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 Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:11 pm
Aubrey smiled back at her and led her back out the Jeep. After once again opening the door for her politely, Aubrey drove her down the street to the housing area.
Being actually in the little neighborhood, it was easier to notice that several of the buildings were attached to the river and filled with water. There was also one building placed high up on stilts, with no obvious way to get up to the top.
Aubrey pulled the jeep infront of a simple, normal looking townhome. Aubrey grabbed the heaviest of the bags Cassidy brough and led her up to the door. She pulled a set of keys from her jacket, found the right one, and unlocked the door.
She swung the door open and pulled the key from the keyring. "Welcome home!" The room inside looked remarkably like a hotel room. One large, spacious room, with a double bed in the middle, two nightstands, a desk, a chair, and a bookcase. A door in the back led to a bathroom, and a mini fridge beside the desk.
"Miss Greer lives in the room above you, if you want to introduce yourself later. And two of men, live just down there." Aubrey pointed to an identical looking building down the ways. "And you're room number three. Don't forget, this place can get confusing at night. All the buildings look the exact same. Maybe the doctor will allow me to get some nice curtains or something for you... make this place a bit more customizable."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:19 pm
Cassidy grinned. She could get to liking this place. "Number three, right." She tossed her heavy pack onto the bed.
The bookcase had more room than she expected. She wondered if she could convince someone back home to get the rest of her books out of storage and mail them to her.
"Curtains would be nice, though... Is there a kitchen available? Is that in the main building Dr. Moreau mentioned?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:23 pm
Aubrey helped her get all her bags in. "There's a fridge, but other than that you can go to the cafeteria in the central building. There's aways sometime there to grab, and hot meals served three times a day!"
A thought crossed her mind. "And microwaves. Definately could use microwaves."
After Cassidy's bags were in, Aubrey smiled warmly to her. "Well, I think that's everything for now, unless you have any other questions?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:27 pm
"I think I'm fine." Cassidy grinned again, though it was tinged with nervousness. "I'll probably just start unpacking."
Come to think of it, who else was living here? Scientists, she assumed. Doctors. Other staff. Yeah. Must be. This was still sort of weird.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:30 pm
"Well, you have a good night then. If you think of anything you need..." Aubrey walked over to an electric panel on the wall. It resembled a telephone pad. "You can dial 0 to get a direct line to someone at the center. THey can get a hold of me or the doctor in case of an emergency. But otherwise, they should be able to answer your general questions."
Aubrey set a key down on the bedside table and tipped her hat. "See you soon, Miss Cassidy."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:35 pm
Cassidy sat down on the bed, and flopped backwards. She stared at the ceiling, and wondered what on Earth had possessed her to travel all the way here to clean hotel rooms that turned out not to be hotel rooms.
Well.
No aliens, no mad scientists.
Damn, her arm hurt.
-End Log-
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 12:20 am
Cassidy's dreams that night were muddled and confused.
She walked on stilts, very tall stilts, and wore a long trenchcoat. For some reason, she wasn't scared, though nothing could have persuaded her to do any such thing in real life. Beneath the buttoned coat flew hummingbirds, glistening and jewel-like, buzzing softly. She was in a crowd, and there was something she needed to tell someone, though she wasn't sure what it was. It had something to do with the furry, carnivorous vending machine down the hall. Any attempt to communicate this to anyone in the crowd, though, and her mouth would seize up and the other person would look away, disgusted with her, or would be unable to hear her from up on her stilts and move away without noticing. Still, she kept trying... there had to be someone who would be able to understand.
Everything seemed to cloud, and darken.
A funny smell. Cassidy remembered, even in the dream, that you don't smell in dreams, but she thought she smelled something. It was not like anything she'd smelled before, but it was there.
People moving around her, which she didn't like. A sharp pain, which faded.
And from there, she fell into confused yet startlingly vivid dreams like before. No hummingbirds and stilts, this time. She dreamt now of a vast desert. There had been people here, once, but they had long since died, hundreds of years ago, killed themselves in a great war. She was walking through it with a werefish. The werefish was a pretty girl who looked nothing like a fish, but Cass somehow knew she was a werefish. Cassidy was a werefish, too. This was an old friend, and she couldn't remember her name. They were visiting. They had not seen each other in years, since they were little fry in a steam somewhere. They were going to see another friend, who lived on the other side of the desert. The desert was too hot, far too hot and dry for a pair of werefish, and Cassidy looked over at her friend to see her shrivel up into a giant beetle. Horrified, Cassidy turned to run away, but found her feet slipping down into the sand.
