'...'

'...'

'...'

'...'

'... What... doing...?'

Oh for FUCK'S sake! How many times is he going to ask that?! It had been three hours--THREE HOURS--since that man, 'Seidon' as the asshole had decided to introduce himself as, had shut up, two since the girls had gone to sleep in the passenger's area, one since Mill had left to be with the girls as well--more likely Fluttershy over Rarity, considering the lack of screams there had been so far--and ZERO since Echo last shut up! By god, he was like an overly energized five-year old! If it wasn't a question about what one of the button's on the control panel did, or whatever the name of a fish that swam by the window was, it was some sort of other stupid and irrevocably annoying question instead!

Am I overreacting slightly? Well, let's see, between Echo attacking me three--no, scratch that, four times between Ryan Amusements and our next intended destination, alongside the fact that I had a lot of stress as is, what with the sudden realization that I had another Gene Tonic in my systems--which, by the way, I NEVER PUT IN, and found out about AS I WAS USING THE GENE BANK MACHINE TO ADD ARMORED SHELL 2--and the worry of what Seidon may have planned-

... YES I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO REACT AS ANGRILY AS I AM NOW! Can a guy not just get a single fucking moment of peace!?!

Nooooo, of course not, this is goddamn Rapture! The only place in the goddamn world where something that tried to kill you moments ago would apparently try to make half-assed smalltalk with you in any intellectually-limited way he knew how!

"... Okay, yeah, maybe I'm taking this a little overboard. But my point still stands!"

Sighing, I looked up from the book I had been reading to pass the time, grumbling slightly as I looked up towards Echo, while also involuntarily flaring my plasmids ever so slightly. Quite obviously, I was still fairly on edge with the Bouncer before me, making sure that I held every single one of my defenses up no matter what. Hell, this was the reason that Echo was in the control room with me; I didnt trust him to be anywhere near Fluttershy and Rarity for even a millisecond, especially after how he and his apparent puppet master, Seidon, endangered them back in Ryan Amusements. That same lack of trust was also the reason I was still awake, with my Rivet Gun and ESU still firmly in place on my arm, despite how tired I was--I mean, seriously, the over the top use of plasmids and physical strength I've had to give in the past few hours, excluding the Echo and Seidon issue, was exhausting to say the least. Still, I willed myself to keep on, if only out of worry towards what Echo, or worse, Seidon, would possibly do to my charges while I slept.

Granted, less than half a clip of rivets wasn't particularly the best thing to have myself armed with at the moment, but I had more than enough heavy rivets as back-up to get the job done if need be.

'...Reading.' I replied to Echo, half muttering as I did so. A part of me wanted to hope that the answer I had given would be enough to quell Echo's curiosity for the time, but-

'Rea-...ding?'

A greater part of me knew he'd want me to elaborate. He had done the same thing with all the other questions he had asked, even the ones I had no initial answer for to begin with, so it was only to be expected that he'd do the same here.

'Yes. Reading. As in, something that would be easier for me to do if it was quiet.' I snapped back, giving him a short glare before promptly returning my attention to the book before me, raising it slightly so as to block my view of him, and vice versa. It was meant to get the message across that I really didn't want anything to have to do wih the Bouncer. A message which, unfortunately, he didnt seem to get.

'Reading... How... Read...?'

FOR THE LOVE OF-

'Okay, I'm going to be honest with you, I don't like you. Like, at all. And, personally, were it not for your Vita chip being able to bring you back, and the fact that Seidon has pretty much blackmailed me and my charges into dealing with his crap, I would kill you again right now. Without any hesitation. So, unless you've got a damn good reason that I should do anything even remotely decent for you at all, you're better off just shutting up until we get to Pauper's Drop. Got it!?' I exclaimed, practically slamming my book down as I gave out an annoyed series of growls and moans to Echo.

'Or...der?' He then asked. I swear, if I could strangle him through that helmet of his, I WOULD!

'Yes! Consider that an order!' I replied. And, just like that, he turned around, instead facing forward in the control room rather than towards me, his dim green porthole lights shining awkwardly against the glass as he finally allowed me to gain the peace and silence that I had so desperately wanted...

And on a related note, I feel like I'm going to have to kick myself later for having forgotten that Echo was made to follow orders without a second thought. Including the order to be quiet, which I could've given him three hours ago!

"Ugh. Whatever, forget it, at least I should be able to have a moment of peace no-"

"Omega!" I suddenly heard Fluttershy call out from the passenger's room, her voice evidently filled with what seemed like concern and fright.

... Seriously universe, go fuck yourself...

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

Tapping his fingers thoughtfully against one another, Seidon took in a prolonged breath as he continued to moniter the progress of Echo, and, by extension, his latest subjects of interest: the formerly armored Subject Omega, the winged equine Fluttershy, and the horned equine Rarity. Beings and lives of unimaginably interesting background and existence, among the first of few things of relative excitement to come about Seidon's inhabitance of Rapture.

A factor of differentials and intricasy, seemingly left for him to provide his analysis, with little more than a few momentary arguments and surprisingly peaceful introductions to provide added insight towards this margin of oddity. Simply put, it was beyond whatever simplistic formatting that the word 'interesting' may attempt to put it under.

Even more beautiful, the fact that this wonder was nothing more than a side additive towards the accomplishment of his long sought after goal; the completion of the Anti-protocol, after so many years of tired waiting and watching. It was brilliant.

So many points that attracted his pursuit, yet so few he was able to describe in comparison to what else he felt possible to use for such, it was for this reason that he had not even gained a single second of rest, watching the moniters before him intently, with no other sound save for the occasional environmental occurences of the rusting city around him and of what came from the monitors.

