- “This facility belongs to the city now — to Ryan Industries… at least until the rioting subsides. While it is unfortunate that such measures had to be taken… I must admit, it is gratifying to see this building condemned.”
- ― Andrew Ryan[src]
Fontaine Futuristics is the seventh level in BioShock 2. It was the corporate headquarters and research labs of Fontaine Futuristics which produced Plasmids, Big Daddies, and other wondrous technologies for Rapture. A grand atrium anchors the corporate offices and Plasmid demonstration halls. An adjacent site contains the hidden labs where many of Rapture's advances in genetic and robotic technology were developed.
History
The office of Frank Fontaine.
Fontaine Futuristics was established as a laboratory and business headquarters for Frank Fontaine's technological ventures in Rapture. His business once employed some of the brightest minds in Rapture, including doctors Brigid Tenenbaum, Yi Suchong, and Gilbert Alexander. After Frank Fontaine's "death" months prior to the 1958 New Year's Eve Riots, Andrew Ryan had the City take control of Fontaine Futuristics and placed under control of Ryan Industries. Soon afterwards the ADAM technology labs were converted to design and create the first Big Daddy and Little Sister pairs. Here the Big Daddies of the Alpha Series were conceived and tested through the joint effort of Dr. Suchong and Gilbert Alexander. Work resumed until the successful bonding of Subject Delta to his Little Sister, Eleanor. Ryan then condemned the facility to put an end to Fontaine's legacy. Ryan Industries took over its many subdivisions at other locations throughout Rapture, such as the Genetic Research Dept. in Point Prometheus. Even after being condemned, Gil Alexander and several other scientists continued to work in the hidden research facility built behind the building.
After Ryan's death and the closure of the Civil War, Alexander assumed control of the entire facility, restructuring its security systems in the process to his own uses. Per order of Sofia Lamb, he also restarted the Protector Program, which had stopped when Rapture's society broke down, and in response to the failing supply of ADAM in the city. While Gil worked on the latest Big Daddy model, Sofia Lamb used the building herself to experiment with ADAM's uses for preserving memories and skills in DNA. Gil Alexander was the main candidate for these tests, but when the project left him horribly deformed and insane the building was abandoned by Lamb. The structure fell into a state of disrepair while under the control of "Alex the Great".
Fontaine Futuristics was made up of four buildings: an Atlantic Express train station on the North-East line of the transportation network, the main business headquarters and customer demonstration venues, the hidden ADAM laboratories, and a small wrecked outpost which contained a secret elevator to Persephone.
The main headquarters contained the marketing division of Fontaine Futuristics, as well as several tourist attractions to please visiting patrons. This included a small simulated laboratory room and a grand Plasmid Showroom to display the power of Plasmids. Behind the main headquarters was a building which housed the true ADAM laboratories where research and production of ADAM and Plasmids took place. These hidden labs contained many holding cells for Plasmid test subjects, who had been obtained from the Persephone Penal Colony.
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BioShock 2
- Main article: BioShock 2
Subject Delta and Augustus Sinclair travel to Fontaine Futuristics in search of Eleanor Lamb. They need to obtain a genetic key from Gilbert Alexander, which will unlock the hidden passage to Sofia Lamb's stronghold, Persephone, where she is holding her daughter. Facing them is Gil Alexander, who has become "Alex the Great", insane due to ADAM experiments performed upon him by Sofia Lamb. Before losing his sanity, he left a trail of recordings to instruct following strangers on how to destroy him.
"Alex the Great" contacts Delta through a highly modified and invulnerable Security Bot, which mounts a television screen which shows his manic stare, a speaker letting him talk to his victims, and a Tesla-coil device with which he sabotages devices, electrocutes his "employees", and carves messages into the walls. Alex controls the Bot through four hacked Bot Shutdown Panels, which Subject Delta must find and destroy in order to loosen the scientist's control over the facility. Delta can then access a place which holds the switch to the secret development labs where "Alex the Great" has his lair. Gil, a heavily mutated former scientist, calls upon Splicers and mad Alpha Series Big Daddies to attack Delta, including every time Delta destroys a relay panel.
Train Station Lobby
The Atlantic Express Train Station of Fontaine Futuristics had a building all to itself. The station has a lobby with a large window looking across to the main Fontaine building. A tunnel had connected the lobby to the Fontaine Building, but sometime after the war it collapsed. To the left of the lobby is an airlock built to provide access to maintenance divers and Big Daddies, containing diving equipment, lockers, and an airlock system.
Main Building
Fontaine Futuristics lobby.