Engulfed by the desert, suffocated by hot sand, Cassidy struggled and dug through the sand to emerge in some sort of mall. She wasn't sure how she got there. People were fleeing from something, and Cassidy joined them. She glanced back to see what they were running from, and discovered a hoard of smiling hairdressers, carrying rusty scissors. She knew, somehow, in the way of dreams, that the hairdressers were radioactive. She ran faster.
Breathless, she stumbled out onto a grassy field. She was very thirsty. There were couches in the field, and as she stared at one, the cusion lifted up and some sort of shapeless monster began to emerge. She fled, discovered her mother, and clung. The monsters would not come as long as she was with someone else. Her mother was not amused.
"Cassidy Nevada Smith. You're far too old for this."
Cassidy went away, running from the monsters from under the sofa cushions. She came at last to a forest. It was jungle, actually, but not like any natural jungle. The trees were in front of her and behind her, neatly kept back. She was standing on a perfectly manicured lawn, which stretched out as far as the eye could see on her left, bordered by parallel strips of jungle. On her right was a railing. She peered down it and saw crocodiles in a swamp, far below. The crocodiles looked like mice, but they were hungry, she knew.
"Come on, Cassidy," said her friends from high school. "You go first, and we'll follow."
Cassidy discovered there were vines hanging by the railing. She wasn't sure what they could be hanging from, and didn't look. They were simply conviently there. She took the vine in her hands, and swung down. There wasn't anything to swim. She landed on the head of a crocodile, dodging angry mouths and sharp teeth, while her friends followed and were eaten.
Somehow she was in a mall. A robot was discussing the possibilities of rainbow toe socks with his friend. His friend was blind, but was emphatically telling the robot it was a bad idea.
Cassidy awoke as the sun came into her room, sweaty and with a killer headache. What a night. Maybe it was the tropical air.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 5:16 pm
RP Session
Glass, while exellent for protecting her collection and perfect for giving her pets viewable homes, was way too heavy. Greer lay on the floor, her bed occupied by display cases she hadn't found a place on the walls for yet. Ugh. It was too hot. Too sunny. The trouble with the tropics was that, unlike Seattle, it didn't have very many clouds.
Cassidy debated a little to herself. She had to introduce herself sometime, after all. She didn't want to avoid anyone. She was going to be friendly and outgoing and...
...yeah, like hell.
She screwed up her courage and knocked on Greer's door anyway.
She flinched at the loud pounding, slowly pushing herself up on to her feet. It took some careful navigation around her cases and terrariums to get to the door, but she managed to get to it and pull it open. She blinked at the woman standing there, not recognizing her and unsure how to act.
"Um, hello?"
This was it.
Cassidy put a on a big smile. "I'm Cassidy. I'm your downstairs neighbour, so I thought I'd come to introduce myself. I'm also sort of the resident housekeeper, so, uh. If you want me to scrub your bathroom or vacuum or whatever, I'm your girl."
Greer blinked, remembered hearing the name, and told her face it should be smiling. "Oh hi! I'm Greer, your upstairs neighbor, which, of course you know."
She continued to smile, trying to think of what you said next. She didn't have people over much. "Um, would you like to come in? I'm still unpacking and it's a bit of a mess, but, um, we can go to the little balcony window thing and look out if you want."
Oh yeah. Smooth.
"I know what that's like." Cassidy smirked. "I have stuff all over the place. Thanks." She came inside, trying to dismiss her nervousness, and stepped hesitantly inside. "Wow. You brought a lot more stuff than I did."
As soon as she said it, she felt dumb. What kind of a thing to say was that?
"Only what I couldn't leave behind. You should see the storage room I left in my mother's care. Woo!" Greer began to nervously shift display cases, trying to make room for walking, seating, and other forms of room use.
