Strangerville Things: Part Four

 

Freddy continued to work hard at his job. He managed to develop his logic skill to 5, his handiness skill to 3, his gemology skill to 4, and his rocket science skill to 2. When he got home from work, he practiced programming. He might need to hack into some computers to get more evidence…

Freddy got a promotion to Serum Sequencer! With the additional money, he bought a few bugs and a listening device. Maybe some spying was in order.

With a few days off from work, Freddy decided to go back to visit the mayor.

“So great to finally meet you!” he said, slapping the mayor on the back and attaching the bug.

“Uh, who are you?”

“Oh, I stopped by when you weren’t here once and met your wife. She said I should come back another time to meet you. I’m Freddy.”

“Ted,” the man said with a nod.

“Freddy tried to think of a natural way to make his exit but didn’t have much luck. “Well…bye!” he said.

Freddy grinned as he started listening on his listening device. He felt a little guilty for spying but he knew he was doing it for a good cause.

The screen had targeted the local bar, and above the noise, he heard Ted speaking to someone.

“I mean…everyone’s got a secret child somewhere, right?”

Freddy stared blankly at the screen. It was certainly a scandalous secret but he was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the Strangerville Investigation. He had wanted to find out if the mayor was involved, but his bug proved to be a dead end. Unless someone was blackmailing the mayor with the information of his secret child, Freddy was out of luck.

Desperate for more evidence, Freddy returned to the Secret Lab. He hacked into a computer and found some evidence. He also found a few more pieces of evidence by searching through the documents that seemed to have been thrown all over the floor. At last–he had collected 15 pieces of evidence!

All that was left was to get a keycard, and he was pretty sure the Curio Shop was his best bet. While he was there, he decided to buy some gear. He felt pretty silly in the colander hat, but he had no idea what he was going to find behind the door. He doubted the hat would protect him, but his skepticism about everything was starting to fade. He exchanged his dossier for a keycard, and went on his way.

He returned to the secret lab and used the keycard. “This is it…” he said to himself.

It looked like the basement was rather large, but there were purple spores in the hallways that looked dangerous–and his colander hat wasn’t going to be enough to protect him. He needed to see if he could get some hazmat gear.

When he left the secret lab, he saw that one of the plants had bloomed. He was sure it had only been a bud when he went in…

He looked up at the sky and realized what he had done.

Leaving the Secret Lab you can’t help but notice the sky has shifted to an eerie color. Something has changed in Strangerville, and not for the better. Opening that lab door must have released some kind of toxin into the air.

You will need to find a way to protect yourself from the toxic spores in the Secret Lab. Try talking to people around town to see if they know anything that might help.

He had released the spores into the air! Now he had to hurry before something even worse happened!

He went straight to the bar and spoke to someone in a uniform who told him they had an infection scanner.

“I just got this new Infection Scanner. It is really cool, it can…I mean…That is classified information! But if you can convince me maybe I can give you one…”

He tried impressing her to get her to give it to him…

But he had no fitness skill what-so-ever, so his feeble attempts at push ups failed miserably.

You have got to be joking…You think that is ‘Impressive.’ You are going to have to get stronger if you are going to impress me.”

Well, he really didn’t want to fight, and he was broke, so there was only one more option…

The art of seduction. He felt like he was betraying Leslie, but he didn’t have any other choice, so he kissed the woman on the cheek.

“Wow…that was amazing! I really should not be doing this but take this Infection Scanner.”

She giggled and handed over the Infection Scanner.

He went to speak to Irwin and asked about the spores. Irwin said he had a hazmat suit, but it was $1000, and Freddy currently only had $7! He kind of wished he hadn’t spent all that money on the listening device and gear. He would have to come back with some money, but he still needed to find a way to get his hands on a spore filter.

Unsure of what else to do, Freddy Went back to the lab. He used the Infection Scanner to collect spores.

Then Freddy used a chemical analyzer to analyze the spores. As a scientist, he had some ideas about how to use the spores to develop a vaccine.

He would have to talk to one of the scientists for more information.

He was able to befriend a scientist and convince her to craft him a spore filter. She sent it through the mail in only about one day! Then he went to buy the hazmat suit from the Curio Shop. He was about to have everything he needed to venture deeper into the Secret Lab.

Freddy was still working his way up the corporate ladder, but doing that and the investigation at the same time was draining him.

Freddy’s relationship with Leslie continued to blossom (no pun intended), but he couldn’t help but worry. He didn’t know how much longer it would be until something worse happened. He had to save Strangerville for him and for Leslie.

He and Leslie had a very successful romantic date at the local bar, and they shared their first kiss. But Freddy didn’t get to celebrate for long…

Because when he got home he saw that vines had started sprouting from the toilet, sink, and shower! He knew he had to act fast.

The bizarre fruit he planted had finally sprouted, so he harvested the fruit before leaving for the Secret Lab. Maybe he could use it to save Strangerville somehow.

The basement of the Secret Lab was filled with strange plants…

The spore mask and hazmat suit protected him from the spores, but there was one more door he still had to go through…

He gasped when he saw it; this must be what everyone was referring to when they mentioned the mother. Its vines writhed in front of him, but it didn’t seem bothered by his presence. It was too powerful to even see him as a threat!