It wasn't even truly any sort of challenge for him either. After all, he had pulled several all-nighters over the years, practically coming to the point in which the only thing that would truly be able to stop him once he became this dead set on a subject was his eventual collapse as his body finally would start to shut down from he lack of rest.

Would this possibly be considered obsessive, rather than interested? Even he would have to agree, shaking his head from time to time at his own apparent madness, though always with a thin smile, accompanied by a scant chuckle.

Letting out the prolonged breath he had apparently forgotten he had been holding with a calm sigh, Seidon listened and watched with care as Echo turned to Omega for what must have been the twentieth or thirtieth time in the past three hours, allowing him to gain a clear view on Omega. His eyes were clearly moving from side to side upon a familiar piece of literature that Seidon himself vaguely recalled reading at some point in the past few years, also remembering its odd philosophy behind its vague sentences and paragraphs, easily complementing its overall setting and plot as a dystopian future lacking of any other literature unknown to the superior 'Big Brother' figment.

Truthfully, Seidon would be lying if he claimed he wasn't initially surprised when Echo had first looked over towards Omega, allowing Seidon to catch a glimpse at him as he took out a book from the bag he kept with him and began to read. After all, the very concept of literature was what may as well have been an impossibility to Big Daddies, as he had long ago learned of from his knowledge of Big Daddy programming. So, to see Omega accomplishing that very same impossibility of using an ability that had long been yanked out of his mind, as with many other protector units, he could not help but to reach the conclusion that either he had picked this ability up himself, or gained it from elsewhere.

Through his monitor, Seidon heard Echo give out a series of groans and moans to Omega, as was characteristic of protector units, before shortly after gaining an abruptly short groan in response. Times like these that he wished that he knew of the technology that those equines had used to give both Echo and Omega an improved range of understandability, so as to make it so he wouldn't be in the dark quite as much as he was now.

"Perhaps I should ask the subsequent time those other beings make contact." He pondered to himself, half-listening as Omega gave another series of moans in response to Echo, this time more aggressive in nature.

He sighed, moving one of his hands to his head and rubbing one of his temples stressfully.

Omega was... untrusting.

Not just of Echo, but of him as well. Seidon especially saw this after the threat he recalled Omega giving him some time ago.

'CrOsS mE, oR My cHaRgEs, eVeN onCe, aNd I'lL cRusH yOu lIkE thE RaT yOu ArE...'

The withheld rage in his voice, the tone of absolute seriousness, and worse yet, the eyes of a man that would very gladly live up to his words of ending another life in as cruel and painful of a way as he could possibly muster. Even now, it made him shudder.

Seidon had gone through a great many things in Rapture and, as a result, had practically become numb to it all long ago. In truth, there had only ever been one other occassion in which this reaction of nervousness and anxiety had beeen brought about from him, and the one that had even done so was, by now....

"Omega!" Seidon was suddenly brought out of his thoughts as one of the two other beings aboard the train which Echo and Omega rode in called out for the latter of the two, a sense of urgency in her tone.

Omega was, as Seidon had expected, quick to respond, throwing aside the book he had with him as though it were nothing more than garbage--Seidon decided to let his sudden compulsive feeling to scold Omega for this slide, considering the differences in intimidation factors he and Omega had--and making his way towards the door to the passenger area, with Echo following him through his gaze. Seconds short of opening the door however, Omega paused, turning and glaring directly at Echo. That same guise of seriousness was upon him again practically making it feel as though, rather than look at Echo, Omega was instead looking directly at him. A part of Seidon knew better than this, but a much larger part knew there was a substantial amount of reasons to have doubts.

Not even moving as he did so, Omega groaned what Seidon could only assume to be some kind of order, as evidenced by the fact that Echo swiftly turned himself away from Omega and the passenger door, instead looking blankly towards the sea ahead of the train.

There was a short moment of silence before, with an audible humph, Omega finally slid the passenger door open, the sounds of his footsteps being all that both Seidon and Echo could use to gauge that he had left into the other room, before promptly sliding the door closed.

For a lack of better words, Seidon felt... reasonably offended. Granted, he wasn't the one given the order, but the mere form in which it had been given to Echo, aggresiveness and all, made it feel as though it were a metaphorical slap to the face aimed towards Seidon.

As much as Seidon did want to establish better relations with Omega and his charges, this wouldn't do at all.

"And besides... Omega's orders are second priority to mine. Whereas he may tell Echo to 'stay', I am the one who specifies where, when, and how. And at this very moment, this is not the where, the when, nor the how."

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

Closing the door behind him as he entered the passenger area of the Atlantic Express, relatively satisfied with the order he had given Echo to turn around and not go near the door until he say so, the first thing to greet Omega was a relatively dark room, its lights still being turned off from when the girls had been resting. Omega mentally cursed at himself as he realized that he had forgotten to turn these very lights on before leaving the control area of the train, having been too much in a hurry to do so, before focusing his sight as best he could in the dimness of the room.

Through this dimness, Omega could make out Rarity sitting upon one of the seats, likely having been resting upon it not so long ago, as evidenced by the fact that she was rubbing one of her eyes using one of her forelegs, her messy and unkempt mane, and the small yawn she gave out, which punctuated itself with an appropriately adorable squeak near the very end. Alternatively to Rarity, Fluttershy was not resting upon one of these same seats. Instead, she sat in the center of the room, any hint of exhaustion she may have had instead being replaced by several features of worry as she looked down towards the floor.

Omega followed her gaze and, upon quickly taking note of her subject of interest at the moment, felt his eyes widen. There, spread out upon the floor, was Mill, who laid weakly on his side, faintly squirming and squealing, with the outlines of ADAM that comprised his veins and outer skin holding a noticeably paler glow than they usually held. Unsure of what else to do, Omega quickly made his way over to Fluttershy and Mill, kneeling down to the two as Fluttershy softly moved her forehoof as soothingly across the ADAM Slug as she could, so as to help comfort him.

