Strangerville Things: Part One

 

Welcome to Strangerville. "The Only thing stranger than the people is the flora!" Soon after moving in, the town's slogan is starting to make sense to you. Some of the locals are acting a bit suspicious and there's a large number of Military and Scientists in town.

Try asking people about Strangerville. They might be able to shed some light on this strange situation.

Freddy Mcallister stared at his new lot. He couldn’t remember anything before he appeared holding a pamphlet welcoming him to Strangerville. It was almost as though the hand of God had dropped him into the world with no plan and only $725 in his pocket.

He didn't even have a house--just a tent, a shower, a refrigerator, and a bush to use as a toilet!

After checking out his new home, Freddy noticed a strange plant.

“What is that?” he asked out loud. He had never seen a plant like that before–Or at least, he was pretty sure he hadn’t!

Despite not remembering much, he did remember a tv show called Sim Trek, and if it had taught him anything, it was not to touch anything when exploring a strange planet--and this certainly seemed like a strange planet to him!

He reached into his pocket and was surprised to find a phone. He took a picture of the plant–He wanted to be a scientist after all, so he had to study it. It appeared to be organic, but the purple, pink, and blue coloration wasn’t usually found in nature. In fact, it looked completely alien!

Then it occurred to him: Maybe the reason he could only vaguely remember his past was because he was abducted by aliens who wiped his brain!

Yep, that was definitely the most logical explanation, not that he was actually part of a simulation game someone was playing for fun.

There was something unsettling about Strangerville. “There must be somewhere I can find out more about this place,” he mused. Surely there was a library nearby…

He decided he should walk around a little bit and met a woman who introduced herself as Juniper Grove.

“Excuse me, miss?” he asked.

“Yes?”

“Ummm…Can you tell me anything about this place?”

“I’ve heard there’s some kind of Secret Lab in the crater outside town.”

“Really?”

“That’s just what I’ve heard. I’m a tourist from Chestnut Ridge, and frankly this place is too weird for me, so I’m gonna go home!”

“Wait–can you direct me to the nearest library?” he asked.

“Right behind you!” she said. “Strangerville Information Center,” she said, gesturing to the small house behind them.

“Oh–that’s a library? It just looked like a normal house to me!” he said.

“Yeah, it’s a library, if you can call it that…It’s pretty small and has all these weird books about conspiracy theories inside it.”

“Thanks for the information,” he said. She had piqued his curiosity.

“No problem…Oh–and don’t be surprised if some of the people here are a bit…well…strange,” she said.

“Strange how?” he asked.

“Oh, you’ll see,” she said. Then she hurried away.

Freddy looked through some of the books until he saw one that looked interesting. “Avoiding the Watchful Eye.”

A newspaper clipping that referred to something called “the incident” but did not explain what that meant fell out of the book.

Newspaper Clipping: "After the incident there have been reports of Bizarre Plants growing around town. No one has been able to figure out why they are spreading so quickly. Efforts to eradicate them have been fruitless; for each sprout removed, three grow back in its place.

His instincts were right–those plants were not natural.

He put the book away and noticed a man in a white coat sitting at a desk behind him. “Excuse me, sir–can you tell me anything about Strangerville?” he asked. 

"I actually don't know much about Strangerville. Up until recently, I spent most of my time at the Secret Lab in the crater."

The man seemed evasive but it was strange to Freddy that he mentioned a secret lab, just like the woman he met outside. Some secret, he thought to himself. He had only been in Strangerville for a couple of hours and already two people had mentioned it!

Another scientist mentioned the strange plants.

"Theres some very interesting plant life around here. Have you seen any of it yet? I don't advise messing with it too much."

Yet another scientist reassured him without prompting that there was no need to worry about the secret lab. 

"People shouldn't worry about the Secret Lab in the crater. We have top people working on it right now. Top. People."

Freddy knew that if someone told you not to worry, it was a definite sign that you should worry...a lot…It seemed like the scientists were playing dumb…Something, well, strange was going on.

On his way home, he met a man dressed in strange clothing who mentioned a Curio Shop with a Secret Inventory. "Have you checked out the Curio Shop near the trailer park? I hear they have a Secret Inventory that might be worth checking out.

The man was wearing a t-shirt featuring a UFO and a vest with patches and pins attached to it. Freddy was reluctant to take the man seriously, especially after he mentioned he was in a rush to get back home because he forgot his colander hat that protected him from 'them' using mind control on him. “It’s the only way to keep 'them' out of your mind,” he said seriously.

“Who is 'them?'” Freddy asked.

“Sorry, gotta go! The truth is out there!” the man called as he ran.

Then Freddy saw a strange woman walking down the street. Her head was tilted and her eyes were open wide. Her arms and legs seemed stiff as she walked, and she seemed to be mumbling something and giggling.

“Um, excuse me, Miss? Are you ok?”

She laughed maniacally and then said something that only vaguely resembled Simlish. Something about "fruit" and "The Mother?"

He had seen sims under the influence of too much juice before, and this didn’t look anything like it–plus it was just past noon!

He chuckled uneasily. “Feel better!” he called to her as he walked away as quickly as he could without looking like he was trying to get away.

He went home and found a few sims, including the strange woman waiting for him.

“Welcome to Strangerville,” the woman said with a big smile plastered on her face.

“We brought fruitcake,” another woman said.

“Yes, welcome!” the man echoed. 

The man said something about "The Mother" and not to resist her. Freddy didn’t want to make them angry, so he said. “Uhh…nice to meet you?”

They all crowded around him and stared.

The blonde woman grinned and said something about "The Mother."

"Join us," the other woman said. Then they sauntered away, and they didn’t even leave the fruitcake! 

Freddy decided to go out to explore more and stumbled upon the Secret Lab. To his surprise, one of the doors was open. It was strange that there was no security, but it looked as though the place had been evacuated in a hurry.

There were documents marked Top Secret all over the place. He took a look at some of the documents but couldn’t read them at all…It was like they were written in another language…He did pocket a hastily scrawled note. Whatever was going on here, he knew he would need evidence to prove it.

Freddy came to a locked door. Whatever the scientists were hiding, it had to be back there, but it looked like the door required a keycard to unlock it.

He took out the notebook he always carried in his pocket and took some notes about the strange door. Something strange was behind that door, and he was going to find out what it was!