strangetomato | Strangetown: chapter 26.5 (Truth)

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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...

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.

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.

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

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.

Ah yeah, nearly forgot about Kaylynn. She's also sleeping with Daniel Pleasant, hah.

Kaylynn gets around. She's a family sim, so I've always imagined her as someone who's trying to land herself a husband, but going about it in all the wrong ways. :P

I love how many NPCs are involved in the Pleasantview storyline.

Don has a memory of being rejected for makeouts by Bella. Supposedly he invited her to his home and they stargazed on the roof, Don tried to hit on her and it didn't work. Then she may or may not have been abducted from his roof.

Don is involved with both Nina and Dina, but mostly Nina. They always end up as three-bolters in my game, even with wants of marrying each other.

Yeah, Don and Nina were friends growing up (In my version, I imagine them all living near each other, back in Veronaville). Don also wants to get with Dina, and Dina wants to work her way into the Goth family. Hmmm, maybe I shouldn't say anything else... ;)

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.

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.

I have noticed that about the art, though I don't recognize/can't place a lot of it. My art history is weak. ;)

The prints *are* cool. I love when people take images like that and use simlish creatively on them. I wish there were more simlish fonts, though. (Maybe that's something I should work on for a project, when I get back into sims... it would teach me a new skill, too. I've never created a typeface.)

Strangetown: chapter 26.5 (Truth)

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