Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lauren Granger: Lauren shuffled her way over to Nita, she had the sudden inclination to tell the truth, kneeling down next to the girl, "Um... I'm not really a lab tech." She rubbed her hands through her hair, "Or... Moreau's daughter."
Zachary Bloodstone: His tail curled behind him a little in response to the name. "I, uh... I never... had more than one relationship."
Lauren Granger: She looked up at her, as if this apology was the most profond thing ever.
Lauren Granger: Lauren
Antoinette Devereux: Surprisingly, Antony didn't drink either.
Ambrose Maurlias: "Define relationship" Ambrose held up a finger.
Ambrose Maurlias: "Dating count? Or like... relationship relationship?"
Antoinette Devereux: "Actually refering to one as your boyfriend slash girlfriend."
William Woodrow: Billy tried to drain his bottle befor he caught sight of Joli. Somehow, through the scales and recent changes, Billy recognized the once human underneith, "YOU!"
Zachary Bloodstone: He shrugged. "Going by my definition? Just dating."
Zachary Bloodstone: He looked over at Joliette. "Um, if you have had more than one relationship, take a drink."
Ambrose Maurlias: "Gotcha." Ambrose grinned and left his drink alone.
Rex Vadnais: Rex sat there with the new beer in front of him, unopened. Only Julie...
Nita MacNeal: Nita turned to Lauren, hiding a smile. It seemed the girl was a bit drunk. "I know," she said simply. "It's okay though."
Ambrose Maurlias: "Er...." He hesitated, and then picked it up again, dithering. Finally, he took a small sip.
Lauren Granger: Lauren's ear then perked up, she supposed both Skull and Fire COULD be counted as a relationship. She took a swig. "Ah... missed by one."
Avery Calder: Avery took a sip of his drink, grinning.
Joliette Rigiel: "Oh ok..." she'd not.. And she nearly jumped out of her scales at the sudden proclaimation from Billy
William Woodrow: Billy suddenly crawled across the sand towards the lizard girl, taking a hold of her shirt in a tight fist, "Y'go' somethin' o' mine! I been lookin' an' tha's wha' pyroth said an' I want it back!" He hissed quietly in her ear.
Antoinette Devereux: Antony took a long drag of her smoke and immediately grabbed the back of Billy's shirt, yanking him forcefully back.
Lauren Granger: Lauren shook her head, "NO! It's NOT okay. I'm a ******** lier, but but but I can't stop." She looked at Nita sadly, leaning onto her a bit.
Nita MacNeal: Nita sighed and grabbed Lauren's hand, trying to calm her down.
William Woodrow: Billy pulled back again desperatly, though, "Please! Please, Love, I'll make i' up t'ye! I'm in number t'irty t'ree, love!"
Joliette Rigiel: Joliette leaned back and used a clawed hand to push his chest, "No idea what you mean"
Nita MacNeal: "Well then, I forgive you for lying to me." The girl seemed really distraught... even if it was prompted by the alcohol she'd consumed.
Ambrose Maurlias: Ambrose shifted uncomfortably in his seat, eying William hesitantly, remembering what he learned in the Truth or Dare session about the man.
Rex Vadnais: Rex Helped Antony, bringing Billy back from his pleading forcefully.
Angelina Swanson: Angelina took a sip silently, watching the goings-ons.
Antoinette Devereux: As much as she'd like to see Godzilla get beaten, she dragged him back, leaning into his ear, "Behave or Aubrey may take the other one."
William Woodrow: "Y'feckin' b***h," Billy snarled, trying to struggle free, "Y'took it! I know y'did, Gel'! I know y'did!"
Zachary Bloodstone: Zach put his drink down to free his hand just in case. Through the slight new haze of the alcohol, he had difficulty trying to understand Billy's actions but wasn't prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. He didn't want to see the komodo-girl throttled.
Lauren Granger: Lauren was distracted by what was happening, looking at the fight blankly. She then turned noticing her hand was in Nita's. "You're really nice." She purred a bit holding onto her hand. The mongoose loved to cuddle. And the drunk mongoose knew no social boundries
Avery Calder: Avery felt suddenly uncomfortable, things seemed to be getting a bit out of hand with some people, and he was sure he didn't want to be around Zach when he got drunk, either, if he did. "Er, I think I'm gonna head back for a while, see if I can maybe find Tim... I'll come back later," he said, but in truth he wasn't sure if he would come back. He stood up, taking a moment to make sure he wouldn't fall right right over, and then waved before he went back to the duplexes.
Nita MacNeal: "I try," Nita said quietly, glaring at Billy. What was he yelling about this time?
Ambrose Maurlias: "Later, Avery" Ambrose waved widely
Joliette Rigiel: Joliette fought to control herself and backed away from Billy
Lauren Granger: "Bye Playboy!" Lauren waved at Avery.
Antoinette Devereux: She glanced up at Rex before sighing at Billy, "******** aye... I'll bloody check it out, I think it's time for sleep..."
