Columbia Storyline



The Columbia Storyline describes the different events surrounding the creation of Columbia to its demise and later fate.

1890-1893: Creation of Columbia
Zachary Hale Comstock was formerly known as Booker DeWitt, but after the events of Wounded Knee, Booker attended a baptism conducted by Preacher Witting to ease his horrific memories and wash away his sins at Wounded Knee. He emerged a new man, named Zachary Hale Comstock. After the baptism, Comstock became a farmer and small-time preacher. At some point, he claimed to have been visited by an archangel, who showed him a vision of a city in the sky. Zachary said he was told it was his duty to build and uphold the values of this city. Comstock convinced the U.S. Congress to build the city, named Columbia, to uphold Christian and American values and share them with the world.

The Congress agreed to fund the city, believing it could be a showcase of American exceptionalism. Zachary later met Rosalind Lutece, a respected quantum-physicist, who was able to indefinitely suspend an atom in midair &mdash; her colleagues referred to the process as "quantum levitation", while Rosalind herself dubbed it the "Lutece Field". The two worked together and created Columbia within the year 1892. The city travelled around the world to showcase American ideals and glory. Comstock &mdash; through a faction known as the Founders &mdash; became Columbia's leader. He started a new religion expounding some Christian and American values, but which also contained elements of racism, elitism, xenophobia, and Laissez-faire business practices. Segregation was prominent in Columbia, and other religions were persecuted.

Upon further experimentation with the Lutece Field, Rosalind discovered that the quantum atom she was observing was also being observed by someone from another dimension. This person turned out to be a male version of herself, Robert Lutece, and she communicated with him via Morse Code. Rosalind Lutece then created the Trans-Dimensional Machine, a machine able to open passages, called 'Tears', across dimensions. With the creation of the machine, Comstock used it to enhance his status as a "Prophet". Unfortunately, repeated exposure to the machine caused Comstock to age rapidly and his genetic traits to dissipate, rendering him sterile. Viewing another Tear, he discovered that if he did not have an heir, Columbia would fall. Because he could not conceive with his current wife, Lady Comstock, Rosalind proposed that they could recover a child of his from another dimension, and it would be technically the same. Comstock agreed.

With the assistance of Robert, the three discovered Comstock's alternate self in Robert's universe had he remained Booker DeWitt after not taking the baptism, and later had a child. Seeing that Booker was in debt from gambling, Comstock sent Robert to Booker to trade his daughter, Anna DeWitt, in exchange for clearing that debt. Booker agreed and handed Anna over to Robert. Booker immediately regretted his decision and went after her. As Robert, Comstock, and Anna were passing through the Tear back to Columbia, Booker attempted to take his daughter back but failed, severing part of her finger as the Tear closed around it.

Comstock brought Anna into Columbia and renamed her Elizabeth Comstock. He referred to Elizabeth as his "seed" that would one day take the throne of Columbia. Upon viewing another Tear, he saw that Elizabeth was destined to destroy the surface world when she became ruler. In order to compensate for the sudden presence of Elizabeth, Comstock said that his wife had been pregnant for only seven days to give birth to the "Miracle Child". While Lady Comstock initially abided by this claim, she eventually grew tired of complying about the lie.

1893-1902: Columbia's Golden Age and Beginning of the Civil War
Elizabeth began to reveal a dangerous power: she was able to open windows into other worlds, much like the Trans-Dimensional Machine. Lady Comstock accused Rosalind of having an affair with her husband and birthing Elizabeth, and wanted the girl out of her house. Both issues led Comstock and Rosalind to house Elizabeth in Monument Island, building an observatory and prison for her.

Due to Elizabeth's power and the Trans-Dimensional Machine, Tears, momentary rips in the space-time continuum, began to appear all around the city. People observed these phenomena and a few even learned how to exploit them.

Jeremiah Fink, the founder and owner of Fink Manufacturing, built an industrial empire using these Tears. On August 12, 1894, he learned through his brother, Albert, of the phenomena occurring throughout Columbia. Fink was skeptical of the Tears' value, until seeing Albert make a fortune from selling new music emitted from them. Fink realized the profits which he could make, and used the opportunity to steal advanced technology he observed through the Tears, advancing and expanding his company's products, including the Vigors.

Comstock saw a vision through a Tear that Booker DeWitt one day would somehow enter Columbia and come for Elizabeth. Fearful of his heir being lost to his alternate self, he created a "prophecy" for the city. Comstock declared that a False Shepherd would one day come for Elizabeth to lead her astray from her destiny in becoming Columbia's leader and destroying the Sodom Below. Comstock noticed Booker's right hand was carved with the initials A.D. and hence signified this as the mark of the False Shepherd. He also had Fink build the Songbird, a hulking, flying monster designed to keep Elizabeth safe and inside Columbia.

In 1895, Lady Comstock became aware of Elizabeth's origins and confronted her husband on the matter. Panicking, he killed his wife to stop the secret from being revealed. Lady Comstock's servant, Daisy Fitzroy, overheard the struggle and went to see the commotion only to find the dead body. Comstock quickly blamed his wife's murder on Daisy, and she fled the scene to hide in Finkton. There she formed the Vox Populi, a protest group against the Founders, and demanded rights for people of color, the foreign-born, and laborers.

