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Alex: 25%

Hey, it was just one of those days. He was just going about his business, deciding to spend some time outside, instead of couped up in the duplex, and maybe try and relax. Thats why he was walking along, trying to take his mind off of all the stuff that had been happening lately. It was a good idea, at least.

He'd walked along for a bit, not really going into the jungle, since the idea of going into a place where he could get hit with a multitude of tree limbs didn't sound like a good way to relax. And thats about when he spotted an islander... dancing? Or was it singing? He couldn't tell, although the moment only helped make him more curious, walking over towards him.

He didn't say anything, just stood there, as he watched the wolflike-person perform his routine. "It would be a shame to disturb him while he's in 'the zone' I guess.", he thought to himself.

It was only after Chris stopped, that Alex chuckled softly, clapping his hands together softly. The fact that the three outer fingers were merging together probably didn't help Alex's desire to clap too loudly. "That was really good...", he said to him, his eyes hidden behind his mirrored shades.

"Fiancee?", Alex thought to him, "Who would ever think of having a fiancee in a place like this, except for perhaps the folks at the labs but... still..." The ex-pilot was carrying his coat over his shoulder, as usual, since it wasn't like the place really got cold enough to warrant its use, but Alex wasn't one to leave it behind.

He chuckled a bit at Chris' comment, guessing the feathers in his hair were probably a dead give away that he was probably going to be some sort of avian individual. "Uh, yeah, probably. Unless those lab guys make people grow feathers for no reason..." He smirked a bit and reached out with his free hand to shake Chris' hand. "Not at all. I'm Alexander Barrett, ex-owner of Air-Asia Cargo. Its nice to meet you Christopher. Sorry to interrupt your peformance there."

He shook the hand a bit, then smirked as he looked off into the distance some. "Well, this is a nice area. Not too much stuff going on around here. Pretty quiet overall. But I suppose with all the folks around, there was a decent chance someone might walk by."

Alex raised an eyebrow at Christopher's expressions but nodded some. "Yeah, I guess. Not that it provides me with a lot of comfort. I'm not sure what's worst... the fact they've got me stuck on this rock and are changing me into a bird, or the fact they've got me stuck on this rock away from my baby." That last word of his was said like he had family or something like that was being kept from him.

"Sure... I guess I've got time to kill. Although if you need to reshoot that thing you were doing, I understand. I mean, last thing I want to do is mess up your video." But since Chris seemed to be packing up, he guessed that his offer wasn't really needed. "Looks like they're turning you into some canine. Eh, thats not too bad, in the grand scheme of things, from what I've seen."

Alex nodded a bit to Chris as he talked, following him some. "Yeah, the scientist who did this to me is a right fine huen dahn." The way he said that last bit didn't sound like he was saying nice things about the person either.

"I'm suprised that you've got that many folks you know here on the island. Must be sort of lucky for you though, although, I guess in hind sight, maybe that isn't the sort of luck you'd wish on someone and their family." The question about his 'baby' sort of took him off guard, causing him to stumble a bit as he walked, before laughing. Not the normal reaction you might expect from someone who was being asked about their 'baby'.

"No no no! My 'baby' is a PBY Catalina. She's my airplane! Big World War 2 seaplane. They used her for sub patrols and anti-shipping back then. I was using her as a cargo plane. Really beautiful plane. I worked on her myself. Had to put her together after the last owner left her a huge mess..." He sighed softly, looking skyward as he walked. "You put that much time into something, you tend to think of it as a part of you, in a way. It was home, for me anyways."

Alex nodded some more, as he walked into the cafeteria, grabbing a tray and started to go off towards the area with all the nicely cooked meat products. He gets himself some chicken, as well as some chinese fried rice and some noodles and eggrolls. And to drink, he gets himself a diet coke.

He walks over to the table as well, setting the tray down and tossing his coat onto the back of his chair. "Well it still isn't something I'd ask for. Rather suffer alone than to have some of my family hauled here as well." The pilot pours a bit of soy sauce over all the food and then starts to eat.

"So, whats your girlfriend becoming? Hopefully nothing too bad." He winces a bit, realizing he probably shouldn't have said that last part. But it wasn't like he wasn't familiar with how odd some of the changes folks could face on the island. It was just something he shouldn't have said. If anything, Chris probably would have understood what he meant by the question.

Luckily, fishing out some photos of his 'baby' was a good distraction from beating himself up over the question, pulling out a picture of the PBY, as it sat at the dock of the Manila office. "Thats here there...", he said, handing the photo over.

Alex ate some of his food and shrugged a bit. "No clue. Its been here since I got here. Maybe they knew I was a big fan of the stuff. Used to eat it all the time over in Manila. And I see. Interesting family you have then." He smiled a bit and put some more soy sauce on his eggroll.

"How long? Oh, about 4 and a half years. Almost 5. Got her on sale while I was visiting my friend overseas. Couldn't leave with her. Needed 2 months of hard repairs, and so I paid a ton of money, got the bank to sign off on some stuff, and started up a business to use her for cargo runs. But the owner was selling her for dirt cheap. Too costly to repair. Luckily I could do most the repairs but it was still a hell of an overhaul. Its amazing what you can get overseas. I still don't know how her previous owner got ahold of her, but she really was bad off. She was a great joy to fly. Tempermental though. Fuel lines weren't so good. Or maybe it was jsut the bad fuel she got fed some days..." Last thing Alex wants to do is scare poor Chris with a lot of technical jargon so he's trying to keep it simple in his explaination of stuff.

He took the photo back, and put it away in his wallet, placing that back in his jacket, before turning to eat some of the chicken, ripping the meat from the bone. And that was probably the worst he could have done as he almost bites through a piece of bone and coughs up some of the half chewed chicken.

"Bring..." He coughs a bit. "...my PBY here... " Another cough. "...and have them pull out the engines out?" He reachs for his coke and swallows a few gulps, washing his throat clean. "I may miss her, but it would be like I said, wanting a family member here. I'd never wish that on anyone. I'd be no better than the guy I bought the plane from." He gritted his teeth some, and shook his head.

"At least one of us is still out 'there'. That plane's got more sweat and tears keeping her flying... I wouldn't trade that in just so she could float out next to the beach..." The pilot lifted his mirrored shades from his brow, and rubbed his eyes a bit. Damn. Poor guy looks like he got a bit too emotional. "Sorry..."

It takes him a minute or two before he's smiling, although he also went and scarfed down the rest of his coke while he was getting himself feeling better. "So, yeah, enough of that talk... What brought you here?"