Stupid bed. I swear, how is it that, if something is made of wood, I usually end up breaking it? Doors, cabinets, not to mention that incident with the stairs!

"A-are you okay, Omega?" Fluttershy asked, her wings fluttering softly at her sides as she made her way next to me, concern evident in her eyes.

"Yes. That was quite a spill you took." Rarity added, following shortly after her friend, her own similar sense of worry visible.

Turning my head towards the two from my bent and awkward position on the broken bed, I chuckled, giving the two a nod before, letting out a groan, I stood myself up again, the mattress squeaking in response; A new layer of dust fell from me as I did so, Rarity seeming to wave it away while Fluttershy just let out a small, near silent sneeze.

Adorable, but that's a side note, isn't it? Putting foot over foot out of the snapped, wooden frame that held up the bed, I made my way past the girls, lightly ruffling their manes as I did so, almost out if instinct, and towards the backwards whiteboard. Now's the moment of truth, isn't it?

Taking in a breath, I grabbed onto both sides of the board, spinning it with a quick flick of my wrists, its wheels squeaking below it, and turning it to face the girls and I...

'5-28-16-12. Library. -Joshua.'

... Well that's... Useful? Honestly, I wasn't sure. I guess that, in circumstances like these, it's a bit of make or break anyhow. Raising my brow as I looked to the worn, almost illegible, message written in black, I felt myself dig into my older memories of Prometheus Point, schematics and maps flipping through my mind as I tried to remember about this 'library'.

Let's see... In Point Prometheus, there were four major areas. Little Wonders Educational Facility, which is where we were now, Optimized Eugenics, the Big Daddy suit factory floor, and, just beyond that... Mendel's Family Library!

That's right! If we head back to the atrium and take those stairs from before, we should be able to reach the Suit Assembly Floor, and just beyond that, the library! Whatever was there, whatever it meant, I would have to find it, and, hopefully, there would be something of interest. Mentally nodding my head as I went over the plan, I turned to the girls again, Rarity currently adjusting her still slightly ruffled mane.

"Did you find something, dear?" Rarity asked, giving me a short glance as she distractedly continued to tend to her mane. Chuckling at this sight, I nodded, Fluttershy stepping forward, her eyes on the message on the whiteboard.

"W-what does it mean?" She asked. Glancing to the numbers on the board, I gave a shrug, unsure as to what they meant. As for the location though, I took out my marker from my pocket, uncapping it and, with one swift motion, circling the word 'library'.

"A library?" I nodded, Fluttershy gaining a look of worry about her as she looked to me. "W-will it be safe?" She realizes we're in Rapture, right?

Rolling my eyes at this, I kneeled down next to her, giving her a nod as I reassuringly pat her head. This didn't seem to assist her worry that greatly, but, after a flashed her a small smile, she seemed to calm, the slight fear in her eyes fading back to imexistance as I stood myself to my feet again, both Fluttershy and Rarity smiling to me as I did so.

Making my way to the still jammed door of the room, I reached for my rivet gun, pushing the nearby release as the empty rivet container on it's side fell to the ground, clanging as it bounced against the metal floors. I moved my hand into the burlap sack tied to me, grabbing hold of another container of rivets and, with a quick clank of it against the rivet gun's metal, and a spin to put it in place, finishing the reload of my weaponry.

Now much more confident, since my rivet gun was once again loaded with twelve, splicer killing shots, I reached for the metal shard that currently jammed the door in front of the girls and I, ready to free the door and begin our tread to the Mendel Family Library... Until-

"I think that James an' his crew came dis way!"

"Ya best be right 'bout this!"

As soon as I heard the sound of more splicers heading towards the area, their footsteps and voices echoing down the hall and into the room, I released the metal shard that I had been gripping, choosing to leave it in as I scrambled behind me. Running past my currently confused charges, I grabbed hold of the mattress that laid limply in the room, lifting it and, with little to no taking it across the room, over my charges' heads. Soon, the voices and sounds that came from the splicers coming this way became muffled, a mattress now adding to the small barrier that the jammed metal door had created.

Wasn't I trying to make my way out? Well, yes, why the heck would I do that now? No, I wasn't trying to take down the doors, so much as I was trying to close them off. There were only two ways into this room. One of which now being sealed off by rubble from the explosive I had thrown back on the second floor, and the other currently being blocked off by the mattress I had just placed.

