Columbia Storyline

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

1890-1893: Creation of Columbia
Zachary Comstock was formerly known as Booker DeWitt in his life. But after the events of Wounded Knee, Booker attended a baptism by Preacher Witting to ease his horrific memories and sins at Wounded Knee. He emerged a new man, named Zachary Hale Comstock. After Comstock became a farmer, he claimed to have been visited by the archangel Columbia, 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 after Columbia, to uphold Christian and American values and share them with the world.

Congress agreed to fund the city, believing it could be a showcase of American exceptionalism. Zachary was later introduced to Rosalind Lutece, a respected quantum-physicist, who was able to indefinitely suspend an atom in midair -- her colleagues referred to the process as "quantum levitation," while Rosalind herself dubbed it the "Lutece Field". The two worked hand in hand and created Columbia within the year 1892. The city travelled around the world to showcase American ideals and glory. Comstock through a faction known as the Founders 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 from another dimension. It turned out to be a male version of herself, Robert Lutece, and she communicated with him via Morse Code. Rosalind Lutece then created the 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, mass exposure of 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 have a child 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 remained Booker DeWitt after not taking the baptism, and later had a child. Seeing that Booker was in debt, Comstock sent Robert to Booker to trade his daughter, Anna DeWitt, in exchange for clearing that debt. Booker agreed and handed Anna to Robert. Booker immediately regretted his decision and went after her. As Robert, Comstock and Anna were passing back through the Tear to Columbia, Booker attempted to retrieve Anna but failed, severing part of her finger as the Tear closed around it.

Comstock brought Anna into Columbia and renamed her Elizabeth Comstock. He refered to Elizabeth as his "seed" that would one day take the throne of Columbia. Upon viewing another Tear, he saw 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 was only pregnant for seven days to give birth to the "Miracle Child". While Lady Comstock initially abided by this claim, she eventually realized that Elizabeth was not her child.

1893-1902: Columbia's Golden Age and Beginning of the Civil War
Elizabeth's began to reveal a dangerous power: she was able to open windows into other worlds, much like the Trans-Dimensional Machine. Lady Comstock finally came to the realization that Elizabeth was not her child and accused Rosalind of having an affair, and wanted Elizabeth 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 some few even learned to exploit them. Jeremiah Fink, the founder and owner of Fink Manufacturing, built an industrial empire using these Tears. On August 12th, 1894, he learned through his brother, Albert, of the Tears occurring throughout Columbia. Fink was skeptical of the importance of the Tears, until seeing Albert make a fortune from selling new music emitted from them. Fink realized the profits which could be produced, and used the opportunity to steal advanced technology and science observed through the Tears. He advanced and expanded 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 observed Booker's right hand was carved with the initials A.D. and hence signified this as the mark of the False Shepherd. Comstock had Fink build the Songbird, a formidable creature 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 silence the secret from being revealed. Lady Comstock's servant, Daisy Fitzroy, overheard the struggle and went to see the commotion and discovered the dead body. Comstock quickly blamed the murder of Lady Comstock 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 Columbia 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, Zachary 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 independance.

1902-1911: Civil War of Columbia
As the years passed, Rosalind and Robert continued their research and observations of Elizabeth. As Elizabeth 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 lived happily. Elizabeth began using her special abilities more as they grew, and was able to view other worlds, and took an interest in the city of Paris. In time, Elizabeth resented her situation and Songbird, and realized she was a prisoner. Her first menstruation gave her an increase in power. Rosalind and Robert created the Siphon, a device which leeched Elizabeth's quantum energy, preventing the use of her full potential. Rosalind hypothesized the separation 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 Finkton 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 murdered 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. Her final belief was to stop the Founders by "pulling them from the roots," which meant killing their supporters, civilians, and even children.

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 lay waste to the surface world. Rosalind and Robert did not want to see this happen, so sought to change it. Robert proposed that they send Elizabeth back into her former reality with her original father. Comstock got word of this and had Fink tamper with their Trans-Dimensional 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. Gaining newfound knowledge and abilities, the Luteces arranged to bring Elizabeth's original father to Columbia's reality.

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 - entering another reality, a person's former traits and memory collided with those from the new reality. The brain hemorrhages and false memories are created to compensate for the contradictions. Bookers 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 the girl back, as a way to erase his debts.

Each of a previous one-hundred and twenty two times re-entering Columbia, Booker had failed and died. The Luteces kept coming back to take Booker there 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 Lutece Twins, enters the lighthouse, once again unaware of the city of Columbia, and is transported into the sky via shuttle rocket.

Comstock Center
Booker arrived in Columbia's Welcome Center, a church dedicated to the Founders and Father Comstock. Booker was then forced to be baptized by Preacher Witting in order to enter the city. Nearly drowning, Booker had a dream of a futuristic New York City being destroyed by Columbia. He awakened in the Garden of New Eden and finally entered the streets of Columbia, in New Eden Square. Booker happened to arrive in Columbia on July 6th, 1912, the anniversary of Columbia's secession, and entered the fairgrounds during a citywide Fair. As Booker headed for Monument Island, the Luteces contacted him, telling him not to pick "77" at the city Raffle and bring attention to himself.

