Author's Notes: Hello everyone! So, after over a month of waiting…here is the next chapter!
I'll likely have a long endnote for this chapter but there are a few things that I must say here before that.
Firstly, I'm sad to say that this chapter will not be the introduction of Medical Pavilion. Instead, it will be the teens learning in much more detail about a few of the horrors within Rapture. In part, this chapter is based off of an observation made by the Gunmaster when he commented about the scene in which the Little Sister is revealed when he said, "Well, the part with the little sisters... they never really had any effect on me in-game, they didn't carry much impact for me. You hammered home 2K and Irrational's points home with that scene, sometimes you just have to visualize it in you're head for the full effect to be known, you know?" Yes, I do know and that's basically the point of this chapter, hammering home the game's points.
Secondly, I know that this is WAY after the fact but I may have misinformed some people before. When I said my story got on TVtropes, I likely made it sound like that I got a page. In actuality, I got a recommendation. Still very good, don't get me wrong! But that means that those of you looking for a detailed break down of this story by TVtropes were sadly disappointed. Sorry for anyone that happened too. :( Maybe if this story gets popular enough it will get its own page? We'll have to see. :)
Thirdly, this is something that I should have been putting in these starting author's notes all along. But better late than never, I guess. So far you guys that have been leaving reviews have done a decent job of it by yourselves but I must flat out say it: please don't leave any spoilers in your reviews! You see, several of the people who have been reading this story since day one have never actually played the first Bioshock and therefore have no idea of the major twists down the road. If you know what the twists are, you know that they are DAMN GOOD and shouldn't be spoiled. So please, either leave spoilers out of your reviews or make them so vague that those who have never played Bioshock won't get what you're talking about. Starting now, I'll be putting this at the start of every chapter of this story.
So, having said all of that, here's the fourteenth chapter of "Total Drama Raptured": The Trails of Transition
Behind the bulkhead, the four teens found an empty room even smaller than the one before, nothing more and nothing less. It had four walls, two made of glass and two of the heavy metal doors taking up the remaining sides. The glass sides offered no view other than a rock wall on either side, but they were happy with just having somewhere to rest. The most redeeming quality was the doors themselves, they were designed to completely seal off one building if it was destroyed or flooded. This design was what separated them from the hoard of insane splicers that were no doubt trying to kill them.
They were finally safe. None of them were here.
No Splicers.
No Big Daddies.
No Little Sisters.
No Monsters.
This was the first moment of peace after what felt like hours of fear and panic, even though it was less than one hour…much less in all likelihood. But that didn't matter. Nothing was trying to kill them, and nothing was going to break in.
So overcome with happiness at realizing that, Cody, Courtney, Gwen, and Noah did the ultimate gesture of expressing graduate…they collapsed, subconsciously near each other.
For the first time in what felt like ages, they felt that they could finally breathe… really breath. True, the air was nearly as stale and stinking but they could breathe it in peace.
This newly found peace also allowed the teenagers to take note of several details not noticed by them before then they feared for their lives. Their clothes (whether Cody's light yellow shirt, Courtney's grey/white top, Gwen's top with blue/green sleeves, or Noah's red sweater) were now a mesh of splicer blood, seawater, and their own sweat. In the mostly constant darkness of the bulkhead, their arms still pulsed with blue electricity. The feeling inspired by the sparks was both that of power but also numbing annoyance. Though the teens never would have thought it could be possible, the notion of having one's hand able to create electricity was becoming less and less strange to them.
The next realization came from them discovering how their bodies felt. All four teenagers had their muscles aching all over and were very tired. But that didn't mean that the states of the four teenagers were equal. The damage that was endured by Cody and Noah was only a fraction of what Courtney and Gwen had experienced and were feeling now. Courtney had a bullet in her left shoulder and was constantly moved her arm and squeezing her hand, noticing how her left arm moved with difficult and her hand's grasp was weak. Gwen had searing pain in her right shoulder, she dreaded having to move it later, as she knew she would. Also, her head at been struck at point blank range by a metal pipe. She had experienced bad headaches before but none compared to this one.
