Chapter 7: Day 4 — Alien Abduction
The ATVs rumbled up the track, and Leticia's crew's ATV broke off the line and rolled up the hill. They pulled aside into the banana patch and immediately noticed it had been cleaned up. Dead and rotting banana trunks and leaves were cleared away from the living plants. It looked like they had been burned judging by the pile of ashes in the center of the clearing.
"Let's film this before we head into camp," Leticia said, climbing off the cargo cart.
They walked around the small grove as dawn began showing through the canopy, tinging everything red. Poking through the ashes, it was clear that the banana refuse was burned here overnight. A closer look at the living plants showed they all had had a ring of ash placed around them before being watered.
"Never would have pegged Vegeta as a gardener," Freddy said, unpacking the cameras.
"I'm not completely ignorant of human horticulture."
The group looked around.
"For the love of… Look up damn it."
They looked up and saw Vegeta up in a tree. He was holding a bundle of branches and bark wrapped in a thin vine.
"What are you doing up there?" Leticia asked.
"I found a soap vine. Was getting bark," Vegeta called down.
"Soap vine?" Leticia asked mostly to herself. She cupped her hands around her mouth, "What do you mean by that?"
"One of the poisonous plants you said not to eat. It's used to make soap and shampoo. One resort in the Philippines just had sheets of the bark tied up in a bow in the soap dishes." Vegeta slid down the trunk and hopped on the ground. "If one of the seed pods hadn't smacked me in the head last night, I wouldn't have noticed." He kicked a nearly six-foot pea pod on the ground to show what it was.
"So, you're saying you got beaned by a bean?" Ted snickered.
"Ted!" Leticia smacked his shoulder trying not to laugh herself.
Vegeta's eyebrows flatlined. "Explanation please?" he asked frustrated, spinning his finger in the air.
"There's a word pronounced the same way that means to be hit in the head," Freddy said chuckling.
Vegeta silently mouthed the sentence a few times. "Oh fucking gods!" he said finally getting it. He turned, threw his hands up in the air and walked back towards his shelter, "There's another person on this rock with the Doc's sense of humor. Fuck my life! I can't escape it."
"Keep unpacking," Leticia ordered as she followed him.
She entered camp, and was shocked at how little it had changed. The hammock was done. She expected that. But the new shelter was barely started. It was basically a four-foot fence with only the long spokes limply bent inwards hinting at its eventual size.
"Did you actually stop working?" she asked, amazed.
"Not completely," Vegeta said, climbing up the corner tree. He did not climb in, just tossed his bundle of bark and twigs inside before dropping down. "I've been thinking over the contract I signed and what you have been demanding of me." He crossed his arm, "You have been demanding I talk even when I have no information to present for debriefing. I assume your insistence is because normally this is a team game so there is always some matter of conversation to be filmed?"
"Yes," Leticia crossed her arms in return. "Actually, your little stunt yesterday almost got me fired."
Vegeta's jaw dropped before closing it with an audible click. He looked to his side. "Hmph. Yamcha made no mention of that last night." He glanced back at her awkwardly before looking back to the side. "I've noticed in visual communications, that there are often audible pleasantries to fill gaps in dialogue. Would such a noise be a viable alternative?"
"I'm… not sure what you're trying to say," she asked, visibly confused. "Do you mean adding background music after filming is done?"
"Or pleasantries in general, like in theatrical storytelling. Also, when I signed the additional paperwork, it said I could not use any alien abilities to give myself an advantage. But—"
Leticia raised her hand, "If we're getting into legalities, you need to talk to Reynolds or Conner."
Vegeta's head whipped around. "Conner?" he said surprised, "I thought he was just garnish?"
"What do you mean?"
"I have ears," his look made it clear the next unspoken word was dumbass, "I heard him say he had no power when determining if we won or not."
"He's now a co-producer."
Vegeta thought of something, then smirked. "As of Mr. Reynolds trying to fire you? I would like to talk to him then as he is in ascendancy with your masters."
Leticia pulled out her handset. "Leticia calling HQ."
*fuzz* Leticia. Acknowledged. What is it? *fuzz*
"Vegeta wants to talk with Conner about a clause in his contract."
*fuzz* Acknowledged. *fuzz*
"Do you want us filming this?"
They turned and saw Freddy and Ted. Freddy had the camera pointed down and they both looked nervous and unsure.
"No, go film some B-roll," she ordered.
The two turned and walked back.
"Ok, what the fuck is this about? You've even tried to film me taking a shit."
"This involves legal stuff and is covered by the NDA. Not like this would get in the show."
Vegeta studied her. "Mr. Reynolds still threatening your job?"
He read her hesitation as a yes.
"I want to talk with Conner alone," he said firmly.
"If you're thinking about getting involved, don't. You'll just make this worse."
"You misunderstand. My wife only told me to pretend to care about my teammates."
"And if you actually cared?" Leticia asked.
"I'm also under strict orders not to kill, seriously injure or threaten to do either…"
Leticia swallowed.
"…But if Conner was elevated by your master as a direct result of intervening with your dismissal, then he is your ally, is he not? I understand pride in this matter, but your rank is powerless against such a superior officer. Your only option to manipulate this in your favor is to find a way to control Conner and use his favor with your masters to secure your preservation."
Leticia smiled awkwardly. "This just got too Game of Thrones for my liking…"
She was saved by the crackling of her radio.
*fuzz* HQ calling Crew 9. Leticia. Over. *fuzz*
She picked up her radio. "Leticia here. Go ahead."
*fuzz* Conner had to be woken up. He could talk to Mr. Reynolds right now or wait an hour or so for Conner to get over his jet lag. *fuzz*
"Tell them I'll wait on Conner," Vegeta said.
"Vegeta says he'll wait on Conner," she spoke into the handset.
*fuzz* Ok. We'll tell them. Is that all? *fuzz*
"Yes," Vegeta nodded.
"Yes."
*fuzz* Acknowledged. Ending transmission. *fuzz*
Vegeta rudely brushed past her walking back to the banana grove.
"Hey! Camera people!" he said walking into the clearing.
The two turned and Freddy, the cameraman, quickly turned the camera onto the approaching Saiyan.
Vegeta pointed at his forehead. "I need one of those tiny ones with the straps," he said. "Nathan Bentley gave me one last time I climbed the trees."
"Why do you need that?" Ted, the technician, asked.
Vegeta went from pointing at his head to pointing up. "To fetch the masks I put up there."
"Why the hell would you do that?! You can't be messing with those!"
Vegeta clenched his fists. "Excuse me for trying to give a fuck and filming myself overnight!" He then turned around and began climbing a tree covered in thick woody vines. He quickly disappeared.
A few moments later, three small explosions erupted at their feet. After lowering their arms from the flying dirt, they saw the smashed innards of the mask cameras.
Ted yelled and began sifting through the remains. Leticia ran over and saw the broken masks.
"Where's Vegeta…?" she sighed defeated.
