According to the Gene Bank, Julie had one free gene tonic slot left. Julie was thinking about it as she walked along, looking for anything interesting, checking to see which way the arrow was pointing, and occasionally killing splicers. Eventually she decided not to bother buying any tonics from that point on. She'd still use any gene tonics she found if they were useful, and she'd only buy tonic slots if she ran out of room. She briefly wondered why the Cure and Cure to the Cure and all the other changes that would have been made as she was turned into a Little Sister didn't seem to take up any slots. Maybe Ma put them somewhere else.

Julie, how are you doing?

Julie was surprised for a moment. 'Eleanor! Where were you?!'

There were some things I needed to take care of, mostly procuring more ADAM for future use. It will be at least a couple of hours before it's ready, possibly longer if I experience any interference.

Julie shrugged. 'I'll be fine. I finally managed to get out of Vulcan so there ought to be at least a couple of Little Sisters I can find.'

So that's what Mother was talking about…Where are you now?

'Artemis Apartments. I got threatened by an Australian woman.'

Naledi Atkins. She was part of the Sinclair program with Norris. She's…I believe the most polite term is 'adrenaline junkie'.

'Sounds like a typical Australian.'

That seems a bit stereotypical of you.

Eleanor sounded a bit disappointed so Julie assumed that was a bad thing. 'Uh…What does stereotypical mean?'

It means that you apply a set of behaviors to a group of people, even if it doesn't necessarily apply to certain individuals.

'I've met Australians. They're all testosterone fueled assholes. 'Cept for Sniper 'cause he's immune to Australium.'

…Immune to what?

Julie wasn't surprised that Eleanor didn't know about Australium. 'It's some metal mostly found in Australia that makes people smarter and stronger. Makes 'em act crazy though. They mostly keep it a secret so no one tries to mine the Australium and exhaust the supply. Ma only knows 'cause Ryan managed to get his hands on a few ounces before he came to Rapture. I only know 'cause Ma told us why we shouldn't dig up that one spot in the backyard.'

Are you making that up?

'Nope. It's a real thing. We have a couple of ounces hidden in our backyard in case of an emergency.'

How come I've never heard of it?

'Like I said, Australians keep Australium a secret. I'm surprised Ryan was able to find out about it at all. Besides Atkins and any other Australians, I'm not sure if anyone still in Rapture knows about it.'

Probably for the best. Can you imagine if something like that was combined with the effects of ADAM?

Julie winced. 'Yeah, I am not looking forward to fighting Atkins.'

...What's wrong?

'Just…it sounds like she's a typical Australian, and one of my bosses is too-'

It's not that. For a moment I thought I felt…self-loathing.

Julie paused. 'You can feel what I feel?'

Very faintly.

Julie subconsciously went to facepalm and ended up smearing her window. She frowned and started looking for something to wipe it off. 'It's nothing. I just had a talk with Ma.'

What about?

'Just stuff. It's nothing new.' Julie found some old newspaper and started wiping at the glass with it. 'I'll deal with it later.'

…All right. If that's how you feel, but I'll be here if you change your mind.

Julie felt annoyed at Eleanor and hoped she felt it. Eleanor may be one of the few people who'd understand what she was going through, but that didn't mean she wanted to talk about it. Eleanor should be able to understand that.

Julie tossed aside the newspaper and got back to work.