Pheromone Control

* See also Philosophy
* See also War_Measures
* See also Choice
* See also Philosophy
* See also Desperate Times (Audio Diary)
THIS NEEDS CONSOLIDATION AND REMOVAL OF DUPLICATIONS
"Pheromone" : A chemical produced and released into the environment by animals, especially mammals and insects, which affects the physiology or behavior of others of its species.
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Pheromone Control - A Ryan Hypocrisy ? :
A 'Control' mechanism purportedly used by Ryan to allegedly (implied) 'take away' the city inhabitants Free Will ( and thus go against his own Philosophy... yada yada ... SOOO terrible to get insane people to stop murdering each other ? ).
We could assume it is something mixed into the Plasmids/Tonics - conveniently being sold to both sides/everyone Note - a SIGNIFICANT point : You HAVE to be a 'Splicer' for that to work - Consider that someone with a powerful addiction is NOT exactly much under a state of 'Free Will'.
We assume this embedded genetic modification would make the human subject able to be affected by 'Pheromones' - Bio Chemicals likely deployed 'in the air', which would then affect the 'control-dosed' Splicer's behavior.
As mentioned above : At Best, it would be to get Splicers to Stop Fighting/Destroying Rapture. This would nullify Atlas's army of Terrorists. 
This happened sometime before YOU (Jack) arrive in Rapture in BS1.
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Pheromone Control - What ?
Of course how much control is the question. Pheromone chemicals send simple signals to the brain. So it would not be something specific like a command to "Attack Atlas". Giving an 'attack' order/triggering might have Splicers attack anyone they see ( including each other ). 
It could be useful enough just to make Splicers calm down (non-aggressive) instead of continuing tearing up Rapture and disrupting what's left of the economy. That would allow Ryan to deprive Atlas of most of his violent mutant army and leave Atlas vulnerable when he was finally tracked down and cornered. ( That appeared to be the situation when we show up as Jack in BS1 ).
People who did not use any Plasmids ( or use any AFTER the Pheromone Control system was being instituted ) would NOT be effected. You might also consider : that people who abused ADAM probably had already given up alot of their Free Will ( thru the ADAM addiction -- and More the Insanity which ADAM caused. Those ADAM-Users were likely what made them so easy for Atlas to manipulate ) .
After Atlas 'was dealt with', keeping the Splicers calm/cooperative would be very useful to stabilize the City enough to get basic necessities in better production. Ryan then could put his Labs to work on a "Cure", or on research to eliminate ADAM's bad side effects. (( BTW - With those possibilities, it makes Ryan's "suicide" VERY ILLOGICAL. ))
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You do NOT get 'Brain Conditioning' of any complexity via DNA/RNA 'Plasmids' introduced into body cells.
Tissue modifications to create/accentuate release of bio-chemicals into the body (ex- Endorphins) might be possible, but such chemicals bring a general effect. This could be SOMEWHAT similar to the triggered 'Code Yellow' conditioning Fontaine put into Jack - Where some genetically added tissue gland might be psychologically triggered ( ie- random muscle contractions like a 'nervous tick' ), and which then started pumping Heart Blocking chemicals into Jack's body to kill him. Note - That kind of 'trigger conditioning takes a very strong manually done conditioning process to get it 'Installed' into the subject. Ryan's 'doping' the ADAM products could not do that.
Any Behavior Adjustment possible with a 'Pheromone' would be a simple mechanism - with a simple effect. It would NOT work as a Remote 'Control Order', like how WYK operated ( outside of BAD Fantasy ). Any of the people 'being Susceptible to Ordering' would be 'In General' affected, and would also be accessible through any 'suggestion' by Anyone. 
Ryan's desired Pheromone-like effect would most likely be more a 'Mood' Modifier ( like "CALM DOWN, STOP BEING VIOLENT !!" ).
The BS1 Story's whole "Controlling against Free Will" via some DNA/RNA 'Mickey'https://allthatsinteresting.com/mickey-finn ( slipped into the Gatherers Gardens-provided ADAM products ) is alot of Fantasy BS. It was simply needed for the writer-pushed story contrivance - Done to create some more 'evidence' for their 'Evil Ryan' story. "Pheromone" was largely just a buzzword to them, and the writing/story-use did not match the actual definition.