They heard branches break and turned back to the camp. They manage to film Vegeta coming out of his tree house with his shirt off using it as a bag for something. He also has some kind of pendant on a blue string. Vegeta tied the long sleeves over his shoulder and began climbing down when he spotted them filming him. Instead of continuing down, he jumped to the nearest tree and climbed up.
He never came down.
Meanwhile, on Berapi…
The red crews rolled onto the beach. This time there was a strong fire, attended by a smiling Sugar Petal.
The roaring engines, the loud talking, and the jostling unloading stirred the rest of the team. Hassim woke first.
"Hassim-nim, I made you a gift! Come here! Come see!" Sugar Petal said standing up from the fire.
"Wait till we get the camera's out!" two field producers shout almost at the same time.
About ten minutes later, after getting opening shots of Sugar Petal alone with the fire, Sugar Petal took Hassim's hand and led him towards the spot he had been praying for the past few days. She showed him a pile of long palm leaves, and as they finished walking up, he saw the frons had been laced together forming a proper mat.
"Did you make this?" Hassim said, turning to her, "When did you even find the time?"
She smiled. "I waited until everyone was asleep."
Hassim's eyes widened. "Have you slept at all last night?" he asked, horrified. "Sugar Petal… You fainted yesterday," he said softly, like explaining something to a child. "You're really small as it is and you haven't been eating or drinking."
Sugar Petal continued to smile. "Do you think I haven't starved before?" she said in a cheerful tone. "I've starved most of my life…"
As Sugar Petal continued to smile and speak cheerfully, Hassim thought it was the creepiest thing he ever saw.
"…Do you think I haven't worked until I fainted before? I've been pushed until I worked while sleep walking." Sugar then gave a formal bow, "I must apologize, Hassim-nim." She then popped up and clasped her hands over the chest, "I am out of practice as I was raised to 5 granola bars a day after I got a bad review of being too skinny 5 months ago. But it's like riding a bike in English? I didn't even throw up the bugs this morning."
Hassim grimaced, "You've been eating bugs?"
She nodded enthusiastically, "I think it was the water more than the bugs but I found 2 soda cans and I ate a bunch. Do you want me to cook some, Hassim-nim?"
Something finally clicked in his moderately more awake brain. "Sugar Petal, why are you calling me Hassimnim all of a sudden? You've never gotten my name wrong before?"
"-nim is respectful in Korean, like I say Ichiro-san because he is Japanese." Sugar Petal looks at the ground wringing her skirt. "We don't call others with our honors…" She looks back up, "But I don't know what else to say in English. It doesn't have anything I can call you!" She suddenly did a proper bow, "Hassim-nim."
"Oh…" Hassim said awkwardly. "Um…. I don't want to be rude, but we're all friends here, so, there's really isn't a need to get all formal now."
Sugar Petal stood straight slowly, and Hassim could immediately tell he just broke a spring in her head.
"Friend…? Friend is… I… don't remember ever saying that. Always -nim… even with uncle... My group members are always Seonbae-nim." She started to cry as she ran past him, "No! I can't say it! I can't!"
As she ran off, she passed Michael who was walking towards them. As always, he carried the machete.
"So… What was that about?" Michael smiled.
Hassim glanced at the mat, measuring his words. "She was showing me the palm leaves she got me to pray on," he said looking back up at him.
"So you made that saccharine girl cry by refusing to use it?"
"I… I don't know what I did," Hassim said, visibly confused, "I think… maybe I just accidentally said something that's an insult in Korea trying to thank her..."
Michael's eyebrows flattened. "Seriously?" he asked unconvinced.
Hassim shrugged his shoulders, lifting his palms. "I don't know, Michael. I honestly don't know."
Michael raised his free hand, "All right. All right. I believe you. Just give her a little space to calm down and we can work on this later. Team cohesion and all."
"More like twisting it to isolate her more…" Hassim grumbled in his mind.
"I'll let you get back to praying," Michael said, turning around. "We got lots of time before the girls wake up."
Suddenly all the radios on the crews lit up.
*fuzz* This is Crew 9 to all field crews. Vegeta got into an argument and has disappeared. Please keep an eye out for him and take caution. He smashed three masks before taking off. *fuzz*
"Well," Michael turned back and smiled. "Seems we may not need to waste a vote on Vegeta after all." He walked away.
Meanwhile, on Samundra…
Casey had restacked the fire and everyone had gone back to sleep nearly an hour ago.
The crews however…
"That piece of shit needs to be expelled already," Jason growled loudly. "What is that bitch Leticia thinking?"
"She's probably discussing it now on channel 1," an intern said.
"Good idea," Jason said, reaching for his radio.
All the other crews glared murderous daggers at the now shrinking intern.
Jason turned the knob switching channels.
He was met by silence.
As the silence continued, Jason got madder and madder.
"What the fuck is Leticia thinking?!" he said loudly. He looked up from the radio. "I don't care who is assigned to who. If anyone leaves camp, I'm going with them."
Meanwhile, at Vegeta's camp…
Leticia, Freddy and Ted are in a 4-way cell phone call talking to Conner.
Conner's anger was only tempered by his tiredness. "Ted…" he said frustrated. "You were warned not to provoke him and now he's smashed three cameras. I have to report this to the board now."
"He still shouldn't have messed with the masks," Ted tried to defend himself.
"He filmed himself overnight after being hounded about working off camera, and the film techs said he did a bloody good job after looking over the data you salvaged. And now he's off doing stuff and we're not going to have footage of it because you wouldn't give him the headcam. He was cooperating and now we need to build that trust back up."
"I'm sorry, sir," his voice cracked.
Conner sighed, "You're not fired. Just think before you open your mouth in front of Vegeta. And Leticia?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Good luck."
Meanwhile, with Vegeta…
Vegeta was up in the trees, jumping from branch to branch. He followed the path he had marked out overnight when he had discovered the vines, the pods did not grow near the ground after all. He came to the fifth and final tree he had marked with a long palm leaf he dyed red with the sticky dirt he kept finding. From here the bound tip of the dragon bamboo he had climbed the first day was visible and he began to make his way there.
Then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A flash of a strong neon whitish-blue that experience taught him Humans could not see.
Vegeta went over there and found a box with antennas. It was painted in a camouflage pattern, so this had to be an accident that the brown paint looked like it was full of glitter to him.
"This is one of those cell phone internet thingies like on the RV. So what are you attracted to?"
Vegeta gently lit a tiny ball of ki on the tip of his finger trying not to fry the electronics and waved it underneath, and found more blue sparkles along the trunk in a straight line. He let the ball dissipate then ran his fingers over the spot. It looked like perfect bark, but it didn't feel like anything remotely natural. He pulled off the chunks of whatever it was and found a cavity carved down the tree full of wires heading straight down the trunk.
Curiosity thoroughly peeked, Vegeta stepped off the branch and dropped the couple stories down. He quickly recognized it as the big tree he first spotted the dragon bamboo from. He lit his finger again looking for the sparkling paint when the light caused a glint. He ran his finger over it.
"There's the mini cameras. Fuck those big masks," he said feeling the perfectly curved lens hidden in the fake bark.
