Worlds Apart - Season 4, Chapter 22: Sibling Issues

[Agathon]

Worlds Apart

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Meet the Lanes, whose power and resources make the other familes in Sunset Valley seem like specks of dust. We view the world through the eyes of recently-turned-teen Daniel Lane, 7th generation of the family. Daniel tries to come to terms with his family, his legacy and his own adolescence, while trying to catch glimpses of a very murky family history he knows very little about...

Season 1
Chapter 1 – 19 years ago & No Life
Chapter 2 – The Family
Chapter 3 – Questions, and More Questions
Chapter 4 – CEO’s and Babes in Blue
Chapter 5 – A Mad Dog’s Tale
Chapter 6 - Suitors
Chapter 7 - Matters of Politics and Honor
Chapter 8 - Race Day
Chapter 9 - Showdown at The Rashford's
Chapter 10 - Astray in The Dark
Chapter 11 - All Doors Opened
Chapter 12 - Escape Velocity
Chapter 13 - The Plunge

Season 2
Chapter 1 - A Week of Mondays
Chapter 2 - In the Nick of Time
Chapter 3 - Squaring Off
Chapter 4 - Close to Home
Chapter 5 - I'll Come A-Knocking
Chapter 6 - You Don't Have to Say
Chapter 7 - Rites of Passage
Chapter 8 - A Different Drum, Part I
Chapter 9 - A Different Drum, Part II
Chapter 10 - A Bird On the Roof
Chapter 11 - Acts of Disappearance
Chapter 12 - Double-barreled Anger
Chapter 13 - Seeing Without Eyes
Chapter 14 - Night of the Living Dead
Chapter 15 - Revelations - Part I
Chapter 16 - Revelations - Part II

Intermission: Behind the scenes

Season 3
Chapter 1 - The Snows of Yesteryear
Chapter 2 - Three Strikes and Out
Chapter 3 - Under The Stars
Chapter 4 - On Rocky Foundations
Chapter 5 - Swayed
Chapter 6 - I Beg Your Pardon
Chapter 7 - The Red House
Chapter 8 - One Down, Two to Go - Part I
Chapter 8 - One Down, Two to Go - Part II
Chapter 9 - The Blast From The Past
Chapter 10 - Cats and Dogs
Chapter 11 - Connections at The Cornice Club
Chapter 12 - There and Back Again
Chapter 13 - From The Horsewoman's Mouth
Chapter 14 - A Jacked Up Pearl
Chapter 15 - Buzzing in The Hive

Chapter 16 - On The Road Back With Jack, Part I
Chapter 17 - On The Road Back With Jack, Part II
Chapter 18 - Mea Culpa
Chapter 19 - Open and Shut
Chapter 20 - Shrikes in the Acacia
Chapter 21 - Pressure Point

Season 4
Chapter 1 - Who's Your Daddy
Chapter 2 - Welcome to the Dollhouse
Chapter 3 - Daring to Dance
Chapter 4 - Screening Time
Chapter 5 - Entree
Chapter 6 - The Way That You Talk
Chapter 7 - All The Queen's Colleens
Chapter 8 - Corrigibility
Chapter 9 - Lampooned and Quandaried
Chapter 10 - Deal With It
Chapter 11 - Circus Younanimous
Chapter 12 - Another Day at the Office
Chapter 13 - Moving Borders
Chapter 14 - The Art of Gathering
Chapter 15 - An Hourglass in the Sand
Chapter 16 - Behind the Glass
Chapter 17 - All Eyes on the Prize
Chapter 18 - Tell Tell Tell
Chapter 19 - Stressing the Dressing
Chapter 20 - Framed Or Not Framed?
Chapter 21 - Cross the Doorstep
Chapter 22 - Sibling Issues


A small note on the setting of this story: In some worlds (Sunset Valley, Riverview, Starlight Shores, Monte Vista and Bridgeport) many generations have passed, and the original townies are long dead. In other worlds, the original townies are present, and some of them may make an appearance.
There are supernatural sims, unicorns, potions and the usual "simsy" stuff, but the greater world the sims live in shares some similarities with real life. Issues like Corruption, war, pollution, political intrigue, gender equality and various forms of crime are not unknown to these sims, and many of the sims themselves are very self-serving.

This a complicated story, with a big cast, and I imagine it is not easy to follow what is going on. More than anything, the sims talk, and plot, so if you like dialogue and intrigue, this might be a story for you. The pictures and writing does get better as the story proceeds, and I hope the story contains some elements that are funny.

[Agathon]

Prologue - 19 years ago

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“No pets in the family graveyard.” That was the rule. But she had broken it, as she had broken them all. Her instructions were clear: She would be buried directly next to the horse, with a small space between her tombstone and that of her ex-husband, when their time came. Having laid the horse to rest, she stood up and faced the small jungle of grey stones defiantly, noticing with a sigh that some were facing away from her. Sod it. Even her perfectionist nature couldn’t make her correct them. She was tired of trying to put things right.

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Trodding to her car, she drove back to the house and took her place at the desk where she had written her 39 books. She opened the laptop and issued her final instructions. Then she closed the lid, stood up, and came face to face with the photograph. Johnny, her grandfather, on Monolith. Mickey, her father, on Maestro. And her, on her beloved Tisiphone. Three generations on three generations of unicorns.

The house was dead quiet as she stood there. Everybody was either at work or at school, and for a moment, nothing existed but all the years, and all the races. “I’ve done my part,” she said proudly, addressing the photo. And more. She had crushed them. 28 international victories, of which 13 cross-country and 13 showjumping. It had cost almost everything, but there would be no apologies. No excuses. It was her way, or no way. Finally, she sighed, tore herself away from the panorama, and walked out of the house she had bossed for almost 40 years.

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The sun was setting as she exited the gate. Somehow, it seemed like the sun was always setting on Memory Lane. She got into her car, inserted a CD into the car stereo and drove off, towards town and the Sunset Valley Retirement Center. As she drove, her lips gradually formed into an evil, content smile as the lyrics of the song unfolded.

You've fought hard and you saved and earned,
but all of it's going to burn.
And your mind, your tiny mind,
you know you've really been so blind.
Now's your time, burn your mind,
You're falling far too far behind.
Oh no, oh no, oh no, you're gonna burn!

Fire, to destroy all you've done.
Fire, to end all you've become.
I'll feel you burn!

She never walked through the gates of Memory Lane again.


Chapter 1 - No Life

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“I have no life,” Daniel Lane thought to himself as he shuffled out of school together with his two classmates. Mates? Hardly. They were dorky, undistinguished and completely uninteresting, and he did everything he could to avoid them. As for girls, there was a grand total of 0 teenage girls at the Community School, a consequence of a public population control instituted around 20 years ago, and Daniel was a part of “The Great Gap”.

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Despite the Great Gap, the town council, in its infinite wisdom, continued to run two public schools, and two teenage girls attended the Nature and Nurture Learning Academy, halfway across town. One of them was an ugly hag, and though Shawanda Masterton wasn’t ugly, she insisted to dress as if it was 1959. Not very interesting.

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Daniel sighed and took up position in the playground gym. Across the street, the crouched figure of Glen Andrews, one of the few werewolves in town, passed by the Shark Pool Center. It was said that the notorious celebrity Kate Carson had once cured every werewolf in town, after one had started gnawing on her furniture during a party. But one of the Andrews clan had snuck away and guaranteed a lingering presence.

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He shifted his gaze to the park, and predictably, there was nobody there. A couple of cars rolled lazily by in the street. Above the Corsican Bistro rose the ancestral homes of the Moores and the Carsons: 325 Oak Grove Road and Villa Carsonia. Once the homes of mighty families, who had fallen into obscurity. He wasn’t even sure if anybody lived there anymore. If he didn’t have a life, there wasn’t much life in Sunset Valley either.

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Fighting oncoming gloominess, he left his outpost and skittered past the theatre, searching for some hint of excitement. Moses Carson, “The Last Hope”, rose decrepitly from a bench as he passed. A fairy-vampire hybrid, he was the desperate result of the Carsons and Moores fusing their bloodlines and resources in an attempt stave off their downfall. But though he dressed the part, Moses had achieved nothing but mediocrity, and was now just another geezer living at the Sunset Valley Retirement Center.

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Daniel trudged into the park, and, with nothing else to look at, ended up looking home. Memory Lane, the grand estate of the Lanes, perched at 20 Summer Hill Court, where it had looked down upon the town for 7 generations. When compared to the Lane fortune, every other family in Sunset Valley was a laughing stock. And Daniel Lane was the only child. One day, he would be its master, with millions at his disposal.


What would he do? What would he become? His thirteenth birthday had been celebrated quite recently, so he really hadn’t given it much thought. Neither had he worked on improving his skills. He was neat, hot-headed and a heavy sleeper, according to his mother. What could he use that for? Did he honestly have any talent at all? Was he destined to become another Moses Carson, a nobody whose only claim to fame was belonging to a once great family?

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The sounds of human voices interrupted his thoughts, and he turned to see two old women having meandered into the park. Chatting about trees... He didn't know either of them, and he couldn’t care less who they were. “Just more geezers in a dying town,” he sighed to himself. It was time to go home.

[Agathon]

Chapter 2 - The Family

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Daniel laid into the grilled cheese he had picked from a number of perfect meals in the Kelvin One fridge, while musing on his existence at Memory Lane. The house was so big that he could usually do what he wanted, without any parental interference. Not that his father would mind anyway, as Jackson Lane was usually in a world of his own.

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A story said that when his father came of age, he had demanded that 100 potent invigoration potions be made, as he would be painting for 100 days. As the family knew he was insane, nothing was done, and after three says, Jackson had quit painting and become an inventor.

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As an eccentric, he was not a bad inventor, and he even made a time machine. But he then proceeded to travel so much through time that he became both unstable and increasingly inappropriate.

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After the family sold the time machine, Jackson quit inventing and became a sculptor. For two days. He then declared that he would be a writer, and started painting, before becoming an art appraiser who painted and invented on the side. Apparently, he was as talented with the brush as he was unsuited to social interactions.

Besides his quirks, he was always in a good mood, and even if Daniel had been actively spreading Llama-pest, his father would probably react by grinning, slapping his back and saying “Good job, son!” Daniel considered his father to be his best friend, though he didn’t really see that much of him.

