Mission Highly Unlikely: Mission Complete

[donatello]

Very gripping, and respect to you for your building creativity and attention to detail!

[MarianT]

I love Vita's spies -- they reminded me of the Blues Brothers, too.

[Louise56]

I'm impressed with the park, it does have a whole different atmosphere.
I remember the house from the competition, it is perfect for the story.

[Odinsdottir]

This is fascinating.  I'm trying not to speculate and just let things develop, but it's so intriguing!

[Schipperke]

You've Got Mail!

After his harrowing day in Sundown Town, Nameless falls into a nectar-induced slumber.  His sleep is restless, punctuated by strangely vivid dreams.  Remember that our hero is a Good Sim.  According to Sims Wiki, "Good Sims will never decide to commit a mean interaction towards other Sims (not even to their enemies)."  And yet, look what Nameless is dreaming about:



Dreaming about boxing gloves?  And a happy face?  I don't have Simgund Freud's insight into dreams, but it sure seems to me that Nameless is dreaming about hitting someone, and that he's finding that a pleasant thought.  Could it be that the weight of Evil in this benighted town is causing our poor hero to lose his goodness?  Is our deeply flawed hero up to this mission, or is he in over his head?  Mr Payne is not accustomed to failure, and we all know he's taken on some hard cases in his time.  But Nameless is already struggling.  He has reverted to his old slobby, nectar-guzzling habits, his nervous stomach is rebelling, and he's met just a small fraction of the Evil Sims in this town.  Maybe this time will be Mr Payne's first failure.

As these thoughts are going through my mind, Nameless goes out to collect his mail. 



Further instructions from Mr Payne.  Oh, joy.  Nameless is tempted to just throw the letter away and pretend it never arrived.  But he's so desperate for friendly contact with anyone, that he takes the letter in and reads it.



"Dear Nameless Sim,

How is the mission coming?  I expect that by now, you will have talked to Holly and the other Good Sim, and you will understand how dire their circumstances have been.  It is time for you to start the next part of your mission, which will bring great relief to the few Good Sims left in town, but before we get to that, there are a few more things you need to know for your own safety.

First, Evil Sims love the darkness.  Light is threatening to them, and they mistrust it.  In order to not arouse their suspicions and their hostility, you will need to use as little light as possible.  Candles and gas lamps (in limited numbers) are safer than electric lights.  One of the reasons we chose Raven House for you is that it has few windows facing the street, so the Evil ones won't see your lights and become suspicious.

Second, you must not attempt to order a burglar alarm for your house.  Burglar alarms are not permitted in that town.  The Evil woman in charge at City Hall passed a bylaw making alarms illegal; the rationale was that burglars have a right to make a living, and that alarms interfered with that right.  So you will just have to put up with incursions from burglars.  Don't expect the police to protect you.  The Police Department has been infiltrated by Evil like everything else in that town.  There are probably some honest police officers left on the payroll, but we don't know who they might be.  Keep a list of any stolen items, and we'll see that they are replaced.  Also, don't fight with the burglar yourself or try to deter them in any way.  To do so might lead to them reporting you to City Hall, and you don't want that sort of attention.

Now, about the next part of your mission -"

[SadieHamming]

Wow, Schip, the Nameless has to deal with a lot. And Sunset Valley changed so much, I am really liking this one.

[Schipperke]

Thanks, Sadie.  I wanted to create a Sim version of the Good versus Evil struggle, and it involved a fair bit of preparation - modifications to Sunset Valley, importing Evil Sims from other towns (towns I rarely play in, so I had to first find out who those Evil ones were), and I also created quite a few characters, some based on historical real or fictional villains.  Also had to evict all the Good Sims from town except for two, and I was surprised how many Good Sims there were in town.  Maybe that's why it's always been my favourite town. 

And the explanation for the shower issue is coming up in the second part of Mr Payne's letter.  I'm not trying to make people wait, it's just that the letter is long, with a lot of text and not much in the way of pictures, so I thought it would be easier to read if I divided it in two.

My imagination's providing all sorts of awful explanations for those showers. 

