[Lamb Freed from its Cage] 3 – A Lamb and the Snake in the Garden

Finding that Booker was moving too slowly for my liking, I grabbed the key from his hands and ran for the door, sliding the key in and twisting. The door let out a metallic hiss, and, for the first time in my life, the door to my freedom opened. I wasted no time squeezing past the door and rushing towards the Elevator in my memories. Talos was not far behind, chasing after me. Booker shouted for me to wait and slow down, but I knew that there was no time to waste. All it took was one wrong thing, and this tower of mine would come crumbling down around us.

As I rushed past all the one-sided mirrors and windows they used to watch every moment of my life, I felt more and more reason to deal with Comstock and this tower that had been my prison for most of my life. When I reached the Elevator, Booker had caught up to me as Talos began to rub my leg.

"Be ready, DeWitt. Songbird will be here soon," I warned Booker, as Songbird's cries became louder with each moment before the entire tower shook as Songbird tore its way into the elevator, the lense of its eye peaking through the door of the Elevator that was torn away, but before Songbird could grab me, the cable of the Elevator snapped, sending us a bit and away from Songbird's reach.

Before us was a long pit with two beams forming a bridge for us to cross to a platform. 

"Come on!" I waved to Booker before jumping down and hopping across the beams to the scaffolding on the opposite side.

As soon as I landed, I started making my way for the stars, heading up to the top of the tower, the note player in my hand. Booker struggled to keep up or get a word in before we made it to the top of the stairs and to a metal door that led to the roof of the tower.

"Help me out here!" I shouted at Booker as I tried turning the circular valve on the door.

Forced with no way out but up, Booker took hold of the valve and began to turn it, slowly opening the door and letting in the gusts of air from being so high above the clouds. As I squeezed through the opening in the road, I heard Songbird's cry and answered with a call of my own, C-A-G-E.

Booker came up behind me as I held onto the railing and struggled to stay standing under the harsh gusts of wind. Songbird let out one more cry as he flew from below onto the top of the tower, the lenses of its eyes glowing green.

Bringing its head close, I rested my hand on Songbird's beak. "I need your help, Songbird. Can you carry us off of this tower? This tower is hurting me," I asked Songbird, using his programming to full effect. 

Opening its hand and reaching out, I looked to Booker. "Come on, DeWitt. He'll help us," I shouted over the loud winds, though Booker was hesitant to approach Songbird after seeing the danger he represented to all who threatened my safety.

After much mental struggle, he reached out for my hand and climbed aboard Songbird's hand. Songbird pulled us close to his chest before cradling us against his body, using both arms to shield us from the wind and provide a shield against harm before launching away from the tower, taking us far away from it but still within Columbia, much to my surprise, he brought us to the same beach that Booker and I would have fallen to if I couldn't control him, though this beach was far more different than the one I remembered, for one, there were no people on the beach as it was apparently closed.

Songbird gently landed on the beach and laid down his hand, letting us step into the sand. Talos, due to his weight, sank into the sand.

"Thank you, Songbird..." I thanked Songbird as he took flight, heading back to the source of my 'pain' to remove it.

Booker and I watched from here as Songbird dived directly into the Angelic statue that acted as my tower, tearing apart its foundation and sending it tumbling down to the Earth. As Songbird struck the tower again, a blinding white light engulfed Songbird, and I felt whole again as the white light split off into streams that flew back to me, soaking into my body and forming a white aura around me that made me seem like a living light bulb.

With a wave of my hand, a Tear opened before me, showing an alternate Columbia with the beach bustling with hundreds of people enjoying the water, sand, and sun.

Another Tear showed the same Columbia on fire and falling down to Earth. A Columbia encrusted in Gold and featuring countless statues of me, a Columbia ruled by cats, and so much more. With each passing moment, a tear opened before me, showing countless Columbias as I regained what I had lost, what I had stolen from me by Comstock.

It didn't take long for Songbird to return to me, and I had but one order left to give him.

"Stop Comstock and his people. They plan to hurt me," I told Songbird, who abruptly took off into the sky and began to rampage across Columbia, targeting Comstock's men and his blimps.

I knew that Songbird would likely come under the control of Comstock again soon, so the farther Songbird was away from us, the more likely he would become a problem for us. Though there was also the chance that Comstock would permanently disable Songbird, but I only see it as a mercy. Songbird, who is an abomination of machine and man, had his mind torn to sunder and brainwashed to protect me; he was imprinted on me and saw me as his ward, his child. He has watched me for so very long, and soon, he'd get the rest he has long since deserved.

Letting out a sigh as I watched Songbird disappear into the Clouds and a distant explosion and screech of metal on metal, I turned to Booker, who stood behind me, confusion on his face.

"It's nice to meet you, Booker DeWitt. I've been waiting for you for a long time," I gave my biological father a sad smile.

"Who...what are you?" Booker asked hesitantly.

"I don't rightly know. I am Human, but I am also more than a human could ever be," I answered the man cryptically as I opened a tear behind myself, a dramatic flare to get my point across. I turned around and was met with a scene of Rapture, the gleaming city hidden beneath the ocean that made it seem like a modern Atlantis.

"But that's not why you are here, Booker DeWitt; you seek to wipe away the debt," I spoke the phrase that's been circling around in his mind like a broken record ever since he awoke a small boat heading to a lighthouse in the middle of the ocean.

"And I have an offer for you; I can wipe away this debt of yours. I just have one request: help me. Help me save Columbia and kill the Prophet, Comstock. Do that? And I will personally wipe away all the debt you have and give you back something you have been missing for a very long time," I smiled.

"And what's that, Elizabeth?" He called out my name, hoping to catch me off guard, but I merely smiled in return and answered, "Why, I can't tell you. That would ruin the surprise, but I will promise you this: it is something you lost and sought to get back only to fail," I told my father cryptically.

"Do we have a deal?" I asked, reaching out with my hand.

He seemed to be having a mental argument with himself before eventually cursing and reaching out with his hand, shaking mine. "Then it's a deal, Mr. DeWitt."

"You better keep your promise," DeWitt threatened.

"I will, Booker, so long as you keep yours," I answered in reply.

"Then what now?" Booker asked, letting go of my hand.

"That's simple, Booker. We have a resistance we need to get in contact with, and if on the way, we can get our hands on some more Vigors," I told Booker with a smile and a swirl of my dress.