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Daniel’s mother, Danielle, was somewhat more likely to keep an eye on him. She had been brought over from England as a professional jockey, to race the unicorns the Lanes had been breeding for generations. Besides being an equestrian, she was good, friendly, over-emotional, and she claimed to be lucky.

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Though he could not quite understand how, his mother had somehow hit it off with Jackson, and from what he could tell, they could still stand the sight of each other, although the obvious signs of love were no longer apparent.

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Despite having married into the family, racing the horses was both Danielle’s job and passion. She even slept in a dorky-looking tent every night except Fridays, as sleeping in the tent was supposed to increase her chances of winning the races. With the horses taking up much of her daytime, and her being in the tent at nights, Daniel enjoyed considerable freedom.

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Then there was his grandmother, Alecia. While both his parents were fairies, she was a genie. She was a dramatic outdoors-hating diva with a flair for performance, and she had supposedly once been a great magician before nearly dying during a dangerous trick.

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A somewhat disillusioned and bitter old woman, she now struggled on as an aging actress, determined to reach the top despite her advancing years. Besides summoning food once in a while, she didn’t do much around the house, except making trivial complaints and playing on the flipper table upstairs, on which she held the 5 highest scores.

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The relationship between his mother and grandmother was quite rocky, while Alecia would fawn over every little thing done by her son, even if he was just trolling the forums. Despite appearing somewhat silly and overly dramatic, the old woman had a sharp tongue and was still in principle master of the house.

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As can be expected by a race-obsessed family, a great number of horses had resided on the estate through the years, but currently there were only two: The aging unicorn Mintotaur, and his son, the strangely-colored and hornless unicorn Monoceros. Since Daniel had no interest in horses, they were of little concern to him.

More importantly, there was the issue of his missing grandfather, Jack, whom he had never met. Any questions about him were usually met by awkward looks, which was getting tedious. Some answers were in order, and at some point, Daniel would have to dig deeper to get at them.

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The last, but certainly not least, occupant of Memory Lane, was Aunt Aria. She was called aunt by all, and had been around since his father was a teenager. Like his mother, she was an expert rider, and due to her servings of ambrosia, to enhance race performance, she didn’t look a day older than 20.

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She was working as a world-class surgeon and rumors said she was making silly amounts of money, despite not having been in the job very long. Though seldom utilized, Aria had a natural authority that caused others, even his grandmother, to snap to attention, and nobody told Aria what to do around the house.

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When at home, and not with her nose in a book, or playing chess on a laptop, Aria could often be found fiddling with the science lab in the upstairs laboratory. She was a wellspring of knowledge, amazingly fit, and seemed able to do almost everything. Sometimes, the aliens that used to abduct people, would ring the doorbell to visit her. Despite her good looks and many talents, she was single, and seemed to have no interest in dating or partying. Though his parents were fairies and his grandmother a genie, Aria was a normal human. But nothing was normal about Aunt Aria.

[Magz from Oz]

I love this!  It's quirky and interesting.  Bookmarked!

[Agathon]

Chapter 3 - Questions, and more questions


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At Memory Lane, there was rarely a gathering without some drama, and this breakfast was no exception.
Jackson: Its name means goodbye. Goodbyyyyye. Goodbyyyyye.
Danielle: What are you talking about?!
Jackson: Its name. Means goodbye. Its name!

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Alecia: Jackson… Have you forgot to take your pills…?
Danielle: What’s name? What??!
Jackson: The horse! The horse! Its name!
Danielle: What horse?! You’re making no sense!
Daniel: Come on pops, relax, calm down.

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Jackson: You’ll see. It’s for you! You’ll see. You’ll all see.
Danielle: Stop it! Stop it!

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Danielle walked away from him, casting a look of concern their way. Behind her, Jackson was grimacing and murmuring, a common sight when his ramblings failed to elicit any understanding. He then trampled off and headed upstairs for the art studio.

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Danielle: What’s up with him!? I thought we were done with this, that he has stabilized!
Alecia: We’ll have to look at the dosage of his medi…
Danielle: Goodbye, what does he mean? Is he threatening me? Does he want to end it and send me back to England? What? Why?

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Daniel: Nobody is sending you anywhere, mom.
His reassurance didn’t prevent her over-emotional tears from flowing.
Danielle: Oh god, I can’t take this… I don’t know how to handle it when… he’s like that.

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Daniel wasn’t concerned, and calmly headed to the pool table. His mother would sniffle a bit, and his father would always be insane and inappropriate, that was just the way of things. He cracked a pack while listening closely to the sounds of the flipper table at the top of the stairs. He would let her play one game, and then…

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Daniel: Grandma?
Alecia: Yes, dear?
Daniel: I have a question about our family history…
Alecia: In that case, you’ve come to the right person. You ask me about that, not your parents, not your aunt. Me. Ok? I will know.
Daniel: Ok…
Alecia: What is it you want to know?
Daniel: My grandfather, Jack. What did he…
Alecia: No no, no, not that again! Do you know how much pain it causes me even to hear his name? We don’t mention his name in this house!
Daniel: I don’t know anything about him, and I want to know.

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Alecia: You can’t ask me about that, you have to ask your parents. Or your aunt.
Daniel: I’ve tried, and they tell me to ask you!
Alecia: Absolutely not. Oh my, the blood pressure, not good for me, not good. No, I need to play a bit now, to calm down. Look what you’ve done to me, oh my. Need to calm down.

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Daniel slammed the door to his room, hard, teenage-style, mostly for show. He hadn’t really expected go get much out of her, but he could be theatrical too. His room. His. Was it, really?
Strangely, it was his aunt who had taken charge in redecorating and refurbishing it when he turned 13, and it did look much better than the previous yellow, childish mess. Color, great. Lilac was his favorite. The decor, hmm. That building meh, and what was up with the dog poster? He hated dogs.

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Cat statue, spider, flowery girl painting, hmm ok. The room was tidy, and though he liked tidy, the whole thing felt so extremely tidy and grown-up that he felt compelled not to make his bed. His single bed. That felt like a slap in the face. He sighed and laid down on his single bed, contemplating his current and future accommodations.

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The march through life at Memory Lane was strictly organized through the bedrooms. Every journey started in the nursery, which could be directly accessed by both master bedrooms, and which could also house up to two children.

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Then, one usually graduated to one of the two teenage bedrooms, one of which was Daniel’s, the other a “girly” room that had not been used for generations. From there, a prospective heir was expected to move into the Freshman Room until he or she had proven themselves. If unoccupied, the Freshman Room acted as a guest room. Since Aunt Aria currently resided there, and he was an only child, Daniel would probably skip that room.

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The Sunrise Room was one of the two master bedrooms, designated for the generation in the prime of their life. Once Daniel took his place there, he was set, and it was something he was truly looking forward to. He would then, finally, have a double bed, and a modern room with its own fireplace, a room that was famed for how its red color caught the first rays of the rising sun.

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The Sunset Room was the final destination in the house, the room of the master of the house, from where the graveyard was the next stop. It was the biggest bedroom in the house, but an awful, old-looking room, obviously decorated by some overly sentimental woman. Until his grandmother moved from the Sunset Room to her next destination, enabling his parents to move from sunrise to sunset, Daniel would be stuck in his current room. In other words, it seemed his grandmother would have to die before Daniel would get a double bed. Hm.

The clicks, clacks and pings from the flipper table left little doubt that his grandmother was still at work there, so Daniel waited, patiently. The moment the pings stopped and the cursing started, he was on his feet and through the door, as abruptly as he had closed it.

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Daniel: Grandma…
Alecia: Yeeeess…
Daniel: Why do you have to die before I get a double bed?
Alecia: What?!
He gleefully explained his reasoning, while she waited with barely concealed impatience.
Alecia: *sigh* Once you are old enough, and feel that you need a double bed, you come to me, ok? Not your parents, not your aunt. To me. And then you will get a double bed. Ok?
Daniel: Ok! But when I can get a motorcycle? I hate that stupid scooter.
One minute later, he had to slam his door again. Twenty seconds later, she called him out again.
Alecia: Daniel!! Come here, at once!!

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Daniel: What?!
Alecia: If you ever want a motorcycle, or a double bed, Sunday is race day for you.
Daniel: Race day? Meaning what?
Alecia: Meaning, my dear, that you’ll be up at the crack of dawn, following the race preparations of your mother and your aunt. And then, you’ll attend the races.
Daniel: Why? I don’t like horses! And you never do it.

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Alecia: Me? I don’t give a ** about the horses. And I'm allergic. Very. To almost everything outside. But I’m not a future heir to this place. That means responsibilities, knowing how things are done, even if you're not riding. You’ll have a race day, or your scooter will become a regular bike!
 
She marched off, and he slammed his door, again. Hmpf! Next time he’d ask his father… Race day? Horses? What was the point? He would never ride. If the family needed a rider, they could hire one, like they had done with his mother. Bah!

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There was over 100 internationals in that stupid trophy room in the basement, and both his mother and aunt kept adding to it. How many more did they need? 200? 500? Would it ever be enough? Hm. The trophy room was right next door to the corridor. That corridor. Memory Lane itself, a long corridor lined with pictures of everyone who had ever lived in the house, and some kind of inscriptions. The corridor had been locked down for decades, and neither he nor his parents had ever been there. The perfect place to find information about his grandfather. He grabbed some utensils from the kitchen and headed downstairs.

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The basement was a foreboding place, and he normally avoided it. It was said that his uncle Vance, Jackson’s brother, had gone mad from his frequent wanderings down there, and not mad in a good way, like Jackson…

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He entered the antechamber, where a picture of a ghost was guarding the door. He tried pushing and kicking the door, and tried picking the lock, but it was all in vain. Vance had succeeded in getting in there, but then again, he was a thief. And perhaps they had even replaced the door since then.

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Out of options, he sighed and took a closer look in the antechamber, at the vampiric faces that had observed his futile attempt at a break-in. A sad-looking redhead girl, a mean-looking dude, and some raven-haired babe off to the side.

A short inspection of the Rosetta stone revealed that it was no ordinary fake, as it was written in some sort of modern code. It was custom made, with the stone probably saying something about the vampires. And two ominous-looking oriental demon statues overlooking it all, each clasping some kind of ball. The setup looked like some kind of cautionary tale, with the statues adding: “This is what happens if you drop the ball.”

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Two more pictures were in the room. The redhead playing chess with some teenager, in the reading room. So, she had probably lived here. A vampire. Huh. He had thought the Lanes were all fairies and genies, but obviously, he knew very little. A red-coated woman riding, how did she fit in with the vampires? And if the redhead had lived here, shouldn't her picture be in the corridor?

