Rapture





"I am Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask you a question: Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? No, says the man in Washington. It belongs to the poor. No, says the man in the Vatican. It belongs to God. No, says the man in Moscow. It belongs to everyone. I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose... Rapture. A city where the artist would not fear the censor. Where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality. Where the great would not be constrained by the small. And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well."

- Andrew Ryan

Rapture is a massive underwater city created by Andrew Ryan to escape from the political, social, and religious anxiety of a post-World War II world. It was officially completed on November 5, 1946. It is located at 63° 2' N, 29° 55' W (which would place it at about 259 miles west south west of Iceland's capital, Reykjavik).

Overview


Built by Andrew Ryan, Rapture sits at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, a metropolis of massive art deco-styled buildings connected by a network of glass tunnels and a Bathysphere system, appearing to be the size of Manhattan, New York City. The city is completely self-sustaining, and all of its electricity, food, water and air purification and defense system are powered by the vents in Hephaestus. Rapture is intentionally isolated from the world, and the only way to access it seems to be bathyspheres taken down from the lighthouse perched on an island above.

In terms of its philosophical underpinnings, Rapture can best be described as a "gulch," a term derived from Galt's Gulch in the Ayn Rand novel Atlas Shrugged. A "gulch" is a localized underground economic and social community of freedom-minded individuals and differs from a commune in that it is uniquely freedom-focused, and so upholds individual and property rights rather than operating by the rules of a collective community.

Rapture's Goal


Andrew Ryan probably named his city after the goal he set in mind. Citizens from the surface quietly "vanished", and were "raptured" to the underwater city that was to be a paradise.

The original goal of Rapture was to create a capitalist society free of religion and government, where any citizen could achieve for his or her own gain, rather than for the altruistic fulfillment of the wants of others. The "world's best and brightest" were granted freedom of will and choice in Rapture, unrestrained by government, religion and similar established institutions. Instead of abiding by the morally idyllic restrictions imposed by these institutions, values such as logic and scientific reason were to guide the inhabitants in their pursuit of achievement.

However, the would-be utopia had its problems. In Rapture's purely capitalistic society, with no social programs whatsoever, everything within the city was privately owned and came with a price. This included the city's food, health care, sanitation and even its oxygen supply. There were few, if any, defined norms for business and labor, allowing unscrupulous business practices (such as overpriced vending products) to flourish.

This system alienated Rapture's less fortunate citizens, who began to resent Ryan as naive and elitist. Andrew Ryan's hostility to "parasites" and his paranoia of these poorer citizens led to the downfall of his self, as well as his city. His edict that the outside world never be permitted to learn of Rapture's existence enabled a man named Frank Fontaine to build his criminal empire through smuggling. Unlike the capitalistic Ryan, the former mobster could not be satisfied by mere material wealth — he wanted Rapture to be subject to his dominion. Fontaine would go on to start a civil war that sealed Rapture's doom under the alias Atlas.

Population
Rapture's exact population remains unknown. Early podcasts cited it as being in the tens of thousands, while Something in the Sea articles say that hundreds of thousands of people vanished at the time of Rapture's founding. However, because of the civil war that ensued Rapture, there was probably less than 5,000 left in the city by the time that Jack arrived.

Transportation


Transportation within Rapture is provided by Rapture Metro, a connected Bathysphere system, which consists of spherical pressurized capsules, through which you reach most of the levels of the game. Part of Rapture Metro is the bathysphere inside the remote lighthouse in the north Atlantic, which is Rapture's only entrance from the outside.

Bathyspheres are involved in how the game ends. In the good ending, a single bathysphere emerges ferrying Jack and the Little Sisters to the surface. In the bad endings, a circle of bathyspheres arise, releasing an army of Splicers sent by Jack to seize a nuclear submarine.

Other levels are connected through bulkhead doors. Areas within some levels are connected by glass tunnels: smaller ones for pedestrians, larger ones for tramways of a rail system between the areas of Olympus Heights and Apollo Square.

Science
Ryan believed that scientific achievement in the world was being restricted by "petty morality," so he ensured that the inhabitants of Rapture could explore paths of inquiry previously deemed too immoral or controversial to follow.

One of the major breakthroughs achieved in Rapture was the discovery of ADAM, unstable stem cells from a species of sea slug, and this led to the creation of plasmids and Gene Tonics. Essentially, ADAM allowed a user to splice new genetic material into the user's DNA, enhancing health and intellect, and even giving superpowers. However, ADAM was soon found to cause physical and mental damage as more of the user's native cells were replaced by ADAM stem cells. The need for ADAM became an addiction, which became more pronounced by excessive splicing, mainly during and after Rapture's civil war.

Other scientific breakthroughs were in robotics, bringing about automated Turrets and Security Bots that are part of Rapture's security system; and in biology, with developments in the restoration of life, both in plants (the Lazarus Vector) and humans (the Vita-Chamber).

Beginning of the End
On December 31 1958, a massive working-class riot led by Atlas upon upper-class locations (such as the Kashmir Restaurant) sparked a civil war between Atlas and Andrew Ryan. During the 1959 New Year's Eve Riots, traditional ballistic weapons and plasmids were used on both sides. In the end, almost all of the sane population were killed by Splicers or committed suicide, and ordered society in Rapture came to an end.

Explorable Areas
During your journey through BioShock, you will explore the following areas of Rapture.


 * Arcadia - Garden and Arboretum
 * Apollo Square - Transportation Hub and Fontaine's Stronghold
 * Farmer's Market - Main Marketplace for organic produce
 * Fort Frolic - Arts and Entertainment District
 * Hephaestus - Power Generation Facility
 * Medical Pavilion - Main Medical Institution
 * Neptune's Bounty - Fishing Wharf
 * Olympus Heights - Apartments Complex
 * Point Prometheus - "Birthplace" of the Big Daddies and Little Sisters
 * Proving Grounds - Natural History Museum and Big Daddy Training Area
 * Rapture Central Control - Andrew Ryan's Private Quarters and Office
 * Smuggler's Hideout - The center of Fontaine's criminal exploits

Other Areas
Areas that were either removed from the final game or have yet to be explored in BioShock 2:


 * Rapture Zoo - Zoological Garden
 * Athena's Glory - Apartment Complex
 * Fontaine Futuristics - ADAM Production Facility
 * Ryan Amusements - Educational Facility for the Children of Rapture