"H-he just started to let out these strange noises, a-and woke me up while he was doing it. I thought that, maybe, he was tired, o-or fussy, but then he just stopped making noise, and fell over and..." Fluttershy trailed off here, visibly becoming choked up as she looked down to the clearly unwell Mill, unknowning of what she could really do. Back home, she had helped plenty of sick animals of all shapes, sizes, and species. But, she also knew how to care for those animals as well, if not from books she had read on the subject, then from simple experience. Now, however, she was utterly clueless. She had never taken care of an 'ADAM Slug', as she recalled it being known as, and the closest things to it that she had cared for, average garden slugs and snails, had never really acted like this at all, never really becoming noticably ill before.

As for Rarity, who by then had completely woken up from her previously calm slumber, she also looked on with noticable concern on her face, though she didn't dare come any closer. It wasnt that she didn't care for Mill, or the worry that Fluttershy was clearly displaying, but she still found herself shuddering every time she looked towards the slug, cringing in slight disgust as she remembered how she had first... come across it.

She felt positively guilty for being unable to be by Fluttershy or Omega's sides to help them in any way she could, but...

"Oh dear, perhaps he's hungry?" She suggested as a possibility, raising her hoof in a subconscious attempt to gain either of the two's attention.

Omega shook his head at this, turning to look to Rarity before, with a bob of his head, gesturing towards the bag of supplies they had in the corner of the room. Omega specifically remembered feeding Mill some time ago, having given it to him as a 'treat'. He even watched as Mill ate the entire can of food from lid to lid, cleaning it out to the point that it was practically brimming. Even the small burp that Mill had seemed to give was clear in his memory.

Both Fluttershy and Rarity were swift to realize what the gesture Omega had given had meant, unfortunately leaving them without any possible guesses once more in the process.

"W-well then..." Fluttershy mumbled, looking down to the quivering form of Mill. "W-what do we d-"

"Interestingly enough, for all intents and purposes, Rarity was actually onto something with her suggestion." A familiar voice rang through the passenger car, causing both Rarity and Fluttershy to gasp in surprise as they looked towards the source. Sure enough, the two were able to clearly see the Bouncer, Echo, standing in front of the open door between the control area of the train and the passenger area. They hadn't even noticed it had opened, likely too caught up in what was happening to pay any real attention to the fact. Upon seeing the Anti-protocol member now however, the voice of Seidon having abruptly returned after a long period of silence alongside him, both Rarity and Fluttershy reacted in similar ways, moving ever so closer to Omega; Fluttershy seemed to try and hide herself behind their guardian, whereas Rarity simply backed herself towards him, remaining upon the long row of seats that moved towards the other side of the train all the while.

Omega's reaction was... rather different. Before so much as another breath was taken after hearing the voice of Seidon, Omega was quickly stood up as fast as possible, his Rivet Gun extending and plasmids readying themselves as he took aim towards Echo. A notably loud growl could be heard coming from him as he stood his ground, glaring threateningly towards the Bouncer and his controller.

"Well... Impressive reaction time. Albeit not the fastest I have seen, but still rather-" Omega didnt even pay a hint of attention towards Seidon's rambling--or, as Omega himself would prefer to term it, 'bullshit'--as he growled out towards Echo instead.

'I told you not to come in here! Why the hell are you in he-'

'Omega's commands... Second priority...' Echo interrupted, quoting what Seidon had previously told him in terms of Omega, and how far he was expected to listen to him. This earned yet another wordless growl from Omega, both because he now knew that Seidon was apparently the reason behind this, and he held a slight inkling that he may have done this just to mess with him--an unspoken challenge, so to speak.

"Now, now, I assure you, I'm not here to bring about any conflict. If anything, I noticed that you needed assistance, and felt that it would only be right if I were to help fill that role." Though the trio could not see it, Seidon leaned ever so slightly further into his seat.

"That is, of course, if this doesn't pose any issue." Narrowing his eyes, Omega glanced to and fro between Echo and their bag of supplies, a low grunt escaping him as, with little more than a flick of his right wrist, the bag in its entirity was brought towards him. He grabbed it with little difficulty as it honed in on where he willed it, before then putting it down next to him.

"... I take it you did that as assurance, correct? To be certain you had ammunition if needed?" Omega gave him a deadpan expression, confirming his suspicions. Nonetheless, before Omega could so much as 'say' or do anything else, he felt the light touch of a hoof on his side. With a raised brow at the sudden sensation, Omega turned and looked to Fluttershy, finding that she was giving unto him a look that an odd mix of both pleading and sterness; a short glance towards Rarity proved to hold similar result.

It was slightly frustrating to him, but since the transmission--when the girls had first actually asked the favor of him--Rarity and Fluttershy had not changed their opinions on how they felt Omega should treat their new 'guests'. Granted, they themselves were still rather nervous around Echo and Seidon, as past experience had expectedly caused them to be, but they still felt as though there wasn't really any need to hold that same grudge, especially when Seidon, to them, did seem to legitimately be offering them help; not only in regards to Mill, but also through his very accompanyment--or rather, Echo's accompanyment. The same accompanyment that Omega would have very easily preferred to refer to as assurance that he and his charges wouldn't interfere with anything Seidon was planning.

Suffice to say, Omega held a great many doubts towards both Echo and Seidon, and felt as though any and all 'help' that they would offer would somehow be some sort of ploy of theirs. It was a tad bit paranoid, even he would admit, but well founded in reason, considering the setting that surrounded them. Were there any place to suddenly trust someone who was once a threat to you, Rapture was most certainly not that place.