For the past two days, as much as Ambrose would hate to admit it, he had been bored. And rather lonely. From a rather sizable city, isolation had never really been an issue for him. Now, coming to a virtual Island paradice - an opportunity that most people would give their right arm for not only a free two weeks' stay, but a PAID two weeks stay, he was going in circles. He felt like he wasn't accomplishing anything. Sure, he had made headway into one of the novels he had brought, and practiced point control with his rapier on the ferns, but really, is had been more to pass the time then anything else.
When he heard banging and thumping coming from next doors and peeked out the window to see a young woman hefting several large trunks up the stairs he smiled - company! At last!
Of course, being Ambrose, he had to take at least an hour to get himself "prepared" for company - showering, brushing his hair, and putting on a new set of clothes.
Finally, jogging to the bungalow next doors, he jogged up the stairs and knocked.
"I know what that's like. I left way too many books behind," Cassidy agreed mournfully. She really had to do something about that. She wanted the rest of her Asimov.
She was about to ask about the cases when there was a knock on the door. "You met anyone else here?"
Leaving her mess where it was, Greer spoke while going to the door. "No, just the woman with the jeep who met me at the helipad... Aubrey I think? And Dr. Moreau, of course."
Pulling the door open, she gave the attractive man on the other side a shaky smile. "Hello?"
Ambrose straightened and put on a charming - if a bit boyish- smile when the door opened. "Hi!" he started, chiding himself for sounding rather awkward introducing himself to someone he had never met before. "My name's Ambrose. I couldn't help but notice that you were moving in here. I live just over there-" He gestured behind him to the building next door's downstairs duplex "in Number 1."
He opened his hands with a bit of a shrug. "To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure when anyone else was going to be showing up. I've pretty much been alone out here save for the cafeteria woman for the past couple of days."
"I got in last night," Cassidy offered. She was peering curiously at one of the terrariums, and trying not to be obvious about it, but she couldn't see what was in it. "I'm Cassidy. I live downstairs. Number three."
"Um, I'm Greer. I live here." She pushed the door open all the way so he could see past her and enter. "I would have been here sooner, but quitting a federal job takes forever. Want to come in? I can continue to attempt to clear space to sit."
Ambrose smiled. "That's perfectly understandable. But you're here now, and I suppose that's what's important" He chuckled.
I wonder why she quit a federal job just to come out here for a two week medical study Ambrose thought to himself, but didn't voice the thought yet out of politeness. It is quite the opportunity, however. Especially the location.
"And thank you very much - I'd love to!" He stepped through the threshold and stood aside in an area that wasn't too badly cluttered and gave Cassidy a friendly smile. "Hello Cassidy! Nice to meet you as well!"
May as well tell him, too. "I'm the residential housekeeper," Cass told Ambrose. "I'm the girl to ask if you want your toilet scrubbed. Er. Greer? What's in these things?" She pointed at one of the terrariums. "You seem to have an awful lot of them."
"They're my pets! I'm an entomologist." Pulling the top off of the tank indicated by Cassidy, she stuck her hand in and pulled out a large brown stick insect, placing it on her shoulder and replacing the lid.
"This is Bernie. He's from Peru."
"Ah!" Ambrose exclaimed. While he wasn't nearly as stuck up as many people from his parents' social circles, he still felt a little awkward realizing that she was a "maid" here. It made sense - there were many apartments and someone would have to keep them clean, but it left him a little unsure of how to act. She seemed rather young, and nice enough - not the stereotype he was used to seeing. Shrugging internally he extended a hand. "Glad to know that. Hopefully you won't have too much work around my bungalow at least - I tend to keep things rather straight. I'm just here for the study myself, so I shouldn't be here all too long."
Moreau sat in his mansion, peaking high above all the other buildings on the mountainside. The room he was in was filled with monitors displaying different sections of the island. One in particular had all of his interest, it was the room of Subject 0008 one his new arrivals from yesterday.
Subject 0008 seemed to be conversing with 0009 and 0002. Interesting, he would have to watch more. He leaned back in his large comfortable chair the flicker of the many screens reflecting in his eyes.
Cassidy shook Ambrose's hand cheerily. "There's hardly anyone here right now, anyway," she laughed. "I think I might just go read on the beach this afternoon. Nothing for me to do."
And then, her attention was caught by "Bernie" on Greer's shoulder. Cassidy's mouth worked in alarm and she took an involuntary step back. "You keep bugs?" she squeaked. "And you're just going to put him on your shoulder like that?"
