Paupers Drop. Originally a maintenence junction for the Atlantic Express, it soon became a sort of makeshift housing area for workers and their families, essentially being a repurposed version of Apollo Square in its entirity. It was an area for people who were down on their luck, and couldn't afford to go anywhere else; a place that was pretty much a jackpot for businessmen looking to make a quick buck off of others, and for a certain manipulative bitch of a therapist to gain supporters from the bottom all the way to the top. If I had thought that Apollo Square was full of assholes and greed, it was pretty much nothing compared to this place.

Having only more recently gotten over the stupidity that was Echo, and the fact that I'd likely have to deal with him and Seidon for a good while, Fluttershy, Rarity and I followed close behind after he had managed to stand himself up, making our way out of the train stop and into Paupers Drop. Naturally, the moment the door opened, the first thing to greet us was a heaping pile of rubble below a collapsed sealing, leaking ever so slightly as it was lit by the city's light, compliments of the glass and semi-circular wall to our immediate left... and, for some reason, a randomly placed mattress... Wierd.

Nonetheless, having been the one who was repairing this city for so any years, I couldn't help but to sigh at the sight. Especially since, before the splicer uprising, I recalled actually fixing this same problem. Hell, I was called to Paupers Drop for repairs, alongside other Big Daddies, more than any other place throughout the entirity of Rapture. Granted, it wasnt the biggest fix I ever had to help make--flashes of Siren Alley and how rumors of the infamous Subject Delta's apparent flooding of it entirely came to mind--but it was certainly a tedious series of them. And now, it had been years since I had last been here, so suffice to say, I didn't expect anything to seem fixed, or at least decent.

Giving a quick glance out towards the ocean through the glass wall, watching as the pillars of kelp and seaweed swayed in the seas, the four of us--five counting Mill--made our way around the pile of rubble with relative ease, following the passageway as it took a right, leading to another door, even having to pass by a Gene Bank machine, and what seemed like a... refrigerator?

I don't even...

Anyways, through this door, rubble was apparent again... but not quite as much so as a certain shrine that had pretty much taken over what was left of the room. It was very vibrant, for a lack of better words, with long blown-out candles in copious amounts spread out around a Little Sister hidey-hole, alongside several blue sheets and blankets, including one that covered what seemed to be a table, which held small, notable bloodstains upon it. Furthermore, the walls were lined with scrawled on text that the splicers had haphazardly written or scratched into the walls, alongside several fake blue butterflies. As to what the text said, it ranged from the simple 'Lamb lights the way' to the more foreboding 'We are but the storm to pave the way'. Most significantly of these writings was a banner that hung above the hidey-hole, reading 'Give yourself unto her'.

I growled as I realized what this was, more than slightly tempted to break everything in this room to bits.

"My word..." Rarity seemed to gasp, taking a step or two closer to the shrine, though being careful not get too far.

"W-what is this place?" Fluttershy asked, glancing between me and the same shrine Rarity seemed so fixated on. Before I could even answer though, a certain annoyance made himself known again...

"Ah, yes, one of the leftover shrines to Lamb. An odd woman that one. Driven by the belief that she could remake Rapture in a more 'utopian' image through the simple recreation of a cycle between ADAM and death, she made it so that splicer's began to see Little Sisters as deities off sorts, of whom they were supposed to offer themselves to continue the cycle of ADAM in Rapture. It was practically a religion to the splicers in Lower Rapture, especially here in Paupers Drop. However, once Lamb left, this belief in this 'cycle' was made to fall alongside her reign. Odd how one who believes there to be no hope or truth, such as a splicer, is so willing to believe such cockamamy in an instant." He literally turned on the communication system just to explain this to the girls, before then leaving again with another small bout of static. He's gonna be one of those people who try to teach you everything you may or may not know despite wether you want him to or not, isn't he?

"Well, wether or not this was meant to hold an... odd purpose to it, I must say the fabrics they used here are simply divine! I mean..." Seeming to bite her lip for a moment or two, Rarity turned back towards me and, grabbing my right hand with her maw, which felt pretty strange, began tugging me towards the shrine. I didnt really wanna get any closer to it, but, at the same time, I didn't want to upset Rarity by declining what she was trying to show me... whatever it was. Fluttershy, of course, followed closely behind, giving out a smile at Rarity's antics.

With one last tug, I was suddenly standing in front of the shrine, just before the blood stained cloth that had been laid over the table. Rarity swiftly grabbed hold of an unbloodied part of the fabric in between her hooves, rubbing it between them with a gleeful smile on her face.

"Oh, I absolutely knew it! Just look, Omega. It's silk, and an absolutely divine blend of it too!" Without even a moments notice, she held the fabric out for me to feel, which, with some hesitation, I soon did. The first word to come to mind was... smooth... like, really goddamn smooth. It was odd, but, despite it just being a fabric, and not exactly the cleanest of ones either, it was pleasent to the touch, almost relaxing in fact.

"See?" Rarity asked. "Isn't it wonderful?" Smiling towards her, Omega gave a small nod as response, which seemed to only make Rarity's smile grow even brighter.

"Ooh, if only I had my sewing kit with me! A few stiches and seams, a few cuts to get rid of the more... unsavory parts, alongside a bit of a good cleaning, and I could easily make this into something wonderful!" She proclaimed, drawing a chuckle from both me and Fluttershy.

"Sewing?" Oh c'mon. Can't you stay quiet?

"You... sew?" Seidon asked, as Echo then wandered over to the side of the shrine, grabbing one of the fabrics on the wall and rubbing it between his fingers. Again, useless attempt, stupid idea.

"Oh, y-yes. Rarity's one of the best dress and suit makers I know back in Equestria." Fluttershy responded to Seidon timidly, half-hiding behind her mane. It had been a while since I had seen her do that, and somehow, outside of my suit, it looked even more adorable than before.

Smiling at Fluttershy's words, Rarity waved her off with a motion of her hooves.

"Oh do go on darling." She said with a laugh. Seidon, however, seemed more curious than amused.

"But... how do you... do you have special tools to use with your hooves where you come from or...? And, why do you even need clothing? You aren't wearing any now."

... I'll be honest, he wasn't far off on that second question. Hell, I was fairly curious as to the reason too.

"Well, darling, when it comes to looking your best, be it at a formal arrangement or simply an extravagant party, a mare, or stallion, simply has to look their best." Hm. Fair point, I guess. This seemed to go along similarly with Seidon, as he gave out a seemingly satisfied hum at the answer.

"Understandable, I suppose. And, as for my first question?"

"Oh, that's an easy one dear. I just use my magic." And just like that, there was a notably lengthy period of silence in the room. I'm not sure what prompted it, myself and my charges raising brows as we took note of it, but, there it was...

