Yes! Yes, yes, FUCK yes!

Now, I know that this may sound as though I'm getting a little carried away at this point, but come on! Considering that practically little to nothing has gone according to plan since the moment we stepped foot in Lower Rapture, having found a ticket into Ryan Amusements was HUGE!

Of course, outside of my mental cheering, I had settled for a satisfied grin and a nod, not wanting to embarrass myself with such a reaction, but it was still a great miniature victory... Wow, that sounds much more underwhelming when I say it like that. Oh well, a little bit of positivity never hurt, right?

As I gave the ticket a quick once over, bits of blood that still remained splattered on my hands and clothes migrating into it to create speckles of crimson among it's faces of yellow, I turned myself to face Fluttershy and Rarity.

The two were, to my slight surprise, but appreciation, still looking about the room, despite not having known exactly what they were looking for. Nonetheless, they had still seemed to have found a few objects of use, with a couple of hacking darts and a few spare dollars by Rarity's side, while Fluttershy continued her own search with a heavy rivet container, loosely held on its side, in her maw.

Loudly clearing my throat, I gained the attention of the two, teal and ocean blue orbs pointing to me as I raised the ticket up in their view, waving it around a couple of times for emphasis. "Oh! Is that what we needed?" Rarity asked, to which I responded with a nod.

The two smiled at this, before then glancing to one another as Rarity followed Fluttershy's example, picking up the objects that she herself had found using her mouth. As they trotted towards me, I kneeled myself down to their level, holding out my hand for them to place the objects, while also keeping contact between them and I at a minimum. After all, I was still covered in splicer blood.

One after the other, the two allowed their found resources to fall into my grip, before then backing themselves slightly as I placed the objects into our bag of supplies. I did so carefully though, so as not to disturb the currently resting Mill... At least, I guessed that he was resting. He was certainly being quiet enough.

I gave the two thankful nods as I stood myself again, cramming the ticket into my pant pocket before taking a glance out the large glass window that glimpsed into Ryan Amusements. Next stop, I suppose.

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

Mill felt very much satisfied at the moment. He had all but quenched his thirst, and no longer craved that which haunted him. He was content with simply laying where he was, and enjoying the feeling of fullness of his now stuffed, and slightly distended, stomach ... Unfortunately, he was very aware that he could not.

In his hunger, he had inadvertently left his newfound owners, and he knew very well that they would not... Appreciate his doing so. Quite the opposite in fact.

He may have been an invertebrate that lacked a brain any bigger than a pea, but he was anything but an idiot.

Rolling himself over from his back, which he had involuntary laid himself on in his relaxation, and onto his belly, he let out a literal sluggish groan.

Lazily lifting his head, the slug scanned the room for viable use, a plan already formulating in his concoctive, though foggy, mind. Soon, his black and glowing eyes spotted a high shelf, most of it's previous belongings having been tipped over, taken, or just destroyed with the passage of time.

He groaned at the knowledge that he would need to climb, his current gluttony arguing with him to stay where he was. Mill ignored this mindset, however, slithering and slicking his way over to the wall, as he then slowly began to attach himself.

Once he was certain that he was secure, his already viscous slime now having changed into a thicker and more molasses-like form, he began to make his way upwards, pacing himself during which... Until he began to hear footsteps coming towards him, resonating from the same direction that his caretakers had recently gone down.

With both the possibilities of those being his owners, and not being his owners, suddenly comings I mind, Mill rushed his progress, lowering his estimated time of arrival from a few minutes to a couple of seconds.

As several objects more fell from the shelf to the floor, letting out a few thumps and clunks as they did so, Mill laid there panting, silently cursing himself for having had that third serving... Before then telling himself it was worth it.

As three familiar shadows made themselves visible, the ADAM slug feeling relief at the thought that it wasn't some sort of random splicer, he moved himself back, lowering the visibility they may have had on him. He waited and watched as the three came around the corner, Omega and his charges sharing satisfied smiles on their faces, before they began to pass nearby him.

This was his chance. As he once again neared the edge of the shelf, using his tail to hang himself downwards, he awaited the right opportunity, Omega passing right under him. As he was just above the supply bag that his owner carried with him, he gave a quick mental prayer that this plan would not end badly.

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

I made it a point of mine to continually check my pocket as the girls and I began to make our way out of the security area, and into the ticket booth. It was from both a combination of slight paranoia, and the obligatory law of Rapture that makes it so that nothing is simple, that I did this... So yeah, pretty understandable in that regard, isn't it?

Fluttershy and Rarity were both to my right, furthest away from the corpses of those splicers that we would soon pass. They didn't seem to even glance to my side because of this, but, I couldn't really take that personally, so I just shrugged it off. If anything, I was glad that they were trying to avoid looking at the splicers that I had so mutilated.

With every step that I took, my shoes tamped against the floor, a sense of annoyance hitting me as the soles of my shoes continually stuck to the floor, likely due to the drawing blood that coated them. So much so, in fact, that I almost didn't notice the sudden downward shift in weight that came from my bag... Almost.

As the feeling registered in my mind, I quickly turned my head around, raising a brow as I looked to the slightly opened supply bag. The top of the bag then shifted, before, lo and behold, Mill lifted his head up through the opening, giving out a small squeal as he saw me.

I guess he's done with his nap... Or whatever it was he was doing... Note to self, check if he had an 'accident' in there... Actually, do slugs even do that?

Giving a mental shrug at the thought, I rolled my eyes at the slug's antics, moving my hand to him and petting his head. As expected, he resounded positively, before then slightly lifting himself even higher from the bag. That's... When I noticed something strange.

Pursing my lips, I carefully grabbed hold of Mill, who let out a soft squeal, lifting him out of the bag and in front of me. I rose a brow as I looked him over, turning him left and right while his head rested on my arced index finger.

Did... He get bigger? It was barely noticable, really, but Mill just seemed... Plump. On top of that, the odd engraving-like marks on his skin, along with his eyes, seemed even brighter in their color... Before I could even begin to question this, however, I stumbled, quickly regaining my footing as something nearly tripped me...Huh, Deja vu.

Turning myself as Mill squirmed from my grasp and moved up to my shoulder, I rose a brow and widened my eyes as I caught sight of something... Troubling. The two corpses of those splicers from earlier were still there, but they were different. Thinner, and paler too. Along with that, the pool of red that was once around them was gone, leaving a clean metal floor.

