around me,-partly so I could figure out where Winston had gone as well- I pressed the play button on the recorder.

"Entry 552-C, Dr.Suchong. Progress on the Counter Assassin Project has been... Not good, very not good." I raised a brow as I heard this, Suchong's voice causing me a bit of annoyance, yet interest, as I, and the girls, listened on. "Since Andrew has assigned the project to Suchong, Suchong regrets to say that there has been a rather... Limiting issue that comes to attention. The issue, being that Fontaine, that swine, has seemingly sabotaged Suchong's machinery and equipment."

Now I know what he's talking about... Sorta. Winston had once shown me a recording that mentioned Suchong and Ryan arranging for a method of stopping Fontaine's greatest creation; Jack. Though, it hadn't really given much detail in that recording. This must have been one of his records for the project.

"Suchong is not sure how, but Fontaine has stopped my equipment from accepting Ryan's DNA. Suchong also believes he contaminated it with his own; a precaution to keep Suchong, or Ryan, from creating anymore weapons like 'Jack'... Ah! Suchong has acquired the idea!" Listening even closer as he went on, I heard the creator of Big Daddies, such as myself, and Little Sisters, chuckle, sounding quite proud of himself. "If Suchong cannot use the DNA of Ryan, then Suchong will simply use what Fontaine has left. To think, a 'son' for Ryan, and a 'son' for Fontaine. Oh, the rivalry will be so interesting to witness!"

With that, the message was brought to an end, the play button pushing itself outwards again as it awaited to be activated again. As for me... I guess confusion would be the only accurate word to describe what I felt now. Some time ago, I hadn't even known about this 'other living weapon' that Suchong had created for Ryan. Now, I learn that it, or he, as the message implied, was made from Fontaine's DNA, rather than Ryan's? What does that have to do with-

"Well, that was... Odd, wasn't it?" Rarity said, ending the small moment of silence that had come shortly after the recording's end. Shaking some of my thoughts away, I looked to her and gave a slow nod, rolling my eyes as I looked to the recorder and nonchalantly tossed it over my shoulder, landing it among one of the many other trash piles behind me.

It wasn't anything important, I'm sure. Probably just Winston trying to mess with me, like he usually does.

-------------------------------------

The bathysphere felt different that day. Almost thick, and heavy on the inside. I guess it's the last moment jitters, or something stupid like that. Glancing to the girls again, who gave me nods of, what seemed like, permission, I pushed the appropriate button with a breath, watching as the bathysphere sank, the water and glass showing my reflection back at me as we submerged... I could almost see my old armor over my now suitless self, gazing back at me, just as I gazed at it.

-------------------------------------

So, this was it. It had been a long time since I had even come close to this area, especially since, for a long time, it had no use for my repairs...

Point Prometheus. The home of scientific exploration and historical education... Turned bad. Originally, this place was another branch of Fontaine Futuristics; where they would develop new plasmids, gene tonics, and 'make all kinds of scientific discoveries'! Though, the moment Little Sisters and Big Daddies were introduced into Rapture's mix, everything went into a complete overhaul. Labs were changed into storage and construction areas for Big Daddy armor; Little Sisters were taken to a previous storage area, where they would await their 'well-deserved' fates; and the once highly popularized museum was changed into, my worst enemy over the years, the Big Daddy Proving Grounds... God, I hated this place.

As the bathysphere door opened, the girls and I took our first steps out, Fluttershy and Rarity tentatively peaking their heads out and glancing around as they did so. Smart.

Right now, we weren't really in Lower Rapture yet. Unfortunately, the bathysphere didn't have access to that region of the city; it wasn't even listed in the buttons. However, Point Prometheus, as I remembered, had an old maintenance tunnel that led to Lower Rapture, hidden inside the Proving Grounds. I wasn't really sure why it was there in the first place, but, if i had to guess, it would be because this part of Upper Rapture was pretty old, compared to the rest, but, I digress. For now, that maintenance tunnel; that was our goal.

Still, though Point Prometheus wasn't anywhere near as bad as Lower Rapture, splicers were a major problem here nonetheless. No matter what, the girls and I would have to keep our guards up.

