SEA SLUG (BIOSHOCK)

The Sea Slug (or ADAM Slug) is an underwater creature (a mollusk) known to naturally produce a raw form of the volatile genetic material known as ADAM. It is apparently indigenous to the seabed around Rapture and has since spread throughout the Atlantic Ocean. It is utilized in Rapture to create ADAM, and in turn, Plasmids. The slugs’ ability to produce ADAM is thought to be the result of a mutation caused by a large Luminescent Biomass in ocean rifts deep below Rapture, which can be seen beneath Persephone in BioShock 2.

History

Living in an underwater city at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, the citizens of Rapture encountered marine life in ways they could never have on the surface. One day, biologist Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum observed a dock worker in Neptune’s Bounty who had recently regained the use of his hand years after a crippling injury. The man revealed that a Sea Slug brought in from the ocean had bitten him. Tenenbaum retrieved the slug and began to study its amazing biochemistry. Her research would unlock the key to medical and consumer genetic modification and herald the age of ADAM.

In order to produce greater quantities of the ADAM to meet commercial demand for the citizens of Rapture, the slug must go through a symbiotic embedding process, where it is implanted into a small child, specifically, a young girl, aged 5–8 (possibly). Through this procedure, the young girl becomes what is called a “Little Sister,” and the slug creates ADAM with the child as its symbiotic host. ADAM is then regurgitated by the Little Sister, which can be processed to make a number of ADAM products for a variety of other uses. In the game, the player can use ADAM from a Little Sister to purchase Plasmids, Gene Tonics, and other improvements at a Gatherer’s Garden machine.

BioShock

Over the course of BioShock, Jack will obtain Sea Slugs if he chooses to harvest the Little Sisters he encounters. These Sea Slugs, freshly removed from their hosts, are shown to be a brownish-black color, with reddish-orange luminescent spots on their exterior.

BioShock 2

As in the first game, the slugs are visible during the process of harvesting a Little Sister in BioShock 2, but are only faintly seen. They can also be seen when the player is walking outside in the Atlantic Ocean around Rapture. These slugs, having never been implanted inside a human body, are a clean, pale color with pinkish luminescent spots. They are found lying on the sea floor, gripping walls, etc. Subject Delta can pick them up to supply himself with 10 ADAM per slug. There are five in total.