I... I had to be seeing things, right? I mean, I've hallucinated before. What's to say that I'm not doing the same now?

"Omega?" I suddenly heard Rarity call. Shaking my head, I took a quick glance around me, a sense of confusion coming about me as I realized that the girls weren't there. Instead, I had heard Rarity's voice come from outside the ticket booth, likely near the entrance to Ryan Amusements.

How had they left without me noticing? Had I really been that distracted by this? I mentally cursed and scolded myself for leaving my charges unattended, as I then rushed out of the room, exiting the ticket area and making my way to the girls. As I did so, Mill, who hung tightly to my shoulder as he bounced slightly from my run, let out a sort of... Burp.

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

If I could, I would've apologized immensely to my charges for having left them alone, and so out in the open. Even though I couldn't though, Fluttershy and Rarity didn't seem too bothered by the fact that I was gone. Rather, they instead just took great joy in seeing me back. Though, Rarity flinched away as Mill made his presence known with a loud squeal.

At the moment, we were facing the entrance to Ryan Amusements. To our left, the same map that guided people through the area remained, it's singular red light informing us of where we were, which was relatively obvious. To our right was the ticket machine, it's metallic and specially cut out slot awaiting for it's paper counterpart to fill it.

Without any hesitation, I reached into my pocket once more, grabbing hold of the rough, and slightly crumpled, ticket as I then pulled it out. I grabbed both sides of the object and tugged at them, flattening the ticket out before I then inserted it into the machine.

When barely an inch of the paper was in, the machine began to whirr and click, a series of parts starting to pull at the paper in an attempt to take it from me. I did not resist to let the paper go, watching as it was pulled into the machine... Then sent back out.

My brow raising at this, I attempted again, repeating the process of straightening the paper, inserting it into the appropriate location, and waiting for it to take the ticket. Again though, it just gave it out.

My frustration beginning to grow, I repeated the process yet again... Only this time, as soon as the machine began to spit the ticket back out, I gave a growl, all but shoving it back in before it had the chance, and bending the metal slightly so as to make sure it wouldn't deny it.

The machine whirred and clicked again in response, before then going silent. For a moment, Rarity, Fluttershy, and I looked to each other in slight concern, the thought of the machine being broken, or the ticket simply not working becoming very viable to us. This thought, however, was quickly dashed away as the door before us let out a single, loud clunk, signaling that it had unlocked itself.

I gave out a quiet mental cheer as the door slid upwards, and opened itself to us, gaining us entry into the park.

Looking to my charges, who returned the attention to me as well, I gestured for them to stay close, as I then re-extended my rivet gun, removing it's safety. Mill, in response to this, moved from my shoulder into the bag again, peeking his head out once more before then just as quickly hiding it again.

Alright. Lets see what this run-down place of 'fun' has in store.

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

Ryan Amusements. To many children, this seemed to be an area of enjoyment and glee; Nothing more, nothing less. To the adults of this now destroyed city though, it was well known as to what it was truly built for. Intended to teach Andrew Ryan's philosophy to the children of Rapture, the ride and exhibits were designed to convince the visitors to fear the various 'evils' of the surface world. Ideas such as the holding back of minds, and the forcing of other citizens to work for other causes than themselves became the talk of nightmares to the many young that had come to this area. An area that, as many knew, was simply meant to corrupt, and placate.

Upon entering this play place of the subliminal, Omega and his charges were quickly met with darkness, up ahead, at the end of the corridor. To either side of them, there were two small and rectangular glass walls, which gave them limited views of another, more infamous, area of the park. Two signs reading 'Journey To The Surface' were suspended there, and the faint view of what looked like a miniature version of a narrow city made up the background.

Fluttershy and Rarity found themselves moving even closer to the still bloodied Omega, barely staying themselves from contact as the three continued into the dark corridor. As the glass was replaced by wall, and the silence seemed to grow deafening, interrupted only by their echoing footsteps, Omega grew tense, raising his guard, along with his weaponry, as they went on.

After another dozen steps though, what little light they had, generated by the open entrance to the park, was soon removed as the door behind them closed with a clunk. As soon as this happened, Fluttershy and Rarity no longer cared for the blood that smeared their guardian, stopping where they were and embracing him in their fear, looking for the comfort that his mere presence gave them.

Omega, aware of his charge's sudden reactions, froze, his rivet gun raised as he waited and listened...

"HELLO. MY NAME IS ANDREW RYAN," The three jumped slightly as an automated recording began to play over the park's speaker systems, the lights around them flickering on one at a time, and finally allowing them sight once more. Immediately after, a small spray of colored confetti was blown out from a small stand before them. On this stand, there was a wax mannequin of a woman, wearing a tight white shirt, a long red, frilly dress, and red heels. The figure was positioned to be gesturing towards a table, which, at the moment, was bare. In front of this stand, and nearest to Rarity, stood a small sign, reading 'Free Sample!', with a picture of what looked like a gene tonic container on it. "AND WELCOME TO RYAN AMUSEMENTS. PLEASE, HELP YOURSELF TO A SAMPLE OF ONE OF OUR MORE POPULAR TONICS TO DATE, AND ENJOY YOUR VISIT."

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

As the machine finished it's recording, I felt an involuntary growl escape me, as yet another point was added to the reasons of why I hated that man. To introduce the concept of something like splicing to children... God, I wish he was still alive so I could kill him myself. Points to that Jack guy, though.

After another moment of keeping my guard up, looking around the room from my 'trapped' position, I lowered my rivet gun with a sigh, instead focusing my attention to my charges.

They were still holding onto me, their forearms circling around my upper stomach, and their heads pressed to the sides of my chest. As they dod this, I noticed some of the blood that was on me begin to rub off on them. So much for trying not to touch them.

Having decided that continuing that effort of mine would be moot at this point, I lowered my arms around the two of them, holding each of them in a comforting half-embrace of my own, my hands being placed on their shoulders.

Again, despite the fact that they were being stained in... Someone else, they continued to hold onto me, what little remnants of their shaking coming to a complete and total halt.

Nonetheless, the feeling of movement was still there, as Mill made his way out of the bag again, silently slithering up to my shoulder as I looked to him, and almost questioningly tilting his head. I looked to my charges again, and Mill seemed to suddenly understand... Heh... Yeah, right. A slug understands what I'm trying to say?