"Omega, darling," Rarity was next to say, her previous expression now beginning to lean more to its pleading side than its one of sternness, "please, lower your weapon and take a breath."

Omega felt his jaw clench as he heard Rarity say this, more than slightly reserving of her request. Despite this though, he eventually could be heard taking in a deep breath through his mouth, relunctantly lowering his Rivet Gun as he then let this same breath out. The glare he held on Echo, and Seidon, did not falter in any way, shape, or form though.

Still, this seemed to satisfy Rarity, who gave him a small smile so as to express her thankfullness. Fluttershy was also glad to see Omega lose his previously aggressive stance, but did not say or do anything save for a short smile of her own towards Omega to express it, her focus too preoccupied with the situation at hand to do so.

Peeking around Omega, who was still standing between her and Echo, Fluttershy spoke up as best she could in an attempt to address what Seidon had earlier said.

"U-Um, sorry, but, um, earlier you said Rarity was... 'Onto something'?" Her voice was just as low and timid as Omega had remembered her having it when they had first met, if not even more so. Omega couldn't help but wonder if, maybe, this was how she acted with people she didn't really trust all that much yet...

The scant feeling of happiness at this thought being moved aside, Omega awaited an answer from Seidon, alongside his charges.

"Hm, yes, as a matter of fact I did." Seidon confirmed, earning a raised brow from Rarity.

"So... he really is just hungry?" Rarity questioned. As response, Seidon gave out a light chuckle; a rather annoying sound to Omega.

"No. As I said, you were merely into something. You see, the issue does have to do with hunger, but it is, in fact, quite the opposite of him having it." This, in term, confused the three to no extent.

"S-so, the problem is that he's... full?" Fluttershy hazarded as a guess, looking down towards Mill curiously as she continued to try to comfort him. Another weak squeal escaped him as Seidon went more into detail.

"One of his digestive systems are backed up, yes." This earned him an... Odd stare from the group. Especially Rarity.

"Um... 'One of'...?" She questioned, glancing to Mill with a noticeably perturbed expression.

"Again, yes. You see, despite their small size, ADAM Slugs have a very complex system of organs in their bodies. Part of this system bring two separate digestive systems." This was something that even Omega was surprised about, raising a brow of his in interest. Big Daddies were not very knowledgable about the specifics on ADAM Slug anatomy. In fact, very few were. All they really cared about from them was the ADAM itself; nothing more, nothing less.

"One of their digestive systems works as any other would. It processes foods that an ADAM Slug would eat, mostly plant-life and whatever variants may arise from them, including fruits and vegetables, and eventually leads to their later... ahem, 'disposal'." Not a very difficult concept for the three to really understand, in terms of what he meant by 'disposal', yet Seidon still took care in doing so. Again, rather irritating to Omega, but he was easily able to push this aside.

"However, despite this first digestive system, it lacks the ability to process a certain group of components required to keep ADAM Slugs alive and well, not so easily obtained from what one may consider 'normal' food. These components being a mixture of water, dissolved proteins, glucose, amino acids, and so on."

"Get on with it already." Omega thought to himself, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes as he silently wished for Seidon's rambling to reach whatever point it was trying to make... If there even was one...

"In other words, blood." And just like that, Omega, Rarity, and Fluttershy all the same felt their eyes widen in shock, not really having expected that answer.

"B-... Blood?!" Rarity exclaimed in a silent yell.

"Indeed. You see, the very thing that ADAM Slugs need to not only survive, but produce ADAM in that same process, is genetic information. And what better way is there to do so than from the blood of another organism?" The group was silent, either being unable to answer, or unsure of how to.

"Returning to my previous point however, the other digestive system that ADAM Slugs have within them, which hold the blood they ingest, is much larger in scale than many of the other organ systems in their bodies, their flexible skin proving to be more than necessary to mold depending on how much they consume." The memory of Omega having believed that Mill seemed to have gotten bigger, if only slightly, came clearly to mind, as he gave a short glance towards Mill. Alongside that, he also recalled the two bodies that he had passed when he had noticed this, and how they had seemed... drained, and paler.

"Using this digestive system, ADAM Slugs refine the components they need in the process of obtaining their necessary components, resulting in a different type of waste. In other words, ADAM. However, the issue with this is that this same digestive system within these slugs are... well, they essentially lead to a dead end, serving purely as a sort of holding area for their ingested blood in an effort for them to place it somewhere while processing it."

"As a result, ADAM Slugs are forced to rid themselves of this leftover waste in their systems, the ADAM, through the forced expulsion using the same path they had initially taken; in other words, they essentially purge it from their bodies."

"This process, however, is not passed down through ADAM Slugs by pure instinct. Rather, they are taught it by parent generations mere days after birth, which were taught by their parent generations, and so on, and so forth." Throughout most of this long-winded explanation, both Rarity and Omega had gained rather disturbed expressions, glancing at one another from time to time with every, rather unpleasant, fact that Seidon spoke of. Fluttershy was far opposite in this regard, intently giving her attention to every little fact she could learn of about Mill, and other ADAM Slugs like him. It wasn't often she could learn about animals she didn't already know whatever she could about, so to her, this was all anything but disturbing, let alone boring.

"This is where we humans, and Rapture, come into play. Ourselves having discovered the utility of this ADAM, and a form of which to produce even more at a faster rate-" Omega flinched at this, his mind going back to the thought of his previous charges, and other Little Sisters before them.

"we began to find and harvest vast amounts of these ADAM Slugs, eventually causing the latter extinction of the wild parent generation in favor of a more 'domesticated' amount, meant for breeding and continued harvesting. In our doing this, however, the later generations of ADAM Slugs were left without the knowledge of how to expel whatever ADAM may be in their bodies on their own."

