An unsavory matter

[shadowed_scales]

Who: Gul Dukat, Kate Austen, Xander Harris (closed)
What: After having seen that the dead don't decay, Dukat can't let the matter rest.
Where: The lounge, The attic
When: Early evening after this and this PM.

Comments

[shadowed_scales]

Dukat retook his seat as well after they had made their introductions. "A fair enough question," he said. "First, let me make it plain that it is not an undertaking I take lightly. I mean no insult to any cultural taboos, although the very fact that both of you are here tells me that you at least don't have a complete aversion to the idea."

He paused then, gathering his thoughts and determining exactly how he wished to phrase the response. He decided that seeing how they reacted to the news was a good first step in determining whether they truly were suitable for the endeavor. "A few mornings ago, I found a corpse on the front steps of the hotel," he said. He decided to leave Mister Winchester out of this for now. "Picture identification named him as Alan C. Pickman." He paused briefly, glancing at both to see if the name registered as familiar to either of them. "I decided to utilize the opportunity to see if I could ascertain where I might be by scavengers. None came. Furthermore, despite the desert heat, the body showed no sign of decomposition. Not one.

"Now, I haven't been here very long, but I can say I haven't seen any other corpses just lying around this hotel. Unfortunately, our captors stole the corpse that had been in my possession before a doctor could be summoned for autopsy. I want to know if there are actually bodies in those graves, and if so, how they died. Has anyone died here to your knowledge?"

[callmesgtfury]

Xander followed suit and took a seat after everyone else had taken the lead. He didn't much like standing around while everyone else sat, it was always rather uncomfortable.

Of course, he couldn't help but raise his good eyebrow at the fact that there was a corpse floating around in the hotel. "..wait? What? That's.. something new to me.." He said, giving Kate an inquisitive look. Maybe she'd seen something before, but this was all new to him.

[methrow_rock]

Kate listened with interest, if not with a whole lot of belief, to the alien's explanation. She shrugged a shoulder to Xander's questioning look. She certainly hadn't come across any corpses in the hotel, let alone ones that didn't decompose. She was turning it all around in her head, when suddenly it all made sense.

"Look," she said to the alien. "Maybe you're not aware of this little gem of the hotel's, but quite a few people here have been known to have hallucinations." Herself included, though she didn't make mention of that fact yet. "They're sure they see something, or experience something, something very real...except it's not. It's just the hotel, doing what it does best - messing with minds."

[shadowed_scales]

"Are these hallucinations typically shared?" he asked. He hadn't wanted to bring Mister Winchester into it just yet, but if it came to it, he would. "Two or more people seeing the same exact thing?"

[callmesgtfury]

Xander shrugged sheepishly as Gul asked his question and raised his hand. "Well.. not that I'm saying that you're wrong in any way, shape, or form.. but I've been part of a shared hallucination." He said, referring of course to the night in the basement where he and Spike shared that lovely hallucination about Sunnydale.

[methrow_rock]

Kate's eyebrows rose in surprise when both Dukat and Xander referenced shared hallucinations. She had been prepared to tell the alien she was sure it wasn't unheard of...but she was still surprised to get confirmation from the other man. "I wasn't aware of shared hallucinations before now, but...there you go."

She looked at the alien then, curious. "What were you expecting to find in the graves, more un-decomposed bodies?"

[shadowed_scales]

"According to Captain Harkness, you've both been here for quite some time. As a newcomer, I'm certainly not going to discount your experience. I'm aware of the hallucinations, and you're right. The whole thing could have been one. I'm inclined to think not for just one reason. The part of it that I'm aware of having been a hallucination was drawn directly from my experiences. The rest of it was extremely unfamiliar.

"Before that day I had never seen or heard of a drivers license, something called Barnes and Noble. Any idea what that might be? I had never heard of Sunnydale, California or seen the effects of a vampire bite. There aren't vampires in my world, not in the way there seem to be here. Perhaps the entire thing truly was a hallucination. If so it wasn't taken from my mind." He then answered Ms. Austen's question. "I don't know what to expect. Possibly. Or at least some hint or clue that people can die here, and if so how it can happen. I'd much rather learn that from the long dead than the currently living, wouldn't you?"

[callmesgtfury]

And suddenly Gul (which Xander would refer to him as until he was corrected), had Xander's full and undivided attention. "Wait. Sorry, but this suddenly is very important to me. Sunnydale is my hometown. Well.. was. Long story, but.. you're saying there was a vampire attack?" There was only one vampire from Sunnydale he knew of, and Spike had had his fangs removed by Buffy a long time ago.

