Bioshock: The Story of Henry Walker

Chapter 4: Talented Individuals

Henry awoke to the sound of knocking. "Mr.Walker, time to get up sir!" said a voice from behind the door. Henry groaned. 'Eight already? Well, I guess I better get up, I was having such a great sleep too!' Henry had to use all his willpower to force himself out of the extremely comfortable bed. Henry's feet hit the cool floor, he stood with all the effort he could muster, and he groggily walked over  to open the door. He thought it might be the same crew member from last night that escorted him to his cabin, but to his surprise he found a tidy, well groomed butler, or what looked like the equivalent of a butler, standing before him. The man smiled at Henry, "Ah, good to see you up and about sir, breakfast will be ready in twenty minutes, the employer will be meeting you at nine, I would suggest washing up and wear something presentable." With that, the butler walked back down the hallway in swift strides and disappeared behind the corner. "Butlers? Man this guy is one big-shot to be having butlers running around, giving the guests wake up calls!" Henry closed his door and went into the bathroom. Henry took a shower with clean warm water for the first time in many years. He also brushed his teeth with a toothbrush that didn't have dirt in the bristles. 'I could definitely get used to this!' thought Henry. 'Now, let's see, the butler said to make myself look presentable." Henry opened the wardrobe closet. 'So much to choose from!' And indeed there was. Business suits, casual wear, belts, buckles, shoes and hats of all colours and sizes filled the wardrobe. Henry took a look at himself in the mirror. He looked pretty handsome compared to most of the men he knew back on land. He was six feet tall, short light brown hair, firm jaw and thick neck, muscles that bulged at his discretion, an over all good body build, and dark blue eyes, the only flaw was his crooked nose, which was fractured and broken during one of his bare-knuckle boxing matches. 'Maybe one day I'll find myself a woman'. He chuckled at the thought and went back to the wardrobe. In the end, Henry decided to wear black dress shoes and pants, with a white collared shirt, sleeves rolled up, and a striped, purple and white silk vest. Henry may have been an engineer, but he knew how to dress for the occasion. Content with his decision, Henry went back to the mirror to take a look at himself. He was surprised at how well the clothes fit him. 'Wow, if I didn't know any better, I'd say I looked like a millionaire!' He smiled and did a full rotation in front of the mirror. 'I look like a big-shot rich gangster, going out on the town!' He laughed and looked at the clock on the wall. His eyes grew wide. "Eight fifteen! Jesus, I'm going to be late!" Henry grabbed his key and bolted out the door. He turned for only a second to lock his cabin, then pivoted and sprinted down the hallway. 'I don't even know where I'm supposed to go! This place is massive, I'll never make it in ti-' Henry's head exploded with lights, his head felt like it had taken a hit from a steel girder. Henry quickly regained his composure and sat up. He rubbed his temples, trying to sooth the headache. 'What the hell just happened!?' Henry thought. There was something else on the floor in front of Henry. A man! In Henry's mad dash, he hadn't even seen the poor man, and collided head on with him when he turned the corner. The man groaned in pain and started to stir. Henry was immediately on his feet trying to help the man up. He helped the semi-conscious man to his feet. He was smaller than Henry, round head, small moustache, big brown eyes, and he was wearing a suit. The man spoke in a small voice. "Beg your pardon good sir! I didn't see you until the last second, I'm deeply sorry for running into you like that!" Henry stared at the man amazed. "Ran into me!? Didn't you see how fast I was running? I was going way over the speed limit I can tell you that! I should be apologizing to you!" The man shook his head. "I hardly believe that, people run all the time. You see I was lost in deep thought on some important studies, I had walked into two chefs, one crew member and a pole on the way here, I'm not surprised I also ran into you good sir!" Henry chuckled and shook his head in disbelief. "Well anyways, whats done is done, would you by any chance know where the dining hall is for breakfast, I'm afraid I might be late." The man smiled, "I was just on my way to the dining hall myself! This way good sir, we'll get there before you know it!' And so he started walking down the right hallway, away from where Henry was going. They walked in silence for a few seconds, then Henry asked the small man, "You don't look like a member of this crew, are you one of the talented individuals?" The man's eyes grew brighter, "Why yes I am! Gilbert is my name, Gilbert Alexander, but you can call be Gil, I'm a scientist and tinkerer." He