In the game, the extent to which the Pheromone Control mechanism 'controlled' people also is not mentioned - For Ryan just to get them to "Stop Fighting for Atlas" would be sufficient effect. "Mellowed Out" as a more general effect we might plausibly allow.
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Pheromone - Schmeromone :
Implied : That EVIL Andrew Ryan, desperate to win Rapture's %27civil war%27, resorted ( O M G !!!! ) to "Pheromones" to 'Control te People' ( TO STEAL THEIR FREE WILL !!! ) . (( The writers have McDonagh mouth such opposition - but then in the story McDonagh later goes on to betray Ryan and Rapture by trying to assassinate Ryan ... ))
A Justification : "If Atlas won, they'd be 'no better off' than slaves". Another : With that powerful addiction, the Splicers really had little Free Will anyway and were seen driven to murder and mayhem to obtain it. Ryan needed to save Rapture, but they even have him 'show reservations' about using such War_Measures to do that.
One difference would be : That Ryan would eliminate that 'Control' imposition on Free Will once the Reason for using it was gone ( If it simply didn't, with time, become ineffective ). Ryan would want ALL degenerative effects of genetic 'Splicing' to eventually be removed from Rapture's population. Unknown Long-term effects of such Pheromone Control also were a possible risk to Rapture's population, but the Risks for that was secondary to allowing Rapture's certain destruction.
Controlling and pacifying maniac homicidal Splicers is actually quite a justified action.
Atlas BTW started off his Rapture story by murdering people ( even further back according to the Novel ). IF HE had created this 'Control', would HE ever stop using such CONTROL to get what he ultimately wanted ? ( Effectively, wasn't that what he did feeding his minions ADAM ?? ) All of Fontaine's actions ( including the crazy Jack thing to MURDER Ryan ) were a 'Means to the Ends' of generating disruption of Rapture, so that Fontaine could take total control and then steal the City's secrets and head for The Surface to really 'Cash In' on them.
Consider Sofia Lamb very happily would make use of such Control, and add it to her various means of manipulating people (( and she may very well have - to explain how easily she did that )).
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All Un-spliced Citizens to 'Report' -- The writers alluding maybe that Ryan was going to force them all to Splice so to come under his power (And uncaring about the severe negative sideeffects ...)?? But this doesn't say that. Too ridiculous, seriously, as WHY would Ryan want MORE crazy/diseased people ???? It would make much more sense to instead be instituting/organizing Civil Defense Measures - Activating a City Militia in the Emergency, to allow citizens to organize ( ie - arming them with weapons ) to safely continue working to keep Rapture running - So to keep necessary services and production going. Survival for the City ... THAT makes ALOT MORE sense.
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Pheromone Control Is For Existing Splicers :
Some players may have thought that Ryan would 'Splice' the rest of Rapture's people so that he could 'control' them. SERIOUSLY, DOES HE NEED MORE INSANE PEOPLE ???? Why would Ryan want to make everyone else in HIS city crazy ( and eventually debilitated ) - That is not conducive to rebuilding/restoring Rapture. SO NO - That doesn't make sense.
There's that 'Notice to Report' poster from which many Players might think means 'Force them to be in Ryan's Splicer Army'. More logically, it would more be starting to Arm and Organizing sane citizens so that they can protect themselves, and keep working, and keep Rapture going. THAT would be more likely. Much better than 'Splicing' additional Rapturites into uncontrollably dangerous lunatics. 
Nothing in the Game Story is made clear what these Pheromone Control ( and the new complementary ADAM product components ) actually do. Various characters might verbally make assumptions ( ie- "Stealing Free Will" ), but that doesn't make it True.
Real Pheromones are very simple signaling bio-chemicals. The effect in this control system may simply be to Quiet the 'targetted' Splicers down so they could no longer fight for Atlas. It would NOT be like "a WYK"-type command control. ( Why would Ryan have to offer a '1000 ADAM Bounty' on Jack, IF all he had to do would be to ORDER a bunch of robot-controlled Splicers to attack and destroy him ??? ) 
AND Once Atlas's terrorist minions are nullified, Ryan's conventional forces ( with support of the majority of the sane people in Rapture ) would quickly defeat Atlas. 