I suspect the answer will be very obvious when Mr Payne reveals it in the next update.  I'll be interested to see how many people guessed it.  And if you have guessed it - thank you for not revealing it prematurely!

[donatello]

"Alarms interfere with burglars' right to make a living"? Oh my... That is as ridiculous and hilarious as it is unnerving... I sincerely hope no such laws get passed in my lifetime...

[Louise56]

If you fight with a burglar, you get reported? Oh my goodness poor Nameless sim.
I can't wait for the second letter to arrive.

[Schipperke]

You've Got Mail! - part II - The Showers

Letter continues

"In order to grasp the importance of this part of your mission, you need to understand a bit about Evil Sims.  To defeat an enemy, it helps to first take the time to understand him.  You have likely been wondering why I warned you to stay away from showers.  What you may not have realized is the special relationship Evil Sims have with their showers.  Evil Sims have Evil Showers.  In other words, the showers are just as evil as the Sims in that town.  And Good Sims cannot take Evil Showers.  For a Good Sim to try to take an Evil Shower would cause extreme personality conflict and would likely damage their psyche.  We don't know for sure, but we suspect that if a Good Sim were to use the Evil Showers over a period of time, the Evil would start to rub off on them and they would lose some of their Goodness.

Of course, the Evil ones are well aware of the fact that Good Sims cannot take Evil Showers, and that's why only Evil Showers are allowed in that town.  Fortunately we have discovered a way to neutralize the Evil.  If a Good Sim who is also Handy works on the shower long enough, the shower will begin to take on the goodness of the Sim.  Eventually, the shower will be self-cleansing, so that Evil will no longer stick to it.  Then Good Sims will be able to use the shower without fear of Evil influence.

So a key part of our strategy for reclaiming the town for Good involves modifying the Evil showers.  Most Good Sims aren't as Slobby as you are, and they need their showers.  You have probably already discovered the three showers in the second bedroom.  They are there for you to modify.  Once you have managed to make them self-cleansing, you will need to give one to Holly and another to the second Good Sim.  It is imperative that this be done quickly, so they will no longer be subjected to the Evil showers.  As soon as you have these done, continue working on the showers we will provide.  For each self-cleansing shower you can create, we will be able to move one more Good Sim back to town.  We'll let you know when a Good Sim will be arriving so you can deliver their self-cleansing shower.

I hope you will also modify your own showers in Raven House.

Good luck with your assignment.  We are confident of your success.  I hope to be able to pay you a short visit in a few days.

Best regards,

Mr Payne"

Evil showers?  Gangs?  Spies?  Burglar alarms outlawed?  Work???  It's all too much for our hapless hero.  Feeling a need for a little escapist entertainment, he goes to the gypsy caravan to have his fortune told.  The gypsy tells him, "Things should get better in about a week, so don't worry too much."*



*I didn't make that up.  It really was the fortune he got.  Sometimes it scares me how this game works.  Something significant is indeed going to happen for Nameless in about a week, although whether he will actually see it as "things getting better" remains to be seen.

[RainBeau]

At last, the showers are explained! Oh Bravo Schipperke, I love how all of your stories end up as a challenge to the main character. It's so cool, like "I want to try that at home now!" I'm looking forward to meeting more of Sundown Town's Evil residents. And I hope Goodwin Goode is one of the first Good Sims to move to town, he's in my top 5 <3

[Schipperke]

At last, the showers are explained! Oh Bravo Schipperke, I love how all of your stories end up as a challenge to the main character. It's so cool, like "I want to try that at home now!" I'm looking forward to meeting more of Sundown Town's Evil residents. And I hope Goodwin Goode is one of the first Good Sims to move to town, he's in my top 5 <3

Goodwin Goode?  Tell me what town he's in and I'll go find him.

[JudesSims]

Goodwin Goode?  Tell me what town he's in and I'll go find him.

He's in Twinbrook.

[Schipperke]

He's in Twinbrook.

Thanks, Jude.

[RainBeau]

Hurray! Thanks, Schip!