No, I think it was more that he could just tell that something was wrong. Now, where was it that I had heard that animals could do that again... The Tea Gardens in Upper Rapture, I think?

Either way, as soon as Mill caught sight of the two, he began to look at them oddly...

Making his way down my arm, Mill slithered over to one of my charges, before then beginning to nuzzle his head against them, in what I believed to be his own attempt to comfort them... The problem with this? Well, he had chosen to try and comfort Rarity.

"Mm... Thank you, Omega, that feels wonderful darling." Her eyes were closed at the moment, so she wasn't really aware of the fact that I wasn't the one petting her. Fluttershy, whose Rarity's sudden statement had drawn her attention, opened her own eyes and looked to her friend, before then looking to me.

She and I shared a silent chuckle and smile as we watched the scene, simply enjoying it for the small amount that we knew it would last.

Speaking of the time it would last, I began a mental countdown as Mill let out a soft trill, and Rarity's ear twitched at the sound.

3... Rarity's smile wavered, and for a moment, her body gave out a single shudder.

2... She seemed to start noticing the difference in 'my touch', including the slime and texture.

1... She peeked one of her eyes open, allowing herself to see what it was that was in contact with her... Annnnd 0.

Within milliseconds,--I'm not even exaggerating--Rarity's eyes widened as she let out a yell, ducking out of my grasp and gaining a fair distance of over five feet from my side.

Mill, having no longer been supported by Rarity's presence, and having been shaken by her leaving, fell to the floor with a harmless 'plop', before then raising his head again and giving it a quick shake.

And to think, it was going so well.

"Awww." Fluttershy said as she removed herself from my hold as well, before then making her way over to Mill. Likely having heard her coming, he turned his head towards her, and then began to let out another sound of contentment as she carefully picked him up, lightly touching his 'nose' with hers. God. Damn. Adorable. "He was just trying to help you feel better, Rarity." Fluttershy assured her friend, who seemed to have none of it.

"Well, do kindly tell him that I said 'no thank you'." She told us from her further away position, myself rolling my eyes with a smile as she did so.

She seemed to notice this, her face turning into one of scold as she looked to me. Another chuckle escaped me as I decided to then 'give into her commands', giving her a nod so as to say that Mill would be kept away from her... For the time being. After all, sooner or later, the two are probably going to start getting along... Probably.

"..." Her scowl shifting to a face of... Oh... Fuck...

In my distraction, I had not noticed a very... Blatant fact, which now stood before me. Rarity's side, starting from around her eye, and leading down to torso, was now caked in blood, along with both of her forearms. Fluttershy was no different, some of the crimson even having mixed into her gentle pink mane, creating a sloppy mess.

I wasn't the only one who hadn't noticed this though... And now it seemed as though Rarity was.

Turning her head and looking to her side, then her forearms, she caught a clear view of the blood that covered her once pristine and white fur, though she did not seem to say anything in response.

Fluttershy, who seemed to follow her friend's example, Mill balancing perfectly atop her head, could be heard taking in a breath as she caught sight of the large amount of blood that was on her, before releasing it in a much more forced, and stuttering form. She looked to me with almost pleading eyes.

It was at this point that Rarity finally managed to make a sound, in the form of a dry gulp. "... Omega..." She began, her voice slightly faltering. "Would... You mind if we find somewhere to clean ourselves off before we go on?"

Believe me, I'd like nothing more than that. The sooner they're clean, and no longer have to think of the fact that it's someone else's blood they're covered in, the better. I gave her a nod as I carefully took Mill from Fluttershy, placing him onto my shoulder, from which he just transferred himself to the supply bag again.

I looked to the two with worry, but they seemed to power through their current... Circumstances, taking in several deep breaths before they both looked to me to lead.

I decided not to waste anymore time, tightening my ESU glove and rivet gun clamps before gesturing for them to come with me. They wordlessly came along as we made our way past the wax figure of a woman, and turned the corner.

Shortly upon doing so, we were met with, what could only be called, the main area of Ryan Amusements.

At the moment, we were standing on the raised portion of the area, with a small staircase leading downwards to the open, clearly visible lower floor, and a pathway that leads from side to side over this floor, connecting the raised footing that we were on.

Several support columns were spread about the room, holding the weight of the intricately designed stone ceiling, with what looked like a domed glass skylight view towards the ocean above, while also providing a fitting design feature. To the intersecting wall nearest to our right, there was a metal sculpting of what looked to be a muscular man's arm, it's biceps contracting as it struggled to pull at the chain that it held. 'The Great Chain', and all of that bullshit, basically.

To the sides of the room were several displays, each of a different design and making. Unique illustrations filled these displays, and a singular button atop a voice speaker was welded to the fencing separating these displays from the audience. I did not remember that much from Lower Rapture, but I was able to faintly recall the general idea of these showings.

Supposedly, they told of 'the origins of Rapture', and the buttons would start up a voice recording that would inform it's audience of what each one meant. For instance, the one closest to us, though I would not be pushing that button anytime soon, showed an image of a suited man, whom I could easily guess to be Ryan, riding atop a large boat. The night sky was shining brightly, the moon also gazing down upon him from behind, adding a sense of dynamic as Ryan pointed towards the sea below. In other words, this was when he had decided to build the city, and where... On a side note... This is probably the closest I, along with many other people, had gotten to actually seeing the moon, or night, in a while... I digress though.

Anyways, in the room, a few points of interest were spread about, no longer including the vita-chamber that stood nearby... Seriously, screw the universe for constantly rubbing it in... Of these points, three of which were on the floor that the girls and I were on.

A blue neon sign in large text rounded above one of these points. 'Hall of the Future', it read. This was basically where people would go if they were interested in buying plasmids and gene tonics, and they'd be taught about their many uses... In other words, a living commercial, with purchase.

Another thing that caught my eye was the simple sign that read 'Gift Shop', lifted relatively high above the main door. Notice the pattern so far? How you basically had to pay to enter somewhere... Where you pay to to do anything else... Tch, welcome to Rapture.

Near the far off corner of the room, there was another indicator that pointed just around another wall. 'El Dorado Lounge'. This was basically a place that a person would go to if they wanted to drink themselves under the table, while still getting some entertainment.

