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 Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 1:38 pm
Brian sat in the cafeteria, alone at a distant table off towards a corner. At his elbow sat a tray, on it a carton of milk, some cutlery, a napkin, and a plate of roast chicken. He'd picked at the chicken, apparently, and still did so every little while. The man's main attention, however, was on the notebook he had in front of him. The ballpoint pen scratched and scrawled quietly as quick words spouted from its end. Brian paused every one in a while to chew on either some food or the end of his writing instrument, and then went back to whatever he was doing. He seemed immersed in his own thoughts.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 1:46 pm
Sid would have been perfectly content to just sleep through the day, but hunger pangs woke up him and refused to let him go back to bed. He hadn't been eating as much as he should, granted, but after all that had happened he had a lot negative associations with the cafeteria. Without the benefit of room service, or anyone he felt he could talk into getting something for him, he just had to bite the bullet and go out- in the sun- to eat.
Of course, someone had to be there... someone normal by the looks of it. He moved inside as quietly as he could, but his feet weren't helping. With every step his webbed toes slapped loudly (to him, anyway) on the tile. Casting a wary glance at the man, Sid moved to grab a plate.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 1:56 pm
The biologist looked up from his writing upon hearing the unfamiliar footsteps. He gave Sid a quick glance, mentally digested his rather frightening appearance, and flipped over the page of his notebook. The chicken caught his attention again, as did the milk. Brian set his precious treasure aside for the moment and attempted to resume eating. Alas, the milk was warm... and the chicken was cold.
He glanced a second time, briefly, at the stranger, but made no move to invite him over. Surely, the stranger would take it as an insult. Brian didn't want to rub his humanity in the other guy's face. So he reasoned as he allowed his frame of mind to slip back into timid introversion.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 2:04 pm
Fish, fish, and more fish... Screw that. Sid moved further down the line and grabbed a piece of chicken. It was worth a shot. Once his plate was full he took a bottle of water and turned to look over all the empty space he could put between himself and the other guy. Since he hadn't immediately freaked out or stood to leave was a little encouraging, so why not be sociable?
He moved over to Brian's table slowly, trying to make himself appear as nonthreatening as possible, despite the teeth.
"So I guess you're new."
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 2:23 pm
Brian was no expert in marine life, but the outrageous teeth that the approaching man sported reminded him of a book he'd had in his childhood about various sorts of deep-sea critters. 'An angler-fish?' He wondered, but made no comment. It probably wouldn't, Brian mused, be polite.
"Yeah, you could say that. I've been here a couple weeks now. Brian Grant," he introduced, extending his hand fearlessly. He'd driven away in a panic from an angry rhino, handled dozens of samples of feces to try to determine eating habits, and spent hours in freezing cold and broiling hot tempteratures. He could handle one rather webby, possibly slimy handshake. (At least, he hoped he could.)
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 2:29 pm
Sid raised an eyebrow at the offered hand. He laid the water bottle down to awkwardly curl his fingers around Brian's.
"Sid Eisley," he said, watching for his reaction. He didn't exactly shake, but the contact was probably bad enough as it was. When he withdrew his hand he nodded at the closest empty seat. "Do you mind if I sit?"
He had to remind himself he was trying to be nice sociable, not see how much the guy could take. It's not as though he was that vindictive yet... Was it?
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 3:02 pm
Brian simply smiled genially (if not a touch hesitantly) at the handshake. "Go right ahead." He left his notepad where it was so as not to draw attention to it. He'd already made sure the visible page was a blank one.
He glanced at the fishy-man's selection and, struggling to incite conversation, commented, "The chicken is good. Until you let it get cold." The redhead sent a disparaging look at his own meal, half-eaten and looking rather forlorn.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 3:07 pm
"I prefer it cold, actually." Sid eased into a seat, mindful of his tail. After a little shifting, he worked into a more or less comfortable position. He picked up the chicken, which despite what he said was still warm, and tried eating it. Just as he thought, it wasn't quite to his tastes anymore. "Problem is viperfish don't seem to care for it."
He unscrewed the bottlecap and tilted his head back to try and get the taste out of his mouth. "Well, now I know."
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 3:16 pm
"Viperfish, eh?" Brian asked, the curosity plain on his voice. "So the... the changes also effect what tastes good to you?" The notion jarred him. It was more, then, than just a physical change. More than just sprouting a tail or some fangs and looking like the animal- the animal behaviour came along with it too?