"Of course! Like I said, I'm an entomologist. That's an insect scientist. I'm here to study the local population."
Berie waved his antennae unconcernedly, being very used to his human keeper.
"Don't worry, stick insects are harmless. He eats leaves and pretends to be plant matter so his predators leave him alone, for the most part. Occassionally he tries to find a female. All of my pets are harmless. I'm too scatterbrained to keep poisonous bugs." She smiled brightly. Who didn't like insects?
Ambrose rubbed the back of his neck with a bit of a forced smile. He didn't particularly mind insects. It's just.... well... they were insects. Things that were generally swatted if they were in the house, or at best put back outside. Though, apparently she was a scientist - perhaps they were more of research subjects, but the way she affectionately spoke about them raised doubts as to that. "Well... they're interesting I suppose..." Ambrose trailed. At least, as she said, they weren't harmful. "No cockroaches in those pens, I hope?" He tried to joke.
"Um. I, um. I see." Cassidy stared in disbelief, eying Bernie's wiggling antennae.
And then Ambrose had to mention cockroaches. Ew. Ew ew ew ew ew.
She took another step back. "It was nice meeting you. I, uh... have to go finish packing." Which was true. Sort of. Mostly. Oh god oh god oh god what if that thing got out? And managed to make its way into her room?! It would have to be squashed, and she didn't think Greer would appreciate that. Which was a shame, since except for the bug thing she seemed pretty nice but EW EW EW EW. "I'll, uh. I'll see you later."
With a forced grin, Cassidy excused herself, dodged Ambrose, and headed back outside and downstairs.
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2005 3:17 pm
RP SessionCassidy had simply run out of things to productively do. So, with that in mind, she had grabbed a towel and a book and gone down to the beach to stretch out in the sun and read. The sand, of course, wormed its way into her sandals quickly, but she kicked it out absently and found a nice warm patch of sun to roll out her towel. Best. Job. Ever. TheDudeB-) It was stormy last night and the beach was littered with floatsome and drying Man-o-Wars. About a hundered feet out into the lagoon there was a small boat floating in the water. Well, floating was an incorrect description - it was kinda leaning to one side and not moving very much. A huge, ruddy red cat was curled up on the stern of the boat, surriounded by drying clothes, seemingly un-bothered by the expanses of water between him and the dry land. The cat saw a human being on land and gave it the evil eye. But it was kinda far to tell for Cassidy that''s what the cat was doing. Cassidy flopped down on the towel, and looked out to sea. This! This was gorgeous, beautiful, perfect (except for the dead jellyfish), and--was that a boat? She squinted, tilted her head. That was definitely a boat. She set her book aside and hurried down the beach towards the shoreline, cautiously dodging man-of-wars. It was definitely a boat. What was that red thing? "Hey! Hey, is someone out there?" TheDudeB-) "Hey ... one ... there!!!" The Dude jerked awake from his afternoon siesta and poked his head from behind the shanty, squinting in the bright sun. There was someone on the beach, shouting at him. SWEET! No need to go find helicopters anymore. He stood up and waved at the blond person, then pulled off his shirt and slid into the water to meet, greet and figure out what this island had to offer in terms of technical assistance and gasoline. The red cat uncurled and jumped gracefully into the darkness of the shanty to see if there was food around. Cassidy would take that as a yes. She ran back up the beach to fetch her towel, leaving her book balanced safely--so she hoped--on a piece of nearby driftwood, and came running back down to the waterline with the towel flapping like a flag behind her. Shipwrecked? Yikes. But then again, this was the Bermuda Triangle, wasn''t it? Or near it, anyway. Something like that. "My god. What happened?!" TheDudeB-) It didn''t take him that long to get to shore and he waded the last 20 feet because the lagoon was pretty shallow. The minnows darted away from his feet and two sting rays stirred up a mass of sand, spoked away from their hunting grounds. The Dude was smiling. The blond person turned out to be a lovely blond chick with a towel. And all worried. Maybe this was a hippie colony or some such thing. That''s be sweet. He waded out of the water, brushed