"... I-Im sorry, but did you say 'magic'?" His voice was... different, about an octave or ten higher, in fact. Rarity nodded at the question.

"Yes, magic. Why do you ask?" She inquired. From the other side of the communication systems, a series of what sounded like stammers could be heard, followed shortly thereafter by the sound of Seidon clearing his throat.

"... Um, heh, simply put, there's no such thing as 'magic'. I mean, perhaps you have simply have a different wording than we humans do or it, and-'

"Oh, no, I assure you, it's magic. In fact, most unicorns like myself are able to use magic." Again, there was another moment of silence.

"... Now, by magic, do you simply mean a telekenetic ability, like the plasmid Omega uses? I mean, its a stretch, but I suppose I can believe that Unicorns of your species are gifted with larger frontal cortexes that allow you to-"

"Well, yes, magic comes in useful when it comes to my sewing--in fact, it's what I mainly use to do my sewing--but the occasional spell to bring out my tools from my storage room and bind a few loose threads together always prove themselves to be a convenience."

"... Spells?"

"Why, yes. Like the one that allows us to talk with our friends back in Equestria. I mean, how else would we do so?" The amount of stutters and, to my slight confusion, odd noises that followed shortly after Rarity had said that were astounding, to say the least. I mean, yes, the concept of magic was a bit odd for me at first, but I got over it fairly quickly. Seidon, however... well, it seemed like it actually broke him. Even Echo stopped whatever the hell he was doing to pay attention to Seidon's meltdown, as he soon became more and more quiet, to the point of being absolutely mute.

"... Im going to... lay my head down for a moment or two... maybe find some pain pills... I'll be back shortly..." And with that, the radio shut off again, and I made a mental note to ask more about Rarity and Fluttershy's homes. Who knows, if I find something else that would be 'inexistant' again, I may manage to have myself an essential coupon to shut Seidon up whenever I wanted him to... That was a nice thought.

"Um, did I... say something?" Rarity asked, looking to us for answers. Whereas Fluttershy simply shrugged, I, with a smile on my face, simply waved the subject off, gesturing that it was probably nothing. Rarity seemed to purse her lips at this, but dropped the subject nonetheless.

Besides, as enjoyable as that short moment was, we still had to get going.

'Echo.' I ordered. 'Take point again. We can't stay here all day.' The Bouncer gave me a nod as he obediently moved away from his previous position, making his way down the rest of the path the shrine laid in with me and my charges following shortly behind.

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

Not long afterwards, the group of charges and protectors--and slug--came across yet another door, passing by a Vita-chamber on the way, as Echo was the first to take the initial, albeit lumbering, steps into the next area, followed by the others.

The once narrow and rubble filled path suddenly opened up as Echo, Omega, Rarity, and Fluttershy made their way into what was arguably one of the more notable areas of Paupers Drop, which many had, long ago, referred to as 'the fishbowl'.

The reason? The eroded and eggshell white building that sat in the middle of the large room; a well-known diner to the previous residents of Paupers Drop which went by the name 'Fishbowl Diner'.

The diner itself was, for a lack of better words, in shambles of its former self, but still relatively intact compared to most of the other things that currently surrounded the group. The white paint that colored its outer walls had suffered from several signs of chipping and unknown stains, some being visible as blotches of black, others as dried sprays of red. The neon lights that had been added to it as decoration by its old owners, which surrounded the top part of the building in a fluid, cornerless form, and made up the large sign above the diner itself continued to stay alight despite the ages of time withoout care, though occasionally flickering from time to time. The sign atop of the diner itself held two differently formated and sized texts for 'Fishbowl'--which was made to be thinner with a blue coloring--and 'Diner'--this one more noticable in every regard, standing out boldly with red neon lighting--alongside the consistently flashing neon image of a fish jumping from a fishbowl into a frying pan.

The interior of the building could be seen through the several large windows that were designed to it. also seeming to have fared relatively well with time, the classic booths and tables that were visible through the dusty windows continuing to hold their form save for a few stains and tears, alongside a few working lights and the flickering jukebox in the far corner. All in all, the diner seemed surprisingly welcoming in comparison to most of the other places Omega, Fluttershy, and Rarity had seen in Lower Rapture.

Omega, however, could only glare at the building, sneering as he recalled with ease as to the reason that, despite the appearance of the building, it had long been labeled as a place to be avoided, both to whatever survivors had once remained, and Big Daddies of all kinds.

He found himself focusing more on the hastily repaired ceiling he could see through the windows of the building, noting the shoddy craftsmanship, seeming entirely unfocused and rushed: traits adherent to anything a splicer might attempt to make or do.

While he did this, both Fluttershy and Rarity instead focused on a different aspect of the building; more specifically, the sign showing the fish leaping onto the frying pan above the diner.

The two, especially Rarity, seemed to hold rather uncomfortable faces as they watched the sign repeat its cycle again and again, recalling just what significance it brought up in their minds. That is to say, how it brought up the diet of humans.

Yes, at this point, they had become well aware that humans indeed ate meat, as well as fruits and vegetables. The many threats they had heard and sights they had seen had been vivid reminders of this fact, now so more than ever.

Granted, Fluttershy was fairly understanding of this diet. After all, she had taken care of many creatures who had meat among their necessary dietary listings, much like Rarity's remembrance of some of her Griffon patrons back in Equestria occassionally eating meat themselves. To the two, these sights were to be expected, but, at the same time, it was the mere thought of Omega digging into some sort of animal or dish for sustenance, the mere envisioning of this happening, that was the reason behind the two's discomfort with this fact. Even more so, the two had seen very little signs or images of humans that looked anything that was not akin to those of splicers, more often picturing them eating over some carcass rather than what Omega had shown or described to them as regular humans. This was a disturbing image, to say the least. The thought of something that used to be civilized taking the role of nothing more than a dangerous predator...

But then again, that was what made up most of the life in this city. Dangerous predators.

Glancing between each other, and then to Omega, who was now using his time to scan the room where he stood, they couldn't help but to want to reprieve their previous thoughts. If there was anything he had shown them, after all, it was that he was far from even similar the many others that made up Rapture's popuation. If one were to describe him as nothing more than a predator, it would be an injustice in their opinions. Though, yes, he had long adapted the brutality of the city in order to survive, he had retained his sanity, his self, and his humanity throughout it all, treating the two with kindness and care throughout most of their stay here.

It was for this reason that, though unspoken, the two charges shared a thought...

Was it possible that, perhaps, Omega was beginning to crave some sort of meat as well? And, if so, would it not be for the best that he be given the freedom to sate this hunger?

