Rapture

''I am Andrew Ryan and i am gay, 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-WWII world. It was officially christened on November 5, 1946.

Overview
Built by Andrew Ryan, Rapture sits at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, a completely self-sustaining metropolis of massive buildings connected by a network of glass tunnels and a Bathysphere system. The city is completely self-sustainable, and all of its electricity, food, water and air purification and defense system is powered by the underwater 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.

Rapture's Goal
"No Gods or Kings. Only Man."

- Andrew Ryan

The original goal of Rapture was to create a society free of God and government, where any citizen could achieve for his or herself, rather than for others' benefits. The "world's best and brightest" were mainly granted freedom of will and choice; they were unrestrained by government, religious organizations, or any other established institutions. Instead of these conventional forms of restriction, topics such as logic, science and reason were to guide the inhabitants. However, Ryan's paranoia and xenophobia led to the downfall of his city. His one edict - that the outside world never be permitted to learn of Rapture - enabled a former member of the Mafia named Frank Fontaine to build a criminal empire through smuggling. Unlike the idealistic Ryan, the former mobster could not be satisfied by mere material wealth - he desired domination. A civil war later ensued that reduced Rapture's splendor to ruins.

Transportation
Transportation within Rapture is provided by a connected Bathysphere system, which consist of small spherical submarines. There is only one entrance to Rapture, which is found in a remote lighthouse above the Atlantic Ocean.

Science
With science being unrestricted by, according to Ryan, a "petty morality," inhabitants of Rapture could explore paths previously deemed immoral or too controversial to follow. One of the major breakthroughs achieved in Rapture was the creation of Plasmids, from ADAM, a substance created by a deep sea parasite. Essentially, processed ADAM created stem cells in its host which allowed new genetic material to be 'spliced' into the DNA of the host. However, drawbacks were later encountered by excessive splicing (mainly during and after the civil war) among common citizens of Rapture, such as cellular mutation involving permanent brain and physical damage.

Beginning of the End
On December 31, 1958, a massive riot of the working class citizens was led by Atlas upon higher class locations, such as the Kashmir Restaurant. This action was most likely done not just to begin a civil war in Rapture, but possibly to intimidate Ryan's administration as well. Despite prior conflicts with Fontaine's corrupt smuggling and plasmid industry, this blow definitively marked the end of Rapture as a functioning society.

Explorable Areas
During your journey through Rapture, you will explore the following areas.
 * Arcadia - garden and arboretum
 * Farmer's Market - main marketplace
 * Fort Frolic - arts and entertainment district
 * Hephaestus - power production facility
 * Medical Pavilion - main medical institution
 * Neptune's Bounty - fishing wharf
 * Olympus Heights
 * Point Prometheus
 * Rapture Central Control
 * Smuggler's Hideout