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Herding Splicers :
After Ryan neutralized most of Atlas's Splicers, and the disruptions and killings drop off significantly, then attempts would have been made to 'fixup' more things in Rapture. There would still be a number of unstable people who had to be kept 'under control' to protect the remaining non-Splicers/Calmed-Splicers. Everyone then could be organized and put to work repairing and bringing 'back into operation' things important to the City's survival. 
The Apollo Square scenes in BS1 looks like a place where 'calmed down' crazies might be kept out of the way of recovery efforts. We didn't see heaps of bodies as there would be IF it were some kind of 'concentration camp'/ghetto - as the writers might have wanted to imply.
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Smearing Ryan Again :
This illogic is linked (maybe) to writer implications that EVIL Ryan forced everyone to 'Splice Up' just so he could THEN get 'control' of them all. DAT EVIL EVIL RYAN - SO YOU NEED TO FOLLOW KINDLY 'PAL' ATLAS ...
AND OH YES, THATS Just what Ryan needs : YET MORE incapacitated/insane Splicers in the population of his city. 
Suchong suggesting the measure (a War Measure) - which Ryan found repugnant 
( Audio_Diary_Analysis#DESPERATE ) 
IN the RetCon'd BaSx, the DLC writers have Suchong suggesting this WAY TOO EARLY - DLC writers just clumsily tossed in a reference to the previous games to link to the Elizabeth/Songbird 'bonding' stuff. 
(( The DLC writers did NOT think or care that it 'Did NOT Make Sense' to be created BEFORE Ryan actually needed it to 'Save his city'. ))
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??? Why Cannot the Pheromone Method of Control be Used Against Sofia Lamb's Splicers ??? :
There must be a reason Ryan, having use of Fontaine Futuristics, didn't simply later have reused the same Control technology : 
* Administering it when there was a ADAM shortage - That might be problematic (as it was distributed via Gatherers Gardens, in-use already).
* Possibly, Splicers eventually became immune to it. And with them running wild 'post-Lamb', you couldn't get ahold of them to 'recondition them' with booster/adjustment treatments. 
* Perhaps Ryan DID neutralize the crazies in Persephone using the Pheromone - and it continued WHILE he was still alive.
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NOTE - Sofia Lamb later retained control of that part of the City, and perhaps might have made use of it ( it is not mentioned in the BS2 game though ). Though She seems to control people well enough long before the Pheromone Control ever existed.
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OMG, That *Evil* Ryan's "Pheromone Control !!!! " -- Not Permanent Though ... ??? :
Ryan allegedly was going against his Philosophy which endorsed Free Will - WHAT alot of rigmarole.
Many people weren't Splicers, didn't use ADAM, thus wouldn't be affected. What exactly WAS the Control's effect anyway ? Pheromones don't give you "WYK" type robot control, it would be more like a mood changer ( Stop Fighting People !!! ... Everything is Good, Stay Calm ... ).
The Splicers already had 'Sold Their Souls' to ADAM ( so were kinda Free-Will-impaired already ), and were being very destructive/disruptive/murderous. So maybe you should consider it to be alot more like the action you take against a dangerous drunk or crazy druggie or a mentally-ill person playing with a gun ( a public safety issue ), or for a murderous property-destroying mob. 'Free Will' has limits in EVERY Society.
It might afterwards take developing an Un-Modify cure which undid any 'control' genetic damage/modifications ( there were alot of People left, who developed it in the first place, who were NOT insane, who could do that for Ryan ... ( perhaps Sofia Lamb found some of them ). That done ONLY if it was needed : Possibly the effect just eroded away ( like other ADAM-based changes did ). Ryan wanted his City to live, and wanted neither crazy nor impaired people to get in the way of getting it back to normal.
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Do Not Forget Me ... :
The Amnesia Project which Ryan perhaps had his labs working on - To be able to safely send people ('Exiles') back to The Surface.
Obviously it hadn't worked by BS1 times ( or worked too well - though with possible uses for the 'Unrecoverable Insanes' ) The problem was how to control the application so that you wipe only the memories of Rapture, but NOT the person's personality/life, etc ...
