"This is a rather unusual building," Picard observed as he followed Fred down the long hallway. He'd been mildly impressed with the architecture, though some of the artistic choices were decidedly odd.
Baymax shuffled behind the small group, keeping an eye on his current patient. The girls had quickly moved his armor to its respective storage area before going to change out of their own. Hiro had left rather quickly, leaving them with the task, though Honey lemon rather thought Hiro was looking for Wasabi.
Fred laughed at the captain's comment. "If you think this is unusual, you should see the art in the gallery," he quipped. "Now that has some interesting pieces. Of course, most of the art here was collected by my mom. She has some weird tastes."
The small party of explorers exchanged looks, slowing down just a little to put some distance between themselves and their guide. Fred was too busy talking about who knew what for him to really notice, though Baymax slowed his speed to compensate.
"What do you make of all this?" Picard asked Data as he swept a hand to encompass the rather odd situation they'd found themselves in.
Data seemed to contemplate for a moment. "It would seem that we have somehow landed ourselves in a potential alternate universe," he finally announced. "From what I can tell, this is their equivalent of the planet Earth. I had the opportunity to observe the sky while we were transported here in the helicopter they provided. The constellations are consistent with twenty-first century Earth. However, as to which period, I am unable to tell."
Deanna seemed to frown at that. "Are you suggesting we somehow went back in time in an alternate reality to our own?"
The android nodded. "That is precisely what I am suggesting, Counselor."
"This will present many difficulties in returning to the Enterprise," Worf commented in his gruff manner.
Picard chewed on that thought for a moment. "It will indeed. But if there was a way here, there must be a way back."
At that moment, Fred stopped at a set of wooden doors. "This way, guys," he called out, realizing his guests were a bit behind. "This is the dining room, though we don't usually use it unless we're entertaining."
The doors opened and a tall man came out, holding one side open for the small group to go through. "Dinner is served," Heathcliff said in his rather clipped English accent, his expression as unreadable as ever.
Picard seemed rather taken aback by this sudden introduction. "You keep a manservant?"
Fred looked up from his own thoughts as he waited for the others to go through the door. He had been taught proper etiquette after all. "What? Heathcliff? Sorta. He's more like a guardian, but yeah, I guess he is a manservant. I mean, he's a butler and all that so yeah."
"I do not believe such a practice to be uncommon in our history during this period," Data said in the captain's ear, hoping to alleviate the sudden confusion in the air. The rich of any period tended to have paid servants of one kind or another.
The captain looked suitably calmed as he fixed his uniform. "Of course. I was merely surprised. You're quite right, Mr. Data."
Once inside, the Enterprise crew noticed just how large the room was. Designed to hold delegates and rather large parties, the dining room was easily larger than a single holodeck. At least a hundred people could be comfortably situated inside. Despite this observation, they noticed that only one end of the table was prepared, with enough place settings for their group and their unusual hosts., at least for those of them that could eat. Baymax didn't exactly count.
"Heathcliff wasn't sure what all you guys might like so I asked him to go with the basics," Fred apologized. "But if there's anything you'd really like, I'm sure he can come up with it. He's really good at what he does. That and we have a caterer on speed dail."
Worf took in the view of human food, mostly comprised of mashed potatoes, some meat dish, and several sides of vegetables. "Do you have any Gagh?"
At the mention of that rather exotic sounding dish, Fred gave a sad shake of his head. "Sorry, man. We're fresh out of that." Then he perked up. "But I bet Heathcliff could whip up some borsch!"
Picard glanced at his security chief, giving him a slight shake of the head. "This should be fine," he said before the Klingon could ask about the dish, knowing he probably wouldn't like it. Most people who hadn't been brought up on the dish didn't.
"Thank you," Worf said with a slight incline of his head as he moved to the chairs. "This should be fine."
Then Fred seemed to realize something as he watched Data help Deanna into a chair. "Oh, hey. I totally forgot to ask, but do you actually eat? I mean, you're like a machine and all, right?" He stared at the android.
Data gave a thoughtful look at the mascot's concerns. "Though I am indeed an android, I am capable of consuming organic nutrients in the same manner as any humanoid form."
The captain was about to correct him with a far simpler version of what was just said but Fred just nodded. "I get you," the rich hero said. "I only asked because Baymax doesn't eat. That might partly be because he doesn't actually have a mouth, though I guess I never really thought about it before."
