Thread: A Friend to the Parasite [Bioshock]

Eoin stared at the radio. He had thought? It was silent, but he could have sworn he had heard something. The geologist wandered away to his office in a daze, barely registering one of the many cats he??d taken in when the city went insane. They were easy to feed there was no end of healthy bodies these days, and felines were meat eaters, the damned things ate more often then he did. He floated past, pulled open a heavy, metal door, shivering from the icy air. He had processed the meat before freezing, before rigor mortis had set in. Had even shocked the smaller hunks of corpse to keep it from getting hard cats might not be as picky as humans, but he didn??t want the poor dears to break a tooth on some useless mobster??s left buttock. The scientist selected a cut from a drawer labeled in the same careful, flowing script from the garden ??soleus??, pulled out the paper-wrapped meat and returned to his office to leave it defrost in a cool bowl of water. A low ??meow?? greeted him, and his handsome face brightened as he reached down to pet one of the cats that had fallen asleep on the desk, a pretty black thing with green eyes and a long tail. This time, when the radio went off, there was honestly a voice at the other end. Not Frank??s no, he only got that when he had done very well or if the job was deathly important. This was different they??d caught some of Ryan??s men trying to break into a lab housing? well, Eoin didn??t really know. Frank was smart enough to keep his organization compartmentalized so leaks anywhere could be stopped up, very much like Rapture herself, only this time with lack of knowledge. And ignorance worked just as well as any airtight bulkhead. But Ryan??s men wanted something, Frank wanted it protected, so Eoin was called out. As soon as the static from the radio had died down, the redhead had gone off and found himself a half-full bottle of whiskey, poured the alcohol onto ice hacked from the same freezer he kept the meat in, and waited. Ten minutes or ten hours later, the constant noise of insane citizens trying to get into his door grew to a cacophony then abruptly stopped, and Eoin knew his escort was at the door. He had tucked in his shirt, pulled on his suspenders and jacket and stepped out into the care of four very well armed men. Frank might barely see him these days, but he always made sure he was well cared for on these little trips out Eoin might have chalked that up to kindness if he wasn??t a sensible man. After all, he was Atlas?? man, through and through, his useful lap dog. Perhaps he should have gone for more than half a bottle. The trip was a whirl of noise and blood, something Eoin had learned to ignore so he could function. He was a shy thing, unused to loud noises and lots of people, and the stress was just a little too much. Better that he let his bodyguards deal with the random assortment of splicers and desperate men that jumped out at them, that waited to ambush and found quick death at the business end of a shotgun. Eoin himself had a pistol tucked away under his jacket, but that was a last resort. Besides, there wasn??t much in this city worth seeing these days he hadn??t come to Rapture because he wanted to watch babes strangled in their cribs. It??d only been a fortnight since the world fell apart, and already the lower class folks were feeling the pangs of interrupted ADAM. One ugly night, he had watched a pack of what used to be human beings tear into a small family, Ma, Da, and the wee one, a family that had probably just been trying to flee to higher ground. Not that there was anywhere to flee Ryan had as good as murdered them, sealing them up in this little underwater Bedlam. He had nearly drunk himself to death after that episode, and maybe Frank had given him time to recover, or maybe he simply hadn??t heard the radio. He had yelled an awful lot, then, he remembered, so much the plants seemed to tremble though, logically, that was probably the alcohol because they had known this would happen. Or maybe it had just been him. Ryan would rather everyone go down with the ship than let that ship go to Fontaine. Eoin was still finding glass from the things he broke that session. This evening would be easier. The only thing they??d see kill tonight would be some of Ryan??s grunts people that weren??t really people these days, with melting features and brains with more holes in them than a sponge. Eoin didn??t see that as killing so much as putting down it was an act of mercy. ??Griffiths, sir?? A voice in a thick, Bronx accent pulled him from his thoughts, and Eoin smiled. The guy that was talking was big, almost Big Daddy big and carried around a giant gun that Eoin figured weighed as much as his own mother, God rest her soul. He had a big, stupid face that looked like it had been formed out of mud that hadn??t had the time to dry before it??d been pulled out of the mold, skin sagging over a rough, angular frame. ??They says they got the two in there, sir. You best to be gettin?? in.? Eoin doffed his head and stepped past into the warehouse, one of Fontaine??s old fisheries. The walls were thick here, making it a good place for putting dogs down. The two men were tied to chairs that looked like they had been wheeled out of someone??s office, more brutes with arms as big as Eoin??s waist were waiting, along with a clever, weasel of a man. It was him he addressed. ??Have they spoken, Mr. Evans?? The redhead pulled his fedora off, followed by his suit jacket. ??No, Mr. Griffiths.? The man had a voice like oil and every time they spoke Eoin felt dirty for it, like he had to go home and wash. Eoin responded with a soft grunt in the affirmative, dropping off his jacket on the table, next to the empty bottles and the ashtray. ??We figured you??d wanna be here. It??s about that doctor.? Evans pulled away as Eoin turned, examining the prisoners. They??d spliced too much and with the drop in ADAM lately, well, they were suffering for it. But they were both still sane, two pairs of lopsided eyes stared up at him. ??Good evening, gentleman,? he started politely, Irish accent smooth and calming. Or it should have been. One snarled and said, ??What, Atlas sent his little fag?? Eoin??s face didn??t change as he rolled up his sleeves it was still the same, pleasant expression that belonged in the classroom or a lab and not in an old room that smelled of fish and urine. The scientist reached for one of those empty bottles and smashed it against the old table, the sound of glass tinkling, echoing against the high walls that shimmered with the patterns of illuminated water. Evans pulled away, a nasty smile on his face and body curled in expectation as Atlas?? little fag came over with the now deadly bottle. He didn't try to strike up conversation this time instead, he took the clear glass and mashed it into the man??s face, starting down low so he wouldn??t damage anything vital at first. The first jab lanced his lips, his jaw. The next, his nose. Eoin lost count, ignored the sound of the man screaming. By the time he??d destroyed the eyes, there was a gurgle that soon cut out. He wasn??t strong, not at all, but this was a matter of properly applied pressure. Evans was chuckling, and Eoin let the bottle slide from his hand to the floor before resting his manicured hands on shoulders that were still warm so he could turn the body around to face his friend. Evans, the sick bastard, was gleefully doing the same to the living one. ??Now,? he said carefully, hands sliding up to hold the ruined head still. The second man??s eyes were wide as he took in the ruined mess that had used to be his? friend, coworker, whatever the face was bloodied, unrecognizable as human, simply a pudding of blood, bone, brain, snot and muscle. He looked up to see caramel-colored eyes staring calmly back at him, pressed white shirt clean but forearms stained with blood. ??I believe we have a few questions for you.? The live one stared and stared and stared some more, his third eye open so his chin was nearly touching his chest. Then he swallowed and nodded, and Eoin didn??t even have to ask questions the information came out, jumbled, but all of it, none of it warped by guile. Eoin smiled, then straightened and said, ??Right. Evans, I??ll leave it to you to take care of this man. Feed him his friend??s dick, if you like.? ??Yessir.? So maybe ??fag?? had upset him more than he admitted. By the time he swept out, he could hear a muffled sort of whimpering.