THC in Marijuana causes memory loss ( amongst other damage ). That was probably looked into, but was quickly shown to be insufficient/damaging in too many other ways.
Being achieved via significant brain damage was not a solution.
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Free Will ( Truely How Much Was It Threatened by 'Ryan' ? ) :
Pheromone 'Control' to keep the insanity/damage under control ( Consider : It only affects ADAM-using Splicers, who are only part of Rapture's population ) - It eliminated Atlas's army of Splicer thugs/terrorists/destroyers threatening the survival of everyone in Rapture. Ryan had control of most of the ADAM to try to prevent/limit its further use, his scientists and technicians to develop a Cure ( possibly utilizing an offshoot of the Vita-Chamber technology ), the City so far wasn't falling apart that much ( Witness : Rapture is still largely there ~7 years later in BS2). 'Pheromones' don't offer robot-like control.
Fontaine/Atlas's violence/menacings/destruction had a MUCH more Negative Effect on the Citizens of Rapture's "Free Will". Were not the Splicers slaves to their addiction ALREADY ?
More than a few Citizen still are left ( can't blame the sane ones for running away from the vicinity of Jack/Delta who are shooting up things everywhere they go ). Many survived and eliminated or drove away the dangerous Splicers from THEIR areas. Rapture was far from being a 'done deal'. What Atlas destroyed, Ryan could rebuild with Order restored.
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Pheromone 'Control' :
I suppose you could have this 'Pheromone' thing be something more complex. Calming the population ( just to have them do normal things - ie- survival related ) would get Ryan what he needed ( How much resources/time would Ryan have for quickly developing anything more complex IF that was a sufficient result ? ) Individual people ( and the human brain ) are too different to control in more than a basic/general way - Only using universally deployed chemicals ? ( Fontaine's brainwashing the 'empty slate' of Jack took intensive and long work and still didn't create robotic behavior. ) If the city was to live, the population COULD NOT be disabled by it, or the everyday actions keeping the City and all of them alive would stop. 
Individualized/customized 'dosage' would be difficult to create and implement, and it takes time/effort to 'brainwash' control people sufficiently, without it completely backfiring. The 'Things are Normal' announcements, we heard, weren't "mind-controlly" enough sounding to be more than generally directed behavior reinforcement on the population ( all the Splicers AND also the remaining 'normal' people ).
If citizens were 'robotized' by those chemicals/whatever, they would all have to be individually directed. A State where people were simply psychologically influenceable wouldn't work, as Atlas could still order his 'Troops' to fight for him. Perhaps Ryan could simply neutralize the Splicers, and use his remaining unmodified Citizens Militias ( You saw that poster calling for people to report ... ) and/or 'adjusted' order-following Splicers ( controlling/countering the general sedative effect in a way Atlas could not ).
We did see Ryan arm citizens ( they didn't seem like Security Men, did they ? ) at Jack, perhaps employing some 'Destroy The Outsider' type of instinct-like 'Pheromone' response, along with that big 'Bounty' bribe (( Why he hadn't used THAT to quickly destroy Atlas is another 'Cuz' story flaw mystery. )). Similarly, the 'Paid in ADAM' motivation seems to have been used alot ( ie- 'Brenda and Charlie' in the Kashmir Lounge ), which implies the population wasn't wholly Mind-Numbed by whatever Pheromone Control was in place. and people's basic motivations could also be employed ( ie- the ADAM BOUNTY ).
How this Pheromone Control was used (by locality or by duration) is generally vague (( Its just a Simpleton forced-story 'Evidence' excuse to show what a Tyrant/Hypocrite Ryan is supposed to be -- WITHOUT actually showing an understanding of what is involved. )) The 'Solution' Hah, the lame writers missed their opportunity to have Andrew Ryan (their utter tyrant) MOUTH THE WORDS "Final Solution" ... - Remember, THIS was also before Ken Levine magically mutated Ryan into a Jew for his Authentic Diversity self-serving spiel he spewed when trolling for a new job ... ( supposedly a genetic element embedded in them via an additive to the machine-sold ADAM products ... via the Gatherers Gardens ) -- which likely made ADAM-using people susceptible to control chemicals, which could THEN be applied specifically in needed areas and less in others, or some different (variant) chemicals employed which could cause different basic responses.