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“How Rain Built The World” is getting a little old, Daniel mused. He might as well check what was down there. Might be juicy! 35 books were in the shelf, all written by the same woman: Alyssina Lane. Many sports books, quite a few romances, such as “It Was Only Dinner”, “A Night in Veronaville”, some horror, and many books for children. Like “Maestro The Unicorn”.
 
Though how child-suitable was really a title like “The Cat That Burned Up”? Or “The Frog That Got Squished”? Or “The Dog They Had To…” Wow, it just got worse and worse… It seemed that she had started out with cuddly tales about horses, and then tumbled down the dark path. Hm! The family history obviously contained more questionable stuff than just his grandfather. But where could he find the answers?

[Agathon]

Chapter 4 - CEO's and Babes in Blue


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Daniel: Hi, I’m Daniel Lane, and I’m calling the shots around here.
Daniel: Daniel Lane, Lane Industries. CEO. Yes, you may have heard of us, we are pretty much the biggest company in Sim Nation.
Daniel: I’m sorry 3000 people lost their job, but profits are down, and we have to cut costs.
Daniel: We’re gonna have a change of pace, folks. We still don’t own everything around here, and that has to change. Everybody has to step up to the plate and… do something.

Meh. Lane, such a plain name. Lame even. Why couldn’t it be something grand-sounding, like Von Stossenburg? Or Lobanov-Rostovsky? A name like Lane needed added weight, like CEO, and he had now decided that was his path. Sitting behind a monstrously big desk made of endangered wood, in his 5000 simoleon suit, he would bark out orders, launching building and immigration programs that would wipe out any sign of The Great Gap, and make this town great again.


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Satisfied with his session in front of the mirror, Daniel headed out, still lost in his own thoughts. Race day? Horses? Hah. Horses were for girls and cowboys. Hm. While he really wasn’t interested in horses, he was also scared of them, but he would never admit that to anyone. Better to play up the lack of interest and appear manly.

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He scootered past the Sunset Valley Retirement Home, once set up by his family to scoot single geezers out of the homes they tied down, and make room for new families. Some elder Lane family members had even joined the crowd of commons at the home instead of ending their days in the Sunset Room. Why couldn’t his grandmother do the same? Because of The Great Gap, a running gag said the retirement home was the most happening place in town. Didn’t look as if much was happening there right now…

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He stopped at the Lane Activity Center, bought and refurbished by the family generations ago. As the coming boss of the family, the least he could do was appear there once in a while and try to look cool. Despite the triple climbing walls, wall-sized TV and other attractions, the gym was completely deserted. He tried telling himself that people were still at work, but it was still depressing.
He stood there for a while, his bad mood building with the sound of passing cars and the murmurs of the bubble bath. He needed to do something to blow off steam, and after some thought, he knew what to do.

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There. The bottom of Stoney Falls was a suitable place for that stupid scooter. He’d say it was stolen, and ask his father for a real motorcycle. If that somehow failed, he’d cab around town. Now, he’d look for answers in the blue part of town.

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The area around Performance Park was home to an astonishing number of women employed in the military, 8 in total, which accounted for the “blue” part. Neither Samantha Keaton, Magdalena Jablowski nor Maureen Sw0rd seemed to knew anything about his grandfather or family history, but he was really waiting for someone else.

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Not her. But Danita Rashford, a recent arrival in town, was pleasant company, just a little too old for him, and very receptive of his future business plans. After talking to her, he was convinced she was someone he would like to get to know a lot better in a few years, and if nothing else, she could sit behind a desk at Lane Industries and just look good.

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Her. Corrie Sw0rd, the vampire matriarch who through hard work and clever marriages had risen from squalor to her own mansion and given birth to 5 daughters in the process. Two of  them, and one granddaughter, had followed their ancestor into the army, which had prompted a great number of “Corri-isms”, and jokes such as: “Corrie Sw0rd could topple a banana republic on her own” and “Have you heard? There was a war, and nobody showed. The army forgot to call Corrie Sw0rd.” Some even joked she was personally responsible for the population control measures having been implemented.

Corrie was flanked and drooled upon by two old geezers who was probably way younger than her, and she was in a gracious mood, as always.
Corrie: Daniel Lane! Soon old enough for the army, eh? We need a few men too!
Daniel: Heh, well… I’m looking for my grandfather, Jack. Do you know where he might be?
Corrie: Cracker Jack Lane?! Ah, charming man. Good musician! Poof, gone in the wind, doesn’t live here anymore. The Keaton girl he was… seeing, Latasha, went poof too. I have no idea where.
Daniel: Cracker…?
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Corrie: Don’t you know?! He was always cracking jokes. Good sense of humor! Half the “Corri-isms” in town were probably made by him.
Seeing the worried look on his face, she hurriedly continued:
Corrie: Don’t worry, they’re good! This one is probably my favorite: "The 5 pretty women in Sunset Valley have joined the army. And 80% of them are Corrie Sw0rd and her daughters.” That’s so sweeeeeet!
Daniel: Heh, well…
Corrie: Why did he have to move? He should have come to me! I could have squeezed out a few more. We could have closed The Great Gap, haha!
Daniel: Yeah, that Gap is no good…
Corrie: I know! But of Jack, that’s all I know. You could ask Lukas Keaton… but… sensitive, sensitive!
Daniel: I need answers, so I’ll do just that.
Corrie: Brave boy…! Join the army! Hahaha!

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Corrie Sw0rd was a cool cat, Daniel thought to himself as he walked away. Too bad even her granddaughters were too old for him… The Keaton mansion, which they had somehow acquired out of thin air, was just across the street, and Lukas Keaton greeted him and let him in. Daniel didn’t beat around the bush and flatly stated that he was looking for his grandfather, “Cracker” Jack Lane. He wasn’t quite prepared for the explosive reaction that followed.

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Lukas: How dare you mention that creep in MY house!??! Are you a complete imbecile!? Jack Lane should have been jailed! Shot! Get out!!!!!
Daniel was practically manhandled out of the house, and while in the cab heading home, he reflected on the meaning of “sensitive”. He also hoped his father would be receptive to phase 2 of his “Plan Motorcycle”.

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Daniel: Pops, my scooter got stolen. I really need a motorcycle now.
Jackson: We’ll be astronauts, Daniel! We’re going to the moon. The moon!
Daniel: Really? Wow, and what will we do there?
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Jackson: Build a house, of course! With a tower. And I’ll be in the top of the tower, like a wizard! I’ll paint and paint and paint…
Daniel: Sounds great, but…
Jackson: Danielle will be burnt by the sun. It’s hot on the moon, hotter than you think.
Daniel: Eh… right. Won’t she have a suit, if she’s on the moon?
Jackson: She didn’t use it. It was too hot! But she’ll recover. And you’ll have a black-furred cat. With red.
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Daniel: Ok… listen. I need a motorcycle. Can you buy one for me?
Jackson: Of course! Of course!
Daniel: Really? Will you?
Jackson: Of course!

More like “off course”, Daniel thought to himself. Asking his father was a gamble, but worth a shot, and he’d take another shot too: The key to Memory Lane, The corridor, had to be somewhere, and since his parents didn’t seem to have access, it was logical that his grandmother would have the key.

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Listening at her door, he could determine that she was sound asleep, and he snuck in and had a look around in her room. There was no sign of a key that looked like it could fit the lock, but an old and somewhat crumpled letter caught his attention. Though the room was fairly dark, his youthful eyes could still make out the letters.
 
The letter was addressed to: The current head of the Carson family, Villa Carsonia

I have decided to accept Jack Lane’s offer of marriage. I am aware that the relations between Lanes and Carsons have long been strained, due to events in the past. I see no reason why it has to remain like that. The Lanes are, at their very core, Carsons. As you are aware, I am also a Lane by blood, through the Stalwart line. In me runs the blood of both of Kate’s daughters, which makes me doubly a Carson. As I take this step, please remember that I am first and foremost, and will always remain, a Carson.

Alecia Carson

The letter had been returned, with the following remark:

Apology not accepted.

Moses Carson Moore

Moses’s last name had been stricken with great energy, and "Moore" written with Alecia's pen.
 
Alecia had always been proud of her heritage, and praised the Carson name at every opportunity. But old useless Moses, who it seemed wasn’t even a proper Carson, had given his grandmother the high hat when she tried to stay in contact with her family, and then her marriage had collapsed. No wonder she appeared to be bitter at times.

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He could hear a car pull into the driveway. Aunt Aria was back. She had an increasing tendency to head out of town on her days off, and he had seen her leave two days ago, looking very business-like and different. Almost like a CEO. What she was doing on her treks was another mystery, and any questions were brushed off with the answer: “Private stuff.” He put the letter down and retreated quietly to his room, where he proceeded to dream about his new motorcycle.

[Agathon]

Chapter 5 - A Mad Dog's Tale

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Daniel: Heeey, anyone wanna do something? Anyone? Anything?

Didn’t think so… It was meant as a joke, as he knew they’d do what they always did: Shuffle off like zombies, going home or to some meaningless part-time job. Going through the motions, like cogs in a machine without any purpose. Why did they bother? Why couldn’t they freak out a little?

Doing homework in front of school didn’t exactly qualify as freaking out, but what choice did he have? To be a proper CEO, he’d have to go to university, and to get there, he had, unfortunately, to pay some attention to his grades. Not to mention the fact that his mother was always nagging him about that one thing. “Daniel? Have you done your homework?” Bah. Couldn’t she ask him about something else for a change?  He sighed and tried to focus, but it was hard. Yesterday there’d been another “incident” involving his father.

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Somehow, Jackson had wandered off Memory Lane (to buy the motorcycle, perhaps?), wearing not a whole lot of clothes, and ended up outside the Kate Carson Modern Museum of Art. There, he had happily proceeded to blow stuff up.

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Once the outside art had been blown to smithereens, he had proceeded inside and continued his rampage, howling with joy at every deafening blast.

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When the police arrived, they had found him outside, where he was repeating the same phrase, over and over and over: “Destroy it all, like she did!” His current whereabouts were unknown, but they were likely to involve men in white suits. For just how long he’d…
Voice: Daniel Lane. Pleased to meet you.

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Vance Lane, his uncle. Mad Vance. He’d seen him from a distance sometimes, but never really met him. There weren’t many social gatherings at Memory Lane, and it was doubtful if Vance was even welcome there. He was an outcast, an unpredictable, evil thief with a huge capacity for intimidating behavior.

