Mission Highly Unlikely: Mission Complete

[SadieHamming]

That's a scary match. William and Vita..*Shivers*

[Dextra2]

Who's next? Raven Goth? THAT is a frightning thought....

[Wiry]

I also updated, but I don't really remember how to link threads, so just click on the William link in my signature 

[RainBeau]

Who's next? Raven Goth? THAT is a frightning thought....

I thought the same thing! Eeek!

I so called it, I knew William would go after Vita! I'm not surprised he attacked Simler, either. Was that autonomous or were you controlling them?

[Schipperke]

I was controlling both Simler and William, to get them to do the interactions I wanted.  But I didn't want it to be obvious that I was controlling them, so I had to keep remembering to switch back to Nameless before taking the screenshots (so the plumbbob would be over his head). 

[Louise56]

I will also run if Vita look at me like that! Those glowing eyes!

[Schipperke]

Mr Payne Rocks

Diary Entry

I puzzled over what could be going on between Vita and the strange fellow known as William.  Some sort of high-level criminal conspiracy?  From what little I had overheard, it seemed William was trying to establish some sort of evil empire.  But knowing Vita, I very much doubted that she would give up her iron grip on Sundown Town.  William had demonstrated his occult powers in an attempt to frighten Vita into submission.  Did he really believe Vampire Vita would be that easily intimidated?  I was sure she would not.  Perhaps she was pretending to go along with him, but I was sure she intended to come out on top of whatever scheme they were hatching.

William disappeared from Sundown Town as abruptly and mysteriously as he had arrived, so I went back to focusing on my writing.  My books were beginning to sell quite well.  I had a few hits, then a run of best-sellers.  My childrens' books were very popular.  It seemed I was destined for this genre.  However, it was time-consuming work, and the money wasn't exactly pouring in.  I was beginning to wonder if I would ever have enough money to build a library, never mind the art gallery.  The death of my little friend PJ had made me uncomfortably aware of the passing of time.  Would I be able to earn enough money before we were all dead and gone?

One day I noticed that mail had arrived.



I went out to see what it was and found a small parcel from Mr Payne.  I read the attached note:  "Dear Nameless, I happened on this interesting little rock the other day.  Naturally I thought of Mary and her rock collection.  I'm sure this rock is quite worthless, but perhaps if Mary polishes it up it will make a pretty addition to her collection.  Just the thing for an aspiring rock collector."  He went on to say, "You may not be hearing from me for a while as I have been invited to a family wedding.  I remain, your devoted friend, Mr Payne.  ps.  Don't put the rock in your pocket and forget it.  I know how absent-minded you can be.  Be sure to give it to Mary right away."

Absent-minded?  Me?  I was many things, but I couldn't think of any reason for the old man to say something like that.  Unless I was really so absent-minded that I had forgotten whatever I had done to make him say that.  No, I was sure he had some special reason for telling me to give the rock to Mary right away.  What that reason might be, I had no idea.

Puzzled, I unwrapped the parcel and found just what he had said - a dirty-looking rock.



Mary was a rock collector?  This was news to me.  Mystified, I did as Mr Payne requested and delivered the rock to Mary.



When Mary saw what was in the box, she laughed with delight.  "How clever of him to find one of these!" she exclaimed.  "And such a carefully-coded message to defeat the spies!  'Aspiring,' indeed!  Oh yes, I know just what to do with this."

Well, I was glad somebody knew what was going on.  Apparently it was some in-joke between Mary and Mr Payne.  I decided to let her have her little secret and went back to working on my book.  Mary slipped out the door calling, "I'm just off to Aleister's for a few minutes!  Back soon!"

Later that evening I noticed eerie lights out on the front lawn and went to investigate.  What strange objects were these, and where had they come from?



Mary Fairy clearly knew more than she was telling me.  I decided it was high time I had a talk with her.  After all, I was supposed to be in charge of this mission.  Mary Fairy had some 'splainin' to do. 

[saltpastillen]

Oh, this was such a fun chapter headline. I immediately thought Mr Payne would have shown up in a rocking chair, a real rock never occurred to me. This is going to going to help with the library fund!

