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

[chetanhaobijam]

Great update. Team Albus report/assignment was great. I have a question, were they in disguise or not? I like their disguise. Can't wait for Team Sapphire's report to appear.

[Danielle Haydis]

I don't know about Ezagutza, but Coline was in disguise.

[Schipperke]

TEAM SAPPHIRE

3.  Tomba & Handler chetanhaobijam:

Dear Sir Oliver,
Oliver Spying School.

Reporting by Tomba Singh.

Sir, as requested, I am now reporting my investigation on this day of Sunset Valley.
When I arrived in my house, I thought of resting and watching TV to control the stress of moving. But my spying instinct kicked in and I looked through my telescope. I found some new people in my neighborhood, but nothing else. Then, I put on my disguise and went to the local swimming pool. There, I found a man. I thought I could get some valuable information from him, so I asked for a gossip.



He told me about someone I had never heard of.  As I love the outdoors, I visited the park and there I met Dr. Geoffrey Landgraab (I asked his name).  When I asked him for a gossip,


 
he gave me some very juicy gossip about someone named Xander Clavell.  Then I got highly suspicious of this Clavell, so I decided to go to his house and see if I could learn some information.
 


I found Xander sending a package to someone. Could that be something about the enemy?
 


I was so curious that I rummaged in his trashcan. But I couldn't find anything.

Over and out, Sir,
Tomba Singh.

Instructor's Comments:  Good for Tomba for being willing to get a little dirty in the cause of spying on a suspect!  Looking through the garbage can be one of the best ways of gathering information about a suspect.  Every spy should be willing to do a little dumpster diving.

4.  Jasper & Handler RaiaDraconis:

Field Report, Sunset Valley, Day 1:

10 a.m.

My first stop was Central Park. Wide-open and exposed as the place is it would not be my first choice for any sort of covert meeting, however it did allow me the opportunity to observe the actions of a few of the town residents.

(The actions in question were difficult to ignore; two men broke into a heated argument literally two feet away from where I was pretending to play chess.)



“I asked for extra onions!” the man in leather yelled.

“Dude, chill! I didn't even make the pizza, and the last time I delivered to your house was over two weeks ago!”

The leather-clad man stormed off in a huff shortly thereafter. Note for future reference: avoid contact with that man unless absolutely necessary, as brushing up against that prickly personality would be a painful prospect at best.

I chanced a quick glance at the bewildered delivery driver. He seemed innocent enough, though one can never judge from outward appearances. The man shook his head and walked off, presumably to find more pleasant company. (Or perhaps to go to work...or something more sinister...? I'm not ready to rule anyone out at this point.)

The next few hours were rather uneventful, and I decided that it was time to move on. It was after noon by this point, and I was starting to get a bit hungry. Looking at my map I found that Sunset Valley had a total of two restaurants, a diner and a bistro. I wasn’t in the mood for a greasy burger, so I headed toward the bistro.

2:30 p.m.

The place was largely deserted when I arrived, so I ordered a salad and ate outside. While it was tasty to be sure, the tomatoes were rather suspect, so I carefully avoided them. The last thing that I need is to be ill with food poisoning on my first day at the school.

About three-quarters of the way through my meal I noticed a man and a woman exiting the bistro together. Husband and wife, perhaps? I opened a book to act as a cover and listened closely to their conversation.



“I can understand your concern,” the woman spoke. “I will be sure to address the subject at the city council meeting on Wednesday.”

“I greatly appreciate that. By the way, thank you for lunch.”

“You are most welcome, good sir. And thanks to you and your wife for the campaign donation.”

A politician. That most certainly piqued my interest.

“Not a problem. Have a good afternoon, Mrs. Alto.”

I filed her name away in my head for future reference. While I was not about to jump to any conclusions, it is always wise to know who makes the decisions and who holds the purse strings...good or bad.

As I finished off what was left of my salad I noticed a maroon minivan pulling into the parking lot. Moments later a middle-aged couple and four children piled out of the vehicle and onto the patio.

The man was of stocky build, well-muscled, with a pair of steel dog-tags on a chain around his neck. Clearly a military man, and chances are probably not a spy. His wife's occupation (or who I presume was his wife) was not as evident. An office job, perhaps? A homemaker? Having four children would be a full-time job in itself, so I doubted that she would even have the time to be a spy.

As I continued my observations, though, one fact did become painfully obvious: there was a darn good reason why they had that many children.



“Eww, get a room,” the older daughter groused.

The sound of metal chair scraping across the brick patio brought my attention to the teenage son, who had taken a seat not far away from me and started reading a book. I was immediately wary; was he simply entertaining himself, or was he using the book as a cover to spy on me?

I chanced speaking to the lad and quickly realized that my concerns were unfounded.



Potential ally discovered. That his father is a military officer could also prove to be a serious boon should difficulties arise. But the question was...would I be able to trust the rest of his family? Alas, that was one question that would remain unanswered, at least for the time being. The boy's father called for him and the family disappeared into the restaurant.