In 1900, Columbia was finally sent around the world to showcase American and Christian values. Columbia became involved in an international incident in the Boxer Rebellion, opening fire on Chinese citizens in Beijing, revealing to the world the flying city was heavily armed. On July 6, 1902, the U.S. government formally disavowed Columbia's involvement in the Boxer Rebellion and recalled the city. Outraged, Comstock declared Columbia's secession from the United States, and the city vanished into the clouds. This date became a city-wide holiday celebrating their independence.

1902-1911: Civil War of Columbia
As the years passed, Rosalind and Robert continued their research and observation of Elizabeth. As the girl grew older, she found interest in reading and learning skills such as lock picking, singing, painting, and more. She remained friends with the Songbird and had a content life. Elizabeth began using her special abilities more as they grew in power, and was able to view other worlds, taking an interest in the city of Paris. In time, Elizabeth came to resent her captivity and Songbird, and began yearning for freedom. Her first menstruation gave her an increase in power. This led to the Luteces to create the Siphon, a device which leeched Elizabeth's quantum energy, preventing her from using her powers to their full potential. Rosalind hypothesized the sever of Elizabeth's pinky as an infant gave her the ability to open Tears, as her body was in two realities at once.

Sometime after Lady Comstock's murder, Daisy Fitzroy was captured by the Police. She was studied by Dr. Francis Pinchot, who gave her intelligence tests, revealing a high-level genius. Dr. Pinchot formed a relationship with Daisy, and before her scheduled lobotomy, broke her free. In return, Daisy killed the doctor and made her escape. Daisy, with a full-fledged hatred for the Founders, sparked her protest group into a militant force against the city, and her tactics became more brutal in the ensuing uprising against Columbia and the Founders.

In 1909, Rosalind and Robert were observing a Tear which revealed the truth about Comstock's prophecy. In time, Elizabeth would abide by her father's beliefs and become the city's ruler, after which she would lead Columbia to wage war with the world below. The Twins did not want to see this happen, so they sought to change it. Robert proposed that they send Elizabeth back into his reality with her original father. Comstock got word of this and had Fink tamper with their Lutece Device. When the Luteces attempted to use the sabotaged machine it malfunctioned. While it did not kill them, it spread the Luteces across all realities, making them omnipotent. Gaining newfound knowledge and abilities, the Luteces arranged to bring Elizabeth's original father to Rosalind's reality where Columbia is.

The Lighthouse
In 1912, the Lutece twins contacted Booker by opening a Tear into his private investigation office, and convinced him to assist them. They repeated this over and over. Each time Booker entered the Tear, he suffered side-effects as Robert had &mdash; when entering another reality, a person's former traits and memory collided with those from the new one. The brain hemorrhages and false memories were created to compensate for the contradictions. Booker's mind confused the previous taking of his daughter with a new memory where he must retrieve a girl from the city of Columbia. The Luteces used this confusion, and demanded that he bring Elizabeth back, as a way to erase his debt.

Each of a previous one-hundred and twenty two times re-entering Columbia, Booker had failed and died. The Luteces kept returning to take Booker to the city again. On this latest attempt, Booker is once again taken to a lighthouse on an island off the coast of Maine on July 6, 1912. Booker is rowed there by the Twins, enters the lighthouse (once again unaware of Columbia's existence), and is transported into the sky via shuttle rocket.

Town Center
Booker arrives in Columbia's Welcome Center, a church dedicated to the Founders and Father Comstock. He is then forcibly baptized in order to enter the city. Nearly drowning, Booker has a dream of a futuristic New York City being destroyed by Columbia. He awakens in the Garden of New Eden and finally enters the streets of Columbia, in New Eden Square. Booker happens to arrive in Columbia on July 6, 1912, the anniversary of the city's secession from the United States, and as he heads for Monument Island, the Luteces contact him, telling him not to pick "77" at the city Raffle and bring attention to himself.

As Booker heads for the raffle contest, he notices the brand on his hand is similar to that featured on a propaganda poster. Arriving at the Raffle Park, he draws a baseball numbered 77. The Raffle's host, Jeremiah Fink, announces Booker as the winner and offers as prize a first throw at an interracial couple. Before Booker can do anything, Fink and the Columbian Police spot the A.D. carved on his hand. This brand is known as the mark of the False Shepherd, who is prophesied to take Elizabeth from Columbia. Booker fights his way to meet up with the Luteces at The Blue Ribbon Restaurant, and they offer him a Shield Infusion to help on his journey. Booker moves across the city's rooftops as enforcers from Columbia's army attempt to stop him. He comes across a gondola station to Monument Island, but it is out of order. Using a Sky-Hook to travel on the Sky-Lines and Freight Hooks, Booker manages to reach the gateway to Monument Island. He is then contacted by Zachary Comstock, who appears before him via teleprompter from his zeppelin. Comstock threatens and taunts Booker, who then experiences a hemorrhage in the brain and bleeds profusely. Booker uses Comstock's zeppelin to arrive at the gates of Monument Island, barely escaping after a Founder worshipper sets the craft ablaze.

Monument Island
Booker enters Monument Tower, which is deserted. He comes across various observational videos, photographs, vitals, and charts about Elizabeth, and realizes that the girl has been observed her entire life. He also finds the tower's Siphon, which leeches Elizabeth of her power to keep her from escaping.

Booker discovers that Elizabeth's apartment has many one-way mirrors, and that she has no idea she's being watched. He first finds her in the dressing room, showing her admiration for Paris. He follows her to the dining room where she's observing her painting of the Eiffel Tower. Elizabeth then opens a Tear to Paris in the 1980's, but is forced to hastily close it as a firetruck suddenly approaches. Booker, in shock, follows her to the library.

