The Name's Oliver - Ben Oliver. Ch. 159: Duty vs Ethics, Pt. II

[RainBeau]

Ah, that's why they got nervous when he said he was studying alchemy! Hmmm, purple bottle, what is that one, I can't remember...

[Margerita]

I checked it out and the vial is either Vial of Potent Bliss or Vial of Bottled Genie. My guess would be Vial of Potent Bliss.

[Audren]

I think it might be wise to point out that what the vial is in-game and what it is in the story could be two very different things. Just because it's something in the game doesn't mean that's what it is in the story. It's what I would do, anyway. 

If I haven't said it before, great job on the train! Looks very believable on the inside! 

[ladybug53]

The last phto was great . I loved your train , great job . I wonder where he's going next . I can't remember what's in that vial either . I haven't used any lately . As usual , great chapter ! 

[Schipperke]

What was in the Trunk

Diary Entry

I dropped Princess off at her new home and returned to the barracks.  I was surprised to find my father waiting.



I hadn't been expecting him, but I was learning that my father was a law unto himself.  He went where he was needed and one just never knew when or where he might turn up.  He was definitely an unconventional parent, but I was fond of the old boy and secretly proud of him.  He wanted full details of everything I had been doing.  I told him about my university studies.



He was extremely interested in my adventure on the Magic Town Express.  He made me repeat the story several times.  "And the woman?  What did she look like?" he asked.  I told him she had dark hair and a simoleon tattoo on her left shoulder. 

"What was she wearing?"  I couldn't understand why he was so interested in the woman's clothing, and in any case I was always more interested in the women themselves than in their clothes.  I vaguely replied that she had been wearing some sort of tunic.

"Yes, yes, but what colour was it?" he insisted.  I thought it had been yellow.  Or maybe light green.  Something like that. 

He rolled his eyes, then suddenly announced that he was going out.  "I'll be back soon.  Give that vial to May.  Tell her to get to work on it right away, and wait here for me.  Don't go out!"

I wondered what it was all about.  Oh well, I hadn't been planning to go anywhere.  I found May upstairs in her laboratory and handed her the vial, repeating my father's instructions about getting to work on it right away.  The old man rushed back into the house, puffing and out of breath.  He was carrying - a can of paint?  He dipped a roller into the paint and applied a wide swath of colour to the wall.



"Now - look at that colour!" he exclaimed.  "Do you recognize it?"  I did!  It was the same greeny-yellow as Abigail's tunic.

My father frowned.  "This is not good news," he said.  "We must talk."  He drew me outside to the patio.



"The woman you met is very high up in ESCARGOT," he told me.  "Some believe she's right at the top - nobody knows for sure.  What is certain is that she wields enormous power within the organization.  Like most of her cohorts, she is strongly motivated by money.  Displaying that § sign on her shoulder is probably the only honest thing she's ever done.  She is evil through and through.  Her notoriety is such that even in Dimension H, tales are told of her evildoing.  There she is known as Mistress Jane.  She told you her name was Abigail, but both those names are aliases.  Her true name, or at least the one she is known by in ESCARGOT, is Lady Absinthe.



"It's highly unlikely that Lady Absinthe is her true name, the one she was given at birth.  I believe she decided to call herself that after hearing the legends of the Green Fairy, as it has been called.*  No doubt she felt it gave her a certain mystique.

"Whatever reason Lady Absinthe had for being on that train, you can be sure she was up to no good.  We must know what those vials contained,"  he fretted.  "I'll just have a word with May."

He bustled off to find May.  I waited for him to return, wondering at the tale he had told.

When he came back, I asked about the two men with Lady Absinthe - who were they?



He shrugged.  "Low-level thugs," he said.  "She has dozens of them.  They provide muscle when needed, flatter her, make her feel important.  I believe her current favourites are called Jamie and Adam, but really, they're interchangeable."

Just then May appeared, joining us.



She said to my father, "I believe you were right.  There is some organic compound I don't recognize.  But it is similar to other substances with known habit-forming properties."

"This is very serious," my father said.



I looked from May to my father and back again.  Both of them appeared grave.  I was completely at sea.  "Would somebody please tell me what's going on?" I asked plaintively.  "What was in the vial, and why are you both looking so worried?"



May replied, "The substance in the vial has a base of the alchemic potion known as potent bliss.    As you may know, it is an elixir with the beneficial effect of keeping social and fun needs from decaying for 24 hours.  Of course, the effects are temporary and it is quite harmless.  But the vial you gave me has something added.  As I told your father, the added substance is some sort of unidentifiable plant extract that resembles known habit-forming substances."



My father added, "There's no way to be absolutely certain, but I believe the unknown plant extract may be wormwood.  It is known to have addictive properties.  Wormwood does not grow in the known Sim world at this time, but there are old legends about it.  If those legends are true, wormwood may have grown wild at one time in the distant past and been eradicated.  And if so, the plant may still exist in Llamastan, which is the likely origin of the vials in that trunk.



