Bioshock: The Story of Henry Walker

Chapter 5: Music and Corridors

"And that's how I made bullet proof glass" said Henry triumphantly. Gil and Naledi continued to look at Henry in awe at his amazing tale of how he mixed saw dust, iron, nitroglycerin and his secret ingredient together to make a high density, glass-like cover that could deflect small bullets. Naledi was impressed and Gil was flabbergasted, "It's not possible, how can iron, saw dust and nitroglycerin create a glass-like substance that deflects bullets!?" Henry shrugged, "I was just as confused as you, but you forgot my secret family ingredient that I used as well." "Scientists everywhere came to see it, unfortunately before they could see the spectacle, the U.S government had their hands on it and claimed it as their own" Naledi made a face, "Fucking government, lemme tell ya Hank, your way better off without em!" Henry smiled at Naledi, "Thanks, and I am better off without them, just look where I am now!" They all laughed as they made their way across the deck of the ocean liner. The sun was shining bright in the sky, and not a cloud sight. Henry always loved the moonlight, but his favourite part of the day was at dawn, when the sun just peaked over the horizon and the beams of light broke through the night, cleansing the darkness with purifying sunlight, it was a beautiful thing. They continued walking along the deck towards the auditorium when another familiar face greeted them. "Top of the mornin to you lot, you all headed over to the auditorium?" Henry nodded, "Good to see you too Peach, yes we're all heading over there right now to meet the employer, why don't you join us?" Peach smiled, "I think I might just do that, even I haven't met this man yet, I'm the shipmaster after all, I gotta know who I'm gettin paid by!" He chuckled and with that the four talented individuals headed into the large building at the front of the ocean liner.

The hallways inside were darker than usual, of course, there were no windows. They walked along the hallways, blue velvet carpets led the way to the entrance of the auditorium. "Strange place" said Naledi. Peach looked around, "You got that right, quieter than a morgue, where is everyone?" They continued walking down the corridor, it seemed to stretch for miles and there were many other corridors leading off to other places. Peach grumbled, "Well this is just great, how the hell are we supposed to find the auditorium, I actually think we're lost!" Henry nodded, maybe they we're lost, maybe they forgot to take a turn, how would their employer feel having four of his so called talented individuals, late to their first appearance? Naledi suddenly stopped in here tracks, "You mates here that?" The others looked at each other and shrugged, "I ain't hearin anythin" said Peach. Gil nodded, "Nor do I". Henry looked at Naledi, she had a curious look on her face, she turned to the end of the corridor, "It's coming from that way" and with that she started off with the three men close behind. Henry wondered if Naledi had any sleep, what with her fixing the plane and all, maybe she was just imagining things. 