Cody looked on the wounded Goth with eyes saying that they saw nothing else. In the fading blue light of the teens' combined inactive Electro bolts, Cody saw something. His teal eyes widened; his mind began race with countless worried thoughts before speaking.
"Dear God, Gwen, your eyes are bleeding!" Cody says with fright in his voice and face.
Gwen froze at this and tentatively touched around her eyes with her left hand. It came back slick with a substance other than water, but it wasn't blood. It was her eye shadow, almost all gone but leaving streaks on her face. Small patches of it still remained in place. The Goth attributed this development to both the sweat pouring from her face since getting here and falling face first onto the puddle filled floor of the Rapture Metro.
Gwen showed Cody that it wasn't blood thanks to the passive Electro bolt showing the liquid to be black instead of red. Cody was pleased. The Goth, despite her situation, sighed in relief at it not being blood. But then Gwen realized something. Given the force of the pipe that hit her head, she should have been dead. Her head should have exploded like a TNT filled watermelon. At the same time, she had another thought, this one about Courtney. Since a bullet was now lodged in her left shoulder, the Goth felt that she shouldn't be capable of using that arm at all. But, thought clearly weaker than her right arm, the C.I.T. had used it in the battle. While not ungrateful, Gwen was still curious.
How were her and Courtney's injures not as bad as they should have been?
These realizations lead to an emotional state that was extremely confusing to her. On the one hand, she was still injured, in pain, and in a world more crazy and dangerous than any she ever could have imagined. But on the other, she and the others were still alive. Gwen had never truly appreciated the simple beauty of having her heart continue to beat until tonight. And, despite her loner personality, she was almost glad to be with others.
These thoughts were interrupted when white noise started to fill the room as the shortwave radio still on Courtney came to life.
"Now you've met Andrew Ryan, the bloody king of Rapture. You alright there kiddies, all your little bits and pieces make it outta there?" Atlas asks.
Courtney brought the device to her lips and responded, "We…we made it out in one piece. Bu-but I got sh-shot in my left shoulder and Gwen got hit really hard on her right shoulder and head. And were all really sore."
"Well that last one is certainly understandable, lassy." Atlas says with a faint chuckle.
Hearing his Irish brogue again reminded Courtney about how soothing his voice was. She couldn't really explain why but something about it would immediately calm her shot nerves. She didn't know why but it was there and she, and the others, didn't fight it. Instead, they welcomed it; especially after the closest any of them ever came to dying.
However, Atlas' voice than became more serious as he asked Courtney, "Can you move your left arm and is, uh, Gwen, still conscious and able to move her right arm?"
After Atlas asked this question but before Courtney could respond, Gwen reached out. Using her right arm, pain shot through it but she was still able to grab the radio.
"Yeah, I'm still conscious. And though it feels like red-hot needles are being dug into it, I can still use my right arm. Courtney's left arm seems functional, thought its weaker." Gwen says, her voice a little on edge thanks to constant pain in her head and right arm.
To Gwen's shock (and anger), she heard Atlas release a sigh of relief after hearing that.
"Hey! There's nothing to sigh at. We're still in a lot of pain, Atlas!" Gwen snaps.
"I have no doubts about that. Sorry if I seem uncarin' Gwen but I'm glad your alive. From what you've told me, you and Courtney should either be dead or very crippled." Atlas says, voice full of understand and regret but also a tiny bit of frustration.
This was enough to get past Gwen's strong frustration and make her feel very guilty.
"Look…I'm sorry Atlas. I didn't mean to snap. But this is a lot to take in, you know?" Gwen says with her raspy voice being low with shame.
"I understand. I don't think I've even taken in all that there is to Rapture, and who knows how long my sorry, old Irish arse has been stuck here?" Atlas says with his voice light.
This got as chuckle out of the teens. Even though he released a light laugh, Noah thought of something, 'How long has he been down here? Could it really be for over sixty years?'
Despite Noah thinking of that question, Gwen asked another, one much more relevant.
"Atlas, do you have any idea how it is that me and Courtney aren't dead, or as injured as we likely should be?" The Goth asked, shivering at the memory of their being injured.
There was a pause, likely from Atlas trying to figure out an answer.
