Seth transports himself and three others - Rodney, Cypress, and Marielle - accidentally from different universes to an abandoned warehouse that appears to be located in Strangetown. Seth explains that he was bored in a blank "nowhere" place and was looking for a way to transport himself somewhere more interesting when the others suddenly appeared with him. They now find themselves stranded together in an unknown universe, with differing reactions but realizing they have substantial joint wealth that could help them establish themselves in this new world.

2. The multiverse, a very curious place indeed. Not very much is known about it altogether. It is known
that the multiverse consists of many universes – a potentially infinite amount. Each universe exists as
its own unit, and it can be more or less connected to other universes.
One interesting fact about the multiverse is that duplicates are entirely possible, even likely. Some
universes closely resemble each other, and indeed go by the same name. For instance, it has been
found that the multiverse contains an incredible amount of universes that go by the name
”Pleasantview”. What is perhaps even more curious, is that in addition to universes, also their
inhabitants can exist more than once. Some characters indeed have multiple lives across different
parts of the multiverse, with different occupations, different lodgings, different families. It is suspected
that new characters and new universes are brought into existence every second, merely by the power
of thought.
Each universe lives by its own rules, which can differ vastly between universes. It also seems to be
the case that each universe has a Deity of some kind. (The names by which these Deities are called
differ from universe to universe: Creator, Simmer, Clicky-Person, Voice and Watcher are known
examples. Some Deities seem to go by a unique name.) The Deities can be involved in their universe
(or universes, as a single Deity may reign several universes) to different degrees, and for some
Deities the extent of involvedness changes over time. It is suspected that what brings new universes
and characters into life, is in fact, a thought of a Deity.

3. In fact, we know that this can happen. How do we know this? Well, it happens that one day, a
particular Sim Deity thought up a Seth Jaypalan.
Please note the indefinite article: the Sim Deity thought up not the Seth Jaypalan, but a Seth
Jaypalan. The Seth Jaypalan continued to exist in his original universe, Simfield, where he continued
to work as an actor and as a bodyguard to the current Mayor, and plot ways in which he could gain
infinite amounts of the elixir of life and remain eternally young.
Now this Sim Deity in question perhaps should not have thought up a Seth Jaypalan. After all, it is
rumored that the same Sim Deity, some years ago, thought up the Salahuddin Chamcha, which
incident has caused no small amount of trouble in a universe named Alphabetia.
But, what was done was done, and a Seth Jaypalan existed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Note to Sim Deities: The author of this story and the Sim Deity mentioned above would like to remind
you that any additional Seth Jaypalans or other potentially dangerous characters are the sole
responsibility of the Sim Deity who chooses to think them up. We accept no responsibility for
damage, real or imagined, to universes caused by dangerous characters.

4. It was perhaps fortunate that merely thinking up this particular Seth Jaypalan didn't cause him to exist
in a particular, established universe, it merely caused him to exist. If you will, he was caught up in
between universes.
What was somewhat less fortunate, was that this incarnation of Seth was bored.

5. Although this Seth Jaypalan was not currently part of any known (or unknown, for that matter)
universe, he still had some capabilities. Such as, being able to summon certain objects at will, and
use them. He wanted a computer. Hey, if you're bored, the first option is surf the web, right?
Seth was previously knowledgeable about Legacies, and to some degree, the multiverse. He was
aware that he was currently Nowhere, and that didn't exactly please him. So he got himself hooked
up on the internet, and tried to find a solution to his problem.
While doing that, he ended up reading some information – and some speculation – on the multiverse.
He found it particularly interesting that there were some universes that were basically closed off from
the rest of the multiverse, so that there were no characters shared between this universe and any
other universe. Well, more or less so. Seth briefly wondered why that was, but there didn't seem to be
an answer available. So he set back to the task at hand: to get out of here.
No one knows exactly what Seth managed to do, or rather, what he kind of, almost, somewhat
managed to do, but he was eventually able to transport from Nowhere to Somewhere.
And this is where our story begins.

6. It was a sunny and a perfectly ordinary day in a newly created universe that went by the name
Strangetown – a fairly common name in the multiverse for some reason. There, in the middle of
nowhere, stood a long abandoned warehouse. It had been empty for so long that no one alive even
remembered what it was that was stored there.
On the outside, it seemed perfectly normal and no one could have possibly told that something rather
odd was currently going on inside.
It all started with a rather loud...
*CRACK*

7. Inside the warehouse, there were four sims, who had seemingly just appeared from thin air, at the
same time as the loud ”crack” was heard. They were laying on the floor in different slightly odd
positions, as if unconscious or possibly just knocked over.

8. Seth Jaypalan was the first to recover. He blinked and waited for the room to stop moving around
him, then pushed himself into a more upright position.
”Ow, my head”, he muttered to himself, ”What WAS that?”

9. Seth was already on his feet when the three others only started to push themselves up from the floor.
He immediately recognized one of them as a frequent companion of his, Rodney Jalowitz, the Mayor
of Simfield. It was hard not to, given Rodney's favorite red sweater and his hair that he insisted to
keep shoulder length, despite his prestigious position.
”What happened?” Rodney seemed to be muttering, rubbing his eyes.
”Rodney, are you okay?” asked Seth.
”Seth?” was all the reply he could get, so he took that as a yes. He looked at the other two sims, and
was surprised to find that although he hadn't met them in person, he in some sense knew both of
them. There was a blond man in jeans and a black shirt, and a brunette lady in a slightly old-
fashioned looking dress.