It was an... odd thought for the two, or anypony for that matter, to really have, but, again, they had promised to help him as much as they could and, really, allowing him to do what was only likely natural among humans was hardly any form of doing so whatsoever, even if it may be against the norm to them in their homes.

Before the two could fester on these thoughts any further, however, one of the two protector units with them, of whom's large metal suit and viable immortality still remained functional, gave out a slow series of groans, which seemed to also attract Omega's attention.

'Gamma... further ahead...' Echo informed the group, though only Omega was able to truly have any sort of understanding as to this. Fluttershy and Rarity, however, were left to watch on as Omega returned the incomprehensible groan with his own, though oddly with a more aggressive tinge to it.

'And you know this how exactly?' He inquired expectantly, disliking of the fact that he was left in the dark of how Echo had possibly obtained this knowledge. Had Seidon relayed this message to him? If that was the case, then he was more than slightly sore at the fact that he may have apparently believed he was better of giving this message to Echo, of all beings, to give.

'Can hear... signal... from Anti-protocol...'

Omega rose a brow at this, skepticism clear in his features, alongside bouts of confusion and curiosity.

Echo was able to somehow hear the signals from other Anti-protocol members, after all? It was no more sensical to Omega as a splicer attempting to add when, more often than not, they knew they were far beyond the point of doing simple math. Still, despite Omega's clear face of doubt at Echo's answer, he decided to simply go along with it. After all, he wanted to save himself the headache that was conversing with Echo in its entirity. So, pinching the crook of his nose, Omega gave out a sigh, shaking his head as he looked away from the Bouncer and around the room again.

Whether or not their objective really was further ahead or not, a light shake to Omega's rivet gun reminded him quite clearly of the state of disparity he was currently in, lacking of a significant amount of ammunition which, if he wanted to be able to deal with many other threats that resided around Paupers Drop and protect his charges in the process, he would very likely need.

'... Fine then. But, we're going to look around first for some supplies.' Echo, in response, tilted his head as much as he could though his suit at this.

'Su... pplies?' He repeated, leading to Omega rolling his eyes at him. At this point, Omega was beginning to see a reason why the Bouncer's name of 'Echo' was growing more and more appropriate to him.

'Yes! Supplies! Rivets, First Aid Kits, EVE, anything like that!' Seeming to list of the items witth his movements, as well as his groans, Omega then let out a heavy breath through his nose as he then looked to his left, past Echo. There, he spotted a familiar, though far from enjoyably so, vending machine, sporting of its usual circus clown 'face' and distinct colorings. A Circus of Values machine, leaning against the wall perpindicular of the one the group was nearest to.

Omega smirked at this, though quickly hid it away as he then looked to Echo, gesturing for him to go first again as they then made their way over to the machine.

Rounding an old news booth, which was visibly emptied and bare save for its surplus of dust and cobwebs, Omega internally cursed as the machine seemed to have taken note of his approach, sounding out its usual preogrammed greeting.

"Welcome to the Circus Of Values!" The built-in recording resounded, practically causing the group, including Seidon, who was quite a distance away, to jump out of their skins. At this point in time, it was a shared ideology among the group of humans and ponies that these machines were no less than a loud annoyance, albeit necessary as well.

As Omega then crouched near the access panel of the machine, he glanced up towards the listings it held, praying that it held rivets of any kind within its inventory. Thankfully, he could see that it was indeed among that same list, alongside a few EVE Hypos, First Aid Kits, and, curiously enough, containers of water... However, he also took note of the 'out of stock' label that was placed over it, bringing about a sigh from him. Either way, the other supplies among those listed did have some use to them and, though he wouldn't start wpending what little money he and his group had on them, he certainly wouldn't mind gaining any of them for free.

So, with little trouble, Omega then removed the bag of supplies he had with him from his back, placing it down on the floor next to him, where it slumped ever so slightly. Mill, having noticed this sudden series of motions from within, peeked his head out of the bag with interest, giving out a small squeal in the process.

Fluttershy giggled at this, watching as Omega gave out his own short chuckle and pat Mill on the head once or twice before returning his attention to the machine's access panel.

Not noting any clear place for him to grab hold of the panel, however, Omega instead opted to use his plasmid as a method around this issue, encircling the panel with his telekinetic hold and, with a thought, ripping it from its previous placements, screws and all. The following hack that he followed through with was, for a lack of words, simple enough; Turn one tile, swap the other, avoid the alarm, and done.

With an audible click and shift of the mechanisms from within the machine, it gave out a prerecorded laugh as it then plopped out two different objects; one being a container of aspirin, which caused Omega to raise a brow, considering it wasn't even on the listings of the machine, and one a container of water.

"Seriously?" He thought to himself in annoyance, glaring at the machine which had so happily held what it had not even said it had, but not what they had needed.

Nonetheless, despite this, Omega moved for what the machine had dropped, only to be stopped as, before he could, Mill swiftly moved out of the bag in what could only be described as faster than the blink of an eye, his suddenness causing Rarity to recoil back ever so slightly, as he then grabbed one of the containers with his comparitively small maw. He seemed to have gained a hold of it though, despite the size difference, as he then quickly brought it to the bag with him, shortly after doing the same with what other object was left.

This threw him and most of the others of for a moment, but Fluttershy showed no hesitation to praise him for his help as he then peeked his head out of their bag of supplies again, earning a pleased trill from him.

"Thank you very much, Mill." She praised appreciatingly, passing a hoof gently over his head for a moment or two, causing him to then linger before, shortly after, retreating back into his preferred hiding area.

Watching this with a curious stare, and a nearby, recently open container of headache medicine, Seidon couldn't help but to wonder how odd this group was, before shortly reminding himself that that was also part of the reason they were so intriguing...

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

Though it seemed to drag on, in Seidon's opinion, he patienly waited and watched as the group searched the rest of the large room, save for the diner, taking note of what they saw, how they reacted, and what they obtained in the process.

It was certainly quite the show for him, watching as they walked around the diner in a seemingly casual, though catious manner, avoiding a few stray oil slicks, Omega carrying one of the other members of the group, Rarity, over a shallow pool of water that had grown within a large, collapsed portion of the floor, with the other, Fluttershy, flying over, and it was especially interesting to watch as Omega seemed to linger at a certain pile of rubble, which closed off one of the many paths that originally branched out the area. More specifically, he lingered as he saw the glove and arm of an unmodified Rosie Big Daddy seeming to reach out of this rubble, having long stilled as a result of its untimely death.

This moment of, what seemed to be, respect was reminiscent to what Seidon had also seen through the recorded deaths of Echo at the hands of Omega. How, after his first encounter with him, Omega took the time to reposition the fallen body of Echo, sitting him up and passing him a moment of silence before then moving on with his charges in tow.