Booker accidentally falls through the ceiling into Elizabeth's library. While initially scared and defensive, the girl is relieved by the presence of another person and expresses her desire to leave. Elizabeth becomes fearful as a whistling signal blows and the Songbird arrives at the tower. She and Booker escape from Monument Island, barely evading Songbird who destroys most of the building, as the two fall onto the shores of Battleship Bay.

Soldier's Field
Awakening on the shores of Battleship Bay, Booker found Elizabeth enjoying her newfound freedom. He soon discovered the existence of the First Lady, a zeppelin which could take them out of Columbia. Booker explained to Elizabeth about taking her to Paris (while his real plan was to head to New York and clear his debt), and they both headed for the First Lady's Aerodrome. On the way there, the two were ambushed at the Arcade. Booker killed the attackers, causing Elizabeth to become distraught. Booker reminded her how important she was to these people and made her realize that he would need to kill them if they wanted to leave.

Reaching Soldier's Field, they discovered they needed the Shock Jockey Vigor to power the gondola to the First Lady's Aerodrome. The two headed to the Hall of Heroes, where the Shock Jockey Vigor was said to be located. As they ventured towards the Hall of Heroes, they talked about each other's lives. Booker's confused memory made him think that he lost his wife and child in childbirth and that he'd never heard of Columbia before. On the elevator, Elizabeth then opened a Tear and explained to Booker it was a window to another world. After narrowly avoiding an attack by Songbird through the Tear, Booker deemed it dangerous and advised not to use them.

Approaching the Hall of Heroes, Booker discovered that an old comrade from the Wounded Knee Massacre, Cornelius Slate, had joined the Vox Populi and taken refuge inside the Hall of Heroes, calling it "Hall of Whores." Booker and Elizabeth entered the Hall and were contacted by Slate. Comstock had apparently created a lie about his involvement at Wounded Knee and leading the cavalry. For exposing this lie, Slate was stripped of his title. Slate forced Booker and Elizabeth to go through the museum exhibits of Wounded Knee and the Boxer Rebellion to fight his troops before meeting him. After going through those two displays, they were finally allowed access into the First Lady's Memorial. The exhibit covered the death of Lady Comstock, and Elizabeth discovered that she was the daughter of Comstock and was destined to follow him as leader of Columbia.

Nearing Slate, Booker advised Elizabeth to use her Tear-manipulation to assist in combat. After fighting off Slate's men, Booker neutralized Slate and recovered the bottle of Shock Jockey. Returning to the Aerodrome, Booker used the Vigor to power the gondola. Comstock's forces fell before Booker, and the two entered the First Lady. Elizabeth became excited about her freedom, seeing the world and Paris, but she noticed that Booker was directing the zeppelin towards New York. Booker revealed his true intent and that he needed to bring her to New York to a man who would clear Booker's debt. Elizabeth fakely broke down in tears and as Booker comforted her, she knocked him out with a wrench.

Finkton
Booker awakened to find Elizabeth gone and the First Lady taken over by the Vox Populi and their leader, Daisy Fitzroy. Daisy told Booker that, in order for him to reclaim the First Lady, he had to first assist the Vox. To do so, he needed to find the gunsmith, Chen Lin, to resupply his weapons for the Vox Populi's cause. Booker decided once again to find Elizabeth, but when he tried to pursue her, she opened up a number of Tears to slow him down. Finally, when he caught up to her, he was ambushed and thrown off the city by a Handyman. However, Booker caught onto a zeppelin summoned by Elizabeth. Despite the fact that Elizabeth considered Booker "a liar and a thug", she knew he was also her only means of reaching Paris. Booker let her in on how they could reclaim the First Lady. And so, they set out to fulfill Daisy Fitzroy's demands.

Booker and Elizabeth journeyed into Finkton Proper, the industrial and labor district of Columbia. Booker was contacted by Jeremiah Fink to work for him as his head security officer. Booker declined, but later discovered from Chen Lin's wife that he was taken by the Founders into the Good Time Club. When entering the club, Fink once again offered Booker a position in his security and tested him in combat. Booker continued to deny him and reassured Elizabeth that people needed leaders like Daisy Fitzroy to end tyranny and injustice as he saw when he was a Pinkerton Agent. As the two reached the holding cells inside the Good Time Club, they found Chen Lin dead from extreme torture. However, the Lutece Twins appeared to reveal a Tear to a universe in which Chen Lin remained alive and able to help their cause, prompting Elizabeth to bring them into a reality where Chen Lin was never killed.

Upon entering this new realm, they discovered an automatic difference with reality. Namely, those who were killed in the previous universe had been brought back in a super-position in which they recalled being both dead and alive at once. One of these was Chen Lin, who was spared because his wife in this universe was a white woman with connections to the Finkton Police. Upon realizing that the tools for making the guns were confiscated and stashed in a nearby police station, Booker and Elizabeth headed to Shantytown. Booker and Elizabeth journeyed through the poverty and cruelty in Finkton to find Chen Lin's tools in the police station's impound. However, there were far too many tools, and thus it was impossible to carry them all at once. Coincidentally, a Tear opened nearby where the tools weren't at the police station. Elizabeth, once again, brought the tools into a new reality of Columbia where the tools were gone and back at the shop.