Rex Vadnais: Rex waved goodbye to Avery and hoped that the game would get back on track. Who knew what happened when a bunch of animal people got drunk...
William Woodrow: "Thirty three, jes' drop i' off, I won' tell anyone!" Billy was still pleading, not caring who heard at this point, "I'll e'en take ba' wha' I said abou' ye!"
Rex Vadnais: "You too? Okay then, good night, Antony!" He smiled and waved, happy that she was able to be coaxed outside with her new change. He knew she felt insecure about it...
Antoinette Devereux: As an afterthought, she stood up, pulling Billy with her before pushing him towards the duplexes. "Go Billy."
Joliette Rigiel: She stared at him and blinked trying to think what on earth he was talking about
Antoinette Devereux: "No not me Rex, and Joli... You have his stash."
Avery Calder has left the room.
William Woodrow: "I aint feckin' tired!" He snapped back, but ultimatly was bullied back towards his duplex, groaning and mumbling as he made his way bleerily.
Joliette Rigiel: Stash... then it clicked "That was yours?? it was under a bush..." she'd have to talk about it to David later
Rex Vadnais: "oh, I see... well never mind!" He smiled and watched Billy stumble away to the duplexes... he could be really creepy sometimes..
Antoinette Devereux: Antony rolled her eyes and sat back down, watching him leave before looking over to Joli, "Flush it down the toilet. Period."
Joliette Rigiel: "Uh it's in the back of it..." she said after he was gone... "Uhm so uh what were we doing here?"
Angelina Swanson: Angelina leaned towards Ambrose, "should we go?"
Ambrose Maurlias: Ambrose gave a look of distaste at the mention. "hard drugs?" He shook his head, fur ruffling. "That's the last thing we need people like him on. There are enough problems with islanders going batshit crazy." Ambrose looked to Angelina with a shrug. The game seemed to be dying...
Lauren Granger: Lauren watched, "Too much! NO BAD!" She pointed a finger at Billy as he left, "Calm down!" Then proceeded to cling onto Nita, not really knowing what she was doing at this point.
Antoinette Devereux: "I think it's Zachypoo's turn."
Ambrose Maurlias: "Zachary went... the more than one relationship."
Nita MacNeal: "Oh, I think it's my turn then," Nita spoke up, still trying to calm Lauren down.
Antoinette Devereux: "Oh yeah... I forgot 'cause I actually didn't drink."
Nita MacNeal: "So.. I've never been drunk enough to be hung over the next day."
Antoinette Devereux: "Speaking of..." She smiled slightly before taking a drink.
Lauren Granger: Lauren sipped a little, not wanting to back off of the game.
Joliette Rigiel: Joliette thought about this one "Don't think I've ever been drunk at all"
Ambrose Maurlias: Ambrose sighed overdramatically. "Not till the island." He drinks.
Rex Vadnais: Rex didn't drink, this time. he was pretty dang close to it a few times around the death of his fiance. though if there was one thing his parents were good for, it was the fact that they gave him knowledge about how bad things like drugs and alcohol can be. he didn't drink...
Nita MacNeal: Nita grinned, wondering how many people would be able to say that after tonight.
Zachary Bloodstone: Zach took a sip, glad that Avery had left already.
Joliette Rigiel: "You seem to have turns, so uh who's is it?"
Ambrose Maurlias: Ambrose gave her a more-than-tipsy Wolfish grin. "You're next in the circle."
Joliette Rigiel: "I guess I am..." she didn't know what had been done before she arrived and thought "I never... moved out ... away from my parents"
Angelina Swanson: "Willingly, I presume?"
Joliette Rigiel: "yeah, less bills" Joli nodded
Ambrose Maurlias: Ambrose looked confused, cocked his head, and took a drink.
Lauren Granger: Lauren didn't drink out of technicality. She did say parent(s) plural.
Antoinette Devereux: The squirrel woman took a drink.
Nita MacNeal: Nita took a drink. She'd been in the dorms for two years, and had moved back with her parents, but still. She'd been out for a while!
Joliette Rigiel: Joliette looked a lil sheepish as she got comfortable again
Zachary Bloodstone: Zach took a drink. The moment his college acceptance letters had beckoned he'd left his family in a hurry.
Rex Vadnais: Rex drank again, his mind was relaxed and clouded. "It wasn't exactly willingly... but i sure did move out..."
Angelina Swanson: Angelina finally finished her bottle. "Hand me another, baby?"
Ambrose Maurlias: "You were... a photographer, right?" He was surprised, but crawled over and got a pair of drinks - for him and ANgelina, tossing his empty one away. This time, however, he got something a little less strong, but enough to keep him tipsy
Joliette Rigiel: "Yes, and journalist" she confirms
Ambrose Maurlias: Ambrose paused. "Ohyeah! My turn!"
Antoinette Devereux: "Drunk again Ambrose?" She grinned lightly before running a hand to mess up her hair.
Ambrose Maurlias: He scratched his chin "I've never... been given the 'introduction' sphiel." He grinned, having been the first islander there, and the first to change.