Ironically enough, this was the only occasion of respect that Omega had given Echo for some time now, instead choosing to now only glare and, from what he could contextually guess, snap at the Bouncer.

Nonetheless, while this seemed rather illogical to Seidon, Omega held no doubt as to the reason, long having lost any respect he may have held for the Bouncer after having continually endangered his charges.

At the moment, however, this wasn't what Omega was currently focused on, in terms of his thoughts. Rather, he was more affixed to a sense of annoyance that he currently held to what they had found in their search of the area. Or rather what they hadn't found: rivets.

Two hack darts, an auto-hack dart, an EVE hypo, two First Aid Kits, and about 58 dollars, counting what they had found in the train station, yet not a single stray regular rivet in sight! Even more frustrating to him was the fact that they had also come across three trap rivets, which had been barely visible to him under a piece of random furniture, yet no semblances of its more quantiful cousin.

It made no sense to him whatsoever.

Aside from the other supplies they had found in their search, the only other bright side he could see from the situation was that, in their search, he had come across a small flowers shop that had been built into the wall, containing a pair of bright, and comparitively colorful flowers... which his charges enjoyed both through vision and taste.

Pinching the bridge of his nose as he took one more glance at the area, catching a glimpse of the white colored light that came from a security camera he had hacked while his charges had looked around the room, his gaze eventually fell upon a makeshift wooden ramp that lead up to the roof of the diner. In other words, the only place that he had yet to check for himself.

Though the idea of going anywhere near the deathtrap of a diner was less than welcoming for him, Omega eventually, begrudgingly, weighed his options, deciding that it was best that they at least try to see if there's any possible leftover rivets atop of the diner rather than pass by any he had missed.

'Echo, head up to the roof of the diner.' He commanded to the Bouncer, before then remembering another important fact.

'Oh, and, whatever the hell you do, DON'T step on any wooden planks you may see while you're up there!' As he had noted when he and the rest of his group had first entered the area, the roof of the diner held several holes in them, of which had been scarcely covered through clearly splicer brand repairs. These 'repairs' would barely be able to take the weight of an average person, from what Omega could see, let alone the weight of an entire Bouncer.

Echo, in response, gave a pair of acknowledging nods as he then moved his attention to the ramp that led up to he roof. With unhesitating steps, Echo lumbered towards the ramp, eventually placing a boot upon it and lifting himself unto it entirely, not so much as testing whether it would be stable under him or otherwise. Why would he, after all? It was not what he was commanded to do, and so he would instead follow through with what order he was given, whether it would lead to his injury or otherwise. At least, that was his mindset.

As he headed up though, Omega, Rarity, and Fluttershy watched from afar, with both ponies seeming to do so with features of concern about them, especially as the wooden ramp below Echo began to groan in protest.

"Oh, be careful dear!" Rarity called out to Echo, though he seemingly ignored her, not registering what she spoke since, techinically, she was not among those he was listed to take orders from.

Nonetheless, Omega couldn't help but wonder as to why the two seemed so worried about Echo in the first place. For one thing, due to Echo's Vita-chip, even if he did die, he would just come back. Second, this was the same Bouncer that had nearly hurt them not so long ago. If anything, they should want that he get hurt. It was odd to Omega, this and their many earlier attempts to be friendly with the Bouncer, and Seidon. In fact, it was this that further showed as evidence as to how different the world they came from was to his.

Despite their worries, however, Echo was eventually able to climb onto the roof without so much as the slightest hint of an issue, holding in his place upon doing so and, turning towards the group, giving them an affirmative wave that all was clear.

Seeing this, Omega looked towards his charges and bobbed his head in Echo's direction, gesturing that they follow as they then made their way up to the roof themselves, though with some more cauton to their stride than that shown by Echo.

Upon reaching the roof, the three were able to see that there was, indeed, a few stray objects scattered around it, alongside the tops of the wooden repairs that splicers had made to the diner. Most of these objects, however, were useless, ranging from stray splicer masks to dropped pipes and bits of rubble. Near what seemed to be an air conditioning outlet--lacking of any functionality, of course--there however seemed to be what looked like a broken down turret, lying next to a partially opened box.

Hopeful towards there being something that could be remotely useful for them, especially rivets, being within that same box, Omega made his way towards it, signaling for Rarity and Fluttershy to stay where there were, and ordering Echo to head over to a further corner of the roof so as to be sure he kept his distance from his charges.

He was careful with every step he took, avoiding the abysmal woooden repairs that the splicers had made and keeping his guard up the entire way he went. They were atop of a well-known splicer ambush area, after all, and though he couldn't see them, he was more than certain there were several of these splicers watching and waiting for their chance to strike.

After what felt like an eternity, Omega soon reached the broken down turret and box, lifting the lid the rest of the way off and glancing inside. There, at the bottom, he could see two things. A box of revolver ammo, and a proximity mine... Undoubtedly he was fairly appreciative of the additional explosive, but he only grew to be even more annoyed by the fact that, not only was there a lack of rivets as he had wanted, but there was instead a box of pistol ammunition, mocking him, as it were.

It was suffice to say that Rarity and Fluttershy could not help but flinch as they then saw Omega slam his right hand against his face as hard as he could, while Echo and Seidon simply looked on in a mix of confusion and curiosity.

Omega then took a moment or two to remain in that same position, hand flat against his face as he grumbled to himself in silence, before then finally giving out a sigh and reaching his available left hand in to grab hold of the proximity mine that sat there.

Wrapping his fingers around the green explosive, Omega moved it around in his left hand's grip, absentmindedly eyeing the bandages that were still, unnecessarilyy wrapped around both his hands, alongside the distorted reflection of his that appeared on the circular mine. In the process of his doing so, however, what seemed like a spark came from just out of his view, prompting his sudden surprise as he quickly shifted his attention towards the source, his eyes ending up laying upon the broken down turret next to him.

As he had inferred, the machine was, in fact, the very source of these sparks, continuing to release an occassional pair or so every other moment, even as he looked towards it. However, what he hadn't noticed before, having previously been too far, or unfocused, to see it before, was that the machine was lacking of any signs of rust or friction along its joints. This was unusual in that, of all the parts of a machine that was left behind in Rapture, these same joints were often the only ones left with relative cleaniness or functionality to them, the machine's constant scanning pattern keeping rust from forming by keeping it in motion, and a self-lubricating mechanism allowing it to turn with ease.

In other words, in terms of Rapturian machinery, the joints of these turrets, cameras, or whatever they may have been, would only rust or begin gain friction to its movement after being shut down for a fair amount of time.

The turret next to Omega, however, held completely clean joints, indicating that it had only more recently been destroyed. Raising a brow at this, Omega then placed his right hand over the machine, further confirming this thought as he noted that it was still relatively warm.