"Population wise, ADAM Slugs began to go into a sharp decline, if not because of the consistent harvesting, but also due to an overabundance of waste in their bodies, without the ability to rid themselves of it." For the first time in what seemed like ages to Omega, and Rarity, Seidon paused, seeming to take in a breath as Echo aimed his gaze past Omega, towards Mill.

"I believe that this is what's ailing your... 'pet'." He finally finished, shortly after quieting himself, as though he were awaiting questions. Questions that, in culmination amongst the three, ranged themselves around the dozens.

"... So... he needs to... throw up?" Rarity concluded, shuddering, her voice going an octave or two higher in disgust of the thought.

"Yes."

"And that is where most ADAM comes from?"

"Yes." Not losing her expression by even the slightest of ways, Rarity looked towards Omega, who shared a similar look about him as he glanced down to his right arm, his veins giving out a scant glow before returning to their previous state of relative normality.

"S-so, what do we do?" Fluttershy then asked, hopeful that, since Seidon was aware of the cause of Mill's sickness, he would know how to fix it.

"Well, under any other circumstance, when one would find a 'bloated' ADAM Slug, they would extract the ADAM in their bodies through actually harvesting it." At this, Omega quickly lost his previous expression, glaring coldly towards Echo and Seidon whilst giving out a deep growl. It was clear by the pause Seidon held afterwards that this attempt to intimidate him was very effective.

"... Yes, um, but considering the fact that you three seem rather fond of this one, there is another, much less harmful method of extracting the ADAM from its body, albeit less effective and efficient." With this answer, Omega eased his previous showing of intimidation, letting it go with one last fading rumble of his throat.

"First, I would recommend you find some sort of empty container. Preferably one without any leaks, and a large opening. A jar, for instance." Though with some hesitation, Omega followed Seidon's instruction, opening the supply bag he had with him and beginning to search for any sort of object that could be even relatively similar to what he was asking for.

The search ended up being much shorter than Omega had originally worried it would be though, with him swiftly finding one of the glass containers of water that he had inside. Lifting it out, Omega noted that there was still, indeed, a small amount of water inside, and elected to move it into another of the not-quite-filled containers.

Once that was done, he placed the object down next to Fluttershy, with his winged charge quickly grabbing hold of it and carrying it nearby Mill, at the ready.

"Alright. Next, place the jar down on the floor so that it is on a flat surface, and lean the ADAM Slug with you on the rim of the container, so his front half is pointed in towards the bottom of the container, and his rear is along the outside of the body." Omega and Rarity looked to Seidon oddly at this, but Fluttershy showed no hesitation to do so, carefully placing the jar down before, with even more caution, grabbing hold of Mill by his sides to lift him onto the jar.

He gave out a whimper-like squeal, which tore at Fluttershy's heart, as she soon placed him down as gently as possible.

"Perfect. Now, all you need to do is place your hand... Er, hoof, I suppose, down upon his back, where it arcs due to the jar, and give him a light squeeze downwards." Giving a small nod as response, all eyes were on Fluttershy as she tentatively placed a hoof onto Mill's back, taking in a breath before slowly beginning to add pressure. The response from Mill was almost immediate, as he gave out a shrill, clearly pain-filled cry as a result of the sensation; Fluttershy quickly flinched away, apologizing to Mill profusely as she realized the discomfort she caused; Rarity cringed at the sound, her ears laying flat against the back of her head; Omega was right back to glaring and growling towards Seidon, this time somehow managing to add even more coldness behind his gaze.

Seidon would be lying if he said he didn't attempt to back away from his monitors ever so slightly as a result of this look, feeling as though, despite the distance between them, Omega would somehow manage to kill him at this very moment. In fact, Seidon could almost swear that he even saw Echo, the being who is unable to die as a result of his vita-chip, take a step or two back himself. Nonetheless, he quickly attempted to regain himself, wasting no time to explain.

"N-now, calm down." He said, almost tripping over his own words as he did so. As to who he was saying this to in the train car, even Seidon was unsure.

"This is only bound to happen. As I said, the systems that facilitate ADAM production in an ADAM Slug are dead ends. Under normal circumstances, ADAM Slugs would have been able to control the muscles they have in this system of theirs to painlessly rid themselves of ADAM. But, unfortunately, that is not the case anymore. As a result, we essentially need to force the ADAM out of the slug, which, as you can tell, is more than slightly uncomfortable for the slug." Fluttershy looked to Echo and Seidon apprehensively, clearly distressed over the situation in its entirity.

"However, I can assure you, if the ADAM stays within the body of the slug, rather than be purged now, it will only make things worse for the slug, all the way towards death, and an extremely unpleasant one at that." At these words, Fluttershy whimpered, her own ears going flat against her head and body beginning to tremble at the thought of Mill dying, looking down to the floor in front of her in the process. Signs that Omega clearly did not appreciate as, with one last look, he swiftly quieted Seidon with a near silent 'oh dear'...

Giving out one final grimace towards Seidon, Omega turned as he heard Rarity seem to remove herself from her seat, no longer being able to stand watching her friend struggle through this alone. As... strained as her relationship with Mill was, Fluttershy was still Rarity's good friend, and if she cared for him that much, then what kind of 'friend' would she be if she werent there to help her when she needed it most?

With little more than the faint sounds of discomfort from Mill, and the tamping of hooves on the floor of the Atlantic Express, the humans aboard watched as Rarity made her way next to Fluttershy, just behind Omega, placing a comforting hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. Almost immediately, Fluttershy, who had not noticed her friend approach her in her distress, gave a light gasp, her trembling halting as she looked to Rarity. Rarity, in turn, offered a small, reinforcing smile in return, wordlessly showing her support as best she could. Fluttershy blinked, glancing to Omega, who gave her a smile of his own, alongside a reassuring nod, before finally putting her attention back to Mill. Taking in a slow, shaky breath, Fluttershy again put her hoof onto Mill's back.