“I’m telling ya, there’s music playin, and it’s coming from over here!” Naledi said, bolting down the left corridor. Henry looked at Peach and Gil, confusion filled their faces, they shrugged and started after Naledi. “The girl’s gone crazy!” Peach grumbled. Gil nodded, “I concur, she’s been flying for too long, not all the oxygen has returned to her brain yet!” Henry wasn’t sure what was going on, but he had a feeling Naledi hadn’t gone crazy. Henry could see Naledi ahead of him by a few yards, they ran after her as she sprinted down corridors, left, right, then another right, it felt like they had been chasing her for hours. “How big is this damn place!?” Peach groaned, “My lungs are gonna start exploding!” Henry could also feel the strain in his lungs, and Naledi looked as if she was moving ahead of them. Suddenly, Gil collapsed, followed by Peach who was running right behind him and tripped over his body. “God damn it Gil! What the hells yer problem!?” Peach yelled, rubbing his head. Henry could hear shallow breaths coming from Gil’s mouth. “He needs a breather” sighed Henry, “We all do.” Peach let out a deep breath and nodded, “I guess your right Hank, I never was the star athlete for track, and by the looks of it, neither was Gil, but damn, Naledi is a natural, you see have fast she was moving!?” Henry nodded, “Yea, but I wonder why she’s moving so fast?” Peach stood up, “Maybe it’s got something to do with that music she kept babbling on about.” Henry thought for a moment, ‘Maybe it did have something to do with the music, perhaps that was the key to finding the way to the auditorium, that had to be it!’ Gil started to stir, a groan issued from his lips as he sat up. “Oh, that hurt quite a bit, I never was one for running cross country!” Peach put a hand on Gil’s shoulder and helped him to his feet, “You bet your ass it hurts, it hurts even more when you trip over someone at running speed, and slam your head right into the hull!” Peach laughed. “Oh, sorry about that, I guess I should have paced myself!” Gil said, embarrassed. Peach nodded, “So, how the hell are we supposed to find our way out of this maze!? Our only way out of this place is halfway to China and has probably, already got herself out of this mess!” Peach said miserably. Henry turned to the two men. “Alright listen up, I think the only way out of here is to follow the music, but I think the only way to actually hear this music is to calm ourselves and clear our minds.” Peach groaned, “That sounds like a load of bullshit to me, why waste our time standing here waiting for something that might not even happen, when we could cut our losses and actually make our way outta here!” Gil shook his head, “We would only end up hopelessly lost, and then where would we be Peach? I say we try Henry’s idea, patience is a virtue anyways.” Peach groaned. Henry nodded, took a deep breath and closed his eyes. All he could see was darkness, all he could hear was the hum of the ship, creaking and moving of steel. ‘Perhaps this wasn’t the way, maybe there was some other way to hear the-’ then he heard it. A slow, sweet melody, piano, and then singing, a man, soft and quiet, and it was French! Henry opened his eyes, the sound was resonating from all around, but Henry concentrated and focused on the loudest notes, they were coming from the corridor in front of them, on the left. Henry looked at Peach and Gil, Peach looked as if he was having a frustrating time trying to hear the music. Gil on the other hand, looked peaceful, serene. His eyes shot open, he looked at Henry and smiled, “I hear it! Quite a beautiful piece, it is coming from that corridor!” Gil pointed a finger over at the same corridor in front of them that Henry had heard the music coming from. “Do you hear it Henry!?” Gil said enthusiastically. Henry nodded, “I hear it Gil, c’mon lets hurry and follow the music before it dies down!” Peach opened his eyes and grumbled, “I can’t hear anything!” Gil laughed and put a hand on Peach’s shoulder. “Fear not Peach! Henry and I can hear the beautiful French melody clearly, follow us, we know the way!” Peach looked at Gil as though he was a crazed homeless bum off the streets. He looked to Henry for confirmation, Henry nodded, “Don’t worry Peach, Gil’s not crazy, I can hear it too, it’s this way, c’mon.” Peach grumbled, “Hmph! Never did care for French music anyways, lead the way Henry!” They sprinted down many corridors, and each corridor they passed, the music grew louder and louder. “It sounds like a recording, do you think they played this for all the individuals who were t meet at the auditorium!?” Gil said. Henry thought for a second, the music did have a old kind of tone to it, ‘perhaps it was on a recording disc, but why would they use such an unusual method for the guests to find their way to the auditorium when a plain old sign would have been so much easier?’ “I think it is a recording Gil!” Gil nodded as they continued down the corridor, the music was nearing the crescendo, Henry could tell, and the sound was very loud now. Henry turned another left corridor and stopped. Gil bumped into Henry and Peach behind him. Peach grumbled, “Why the hell did ya stop!?” Henry smiled and looked up. There was a giant archway, covered with silver waves, and beyond the archway, resided an enormous theatre.

The three men walked under the archway. Peach’s mouth hung open at the spectacle, Gil’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and Henry’s smile grinned from ear to ear. They had made it to the auditorium. Row upon row of red velvet seats lined the ground and suspended high in the corners of the theatre. Lights shone bright, high above in the rafters. Henry could see others seated in the front rows, at least forty people were seated! Some were talking to each other quietly, some looked as if they had fallen asleep, others were staring at the three awe-struck men who stood at the entrance. “Oi, fella’s over here!” shouted a familiar voice. Henry turned to see Naledi waving them over to one of the rows. Henry nudged Gil and Peach. They broke out of their trance and followed Henry over to where Naledi was seated. “About time you three made it! The presentation is starting in about a minute!” Naledi said with a wink. “If it wasn’t for you acting like a maniac and leaving us behind, we would have been earlier! said Gil, a little annoyed. Naledi frowned, “Didn’t you mates here the music?” Peach shook his head, “I didn’t hear a damn thing, except for the damn creaking of the damn ship!” Naledi laughed, “You never did hear much Peach, your brain can’t handle the delicate sound of music.” Peach grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest. Henry chuckled and looked back at Naledi, “Actually, at first, none of us could hear the music, that’s why we thought you went a little crazy on us, but after we took a breather and cleared are minds, we could finally hear the music, when followed it and it led us here.” Naledi smiled, “Good on ya mate, now that we’re here, we can finally see the man behind all this. Gil bobbed his head rapidly, “I’m quite excited to see this man!” Peach grumbled in his seat, arms still crossed, “I don’t care if he’s a rich hot-shot, this guys gotta be some spook if he’s making us find our way around with nothing but music to help us along!” Henry laughed. ‘This was it, he was finally going to meet the man behind all these wonders, how would he look? Was he Caucasian, or a man of another race? How would he speak, with words of wisdom? The people grew silent, Henry saw the lights dim, the curtains were drawing back. A man in a neatly cut suit stepped from behind the curtain. “Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you all here today to this meeting of talented individuals, shortly, the man behind this whole operation will be introducing himself and will be speaking about the future events that will unfold for all those who have chosen to be a part of this project. Please remain seated and refrain from talking while he is speaking. Thank you for your patience.”  The man returned behind the curtain. It was time to meet A.R.