His curiosity now thoroughly piqued, he began to more closely examine the turret in an effort to find what exactly had destroyed it. The result that came from this, however, only served to gain a growl from him, as he then took note of what seemed to be severa entry and exit wounds on the metal and circuitry of the turret, alongside one, singular rivet that had not completely passed through the machine, trapped within its innards.

"Well..." Omega thought to himself exasperatedly. "At least now I know what happened to all the rivets around here... As to how a blind Rosie model managed to even find them though, I'm completely clueless!"

Well convinced at this point that Seidon had, quite likely, left out more than a few details about Subject Gamma, Omega stood himself up from his place next to the turret and box, placing the proximity mine he had found in his supply bag in the process.

His back gave out a loud crack as he did this, causing him to flinch as he then, with a groan, further stretched it out to relieve his discomfort.

'Agh! Sure, back problems now, why not!? Hell, why don't you just give us a miniature earthquake next?!' He muttered with a silent groan to himself, addressing whatever forces above that were causing his further dislike of them with the passing of time.

Unfortunately, what he was unaware of, at the time, was that Echo had overheard his muttering.

'...Order?' He questioned, drawing a questioning glance from Omega.

'What the hell are you talking abou-' It was only after Omega saw Echo lifting up one of his legs that he realized what Echo was referring to, his eyes widening as they darted between Echo and his charges, who, if caught in any sort of shockwave that Echo caused while on the already unstable roof they stood upon, would likely fall through it alongside them.

In a panic, Omega aimed a telekinetic blast below Echo without a second thought, blasting open a new hole in the cieling which, for a lack of better words, quickly caused Echo to fall through in a form akin to a square going through a circle peg, allowing him to bring down even more of the cieling with him as he fell through with a loud groan, followed shortly thereafter by a series of crashes, bangs, and clangs, of which even Omega couldn't help but to recoil at, let alone Rarity and Fluttershy.

"Oh my word!" Rarity exclaimed as this went on, barely taking a step or two away from her previous position, whereas Fluttershy was far too shocked to react, and towards the newly formed hole in the roof just before Omega gestured for them to halt with a loud groan. As to the reason?

More than likely, it was due to his worry that, with the roof's integrity further compromised by its newly formed hole, Rarity had high chances of falling through if she went anywhere near the hole. Nonetheless, though she heeded his gestures, she still spoke out worriedly for the fallen--literally--Bouncer.

"W-Well, shouldn't we check on him? To see if he's alright, darling?" Omega furrowed his brows at this, giving out a sigh and shaking his head before, for the first time in quite a while now, reaching into the bag on his back and seeking out his writing implements. He had a bit of trouble, Mill brushing by his hand from time to time as he sightlesly, single-handedly searched, but he eventually found what he haad been looking for, giving out a successful grunt as he pulled whiteboard fragment and marker alike out of his bag. Instantly, he set himself to scribbling on it in an effort to respond to his charge.

It was barely a moment before he finished, turning the fragment to face Fluttershy and Rarity once he was done. Though the two had some trouble reading it out, mostly due to the distance between them and Omega, they did so with relative ease.

"NO POINT. EVEN IF HE DIED, HE'LL COME BACK. IF NOT, HE CAN USE THE BACK OR FRONT DOOR." The oversized text was clearly mashed closer together near the end, so as to fit on the small surface, but it still gave little to no issue to either of the two girls as they read the message out clearly, though pursing their lips as they did so.

It was then that Fluttershy once again found her voice, if only to explain an issue she saw with what Omega had relayed.

"U-um, Omega, that's true but, still, shouldn't you make sure he isn't hurt too badly? Even if he did... you know, and he's brought back, wouldn't it be best to go meet him when he does come back anyway?" Rarity nodded in agreement at this, following Fluttershy's example and expressing her own concerns as well.

"Yes, she's quite right, darling. After all, wouldn't that be among the better things you could do to help your friend, Echo?" Omega deadpanned at this, turning his whiteboard back to face him and, in one swift movement, wiping off the previously written message and beginning to replace it with another.

"HE'S NOT MY FRIEN-" Mere milliseconds before he coud finish this message, Omega suddenly overheard a loud creak come from below him, practically drowning out any other sounds that may have come from around the three. His previously deadpan expression switched to one of surprise, then trepidation as he glanced down at his feet, noting the several cracks that were beginning to surround where he stood--the biggest of these cracks originating from where Echo had fallen not a few feet away from him--and then to one of disgruntlement as another, louder creak echoed from below him, and he felt himself go lower if only by a few centimeters.

Then, just before he was made victim to the same fall that had befallen Echo, he managed to give out one last, unfinished thought within the confines of his mind.

"... I swear to god, if the universe is taking Echo's side in this now, I'm going to be pisse-"

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

You know... I honestly expected falling through the cieling to hurt a little more than that. Though, while we're still on that subject, SON OF A BITCH THAT STILL HURT!

It wasn't enough to kill me--what with it being a relatively short fall, and whatever debris that had fallen on me not being being particularly heavy--but when you add in the fact that I ended up landing fairly awkwardly on my side, only to have various other objects of varying weight land on my other side, yeah, it hurt. A lot.

Groaning as I took a moment or two to regain my bearings, which had pretty much been scattered around the room with that fall, I was barely able to hear my charges seem to call out to me in the process.

"Omega! Oh my, are you alright?!" I heard Rarity call out, clear concern in her voice.

Albeit dazed as I did so, I pushed off some of the debris that had landed on me with a grunt, coughing as what felt like dust from this same debris fell and mixed with the air in an attempt to invade my lungs. Though I wasn't able to give out any sort of louder indication to the girls that I was fine at the moment, they seemed to have heard grunts and coughs I had given out, taking it as a way of saying I was still alive.

"J-just stay there! We're coming down to help you!" I then heard Fluttershy yell, which resounded through my mind loudly as I then tried to give out another loud groan, only to have it cut off by another series of coughs. I may have been slightly out of it, but I was still well aware of where it was I had fallen, and the fact that it was still a splicer death trap. Yet, before I could even clear out my airways to warn the girls not to come down here, I had already heard their footsteps as they made their way off the roof and down the ramp in a hurry.

I mentally cursed at this as I, with some relative composition regained, managed to roll myself over onto my stomach, pushing off even more rubble and, apparently, clanging metal objects as I pushed myself onto my hands and knees. Collecting as much dust and saliva that I could from the inside of my mouth, I spit it out to my side as I then gave my head a shake left and right, creating another small cloud of falling dust as it fell out of my hair; my scalp itched like hell, leading me to believe that there was plenty more where that came from.