hair out of the face and happily accepted the towel. "Thanks, man. Yeah, freak tropical storm. I must have missed the warning on the radio. I dunno, I am not even sure what day it is today. Oh yeah - and what island is this? Is this the Keys or the Bahamas?" "You know," Cassidy said, "I don''t actually know what the island''s called. Or if it has a name. I think it must be privately owned... You''re in, well, the Bermuda Triangle." She tried not to smirk, but that was just such an awesome thing to be able to say. "Hardly deserted, though," she continued. "There''s some sort of scientific research thing going on here, though. I dunno, really, I''m just cleaning staff. They don''t tell me. You okay, though?" TheDudeB-) For a man who didn''t knew where he was, who''s boat was stuck and likely irrepairably damaged and who barely made thru the entire adventure with his life, the Dude seemed very unfased by it all. "Oh yeah, man, I''m cool. Research facility in teh Bermuda Triangle, huh? WOW, that''s like, super weired. What are they doing there - cloning dinasaurs?" He plopped onto the sand, towel across his neck and immediately regretted not having a cigarette. This was way sweet - an island with fish on it, a chick who didn''t mind talking to him, and the blue blue sea and cyan sky. Hey, if he couldn''t fix the boat, he wouldn''t mind just hanging here for a while. "Man, you got yourself a sweet a** job here! Cleaning on a tropical island. s**t." He piled his eyebrows into a puppy look and asked, hopeful: "You got a smoke?" Dinosaurs. Cassidy giggled. "I wish. I really don''t know what they''re doing." Maybe they were, too. It was as likely a scenario as any other Cass had tried out. Or maybe they were aliens. She did still rather like the theory that she was being employed by aliens for, uh. Some purpose she hadn''t figured out yet. Ridiculous, though. Bad Cass. Stay in the real world, please and thank you. "Sorry, I don''t smoke. Probably someone on the island does." TheDudeB-) "Ah! Good, good. Cancer''s a b***h." - the Dude added philosophically. "Well, nice to make your aquaintance, Lucky Girl!" - he stretched out his hand to her. "I am Sean, but I am known as the Dude. Whatcha up to here, anyway? Do they make you clean the beach, too?" - he smiled broadly, crinkling his eyes at her. "I''m Cassidy." She grinned, shook his hand. "Nah, I just clean the residences. Except hardly anyone''s here, yet, so I have a lot of free time. It''s great. I just came down to relax and enjoy the sun." That and avoid her bug-collecting housemate. Eeeeesh. She flopped down on the sand, herself. TheDudeB-) "That''s a pretty name ... Cassidy ... you Irish or some such thing?" - the Dude''s mood could not possibly get any better now. Lucky b*****d he was. LUCKY. From tempest to paradise mrgreen Aubrey Lockheart The sound of Jeep tearing down the trail filled the air. Going quite fast, it kicked up dirt and sand as it made its way directly towards Cassidy and the man. Aubrey was behind the wheel, looking a bit frazzled. She pulled up surprisingly close to the couple before slamming on the breaks.
She hopped out of the car, doing her best to look friendly but you could tell she was nervous and rushed.
"HI there..." she said to the man, pulling out a clipboard from the Jeep and hurrying over. Aubrey was a tall woman, a little heavyset not not unattractively so. She had glasses and freckles over her nose, and was wearing a fitted tee and a red skirt. "Hi... hello, over here, yes,I need to speak with you, sir?" "Not that I know of. I--" Cassidy paused to see that Aubrey woman come hurrying down the beach. Security, she guessed. To protect the dinosaur clones the aliens were making--oh come on, now, Cass. How stupid can you get? TheDudeB-) When the car stopped right behind them, the Dude turned around, frazzled, and stared at the Jeep. WOW, this was like a movie. And OMG, ANOTHER CHICK! He stood up from the sand, the towel still across his sholders and smiled brightly "Yo! Sure thing. What''s the hurry, though?" Well, the island WAS private. With a research facility ... maybe they didn''t appreciate squatters after all ... Aubrey Lockheart Aubrey smoothed down her skirt than geabbed a pen from behind her ear. She plastered a smile on her face. "Hi. My name is Dr. Aubrey Lockheart, but you can call me Aubrey. I''m overseeing a research facility here, on the island. I work with Doctor Nicholas Moreau, he, well, he owns this island..."
She smiled proudly, seeming to be impressed with her own information.