Ambrose Maurlias: "I'm not drunk!" Ambrose protested unconvincingly.
Nita MacNeal: Nita raised a brow and took a drink.
Joliette Rigiel: "Oh boy..." She chuckles and looks around the circle and takes a sip, she remembered Amaya telling her
Rex Vadnais: "Bah, you gave me the introduction, Ambrose!" Rex proclaimed loudly, drinking once again.
Antoinette Devereux: Antony took a drink and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
Lauren Granger: Lauren looked puzzled, "Intro-duction Sphiel?" She stared blankly at Ambrose.
Angelina Swanson: Angelina popped the cap off her bottom and took a thoughtful drink.
Zachary Bloodstone: He looked a little nervously between squirrel-woman and then Joliette at this, taking another sip.
Ambrose Maurlias: Ambrose grinned at Rex. "Damnstraight." "The 'what's going on, and we're being turned into animals, and all that'" He said back to Lauren.
Angelina Swanson: "I've never...." Angelina looked around the crowd. "Met my father."
Lauren Granger: "Oh!" Lauren perked up, taking another swig, "Yeah, Moreau told me."
Nita MacNeal: Nita glanced at Lauren, who'd been the very first changed islander she'd met-- even if she had lied and said she was a labtech herself.
Ambrose Maurlias: "Also not fair." Ambrose said to Angelina, taking the top off of his hard cider bottle and swigging.
Antoinette Devereux: Her eyes darkened and she took a long drink, eyes looking out towards the waves.
Joliette Rigiel: Joliette certainly knew her papa and took a sip, though it tasted a lil funny to her
Rex Vadnais: Rex drank to Angelina's turn, wishing that he had the luxury of not meeting his father.
Angelina Swanson: "What's not fair," she said, sticking her tongue out. "You're father was an a**, but at least you knew who he was."
Nita MacNeal: Nita bit her lip and took a drink.. Damn, damn, damn, don't think about your parents!
Lauren Granger: And then right after that, another drink. "Wish I didn't know the b*****d. I want him to rot in hell!" She started to worry a bit. "I'm drunk, but I'm not like him." Her orange eyes looked worried at poor Nita, Lauren's anchor.
Ambrose Maurlias: Ambrose nodded heavily. "Sounds like a lot of us have something in common." He responded to the dark looks and not so subtle declaration of Lauren.
Rex Vadnais: "I sense a little tension between everyone and their parents here.." Rex mumbled, only knowing a few of the stories...
Zachary Bloodstone: Zach took another sip idly, realizing he'd drained the bottle at this point. He hadn't expected to drink as much as he had. He wandered over to get a new beer.
Angelina Swanson: Angelina mumbled, "Mr. Muarlias isn't that bad."
Ambrose Maurlias: Ambrose snorted.
Antoinette Devereux: "I loved my father," Antony sneered to Ambrose. Clearly the look was not because he was a bad father.
William Woodrow has left the room.
Ambrose Maurlias: "I did too." Ambrose's ears lowered. "The feeling wasn't mutual."
Antoinette Devereux: "Well it was for me."
Angelina Swanson: "He loved you!" Angelina said, teasing. "He just loved your brother more."
Ambrose Maurlias: Ambrose mumbled something into his bottle incoherently.
Lauren Granger: "I loved him once" Her eyes stared coldly at the fire, "Then he changed..."
Rex Vadnais: "Well at least someone does, eh?" Rex laughed, corking his beer in the sand since it was his turn. He mulled over what he'd say for a few moments.
Angelina Swanson: "He misses you," Angelina said with a nod, "Whether you want to admit it or not."
Joliette Rigiel: Joliette watched the exchange her tongue flickered, she didn't want to say anything upset either
Nita MacNeal: Nita patted Lauren's hand again. "I'm sure you're not like him," she reassured the younger girl.
Ambrose Maurlias: He shrugged, but didn't comment further. In Ambrose's mind, especially slightly liquor-soaked, his father was likely glad to have him finally out of his hair.
Rex Vadnais: "Hmm, here's one. I never had the choice to come to the island." He was washed a shore, but wasn't tricked or something similar like many of the others here with him.
Nita MacNeal: Nita winced and took a sip.
Joliette Rigiel: "Uh is that a technicality? I went looking for smomeone but didn't come here on purpose..." she wasn't sure to drink or not
Ambrose Maurlias: Ambrose frowned, but drunk.
Angelina Swanson: Angelina took a long sip. "I basically begged to come. Didn't know the catch, of course...." She looked to Ambrose, "Though I would have, anyways."
Lauren Granger: Lauren joined in trying to sip but realised her bottle was full. She pulled herself up and fumbled to the cooler, getting yet another beer.
Antoinette Devereux: Antony frowned, growing silent as she took another drink of her beer. If her father hadn't entered her in that damn raffle.
Zachary Bloodstone: Zach opened his beer right before Rex spoke. Dejectedly, he took a very long drink.
Ambrose Maurlias: Ambrose gave Angelina a small, but sincere smile