It was at this moment that I felt movement coming from my back, and, within the next few seconds, I saw Mill pop into my point of view, balancing himself off my shoulder so as to look at me face to face. At first this surprised me, the sight of him just suddenly appearing and taking up about half of my sight with the proximity he held to me, but as I heard him give out what sounded like soft whimpers, nuzzling himself against my cheek as he did so, I knew that he was just trying to makee sure I was okay as well. Hell, I had been worried myself that, in that fall, he had been crushed with the supplies. I guess that was the only advantage I held to having landed on my side, which, of course, was practically throbbing.

Patting Mill's head in assurance before then putting that same hand to my aching sides, I looked up from the floor as I attempted to get a glance at my current surroundings. The first thing to greet me was... well, a large kitchen. Sinks, freezers, plates--though many of these fallen over and broken, if not stacked or teetering close to fallng-some ovens and stoves, pretty much the average kitchen. I could even see several pots and pans that were hung on metal racks to dry, though several more were skewed among the floor, alongside an abundant amount of metal utensils--most of which were knives of varying shapes and sizes.

I also took note of a few cans of food that were strewn atop some of the empty kitchen tops, but really there was nothing more that was visible from where I stood... er, laid.

That is to say, there was nothing more other than a notably larger pile of rubble than that that I had made, comprised of a good seventy percent of the pans and pots that had fallen over, with two or three yellow portholes from a certain someone shining through the rubble, giving faint movements and causing bits of debris to fall from it with each one.

From this same pile, I heard a groan...

'...Echo... Omega... Fell...' It was at this point in time that I really wished I wasn't so winded from that fall. It would've made it so easy to go over and just cave that moronic protector's head in!

A growl escaped me as I looked up to Echo, his green porthole lights shining back at me, though rather dimly due to the new layer of dust over them, in what I could only assume to be ignorance. Unfortunately for me though, this same growl seemed to attract a certain someone else's attention.

"Well, that was certainly quite the event, wasn't it?" The familiar voice of Seidon said as the communication systems in Echo's armor turned on yet again, making way for, quite possibly, the most babbling jackass in Rapture! And that was pretty damn impressive, considering he was competing against the braindead splicers!

"I digress though. Truthfully, the reason I'm here is that you seem rather... nettled." Nettled... Okay, look, from the context, I can guess that he means annoyed or angry, or something. That's fine. What isn't fine though, is the fact that he's using that word at all in the first place! Seriously though, who talks like that?!

"Now, you need to realize that, while you may indeed be feeling angered or upset by Echo's actions, and likely my own, from both the past and present, it is almost absolutely necessary that you begin to trust him. Otherwise-" A loud growl escaped me as he said this, coming out as a snarl of sorts and quickly shutting him up, and seeming to cause Mill to give out a slightly alarmed squeal as he then rushed back into my supply bag. He really thinks that I can trust that Bouncer? That I can trust a Big Daddy that stopped protecting those they were assigned to, just because they were programmed otherwise!? Let alone him, for fuck's sake!

"Hm... 'A Big Daddy that stopped those they were assigned to just because they were programmed otherwise'... Tell me again, what was it you were doing? Acting as a security unit and repairman, right?" Shut up. Shut up. Shut up! That's completely different! I was reprogrammed because I was a failure, not because I was some plaything for Seidon to experiment with!

"A failure? You mean like Echo, who's flaw was his obedience, and the misplacement of his name? Or Gamma, who ended up being blind because of what those scientists tried to do to him?! Or literally anyone else in this Anti-protocol?!? And don't you dare say you weren't a 'plaything'! Maybe it wasn't to Seidon specifically, but the moment those Rapturian scientists dragged you away from whatever life you may have had before becoming a Big Daddy and stuffed you in that suit, that's all you were! And goddamn if you dont know it!"

... He is nothing like me... The only time he was a fellow Big Daddy of any sort was when we first met, up until when I first killed him and tried to give him a respectful place to rest. After that, once he started going not only after me, but especially my charges, he became nothing to me. That is all he is... and all he will be...

As for the other Anti-protocol members? Tch. To hell with them too. Once this was all over, if they really wanted to destroy Rapture, then they'd have to go through me. Even if I can't keep this city alive myself anymore, I'd rather die with it than let them kill it themselves.

"How is it that even when you're the only one talking... you still don't manage to listen?" Piss off already.

Another growl escaping me as I aimed my gaze downwards to the floor below me, partially sighing as I soon realized that the voice in my head had finally gone silent with that last remark, I overheard the sound of the door behind me slide open. I shifted my attention in the direction of the noise as quickly as I could, expecting to see Fluttershy and Rarity standing there. However, just as I began to move my head, the sound of another door opening came, this time from the front of the diner.

"Omega! Are you there?" I heard, the voice easily being recognizable as Rarity's.

"Oh, b-be careful not to move too much! We want to make sure you didn't get h-hurt." And Fluttershy's...

At this, my entire body froze, my mind suddenly going into overdrive as a single question popped into my mind...

If Rarity and Fluttershy were up in front... then why had the back door opened?

"Knock, knock, ya blokes." I jolted at the sound of this deep, unkown voice from behind me, making to turn my head and stand at the sound. Before I could though, I was slammed down onto the floor once more as an oversized hand grabbed me by my head and pushed me back down on the floor, the impact causing my vision to momentarily swim as my body also twisted to match my face's upwards postioning.

Through the small gaps of the hand that gripped at me, not allowing me to groan or, to an extent, even breathe, I could see an Armoured Brute Splicer, glowering down at me. As I looked to him, he seemed to take notice, curling his lips into a sick, twisted smile.

" 'Ello there. Fancy meetin' someone who ain't spliced up like we is 'ere, it is." He spoke, his voice practically oozing with cynicism as he continued with his 'prim and proper' speech. Narrowing my eyes at this, I released the safety on my Rivet Gun, more than prepared to blast him in what little exposed and armorless parts of his body there were. Specifically, the face.

However, he seemed to notice this, using his other overly built hand to hold my left arm down, violently twisting it as he did so, eliciting a muffled groan of pain from me as he did so.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Can't 'ave you bringin' one of the metal tea kettle's gun's to our party, sonny. 'Sides, looks a bit big on ya, don't it?" That option crossed off of my list, I instead decided to try and use my unheld arm instead, holding it out towards the Brute Splicer and, with a thought, trying to blast him away. My veins gave out a faint glow for a moment or two, which seemed to grab the splicer's attention, his eyes momentarily widening as he caught sight of this glow... but, ultimately, nothing came. Not even the smallest puff of outwards force. Instead, the glow in my arms faded, and I was left there with my arm out, completely useless.