In the lower floor, there was a center beam that supported the raised walkway interconnecting the left and right sides. Surrounding this beam, there were three familiar machines. One with the face of a clown, one with that of a desperado, and the other having a red cross painted over it.

Aside from that, nothing major stuck out in the room... Oh, wait, I forgot one. Did I mention the unimportant, insignificant, GIANT, FUCKING SIGN! Quite frankly, it was the biggest thing in the goddamn room! It was oversized and lit up, as most things in Rapture tended to be, with large and unmistakeable text. 'Journey To The Surface'. The door to this 'attraction' was on the lower floor with the vending machines.

Rolling my eyes at the likely overcompensating sign, I began to search my memories of the many plans I had of this place. My priority, at the moment, was doing just as Fluttershy and Rarity wanted. Washing them off.

"Hmmm... If memory serves... Sort of... There should be a couple of bathrooms inside of the gift shop." My gaze was moved to the comparably underwhelming store to the opposite side of us, my lips pursing at the thought.

Now, a public store bathroom isn't exactly a shower, or a bath, obviously, but it did have something that all the other places here didn't have. Clean water. I mean, hey, I'd personally prefer not to wash off a mess with another mess.

Giving myself a mental nod, I began to make my way along the raised pathway of the room, the sound of hoofsteps close behind me as we closed in on the store in question.

As we walked, I chanced a glimpse at my two charges. They were-... They could've been better. Outwardly, they seemed fine, if not slightly bland in the way they went on. From their eyes though, I could practically hear their screams of revulsion, and their pleas of wanting to be rid of their current covering of external color.

I quickened my pace a little.

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

Thump after thump rang through the once popular attraction of Ryan Amusements. With them, the ground would shake, groaning under the weight of it's newly found visitor. Of the few splicers that resided in this previously closed off area in Lower Rapture, most of them would run off at the sound, shouting nonsense, and blithering like fools.

'Most', however, did not mean 'all'.

"And just where do you think you're going!?" The sound of heavy and thumping footsteps were suddenly brought to a halt, as a mist of red materialized a female houdini splicer, a small flame engulfing her hand. "You think you can just go through our turf like that? How dare you!"

Laughter and manic screams echoed around the area as more splicers began to surround their newly found target. The ceiling became riddled with spider splicers, their necks twisting as they looked downwards. The houdini was joined in her madness by two others of her kind, each wielding frozen tufts of misted air. Leadheads revealed themselves from cover, all of them cocking and aiming their firearms, while a wave of thuggish splicers, accompanied by a brute, filled in the rest of the vacant spots.

The target in question did not react to this, verbally nor physically, instead watching and waiting, with a sort of analyzing patience.

"We've killed your lot before ya tinbrain! Jus' have ta do it again!" Yelled the brute splicer, his various comrades letting out several whoops and shouts in agreement.

Another moment of stilled silence passed as the figure looked on, a familiar yellow light enveloping the room, and the various shadows of the splicers being grown and misproportioned behind them.

"Get 'im!" Barely a moment passed after another splicer yelled this that the yellow light shifted to one of a deep red. The sound of whirring and grinding could be heard as the ground once again began to shake, the war-like screams of splicers echoing through the narrow corridor area.

These screams of battle, however, were soon turned into those of agony, and death. From the shadowed figures, flashing with bullets and flame, one could make out the death of many.

One of the more brutal being the impalement of another, as he was then raised into the air, still screaming, and further mutilated, his blood spilling and soiling the far off walls as his object of impalement was switched on, spinning and grinding his innards apart.

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

It was only once I was sure that the trap rivets I had placed on the entrance of the bathroom were secure that I gave out a sigh, deciding that we would at least be safe for the moment.

Fortunately, as we had entered the gift shop, there were no visible threats of any sort. I had led the girls through the place with no issue, scanning the room with care as I did so, and my guard having constantly been up.

As we had passed the room, I spotted several objects that could actually prove useful, but had decided to leave the looting for later. There was a more important matter to deal with, after all.

Soon after having entered, the three of us quickly made our way into one of the bathrooms... Preferably the women's bathroom, in this case... Not because of any... Weird reasons, but mostly because the men's bathroom was... Ugh. I never thought I could be so disgusted, and I'd seen splicers ripped limb from limb.

Along with that, the women's bathroom was also gated off, accessible through a broken off lever, which was simple enough for me to use with a shock from my ESU. Once we had entered, I closed the gate again and spread what remaining trap rivets I had around the door, leading to the situation that we were in now.

Scratching at an itch at the back of my head, I switched the safety on my weapons back on, returning them to their placid states before I looked to my charges.

The two looked back at me with similar gazes as they had before, the blood that was on them dripping and staining the floor. "... So... How would we do this, exactly?" Rarity asked, her voice seeming a bit strained, which brought about a mental flinch from me.

Truthfully, I had already had a pretty good idea as to how to do this... Though I doubt that it was the most regular of ideas.

Without making a sound of response, I turned to one of the nearby sinks, making my way over to it before starting to fiddle with it's handles and systems. Sure enough, water started to come through it's faucet, it's clean and clear liquid splashing into the porcelain below, and going down the drain.

I placed my hand under the water flow as I continued to change it's temperature, attempting to find the right combination of warmth and cool.

"O-... Omega?" I heard Fluttershy ask as I finally found a satisfying with the temperature. Turning my head to my two charges, I gave them both reassuring smiles... Before I then grabbed both sides of the sink, and, with a great pull, ripped it out from it's place.

Upon doing so, the now unconnected water pipe began to spit out it's water wildly, the pressure behind it causing it to hit the ceiling above, before then splashing downwards onto us. Within a few seconds, the girls and I were soaked, as the temperate water slightly began to flood the room, the single drain in the middle of the floor struggling to keep it level.

As this went on, I began to rub some of the excess water out of my eyes, wiping it off as I allowed the sink in my grasp to fall to the floor with a loud thump. I'm glad that had worked... A little too well, but still.

Again turning to the girls, I noticed that their eyes were squinted slightly, likely from the sudden large scale, make-shift shower I had just created for them, as they then looked between the broken off sink and I. Their fur and manes were becoming heavy, by the looks of it, sticking closer to their bodies as the two were slowly washed off... Something about this made me feel a little odd... Eh, it was probably nothing.

The larger amounts of blood, on both them and I, was washed off of us, staining the water below us red as it began to then flow down the drain. For a moment, I felt glad, a small smile coming to my face as I looked to the two. In doing so, however, I noticed something else, my lips then pursing.