10. ”Who the fucking dimwit thought INTERDIMENSIONAL TRANSFER would be a good idea?” asked
the blond man, hissing, as he pushed himself up fom the ground.
Yep, that was definitely Cypress Vetinari, Seth thought to himself. He'd read about the man on the
web, and wasn't convinced he was happy to be in this place – wherever it was – with him. Sure, the
guy was smart, but unfortunately also an extremely dangerous sociopath.
Seth thought it smartest not to answer the question at this point, so he tried to look innocent and
directed his attention to the lady of the party instead.

11. ”My goodness. Where am I? What am I wearing?”
Yes, Seth was certain. The lady was no doubt Marielle Hutchins Legacy. And she had a point about
the clothes – Seth didn't know exactly where they were, but if her clothes, and those of all of the
others, were of any indication, it was somewhere modern.

12. ”Seth?” Rodney asked again. ”What'd you do?”
Oh great, Rodney. So much for the plan of pretending he didn't have anything to do with the
transport. Thanks for your trust, thought Seth, half irritated, half amused.

13. ”I'm not sure”, replied Seth, quite truthfully actually. ”I remember being bored, sitting on the computer,
and then... well, suddenly being here.”

14. By now all four sims had gathered themselves from the ground and looked at each other in slight
disbelief.
”So, umm...” Seth started, but he was cut short by Cypress.

15. ”Did I understand correctly”, he asked, ”that the reason for us being here is YOUR idiocy?” He
pointed his words at Seth.
Seth pondered briefly on whether it would be wise to admit, then figured they, or he, would probably
find out later anyway, so he might as well. He knew that knowingly angering someone like Cypress
wouldn't be a smart move, but somehow he found that he wasn't afraid.
”As I said, I can't be sure. I remember a brief period from before I was here, and I was looking for a
way to not be THERE, so it could have been me I suppose. I don't remember.”
”And who the hell are you anyway?” was the next question.

16. ”Name's Seth, Seth Jaypalan. And since I seem to be the only one who knows who everyone is”, he
glanced at Cypress, couldn't help pointing that out, ”I suppose I should be the one to do the
introductions.”
He paused. ”So yeah. Seth Jaypalan. Originally from Simfield. Actor, bodyguard.”
”Should that impress me?” asked Cypress to that.
”Well if you were a normal person, maybe that would, but being you, maybe you'll find the fact that
I've killed a bunch of simselves more interesting”, Seth snapped. He hadn't meant to say that, but he
found Cypress' attitude more than a little irritating.
”I've done better but that's already better”, was the reply.

17. ”This is Rodney, Rodney Jalowitz, also from Simfield. He's the Mayor there. And if you're again
interested in some of his other achievements then...”
”Shut up, Seth”, said Rodney, irritated. ”It's enough that had to drag me along to whatever mess
you've gotten into this time, I don't need you to convince some psycho guy I've never seen in my life
that I'm 'evil enough' for his taste or whatever.”
”Mayor, you say? How'd someone with that girly hair become Mayor?” mocked Cypress. Seth made a
mental note that this man apparently had some inborn ability to find weak spots.
Rodney seemed to be steaming with fury, so before he could snap back, Seth answered for him:
”Blackmail, actually, and some complicated plotting. And after you're Mayor, you can pretty much cut
or not cut your hair any way you like, it seems. Anyway, the lady of the company...”

18. ”Marielle Hutchins Legacy”, said the lady in question, making Seth's intended introduction
unnecessary, and confirming his recognition of her to be correct.
”And what have you done, then?” asked Cypress from Marielle.
”I beg you pardon?”
”Well surely if I'm surrounded by two simself-killers and whatnot, and myself being as delightfully evil
as I am, you've got to have some kind of interesting stuff on your account, come on!”
Marielle gave Cypress a cold look. ”Excuse me sir, but certainly if you have committed heinous
crimes, that does not imply that I have done anything to deserve such foul company?”
Seth looked at Cypress. ”Mistreated ex-husband and kids, was involved in a plot to kill said husband's
father.”
”I see. Absolutely nothing, then. My apologies, miss”, Cypress smirked.

19. There was a moment of silence. Apparently everyone was still slightly confused from suddenly being
thrown into a strange warehouse. They couldn't but stare at each other, and Seth was reminded that
he and Rodney were the only ones who knew each other in advance. He briefly wondered how such
a crew could possibly have come together, but was cut short when Rodney broke the silence.
”Okay, enough pleasantries”, he spat the word out, clearly remembering Cypress' words about his
hair, ”could someone now please explain what the hell is going on? What are we doing here? Where
is 'here' anyway? And why on Earth”, he looked at Seth, ”did you do whatever you did, and why did
you have to drag us all along?”

20. ”Okay okay, I'll try to explain what I can”, said Seth, resigned. ”I do think it was me, though I can't be
sure. It's like there's a memory that's been wiped off my head. What I can remember though, was
being in this weird place. It was white all around. There was nothing there, almost as if... as if the
place wasn't invented yet. That came to my mind somehow”, he shrugged at the others' disbelief.
”Well anyway, since I was alone there, and there wasn't exactly much to do there, I started wishing I
was somewhere else. Somewhere a little more interesting. So, I wished I had a computer and an
internet connection. And then, I realized I did have those, although at first I had been sure the place
was empty, and...”
”Excuse me”, said Marielle, who had been wanting to speak for a moment. ”I do not wish to interrupt,
but, I do not seem to understand. What is this 'computer' you mention?”
”What kind of an idiot...” started Cypress, but Seth cut him short. ”Shut up, little mister sunshine, she
comes from the Victorian times.” To Marielle, he explained: ”Geez, I didn't even realize. From your
point of view, we're now in the future, and lots of things that aren't there in your home have been
invented and are in common use. A computer is... a well, a device that can be used for a bunch of
stuff really, anyway I used it for finding some information.”
Marielle looked like she was probably more rather than less confused, but Seth carried on.