"So, may I have your name? Having boat trouble, are we?" Yeah. Definitely security. "Er. I''ll just let you sort stuff out." Cassidy rose, brushing herself off. "You can just give me the towel back later, Sean... uh... Dude. Nice meeting you." She slipped off and went to fetch her book from the top of the beach.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 10:51 pm
Journal Entry
This place is sort of weird.
I mean, I love it here. Mostly. Okay, there are weird bugs, and there's a tendency for there to be jellyfish all over the beach--so much for swimming, ick. And I'm pretty sure I saw a snake yesterday but to be honest, I just ran. It might not have been. But it looked like a snake.
And technically, this should be the best job ever. There's hardly any actual work to do. I'm enjoying the sun, but I did burn yesterday. My fair Euro-Canadian skin is just not suited for Bermuda. I'm going to have twice as many freckles by the time I leave here, at least. I don't mind the work, and this place is awesome. But the scientists here are all sort of weird. I guess if you live on a private island in the Bermuda triangle, you get a little squirrelly.
Greer, who lives upstairs, collects bugs. She's an etymologist. I guess she's here for whatever study they're doing here. Yuck. I am not looking forward to cleaning her room. Maybe I can tie a stick onto a duster. I don't want to get any closer to her collection that I have already.
This guy washed up on the shore the other day. His name is Sean, but he told me to call him the Dude. Which is weird, but pretty awesome, too. We were having a pretty good conversation when that Aubrey woman swooped in with security.
If anyone here's an alien, it's got to be her.
The Dude thought they might be cloning dinosaurs. I hope so. It would certainly explain the security and secrecy.
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2005 1:48 pm
RP SessionCassidy lugged the cart of cleaning supplies up to #12, whistling to herself. Life was pretty good. She had something to do, weather was nice, and she was generally feeling pretty top-of-the-world. So, number twelve was occupied now? Interesting. She wondered who it was. Of course, with her luck, this one was a herpetologist.Oh please no. She knocked on the door. "Housekeeping! Anyone home?" The Dude XD The voice outside shattered the darkness with a fury of sparks. "Tripy" - thought the dude. The voice had colors. Kinda blueish ... The sluggish wheels inside the Dude's cranium attempted to spin, but coulnd't work up the momentum. The blue voice reminded the Dude of something. Like, water. Nice, cold, refreshing water. The wheels finally got up to some semblance of thinking speed and the mind began to analyze the voice he just heard ... housekeeping ... why did that remind him of water? "C'mon in, 's not locked" Cassidy opened the door and peered inside. She wrinkled her nose a little. Wasn't that... "Hey, it's you! From the beach!" The Dude person. Him. She supposed they'd set him up here until his boat could be towed, or whatever. She wasn't a boat person. "I didn't know that--hey. Are you okay?" The Dude XD Oh s**t. That is why the word housekeeper rang a bell. Housekeeper = Cassidy. It dawned to the Dude that he looked like a total bumm and an alcoholicer to boot. He tried to scramble up to sit and look normal, while holding onto the sheets because the bed hasn't stopped spinning on him yet. In fact, now the rest of the room joined in. s**t, he always ******** stuff like that up. "Ssorry."- he grunted "'m okey. How's you?" He attempted to smile but his head felt like it was being drilled form inside out so he stopped. "I'm... I'm okay." Cassidy blinked, one hand resting uncertainly on the handle of the cart. What did she do? Leave? Come in? "Uh. I could come back later if you wanted." She really, really hoped he was decent under those sheets. The Dude XD The memory of "Libery Manatee" finally crawled up to the surface of the Dude's mind, now that the alcohol prison was wearing off a bit. Plopping his head into his hands, the Dude gave Cassidy a side long look and whined: "My boat sunk last night in the storm. So I ... you know ... overindulged at the wake." The Dude understood perfetly why Cassidy whoudl probably leave and it probably would be for the best and all. But he was really thirsty and getting off the spinning bed realy didn't seem like an option for a while. "Before you split, can you get me a glass of water?" - he asked miserably. "Your boat sunk? Oh. Oh, I'm sorry." So much for repairing it. It seemed to Cassidy that the helicopter came rather intermittantly, so the Dude might be stuck for a while. There could be worse places, tough. She nodded. "Where do you keep your