"I'm sorry to say but I'm not right sure me-self. But I've heard a few theories here and there. You know, the kind of a-woman-told-me-that-a-woman-told-her thing. But the one that makes the most sense to me is that its 'cause of the ADAM now in your bodies." (1)
"What do you mean?"
"ADAM does a lot of things to the body, I doubt that anyone right knows all of them. But one I do know for a fact is that ADAM makes the body tougher, more durable I mean. Sure, bein' shot or clubbed is gonna hurt like a savage Sunday punch to the ol' blarney stones but least ye can keep on swingin' like a proper barroom bogger, aye?"
"So, even though it still hurts just as badly, we can endure far worse injuries than normal thanks to ADAM?" Gwen asks, having understood only a part of what Atlas just said.
"Exactly. And it looks like the wee bit you got from that Electro bolt has been doin' you all good so far. Luckily, there are some other means of healin' what ale's ya in Medical. But it can't compare to ADAM, the more of the sickly sauce ya get, the more your wounds will heal fuller and hurt less afterward."
The teenager's minds were blown once again. So ADAM not only gave you superpowers but also was capable of reducing physical injuries while making your body tougher? No wonder the people down here got hooked on it and wanted a lot more of the stuff!
Noah grabbed the radio out of Gwen's hand, startling her. "Hold on, if ADAM makes you less vulnerable to injury, then how come we were able to kill so many splicers when they've likely ingested far more ADAM than us?"
"Good question boyo. Again, this is only me tryin' to piece together what I've heard in rumors and happenstance but it seems that unless fresh ADAM is constantly consumed, the ADAM starts to weaken the body, actually causin' it the body to eat away at itself. That might be why their faces are so deformed, the ADAM's breakin' their bodies down without any new ADAM. Though still tougher than any sods without any ADAM at all, a splicer's body is still in pretty sorry shape from a lack of food and ADAM, Whereas you kiddies are healthy and just got ADAM, so you have all of the perks but none of the weaknesses. They've had ADAM, but not much, likely in a very long time. And you have those bulkin' Big Daddies to thank for keepin' the splicers from gettin' much ADAM."
As crazy and initially illogical as it sounded, the more the teens thought about it, the more that explanation actually made sense. That would explain why, despite being so weak looking and likely starving, that the splicers had easily overpowered Courtney at first before Cody discovered the Electro bolt and through it the only ADAM they so far had.
It also presented a truly troubling paradox. They both had to ingest ADAM to keep themselves stronger than the splicers while not going insane but if they ingested not enough or too much they'd start to become just as weak (within the context of Rapture that is) as those same splicers.
How in the hell could they hope to maintain that tightrope while fighting for their lives!?
Choosing to not dwell on that kind of question, Courtney took the radio from Noah. Atlas' last words had reminded her of something. Having the radio, she asks, "Now that there no splicers…ha-how and why did they make the Big Daddies and Little Sisters?"
She heard a heavy sigh on the radio before Atlas responded with, "Aye, that's true. I did say I'd tell ya that when you were safe. I'll be honest; part of me doesn't want to tell ya. But…you've got to know what you're jumpin' in to. Give me a sec; I've gotta have a drink first."
For a few seconds all that filled the air were jarring clucking of ice being dropped into a glass and slow plopping of a liquid being poured over that ice into the same glass. With one hungry gulp, the glass was put back on whatever Atlas at it on. After that, Atlas began speaking to the teens once again. They were more curious about what he'd say.
"Let's start with 'em Big Daddies. Its shady at best but I've heard that the first trances of those lumbering palookas were 'round long before 'em Lil' Sisters were, tinkered with mere months after ADAM was first discovered. I think they were meant to produce workers who could survive in the open sea for long periods of time. I don't rightly know but what I do know is that if that was true, they were largely unused. Turns out Ryan and the others here couldn't stand 'em…until the ADAM started runnin' too low, 'course."
For a reason he couldn't explain, the blunt way Atlas said that got a chuckle out of Noah. Something about that last part tickled his cynical view of the world, a growing comfort.
"They may look like the robots from those pulp magazine covers but they are men… mostly men in those suits, at least they once were. They were some of the poor blighters who had been caught breakin' a rule, didn't matter if it was wantin' Ryan's head on a platter or tryin' to leave Rapture or sayin' that this place was becoming a nightmare or just stealing an apple to not starve to death. It made no difference when these "candidates", as they would call 'em, are tranquilized and taken away."