Rex Vadnais: "Wow.. I'm the only one then..." He shuffled his feet through the sand and ran his finger along the rim of his bottle.
Angelina Swanson: "Your turn, Antony."
Joliette Rigiel: "Depends" Joli looked at rex
Antoinette Devereux: Snuffing her smoke out in the sand, she thought for a moment.
Rex Vadnais: "Depends? How so?" Rex inquired, he hardly knew a thing about everyone here except for Antony and Zach. He knew some about Lauren, though not much...
Joliette Rigiel: "I went looking for Vasile, but I stumbled upon the isle.. though I did come ashore, so I dont know whether to drink or not" she explains
Angelina Swanson: "I'm sure Vasile was flattered."
Joliette Rigiel: "Flattered, uhm wel I was gonna expose a fake death" she looks a lil sheepish
Rex Vadnais: "You came on your own will then? i think thats one to drink to." He grinned with pointed fangs as the flames danced in his blue eyes.
Joliette Rigiel: Joli shrugs "ok" she takes a sip
Angelina Swanson: "Well, you almost got the story of a lifetime."
Joliette Rigiel: "Yeh, if I turned tail instead of coming ashore..." she shakes her head and sighs
Rex Vadnais: "Not to mention she was right about it!" Rex added, pulling what he could from the conversation.
Ambrose Maurlias: "If they would have let you go." Ambrose pointed out. "So you don't have to kick yourself.."
Antoinette Devereux: "I never lost my arm," she finally said, determining Zach wasn't drunk enough.
Joliette Rigiel: Joliette was about to reply but stopped hearing antony and blinked looking at Zach
Rex Vadnais: Rex laughed out loud and didn't drink.
Antoinette Devereux: "For the fur comment Zach."
Lauren Granger: Lauren came back, stumbling towards back towards Nita humming some loud punk music to herself. She couldn't drink to the next comment.
Ambrose Maurlias: Ambrose chuckled. "Knock on wood."
Angelina Swanson: Angelina smirked and set her bottle in the sand.
Angelina Swanson: "Wonder if Billy's would count if he was here."
Joliette Rigiel: Joliette laughed at that thought
Ambrose Maurlias: "You... going to be okay with him, Joli..?" Ambrose asked tentatively. "He seemed rather.... irate..."
Antoinette Devereux: "A ball isn't an arm... By the way."
Zachary Bloodstone: "Ha, ha," he mumbled, his voice a little slurred. He took another deep drink and his yellow eyes settled on Antony. "Wasn't for you..."
Ambrose Maurlias: "But didn't he lose a ... tentacle?"
Angelina Swanson: Angelina blinked. "But a tentacle kind of is."
Ambrose Maurlias: "Is that an arm?"
Antoinette Devereux: "Well... They don't have bones or fingers..."
Lauren Granger: Lauren laughed, "TESTICALE! He doesn't have his BALLS!" She snorted landing on Nita.
Joliette Rigiel: "Aye? uhm yeah well I kinda dug claws into him before, and that was before this... change" she tells ambrose
Antoinette Devereux: She shrugged, shifting so her tails were more comfortable, eyeing Lauren, "Old news girlie."
Ambrose Maurlias: Ambrose winced, nodding, shifting again at the balls mention, and looked over to Joli, more appraisingly of her changes.
Angelina Swanson: "He has one left, so I've heard," Angelina said to Lauren with a laugh
Rex Vadnais: Rex blinked, confused. Then burst out loudly "HE LOST A BALL?! HOLY COW! The poor guy..." He nearly fell into the fire laughing.
Nita MacNeal: "Oof!" Nita sputtered as Lauren's bony form landed on her. "Hey, now, should we get you some water or something?"
Joliette Rigiel: Joliette stared at hte others "Really?"
Antoinette Devereux: "Aubrey took it," Antony explained, figuring Lauren would blabber all about how he lost it anyways.
Nita MacNeal: Her head jerked up as she fully realized the implications of the current conversation. Ugh. She didn't want to think about Billy's anything, missing or not.
Joliette Rigiel: Joliette winced, sure she wasn't a guy... but still
Lauren Granger: Lauren looked up at Nita, "One ball.. he only has ONE!" She laughed getting up. A hope crossed her drunk mind. "Yeah... waaater." Lauren laughed again.
Nita MacNeal: Nita nodded and pulled herself to her feet. "Sorry to duck out on you guys, but..." She gestured to Lauren. The situation was pretty self-explanatory.
Ambrose Maurlias: "Whose turn is it?" Ambrsoe asked, eager to switch topics away from removed testicles.
Joliette Rigiel: "Whoever is after Antony" Joliette rplies
Antoinette Devereux: "Thanks Einstein," Antony mumbled to Joli under her breath.
Lauren Granger: Lauren smiled wryly at Nita, "Yeah, sorry guys." She tried her best to look sexy, but only appeared really drunk.
Joliette Rigiel: JOliette doesn't hear and thus just looks around
Ambrose Maurlias: "That would be Nita."
Nita MacNeal: "No, I'm getting Lauren out of here for a bit."
Ambrose Maurlias: "Then... Joli!"
Rex Vadnais: "Aww, both of you are leaving?" Rex whined, not wanting the party to drop so small...
Joliette Rigiel: "Bye Nita and Lauren" she says and hearing Ambrosses' words taps a claw on her chin "I've never... met Moreau"