The central building of the Fontaine headquarters was very tall and contained offices and departments for most of the administration for the company. The side of the building held an airlock system for Big Daddies and divers. The Lobby was located in the front of the building and was connected to the collapsed tunnel from the Train Station Lobby. The Lobby contained a small lounge for visitors, including a large fountain with a globe statue. Up the central stairs of the Lobby is a secured, barred door with a bio-scan camera confirming employee authorization and sanity levels among other things. Past the bio-scan doors is the reception desk, and beyond is a security office outside the main hallway of the Fontaine Futuristics headquarters.
First Floor
An Alpha Series in the Plasmid Show Rooms.
The central area of the Fontaine Futuristics building contained a large staircase, and was the main hub for all sections of the building. To the left of the entryway were the restrooms and a hallway leading to maintenance diver airlocks. The fake ADAM show laboratories were located directly across from the entryway.
To the right were the Plasmid Show Rooms, a theatre that demonstrated the power of Plasmids for investors and curious customers. It contained various props to amuse visitors, including the Incinerate! prop which released gouts of flame when touched, the Electro Bolt prop which generated a static field, and the Telekinesis prop which would cause anything near it to fly into the air.
Second Floor
The meeting room of the Marketing Division.
The second floor contained two areas of offices. Frank Fontaine's personal office was located directly above the reception area. Guarded by a Turret and requiring entry by secretary, Frank Fontaine's office was very secure. The interior was spacious and richly adorned with paintings and a giant bear statue. The left side of the office is adorned by a curtain hiding a wall of safes, smuggling evidence, and a personal diary of Fontaine's plan to unveil his new persona as Atlas. These prizes could only be found by turning a Hog Head Trophy set into the wall. Since the war, many of the portraits in the office have been defaced with scrawled insults such as WHORE! and LIAR!
Next to Fontaine's office were the main offices of the Marketing Division. The central room of the marketing division was a meeting room for employees to discuss planned advertising campaigns for the Plasmids. To the right of the meeting room was the office of the head of the Marketing Department, and to the left were the offices of rank and file employees.
ADAM Laboratories
Behind the main Fontaine Futuristics building was a hidden facility where the real ADAM research and development took place. It contained laboratories and cells to hold the test subjects, as well as the apparatus to bond a Protector Big Daddy to a Little Sister. In the Atrium of the facility was a large control panel that controlled the electricity and power of the Labs. Also, a large tank for studying sea-life was kept in the middle of the atrium.
This area has been overgrown by ADAM-infused plants that sprout red "Hypnosis Polyp" balls as fruit, which resemble the orb Subject Delta holds when the Hypnosis Plasmid is equipped. Enemies struck by these bursting polyps are hypnotized or enraged, just like the effect of the Plasmid.
Map
Station
Values
Bandito
Garden
Bank
Panel
Corpse
Vent
People Machine
Diary
Tonic
New Discoveries
Single Use Events
- There are 2 Power to the People vending machines.
- In the locked security room, after it becomes accessible.
- After the lights in the second area are on, it will be in the bottom of the holding cells area. It has to be opened by hacking a panel through a broken window.
- There are 2 Sea Slugs. On the 1st underwater walk: In a round piece of scaffolding. And on the 2nd walk: After sinking down the hole, walk up the stairs to the right.
New Plasmids and Tonics (Found)
- Damage Research - Gift from Eleanor before floodgate. Can't be overlooked.
- Vending Expert 2 - Reward for chasing the Unstable Teleport Plasmid.
- Drill Power 2 - In the Plasmid Laboratory, accessed through a hole in the wall on the second floor.
- Careful Hacker 2 - In the theater, accessed through the coded door.
New Enemies
- Alpha Series
- Alex the Great (choice only)
- Mark Meltzer (choice only)
Coded Doors
- Plasmids Showcase Theater - 5254
Audio Diaries
- For Radio Messages in Fontaine Futuristics, see Radio Messages: Fontaine Futuristics.
There are a total of 17 Audio Diaries:
- Before 1st flood door:
- Andrew Ryan - Alone at Last - Through the first door, on some crates.
- Before 2nd flood door:
- Gilbert Alexander - Agnus Dei - Story related, it's on a wall and you will have to pick it up to continue.
- Sofia Lamb - Means of Control - Just after Gil opens the doors, on a couch to the right of the Splicer stuck to the wall with Spears.
- Eleanor Lamb - Life After Sisterhood - Up the stairs to the left, next to the vent.
- Gilbert Alexander - Source of Volunteers - In the room with the flooded and electrified floor, on a box.
- Sofia Lamb - A New Cognitive Model - At the top of the stairs, kneel down in to the hole and drop down into the flooded room.
- Frank Fontaine - Goodbye to Fontaine - Turn the boar head in Frank Fontaine's office to reveal the secret stash.
- Gilbert Alexander - Prototype - Behind a locked door (code 5254), this room is found on the ground floor in the room with the Plasmid props.
- Gilbert Alexander - Abort the Experiment - On a table on your left as you're going into the Laboratory.
- After 2nd flood door:
- Gilbert Alexander - Solving for X - Just under the circuit breaker on the left of the area.