"... M-Mill," she said softly, "I know you're feeling sick, but I'm going to try to help you feel better."

Watching with astute interest and care, especially from Seidon, everyone in the car was absolutely silent as they watched Fluttershy speak to Mill in an attempt to comfort him. Mentally, Seidon and Omega alike took note of how motherly Fluttershy seemed to sound at the moment, with Omega gaining a faint smile to his features as he did so.

"Now, you aren't going to feel good as I do this, but I promise, you'll feel all better after it's over... Okay?" There was a scant moment of silence before, soon, Mill gave out another faint squeak; though they weren't sure, Omega, Fluttershy, and Rarity alike were almost certain that it seemed as though Mill had given them acknowledgement of what Fluttershy had said.

Either way, this was all the prompting that Fluttershy needed.

"Okay... H-here I go..." Carefully, so as to not cause Mill too much pain, Fluttershy began to push down on his back even slower than before, watching Mill's reactions as she went along. Sure enough, mere seconds after she began, Mill began to squirm and cry out once again, causing bothe Omega and Rarity to cringe. Fluttershy, however, made sure not to retreat this time, pressing on with her efforts.

"Shhh, shhh, shush. It's alright, Mill. Mama Fluttershy's right here." She comforted, pressing down even further on Mill as his cries grew.

"I know, I know, it hurts. But, you have to be strong, okay? It'll all be over soon..."

Every second that passed felt agonizingly long, filled with either the hushed sounds of Fluttershy's voice, or the various squeals of pain that came from effort. For a time, it seemed as though it would last an eternity. But, finally, Mill's cries soon grew quiet as they were instead replaced by a rather... different sound.

One of what seemed to be gagging.

Once it began, there was little to stop what soon followed, which was Mill beginning to, essentially, throw up a rather significant amount of glowing red liquid, which practically flowed from his mouth to the glass bottom of the jar, beginning to fill it. Fluttershy felt a smile come onto her face as she saw this, believeing it to be rather promising. Omega, though, seemed to flinch at this sight, whereas Rarity had to force herself to hold back a gag, before looking in any other direction whilst attempting to imagine she didn't hear the sounds of a liquid hitting a glass bottom.

"See? There you go. Thats it, let it out. Let it all out." Fluttershy continued to encourage, using her other hoof to pet Mill where she could so as to further comfort him.

The next few minutes went by shortly as, eventually, nothing more than small drops of liquid dripped from Mill's maw, occasionally dropping down with an audible plop into the rest of the liquid in the container. Fluttershy gleamed as she saw this, surmising that Mill had finished, as she then gave him one last light squeeze to be sure, before then putting both her forehooves on his sides and lifting him up towards her. Turning him, Fluttershy was ecstatic to see that Mill no longer seemed to be in discomfort, once again healthily squealing and squirming in her grip as she looked at him eye to eye.

"There, see? That wasn't so bad, was it?" She asked, carefully maneuvering her hooves so as to wipe off what little amount of liquid that remained on Mill's mouth onto her fetlock. Mill gave out a light trill as response, earning a giggle from Fluttershy.

"Awww. Glad to see you're all better." As Fluttershy caringly nuzzled Mill, who returned the gesture, Omega could see that, in fact, Mill really did look much different than he did before. His eyes and the grooves along his body had regained their previous red shine, his every action seemed suddenly much more energetic and free, and, most noticablly of all, Mill seemed to have gone significantly down in terms of his size, practically being half the size of his previous state.

Altogether, Omega, and Rarity, were just happy that everything was fine again.

"What's that? You want to see Papa Omega?" Hearing this, Omega felt his brow raise, not only because of the fact that Mill hadn't really 'said' anything so much as he had squeaked, or the fact that he had just been referred to as 'Papa Omega', but mostly because of the fact that she had called him that after having called herself 'Mama Fluttershy'.

Before Omega could really dwell on this fact, Omega found himself staring directly into the eyes of Mill, who, with Fluttershy's assistance, was now face level with Omega. Smiling and giving out a light chuckle, Omega gave Fluttershy a light pat on the head, earning a giggle, before taking Mill from her offering hooves, whom quickly moved up his arms and onto his shoulders, where he then began to rub himself against Omega's neck lovingly, earning even more light chuckles from him. Both Fluttershy and Rarity smiled at this; past events, after all, had made for quite a notable gap between now and the last time Omega had legitimately seemed happy, or at least stress-free. To the two, it was a refreshing breath of air to take.

"Ah, now isn't that a nice sight?" As the voice of Seidon suddenly entered the room again, the trio turned themselves around to face the Bouncer he spoke through once more, Omega losing his previously smiling expression in favor of a more disgruntled one.

"Now, your slug... 'Mill' is all better, and you have a notable amount of ADAM with you." At this, Omega glanced towards the glass jar that Mill had just been leaned into, a good fifth of it filld with the familiar wonder-drug ADAM, straight from the source... which, truthfully, Omega partially wished he had not witnessed watching unfold, considering the fact that he now wondered as to wether or not all the ADAM in his bloodstream was essentially slug vomit.

A rather perturbing fact indeed.

Nonetheless, despite what had occured, Omega continued to look towards Seidon with a negative disposition. He still didn't like him, even a bit, and if he thought that this was all it would take for him to even come close to trusting him, then he had another thing coming.

"S-Seidon," Fluttershy said, her voice returning to its previously timid state, "t-thank you for helping Mill."

A chuckle could be heard coming from Seidon as, without missing a beat, he gave out a response.