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Vance: Mom, your grandma, called me. She thinks it’s time we had a chat. She also said your scooter had been stolen? Deeply sorry about that, I can make a few calls and see what I can find out about it.
Darn! His stupid father must have talked to her. Plan Motorcycle seemed to be derailing.
Daniel: Aheeh… Don’t worry about the scooter, I didn’t like it anyway.
Vance: Very well. Let’s take a drive to my place, where we can talk a bit more… privately. No need to worry, nephew, your grandmother is just looking out for you, and you may be surprised to find that I’m not really the mad, raving lunatic the rumors paint me as. I’m as sane as any Lane. Well… not counting my brother, that is.

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Not so mad Vance sported a Vorn Stallion, and Daniel couldn’t but help thinking that thundering down Main Street in that car, with the man everybody feared, could only add to his own reputation. To his disappointment, the drive was very short, and the streets empty.
Vance: So, Daniel. Do you play chess?
Daniel: A little bit. I’m not very good.
Vance: Ok. We’ll have a game, and we’ll chat a bit. That’s what we’ll do.
Daniel: How come everybody says you’re mad, if you aren’t?
Vance: Being known as a mad dog can be useful. And wouldn’t it be strange if a madman inherited Memory Lane, while having a completely sane brother…? This arrangement reflects better on the family.

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Vance lived in a house behind the bookstore, and could inform that it, like much else in town, had been purpose-built by the family, for a central location with good views. They proceeded upstairs to play chess. Daniel tried to concentrate on the game, like his opponent did, but the questions stirring in his mind made it hard. What sort of “talk” were they supposed to have? The one about the birds and the bees? The one where he’d better do as his grandmother told him? The one about taking his future and heritage seriously? The game didn’t proceed very well for him, and he was grateful when his uncle finally broke the silence.

Vance: So, have you considered your future? Is university on the agenda?
Daniel: Yes, very much. I want to be a CEO. The CEO. Did you go to university?
Vance: No. No… I’m more the self-thought type. School isn’t my kind of environment, I’m afraid.
Daniel: You thought yourself to be a thief?
Vance: Among other things, all useful to the work I do for the family.
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Daniel: I didn’t know you worked for the family. I thought you were a thief.
Vance: That is just my night-time hobby. During the day, I am in the employ of the Lanes.
Daniel: Doing… what exactly?
Vance: I’m a cleaner.
Daniel: Bah, this game is lost for me. I give up. Cleaning? You clean clothes?
Vance: Haha, no. No… Let’s go to the rooftop, and I’ll explain.

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Vance: What do you see?
Daniel: Pff, eeh…The moon and the stars? Sunset Valley? The city center?
Vance: Yes. Who runs the city?
Daniel: The people do.
Vance: What people? The politicians? Or the people who own everything that’s important?
Daniel: We do… The Lanes.
Vance: Yes. We do. Now, did anyone at school today talk about your father’s incident yesterday?
Daniel: No…
Vance: The heir to the greatest family in town, in his swimming wear, goes bananas and blows up the art museum, getting himself locked in the psych ward in the process. But nobody talks about it. Even the newspaper and radio don’t report it. Strange, isn’t it…?

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Suddenly, Daniel realized that it wasn’t he who was avoiding his classmates. It was they who were avoiding him. Because they were afraid. Not of him, but of saying something wrong, of the family. Of the cleaner. He didn’t quite know what to feel about that. On the one hand, it was cool, but it was also kind of sad. By the bookstore, he could see Magalena Jablowski, one of the “blues”, fiddling with fairy magic. In the dim light of the park, he could just make out the figure of Danita Rashford. Would they be afraid of him too, once Vance in his Vorn Stallion made his appearance?

Daniel: They’re silenced. Afraid. Of you.
Vance: I'm just the messenger. They are afraid of the Lanes. We snap our fingers, and someone loses their job at the science center, or at the hospital, or at the stadium, or the corporate tower, and so on. We clap our hands, and someone’s loans are called in, a lot is scheduled for demolition, or someone gets a plastic surgery they didn’t ask for.
Daniel: I don’t want people to be afraid of me.
Vance: To some extent, that is unavoidable. But consider the upside: Even the high and mighty will always have some dirt on them, and if given the chance, people love talking about it. Kate Carson spent countless hours over there, at Town Hall, suing people for slander. We don’t, and there is no slander about the Lanes. None.

He had a point, but Daniel was shaken by realizing how his family wielded their power to keep the town bound and gagged. Could it really be necessary? How many people had lost their jobs, or their homes, because of the Lanes? Had some paid an even greater price? Who was giving the orders? Who had set it all up?
Vance: It’s getting chilly, let’s go inside.

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Daniel: Tell me, have you… whacked someone?
Vance: Gods, no! I don’t go around beating people down, that is just a myth. Most of all, I pay people off. That way, everybody wins. I had to wave a wad of cash around after that incident yesterday…
Daniel: Why didn’t you inherit, instead of my father? How did you end up doing this?
Vance: A cleaner must be someone the family trusts… completely. Can you see your father doing my job?
Daniel: I can’t see him doing any job, really…
Vance: Well, he’s a decent appraiser, but this, no… No. Being a cleaner is hard work, but quite rewarding. This little house isn’t indicative of the money I make. When a new cleaner gets appointed and trained, I’ll retire to Lucky Palms and live the good life. The really good life.
Daniel: Who was the last cleaner?
Vance: John Lane. Jack’s older brother. He has passed away, but he used to live in this house, with his wife Joelle.
Daniel: And before that?
Vance: I don’t know, and I can’t know. Cleaner’s code. A cleaner can only know the one who came before him, who trains him, and the one who comes after him, whom he trains.
Daniel: Who will be the next?
Vance: That is Alecia’s call, not mine, but I am slightly concerned about that, as you have no siblings. I fear my early retirement plans are void until that problem is solved.
Daniel: Perhaps we can ask Aunt Aria. She’s extremely fit, and quite commanding.
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Vance seemed to find the suggestion utterly incredulous, as he jerked back and raised one eyebrow sharply in response.
Daniel: She is! I’m not kidding.
Vance: I know she is. But that would not be… appropriate.
Daniel: Why? Because she is a woman?
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Vance: No… No. Listen, let’s talk about you and what you’ve been doing: Asking questions around town… about Jack.
Daniel: I’ve never met him. I want to know more about him.
Vance: I understand that. But Jack had dirt on him, and by running around asking about him, you’re digging it up again. When cleaners sweep stuff under the carpet, it’s meant to stay there. Ask inside the family, not outside it.
Daniel: Nobody wanted to tell me anything! Alecia won’t talk about him, and the others told me to talk to her.
Vance: But you never asked me. Listen, My father is no great mystery, if you think that, you are on a goose chase. Poor John, who had task of cleaning up that mess… Most people know that story, and the only reason they’re not talking is because John did a good job.
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Vance: I can tell you about him, but it’ll happen in the car. It’s getting late, and we don’t want them to be worried up in the big house.

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Vance: Your grandfather Jack was a musician, a great guitar player. He played in a band that also included Johnnie Jackson, Jerome and Jessette’s son, and the pair were best friends. Johnnie was married to Latasha Keaton, formerly known as Miss Trippy, as she preferred some very colorful clothing. Johnnie & Latasha lived in a spooky and slightly run-down house, and because they did so much jamming there, Jack almost lived there too.

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Vance: Cracker Jack wasn’t just good at telling jokes, he was also a charming flirt, and by working his charms on Latasha, he soon had an affair going. The fact that he was married, and that she was the wife of his best friend, didn’t stop him.
Daniel: Yeah, I figured it was something like that…

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Vance: Johnnie was no fool, and soon found out about the affair. But he was pained about what to do. Would Latasha leave with Jack if he put his foot down? Could it be just a fling, one that would blow over, if he just kept his mouth shut?

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Vance: For some time, Johnnie did nothing. But he could feel himself being gnawed up from the inside by what was happening, and his family described him as being close to a mental breakdown.

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Vance: In the course of a few months, Latasha grew large… very large. She blamed it on Hogan’s Deep Fried Diner, but a frustrated Johnnie smelled a rat. She had chucked down deep fried ice cream fritters at Hogan’s, but not that much. If Latasha was pregnant, the child was not his, as Johnnie was unable to father children, and she knew that.

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Vance: Ultimately, Latasha could no longer conceal her condition, and confessed to Johnnie that Jack Lane was the father of the child. Johnnie immediately divorced her and threw her out. She fled home to her father, Lukas, but didn’t reveal the whole story just yet.

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Vance: A couple of days later, she broke down in front of Hogan’s Deep Fried Diner and cried the story to anyone within earshot, and as there were quite a few, the truth was quickly known around town. Lukas Keaton shuttled his shameful daughter out of town, and to this day, she has not returned.

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Vance: Latasha’s confession prompted three other women to reveal that they had also been romantically involved with my father, while he was having his affair with Latasha. As can be expected, his marriage to my mother ended very abruptly. My grandmother, Alyssina Lane, backed Alecia’s demand that Jack be evicted from Memory Lane, though my grandmother did throw him the keys to the fastest car we owned. With all backing from The Lanes withdrawn, a great number of families were in hot pursuit of Jack when he fled town, and only the speed of the car saved his skin.
Daniel: How could he keep all those affairs going? And why? Poor grandma.
Vance: It was just in his nature to be a charming flirt, I guess…

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Vance: Johnnie Jackson was just a shell of a man after the scandal. Some say he always prayed the phone one day would ring, with his wife at the other end, and if that had happened, he would have forgiven her and raised the child as his own.

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They had arrived at Memory Lane, but Vance took the time to finish the story.

Vance: John Lane, Jack’s brother, had a total mess to clean up, as the whole thing had exploded at once.  He negotiated a deal with the Keatons, giving them a new mansion, and quite a lot of money was waved around at other offended parties. But it really took years for the whole thing to blow over. I certainly hope I won’t have to clean up anything like that.