Narrowing my eyes as I released the safety from the rivet gun, I bobbed my head for the girls to follow me, the two giving nods as they quickly began to trail behind me, shadowing me as we made our way to the atrium of Point Prometheus, just past the main hall.

As we walked on, we caught sight-though we also tried to ignore it-of the remnants of the survivors that had been unlucky enough to cross through this area during the splicer uprising, practically stapled to the wall in a splicers form of art. Corpses and remains lined the walls, now dried and crusted blood along the floors that they were held over, some having decomposed almost entirely, leaving a blackened, bloody skeleton. Every now and then, I would hear a gag from Fluttershy and Rarity, myself cringing at some of the more... Unsavory kills that the splicers had made. Truthfully, the only thing that kept me from turning around right now and taking the girls and I back to Apollo Square so they wouldn't have to walk through this anymore was the fact that this was a short trip. At least, to Lower Rapture.

The Proving Grounds were a small area, barely comparing to the rest of Point Prometheus, and, as a result, it wouldn't be long till we reached the maintenence tunnel... And then Lower Rapture... Talk about 'out of the frying pan and into the fire'.

Eventually, the girls and I reached Point Prometheus's atrium. It was a simple, empty room, with a first aid machine opposite of us, along with a 'Power To The People' machine, now long broken down; too bad too. I could've really used it. To our left was a door, or, series of doors really, that led to the Little Wonder's Educational Facility, and a pair of stairs that would lead up to the Optimized Eugenics area, and the Big Daddy Suit Assembly floors.

Thankfully, we'd be able to save ourselves that trip, since, at the moment, we didn't have any need to go there. Looking to our immediate right, I felt myself shudder and growl in anger. The Big Daddy Proving Grounds. The place where, after having barely made the qualifications of being a Big Daddy, I would constantly have been assigned a new Little Sister to protect, only to lose her some time later...

Sighing, I made my way to the door, kneeling as I opened the even smaller door that had been imbued into it by force, and reaching my arm in, searching for the small button that Little Sisters would have to press to let their Big Daddies in. Honestly, it was a good thing I had learned how to do this over the years, otherwise-...

What the?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Rarity watched as Omega felt around the door, obviously searching for something that lay out of sight on the other side. The two would, from time to time, glance around themselves whenever they would hear the far off echoes of groaning metal, or a muttering splicer. They silently prayed for Omega to hurry, while at the same time hoping for him to be careful, as he continued his endeavors to open the doors before them.

However, they also noticed that, as time passed, Omega's face grew more and more frustrated, a small sense of anger growing in the back of his eyes as he continued in his ministrations.

"Is... I-is this suppose to take this long?" Fluttershy asked herself in thought, slowly trotting over to Omega's side as he continued... Whatever it was he was doing.

"Omeg-" That was all she could get out before Omega suddenly groaned out in annoyance, slamming his fist into the ground beyond the door, Fluttershy letting out a small 'eek' out of surprise as Omega pulled his arm out from the other side. In doing so, Omega turned himself around, sitting himself against the doors with a hand over his face in irritance; Silently mumbling to himself as he rubbed his face.

Fluttershy, having quickly recovered from her sudden shock, timidly made her way next to her guardian again, slowly reaching out and tapping him lightly on the shoulder. "Omega?"

At the call of his name, and feeling of the tap, though just barely, subject Omega turned his head slightly to his winged charge, peaking an eye out of his still covered face as he looked to her.

"I-is everything alright?" Hearing her voice as he looked at her concern showing face, along with Rarity's, who was at his feet at the moment, Omega let out a sigh, reaching into the sack of supplies that the three had brought with them, and pulling out his whiteboard segment.

Alongside this, he also reached into his pocket and grabbed hold of the black marker he had brought with it, popping open the top with his teeth as he began to write a message to the two.

He took longer than usual, not being so used to writing at such a small-scale yet, but the mares patiently awaited him, themselves aware of the trouble that their companion still had with his recently obtained knowledge of literature.

After a few minutes, filled with various scribbles and frustrated erasings, Omega showed the message to the two. 'IT'S NOT THERE.'

