In the ninth chapter of Blackout, Georgia discovers just how fucked up everything is. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Blackout.
Chapter Nine
I will say that I did not expect this.
Thankfully, I’ve got 500 pages left in Blackout, which is why I’m willing to just let myself go and not try to analyze things too much. Anything I say at this point about the trilogy’s overarching mythology is bound to be short-sighted and… well, wrong. Instead of giving me any real answers to who is behind the mystery of Newsflesh, Mira Grant lays most of her cards on the table, and I slide beneath that table, whimpering with terror because this is not the series I thought it was going to be. I admit that I’m overwhelmed at this point! On top of Shaun and Becks trying to figure out how zombie mosquitoes are a thing and if the CDC/~conspiracy cabal~ was behind it, I’m given ANOTHER plot I need to keep in mind. Oh god, I think this would irritate me if there were only 100 pages left in the whole series, but instead, I feel like I just need to buckle up and enjoy this RIDE OF TERROR.
Plus, I think this creates an interesting dynamic for Blackout. We’ve got these alternating storylines, and they’re not the same. Georgia’s story isn’t just, “Oh, gosh, I need to get back to Shaun, I need Shaun, SHAUN SHAUN SHAUN.” Instead, Grant has already set up a rather powerful story about Georgia’s need to assert her identity, to be seen as her own person independent of everyone and everything else, cloning be damned. That’s a far more satisfying story to me! Well, so far, that is. I obviously don’t know where this is going, but if you wanted to keep me engaged amidst a confusing and serpentine conspiracy theory, there it is. Pull me in emotionally. Give me a reason to care.
I have a reason to care about this.
Okay, let’s also talk about this sentence:
Somehow, he managed to walk so that his shoes didn’t make any noise, and we passed through the darkened CDC building like ghosts.
GOD, WHAT AN INCREDIBLE SENTENCE. I know I covered it in the first video, but come on. It’s worth more attention because it’s so stunning. It conveys the fact that these people don’t exist (at least in the CDC framework for twenty-seven minutes) and touches on the fact that Georgia is dead in the public eye, so it’s very much like she is a ghost in those passageways. Brilliance, y’all.
So, disregarding the fact that I foolishly believed that Dr. Gregory was going to show Georgia a cloned version of Buffy (??? what was i thinking???), let me try to understand what Dr. Gregory revealed to Georgia:
- The CDC is interested in getting into the business of realistic cloning, using neural snapshots to replicate a person right up to the point where they died, which explains how Georgia has any memories of her life before she was a clone.
- In order to make this business lucrative, they created six clones of Georgia, in the 7a-7c and 8a-8c designation. All but one of them (aside from narrator Georgia) failed to develop correctly or amplified. They needed two working “models,” however. One of them, which is our Georgia/7c, is essentially the master model, the one the CDC will use to show off to investors. Which… man, they didn’t think this through, did they? They do realize that they’re cloning a woman who is openly abrasive and distrustful of government authorities, so she’ll probably do something to get revenge and escape? PREDICTING A BACKFIRE. The other model (8b) will be used to locate, trick, and bring in Shaun Mason.
- 8b Georgia is made slightly… wrong? Oh god, that’s a weird thing to say because Georgia isn’t wrong. But I mean that she’ll have a 44% accuracy with the original version of Georgia on purpose. Hmmm. Isn’t Shaun going to see right through this? He knows his sister super well; he’s going to be suspicious that a clone of his sister will suddenly show up. And let’s be real here! Shaun shot Georgia himself, so he’s immediately going to jump towards thinking she is a clone, right?
Here’s what I don’t get: Why? If the CDC (with some huge financial backers) was experimenting on a global scale to create a version of Kellis-Amberlee that they could control, why would they also be interested in cloning? To achieve immortality? Is this like how Dollhouse works? I cannot for the life of me figure out how these two things are connected at all.
That’s scary because… goddamn it, I should just accept I will never be prepared for this series. All I know is that Georgia is pissed, afraid, and determined to be the one to find Shaun Mason before anyone else.
Strapping myself in, y’all.
Part 1
Part 2
Mark Links Stuff
– I am now on tour!!! I have 26 events spread out across the eastern HALF of the U.S. and Canada. They are all free and all-ages. Come see me speak about the Mark Does Stuff Universe and read terrible fanfiction live!
- Mark Reads Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is now published and available for purchase! It’s available in ebook AND physical book format, and you can also get a discount for buying the ENTIRE SET of digital books: $25 for 7 BOOKS!!!
- Commissions are still open while I am on tour! There may be a day or two delay to get them done, but I am accepting them graciously to help fund my tour!