glasses?" she asked, even as she began to poke around in the cupboards. The Dude XD "I don't really have glasses anymore." - the Dude sighed "Or forks, or blankets, or my complete collection of Bob Dylan tapes, or my SCUBA gear or even my fishing rod. All claimed the sea." He sighed yet again, trying not to completely fall apart like a ninny in front of somebody, but the hangover situation was making it a bit hard. "Maybe there is a vase there somewhere or something?" - he sugested, trying to be helpful and leaning against the headboard. Great. Just great. "Maybe some of it'll wash up on shore?" Cassidy offered, attempting to be helpful and positive. "That was a pretty nasty storm last night, though..." Although, even if Bob Dylan had his strengths, being waterproof probably wasn't one of them. Nothing. There was nothing vaguely cup-like anywhere in sight. This was just unfair, that's what it was. Cass frowned. "I have this plastic jar-thing I'm keeping clean rags in. I could wash that out?" The Dude XD C'mon, get yourself together. Uncool to mop around like that. s**t happens. Boats break. Tapes drown. Life goes on. "Yeah, thanks, man. You are my knight in shining armor right now" - he tried to make it all sound like a joke. "I live to serve," Cassidy laughs. She scrunched the rags into a corner of the cart where, with any luck, they wouldn't fall off. She sniffed the plastic jar cautiously, and detecting no mysterious chemical odor other than that of lint, headed to the sink to scrub it out and fill it up. "Here." She handed it to the Dude. The Dude XD Gratefully, he accepted the cup. "Nevermind the knight. You are an angel with shitloads of wings and a halo." - the Dude thanked poetically He raised the cup in sort of a toast and drunk the entire thing in a few gulps. "Aaah ..." - leaning on one hand the Dude began to happily realized that the spinning was much slower now. Maybe slow enough to move. Trying to keep a conversation going so that the "angel" would stay, he raked his brains for a subject. Other then his boat. Ah. WEATHER! "Is it still raining outside?" Her? An angel? Pffft. "Let up for a bit." She grinned; she rather liked this not-quite-stormy weather. "Doesn't look good for the evening, though. Another storm, maybe. Did you want more water?" The Dude XD "Yeah!" - he stretched out the plastic container towards her. "******** global warming, man. All those soccer moms in Iowa drive their suburbans and burn air conditioning and we here get smothered by the storms all summer long." "If the icecaps melt, we're among the first to go," Cassidy agreed. She filled up the improvised cup and handed it back. "We'll just have to hope it holds off at least a few more years." The Dude XD "Yeah" - he nodded. "Us and Venice." - he grinned, then drunk the second cup and hiccuped. "Ah. I feel like a new man now." Then a conversation from yesterday came up to mind "Hey Cassidy. When you came here - did they vaccinate you against tropical diseases as well?" Cassidy looked a little surprised. "Yeah. I did. I think it's standard procedure." She shrugged. "I guess you got shot, too, huh? Can't have you taking weird bugs back to the mainland, I guess." The Dude XD "Ah. And you are not part of any study here, right? Just cleaning, eh?" The Dude shrugged: "I am not sure HOW I am gonna get to the mainland. Unless I bribe the pilot." "Nah. I just clean." Cassidy thought about the pilot, and made a face. "Y'know, I'm not sure he's bribable. He's too much a stick-up-the-a**. Might be." The Dude XD "Oh, you met him? What kinda guy is he?" - the Dude asked curiously "I didn't really talk to him on the flight in. Big burly guy. Dark." Cassidy shrugged. "Wears a suit. I think he probably takes his job too seriously to be bribed, is all." The Dude XD "Ah. One of those. ******** A. If this wasn't a research facility - it'd be a pretty good prison. No TV, no phone, no way to get off the island except on a plane. I bet the waters are shark infested, too." - siad the Dude grimmly. He had only one pack of cigarettes left, he remembered. Which were soacked in his backpack. "You know, me you and Ambrose should get together sometiems to discuss consipracy theories. Sometimes later, after my head hurts less." - he added appologieticlaly. "Conspiracy theories are always fun," Cassidy said wryly, and meant it. "Maybe I should let you sleep it off some more. I'll see you around, Dude." That still felt very strange for her to say. She headed for the cleaning cart and the door. The Dude XD Plopping back down onto the bed, the Dude continued to lay there for half an hour longer, then , finally crawled out of it and headed for the shower. MAN, he was STARVED. How strange was it to feel famished after hangover?