Atlas stopped for a moment, likely collecting himself. This was clearly not easy for him to say. The teens were certainly scared enough and they felt like the horrible stuff was yet come. And they were proven right when Atlas started speaking to them again.
"They are a sad lot, you see, bein' made into a Big Daddy is a one-way street. They…they…they pump ya full of ADAM and twist your genes…by-by removing your organs from ya body and puttin' ya in these massive vats…" Atlas pauses for a moment.
In that moment, the teens looked at each, seeing their fearful expressions on the others. Any lingering chuckle within Noah's throat was effectively killed by this new info. Despite himself, Cody found his geeky nature taking over as he thought of Darth Vader; he got the impression that like the iconic Sith lord, the Big Daddies were more machine now than man…and couldn't be redeem themselves by saving any long-lost sons. Both Courtney and Gwen were questioning if they had heard Atlas correctly, if it was real. The two girls then felt themselves flashing back to when they killed their first splicers, to how the slap from Noah and the warm hug from Cody confirmed that this all was in fact real.
"From what I understand, you see and feel everything they do to ya. I remember one fella who said that when first told 'bout the Big Daddies, Ryan had one order for the docs makin' 'em, 'Parasites don't deserve anesthetics'. Some of my friends have been captured by Ryan's boys…sometimes I lose sleep over wonderin' whether any of 'em were made into those things! Have I seen them since and not even known it!?"
Again, Atlas briefly fell silent. The teens were starting to feel guilty asking Atlas this question. As the pauses and his fluctuations in speech showed, it wasn't easy for him. From what it sounded like, a lot of his friends, among the small number of sane people down here, might have had to endure a process they couldn't wrap their minds around.
"After…after that, then they graft your organs into those bulky diving suits. Once in, there's no way out…bein' removed from the suit will kill ya. Its like an Iron Lung, except you can still walk around. After that, they use Plasmids and tonics to make much stronger n' faster than your average Joe. And then they monkey with your mind, take away your free will, I mean. After they make you a mindless metal drone, they make you bond with a Little Sister for you to protect 'em with somethin' called 'fairy-moans', I think?"
Despite his horror at what Atlas had told him so far, Noah found his voice coming up as he asks with unintended chuckle once again, "Do you mean pheromones, Atlas?"
"Meebe that's it," Atlas says, his voice slightly unruffled, his already thick Irish accent spreading thicker than normal over the word "maybe" as a result. "They use phe-phero…those things…to control the Big Daddies by bondin' them to the Little Sisters."
Sensing the brief change in Atlas' tone, the other teens glared at Noah for chuckling.
Seeing this, the Bookworm took the shortwave radio with a roll of his eyes and says, "Sorry for chuckling at you, Atlas."
"That's alright. I don't pretend to know all the fancy five-dollars words down here." Atlas says to Noah with his voice much lighter and at ease.
Shocking everyone, including himself, Noah then actually began to feel a little guilt. Acting on this, the Bookworm says, "Listen, if you don't want to say anymore right now, that's ok. We can learn the rest later."
"I am grateful for the sentiment but I'm alright. You need to know the whole puzzle. Right now, you've only got half of it." Atlas says before another brief pause, followed by the sounds of him taking another drink…and then a third right after.
The teens could easily guess why, he getting himself ready to talk about the Little Sisters.
"Anyway, as I've already told ya, the demand for ADAM skyrocketed after Plasmids were made. Everybody and their grandmother wanted to have superpowers. The demand was so great that the means of makin' ADAM couldn't keep up with the demand. A bit after Plasmids came into the picture, people started dyin' left and right, a lot of parents too. There were a lot of orphans…and no orphanages, or any other type of charity in Rapture. So, bein' the kind of bugger Rapture was meant for, somebody built one."
"I'm going to guess that this orphanage wasn't built solely to house these orphans, uh?" Noah asks.