"I do not require ingesting food for energy," Baymax said. "However, I will need to return to my charging station within the next three hours."
Fred moved over to pat the robot on the arm. "No problem, buddy. I think Hiro plans on crashing here for the night anyway."
The others sat down during this exchange and Fred sauntered over to one of the prepared places at the table. "Maybe we should wait for the others," he mused.
Just as he was about to suggest Heathcliff go check on the other members of his team, Honey Lemon and GoGo entered the room. "Oh, hey! There you are," Fred said instead. "You run into Hiro or Wasabi on your way down?"
The two women exchanged glances, GoGo shrugged. "No, but they're probably taking their sweet time. You know how easy it is for Hiro to get distracted."
At that moment, something strange happened. It almost felt like the air rippled around them, causing a momentary sense of disorientation. Since the two girls were the only ones standing, they wobbled just a bit until the sensation passed. The others were luckier because they were already sitting.
"What was that?" Honey Lemon asked as she pushed up her glasses, making sure her feet were stable before moving towards the table.
Data whipped out his tricorder and began scanning the area, making minor adjustments to his instrument as he worked.
Baymax blinked as he looked around the room. "I detected a change in energy levels," he announced just as Data opened his mouth.
"The robot is correct," Data confirmed. "It would appear that we just experienced a random wave of energy passing through this location. Whatever caused it has stopped now."
Worf almost stood from his chair. "Are we being scanned?"
"I do not believe so," Data assured as he continued to scan the area. "Scans indicate this was more a surge of energy than any controlled matter. I do not detect anything that could cause this phenomenon."
Deanna looked around, in essence tasting the emotional states around her as she opened up her empathic senses. "I don't sense anything that would indicate a malevolent presence."
GoGo slung herself into one of the chairs. "So long as it doesn't happen again, we can wait until later to figure out what it was," she declared. "I'm starving. Saving people is hungry work and it's been hours since lunch." She reached for one of the serving bowls and dished up a healthy serving.
Reminded of the late hour, the others settled back in their chairs. Seeing that at least one of their rescuers wasn't standing on ceremony, Picard decided to follow the set example and reached for the plate of chicken in front of him.
"Oh, hey," Fred piped up as he took some meat. "I remember you saying your name was Picard, am I right?" he looked expectantly at the captain.
Picard looked up from serving some potatoes to his plate. "Yes, that's correct. Jean-Luc Picard."
Fred couldn't help but grin. "That's like French, right? I used to think Mi Casa was French for front door until Honey Lemon corrected me on that." His smile turned a bit nostalgic. "Man, that brings back memories of when I first brought Hiro and everyone here."
"Perhaps I should go in search of Hiro and Wasabi," Baymax suggested, now reminded of his number one patient. Seeing his current patient remained stable, despite the unusual phenomenon, he found it somewhat odd Hiro hadn't yet joined them. If his scans had been correct, and there was no reason to believe otherwise, he rather thought Hiro might be in need of some assistance.
Before the robot could reach the doors, however, they opened from the other side. Wasabi held the wood panel while Hiro walked through. He then followed his leader inside. "Whew! Did you guys feel that weird surge?" he asked, shaking slightly at the memory. "I thought I was going to pass out there for a minute."
Baymax ran a quick scan of Hiro as the boy slowly made his way to the table. He noted a few irregularities but wisely kept his thoughts to himself.
Hiro felt a little less wobbly, having snatched a piece of candy on the way down. He knew the sensation would gradually decrease, but he hadn't wanted Baymax commenting on potentially low blood sugar levels. That was a sure way to get the others agitated, and he definitely didn't want that.
Seeing the rest of their group had already started at least serving up food, Hiro plopped into the nearest empty chair and reached for a bowl, which happened to be full of broccoli. "Man, I'm beat," he sighed. And it was true, he was tired. Not having done any real super hero work in over a month had left him out of shape and he hated it.
With everyone there, and Hiro decidedly being silent, the others followed his example. Whether it was from fatigue, or wariness, was left up to interpretation. But the meal was decidedly a quiet one, even with the sounds that usually accompanies such a meal. And to all but two beings, one a robot, one an android, it was quite awkward.