Someone came downstairs as I was putting the dishes in the dishwasher. I looked into the living room in time to see Kate leave the house. Maybe she was going to the store. I went out the back way to go check up on Ironsides in the shop. He was at the workbench producing Hydro after Hydro. They were piled everywhere. He was moving very slowly because his power supply was almost gone so I told him to stop work and follow me. There wasn’t much sun left to the day but he’d get a little juice out of it. “What are we doing out here?” he said. “Just a little fresh air. Park it there, Ironsides.” I pointed to a bright sunny spot next to the mail box. “We got enough of those water machines, Emil? I made them good. There’s an army of them now.” “Yeah, we’ve got enough of them. We need a few of the sweepers now.” “Sweepers? This is a major job I’m thinking. So maybe you need some capital investment here. I can help with that, Emil. I’ve some capital put away and maybe we could come to an agreement about how we split the percentage.” The last of his power drained away and he slumped forward. The solar unit started to crackle and spark, sucking in the last rays of the sun. I stood there scratching my chin, wondering about this capital investment he was talking about. If Ironsides’ peculiar programming arose from somewhere in my own brain, the capital was just a pipe dream. Then again, maybe I knew something I didn’t know I knew, if you get my meaning. I turned as someone came up behind me. I smiled at Kate. She was not smiling at me. There was fire in her eye. “I’ve just seen Joe,” she said.
I raised my hands. Its not real, Kate. I didnt hit him. I know its not real, Errol. Ive seen real bruises before, but Ania hasnt. Shes terrified of her own father now. Youre not in Athelston and those two are not your cell pals. Kate, take a walk with me. Just down to the corner and back. We walked in silence past a couple of houses. I pointed, without saying anything, to a neighbors rosebushes. Kate and I had talked of planting rosebushes once or twice but hadnt gotten around to it. We walked a little further. Kate made a sound in her throat. Then she coughed. Then she burst out laughing. She said, You should have helped him with the boot polish, Errol. He looked ridiculous, like a clown. I know. I should have discussed it with you, too. I knew youd object. Hows Ania? She blames herself. She doesnt want to come out of her room and see either you or Joe. Shes really shaken. Shes got no idea how pretty she is, and how easy it would be for a guy to forget himself. Like I am around you, Kate. When I first met youthe things I was thinking. I tried to explain something I could hardly bare to talk about, Ania could get hurt. Kate stopped walking and threw her arms around me. Theyll be fine, Honey. Edith and Ania will be just fine. And Ania has decided to go with Edith to college. La Fiesta. Its the closest one and we can visit them every week. Is Ania just running away? From me? She might be feeling that way at the moment but shell be with Edith and make new friends. Guy friends. Guy friends and girl friends, too. Our problem, Lover, is that we, you and me, have seen too much of the worst in people. Besides, whenever Ania does bring home the man she wants to marry, I wouldnt mind if he turns out to be Joe. Would you? Dont rush me. Ill think about it. Kate and I walked arm in arm back to the house.
Well, at least someone's talking sense in that household. Errol is such a sweetheart. You brought tears to my eyes. He really loves his daughters, I can tell. And, since when can player characters get jobs as maids?
I got access to the maid outfit and other NPC outfits with some hack I downloaded a while ago. Surprised me, actually. I think I was just looking for a hack that would let the old folks wear adult clothes (making them slimmer and less droopy). Anyway, I did not go looking for and did not realize at first what was available in the game. There are some outfits I cannot figure out what job they go with, but then again, I haven't played out all the careers, either. p.s. Errol brought tears to my eyes as well. Nothing Kate could say, I realized, was going to make him any less determined to protect his girls, even from innocent Joe. Errol had been in jail, after all, and knew just how bad people could be.
lol!! Even if that's all it where, I'd be by everyday to read it too! The story is great, as always. I read daily; though, don't often think to post. I'll be missing the frequency of posts when you get back to your "real life."
Haha, I just noticed that. The Lynet and SBW show...LOL! Great stuff, as usual, Lynet. Didn't realize I don't say that nearly enough.
You can also get the NPC outfits with boolprop, I'm sure of it. I love the storyline - you have Errol with the protective father thing down to a T.