21. ”So yeah. I was looking for information on how to get out of there. I remember coming across
something pretty interesting about how there are some universes that are basically closed off while
still technically part of the multiverse. I thought it'd be cool if I could get to one of those places, in a
sort of no-one-has-ever-done-this-before way. But I didn't find anything on that. Oddly enough”,
continued, looking pensive, ”I do remember thinking about Rodney briefly, how it was odd that I was
in that place and he wasn't, and I did read a mention or two about you two”, he nodded towards
Cypress and Marielle, ”in one context or another. Anyway, after that I don't really remember anything,
I mean before ending up here obviously”, Seth finished.
”And where exactly is 'here'?” asked Rodney, not entirely satisfied with Seth's account of the events.
”Well, I don't really know”, Seth admitted. He glanced out of one of the windows. ”But seeing that
there seems to be some desert outside, my best guess is that this could be some incarnation of
Strangetown.”

22. ”What?!” yelled Cypress. ”You drag us from our respective universes to some place that 'might be
Strangetown, dunno' and this is all the explanation we get? 'I was bored so I thought maybe I should
mess with different dimensions?'”
Seth wasn't surprised, and he supposed the rest of them weren't exactly happy with him right now, so
he just let him rant.
”And Strangetown, of all places, why the hell Strangetown? Some dried out, tiny place in the middle
of the desert and a couple of aliens on top. What are we supposed to do here?”
”Well actually, Strangetown can be pretty interes...”
”That's not the point!”

23. ”We're stuck here, no, I'm stuck here with some idiots from who knows where, especially some idiot
who thinks it's a good idea to mess with time-space just because he's bored, where 'here' turns out
maybe to be Strangetown where the only point of interest is whether Johnny Smith marries Ophelia
Nigmos this time or if her batshit crazy aunt manages to kill him first! This isn't even a Legacy
neighborhood, dammit!”
As he could finally get a word in edgewise, Seth started a bit impatiently.
”Look, it's not like I would've done this if I'd know we'd end up like this – not that I even remember
doing anything”, he pointed out for the upteenth time he was sure, ”and if I'd gotten to choose my
company I surely wouldn't have chosen you. Now we're not by any means keeping you, go ahead
and go if that's...”
But he was interrupted by, a little surprisingly, Rodney.

24. ”Well actually”, Rodney started and pocketed a cell phone, which he'd apparently been playing at,
”It's of course true that if mr. Vetinari here”, he said in a bit of a cold tone, ”wants to leave, or really
any of us, he's free to do so. I just checked in with the bank, and it seems the four of us are one
household, one that owns a quite substantial amount of money.”
”We... are wealthy?” asker Marielle, interested, and Rodney nodded.
”We have no house to our name, but the money could easily buy us two. And seeing that if one of us
moves out, they only get the magical 20,000, I doubt anyone particularly wants to.”
Seth was surprised, maybe even impressed. He hadn't expected that much practical sense from
Rodney. Maybe his Mayor years had thought him something, after all. But Rodney wasn't done yet.
”As for this place, whether it's Strangetown or something else, 'not even being a Legacy
neighborhood', how do you know that?” he asked. Cypress was about to say something, but Rodney
went on:
”I know none of us can be the founder, I just told you we live together and also have all too much
money. But for all we know, someone else could be. Say, that guy over there”, he said and pointed
behind Marielle, towards one corner of the room.

25. They all turned to look towards the direction where Rodney had just pointed, and indeed, there was
someone there, a man with black hair and clothes, somewhat younger-looking than them, possibly a
college student. Had he been there the whole time, or could he possibly have just appeared from thin
air? Seth couldn't tell for sure.

26. ”What? Legacy founder, who? That little geek with elf ears? You've got to be kidding me.” Cypress
was back to his element. ”Since you like to show how you know everyone whether they have any
merit to be known by or not, then who's the kid?” he asked Seth, clearly expecting a shrug of the
shoulders.
”Interesting”, said Seth, staring at the younger man, who appeared to be unconscious. ”If I'm not
completely wrong, that seems to be Salahuddin Chamcha.”
And before Cypress could manage with another snide remark, he continued:
”Remember those closed off universes I mentioned earlier? He's from one. Well there must be some
connection since he's been seen in a couple of universes, actually ours included. And I think
someone else from there has also been spotted, but his universe contains no one from the outside.”
”I take it he's not a very nice guy?” asked Rodney.
”Whatever makes you think so?” asked Seth, feeling almost like himself, and continued: ”No, not
exactly. Been trying to take down the local Legacy family for a pretty long time, currently in jail for a
kidnap and a couple of attempted murders and whatnot. The sentence could be longer, but there was
also a lack of evidence.”

27. ”I see”, said Cypress, ”Our party of three questionable gentlemen – and one lady”, he added,
glancing mockingly at Marielle, ”has apparently gotten a new member.”
He turned to look at Marielle. ”Well, woman, what are you waiting for? Go see what's the matter with
the guy! Maybe he's dead or something.”