held out his hand. Henry smiled and shook his hand, "I'm Henry Walker, engineer and inventor." Gil seemed excited now. "An inventor you say? I would much like to see some of your inventions, at your discretion of course!" Henry's smile faded, "That's the thing Gil, the government has taken all my inventions, that's why I'm here." Gil had an intrigued look on his face, "Ah, the government, always taking and never giving, I am quite sad to here that Henry. But you mustn't fret, this employer, I believe, will change everything, and he needs our help to do it!" Henry looked at Gil with sympathy, "I'll be honest Gil, I really didn't think this was going to be anything big at first, maybe just a hoax or sick joke, but from what I've seen so far, I have to admit, I believe this is going to be the biggest thing that may happen to us." Gil nodded and grinned. The two men turned the corner, a giant arching doorway stood in front of them. The archway seemed to be made of gold, with scarlet curtains roped around it. Henry stood in awe, mouth open as they stepped through the archway and into the dining hall. It was the biggest dining hall Henry had ever seen, in fact, the hall was probably bigger than his house! The hall was lined with gold and silver paintings of ships and oceans and light houses and other things related to the sea. There were three tables in the hall. A long, rectangular table was placed in the middle of the hall, at least twenty seats on each side of the table, there were already some people seated. Others were off to the sides of the hall where two tables, twice the length of the middle table, were filled with all assortments of breakfast meals. Many people were crowded around the tables, picking what the wanting on their plates. Henry's mouth was still open. He heard Gil laugh behind him, "I am guessing this is your first time here Henry?" Henry nodded. "Well then let's not just stand here in complete awe with our mouths open, come, let us join the others!" Gil patted Henry on the shoulder and brought him over to the table on the left. They grabbed plates and cutlery and helped themselves to the buffet. Henry hadn't had a good meal in a long time. He could feel his mouth beginning to water over the various foods he could choose from. The fruits looked really ripe, Henry hadn't had strawberries since he was a kid, he reached for the large spoon near the strawberries when suddenly his hand met another hand in the process, followed by a woman's voice. "Oh I'm sorry, did you want to scoop up first?" Henry looked up to see a pretty young woman, not too tall, with long blonde hair, thick lashes, sparkling blue eyes and a happy smile. Henry cleared is throat, "Um, no, it's alright, you scoop up first" he said quietly. She smiled and took the spoon, she let out a deep sigh, "I just love strawberries, they remind me so much of home." She seemed to have wandered off for a second, Henry knew what it was like to miss home. She saw him staring at her, "Oh sorry! Just got a little homesick there, I'm being terribly rude, my name is Diane McClintock" she said holding out her hand. Henry shook it without hesitation, "Henry Walker, pleased to meet you!" he said, a little too loudly. Diane giggled, "My aren't we full of energy today" she winked at him. Henry nodded. "All my life, I've never seen anything like this, it's like something out of a dream!" Diane grinned, "Yes, it's something else isn't it? I believe the man behind this project is going to change the world, and with the help of people like us, we'll accomplish anything." Henry looked at Diane, "Have you seen this man yet? This 'employer' as so many people call him? Diane shrugged, "Maybe I have, maybe I haven't, don't worry, you'll meet him in half an hour anyways, just enjoy the fine meal the chefs have prepared for us" she smiled at Henry and walked back to the middle table. Puzzled, Henry started scooping up the strawberries onto his plate. "Ah, I see you've met Diane" Gil said, coming up beside Henry. "Pretty girl, so polite and always in a good mood!" he said cheerfully. Henry nodded, "Any idea what she does for a living?" Gil looked at Henry, then at Diane and back, "Hmm, I don't believe I do, it's quite a mystery, but now that I think of it, the question never came across my mind to ask!" Henry looked at Diane, she was talking to some other women next to her at the table. Henry let the thought be and finished piling his plate. He decided to go for the Walker tradition, steak and eggs. Henry looked at Gil's plate, it had a Belgian waffle and french toast completely drenched in syrup. Henry chuckled and shook his head, then sat down at the end of the table with Gil. Henry picked up his knife and fork and dug into the steak, he stuck a piece of the meat in his mouth. It was the most delicious steak Henry had ever tasted, meat juice dribbled down his chin as he engulfed the steak. Gil laughed at Henry's ravenous hunger and began