Naturally, at this rather broad, and unspecific message, the two looked to Omega questioningly, unsure as to what he meant. "What isn't, dear?" Rarity asked, Omega quickly letting out a sigh as he erased the message, writing anew.

'THE WAY TO OPEN THE DOOR.' Now, reading the more or less completed message, both Fluttershy and Rarity's eyes widened, their hearts momentarily quickening in tension as they began to realize what this meant.

"Y-... You mean we're stuck here?" Fluttershy asked fearfully, her breath slightly shaking as she did so.

Omega didn't respond, once again closing up the marker and putting away the whiteboard segment as he silently looked ahead of him, to the adjacent passage. Surely, there had to be something he could do. It couldn't possibly be that this escape attempt would end before it began. It just couldn't.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seriously though? The switch is gone?!? Of all the things that could have stopped us, it ended up being a stupid little switch?!?

Ugh, it was things like this that made me hate Rapture. I mean, honestly, I can barely believe this!

... There had to be another way to open it. Rapture was designed by fool-hardy, greedy, malicious, and self-prideful assholes, but not by idiots... Most of the time. More than likely, the door had some kind of failsafe to it, just like everything else in this goddamned city. All I had to do-all we had to do-was find it...

As I looked ahead to the passageway in front of me, leading into the further depths of Point Prometheus, I couldn't help but to let out a mental groan. I guess we were going to have to go through the place after all. I probably should have figured, honestly. In Rapture, if something seems too easy, that's because it really fucking isn't, and its likely going to make itself much more difficult.

Lifting myself up off the ground again, I put my hand against the side and back of my neck, moving my head to the side and loudly ridding myself of a crick in my vertebrae. This wasn't going to be fun... Actually, maybe it will.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A bout of confidence surrounded Omega as he once again gestured for the girls to follow, the two giving him questioning expressions, but doing as he said nonetheless. With every step that he took to the door, he knew that, despite his best interests, there was only a small chance that they would find some sort of failsafe, or the like. Either way, even the smallest chance could prove to be all that was needed. After all, they were trying to go to Lower Rapture, weren't they?

The automated doors opened with a screech, the gears and components likely having rusted over time, as Omega, Fluttershy, and Rarity made their way in, the two charges making sure to stay close to their guardian. A small window to their right showed the inner workings of one of the many abandoned laboratories of Point Prometheus, paperwork having been hastily and messily stuffed into boxes and spilled onto floors from the previous scientist's efforts.

As they noticed the dim red light of the room though, the girls quickly felt a chill go up their spines, moving more to the side as they attempted to gain their distance. Omega wasn't deterred by this, mentally comparing the room with some of the rest of Rapture, and almost laughing at the similarities.

Drawing his attention forward again, he heard Fluttershy and Rarity jump slightly as the next door before them opened, revealing an open area with what looked like a large block of smaller rooms in the center of the two story region, small walkways being above them for the second floor.

He quickly recognized the area to be the Little Wonders Educational area, slightly cringing at the memory of the goings-ons at this place. As the three walked into the room, Omega's attention was quickly drawn to the first aid machine on the wall before them, making a mental note of it as Omega glanced around the rest of the room.

Ignoring the inexistent screams he heard in his mind from the previous 'tenants' of the area, Omega once again pulled out the whiteboard segment he had brought with him, a message already in mind as the marker was once again revealed and popped open.

'GOING ROOM TO ROOM. SEARCH FOR SOMETHING UNDER 'FAILSAFE'.' He wrote, having to constantly erase and rewrite to accommodate fir the room. Fluttershy and Rarity nodded as they read his words, showing their understanding to a satisfied Omega.

Returning the nod, Omega randomly chose one of the two passageways before him, choosing to take the path on the left as he replaced his writing board and marker back in with his supplies. Their foot-and hoof-steps could be heard echoing through the room as they approached the first of many doors in the block, Omega grabbing hold of the lever that accessed it and, with a quick flick of his wrist, pushing it down, the door to the small room opening shortly after.