Huffing and sending a parting glare at Awen, Fiona stepped onto the makeshift platform that had been set up, and called for attention. "Everyone, thanks for coming! Before you leave, I have some important things to say."

Once it was obvious people were listening, she continued. "Tonight we have proved a point, even if you can't see it. We are here to have fun, and to show those assholes up in the labs that they aren't in control!"

"They can maul us and cage us and give us claws and fur. They can stick us with needles and treat us like s**t. But we are still human. We are still people!"

"If your not in control, why can't you just leave?" Lauren shouted out at Fee.

"There'll be a day when we will look in the mirror and not see ourselves, but some twisted idea of science! And when that day comes, we will still be ourselves!" She curled a lip disdainfully at Lauren

I already see that image in my mirror Fee... Awen thought to herself.

"And that's when we prove that in the end, we've still won! Because we are people, with names and hearts and minds. They can take away our faces but they can never take those from us!"

Lauren laughed up at Fee wondering just what she was trying to prove. Nothing would come of a stupid little speach. "I don't think they are trying to take away our identity. You have it all wrong." Lauren said under her breath.

Awen never thought they were truly taking away their humanity. Sabin, even, was helping her feel like a normal human giving her attentions. No. The purpose of this island wasn't to turn the people into animals, through and through. But to do the research and help people eventually with this research. After all... Awen had gotten over her fears with the help. Maybe there were more ways to work this. If they were given time. Maybe they could take care of things without the physical?

"What they are doing here is not right! It is not fair and it is not what a single one of us deserves!" She glared out at the ocean, passion building in her voice. "We are people!"

"And we have a strength inside of us which never goes away! A strength which we have to understand and find and use in this time of unfairness, and wrongness! Because we can't let this go on!"

Lauren found this whole thing boring. "Is this suppose to be a party or just a chance for you to stand on a stage and yap all night." Lauren said loudly as she stretched.

"We are here because we were tricked, deceived, lied to- or in some peoples cases, even kidnapped. And it sucks! It sucks a**! But there's something you can do about it!" Her hands balled into fists at her sides.

"Together we can find a way to stop this... this... insanity! This total bullshit! Because I know, and you know-" freaks like Lauren excepted, Fiona thought, "that it's sick, and twisted, and pointless."

Sick and twisted maybe...but not pointless. Not at all. They were making amazing advancements. They were helping people, doing things no other scientist could do. They were making progress and Awen was sure that they would one day put it to good use. There has to be more to this than just tickling Moreau's fancy...right?

"And if I stand up here tonight, and am alone in wanting to overthrow these ******** bastards, then I guess I'm alone. But I know I'm not. Because we are humans who feel anger, and hate, and rage, and pain!"

"And if this doesn't deserve your hatred, nothing ever will. Together, we can stop them. Together we can save innocent lives from being destroyed, and put an end to this sick hell!"

"But if I have to fight this war alone, I will. I will never give up!" She fell silent, letting the words echo through the trees and along the wind. "And neither should you."

Awen wished she could interject. She wanted to speak the reason now to Fiona, but right now she couldn't. She had to get the girl's trust, but no one could possibly fall for this garbage? The risks were too high.

Hopefully no one would join the bandwagon....so she wouldn't have to say anything more to those the red head was speaking against. She didn't want it to come to telling Sabin more...she liked him but it still felt.. wrong somehow.

Lauren rolled her eyes, "Yeah, what the ******** ever." She knew this was pointless and the alcohol made her less angry then usual. In fact, she found it humorous.

Nice, very nice speach, I'm sure it will make SOO much difference. I'm sure that now, everything will be sunshine and daisies for you just because you stood on a platform and said a few words." She said sarcastically.

She stepped down from her spot and walked right up to Lauren, staring her in the eye. "Say that again, b***h." She cracked her knuckles, suddenly riled up.

"Now hold it you two!" She stepped quickly between the red head and the mongoose. "This won't solve anything. Lauren, the girl is trying, alright? And Fiona come on, not everyone will agree with you calm down please."

"I didn't really expect a wasted, suck-up lunatic to take my side. But I'm not taking s**t from anyone."