Fascinating, that would prove beyond a doubt that behavioural patters were imprinted in DNA itself, not simply learned from observing others of the same species. It was the eternal nature vs. nurture debate, unravelled with the help of... of... sick scientific testing on human captives. Fasinating, yes, but no better than the 'experiments' performed in concentration camps during World War II, no better than the complete destruction of Hiroshima during the testing stages of the atom bomb. Brian was no longer hungry, and pushed his tray to the side. Ugh.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:09 pm
"Tastes are the least of it, man." Sid blithely popped a piece of fish in his mouth and swallowed it without much pretense of chewing. He couldn't think of a polite way to go about the process, but since Brian had pushed his plate away before he started eating he felt safe. Once he swallowed he continued.
"Some people get overwhelmed sometimes. Like, a few weeks back, this guy stabbed himself right here in the cafeteria- don't ask me why- and this leopard girl freaked out at the sight of blood and latched on to him. Me and a few other people tried to get her off, but she got zapped before it went too far. God, how that boy shrieked... He was okay though, walked away from the ordeal and everything."
He threw another piece of fish into his mouth, unaware that he was talking about a vicious attack as casually as if he was discussing the weather or a football game.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:14 pm
"Christ," he muttered, although he was no church-goer. "Just like that, no warning?" Brian's fingertips itched for his pen, his notepad. He should've been writing it all down. Instead, his brows furrowed and he listened more carefully to what was being said, trying to remember more details for the second he had a moment to himself. The biologist pursed his lips and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and his chin in the cradle of his palms. "And what do you mean, zapped?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:35 pm
"Heh... Y'know it was weeks before someone told me about the chips, too?" Sid couldn't quite understand it, but he was enjoying rambling on about the subject, unpleasant as he was. He pulled a piece of fish into two smaller, easier to swallow parts. "They have this failsafe, right? These chips implanted so that if you ever get out of hand it shocks you unconscious." He popped one of the pieces into his mouth and after he swallowed he added, "Maybe 'buzzed' is a better word for it. But... I dunno about warning. I think it's something there has to be a trigger to get your animal side going. Never happened to me, as far as I'm aware."
But it would, and he thought about that as he continued to eat. Food was only the first part of it, just like he said.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:48 pm
Watching this fellow eat was a rather gruesome sight. Not because of the teeth, not because of the nature of the food, not because of the strangeness of the sight. Rather, it was the very human way in which Sid performed a very inhuman task that set Brian's stomach flip-flopping. He'd seen fat, greasy children chowing down on burgers. He'd seen wild predators voraciously devoring a kill, faces pink with blood. Never before had he seen something that looked so very animal in face and food pick up and pop fish into its mouth like a potato chip. It was unnerving, this anthropomorphic nightmare he'd stumbled into. Brian tried not to let it show.
As Sid talked in more detail about what was meant by 'zapping', Brian recalled a selection of Richard's introductory letter which he had skimmed over quickly in favour of the explanation of the impending transformations. He did, in fact, remember having learned something along those lines, and nodded his understanding. "So what happens, other than the phsyical changes?" A piece of paper could only tell him so much about the mental state of the 'changed' islanders, and how much they experienced in terms of a sudden difference in behavioural patterns. "Do the people who're infused with herbivore DNA get along with those of carnivorous DNA?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:59 pm
"Well..." Sid hestitate. It all came back to the murder, didn't it? But that was a freak accident, it had to have been. He wasn't sober enough to go through that story again, so he continued picking his fish apart as he stalled for time. "There's some tension sometime, but most people strike out a balance." He swallowed yet another piece of fish. "You know what's funny? I've never really thought about it in terms of DNA getting ******** around with before... I guess it makes sense." He continued eating, a thoughtful look in his oversized eyes. "Actually, none of it makes sense to me... but here we are."
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:05 pm
The biologist gave a wry smile at Sid's coarse language. It rather accurately described his sentiments. "Doesn't make much more sense to me than it does to you," Brian muttered, lifing his chin and weaving his fingers together before settling back down. "What gets me the most, though-" he started softly, looking at the table's surface and pausing uncertainly before going on, "-is not the how... but the why."
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