"Is that the last of them?" asked Demo.
Sniper didn't see any Splicers moving. He was tempted to double tap them, but he didn't think he could afford to waste his ammo. "Think so," he grunted.
Soldier was already picking pockets. Trusting that he could take care of himself if any were playing dead, they walked back out to the hallway.
"Can I blow the door down now?" asked Demo.
"Yes," said Heavy before Spy could answer.
Demo grinned, stuck some sticky bombs on the door, stepped back, and pushed the trigger. The explosion easily destroyed the door.
…Sniper was sure he heard a scream. "Someone's in there."
So they were cautious going in, but there was only one man in there…Who was noticeably unspliced. Sniper kept his kukri on hand anyway.
"Ah, slugs," commented Spy, nodding towards a fish tank. "Would you please fetch one for us Sniper?"
Sniper walked over to the tank and took a moment to stare at the slugs inside. They weren't any species he'd seen before. Some were a dark gray with glowing pink spots on them. Others were black with glowing yellow spots. He wasn't sure which one was the correct type.
"And who might you be?" asked Spy.
"I'm just a doctor," said the man with an Eastern European accent.
Sniper decided to just take a couple of each type and grabbed a nearby jar that he filled with water from the tank.
"Heads…"
"…Did that sword just talk?"
"Demo, please remain calm," said Spy.
Sniper was relieved to find some tongs. He didn't really want to touch any sort of sea slug. He knew of some particularly toxic species.
"What sort of doctor are you exactly?" asked Spy.
"A surgeon."
"Who do you perform surgery on exactly? There's only a handful of sane, unspliced individuals left in Rapture."
Sniper screwed the lid onto the jar, and suddenly noticed a cassette tape a couple of feet away.
"Well, they still get sick."
Sniper grabbed the tape. It was unlabeled.
"But this place has something to do with producing Little Sisters," argued Spy. "I'm annoyed to admit I don't know how they are made, but I'm assuming they were originally normal children."
Sniper tensed and turned around. "The hell? Is that where those bodies came from?"
Spy gave Sniper a look. "What bodies?"
"The ones in the freezer that Demo found," explained Sniper, glancing at Demo.
Demo's remaining eye was glowing brightly, and he looked angrier than Sniper could ever recall seeing him, including during that grudge match with the BLU Soldier.
"…Ah. I believe I understand," said Spy. "Not all of the girls survive the process, do they?"
At that point Heavy went from looking somewhat confused to enraged and said something in Russian.
"That's not my fault," insisted the doctor.
That was apparently the wrong thing to say because Heavy punched him in the temple hard enough to make a cracking sound and send him flying headfirst into the surgical table behind him, producing another cracking sound before the doctor collapsed to the ground.
Everyone stared for a moment. Then Pyro set the doctor on fire.
"I have finished scavenging money and supplies!" announced Soldier from the doorway. "I have not found any slugs!"
"That's fine. We did," said Sniper, hefting the jar. He held up the tape. "This too."
Spy took the tape. "Good. Let's go." He put the tape in the player as they left.
"I don't understand," said an upset little girl.
"You are a Little Sister. That is all you are, not a person," said a man with an accent Sniper couldn't place.
"But why?"
"Because you are meant to produce ADAM, nothing more. If catatonic individuals actually produced enough ADAM-."
"But-But I like being Julie!"
"Hmph. Very well. I see you need to be reconditioned."
"No! Please!"
"You will be taken back to the training facility right away. You may return once you start behaving properly."
"Jesus." It took Sniper a moment to realize that came from him.
It seemed to have affected Heavy as well. "Little Girl! Is time to leave!"
There was a faint clanging sound before the Little Sister that they'd all become familiar with climbed out of a vent (There seemed to be a lot more around here than other places.) and ran over. Heavy picked her up, looked her over, and put her on a shoulder.
They quickly made their way back to the bathysphere. The trip back was quiet. Even Soldier was unusually silent.
When they got back to Olympus Heights they headed straight to the safe house. Scout's mother took the jar and carefully started working on one of the slugs. Sniper just slid down against one of the walls. He felt exhausted and wanted to get some sleep while he could.