Conclusion:

There is much that I learned today about Sunset Valley and the people who call the place home, yet I know that I have only barely scratched the surface. Patience, careful observation, and keen listening will be critical if I am to be successful in my endeavors.

Jasper A. Dartwood, signing off.

Instructor's Comments:  Excellent observation skills, Jasper!  And well done on identifying a potential ally.  Good Sims can usually be counted on to help out when necessary.

[chetanhaobijam]

Awsome report of Team Saphire. Raia writing/report is great. And congrats to Jasper for finding a potential ally. Looking forward for reading Team Rubeus's reports.

[Magz from Oz]

Awsome report of Team Saphire. Raia writing/report is great. And congrats to Jasper for finding a potential ally. Looking forward for reading Team Rubeus's reports.

Chetan said exactly what I was going to say.  Chetan, your report was great.  It is very wise to stay as far from Jared Frio as one can get.  Raia, fabulous writing.  I sort of knew you were going to bring some of your favourites Sims into the story somehow.   You both get an A from me. 

[RaiaDraconis]

That was an awesome idea, asking for town gossip like that and even going so far as to rummage around in Xander's garbage can! Was that Tomba's disguise by chance...?

Chetan said exactly what I was going to say.  Chetan, your report was great.  It is very wise to stay as far from Jared Frio as one can get.  Raia, fabulous writing.  I sort of knew you were going to bring some of your favourites Sims into the story somehow.   You both get an A from me. 

Running into the Bunch family was completely by chance--a chance that I just could not pass up.

[chetanhaobijam]

That was an awesome idea, asking for town gossip like that and even going so far as to rummage around in Xander's garbage can! Was that Tomba's disguise by chance...?

Running into the Bunch family was completely by chance--a chance that I just could not pass up.

Yeah, he was in disguise. The townie keep saying that there is some fishy about X. Clavell. So, I check his house. And by luck/by chance I find him posting a box/parcel in the mailbox. And from now I know that gossip is the only interaction in which we can know dirty secrets of the  town. And my report is short because no other words were coming on my mind and I have poor writing skill.

[MarianT]

This is great fun to read. As an added plus, I'm getting some ideas on how to learn about sims in other towns.

[RaiaDraconis]

Yeah, he was in disguise. The townie keep saying that there is some fishy about X. Clavell. So, I check his house. And by luck/by chance I find him posting a box/parcel in the mailbox. And from now I know that gossip is the only interaction in which we can know dirty secrets of the  town. And my report is short because no other words were coming on my mind and I have poor writing skill.

Your writing skill is just fine.

<facepalm> Ooops, I see now where you wrote that Tomba put on his disguise. Don't mind me, I was half asleep when I wrote it.

I can't wait to see what Team Rubeus has in store for us. This is fascinating, seeing what the rest of the crew is doing!

[Swirl-Girl]

Your writing skill is just fine.

<facepalm> Ooops, I see now where you wrote that Tomba put on his disguise. Don't mind me, I was half asleep when I wrote it.

I can't wait to see what Team Rubeus has in store for us. This is fascinating, seeing what the rest of the crew is doing!

I completely agree on both points. I don't have much to say, I'm just anxious for everyone to see mine.

[Schipperke]

The students are busy getting their first assignment ready.  But their instructor is also busy with preparations.  And he's not happy with his assistant.  Honestly, can't she get anything right?  He pulls out his phone and mutters, "Hurry up!  Answer, already."



Finally the phone is answered.  An irritated voice says, "Well?  What is it?  In case you didn't realize it, it's the weekend.  I was relaxing in the backyard with the dogs ..."

"I don't care about your social life!  You left out some important information about one of the students - what happened to Tomba's particulars?"

"... oops."

"Yeah, well, fix it!" *click*

And so, with apologies to chetanhaobijam for somehow forgetting Tomba's particulars, here they are:

Name: Tomba Singh.
Team: Team Sapphire.
Age: Young Adult.
Lifestate: Human.
House: Cozy Craftsman, 28 Sim Lane.
Traits: Bookworm, Genius, Light Sleeper, Schmoozer, Workaholic.
Lifetime Wish: World Renowned Surgeon.
Favourites: Autumn Salad, Pop, Aqua.
Career: Bed Pan Cleaner (Medicine Level 2).
Skill Points: 5 logic, 2 athletic, 2 handiness, 1 cooking.
LTRs: None bought.

[Swirl-Girl]

That silly assistant!

[Schipperke]

That silly assistant!

It's so hard to get good help these days ... 

[Magz from Oz]

It's so hard to get good help these days ... 

I imagine the mishap occurred because of so many computer problems of late.  I'm sure the assistant has been very overworked coordinating everything and getting all the information together.  Clearly Ben's holiday did nothing to improve his patience.   

[chetanhaobijam]

Thanks to Ben and the assistant for fixing it.