28. ”No I do not think I will”, was Marielle's rather expected reply. ”Who do you think you are talking to? I
am the spouse to a well-respected and wealthy Legacy family, I will not be spoken to like that!”
”Well I'm the spare of another one of those 'wealthy and whatever' families of yours, so I'm actually
blood-related. So there. Go check on the guy.”
Before this was developed into a full-blown argument, Seth stepped in.
”Yeah yeah, we get it. You're both too fancy to do anything practical apparently. By the way”, he
added to Marielle, ”from what I've heard, you're the ex-spouse of a Legacy family, and pretty much
exactly for that attitude of yours, and as for you”, he said to Cypress, ”there was a reason why you
are a spare if I remember correctly. Now if you'll excuse me I'll go see what's up with the new guy,
and Rodney, if you'll please search the warehouse and the yard in case you can say, find out for
certain where we are. And if you two could, I dunno, stand there and shut up and maybe, just maybe
stay out of each others' throats for five minutes while we do the work then that'd be splendid.”

29. While Rodney went to inspect the premises, Seth bent over the unconscious man and shook him
slightly.
”Hey there, are you okay?”
”I... I think so... I must have hit my head...” the younger man mumbled and slowly tried to get up from
the floor. ”What happened?” he asked.
”We don't know exactly”, said Seth. ”We just ended up here somehow. There's five of us, us”, he
gestured towards Marielle and Cypress, ”and one guy who just went to check out where exactly we
are.”
”I see.” The younger man slowly climbed up from the floor.

30. ”So, I'm Seth, Seth Jaypalan.”
”Salahuddin Chamcha”, said the younger man. ”Pleased to meet you.” Apparently Seth had again
been correct in his assumption.
”You too. Hey Salahuddin. Do you remember anything from... from before ending up here?”
Salahuddin pondered for a while. ”No, I cannot say that I do.” He looked worried. ”I should remember
something, should I not?”
Seth furrowed his brow. ”You mean, you have no memories... at all?” This was surprising. He'd fully
expected Salahuddin to say he had no idea how he ended up there with Seth, but now it seemed he
might have forgotten more.
”No, I do not think so. I know that my name is Salahuddin Chamcha and that I am a student at the
local college, but I am not even certain of how it is that I know these things. Should I be alarmed?”

31. ”No, I don't think so. That sometimes happens when you transfer between universes.”
”Transfer between universes?” Salahuddin looked overwhelmed.
”Yeah. We weren't originally from here you know. None of us. You seriously don't remember
anything?”
Salahuddin tried again to remind himself how he could possibly have ended up where he was, or
indeed anything from before he did, but apparently he was unsuccesful.
”No.”
”Oh. Well, maybe that isn't a bad thing. You can start a new life here, without any baggage.”
”I suppose so”, said Salahuddin, only now coming to think of it this way.

32. ”Do you remember everything, then?” Salahuddin asked.
”Our previous lives, yes, how we ended up here, no”, said Seth simply, not particularly wanting to
elaborate on said previous lives. ”That part is a bit of a mystery.”
Salahuddin nodded.
”We were wondering”, started Seth before Salahuddin would come up with more questions, ”if you
happen to be some kind of a challenge sim? You know, a Legacy founder or something?”
Salahuddin's brow furrowed. ”Not that I am aware of anything such. Technically, I could be, is that not
correct? I am, after all, the only member of my household and apparently a freshman in college. Is it
possible that I am involved in a challenge without being aware of it?”
”I suppose anything's possible”, Seth shrugged, ”but it doesn't feel very likely to me. I guess if you
feel like it, you could start a challenge, though.”
”I will have to think about that.”

33. Seth nodded. He figured that at this point, there wasn't much else to talk about, so he said: ”Okay,
you do that. Hey listen, I think we oughta go. We don't have a place to be yet and don't want to spend
more time here than necessary, and I guess you should be heading to campus, too. I'd offer you a
ride, but you know, we don't have a car, either.”
Salahuddin nodded. ”Thank you, it is not necessary at all. I will be able to find a taxi”, he said.

34. Just as he was saying that, Rodney walked back in to the warehouse.
”Well?” asked Cypress.
Rodney gestured around him. ”This place is empty. There's two more floors, one above and one
below, and there's nothing in them except the same junk, a few boxes here and there. It doesn't seem
this place has been used for a long time.”

35. ”And it seems Seth was correct, we're in Strangetown. I went to check the situation out with
binoculars, and I could see the Smith house and in the distance something so odd that it couldn't
possibly be anything else but the Curious brothers' house. This place”, he gestured again, ”doesn't
belong here but nothing else seems to be out of place.”

36. ”Thanks, Rodney”, said Seth, turning to face the others. ”Now what was I saying?”
”You were saying that we are in the need of a house”, said Marielle, speaking for the first time for a
long time. Only now Seth realized Cypress hadn't been trying to interrupt, either. Maybe they found
the kid interesting after all.
”Yes, yes”, he said. ”The four of us do, anyway, I guess you'll be given a dorm room”, he added to
Salahuddin, and saw him nod by his side. ”We need a place, and I think we all agree this won't do. A
proper house.”

37. ”I believe I could be of assistance in that”, stated Marielle.
Cypress looked like he might have had something mean to say, but Seth prevented him by saying:
”Great, let's see what we can do.” And he added to Salahuddin: ”Alright, first, let's get you a cab.”

38. What follows is a story based on the diaries of Salahuddin Chamcha, written while imprisoned for
several crimes in Alphabetia. According to these diaries, these events occurred in a series of very
vivid dreams. Chamcha explains that it was as if the dream was always in his head only waiting to
begin, as every time he fell asleep, it continued from the point where he last woke up.

