A Different Lighthouse

Chapter 1

The first time Ben heard his voice, it felt as if he'd come up from underwater.

"Would you kindly pick up that radio?"

Ben did so with trembling hands, his eyes wide as he focused on the windows. The woman who had destroyed his submarine appeared to have left, her screams no longer echoing against the walls, but the corpse she'd left behind - Dopheld, he'd heard someone say - still bled steadily onto the carpet. Ben reached down and un-clasped the radio from the dead man's belt, careful of the blood.

"Wh-who are you?" he asked weakly, gripping the radio tightly in his fist. He was afraid to raise his voice too much, lest the shrieking woman come back for him.

"My name's Armitage Hux," the man on the other end replied. "I don't know who you are, or how you managed to survive that plane crash, but you're trapped here now, just like the rest of us. I aim to keep you alive."

Ben swallowed thickly, his throat dry, "I don't understand."

"Explain later. First things first, dear. We need to get you to higher ground," Armitage told him. His voice was calm, soothing, with a charming Irish lilt. Ben found the sound of it eased his tension, if just a bit.

"Now," Armitage continued. "Take a breath, and then step out of the bathysphere when you're ready. Don't worry, I won't leave you twisting in the wind."

Ben paused, not so sure about all that. The 'bathysphere,' as Armitage had called it, was busted. Sparks still fell from the punctures the crazed woman from before had left in her wake, and the lights on the console were no longer lit. The only way to go now, was forward.

He reached forward and slowly pushed open the door, wincing at the horrible creaking that was sure to draw attention. He stepped in the pool of Dopheld's blood and grunted in disgust as he rushed away. The hall he'd found himself in was dark, a few flickering lights his only source of navigation. It smelled dank, like an old basement with mold and grime covering the walls and floors. He approached the window on the far wall and pressed his forehead to the cool glass and stared out into the blue-tinged view of Rapture. A city at the bottom of the ocean. Insanity.

"Turn left," came Armitage's voice, and Ben jumped, looking around suspiciously.

"Are you watching me?"

"Aye. I can see you through the security cameras," Armitage told him dismissively. "Would you kindly turn left now, and go on 'til I tell you dear."

Ben turned left and walked slowly and with his eyes flitting all over the walls and ceilings. He swore he could hear rustling up above, but the light was too dim to be sure. Beneath his feet, he noticed were posters, covered in dirt and footprints, but still legible picket signs.

'RYAN DOESN'T OWN US.'

'WE'RE NOT YOUR PROPERTY.'

'RAPTURE IS DEAD.'

"Who's Ryan?" Ben asked, his feet still moving as he craned his neck to look behind him. He took in all of the abandoned suitcases, surrounded by signs declaring that bathysphere travel was off-limits indefinitely. "Why did he try to keep people down here?"

"All in due time. Keep movin'. We gotta draw her out of hidin'."

"Her? You mean that woman from before?" Ben asked tensely. "What's wrong with her?"