"Ah, consider it nothing, Fluttershy. After all, if we are to be together for the next few legs of your and your friend's journeys, then I should believe it to be best if we do so in good spirits with one another." For a moment or two, Echo looked towards Omega, allowing him to guess it was by Seidon's muted command, before Seidon then spoke once more.

"Though... I do wonder, as a result... If that is how you react to the possible death of Mill... how would you react to the actual passing of Omega?" Perhaps the tone in his voice had been missed by Rarity and Fluttershy, but Omega, and Mill, had caught the sudden sinisterness behind it without any issue.

It was at that moment that the two had the same thought. 'What was he planning?'

Suddenly, the train shook, causing its passengers to all momentarily lose their footing, before scrambling to get it back. Omega, who was among the first to regain his balance, looked outside the window of the train, noting that the open ocean view it had originally provided was now blocked off by metal.

"Hm. It would seem that it's a good thing this issue was resolved when it was. I advise that you all prepare yourselves, with Echo being no exception. The train has arrirved at Pauper's Drop, and with it, the location of an Anti-protocol subject."

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Watching as the train surfaced from the water, the once thick ocean walls that surrounded us suddenly lowering themselves as though they were merely some odd kind of sheet that had been embracing the train in a luxurious hold, leaving nothing more than small droplets to fall down the windows and metal of the train, I looked back to my charges, making sure they were ready. Nervousness was an obvious sign to see, the two seeming to be unable to remain entirely still where they stood, but the two seemed to give me positive looks anyhow, as though to signify their readiness. I gave them a curt nod as I then looked to the Bouncer next to me. Echo, unlike my charges, did not even spare me a glance, though I certainly didn't mind. I had no idea what he was doing under that helmet of his, and the last thing I needed was the thought that he could quite possibly be mocking me under there.

If anything, all that would do is lead me to punch him despite the lack of obvious prompting; that, obviously, wouldn't go over too well with either Fluttershy or Rarity.

I shook my head at the thought as I then glanced towards me Rivet Gun and ESU, adjusting my glove and restraints ever so slightly, while also glancing at the rivets I had in my clip--a mental note to self, try my damnest to find some more ammo when I can.

In that moment, the train finally became still, and the doors that led outside of the train slid open, replacing the relatively stale air from inside the train with comparitively less stale air from our stop.

Again looking to Echo, albeit with a slight grimace, I gave him a light shove, motioning for him to go out first. Two good things came from doing this: One, if there were anyone waiting to attack, the guy who was actually able to come back from death would be in the frontlines, and two, there was NO way I was letting him behind us.

Anyways, Echo didn't seem to mind whatsoever, or at least he didn't vocalize that he did, making his way out of the train with several heavy stomps, its vibrations easily being felt by me, and likely the girls, from onboard the train...

I can already tell, doing this quietly isn't going to be that much of an option anymore, is it?

Ugh, to hell with it.

As Echo made his way outside, my charges and I looked on as he held his drill out, looking about the room with a cationary yellow-tinted porthole light, which lit the room like a dim flashlight. After a few seconds though, those same lights turned green, as he then lumbered his way over to a clearly visible column that sat upon the checkered train platform, moving his hand over it like a curious child once again, feeling each bump and feature through his gloves.

I know how that feels, at least the touching something with your glove bit that is, and I can easily testify that it is pretty much the most useless thing you can do. Big Daddy gloves are pretty much thick walls of rubber that you wear over your hand. Sharp, soft, hot, cold, everything you touch will be exactly the same no matter what; it'll feel like goddamn rubber all the same.

Rolling my eyes at this, I groaned for Echo to try to do something less stupid, word for word, as I then gave the supply bag on my back one last tug to make it slightly more comfortable. From this, I felt two things; Mill squirming ever so slightly as he moved along with the supplies inside, and the oddly warm sensation of the jarred ADAM we had recently... obtained...

Seriously though, I'm trying my best not to just call it slug puke at this point, especially since that's what's flowing my veins. Ick.

Anyhow, with a bob of my head towards my charges, I made my way off the train, taking care as to step over the slight gap between the actual train floor and the platform. I also watched as Fluttershy and Rarity followed me out, just in case they might slip as a result of this very gap. The bandage that still sat plain upon Rarity's nose was a clear reminder as to how much of a possibility of happening this was.

It was only once they were off the train, and that I had closed the door behind them, did the three of us really care to glance around the room.

The platform we all stood upon was just about as simple as the last one, complete with dirty, partially wet floors, stylistic railings with white glass between them--as to wether or not the glass was intended to be this way, or just filthy, I couldn't even tell anymore--and, interestingly enough, both off and on the elevated floor, there were a few wooden benches, along with small lights which attached themselves to the same column Echo had apparently been so interested in, if only to slightly illuminate the area around these seats.

Far to the left of the platform, a ticket/control booth, similar to the one in Ryan Amusements, stood upon similar elevation, though with some notable differences to it, such as a slightly bigger size, close proximity, and, more importantly, a Vita-chamber. Otherwise known as the place where the jolly jackass himself, and his annoying commander, would come back to whenever he died. Just perfect. As for the right, there was another, smaller booth, with pretty much nothing in it save for a health station, a poster of Lamb--appropriately drawn on with what looked like marker, making her seem like she had a mustache--and a cash register... which I quickly gave out mental dibs on checking first.

As for the rest of the room, there wasn't really much else to say. Save for a few briefcases and luggage containers, and a sizable leak from the cieling above, which was the cause of the floor's dampness, it looked like any other train stop, schedule, map, and all.