[Wiry]

It certainly will help with the library fund. Silly Nameless for not realizing it.

[SadieHamming]

A real rock?!?! I love rocks! I wonder what those little, glowing things are.

[ladyaya]

It certainly will help with the library fund. Silly Nameless for not realizing it.

But he's never gotten out much haha.

[donatello]

I bet it starts with tie, and ends with many valuable zero's, lol!

[RainBeau]

Ahaha! Aspiring! That will certainly help with the funds.

Awww, why is William gone? And who in Mr Payne's family is getting married?

[Louise56]

Yay! Those rocks will certainly give the library fund a big boost.
A family member getting married? That is wonderful news!

[Schipperke]

Mary's Story, Part I

Diary Entry

I was determined to get answers from Mary Fairy.  I strode into the house and called for her to come up from the basement.



We sat at the dining table.  I started by demanding that she explain the glowing green objects in the front yard.



Mary laughed.  "Have you never seen tiberium?" she asked.  "That's the rock Mr Payne sent us.  That dirty old rock of his is very rare and enormously valuable.  The reason he didn't want you to keep it in your pocket is that it can make you sick.  But of course, he couldn't say that and risk the spies finding out what kind of rock it was.  Remember him calling me an aspiring rock-collector?  He was making sure I knew what to do with the rock.  When tiberium is cut in a spire shape and placed on the ground, it will grow."

Rocks that grow?  Was this another one of Mary Fairy's strange notions, like her quest for non-melting ice?  I listened sceptically.

She continued, "I took the rock over to Aleister's shop and used their gem-cutting machine to cut it.  What you saw on the lawn was the spire-cut gem and two piles of tiberium dust that were left over from cutting it.  In a few days, those piles of dust will grow and turn into spires.  Then we can sell them and our library fund will get a huge boost!  It was so clever of Mr Payne to find a way to send us the rock without letting on to the spies just what it was."

I didn't know what to make of this wild tale.  Frankly, I was beginning to doubt Mary Fairy's sanity.  I resolved to keep an eye on those glowing green bits of dust to see if there was any truth at all to any of this.  I also resolved to keep Dr Simgund's number on speed-dial in case it became necessary to get urgent help for Mary Fairy.

But I wasn't finished with her yet.  Mary had more 'splainin' to do.  Starting with why my face and name had to be kept secret, while hers didn't.



"Oh, but that's so obvious!" she exclaimed.  "For one thing, this is your mission.  I'm just a lowly assistant.  For both of us to be nameless and faceless would be more suspicious.  To the Evil ones, I am just a fairy - a lower life form, remember?  And when people think you're inferior to them, they tend to underestimate you.  They are less likely to see you as a threat."

I squirmed uncomfortably at being reminded of my comment about her being a lower life form.  Especially since encountering the vile Simler, I definitely didn't want to be associated in any way with that sort of thinking.  I told her that I really didn't think she was a lower life form, that I hadn't meant it and was sorry I had said it.

"Oh, I know," she said.  "You were trying to make me mad enough to leave.  It really was very naughty of Mr Payne to send me here without telling you, and I don't blame you for being upset.  But he was afraid that if he discussed it with you, you'd refuse, so he thought it better for me to just arrive.  I'm sorry about that."



She was apologizing to me?  I told her that I knew I had behaved badly and that it was I who should apologize to her.  But I was still concerned about the danger of her name and face being known.  Especially with Simler on the loose.

She responded, "I have another defence that you lack.  We fairies can instantly transform into our true form, visible to other Sims only as flashes of light.  In that form, we can take refuge in a fairy house and Sims can't touch us when we're in there."

Well, that was interesting.  I was somewhat reassured, but not entirely.  What if Simler or one of his henchmen decided to destroy her fairy house?

Then Mary added, "Besides, I am not that concerned about my personal safety.  I used to be concerned about myself to the exclusion of other things, but something happened to change my attitude."

Ah, now I felt we were getting to the heart of things.  What was Mary Fairy's story?  What mysterious event had caused her change in attitude?  What influence had Payneful brought on her to persuade her to drop everything and come to this dismal town?  I asked her what Mr Payne had on her.