HOME | DD
DeepHurting — Halo: Rapture 02
[NSFW]
Published: 2009-02-12 02:10:50 +0000 UTC; Views: 1634; Favourites: 8; Downloads: 1
Redirect to original
Description
Halo: RaptureChapter Two: Medical Pavilion
_____________________________________________________________________________________
My eyes once again open. I feel…better. I suppose. Pushing myself up, I look around for anyone. No one around, as far as I can tell. Then I remember.
I was stabbed. Looking down at my abdomen, I see my skin unmarked but this of course means I have a hole in my gel layer. Perfect, but at least I’m alive.
I feel a tingle and cool air on my hand. I jerk my gaze to said left hand. The gel layer had completely sizzled off and the metal part had fallen off. Electricity was running through my veins in a morbid way. It tingled oddly but I know that, eventually, I’ll come to ignore it.
Experimentally I flick my wrist, purely on instinct, and an electric bolt comes out of my hand and hits harmlessly against the wall. That’s…interesting. Certainly would’ve been helpful during the war. Oh well.
I move back towards the secretary’s desk. Apparently the secretary worked for a woman named Dr. Kirk Harrison. From the papers I can tell that Kirk is one of the top four doctors of this city, Rapture. His competition is a plastic surgeon named Steinman, a scientist named Tenenbaum, and a Chinese scientist named Suchong. This information might be useful later.
The desk, aside from that information, is mostly empty. Getting up and looking around, I don’t see much else, aside from the two sets of doors. One leads to the Bathysphere, the other leads towards to who knows where. None of my questions will get answered on their own though.
I’m heading towards the unknown doors when I hear an alarm sound and the lights take on a red hue. My instincts are screaming for me to get out of the area. A voice comes in through a loud speaker.
“What can I do with this one Aphrodite? I want to make them beautiful but they always come out wrong! This intruder, he’s too ugly Aphrodite! Cut his heart out! Tear him to bits! I want to see him bleed!”
A shriek comes from the ceiling and three Splicers jump down. Banging is heard from a maintenance access door.
I grab The Arbiter’s energy sword and activate it. The three lunge at me at the same time. I dodge and slash, taking off an arm just as the maintenance door breaks off its hinges. The wounded Splicer shrieks in rage and pain.
I disjointedly notice that five Splicers have come through the broken door. One of them has a gun, looks like a standard issue assault rifle. Must take him out first.
Dodging and moving as randomly as I can to minimize the chance of being hit, I slash my way through. I briefly notice that I had cut off one of the Splicer’s head. Turning my attention back to the big problem I’m able to drop to the ground and roll away quickly just as the Splicers opens fire at where my head was moments before.
Rolling to my knees I slash at the nearest Splicer. The monstrous shrieks coming from the creatures are becoming deafening. I’m on my feet again and dodging sideways as more ammo is used on my body, missing by mere centimeters.
One of the Splicers manages to tackle me as my attention was focused on the gun wielding one. Hitting the ground hard I manage to hang onto my sword, small miracles.
Shooting my left hand out, I manage to zap an Electro Bolt at the Splicer carrying the rifle. I elbow the one on top of me in the face hard enough to stun it for a moment as I throw it off of me.
Jumping to my feet, I impale the Splicer holding the assault rifle just as I hear the sound of more footsteps. How many are there going to be?
Suddenly, the loud speakers flare to life again. At first, I think it’s the insane man who sent the Splicers on me but am greeted with a different voice.
“I’ve managed to hack the door. Get out of there quickly before it shuts closed again!”
Not having to be told twice I make a break for the door, Splicers hot on my trail. Pushing the double doors open I quickly close them and hold them closed as I hear the locking mechanism come to life.
Allowing a relieved breath escape my lips, my eyes scan the hallway I’ve come to. No Splicers.
Blinking down I notice the energy sword and the assault rifle I grabbed without thinking.
