Chapter 36 -- Stranger Danger, Logan!

Moving right along, folks!

One of my favorite movies

So... we've got a twist in this chapter.  And despite having had a few days to ruminate on this twist, I'm still not sure if it's clever or incredibly stupid.  Or perhaps it's a twist that could have been clever but has the misfortune of appearing in a stupid book like this.  You be the judge, gentle readers...

This chapter opens with a bang as Eden wakes up to -- surprise! -- Logan in her room.  Run, Logan, run!  Sadly, Eden grabs his arm before he can escape, and he makes "curious yelping sounds" as he tries to get away.  She tells him not to be afraid -- kind of difficult when a complete stranger has grabbed you -- but he won't even look at her, and Eden isn't sure if he's just shy or can't understand him.

The pearly glow of dawn barely illuminated him.  He wore the bat mask, which had done the trick and wooed him back. -- p. 254

Um... Foyt, do you realize how incredibly creepy this makes Eden sound?  You're making her sound like a freaking child predator here.  This book has given me enough uncomfortable vibes already.

"Do you like it?" she asked, keeping her voice light.  "It's not nearly as nice as the portrait you painted -- which I love.  I'm glad I have the chance to thank you for it.  You're very talented, Logan." -- p. 254

Still coming off as creepy here.  Maybe I've watched too much Law and Order: SVU and/or Criminal Minds, but these words sound far less reassuring and far more like what a predator would say to their victim right before strapping them to a table and whipping out the torture implements.

Logan replies with "a garbled response," and Eden wonders if he's developmentally delayed and can't speak, or if its a result of his isolation.  She also tells him "you have no idea how happy I am to meet you" and "you can trust me," which also gives off creepy vibes in my opinion.

In addition to wearing the bat mask, Logan's wearing black clothing from head to toe.  Forget being the son of Wolverine, we've got a mini-Batman on our hands.  

Literally what comes to mind when she

describes Logan's outfit

Eden also notices that Logan has "whitish, kinky hair" and "a pale color" to his eyes, and is startled that he has Rebecca's coloring.  So she takes off his mask and...

Drumroll please...

Yes, I like the Muppets, sue me...

...she wasn't prepared for the sight of him.  How could she ever imagine pinkish eyes or the lack of any pigment in his skin?

Eden stared at him, her thoughts slow and searching.  Then, as the shock began wearing off, she grasped the truth.

Holy Earth.  Logan was a Cotton!  An albino child. -- p. 255

For those of you who are going "okay, what's the big deal?" or "okay, how is this such a huge twist?" or "what kind of stupid name is Cotton?" let me remind you that yes, Cotton is almost as stupid a name for albino people as Coal is for black people.  Also that the last time Cottons were mentioned in this book was way back in Chapter 7, so you folks can be forgiven for forgetting the significance of this.

Long story short, Cottons were supposed to be extinct and they're put to death the moment they're found anywhere.  So Bramford's big secret about his son is that he's an albino, someone who should have been killed the moment others discovered it.  Small wonder he's kept the boy hidden away here, in that case.

Also I went back and re-read the bit in Chapter 7 where Eden and Bramford watched a news broadcast of an albino (I refuse to keep calling them Cottons unless I'm quoting directly from the text) and Eden wondered why someone as (allegedly) heartless as Bramford would be disturbed by it.  Quite frankly, I'm shocked that this book has that much continuity -- that a scene almost thirty chapters ago could pay off now.  Given that Foyt has shown little regard for continuity and consistency up to this point, this is quite frankly a shocking development.

Actual continuity in this book? Who'da thunk?

Eden screams upon seeing Logan's albinism, and Logan screams back and breaks free, running away.  Eden's preoccupied with thinking of Logan now, as well as "a noisy zoo of questions," which is a really awkward metaphor but what metaphors haven't been awkward in this book?  So she goes and wakes up her father, despite the fact that he's still extremely sick.  How compassionate.

Oh, and apparently Eden's father knew all along that Bramford carried the gene that could transfer albinism to his kids.  He's surprised that Rebecca carried the gene too, but doesn't seem too shocked by it, which upsets Eden.  Maybe your father's a little preoccupied with the fact that he's freaking DYING to fuss much over it, girl.

Also, I looked it up -- and yes, albinism can be genetic.  There are a few forms that can be passed on from just one parent, however, though generally it takes two parents, since most genes that cause it are recessive.  So Foyt did a little bit of research, at least.  Though the "pinkish eyes" is inaccurate -- albino humans generally retain enough melanin to have blue or green eyes, though they show up as pink in photos due to the reflection of light off their retinas.