He followed the fake bark around the tree and discovered lenses spaced evenly about every two feet. Following the pattern, he felt around them and discovered two more rings. Vegeta sighed at human stupidity. It was smart to disguise the microphones as fuzzy caterpillars, but not to space them at even two-foot intervals around the trunk. At least they thought of staggering them off the cameras. The other ring had only 6 spots that felt like more lenses to him.
His first instinct was to step back and give a middle finger to one of the cameras then move on, but Bulma's angry face interrupted his thoughts. But he also couldn't pass this moment to mess with them.
"What traditional Earth response can I use that's rated Y so Trunks can watch Papa?"
Back at the resort, an auto message popped up across the film techs' computer screens. Normally they ignored the messages that a motion capture camera was triggered, but now they scrambled to click it. It pulled up the live feed.
"Hey we got Vegeta!" one shouted while others waved their hands.
Mr. Reynolds had been up and about since dawn and had placed himself in the room to get the jump on Conner.
"Where is he?" he shouted as he ran over.
"D-12 camera tree." one said as Reynolds leaned over.
The screens were segmented so the staff could watch all feeds at once. They saw Vegeta run his thumb over one of the lenses, then got really close to it.
"Did he just…" one of the other techs said half in prayer.
They watched Vegeta walk round the tree running his finger over each lens.
"Oh no! He found the surveillance trees," a guy said, throwing his hands in the air.
Others were moaning and running their hands over their faces among other reactions of dread.
"Radio Leticia and tell her he's been spotted at D-12," Reynolds ordered.
After he circled the tree two more times, he stepped back and squatted glaring at the camera in front of him.
"Oh god… what now?"
"What is he thinking?"
"Is he going to break the tree?"
After a little over a minute, Vegeta stood. Then began gathering sticks and ground vines.
Everyone held their breath as he turned his back to the cameras, clearly making something.
After several minutes, Vegeta stood. He had two medium size sticks he pushed into the ground. Then tied whatever he made to them.
They waited in apprehension as Vegeta turned around, waved at the camera then walked away.
Some of their jaws dropped. Others began hysterically laughing. Mr. Reynolds just sighed and looked down.
On the screen, written clear as day, was a sign that read "HI MOM".
Smug with his mastery of Earth culture, Vegeta walked over to his dragon bamboo lookout and climbed back up until he got deep in the branch level of the canopy. Then he flew up to his perch.
The sun was over the horizon at this point turning the sky pure blue, but the blue camp was completely still with the crew standing about the ATVs and carts.
"Cast must still be asleep," he thought.
He rotated and spied on the red beach.
The film crew was behaving in a similar way, but their fire was billowing a great deal of smoke making it hard to see. He could however make out one group of ants following another ant with neon pink hair.
"What's that girl trying to do? I doubt they killed something that needs THAT big a bonfire." He watched her for a while, constantly going back and forth between the camp and the same spot in the woods. That dark spot on the white sand that kept growing each of her trips was probably firewood.
"That won't last long if they keep wasting it on something that big… That's my chance," he thought.
Vegeta climbed down to canopy level and made the inhuman leap to the nearest tree that would take the weight and began calmly tree hopping. He had time.
Meanwhile, on Berapi…
Everyone had woken up at this point. Michael was holding a meeting as everyone drank and ate the leftover coconuts from the day before.
"Ok, everyone," Michael said. "As you all know, we have three days until the reward challenge. We need to start looking for coconuts and get to fishing. Hassim, Ichiro you're on fish. Sam, Becky, look for coconuts. Sugar Petal, stick to wood."
"I saw some big piles of poop in the woods," Sugar Petal started.
"Ewe!" Becky pointed at her. "You may eat poop, but don't make the rest of us!"
"You're the one who spread poop in my bowl!" Hassim shouted.
Becky stood up. "What ya gonna do about it?"
Michael stood up, "Hey. Hey. Prank's over. We're putting this behind us."
He turned to Sugar Petal and leaned over. "Now Sugar Petal," Michael spoke, like speaking to a small child, "I doubt the staff would allow anything big and scary in the game area."
Sugar Petal dropped the child-like look and stared strongly in his eyes.
Michael was not happy at this defiance.
"Piles of Pebbles eat Plants," she said. "There's animals we can eat in the woods."
"Fish are probably easier, but that's good to know," Sam said. "Good job Sugar."
"No. No!" Lisa said. "I'm not eating bunnies or anything with a cute face!"
Michael stood up straight, "We don't know how to safely cut one up. Do we all want to die from ? Do you even know how to cut up an animal, Sugar Petal?"
Sugar went to speak, but stopped herself. She hung her head.
"No? I didn't think so," Michael said, belittling her. "Leave the survival to the adults and stick to the firewood."
Sugar Petal suddenly stood up. "I'm going to pee," she said walking off.
"That's not where..." Sam started.
"Oh, let her go pout in the woods," Lisa said.
"All right," Michael ordered, "Sam, Ichiro, Hassim. Go find sticks to make fish spears, and pick up any coconuts you find along the way."
The group stood and walked off together.
"Michael, would you like to do an interview?" his field producer asked.
"Sure." Michael turned to the women. "Do what you ladies do in the kitchen." He pat Becky on the shoulder and walked off. The crew went with him leaving just Lisa, Becky and the 6 crewmembers.
Becky sneered at Michael's back. She looked at Lisa, "Is he always like that?"
"You get used to it," Lisa rolled her eyes, "Just don't question him. You're nowhere close to the level of respect needed to gently whisper in his ear. Sugar Petal has no idea how much she just screwed up."
Becky looked behind her to where Michael was in the distance. Then she looked forward to the group of men entering the woods. Suddenly Becky smiled. She went back to the shelter and began digging in the palm leaves.
"What are you doing?" Lisa asked, annoyed.
She crawled out holding the rug. "I'm going to do what women do in the kitchen."
Becky walked a few feet to the other side of the fire and dropped it in the sand. She then dropped her pants and sat her naked butt on the rug.
She masturbated, unabashed out in the open.
"Becky? What the hell? Stop it."
"Don't worry," she said, pulling out her damp fingers. "If the taste is too strong, Hassim might notice and spit it out again." She held up her two fingers and smiled, "Give me Hassim's other coconut half."
"Becky, no." Lisa said firmly. "Can you not see how big of a PR nightmare this is? Get off before Michael sees you."
Becky sneered at her, then rubbed her underneath back and forth a few times before wiping her hands.
"Are you insane?!" Lisa jumped up, ran over and pushed her off.
"Hey what the fuck? I got enough sand up my crack as it is."
Lisa is ignoring her. She has thrown sand on the spot and is rubbing it in with her buff. "Off. Off. Off. Please. Oh, God."
Becky tried to rip the rug from her. It ended in a tug of war.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Becky said.
"Stop shouting. I'm trying to help you."
"From what?" she mocked. "Hassim is such a pushover he can't even shoo mosquitoes off his own balls."
"Hassim is going to be the last of your problems."
"What the hell are you two doing?" Michael demanded storming up, "Put that rug back right now."