Though, it was fairly decent for one to note that the name plates of the room, which were, of course, above the door and map of the room, were covered by wooden planks that had long been nailed over them as replacement, with hastily written text reading 'Pauper's Drop'... with an upside down 'e' and a backwards 'p'. I know splicers weren't the smartest bunch, and that I myself would have probably done the same when I was first learning to read and write a few days ago, but goddamn did this bother me.

"Ah, here we are." I suddenly heard Seidon say through Echo's communication systems, drawing a silent groan from me.

"Now, I should inform you, the one you are looking for here, your first anti-protocol member to seek, is known as Subject Gamma 3-4. A second generation Rosie model."

Oh, great, something I can relate to.

"Of course, much like Echo, Gamma has been given improvements, so as to better suit his role in the Anti-protocol."

Okay, nevermind, not as relatable anymore.

"Alongside the usual weaponry one would find a Rosie capable of wielding, as I'm sure you're well aware of Omega, Gamma has also been suited with a customized Rivet Gun, made to hold a larger capacity of rivets whilst deliviring double the firepower, and modified proximity mines. Alongside that, much like Echo, he has had a certain aspect of his speed improved through means of splicing and genetic modification. However, unlike Echo, it is not speed that was transferred to how he moved, so much as it was how he reacted." This earned a raised brow from me and my charges, the three of us silently urging that he explain.

"If you recall Omega, back on the train, I mentioned that your reflexes were good, but not quite the best I had seen. Gamma is that 'best', with his mental and physical reflexes upped to the point that he would be able to take two seperate foes on opposite sides of a large room out in a near simultaneous fashion, merely after they had taken no more than a single step into the room. In essence, the moment you come anywhere near him, it's more than likely you've already been shot without even knowing it." This earned a fairly audible gulp from both Rarity and Fluttershy, who nervously glanced between me and each other as they swallowed this information. I... didnt fare all that much better. I already had to deal with someone who travels faster than a bullet whenever he gets serious, but now, apparently, there was also someone who shot faster than a bullet could even reach you... just fucking fantastic.

Still, I couldn't help but to be... curious about something. Some time ago, Seidon had mentioned that every member of the Anti-protocol were failed prototypes, in of their own. Echo's failure was a misprint in his programming, giving him his current name over the name 'Epsilon'. So, what was Gamma's failure?

Before I could even get my trusty whiteboard and marker out to ask this, Rarity seemed to beat me to the punch.

"Um, question, if I may?"

"But of course."

"Yes, well... why exactly was he made a part of the, er..."

"Anti-protocol."

"Yes, that." Seidon responded, annoyingly enough, with a light chuckle.

"If, by that, you are asking as to why he was deemed a failure and placed in the group, then I suppose that it is only rightful that you all know. You see, during the process of instilling the improvements towards his reflexes, the plasmids and tonics we inserted into his mind caused a... short-circuit, if you will. In other words, part of his brain function ceased itself from actually presenting itself. More specifically, his sight." So... he's blind?

"The scientists that were working on his development noticed this occurence mere moments after it had arisen, and were more than prepared to rid themselves of Gamma, and his entire concept altogether. However, I was able to see that, despite his blindness, Gamma's reflexes were still unhindered. Even the slightest off sounds set him off, leading me to believe that, what he had lost in sight, he made up for in hearing. With every test to this theory I took, I noted that he had not once missed a target whenever he would hear even the slightest of sounds from it. As a result, I welcomed him to Anti-protocol WYK, and had him situated in Pauper's Drop." Okay, so good with hearing, great with reflexes, and absolutely horrible with sight. Still not the best situation, but... better, I suppose.

"Now then, if there are no further quuestions, you should be aware that I will be monitoring you as you progress, updating you from time to time on your proximity to Subject Gamma. Once you find him, I'll transmit a signal through Echo's systems, which will hopefully allow me to restablish Gamma's connection with the Anti-protocol WYK systematics. After that, I can have Gamma lead you to where he was originally held, similar to the room Echo came from, and I will once again use Echo's communication systems to link those computers to mine and release the area lock. From there, you simply return to the train, and move onto the next area. Are we clear in this regard?" We're not idiots, nor are we splicers---which would be much worse in terms of lack of intellegence. Honestly, if you're really going to walk us through this process like we are, then thats only going to further how much I will want to hurt you when we meet face to face... If we meet face to face.

Giving Seidon a begrudging nod of my head, I heard him seem to move himself through the com.

"Brilliant. Now, your first route to go through should be just up ahead. I'll unlock the door controls so you can move on." And just like that, the sound of the communication systems in Echo's suit shutting off could be heard with a loud static to accompany it, followed shortly thereafter by a notable click that came from the only door in the room.

I could tell with ease... this was going to stink, horribly.

With another groan, and an albeit admittedly immature mocking gesture I made of Seidon, which he had hopefully seen, I gestured for Rarity and Fluttershy to follow close behind me as I made my way over to the cash register I had seen earlier, making sure to give Echo the order to stay where he was all the while.

About $25 dollars worth of loot later, and a hacked health station which provided us another health kit, my charges and I gave the room one last lookover before I called for Echo.

'Echo, head through the door and take point. If you see any splicers, feel free to take them out... Or at least make them waste their ammo trying to kill you. Either way, it works for me.' Earning a nod from the Bouncer, Echo was quick to make his way past us... Or, at least he would've been, had it not been for the fact that he tripped over a suitcase and fell flat on his face only a few steps from where he had originally been, causing a loud crash and thud of metal on metal to echo throughout the room, causing Rarity and Fluttershy to flinch, and me to, inevitably, slam my hand against my face in exasperation.

Like I had said, this was going to stink.... Horribly...

Author's Notes:

IM BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

ONTO PAUPER'S DROP EVERYONE!

Oh, and, as a note, Mill now has more than one use involving being adorable. :D