As to the reason, well, it was mostly caution. I was in no mood to get into another fight with a large group of splicers, considering the limited ammunition that I had, and closing off the ways and views into here would definitely help to make sure of that.

As the girls turned to me curiously, their brows raised as they looked to me, I made my way to the whiteboard again, my marker top being pulled off with a pop as I started to a message of my own, just below the note that had been left here by 'Joshua'.

'SPLICERS OUTSIDE. NEED TO WAIT.'

Both of the girls' eyes widened as they read this; The two going silent as they both gave me nods, backing away from the door a little bit further, then moving off to the side of the room so that they wouldn't be in its direct front. It was a smart move, actually.

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

Since Omega had first blocked off the way in and out of the room, the group of three had been sitting against the far wall for quite some time, silently listening as the footsteps and mutterings of splicers would come and go.

Fluttershy and Rarity had unknowingly huddled themselves close to Omega as time went on, though he didn't show any signs of minding whatsoever, finding comfort in his presence near them. As for Omega, he had readied his weapon sometime ago, keeping it pointed towards the door, just in case the splicers did manage to get through.

Soon though, the sound from the other of the blocked off doors began to calm. Footsteps of a crowd lowered to that of a group, then a few, and finally, to none. Remaining wary, however, Omega retained his position, ready to fire at even the slightest-...

Nearly pulling the trigger to his weapon as a loud growl filled the room, Omega jumping in slight surprise, along with his charges, as he glanced around the room, searching for the source. As he stood himself, scanning the room with his original Big Daddy firearm as his charges looked to him with both bemusement, but even more so, a slight sense of humored solace.

"Um... Darling?" Rarity whispered, Omega momentarily stopping his search as he turned his head to the two, partially lowering his rivet gun. "I... Uh... I do believe that that was your... Stomach." As she said this, she forced herself to hold back chuckled, a sense of nervousness itching at her as she told Omega of this... Admittedly degrading fact.

Omega looked to the two with a raised brow, now completely lowering his weapon, and even reverting it to it's compacted form, as he turned to them.

Yet again, a growl filled the room, loudly and abruptly; Only this time, Omega's face reddened, having felt the twisting and rumbling if his stomach as it groaned out a feeling that Omega had long gone without, and as a result, forgotten. Hunger.

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

... Well, this is embarrassing. I mean, how often does somebody's stomach scare them? It sounds ridiculous, I'm aware, but its the truth. After all, over a decade of being stuck inside of a suit that regularly tended to your human needs... Well... It makes pretty much everything surprising.

Letting out a small, nervous chuckle, I scratched the back of my head as I pointed my gaze elsewhere than the girls, in a similar fashion to Fluttershy, I cleared out my throat, hoping to push the moment aside.

"... M-maybe we should take a lunch break while we're here?" I heard Fluttershy suggest, myself returning my gaze to the two as I gave them a nod. Red still on my face, though I could tell that it had faded significantly, I made my way over to the two again, sitting with my legs crossed in front of them as I untied the sack from around my back and placed it to my side.

Reaching in as the girls adjusted their seating positions, creating a small triangle comprised of the three of us, I brushed aside ammo, explosives, momentos, and utilities as I grabbed hold of three cans that laid along with a much larger pile, taking them out one by one through random choice and placing them in the middle of the girls and I. Soon after that, I also pulled out the large container of water that the girls had found in Apollo Square, placing it off to the side for later; I re-tied the bag again, assuring that nothing would spill out as I left it to stand on it own, despite the fact that it dropped slightly.

Turning back to the girls, who were both waiting patiently as I went about my process, I grabbed hold of the three cans once again, holding them in my gloved ESU hand, while using my bare hand to rip off the lids. I, not wanting the girls to be unhappy, placed the cans back down for them, gesturing for them to choose those which they preferred.

In front of us was a can of sliced peaches, a can of orange pieces, and a can of diced pineapple. The three fruits looked... Odd. Not that they had gone bad, thank god, but its just the way they were colored and-... And wet. I kinda had some mixed feelings to the impressions they gave me in my hunger.

