A Different Lighthouse

Chapter 8

Blue chewed the inside of her lip, looking very uncertain, but nodded as Ben straightened once more. "Okay. Hurry."

Ben nodded, giving her one more big smile before turning away. He met Armitage's eyes, the smile falling when he no longer had to pretend.

"Come on," said Armitage, nudging him. "We can stay out of the water for the most part. There's walkways that go around and above where the roses are growing. We can probably get close enough to pick one."

"Right. Easy peasy," Ben snorted, following him down toward the ankle deep water. There was no avoiding getting wet at first, the pair of them trudging through and soaking through their shoes and the ends of their pants until they reached the stairway to the right of the entrance. Ben's eyes kept flitting upward each time a bare wire crackled, sometimes raining sparks down near enough to be worrisome. He set his teeth and pressed on, though - either get fried or suffocate. Get fried or suffocate.

They ascended a short flight of steps before rounding a corner, where Ben nearly collided with Armitage's outstretched arm.

"What?" he asked, ears straining for Splicers.

Armitage nodded straight ahead of them. "Electric trip wire."

Ben frowned, squinting as he wondered if Armitage was starting to see things in the dark the same way Ben did. He tilted his head, a spark flickered overhead, and the brief illumination was enough to glint off of the wire Armitage spoke of, menacing and nearly invisible just a few feet ahead of them.

"Jesus. How in the world did you see that?"

"I was looking for it," Armitage said simply. "If you fire some lightning at it, you'll short it out."

"We're surrounded by water," Ben reminded him blankly.

"You want to limbo underneath it?"

"Y'know, you don't have to be a smartass every time I utter a syllable," Ben snipped, glaring at him. "Have you considered that?"

Armitage laughed, genuinely and looking actually amused. "Coming from you?"

Ben scoffed, shaking his head and smirking as he looked away. "I would just enjoy some semblance of genuine conversation during our time together, that's all."

It was quiet for a moment. "Alright. I agree. Less smartass remarks, then."

He glanced at Armitage, a little surprised at the acquiesce. "Okay. Thank you."

"Sure."

"Anyway," Ben snorted, smirking and shaking his head at them both. "Stand back, then. I wish I knew how to concentrate these Plasmids. It's always just a big burst and it makes a damn mess."

Armitage snorted, taking a couple steps back as instructed. "They're only beta versions, technically. Not perfected just yet."

"And yet they were on the market?" Ben asked, quirking an eyebrow without looking at him - he was trying to line up a shot as well as he was able. It was a hell of a thing, when the power behind his Plasmid use seemed to vary depending on... well, he wasn't sure what.

"Aye. Lots of shit went to market untested. In case y'forgot, this is the same city that created Little Sisters to harvest drugs for the masses."