Okay I Owe You An Update
Sep. 14th, 2012 11:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickLet's have a virtue! Our previous sin was Envy, so our virtue is Hope:
9. Hope
Fandom: Bioshock
Wonderland was in a wretched state, Alice thought. Crumbling pathways, broken architecture, leaks everywhere. . .not to mention those awful monsters with their oily black bodies and china doll masks. Alice had lost track of how many she’d had to kill. At least their blobby corpses provided her with the precious meta-essence she needed to survive. And that’s all one could do here – survive.
She sat next to one of the windows today, looking out at the Deluded Depths. Shipwreck sharks glided smoothly around the tall buildings, while snarks paddled the dark water closer to the ocean bed. Sometimes she’d see the ghost of an old sailor, drifting, aimless, through the deep. It was rather beautiful, in a strangely twisted way. She pressed a hand against the glass, wondering what it would be like to swim out there. To have the whole ocean as one’s playground. To be able to leave this place and its misery behind.
A reflection in the window alerted her to the fact she was no longer alone. She jumped to her feet and spun around, pulling out her Vorpal Blade (fighting with her syringe was a bad idea, she’d found – the monsters tended to try and yank it out of her hands). “Who’s there?” she demanded.
The intruder stumbled backward, holding up a hand in surrender. Alice stared at him for a moment. He looked something like one of the Automatons that wandered this place – the ones the children called “Mr. Bubbles.” But his design was rather different – though he carried a drill like most of the ones she’d seen, he was tall and skinny, with less armor than she’d come to expect. And he didn’t have a helmet – peeking up above his collar was a decidedly human head. One that was quite pale, but human nonetheless.
He stared back at her through dark goggles, seemingly as confused by her as she was by him. Then, slowly, he advanced a few steps, making an odd noise that sounded a bit like whalesong. Alice frowned at him. “I don’t understand that.”
The not-Automaton’s shoulders slumped. Alice watched him carefully. From what she’d observed, the Automatons were harmless. In fact, they usually spent their time protecting the children from threats. Did this not-Automaton have the same job? If so, where was his little one? She edged a pinch closer. To be honest, he looked rather – sad. And lonely. Maybe he hadn’t been allowed to take a child under his wing. Maybe he’d been rejected by his peers.
Much like her.
The not-Automaton noticed her getting nearer and looked up. It was exceedingly hard to read his face, what with his eyes covered and his mouth practically invisible below his collar, but she fancied there was a hopeful look growing on it. He extended a hand.
Alice looked at it. Part of her said not to trust him – to run and hide until he left. She did fine on her own. But. . .she was lonely too. She wanted a friend – someone to talk to, to watch the sharks with, to keep an eye on her when she gathered. And this fellow, whoever and whatever he was, looked like just the person for the job.
Slowly, she smiled and put her hand in his. She’d give him a chance.
And hope that he’d turn out to be her White Knight.
-J: That is both cute and slightly terrible at the same time.-
Again, that is Bioshock for you. "Cute and slightly terrible" is standard for Little Sisters. Anyway, this is Big Sister Alice and Big Brother Victor's first meeting. Alice, being a failed Little Sister who never received proper mental conditioning (thanks to being catatonic at the time of slug implantation), basically had to learn everything about herself from scratch. And her already-shattered mind had a hard time dealing with it all, so she went into full "Wonderland Hallucination" mode to cope. Until this point, she's been wandering Rapture alone, discovering how ADAM works, how to use the powers it grants her, getting her knife so she can fight Splicers more effectively, and basically sticking to the shadows. She's tried approaching her little brethren at times, but the Little Sisters tend to be afraid of her. And when Little Sisters are afraid. . .
-M: Bet Alice had to make a lot of quick escapes.-
Yeah, fortunately she's good at those. Victor's got a similar problem -- he's a failed prototype of a new Big Daddy model that had some of the advantages of the Alpha, but without the "bonding so strongly to just ONE sister" drawback. Unfortunately, Little Sisters didn't like him, and he was scheduled to be "decommissioned." Victor managed to escape, and he's been wandering Rapture ever since, with a voice in his head screaming at him to protect a Little Sister without him having any way to shut it up. Meeting Alice here is a turning point for both of them: Victor finally gets someone to protect, and Alice finally gets someone to talk to. They both end up the better for it.
-M2: *eyes Envy* The Splicers sure as hell don't, though.-
Nope. Not everybody can end up happy, unfortunately. Depressing fandom is a go.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed that! Next one should be -- Sloth! Okay, that'll be the "Portal 2" pair. Awesome.
Also, am in the process of reading Good Omens. Good book, but I think it might have been a slight mistake to read it directly after Thief of Time. The Horsemen of the Apocalypse feature in both books, and they're VERY different. Well, at least, War and Famine are. Ye GODS do I hate Famine in Omens. Such an asshole. Also, ToT was a good book and had some truly awesome moments. Now I just have to get my hands on The Last Hero. . .