“Good you made it. I’m Dr. Kirk Harrison. I have no idea how you got here and I’m not going to ask. I saved your life because I’ve got a deal to make you. Come to my office so we can speak face to face. I don’t exactly want Steinman, the crazy bastard that sent those Splicers after you, listening in. Your close, just follow the hallway your in. Soon you’ll come to the surgery wing. After that, just follow the signs.”
The speakers go dead. Not seeing much choice, I slowly walk down the hallway as silently as I can, keeping close to the walls.
There’s blood everywhere. Like a hospital from hell. A guy like Steinman really fits in here, so do those Splicers.
I frown; wishing the rest of Blue Team was here with me. Or at least the Arbiter or maybe Johnson. But Johnson is dead and who knows what happened to the Arbiter. Most of all however, I wish Cortana was here. This is too much like Flood infested High Charity.
We’ve been through so much and she dies in a water landing. Ironic. I jerk and spin around as I feel as if someone has just put a hand on my shoulder. No one’s there. Great, I’m starting to go insane too. Soon I’ll be like one of those Splicers.
I push open a door to what looks like another waiting room, a sign reads: Surgery Wing. This room has more blood and junk in it then any other place I’ve been. Several bodies litter the floor.
Anticipating another fight, I hold my new assault rifle close as I walk towards the doors that lead me deeper into the maze of hallways.
As I’m pushing the doors open I hear the speakers flare to life.
“Why is it that we have two eyes, is there a law that says we must? Two eyes, two legs, two breasts, two arms. Then it occurred to me that I can improve on what god failed to do. The human body is ugly and riddled with faults!” Sensing another conflict, I hasten to get through the door and out of the area.
“Don’t worry about him, now that you’re in the Surgery Wing he can’t do much but talk. I’ve got this place under a tight leash.”
Dr. Harrison’s words hardly comfort me. I see a sign at the end of the hall:
> Chief of Surgery, Dr. Harrison’s Office
< Tonic Station
I frown at that. Tonic Station? What is a Tonic Station? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Then again I’ve never heard of anyone shooting lightning bolts from their hands.
“Maybe you should visit a Tonic Station. They can be dead useful in combat.”
I give an irritated grumble at the lack of information but follow his advice anyway. Harrison knows more about this place then I do.
Turning left, I pass several closed doors, figuring that the ‘Tonic Station’ is at the end of the hall. I can hear noises coming from a couple of rooms and I have no desire to walk in on any of the insane residents of this place.
The room at the end of the hall nearly makes me do a double take when I see the technology in the room. Forerunner technology. I’d recognize it anywhere. Where in the world did they find Forerunner equipment?
Taking a step towards the capsule like thing that reminds me of a Cryo Tube, I notice that instead of the Customary Forerunner symbols I see obvious human writing.
TONIC CHAMBER
So, what do I do? Times like this I really wish Cortana was here. She’d be able to figure this out.
“Alright, see that computer there; I want you to select a Tonic that you think will come in handy best. The machine should have enough ADAM already stored in it to at least give you one Tonic.”
I look at the screen to see several different Tonic options with details beside them. Hmmmm. Static Discharge. That could come in big handy.
Touching the screen to select the Static Discharge, I see the chamber let out a stream of mist and open.
“Alright, just get inside and let the machine do its work. It shouldn’t take more then fifteen minutes, give or take. It should work with that suit of yours on. At least it works through clothes so I don‘t see why it shouldn‘t work on your armor.”
I eye the chamber critically but decide that it couldn’t possibly be worse then anything else I’ve faced. Getting in I find, to my surprise, a gel like layer that I immediately sink into.
The door of the chamber closes with a hiss and I find myself drifting off to sleep. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I wake up again just as the chamber door hisses open again and the gel recedes. Climbing out of the chamber groggily, I find my limbs are stiffer then before and my head feels like it’s full of water.
Looking around the room, I had yet to actually inspect, I see a table shoved up against a wall.