She turned and shot a hard look at the girl. "And what good is this doing to the cause? How will fighting with Lauren solve the problem here? Are you out to make people's lives better or are you just out to make yourself feel better? Fighting other islanders will not solve anything. She doesn't like your idea, fine. You don't like her's either. Now just chill, okay?"

Nita nodded at Awen gratefully. "Yes, please, we don't need any more fighting. Fee, you said we're supposed to be human, right? Back down, stay calm.. please."

"I think everyone would be better off without people like her around. She's probably a spy- gonna run home and tell her little doctor buddies everything that went down." Nita's words, however, nd her tensed hands slowly eased out of their fisted, ready position.seemed to reach her, and her tensed hands slowly eased out of their fisted, ready position.

Yes... because pointing fingers always helps matters. Salem witch trials came to Awen's mind....

"Fiona... please. You're not helping the cause by flinging accusations and rude words right back at Lauren."

"Besides, we don't anyone to spy... the cameras, remember?" Nita muttered, relieved that Fee, at least, was seeing reason.

"I doubt they're everywhere and hear everything. Maybe there aren't really cameras. Maybe the reason they know everything is because the island is full of plants who actually think it'd be fun to change into a freak."

She turned and took a sudden, unpredictable step towards Awen. "Oh will you shut up. I've had just about enough of your high-and-mighty bullshit."

Awen didn't back away she stood her ground. "I just don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Don't worry," she sneered, "the little chip your good friends the mad scientists stick into the back of my neck will save you."

Nita looked back and forth from Awen to Fiona, one a girl she barely knew, but seemed all-together sensible, and a girl who had been a friend, but was really acting obnoxious.

"I'm not talking about me." She sighed softly. "I am trying to get you to calm down and think straight before you try something. You are being reckless and accusing people of being spies. Think before you take action, look before you leap and all that. I'm not afraid of you Fiona, I'm afraid for you and all others on this island. I don't want anyone getting seriously hurt trying to escape!"

Lauren backed away a bit, really wanting to punch the girl, "If I could, you'd be so dead." Lauren sneered back at the girl. It was frustrating, and being drunk made it even more so.

Amid the temper that had boiled up, Fiona suddenly realised what had been missing so desperately that night. Annie. Her sense of judgement, her partner in crime, the logical half of her brain.

Annie would have known just what to do. "What do you want, a ******** apology? If you're so scared for me, next time just don't show up at my things. It'd save me a hell of a lot of trouble." And with that she stormed off.

Nita pinched the bridge of her nose. The evening had mostly gone so well...

Awen sighed heavily and visibly sagged, her posture now showing her true mood. She was tired of this. Tired off that stubborn fool trying to tell her how things work, how they should all throw themselves at the labs like lemmings to a cliff.

Awen stepped in just to stop the conflict between Lauren and Fiona from turning physical, to prevent hurt. And what does she do? Get her head bitten off.

Animals? Awen was sure Fiona was already well on her way. Letting her mouth go before her mind, acting on reaction alone and not pausing to think of the concequences...

Lauren was nearly steaming, she paced back and forth, not quite sure what she wanted to do. "******** YOU!!" She yelled back as she reached for a empty bottle, throwing it towards her as she walked off, completely missing.

Hearing Laurend scream and the tail end of the bottle wizzing passed Awen glanced over. "Lauren..." She said softly.

The mongoose was still steaming, "I ******** hate that b***h." She said towards Awen. "I just.. can't STAND her"

"I know Lauren, I know." Awen said in what she hoped to be calming tones. The tired look gone once again and Awen now put on another mask to help her friend. "She doesn't understand things yet."

Nita stood there awkwardly, not sure whether or not she should try to find Fee or just give her time to steam.

Awen glanced to Nita and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry for all of this... I don't think this went just as anyone had planned..."

Nita couldn't help but smile. "It certainly wasn't in any of the plans I have written down..!"

Lauren felt akward and out of place, "No, that and she's a ******** retard." She said immaturely back towards Awen. "Yeah, ruined her own party." Lauren was oblivious in her role of ruining as well.

Lauren was tired of all of this. "I'm going back to my duplex." She said to Nita and Awen. "See ya later." She waved bye at the other innocent bystanders as she went off the trail back towards the village alone.

Awen sighed softly. "Night Lauren." She called back to the departing mongoose. Turning to Nita she gave a weak smile. "I think I'm going for a swim.... my skin is getting itchy. And my head is fuzzy..."

Nita nodded and gave a sort of little wave as Lauren left. Mirroring Awen's small smile, Nita said, "Okay, Awen. Take care of yourself... I'll probably wander home myself."

"Alright." Awen nods slowly. With a last glance around she moved out of the beach area.

Nita paced the room a few times, deliberating. Chana had said the staff could be quite accomadating... and she did have questions. She peered at the intercom, wondering if someone was watching her just then, vainly hoping they might take the initiative and give her a call. Of course, the wall-unit remained silent. Biting her lip nervously, Nita took a deep breath and pushed '0.'