Booker could not avoid attending and entered the raffle contest. As Booker walked down the path, he noticed the brand on his hand was similar to that featured on a propaganda poster. When he got to Raffle Park, he drew a baseball numbered 77. The announcer, Jeremiah Fink, announced Booker as the winner and offered as prize a first throw at an interracial couple. Before Booker could do anything, Fink and the Columbian Police spotted the A.D. carved on his hand. This was known as the mark of the False Shepherd, who was destined to take Elizabeth from Columbia. Fighting through the Columbian police, who attempted to kill him, and a Fireman who attempted to incinerate him. Booker met up with the Luteces at the Blue Ribbon Restaurant, and they offered him a Shield Infusion as an "aperitif", telling him it would make the difference between life and death. Exiting the restaurant, Booker overheard public announcements about the incident at the Raffle. Enforcers from Columbia's army attempted to stop him as he moved across the rooftops. After reaching Constitution Square, Booker happened upon the headquarters of the Fraternal Order of the Raven. This was an organization of devotees of Lady Comstock, who worked to maintain the Founders' superiority as the ruling class. While traversing the building, Booker clashed with several Order members before battling their leader, a Zealot of the Lady.

After escaping the headquarters, Booker came across a gondola station to Monument Island, but it was out of order. Using a Sky-Hook to travel on the Sky-Lines and freight hooks, Booker managed to reach the gateway to Monument Island. Booker was then contacted by Zachary Comstock, who appeared before him via teleprompter from his zeppelin. Comstock said he knew everything about Booker and that everything would end terribly. Later on, Booker experienced a hemorrhage in the brain and bled profusely. He then used Comstock's zeppelin to arrive at the gates of Monument Island, barely escaping it after a worshipper set the craft ablaze.

Monument Island
Booker entered Monument Tower, which was desolate and abandoned. He came across various observational videos, photographs, vitals, and charts about Elizabeth. He realized that this girl had been observed by these people her entire life. Booker came to the Siphon in the atrium, which activated and leeched Elizabeth of her power as she was singing. He then took the elevator up to her apartment.

Booker discovered that Elizabeth's apartment had many one-way mirrors, and that she had no idea she was being watched. He first found her in the dressing room, showing her admiration for Paris. Booker then followed Elizabeth to the dining room where she observed her painting of the Eiffel Tower. She then opened a Tear to Paris in the 1980's, then hastily closed it as a firetruck suddenly approached. Booker, in shock, followed her to the library.

Booker accidentally fell through the ceiling and into Elizabeth's library. While initially scared and defensive, Elizabeth was relieved by Booker's presence as another person and expressed her desire to leave. Elizabeth became fearful, as a whistling signal blew and the Songbird approached her tower. Booker handed her the key and the two escaped from Monument Island, but not before the Songbird destroyed most of the tower. Booker and Elizabeth barely escaped, falling 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 debts), and both headed for the First Lady's Aerodrome. On the way there, the two were attacked 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, before meeting him. After going through those two displays, they were finally allowed access into the museum of Columbia. That museum 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 through waves of 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 troops 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 broke down 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, in the Factory 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 (a bunch of balloons, a marching band, and a passing train) to slow him down. Finally, when he caught up to her, he was ambushed and thrown off of the city by a Handyman. However, Booker caught onto a cargo barge 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. Fink's personal assistant, Mr. Flambeau, told Booker that Fink had been expecting him. When entering the Plaza of Zeal, Booker was contacted by Jeremiah Fink to work for him as his head security officer. Booker denied, 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 connected with 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 spread-eagled on the floor in puddles of blood. Daisy had now taken a genocidal approach to her now militant protest 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 a Founder boy. Elizabeth killed Daisy and retreated to the First Lady, only to change her appearance and fill 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 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 in the cemetery to leech Elizabeth of her power and used it to transform Lady Comstock'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. She was also hellbent on revenging the lies Comstock had spread about her, Elizabeth, and the Luteces. The Luteces 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, the adoption of Elizabeth from another universe and the plot to kill Lady Comstock and the Luteces by Comstock himself. 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 murder Booker, Elizabeth intervened and begged the Songbird 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 - 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 figures known only as 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 -- the very same dream Booker experienced when first entering Columbia. 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, Old Elizabeth brought Booker forward in time to evade Songbird and gave Booker instructions on how to control him. 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 barely beginning to torture Elizabeth. Booker deactivated the generators to the Siphon. With the machine now offline, Elizabeth opened a Tear to ground zero of 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 remainder of the Founders' military and Motorized Patriots bearing Comstock's likeness. 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 fountain multiple times before submerging his face in the water. After Elizabeth became concerned about Comstock's words, she and Booker happened upon an image of the statue of Columbia on Monument Island. Upon inspection, they found that the statue contained the Siphon restricting Elizabeth's powers. The two 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 the letter given by her older self. Tearing a Whistler from a statue's head, she played the musical notes C-A-G-E, bringing Songbird under control. The Vox Populi began an assault on the flagship's main generator, and Songbird helped defend the surface deck from multiple Vox zeppelins.