Upon entering, Omega and his charges felt themselves flinch as they caught sight of the room, and, more importantly, some of the features that had stayed inside over the span of time.

In the room, there was a small bed that was laid along the side wall, about the size of a small child, with only slightly more room to spare. Toys like blocks with letters on them, a teddy bear, and even a few small dolls, were spread here and there, and there was writing on the walls and floor, drawn with small figures, all in crayon. Obviously, a little girl's attempts at keeping herself entertained while she waited for her ill-timed fate. The same fate that awaited all other Little Sisters when they would complete their duties.

Pushing this matter aside, Omega quickly began to search the small room for even the smallest hints of resources that he could use for their current situation. As he did so, Rarity and Fluttershy also made their way around the small quarters, often getting caught up as they saw each creation that had been drawn on the walls by the blissfully unaware Little Sisters.

Rarity's attention was shifted to a small piece of messy writing that was on the floor, saying 'I don't wanna go on the table. I'll be good.'

"Whatever could that mean?" She thought to herself as she looked to the message questioningly.

Fluttershy, in the meantime, had put her sight to the drawing of a small girl, her hand, though only drawn as a small collection of lines, held with that of a much larger figure, with multiple yellow eyes, and what looked like a drill on his arm.

"Is... This another Big Daddy? Like Omega?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aside from an EVE hypo that laid under the bed, there wasn't really anything of use in this room. Not even the smallest piece of writing that tipped off at the location of the failsafe for the door to the Proving Grounds. Well, there were still three more rooms on this floor, along with the four that were above.

Sighing as I picked myself off the floor, dusting off my pants from the bent position that I had taken, I turned to my charges and gave a short groan, quickly drawing their attention. I pointed out the door to the room, the two following after me as I slowly made my way outside, flipping the lever back to its original position and once again closing the doors to the room shut.

Alright, now on to the next one.

-------------------------------------

Well, that was quick. The next room over was, annoyingly enough, completely empty. It didn't even have furnishings in it, like a bed, or anything like that. It was... Unnerving, to say the least. Especially since the only thing I and the girls could hear in the room was the blowing of the air conditioning, and, even more creepily, the sound of giggling. Suffice to say, we barely lasted three seconds before we shut that door faster than Cohen would change his mind about a tune.

Rolling my eyes as we exited the room, we walked on, turning the corner as-

"Welcome to the Circus of Valuuueessss!"

Jesus Christ why!?! Well, that was a heart attack! Myself and the girls having jumped at the vending machine's sudden self-introduction, Fluttershy nearly having screamed, were it not for Rarity covering her mouth with her hoof at the last second, I took a breath as I gave a glare at the machine from hell.

My shoulders hitched as I made my way to the automated vendor, grumbling to myself as I began to look the thing over. I didn't have any money on me to use the damn thing, obviously, but as I looked it over, mostly the control panel on the side, I felt a small smile come to my face as I pulled the covering off of the machine, revealing its inner wirings.

It'd been a while since I had last hacked any sort of machinery, but I could still remember the basics. I could feel Fluttershy's and Rarity's eyes on me as I carefully rerouted the machine's flow of electricity to its appropriate places, using inhibitors and other small, varying wires to both slow and speed up the machine's flow. As I nearly finished though, a loud clang from afar drew both my charges and mine's attention, our heads turning warily to the source of the sound.

Luckily though, from what we could see that is, a pipe had just given way, having fallen to the ground as a result of some rusty screws and bolts. Shaking my head at this, I looked back to my musings, mentally wondering as to- Oh shit!

My eyes widening as I quickly made to move the wires piece by piece, I mentally scolded myself for my distraction, having allowed for the wires to have come dangerously close to initiating the alarm systems. With pure skill, intuition, and an incredible amount of luck-mostly luck-I managed to connect the wires to their places, the alarm chips of the machine literally ending up millimeters from being tripped as I let out a sigh. Definitely not going to try and risk that again.

As I had hoped, the machine began to let out a series of chirps and whirs, the eyes of the creepy clown flashing as it reconfigured itself to its newly adjusted wiring... Yeesh. Makes me get goosebumps every time I think about it.

