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“Darling, what if we escaped?” Julie Langford whispered into the quiet room.
The two women laid on the rented bed far, as away from any of Andrew Ryan's men and his influence as one could be in Ryan's own city, thin blankets twisted around entwined legs and bodies close. Brigid Tenenbaum, her brown hair messy around her face, looked at Julie with wide eyes.
“Hör auf! Don't even talk like that, you know it's not possible!” Brigid said, shaking her head.
“But just imagine it,” Julie said wistfully. “Real freedom, no more salt water leaking into every hall, no more deadly riots, no more being ruled by Ryan...”
She sighed as Brigid shook her head.
“How would we get out? Ryan has Rapture under his control. No travel.”
“Say we stole one of his private bathyspheres,” Julie started. “Just sneaked in and stole it right under his damn nose in the dead of night. Nobody the wiser.” Her fingertips absently caressed Brigid's bare arm as she stared up at the ceiling.
“We manage to pilot the thing away from the city, I've got my research and you have yours of course. No way in hell we'd leave that to rot. We wind up on the American east coast, or perhaps somewhere in Europe?” She paused. “Well, either way, we hit land. We sell some of our research to the highest bidder, get ourselves a neat little apartment.”
Brigid's head was on Julie's shoulder, the other woman's arms wrapped around her just like the story she told. Brigid listened as Julie continued, her voice sleepy and calming.
“There are plants on the windowsill. The kitchen has sunlight streaming in every morning and the moonlight is always framed perfectly by the lace curtains and flower box at night.” She smiled.
“Of course, people whisper about the two very peculiar ladies down the hall, but I think at this point we've learned to not care about silly rumors like that. Damned busy-bodies can whisper all they please.”
Brigid laughed quietly, and Julie went on with a grin.
“Every night we lay together in our bed, warm and safe under our own roof with nothing but clouds between our home and the sky. And we wake up every morning with real sunlight on our faces, ready to start our day together.” Julie was quiet for a minute. Brigid wiped away a tear that managed to find its way down her face.
“Of course, there are hard times. Arguments and money issues and disagreements and whatnot... but we get past that together. Rapture becomes a distant memory, or a shared hallucination we can't seem to shake off, but we eventually stop thinking about the hell we went through every day.
“And, even though it seems like a cliché, we'll live happily ever after,” Julie finished.
Brigid laughed again, her breath shaky.
“You're very much a dreamer, schatz.” she whispered.
“Well, when one live in a nightmare one learns to fantasize about the perfect life. Or maybe that's just me, who knows?” Julie waved a hand flippantly. “So what do you think, love? Shall we rob ol' Andy Ryan of one of his vehicular toys and get the hell out of this city?”
Brigid sighed. “I would love to. But there is much for me to do here. Not to mention the security...”
Julie nodded. “I know.” Her heart throbbed painfully, and she hugged Brigid a bit tighter. Brigid snuggled closer to Julie, closing her eyes.
“If I had the chance I would get us out of here in a heartbeat, meine geliebte. If only it were so easy to leave as it is to dream.”
“If only,” Julie repeated. “Who knows, maybe things will get better. Maybe we can make our dream together here.”
“Perhaps,” Brigid said. “New year, new leaf, yes?”
Neither of them believed what they said. Neither of them pointed out the million facts that pointed to the inevitable end of the city of Rapture. Neither of them, as pessimistic as they could be, dared ruin the fragile hope that covered them like a silk sheet.
“Happy new years, sweetheart,” Julie whispered, her lips pressed into the top of Brigid's head.
“And to you, geliebte.”
For them, that night was perfect.