"As May said, Vial of Potent Bliss is harmless, but it does have powerful positive effects.  The addition of an addictive substance to something so pleasant could yield an elixir that few could resist.  Addiction hasn't been an issue in the Sim world, but I've seen what a problem it is in Dimension H, and believe me, we don't want to go there."

I was beginning to understand.  "If people become hooked on the modified Potent Bliss, they'll want more and more.  And Absinthe and her colleagues will get rich selling it."



"Yes," said my father, "and the benefit to Llamastan will be a Sim population enslaved to a drug, making it easier for Llamastan to take over, which I believe is their ultimate goal."

What should we do? 

"I'll alert the police and military everywhere, to be on the lookout," my father said.  "The drugs have to be shipped somehow.  If we institute baggage checks, hopefully we can seize the drugs before they can be distributed.  It must be costing them a certain amount to produce those vials.  If we find and seize enough of it to damage their potential profits, perhaps they'll drop the idea."

May spoke up.  "I also recommend a public education campaign, telling people they should buy their elixirs only from licensed elixir shops."



My father said he would take care of it.  Then the recruits started arriving home, and the meeting broke up.



May returned to her lab.



My father told me that he was leaving for Dimension H and would be unavailable for some time.  "But it's always good to see you," he said fondly.  And I felt the same about him.



I watched him leave, wondering what situation in Dimension H awaited his attention.



As I watched him go, I wondered what my father would have thought if I had told him about the red smear I had washed off my cheek after the attack.  Not blood, as I had first thought, but blood-red lipstick.

Diary Entry Ends.

* Lady Absinthe takes her name from a notorious spirituous beverage of very high alcoholic content.  Commonly called "the green fairy" in historical literature, it was a favourite beverage of artists, writers, and bohemians in the late 19th and early 20th century, particularly in Paris and New Orleans.  It is flavoured with various botanical extracts, including wormwood.  Wormwood naturally contains the chemical compound thujone, which has hallucinogenic properties.  The amount of thujone in absinthe is minimal (trace amounts) but the beverage acquired a very negative reputation as being dangerously addictive.  It has been suggested that Van Gogh's celebrated mutilation of his ear occurred while under the influence of absinthe.  As far as I know, this is apocryphal.  Nevertheless, public sentiment held that absinthe was dangerous and in the early 20th century many countries banned it.  Most of those bans have since been lifted.

Lady Absinthe's signature clothing colour is what I found when I searched for a hex code for absinthe.

[Magz from Oz]

Wow this mystery broadens, deepens, twists and turns.  I am so hooked that I still rise at 5:00 AM to get my Schipperke fix.  Is there a cure for this addiction?  If someone finds it...go away!

I like the way you've woven in reader's comments about the characters names.   

[ladybug53]

Wow ! This couldn't get anymore interesting . I'm so hooked that it's ridiculous but cannot seem to get enough . This was a super great update . 

[RainBeau]

I liked that too, about the names. Schipperke is always incorporating reader comments, and this story reaches new heights in that regard.

I love how much I learn by reading this story!

[RaiaDraconis]

Fascinating. I never would have imagined such a sinister finding. This just keeps getting more and more intriguing by the chapter!

[Gwendy]

I liked that too, about the names. Schipperke is always incorporating reader comments, and this story reaches new heights in that regard.

I love how much I learn by reading this story!

This. This. All of this. 

I also love how this is a continuing serial with story arcs and everything. That's really cool.

[Schipperke]

I liked that too, about the names. Schipperke is always incorporating reader comments, and this story reaches new heights in that regard.

Schipperke is extremely fortunate in having readers who make such insightful & interesting comments that they just have to be used in the story!  Not to mention suggestions for characters, right Rosa?  To think I had never played with Goodwin Goode before ... 

 

I am so hooked that I still rise at 5:00 AM to get my Schipperke fix. 

Aww ... thanks, Magz.  I appreciate the interest in the story even though I'm not updating it as often as before.  The wrist is still an issue - I can only do so much at a time, so I do a bit of playing and taking screenshots one day, then a day or two to sort through the pictures and write, and posting takes time because I'm still using the mouse with my left hand.  But Ben's next adventure is in the works, and I hope you'll enjoy it.  And I think you'll be very impressed when you see the wonderful building specially prepared for this adventure by a certain forum member (whose name will remain secret just a wee bit longer).

[ArtisticFantasy]

The book series Mistress Jane is is a science fiction, so she can do even more evil things than you can in the Sims. And she believes that she is the good guy. And she's insane. No, just 'evil' can't cover it.

[RainBeau]

Schipperke is extremely fortunate in having readers who make such insightful & interesting comments that they just have to be used in the story!  Not to mention suggestions for characters, right Rosa?  To think I had never played with Goodwin Goode before ... 

That's right! Everyone should play Goodwin, he's the best. <3

[Audren]

It's great that we get to see Mr. Payne again. Haven't seen him in a while. Glad to see he's making his rounds in Dimension H. It's good to think that he might be here on our world with us. 

[Swirl-Girl]

Oooh, this will be quite the noble cause! (I'm a big everything activist )
I do hope they get to the bottom of this, and stop ESCARGOT in their tracks!
(I've got a snail joke, do you want to hear it?)