Fontaine/Atlas might prevent/impair some such chemical deployment ( though his research operations were likely 'in shambles'/non-existent ), but the Air had to come from somewhere else, and certainly Atlas could NOT do that effectively in areas he did not control ( and Ryan could keep gaining ground on him --- Where Ryan's forces just chucking in some calming control "Play Nice" grenades ... ).
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Lost Opportunities In Illustrating "Pheromone Control" :
We could have had at least one area in the BS1 game where the Pheromone Control was made obvious (locking down Arcadia and spraying Pheromones to have the locals attack Jack - instead of the illogical 'Now you're going to run out of Air, Bwahahahah !!', which would actually take weeks, ( But then THAT was the writer's blatant painting of 'Ruthless'/'Mad' Ryan, who's now (in the story) gonna 'Destroy ALL of Rapture's air' to GET Jack ).
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Pheromone Control Mentioned ( in MultiPlayer ) ? :
Rank 36 : "Well, that old rumor mill is at it again, friend ! This time, our competitors have made up a wild story about additives in our Plasmids which make you vulnerable to brainwashing!"
This final entry makes it seem like what ? - That the 'Final Reward' was a trip to the cells in Fontaine Futuristics to become a Big Daddy or another demented/insane Splicer test subject ?"
How about instead, YOU are gone ( no longer show up at the battles ) because you are now sitting at home (or going to work), all nice and calm, under the 'Mind Control' which has made you simply stop fighting ( Pheromones are simple brain chemicals and would only allow very simple 'control' -- not something like "Hunt Down Atlas and bring me his head" ). Jack's WYK was a far more complex ( chemicals, genetics, supervised audio/visual/physical ) conditioning ...
Eliminating the destructive fighting, and Nullifying Atlas's Splicer Army would basically all but WIN the %27civil_war%27 for Ryan, and leave just Atlas alone with a dragnet of Ryan's security men closing in on him. ( Which makes Ryan's "Suicide" so utterly ridiculous. )
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That "Pheromone" Thingee ( Pheromonic Control Implementation ) :
"The Devil is in the Details" :
I suppose you could have the Pheromone thing be something more complex. Calming the population ( just to allow normal activities/functioning ) would get Ryan what he needed. How much resources/time would Ryan have spent on developing anything more complex IF that was sufficient ? ) Individual people (their brains) are too different/difficult to control in more than a basic/general way, when only using universally deployed (airborne) chemicals. Possibly it was a Genetic Mod introduced into the ADAM supply, which on being chemically triggered ( trigger being present in the air ) causes release of Endorphins or somesuch. If the City was to live, the population COULDN'T be mentally disabled by it, or everything keeping them all alive would stop. Individualized/customized 'dosage' would be difficult to create and implement, and it takes time/effort to 'brainwash' (control) people sufficiently, without it completely backfiring. The 'Things Are Normal' public announcements we heard weren't "mind-controlly" enough -- Sounding to be more like a generally directed/suggestive method of Behavior Reinforcement upon the population (Splicers AND the remaining Normal people).
If people were Robotized by the chemicals, they would all have to be individually directed for anything specific. A state where people were simply psychologically influenceable wouldn't work, as Atlas could still order his 'troops' to fight for him. Perhaps Ryan could neutralize ALL the Splicers and use his remaining unmodified citizens ( ie- that Poster calling for "Unmodified Citizens to Report" ... ) and/or 'adjusted' order-following Splicers (countering the general sedative effect in a way Atlas couldn't). We DID see Ryan aim Citizens ( Splicers, as they didn't seem like still 'normal' Security men ) at Jack, perhaps employing some 'Destroy the Outsider' type of instinct-like response, along with the 'Bounty' bribe ( Why Ryan hadn't used THAT tactic to quickly destroy Atlas is another Mystery ).