Eventually, with one last distorted mechanical laugh, the machine plopped out two free objects from its tray, to the floor. Rarity, with a raise of her brow, made her way over to the objects, looking them over before grabbing one of the two with her mouth, the other being held with a hoof against her chest, and bringing them to me; I gratefully repaid her with a pat on her head, which she smiled at, as I gently took the objects from her grasp.

As to what had fallen from the machine, it was a medical kit, loaded with standard issue Rapture medicinals, and, as an added bonus, a container of specialized rivet gun ammunition. Heavy rivets, made to pack an even greater punch than their close relatives.

I placed the items in the sack with the rest, letting out a sigh as I stood myself up and-

"Tell your friends about the Circus of Valuuueeessss!"

I fucking hate this thing! Another short moment of surprise afterwards, I would have personally shut this thing down were it not for the fact that it was a kick away from activating its alarm systems.

Moving away from the thing, and sidestepping from it, the girls and I moved on to the next side of the block of rooms, reaching the third door on the floor... Which had its switch removed... Fuck.

I could easily break the door down, sure, but I had no interest of attracting every splicer in the area with the noise, so instead, I looked over the remnants of the lever. It was sparking slightly, thankfully enough, meaning that its wiring was still mostly undamaged. Which meant...

Moving for Fluttershy and Rarity to step back, which they quickly did, I reactivated the safety on my rivet gun, causing it to compact itself again, before then bringing out my ESU again, charging it to its max, and connecting it to the broken switch.

The clanking and grinding of gears brought a smile to my face as my efforts proved to be in the right, the door slowly grinding itself open... Before promptly getting jammed. Really?!?

Slapping my hand against my head in annoyance, I made my way to the door, peeking in through the small opening that had shown itself in the entrance. My point of view was fairly limited, to say the least, as I looked through. Putting my hands to join my head, I pushed against the opening to try to force the door open, only to be met by a loud grinding sound from nearby. My brow raising, I followed the source of the sound downwards, sighing as I saw a large chunk of broken off metal was jammed between the door and the wall, just out of my reach.

Glancing more around the room, I saw that it didn't really seem any different than the others anyhow. A small bed, some toys... A whiteboard?

It was turned around, facing away from me, and, in a way, though it wasn't guaranteed, I felt as though there was a pretty big chance that it could have something useful written on it. It was a bit of a longshot... Okay, a lot, but still, crazier things have happened. Now, I just had to find a way inside.

As if on que, a small amount of debris fell from the ceiling, drawing my attention upwards; There was a huge hole there, some of the floor structuring and the room above clearly visible. A smile came to my face as I made my way back out of the opening, looking to the girls.

They looked to me questioningly, likely wondering as to why I was smiling. As an answer, I pointed to the room behind me, gesturing for the two to follow as we made our way down the hall, to a nearby set of stairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His mind set as to what they should do next, Omega led his charges down the hall, to the stairs, meaning to make his way to the second floor of the area. That is, until-...

"He said he'd meet me here! Why isn't he here?" The three stopped as the twisted voice of a splicer rang through the air. Following the voice, they saw that, unlike the other small accommodations made for the Little Sisters of the area, the last one on the floor had its door open, meaning that someone was already inside. Omega, letting out a short, silent growl, gestured for the girls to stay where they were, not even waiting for a response as he began to make his way down the hall, and into the room.

Rarity and Fluttershy felt their concern climb as they saw this, glancing to one another as Omega exited their sight.

They had managed to come this far without dealing with a splicer, and now that one was so close, they couldn't help but feel worried. Especially since Omega was apparently going to handle it on his own.

Th girls listened closely as they heard the continued nonsense that was being muttered by the splicer, awaiting for a sign that Omega was well.

"Ugh, I'm running out of patience! Where is h- Gack! Let go of me! You won't stop me from seeing hi-" Before the splicer could go on any further, a loud series of snaps was heard from the room, Rarity and Fluttershy flinching as the thud of a body hitting the floor soon followed.

Dusting his hands off on one another, Omega soon exited the room, a nonchalant expression about him as he turned to his charges and gave them a nod, signaling that the problem was taken care of.