"Sadly, yes. The orphanage was a front, meant to hide the real aims…ones far less noble. You see, the guy that built the orphanage was a major figure here; he had a near monopoly on the Plasmid industry, Rapture's big cash crop, if ya will. He had a few brilliant scientists workin' for him…including one named Brigid Tenenbaum."
Even though it only lasted for a microsecond, both Courtney and Gwen had the same exact thought after they heard this scientist's name…they both thought of Bridgette. For Courtney, the blond surfer was pretty much her only friend among the contestants. And for Gwen, despite having some fraction between them after her breaking up with Trent, the Goth still felt that Bridgette was one of the only sane contestants on Total Drama. The two girls were missing their shared friend…another reminder of the Hell they were in.
Unaware of these feelings from the two girls, Atlas continued speaking without pause.
"She helped discover ADAM, and it was her who had the idea for how to make more. It was she who first suggested puttin' that sea slug in the…"
"What!? A sea slug!? You mean to tell me that these powers came from a mollusk!?" Noah interrupted.
"Aye. Though the powers were man-made, the slugs offered the raw material needed." Atlas says without any batting an eye, confirming its truth despite how mad it sounded.
"Anyway, they take the slug and attach it to the lining of some small one's stomach. For some daft reason I can't figure the salty snails didn't like the little lads, only the girls. Dunno why? Regardless, the two become one. Sim-be-odd-ec is what I think they call it." Atlas says, stretching outthe clearly unfamiliar word of "symbiotic" by each syllable. "The little human girl becomes a Little Sister. Then they do somethin' to 'em, something to their minds…make them actually like gathering ADAM."
"Do you mean mental conditioning?" Noah asks.
After Atlas confirms that is what others called it, Gwen couldn't help but ask, "You mean like Pavlov's dogs, the thing with the bell and food?" (2)
"That's what it sounds like to me." Noah says, a look of horror etched on his brown face. With his extensive knowledge of the human mind and bleak outlook on the world, the Bookworm had a better grasp than many as to how it was possible to program these Little Sisters into actually finding enjoyment in drinking ADAM from corpses. It scared him.
"Whatever ya call it, that's what they did to those little tykes. And after that they…that long needle, that's how it gets ADAM, from corpses. Like you all saw in the theater. The Lil' Sisters call 'em "angels". Believe me, there's plenty of those "angels" down here. Seems like takin' Plasmids makes men and women make some ADAM in their torsos. After drinking that stuff down like it was whiskey, they throw it right back up again. But, from what I've been told, the amount of ADAM made is twenty, thirty times greater. And…"
Again, Atlas fell silent before resuming speaking. Now his voice seemed worn down.
"Of all of the things in this hell, that's the thing that gives me the most horrible nightmares. The thought of those wee-little girls doin' stuff like that; it just cuts me up inside. But there's more. Soon enough, they started runnin' out of orphans. They turned to kidnappin'…I highly doubt there's a single girl in Rapture that's not a Lil' Sister. I've known some people whose girls were taken…I can't begin to imagine their despair."
For a third time, Atlas paused before continuing. When he spoke again, his voice was so sad and so raw…it was the voice of someone who had stared into the abyss.
"I take back what I said…that's the thing that cuts me up the most, that chills me so. I imagine the parents…the little girls crying for their ma's and pa's as they're puttin' that slug in 'em and wipin' their minds "clean" as if they were dirty windows…its too much. There are no children in Rapture. If not for me little Patrick, I'd have forgotten what a happy child sounds like, how beautiful the giggling of the wee ones can be, long ago. Please…please…help me get my family out of this place…please…"
All of the teens could sympathize with this view; this was more horrifying than they ever could have guessed! Men turned into soulless automatons, literally losing everything that made them human: their bodies, their minds, and their free will! Little girls implanted with parasites, orphans conditioned to enjoy becoming a fangless vampire of the dead!
As Atlas had explained what happens to create a Little Sister, Gwen had her hands over her mouth. The normally strong-willed Goth was almost reduced to tears by this reveal. Courtney was in more of less the same boat, only her hands were placed over her heart. While she couldn't fully uproot her sympathizes for Objectivism, they were weakened. Noah thought back to his family, in particular his nine siblings. The Bookworm never had any strong attachment to any of them but hearing about the Big Daddies and Little Sisters made him thankful that they would never have to experience anything like Rapture.
