strangetrip | [GP/EP] We are programmed to receive

Fifteen days into this particular strange trip, Kitty had redistributed alcohol supplies between the cafe, restaurant, and night club to make it possible to easily tend bar wherever people decided to gather. Today, as most days, she settled into the lobby cafe after chivvying the cook into chicken tenders and french fries (after convincing him it was a single plate meal). It was the closest she could get to "bar food" from him and someone would probably arrive sooner rather than later to make something else.

A few people trickled in after awhile, but none of them demanding. Like her, they drank coffee from the samovar she'd put out. And also like her, most of them had something else to keep them occupied. At the moment, Kitty had a notebook open (from the gift shop; she kept her school notebooks separate in case she made it home during the term) and was sketching plans to upgrade the hotel's computer technology. She needed more raw computing power to work out the energy requirements to do what Illyana did with a thought.

She lifted her head periodically to check for new customers, and had just seated herself at the end of the bar after refilling the samovar when the first new new customer arrived. Immediately, she flipped to a fresh page in the notebook and headed it "Day 15" and made a hash mark for one new arrival. Then she looked up from her notebook and offered one and all her best bartending smile.

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Caroline had spent the last couple weeks attempting to discover the workings of this hotel and, more to the point, the failings of it. Now she had a thick notebook full of notes and a list of roles to fill.

She took her notebook and obsessive attitude to the cafe early that morning and by the time the first arrival walked in, had just about finished her first draft proposal. First she jotted down a new note - arrivals - then got up. As she crossed the room, she looked the guy over - attractive, fit. Probably about Ric's age.

"Hi," she said, extending her hand with a smile. "You must be new. Welcome to the inn. I'm Caroline Forbes."

Alex immediately shifted gears from recon to uncle as Caroline looked about to be Dani's age. He assumed she was the hostess of the cafe and took her hand in a gentle shake. "Nice to meet you, Caroline. My name is Alex. I hope you can help me. I was looking for a friend of mine, he was supposed to pick me up but I don't see him here. Is there somewhere the cars are kept? I can see if his car is there."

Caroline shook her head. "It's not. Cars seem to vanish as soon as you turn your back. But if you tell me his name, I can probably tell you if he's here. There's not enough of us for someone to be easily missed. Um, I should warn you though...it's really unlikely he's here. A couple people seem to know each other but most of us are solo." And because that was the kind of thing that required a second to absorb, she followed up with. "Can I get you some coffee?"

"I would love some coffee." Alex motioned for her to lead the way. "And my friend's name is Cal Brown." He lied quite easily and without hesitation wondering about cars just vanishing. Someone was taking them somewhere and he just had to find out where.

Caroline's brow furrowed as she headed for the pot Kitty had left out. She poured a cup of coffee and headed back. "Cal..." She paused at her table, flipped through her list. "No Cals. There's a Stephanie Brown? I think she's from New Jersey or something. Been here the longest." She looked up to see if there was any recognition on the guy's face.

Alex filed that information away. Stephanie had been there the longest, which meant she would have more answers.

"My Brown is from Vegas." He shook his head and then asked her, prompting more information but also curious about the answer for its own sake. "How long is the longest?"

[GP/EP] We are programmed to receive

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