39. A complete account could not be written based solely on Chamcha's diaries. A large amount of
diaries was found in his cell, but it's possible that he took part of the diaries with him upon leaving jail,
and his writing is smudged in some parts. Therefore, this story is partly constructed based on these
diaries, and partly based on an interview with a Sim Deity who wishes to stay anonymous.
The purpose of this story is to be an accurate account of Salahuddin Chamcha's dream.

40. After his sudden appearence at the mysterious warehouse, Salahuddin Chamcha headed to La
Fiesta Tech, and as the documents he had with him had said, he was indeed enrolled there as a
student. It was his first day as a freshman.
Salahuddin found it somewhat odd that he did not remember having a past, or how he had come to
Strangetown, but there wasn't really much he could do about that, so the best thing to do would be to
enjoy college the best he could.
Here Salahuddin Chamcha's diary notes that the real Salahuddin, unlike the dream Salahuddin, had
no issues with his memory, he could remember his life perfectly well, and he had never been to
college, La Fiesta Tech or otherwise. He notes that the feeling in his dream, of not having a past to
worry about, was albeit odd, also strangely liberating. Perhaps it should have bothered him more than
it did, he writes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Both the real Salahuddin and the dream Salahuddin are Aries (6/6/6/3/4) knowledge sims. The dream
Salahuddin wants to maximize seven skills.

41. The dream Salahuddin also found that he had indeed been assigned a dorm, called the Canyon
Commons Dorms. As he stood outside the building, he couldn't but feel excited about his upcoming
college years. There were so many things to learn, so many things he could achieve. And who knew,
maybe he would enjoy spending time with his fellow students as well.

42. He was soon given his own room in the dorm. It wasn't much, just a bed, a desk and a computer – he
was told that he was quite lucky to have the computer – but it was his very own. At least for the
coming four years, of course.

43. Seeing that there was no class immediately, Salahuddin took some time to get to know his
surroundings. In one corner he found an easel and some painting equipment, and on a whim he tried
painting. Admittedly, he wasn't very good at it yet, but there was time to improve.

44. As he sat down at the chessboard, it wasn't long until he was joined by a girl who seemed to like pink,
at least if you judged by her clothing.
”Hi, you must be new here?” she started.
”Yes, in fact I only moved in this morning”, Salahuddin admitted. ”Is it immediately obvious?”
”Well, not really, I just hadn't seen you before. I'm Holly, by the way, Holly Ruscewiz. Who are you?”
”Salahuddin Chamcha”, Salahuddin introduced himself. ”It is a pleasure to meet you, Holly.”
”You too”, she smiled.

45. In the course of the next few hours, Salahuddin and Holly enjoyed a game of chess together and
found that they had some common interests. It was really nice to be here, where sims were open
minded and willing to familiarize themselves with someone new. Salahuddin had a very good
impression of the place so far.

46. After the chess game, Salahuddin decided to make a quick sandwich for lunch. He had heard that
the cafeteria food was not perhaps the best quality; and besides, cooking himself was actually quite
nice.

47. That very same day, Salahuddin also had his first lecture, alongside with Holly and a whole group of
others. It was quite interesting, even though it was just general studies, since he and his fellow
students hadn't yet declared a major.

48. That afternoon was spent getting to know some fellow students.

49. Be it out in the rain or in the lobby.

50. In the evening, Salahuddin decided to be brave and try the cafeteria food. And actually, even that
wasn't too bad, definitely not like the rumors said.

51. All in all, it was a rather pleasant first day on campus, Salahuddin concluded in the shower that night.
It still felt somewhat confusing that he had no recollection of his earlier phases at all, but at least this
Seth, who seemed to know something about these things, said it was normal that this sometimes
happened. He had talked about something Salahuddin hadn't completely understood, something
about traveling between different dimensions. He wondered if Seth had been right, if he really had
come from somewhere else entirely. He also wondered whether Seth actually knew something about
his past or if it had been just a guess.
Maybe he could try to find out all that at some later time, but as of right now, there was nothing he
could do except enjoy his current life the best he could.

52. Life quickly settled to its ways for Salahuddin. As he desired knowledge, it often meant group
research.

53. It also meant writing term papers. Plenty of Salahuddin's fellow students found this part boring, but
Salahuddin found he actually quite enjoyed it. Or in particular, he enjoyed finishing the paper.

54. Salahuddin decided that he should try to earn some money. He didn't have much to his name when
he begun, but perhaps with a little effort he could make his life more comfortable. He had heard that
someone had quite successfully dug for treasure in Strangetown, so he decided to give it a try. So far,
he had only found some rocks and bones, but to his surprise, he could earn a little bit of money also
with those.

55. Often Salahuddin spent his free time at the chess board, and also quite often Holly would join him.
”Oh, it is somewhat troublesome not to remember one's past”, he explained to his friend, ”but I have
come to the conclusion that the best thing that I can do, is to enjoy life as it comes. It is indeed very
nice to have a peaceful life.”

56. Salahuddin was a young man with some goals, and quite soon he had determined what he wanted
from college. He writes:
I had decided to study mathematics as my major subject. It appealed to me as a topic, as it was both
challenging and also seemed to be of great use in some quite interesting occupations, such as
Gaming, Architecture, Crime, Natural Science and Science. It was quite pleasant to have a direction
in one's life.

