Welcome to Gaia! ::

((The Dude: Damn straight, they belong to a poet! Let's make sweet poetry tonight, babeh!
Captain Morgan: *smacks the Dude down* MINE. She might feed me, you lazy bumm. You haven't done so in TWO DAYS!))

"They wouldn't dare inject you with something that would keep you from competing without your knowledge. Lawsuit city. They couldn't. It would be crazy." Cassidy swallowed another mouthful of salad and stabbed at the air with her fork. "Geez. We all seem to have contradictory stories, don't we?" Conspiracy theories, indeed. "Come to think of it, if they did vaccinate Emelyn... is that even legal, to vaccinate someone without their consent?"

She peered suspiciously at the freckles on her arm.

Em shrugged. "I don't seem to be any worse for the wear. And as to whether it's legal for them to inject me without my knowledge... I really don't even remember that night very well. I was in pretty bad shape- and I was lucky Sabin found me and pulled me off the shore. For all I know, I was trespassing just by laying there." The thought brought a picture of the Wilhemina, laying at the bottom of the harbor, and wondered where The Dude's boat was. It also made her wonder what the man's real name was, but figured if it was important, he'd have told her.

...Not that she really knew any of these people. Especially the ones they spoke of that she hadn't met- this 'Greer'? The deaf lab technician? She barely remembered Sabin and that Doctor- and certainly didn't know the background of these people, or anything about them, besides... well, what sort of lunches they ate, and how they came to be stranded on this strange island. Normally, Em probably would have just chalked these people up to 'temporary acquaintances' and gone on her way... but even if she did have a method off this island, she figured she'd probably still stay a while. After all, where else did she have to go? Back to Europe? Something about travelling didn't appeal to her much anymore, and she found that she had some strange, vested interest in these people.

"I did a year of nursing school," Cassidy said glumly, "and I certainly couldn't tell you anything about Dengue fever. "Maybe I do read too much science fiction, but this is just a little weird. Maybe I should've expected it, coming to the Bermuda Triangle and all.

"And yeah, I suppose we're all okay. Although I did feel awful the day after I got here, but I'm not exactly used to this heat. I'm Canadian," she laughed. "And my sister always did get sort of sick after the diptheria-tetanus shot. At least you," she pointed at Ambrose with her fork, "are headed home after a few weeks, right?"

Emelyn... really didn't want to think about it like that- all the conspiracy theories, and the idea that they were stuck here on the island; somehow she just shut it all out- her mind dropped a wall around it, and she convinced herself that if she really wanted a way off the island- she could find it, but until then- she wouldn't play conspiracy with these people.

"I don't think it's so bad as all of that," she said, shrugging and tapping her fingernails on the tabletop. It's amazing how a person who is just coming out of a mind-numbing grief will let themselves gloss over the dark, or the possibility of a terrible thing happening- protection against the sadness.

((If we're not ending/holding this off soonage, then I'll just say goodnight- so let me know if you're all planning on sticking around tonight, so I can post a goodbye post. ^_^ Else I'll just let it 'sit'.))

Ambrose nodded at Cassidy. "Yes! Just about another week left now. Shouldn't be too much longer." He laughed around the last bite of steak. "And all these paranoid ideas will fade away into the sunset behing the chopper." He said, gesturing with his hand moving smoothly palm-down and outwards, pantomiming an easy trip.

"I felt ill for a couple of days after the shot as well. And I've been eating a lot.... but I have been feeling much better since then. Remarkably better you might say. Those are probably due to the medicine for the study, however. Almost a pity it's temporary - I've had so much energy! And also too bad that the weather's been bad - I wanted to work more on my fencing moves to take advantage of it, and the duplex rooms are rather small."

Ambrose swallowed at the Dude's acessment of the situation. "Well they can't just keep us here!" He said it with a forced laugh. Well, they could keep the Dude here, but he was a special case. Ambrose had signed up for a two week study. "Classes start for me again in about a month, and Angelina is expecting me back next week." He fiddled with his fork. "Just because they have control over transportation doesn't mean that they are going to make us stay here...." He didn't sound quite so convinced or convincing.

((Will have to head out soon - needs to get up early for classes tomorrow gonk I could probably get in one more response back, but not much more.))

Seeing both Emelyn and Cassidy be braver and more optimistic then himself, the Dude felt shamed. Go go girl power! And Ambrose, too, albeit Ambrose didn't sound quite so convinced, actually. So the Dude proped his head on his arm and looked at everyone with an amused look:

"Okey okey, well, glad to hear that, then. Hey, it's a tropical island, with a beach, sand and lovely ladies. 'S not like I am gonna complain. 'Sides ... another explanation for this could be that we are just part of some new reality series. You know, "Survivor" or some such stuff. Except we dont' know it yet. Maybe they are filming us right now, watching us trying to figure out what's wrong, agonizing? Maybe we should give them a run for their efforts, ya know?"

And then he winked. To noone in particullar it seemed at first, though more towards the gals, and away from Ambrose.

((everyone else leave? crying Hello?))