- Sofia Lamb - Gil's Place in the Plan - By the Gatherer's Garden on a box, just under the control panel/switch.
- Sofia Lamb - Meltzer's Choice - Search the roving Rumbler named Mark Meltzer at the ADAM Research Laboratory.
- Gilbert Alexander - Outlived Usefulness - Down in the pacification chamber area, on the control pane.
- Eleanor Lamb - Goodbye, Dr. Alexander - From where you have a vision about being connected to a Little Sister, straight, then right, it will be next to a vent.
- Andrew Ryan - Betrayal - Drop down into the cells, in a block of ice - you must go behind the cell via broken cell and melt the icicles on the door.
- Gilbert Alexander - Big Sister - Hack the door control to unlock the door, inside the locked room.
- Sofia Lamb - The People's Daughter - At the end of the level, just before you use the elevator, on the floor near table with a Big Daddy helmet.
Note: Once gone through the flood door there is no return!
Burial at Sea - Episode 1
An old photograph of the Fontaine Futuristics Headquarters.
- Main article: Burial at Sea - Episode 1
The front of the headquarters building can be seen twice in the Need to Know Theater production "Taking the Taint Out of Fontaine". The company's logo is also seen over various footage of the products at Fontaine's Department Store back when it was still in business.
Gallery
Concept Art and Promotional Images
In-Game Images
Bugs/Glitches
-
A glitch exists that may prevent the Natural Camouflage Gene Tonic from working in this level. - An interesting effect occur if the player uses the Scout Plasmid and enters the Marketing Room and then use Hypnotize 2 or 3 to hypnotize the Houdini Splicer sitting at the table, befriending him: Everyone at the table will stand up, like when the player normally enters and the Houdini will disappear. But when returning, the green glow is gone and he will not attack anything. Other enemies can not see him and shots fired by anyone will go straight through.
Behind the Scenes
The Accu-Vox loading screen.
- On the loading screen for Fontaine Futuristics, an image of an Accu-Vox office with Audio Diary equipment lying around sometimes shows. Level Designer Dean Tate confirmed in a thread on the official 2K BioShock 2 Forums that this section was cut from the game but originally had been part of the Marketing Offices in the level.[1]
- This level features the Unstable Teleport Plasmid Easter Egg.
- The room that the Unstable Teleport Plasmid takes the player to is apparently situated on the 5th floor of the Fontaine Futuristics building, to the north-east of the visible map.
- As stated in the Deco Devolution artbook by Hogarth de la Plante, Lead Environment Artist, 2K Marin: "The reason we called it Abyss was because 90% or even 100% was going to be out in the ocean underwater." The game file name for the level is still Abyss.
- Also as stated in the Deco Devolution artbook by Hogarth de la Plante, Lead Environment Artist, 2K Marin: "At first, after Fontaine Futuristics you went to Persephone Correctional Facility. We were thinking about all these crazy ways you could transition between those two because Persephone is hidden and it's supposed to be underneath Fontaine Futuristics. So, we had this idea for awhile that you would come up to the edge of this crazy ocean trench where Fontaine Futuristic ends and you'd jump off and fall into the Abyss. There was also the magical balloon ride idea as well where you'd use some kind of balloon device to float to the bottom."
- As stated in the Deco Devolution artbook by Devon St. Clair, 2K Marin: "This area was going to be the source of all ADAM in the ocean and the idea was that this area had become overgrown because of the power of ADAM and all the plants were infected with the lust for ADAM. Then we thought if Gil is in control of all the ADAM, why don't we make it so that Gil's influence is defined by these plants. So wherever there's a lot of these types of plants, that indicates that Gil's been there and he's controlling these plants." This states Gilbert's control over the level's environment.
- Due to the level's Skybox, the city of Rapture appears both in front of and behind the Headquarters building. In actuality the city is in front of the building, as the back of Fontaine Futuristics leads to an ocean trench.
- In Fontaine's office, the defaced portraits were made by Daniel Keating from photographs of himself wearing a suit. Keating was Irrational Games/2K Australia's Senior Artist for BioShock and worked on BioShock 2 as the primary Level Architect for Fontaine Futuristics.[2]
- In Burial at Sea - Episode 1, the front of the headquarters building can be seen twice in the Need to Know Theater production "Taking the Taint Out of Fontaine". The company's logo appearing in this level is also present in the video.
References
- ↑ Thread on cut Accu Vox Section
- ↑ Creating Fontaine Futuristics at dankeating.wordpress.com
| Locations and Businesses in Fontaine Futuristics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | Main Building | Frank Fontaine’s Plasmid Spectacular Theatre · Laboratories · Office of Frank Fontaine · Marketing Department |
| Secret ADAM Laboratories | Live Test Facility · Showers · Oxy-Fill | |