57. One afternoon Salahuddin decided that he couldn't just spend all his college years locked in the
dorm, and headed out to explore Strangetown a little bit. It would be good to know the town and
maybe some inhabitants, since he was going to live there after graduation. Salahuddin came across
a community pool area, which seemed to be a nice and lively place.
”Margaret, Margaret Howe”, a lady in a pink shirt introduced herself almost before he got there.
”Salahuddin Chamcha, pleased to meet you.”

58. ”... well, I've been around here in Strangetown for a while, and I have to say this is one of the nicest
places”, Margaret explained. They had been talking for quite some time, suddenly Salahuddin noticed
it had gotten dark. ”Actually, you should also try the shops just around the block too, if you happen to
need anything.”
”Thank you, Margaret. I will keep that in mind.”

59. Salahuddin spent the whole evening at the community pool. He met many new sims, including a man
named Johnson and an elegant lady who said her name was Bella.
Apparently it wasn't just Margaret, but it rather seemed that the inhabitants of Strangetown were
mostly rather friendly folk. Salahuddin was quite pleased by the thought of moving there after college.

60. Salahuddin's first purchase with the feeble money he had been able to collect by selling the bones
and rocks he had dug up from the yard and the community pool area was a coffee machine. All that
studying required caffeine if he was to keep up with it.

61. Occasionally he'd tend to notice that not everyone on campus was as keen on studying as he was. To
each their own, he supposed, although he couldn't really understand the pastimes of some students.

62. Salahuddin was indeed studying hard, both for college and otherwise. He took up many new
pastimes, all of which tended to involve learning of some kind. For instance, he tried skipping rope, in
the hope that it would improve his physical skills. He was not terribly good at it at first, but perhaps
with time he would improve.

63. ”Hey, it's okay if you want to work hard”, said Shelby Long, one of Salahuddin's dorm-mates one
evening as they were having dinner, ”I totally get that, it's the only chance at college that we'll ever
get. But you also have to remember that well, this is the only chance at college, the only chance at
life we get. I mean, you should also do some fun things, okay?”
Salahuddin briefly considered whether Shelby was in fact correct about her statement on the only
chance of life they had, considering what he had heard from Seth – but after all, he still did not
remember anything before finding himself in that warehouse, so perhaps she was right.
”Yes, I see your purpose”, he said, ”Thank you for your kind concern, I think that I will follow your
advice.”
”Good”, said Shelby. ”You totally should.”

64. Salahuddin took Shelby's advice to heart, and after that, he could not only be seen studying, but also
meeting new sims and anjoying his life.

65. He also remembered his discussion with Margaret, and went to visit the Strangetown shops she had
recommended. He found that they had all kinds of products on offer, and in general the atmosphere
was quite nice and cozy. He met several new someones, including Quinten McAuley, who quickly
became a good friend. Salahuddin also found that he quite enjoyed a game called kicky bag, and
was quite talented in it, too.

66. Via his errands to the shops and his new interest in kicky bag, Salahuddin met many new sims. He
was becoming quite friendly with some of them and found it relieving that he seemed to be fitting right
in to Strangetown. Perhaps he didn't have a past to remember, but his future certainly looked nice
enough.

67. But despite his new activities, Salahuddin did not neglect to do his schoolwork, either, although
perhaps he felt a little bit more relaxed about it now.
And on such a positive note ended Salahuddin's first semester in college. Salahuddin himself was
content and perhaps slightly relieved to find himself on the Dean's list; no one else in his dorm was
exactly surprised.

68. While Salahuddin was busy studying and enjoying his new life, there were other things going on in
Strangetown proper. In particular, there was a rather impressive and apparently quite new mansion
standing on the outskirts of town, and currently there were four sims standing in front of it.

69. ”I have to say, Marielle”, said Seth, eyeing what was about to become his new home, ”that you've
outdone yourself.”
”Yeah, this is impressive”, chimed in Rodney. It was even more of a compliment from him, seeing that
Rodney had a rather expensive taste. Cypress was silent, apparently he didn't have anything
negative to say, so he said nothing, thought Seth.
”Why thank you”, said Marielle, ”I am quite pleased with it myself.”
”How did you find this?” asked Rodney, looking around him and clearly thinking of the fact that the
house didn't exactly resamble the rest of Strangetown.
”Well, I simply contacted the local office of a very competent real estate company named Lots and
Houses Bin Ltd.* They have a rather amazing selection available, and very good service as well.
Shall we go inside?”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*This mansion is by a subcontractor named the Orikes Home Builder's Association.

70. ”... and this, I considered would be best utilized as my room”, Marielle continued the housetour.
”Well no objections from me”, said Cypress, looking at the purple decor and the floral wallpaper. ”I
really hope you picked something a little more masculine for me.”
”Not to worry, mr. Vetinari”, said Marrielle, and Seth could see that she was rolling her eyes when
Cypress was behind her and didn't see her face, ”I have a very nice room for you.”
”But I'm sure she doesn't mind if you want to borrow that lamp”, snickered Rodney, pointing towards a
purple flower-shaped table lamp at the bedside.
On one hand, Seth was glad Rodney was giving Cypress back what he deserved, on the other hand
he wasn't sure whether that was wise.

71. ”Well not too bad I guess”, was Cypress' verdict on his own room. ”Thanks for not picking pink
butterflies for the wallpaper or anything.”
Marielle didn't say anything, probably a little weary of Cypress by now.

72. ”It's pretty utilitarian, and there's space in case I need to have science equipment in here or
something. It'll do.”
That was probably the closest to a positive thing Cypress could have said, supposed Seth.