How had I run out of EVE already? In my panic earlier, when I blasted the floor out beneath Echo, did I somehow expend too much? Or had I just not refilled the amount of EVE in my body since Ryan Amusements?

Either way, I was in trouble, as I then heard the splicer give a hearty laugh.

"Awww. Out of juice, are ya? That's a right shame..." As he finished that sentence, he lifted my head up slightly from the ground, before then slamming it back down again, even harder than previously. I managed to keep my focus as pain shot through me, but just barely.

"Too bad I'm gonna have to make sure you don't try something like that again, ain't it you lil-... well then, what's this?" The splicer then suddenly said, his gaze shifting away from me and upwards towards something just out of my sight. Unsure as to whatever the hell it was he was talking about, I moved my head against his grip as best I could, managing to follow his gaze to the point that I could see whatever had interested him so much in my uppermost peripherals. And when I did, I felt my blood begin to boil, catching sight of Fluttershy and Rarity, whom both were stood there with wide eyes of their own, their eyes darting from the splicer to me as they remained stock still.

I wanted to tell them to run, somehow, but I couldn't, instead managing to make vague gestures with my arm, which seemed to go right over their heads as they just continued to stand there.

"A couple of baby Alices, eh? Well, ain't that nice. Now, what's say you both make your ways over here, and we can have a nice, friendly, tal-" Furious at the fact that the Brute Splicer was staring at them with that clear indication of what seemed like hunger in his eyes, and at the fact that he was speaking to them at all, I reeled back my free arm and gave him a solid blow to his head, which he had distractedly lowered in his spiel, causing him to recoil ever so slightly. This, however, was not enough, as it seemed, as I wasn't even able to budge an inch from my original position before the splicer was able to recompose himself, shaking his head and, with a grunt, once again slamming my head and arm back down onto the floor. He had done it so forcefully that time that I was certain that were it not for my Armoured Shell 2 tonic, he would have caved my head in then and there. All it left me with though was an unbeliveable migraine, and a good bout of dizziness as well. Hell, maybe even a concusssion.

"Ome-"

"Quiet! The both of ya!" The splicer yelled at the two, silencing their almost simaltaneous cries and, as a result, leaving them nothing more than fearfful whimpers to give out. I growled at this beyond my daze, able to recognize what had happened, albeit not as clearly as I normally would, and feeling my anger only grow as I looked up at the Brute Splicer... Or, all three of them from what I could see as a result of my head injury.

The splicer looked down to me as well, his previous grin lost, instead replaced by a rageful glare, practically oozing of murdurous intent.

"Alrighty then... If it's a rumble you want..." The splicer grunted out slowly, replacing the hand that held my left arm down with his foot with a quick change of his position, allowing him to have his other arm free. "Then I suppose it'll be a rumble you'll be gettin'!"

His arm began to move back behind him, the muscles on it, though hidden away in some portions by the Big Daddy armor he had on, clearly straining as he prepared a tremendous amount of force behind it, likely ready to bring it down on me and kill me. I strained against his grip with my free arm as he did this, but was unable to get any grip, or leverage, so as to get away. In the bacckground, I could just barely hear my charges seem to gasp fearfully.

There had to be something I could do. There just had to be!

Glancing at my arm, I strained to bring out another Telekenetic blast of sorts, my veins repeatedly flickering as I attempted to use even the smallest possible drop of EVE in my body. Again and again I tried to shoot my arm forward at the Armoured Brute Splicer, and again and again I was met with similar results. Nothing.

Then, just as the splicer's arm stilled itself, shooting forward a second or so afterwards, I flinched, gritting my teeth and shutting my eyes as I awaited the inevitable feeling off pain that was to come...

That feeling... never came...

Instead, I was met with the sensation of something wet spilling onto me. Wet and uncomfortably warm... The familiar feeliing of blood.

Curious as to what had happened, and why I was still alive, I slowly pried one of my eyes open to get a look at what was going on. There, in the same place and position as before, was the splicer, his other arm no more than a centimeter or two from actually hitting me. The expression on his face had changed completely as I looked to it, his eyes wide as he looked back, and his mouth agape, giving out faint breaths. Jerkily moving his head downwards, I followed his gaze, and, upon doing so, was surprised to see a metal, bloodied drill impaled through his stomach, the metal of his armor bent outwards as though it had been nothing, dripping with crimson. It was hardly another second afterwards that the drill then spun around a countless amount of times, moving as it did so and, in the process, eliciting a loud series of yells from him as he was forced off of me.

Once this was done, and I was able to regain my mobility, I was also able to gain a full view on the situation. I could see Echo there, his porthole lights a deep red as he pulled the drill from the splicer's abdomen with one swift, cold movement, causing him to stumble as he reached his arms around his stomach, attempting to keep his innards from pouring out, alongside his blood, which came out in pints at this point. The splicer panted and yelled as he visibly seemed to become dizzy from blood-loss and pain, slowly able to look upwards towards Echo as he gained some semblance of footing, likely attempting to speak, but clearly unable to as all that came out was a series of odd stutters and grunts.

Giving out a growl, Echo then began to spin his drill again, poising it beside his head as he then gave out a groan.

'Leave... friend... ALONE!' And thus, with a loud roar, he didn't even give the splicer one more millisecond to regret his actions, piercing the drill through his head at an almost unseeable speed, that, and the spinning of the drill, essentilly leaving behind noting more than a bloody stump where the splicer's head used to be, the sound of his crunching skull and mushed brain matter barely able to register as it was quickly launched backwards against the far wall of the kitchen. The body of the splicer seemed to take a moment or two to catch up to its sudden lack of a head, one arm seeming to shoot upwards to where his head had been before then numbly falling back down, alongside the rest of the Brute Splicer's body, giving out a notable as it did so, and then began to twitch heavily on the floor below, blood pooling with it.

I was... speechless, to put it lightly. And for once, not just because of the fact that I had no vocal cords. Even as I heard Fluttershy and Rarity run up to me, asking if I was okay, to which I responded with a dumb nod, all I could do was watch as Echo looked over his work, panting under his helmet as blood dripped down his drill, beading at its tip before then dripping onto the floor.

Why... why did he help me? And why did he say what he did...?

Before I could really linger on these thoughts, the sudden sounds of loud, shrill beeping echoed loudly around us.

A sound I knew to be that of a Security Camera locking onto something in its sights. However, before this could finish, normally to be followed by alarms and the whirring and beeping of a pair of Security Bots, another sound was instead heard, akin to the likes of metal being crushed, followed swiftly after by the sound of sparking, broken-down electronics.

I was quickly snapped out of my thoughts at this, as I realized what was happening within an instant.

