Bioshock discussion

Once used to transport people between areas of the city.

James found himself slouched in one of the rotting benches of the train station, his weapon laying atop his palm as he rested it on his side. He had been daydreaming. Well, not daydreaming, he couldn't do that anymore. He had been merely staring off into the distance, thinking of absolutely nothing. With a rattled sigh, he put a hand to his face, but was surprised to feel that his mask was no longer there. With panic attack, he staggered to his feet. He scanned the bench first, then took a step away. When his foot lightly tapping something below him, he looked to see his beloved mask. It must have fallen off in his daze. He wearily took it from the ground and placed it back upon his face.

Karliah wandered inside of the Atlantic Express. She looked around slowly, her mask blocking out half of her face. She turned and walked along the wall, her green eyes studying everything around her as she stuck to the shadows. Since she was barefoot, she made almost no sound as she walked. Her eyes fell on a figure on a bench as he started to freak out for a moment. She tilted her head slightly.

Due to his now timid and rattled nature, James overreacted to almost anything that happened. His fingers twitched as he glanced around, his pale, discolored eyes flickering beneath his mask. Though he didn't particularly need to mask like most mutated splicers would, he simply adored it, it gave him a sense of security. He was about to go back to his spot on the bench when he noticed a small movement in the shadows near the entrance. Startled, he fumbled with his machete before finally finding a secure grip on it. "W-who's there?"

Karliah pulled her sword from the strap across her back. It was crude and dirty, but it was extremely sharp. She narrowed her eyes slightly. She slowly stepped from the shadows and into the pale light of the room, her green eyes lighting up.

James's hand trembled slightly. He forced himself to calm. Splicers didn't usual wander around here. Except for him, of course. He narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?" He called across the station to the women. She was obviously farther along than him in the mutating process, but she didn't look half as bad as most of Rapture's population.

Karliah gripped her wide sword and narrowed her eyes slightly, studying the boy. He didn't seem to be very bad in appearance and physique. "I'm simply wandering..." she said back to him, her voice ringing in the large room.

James's finger's twitched uncomfortably around the handle of his weapon. With a huff he nodded slowly. "J-Just keep your distance," he warned, pushing his mask to a more stable position on his face.

Karliah smiled lightly, but since half her face was covered, it looked more like a smirk. "Twitchy, aren't we?" she sneered.

James flinched, now threatened by her appearance. He took a hasty step back, though she was several yards away. "You'd better l-leave," He told her with a growing anxiety.

Karliah tilted her head slightly, black hair falling over part of her face. "I'm not trying to threaten you, sweetheart," she said.

((I changed his weapon...))

James gripped his wrench ever tighter, his knuckles growing white from the pressure. He shook his head. I-I don't care," he stuttered, pointing the tip of the weapon toward the entrance. "Pl-please leave."

((okay))

"This isn't your home, I can come and go as I please," Karliah hissed.

James bit his lip. "Well, I was here first," He retorted lamely.

"Wow, you are such a child," Karliah laughed and leaned against the ticket booth.

James clenched his jaw. Now she was getting on his nerves. He stepped away before finding a bench facing her direction. He slouched into it, folding his arms with in wrench in his lap. "F-fine, but stay away from me," He warned again, watching her closely.

Karliah chuckled. "I wasn't planning on getting close to you," she said.

James snorted. He fell silent, eventually falling out into one of his dazes.

Karliah raised an eyebrow slowly. "Uh..." she looked around.

Without looking at her, James made a "shooing" motion with his hand. "If you're b-bored, feel f-free to leave," He struggled slightly; his stutter was always getting in the way.

"I don't think so..." Karliah said quietly and continued walking. She looked up at the flickering lights and she walked over to the express. She ran her hand along the train carefully as she walked.

James watched her with distaste. He finally decided to say something. "You know, the t-train on the opposite side of the city still works. It never g-got back herw though, unfortunately."

"There isn't really a way to get there, is there?" Karliah asked, thinking there was no point in saying something about it if there wasn't a way to get there.

James smirked. "With those brutes in the way, you'd never get past without loosin' an arm or t-two," He responded, referring to those extremely aggressive and overgrown splicers.

"Thought so," Karliah said and looked through the glass on the wall that showed the water that surrounded Rapture. She let out a small sigh.

James slouched further into the bench with a gentle sigh. He glanced at Karliah before tipping up his mask onto his forehead, revealing his not-too-transformed face.

Karliah looked over at James and tilted her head slightly. "You look normal..." she said quietly.