But it was the group's Tech Geek who had the greatest and most shocking reaction. Cody felt within him a righteous fire the likes of which he never knew he had. This was too much, even after everything that he had seen and endured…the Little Sisters were too much! How could he stand by and allow so many innocent girls to be abused like this!? He was healthy; he had superpowers…why not try to save all of Rapture's Little Sisters?
But then Cody felt his right hand becoming numb; he saw the weakening blue glow. The Tech Geek then turned to Courtney and Gwen, seeing their injuries as if for the first time. He remembered how they had used almost all of their bullets and EVE hypos just now. He remembered seeing the Big Daddy; remembered the fear that made him wet himself.
Without any visual indicator, Cody realized the horrible truth, or at least the latest one that is…it would be a miracle if he and the others simply got out of Rapture alive. They were just four teenagers; contestants on a reality television show for goodness sake! Even with superpowers, there was no way they'd be able to save any of these Little Sisters. Rapture was simply too massive, too overwhelming…and they were so small and weak.
And for Cody, this wasn't anything new. All of his life, he was small and weak. Cody knew he could never be anything more than that. He was the pathetic tweeb who no girl ever fancied because he was always overshadowed by the bigger and sexier alpha-males. This season itself offered proof of that…he had not done one noteworthy thing for his team. In fact, he almost felt like that it was because of Sierra alone that he hadn't been eliminated before this point. Like always, this honest but hard view of himself hurt him.
But maybe, just maybe…he could at least be for once, if only partially, not small and weak? Maybe if he could get Gwen out of Rapture, he could find value in himself and be able at long last to silence those thundering self-doubts echoing endlessly in his skull?
Thinking of that, Cody's thoughts drifted elsewhere…to a much darker place. Grabbing the shortwave radio, Cody asks, "How, exactly, are we suppose to get more ADAM?"
For a few seconds, only the faintest of static grumblings came from the shortwave radio.
"Well…every new Plasmid or tonic ya find will give you a wee bit of ADAM but, but…"
Atlas sighed and paused again, this time for a little longer, before continuing.
"Listen, I ain't gonna sugarcoat it for ya…as much as I'd like to. If you kiddies want to make it out of this nightmare alive, your gonna need to harvest 'em Lil' Sisters. As I said, the ADAM is made by the slug in their stomachs…to get the ADAM ya need the slug. You gotta remove the slug from the sister."
"What happens to the Little Sister after you remove the slug?" Cody asks.
For all long space of time, there was only silence. Atlas offered no answers and no one else dared to speak. Everyone within the bulkhead was reeling from what was implied.
"Ya-you…you do-don't, mean…" Cody eventually tries to ask amid his reeking horror.
"I'm afraid so, boyo." Atlas says with his voice the heaviest the teens ever heard it. "The only way to get the ADAM you need to survive is to…to ka-kill the Little Sisters…"
Cody, and the other teens, couldn't speak after hearing that. They could barely breath. Their minds were becoming violent oceans, churning with waves of conflicting emotions. The sympathy they felt for the Little Sisters now clashing with the realization that despite that they would have to murder them…to see the corpse of a little girl…a Little Sister…
All of them returned to when they killed their first splicers…and how sick they felt after. They could only guess that the same feeling would exist after killing a Little Sister…only magnified a million fold because it wouldn't be a psycho trying to kill them, it would be a little girl who would likely be cowering in fear and begging for her life…for its life.
Amid their shared revulsion, the teens almost missed Atlas's voice when it returned.
"I-I know…I know how that must sound…believe me, I cringed just sayin' it to ya. But its gotta be done. As hard as it is to say, without more ADAM you're as good as dead. Remember, they ain't little girls anymore. In body and mind, they ain't human anymore. I know its not as easy as I make it sound but you gotta not dwell on that sort of thing…it will only slow you down. And if you slow down in Rapture…you stop for good, dead. Please promise me that you'll try to not worry about crossin' that bridge till ya get there. Would you kindly promise me that?"
"Yes, Atlas. I promise that we won't worry about that until the time comes. Right guys?" Cody says before looking at the other three teens. Despite their horror-filled faces, they all nodded their heads. There was more than enough on their plate as it was; there was no space for bad things that might happen when there were so many others things that were.