At first, the girls both reached out for their individual cans, Fluttershy having chosen the peaches, while Rarity chose the pineapple. But, centimeters away from actually taking the food's, the two stopped, pulling their forehooves away as if they had just been scolded for doing something wrong before glancing at one another, similar expressions of relent on their faces.

Is something wrong?

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

As Omega looked to the two in concerned confusion, Fluttershy and Rarity looked to one another, sharing the same, simultaneous thought as they looked between the food in front of them, and their companion, Omega.

"...W-well... He has been in that suit for a long time." Fluttershy thought to herself, Rarity, in the meantime, only seeming to unknowingly add to it.

"And I'm sure that he's curious as to how these foods taste like, after having gone so long without.." Rarity mused, a slight sting of guilt hitting both her, and Fluttershy, from very nearly having selfishly taken two whole cans of the meals before them.

"Plus, Rarity and I-"

"did promise to take care of Omega, just as he took care of us."

The two felt their eyes mentally narrow as I glint of sureness passed through them.

"I-it may not be a lot-"

"but perhaps,-"

"it would make Omega happy?"

The two's minds set, they both looked to Omega, having shared an unheralded agreement as they slowly began to speak up once again, thinking up ways in which to explain their thoughts to their currently confused guardian.

"Um... Omega, darling, perhaps we shouldn't be so... Self centered." Rarity's explanation only drew even more confusion from Omega, as he looked to the two with an added sense of skepticism now about him.

"I-I think that, what she means is... Um... That, maybe, if you'd like, that is, you'd prefer to... Um... Share them?" Finishing this prolonged sentence of hers, Fluttershy and Rarity both flashed small, nervous smiles to their protector, who just looked on at the scene in what appeared to be thought.

Omega, after having heard this... Suggestion of theirs, couldn't help but be confused as to their motives for doing so. After all, he likely wouldn't have minded whatever canned food he was left with, and he certainly didn't think of the two as 'self centered', or anything like that. Still though, if what they wanted to do was to share the three cans amongst one another, then, by all means, Omega couldn't really find reason to decline.

Shrugging to the two as a response, basically telling them that he didn't mind, he felt himself mentally raise a brow as the two let out silent, though still noticeable, sighs, almost in relief. He figured that he would have to rack his mind on it later. Especially since, at the moment, his stomach was about five minutes from punching him against his throat in an effort to tell him to find food.

So, reaching for the cans at random, Rarity and Fluttershy watched as Omega grabbed onto one of the many split apart fruits, before then just popping it into his mouth, his mouth chewing as he slowly processed the taste and texture into his mind.

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

... You know how I said that I was 'missing out' when I had first hugged the girls without my suit on? Well... This was no exception!

I mean, holy crap! This tasted freaking amazing! The orange pieces gave a nice, acidic, yet sweet taste. The peaches were even more so, being even sweeter than what I figured sugar would taste like, all the while managing to spread it about. As for pineapple, it was the most refreshing thing I had ever had! Every bite felt like it released a small splash of sweetened water in return, trailing down to my neck, and soothing my long unused throat.

Better still, after I had taken one piece of each of the fruits to taste, the girls had begun to dig in as well, pacing themselves, just as I did, as we slowly emptied the cans of fruit, eventually ending out small break as we began to feel the cold, smooth bottoms of the cans.

As I popped one last piece of peach into my mouth though, I noticed that the girls were looking to me with smiles, myself being unsure as to why. I had eaten relatively cleanly, aside from the whole 'eating with my hands' thing, and I'm pretty sure that none of it had stained around my face, or clothing, for that matter.

Raising my brow at the two, I untied and reached into our supplies again, taking our my whiteboard segment, since, honestly, I was too lazy to just get up and write it on the bigger board, and began to scribble a message for the two, eventually turning it to face them as I finished.

'WHY ARE YOU TWO SMILING?'

Much to my surprise, as they read this, the two giggled, drawing even more confusion from me in doing so.

"Oh, darling, we're simply happy that you enjoyed the food. After all, you did tell us that you were in your suit for a long time, some time ago." Rarity answered.

"Y-yes. W-we're just glad that you liked it."

... I know I'm a sucker for cute, but damn this was adorable. The two were cheerful at the fact that I actually liked the first meal that I had in years, and, just the thought of it... Well... Unable to really express it in words, I thanked the two in one of the only ways that I could.