"Y-Yah think so?" James gave a small smile but it quickly faded. He suddenly wondered if he were to ever get out of here, that he would be able to live a normal life. Naah, He loved ADAM far too much.

Karliah nodded. "You really do," she said and paused, tracing her fingers over the left side of her face that was covered with a mask.

((Sorry I disappeared for a bit. Been really depressed...))

James leaned back wistfully before glanced at her and carefully examining her half-mask from afar. "When did you first come here? To Rapture?"

((It's okay. I've felt the same for a while.
Why are you depressed? ))

Karliah shook her head slightly. "Don't remember," she answered honestly. She really didn't have any idea when she had come to Rapture. To be honest, she didn't remember anything.

((I've been having lots of trouble in school, then my ferret was just put to sleep yesterday...))

James nodded slowly then glanced up thoughtfully. "I-I think I came just before everything began to fall apart..."

((Oh, I'm sorry. ): If I may ask, why did your ferret have to be put to sleep?))

Karliah nodded slightly. "That's a distinct possibility," she said and glanced over at James. She remembered when things were falling apart, but only in blips. "There was a big surge of people right before everything went to hell."

((Ah... he had cancer all over his body. We had no idea until something started growing from his ear.. We took him to the vet and they said he would only live for another month or two. He was suffering, so we decided to put him out of it. >.< Had him for over 6 years.))

James nodded. "Lots of 'em are dead now. People who couldn't handle the ADAM and Plasmids."

((oh wow. That's really sad. I'm sorry.))

Karliah glanced over at James and then continued to walk along the Express. She got to the wall where she couldn't walk any farther and looked back at James. She let out a small sigh. "If there was a way to leave, I still wouldn't..."

James nodded slowly in understanding. He wouldn't leave even if the walls were bursting with water! He closed his eyes and sighed. "I wonder if we're just... forgotten."

Karliah looked down for a moment and then put a hand up to the masked side of her face. "I definitely hope so. Since I've forgotten everything up there," she said.

James frowned slightly, but nodded in agreement. It was a bit of a sad thought, but it didn't faze him too much. He lapsed into silence for a moment when the sudden sound of scraping metal made him flinch. He glanced around wildly, grabbing his wrench tightly in his hands. "W-What was that?"

Cybil slowly neared the train station, everything around her tinted with red due to the glass of her helmet. She slowly scraped the blade from her gun-like weapon used to gather ADAM down the thick windows that peered out into the dark depths of the ocean. She would gathered the drug every now and then, though it was mostly the Little Sisters' job to.

Karliah stiffened. She knew that sound. Her eyes widened and she looked over at James. She ran for him and grabbed his hand, dragging him with her. "Big Sister," she hissed in a whisper as she ran with him for a place to hide.

James tensed. He had only seen one once, but from afar as it was slaughtering some splicers. He swiftly followed behind Karliah.

Cybil found herself stepping into the train station, her glowering gaze scanning the room.

Karliah pulled James behind some large potted plants. Their pots were almost as tall as James and Karliah, giving them good cover. The plants were slightly overgrown and the leaves were falling over the sides of the pots. Karliah crouched down and held tightly onto her sword. She glanced at James and then peeked through the leaves before ducking back down.

Cybil paused, her arms falling limp to her side. Her crimson gaze scanned her surroundings, her breath shallow and quiet. Her sharp eyes caught the ever slight movement beyond the plants, but she didn't advance. She just stood there, staring the plants down.

James let out a silent breath through his nose, ducking as low as he could to the ground.

Karliah simply waited. Going out into the open would bean death. She stayed as still as she possibly could.

Cybil finally continued on. She leapt across the train tracks before disappearing on the other side.

Karliah was still too stiff to even let out a sigh. She let her body relax slightly and she sat down, running hand through her hair.

James let out a long sigh of relief. He glanced in the direction the Big Sister had disappeared to, and he saw no trace of her.

Karliah closed her eyes for a moment and then looked over at James. "Well that was terrifying," she said quietly.

James nodded, his hunger for ADAM now rising to almost a painful level. "She must have had ADAM in that little gun thing of hers," he murmured, referring to the gun both Little Sister and Big Sisters used to extract ADAM from bodies containing high levels of it.

Karliah nodded slightly. She was itching for some ADAM in a bad way. "I think she did," she muttered and then stood up slowly, taking a long time. Her heart was still beating fast from the close encounter.

((I will be off and on randomly. So don't be surprised if I disappear))

James shakily found his feet, stepping out from behind the dead plant. All was quiet once again, and he suddenly wondered if he should go after the sister.