Daniel: Wow… A really sad story. No, I hope not. Now I see why bringing up Jack’s name is… sensitive.
Vance: Indeed. And remember: Keep questions about the family inside the family.
Daniel: Can I ask one more thing?
Vance: Sure.
Daniel: What is in the corridor? You got in there, and I can’t…
Vance: Pictures and inscriptions, nothing more.
Daniel: Secrets? There must be a reason why it was locked down.
Vance: In time, you will know.
Daniel: Know what?
Vance: Tsk, tsk. Good night, Daniel

[Agathon]

Chapter 6 - Suitors


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Daniel: Any news about pops?
Danielle: Alecia says he will be home tomorrow. They have not figured out what is causing his recent outbursts, but at least they are trying some new medication.
Daniel: Sounds good. I’m sure he’ll be ok. Where is grandma? And is Aunt Aria home?
Danielle: Alecia is at the spa, getting her Soothing Salvation. Aria is out, somewhere. It is weird…
Daniel: What?

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Danielle: She was in the storage room early this morning, throwing stuff out of chests. All manners of gems, metals, statues and relics were scattered over the floor… She said that was just half of it, and that it has been stored in the chests for generations. I have never seen any of it!
Daniel: Geez. I should go have a look of it.

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Danielle: You can’t. It’s all gone. She said it was just old thrash, and that everything would go to charity. Thrash! I do not know about such things, but some of it looked quite valuable to me. I asked Alecia about it, and she just said: “Aria does what she does.” We must be richer than I thought…
Daniel: I suspect we might be.

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Danielle: Have you done your homework? Just because it’s Friday doesn’t…
Daniel: Why do you always nag about that!? They’re done! I’ll be a CEO, and with university coming up, what choice do I have?
He could see a smile playing on her lips, and it was nice to know that struggling through that boring homework was making someone happy. Maybe that would finally be the end of that question.
Danielle: So, did you have a good time at Shawanda’s yesterday?
What? Who had told her that? Wasn’t she supposed to know he had met Vance? Alecia…
Daniel: Hmm…? Yeah… it was ok.
Danielle: Are you two… sweethearts?
Daniel: Eh… No, mom. We’ll never be a thing. We just… studied together.
Danielle: Do you have someone else in mind? Someone nice?
Daniel: Maybe… We’ll see how it turns out.
Danielle: A secret sweetheart! Exciting!
Daniel: Don’t fret, mom.

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Danielle: Very well. Remember, it is your job to clean the toilets before the party tomorrow. Here is the key to the locked toilets, just do the upstairs one. Make sure you have something nice to wear, both for tomorrow and Sunday.
Daniel: What happens on Sunday?
Danielle: Race day!? I certainly hope you had not forgotten that already!

Race day. He’d rather break an arm that have to be a part of that charade, but with a motorcycle on its way, he was willing to suffer through it. Race day. Thundering hoofs, whinnying horses, the smell of horse manure… No, no, think about something else. The party. The Presentation. Another thing that would have to be endured.

His grandmother had prepared him for The Presentation some time ago. It was a formal affair, where families that were in the good graces of the Lanes, or whom they wished to tie bonds to, were invited to present a candidate for a possible future marriage with the one being presented. She had explained that candidates would only have first dibs on two dates with the presentee, after which the prospective couple decided for themselves if they had any future together.

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Tomorrow night, Corrie Sw0rd and Nandini Landgraab, the latter being town mayor, a genie/vampire hybrid and their neighbor, would be invited. Since neither family had a suitable candidate for Daniel, nothing would come of it. It would just be a formal dinner, with both invited families knowing that the Lanes held them in high regard. Or at least, higher than the ones not invited. Apparently, there were long-standing issues with a number of other families…

His phone rang. It was his grandmother.

Alecia: There’s been a change, with The Presentation. Corrie is bringing one of her daughters as a candidate.
Daniel: What?! How… Who…?
Alecia: Maureen, the youngest.

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Daniel: She’s older than mom!
Alecia: A bit older, yes. But just relax, this is…
Daniel: Relax!? This is madness!
Alecia: Relax, dear! She’s never been romantically involved, and she’ll be young again. When you age up, we’ll give her a Fountain of Youth potion, and she’ll be fresh as a spring chicken, not a day older than you.
Daniel: That's just... too weird! I won’t do it!
Alecia: Of course you will. When the time comes, all you have to do is two dates. Maureen is a witch, a schmoozer, she’s friendly, loves the outdoors, and is a great kisser. She is neurotic, but that’s…

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Daniel: How can she be known as a great kisser he she’s never been romantically involved?!
Alecia: Don’t you worry about that. Two dates. That’s all you have to do. And you will do it. Maybe it’ll turn out great. Listen young man, since you don’t want to date Shawanda, or the other one, the ugly hag, how many options do you really have?
Daniel: I’ll find someone at university!
Alecia: I hope you do. But I’ll not have Vance clean it up if you make a mess of this, you’ll have to bow and scrape to Corrie yourself! You’ll date Maureen Sw0rd, and that’s the end of it!

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Bah! Dating Maureen Sw0rd? Young again? A bit sordid, and it could be worse, but why did they have to make him do it? What did they get out it? Hm. With her daughter a “spring chicken” again, Corrie could probably look forward to more grandchildren, even if the dates didn’t pay off. Her way of fighting The Great Gap… The Lanes, meanwhile, would cement an alliance with the head honchess of the military, one of the institutions that would forever remain out of their direct control. Hm! It made practical sense… Having his grandmother on his back was bad enough, but Corrie and her army of blues too? At present, he could see little choice but to play along.

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He sighed, fell into the couch, and ended up watching some stupid move where a couple was running mindlessly around on some island with wild animals. Whenever the woman got into frame, Danita Rashford came to mind. It was her he wanted, not Maureen Sw0rd. He had asked if she could be invited to Memory Lane, but been briskly told by his grandmother that “nobodies” were not invited. She might be a nobody, but she was a very pretty one… Soon, he could no longer pay attention to the movie, and drifted off in his own mind, a few years ahead…

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Danita: Oh, Daniel, you’ve become so strong… I don’t see you enough…
Daniel: I know, baby. Will you have dinner ready when I come tonight?
Danita: Of course, Daniel. I’ll cook your favorite. I hope we’ll have time to cuddle?
Daniel: We’ll see. There are long meetings scheduled, and nations are at stake.
Danita: I’m sure you’ll find a solution. You’re so smart!
Daniel: Wear something nice tonight, will ya?
Danita: Yes, Daniel, I’ll….

This crush was getting serious, and unless he did something about it, rapidly going nowhere, as Danita was married. Her husband was a moron, and ought to be no serious obstacle for a Lane, but he had to act. And why should he take this Maureen Sw0rd nonsense lying down? Do something, Daniel!

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Dear Danita

I think you are a very beautiful and special woman. I can see a great future for us, and as you know, I have big plans. One day, Lane Industries will stretch from coast to coast, and it is my intention to share that future with you.

With love, Daniel Lane.

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As he opened the mailbox, he found another letter inside. The sender was Matthew Carson. What could that be about? His mother was riding, and with nobody else home, he decided he could sneak a peek at it, and with a bit of glue, make it look as if it hadn’t been opened.

To: The current head of the Lane family
From: Matthew Carson

I am unsure as to interpret the recent attempt to blow up the Kate Carson Modern Museum of Art as the random act of a moronic madman, or a deliberate attempt to stain the heritage of my family. In any case, I find it most unfortunate. The museum will require extensive repairs, and as the fees imposed on the perpetrator is far from sufficient to cover the costs, I think it would be reasonable to expect a substantial donation to the museum on behalf of the Lanes. I realize I am in no position to make demands, but in this case, a simple appeal to reason should suffice.

The Impeccable Matthew Carson

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Daniel had heard of “The Impeccable”. It was impossible not to hear of him, as Matthew Carson talked non-stop to everybody of his supposedly flawless bloodline, making him, in his mind, “The One True Carson”. Daniel didn’t know the details, but Matthew was a nephew of Moses Carson, with even fewer resources at his disposal than “The Last Hope” had. The art museum was the only community lot the Carson’s owned. It seemed that the lower they sunk, the more they talked up their fading name.

He had barely glued the letter shut again when he heard his grandmother shouting.

Alecia: Daniel! You motorcycle has been delivered! It’s in the driveway!

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They had to be kidding him. He imagined the horror of riding that thing around town, visiting Danita Rashford… How difficult was it to buy a motorcycle when they had all the money in the world?! Why could no one take him seriously!?? He could feel the anger rising to his head, and his grandmother was walking up to him with a smug look on her face.

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Daniel: Whose idea is this?! Yours?!
Alecia: Me? I didn’t…
Daniel: Then it has to be mom! Has to be! What is the friggin’ problem?! She thinks a motorcycle is too dangerous? Why can’t someone take me seriously?!
Alecia: I’m sure that…
Daniel: With all the money we have, why can’t I have a motorcycle!? Why am I being humiliated!? That’s it, race day is off! I’m not doing it. I’ll take a bicycle, or I’ll walk, or take…

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Alecia: Shut up, young man! Your father ordered this scooter!
Daniel: What…?
Aleica: Yes. Before he went ballistic on the art museum. He likes pink! He likes butterflies! And, it seems, cherries… That’s what you get for asking him! I told you to come to me. And you’re doing race day even if I have to get Vance up here and chain you to the nectar pavillion!

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He stood there for a while, trying to recover from the lashing and the disappointment, but it was a bit much to take in. Race day, having to date Maureen Sw0rd, and now this? He looked with envy at his aunt’s Vaguester, his grandmother’s Fandango, his mother’s Bwan Speedster, even his father’s Motive Mobile. And he had that. No, he thought to himself. No. Not acceptable.

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First, he called the driving school, introducing himself as Jackson Lane and booking a place for his son tomorrow. When told that it there were no available instructors tomorrow, he threatened to blow the place up and turn it into a parking lot. Suddenly, they did have one available. Then, he called the car dealership, again impersonating his father, and ordering an Empire Eidolon in lilac and black, to be registered to Daniel Lane. 110 000 simoleons? No problem. Charge it to the main Lane account. He’d heard his father refer to the main Lane account when ordering scrap for inventing, and there were no objections.

Inside, he almost walked in on his grandmother making a call, and decided to snoop.

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Alecia: Hello, my dear.
Alecia: Oh, not much. Just two small things.
Alecia: We need to make a donation to the art museum.
Alecia: No, a small one. Just to honor Kate. They have to pay the rest themselves.
Alecia: Yes. And then the other thing. Matthew Carson.
Alecia: Yes, him. What does that nobody do for a living?
Alecia: A fortune teller? Really?
Alecia: Ok. If we can’t fire him, we have to do something else.
Alecia: No, it’s not that serious. He calls Jackson a moronic madman. Just something to send a message.
Alecia: Yes, I suppose we could. It doesn’t have to be him.
Alecia: Oh, yes. That I like. That I…

The doorbell rang. That didn’t happen often, so he decided to see for himself who it was.

