The Name's Oliver - Ben Oliver. Ch. 159: Duty vs Ethics, Pt. II

[RainBeau]

Muahaha I knew it! When I mentioned several chapters back that I noticed something about the prisoners--it was that they were all orange and yellow while the guards were all blue. Way to tackle racism, Schip!

[Schipperke]

Blood Island, Part XI

Diary Entry

Supper that evening was macaroni and cheese.  Arnie's repertoire seemed to be limited to starchy foods, but the mac and cheese wasn't bad, and it was certainly more filling than the endless autumn salad at the Garden Sanatorium.  That reminded me of Caroline, which made me smile.  If she were here, she'd be raring to take on the whole prison system.  As I scrubbed the dishes, I wondered how she and Adele were doing managing the Sanatorium.



After supper the inmates had a bit of time to visit in the dining room before being locked in the cells for the night.  Something had occurred to me as I was washing up, and I said to the group, "I've never seen any of the guards here in the dining room.  Do they have their own dining room upstairs?"



"You could call it that," said Conrad.



Ok, now what was that supposed to mean?  The trouble was, the prisoners were so used to the way things were that they just took the situation for granted and it never occurred to them that someone else wouldn't know what was going on.  And probably they still weren't sure how far to trust me, so they weren't going to volunteer information.  I had to try to think of the right questions to ask.  "Do they have their own cooking facilities?" I asked, as I had never seen any of the prisoners carrying food upstairs.

"That lot don't cook," Darren said disgustedly.



So where did the guards get their food?

"You could say the food comes to them," Brian said.



I threw up my hands in confusion.  "Guys, help me out here!  What do you mean, 'the food comes to them?' - are you talking about pizza delivery, or what?  What's going on?"



"He really doesn't know!" Arnie said wonderingly to the other inmates.  "Ben, you may not be a gormless idiot, but you sure don't know much about this place.  WE are the food for those creatures."



"You mean you didn't know the blues are vampires?"  Conrad asked.  "When they're ready to feed, they announce over the loudspeaker who they want to 'invite to dinner.'  Why did you think I told you not to pick the onion?  The creatures don't like the smell, that's why.  It reminds them of garlic."



"And that's why they don't want you yet," Darren added.  "You must have been living on garlic before you came here, because you still smell of it."

"They're waiting for the garlic to work its way out of your system," Brian put in.  "Then they'll be wanting you, just wait and see."



I felt sick.  On top of everything else, now I had to look forward to being a vampire's dinner?  I had to find a way out of this place!

Then the buzzer sounded, telling the prisoners to return to their cells.  I trailed along after Conrad, trying to think what to do.

Through the narrow window I caught a glimpse of the guard patrolling the catwalk.

[Seabody]

Why did you think I told you not to pick the onion?  The creatures don't like the smell, that's why.  It reminds them of garlic."

[...]

"And that's why they don't want you yet," Darren added.  "You must have been living on garlic before you came here, because you still smell of it."

I knew it!

[ladybug53]

What a shocking discovery ! My jaw just about hit the floor when I read this chapter .    Oh my ..... what's our Ben going to do next ! Wow ... what a chapter ! I must say Schipperke , you are quite the mystery writer . 

[RainBeau]

Well, that is disturbing :p

[Schipperke]

I knew it!

Yes, the message you sent me was pretty much bang-on.  Congratulations!

[Audren]

When I first read the update with the onion, I actually thought Ben was picking garlic, and my mind started off towards the direction of vampirism. Then I realized it was onion, and I dropped that train of thought. Clearly I've been fooled! 

[Schipperke]

I thought garlic would be a bit obvious, so I went with the onion instead and tried to make a point of them being from the same family - sorry, I think that should be genus (thanks, Magz, for pointing that out).

It's funny - I thought probably everyone knew what was coming and that you were all just being good Top-Hush, Button-Lip folks and saying nothing.  When I showed you the close-up of the warden a few pages back, did you not realize he was a vampire? 

[RainBeau]

You underestimate your own powers of mystery and misdirection. Looking back on Warden Blue, he did look like an unusually bright blue, but I didn't think anything of it. I did start on the right track with the onions--at least, I looked the genus up on Wikipedia and learned something new! So thanks again.

[Audren]

I thought garlic would be a bit obvious, so I went with the onion instead and tried to make a point of them being from the same family - sorry, I think that should be genus (thanks, Magz, for pointing that out).

It's funny - I thought probably everyone knew what was coming and that you were all just being good Top-Hush, Button-Lip folks and saying nothing.  When I showed you the close-up of the warden a few pages back, did you not realize he was a vampire?

I didn't make that connection. As I look back, however, I notice that the Warden is always shown either straight on or from the left. Presumably to hide his vampire mark on the right side of his neck?  (I think I might have the directions confused, but hopefully you know what I mean)

[Swirl-Girl]

 
Oh, well, that's not what I was thinking.

[Schipperke]

I didn't make that connection. As I look back, however, I notice that the Warden is always shown either straight on or from the left. Presumably to hide his vampire mark on the right side of his neck?  (I think I might have the directions confused, but hopefully you know what I mean)

No, I wasn't trying to hide anything.  Remember, I was taking those screenshots walls-up, so really there were only a few angles I could take pictures from.  But I never play vampires (this is the very first time, believe it or not), and I was sure those glowing eyes of his would be a dead give-away.  I guess for other people who are more used to vampires, the eyes maybe weren't as obvious as they seemed to me.

[sunshine_2406]

Wow, Schip! I'm away from the forums for a few days and I come back to lots of updates and many answers I too had no idea that they were vampires, I'm probably one of those people who don't find the bright eyes unusual. But bravo for the amazing mysteries, your stories are as good as any of the books that I read.

[Schipperke]

Thank you very much, Sunshine! 

[smartburn]

So, my theories were pretty much wrong. I didn't catch that the warden was a vampire, I just figured he was a deep, vibrant blue. Once I realized that all the prisoners were yellow/orange, I couldn't help but think about the blue meanies from The Yellow Submarine.