I was very hesitant to upload this, not so much because of the fact that it's been so long, but because this is only about 1400 words. However, the ending was very... well, ending. So here is the newest installment.


Splicers were few and far between as Tobias led the other two down the glass enclosed city walk. And for the first time since the bathysphere ride down, Jasper began to regard the city with a distinct feel of admiration. From what Henry had told him, one man; his lover's own father; had envisioned and created this enormous and beautiful utopia under the sea. And it wasn't even with modern technology. One man had brought this amazing dream to life with only the machinery available in the early 1900's. 'What a man he must have been.' The thought made it's way over Jasper's brain slowly, oozing in and taking hold on his mind. And suddenly a connection was formed in his mind; that this man was where Henry got it all. All that ambition and fire and passion for every little prokect he set his mind to. That beautiful personality trait that brought Jasper to fall in love with him. It was born here within these brass walls. Born in the mind of a man who turned his back on the world to fulfill his own destiny. And for the first time since he had heard the name, a small flower of respect had begun to bloom for Andrew Ryan. Creator of one of the world's first real dystopias. Leader of one of the world's most powerful armies. And father of one of the world's most irresistible teenage boys; in Jasper's opinion of course. But with that realization, Jasper's whole view of the city turned from one of disdain and disgust, to one of admiration and amazement.

"Your father created all of this?" He asked, failing miserably as he tried to conceal the pure awe in his voice.

Henry turned, green eyes piercing and bright. "The most amazing part isn't that he built it," He smiled, "it's that he dreamt it." His eyes gleamed as he glanced out the glass at a large school of fish. His own father had built a perfect world, and he had watched it crumble. A perfect world cannot be filled with perfect people, because people are not; and will never be; perfect. "He used to say, 'The foundation of Rapture is not built of concrete or steel, it is the Great Chain that keeps our city upright and alive.'"

"The Great Chain." Tobias snorted. "More like The Great Shame." He shook his head and continued to walk.

"What was the Great Chain?" Jasper asked, ignoring the other brunette's obvious distaste for the phrase.

"The Great Chain was my father's controlling element here in Rapture. The Great Chain of Industry, holding an infinite cycle around the city. Industry is supported by consumers and thanks to the isolation of Rapture, the consumers are undoubtedly supported by the industry. And by tugging on the chain, he held the reigns of Rapture."

"But he was an idiot," Tobias interrupted, "He tore hundreds away from their Gods just because he fancied himself one. He expected his systems and his ideas to be perfect, and all it did was destroy what he never realized was doomed in the first place. A man like him should never have been given the power to create like this. The power to create is the power of a God, and a God, Andrew Ryan was not."

"How can you say that? He was your father." Jasper knew he shouldn't have said it, but the words came anyway.

"Andrew Ryan was not my father! He was a foolish man who thought himself to be more, but he was as human as a harlot or a drunk, and that's what got him killed. Him and his bloody human pride." He paused, looking down for a moment. "No man like that will ever have been my father. My father was the man in the diving suit who carried me through childhood, and nothing will ever change that."

Silence fell like a lead weight, holding it's burden separately upon each of the three teens. But the silence was soon broken by the buzzing of an intercom and the sound of a fanfare followed by a voice, the same voice that sent splicers after them.

"Attention, attention please. It has come to my attention that our guests from the surface are still very much alive. Please try to dispose of them if you get the chance. Thank you for your time and dedication, this has been your leader." The intercoms crackled and silence fell again.

"Who is our leader?" Jasper remarked sarcastically.

"Alexander Fontaine, grandchild of Frank Fontaine, the arch-nemesis of Andrew Ryan." Tobias' face was expressionless, as though he were reading a book and not relaying valuable and potentially life-saving information.

"The plot thickens." Jasper chuckled before continuing. "He's not really a threat though is he? I mean I'm not sure, but I don't think people like it if you try to destroy their city." He offered a small grin to Henry whose face fell to a deathly serious expression.

"Tobias what aren't you telling me here?" His tone was flat, it wasn't accusatory nor inquisitive, it was the tone of a man who knew that there was something hiding, and wouldn't waste time looking for it.

"It's my fault that he's pissed at us. He's not even really angry at us, just me. We were like," He paused and swallowed, taking a moment of silence. "Well we were like you two." His face flickered with weakness, before reverting to a pure lack of expression.

"Lord! Is everyone here gay?" Jasper started laughing, only stopping after Henry started to nudge him. "Sorry, but you have to admit that it's kind of funny. Two siblings, twins, both gay and love each other, yet find time to sleep with either their adopted cousin, or their bio-dad's arch-enemy's grandson. Rapture's like a giant underwater soap opera."

Tobias' expression flickered to one of annoyance before changing to full-on confusion. "What's a soap opera?"

This made Jasper start laughing again. Only after he regained his composure did he start to speak again. "Don't worry, it's nothing. Shouldn't we get going though? I mean, so we can get to The Apple before splicers start swarming in here?"

At this the other two nodded and they began to walk again, but Jasper could faintly hear Tobias' voice behind him. "Henry, what on Earth is a soap opera?"

The man they encountered in the Vita-Chamber was nothing at all like Jasper had expected. He was nothing like the hideous mutated corpses they had found grotesquely half covered by their diving suits. For one, this man didn't have a helmet, and his exposed face showed no signs of mutation. The basic fabric of his diving suit was a tint of blue, and it was a bit more fitted than some of the other Big Daddy suits they had come across. Armoring his suit were plates of stylized bronze, with a large Omega symbol carved into the front. Along his right arm, a large drill mechanism was interwoven with the bronze armor, and holes were cut into the fabric on his left hand, through which Jasper could see small sparks flying.

"I've done a bit of work on his suit, but that's still him. The same old bugger that had us on his back all the time." Tobias smiled reminiscently as he patted his hand on the glass of the chamber. And with that small touch, Omega's eyes opened to be a brilliant shade of grey.

The doors quickly slid open and the man inside fell towards the ground only to be caught by Henry, whose face was at the moment covered in tears.

"Daddy." He whispered quietly, his voice hoarse with emotion, and his arms curling tighter around the man he had not seen and had presumed dead for decades.

"I." The croaking voice started quiet but soon gained a small amount of steady strength. "I'm here." And suddenly his grey eyes mirrored Henry's tear-filled jade orbs. "I'm here son. No one will ever tear us apart again." And with that last sentence, he pulled Tobias into the hug, cherishing their few sacred moments of peace.


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