The two discovered now how drastic the change truly was. Booker experienced the same super-position of being both dead and alive. Apparently, in this universe, Elizabeth was taken away from her tower before Booker could reach her. Booker, in this universe, was reunited with Slate and the two died burning the Hall of Heroes down, furthering the cause of the Vox as martyrs. Not only that, but when Elizabeth and Booker returned to the gunsmith shop, they found Chen Lin and his wife lying dead on the floor. Daisy had now taken a genocidal approach to her militant army. The Vox laid siege to the Factory and massacred the soldiers and supporters of the Founders, including innocent people. However, upon entering Fink's office, Daisy noticed Booker and wished to keep him as a dead martyr to inspire the cause. Daisy then killed Jeremiah Fink and ordered her army to kill Booker and Elizabeth. The two neutralized Daisy's forces, but she was then set on murdering Fink's son, claiming the disease of the Founders must be ripped out by the root. Elizabeth killed Daisy and retreated to the First Lady, only to change her outfit, filled with regret. But before the First Lady could leave Columbia, the Songbird reappeared to crash-land it.

Emporia
The two crash-landed in Emporia, where the Lutece Twins confirmed that the only way to stop Songbird was controlling him through a specialized flute and playing key notes. Booker and Elizabeth then spotted Comstock House and aimed there. The Vox had now taken control over Emporia and most of Columbia, massacring any other survivors and burning the city down. The two attempted to enter Comstock House, but were told they needed a handprint key. The gate automaton in Victory Square confused Elizabeth for Lady Comstock, giving Elizabeth the idea to retrieve Lady Comstock's hand from the air-tight coffin in the cemetery. However, upon trying to retrieve her hand, Comstock released a small Siphon inside Lady Comstock's tomb to leech Elizabeth of her power and used it to transform his wife's corpse into the Siren, a spectral form of Lady Comstock, both dead and alive, with the ability to revive the dead through manipulation of Tears. Lady Comstock was hellbent on revenging the lies Comstock had spread about her, Elizabeth, and the Luteces, and the twins revealed that in order to turn the situation to their advantage, Booker and Elizabeth would need to uncover the truth.

Exploring Emporia, Booker and Elizabeth uncovered the conspiracy about Comstock and Elizabeth. Through the Tears, the two learned the truth: Comstock's sterility from exposure to the Tear device, his adoption of Elizabeth from another universe, and his plot to kill Lady Comstock and the Luteces. Elizabeth revealed the whole truth to Lady Comstock after Booker subdued her. While in disbelief, Lady Comstock forgave Elizabeth and further assisted the pair by opening the gate to Comstock House. However, the Songbird impeded them. Before the Songbird could kill Booker, Elizabeth intervened and begged the creature to take her back with him. Songbird agreed and Booker chased after the two, only to find himself suddenly in a snow-covered Columbia. Booker was shocked, as last he knew, it was the month of July &mdash; the middle of summer.

Comstock House
Booker then entered Comstock House after hearing the cries of Elizabeth, all the while trying to avoid detection from disturbing sentries known only as the Boys of Silence. Through discovering certain Tears, Booker learned it had been at least six months since he last saw Elizabeth. She had been tortured and indoctrinated to uphold Comstock's beliefs, becoming a proponent for Columbia. He then found Elizabeth and realized he had traveled forward 72 years, Elizabeth having aged considerably and upheld her father's prophecy to use Columbia to destroy New York City in 1984 &mdash; the very same dream Booker experienced when first entering Columbia. The old Elizabeth explained that it was her loss of hope that broke her, and now regretted what she had become. Knowing her past self could stop the cycle by achieving her full potential, Elizabeth brought Booker forward in time to evade Songbird and gave him instructions on how to control the beast. She then sent Booker back to 1912 to rescue her younger self.

Finding himself back in Comstock House, Booker entered the operating room where he found Comstock and his doctors torturing Elizabeth and deactivated the generators to the Siphon containing her powers. With the machine now offline, Elizabeth opened a Tear to a field being ravaged by a devastating tornado, making a "clean sweep" of the doctors. After Booker freed Elizabeth, the two decided to finally put a stop to the prophecy by confronting Comstock face to face. Journeying to the roof, they fought their way through remainders of the Founder forces. They boarded a gunship and docked at the hangar bay of Comstock's zeppelin, the Hand of the Prophet.

The Hand of the Prophet
After navigating the levels of the zeppelin, Booker and Elizabeth confronted Comstock in his cabin. There, Comstock attempted to regain Elizabeth's trust by weakening her faith in Booker, grabbing her and demanding that Booker tell her the truth about her lost finger. In a fit of rage, Booker grabbed Comstock by the neck and smashed his head against a baptismal font multiple times before submerging his face in the water, drowning him. After Elizabeth became concerned about Comstock's words, she and Booker resolved to fly the ship to Monument Island to destroy the Siphon and learn the whole truth.

Alas, the Vox Populi were now unleashing an all-out assault on the Hand of the Prophet. At that moment, Elizabeth worked out the meaning of her older self's letter. Tearing a Whistler from inside a statue, she played the musical notes C-A-G-E, bringing Songbird under her control. The Vox Populi began an assault on the flagship's main generator, and Songbird helped defend the surface deck from the Vox forces.