Pushing the littered cans between us aside, I reached my hands for the two's heads, the two calmly keeping their positions, doing so even more firmly still then, as I set myself to gently petting the two of them, scratching them lightly nearby their ears, feeling the warm, soft fur below my fingers as I did so.

They both leaned into my hands as I went on, drawing a chuckle from me as their smiling, almost entranced faces, leaned along with their heads. Eventually, after a few more moments of simply enjoying the girls contentment, and happiness, I pulled away from the two, their heads slowly reverting to their previous positions, their eyes slowly looking their dazed looks, as I grabbed hold of the water container that I had left off to the side during our meal, opening the container and holding it out to the girls.

As they finally recovered from their states, they both took turns with the water, Rarity having gone first, taking small, measured sips from the water before passing it on. They had a bit of trouble, considering the slippery glass and the fact that they were using their hooves, but with a little assistance from my end, adding slightly more support to the bottom of the bottom of the container so that they could more easily drink it, they managed.

Soon, as the glass reached me, I took in a breath as I put the tip of the container in between my lips, slowly tipping it until, finally, the formless... Cool... Refreshing... Okay, this was just water, right? It was great. I mean, its supposed to be flavorless, but to me, it felt like it was a blessing in liquid form. I took measured sips, like my charges, but for one reason or another, I had do so, let alone when I pulled away. It was as if... All my dilemma and pain were washed off.

Shaking my head slightly as I pulled the container away from me, closing it up once again before replacing it into our sack of supplies, then tying it around my back again, I stood myself with a groan, the girls shortly following the example, and turned towards where the mattress currently blocked off the door; I released the safeties on both of my weapons. While it was a nice break, it was time to get going. Time to head to that library.

Glancing to the written numbers on the whiteboard in the room again, I mentally repeated them over and over again, trying to set it into my memory as I made my way over to the blocked off door and pulled away a small part of the mattress, giving me a small view of the hall.

It was desolate, with not a single splicer to be heard, or seen, in the area. Smirking at this, I pushed aside the mattress fully, before then grabbing hold of the metal shard that blocked the door and, with little to no effort, pulling the bent metal out from its entrapment, and allowing for the door to finally slide open.

About ti-

"Oy!"

Oh, come on! Turning to the source of the sound, I saw a single thuggish splicer looking to me angrily, having obviously been scavenging from the Circus of Values vending machine as he stood himself to face me. The girls, still currently hidden behind the doorframe, stood back, keeping themselves in cover as they watched me. At least I was sure they were safe.

"Th' boys 'no I was lookin' for you! They think I'm a right loon now, y'hear?!?" And that would make then wrong, how? "I oughta-"

As he hit his lead pipe against his hand, myself letting out a silent sigh as I compacted my rivet gun again and sparked my ESU, knowing that it would be a waste of ammunition to use any rivets on this guy, I nearly slapped my palm against my face as he tripped over the vending machine and fell flat on his face, having basically kicked the thing... Wait, 'kicked'?

I felt a chuckle escape me as the familiar sound of an alarm rang through the air, the splicer looking upwards in shock as he sprang to stand himself up. The idiot had actually kicked the wiring of the machine I had hacked into turning on the security alarms! That's just rich!

The security bots were soon about him, the splicer flailing his weapon uselessly as the bots few around him a few times, before, with a cock of their guns, letting loose a maelstrom of bullets. The splicer fell quickly as the alarms soon shut off, the two security bots beginning to fly past me as they made their way to whatever location they had intended to return to... Until I plucked one of the two from the air, gripping it tightly as its rotors began to spin rapidly in its attempts to escape my grip, though I didn't let go.

Looking on with confusion and interest, Fluttershy and Rarity watched as I opened the control panel in the back of the bot, already setting myself to replacing wires as the robot continued to struggle. After a few seconds worth of annoying wires and inhibiting energy flow, I managed to get the wirings into the appropriate, at least by my current standards, place, even managing to upgrade the speed in which it fired it's gun, ergo, upping the damage that it would cause.

The security bot's once yellow outlining lights turned green as it let out a series of beeps, its rotors momentarily stopping, before once again spinning themselves up, myself letting it go as it flew into the air, spinning itself slowly around my proximity as it searched for foes.

