BioShock: Rapture

Ryan gave him a mysterious smile, leveraging the opportunity to brag a bit. “We have gone to great lengths to keep our discoveries to ourselves. I have found some of the most unusual, extraordinarily talented scientists in the world, Bill—and in some very difficult spots.” He peered through a porthole, smiling absently. “The hardest one to get at was this quite peculiar but brilliant fellow, name of Suchong—he was stuck in Korea during the Japanese occupation. The Japs had accused him of selling their men opium to pay for his experiments. Imperialists have such a narrow view of things. Ah, speaking of marvels, you can just see the foundations of Rapture there, before we go into the dome shaft… And let us have some appropriate music…”

Bill bent and peered through the port. Below them, electric lights glowed through the blue gloom along the rocky bottom of the sea—lines of lights like landing markers for a plane on a foggy night. He saw the rugged outlines of what might be a decayed volcanic crater, like a miniature mountain range, around a mysterious electrical glow. The music kicked in: Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, the Grofé arrangement for piano and symphony flowing from hidden speakers in the bathysphere. As the rhapsodic music swelled, Bill made out structures looming through the dark blue water beyond the stony natural ramparts: the frameworks of elegant buildings, the panels of unfinished walls, the silhouette of what might be a statue, tilting as it waited to be craned into place.

“The genius of the Wales brothers,” Ryan said, as more mighty, soaring structures came into view. “Simon and Daniel. Ironic, really, their starting with cathedrals and coming to build Rapture. But Simon says that Rapture will be a great cathedral—but not to God. To man’s will!”

“How’d you get the foundations done?” Bill asked, peering through the viewport. “That had to be a great challenge.”

“We retrofitted my steamer the Olympian, fixed it up to take cargo—and we brought the sinker out here and put it together. It’s a big submersible platform. We’d lower it to the bottom with the deep-sea team and everything they needed. It’s there permanently—absorbs vibration, offers insulation, for the biggest central section of Rapture… Brought in the platform ships for the next stages…”

A small submarine equipped with mechanical arms glided by the construction site…

“You can see the remains of a very ancient volcanic cone,” Ryan went on, pointing. “That’s a clue about Rapture’s energy source. You see that dark spot there, to one side—that’s the opening of a deep crevice, a real abyss—but the city’s foundations rest on solid rock. It’s quite secure.”

And then the panorama vanished, swallowed up in shadow. The music continued as they dipped into the dark, vertical entrance shaft leading down to the dome. It was as if they were going down a chimney. The descent was sickeningly fast and smooth until they bumped against the concrete and steel sides of the water-filled shaft with an alarming clang. A metallic squeal came as a hatch in the shaft shut above them. A shivering clunk—and they came to a complete halt. They were in an air lock, Bill reckoned, as the water drained away. A mechanical grating sound and another metallic screech—and the hatch of the bathysphere opened.

“Come along, Bill!” Ryan switched off the music and climbed out through the hatch.

Bill followed and found himself in a short metal-ribbed passage of rough concrete. Electric lights burned overhead. The smell of the sea mingled with the smell of new cement.

Two strides along the short passage, then a metal door swung open for them and there was Dr. Greavy, in a long work coat and metal construction helmet. Greavy’s mouth trembled as he gazed at Ryan. He backed away, to let Ryan enter the sizable hemispherical room, like a courtier backing away from a sovereign.

“This is an honor, sir,” Greavy sputtered, “but really, it’s a bit too risky—”

“Risky!” Ryan said, looking around. “Nonsense! Bill, he’s trying to keep me out of here!” But Ryan was chuckling as he looked around at the equipment in the dome.

“Only until we have more safety structures in place—McDonagh understands.”

“I’m here now, Greavy,” Ryan said, “and I mean to have a look around. I am sinking my life into this project, and I need to see it flourishing. Is Simon here?”

“Not here, sir, he’s in sub three.”

“Let him do his work. You can show us around.” The dome was about two hundred feet in diameter, about thirty-five feet to the ceiling in the center, which was supported by a grid of metal girders. To Bill the girders looked like steel, but he knew if they were only steel they’d all be buried under a mountain of saltwater. He supposed they must be made of some special alloy.