Though the excess of the blood was flowing off of them, there were still some pretty visible stains of it that had set into their fur and manes. I was no different, with only my tan blazer having been cleared of it's stains, while my previously white dress shirt, and further darkened pants, continued in their filthy states... Let alone the blood I felt below my garb... Ick.

Grabbing hold of our supply bag, I pulled it off of my back, placing it down on the wet floor so as to ease my movements. Mill, who had been hiding there, quickly made his way out upon the first drop of water that entered the bag, before then happily starting to squirm and slide around the wet floors, giving out several squeaks and high pitched cries as he did so, and bringing about a chuckle from me. ADAM slugs always did prefer being in water, so I could see why he was doing this.

Momentarily interrupting the water flow so as to completely clean off my hands, I made my way over to the girls, who, by now, had opened their eyes completely, and were now standing in a state of unsureness for what to do... I guess this was kind of awkward.

"Um... Omega? What are you doing?" Fluttershy asked as I made my way towards the two. I shrugged my shoulders as I took hold of the blazer I was wearing, pulling it off before I then nonchalantly threw it aside, followed shortly after by my horribly stained dress shirt.

Here's an odd thing though. Once I had done this, and I got a clear view of the girls again, I noticed that they had gotten red. And I'm not talking about the red from the blood stains still on them. No, a different kind of red, more similar to a tone of pink, and centralized around their faces. And it was severe, at that.

Suffice to say, I was confused by this, raising a brow as I tossed my dress shirt with my overcoat.

The two had snapped out of their earlier states, but they had now gotten into an even odder and stuttering state. "O-Omega-... Uh, w-what are you- I-I mean, uh..." Before she could go on any further, I heard Rarity let out an odd breath, before she then started to fall onto her side.

Fluttershy and I widened our eyes as we quickly caught her, sitting her back up as she had just been.

Did-... Did she just faint again?!

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

Fluttershy and Rarity were not expecting Omega to have done what he did, ripping out the sink from the wall and managing to create a sort of way for them to clean off. It had surprised them, but they soon welcomed the feeling shortly after.

However, they had expected even less of Omega's next action, as he removed his upper clothing, baring his bandages and built chest to them. The two were unable to find any certain reactions aside from shock, and a little bit of something else, as this happened, Fluttershy turning into a stuttering mess, and Rarity momentarily losing consciousness from the sudden unbearable heat she felt, despite the temperate water.

She was, fortunately, caught before she could hit the floor, but she was still slightly light headed, and, like Fluttershy, she was a deep shade of red from the warmth in her face.

The two's heart neared against their chest as Omega kneeled before them, looking to them in what looked like confusion. "D-darling... W-Why are you-... That is to say... Uh..." Rarity, like her friend, was unable to find the correct words-- or any, for that matter-- to use in the situation, only drawing even more confusion from their guardian.

Eventually, having decided that there wasn't really any need for this to keep on, Omega relaxed the two in the best way he knew how, reaching for and petting their heads. The red in their faces, rather than dissipate, only seemed to grow at the feeling, though they did relax and calm themselves under his touch.

Omega kept this on for a few more moments, simply enjoying their contentment, before he finally stopped, the two opening their eyes and looking to him much more calmly now.

Smiling at them, Omega carefully moved the two so that their left and right sides would be facing him, giving him a clear view of the more set in stains in their fur and manes.

After giving the two a quick once over, he set himself to work, carefully washing off these stains to the best of his ability, doing so carefully in order to keep his charges from feeling discomfort. Unbeknownst to him, however, they currently felt the exact opposite of discomfort, practically cooing under his touch as he began to carefully return their coats to their original colors.

His bandages began to feel heavy as well, filling with water, but he did not mind, the feeling of the warm water on his skin easing his mind. "That reminds me... This is the first time I've cleaned myself in a while, isn't it?" He absentmindedly thought, a slight sense of self disgust coming to him before just as quickly passing.

This went on for a few minutes, Rarity and Fluttershy gladly allowing their guardian to clean of their fur, enjoying every moment of his contact as his fingers creased through their fur and mane, and Mill simply having a miniature swim.

As the last of the red color went down the drain, now leaving Fluttershy and Rarity clean, Omega gave a smile at his work, a mental nod of satisfaction forming itself in his head as he then pulled away from the two.

They both seemed to notice his absence almost immediately, their eyes, which they had unconsciously closed in their distraction, slowly opening as they looked towards Omega, then each other. "W-wow... Thank you, Omega." Fluttershy said, nervously shuffling her hooves below her as she met his gaze.

"Yes. I dare say, that was almost... Spa quality treatment!" Rarity added. Omega, though he was not precisely sure of what a 'spa' was, gave the two a nod, as he then stood himself up and made for his clothing. After all, he had found himself to be clean enough, the sticky feeling from the blood having gone away by now. Before he could, however, he was stopped as Rarity blocked his path.

"What are you doing?" She asked, looking to him with a raised brow. In response, the former big daddy just gestured towards his clothing, indicating that he was trying to get dressed. Rarity, though, seem to have none of it. "Surely you're joking?" This caused Omega to raise a brow of his own, which, when noticed by Rarity, caused her to let out a sigh. "Now, dear, you can't dress yourself just yet."

"I can't?" Omega asked himself.

"After all, you're still positively filthy." Glancing down at himself, Omega was unable to see what she had meant. Granted, he knew that it had been quite some time since he had cleaned himself, but he didn't think that he was necessarily that bad. "And aside from that still, Fluttershy and I do owe you for having helped us."

"Oh, um, yes! S-she's right!" Fluttershy suddenly added, agreeing with Rarity's statement as she then made her way next to her.

Looking to the two, Omega was unsure of how to answer, finding a slight sense of awkwardness to the situation. Before he could make to groan some sort of answer though, he was interrupted by a nearby voice.

"Who's there? Don't you hide from m-" The splicer's spiel was stopped short as the sound of several triggering trap rivets filled the room, followed shortly by the splash and thump of his body as it hit the floor.

Fluttershy and Rarity grew silent, flinching as they heard the body fall to the floor and quickly realized what had occurred. During this distraction of theirs, Omega had given out a sigh, rolling his eyes at the foolish splicer's actions as he walked around the two, picking up, wringing out, and beginning put on his clothing.

