Inside Ryan’s office, Jack finds the failed tycoon playing golf alone before stopping and addressing him, asking what constitutes humanity and freedom, concluding that, “A man chooses, a slave obeys.” Showing Jack’s slavery to the phrase, “would you kindly,” Ryan orders Jack to kill him while he repeats in blood filled gurgles, “A man chooses, a slave obeys,” until he lies dead. Atlas asks, “would you kindly,” access Ryan’s terminal, pulling a lever that changes a logo from Ryan Industries to Fontaine Futuristics. Atlas congratulates Jack, dropping his disguise, revealing himself to be Frank Fontaine. Letting loose an elevator, Fontaine attempts to kill Jack.
Having survived, Jack awakens in a safe haven for little sisters created by Dr. Tenenbaum during the Rapture Civil-war when attacks on little sisters were rising. She relays the final entry in the sad tome of the fall of Rapture, revealing that Jack is Ryan’s illegitimate son, kidnapped by Fontaine to be used as his “ace in the hole” in the war against Ryan for supremacy of Rapture. Jack’s mind was rewritten by Yi Suchong for two coded inputs: “Would you kindly,” and, “Code Yellow,” which, when uttered by Fontaine, would cause Jack’s heart to stop, clipping the final loose thread. A flashback reveals that the audio log of Suchong and the boy with his puppy is none other than Jack himself during the mind control trials. Jack’s body was modified to age at an accelerated rate and was smuggled to the surface with orders to return to Rapture, as revealed in another flashback, by hijacking a plane and crashing it near the lighthouse in the ocean. With Ryan’s DNA Jack could bypass all the systems Ryan had denied the common citizen, allowing for the return and destruction of Andrew Ryan. LIke the rest of Rapture, “Atlas” played with Jack’s emotions by painting Ryan in an unflattering light, failing to explain his true motivations/actions (not allowing people to leave Rapture because of their dependence on ADAM and the fact Fontaine detonated the sub that housed Atlas’ “family”, not Ryan) until such a time as he could betray them all, as expressed with the dead body of Diane McClintock found in the office of Fontaine, holding her final audio where she reveals she uncovered the truth behind Atlas’ identity. Like the rest of Rapture, by the time they saw the truth it was too late: Caught between a man indifferent to their struggle and a man willing to kill and use to fulfill his lust for power and money.
In the end, Jack exacts his revenge in an incredibly satisfying sequence, proving his is no longer Atlas’/Fontaine’s slave by killing the man, and leaving Rapture, both saving the city and leaving the remaining citizens to their own devices. Depending upon Jack’s interactions with the little sisters through the game determine what ending you see: Either Jack brings the little sisters to the surface where they are given a chance to live life on their own terms, coming back to Jack’s side on his deathbed; or Jack returns to the surface with a small army of splicers, harnessing the worst of Rapture’s strength and savagery seizing a nuclear submarine in an open ending. Both conclusions (while vastly different) are satisfying and leave the interfacer wanting more, eager to plunge back into Rapture and experience any minor detail they might have missed.
