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Tristan was famished. It took willpower not to run to the cafeteria. Instead, he opted for taking quick, large steps to get there. He had a cigarette tucked behind an ear, ready to be smoked after a what he hoped to be a nice dinner.

He didn't bother looking around once he was inside. Just made a straight dash to the food. He wasn't sure what half of it was and settled on a couple apples and a dinner roll. He had an apple in mouth by the time he turned around to scan the large room.

A girl was sitting nearby, clearly in some sort of costume, though he couldn't see her from that way she was sitting. He took a hearty bite out of the apple before calling out to the woman, "Hey, care for some company?" He'd sure like to meet someone else playing in this movie. He made his way over and took a seat before she had time to answer.

"Howdy, Nita," Tristan greeted. "Yup, I'm the new guy. Not sure what I'm supposed to be doing here while I wait for my costume. Getting kind of angsty really. Finally someone to talk to at least, eh?"

Tristan wondered if the woman before him was beautiful. Most actresses were, weren't they? Would she be a light skinned beauty or more exotic? The costume was pretty interesting, fit well against her body. Looked realistic as all hell. They spared no expense for this movie, did they? The hair looked real too, perhaps that was real. Red headed, pale woman. Not bad. Probably had cute freckles in the most shameless places. Tristan took a bite of his apple and forced his thoughts to clear. He wasn't in that line of work anymore. He needed to see beyond such things.

"Oh, I apologize. I'm Tristan Wylde. And I was under the assumption that all this," he waved his hand as he spoke, "was part of a movie set. That, or I'm a part of some elaborate hoax. I believe this Richard Harris might be behind it. Soon after I received a notice from him on my door, I realized some of my items, items mentioned in this letter, was gone. Things aren't exactly adding up. Not exactly how I pictured a movie set to be."

This woman was probably part of the prank. He should probably humor her. "Feel free to shatter my illusions. I'm all ears." They sure seemed serious on this island, even in their humor.

Tristan broke out into laughter before trying to stop out of consideration to the female and her serious attempt. "That's priceless. Really. You guys try so hard. I admire that. But in the real world? This kind of thing doesn't happen. It's not even possible. The media would be all over this like bees to honey."

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end though. Hadn't that doctor, Moreau was it, said something similar to that effect? That the movie was based on a true story? That his great aunt.. used to work here? Of course, it was a relative he never heard of, one that there was no proof of having existed. So it could just be an elaborate ploy but then.. if it was.. why him? Tristan was no one special. Who'd take such lengths to do this to him? Still, this kind of thing just wasn't possible.

"If you're not in a costume, prove it," he stated. To be honest, he couldn't tell what kind of costume she was in. Resembled a raccoon, sort of. He hated that he came off a bit childish, but really, that was the most obvious place to find some sort of answers, right?

"Okay, so everyone that finds out is brought here, I can understand that. But what the hell would that have to do with me? I'm nobody special. Just a wannabe actor. Why would they go through all the trouble of bringing me here, staging this s**t up? It doesn't fit. I'm sorry but I'm skeptical. I mean no insult. The costume work they did on you is top notch. I don't deny that it looks real, but that's the point, it's supposed to look real. They have come up with some amazing s**t these days."

Tristan took another bite from his apple and leaned back in his chair. "Okay, say I believe you, which I don't, but that's the point of an idea. Just how many people are here? What do they get out of doing this? What exactly does 'this' entail? How the hell do they get say, you, to turn into.. well, a raccoon?"

Injection.. in the upper.. arm. But that was just.. precautions, to help against diseases and such that could be found on this island. Instinctively, Tristan rubbed his arm.

"If this is true.. there's more of you.. right? More.. creatures, red pandas.. people," he quickly corrected,"that are similar? Surely this is some kind of prank?"

Tristan reached over and peered closely to Nita's own arm before feeling it between his thumb and first finger. It sure felt real. He could feel the skin underneath and there was nothing like glue, nothing like cloth.

"I'm sorry."

He wasn't sure what he was apologizing for. Touching her? Laughing at her? Questioning her? Sorry that if this is true, this happened to her? Sorry for what? This couldn't be real. Things like this didn't happen. Like the creature before him, he too, found he lost his appetite.

Tristan didn't want to believe this, but to find out what's going on, he would need all the facts possible. If what she said was true.. there was a lot of them. "I'm in Duplex seventy-one," he commented, barely above a whisper. How could so many people become victims of.. whatever this is with no one to find out. It was incredible. Too incredible to be real. Surely one of them would have been well known. Surely they could be traced in some way. Some clue to where they went. Didn't his own agent know where he was going? But then again.. he hadn't heard from Jacobson since then and the contact information was in an email.

"Does it just happen out of the blue? The changes, that is. Does it.. hurt? Do they tell you what.. you will become? Has anyone.. died from it?" He had a lot of questions going through his mind. It's not that he believed her, but some of the situations.. it certainly warranted more looking into. "Did it hurt for you?" He couldn't help but feel bad for the young woman. At least, she sounded young by her voice.