Strangetown: chapter 26.5 (Truth)

[strangetomato]

Warnings: None.



Chapter 26.5

Truth



Detective Jack Luxel lifted a book from the shelf.




After his meeting with their client that morning, he had poured through the files again, leading him to what appeared to be another dead end. It was frustrating, but he was not content to give up.

There was one detail that had caught his attention: a reference to alien abduction in the genealogy of one of the suspects. It was something that he was already quite familiar with, but one could never be too well read on the subject.




The records on alien abductions told an interesting story. The increased frequency of these occurances pointed to a growing urgency on the part of the aliens.

It was as if they were racing against time.

The records mentioned his own grandfather's abduction, in Riverblossom Hills. He had moved to Sim City shortly after it had happened, and Jack had been born there too. Jack's own family tree revealed just how linked he was to this story. He was a part of that whole thing, as much as it weighed on him at times. He was marked by it.

There had been very few abductions in Pleasantview in recent memory, but there had been a number of them, and that was significant. There had been some sightings, here and there, but not nearly as many as in that little town on the Road to Nowhere. West of there, through the desert.

Strangetown... was that where his answer lay hidden?




As he worked, he was joined by his partner, Zelda. Knowing that Jack did not like to be disturbed while he was in the middle of something, she quietly selected a volume of her own, and joined him in his research.

Hours passed.




"C'mon, Jack. That's enough for now, don't you think?" Zelda rose to her feet.

"But I'm so close to a breakthrough. I can feel it."

"Suit yourself, then. I'm going to make us a lunch."

"Okay."

When he didn't move, she sighed, but smiled. That was how he was. When Jack put his mind to something, there was no way to pull him from it until he achieved his goal.




He would not rest until he discovered the truth about Bella Goth.








A/N: Thank you to pixelcurious and jessicus for the wonderful sims.

 

Comments

[hannahspring.livejournal.com]

Did you know that Bella Goth was actually trying to escape from Strangetown? Well, she did try, at least in the Playstation Portable version of The Sims 2.

And also, she married Mortimer for money! And lived in a house full of ghosts (that's why she wanted to leave).

(I hope I didn't say now some ridiculously basic information - I still didn't have time to read all your posts/chapters. *blushes*)

Anyway, getting that popcorn ready for the next chapters! :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, as you can probably tell, I've had plans for the Bella mystery storyline from the beginning, and I've dropped a couple of (way too subtle) hints along the way. Pascal is on one side of it, and the detectives that Mortimer hired are on the other side. I am taking some liberties with timelines there, so Mortimer hasn't died yet at this point in the story, but that's coming soon.

Likewise, PT No. 9 has an extended lifespan in my story, and that's because he's an alien (I'm just deciding that Mortimer was slightly younger than he was at the game's beginning. I want him to die at the appropriate moment.)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Jack is technically 1/4 alien in my version of him, so he's mostly sim. Sims with normal skin and alien eyes usually are. He's very cute, isn't he?

Thank you. :) It's nice to have a change there.

[pixelcurious.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is so cool! I'm grinning all over my face.

I love how you show Jack with his back to us at first, then the profiles, and finally the closeup of his eye, so you can see just how he was marked by the events he's investigating. That's a striking image, too, with the bouquet behind him. I'm wondering if there's flower symbolism here, like you use with Phi. (ETA: Oh, of course! Red is Bella's color.)

My curiosity is piqued about his client and suspects, as well, not to mention how this will tie in with what Johnny has been asked to do for the aliens...

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

That's interesting. Have you played that game? I've read a walkthrough and plot synopsis for the console Sims 2 game, and I've used parts of it as inspiration, but it's really bleak, and really takes the game backstory in a different direction from the PC game. It breaks with some of the things that are considered "canon" in the original game. For one thing, Maxis released an interview with Bella on the official site that clearly states that she was abducted (instead of wanting to leave Pleasantview), and it says that she lost all of her memories. That's consistent with the townie version of Bella in Strangetown.

Anyway... while someone could easily use the console game as a basis for a story, I prefer the original game as a starting point. It's more open and retains more of the mystery. I do like the plot of that console game, though. It's great food for thought. There's a bit of that version of Vidcund in my Vidcund.

I'm so excited to do the next chapters too. I have some writing ready to go, but I haven't started on the images yet, so it's going to take a while. I think my Sept. prediction will end up being pretty accurate.

[pixelcurious.livejournal.com]

I was surprised, too. But I'm really okay with it. I was telling Strange yesterday, it's probably because he has a life for me outside of Sims. He's a character in the novel I'm (not) writing, and he originated in a dream. The sim version of Jack is literally a simcarnation of my dream man (haha!).

I won't mind if it takes Strange 20 years to tell her story. That gives me 20 years of quality entertainment. :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you liked it. ^_^ What you said about Jack earlier made me smile, because I was already seeing this sort of strong, steady, and heroic character in him.

I can always count on you to pick up on some of the visual things like that. I did want to slowly reveal the alien side of him (then I ruined the effect by showing the last shot in the teaser image, but it made such a cool title shot that I couldn't resist).

You're right about the red being Bella's colour, and flowers also relate back to the aliens, but I mostly just liked that arrangement as a dramatic visual. I chose the posters for a specific reason too. ;)

I already mentioned in a comment above that the client is Mortimer. His days are numbered, but he's still alive. Maybe I should have held on to that fact to reveal later, but there you go...

