Chapter 5: Guess Who just killed three people eh?

Lukas forced his breathing to slow, his chest still rising and falling in uneven gasps.

The alley reeked of burnt flesh.

Three bodies.

Three dead because of him.

His grip on the crowbar tightened. His fingers still sparked with leftover electricity, the blue glow flickering weakly before fading.

No time.

No time to think about what he had done. No time to sit here and process the fact that he had just murdered three people.

Because if he didn't leave this alley soon, he was as good as dead too.

Taking another deep breath, he forced himself to move. His legs were shaky, his entire body still buzzing from the aftereffects of the plasmid, but he ignored it.

Priorities.

First: loot the bodies?

His stomach twisted at the thought. Jesus Christ, am I really thinking like this already?

But he needed supplies—anything that could help him survive.

Shoving down the nausea, he crouched beside the first guy he fried. His hands trembled as he dug through the man's pockets.

A few coins. A rusted switchblade. Some crumpled notes he couldn't read.

Lukas swallowed the bile rising in his throat and shoved the coins and knife into his pockets.

Second guy? Same thing. Nothing useful.

The last guy—the one he bludgeoned to death—was worse. The blood pooling around his split skull made Lukas's stomach churn.

His fingers twitched as he reached for the thug's belt pouch.

Another few coins.

And a pack of dried meat.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: YOU HAVE 750 POINTS AVAILABLE.]

Lukas's vision flickered as the blue interface reappeared before his eyes.

750 points.

And if this system worked like he thought it did, that meant—

"Open the store," he muttered.

A new menu blinked into existence.

[ STORE ]

→ Plasmids

→ Weapons

→ Equipment

His eyes immediately went to Plasmids.

Click.

Most of them were still locked, greyed out with absurd price tags.

Winter Blast – LOCKED

Incinerate! – LOCKED

Insect Swarm – LOCKED

But there it was.

Electro Bolt (LVL 1) – PURCHASED

And just below it—

EVE Syringe – 100 points

Lukas squinted. EVE. The resource that powered plasmids.

His gaze flickered to the top of his screen. A new section had appeared.

[ STATUS ]

Health: 85%

EVE: 66%

…A third of his EVE was already gone.

Lukas scowled. That meant using Electro Bolt drained his reserves fast.

"Fucking hell. No wonder those Splicers in Bioshock carried so many of these things," he muttered.

100 points per syringe. Expensive as hell, but…

I don't have a choice.

"Buy one."

[ CONFIRMED. ]

A glass syringe materialized in front of him, filled with glowing blue liquid.

Lukas caught it mid-air, staring at the familiar design.

It looked exactly like the ones in the game. Metal casing, glass body, sharp as hell needle.

He exhaled. He had done this hundreds of times in Bioshock.

This was no different.

Rolling up his sleeve, he stabbed the needle into his forearm.

The liquid rushed into his veins, cold as ice.

Lukas shuddered.

Then—

[ EVE RESTORED: 100% ]

A slow smirk tugged at his lips.

Now that's more like it.

---

He didn't stick around.

Didn't even look back at the bodies as he walked out of the alley, pulling his hood low over his head.

Zaun was dangerous. If someone found him standing over three corpses, they wouldn't ask questions.

They'd just kill him where he stood.

As he slipped into the shadows of the Undercity, Lukas let out a shaky breath.

His muscles still ached. His heartbeat was still too fast.

But he was alive.

And now?

Now he had power.

A slow, bitter chuckle escaped his lips.

"Jesus Christ, what the hell is my life now?"

One day ago, he had been a loser in his room.

Now?

Now he was a killer.

And he had a long road ahead of him.