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Nelle Bryant. Another one of the blues, and the result of the ill-fated union of German militarist Heinz Hauptmann, whose only mode of communication was shouting, and Beyonce Bryant, a mixologist who was a little too fond of her own Neon Breezers. With her parents retired and hating each other in the community retirement center, Nelle struggled to pay the bills at her place by the Lofty Cerulean Blue Pool. As he greeted her, Aunt Aria ran past, on her way to some medical emergency or one of her secret projects. He hadn’t even noticed she'd been home.

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Nelle was rather attractive, and the only woman who dared come to Memory Lane and openly show some interest in him. It was a bit unnerving to deal with. His grandmother called her the most blatant gold-digger in Sunset Valley…

Nelle: Hi, Daniel. Oh my, I’m so glad to see you.
Daniel: Heh, glad to see you too, Nelle.
Nelle: How are you doing? If there’s anything I can help you with, you must call, you know. How is the homework? I was rather good with words in school…
Daniel: Homework is fine, I’m working hard, thanks.
Nelle: My place is not far from school, you know. If you’re ever hungry, or just want a snack… I can cook rather well, and I always have some lovely cakes…
Daniel: I’ll remember that. I might be tempted one day.
Nelle: Oh, I hope you are. I always have time for you. Just stop by, any time I’m not at work.

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They settled in the couch to watch a movie, but Nelle was a bit too distracted by her surroundings to follow the plot.

Nelle: That coffee table is so nice. And those gems, oh my oh my, I wonder what they’re worth…
Daniel: I think they’re worth quite a lot.
Nelle: They must be. My oh my. And that painting… It looks like a proper masterpiece.
Daniel: It’s one of Kate Carson’s, I believe.
Nelle: Is it?! Oh my. Then it’s really old. And valuable…
Daniel: M-hm.
Nelle: Oh, Daniel…Can I ask you something?
Daniel: Shoot.
Nelle: I hear your Presentation is coming up, and I… Oh my, I don’t want to seem rude by asking, but…
Daniel: But…?
Nelle: Will I be invited? I’ve tried to be a good friend…
Daniel: I don’t think you will be, Nelle.
Nelle: No? Oh my. Well, that doesn’t mean we can’t see each other…
Daniel: Of course not. I’ll always keep an eye out for you, Nelle.
Nelle: Will you? Oh my. I hope so, Daniel, with all my heart…

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Nelle lingered on for a while, until a deadly gaze from his grandmother finally sent her packing. As he rounded off the day by slacking in the hot-tub, Daniel couldn’t help but be a bit pleased with himself. Some things had turned a bit sour, but he had taken action. Done something. He had two suitors now, and was doing a bit of suiting himself as well. It couldn’t hurt to have some back-up plans, as long as he didn’t act on all of them, like his grandfather had... At least he’d have the same type of car that Jack had used as his getaway car. If they let him keep it, that is…

[Magz from Oz]

I like the way you continue to build the mystery.  Poor Daniel.  Being one of the rich and shameless is not all it's cracked up to be. 

[diamonddaisy]

I'm really enjoying this one! I'm looking forward to seeing the mystery unraveled, and the way you've written the characters makes them interesting and likable. Looking forward to the next update!

[Agathon]

Chapter 7 - Matters of Politics and Honor

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Daniel: Hello, Maureen. I’m Daniel Lane.
No, that wasn’t right. He wasn’t introducing his family.
Daniel: Hello, Maureen. I’m Daniel Lane.

Better, but cheesy. He almost sounded like Nelle Bryant. Bah. What was he supposed to do, or to say? Nobody had prepared him for a candidate being presented. Then he remembered: She’d still be old when they’d meet. Ugh. Creepy. Better just behave very correct and polite. Was the suit ok? Did he look fat in it? Bah! He couldn’t find anything better, so it had to be good enough. Both for his mother and old Maureen Sw0rd.

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She was taking Monoceros through jumping track. Horses, always the horses. What did she really know about the family? Very little, it seemed, as Alecia wouldn’t even let her know he had met Vance. His mother was quite naïve, but at least she tried to be friendly and good. In between the nagging, and the crying. And all the time spent on the horses… Did she eagerly await Jackson’s return, or did she dread it? How shaky had their marriage become? What would happen if it collapsed? Hm. Better not go there.

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Daniel sighed and took his place at the office desk in the Sunrise room. He would probably spend a lot of time at that desk in the future, working from home to maintain his business empire. The chair was comfy, but could have been more monumental. Any news today? Hm. Some political stirrings following the recent town census:
 
The bean counters at Town Hall are announcing that the city holds 110 residents, down 5 from last year. The 110 are comprised of 27 elders, 71 adults. 6 teens, and 6 children or younger.

Commenting on the census, opposition leader Lukas Keaton did not hold back:
"When the Public Population Control was introduced, we were told it would last 10 years. After 10 years, the PPC was tightened. It is now over 20 years, and even though we are at record lows, the PPC is still maintained and The Great Gap just keeps getting bigger. Is our political leadership completely deranged? Once, we were over 220 sims in this city, and the city could handle it! We must stop this, and stop it now!”

When asked his opinion on the upcoming election, the reputable fortune teller Matthew Carson, known as “The Impeccable”, declared:
“In this instance, I have no need of my crystal ball. Nandini Landgraab is history. The opposition against the PPC is now so overwhelming that she doesn’t stand a chance. Start looking for a new job, Nandini. We’ll have a new mayor.”

The census showed that the Jablowski family was now the largest in town, with 11 family members, followed by the Lanes 10, Sw0rds 8, Andrews’ 7 and Keatons 6. The Carsons were some way down the list, with a total of 4. The article also said that though many original town families had died out, been absorbed by marriages, or emigrated, but the Goths, French’s, Bachelors, Langeraks and McIrish maintained a small, but proud presence.

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“Things to do, better get a move on,” Daniel said to himself, and closed the laptop. He better get to cleaning the toilets, but not before he had a look at the Winter Lounge, just across the hall. It was only used for official occasions, and this was where tonight’s Presentation, and his future marriage, would take place. It was another depressingly old-looking room, probably done by the same sentimental hand that had decorated the Sunset Room.

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Quite a lot of imposing relics, and photographs from exotic locations, were scattered around the house. Sometimes, Daniel got the feeling that he was living in the house of some British explorer who had been dead for centuries, and nowhere in the house was the feeling more pressing than here. Seeing a faint reflection of himself in the glass cover, he muttered: “Just be cool, calm and collected. Don’t make a fool of yourself.” With Nandini’s political troubles making headlines, he could only hope she would deflect some attention away from himself and his old date to be…

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Since cleaning bathrooms in his new suit was probably not optimal, he changed to his usual attire and started making the rounds. If his mother thought this would be necessary, she must have forgot that everything was upgraded to self-cleaning, and that they had a genie in the house. The first floor bathroom was spotless, so he got himself wet trying to fairy-trap the toilet, but his second try was a success. Now then, which locked bathroom was he supposed to clean again? The ground floor one, or the one at first floor? He couldn’t remember. Better check both.

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Both were pristine, but in the locked bathroom on the ground floor he made a discovery. As soon as he saw the photograph, his mind clicked into gear. An old woman, hovering mid-air in meditation with her hair turned blue by some strange psychedelic colors. Despite her age, she looked a bit like Aria. Looking closer at the photo, he could see a wooden bracelet on the woman's arm, a bracelet exactly like one Aunt Aria often wore.

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He had walked in on Aria meditating, more than once when he was a child. What were the chances that some other woman, who looked like her and wore the same bracelet, was photographed in front of their entrance? But Aria old? Due to Ambrosia, she hadn’t aged a day since she arrived, that’s what everybody said. Had she been old once, and then used the same potion they wanted to use on Maureen Sw0rd? Hm. Something was off about the photo, but he couldn’t put his finger on it, and he had things to do. First, a “date” with Shawanda Masterton.

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Shawanda: Why here? At school? It’s a bit dorky, isn’t it? I’m not saying you are, but…
Daniel: I have a driving lesson here, so it was convenient.
Shawanda: You’re gonna get a car?! Wow!
Daniel: I hope so… We’ll see. Anyways, I want to give you this.
Shawanda: A present!? That’s so nice of you!
Daniel: Yes, well…
Shawanda: You’re making me blush! I think you really like me. Do you, Daniel? Hmm…?

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It got a bit awkward when she tried to kiss him, and he dodged her efforts. He would have preferred her dress from 1959 to what she was wearing now, and he wasn’t quite prepared for that. She took it well, and there were no hard feelings.

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She was smiling as she drove off on her new scooter, and it almost looked like it had been made for her. He had a feeling that she would have liked the Winter Lounge. But she would never set foot in it.

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As he got back from his driving lesson, his grandmother immediately approached him. She looked flustered, embarrassed and slightly confused. She looked around to make sure no one was listening, and spoke in a low voice.

Aleica: My dear, I need to tell you something… The Presentation is canceled.
Daniel: Wow. Why?
Alecia: It seems I made a great mistake in agreeing to Corrie’s proposal. Someone objected very strongly to Maureen Sw0rd being a candidate.
Daniel: Who?
Alecia: It doesn’t matter. What matters is that Corrie is very insulted. She has been my friend for ages, but this… This spoils everything.
Daniel: Can’t we just give her the potion?

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Alecia: No, she’s not getting that either. You better be wary of Corrie and all of the blues after this, at least for a while.
Daniel: Why? What could they do? Can’t Vance clean it up?
Alecia: This is about honor, not money. We will give her something, and they will probably do nothing, but… It doesn’t hurt to be a bit cautious. Diplomacy hasn’t always been this family’s strong suit, and we don’t have many allies. If something should happen to me…
Daniel: What are you saying?! And who are our allies?

