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 oppened to citizens on November 5, 1946 and finished in late 1951. It is located at 63° 2' N, 29° 55' W, which places it at about two hundred sixty-nine miles 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, New York. 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 businesses 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.

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. 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. Some scientific breakthroughs were in robotics, bringing about an advanced automated security system; others in biology, where developments advanced in the restoration of life, both in plants (the Lazarus Vector) and humans (the Vita-Chamber).

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.

Beginning of the End
On December 31 1958, a massive working-class riot, led by Atlas, occurred upon upper-class locations (such as the Kashmir Restaurant). This 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.

Religions
Beliefs in Rapture that many Splicers follow:
 * The Rapture Family - Everyone owes each other a sense of unity and brotherhood
 * Great Chain - Industry and economy helps unite the people
 * Christianity- Belief in the Christian god and the savior of humanity
 * Atheism- Belief that deities do not exist

Items
Items in Rapture that helped the player during the game:
 * Ammunition- Ammo for your weapons
 * Consumables- This will have an affect on the player's health and EVE
 * First Aid Kit- Carries large amounts of health to heal citizens
 * EVE Hypo- Restores the player's EVE to use on plasmids
 * Money- Dollars in Rapture that you can spend at vending machines

Businesses
Companies that were founded in ads or posters around Rapture:
 * Circus of Values Vending- General vending machine company that can be used for items
 * El Ammo Bandito - Sells weapons and ammo in Rapture
 * Fontaine Futuristics - Plasmid and Tonic Production Facilities owned by Frank Fontaine
 * Rapture Metro - A transportation system carrying citizens to areas of the city
 * Ryan Industries - Creative and Constructive facility owned by Andrew Ryan
 * Sinclair Solutions - Provides plasmids and gene tonics for the citizens of Rapture

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


 * Welcome To Rapture- Home to Kashmir Restaurant
 * Medical Pavilion - Main medical, surgical and funerary institution
 * Neptune's Bounty - Fishing wharf
 * Smuggler's Hideout - The center of Fontaine's criminal exploits, an abandoned tunnel network
 * Arcadia - Garden and arboretum
 * Farmer's Market - Main marketplace for organic produce, home of Tasha Denu's apiary and Pierre Gobbi's winery
 * Fort Frolic - Arts and entertainment district
 * Hephaestus - Power generation facility
 * Rapture Central Control - Andrew Ryan's private quarters and office, and Rapture's genetic lock
 * Olympus Heights - Apartment complex for the high society, examples are Bridgette Tenenbaum and Fontaine himself.
 * Apollo Square - Transportation hub and Fontaine's stronghold, also low-class apartments and Yi Suchong's office
 * Point Prometheus - "Birthplace" of the Big Daddies and Little Sisters
 * Proving Grounds - Natural history museum and Little Sister training area
 * The Endgame - Highest building in Rapture and ADAM mass gathering, home of Frank Fontaine's battle location

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
 * Siren Alley- The Red Light District of Rapture

Trivia

 * The names of a majority of the locations in Rapture are inspired by Gods from ancient Greek and Roman culture.
 * The Bathysphere lighthouse tower bears a striking resemblance to the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Eight Wonders of the Ancient World.
 * The main lobby of the Bathysphere Lighthouse is almost identical to that of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California.