Mermaid Cove has a link to the hack I used. It does more than allow access to NPC clothes. It allows elders to wear the 'adult' clothes which is real nice since so many more nice clothes are created for adults than for elders.
It's not easy to design attractive stuff when your boobs are practically sweeping the floor and you can't see your shoes over your tummy. Sweet dad, that Errol.
LOL, Michelle. I hope you like the next couple of chapters. I was at the shop about to open it up when I heard an earsplitting scream from the house. I raced around the back, up the stairs, into the kitchen and almost fell over the legs of my mother. She was on the floor. Ironsides stood over her. I got down and grabbed her hand and touched her face. She was still breathing, passed out cold. Get out of here! I told the robot. Go back to the shop and sit still until I get there. He plodded stiffly away without a word. I picked Mom up and put her on the couch, then got a kitchen towel, ran water on one edge of it and went back to the couch. When I touched her face with it she came around and started batting away my hands. Stop that, youll mess up my makeup. Hands off the face, mister. She tried to sit up and I helped her. Gracious, is that you, Errol? What happened? When did you get here? More importantly, when did I get here? Are you alright, Mom? Dont stand up yet. Give it a minute. Sit quiet and tell me what happened. What happened? I dont know what happened. You tell me what happened. She touched hands to her hair, smoothing it. You fainted, Mom. I heard you scream and I came in and found you on the floor, out cold. Tell me why. Oh, that. Keep the metal man in your shop, Errol. I was cleaning up after breakfast. I heard someone come into the kitchen. I turned around and there it was right in my face, buzzing like a hornet, calling me by my given name, Viola, which no one calls me any more. Even Kate, she sniffed. Kate doesnt seem to like me much. Why is that, Errol? I took care of my grandbabies very nicely. Kate likes you just fine, Mom. Shes just busy. And the girls adore you, you know that. So Ironsides calls you by name and you faint? Thats all? Maybe you should see a doctor, Mom. Its not like you to go fainting. It just took me by surprise. Thats all there is to it. I feel fine now. Its past time for your store to be open and Ill be ready in a few minutes. But lock that thing up in the shop. Its unnatural. Made of metal, walking around on two legs like people. She shuddered. We can manage without your help today. Ill need you, certainly, tomorrow, but today we can manage. Stay in the house, rest up. Ill keep the robot locked in the shop. I promise. She nodded, agreeing immediately, which was also not like her. I left her on the couch and went out to the shop, hunting for Ironsides.
I found him sitting in a chair facing a blank computer screen. What did you say to her, Ironsides? My name is Hector, not Ironsides. You know well enough that my name is Hector, Emil. Ironsides is a code name thats not necessary to use when its only you and me in the room. I want you to call me Hector. Hector it is, then, but only when we are alone. What did you say to her, Hector? Who is it youre asking me about? I dont know who youre talking about. My mother! Viola! The woman in the kitchen where you were not supposed to be. Why were you there and what did you say to her? Viola? Viola is the name of my daughter. You have no daughter. You disowned her. You would think I was talking to my Granddad and not a collection of scrap metal and bolts that Id hammered together myself. I guess Id literally put my life into this thing and it was spouting it all back at me. The robot buzzed and clicked and made faint hissing sounds. Maybe a circuit had gotten fried. Finally it said, I went to the house because I was looking for your Mom, Errol. Did you take care of your Mom like I told you to take of her? Why are you calling me Errol now? Do you think I wouldnt know my own grandson? My own blood? The boy I raised for years? But I told you to take care of your Mom. Did you take care of your Mom like I told you to take care of her, Errol? I reached out and hit the power switch, turning him off. The head drooped and it sat still. Not a single twitch or buzz. Seems to me that you cant just turn off a ghost. So it must be that I myself had created this thing to haunt me. Sure am glad I had sense enough to install the off button.