Once the attacking Vox army had been eradicated, Elizabeth handed the Whistler to Booker. Playing the song on the Whistler, Songbird destroyed what remained of Monument Island's statue, and with it, the Siphon inside. Upon the destruction of the tower, the massive energy feedback that resulted disabled the Whistler, thus losing control of the bird. Just as Songbird charged at Booker, Elizabeth opened a Tear which transported them all to the Welcome Center of Rapture, but leaving Songbird outside the building. Elizabeth comforted the creature in his final moments as he was crushed under the extreme pressure of the ocean.

Sea of Doors
Emerging on the surface, by way of Bathysphere, Elizabeth was now able to see all the realities and had become virtually omniscient. She revealed to Booker that Columbia and Rapture were connected via key elements, and were the same city across different realities. She led Booker to a realm between realities, each displayed as one of many lighthouses and bridges that represented the "beginning" of Booker's journey. Elizabeth explained that the worlds behind each door were similar and different in specific ways, all somehow connected. During this traversing of realities, Elizabeth revealed the truth of Booker's memory of events being flawed &mdash; that he never agreed to retrieve her from Columbia in exchange for eliminating his debt. And that rather, Booker gave his infant daughter, Anna, to Robert Lutece for that same purpose. Booker then realized that Elizabeth was Anna, and the portal severing her finger was what gave her the power to create Tears in time and space, when her body became a part of two separate dimensions.

After re experiencing these events, Booker put the blame on Comstock, and thought that he and Elizabeth could go on with their lives since Comstock was no more. This wasn't the case, though, since Comstock remained alive in many more universes. The one way to be rid of Comstock was to go to the point where he first came to be. Booker was transported to one final location: the site of the baptism. Here, different versions of Anna &mdash; Elizabeth &mdash; revealed the truth to Booker: he and Comstock were, in fact, the same person from different realities, similar to Robert and Rosalind. In Rosalind's reality Booker was baptized after the Battle at Wounded Knee, renamed Zachary Hale Comstock, and never sired a child before suffering from sterility. In Robert's reality, Booker had refused the baptism at the last second therefore keeping his original name, got married, and fathered Anna. Booker allowed all the Annas &mdash; Elizabeths &mdash; to kill him before he could accept or reject the baptism, preventing his choice being made, thus stopping Comstock and the same Booker from ever existing. With the elimination of Comstock across the timeline, Columbia's existence was erased, and all the events that occurred over the past twenty years vanished along with it. One by one, the alternate versions of Anna &mdash; Elizabeth &mdash; began to disappear, until only the original remained, and thus the cycle had ended.

1949-1958: Escaping to Rapture
After Elizabeth drowned Booker DeWitt at the pivotal baptism, a majority of possible versions of Comstock who built Columbia, and stole Anna, were erased from existence. However, one Elizabeth did not disappear with the other versions of herself after the drowning. Through her newfound power of omnipresence, and using the Sea of Doors, she discovered there were still universes containing a Comstock who had taken an Anna not of his own. Elizabeth took purpose in pursuing every last version of Comstock, to stop them from taking herself from Booker as an infant. She entered into an alternate version of Columbia as Comstock was again stealing Anna from Booker. After Elizabeth argued with Comstock to let go, claiming she wasn't his child, the infant was caught in the middle, resulting in her decapitation by the closing Tear, rather than just severing her pinky.

Due to causing Anna's death, that Comstock grew in deep remorse and reverted to his original identity as Booker DeWitt. Branding his right hand in Anna's initials, DeWitt wished to leave that world and erase all of his memories. Robert and Rosalind Lutece offered DeWitt the opportunity to enter into another universe, in a different city, where he could forget his past. DeWitt was then brought to the city of Rapture in 1949. He became a private investigator, and built a reputation among alcohol retailers, high class, and working class clients. Like his alternate versions, DeWitt was a gambler. DeWitt was present in the year 1958 to experience the significant events of the fall of Rapture. They involved crime boss Frank Fontaine, owner of Fontaine Futuristics, who had previously released the miracle drug ADAM, developed by Brigid Tenenbaum and the first line of Plasmids and Tonics by Yi Suchong. Fontaine had built a business empire after he devised a smuggling ring to bring contraband goods from the surface into Rapture, which eventually though a capital crime was highly profitable and supplied money for numerous other ventures.

Fontaine built Fontaine's Home for the Poor and the Little Sister's Orphanage as a front for his ADAM business, transforming little girls into generators of ADAM. When his smuggling ring was compromised by Andrew Ryan he faked his own death in a shootout with Ryan's men. Ryan then proceeded to seize Fontaine Futuristics and closed Fontaine's other businesses. Ryan sank Fontaine's Department Store, filled with Fontaine's army of Splicers, to the ocean seabed. These events lead to the closure of the Little Sister's Orphanage. One of the displaced orphans was a girl named Sally, who wandered into Booker DeWitt's office. By making the mistake of feeding her, DeWitt became her accidental adopted father. He took Sally to places she didn't belong, including the gambling tables at Sir Prize. While DeWitt was winning at the tables, Sally suddenly disappeared. Sullivan later reported to DeWitt they had found her corpse floating in the docks. In reality, she had been kidnapped and taken to the Little Wonders Educational Facility, to be transformed into a Little Sister.

