After the icy cold of Fontaine Fisheries giant fridges, even these dank tunnels seem a relief.

The rock hewn passageway broadcasts my footsteps against the metal plating on the floor as I make my way ever downward. Lights are strung intermittently along the top of the walls, their illumination dimmed by layers of grime given tacit permission to be there by years of neglect.

This can't lead to anywhere nice.

As I walk my vision dims for a moment and once again I see visions. This time I seem to be looking at old photographs, but of who or when I can’t say.

At the bottom of the passage the tunnel opens out into a wider part flooded chamber which turns around to the left. The exited voice of Atlas bursts from my radio, telling me that we’re almost there. His family can’t be more than 100 yards away, but he can’t access the submarine bay and needs my help to open the hatch which will let him in.

The now familiar fairground music playing, alerts me to a nearby Genebank and rounding a small rock outcrop I find it against a wall on the left hand side. A little further I find a Vita Chamber and another tunnel rises upward out of the water. So with seemingly nothing left to explore here, I move along it.

As I reach the top of this new tunnel I come under fire from a turret positioned behind some crates up ahead and I quickly disable and hack it before exploring this new chamber.

The center is dominated by some large but derelict looking lifting machinery and scattered around the perimeter are various crates and boxes. Searching among them provides little in the way of reward, though I do discover a recording by “Peach Wilkins” titled “Meeting With Fontaine”. In amidst his usual babbling, Wilkins seems to be commenting on Fontaine and Ryan, and the benefits or otherwise of working for either of them.

On the left hand side of the chamber another tunnel leads downward once more and being careful not to lose my footing on the small rivulets of water dripping from above, I make my way along it. A body lies at the bottom surrounded by bottles of booze.

As it turns left at the bottom the metal plating reappears on the floor and the way ahead appears blocked by rubble. Crackling through my radio Atlas tells me that I have reached the submarine bay and should quickly find a way in and open the hatch for him. But his voice has barely died away than none other than Ryan himself addresses me! If I open the hatch, he warns that I will know the full measure of his anger!

I’ll not be intimidated by the disembodied voice of a man to cowardly to face me though and determinedly I press on.

The end of the tunnel makes the transition from bare rock to a reinforced metal frame through which I can see the docking area below and my first glimpse of the submarine bobbing gently up and down in its mooring. The rubble to the left which from up the tunnel had looked impenetrable, has in fact got an opening and I only need scrabble over it to get through to the other side.

The Submarine. Atlas's family are hostages within.

The ground here is strewn with crates and debris and sifting through I find a couple of medical kits which I collect gratefully. The tunnel is completely gone now, replaced by man made corridors which wind around offering different views of the submarine as I go.

I soon find myself in a small room with a large picture window affording an expansive view of the docking area below. A large door blocks the exit at the other side and the room has a number of stacked crates. Most of this however is ignored in favour of the sturdy looking control switch in front of the window.

With the threats of Andrew Ryan still fresh in my memory I reach out and throw the switch!

Immediately the room is plunged into darkness and a piercing alarm screams deafeningly all around making me cover my ears from the assault! Below I see a man I assume is Atlas wander along the dock up to the submarine before peering upward toward the booth in which I stand. “Are you up there?” My radio crackles. “I can’t see you, it’s too dark!”

No sooner does Atlas stop talking when his voice is once again replaced by that of Andrew Ryan. “Oh my, if only your friend would look up and see how much danger he is in.” Craning my neck sideways I strain my eyes staring into the darkness at the ceiling outside the booth and see vague impressions of movement in among the shadows of the girders lining the roof.

With a crash part of the masonry outside gives way and a thick concrete beam obscures my upward view just as I make out the shapes of at least three Spider Splicers crawling down the central pillar over the submarine. Then another crawls over the window directly in front of me and swings a scythe viciously in my direction. Luckily for me the toughened glass withstands the impact, but I am none the less helpless to warn Atlas of the approaching danger!

Moments later gunfire from below confirms that my inability to give a warning is academic, Atlas has seen the threat and is fighting for his life. “There are too many of them!” He yells! “I have to fall back. Get my family out and meet me in Arcadia!”

With that the lighting kicks back in and the exit door on the far side of the room slowly rises to reveal a pipe line corridor outside. I rush out without thinking and almost run straight into a Spider Splicer hurrying to intercept me! On impulse I lash out with Inferno and then dive back into the room as the creature dashes back and forth screaming! A moment later her blackened form appears around the doorway and reaches out toward me, the fire had not finished her off, but a second blast completes the job of the first and she lies twitching at my feet.

Gathering my senses I set out again into the corridor with more care this time. Ahead I see a huge metal gantry with stairs leading at right angles downward into the docking bay. The structure is large enough that I can’t see in advance around its corners, which turn sharply out of sight after the first one. But there’s no need to “see” what’s coming when the clanging of booted feet on the metal betrays the approach of more enemies from below!

Sure enough a group of four Splicers round the corner almost as this thought crosses my mind! Lashing out again with Inferno I ignite an oxygen cylinder in their path and the first two are hurled backward and over the edge of the gantry. The next creature stumbles screaming into a puddle of fuel ignited by the blast and wanders in flames back toward his comrade, who also catches alight. Both of them fire their pistols wildly and I duck low on the gantry as they disappear out of sight down the stairs.

Peering over the edge I see another four Splicers running along the level below toward the stairs up. Switching to Enrage I target one in the middle of the group and then duck back down again as with a scream of rage he turns on the rest of them and a vicious gun battle ensues.

Eventually the din of the gunfire subsides and I cautiously move down the stairs past the remaining charred bodies of the first group, before descending a level and threading my way through the bullet riddled corpses of the second.

Finally I reach the bottom the gantry and a long corridor leading to a large entrance to the submarine bay. At the foot of the stairs is a holding cell closed with a stout padlock and chain, but now is not the time for exploring and ignoring it I move on.

As I near the bay entrance a second Spider Splicer looms menacingly in the doorway flanked by three or perhaps four of the more thuggish variety boasting a variety of weapons on seeing me the whole group emits a collective and blood chilling howl!

I barely have tine to react however, before a huge explosion erupts from somewhere behind the group throwing them around like rag dolls, bouncing them off walls and the floor where finally they all lie still in amidst thick clouds of smoke!

At first I think that Atlas has saved my skin but as my ears recover from the deafening blast I realise that I can hear Atlas yelling and Crying. “NO! My Family!” With dawning horror I realise that the blast that saved me was the submarine blowing up and that Atlas’s family are dead!

The Submarine. Atlas's family are crispy critters.. sorry mate.

Another voice interrupts my thoughts.. Ryan! “You break in like an Assassin and you try to sneak out like a thief. You’re no CIA Spook, who are you? Why have you come here?!

“Get out, get out! Get to Arcadia… Jesus Christ!” The broken voice of Atlas breaks in over my radio again and turning aghast from this scene of carnage I run faster and faster along the mesh metal floor plates toward a sign marked exit.

Eventually I reach a metal bridge crossing a body of water in the center of a large cavern with water cascading from unseen rocks high above and my energy spent I stop and grip the railing as I gasp for breath. Too much has happened in the last few minutes for me to be able to think straight and I wrench open my eyes, afraid to see what lurks inside. Afraid to confront the phantoms of Atlas’s family reaching out to me from the flames and screaming…screaming!!

Like the "Bat Cave" but with no Bats. So... just "Cave" then really.

At the opposite side of the bridge is a bulkhead signposted “Bulkhead to Arcadia” and with Atlas’s broken voice ringing in my ears.. “Get to Arcadia!”… I stagger onward and through the doorway.