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Well, now that just made my day. ^_^ What a nice thing to say.

You asked for it... from here on it's going to be a day by day record of the minutiae of all the character's lives. The story will progress in real time. :P (I joke, but I think I could easily do that with some of the main characters.)

About Jack... that still surprises me a little. For me, I'd probably be more protective of a character that I had such a history with. Then again, he goes beyond the game, so that makes him more secure for you too.

I have my own characters like that too. They go way back, and some of them came from dreams. Others were toys I played with as a child - boy, did I ever make some elaborate and epic storylines for those toys. I've been doing this story thing for a long time. ;)

But really... what better way to pass the time than tell stories?

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

So your burn out doesn't extend to sim story reading?

[hannahspring.livejournal.com]

Oops, sorry if I confused you - she was leaving Strangetown because there she lived in a house full of ghosts.

But yeah, the game for PSP is quite stupid. Well, in some ways it's interesting but it's more of an adventure than a life-simulator. My boyfriend bought it to me and I played it only for a while. The PC Game is much better, as you said - there's more of the mystery.

And BTW - what are you going to do when The Sims 3 is released? Will you switch to new game or continue playing The Sims 2? The release date has already been announced for February the 20th. Holy crap, that's so soon. :( Just wanted to know if you plan to end the story or are you just in the half-way? :)

[pixelcurious.livejournal.com]

I saw that about Mortimer, after I posted. And I figure one of the Calientes for suspects, since they have an alien grandfather. If I recall correctly, Maxis hints at one of them being involved in Bella's abduction. I can never remember which one is which.

I was wondering about the posters, but I'm not placing the images. They look like prints from vintage advertising posters. The male one reminds me of Jeeves. ^_^ Actually that fits, in a way, since Jeeves is smart as a whip and always comes up with a solution.

[pixelcurious.livejournal.com]

No, my failure to comment lately is mostly due to being obsessed with another game. ;) Not having a computer in front of me for hours at work contributes, too. I got a lot of reading in at work, at least on days when I wasn't in the middle of the library with my screen visible to the entire world.

I need to finish answering the comments on my post from yesterday, don't I?

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't need comments (really, I don't, I swear) but I like knowing there is at least one set of eyeballs out there enjoying the read.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

I knew he looked familiar, and then I saw pixel's icon! :)

I am really looking forward to see where this is going- everyone loves a good Bella mystery. I want to see how it's going to play into the other characters lives' as well... :)

[pixelcurious.livejournal.com]

Oh, I always read and appreciate. That won't change.

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

Oooh, very cool. I'm tired and don't have much intelligent to say, just that I really like this, want to see more, and that I too found that last closeup of the eye to be rather brilliant.

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

Dina is the blonde, she's the one who's in love with Mortimer at the beginning, but I think you're meant to believe that the redhead sister, Nina, also had something to do with it all.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

You were thinking more about people like Erin Beaker and the clones, right? I've decided to touch on that side of the story a little in the next chapter. It's been too long.

Speed has never been my forte in anything I do. Can you tell? *snicker* I tend to think of the parts of this story more like episodes of a TV series or comic book than chapters in a novel - that's closer to the pace I want. There's more time to develop things slowly.

I didn't realize you had Jack in Peculiar. Is he one of the new aliens that you're going to introduce?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Oh, haha. I assumed you meant Pleasantview, since that house is also full of ghosts.

Yeah, it's an actual adventure game, isn't it? So different from the PC game.

That's a good question. I was thinking about Sims 3 just the other day. I really like how the game is looking right now (Sims 2 has such a low poly count, it will be great to see that upgrade), and the concept behind the character creation. I'm sure I will get it, but I hope to continue my story until I reach an appropriate "ending". I really hope to resolve it somehow.

After that, I was thinking about moving some of the characters to the new game. That will probably involve re-creating them in the new CAS, but that will be a fun challenge. That's what I'm thinking right now, but who knows if I'll still be interested when the time comes. I might just move on to something new.

[pixelcurious.livejournal.com]

Was there something between Bella and Don? I can't remember. I know there is between Don and Nina.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I won't say too much more about it, but the Calientes might be suspects. There are a number of suspects in Pleasantview, but the whole incident involves people outside the town too.

They do resemble vintage advertising prints. I think they're really cool. The connection is just a superficial resemblance to some of the people involved. ;)

Have you ever noticed how many of the artworks in the game pay homage to various famous artists? It's like an Art History lesson. I was working on a sim thing about that at one point, which pointed out all the references, but I didn't finish it. Perhaps I'll dust it off and post it one day.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Don has a memory of getting rejected for flirting (or making out - something like that) with Bella, and at the beginning of the game he's engaged to her daughter, Cassandra. He also has a thing going with Dina AND Nina, and the maid, Kaylynn Langerak.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

He looks so cute in that icon. :) I could just eat him up.

I agree. What would Sims 2 be without the Bella mystery? It's great. You can be sure that this will relate to a number of other characters too. Oh, I shouldn't say anything more, or I'll start it give it away...

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm thinking of adding a little more of this piece of the plot to the next chapter. If all goes well, I should get some time to work on that over the weekend.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

One of the Maxis photos shows her at Mortimer's doorstep with Dina. I think that's the only thing that links her... that's the only thing I've found so far.