Becky let go making Lisa fall backwards.
"Look you fifteen-minute wannabe," Michael got in Becky's face. "This isn't fucking Instagram. You're playing with the big boys and if you keep this up not even BP's PR guys will touch the cesspool you're digging for yourself."
He helped Lisa up and into the shelter. "Come on, let's hide this and you can tell me what she did later."
While this was going on, the three men were in the trees.
"So…" Hassim sighed. "Do either of you guys have any idea what we are looking for?"
"Bamboo is best."
The three yipped in surprise and turned around. They saw a smiling little girl.
"Sugar Petal. Good lord," Sam said, holding his hand on his heart. "Are you secretly a ninja or something?"
She tilted her head slightly to look cute. "Ninjas are Japanese. I am Korean."
"Oh. I'm sorry I didn't know," Sam said.
"So, what were you saying about bamboo for the spears?" Hassim said, stepping to the front.
"Bamboo is hollow. So you can split it into multiple sharp points to stab the fish."
"That's a great idea," Ichiro said. Then his face soured, "But we don't have the machete to cut any down…"
"Ok… let's head back to camp and get Michael," Hassim said, putting his hand on his hips and shaking his head.
Sugar Petal turned to Sam, "You want help with the coconuts? Even if we can't eat them, we can use the fibers for fire fluff and yarn."
"Yarn?" the three said at once.
Sugar Petal nodded exaggeratedly to the point of almost bowing. "Yes! I used to knit with my grandmother before she died." She pantomimed the moves. "Once you twist fibers together, you just reverse twist into a string." She then held her hand like she was holding a rod and rotating her arm around it. "We can wrap the string around the spear to keep it from splitting when we cut it."
"Well aren't you the clever little Sugar-cha—" Ichiro began. "Actually, what's the Korean version of -chan? If you don't mind." he said awkwardly. "I don't want to be rude."
Sugar Petal never broke her smile. "You can call me Sugar-chan, Ichiro-san. I'm called that all the time on tour in Japan."
"Thank you, Sugar-chan."
Sugar Petal bent her knees and gave a small hop, "Ok! Let's split up. The sooner we get everything done, the sooner everyone can eat."
"Hey Sugar Petal," Sam said walking next to her. "If you can show me how to make the yarn, do you think you could knit a second bag for us? It would be nice to have something other than the satchel."
"I'm… I haven't knitted since I was little," she said apologetically. "I think it would be easier to maybe weave something?"
"Well, we got all day to figure stuff out," Sam smiled, holding his arm out to invite Sugar Petal to go first.
She nodded and walked forward. Sam followed.
Hassim sighed again after they disappeared into the brush. "Ok… Let's go get Michael."
"You don't like Michael?" Ichiro asked as they started walking.
"Don't have to like the person to play the game, but Ichiro," Hassim looked at him, "Aren't you tired of being manipulated by him?"
It was Ichiro's turn to sigh, "Yes. He can definitely talk you into something before you realize what's happening."
"If Vegeta was still in camp, we could instigate a coup. We'—"
"I'd rather DIE than have anything to do with that man," Ichiro snarled. "I don't care if voting him out cements Michael's leadership. I don't care that Michael is going to start picking us off one by one. I don't care about the money or winning anymore." He stepped in front and stared up at Hassim. "This is about karma. And I'm not risking my next life over that bastard. And if you care about your soul and whatever you think is going to happen to you after you die, you would do the same."
"Well… he's a dead end…" Hassim thought watching him turn and stomp off. "Only having three won't be enough to pressure Sam…"
"Oh, Ichiro? I know you're Japanese and from the Western sector, but I have a question."
"About Sugar-chan? Shouldn't you ask her."
"It's about something she told me this morning. I… I honestly don't know what to think."
"Well? Pitch it."
"Do you know if Koreans eat bugs?"
Ichiro stopped in his tracks. "What?"
"Sugar Petal has been eating bugs. She offered to cook some this morning."
"I… I saw a few fried grasshopper stalls vacationing in Thailand." He turned around, "She's not eating them raw, is she?"
"She said she's cooking them in a soda can she found. She threw them up yesterday, but she said this morning was better."
"She might know they are theoretically edible but doesn't know how to safely cook them," Ichiro said, visibly worried. "Not that I know how. I guess we should see what she's doing. She must have a mini camp so she can eat."
"I know my Imam blessed me to eat what I need to," Hassim shivered in disgust, "but I'd rather stick to halal as much as possible out here."
"I have no idea what you just said, but I assume that means you're not eating bugs."
"Yea. That's an understatement."
"Well, the sooner we get the spears, the sooner we get fish."
"Fish are definitely halal," Hassim chuckled, walking forward.
As the two walked into the sunlight, Ichiro looked at the sand. "If she's eating, that's why she has been so energetic this morning. As much as I don't want her to suffer, Michael needs to know this. It… It'll be better this way. Kami knows what bacteria and parasites she's eaten."
Back with Sugar Petal and Sam, they were talking about their grandparents.
"My grandmother is a huge quilter and embroiderer."
"What is a quilter?"
"A person who makes quilts."
Sugar Petal tilted her head.
"Oh… you don't know, my bad. A quilt is a blanket made by sowing a bunch of scraps of fabric together."
She quietly gasped. "Are you so poor you must sleep under rags?"
"Oh, no. Quilting is a hobby." Sam scratched his nose, "But I guess it could have probably started that way. Not wasting fabric and stuff."
"What other things does she do to not waste fabric?" Sugar Petal asked now curious.
"Well she made rag rugs from the leftovers."
Sugar Petal jumped in front of him. "A rug? How do you make this rug?"
"It's a long braid that's sewn in a loop," Sam said, stopping. He could see the cogs rapidly spinning behind her eyes. He gave a sad smile.
"You're a lively young woman, Sugar Petal. Do… Do you want the last of my coconut? You need to eat something. Whatever pixie sticks you're made out of have to be empty by now."
Sugar Petal returned the smile. "I'm fine. Please just trust— what's that?" she said suddenly and walked past him.
Sam followed her and found a banana suspended by a vine from a tripod of sticks.
"Well, this is weird," Sam said. He went to take it down when Sugar Petal stopped him.
She pointed ahead and there was another deeper into the trees. When they walked over to that one, they saw a third.
"We should get the others." Sugar said. "It's probably Vegeta."
"Do you really think Michael is going to give Vegeta the time of day? Besides, he found bananas. We're the same team whether they like it or not."
He began to walk deeper into the trees but Sugar Petal grabbed his arm.
"Don't you care about what Ich—everyone said?"
"Don't answer that," one of the field producers said loudly.
Sam looked at them, then turned back to Sugar Petal. "Of course I do. But it's not like any of this is accidental. The producers chose him to be on the show and grouped us together. We're supposed to interact. So, let's interact."
Sugar doubled down on the grip on his arm and braced her feet. "No! There is so much to eat here if you are not blind. We don't need him."
Sam stopped and stared at her. "Sugar, did you find something to eat? What the hell? I mean… I get it, not telling us until now, but if you have food, we need it."
