Friday, December 18, 2009

Chapter 1 Wait



They call it a waiting room. This isn't a waiting room; it's a holding cell.

The grayness of everything is over powering. Between breaths I can hear the bare bulb buzzing softly above my head as it shines down brightly. There are no other sounds in this tiny gray room. It's like I'm the only one left in the entire building.

I flop over on my side onto the bed and curl up in a little ball. Somewhere out there, my mother is talking to someone to clear this all up. My mother, the Neutral Politician-- fighting against injustice to make a better tomorrow.

The blanket under my fingers scratches my skin softly. I focus on the feeling of the wool against my skin. It's something to feel at least. My heart is on pause, and breaths come carefully as I wait for that door to open with my mother and a higher up official apologizing for the mistake.

The duffel bag in the corner of the room catches my eye. It slouches against the wall prepared for travel. All it contains are clothes. They wouldn't let me take anything else with me. Not even a picture of my mother.


Something inside me burbles at seeing the duffle sitting innocously in the corner of the room. Something that would like to come to the surface-- a sob maybe-- but nothing happens. The pain sits inside my chest slowly carving into my heart and I'm just here with the blanket scratching my cheek trying to remember to just keep breathing and ignore the quiet.

Last night started out like any other night. Isn't is always like that? You never know when things will change drastically. But we were going to bed. You can't really expect special law enforcement agents to break into your house in the middle of the night to cart you away like something out of a dystopian future novel.

We had no time to talk. By the time they had me, they'd already taken her. We were in separate vehicles, left to suffer our fates alone.

So I'm still not sure why I'm here or what they intend to do with me.

The lock to the metal door clicks open, and then with a clank, the door is opened wide and a special law enforcer steps in again. "Come. Bring your clothes. You won't be coming back."

My duffle is light in my hands, but my feet are heavy as I follow her down various hallways until we reach the judgement room. It is a large room where people who stand accused of a crime committed are served justice. I've only seen them on TV of course, watching trials for class or with friends when we were really bored.


In the large room there are people already there. The tall older man, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows draws my eyes first. He seems angry, though he keeps it well in check through some self control. It's just his stance, his hands held tightly and his furrowed brow, that give a very clear indication of his annoyance.

"What the hell is this?" He asks. The words are almost a growl. His voice is deep and low but carries well. For some reason, my eyes are drawn to the man behind him who flanks him like they're ready to do battle.

The man in the suit nervously messes with his tie, flattening it without consciously realizing it. "We are aware of your dealings with some of our people, Mr. Smith."

"Of course you're aware of it. You profit from it."

The man in the suit carries on as if the man called Mr. Smith hadn't spoken a word. "The new governor won't stand for it any longer."

There's an electricity in the air as The Suit and Mr. Smith stand before each other. Mr. Smith's fists are almost white from how hard he's clenching them.


Then I notice that around the room stand more law enforcement officials dressed in black. They stand against the walls, pressing in without stepping forward.

What is going on?

The guard near me clears her throat to announce our presence. I almost jump out of my skin.

The man in the suit motions for us to come forward. The guard pushes me to make me move. Something tells me that I don't really want to go near those men. The older one in particular. There's a dangerous air around him that makes my hair stand up.

The man in the suit hardly looks at me. "This is for you."



Mr. Smith and the younger man at his side both turn to look at me with blank looks on their faces. I almost trip trying to push back against the guard roughly pushing me forward.

"Your politician made a mistake. The DNA match fits your profile. Procreation with a Wildlander is forbidden. That's one of your spies down."

The silence is unbearable. I'm not sure what he means. Who procreated with a Wildlander? Those guys are from the Wildlands?

"I'm not quite sure I understand," I say quietly into the silence.

The man in the suit crosses his arms as he looks towards to law enforcement officials. "He's your father."
















Next Chapter -->


10 comments:

  1. The machinima was a nice touch to complete this chapter - it really added atmosphere or rather enhanced the atmosphere that you've already created with the text and pictures.

    I am always thunderstruck by the level of detailing you put into your story from sets, to characters to subtle expressions that say volumes.

    I know I probably sound like a broken record now but I am truly amazed by the depth of this story.

    It was a great introduction to this second story.

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  2. From the perspective of someone who has been inside THAT place where they 'dispense' justice, the fear and tension and total bewilderment perfectly convey what she must be feeling.

    Brutal and practical and bureaucratic. He's your father. Like, that's your car.

    You do an incredible job with the shots, total fearless with your angles. I'm particularly impressed because from what I've seen, the facial expressions in TS3 usually look scared or anxious all the time - not much variety. You push it for all it's worth! Wonderful work!!

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  3. Hooked again! The set-up for this is wonderful. The apartment you've set up in the video is amazing--it looks run-down and hopeless. So Paula is the child of a politician and a Wildlander. I have so many questions! What (if any) are his powers? Did Paula inherit any? I'm so excited. :)

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  4. Wow, Lunar. You never stop to amaze me! I love everything about this explosive intro... the writing, the pictures, the video, the choice of music... most of all the content.

    I immediately felt for Paula in that cell... In the sense depravement of that environment she must he felt the uncertainty, her brutal arrest and the separation from her mother ever so keenly.

    "That's one of your spies down..." If they let Paula and the Wildlanders go... surely her mother is still safe, despite being exposed?