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

Though there were no immediate objects that the girls, or Omega, could use to dry themselves, they managed to make due, before they then went back into the gift shop of the area.

This time, they began to search the room, Omega constantly glancing back and forth between the door and his musings as he did so, his weapons ready to fire at any time.

In their search, the three had, together, been able to find several spare dollars, as taken from the strewn about cash registers of the store, and a few other supplies, including a bottle of pop-up cola,--Rapture brand soda-- and one of Arcadia Merlot--Rapture brand wine.

Omega had placed these two drinks in his supply bag, hearing Mill shift around them as he placed them in, with the idea that they could be used for another occasion. Besides, he was curious as to how they would taste, and what exactly some people from before had found in these drinks.

Another interesting thing that they, or rather, Fluttershy, had found, was a sort of machine. It stood on a small podium, with metal bent and painted to look like curtains, and a mechanical man's head and hands, all as he looked over a glass orb. There was a small slot with writing that read '$1' to it's side, and above the machine, a larger sign read 'EDSTEIN THE SWAMI: FORTUNES'.

Curious, Fluttershy called over her two friends, both in an effort to show what she had found, and to ask as to what exactly it was. While Rarity was, of course, unsure as to it's belonging, Omega was, and gave out a groan as he recalled it.

Omega that these machines, so-called fortune tellers, were money traps for the people of this city. You would put in a dollar, get a bogus 'prediction', and be on your way.

This was exactly what Omega had told them through the use of his whiteboard, but this only seemed to spur the two's curiosity, as they then asked for a demonstration. At first, Omega refused, claiming that it wouldn't be worth it whatsoever. Once the two had began to look at him with their usual brand of cuteness though, adding in a childlike and even more adorable 'please', his resolve fell like a house of cards.

Rolling his eyes, Omega reached into his bag yet again, attempting to grab for one of his spare bills. As he did so, he felt something tug back against him. He momentarily raised a brow at this, pulling the rest of the bill out, despite the resistance, and in front of him.

As it had turned out, Mill had apparently decided to teethe on this bill, despite his lack of teeth, ending up hanging from the other end of the dollar in front of Omega, squirming slightly in his attempts to win the tug of war.

Omega chuckled, Fluttershy smiled, and Rarity shuddered at the slug's actions, as Omega then grabbed hold of Mill using his other hand, pulling him off of the bill with relative ease before placing him atop his shoulder and giving him a pat on the head.

With that matter resolved, Omega, reluctantly, placed the dollar in the slot, and awaited, with his charges, what he knew would end up being useless or incorrect information. Within an instant, the machine turned on, sounding out a musical strum of what Omega guessed to be a guitar, and the mechanical fortune teller's eyes shining yellow.

"Hmmmm... I don't think so." The familiar strum of a guitar, though this time at a lower note, and the darkening of the teller's eyes signified that it had shut down. That was supposedly their prediction.

A moment of awkward silence passed the three, four if one would count Mill, as they looked to the machine with an odd combination of surprise, and confusion, before, eventually, Rarity turned to Fluttershy; Fluttershy did the same as she turned to Rarity.

"Well... That was..." Rarity began, momentarily pausing as she seemed to search her mind for the appropriate words. "... Disheartening..." She and Fluttershy continued to look to one another for another moment or two, Omega looking down at them as they did so, before, finally, Fluttershy began to giggle.

This giggle became infectious, as, with a smile, Rarity soon followed along. Within moments, the two were laughing, loudly expressing their amusement from the event. Omega, who could do nothing else but to chuckle, watched on with a smile on his face, happy to see that the two were well out of their previous states.

Once the two calmed themselves, their laughter dying down to lingering snickers, they both looked to Omega, the three sharing a smile as Rarity spoke up once more. "Perhaps, we should just let you decide on what we should and shouldn't buy." Another round of chuckles escaped the three as they silently agreed with this statement, before they then began to make their way out of the store, having cleared it out of all the possible items of use they could find.

Omega, once again, took lead as they entered the central area of Ryan, his rivet gun raising as he momentarily scanned the room. Only once he was certain that there were no visible threats, did Omega signal for his charges to follow.

Upon walking into the main area, Omega immediately set himself to thinking, his eyes looking to the three remaining areas as he wondered where they should be heading to next.

These thought of his, however, were cut short as he heard the cocking of a gun some distance behind him.

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

The moment that sound reached me, I quickly turned myself around a full 180 degrees, my eyes narrowed as I aimed my rivet gun forward, and my charges hid behind me... Only to raise a brow in confusion.

In front of me, there wasn't any sort of leadhead splicer, or any splicer for that matter. Instead, there was simply the empty pathway. An emptiness that, to my and my charges surprise, was filled as the sound of gunfire filled the air, followed by a scream of pain.

From what seemed like out of nowhere, the body of a spider splicer fell from above, Fluttershy and Rarity hiding themselves from the sight as the currently burning and bullet-riddled splicer landed... Wait... Fire... And bullets? Where have I seen that before?

As it had turned out, I shouldn't have said that, as the universe decided to answer for once, in the form of several repeating beeps, and the familiar, but faint, whirring of rotors.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me...

I let out an annoyed groan as, sure enough, I saw the very much recognizable security bot, Winston, make himself visible to us, before then propelling himself in our direction.

Stopping just in front of us, he blinked his lights and gave out several beeps in rapid succession, while I spent the moment wondering how the FUCK he had gotten here! Seriously though, was there some other maintenance tunnel around here, or do security bots just get special treatment in that regard!?!

"O-oh! Hello Winston." Fluttershy greeted, as both she and Rarity moved out from behind me, the two looking to Winston as he continued in his seemingly random act.

Winston, in turn, aimed his lights towards the two, lowering himself and giving out another few beeps before returning to me.

Alongside that, as if aware of the fact that something was occurring, Mill wriggled his way out of the bag again, climbing atop my head and lifting his own as he looked to the new being. Winston looked back in, surprisingly, silence, as the two seemed to observe each other. As Mill tilted his head, Winston did the same, though with much more difficulty, and when Mill gave out a cry, Winston let out a beep.

The odd thing? After a while of this, I wasn't sure who was imitating who. And I started to get a little annoyed. So, clearing my throat, I gained the two's attention, crossing my arms as I looked to Winston and groaned out a question of what he wanted.