Sugar Petal let go of his arm and looked down, "I told Hassim at sunrise… but I don't think he liked the idea. He looked sick."
"Ah…" Sam said disappointed. "I've seen a lot of things at Asian restaurants that wouldn't be my first choice either." Then he smiled, "But as long as you're comfortable eating it, that's all that matters."
Sugar clasped her hands together. "Yes. And that means more food for the rest of you."
"Yes, it will." Sam suddenly turned and ran off. "Including bananas," he shouted back after he gained distance.
Sugar Petal trembled, staring wide-eyed in the direction he disappeared into. Finally, she ran back towards camp.
Hassim and Ichiro had just stepped onto the beach. They spotted Becky lying on Hassim's palm mat.
"Is she sunbathing? AND she's naked," Hassim spun around and put his hands over his face. "Ichiro, can you ask her to cover up for a moment."
"Do you really think she's going to listen?" he asked rhetorically.
"Then can you lead me while I keep my eyes closed?"
Ichiro sighed, "This is going to be a long month…" He put his hand on his shoulder, "Turn around and come on."
They begin crossing the beach.
"Damn…" Ichiro said, putting his hand against his forehead. "Michael is red."
Hassim's eyes snapped open. "Oh no… what did Becky do to the food?" He sprinted past Ichiro.
"Thank you for being honest, Lisa," Michael said, looking like he was about to have an aneurism.
"I'm sorry I couldn't stop her in time," she said nervously. "And trying to clean it."
Michael raised his hand, "Cleaning is understandable. Attempting to hide it from me is not." He returned to crossing his arms, "I do not like having an unknown quantity under my command. Especially one this unstable and detrimental to our lives after this show."
"What are you going to do to her?" Lisa asked.
"Right now, we need her. But once current events are finished, she's next." Michael shifted his weight to his other foot as he thought. "We need to tighten our grip on Ichiro. Make him our third so we can start isolating Becky."
"And Hassi—Hassim!"
Michael turned around and saw him enter camp.
"What did Becky do to the food?" Hassim panted.
"Lisa stopped her. The food is safe, don't worry."
Hassim sighed relieved, "Good… That means the only thing I need to replace is the mat…"
"Mat?" Lisa's voice cracked.
Hassim put his hands on his hips, "Becky is currently sunbathing naked on the palm leaf mat Sugar Petal made me." He looked up. "At least it's not the rug," he sighed again.
Michael put his hand on his shoulder. "Come on, let's go deal with her and get your mat back."
"No, it's too late now. Let her keep it. Thank you though."
"I understand," Michael nodded. He looked over at Ichiro and saw he was empty handed.
"Where are your sticks?" Michael demanded loudly, taking his hand off Hassim's shoulder.
Hassim was surprised by the sudden flip of the switch. "We decided bamboo would be the best to make the spears, but for that we need you and the machete."
Michael put the smile back on his face, "I see. Well, we haven't explored the forest yet. Sounds like an adventure." He patted Hassim's upper arm.
"Michael! Hassim-nim! Ichiro-san!"
Everyone turned and saw Sugar Petal enter the beach. Even Becky rolled over to look.
Sugar Petal panted pointing into the woods. "Sam and Vegeta!"
"Shit," Michael said, pushing past Hassim. "Where are they?!"
Back in the woods, Sam was following the tripods. But they stopped holding bananas after the fifth one, and now they had all been knocked over, leaving him walking in circles.
Sam sighed.
"Maaaaaaaa."
"Huh?"
"Maaaaaaaaa."
"Is there a flock of sheep in the woods or something?" Sam said softly. He attempted to silently tiptoe off, but his shoes kept crunching under foot. The camera crew also was not helping the stealth factor.
"Maaaaaaaa."
"What the hell is that? A sheep?" Michael asked, putting his free hand to his forehead.
"See," Sugar Petal said, justified. "Piles of Pebbles eat Plants."
Michael lowered his hand and glared at her.
"Sam probably heard that," Hassim said. "Let's go that way."
"Don't forget Vegeta…" Ichiro mumbled as the four continued.
Sam stumbled out onto the ATV track. It traveled right as far as he could see and to the left it traveled many yards before it curved out of sight behind the growing hillside. He saw the tipped over tripods leading down the path to his right. He followed.
After he turned behind the bushes, fan palms and a large tree. He saw what he could only describe as two very tall sheep that had their wool cut off knocking over and eating the bananas.
Suddenly a black blur descended like a missile from above and landed on the back of one of the animals with a violently audible cracking of bones.
*Loud bone cracking sound*
"MAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The sounds of death and a screaming animal stopped the group of four in its tracks.
"Oh, God…" Hassim said. "That sounded like a truck plowing through a herd of sheep."
"You know what that sounds like?" Michael looked at him skeptically.
Hassim stumbles over to a tree and starts to dry heave.
"I stand corrected," Michael said.
Ichiro went to pat Hassim on the back when a new terrifying sound pierced the jungle.
"STOP EATING MY BANANAS UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE DINNER INSTEAD!" Vegeta screamed at the fleeing goat. He let out a feral growl as he made his fists and flexed his shoulders.
"Meee. Mee."
Vegeta turned to the twitching animal, its neck and back shattered in multiple places. He knelt down and flicked its forehead. Its head violently jerked, then it went quiet.
Vegeta turned to Sam, who was standing there frozen with his mouth open, eyes wide and knees shaking.
Vegeta stood. "I go to catch a flower and I get fucking Samwise Gamgee. What do you want?"
Sam's knees gave way and he began to fall backwards. He thought a crewmember had caught him but when he looked up, he saw Vegeta's face.
Sam repeatedly looked between where Vegeta once stood then his face as Vegeta lowered him down.
Vegeta then walked around and squatted in front of him. "You alright there, cubicle clown?" He smirked, "It's different between the Discovery Channel and real life, isn't it?"
Nearby, the remaining three come into sight. Sugar Petal slipped off her shoes and crawled like a spider. If she made a sound, it was barely more than a squirrel. She slid up the trunk of the tree Vegeta had jumped from and watched from behind a fan palm.
Ichiro was impressed.
Michael, seeing how silently she could sneak away, was thinking of ways to remedy this and making it look like an accident.
"Ye-Ye-Yeah," Sam stuttered. "So-so-so how's the food?"
Vegeta looked over his shoulder, "I'd say pretty good right now." He looked back at him, "You looking to defect?"
"Defect?" he thought out loud as his brain began to process again. "Wait, have you joined the blue team?"
Vegeta sputtered laughing. "Psssp, no," he said standing. "But I'm not giving Michael a damn thing," Vegeta added in an icy tone. "I was given a very long talking to the second day by the producers. I know exactly what is going on and getting coal for Christmas is the least of your worries."
"Look, I don't like this anymore than you do. But this is a game, and what you're doing right now is suicide. You're the main target right now, but coming back and sharing all this food will definitely go a—"
"Either you're a liar or fucking stupid," Vegeta interrupted. He pointed at Sam, "Michael is NOT going to change. And with his two wenches and the baseball player, that's four. I'm not doing ANYTHING that will further their agenda." He crossed his arms. "There are two camps now, physically and literally. You can't be in both."
