As the game entered the next combat phase, Zack felt like Elizabeth was a warm, cozy sweater.
She'd pick locks to help Booker open doors, and even find coins and bullets to resupply him.
And during fights, you didn't have to worry about Elizabeth at all.
She could take care of herself, which Zack thought made her way better than Ben.
When they used to play Rainbow Six Siege and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare together, the only thing Zack heard from Ben over voice chat was "almost dead," "barely hanging on," "I'm done," and then when he'd finish off an enemy or also die and get to the scoreboard.
That's when he realized "almost dead" meant losing 10 health, and "barely hanging on" meant losing 20 health.
Basically, if he hit them at all, they were "almost dead" or "barely hanging on."
The team was always fighting 4 against 6.
But Elizabeth was different; she was the perfect example of a great support character.
When Booker was hurt, out of medkits, and low on ammo.
Elizabeth would toss him a medkit and bullets she'd somehow found.
That shout, "Booker, catch!"
Really warmed Zack's heart.
On normal difficulty, Zack couldn't just go wild before.
But with Elizabeth joining, Zack suddenly felt like the game had become as easy as mowing down grass.
"I feel like I could try the hard difficulty now!"
"This is the power of a good support character, this teammate Elizabeth is amazing!"
Zack was bursting with excitement.
Elizabeth's performance was simply outstanding.
Why was he so bad at games before?
It was because his teammates were all like Ben!
You had to admit, having Elizabeth as a teammate gave Zack a really special feeling.
He'd had quite a few companions in games.
Like Ellie in The Last of Us, and his teammates in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
They were all really helpful and could provide support.
But Elizabeth felt completely different to Zack.
It wasn't because Elizabeth was that beautiful; it was more about her actions.
Besides that cry of "Booker, catch!" in desperate moments,
Another very important thing was that Elizabeth never stole his spotlight in the game and was incredibly lifelike.
She would react to the player's actions.
For example, after killing someone in her sight, Elizabeth would appear somewhat distressed once the danger passed.
Booker would then explain that people had to die for her to escape alive.
This interaction also made Zack feel like Elizabeth was more alive.
During battles, when the player was in peril, pinned down by enemy fire and unable to lift their head, Elizabeth would deliberately draw the enemy's attention, resolving the player's dangerous situation.
When Booker lacked medkits or bullets, Elizabeth would open a rift in space to find these resources.
Even more impressively, when he needed to spend gold coins to buy something, Zack would sometimes be just a little short.
At those times, Elizabeth would produce some money from who knows where and give it to him.
And when not in combat, Elizabeth's actions were equally impressive.
She wasn't just a background character trailing behind the player.
She would examine the surroundings, interacting with things she found interesting, like paintings and posters.
But at the same time, she never fell behind the player, didn't block their path, and never held them back during fights.
It was these lively details that made Zack feel like the person beside him wasn't an NPC teammate, but a real Elizabeth, a being with a life of her own.
Facing the various guards in this city in the sky, Booker and Elizabeth fought their way through with perfect coordination.
After dealing with Slater, an old comrade of Booker's, Booker and Elizabeth took control of the First Lady airship and successfully launched it.
And during the previous level where they dealt with Slater, Zack had keenly noticed some details.
It was clear that Booker had committed some unspeakable sins in the past.
Combining this with the Native Americans in the First Lady's mansion, the mention of the Wounded Knee earlier by the prophet Comstock, and the box Booker opened at the lighthouse at the beginning,
Zack confirmed his initial guess: Booker might have been a soldier involved in the Wounded Knee massacre.
But how did this background relate to the game's storyline?
The game's various metaphors clearly indicated that this background was important.
However, with the current clues, Zack couldn't analyze much further.
While Zack was lost in thought, Booker inputted the airship's flight coordinates.
But upon seeing the coordinates Booker entered, Elizabeth beside him suddenly called out, sounding angry, anxious, and wronged.
'Wait a second! What is that? 40 degrees North, 74 degrees West, these aren't Paris coordinates, they're New York!'
'How did you know that?'
'I have something in that tower: time. Mr. DeWitt, I've studied things like geography!'
'I owe a debt, and there's someone… willing to pay it off for me… in exchange for you.' Facing Elizabeth's questioning, Booker didn't lie.
Hearing Booker's words, Elizabeth turned and covered her face, weeping.
Seeing the crying Elizabeth, Booker, who had experienced this adventure with her, felt a pang of sympathy and tried to comfort her.
'Alright, don't be like that, everything will be okay, maybe we can talk, and then we can…'
Just as Zack thought Booker was about to say he wouldn't hand Elizabeth over,
Elizabeth suddenly turned, grabbed a wrench from a workbench, and smashed it at Booker.
The camera then shook, Booker fell to the ground, and the in-game visuals became blurry.
At the same time, a ship appeared outside, and Elizabeth leaped directly onto an aerial track to escape.
Amazing! Sis!
Watching this, Zack's eyes widened.
He had imagined countless possibilities for Elizabeth and Booker's next steps, such as Booker having a change of heart and deciding to abandon his mission to kidnap Elizabeth.
Or perhaps Comstock would attack, forcing Elizabeth and Booker to temporarily set aside their issues and focus on fending off pursuers.
But what Zack never could have imagined was that Elizabeth was faking her tears, deliberately making Booker let his guard down, then knocking him out with a wrench and making a run for it.
This was a path he had never foreseen.
(End of Chapter)
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