His headlights stayed on me for a moment, before, giving a single blink, he began to spin in the air, giving out several beeps as he then flew around me, Mill, Fluttershy, Rarity, and I watching as he went to the far off corner of the room, next to the El Dorado Lounge sign.

Well... I guess now we know where to go next... By following Winston... Is it too late to pretend I never saw him?

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

The doors to the lounge slid open as the four of us, five counting Mill, came before it, triggering it's sensors. Winston, being the one that had taken us here in the first place, was naturally the one to lead. His whirring rotors echoed through the room as he hovered himself inside, moving on ahead before turning a corner and exiting our sight. I really didn't want to follow him. Not because I didn't trust him, partially, but because I just personally didn't like him.

Either way I saw it though, he, unfortunately, was the only sort of lead that we had. So, taking in and releasing a breath, I made my way shortly after him, Fluttershy and Rarity following closely behind.

As we entered the lounge, I quickly found my eyes wandering around the room, both scanning it for any splicers, and simply looking over our surroundings. To our left, and following along the walls, there were several booths, with semicircular tables and cushioned seats built in, a glass half-done built in over each one, allowing the light of the city to flow in through the ocean. To our right, there was, what I could only describe as, a bar, several stools strewn about it, though some were knocked over, and a few glass alcohol bottles in the bartender's area.

The wood plank floors below us creaked, and the flickering lights above us clicked as we went on, moving around a collapsed part of the floor as we then began to follow after Winston, myself still disagreeing with this idea.

Upon circling the corner, we quickly caught sight of, what used to be, the entertainment area of the lounge. In the center of the room, there was a shallow, square pool of water; In the middle of this, there was an odd statue of two women, mirroring one another's movements in a sort of dance.

A small stage at the end of the room accented it's purpose, two broken down headlights pointing to where it's next act would stand to perform, along with a microphone stand leaning against the wall.

The room also had a small spill of oil on the ground, with a familiar looking red barrel positioned right next to it. In other words, a viable disaster waiting to happen. The girls and I, of course, sidestepped this with care, as we continued on, through the room.

Winston, however, was not here. Instead, I could hear him further still, around an even farther off corner. Figures that the impatient gas guzzler couldn't be bothered to wait for us.

Giving out a mental groan, I glanced to the girls, making sure that they were doing okay, before walking onwards, turning another corner.

This time, I was able to see the headlights of the programmed annoyance, as another series of his irritating beeps echoed down the hall. I let out a groan in response, telling him that I was on my way as I continued to drag myself towards him.

A part of my mind, and a rather large one at that, was already beginning to come with ideas as to what to do to him if this turned out to be a waste of time. Ripping out his gyroscope was still a very viable option, of course, but now I was starting to think that was too good for him.

... At least, until I, and the girls, reached him. The moment we had stood in front of him, Winston to spin and beep again, the feeling of an oncoming headache becoming very clear to me as he went on.

Before I could groan for him to shut up though, he suddenly stopped, his headlights flickering a couple of times before, with one last beep, he flew upwards, into a hole in the ceiling. Raising a brow, I looked to Fluttershy and Rarity, who both gave me shrugs, before I then returned my gaze to the hole he had just gone through, wondering what the hell he was up to.

From where we stood, we could hear Winston as his rotors spun in the narrow space, the occasional sound of shuffling debris and thumping metal accompanying it.

After a few minutes of waiting though, something came through the hole, falling downwards towards the floor, where it then clanked and rolled in it's place.

Curious, I grabbed for the glass object using my Telekineses plasmid, barely noticing as Winston came back out through the hole and gave our a short series of beeps.

As the object came inches from touching my hand, I grabbed hold of it with my other, giving myself a quick once of it.

I was quick to realize what it was, and, upon cleaning some of the day that was layered on it, it's contents.

My eyes widened as I realized this to hypo, containing a red, glowing liquid. A plasmid.

Holy... Crap Winston just got me something useful... Huh... I feel kind of guilty now... Annnnnd it's passed.

Yeah, still don't like him that much.

Tightening my grip on the hypo, I looked up to Winston, who, in response, began to fly around me, acting some sort of annoying mosquito. Like I said, still don't like him that much. In fact, Im still very tempted to-

"Omega?" As Fluttershy's voice rang through, I quickly found my thoughts of annoyance being washed away, as I turned to face her and Rarity. The two were looking to me with raised brows, likely wondering as to what the object was.

Without a second thought, I showed the two the hypo, allowing them to get a clear view of it.

Quickly after they did though, they both let out two visible flinches. By now, they knew enough about ADAM and it's workings to recognize what this was... And what it had meant.

"Darling... Are you going to... You know..." Rarity made some extremely vague motions with her forehoof, but I knew perfectly well what she had meant.

Looking from them, to the needle of the hypo, I took in and let out a breath. I wasn't really a fan of doing this... But any advantage helps, at this point.

Again tightening my grip on the needle, I steeled my nerves as I raised my right arm slightly, my wrist bent and exposed upwards. The needle in my hands seemed to guide itself as I rose it upwards, moving it so it was directly above my right arm.

Fluttershy and Rarity, seeming to both realize my ungiven answer, both closed their eyes shut, their ears folding against their heads as they awaited the inevitable to pass.

Finally, as Winston watched, silent, aside from the whirring of his rotors, and Mill shifted slightly in my bag, I gulped down an excess of saliva that had built up in my maw, before, with one last grunt, I slammed the needle downwards.

The quick jolt of pain registered even faster than last time, as I then began to push on the plunger, the cold, yet somehow burning, liquid of weaponized ADAM surging through my veins. As the last drop exited the needle, and entered my bloodstream, I yanked out the hypo with another grunt, tossing it aside in my slightly pained irritance.

My heart began to beat faster for a moment, and my arm shook, it's veins glowing once more as a new piece of genetic information was written in. Just as soon as these unpleasantries had begun though, they soon stopped, leaving only a faint, though quickly fading, glow up my arm.

It was only natural-- As natural as rewriting your genetic code could be, that is-- that the addition of another plasmid into one's system would be much less painful after the first. That did not stop the discomfort that one would feel though.

I panted slightly as a gleam of blood came from my wrist, dripping around my arm and down to the floor. The faint sound that it made caused Rarity and Fluttershy's ears to twitch, as the two then opened their eyes; They began by peeking open one, shortly followed by the other.

