"Mr. Dewitt...Mr. Dewitt!" her voice echoed in the wide-open space of the eerily empty shop. I was still reeling from nearly drowning just minutes before & waking up ashore God knows how long after Elizabeth woke me. For a former Pinkerton agent & someone who lived through Wounded Knee, I felt like I'd been scotched. And now I stood there, staring in the direction of signs that read, "Bargains every day at Hudson's" above a counter by the windows. Dolls of 'Lil Miss Columbia' were scattered around the shop along with other trinkets & souvenirs. Outside I could hear sea gulls & carnival fanfare as people celebrated 'strength through leisure'. Truth be told, Elizabeth was the last thing on my mind, especially with all the crazy shit I'd been through to get to this point! Her dainty little hand barely felt like it was there on my shoulder as she now tried to shake me from my daydream. Well, forgive me for taking a moment to breathe after facing waves of policemen, soldiers & hooded crow-worshiping fanatics! On the bright side, I had never seen anything like this place. I remembered reading in the papers about the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 and how the "floating city" had stolen the show. Take that, you uptight scientists! I remember thinking that as I took a swig while my feet were up on my desk at the office. Elizabeth had no idea what was at stake here, anyway. Her innocent & curious eyes met the cold & self-righteous stare of a white, bearded man on a poster in the center of the shop. "Mr. Dewitt - Comstock, I've read about him...they say he can see the future," she said. "Give a man a little power, he falls in all kinds of love with himself..." I replied, matter-of-factly. I remembered that bastard's words for me before I got to that tower where they were keeping Elizabeth: "Not all debts can be repaid, Booker...this will end in blood, then again, it always does with you!" Although he was wrong about that first bit, I couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't wrong about that last part... Whatever, I don't have time to sit here & think about all this. I've gotta get the girl to that airship...what did that sign say again? At the 1st Lady's Aerodrome? "Will we get to visit the Eiffel Tower when we get to Paris, Mr. Dewitt!?" Elizabeth could hardly contain herself with that thought. I would've felt bad for lying to her but then again, I was told to tell her whatever she wanted to hear, so long as she came along. Besides, it was either that or end up like that guy I passed on the way up the lighthouse before arriving in this would-be paradise! The choice was an easy one. "Sure," I said, doing my damned best to sound believable. "You just stick close to me & we'll get there just fine." What was one more sin for a guy like me? Even after being baptized...twice, I had plenty on my record. Elizabeth went back to studying the portrait of "Father Comstock, Our Prophet" as I eyed a lone stranger in the corner to our left keeping a watchful eye on the two of us. He was dressed to impress in a striped, red & white blazer with a bright, blood-red vest. Shined shoes & pressed, beige pants stood underneath a rimmed hat that cast a shadow over his face. Then little Elizabeth, as naive as ever, still looking at Comstock's face said, "I don't like his look..." she sounded scared as a lamb. This made the stranger perk up & approach her. "Do you dislike the look of the Prophet, or his gaze?" The words hung ominously in the air... Turning from the dapper stranger & nervously clutching the little finger on her right hand, which I now noticed wasn't there, Elizabeth looked my way and said, "Could we go now?" The fellow stepped closer & the sunlight from the windows filled in the shadows under his hat, showing a crooked grin under a thick mustache curved at the tips. "We're just passing through, friend. Not lookin' for any trouble..." I boomed. Not realizing my grip tightening around my pistol & my fingers burning like stoked coals. That Devil's Kiss burned through me which was ironic since the stranger then said, "Did the Devil send you here, False Shepherd!?" as he pulled out a Rolston Repeater from beside his chair. Only one thought went through my head at that point. Nobody's gettin' between me & that clean slate!