'... More... Coming...' Echo then groaned, growling as he did so and once again whirring his drill. I gave out a growl of my own at this, my eyes narrowing as I attempted to pick myself up, though with some trouble as I did so, my head feeling as though it had already been split open, and my sight still not yet completely clear.

"O-Omega, don't be so hasty! Y-you're hurt!" Fluttershy pleaded of me, placing her front hooves over my chest as I supported myself onto my elbows.

"Fluttershy's right, darling! You aren't well!" Despite their words, I ignored them anyways, brushing off Fluttershy's hooves as I sat myself up, and, with a bit more trouble, planted my foot against the ground, placing a hand on my knee, and standing myself up. As I did so, I practically fell over, only to be stopped by Rarity, who gently butted me with her head in an attempt to keep me balanced, being careful to avoid using her horn as she did so. I moved a hand to my head, subconciously trying to steady the world around me, and gave it a quick shake, before then reaching behind me and into my supply bag. It was hard to focus enough for me to feel out an EVE hypo in there, but, thankfully, I felt it as it was moved into my grip, rather than be found by me, allowing me to guess that Mill had pitched in here.

I gave a mental thanks to him as I shakily grabbed hold of the hypo with my left hand, taking it out and turning over my right wrist as I tried to hold it over my arm and aim for a vein. That process, however, suddenly felt as though it were impossible, the needle unable to stay on target as it swayed from side to side. I grunted at this as I began to hear the sounds of footsteps come from above, on the ceiling of the diner, and plunged the needle of the hypo in where it was...

I completely missed the vein, feeling the needle as it futily entered my arm, attempting to find a place to inject itself, and being met with failure as it did so. I gave out a mental swear at this, removing the needle from my flesh, leaving a small pinprick bleed, and the needle slightly bloody, as another surge of dizziness and pain flowed through my head, causing to drop the needle altogether and, alongside that, collapse onto ground, kneeling as I held my hands against my murdurously aching and unsteady head.

"O-oh my! Omega, you can't fight! I-if you do, while you're like this, you'll..." Fluttershy trailed off as she spoke, but it wasn't hard to figure out what she meant. Nonetheless, I had to fight. I had to keep them safe, and there was no way a possible concussion was going keep me from doing that!

I had been through worse, I know I had... I just needed to stand up again... I JUST NEEDED TO STA-

"Oh for god's sake, will you just listen to them!?!" Seidon suddenly could be heard yelling, seeming legitimately frustrated for... well, the first time, actually, It was enough to gain both my charges, and mine's, sudden attention as we looked towards Echo, whom he spoke through.

"I couldn't care less if you believed that you were able to go through hell and back and still keep fighting, this is not your confrontation to face! And even if you did try to do so, what would you really do?! You would prove to be more of a hindrance than an asset!" I growled at this, glaring at Seidon--or, techinically, Echo--as I did so.

"Be as upset with me as you prefer, but you are well aware that it is true! Your involvement would be far less than tactile, to put it benignly , and would only serve as an impediment throughout the ensuing conflict of arms and quietus!"

... My head hurt too much to even try to make sense of what the hell he just said there...

"H-he's right, Omega... I-I think." Fluttershy agreed, though she seemed just as confused by some of the words he had used as I was.

"Quite. Now, use the alotted oppurtunity to recover from your aflictions. As you do so, Echo, deal with the splicers outside! Ensure that none get inside this diner and make sure none of them remain."

Echo seemed to give a nod at this, already beginning to walk towards the door that led outside with heavy, lumbering steps.

'Protect... friend...' He then groaned as he went on, again repeatining that word...

He wasn't... He wasn't my-

"Omega, please!"

... Fucking, goddamn it all!

Feeling my hand clench tightly into a fist as I swallowed my heavy desire to fight myself, if only to work out some of the frustration that I felt, I gave into Fluttershy, Rarity, and even Seidon's request, nodding at my charges slowly and heavily.

I could hear them both give out audible sighs of relief at this, as they then helped me to stand up, myself grunting flinching and stumbling as I did so. Once I was stood up, the two quickly stuck tightly to my sides, walking with me at an agonizingly slow pace as we moved to an empty corner of the room, furthest from both the back door, and the doorway that led to the front of the diner.

Though it took a bit, we made it there relatively shortly, my charges occassionally stopping on the way so as to make sure I was still keeping my balance well enough, before then going on.

Once we were there, the two took care to help me as I then leaned my full weight backwards against the corner, sliding downwards until I was seated on the floor.

"There you are, darling." Rarity said soothingly as she and Fluttershy gave me a bit more room, but stayed close to me nonetheless. "Now, just close your eyes and get some rest. Everything will be fine, we promise."

"Y-yes. We promise." Fluttershy then repeated, a small smile on her face as she and Rarity watched me.

Taking in a few breaths, I indeed did begin to feel... tired, my eyelids becoming heavy as, even without my own input, they lower on their own.

Just as they were about to close entirely though, as my vision blurred to the point of being almost completely black, I heard a loud roar reverberate through the room, alongside the screams of several splicers, and the sounds of firearms being unloaded...

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

... It wasn't hard to hear.

The sounds of gunfire; of splicers yelling out their usual madness; of splicers being silenced, often followed by yells and roars of all kinds.

It wasn't hard to hear...

As he trekked through the halls of Pauper's Drop, unsure of where exactly he was, a colorless void being all he could see as he went on, his grip on his Rivet Gun continually tightened and loosened, almost out of habit.

It was among the few things he could still do after all. Feel. Even if this sense was dulled by the gloves he wore, he was happy to experince what little of it he could. One grows tired of doing nothing more than listening after all.

A seemingly far away footstep suddenly came through, resounding clearly through his mind as he reacted within the blink of an eye.

Turn, grab, fire.

A pained yell followed as he stood there, waiting and listening to see if the splicer was still alive, or, perhaps, there were more coming.

... Silence... The most deafening of noises...

Gripping and loosening his hold on his Rivet Gun, he allowed himself to relax, turning his body back to it original position and continiung on his way.

He had lost count of howw many he had killed already... Yet, something about their yells was so satifsying. Something about the sound of their flesh being torn by his rivets, and the dripping of blood onto the floor... It felt so right...

His programming... to clear out the area of splicers... Never before had he looked at this obective with such a sense of glee...

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Author's Notes:

You know... a part of me wants to say this chapter was easy to write...

But to hell with that part, GODDAMN IF THIS WASN'T ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT CHAPTERS I HAVE EVER WRITTEN!

If I had a box of thin mints for every time I had to rewrite this chapter entirely, I'd be able to put the Girl Scouts Of America out of business!

Yeesh.... Well, nonetheless, the story goes on, everyone!

And with some progression to it as well!

Oh, and um... I'm gonna involve you guys a bit next chapter so... be prepared. 0_/\