Mingle: Beach Side BBQ!

[blueyesfanboy]

Today, everybody received a neatly written note under their doorstep:

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20TH ONLY
COME DOWN TO THE BEACH FOR A SPECIAL FEAST!
We will be having BBQ, ice-cold sodas and alcohol (please only drink if you are 21 or older, thank you), and a cooler filled with icecream. There will also be beach toys and towels for the kids. Enjoy the fun and the sun!

So, if you were so curious as to let that note tantalize you and headed to the beach just outside the Campus, you would find the sweet nurse Lisa to greet and welcome you in...and then lunch lady Edna scowling at you as she cooked.

At least with Lisa's supervision, the food might just be bad, instead of likely to give you food poisoning, right?!

"Enjoy the fun and the sun!"

Comments

[fightordie]

[It may not look like it, but Shepard is more than grateful for the cooperation, considering how he's used to the exact opposite.]

Name? How long have you been here?

[Shepard's more interested in hearing from those who have been around longer, but he'll take what he can get given the situation.]

[leanonstuff]

[He knows how that is. Some days it feels like there's no decent people left in the world... almost like people are making a concerted effort to be simultaneously unhelpful.]

Agent Norman Jayden, FBI. It's been... nearly three months now, I think.

[As far as Norman knows, he arrived with the first batch of "prisoners". If anyone's been here longer, he doesn't know about them.]

Did you just get here?

[fightordie]

[FBI, huh? Interesting.]

I did.

[Shepard quirks a brow.]

Three months is a long time. [But this is the kind of person he was looking to speak with.] Is this place always...?

[He looks around the immediate area. A beach, food laid out on a table with beer, ice cream. Shepard's seen a lot of things but this is probably the oddest kidnapping scene he's ever witnessed.]

...hospitable?

[Sure...let's go with that.]

[leanonstuff]

Yeah, tell me about it.

[Luckily, this had happened when he was between cases. Still, this "vacation" has lasted long enough, and Norman would like to return home as soon as possible.]

[He also glances around when Shepard does. It is incredibly strange how well they're treated for prisoners. Maybe it's a way to keep their guards down.]

Sometimes. This is the first time there's been a party like this, though. I've been here long enough to know that you can trust the food, so you don't have to worry about that. ...Er, well... usually. If the food wasn't made by that lady over there, or you didn't make it yourself, you should be careful.

[He recalls cupcakes that had caused strange changes in peoples' behaviors. Best to avoid suspicious baked goods from now on.]

[fightordie]

[He was thinking something along those lines, too. They were probably waiting for everyone's guard to be brought down, until they feel less like prisoners for the moment to strike. He's not sure why, or what these people want to gain, but he's hard pressed for information.]

Speaking of, what's their story? [He nods his head to the nurse and lunch lady.] Do they work here willingly? Or are they prisoners too? Talking to them wasn't really helpful.

[Neither was threatening them.]

[leanonstuff]

[Norman glances over at the two women, frowning thoughtfully as he considers how to answer.]

I'm not really sure. They don't seem to know anything, but they still work everyday... it's almost like they're some automatons or something futuristic like that.

[Although looking at Shepard again, he's wondering about that red glow on his face and eyes. It definitely seems like there's something futuristic going on with him.]

Mind if I ask you a question? What year was it when you got here?

[fightordie]

Makes sense.

[Shepard takes note of how Jayden said "futuristic". He's about to ask what the hell year he's from (albeit more sarcastically) when it gets asked of him instead.]

2186. Why?