to eat his waffle. "Gil, Gil, Gil" said a voice from across the table, "When are you going to stop eating all that sugar?" Henry looked up to see who the opposer was, a man, around Henry's age, if not younger, handsome, with combed hair and a small suave moustache, and a smirk on his face." Gil returned the jeer with his own retort, "At least I'm actually eating something, when was the last time you ate something Jeffrey?" The man's smirk had left his face, "I've eaten my fill already, I don't need to constantly gorge myself with food, it's quite unattractive." Gil smiled, "Well, these sugars should at least help me get through your bickering today." The man laughed, "Those sugars won't do a thing for you, except maybe make your thighs bigger, what you need is the sugar from fruits, like your friend over there with the strawberries." he said pointing to Henry, who now was stuffing his mouth with eggs. "At least he's got enough sense to eat something with substance, look! What a perfect meal, steak, eggs and fruit, no wonder he looks fit and healthy!" Gil shook his head, "You'll have to excuse the doctor Henry, he can be a little, overzealous sometimes." Henry looked over at the man, he was smiling again. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Jeffrey Stewart Steinman, doctor and surgeon." Henry nodded, swallowed his eggs, "Please to meet you Jeffrey, I'm Henry Walker, engineer and inventor." Steinman looked at Henry with intrigue, "Henry, good strong name, fitting for a well built man like yourself, and an engineer you say? I didn't know engineering could be such a wonderful work-out!" Henry smiled, "Well I didn't exactly get these muscles from fixing pipes and crossing wires, I actually used to do bare-knuckle boxing back home when I was younger. Steinman's eyes grew wide, "Bare-knuckle boxing!? I say, that must have been rough on the body, especially the facial areas!" Henry shrugged, "It wasn't so bad, they never did get too many hits on me." Steinman nodded, "But surely you must have gotten your nose broken or your jaw fractured at some point, yes?" Henry thought for a moment, "Well, there was this one time, big guy came in, got caught by his left hook, sent my nose packing." Steinman jumped up, "Ah Ha! I knew your nose had been broken! Not that I'm complaining of course, I've seen much worse, but if you want, I could fix it for you in two shakes of a lambs tail! I'm quite the surgeon you see, was the best medical professional back at the Benjamin Church Medical College." Henry was astounded by the energy that this man put into the subject of surgery. "That's very impressive Jeffrey, no offence, but I'm not so sure about this facial surgery business, I get queasy thinking of a doctor cutting my face open, that sort of thing." Steinman frowned, "Good sir, it's not dangerous at all! And I wouldn't be cutting your face open! You make me sound as if I were a serial killer! I would just make a small incision near the nose line, and push the cartilage ba-" "Please Jeffrey, I am trying to eat here! Can you discuss this surgery after I've finished?" pleaded Gil, who was looking a little pale. Steinman looked hurt, but regained his composure and smirked, "Of course Gilbert, I forgot, you get sick talking about these things, apologies, perhaps we can discuss this some other time Henry?" said Steinman. Henry was a little hesitant, "Sure I guess, is breakfast over?" Steinman and Gil nodded, "Just about the end" said Gil with a sigh. Henry looked at his watch, eight forty-two, almost time to meet this 'employer'. "Well, I will depart to the auditorium, I look forward to future conversations with you Henry, Gil, always a pleasure", Steinman nodded to the two men and left the hall, as did many others. Gil stood up and looked at Henry, "Well, I suppose we should head to the auditorium as well, I'm very rather excited to meet this man!" Henry stood up and nodded, "As am I Gil, I really want to see this guy", who knows? Maybe he's not a total nutcase" They both laughed and were departing from the dining hall when Henry heard a familiar voice. "Oi! Hank, wait up!" Henry turned to see the crazed pilot from last night, in a clean, light green jumpsuit. Henry smiled, "Naledi! How are you!" The pilot grinned, "Alright, got Melody all fixed up, just heading to the auditorium now to see Mr. Employer, care to join me?" Henry laughed, "Gil and I were just on our way there now, oh sorry, I don't know if you've met- "We've met before" Gil interrupted nervously, "I've ah, also had the luxury of flying with Naledi, it was an....interesting experience." Naledi winked at Gil, "C'mon Gil, don't tell me you didn't enjoy that nose dive from two thousand feet?" Gil looked as if he was replaying the moment over in his head, he shuddered, "I'd rather not, anyways, shall we go now?" Henry and Naledi nodded and followed Gil to the auditorium. 'Finally' Henry thought to himself, 'Time to meet the guy behind all this'