Despite DeWitt kidnapping and interrogating Yi Suchong for hours, he gave up the search and believed Sally to be dead. It was around this time Elizabeth found Rapture where Comstock was hiding. Her presence in Rapture caused more Tears in the space-time continuum, linking Rapture to Columbia. Yi Suchong took note of this, and sent scouts all over Rapture to find more Tears. He discovered Elizabeth was causing them and wished to find her. The Tears connecting this reality with Columbia allowed Jeremiah Fink to observe and steal the idea of Yi Suchong's Plasmids. Suchong in turn used the Tear to plagiarize Fink's antioxidize idea to make his own Plasmids orally consumable. Elizabeth found DeWitt's location and was set on murdering him, but decided that first he should be reminded of his crime. Discovering his adoption of Sally and her later "disappearance", Elizabeth investigated around Rapture and discovered that local artist Sander Cohen had been sending Little Sisters around Rapture for his own purposes. Elizabeth planned on having DeWitt follow this trail, recover Sally, and provoke his memories of killing Anna once more, before Elizabeth exacted her revenge. On the eve of the fall of Rapture, December 31, 1958, Elizabeth went to find Booker DeWitt.

Market Street
On December 31, 1958, DeWitt briefly recalled the day he accidentally killed Anna right before Elizabeth entered his office. She asked DeWitt for a light and presented her name as Elizabeth to him. When Booker asked what her request was, she replied with her wish to find Sally, showing a picture to DeWitt, which when seeing he told her the girl was dead. Elizabeth reveals that Sally was actually lost, and predicted that Booker would do this job for free. He obliged, and entered onto Market Street to follow her lead on Sally.

When traversing Market Street, he asked Elizabeth of her intentions for finding Sally, to which Elizabeth replied that it was her business, but needed DeWitt's talents to discover Sally's location. Rapture was alive on New Year's Eve of 1958. As opposed to Columbia's ideology, rational conversations were held, people of color were among society's great minds, biracial and homosexual relationships were present in the public eye, and science, art, and industry ruled all.

Coming across Little Sisters in training, Elizabeth was curious about them, which Booker noted as strange, when all of Rapture's citizens were aware of these children. Elizabeth claimed she hadn't been out much in Rapture. She asked about when he last saw Sally, though she knew he lost her at the gambling tables in Sir Prize. Booker claimed Sullivan told the truth about Sally's death, but Elizabeth refused that story and asked if Booker saw the body, which he didn't. Elizabeth stated the value Rapture had on children, but not their childhood, and continued to take Booker to her lead.

High Street
When arriving on High Street, DeWitt had flashes of memory &mdash; looking down in a bowl of water. Elizabeth asked of his well-being, in which DeWitt referred to them "spells" at the fact that they wear off. Exiting the elevator to High Street, Elizabeth led Booker to local artist Sander Cohen's private club. Booker wondered what the crazed artist, revealed to be Elizabeth's lead, had to do with Sally. However, the two were denied access because they lacked the invitation masks sent by Cohen. Elizabeth discovered that the club was sponsored by nearby local businesses. The two assumed that one of them must have the mask.

Traversing through High Street, Booker and Elizabeth attempt to find the masks in Rapture Records, The Gallery of the Artist's Struggle, and The Golden Rule. In each store, Elizabeth distracted the owner while Booker snuck in the back looking for the mask. Eventually Booker found one such mask and returned to Cohen's Club. Booker questioned Elizabeth about her past and she revealed that she came to Rapture looking for a man, that she was in the debt collecting business, and that her ruses in the stores were inspired by her father, who was comfortable in taking a variety of different roles. Booker put on the mask and the pair were allowed entrance into the Garden of the Muses.

Booker and Elizabeth entered the Garden of the Muses and into the main atrium, where Sander Cohen was working on his current masterpiece, Booker and Elizabeth then confronted the artist, asking him about the whereabouts of Sally. After Cohen warned Booker of Elizabeth's intentions, he revealed he knew the location of Sally, but in exchange, Booker and Elizabeth had to dance to inspire him on his painting. However, their dance was cut short when Cohen found error in them and had the two electrocuted into unconsciousness.

Fontaine's Department Store
Booker and Elizabeth awakened, both inside Cohen's Bathysphere. Cohen took the Bathysphere to Sally's location, Fontaine's Department Store, sunken into the seafloor. Booker and Elizabeth were told that Sally was located in the Housewares Department &mdash; but it was located on a separate building of the Department Store. When arriving at the store, Booker and Elizabeth were soon attacked by Splicers and witnessed one of them possessing the Old Man Winter Plasmid. Booker and Elizabeth made their way to the tram station, during which Elizabeth asked Booker when he arrived to Rapture. Booker initially confused the year he arrived from 1948 to 1951, and excused his confusion from his loss and blurring of time before he suffered a nosebleed, a symptom of those who have entered another dimension resulting in hemorrhages. Booker and Elizabeth arrived at the tram station, only to discover that it had a gap in the floors with a gush of water bridging across it. Elizabeth deduced that the Splicer's Plasmid from earlier could create another bridge. The two then came across an ad for Jack Frost's Village and figured the Splicer and his Plasmid were located there.

Making their way to Rapture on Ice, the two discussed Rapture's inhabitants and its history. Booker pitied Splicers, claiming they weren't the first to try to find their solutions at the bottom of a bottle. The two then discussed the war between Andrew Ryan and Frank Fontaine. It was mentioned that Ryan couldn't handle the competition and shut Fontaine down, with implications that Fontaine's death happened for that reason. Booker and Elizabeth entered Rapture on Ice, but discovered that the Plasmid supply had been depleted. Elizabeth opened a Tear to obtain one bottle of Old Man Winter, explaining to Booker the Tear was produced by a new "Plasmid" that allowed her to bring things from other worlds. The two then returned to the water bridge and froze it, making a path to the tram, which they entered. Booker revealed that Sally wasn't his actual daughter, but an abandoned orphan from Fontaine's shutdown orphanage. She came to Booker hungry, he fed her, and she stayed, resulting in Booker becoming her unofficial adopted father. Booker told Elizabeth that she didn't belong in Rapture and had no reason to be here, to which Elizabeth replied that she wanted nothing to do with Andrew Ryan and his ideals. Booker admitted that he took Sally to Sir Prize, gambled, and was winning at the tables when he lost her. Elizabeth reassured him that her only prerogative with Sally was to reunite the two.