Limping over to it I see, what looks like, a standard recording chip. Audio only. I need rest and the curiosity is killing me. So, making myself comfortable on the floor I insert the chip into my helmet while hoping that at least this part of my suit will work.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
“Clinical trial of LOT 56. Dr. Suchong, Client Fontaine Futuristics. Subsequent trial of LOT 56 have been….disappointing but within an acceptable range. The Plasmid, codenamed: Winter Blast, freezes the target but only for a short time. The other problem is that everything the victim was holding also shatters and is completely useless if host is destroyed.
“However, I have improved it enough so that the subject infused with the Plasmid doesn’t completely freeze over. Now, it’s just the hand down to the person’s elbow. This makes it very hard to move fingers and wrist but otherwise doesn’t pose much of a problem. I suppose I can put this out on the market now as it is. Just don’t mention how much your body temperature drops while using LOT 56. Bad for business.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I notice another Hypodermic needle; it’s empty except there is a bottle of the red substance next to it. I suppose that is LOT 56. Winter Blast.
Feeling apprehensive I pick up the needle and the bottle. Filling it with red substance for reasons that are beyond me at this point, I inject it into my veins just as I did the Electro Bolt. I suddenly realize that just about none of my decisions since coming here have been good ones.
I feel like I’m in a subzero temperature as my veins freeze over. It isn’t as bad as the Electro Bolt but still bad. All I can do is ride out the transformation. I almost wish I had been put to sleep like in the chamber. Damn, cold was an understatement.
Looking at my hand I couldn’t help but stare. Ice shards are sticking out of it and frost covers my entire arm down to my elbow. I can just barely move my fingers.
Great, I’m a walking Tesla Coil and now a snow man. Could my life get any better? Sighing, I get up off the floor and begin my (hopefully uneventful) trek to Harrison’s office.
My hopes are all for not. I see a Splicer dallying in the hallway. It spins around when it hears me push the door open.
For a second, just for a second, we stare at each other. Then the door clicks shut loudly behind me. The spell is broken and it lunges at me. My hand jerks on instinct and I hit it square in the chest with the Winter Blast.
It freezes over completely. Walking up to it, fascinated, I notice that it may be frozen for a moment but it’s already starting to melt. Rearing back my fist I punch it as hard as I can, shattering it instantly.
Despite myself, I smile in satisfaction. Yes, Winter Blast might be the coldest thing I’ve ever felt, but it’s useful.
Moving on, I continue towards Harrison’s office. Follow the signs. Chief of Surgery. Wonder what kind of deal he wants to make.
I come across a woman’s corpse. She’s been slaughtered.
“She was beautiful once. My Aphrodite. She looked at my face and cut me to a thousand beautiful pieces. But soon I realized that Aphrodite wasn’t as beautiful as I once thought. Not without ADAM. Nothing is beautiful without ADAM.”
Harrison doesn’t say anything this time. Neither do I. Leave the insane bastard to his delusions. I finally come across oak doors with the sign: Chief of Surgery.
“Just come in, the door’s unlocked…for the moment anyway.”
Pushing the double doors open I see an oak desk with papers strewn across it, several stale cups of coffee. A large monitoring station takes up a wall; the screens show different parts of the Surgery Wing and a couple of other places. Security Cameras. Unlike most of the other rooms I’ve been to, this one actually appears clean. No blood or anything. I’ve decided to take this as a good sign.
Through a set of double a door an older man emerges. He has the customary doctor’s coat and is writing in a notepad urgently. The man’s hair is white and a set of glasses cover his eyes. I suppose this is Dr. Harrison. Said man looks up at me and then turns to the monitors before speaking.
“You took your sweet time getting here. You know you look shorter on camera. What are you seven feet? No matter, strip down and get on the examination table. Let’s have a look at you.” Okay I take that back, maybe he is nuts.
“Excuse me?” He looks back at me oddly as he moves back towards the doors he had just come out of.
“You did notice that half of your arm is charred to bits?” Surprised I look down at my arm, it doesn’t look that bad.
“Hm. You must have something wrong with your brain as well. Better examine that too. I’m not much of a neurologist but it can’t be that difficult, it’s not brain surgery after all.”