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She hushed him and dragged him by the arm into the neighboring alchemy room.
Alecia: If something should happen to me, Nandini is the only one you can trust outside the family. Remember that. We have helped the Landgraabs in the past, she is my cousin, and will always be loyal.
Daniel: Does this have something to do with politics, and the PPC? I hear Nandini is in trouble because of it?
Aleica: What? No… I don’t care about the PPC, and I don’t know why she keeps supporting it, but she’s a dear friend nonetheless. Now then, are you ready to learn something? If I should fall down the stairs and break my neck, there are certain things you need to know.
She seemed to have recovered a bit of her energy at the prospect of instructing him in something.
Daniel: Ok…
Alecia: The potion cabinet is, as you know, off limits to everyone but me. Only the family alchemist has access, and everybody else must go through her. Or him. In that cabinet is the most potent potions than can be brewed, useful for all kinds of situations. Even feuds with other families. But there are rules for if and when they can be used. I will prepare a thorough list, but when I pass, you will need a new alchemist to be able to replenish the stock. A witch is most optimal, but anyone skilled enough will do.
Daniel: Why do you say I will need a new alchemist? Won’t pops or mom be master of the house?
Alecia: Don’t be silly. Can you see your father running this house? Or the family? Your mother from England? They will live in the Sunset Room, and your mother will ride and take care of equestrian matters, your father will paint, sculpt, and invent, but the big responsibilities will fall directly on you, young man.

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She stepped over to some chest and talked about stocks of some sort of ingredients, but he wasn’t paying attention, lost in what she had just said. When she passed, he would run everything. That was scary. He has always assumed that his parents would play some sort of active role in managing the household.
Alecia: …and 34 wolfsbane. Why is it important to keep track of that?
Daniel: I have no idea…
She sighed and dragged him out again.

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Alecia: In this fridge, there is 35 lettuce, 52 onions, 72 steaks, and a huge amount of other ingredients, all of perfect quality. Nobody has been sick in this family for five generations, because every meal we eat is perfect. Why do I keep track of the amounts?
Daniel: Because you’re a control freak?
Alecia: Watch your tongue, young man. Come here.

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Alecia: 431 bottles of nectar are stored here, enough for 2-3 generations. Nectar stored to the left is for our riders and artists. It is especially important to our riders, as it increases their chances of winning races. The preferred brews are Apollo, Assumption, and Synergy, all invented by the legendary nectar maker Carmen Angelos. You will be given the recipes. To the right are nectars for parties, gifts, or for sale. Sooner or later, someone must make more nectar, and that someone should prepare at least 300 new bottles. We use two nectar makers, for efficiency. Prep one and start it, then prep and start the other.
Alecia: In that chest is 1800 fruits and grapes of various sorts, all of perfect quality. When nectar starts being made, why is it important to keep track of the amounts?
Daniel: In case they run out?
Alecia: In case they run low. If they ever run out, you are doing a lousy job. And what do you do when they run low?
Daniel: Buy more?
Alecia: Buy?! You can’t buy perfect fruits and grapes, my dear…

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Daniel: I’ve never seen anyone garden here.
Alecia: No. The last person to tend a garden here was your grandfather, cursed be his name. It was planted by his grandmother Esther, who was a very good gardener. It produced so much that we haven’t gardened since. But one day, it must be done again, to replenish the stocks. Food, alchemy ingredients, nectar ingredients, carrots and apples for the horses, even deathfish for ambrosia can be grown here if you have a gardener skilled enough.
Daniel: Gardening seems so boring.

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Alecia: It probably is. I could never do it, because of my allergies. And it would ruin my nails. But it’s important for so many reasons. The gold statue by our pool may look good, but Alyssina Lane would have died that day if she didn’t carry a Death Flower, grown in this garden. Every member of the family should carry one, and gardening is how you get them.
Daniel: She was a writer, wasn’t she?
Alecia: And a jockey. The jockey. Plan carefully what needs to be grown, never plant less than a full garden, then let it run its course. Fertilize with garlic, or even better, life fruits. If necessary, use fairy magic to speed the growth. Don’t use an amateur for gardening. Use a family member, preferably doing it as a career. A fairy, or, if you can find one, a plantsim, make the best gardeners. We don’t keep a stock of ingredients perfected through generations for them to be ruined by some rough-handed fool.
Daniel: Alchemy, cooking, nectar, gardening… So many different skills. How do people have the time to learn…
Alecia: Those aren't many, they're just the basic skills needed for this household to keep up its standards. Not all are needed at once, or in one individual. But work on your skills, young man. Use your auras. Do you know how to use the Brain Enhancing Machine in the laboratory? How to use the Teleporter, and the Super Sleeper, to save time?
Daniel: I think so…
Aleica: Good. But there is something else there I must tell you about.

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Alecia: In that chest is one sample each of the rarest gems and metals in the world. They should never leave this room. They are for cloning only, by a very skilled scientist. Make a copy, put the original back, and makes copies of the copy, if needed. If we should, somehow, become completely ruined, we could rebuild a fortune in days with a skilled scientist and the contents of that chest.
Daniel: One like Aria?
Alecia: Yes. But do not relay on her. She might not always be around. Make your own plans, and know this: First and foremost, Memory Lane is a machine, built and organized from the ground up to succeed at horse racing.
Daniel: Bah, you know I don’t care about the horses… And neither do you.

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Alecia: That is correct. But take a look around you. Not here. Outside! Do you think it’s a coincidence that this property lies a stone’s throw from the JRE? That we have kept and bred 5 generations of unicorns just for fun? That those 6 Rider of Legends statues so prominently displayed on our property are just some crap bought for show? Absolutely not. Everything else here is secondary to winning the races. That is what Lanes do. If your mother wasn’t good at that, you would not exist. Remember that tomorrow, learn something, and show some respect for…

The sudden sound of rhythm & blues from the upstairs art studio stopped her cold, and they both knew what it meant: Jackson was home again. Alecia was first up the stairs, and rushed in to hug him.

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Alecia: My dearest dear! Did those horrible doctors treat you well?
Jackson: Of couse, mom. Of course!
Alecia: How are you feeling? Better?
Jackson: I think so. Fewer grasshoppers.
Alecia: Are there now? That sounds… good. If the new medication makes you feel strange, who do you tell?
Jackson: You, of course.
Alecia: Me. Very good. Now keep yourself busy and don’t think too much about other things. Paint and sculpt. You are the best, remember that! We’ll talk more later, my dear.
Jackson: Yes, mom.

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After exchanging some initial pleasantries with his father, and waiting for his grandmother to leave the room, Daniel got to business.
Daniel: I bought a car, pops. An expensive one. Can I keep it?
Jackson: Good job, son! Of course!
Daniel: Thanks! I’m taking driving lessons, but I can’t drive yet.
Jackson: Great! Fabulous!
Daniel: Can you teach me?
Jackson: Teach you what?
Daniel: To drive.
Jackson: Of course!
Daniel: When?
Jackson: I don’t know. Because of the funeral. We will be there, then. Not driving.
Daniel: Whose funeral?

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Jackson: I can’t remember… But I need something black. Can you buy it?
Daniel: Black… clothes?
Jackson: Yes! I’m under order. Restrain! I can’t go to town.
Daniel: Can’t you ask mom that?
Jackson: She won’t believe me. You do it. I teach you to jive.
Daniel: To drive!
Jackson: Of course!

As his father was still rambling on in his own world, things weren’t much different with the new medication, it seemed. But Daniel had bigger things to worry about. He was off the hook with Maureen Sw0rd, but now Corrie and her blues might be doing some Sw0rd-rattling. Not a pleasant thought, and more questions were nagging him: Who had stopped The Presentation? Why? And what was the story with Aria and the photo in the locked bathroom...?

[Magz from Oz]

I wonder why the presentation was cancelled.

Thanks for giving us a brief view of the house.  Such a lot of responsibility for one teenage Sim to have to deal with.  I do wonder why their garden has both the SwiftGro Garden Station and a sprinkler.  Did no one ever tell the original gardener that the SwiftGro will automatically water every day at precisely 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM?  I'm sure Daniel feel like he fell down a rabbit hole.  To quote Lewis Carol "curiouser and curiouser".

[Agathon]

At some point, I actually had some problems with certain plants wilting under the SwiftGro for lack of water. As soon as I manually activated the SwiftGro watering, the plants were right as rain. I think it may have been the Death Flowers, but I'm not sure. The sprinkler was installed to avoid any such problems, and it has been auto-sprinkling ever since, even when no plants are there...

Thanks for the comments, people.

[diamonddaisy]

Something tells me Daniel won't enjoy the future that's planned out for him... Great update! Looking forward to the next one 

[Agathon]

Chapter 8 – Race Day


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He jerked up in his bed, suddenly torn out of his cozy sleep.
Danielle: Daaaaaniel!
Daniel: Urgh… Uh… Yeah…
Danielle: Be at breakfast by 7:30, at the latest!
Daniel: Huh… Yeah, yeah…
He cast a glance at the alarm clock, and the red, glowing numbers signaled back: 05:30. Race day. It doesn’t take two hours to take shower and get down to breakfast, he thought to himself, and put his head back on his pillow.
Danielle: Are you there?! Daaaaaniel!
Daniel: Yes! Cut it out! I am awake!
Now he really was awake. This was going to be a long day. Better get up...

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A very long day. Why did they have self-cleaning showers that broke down, when his grandmother could clean the whole house by clapping her hands? How about having showers that didn’t break instead? He would do some changes around here, for sure. No more of this shower-breaking nonsense. He’d have rooms that looked like they belonged in the 21st century. Masculine rooms. Marble floors. A bar, with a karaoke-machine. No more race days for teens with no interest in horses…

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He had gotten some new clothes for the day, and his mother nodded in half-approval when he joined her at breakfast. She was also wearing something different, but he wasn’t sure if it was an improvement. Why did she have to look so… English?
Daniel: When were you up today?
Danielle: 03:41.
Daniel: Geez. What’s the point of that?
Aleica: Getting up that early is ungodly. And you’ll get puffy eyes and bad skin from lack of sleep.
Danielle: Aunt Aria’s car woke me. I was too excited to get back to sleep, so I scattered some hay, checked on the horses and tried on my new clothes. Are they nice?
Daniel: M-hm. What’s Aria doing out in the middle of the night? Won’t she ride today?
Danielle: I hope she will. Someone had seen her up at the family graveyard the other night. Maybe she was there again.
Daniel: Doing what?
Alecia: Don’t stick your nose in it, young man. Aunt Aria does what she does.

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Alecia proceeded to complain about a swollen ankle and the need to clean the table, Danielle made a point of how busy she was because of race day, and while Daniel took care of his own plate, Jackson joined them. Instead of acknowledging her husband’s presence, his mother felt a sudden need to talk about the weather. In response, Alecia’s fawning over her her son reached almost sickening heights, and he as dragged outside by his mother.