"W-Wow." I heard Fluttershy say in astonishment as she and Rarity made their way out of the room, purposely keeping their attention away from the splicer remains that now festered down the hall. "... You make a lot of these little friends here, don't you?"

Lifting my hand, I tilted it from side to side in a 'more or less' manner, the security bot that circled around me lowering itself to the level of both Rarity and Fluttershy, keeping itself stationary as the two looked it over, having never really gotten a good look at one up close, aside from Winston. This put a point on a mental chart that I kept, entitled 'reasons that I'm sure the robots here have minds of their own'.

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

Making our way back to the atrium, I kept on repeating those numbers from before, doing my best to keep them locked in my head while, at the same time, hoping desperately that they would actually prove to be useful.

Fluttershy and Rarity both walked to my right, occasionally making short conversation with one another as we went on, and the security bot, who I had deemed 'Clarke', floated to my left, constantly surveying the area for danger; I wasn't sure why I named him, along with many other security bots that had served me over the years, but I guess that it had just turned to habit. Besides, it was better than saying 'security bot 1' and 'security bot 2'.

Within a few more minutes, we eventually reached the atrium of Point Prometheus, the door to the Big Daddy Proving Grounds mocking me as we passed it. If it wasn't for that rusted piece of tin, we would have been out of here by now... And into Lower Rapture... Talk about bitter-sweet.

The girls, Clarke, and I made a left as we reached the atrium, turning our attention to the stairway that was now in front of us as I took the lead, loosely lifting my rivet gun onto my shoulder as I carefully grabbed the railing of the wooden stairs, which was already a red flag for me, with my right hand, slowly beginning my, and my charges, climb to the next floor of the area. The Big Daddy Suit assembly floor.

Honestly, aside from the prospect of more wooden stairs, I was pretty excited to go the through this place. See, there was a huge surplus of Big Daddy armor pieces around here, as the name implies, and I figure that, if I can manage to find some chucks of armor in well-enough condition, I may be able to add to my defenses. After all, a vest and dress clothing does not have the tendency of protecting me from lethal issues, like meat hooks, or firearms.

The four of us circled the stairway, eventually coming up on a floor with red tinted lighting, the kind one would see in a factory, as a small smile came to my face, our small group eventually fully entering the room and marveling at the full splendor that was... Nothing...

WHAT THE FUCK?!?

The room was empty! Construction gear, assembly lines, and even some broken down machines remained, but I couldn't even see a single boot in the place. Over 1,000 tons worth of Big Daddy armor and metal, just gone?!? It made no sense!

Groaning, I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration as I looked the apparently ransacked place over, my charges looking to me questioningly as I did so...

You know what, that's fine. Those suits weren't an absolute necessity anyways! ... Though they would help. Nonetheless, our objective isn't here! It's somewhere in the library.

Putting my gaze upwards again, I shrugged off my momentary irritation with a sigh, continuing forward as I made my way down the room, my charges and programmed bodyguard following shortly behind. Room after room of factory floor, we passed by dozens of empty conveyer lines, and bent metal robotic arms, which the engineers would usually use to hold up the Big Daddy chest pieces. Something else that drew my attention though, were the wreckages of turrets, camera, and security bots that laid on the ground.

This place was, believe it or not, teeming with security. The path that the four of us were taking was out of the way of those pieces of machinery, so we wouldn't have had to deal with them anyways, but still. It was as if a splicer just... Had it out for them... Speaking of... I didn't see, nor hear, a single splicer around the place either... Where were they?

Tch, I should just leave it as is, really. After all, why look a gift horse in the mo-... Glancing to both Fluttershy and Rarity for a moment, I mentally kicked myself for that phrase, returning my attention ahead of us,

Eventually, the four of us reached a turn in one of the many halls that made up the assembly line, leading to a pair of closed, and rusted doors. Taking one last glance at the mental map of the area that I had, I realized that this was our intended destination. This, was the Mendel Family Library.

Looking to the girls, I bobbed my head towards the doors, basically telling them that this was where we needed to go. The two of them smiled and nodded, seeming to understand, as we all entered the room, the automatic doors closing with a creak behind us as we did so.