“…..”
“I’m kidding. You soldier types can’t take a joke. I have a machine that does it for me.” I follow him through the door and take a seat on the examination table. The room is completely taken up by a large computer terminal and an examination table. The computer obviously does a bunch of different things.
“Lay back please. Just to let you know, this might feel a little weird. And if you experience any pain…well, there’s nothing I can do about that.”
This doesn’t bode well. I hear a click a soft buzz and a bluish white light appears. It moves over my body causing a slight ticklish sensation. Moves back down to my feet becoming a darker blue. Slight ticklish sensation is becoming steadily uncomfortable.
“Relax or it’s going to hurt worse then it should.”
“Worse?” I tense up and a sharp pain shoots through my body.
“I told you.” I just turn my head and glare at him. He pays no attention to me as he is looking at a holographic display at my body. My medical information included. He stares at it for a while and turns back to me with a frown.
“This looks familiar.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing, never mind. Do you perhaps know a Catherine Halsey?”
“Yes.”
“Thought so. These augmentation look like her work. Through with several improvements. Hm. Is one of your parents by chance, an extraterrestrial?”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, how should I put this? Your DNA has a foreign genome structure attached to your normal one. Definitely not human. This however does explain several things I might add.”
“How so?” He gives me a sarcastic look.
“Weeelll…. Let’s start with the obvious. Shall we. Your burned arm is healing on its own accord at an extreme rate. Not normal rate for a human I might add. Second. How many of those Plasmids and Tonics have you injected?”
“Three.”
“Yes well, that may not seem like a lot but normally people are advised to only take one in a seventy-two hour period. Otherwise their genetic structure breaks down. Yours looks very healthy. Unnaturally so. Not only are these foreign genes keeping you stable but they are also regulating them allowing you to Splice more then usual. Definitely more then most.”
“What do you mean stable?”
“Well, usually if someone takes more then the recommended amount they are subjected to….difficulties. Such as…um… blindness, insanity, extreme paranoia, death.”
“Oh.”
“Yes. Oh, Indeed. You wouldn’t happen to know where you got these foreign genes?”
I close my eyes and think back to every encounter with the Covenant. No. Nothing. Wait…oh, yeah, that encounter. I forgot about that. Or tried my best to.
“How much do you know about the Flood?”
“Flood? What’s that? You should probably keep in mind that Rapture has been completely cut off from the rest of the universe for years.”
“So… you don’t know about the Covenant?”
“No.” He’s tapping his foot now.
“This’ll take while.”
“As long as you explain something.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I spend three hours explaining…well…everything. Starting with the Spartan program, the contact at Harvest, the Human and Covenant War, Halo, Earth, the OTHER Halo, Earth again, The Arc… and most of all…. Gravemind.
That seemed to keep the doctor’s interest.
“So, you were bit by one of the infection forms on the first Halo you visited? But it did nothing?”
“Not that anyone could tell.”
“Show me your neck.”
Sitting up I take off my helmet so he can look at where I was bitten. Examining it for a while.
“Have you experienced any odd sensations? Numbness, sharp pains, a high sensitivity to the Flood?”
“All. Especially with the Gravemind.”
“How so?”
“He was able to communicate with me inside my mind. It wasn’t pleasant.”
“And…..you didn’t say anything to anyone?”
“…..No. As I said nothing happened. I seemed to be fine. Besides I had other priorities.”
“What effects did the Gravemind have on you when he sent you the ‘visions’?”
“I think one of the marines commented that my heart stopped.”
“Yeah and that’s not pretty goddamned serious right?” He says in a sarcastic tone.
“Has this had any effect on your behavior? Like. Have you become increasingly rash, more impulsive shall we say.” Thinking back to the battle of the Arc I remember having a lot more close calls then I would have. Not to mention just injecting those plasmids without a thought. That was stupid.
“Yes.”
“Other then this, your fine. Aside from your charred arm. But it’s healing quickly. Anyway to the actual point of why I wanted to see you.”
