Voice (Backdated to Sunday)

[rianofski]

This weekend has been fascinating, to say the least. While I'm well aware that most -- perhaps all -- of our current visitors will be returning to their respective worlds soon, I can't help but question the purpose of such an event.

[There's a pause.]

Why is it necessary to bring "guests" here, then immediately get rid of them? Is it simply an attempt at irritation? The potential opportunity for people who have missed each other to see each other once again, only to be parted? I'm well aware that the "deities" often have ill-conceived plans, but this particular turn of events strikes me as inherently pointless.

Comments

[rianofski]

Do you really think you could?

[sisterskeeper]

Nein, I do not think so. But I have seen enough abuse of science to not tolerate it if I were here permanently.

[rianofski]

Then, with any luck, you won't find yourself here permanently.

[sisterskeeper]

I cannot remain here permanently. My little ones will not last long without me.

[rianofski]

Ah, yes. The children.

[sisterskeeper]

Yes. [Her voice hardens.] It becomes difficult to protect them, when more are taken from their mothers by your men every day.

[rianofski]

You know as well as I do that it's necessary for the good of the city.

[sisterskeeper]

I used to believe so. Now I have seen the truth, and I work to wash away the sin I have wrought on these innocent children. And with every girl that you take, you visit that sin upon the whole city.

[rianofski]

The "truth"? Spare me your attempts at morality, Dr. Tenenbaum.

[sisterskeeper]

You will never understand, Herr Ryan, and it is for this reason that I pity you, even as I grow to loathe everything Rapture stands for. To perform such an evil on one so young and innocent, to remove all choice from their lives and condition them to perform such a task as that, is not for any sort of good. It will only bring about more evil.

[rianofski]

And you will never understand, Dr. Tenenbaum, that the very idea of "evil" is subjective, and, dare I say it, utterly ridiculous.

[sisterskeeper]

To some degree subjective, yes. [After all, even now she'd developed a conscience, her own morality was still a little murky in some regards.] But there are certain evils that no man should be allowed to commit.

[rianofski]

And who gets to determine those evils? You?

[sisterskeeper]

I do not determine them, I only recognize them. I only wish I had seen them for what they are years ago.

[rianofski]

Then you imply that these evils are inherent, that everyone should recognize them?

[sisterskeeper]

Ja, precisely. It is when we are faced with evil and choose to do good instead, this is from where our strength comes. I was unable to recognize it for the longest of times, but I see now.

[rianofski]

I'm sorry, Dr. Tenenbaum, but you know I disagree in no uncertain terms. There is no universal morality, no "good and evil," no innate "right and wrong." The only moral imperative is the pursuit of one's own self-interest.

[sisterskeeper]

And it is with that reasoning that you will always be doomed to fail.

[rianofski]

[A chuckle.]

Always doomed to fail? Hardly. I've made more of myself than many people ever will.

[sisterskeeper]

A man's worth is not found in what he makes of himself, not even if he builds a whole city. It is found in how he treats others. How, when he could choose cruelty to further his own interests, he chooses kindness instead, to save something precious and innocent.

[rianofski]

Can you really call those children innocent, by your exacting moral standards? Can you call any of us precious and innocent, truly?

[sisterskeeper]

Yes, in no uncertain terms. When I see the way they play and sing, the way they smile at me even after all the wrongdoings that I have inflicted upon them. They do not know the hardships the world has in store for them, and they do not become twisted and broken by the ones they face. I will do what I can to keep that innocence alive in them.

[Growing up first in the Jewish ghettos of Minsk, and then Auschwitz, it was something that Brigid had never had, and never seen.]

[rianofski]

[A sigh.]

The sooner you come to realize that nobody is truly innocent, the sooner you will stop attempting such ridiculous feats.

[sisterskeeper]

Everyone is truly innocent, to begin with. It is this world that makes them lose that.

[rianofski]

How can you possibly believe that nonsense?