73. Finally they came to the last bedroom. Seth noted that it was the smallest of the three, and
apparently he and Rodney would have to share.
Rodney had apparently noticed the same. ”Hey, how come...”
”It's nice enough”, said Seth firmly. ”And it's red. You like red, Rodney, don't you?”

74. Later on, when Marielle had retired to redo her hair, and Cypress had gone downstairs to see if there
were any walkbys to pester, Seth and Rodney were left alone in their new room.
Rodney was relaxing on his bed. He glanced up at Seth and asked, slightly irritated: ”Why'd you let
that Cypress guy have the other room? I mean, he'd fit here just fine, he's just one person, and if we
have to share then at least we'd have more space.”

75. ”You really don't know who he is, do you?” asked Seth in return.
”Well obviously not, if he's from some other universe as you claim he is”, Rodney replied, still
sounding irritated.
”Rodney look”, Seth sighed, ”I know it would've made sense to have the rooms the other way
around, but... We might not be exactly nice guys ourselves, nor is Marielle really a delicate flower, but
that guy... We don't want to be on his bad side, trust me on this. He's a murderous psycho, has
already killed several members of his family and is planning on stopping the whole Legacy he was
once part of by, well, killing the rest too, without as much as blinking an eye.”
”How'd you know that?”
”Well, as an actor, I have to keep up with the latest gossip and stuff. The internet. That's how I
learned about Legacies in the first place, remember?”
Rodney nodded.

76. ”So you say he's killed some family members?” asked Rodney.
”Yeah, several. And used his reaper kid as a weapon of sorts.”
”Well to think of it, we've murdered a buildingful of simselves, plotted the death of your son and last I
remember from back home, we were keeping a guy unconscious to keep him pumping out elixir for
us. So how exactly does this guy differ from us?”
”Yeah, sure, we've done our part”, said Seth. ”And Marielle has been involved in murder plots and
whatnot, I'm not saying we're innocent or anything like that. But there is one key difference.”
”Oh yeah?”
”Yeah. We'd at least blink.”

77. Salahuddin's second semester in La Fiesta Tech started as studious as ever. As an added bonus, he
was now able to get a thinking cap, which sped the studying up considerably.

78. As he had heard that certain plants had interesting effects if they were nice enough quality,
Salahuddin also started a garden in his spare time. Rumor had it that especially the eggplant would
suit his purposes.

79. His enthusiasm about kicky bag still drew him Downtown on occasion, and in fact what had started as
small one-on-one games had now started to evolve to almost tournaments of kicky bag.
One of the strangers he had met in the warehouse, Seth Jaypalan, would sometimes be in the
audience and come talk to him after games. Salahuddin didn't exactly know very much about this
man, but they seemed to get along nicely.

80. Contrary to that, Salahuddin didn't terribly much like Avri Woodrow. He seemed to think that he was
something special because he was rich and was supposedly good-looking. Well, there was always
one in every town, wasn't there?

81. On the home front, things were going nicely. Salahuddin had worked hard on his garden, and had
now secured a bronze talent badge in gardening. He wasn't quite ready to grow his own eggplants
yet, but he was getting there.

82. For the most part, the semester was in fact rather uneventful, which Salahuddin didn't mind one bit.
One morning he suddenly found himself at the breakfast table, realizing that it was the morning of his
final exam.
”Are you nervous?” asked Melissa Trottier over her omelette.
”Slightly”, admitted Salahuddin. ”But I am well prepared so I should not have considerable problems.”
The girl snorted a little. She of course knew he would have no problems at all, if there was any
fairness in the world.

83. And naturally, Melissa was entirely right about that. For the second time, Salahuddin managed to
make the Dean's list. He started to believe that perhaps he did have what this took, after all.

84. Meanwhile, Seth, Rodney, Marielle and Cypress had settled into their new, quite comfortable, house
in Strangetown. Currently they were having a rather serious sounding discussion in the dining room.
”... and things could be going all around just... wrong when we aren't there. I mean, who's to say that
the kid won't escape or something?” finished Rodney what seemed to have been a rather long
speech turn.
”But Rodney”, said Seth, ”I've told you before, we didn't really leave Simfield when we came here.
Those versions of us are still there, plotting whatever it is that we're currently plotting, it's as if
nothing's happened. I suppose from the point of view of Simfield, really nothing happened. I don't
know if according to the laws of the multiverse we could go back, but even if we could, we'd just
cause major confusion to ourselves. I mean, those versions of ourselves that are still there.”
Rodney didn't look entirely convinced, but he stayed silent.

85. ”Yeah, there's no point going back”, said Cypress to Seth. Seth assumed he liked having his own
room to plot in, as he hadn't been as eager to argue as he was in the beginning. Which wasn't to say
that he didn't like to argue. But he wasn't finished yet:
”But that doesn't mean I'd want to stay here. This place is dead. No legacy sims to pester, or anyone
any of us know, for that matter. Stealing newspapers and kicking over trash cans is only fun for so
long.”

86. ”I sort of guessed that”, said Seth, glancing from Rodney to Cypress. ”This is maybe maybe not the
most exciting place it could be, but hey, we've got money and a really nice house. And I'm personally
already making headway in the Entertainment career and meeting interesting, hot ladies, so I can't
complain. But if you guys want to leave...” He paused.
”What do you think, Marielle?”

