All Good Things Of This Earth Flow Into The City
Sarah and Helena - 1958
Sarah and Helena held hands as they wandered along the tunnel, sometimes pointing out a particularly pretty fish to each other. Their Big Daddy stomped along behind them, the green lights of his helmet glowing comfortingly. All the other Sisters had their own protectors...but the two of them refused to be separated, despite all efforts of the doctors. The mere suggestion had met with a stony silence, and when they had tried by force...well, Aldous had nearly lost his eyes. Eventually Tenenbaum threw up her hands and allowed the twins to go through the pair-bonding process together. An interesting experiment, she thought. And we save a little money if it works. Not that money was an issue for DYAD Industries, but it never hurts to come in under budget.
The twins presented themselves as an united front to the outside world, and, it seemed, also to the Big Daddy. The girls had taken the news that they were to be given a guardian with excitement. They looked at each other and grinned. “You mean...a real daddy?” Sarah had exclaimed. Helena’s gaze darted back and forth between Sarah and Tenenbaum.
“A real daddy?” she echoed, her eyes alight.
Neither girl seemed to find it odd that their new Daddy was a hulking mechanical brute. Helena immediately touched his hand, and poked one of his great feet with her own, while Sarah hung back behind her for a moment, then grabbed his other hand. The twins whispered to each other for a moment, “He looks like a robot, ‘lena, from the movies!” “But there’s a daddy inside - can’t you see him, Sarah?” Tenenbaum was only slightly taken aback by Helena’s intuitiveness. None of the children were exposed to the making of a Big Daddy, and it was easier to let them all think they were big friendly robots rather than desperate, brainwashed men grafted into mechanical suits. These two always saw more than most.
The pair-bonding treatment and the Protector Trials went without a hitch. He accepted both of them as his charges, and they seemed no harder to protect than a single girl, seeing as they rarely were apart for more than a few minutes. The ADAM implanted in each of the Little Sisters seemed to connect all of them in ways the scientists didn’t quite understand yet...but these two had already been connected on a deeper level. Близнюки*. Observing the girls before their first conditioning treatment had been fascinating.
They delighted in tricking the various scientists, keeping them confused as to which twin was which. Just when they had figured out it was Helena who was left-handed, within a day both of the girls would appear to be ambidextrous. Tenenbaum would tie Sarah’s hair with yellow ribbons, Helena’s with blue, then both of them would appear with red bows after trading with the other girls in the facility. She found it rather charming and would affectionately call them her Little Sestras. Starved for a family as they were, the affection was returned. Naturally they had their own special ways of communicating, as identical twins often do, but they started introducing the occasional Ukrainian word in their chats, and would sometimes even refer to her as Maty.* After the conditioning started and the sea slugs implanted, ADAM was introduced to their systems and the connection...deepened.
The girls seemed to communicate without words now. Watching them lying on the floor with colouring-in books was disquieting, as they passed crayons back and forth without even looking to see what colours were needed. Every so often they would turn their heads and gaze at each other, eyes glowing with that golden sheen that was the denoter of ADAM. A silent conversation would appear to ensue, both of them would nod, or giggle, then look deliberately at the hidden cameras. And return to their colouring books and tea parties.
.
All the other doctors started avoiding the twins. In a facility devoted to implanting little girls with a parasite that produced a highly addictive substance, this, it seemed, was just too disturbing.
Except for Suchong, one of the strings attached to the purse of DYAD. We should set up experiments for them in their free time, he had stated. Find out how the connection worked, and how it could be...utilized. Tenenbaum had seen that look in his eyes before, in other ‘scientists’ back in the camps. She had been a part of some very questionable experiments in order to keep herself alive, but she had no interest in bringing that kind of evil to Rapture. His special interest in Sarah and Helena disturbed her. She had managed to circumvent Suchong so far, but she needed a plan.
Nobody ever left Rapture. But she would find a way.
⇌ ⇌ ⇌
Helena pressed her face up against the glass, humming as an octopus pushed past, and Sarah re-tied her shoelaces, while their Big Daddy opened the door that led into Arcadia...then in one fluid movement, he scooped both girls behind him with his left arm and raised his right as the great drill attached there roared into life, the lights on his visor now flashing red. A splicer sidled through the doorway, jabbing a meathook towards the girls, who both scrambled up the back of their protector, clinging to his armored shoulders and peering over at the ensuing carnage. Occasionally the splicers they encountered were armed with weapons and plasmids that could take down a Big Daddy - eventually - but a meathook was no match for the giant drill, and by the way this one kept flexing her left hand it was obvious her EVE had run dry. The plasmids were useless without it.
The fight didn’t last long.
In unison the girls cried “This one’s ripe, Mr B!” as they leapt down to the floor.
“Six times two is lemon.” added Helena, with the air of imparting important knowledge. They carefully inserted their special syringes into the motionless corpse, sucking out the precious ADAM...which Helena immediately tipped into her mouth, her eyes glowing. Sarah followed suit, but she never consumed quite as much as her sister, and often gave her any she had left. Then they clambered back onto Big Daddy’s shoulders, one of Sarah’s hands hooked through the metal frame of his helmet, the other holding onto her twins sash.
“Let’s go, Mr B!” Sarah shouted, and Helena clapped her hands and giggled.
“I can taste all the angels dancing inside of me.” she said in a delighted tone.
The trio lumbered off into the greenery of Arcadia.
Tenenbaum watched their progress through one of the monitors and nodded approvingly. Splicer attacks were still few and far between, and the Big Daddies were more than capable of protecting their charges from these citizens who had manipulated their own genes to the point where’d they’d lost touch with reality. She was certain that this would spread among the populace of Rapture, as more people bought themselves more plasmids to protect themselves against the random attacks, and became the very monsters they were threatened by, splicing themselves into a completely irrational state of being. It was such a прикрість*, the way humans took any great scientific discovery and used it to destroy themselves. No matter. The girls were her priority now, and her escape plan was in place. It was just a matter of the right moment. And a big enough distraction.
She turned her attention elsewhere. Tenenbaum narrowed her eyes as she adjusted the zoom on another monitor, then another. Yes, all the Little Sisters were accounted for. She clicked on her accu-vox and started recording her daily notes.
On another set of monitors, someone watched her.
Paradise was on the verge of a fall.