Eden's ticked that her father didn't tell her that Bramford carried albino genes.  He responds, quite reasonably, that Bramford had sworn him to secrecy.  Though now that Eden knows about Logan, the cat's out of the bag there...

Eden felt the earth tilt, and everything she took for granted with it.  Ronson Bramford's DNA contained traits considered even more dreaded and inferior than having white skin.  one of his ancestors had been an albino, a fatal secret that Bramford had gone to great lengths to conceal.

In fact, she doubted if he had ever felt superior to her at all.  For Earth's sake, the proud and mighty Coal must have been as self-conscious as she, if not more so.  Both of them had hidden their true identities.

How alike they were, after all.  And yet how little Eden had understood him. -- p. 257

NOW you're suddenly just peachy-keen fine with Bramford!  Now that you think he's no better than you!  I thought this book was supposed to be anti-racism, but instead we have Eden hating on the black guy all the way up until it's revealed that he has albino in his genetics and suddenly she's just fine with him.  It's not "overcoming racial differences" if the only reason Eden stops thinking of him as an arrogant monster is because he's "not really black," is it?  She can't learn that people can be decent no matter what color they are, there has to be a big horrible secret to drag him down to her level.

Argh... I take it back, Foyt took this twist and made it stupid as only she could.

Dr. Newman asks if Eden's all right, and she's comforted because "even as his energy drained away, he only showed concern for her."  Because everything has to revolve around her, even when someone's freaking dying.  Great.

Dr. Newman also suggests that Rebecca had her genetic readout falsified to keep Bramford from finding out, and Eden realizes that the FFP must have found out about Rebecca having albino genes and used it as blackmail to get her to work for them.  But then her father suggests that the FFP set Rebecca up with Bramford to guarantee an albino offspring.  So... the plan was to get to Bramford's research by having him pop out an albino kid?  I'm confused...

To his credit, Bramford had tried to save the child by hiding him in the jungle.  But did pride or love drive him?  If the truth came out, it would topple his empire.  Naked fear fisted around Eden's heart as she considered the consequences of having signaled Shen.  Surely, Bramford's half-brother would protect the boy. -- p. 258

Don't be TOO sure about that... and didn't I say that Eden calling on Shen was going to screw things up for everyone?  Called it.

This'll be my official "victory dance" GIF from now on

Also, apparently having albino genes threw off Dr. Newman's calculations enough that it advanced Bramford's "adaptation" beyond what he expected.  So... now albinism makes you turn into a cat-person faster?  Wat?

She understood he had risked his life in the hopes of saving his son.  Even if the FFP stole the technology, Bramford's adaptation would provide her father with necessary samples.  And if Logan also could evolve, he might be safe from The Heat, as well as those who would destroy him.

Eden pressed a trembling hand to her chest.  Paternal love, not greed, had been Bramford's primary motivation.

Sweet Earth, how wrong she had been about this incredible man. -- p. 259

Took Eden freaking long enough to realize that Bramford isn't the villain of this book.  Though... wouldn't people be afraid of a cat-person more than they would be of an albino?  Maybe, maybe not, Eden's proven that this world she's constructed doesn't exactly run on logic.

All these revelations are interrupted by a scream from outside, and Eden runs out to see a dead jaguar near the fire pit.  Looks like Bramford got his last sample.  And the villagers are all in mourning because apparently they worship the jaguar.  Unless the Huaorani beliefs have been corrupted over the years, this shouldn't be the case -- they respect the jaguar spirit but it's not a freaking god, they don't freaking believe in gods, and I'm gonna shut up before I keep ranting about this.

Eden stared at the jaguar's pitch-black coat, realizing yet another part of Bramford's plan.  Just like the original donor, this animal had melanism, the opposite of albinism.  Bramford hadn't chosen the trait for vanity's sake, after all.  He had sought to counter the extreme effects of his defective genome, for Logan's benefit.  All along, the fiercely protective father had danced one step ahead of disaster.

Flies buzzed round the jaguar carcass.  Its flank, matted with blood, told of a vicious battle.  A cold knot twisted Eden's stomach.  What if Bramford hadn't survived? -- p. 260

End chapter... and yeah, I'm still not sure how I feel about this twist.  Is it a stupid twist or is it an interesting twist that's just ruined by an incompetent writer?  Readers, what do you think?