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 12:06 am
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 9:12 pm
Outside the door of Duplex 03 is a large heavy box labeled "Cassidy Smith Apt 03" with various smiley faces and hearts around the text. Inside the box is various Sci-Fi books from almost all eras of Sci-Fi (plenty of Asimov) and whenever a book series is there it includes ALL parts of the series. The book sets also include Cassidy's first pay stub of approximently 750 dollars for just a week of work. The money has been direct drafted into her bank account.
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2005 12:48 pm
Journal Entry
I got paid. And for some reason, along with my paycheck I got a box of books. And they are good books and I have no idea why I have them or why they gave them to me but I DO NOT CARE I could not be happier right now.
Weird conspiracy theories can be pushed to one side for a while. I HAVE BOOKS AND IT IS WONDERFUL.
I've been going through them all morning, sorting and shelving and the stuff that's in here is great. Look at this... Some of it wonderfully obscure, and the Asimov! Lordy lordy.
I don't know if I get to keep this or if it's just a loaner. Oh man, this is awesome.
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:55 pm
Cassidy stepped out of the shower, towelling herself off, and reached for her bathrobe. Her hair was quite heavy while damp, but she dried it as best she could with the towel, ran a coarse comb through it, and settled herself down on her bed with a pad of paper. She never blow-dried her hair. Cass had never had much interest in the teen-girl-magazines, but she had sat down once, when she was sixteen, with a big pile of them and sorted through to find hair tips. Among them was the tip that the heat involved with blow drying could damage hair, and she figured if she was lucky enough to naturally have hair that most people paid a small fortune to achieve, she may as well get used to it. She always felt a little guilty for this vanity, too, but with a big nose and freckles everywhere, she figured she had to grab onto what small hint of beauty she could. Her hair dripping on her face, Cassidy settled down to write a letter. Quote: Dear everyone, First off, I got here safely. All's well. The island is gorgeous, though it's been pretty stormy lately. I'm going through sunscreen like nothing else. There was some sort of mixup, though... it's not a hotel here. It's a research facility. Something involving DNA, someone said. I'm cleaning the residential buildings. They gave me a raise, though, to make up for the confusion, so I'm not terribly bothered by it. Mom: Quit being paranoid. I know you, so don't deny it. Everything's fine. I'm not going to get bit by a poisonous snake or die of some weird disease. They vaccinated me when I got here. They have a really great team of doctors, here. I'm sure you'd approve. Cassidy tapped her pen against her teeth. She decided not to mention her misgivings about the vaccines that had come up in conversation a few days ago. Her mother was a lab technician in a hospital, and would overreact with typical paranoia and demand she come home. Cassidy was actually pretty happy, and didn't think the stress on her family would be worth it. Quote: Dad: You were right about one thing. This weather is KILLING me! I think I'm adjusting, though. I'm getting used to being sweaty and sunburnt! I swear I found ten new freckles today alone. I blame you. Your genes suck. Family joke. Adrian Smith freckled as easily as his eldest daughter did. Quote: Cheryl: I get to be on a tropical island and you have to go to school! Ha! Okay, seriously, since you were pestering me before I life, no I am not shacking up with beach bums. Nor do I plan to! So you can get that right out of your mind. There isn't really much to say, though. I mean, I'm cleaning, and then I'm done cleaning and I go sit on the beach and read. And burn and freckle. Met a few nice people, though. My upstairs neighbour is an etymologist, and she seems pretty nice, though I've only really talked to her once. There's this guy Ambrose, he's volunteering for some of the studies they're doing here. And there's Cassidy paused. Quote: Sean. We mostly call him the Dude. I'm not sure why. He's a really nice guy, though. Got caught in a storm and was lucky enough to wash ashore here, so he's staying until he can get a ride home. There seems to be a lot of people here only temporarily. I guess I'm going to be one of the few non-scientist permanent residents. I'm fine with that. Love and kisses, Cassidy. She folded up the letter, and shoved it into an envelope. She'd mail it tomorrow.
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