Sabin, meanwhile, was sitting back at moniter duty. This time, however, the flair and excitement of watching his 'favorite soap opera' was significantly diminished. He was bitter, frustrated. He wans't here because it's where he wanted to be, he was here because he couldn't be in the lab. HIS lab. With HIS team. Some upstart young woman without even a PhD was watching his underlings.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. Just because he was working on his own projects. He wasn't detracting from Moreau's research, he wasn't undermining him. He was just... working.

He glanced over at the flashing light, and looked over to the camera, where it showed one of the newer subjects - the young woman with the braids.

He tapped the connection key. "Dr. Duvert." He replied flatly.

The buzz startled Nita, who jumped. "Oh! Um. Hi. This is Nita MacNeal, in 42... I guess you know that. Anyway. Um." She tugged on one of her braids to stop her blathering. "I, ah, had a couple of requests to make," she managed, "And someone told me the staff was usually pretty good about getting things for people. Nita forced herself to calm down, firmly suppressing the butterflies in her stomach.

Sabin tapped his long nail on the desk, sighing audibly as his fingers, after a delay, went to the keyboard and brought up her file, his eyes skimming over the relevant information.

Can I have this? How about this? Sabin thought bitterly to himself. Other than Awen, that's all they seemed to actually phone about. He'd much rather be watching Jamal's and Pyroth's bloody escapade in the jungle.

"Yes yes.... we can be your delivery service." The voice sounded just a tad bitter.

Nita blinked, surprised at the tone of his voice. "It's just a couple of things," she said apologetically. Although it's not like I meant to be here for the rest of my life! Figuring she didn't need to stand right in front of the intercom, Nita stepped back a few feet and sat on the bed.

"I really could use a set of bookshelves," she continued, "And maybe a nice pair of noise-cancelling headphones? The guy downstairs has a drumset, and... Well, it's really loud." She tried not to whine or sound too pathetic at that last part. The red-head fiddled absently with the hem of her jeans.

The sound of clicking nails was heard over the intercom. "Hrmm... you mean there were no bookshelves in your unit? Odd... most of them have them - perhaps they forgot to install them in a few of the later units." He made a note of them on her file, flagging them for order.

"Noise canceling headphones... ahh" He responded in regards to the drum. "We'll see what we can get. Although you might also attempt to speak with the man, talk to him about times to play it." A wry smile crossed his mind - it sounded like many of the complaints that his students got when they partied too late, or were in bands.

"Shouldn't be an issue."

"No, there weren't, and I haven't been in many of the other duplexes to see if they were missing shelves, too." Nita nodded, eyeing the neat row of books under the intercom. There was a perfect spot for the shelves... probably where they were supposed to be.

And as for Alec... "Well, I sort of tried talking to him, but last I saw him, he was pretty hung over. And it's not so much that he's playing them late at night, it's that it's awfully hard to concentrate on anything when he gets going." She made a face, relieved that so far her requests would be met.

"Well, I'm sure the shelving units can be installed by Friday. We just need to get a maintenance crew out there. As for the headphones, I'll order you up a pair." He said with a bored aire. This is what secretaries were for. Not HIM.

He changed the shelf order to a maintenance request - they should have units like that in stock - especially seeing as how damaging some of the other... guests... were.

He propped his chin on his hand after making the notes. Eying the woman in the video display. A pleasant enough person. Cute, but relatively nondescript - she looked like someone who could be one of his students a year ago... it seemed so far away...

HE shook his head, breaking that train of thought.

"Anything else..?" He was hoping for a diversion... not smalltalk. . Yeah.

"Thank you," Nita said quietly. She meant it, too, even if the shelves were supposed to be there, and the headphones would be a courtesy. That's how Nita was, though: quiet, unassuming, never meaning to cause trouble.

"Actually," she began, the butterflies returning. "I was wondering... Could you tell me what I'm to become?" Nita clasped and unclasped her hands, unsure if she really wanted to know. But she'd asked, for better or for worse.

Sabin's mouth took a wry quirk as he glanced at the moniter. Compared to most, she had it good. But that didn't mean that he would have to tell her that... immediately.

"Aahhh.... so curiosity finally overcame your reservations, huh?" Sabin mused out loud. "Most people are scared to ask, you know. Frightened that they'll find out they're turning into something horrid... like an insect... or a slug or something... and it will ruin what little time they have left as a human being." The voice had taken on a different note - the French accent diminished slightly, and from bored mostly monosyllabic replies, there was now an interested, toying tone.

That toying tone was possibly the creepiest thing she had heard all week. Nita held herself stock-still. Was she about to hear some horrible news? Would she lose her legs like Cass, or end up with far too many tentacles? Billy's parting shot rang in her ears.

"I am afraid," she said softly, barely more than a whisper. "But yes, I would like to know. Please," she added belatedly. Nita continued wringing her hands, not even aware of the motions.