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Danielle: First, we donate to a good cause, to help our mood. Today it will be Social Bunnies United. 1000 simoleons. Maybe that can pay someone who can help a social bunny, or at least give the social bunnies some comfort.
Daniel: Eh… Is throwing away money like that really necessary?
Danielle: Throwing away? We are helping someone. Besides, Alyssina Lane donated money to undermine charities for 60 years. I came here just before she moved out, and l heard her evil, cackling laughter when she did it. 60 years! I am only balancing out what she did.
Daniel: Bringing balance to the force…
Danielle: Excuse me?
Daniel: Never mind, mom.
Danielle: Very well, off to the nectar pavilion we go.

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Danielle: While the horses sleep, or grabs some hay, salt and water, we wait, checking their progress, and drink some lovely nectar. This is Synergy, brewed by… someone called Esther Lane. It will act as another mood booster during the race.
Daniel: I can’t wait to taste…
Danielle: Daniel, only the riders drink nectar.
Daniel: Oh, come on…
Danielle: No exceptions, I’m afraid. Too bad you are not a rider… Now, we wait for Aria.
Daniel: How long? What if she doesn’t come?
Danielle: If Aunt Aria says she will come, she will come.
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Danielle: Minotaur is sleeping, that is good. He will have a lot of energy for the race. You see those posts on the field behind him?
Daniel: M-hm.
Danielle: That is Hopalong Field, where we do basic training. Every horse, and new rider, must go through rigorous exercises there before the come anywhere near a race. It is quite exhausting, really! Daniel, you are paying attention?
Daniel: Hm? Absolutely, mom.

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Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long. Aria was also wearing something new, but something a bit more cosmopolitan than his mother. Besides the CEO-like suit she sometimes wore, Daniel had never seen her dress up, and he thought she looked stunning. The two women started on the nectar, and while Aunt Aria quickly finished her glass and looked a bit phased out, Daniel tried not to appear completely uninterested.

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Daniel: Didn’t you use to ride Minotaur, mom?
Danielle: Yes, Aria let me borrow him. When Monoceros came of age, he became my horse. Poor Minotaur only has a couple of days left before he gets old, then into the wild he goes. I better not think about it, or I will cry… *sniffle*
Danielle: Do you think you’ll win today? How many international wins do you have?
Danielle: I have a fair chance in the showjumping. I only have 6 wins. Aria has 15, 10 in the cross-country, which is the most difficult. I need more experience before I try the cross-country.
Daniel: Do you always start preparing so many hours before a race?
Mistake, Daniel. I'm showing too much interest, he thought to himself, as his mother eagerly threw herself into the details of the race preparations. Cleaning hoofs in the morning, unless it was Sunday, like today, and they didn’t ride on Saturdays, because of Brook’s Law, and then the brushing, and the saddling, and the different saddles, and bla bla… He could see her mouth moving, but his attention was long gone, towards Aunt Aria.

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He knew Aria wasn’t a very social person, and he had never really had a good conversation with her. She could pour out factual knowledge, but seemed to have little patience for small talk. That probably made her especially unsuited to deal with Alecia, as the two of them never interacted. Instead, it was almost as if, when face-to-face, they were in denial of each others existence.

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Tough she had briefly been his tutor, Aria had probably given up trying to socialize with Jackson, but she had always been on good terms with Danielle. The two of them used to have long conversations on the subject of riding, but lately it seemed as Aria had drifted away from that too. If not out of the house, Aria would be by herself, either in the lab or with some book. He had also seen her in the lounge chair on the top balcony, gazing into the night while in deep thought.

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Danielle: …and that is why I am hoping you will try.
Daniel: Hmm? What… are you hoping for?
Danielle: That you will at least try riding.
Daniel: Don’t try to push it on me! I’ve told you, many times, riding is not for me! Please, don’t keep bringing it up. I will respect what you do, but you must respect what I want to do. Ok?
His mother made big, begging eyes in the direction of Aria, hoping for some support, but none was coming.
Danielle: I always dreamt that you would become a Rider of Legends. That you would do basic training on Hopalong Field, like I did.
Daniel: I have other dreams. You are a Rider of Legends, be proud of that.
Danielle: I’m not. Not yet. First, I have to win the cross-country.
Daniel: I’m sure you’ll do it soon. Who won those six statues, anyway?
Danielle: I don’t…

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Aria, losing patience with the whole thing, got up and tersely spurted the answer to his question:
Aria: Trent Lane, Johnny Lane, Mickey Lane, Alyssina Lane, Jack Lane, and me. Let’s get going, Danielle.
Daniel: My grandfather was a rider?
Aria: Yes. Minotaur was his.
Aria turned her back and walked off, towards the horses.
Daniel: What horse will she ride when Minotaur is released?
Danielle: There is none, so maybe she will quit. I hope not, but… I suspect she came here to ride Minotaur when your grandfather… went away.

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As he remained seated, watching the two women prepping the unicorns, Daniel felt superfluous, and quickly got bored. How long would this take? Was he supposed to sit here for hours, alone? Soon, his mind started wandering…

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Daniel: That jacket looks really good on you, Danita.
Danita: Thank you, Daniel! I’m glad you bought it for me.
Daniel: Ah, this nectar is really something…
Danita: Daniel…?
Daniel: Yes?
Danita: The President came by here today. I told him you were too busy to see him…
Daniel: Good call, Danita. I have more important things to do. You know, I really should have a look at your salary.
Danita: Really?!
Daniel: Absolutely. You should be making a lot more than those bean counters down at Town Hall. Your time as a Corporate Drone is over, I’m making you Division Manager.
Danita: Oh my god! That’s such a jump! Do you think I’m rea…
The sound his mother shouting brought him crashing down to earth again.
Danielle: You should head over there! We are nearly ready!

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As he stepped off the nectar pavilion and found himself facing the entrance, he suddenly realized what was off with the picture in the bathroom. Of course… There were no unicorn statues in the picture, nor a gate in the face. Now he had something to work with to put a date on it. And a date on the Aria look-alike…

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Danielle: Cheer me on, Daniel!
Daniel: I will, mom. Good luck!
“I am lucky!” he could her her shout back from the inside.
He had never seen Aria display affection for anything but her own projects, but she didn’t hesitate to throw around herself around Minotaur’s neck. Did she just do it to win, or did she have some feelings after all?
Daniel: Good luck, Aunt Aria!
She didn’t answer.

Paying 200 simoleons to enter, and taking his place in the VIP lounge, Daniel noted with satisfaction that at least horse racing was a classy sport. His mother was first up, and though she had serious winning chances, she came in 2nd. Even from the lounge he could see the look of disappointment contorting her face. Aria’s race started, and as he watched her take Minotaur through the paces, he thought to himself that he could have been a rider. A Lane in the proper Lane mold, if not for that evening 8 years ago, and that very horse.

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He had been playing in front of the house with a baseball, and a careless throw made the ball sail into the horse enclosure. He knew only the riders were supposed to enter, but he took a chance and jumped the fence. Before he could reach the ball, Minotaur was upon him, huge, dark, and imposing. He was sweaty after having just raced, reeked of horse, and air came thundering out his nostrils as if they were giant fans. The horse snapped its jaws at him, and he recoiled in terror, barely avoiding the bite. He was sure he would be impaled on its great, white horn, but as he stood there trembling, the horse lost interest and wandered off. He ran as fast as he could, and jumped the fence as his life depended on it. Since that day, he had known with certainty that Daniel Lane would never ride.

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…and in second place, Aria Lane!
The race had finished, and he had missed most of it. No new adornments for the Lane trophy room this day. As she rode out of the arena, Aria looked as if she didn’t care too much. Her mind was probably already focused on something else. His mother would be a different story...

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Danielle: I wanted so much to win today. For you. I’m so disappointed I could cry!
Daniel: Don’t fret about it, mom. You can’t win them all. I’m still proud of you.
Danielle: Are you? *Sniffle* Sometimes I feel like I am still just a horsewoman for hire, who knows nothing…
Daniel: You know a lot about racing horses, and that is important. I know that now.
Danielle: I know some things… Aria thought me. But I am not good enough yet…. At least I hope you had a nice day…
Daniel: I had a good time, mom. Don’t worry. Is pops home?
Danielle: No… I think he is appraising something.
Crap. No driving then. How long until the Empire Eidolon would arrive? Hm. He wanted to be able to climb into that thing, and take off with it, as soon as it was delivered. No “But you can’t even drive…” nonsense when they got to see it, that would multiply the chances of them sending it back. He would point at that car, state in his most manly voice: “This… is my car.” Then get in, slam the gas pedal and roar off. Make a statement. Now, what statement would his grandmother make about those statues...?

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Aleica: Yes, my dear? I’m working on the list of potions.
Daniel: Since you know so much family history…
Alecia: Yes, I do. You’ve come to the right person.
Daniel: …who bought the unicorn statues at the entrance? And when?
Alecia: Bought?! Bought?!! You can’t tell the difference between some rubbish from a store and the greatest works of art in Sunset Valley!?
Daniel: Ok, made then… Which Lane made them?

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Alecia: Lane?! Lane?!! As if a Lane could ever produce art of such stupendous quality!? Hah! Only a Carson could make those statues. Brook Carson! Two perfect statues. Two! P-e-r-f-e-c-t!
Daniel: But pops is a Lane, and he…
Alecia: Of course not! I gave birth to him! He’s a Carson!
Daniel: But…
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Alecia: Do you have any idea of what kind of work went into those statues? First, you must sculpt and sculpt until you unlock that specific statue. Then, you must make not one perfect statue, but two. Two! Brook sweated blood to make them! That is true artistry, true dedication.
Daniel: I’m sure she…
Alecia: They’re worth close to fifty thousand. Each! They are at the entrance for a reason, signaling to every visitor that here... here is… greatness.
Daniel: If she was a Carson, why are they…
Alecia: She married a Lane, you fool! Just like I did!
Daniel: And when did Brook… Carson… make them?
Alecia: She was second generation in this house, well before my time, unfortunately. First class, she was!
Daniel: I see… Thanks, grandma.
Alecia: You have a lot to learn, young man

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Second generation. And the woman in the picture, presumably Aria, was old even before the statues were made. Chills went down his spine at the inescapable conclusion: If the woman in the picture was Aria, she was ancient. How was that even possible? Did anybody else know? If she had arrived when his father was a teenager, like everybody said, where had she been in the meantime? He would have to pay closer attention to her doings in the future, and some subtle digging into her past was also tempting…