The two mares slowly nodded at this, making their way over to their guardian, who gestured for them to follow as he made his way up the nearby staircase.

Fluttershy followed quickly after, not daring to look behind her as she flew up the stairs, shortly behind Omega. Rarity, however, stayed behind, her curiosity ebbing at her, despite her mental protest, as she slowly made her way into the room that she had previously heard the splicer.

She quickly grew to regret it though, as she saw the now even more twisted, and pale face of the female splicer staring back at her, her eyes lifeless as her neck jutted itself out, turning her head in an unnatural angle. Biting on the inside of her cheek, Rarity made her way out of the room again, her breath short as as she attempted to push away the sight from her mind.

"For such a gentle, kind, and caring being... Omega can certainly be ruthless whenever he feels it necessary."

Snapping out of her slightly disturbed state as the sound of a loud groan from Omega echoed downstairs, she shook the thoughts out of her head as best as she could. "Oh, uh, coming!" She yelled after Omega, quickly making her way upstairs to meet with her awaiting company.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Rarity made her way up the stairs, panting slightly from having sprinted up the whole way, I looked to her with a raised brow, Fluttershy sharing a similar expression as Rarity's breathing slowly began to return to normal.

"Forgive me... I got... Distracted..." She panted, myself rolling my eyes as I waved the issue off. I didn't know what exactly had distracted her, but, hey, so long as she was okay, I guess that it wouldn't be a problem.

Changing my direction and moving down the hall, I mentally went over the last place that I had seen the hole in the ceiling, passing room after room as I did so, eventually coming up on what I believed to be out destination.

Unfortunately, unlike the doors from downstairs, the doors here didn't have switches. Instead, there was a keypad. Of course.

Growling, I grabbed hold of the keypad and took the logical approach. I ripped it out, exposing the inner wirings. It's a good thing that this wasn't one of those reinforced locks.

Twirling my wrist, I reached into the exposed components of the keypad and starting up the hacking process. Out of the corner of my eye, though I kept most of my focus on the wires, I noticed Rarity and Fluttershy take a seat nearby, along the walkway railings.

So far, so goo-

"Oh, dear!" Rarity suddenly exclaimed, my attention immediately turning to her as, to my stupidity, the wirings overloaded, a large jolt of electricity running up my arm as I pulled it away with a roar of pain... A loud one.

"Eh, whassat?"

"Someone new! Someone new!"

The far off shouts of splicers began to grow louder as, narrowing my eyes, I slowly turned to Rarity, who, at the moment, was looking to me with a sheepish smile.

"Uh... There was a spider..." She explained, chuckling nervously as I narrowed my eyes even further at her. I could hear the splicers closing in on our location, the sound of their grinding weapons and insidious laughter echoing down the halls, to the room.

Groaning, I quickly started to hack the control panel again, my charges gaining expressions of fear and panic as they backed away from the railings and made their way to me, Fluttershy grabbing hold of me, shaking as she did so, and Rarity sticking extremely close to my side.

I was pressed for time as I connected wire after wire, inhibitor after inhibitor, to the system, leading it off into the door's output slot.

"P-please h-hurry!" Fluttershy stammered, her grip tightening as the splicers footsteps now became audible; They were downstairs.

"Almost... Got it!" I thought to myself in success, the door pulling itself open, revealing a relatively empty room, the very hole that I had been looking for being in the center of the room. Grabbing hold of Fluttershy and pulling her off of me, drawing a whimper from her, I stepped into the room, looking down the hole and into the room below.

It wasn't a far drop, by the looks of it, and better still, the bed for the room was right below. Groaning for the girls, I pointed down the hole, the two of them giving me looks of surprise as I did so.

"What!?! Are you mad? We can't-"

"I call the sissy one first!"

"Well, I suppose that we'll see you down there!" And with that, Rarity quickly made her way down to the room below, landing with an 'oomph' as she hit the mattress with a plop. Fluttershy followed shortly after, making her way into the room and her wings fluttering as she began to fly to the structural flaw.

Before she went down though, she glanced to me, an obvious look of worry about her. "W-what about you?" She asked.