Sam noticed the wrong English, but quickly concluded pointing that out would not be beneficial to the situation.
"So why the banana trail?"
"Because Reeses Pieces don't grow on fucking trees," Vegeta snipped.
Sam did not recognize the reference. "So, you've put the bananas to hunt sheep?"
"No! I've been hunting Sugar Petal! I spent all morning stalking her to get her alone."
Sugar Petal gasped.
Vegeta shouted and spun around raising his arms to fight; his hands clawed ready to blast a ki ball. His heart dropped seeing Sugar Petal back away then run.
Michael began laughing. He laughed so hard he bent over and put his hand on his stomach.
"Stop it," Ichiro whispered strongly, but it was too late.
Vegeta busted through the bushes. "What the fuck?!" he shouted.
"You," Michael said standing up as the laughing faded. "I've never seen a more incompetent person in my life. Even my house staff that doesn't speak English is better than you." He had stopped laughing and now towered in front of him. "How inbred are you? Your height can't be normal. Is that why you're I.Q. matches?"
Vegeta pointed at him, wishing he could float up and intimidate him from above. "I'm the second highest I.Q. on this planet after my wife. And it's this type of behavior that's why I tried to lure her away."
"Oh," Michael mocked, "Lure her away. Thank you for using such a loaded word in front of witnesses. Not like we need to lie about anything. You're a creep, and the first thing she did when she saw something funny, she immediately thought it was you and came to get us. YOU will never get her. She belongs to me."
Vegeta began to sneer, but stopped himself, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked at Ichiro, then around at the camera crews still present.
He smiled. "So riddle me this: Why is she scared of me?" He looked back at Michael, "After all… I did defend her. And from you on top of that. What could she be possibly scared of if none of you have ever lied to her?"
"You know that's never getting in the show," a cameraman said.
Vegeta moved his eyes to look at him. "Michael has his witness, I have mine." He looked back at Michael. "You're playing a dangerous game Michael over an amount of money your company makes in a day and mine in a few seconds." Vegeta turned and began to walk away, "This isn't Vegas. Remember that."
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Michael said, moving his hand to grab his shoulder.
Vegeta instinctively grabbed him by the wrist, then slowly turned around to face him. "I just killed a goat by jumping out of a tree and snapping its neck with my bare hands for eating my bananas," he said with a glint in his eyes. "I need to gut and cook it before it sits too long." He forcefully tossed the hand aside and continued walking.
Michael stomped after him. Ichiro followed.
They followed Vegeta into the cleared track and saw the dead animal for the first time. Sam was tentatively poking it with a stick.
"Hey, that's my kill! Back off!" Vegeta shouted.
Sam jumped clutching the stick in front of him.
Vegeta stomped up, pulled the stick from his hands, snapped it, then tossed it away. He then picked up the front legs of the animal and put one over each shoulder. Its dead head flopped over with its broken neck.
"See you fucktards never," Vegeta said as he sprinted off.
He left the group stunned that he could run like a track racer with what had to have been a 200-pound animal on his back.
A few moments later, the sound of an ATV made its way through the trees. Leticia and her crew came full speed around the bend. Leticia was driving with the cameraman standing up in the passenger seat behind her. The technician was riding in the cart with his bag.
She pulls to a stop. "We lost him again, didn't we?"
Sam points in the direction he went.
"God damn it," she turned to ride through the trees.
"He was carrying an animal to butcher," a field producer said. "If that helps."
"Oh God…" Ted said in the back trying to keep his stomach, "I'm not watching that."
"Shut up Ted," Leticia ordered, looking over her shoulder. She looked back at the producer. "Thank you."
Leticia did a U-turn and instead of riding through the woods, went back down the trail.
After everyone got over their stun silence, Michael ran over and grabbed Sam by his work collar. "What the fuck were you trying to do?! Talking to Vegeta?"
"Ve-Vegeta had bananas, I was trying to get him to share," Sam said, staring at the face of fury. "We're on the same team after all."
"Ichiro! Go find Hassim and bring him here. We're having a group meeting! Right here. Right now."
Ichiro quickly came back with Hassim, who was carrying Sugar Petal's shoes.
"Wait… Where is Sugar Petal?" Hassim asked, looking around.
"She went back to the beach," Michael said, "Don't worry. She's perfectly fine. We have more to worry about."
Ichiro and Hassim stood next to Sam.
Michael began to pace. "Sam. You walked off to talk with Vegeta. Do you have any idea how suspicious that looks?"
"Vegeta has food. We need food. Even if—"
"I don't care," Michael said loudly.
"Michael, you're a businessman. We're like a newly-formed team assigned to a 39-day project. Whatever personal issues everyone seems to have brought in; we can't let this derail us."
"I'll eat my own shit before I eat something Vegeta touched," Ichiro said firmly. "This isn't some financial report. This is our souls at stake."
"Do you really think we're all going to burn in hell just by being in the same room as him?" Sam said in disbelief.
"Yes!" Ichiro screamed inches from his face. "And the second I get out of here I'm heading to the nearest temple to do penitence! I may have to surrender everything I own and become a monk by the time this show is over!"
Sam saw Michael smile slightly over Ichiro's shoulder.
"With his two wenches and the baseball player, that's four." Sam thought, suddenly feeling extremely vulnerable.
Michael's smile grew seeing Sam's eyes dart around and take a small breath. He walked over knowing he has won.
Sam bowed his head, "I'm sorry. I won't talk to him again."
"Good," Michael happily smiled, his charming demeanor returned. He put his hands on both their shoulders and gently pushed them apart. "Now, let's forget him and get some real food."
Meanwhile, back with Vegeta…
Leticia and crew rode back into camp. Everyone paused, not wanting to get off.
"Let's just get this over with…" Leticia said.
The three unpacked and began to walk past the tree house and out the back. They discovered Vegeta exactly where they thought they would.
His slaughter spot.
Vegeta had already beheaded and gutted the animal and added it to the rot pile from his previous kills. The animal itself was hanging upside down from tree branches draining. He was currently skinning the animal with a sharp stone.
"Why the hell are you naked?!" Leticia screamed.
Vegeta jumped and turned around. "Ah! … Don't you guys ever knock?" He turned back to his kill, "Would you rather I get my clothes covered in blood? All I need to do like this is to bathe. Now will you please give me some privacy?! Not like you can use this in the show."
"You… you're completely comfortable being naked covered in gore?" Freddy asked.
"That's how we are all born, aren't we?" Vegeta answered as he continued to cut away.
"What's that on your ass?" Ted asked.
Vegeta looked over his shoulder, "What? You mean my tail stub?"
"You have a tail?"
Vegeta paused for a moment before he continued, "I did until I lost it to a katana. The military who said the battle armor was impenetrable didn't know what they were talking about if such a primitive tradition was more advanced than the best they could create."
"Does it wiggle?" he asked.
"WHAT?! What kind of question is that?!" Vegeta turned and stomped over.