Upon entering, we were quickly greeted by a round, wooden desk at the center of the room, with four large wooden columns circled around it, and various pieces of equipment spread amongst the desktops. Books were placed haphazardly across the floors of the room, some being in piles, while others simply laid individually with their cover either facing up or down.

Bookshelves lined the room, as per usual in a library, and signs stood above each 'aisle', showing letters and genre from the previous librarian's attempts at keeping the place organized. Pfft, lotta good that did him.

Scratching my head as I glanced around the room, a single thought coming to my head as I did so.

"Okaaaayyyy... Where the fuck do I start?"

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

"No! No- ARGHhhhh!" Another splicer was torn in half as his aggressor gave a single flick of her arms outwards, her inhuman strength proving too much for the splicer's body to handle as she stepped over the recently spread about organs of her victim, having lost their place to be kept as they were exposed to the cold air of the outside, only to be crushed under the metal boot of the very one that had introduced them to this new setting.

She had no interest in playing with her food... Not this time. Not when there was fresh, new meat about. She could smell it. One was much like a canned fish, only having recently been pulled from its package, yet already so tough and grainy. Two more simply oozed innocence, and fear. They were a little on the raw side, but she was certain that, once she skinned them, she would find use for their meat.

She also smelled the faint scent of exhaust fumes, drawing a growl from her as she continued down the halls of the Big Daddy Assembly Line, her legs heavily being brought up and down, all the while allowing her to somehow keep silence.

This hunt couldn't be any simpler. Her food had already trapped itself. Now, all she had to do, like the predator that she was, was go for the neck, and bleed them out; Slow, and painfully.

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

Fluttershy and Rarity were on opposite sides of the room, though they were still clearly in my view, as I and Clarke continued to search around the front desk of the library, not leaving a single piece of equipment unturned, literally, as we searched the room.

It had been about ten minutes since we had started and, aside from a few books that I had found of interest, we hadn't come across anything useful. I couldn't get it. Why would that message have told a guy to come to the library, along with have those numbers written down, if there wasn't anything here?

... I just don't get it! Kicking a book that sat near my feet away in frustration, I let out a sigh as-... Well... What do you know?

Below hardcover book that I had basically punted, was a small, metal floor safe, bolts holding it down into it's place as a number dial looked back to me.

"Number dial?!? I am on a roll!"

Turning my head to Clarke as I gave the floor safe a couple of good taps from my shoes, I gestured for him to get the girls, kneeling myself down next to the metal container as I began to repeat the numbers that I had gotten from the whiteboard.

5 right. 28 left. 16 right. 12 left. Almost instantly, the safe let out a loud click, a smile coming to my face as I held tighter onto the number dial, using it as a sort of handle as I pulled the locker open and searched its contents.

The sound of trotting hooves informed me that my charges had returned, the two of them by my sides, as I individually pulled out every object that I could find in the safe.

There was about 112 dollars worth of money, which would definitely prove useful when necessary, another EVE hypo, adding to my previous four, and finally, and most importantly, there was a recorder, with a tape already in the slot.

I gave myself a nod as I looked to Fluttershy and Rarity, who both seemed to share a similar excitement to mine, and glancing up to Clarke, who was currently floating just above my head, his headlight on the recorder in his own interest.

Taking in a breath, I allowed for the moment of truth to play through, pushing the play button on the machine and starting the message.

It started off with the sound of clattering objects, as if someone had been pushing things from their place and then shuffling their way in. A man was gasping, seeming to have just recently gone through some sort of run before he had left the message.

"... George... George, its Joshua..." He panted. "I... I've got good news... And bad news... The bad news?... Splicers have gone nuts -- And I dont just mean their regular kind of nuts, but Im talking full blown murder everything nuts! ... I'm not entirely sure why, but they've started to take down everything that's not them! Big Daddies, Big Sisters, survivors like us, you name it!"

This must have been taken only a few years ago. During the last splicers uprising.

"It's... Pretty bad... But, like I said, I've got good news!" I hope you do. "I heard that, down in Persephone -- you know, the lowest part of Rapture, and all that crap, that there was a couple of escape subs left! Now, nobody else besides me knows about it, and now, nobody else but me or you. Though, the hard party's probably going to be getting there... The way to Lower Rapture, I've heard, is in the Big Daddy Proving Grounds. Problem is, that unless you're one of those metal jackasses and you've got one of those little abominations with you," I'm gonna ignore that one for now. "you can't get in, right?... Wrong-o! As it turns out, the door was designed to have a sort of... Just in case to it. I've seen some of the scientists do it all the time! All you have to do, is zap the top left corner of the door with a bit of Electro Bolt and, badda-bing badda-boom you're in! Great, right?"