Waving her off, I gave her a reassuring smile, gesturing that I would follow shortly after, the safety from my rivet gun being removed at the same time, as I extended both my ESU and my rivet gun.

She looked to me with concerned skepticism, but, thankfully, she flew herself down after Rarity nonetheless, leaving only me on the second floor.

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As the splicers finally made their way to the second floor of the room, they felt smiles come to their face as they spotted their target, waiting for them just at the doorway of one of the many smaller, compartment-like rooms of the area.

Being comprised of four Leadhead Splicers, one of them using a submachine gun rather than a revolver, a Spider Splicer, and six Thuggish Splicers, the tommy gun wielding splicer stepped forward; He began to ramble in his crazed state.

"Now jus' give yaself up, little fishy! It'll be nice n' bloody for y-" A splatter of blood and gray matter was all that was left to finish the splicer's rantings as the loud bang of Omega's rivet gun rang through the air; The smile on Omega's face, though small, showed a surplus of satisfaction.

"Yeah, definitely aim better with my left arm." Before the splicers could react, Omega shot three more rounds into the crowd, ridding himself of the Leadheads, his main threat, and catching one Thuggish splicer off-guard with a stray round through the eye.

Blood continued to splatter around the room and onto the splicers as they quickly began to charge at Omega, the Spider Splicer taking to the ceiling as he followed behind the Thuggish Splicers, the lot of them yelling furiously as they did so. Omega's eyes narrowing, he unleashed a flurry of rivets into the crowd, mowing them down with little to no effort, the lucky ones being taken down with shots to the head, while the less fortunate had their limbs forcibly parted from their bodies.

As the pile of mutilation continued to grow, blood beginning to drip off the side of the walkway, the Spider Splicer, who smiled smugly as he saw opportunity, pounced towards Omega, his hooks readied to gut their target. Shifting his gaze to the splicer, Omega pointed his rivet gun to the crazed ADAM addict, his eyes widening as the click of an empty weapon echoed in his ears.

Unable to take the splicer down with his long range weaponry, Omega instead opted to use his rivet gun as a sort of shield, holding it out broadly in font of him, the splicer's hooks circling around the weapon as he began to push against him in an attempt to gain the upper hand.

Omega, his strength not to be bested, reeled his remaining arm back and hit the splicer with a strong jab to the head. The splicer slid back against the floor, hitting the metal railing behind him with force near enough to knock him through, instead bending the metal, as he held his now broken nose. It was during this moment of distraction for the splicer that Omega once again reached into the burlap sack slung around his back, grabbing hold of the one thing that he was sure would end this quickly.

"Why you- I oughta-" Pulling his hands away from his bloody face, the splicers eyes widened as he saw a green orb sitting at the floor in front of him, beeping in rapid succession. Glancing upwards, now wordlessly, his last sight was Omega, smiling as he gave the splicer one last wave before jumping down the hole that his charges had previously gone down; a fireball and shockwave followed shortly behind him, disintegrating the splicer and causing the ceiling to cave in on the second floor door, sealing off the way into the room.

Omega, having landed with grunt, felt his eyes widen as the mattress below him's wooden bed frame snap. Flailing his arms as his previously well-maneuvered landing ended in embarrassment, Omega turned his head to his charges, who, at the moment, were looking to him in a combination of amazement, worry, and amusement.

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"Well... I guess people don't kid around when they talk about starting something off with a bang... Ow."

Author's Notes:

Well, nice to see that we're sticking with the old Rapture tradition of making things harder than they have to be, eh?

Things are probably gonna hear up from here, I mean, they already have, and they aren't even in Lower Rapture yet.

Oh, and, to keep you all informed. This is one of those moments where the choice on weaponry mattered. Had Omega been given a revolver, rather than his Rivet gun, I would have made it so that he would have fired at the leadhead's just the same, and, as he would run out of ammo, unable to take out the other thuggish splicers, he would have had to use two proximity mines rather than one to compensate. Plus, his face off with the would have been more him out-maneuvering the splicer, rather than using his weapon as a shield, as he did here.

Different paths, same end! Choice matters!