Their eyes quickly shifted from me, to my wrist, to the drop of blood on the floor as they both grimaced, looking to me in shared concern. "A-are you okay?" Fluttershy asked.

Looking to her, my breath still heavy, I managed a small smile, giving the two a nod as I then closed and opened my hand a few times, trying to get used to the feeling.

Once that was done, I stood myself up straight, having unknowingly arched my back forward during the process, and looked over my arm, taking notice to the slightly increased glow that now resonated from them.

Alright... So, I've still got Telekineses on at the moment... Now, let's see what this other plasmid is.

Narrowing my eyes as I began to focus, I flexed my fingers once, twice, as I wriggled my wrist slightly. Then, with a sudden twist of it to my side, the familiar sense of mental control that accompanied the Telekinesis plasmid was replaced, by one of instinct.

A blue orb formed into my hand from seemingly out of nowhere, myself gripping onto it as it appeared. The orb was odd in its shape, with several craters and protrusions coming from it. It glowed a bright blue, and what seemed like several small, and similarly glowing, insects flew around it, barely discernible from the orb itself. Along with this, the ball, surprisingly, seemed to have no weight to it whatsoever, and, despite it's shape and texture, it felt relatively smooth.

Glancing to the girls, I saw that the two were looking to the orb in what seemed like wonder, their eyes plastered to the odd sight. "W-... What is it?" Fluttershy asked.

Smiling at her curiosity, I began to hold the orb up to the two, in order for them to get a closer look. Before I could though, Winston stopped me, flying right in between me and the girls.

I gave out an annoyed growl as he did this, pulling back the plasmid as I made to groan at him to back off... Oddly enough though, he followed the ball. Raising a brow at this, I now noticed that his headlights were a different color, sharing a similar blue to that of the ball.

... Maybe...?

Raising the ball up higher, Winston followed, and lower, he did the same. I moved it in every sort of direction I could, but, no matter what, Winston would follow. It was as if he was under my... Command... God damnit I'm an idiot.

Giving out a self pitying chuckle, I realized that this was a security command plasmid. Not a bad find, actually.

Security command was, in essence, a ball of nanobots that a person would throw at another being or object. Once this was done, the nanobots would temporarily swarm that area, releasing a series of high frequency signals as they did so.

With these signals, security machinery, such as cameras, turrets, and especially security bots, would lock onto these targets, and immediately follow the orders of whatever the bots would be programmed to do. For instance, if, say, I threw one of these towards a splicer who was nearby a turret, I could give the mental command to attack, and the nanobots would give out a signal to have the turret to do just that.

It was a handy, if not often underrated, plasmid if I did say so myself. Especially in it's upgraded forms... In fact...

Deciding to test out a small theory of mine, I began to put force onto the blue sphere, Winston still watching in his entranced state as I did so. Soon enough, the ball collapsed under the force, all but evaporating in my grip. From this, however, several nanobots flew outwards, a faint hum filling the air as they released their signal.

Within moments, the sound of beeping joined in, as, from around the corner that the girls, Winston, and I had just come, a security bot made itself visible, the spinning of it's rotor joining with that of Winston as it arrived before us.

I grinned as flexed my hand once more, looking to our newly obtained, though with little effort, member of the team... I'd call it Garrett.

As Winston snapped out of his earlier daze, the security command orb having yet to be summoned by me again, he looked to the other security bot, then to me, before he gave himself a quick spin in the air. It was as if he was celebrating, or something like that... Well... I guess I do have to give this to him. After all, it's the first time he's gotten me something that didn't come with a ca-

Suddenly, the floor began to tremble slightly, as a series of muffled thumps echoed into the room. Seems as though I thought too soon... As usual.

Turning my head to face the corridor we had just come from, I glanced over to my charges, gesturing for them to get behind me as I readied my weapons again. They did so without question, as I then heard both Winston, and Garrett, cock their own built in machine guns.

Knowing that, at the moment, we were in a pretty bad place for combat, being in a narrow hall and all that, I moved for the girls, and bots, to follow me as I made my way back to the lounge.

Once I had done that, the floor continuing to shake with every thump that flooded the air, I made my way over to the bar area, having both Fluttershy and Rarity stay where they were behind the large wooden countertop. They nodded, as I then told Winston to watch over them, myself taking Garrett as he and I took aim at the door, myself switching out my plasmid for Telekinesis 3, as would be more useful in the situation.

The thumps grew louder and louder, as what I presumed to be another brute splicer began to head towards us, myself then switching out my regular rivets for heavy ones, despite only having a few.

Even if it wasn't a regular brute splicer though, I was more than ready for whatever would come through that door... Until it actually came.

The moment the door opened, my finger was already on the trigger, and had half squeezed it to fire. I was stopped short though, as a familiar, yellow light flooded the room. My eyes widened as I quickly realized what was before me, and, off to the side, I could hear Rarity and Fluttershy gasp.

Clad in a very distinct heavy diving suit, the entire torso of the figure was covered by a thick metal carapace. It's head protruded directly forwards from its upper chest area, and was encased in a hemispherical helmet, studded with eight lit portholes. On one of it's hands, a heavy, though familiar, thick rubber glove was easily visible, attaching to the rest of it's armor. On the other, there was fully-functional conical drill, placed just a little forward of it's elbow.

I... Was unable to react... Here before me, despite what I had long thought to have been impossible, was the impossible.

A member of the Protector project. The original class. Model: Bouncer.

Author's Notes:

'Command the security system! Charge up, to summon a friendly bot anytime!'

Well, here you are. A new being, a new ability, and a little bit of something else. ;)

Plus, Winston's back! (You didn't think I'd leave him in the sidelines for too long, did you?)

All together, I have to say that Im pretty satisfied with this chapter. Took a few days, and a lot of self corrwcting, but still worth it. Hope you enjoy, and I'll see you soon. :)

Inventory:
-Rivet Gun (12)
>Heavy Rivets (9)
-Remote Hack Tool (4)
>Auto Hack Dart (1)
-ESU*
-EVE Hypo (5)
-First Aid Kits (2)
-Money (61)
Plasmids:
}Telekinesis 3
}Security Command 2

*ESU Upgraded: Three supercharged electromagnetic conductors focus the device's charge to fire through a mid-range outwards jolt. CAUTION: Recharge required after use.