Ted backed up as the blood soaked Vegeta got in his face.
"I lost a limb! Would you ask a human who lost an arm or a leg to wiggle their stumps for your sick curiosity?!"
"Ted quiet," Leticia ordered. She looked back at Vegeta, "That was inappropriate, we apologize."
Vegeta glared at her. "You can apologize by not filming my ass!" He walked back to the carcass. "I'll be washing and getting dressed once I get this hide off." He began cutting again. "Oh, I still need that talk with Conner!"
The three backed off and returned to camp. Once there, Leticia pulled out her phone.
Back at the resort, Conner was meeting with a member of staff.
"So there are also cameras hidden in various trees and bamboo, and Vegeta has discovered them? Why haven't I been told? All I've known about are the masks."
"I… don't want to get into politics," the video staffer said. "But Mr. Reynolds was thinking he discovered the transmitters in the canopy while he was up there. I thought you should know."
"Vegeta is really breaking the meta this season," Conner said. Then he smiled. "This is going to get good. We could even have a breaking the 4-wall theme for the final edits."
"Mr. Reynolds thinks it's going to be a disaster."
"He's definitely not the most flexible man," Conner answered. Suddenly, his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and put it to his ear. "Hey Leticia, you finally catch up with him?"
"He's killed a goat and is covered in blood? Then we need to get him to decon and a new set of clothes…
"A huh… Wait. What do you mean he's done this before? How has no one noticed? Of course butchering a big animal is messy… Alright. I'm sorry you weren't there…
"Soap vines? What soap vines? Was such a resource pointed out in the briefings? …Is he positive about the identification? He may not be affected by any reactions because he's not human… What is it exactly? …Why didn't you mention this this morning?... Ok send pictures we'll identify it on our end… Ok… I'll ask the resort staff if they have heard of it.
"Ok… Don't film him naked like that, but if this plant checks out see about filming him bathe… Call me if something else happens and I'll get back to you."
Conner hung up and looked at the staffer. "Do we have a local wildlife expert on staff? Vegeta is claiming there's a plant used as expensive soap in the jungle."
"I assume so," he said.
Conner rolled his eyes and grabbed his radio, "This is Conner. Do we have an expert on local plant life on staff?"
*fuzz* This is Jack Wagoner. What do you need? *fuzz*
"Vegeta has self-identified a plant he claims is used as soap at expensive resorts. We need an ID on this."
*fuzz* Do you have pictures? *fuzz*
"They are being sent to my phone shortly."
*fuzz* Meet me in Room 408. I'm on the way now. *fuzz*
*fuzz* This is Reynolds. I'm on my way as well. *fuzz*
Conner took the elevator to the fourth floor, and discovered it was all private suites. He followed the numbers and found the door to 408 open.
He knocked on the door, "It's Conner. May I come in?"
"Yes. Come in."
Conner entered and saw a table against the near wall that was not visible from the door.
The man with brown hair extended his hand. "Jack Wagoner, graduate assistant at West City University."
"Conner O'Malley," he nodded politely.
"So, about this plant?" he asked excitedly as he sat down.
"I haven't—"
Suddenly Conner's phone buzzed. He looked at his messages.
"They've just texted it to me. Do you have a transfer cord or should I email these?"
"Cord's right here," he said, plugging it into the USB slot.
Conner plugged in his phone and transferred the pictures.
"Ok, let's get a look at these." Jack said, pulling his chair closer to the table.
"Huh…" he said as he scrolled through the pictures. "Nothing really distinctive about… wait is this the fruit?" he points at the picture of the bean pod.
"I assume so," Conner said. "Do you recognize it?"
"It narrows it down. A pod that big can't be common."
"Are you really just going to google search the image?" Conner asked, seeing him pull up the browser.
"It's a starting point," Jack rolled his eyes. He posted the picture of the bean and the word soap.
"Entada genius… which of you grow around here… Here. Entada phaseoloides. Grows across Southeast Asia." He copies the name and closes the window. "Ok let's look up the species in the index… Ah. Here. It's flagged as poisonous to eat... … …but it's listed that bark is used in traditional soap, shampoo, and clothes detergents in the last sentence under Other Uses. I have never heard of this as soap before. How does he know of it?"
"He said bark strips are given out in expensive hotels in the region."
Jack went back to the screen, "I wonder if they have some here. Where are the indigenous names? Ah here. Gugo in the Philippines… Bàm bàm in Viet Nam… And here. Akar Beluru in Malay, Bendoh and Gandu in Javanese, and Chariyu in Sudanese." He sat up from the computer. "See if the resort staff recognize any of those names."
"That will have to wait."
The two turned around and saw Mr. Reynolds at the door. He looked mildly disheveled from running.
"I see Vegeta is pulling more of his shit," he said walking into the room.
"I wouldn't call the wealthiest family on the planet recognizing an obscure beauty product 'pulling more shit'," Conner said, rotating to look at him. "Just because he doesn't fit the mold of a traditional player doesn't mean he's doing anything wrong. He hasn't done anything to break the rules and everything he's ever done can be sourced."
He stood. "If anything, Vegeta is the most disadvantaged player we've ever had. We're a social game at its core and the cultural and language barriers are obvious to the staff that have dealt with him, plus his medical said he's an Aspie like my son. Vegeta may be able to physically survive more comfortably than others, but he's going to be the first vote out once Berapi loses and he knows it."
"Then, explain to me why Leticia is communicating to you by cell phone and not over the radio like she's supposed to?"
"Because I'm in charge of Vegeta," Conner stressed. "And he's been waiting to talk to me. Leticia is worried about getting blood on the equipment. As she should. Besides, I was told all conversations and text messages on our work phones are recorded and accessible on the cloud servers. Now. Unless you want the possibility of the other teams overhearing about soap being available, I'm going to call Leticia back."
Mr. Reynolds bristled, "Fine. But it's speaker phone."
Conner dialed.
"Hello, Conner," they heard Leticia. "What's happening?"
"The—"
"The plant checks out," Mr. Reynolds half yelled over Conner. "Now what did Vegeta want to ask us?"
"Tell Vegeta yes," Conner said before hanging up.
Mr. Reynolds and Conner glared at each other while the scientist shrank in the corner of the room pinned by the men, the desk, and the bed.
"Sounds like those two are having fun."
Leticia and the crew turned around and saw Vegeta standing there holding the hide to cover his front.
"So what did you want to ask him?" Leticia asked nervously.
"If I could continue to use energy to make small bobbles that have no bearing on the game," Vegeta smirked.
Everyone thought his smirk went from smug to purely demonic now that he was drenched in blood.
"…Continue?" Leticia's voice quivered.
"As this planet says: Better to ask forgiveness than permission," Vegeta said. He turned around and walked towards the stream. "Don't film me bathing!"
"We need a few shots of you at least using the soap," Leticia followed him. "No one has heard of this before."
"How about after I get the blood off of me?!" Vegeta shouted over his shoulder. He then made a mad dash for the stream and leaped feet first into the waist deep water in the center of the flow.