Booker and Elizabeth arrived at the Housewares building to discover Sally being chased off into the ventilation system. Booker called out to her, but to no avail. Elizabeth uncovered schematics that mapped out that the ventilation systems in Housewares all led to one main vent. Elizabeth deduced they could get Sally out by closing off all but the central exhaust vent in the department, and by turning the heat up. Booker was afraid at the idea of burning Sally, but agreed to do so. The two closed off all the other vents and turned on the heat, forcing Sally out the main vent in the Toy Store. Booker grabbed Sally to pull her out, only to discover she had been turned into a Little Sister. Sally called out to her Protector, who then attacked Booker. He and Elizabeth battled the Big Daddy until it finally fell. Sally remained in the vent, where Booker once again grabbed her. Suddenly, Booker relived his forgotten memories and remembered his past as Zachary Comstock, and the attempt to take Anna which ended up accidentally killing her in the process. Elizabeth expressed anger and resentment at Comstock, and with the Lutece twins, revealed that the truth was too much for Comstock to handle. He had the Luteces send him to Rapture to forget his past, reverting him back to Booker DeWitt to start a new life there. A horrified, penitent Comstock apologized to Elizabeth for what he had done, but she didn't accept this and he was suddenly impaled from behind through the chest by the still living Bouncer's drill, killing Comstock and fulfilling Elizabeth's plan of vengeance &mdash; however &mdash; the Big Daddy then turned on Elizabeth and killed her by throwing her through the wall &mdash; impaling her on a piece of rebar.

Elizabeth then found herself in Paris &mdash; but it was only an idyllic illusion of what she perceived the city to be. Walking along the streets, she found Sally and pursued her as the dream suddenly became dark and nightmarish. The illusion came to an end when Elizabeth could only see Sally being burned alive &mdash; her regrets of using and harming the girl before leaving her to die. The Luteces came to her aid and explained that when she died, she suffered a collapse in quantum-superposition, effectively cutting her off from all alternate versions of herself. Now, she was nothing more than a normal person. All that she had left was her knowledge from her books and her memory of what she saw behind the doors. Despite the warnings from the Luteces, she demanded to be brought back to Rapture to save Sally &mdash; even now that she had no powers.

Aiding Atlas and the Rebellion
Elizabeth awakened to find Atlas, Rapture's revolutionary, and his thugs scavenging Comstock's body and capturing Sally. Before they killed Elizabeth, a vision of Booker &mdash; which no one else noticed &mdash; appeared and came to her aid. Booker told Elizabeth to claim that she could get Atlas and his forces back to Rapture through the help of Suchong, claiming to be his lab assistant. In exchange, Atlas would give Sally back to her, unharmed. She was then left to find Suchong &mdash; but was experiencing amnesia. Elizabeth came across her own corpse and realized the Booker that was communicating with her was simply a facet of her own subconscious.

Surviving against the Splicers &mdash; Elizabeth was aided by the voice of Booker. She began to have visions &mdash; claiming that the doors were cracking open. Her memory of what she remembered behind the doors were returning &mdash; and foresaw the future. She didn't know, however, whose future she was observing. Elizabeth then learned that Suchong had taken up shop in the Silver Fin Restaurant and ventured there. She discovered that Suchong had been researching and photographing the Tears in Rapture that led to Columbia. Suchong had also built his own version of the Lutece Device but it had been sabotaged &mdash; a weak Tear to Columbia's Finkton still remained. Suchong contacted Elizabeth and threatened to eliminate her &mdash; but Elizabeth found a way to help both him and Atlas.

Elizabeth remembered that the Lutece Particle was a part of the Lutece Field, and was responsible for why Columbia and its aircrafts, such as the First Lady, were able to fly. By repairing the machine, she could open a Tear to Columbia, retrieve the Lutece Particle, return to the Housewares, and by applying the particle to the top floor's ceiling she could lift the Department Store back up to Rapture and return them to the city. Elizabeth then sought to find the equipment necessary to repair the machine, and in doing so came across Atlas' overall plan. Through telegrams and maps in his hideout, she learned that Atlas was planning an attack in Rapture and to lead the poor working class to rebel against Ryan. Meanwhile, he was looking for his "Ace In The Hole", created by Suchong to help him achieve his goals &mdash; Elizabeth soon discovered that Frank Fontaine had faked his death and created the false identity of Atlas to throw Ryan off his trail and gather new followers in his plot to take control of Rapture. Elizabeth knew that in the end, either Atlas would kill her or she would kill Atlas. She then completed the device and opened the Tear to Columbia.