Similarly, the 'Paid-With-ADAM' motivation seems to have been used ( ie- Brenda and Charlie ) generally, which implies the Splicer population wasn't so Mind-Numbed by whatever Pheromonic Control was in place, and basic motivations could also still be employed ( incentive to extra effort if they were 'calmed', etc ... ).
How generally it all ( the story's Pheromonic Control ) was used, by locality or by duration, is pretty Vague. Mostly it seems to have worked. This 'Solution' likely made ADAM-using people susceptible to specific control chemicals, which could be applied specifically in needed areas and lessened in others. OR maybe different chemicals employed could cause different basic responses. Atlas might prevent/impair some such chemical deployment ( IF he even had resources to do so ), but the Air had to come from somewhere else, and certainly he couldn't do it effectively in large areas or in places he didn't control ( and Ryan could keep gaining ground on him --- His Security men just chucking in some calming control "Play Nice" grenades as they advanced ).
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Hints From PVP :
Canon-ish at least - After all, it is staging for a Player Versus Player sidegame with a 'civil war' fight somehow organized as a 'test' for weapons and Plasmids. It is very strangely organized by Sinclair, to whom arming Atlas supporters ( people who would kill him ) doesn't ring as logical. 
MP - Rank 36 : "Well, that old rumor mill is at it again, friend! This time, our competitors have made up a wild story about additives in our Plasmids which make you vulnerable to brainwashing!"
In the competitive consumer/commercial environment of Rapture, and within the mindset of its citizens, what better way to motivate but through a 'Contest' competition and Salesmanship ??? ( Again it is NOT any 'robot' type control, but a 'mood changer'. )
The final entries make it seem like what ? - That the 'Final Reward' was a trip to the cells in Fontaine Futuristics to become a Big Daddy, or become another demented/insane Splicer test subject ? Or One of Ryan's 'Splicer Army' minions ?
How about INSTEAD you are gone ( from the competition) because YOU are now sitting at home (or going to work), all nice and calm, under the Pheromone 'Mind Control', which has made you simply stop fighting/being violent/slobbering-after-more-ADAM ( Pheromones are simple brain chemicals and would only allow very simple 'control' -- NOT something like "Hunt Down Atlas and Bring me his Head" ). Ryan's goal is eliminating the destructive fighting, and to nullify Atlas's Splicer Army. That would all but win the misnamed %27civil war%27 for Ryan, and leave Atlas alone with a 'dragnet' of Ryan's Security Men closing in on him. ( Which has largely taken place by the time YOU see BS1, and is something that makes Ryan's "suicide" utterly ridiculous ).
Note - This would be only for those already being Splicers to have this 'Control' applied to them ( and there would be many non-users still in Rapture ). Ryan would really NOT want to have more people using/addicted to ADAM, and being made insane, IF he wants to rebuild his City. 
It possibly took a while BEFORE the 'Control' can work ( and most Splicers are neutralized/calmed-down ) to have Fontaine run out of his ADAM stash, and for the Splicers on the his side to be driven to seek out Ryan's vending machines ( laced with 'Control' mods ) to feed their addiction. 
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Idea - The "Consumer Rewards Program" was actually a Pheromone Test Project. Otherwise, it is just WRONG for a program facilitated participants being able to chose to be on Atlas's side - and them being equipped, etc ... That's just plain insane, and makes no sense for Ryan/Sinclair to allow. ( The whole idea after all was just for the gamewriter's Shoot-em-up MultiPlayer game scenario requiring that kind of mayhem. ) BUT we can have it be a Test during the Pheromone Control's development. Afterwards the MP activity then might have ( with the new Pheromone Control motivation for Splicer Citizens to be only DEFENSIVE ) to only fight Atlas's remaining Splicers. 
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I suppose that THIS is a form of "Pheromone Control" used to influence Little Sisters. The Big Daddy watertight suit seals off the BD's body which would be the natural source of the Pheromone in question, so it may be artificially place on the suits outside. It even my be fully artificial and used from the start of the Protector program to enhance/induce the relation between Big Daddies and Little Sisters. ( Familiarity with it would be the reason Suchong could suggest a similar Pheromone Control to Ryan. )
We find the pictured substance in Point Prometheus, and Tenenbaum obviously knows about its use, so with that it seems that it was an artificial mechanism.
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