Snippet #1841592

When the loudspeaker rang out, Caitriona was already at the door to the cafeteria - no, wait, what do they call them again? Caitriona wondered, the words of the loudspeaker already slipping out of her mind as she handed her ID over to the hall monitor. He was a very tall man in slim, but powerful looking armor with a large gun leaning next to him. She smiled absently at the man as she entered, still pondering about the question - oh, right. Mess hall. That's what it is, Caitriona thought.

She wandered around for a bit, receiving mild glares and odd looks from the other people walking to get their lunch. Caitriona smiled at them and continued her search for the table that she was supposed to sit at. It was supposed to be labelled but... Caitriona shook her head. In a room that large, it really didn't help all that much - not unless the label was the size of an elephant and judging by the lack of elephant-sized signs in her eye's view, it was really unlikely.

Finally though, spotted a table that, at an angle, looked like it had a small, paper-sized sign taped to one end that said Task-397 in large, bold letters.

Caitriona edged herself sideways and stood on tiptoe to get a better look. It was the right table - currently empty. Looking around, Caitriona marked the location in her mind, taking a moment to commit the picture to memory and then turned around and walked the other way, almost running into another soldier. Luckily, the man had been paying attention to where he was going and nimbly stepped to the side, though he gave Caitriona a mild glare.

"My bad," Caitriona returned, before continuing on. She lifted her nose and sniffed, almost dog-like at the aromas around her - it was good food, definitely. Most of the time, scents this - delicious - only came into her nose when she was at an expensive dinner.

For a moment, Caitriona was distracted from her dinner quest by a hissing noise. She glanced towards the sound - the large blast doors were being shut. She had a vague impression of a mouse in its cage as the door was slid down - there certainly were similarities in the two situations. Of course, Caitriona thought as she stepped up to receive a tray, not every mouse has five-star gourmet food served to her that's guaranteed to be good and healthy.

"Do you recommend anything?" She asked as response to the cafeteria worker's question.

The cafeteria worker blinked at her and then sighed. "Seared chicken with apricot sauce, light spices. Side of small fruit salad. Grilled eggplant and mushroom sandwich if you're vegetarian. Comes with some tomato soup. Best drinks are -" The cafeteria worker broke off and looked Caitriona up and down for a moment, judging her. "I'd recommend the iced tea or some mineral water."

After taking a minute to consider - causing irritation in the line behind her - Caitriona said, "I'll take the sandwich. And iced tea, please."

It took less time for the cafeteria worker to serve her and shoo her away than it took for Caitriona to turn around and scan for her table. When she'd figured out the right direction, she headed towards it.

To her mild surprise, there was someone sitting there now - a tall, muscular man with very close cropped black hair, dressed in a combat suit - a more casual - if a combat suit could be called that - one than the hall monitors had been wearing. He looked rather intimidating and his meal matched his looks - very simple and hard - as Caitriona walked close enough to see.

She placed her tray down and sat down. "Hi. I'm Caitriona - Cait. Are you..." She was unsure of what to say - she only knew the leader's name - "Ghost?"