I left him powered down all day. I handled the register and tried, mostly without success, to sell to the customers. Joe was much better at it. Finally, I closed the shop at 2 pm, sent Joe home, and got into my own house in time to see my mother racing out the door in her maid outfit. Her face was flushed. She seemed to have recovered from the mornings shock so I didnt try to stop her. I went upstairs looking for Kate and found her relaxing on the bed with a book. I lay down next to her. I have a problem, Kate. She set the book aside and put her hand on mine. What is it, Honey? The house was quiet. Where are the girls? Edith is at work. Anias gone shopping with one of her girlfriends. Theyre looking at clothes for college. Weve got the place to ourselves. Kate was the only one I could safely talk to about what was happening to me. I knew shed put off having me committed for as long as possible. Strange things happen to me, Kate. I even sold a book about the strange things that happen to me. Her hand tightened on mine. What strange thing has happened this time? Not the mirrors again. You destroyed them, didnt you? Please tell me that Harcourt hasnt come back. The mirrors are gone, I said carefully. Iven has not returned. Which was true. I had no intention of telling her that his son was here. But Granddad has returned. Im haunting myself with Granddad. Come again? That robot out in the shop, the one I call Ironsides, acts like Granddad. Joe heard it, too. We reviewed all the programming and couldnt find the reason. But theres no mistaking it. Its Hector. How does it act like Hector? Today was the worst of it. Ironsides came into the house and scared Mom. Called her Viola and must have said something else that neither of them will tell me. Whatever it was, when she heard it she passed out cold on the kitchen floor. The robot you yourself programmed will not tell you what it said to Viola? Thats right. And it also keeps telling me I promised to take care of Mom. Then asks me where she is, what Ive done with her. Im beginning to think Im actually going crazy. Do I seem to you like Im going crazy, Kate? I thought you told me you took the urn to Gothier Green Lawns. The urn? You said yourself that your granddad told you to take good care of Mom, also known as the Urn, which you took to Gothier Green Lawns. Seems to me that if youre haunting yourself because of that urn, youd better go and get it.
Kate told me that if I could wait until Saturday shed go with me to the cemetery. She was fascinated by the idea that I was driving myself crazy because of that urn. And I think she still had it in her head that it was the key to a buried treasure even though I insisted there was no such treasure. Treasure or no treasure, her matter-of-fact observation that the urn was the center of my nightmares and the reason behind Ironsides behavior made a lot of sense to me. I had promised my Granddad Id take care of it. I suppose the promise was weighing on me. Unconsciously, of course. I certainly did not consciously give a fig about that urn. It was not, after all, really my mother in there. Speaking of Mom, I wanted to ask her again about the fainting episode but Kate stopped me. I think you can figure it out, Errol. A robot walks up and asks you for the ashes of your own dead body. That would give anyone a turn. Some people might even faint, especially on an empty stomach. She hadnt had breakfast, yet. Right? That, too, made sense. What did not make sense was the nightmare which came at me in the middle of the night. It was Granddad all over again, although only his face this time. Once more he met me in the middle of the road with nothing around except the grey fog. He went through the whole business again, asking me if Id taken good care of Mom as hed told me to. This time I was ready for him. Youre talking about the urn, arent you, Hector? Call me Granddad, Errol. Im talking about your Mom. Did you take good care of her as I told you to. Yes I have. So stop pestering me. I need my sleep and youre getting in the way of that. I turned and walked away. I heard him talking, fainter and fainter. Im hurtin', Errol. Im hurtin bad. Help me, Errol. Help me. I opened my eyes, in bed, in the dark, next to Kate, still hearing him calling me from the nightmare. I had a feeling there was more to this than that blasted urn.
Aaaah! Creepy disembodied faces! Help! You've really got me hooked now ... hope we don't have to wait too long to find out what's going on.
It's why I've been putting up so many chapters in the past 24 hours. I wanted to be sure people lost sleep waiting for the rest of the story. I'm a meany that way. I managed to make Granddad's ghost even more creepy than the full body glowing guy which was weird enough. I like the face all by itself much better. It even creeped me out.
I can't wait to see what happens at the cemetary!! I totally love this story, even though I also don't say it enough.
Can you give me a link to the bit about the urn please? I vaguely remember but not exactly. Bone chilling stuff!
Post #10 of this thread. He also mentions it somewhere at the beginning of I,Sim (very briefly). He thought the urn contained his dead mother's ashes. Turns out she's not dead after all. So what's in the urn? Hmmmmm. Boo!