    (Lunar, it was difficult to find this page. I only got there by clicking on the word 'ruin' in your banner.)

    I can't forget the picture of a tree you made when you explained how all your stories lin together.

    Oh, this promises to be so interesting. Thank you so much! :)

    P.S.
    All your Sims are very handsome / beautiful!

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  5. Oh wow, that video was neat! I love the look of what you've created. It looks distinctly different than the "pretty" neighborhoods that come with Sims 3. Is that all just remodeling from one of the premade hoods?

    Wow, so she was taken away from her mother because of who her father is? This is fascinating. I can't wait to hear more! I am so excited at the prospect of all the different stories that might come out of this world! And I'm excited to hear this one starting :)

    Oh, and completely besides the point of this story probably, is the dude in the brown suit coming back? Because yum, pixel swoon, lol! How old is she? Probably too young for him, huh? ... anyway, lol!

    I love that all of your characters have a unique look to them, not a single one of them look like another I've seen. I like the look of her dad too - did you make him? And I love the expression on his face when he sees her - stern, but kind of sad. I'll second that you have a great eye for facial expressions!

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  6. Wow you guys never cease to surprise me. Wonderful to wake up to your comments this morning! ^___^

    Thanks, Carnaxa. I was a bit nervous about the video at the end. Not something I normally do, but this song really inspired me to do it.

    lol, thank you, really. I'm always surprised too, to be honest. I really don't feel like I can claim credit for it most of the time. My power is probably connecting to alternate realities and then writing down what they tell me.


    Oh, thank you SB. I'm glad that I managed to capture that feeling. It just can't be good.

    And for the pictures, thank you. The facial expressions often look really weird in TS3. Their faces are a little too real, and they kept the same animations from TS2. In short- creepy. But there's a lot of subtlety to a sim's face in TS3. I can even go in and adjust their faces a bit, turn up a corner of their mouth or turn it down to add a new layer of complexity to an expression or animation.


    Thanks, Rachel. I'm horrible at building buildings, but I simply could NOT find an apartment building that would suit my needs and I had to build it. So, uh, that's my building. But its layout is very important.

    As for the questions- yay! I'm excited too. I hope I answer all the questions satisfactorily. In due time of course.


    Aw, Moondaisy. Thank you. Oh, that is a good question. There's a reason they let Paula go. And they really can't detain those Wildlanders for a reason. I don't want to say anything yet.

    Did this page not show up on the feed you're using? This post went up a little weirdly. I had saved it and came back to edit it hours later, and when I did that I changed the time for the future, which scheduled a post. So I might have confused some feeds.

    Thank you very much. I really have found I enjoy making TS3 sims, so I almost look for a reason to make them now!


    Thanks, Laura. What's funny is that is just one street in one neighborhood. Basically, I had to find a street where the lots are close together because you cannot just plop down lots. They have to be added in the World Creator which was just released a day or two ago. Once I found a street that made me happy with the closeness of the lots, I just gathered the buildings and did a little editing in most case (a lot of editing in some cases) to make it match what's in my head-- or at least come close. My game's draw distance is actually set to the shortest distance so you can't see all the greenery behind the buildings on this one street, just some of it.

    You're meaning the guy standing next to her father, aren't you? Isn't he cute? I merged a CAS sim with a sim I created sim and got him. Heck, he will probably have to get his own story just so I can take his picture more. (Yes, I think she's a little young for him. She's only about 16 and he's pushing 30, lol.)

    Thank you. That means a lot. In my head they're all very distinctly different. I made her dad too. I actually spent some time on him one afternoon. Always have been very obsessive about faces it seems. The only thing I can draw, really, are faces!

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  7. Oh, wow, I've been waiting (heh, you see what I did there? LOL) for this and you haven't disappointed!

    You did a wonderful job building the atmosphere during Paula's anxious wait and then the total confusion she must have been feeling in the judgement room. I'm looking forward to following what happens to Paula now that she's been thrown into the company of her father a complete stranger to her until now.

    The video was a great way to end this - it really added to the world you'd already built with the text. I liked the mix of stills and video. I'd been wondering about whether you'd built it all yourself and whether you'd been using the World Creator and you've already answered that in your reply to Laura. It really looks amazing, truly.

    On a shallower note, Brown Suit is a very...attractive Sim. LOL. He's really cute, you make great Sims. I already told you at Sims in Testing how much I liked Mr. Smith.

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  8. Thank you, Carla. I sure hope you all like this story as much as the last. It's rather different from Michael and Edith's story, which I guess it should be, right? lol!

    I have heard way too many bad things from simmers I trust to even contemplate updating to the newest patch to get World Builder. But I really really want to!

    And as for Mr. Brown suit... perfect! *evilly bridges fingers like Mr. Burns* Yesss, it's all going as planned I think.

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  9. Yes, I am caught up! And I must say, is it me, or are the Sims 3 Sims looking more...attractive? Great job with them!

    Again, your writing really evokes the mood here, the buzzing of the light above, etc. very Matrix-y in its atmosphere.
    And Paula is certainly confused, this promises to be another fascinating ride.
    And the video was a rich accompaniment, when I finally got it to load, LOL! (dang internet!)

    Oh, and Merry Xmas!

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  10. lol, welcome to the world of the caught up, Drew!

    Thank you. I hope you guys find this story as interesting as the last.

    And Merry Christmas to you too!

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