Return to Columbia
Elizabeth opened the Tear back inside the First Lady &mdash; which was stationed in the Finkton Factory during the Vox Populi revolution. After obtaining the Lutece Particle &mdash; Suchong closed the Tear and agreed to open it in exchange for Elizabeth to bring him a sample of hair from a subject in Fink's hidden laboratory. Elizabeth accepted and went into the Factory &mdash; where she then found Daisy Fitzroy conversing with the Luteces. It was then revealed that Daisy, while wanting to kill Fink, had no intention of harming his son, the child that Daisy was supposedly about to execute before Elizabeth killed her. The Luteces concurred that while Daisy would die in the process, her threatening the boy and dying by Elizabeth's hands would further her cause &mdash; revealing that the Luteces had arranged the events in reality for Elizabeth to mature by killing Daisy.

Elizabeth reached the inside of the Factory labs, after spotting her past self and Booker while they were en route to the First Lady, and searched for the hair sample. Elizabeth discovered that Suchong observed Jeremiah Fink through the Tears stealing the production of Plasmids &mdash; while also making them consumable. Suchong and Fink then collaborated with each other, working on Plasmid and Vigor enhancements while also working on the creation of Big Daddies. Fink, through researching the Big Daddies, created the Songbird &mdash; but neither scientist could have their Protectors imprint on their respective subjects (Suchong's Little Sisters and Elizabeth). Eventually, Fink managed to make Songbird imprint on Elizabeth, and Suchong now wished to obtain the girl's DNA to obtain the answer to the pair-bonding. Elizabeth discovered that she pair-bonded with Songbird when saving his life by reattaching his oxygen tube. She retrieved her own hair and returned back to Rapture, escaping the Vox troops scavenging the Factory.

Return to Rapture and the Civil War
Elizabeth returned to Rapture and gave her hair sample to Suchong so he could further his research on pair-bonding. Andrew Ryan then contacted Elizabeth and deemed her as either an ally or a criminal &mdash; and gave her the choice to join either his side or Atlas', as his forces had now invaded the Department Store and were massacring Atlas' goons. Elizabeth rejected Ryan's offer and he sent his troops after her as she headed to Fontaine's private office with the Lutece Particle. She applied it to the ceiling and thus the Department Store floated back up and returned to Rapture, but not before Atlas betrayed by having his men knock her out with chloroform. That night, Atlas and his forces bombed the Kashmir Restaurant and began the Civil War in Rapture.

When Elizabeth reawakened the next day, she was interrogated by Atlas' henchmen, who asked for the location of the "Ace In The Hole". She was injected with truth serum, and rendered unconscious again. Elizabeth found herself in front of a mirror watching as her appearance changed from how she looked like when Booker found her to her current look, claiming that this world "valued children, not childhood, with a profit to be made, and men who made it". After coming in and out of consciousness for two weeks, she reawakened to a war-torn Rapture and Atlas threatening her with a transorbital lobotomy. Elizabeth accepted this fate as it would take away her memories and allow her to live without care or worry. Atlas grew furious and threatened to lobotomize Sally instead. Before he could do so, Elizabeth had another vision of Booker, revealing that she remembered a vision from behind the doors, that she didn't return to Rapture for no reason, and that Sally wouldn't die nor Elizabeth would die in vain, as Booker showed that the answer laid in Suchong's clinic. Elizabeth informed Atlas of the location of the Ace and agreed to retrieve it for him.

The Ace In The Hole
Atlas sent Elizabeth into Artemis Suites to find the Ace in Suchong's Clinic. Elizabeth entered Suchong's lab and found a wounded Bouncer near two Little Sisters blocking the way. Elizabeth attempted to get him out of the way, looking through Suchong's notes as he still struggled with pair-bonding the Big Daddies to the Little Sisters, revealing that the Big Daddies needed the ADAM of the Little Sisters to survive. When telling the Little Sisters that the Big Daddy needed ADAM to heal, one of the girls extracted ADAM from the other and injected it into the Big Daddy &mdash; healing him and causing him to pair-bond with the Little Sisters. Elizabeth then came across the living quarters of one of Suchong's subjects and finally Suchong himself &mdash; during which Elizabeth witnessed his death at the hands of the same Bouncer she had just bonded with the Sisters.

Elizabeth retrieved "The Ace In The Hole" from Suchong's body, revealed to be an encoded message of chemical compounds with pictures of the subject and his location. Elizabeth returned to Atlas &mdash; knowing her fate was sealed &mdash; and handed Atlas the Ace In The Hole. Atlas bludgeoned Elizabeth with a wrench, which caused her to snap back in front of the mirror, revealed to be in an airplane's bathroom. As she made her way down the aisle of the plane, she saw Suchong's subject, Jack, pull out his gun and hijack the plane. Atlas read the Ace In The Hole and didn't understand the coded message, demanding from Elizabeth to tell him what it said. As Elizabeth approached Jack, the letter given to him in the future and the encoded message by Suchong read, "Would You Kindly". Elizabeth revealed this to Atlas as he succeeded in finding the trigger phrase to set in motion the arrival of Jack in Rapture to kill Ryan and take over Rapture &mdash; before giving one last fatal blow to Elizabeth's head and departing with his thugs.

Elizabeth then envisioned the future events to come in Rapture: Jack hijacking and crashing the plane, arriving to the city, killing Ryan and Fontaine, and finally departing Rapture with the Little Sisters he saved. Elizabeth saw one last door, showing Jack after his journey in Rapture, returning to the surface at the Lighthouse with Sally. Elizabeth realized that the flashes of the future she was seeing before were of Jack, and she came to the city to set in motion the events that would lead to Sally's rescue. Sally held her hand and sang "La Vie en rose" as Elizabeth peacefully passed away.