"Good on ya. Believe me, it will help…have I lied to you yet, boyo?" Atlas asks in relief.
Before Cody could answer that question, they noticed that there was a brief vibration. Moments after that vibration…the left door of the bulkhead started to swing open.
They had reached the Medical Pavilion!
Cody, Courtney, Gwen, and Noah were able to once again enter Rapture. They were about to abandon the only safety they've had here.
With his feet feeling heavy with the new information he had just learned clashing with his greater resolve to leave this hell, Cody was the first teen to exit the bulkhead. The others quickly followed suit.
As his moss-green sneakers began walking on the tiles of the Medical Pavilion, Cody's mind buzzed with so many thoughts, still trying to process everything that he'd learned.
One thought in particular caused Cody's mind to find no respite from itself.
'When the times comes will I be able to do it…will I be able to kill a Little Sister?'
All right, so there you have it…the latest chapter of "Total Drama Raptured"!
I am both pleased and disappointed with this chapter. Part of the reason is because this is a chapter in which several things are made clear to the teens and you readers. The main things that are explained are: how is it that the teens will be able to survive things like being shot (or at least not as injured as they should be), why the splicers are both so strong and yet so weak compared to the teens, what exactly was involved with the creations of both the Big Daddies and Little Sisters while really focusing on the many things that are so horrifying about that, and that there will come a point where the four teenagers will be force to choose whether to kill the Little Sisters or not. Despite the mostly mechanically need to explain these things; I hope it was nevertheless enjoyable to read. Please let me know in a review, ok?
While I don't normally like to explain the meanings behind the chapter titles, I feel like I must do so with this one. "The Trails of Transition" is meant to have two meanings. 1. It takes place during the literal transition from "Welcome to Rapture" to "Medical Pavilion". 2. It highlights the transitions involved with the creations of the Big Daddies and Little Sisters. Hopefully this title now makes sense…hopefully.
(1) While writing this chapter, in particular Atlas, I had a minor epiphany. You see, as you've likely guessed, Atlas is not just Irish but very salt-of-the-earth kind of Irish but despite that, a lot of what Atlas says doesn't sound particularly Irish aside from the accent. So, I decided that I should try to portray that Irish accent better. Also, I likely didn't have to but I feel the need to inject a little bit more "Irishness" into Atlas by having him use actually Irish sayings and proverbs. If this makes the character too hard to understand, please tell me and I will stop the madness! But until I learn of your views, here's what the only Irish saying used so far mean:
"A-woman-told-me-that-a-woman-told-her" means, "Someone else told me that".
(2) What Gwen is referring to is a classic experiment by Russian physiologist Dr. Ivan Pavlov. In the early 1900's, Dr. Pavlov would ring a bell right before presenting some dogs with some food. This caused the dogs to salivate for the tasty food. After doing this enough times, the dogs would begin salivating when they heard the bell, even when there was no food present. The point is that it is possible to change how something reacts to a stimulus when it experiences the same circumstances with that stimulus enough times. But there's a darker side to this theory as well, he also used electric shocks on dogs (not sure if the same ones) that came after the ticking of a metronome and eventually the dogs would yelp in pain at just the ticking of a metronome without any shocks. And this isn't limited to dogs, experiments since Pavlov's time show that humans, in particular children are just as mentally malleable to this type of conditioning as dogs are. I'm not going to pretend that I have extensive knowledge of this process or the debates that likely came afterward regarding its legitimacy…I really don't have any clue about such things. However, what I can say with some certainty is that if a child were conditioned enough starting at a early enough age, they could be made to enjoy activities that someone without that same conditioning would be horrified by and never consider.
As always, I'd be beyond grateful for reviews expressing your opinions. In particular, I'd like to know your views on: explaining the processes of making the Big Daddies and Little Sisters, Atlas' portrayal, the reactions of the teenagers, and my explanation for the increasing toughness of the teenager's bodies in Rapture.
So, next time we turn to the teenagers risking their lives within Medical Pavilion!
But until that point, please read, review, favor, fellow, and spread the word!