"What do you think you might become?" Sabin queried further. "I know that it could be anything.... but have you had any pecular food cravings? And.... admittedly, I am surprised. You are the first one to ask before their first change in some time."

Nita blinked. She had no idea, and said so. "Not that I'm aware of," she replied, rapidly going through the past three weeks in her mind. At least she surprised the man. The doctors didn't know everything. "My internal clock is a bit screwed up, I think. But that might just be the heat." Nita had been staying up a bit later than she normally would and then sleeping in. However, that could easily be attributed to not having to get up for class.

The diatribe was not quite so interesting as Sabin might have hoped. She was being complacent... which, normally, Sabin would have given her credit for - going along with them instead of being contrary like.. Chubbs, Jamal, or those new PETA People. And while Sabin didn't want someone backtalking... he wasn't in the mood for a pleasant conversation either.

With a sigh, he nodded, listening to her. "Well, you might be pleased to know that your luck apparently held out where your animal is concerned. You've been administered the red panda serum."

"Red panda?" Nita repeated, not entirely sure how she felt. She had just been informed that she was actually going to be turned into something, and now that "something" had a name. But at least red pandas were cute. Mammals. She didn't know much about them, but they certainly didn't seem too horrible. A brief image of a pointed face and a long ringed tail flashed through her mind. For a moment she even tried to superimpose her own face and figure over that image, but the thought was simply too weird.

"I see," she finally said. Gathering her thoughts, she figured she might as well take the opportunity when it presented itself. "When can I expect a change? I mean, is there a standard? Obviously I don't know anything about the.. procedure."

"It is variable... depends on how your system is reacting to the initial injection. The time can range anytime from two weeks to four months."

"Ah." She supposed that made sense, considering how unpredictable this research must be. If she weren't a subject herself, Nita would have been absolutely fascinated with the whole thing. It was like something out of a science fiction or fantasy novel... In fact, she'd read quite a few books with people who turned into animals.

"So it could be any time now," she muttered, more to herself than to the screen. Nita glanced at the calender she'd been making, keeping track of the days in one of her notebooks. "Is there any warning? Or can there be?"

"Theoretically. According to your biometrics, however, the first injection hasn't quite taken root yet. As far as warning, generally the second injection is administered as the subject sleeps. However, if things aren't hectic in the labs, sometimes we make exceptions and give someone the option of coming in willingly to get their followup injections." He responded, eyes wandering to the other cameras.

"Or we can merely let you know ahead of time if you so choose. But in the past we've seen that the anticipation can be worse than realizing that the change is upon you."

Biometrics. So they really were being monitered as much as scientifically possible. That made Nita twitchy. She could usually push the cameras out of her mind, but such a blatant reference reminded her of the days she'd spent in the hospital, under constant surveillance.

"Hmm." She was trying to think rationally, weighing the pros and cons. Maybe she should make a list. "I think... I think I need some time to sift through all of this."

"Completely understandable." Sabin said, his voice returning to its bored tone.

"Well, um, thank you for telling me, and the bookshelves and stuff." Nita stood, preparing to hit the disconnect button.

"You are welcome. " Sabin was tempted to chime in... ********. "Thank you come again." He said in an irreverant mock accent.

Nita's jaw dropped and she hit the button. As soon as she was safely offline (although Dr. Duvert could still see her) she started giggling, only a little bit hysterical. She flopped over onto her bed and muffled the sound with her pillow. "Oh s**t," she mumbled into the fabric. "Oh s**t."

Colche's 17th Birthday!
Thread is here.

Nita had been taking a short nap herself when a knock on the door woke her up. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes, peering at the travel alarm next to the bed. Smoothing down her hair, she tiptoed to the door and peeked through the peephole. Lauren? She opened up the door and smiled. "Oh, hey, come on in. What's up?"

She let Lauren in, her duplex as neat as ever. The bookcase had finally arrived, so her books were no longer on the floor. She sat down on the bed cross-legged, indicating for Lauren to sit wherever.

Nita blinked. So Lauren didn't remember. "Um," she began, clasping her hands in her lap, "you were kinda loud, so I dragged you off to sober up..." She paused and bit her lip. "And you kissed me. Just a little." One of Nita's hands moved up to cover her mouth and she blushed furiously.

"It's okay," Nita mumbled around her hand. "I mean, I didn't really mind. Er.. Oh hell." The redhead threw up her hands, not really knowing what she meant, or if she wanted Lauren to have meant the kiss. Had it just been a drunken impulse? Did Nita want it to have been? She sighed and watched Lauren carefully.

Nita fidgeted, cheeks approximately the color of her hair. There was a reason she had avoided these kinds of situations in the past.

"Well, no," she managed. "I mean, I do like you, the little bit I know you, at least." She tilted her head to the side. "And yeah, it would be easier if you'd remembred." A grin threatened the corners of her lips, in spite of Nita's general discombobulation.