Oh, buddy, you have no idea! As a smile made its way to my face, punctuated by the quiet 'yes' that Rarity let out as the message gave out the information we needed, I found myself paying less and less attention to the message.

"... One more thing, Georgie." Until he said that. "... I'm... Probably not going to be seeing you there... I had forgotten to tell ya but... When I first came here, I noticed that it was real quiet-like. As if it were a ghost town. No splicers, no machines, nothin' but a bunch'a broken parts. Though, that's the thing. The place was usually filled with Big Daddy armor. For a while, I wondered where it had gone, how it could have disappeared... Then, it hit me... Well, she hit me... Cut my damn leg off before I could manage to get in here... Georgie, I'm hurt pretty bad, and even now, I can hear her just outside of the room, eating... Eating me..."

... This... Was really creepy actually. What the heck was this guy talking about?

"Georgie... They're using it as armo-" The message cut off there, ending in a static filled silence before the play button eventually popped itself out.

The girls and I had lost out smiles, now replaced by looks of confusion, concern, and most of all, fear. He had said that the place was silent when he first got there... Kinda like it was...

My eyes widening, I motioned for the girls to get down on the floor, barely having time to glance over the front desk of the library before the library doors were all but blasted inwards, dents upon the metal showing that they had simply been kicked out of the way.

There, standing at where the doorway to the room was, was something that I had never seen before. She... It was a splicer. Braces were spread about her legs, joints allowing it to move freely, while the metal also gave her a strange stiffness. Her stomach, just above her waist, was tightened to an excruciatingly uncomfortable form, likely not even leaving enough room for her intestines as they were forced to reaccomodate elsewhere from the tight fitting metal clamp around her stomach. She had a white undercloth on, using primarily that to cover herself. Her arms and legs were covered in a familiar metal... Big Daddy suit metal, forming gauntlets and boots, each held tightly in plac by chains. She had an air tank tied to her back, though, instead of moving to some sort of respiratory system, the moving loved directly into her chest, likely puncturing her lungs, and feeding it air directly. Two meat hooks, much like those of spider splicers, were in her hands, only, longer, more distended. Finally, the not terrifying feature of all, in my opinion, was the mask. It was as if she had skinned a mannequin, somehow, using its scalp, face, and neck to cover hers, red splattering all around it.

This... This couldn't be. I had never seen a splicer like this. One that had adapted Big Daddy armor onto themselves. It's... It's like watching a messed up puppet move.

Narrowing my eyes as I shook these thoughts out of my head, I glanced to Clarke, who seemed to give me a 'nod' of sorts, as I jumped over the front desk of the library, taking a few steps forwards as Clarke followed shortly behind me, cocking his gun. Fluttershy and Rarity were left where they were, myself thinking that they'd be safer this way.

Growling loudly, I heard the splicer speak... Or at least, try to.

"Mahhhh meeeht." Her voice was raspy, next to impossible to understand. More than likely, it was because of the 'scuba gear' that she had on. "Mahhhh meeeht." She repeated as I rose my rivet gun to her, prepared to fire.

"MAHHHHH MEEEEHT!" She screeched this time, my eyes narrowing as I let out a yell and fired a rivet at her. Much to my shock, and slight horror though, she quickly avoided it, jumping high into the air and clinging herself to the ceiling of the room, crawling her way towards me. She was like a spider splicer!?!

Clarke took his turn this time, firing at her with all of his might. Yet again though, she seemed to withstand this, armor on her back absorbing and ricocheting the bullets as if they were nothing. That was the Big Daddy armor in effect.

As the splicer turned its head Clarke, she let out another deafening scream, pouncing from her place on the roof and, within and instant, breaking Clarke in two with her meat hooks, his separated halves sparking and leaking fluid as his lights went out for good.

The splicer landed on the ground and, without even missing a beat, charged to me, her arms outstretched, though her meat hooks were absent, as she made to take me down.