“Yes?”
“Steinman.” He hissed the name. They don’t like each other.
“Steinman killed my wife. I want him dead. In exchange for this favor I’ll repair your communication device in your suit, and get you in contact with someone who can help you get out of this hellhole. How does that sound?”
“Better then nothing. Where is he?”
“Just follow the blood.”
“Why’d he kill your wife?”
“Because she was too symmetrical.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Just follow the blood. Understatement. There’s blood everywhere. On the floor, on the walls, even the goddamned ceiling. Whatever happened to: “I shall do no harm.”?
I’m coming up on the Plastic Surgery section and the blood and smell of death is getting thicker. This must be the place. Looks wonderful.
I walk down a set of stairs and notice a shotgun with a box of ammo sitting in the middle of the floor next to a corpse. It has more in it then the assault rifle. Dropping the rifle I pick up the shotgun only for most of the lights to go off.
AMBUSH!
Good thing I can see in the dark. I hear the footsteps and insane laughter. I pump the shotgun after loading it and spin towards the sounds. I hear a voice behind me.
“The doctor is in.”
Wonderful. Just what I need. I spin around and shoot him. Another one appears and I freeze him with the Winter Blast. His friend ends up running into him and knocks him to the ground. Shattered instantly. I shoot his friend as he looks at his broken comrade.
More footsteps. Judging from the sound, I count ten. Suddenly I get a strong feeling to duck. Doing just that a wrench swings past where my head was moments ago. Killing another Splicer who got in the way.
Nine to go.
I dodge as a pistol is fired towards where I was. Apparently the Splicers can’t see in the dark that well. The shot ends up blinding a couple of them.
I shoot another one in the chest and find he is gone when I look again. Definitely not down for the count. I see from the corner of my eye the man I had shot suddenly appear out of thin air.
“Hello beautiful.” It then shoots fire at me. I duck out of the way behind a fallen column. I notice that the Splicers are gathered around him. I also notice that they are all standing in a puddle of water that is dripping from the ceiling. On instinct, I urge my Electro Bolt to come to life. Lo and behold it does. Without thinking I fire into the puddle. Toaster in a bath tub.
Charred Splicer doesn’t smell good. They drop like rocks. Except my friend Houdini who has teleported behind me with a wrench. He lands a lucky shot at my shoulder but is thrown back by a charge of electricity shooting out of my body. Static discharge. I thought it’d be useful.
Taking out my shotgun I put one round through his head. He isn’t teleporting anymore. Bastard.
The lights come on suddenly. More blood. Not that you can really tell the difference. I had misjudged the amount of Splicers that I had hit with the Electro Bolt. Fifteen. I’m glad I saw the puddle.
Moving on down the hallway cautiously, I can’t help but feel disgusted by all the blood. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not squeamish by any means. I’ve been on plenty of battle fields. Seen my comrades die. But the blood just looks so out of place in this grand city.
How can all these intelligent people let it go to rot? How can they do this to themselves even? Doesn’t sound smart to me.
Walking down the hallway I hear Dr. Harrison. “Welcome to Rapture. The universe’s greatest junk heap.”
No kidding. I come through a door to see more destruction. The ceiling beams are ripped from their places and leaning on the ground or against walls. There are fires and leaks. Strangely none of the leaks actually leak onto a fire. Go figure.
I hear a roar from my old friend Mr. Bubbles. A Splicer is thrown against the wall right beside me becoming a rag doll. He sounds mad. Mr. Bubbles is cornering another Splicer.
“It’s a Big Daddy. They protect the Little Siblings. Don’t bother them and he doesn’t bother you. Unfortunately you’ll need some of the ADAM she carries to progress through that door. You don’t have enough in your body to get you through the next obstacle. Steinman might not sound tough but he can take out several of those Big Daddies by himself. If you want to beat him, you’ve got to be tougher.”
How do you suggest I do that? I can’t actually ask him because he has yet to repair my communication device. He seems to interpret my thoughts anyway.