Suddenly he wondered if the hotel was just throwing him more curveballs. It all seemed to be rather Sunnydale focused, what with there being 5 people from his team currently in the neighborhood, and that wasn't including the times he'd heard about Angel being there, and the times he'd seen Cordy.

[methrow_rock]

Kate looked between Xander and Dukat, surprised and, quite frankly, confused. The subject of dead bodies at the hotel was momentarily forgotten in her confusion. What did drivers licenses and a bookstore have to do with vampires? "Ah...vampires don't exist in my world, either," she told Dukat, and then glanced at Xander again. "They do in yours And here?" It was the stuff of movies at home for her, and that was it.

[shadowed_scales]

Suddenly, Dukat's gaze sharpened on Xander. "It is?" he asked. He hadn't expected a local connection in this leg of the investigation. He gave him a very searching look, very briefly considering that this man himself could be a vampire and somehow playing him. He didn't get that vibe, though, so his manner eased, as much as it ever did in the presence of strangers.

He included both of them when he spoke again. "I'm saying there was an exsanguinated body, thoroughly exsanguinated, with two punctures here," He pointed at the corresponding spot on his own neck, "and not enough blood on the clothing to account for how it bled out. Nor were there other injuries. It seemed to have been dragged to the front steps and left there."

He then answered the second question of Ms. Austen's, athough it had been directed at Xander. "I know of at least two here, personally."

[callmesgtfury]

"Yeah, that's a vampire attack. Sunnydale.. was a hotbed for vampiric activities. Some people have Starbucks on every corner, we got vampires." He said with a roll of his eye.

He turned his attention to Kate. "Yeah, they exist in my world, along with werewolves, and demons, and magic, and.. just about anything else you've heard was just a myth. Only.. you know not so much with the myth-like."

His attention turned back to Gul, and he paused. "Well, I know about Pam, and Spike. If there are any more, it's beyond me."

[methrow_rock]

Kate nodded at Dukat's explanation. "I know there are vampires here," she amended her earlier question. "But they're not...active. I mean, everyone who had extra-human powers before, doesn't have them here." She paused, looking to Xander for confirmation. "At least, that's what I've understood."

If that was no longer the case, they were in for some major trouble at the hotel, Kate thought to herself. Major trouble to say the very least. It wasn't a pleasant thought.

[shadowed_scales]

The names given were the same of which he was aware, another detail pointing toward a possible new arrival or a reclusive resident that had been very careful, up to this point. "Those are the two names I've heard, too. You know about them, but do you know them? Is it possible that either has been lying about their abilities and waiting to strike?"

He looked to Ms. Austen. "I've heard the same. I'm not one hundred percent convinced it's accurate. When I first arrived, I met someone claiming to be a vengeance demon. She was at the party, but she was gone within two days. Perhaps it was a disappearance like the others about which I've been told, or perhaps she was able to free herself. At any rate, it's possible learning about other bodies here may tell us more about this situation."

[callmesgtfury]

"Well, Spike had his fangs taken away from him a long time ago. So, even if he could bite people, ..I'm pretty sure he's safe. ..I don't know Pam personally, although a friend of mine says she's decent enough." Of course, it was difficult sometimes for anyone to trust Dawn's judgment, especially young Dawn.

It took a moment for Gul's comment about a vengeance demon to sink in Xander's head and then he had his full undivided attention. "Wait, what? A vengeance demon?" ..okay, so there were quite a few of those, but considering how Sunnydale-centric he was noticing things having been? It wouldn't surprise him if she had been there.

[methrow_rock]

Kate arched an eyebrow; she didn't know what a vengeance demon was and didn't particularly want to know. Also, "I've been here for a long time. Any extra-human abilities just
don't exist here. Except on the part of the hotel, of course."

She sat back after that, looking between her two companions. Other than her rather long experience at the hotel, she didn't have much to add about vampires and demons. Sunnydale was, apparently, not in the California she knew. She'd let the other two figure things out about that particular connection, though she was certainly not averse to investigating more of the hotel.

[shadowed_scales]

"Yes. How did she put it? The patron saint of scorned women," he answered Xander. He nodded at Ms. Austen's words. "Is it possible the rules have changed? Who's to say what our captors intend for any of us?"