Heh, I guess I gave this thing more credit than I thought. Sure, it might have had some annoying, and creepy, elements, but taking on a Big Daddy one on one in a clash? Not the smartest choice.

Chuckling, I held my arms out in return, adjusting my footing as I awaited for a light pu- Oof, holy shit!

My eyes widened as the splicer finally clashed with me, sending me grinding back by a good few feet before the two of us reached a momentary stalemate, both of our hands entwined as we pushed against one another, her mask centimeters away from my face.

This thing not only had the maneuverability of a spider splicer, and armor of a Big Daddy, but apparently, it even had the strength of a brute splicer. That is so bullshit!

As the two of us continued to push against one another, an idea popped to mind. It was simple, really. All i had to do, was use my head... So I did.

Reeling my head back, I slammed it back forward as hard as I could, myself feeling just as much pain as the splicer did, if not more, as she flinched backwards. Pulling up my rivet gun again, I fired a barrage of rivets, point blank, at the splicer.

Many of them bounced off, or got partially embedded into the metal armor of the splicer, but two of them, one in the shoulder, and in the hand, managed to do some damage, launching the splicer back and riveting her to a nearby wall.

My breath was quick, and shallow, as I slightly fumbled for another clip of rivets for my rivet gun, replacing the old with the new as I looked over the... New breed of splicer... Rarity and Fluttershy came rushing to me once they realized the fight was over, the two of them asking me over and over if I was okay, or if I had gotten hurt, before then gasping as they came to the front of me.

Raising a brow, I felt a peculiar warmth against my forehead, reaching for it before just as quickly flinching my hand back as a shark surge of pain went through. And, sure enough, on my finger tips, was a dark layer of crimson.

"... Maaahhh meeeeht." My eyes widened as the three of us looked to the splicer again, watching, though with great dificulty, as she began to pry herself from the wall, yanking her now bloody hand out of the wall with a yell before looking to us again.

"MAAAAH MEEEHT!" Oh hell no! Grabbing hold of my two charges, much to their surprise, I started to sprint my way back the way we had come, running for the atrium.

She had just survived over twelve rivets, point blank, from a Big Daddy rivet gun! I didn't have nearly enough firepower to stop this thing! The only thing that could come close to doing that is my ESU, and personally, I'd rather not get in another close meeting with that thing!

The stairs seemed to take forever, especially as I heard the faint sound of crumbling drywall far behind us, as the girls and I got to the atrium, myself quickly making my way to the doors to the proving grounds as I placed them down next to me, extending my ESU and, at a speed that would impress light, hitting it against the upper corner of the door. Sure enough, it quickly began to open, letting out a series of clanks as grinds as it opened-

"MAAAAHHHH MEEEEEEHHHT!" At a speed to slow for my taste! Moving to the door, I pushed it the rest of the way open, gesturing for Fluttershy and Rarity to hurry inside, which they did in record time, as I went in after them, grabbing hold of the door once again and beginning to pull it closed.

As I did so, I saw a shadow going down the staircase, the spliced maniac following shortly behind as she looked to me with mania. She yelled out loudly as I pulled the doors to a close, twisting them inwards so that, even if she tried, she'd be unable to open it. And, boy, did she try.

The metal of the door bent and dented under her crazed will, every single yell and thump of the mad woman bringing another cringe of fear from my charges as she continued to take out her frustration on the door.

This went on for what must have been twenty minutes, before, finally, as she let out one more yell, the sound of the banging stopped. She had gone.

Sighing, I made my way over to my charges, sitting myself against the nearest wall to them before, soon enough, all but collapsing as I sat myself down.

The girl, despite their fears, quickly began to tend to me, urging me to keep awake as I reached into our sack of supplies again, and pulled out the half of a a medical kit that we had, along with the other, just in case.

That splicer had done a number on me, that was for sure. Both physically, and inventory wise.

She had just gone... Berzerk.

Author's Notes:

Introducing the newest member of the splicer family, The Bezerker!

Believe it or not, the idea for her came to me in a nightmare. :D Go figure...0.0

Things are going to be a lot tougher with her around. But, hey, now they head into Lower Rapture, and things should get better!!!!....

Okay, if you honestly think that the above statement is true, you're crazier than the berserker.

Hope you enjoy!

(Btw, almost at 500 likes. Yay!)