“You have to get passed the Big Daddy to get to the Little Sister that’s with him.”
Get passed. Big Daddy. Little sister. Looking at the drill on Mr. Bubbles I can’t help but be a little pessimistic. That drill is the size of me. And he wants me to take care of that thing? Give me a pair of Hunters any day compared to that thing.
“Ah, don’t worry, he’s not that tough. I guess. Then again I’ve never faced one before. I’ve treated plenty who have, but not myself. Hm. Then again people usually end up in the morgue rather then my examination room.” That’s comforting. Studying Mr. Bubbles for weaknesses I can tell he’s hurt.
Sighing to myself, I realize I have to get him mad. Oh, yeah, this is going to be fun. I notice that he turned his attention to the Little sister.
“I’m ready for dream time Mr. Bubbles.”
I’ll have to do it now then. Sighing again, I take out my shotgun. Ready. Not really. Aim. Check. Fire. BANG!
I hear an ear shattering roar. His eyes turn blood red as it spins around and looks at me. Yes. He’s mad. He charges at me with blinding speed. I wait for the last second to duck out of the way.
“Get him Mr. B! Get him!” That kid’s really pushing it.
The drill hit’s the wall and gets stuck. I notice a beam just above him. I take my chances and shoot at its support. It crashes down on him just as he unstuck his drill.
Dead.
The Little sister runs passed me and goes to Mr. Bubble’s corpse.
“Why won’t you get up Mr. Bubbles?!” She sobs. Now what?
“You’re going to have to get the ADAM from her. Take the slug out. By the way. The sea slugs that the ADAM comes from are implanted into the Little Siblings. That’s why they carry ADAM. But if a slug is removed, it kills them. Like removing a terminal patient from life support.”
That’s sick. I approach her not sure what I’m going to do or if I can do it. For some reason I remember the Spartan training. She would have been Kelly’s age when I first met her.
A gunshot hits just above my head.
“Stay away from her or the next one goes through your head!” I see a woman on the balcony. She’s wielding a UNSC standard issue handgun.
“Easy now Dr. Tenenbaum. He just needs some ADAM. Just enough to get by.”
“I will not have him hurt my Little Ones. Have you no heart?”
“That’s a pretty speech coming from you. Especially since you were the one who put those slugs in the children in the first place. You and I know both know this is the way of life down here. We trade lives for others.”
“There is another way.” She tosses a hypodermic needle filled with the red substance.
“This’ll help you free them from their torment…. I’ll give you assistance wherever I can. It won’t be much, but every little bit helps down here.”
Taking the hypo needles I inject it. Why not. I need every bit of help I can find. I didn’t want to kill the girl anyway.
My hands become a bright translucent white. This one was different from the others it felt warm, a sharp contrast to the Winter Blast.
Looking back towards where the Little Sister was I see she’s gone but I hear a noise behind a crate. Pushing the crate out of the way I’m met with her eerie glowing eyes. Picking her up with one hand I place my other hand on her forehead. Meanwhile she is fighting me.
“No! No, no, no!” then she goes limp as her face and body glows the same color as my hand is.
A flash of light blinds me for a moment before it passes. Sitting her down quickly, she looks like she’s going to vomit.
She retches up the same red substance that is in the needles I find and the jar. ADAM. I use the needle Tenenbaum gave me to collect the substance.
The little girl looks up at me. Her eyes are normal and her skin is a normal color now.
“Thank you Mister. You saved me.”
“Find somewhere safe. I doubt this place will be Splicer free for long.”
She runs towards a porthole like thing in the wall. I give her a boost up because it’s a bit too high for her. She gives me a final wave then leaves.
“Saving them doesn’t give you as much ADAM as it would if you killed them. But it certainly makes you feel good inside. Now find a Gatherer’s Garden, or a Tonic Station.”
Harrison’s voice once again leaves. I glance at Mr. Bubble’s corpse one last time before moving out of the room.
-END OF CHAPTER TWO-
