Inner Persephone

"This place is the absolute definition of despair. Here we are, locked away from the outside world, suspended over a pit with no hope of release."

- Thomas

Inner Persephone is the ninth and final level of BioShock 2, following Outer Persephone, which also takes place in the Persephone Correctional Facility.

History
Inner Persephone is Persephone's North Detention Wing and its main entrance. It is centered around a docking platform with wings for separate wards branching outward from it and an Atlantic Express train station. One wing contained the holding cells, laundry facility, and cafeteria. Another wing contained an infirmary, and another housed the "therapy" facilities of the prison. Some time after Sofia Lamb seized control of the prison, portions of the infirmary and therapy wings were converted into pediatric wards to house the new Little Sisters. Inner Persephone also contained an area of administrative offices and a Jet Postal station.

BioShock 2
Subject Delta and Eleanor Lamb seek to board a large spherical lifeboat that Augustus Sinclair had docked next to Persephone in case he had to flee the facility quickly. Unfortunately, Sofia Lamb has locked it down. They need the key from Sinclair, but Lamb has captured him. Subject Delta finds that Sinclair has been turned into an Alpha Protector, his consciousness and vocal power intact but his body controlled by Lamb. Subject Delta must follow Sinclair into the holding cells and forcefully kill him (at his request) to get the key.

Lamb dumps the Lifeboat's ballast into the docking area, making it unable to disengage. Eleanor comes up with an idea to use the energy of both herself and the captive Little Sisters in the therapy wards to boil the ballast water away. Subject Delta must clear the two nursery areas of Splicers and Alpha Protectors, so that Eleanor can gather the children (or harvest them).

Next, Delta has to fight off one last wave of Splicers and Alpha Protectors while Eleanor and the Little Sisters boil off the ballast water. He must flood the docking control room, by blasting out two thick glass pipes, to equalize the pressure between the dock and the ocean. Finally, Delta and Eleanor flee to board the rising escape vessel, but they run into a hallways piled high with explosive charges rigged by Lamb's followers. At this point, Eleanor teleports herself up to the escape craft, narrowly avoiding the force of the explosion, but fails to grab Delta's hand. Instead, Delta quickly swims close and grabs the rail of the vessel as it passes. They rise to the surface, and the events of the endgame play out according to the choices of the player earlier in the game.

Map
Inner Persephone/L1|Level One||True Inner Persephone/L2|Level Two Inner Persephone/L3|Level Three Inner Persephone/L4|Level Four Inner Persephone/L5|Level Five

Single Use Events

 * There are 2 Power to the People vending machines.
 * In the back of the room with the keypad where Sinclair is being held captive, on the left hand side.
 * Just after Ward B, in the room with the Heat-Seeking RPG Turret.

New Enemies

 * Augustus Sinclair/Subject Omega

New Plasmids and Tonics (Found)

 * Elemental Sponge - Found in a prison cell on far side of Cell Block B.
 * Elemental Vampire - Solitary Confinement in Cell Block North Quad of the Holding wing, look for an open hatch on the ground with a delta symbol above it (Delta's cell).

Audio Diaries

 * 1) Thomas - The Definition of Despair - On a table just past a camera in the cafeteria of the Holding Wing.
 * 2) Connor - Last Two Digits - Enter the area with a sign that reads Cell Block South Quad, it's the second cell on your right, crouch to get into the hole.
 * 3) Mattson - First Two Digits - In Cell Block D, on the left side.
 * 4) Dodge - A Trade - In Cell Block D, on the right side.
 * 5) Harold Parson - No More Hope Left - On a prisoner's corpse (hung himself) in Cell Block B.
 * 6) Murphy - A Generous Offer - In the cell with the hole in the wall in Cell Block A.
 * 7) Nigel Weir - Magic Sauce - In the room where Sinclair is located.
 * 8) Nigel Weir - Out With the Old... - Security Checkpoint A in the Holding wing.
 * 9) Harold Darby - Legs, Mouths, Arms, and Eyes - Search the corpse in the Recreational Therapy in the Therapy Wing.
 * 10) Edward Grimes - A Simple Question - By the operation chair in Intensive Therapy in the Therapy Wing.
 * 11) Eleanor Lamb - Destructive Learning - In a room to the right of the signs that point to Pediatric Care and Administration Offices.
 * 12) Augustus Sinclair - Sacrifices - Enter the Administration Offices, it's the first room on your right.
 * 13) Andrew Ryan - A Stratagem for Sinclair - In the basement of the Administration Area, under the PNEUMO plaque.
 * 14) Wilson - Such Freedom - Last cell on the left toward Ward A of the Infirmary wing.
 * 15) Nigel Weir - My Prison - After Ward B, there will be a Grenade Launcher Turret, in that room (jump through hole in wall).
 * 16) Edward Grimes - They Feel Pain - In the Surgery room with the X-Ray photos.
 * 17) Edward Grimes - Alleviating Pain - On the sink inside the Autopsy Room.

Getting to Sinclair
There are many ways to discover the code (2673) to the guard tower in the holding cells:
 * Find Mattson's and Connor's tapes.
 * Find Murphy's tape, then search the last toilet on the left of the community bathroom.
 * Find the code written in red on the back wall of the farthest cell in Cell Block B.
 * Or the player could have simply memorized it from a previous playthrough.

The code is not necessary if the player has Incinerate! equipped: Go to the community bathroom, thaw the entrance to the maintenance tunnel, then ignite the fuel slick in the guard tower, forcing Sinclair to open the front door to flee the fire. The player can also deal with Sinclair by hacking the control panel of the back door. When the back door has been opened, the player can then ignite the fuel slick, driving Sinclair out, or send Eleanor in through the back door to deal with Sinclair.

Locked Room
There is a locked room in the Therapy section of Persephone. The door code is not found numerically anywhere in the game. Instead, the player must solve a puzzle in a nearby audio diary to figure out the code.

The clues are: Brown legs, Red mouths, Blue arms, Green eyes. The clues refer to the paintings on the wall in front of the victim near the locked door: four brown legs (of a dead deer), one red mouth (of a screaming man), four blue arms (of two drowned victims), and six green eyes (of a group of three doctors). The answer is 4-1-4-6.

Bugs/Glitches

 * If the player were to use Hypnotize on any docile prisoner in Persephone, the prisoner will be marked as Houdini Splicer, but will not attack anything, and will remain in a standing pose, even after the Plasmid wears off.


 * When entering the tunnel to "get the drop" on Sinclair after getting the code to the room, the keypad will still be interacted with after entering the code, as if the player had never done so.


 * Meleeing the doorway to Sinclair's lifeboat will freeze the system, requiring a manual reboot.


 * After hearing from Lamb, Eleanor's comm message will be silent.

Behind the Scenes

 * The Deco Devolution Artbook mentions that in early concepts for the Inner Persephone level, the Therapy Rooms that housed the Little Sisters would also have housed Little Brothers. They would have been failed experiments, mainly due to their aggression. Although the Little Brothers were never made, the condition of the main ward does appear as fitting to the concept, as one side of the room appears nearly destroyed, with beds tossed around, and a gaping small hole made above the ceiling of its unreachable central walkway.
 * The X-ray pictures in the middle one of the three Surgery rooms are based on the real X-rays of the broken left humerus of lead environment artist Hogarth de la Plante.