Once the Vox and all the zeppelins had been eradicated, Elizabeth handed the Whistler to Booker. Playing the song on the Whistler, Songbird destroyed what remained of the 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 Songbird. Just as Songbird charged at Booker, Elizabeth opened a Tear which transported them all to the Welcome Center of Rapture, trapping the creature outside the window. Elizabeth comforted Songbird 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 -- that he never agreed to retrieve her from Columbia in exchange for eliminating his debts. 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 reexperiencing 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 -- Elizabeth -- revealed the truth to Booker: he and Comstock were, in fact, the same man from different realities, one in which he was baptized after the Battle at Wounded Knee, and one in which he wasn't. The reality where he went through with the baptism was the path of Zachary Hale Comstock. Booker allowed all the Annas -- Elizabeths -- 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 -- Elizabeth -- 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 build Columbia, and stole Elizabeth, were erased from existence. However, Elizabeth did not disappear with the other versions of herself after the drowning. Through her newly found power of omnipresence, and using the Sea of Doors, she discovered there were still universes containing a Comstock who had taken an Anna not 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 its 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 the early 1950's. 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 businessman Frank Fontaine, owner of Fontaine Futuristics, who had previously released the miracle drug ADAM, developed by Brigid Tenenbaum and the first lines of Plasmids and Tonics by Yi Suchong. Fontaine had built a business empire after 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 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 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 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 body 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 a woman was causing them and wished to find her. The Tears connected this reality with Columbia allowed Jeremiah Fink to observe and steal the ideas of Yi Suchong's plasmids. Suchong in turn used the Tear to plagiarize Fink's anti-oxidize idea to use 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 Gatherers 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 31st, 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 on seeing he told her Sally was dead. Elizabeth reveals that Sally was actually lost, and predicted that Booker would do this job gratis. He obliged, and entered onto Market Street to follow her lead on Sally with Sander Cohen.

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 Rapture 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 -- 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, the two were greeted by a waiter who teleported off around the restaurant. Elizabeth led Booker to the Garden of the Muses through High Street, in which DeWitt discovered was owned by local artist, Sander Cohen. Revealing to be Elizabeth's lead to Sally, Booker wondered what a crazed artist had to do with Sally. However, the two were denied access because they lacked the invitation bunny 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 Artist's Struggle, and The Golden Rule. In each store, Elizabeth seduces and distracts each store owner while Booker snuck in the back stores for the mask. Eventually Booker found one such mask and returned to Cohen's Club. Booker questioned about Elizabeth's past and she revealed that she came to Rapture 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 suited on the mask and the two 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, with a dancing couple of the sun and moon as his muse. However, the two weren't up to par with his expectations and "failed" Cohen. He then ordered Fitzpatrick to electrocute the two to death. Booker and Elizabeth then confronted Cohen, asking him about the whereabouts of Sally. After Cohen warned Booker of Elizabeth's malevolence, he revealed he knew the location of Sally, but in exchange, having Booker and Elizabeth dance as his muse. However, their dance was cut short when Cohen once again found error in them and ordered Fitzpatrick to electrocute them into unconsciousness. But Cohen still took them to his Bathysphere.

Fontaine's Department Store
Booker awakened to Elizabeth, both being inside Cohen's Bathysphere. Cohen takes the Bathysphere to Sally's location, Fontaine's Department Store, sunken into the seafloor. Booker and Elizabeth are told that Sally is located in the Housewares Department - but it was located on a separate building of the Department Store. When arriving to the store, Booker and Elizabeth acquired the Air Grabber, a parallel to Columbia's Sky-Hook. Elizabeth commented on it being "constants and variables," which completely fazed Booker. The two were then immediately attacked by Splicers and witnessed one of them possessing the Old Man Winter Plasmid and freezing the gushing water that bridged the gap on the floors. Booker and Elizabeth made their way to the tram station, during which Elizabeth asked Booker when he arrived to Rapture. Booker confused the year he arrived from 1948 to 1951, clarifying the year was 1948 when he arrived 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 too 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 Rapture on Ice and figure the Splicer and his plasmids 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 managed to enter 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 the shutdown Fontaine's Orphanage. She came to Booker hungry, he fed her, and she stayed, resulting in Booker becoming her unofficial adopted daughter. Booker told Elizabeth that she didn't belong in Rapture and had no reason to be here. Elizabeth stated she has nothing to do with Andrew Ryan and his ideals, and compared Ryan to Comstock as being just as fanatical, except with different beliefs. Booker admited that he gambled, took Sally to Sir Prize, 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 in Housewares 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 Houseware all led to one main vent. Elizabeth deduced they could get Sally out by closing off all but the main vents in the department, and by turning the heat up. Booker was afraid at the idea of burning Sally, but agreed to do so. Booker and Elizabeth 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 evaded Booker and 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 for 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 rage, 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. Comstock apologized to Elizabeth for what he had done. Elizabeth didn't believe this, but told Comstock he was about to be sorry. The Bouncer came up behind Comstock and impaled him through the chest with its drill, killing him and fulfilling Elizabeth's plan of vengeance.