9. Hope
Fandom: Bioshock
Wonderland was in a wretched state, Alice thought. Crumbling pathways, broken architecture, leaks everywhere. . .not to mention those awful monsters with their oily black bodies and china doll masks. Alice had lost track of how many she’d had to kill. At least their blobby corpses provided her with the precious meta-essence she needed to survive. And that’s all one could do here – survive.
She sat next to one of the windows today, looking out at the Deluded Depths. Shipwreck sharks glided smoothly around the tall buildings, while snarks paddled the dark water closer to the ocean bed. Sometimes she’d see the ghost of an old sailor, drifting, aimless, through the deep. It was rather beautiful, in a strangely twisted way. She pressed a hand against the glass, wondering what it would be like to swim out there. To have the whole ocean as one’s playground. To be able to leave this place and its misery behind.
A reflection in the window alerted her to the fact she was no longer alone. She jumped to her feet and spun around, pulling out her Vorpal Blade (fighting with her syringe was a bad idea, she’d found – the monsters tended to try and yank it out of her hands). “Who’s there?” she demanded.
The intruder stumbled backward, holding up a hand in surrender. Alice stared at him for a moment. He looked something like one of the Automatons that wandered this place – the ones the children called “Mr. Bubbles.” But his design was rather different – though he carried a drill like most of the ones she’d seen, he was tall and skinny, with less armor than she’d come to expect. And he didn’t have a helmet – peeking up above his collar was a decidedly human head. One that was quite pale, but human nonetheless.
He stared back at her through dark goggles, seemingly as confused by her as she was by him. Then, slowly, he advanced a few steps, making an odd noise that sounded a bit like whalesong. Alice frowned at him. “I don’t understand that.”
The not-Automaton’s shoulders slumped. Alice watched him carefully. From what she’d observed, the Automatons were harmless. In fact, they usually spent their time protecting the children from threats. Did this not-Automaton have the same job? If so, where was his little one? She edged a pinch closer. To be honest, he looked rather – sad. And lonely. Maybe he hadn’t been allowed to take a child under his wing. Maybe he’d been rejected by his peers.
Much like her.
The not-Automaton noticed her getting nearer and looked up. It was exceedingly hard to read his face, what with his eyes covered and his mouth practically invisible below his collar, but she fancied there was a hopeful look growing on it. He extended a hand.
Alice looked at it. Part of her said not to trust him – to run and hide until he left. She did fine on her own. But. . .she was lonely too. She wanted a friend – someone to talk to, to watch the sharks with, to keep an eye on her when she gathered. And this fellow, whoever and whatever he was, looked like just the person for the job.
Slowly, she smiled and put her hand in his. She’d give him a chance.
And hope that he’d turn out to be her White Knight.
-J: That is both cute and slightly terrible at the same time.-
Again, that is Bioshock for you. "Cute and slightly terrible" is standard for Little Sisters. Anyway, this is Big Sister Alice and Big Brother Victor's first meeting. Alice, being a failed Little Sister who never received proper mental conditioning (thanks to being catatonic at the time of slug implantation), basically had to learn everything about herself from scratch. And her already-shattered mind had a hard time dealing with it all, so she went into full "Wonderland Hallucination" mode to cope. Until this point, she's been wandering Rapture alone, discovering how ADAM works, how to use the powers it grants her, getting her knife so she can fight Splicers more effectively, and basically sticking to the shadows. She's tried approaching her little brethren at times, but the Little Sisters tend to be afraid of her. And when Little Sisters are afraid. . .
-M: Bet Alice had to make a lot of quick escapes.-
Yeah, fortunately she's good at those. Victor's got a similar problem -- he's a failed prototype of a new Big Daddy model that had some of the advantages of the Alpha, but without the "bonding so strongly to just ONE sister" drawback. Unfortunately, Little Sisters didn't like him, and he was scheduled to be "decommissioned." Victor managed to escape, and he's been wandering Rapture ever since, with a voice in his head screaming at him to protect a Little Sister without him having any way to shut it up. Meeting Alice here is a turning point for both of them: Victor finally gets someone to protect, and Alice finally gets someone to talk to. They both end up the better for it.
-M2: *eyes Envy* The Splicers sure as hell don't, though.-
Nope. Not everybody can end up happy, unfortunately. Depressing fandom is a go.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed that! Next one should be -- Sloth! Okay, that'll be the "Portal 2" pair. Awesome.
Also, am in the process of reading Good Omens. Good book, but I think it might have been a slight mistake to read it directly after Thief of Time. The Horsemen of the Apocalypse feature in both books, and they're VERY different. Well, at least, War and Famine are. Ye GODS do I hate Famine in Omens. Such an asshole. Also, ToT was a good book and had some truly awesome moments. Now I just have to get my hands on The Last Hero. . .