Meanwhile, back with Berapi…
The group was eating the last of the coconut in silence. Lisa was avoiding Michael's face. Michael and Hassim were watching Becky's smug face as she gave a childish "I know something you don't know" look to Hassim. Ichiro was still rage glaring, making Sam uncomfortable enough to turn his back to the group.
Sugar Petal however was sitting near the fire looking over the remains of her shoes. Someone had put them in the fire, then buried it in branches and twigs and stoked the fire into a strong roar. If it wasn't for the strong smell, she would have been clueless that they were in there.
They were a curled mess, the leather destroyed, the glue burned and the rubber soles scorched. The crew could not place her expression. It wasn't pure emotionless but it wasn't anger or sadness either. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She picked up the still warm shoes and began walking past the shelter.
"Where are you headed?" Sam asked, standing up. This made everyone look at her.
Sugar Petal turned and gave a sad, weak smile to the group. "I'm just going to throw these out," she said with a shiver in her voice. She quickly ducked out and entered the trees.
"I don't trust that bitch," Becky said suddenly.
"What the hell, Becky," Sam said, turning around.
"No one is THAT innocent," Becky said. "Trust me. She's a conniving bitch."
"Takes one to know one," Michael said.
Becky put her bowl down and leaned back on her hands, "I won't deny it. Unlike her. She's too smart and she's letting it slip."
"Innocent does not equal stupid, Becky." Sam admonished. "My sisters have always been clever."
"Do you think she is clever?" Michael asked.
"I do," Sam said. "And I plan to spend the afternoon on the projects we came up with before we were interrupted by spotting the bananas."
Michael stood. "And what are these 'projects'?"
Sam heard the veiled anger in his voice. "Baskets and string to help with the coconuts and fishing."
"Sam's right," Hassim said. He looked at Ichiro before returning to Michael, "Both Ichiro and I were part of it and think they are excellent ideas. Unless you want us to spear one fish, swim back to the beach then go out again?"
Michael looked down at Ichiro. "Ichiro?"
"Sorry Michael, I'm with them on this," he said contritely.
Michael smiled, "Well, sounds like a plan, then." He rubbed his hands together, "Let's get the bamboo while they wait for Sugar Petal to get back." He grabbed the machete and pointed towards the woods. "Come on. Follow me." He walked off. Ichiro stood and he and Hassim followed.
Sam watched them leave, and did not see Becky and Lisa glance at each other, then Lisa drawing her finger across her neck causing Becky to laugh. Sam glanced back at the giggling women before turning back to watch the others disappear.
While this was happening, Sugar Petal was circling the edge of the swampy ground between the beach and the stream as fast as her bare feet would allow. Once she reached it, she climbed the hill at the waterfall.
The proximity alarm gently started to beep as she reached the top. She turned left and walked to the coast. The beeping stopped as they came to the small cliff above the ocean with sharp rocks below.
"Wow. You've been busy," her producer said. "Start getting shots of this."
The cameraman began getting close ups of the small pile of coals from the cooking fire surrounded by the four bricks, two soda cans with their tops removed, a set of chopsticks resting on a leaf and several coconuts and coconut remains.
He knelt and focused in on a tiny altar with a leaf propped behind it. It had a line picture drawn on it with charcoal. A circle meant to be a face with what looked to be braided hair draped down one side and extending below the circle. The face was only half drawn, with what would have been the left eye cut off by a line. Next to the drawing was the name Mi-Young written in Korean.
"So what's this?" he asked.
"Ancestral shine," she answered. "To pray."
"So who is this supposed to be?"
"My grandmother." She threw the shoes down. "Taking too long. We're going." She began to run back.
Meanwhile, with Vegeta….
Vegeta had washed the majority of the thick muck off of him with pure water, but now he was being filmed in a pool of suds in a slower eddy closer to the edge.
"That is amazing," Freddy said, getting a closer look through the camera. "It's actually working."
Vegeta grunted but otherwise ignored their admiration while he scrubbed viciously with the crushed bark. While other Saiyans battled half naked, he never could. As a small boy he was terrified his skin was betraying him so he covered himself to hide his cowardness, but he became used to the slime of a dirty kill that would seep through the clothes as he got older.
But bare skin was another story.
"Off. Off. Off. Off. Off…" screeched through his brain as almost a single indistinguishable siren wail.
While Vegeta was washing. Leticia's phone rang. The screen said it was Conner.
"Be right back," she said, quickly walking away.
She lifted the phone to her ear. "Yes?"
"Finally got away from Reynolds," she heard so softly it was barely audible. "How's Vegeta?"
"Washing in the stream with the soap plant. I don't think he realizes all the faces he's making. He was so calm gutting the thing but the second he hit the water he's acting like everyone else would when covered in blood… and whatever else."
"And the vine?"
"Looks like he's in a bubble bath," she answered.
"Decision just came back. We're able to legally get away with him washing like this as it is a legitimate form of soap, but he'll need new clothes."
"He gutted it naked," Leticia said. "His clean clothes are hung over the wall of his new house he's building."
There is a long pause on the other end.
"So… Do you know what I agreed to?"
"He said he wanted permission to make small items using his powers if they had nothing to do with playing the game. Seems he already made something as an example, but I haven't seen it. But earlier while dancing around the subject he asked if something he called 'audible pleasantries' would be a substitute for talking since they are used to fill gaps in conversation on TV."
"Was he asking about adding background music in post-production or…" she heard Conner gasp. "If he's made an instrument of some kind and wants to perform, then yes, absolutely," he said at almost normal volume. "Gotta go." The call disconnected.
Leticia looked down at her phone, then put it back in her pocket.
"Was that Conner?" Vegeta asked as she got back.
"Yes," she answered. "and he said yes to your question."
"Good," Vegeta said as he came to shore to grab another chunk of bark. "Now stop making me talk every 10 minutes!"
After God knows how long, Vegeta walked out of the eddy into faster flowing water. "I'm getting out once I rinse off. Don't you fucking film me."
After a few more minutes, Vegeta came to shore and climbed out. He was pruny and dripping, but surprisingly clean. Then he gave a short shout and his hair stood on end with a few lightning bolts chasing though it before it calmed down into his normal hair style.
"What did you just do?" Leticia demanded as Vegeta walked past her towards camp.
"I dried my ass off. What are you going to do about it?"
Then Vegeta heard a deep chirping noise of several birds. "What's that?" he changed direction back towards the butchering spot.
They discover 3 large birds picking away next to the rot pile, two yellow and one brown.
"Ewe… what are those chickens doing?" Ted said.
"Probably eating the inse—" Vegeta turned around. "Did you say chickens?"
"Yes, those are chickens," Freddy said.
Vegeta looked back at them silently. Then he tilted his head. "Huh… I guess Humans aren't the only species that come in varied colorations." He looked over his shoulder and pointed at the birds, "Are these colors poisonous? Or are they edible?"
"All chickens are edible. Those are just a different breed, like in dogs." Leticia said. She saw Vegeta smirk looking back at them. "What are you thinking?"
"Lunch and another bath."