87. Marielle wanted to remind Seth that it was ”miss Hutchins-Legacy”, but she wasn't exactly sure
whether she should call herself ”miss” or ”mrs.” at the moment, and she'd noticed that the future
seemed to be much less formal than the present, as she thought of it, so she let it go.
”Well, I cannot deny that I enjoy certain benefits that come with the modern times”, she started,
thinking fondly of the wonders of electric ovens and televisions, ”but at the same time, I would
perhaps feel more at home somewhere less... futuristic.”
”Okay”, said Seth and shrugged. ”Rodney? I take it that you want to leave as well?”
”Well I don't really know anyone here, so if you're all leaving, I'm not going to stick around by myself”,
Rodney answered.

88. ”Okay, so it seems that you guys all want to leave. I'm not so sure about it myself, this place could still
have some potential... You know, the kid didn't rule out the possibility of starting a challenge”, Seth
pointed out to Cypress. ”But anyway, if anyone wants to leave, I guess we'd better work on getting to
know how”, he shrugged.
”Well I'm bound to find out at work, they've got plenty of material on multiverse-theory there”, said
Cypress, who worked in Science.
”Okay, cool”, said Seth. ”Then I'm sure we'll have a solution soon. It won't hurt for the rest of us to
keep our eyes and ears open, though”, he said to Rodney and Marielle, who both nodded.

89. Salahuddin's college years progressed as usual.
I found that I had in fact become quite influential. Seeing that I had so many extracurricular activities
to occupy my time, I pondered that perhaps I should arrange for something to help with my obligatory
tasks.

90. Fortunately, Shelby was kind enough to help arranging my timetable that semester by taking care of
one or two tasks for me, Salahuddin writes.

91. Apparently, Salahuddin had also found the joys of the Energizer. Now that he was able to purchase
and use one, he could save even more time.

92. One evening, Salahuddin received a phone call. It was Seth. Salahuddin was rather surprised. They
had met a few times while he was on his errands in Strangetown, but they were not especially close.
”Ah, Seth, yes, yes, I remember. It is very pleasant to hear from you. How have you been?”
…
”Oh, excellent, excellent. I have been concentrating on my studies, and they are going quite well,
thank you.”
…
”I have not decided on the challenge issue as of yet. Founding a Legacy challenge, for instance,
would likely be an interesting experience, And I have read some material on it, but I have not yet fully
weighed the different aspects of it. Why do you ask?”
…
”I see. All of you wish to leave, then?”

93. ”I see. Yes, yes, I understand.”
…
”No, I do not currently see any need for that. I am quite happy with my current life here. Although, I
have not yet had the chance to experience very much of it.”
…
”You are not aware of a way to accomplish it so far? You cannot remember what it was that you did
that caused you to appear here, at all?”
…
”I see. Please do inform me if you find such a way.” Seth promised to do so.

94. The very next evening, when Salahuddin came to have some dinner into the dorm dining room, he
found something quite surprising there. Several of his classmates seemed to be quite shocked, and
Salahuddin was just idly wondering why that might be, he found the reason. This reason was a
beautiful, red-headed girl whom he had never seen before, and of whom he was suddenly seeing
much more than he had expected. The girl was completely naked.
Salahuddin tried not to stare. ”Umm... Hello”, he started uncertainly. ”Can I help you? You seem to
have... misplaced your clothes.”
The girl looked at him as if he was a little bit simple. Then she laughed. ”Oh, I didn't lose my clothes. I
left them at home.”
Salahuddin blinked. ”You did not get dressed when you left home?”
She laughed again. ”No. I'm the streaker for your dorm.” When Salahuddin was apparently
speechless, she extended her hand. ”My name's Bim, Bim Weburg. Nice to meet you.”

95. I do not remember how, but somehow I managed to introduce myself to Bim, and even ask her to join
me for dinner. After all, that was the polite thing to do. We continued discussing over the macaroni
and cheese, and apparently I was moment by moment paying less attention to her lack of clothing. It
was, apparently, how she was.
She asked me about my studies, and I told her about how I had mysteriously become a student in La
Fiesta Tech. She found that quite intriguing. She, in turn, told me about her life as a streaker, and
how in fact, she would have wished to study instead. We seemed to have plenty in common.

96. It was an enjoyable evening for both of them. After dinner, they danced and talked the night away,
just casually in the dormitory dining room. There was a connection that Salahuddin had never
experienced before.
It is extremely strange, he writes. I, of course, have my life, my experiences, my sad failures by my
side constantly. But every time the dream continues, this all is sweetly washed away. It is not there.
Bim, the imaginary Bim, is a very fresh and new experience to me. And it continues to be so,
whenever I fall asleep.

97. At around the same time, Salahuddin had accumulated enough money to buy a guitar. It was
naturally for practicing the creativity skill, but Salahuddin was quite pleased to see that it was also of
help in another manner. His roommate, Shelby, turned out to be an eager guitar player, and quite
talented at it, too.

98. Salahuddin did not complain about the entertainment, or the extra income the guitar brought. All
around, it was quite good for household finances.

99. Salahuddin also managed to gather some money by playing the guitar himself.

100. But while Shelby was playing it, he could concentrate on his other studies. And on such a studious
note, ended another semester at college, one that Salahuddin once again cleared with perfect
grades.

101. Meanwhile, it seemed that Seth Jaypalan had found something.
”So that's how...” Maybe, just maybe, he now knew how they'd get out of the sleepy Strangetown.
Sure, the plan seemed a bit risky, and the website a bit shady, but Seth hadn't really expected
anything else. The explanation looked like it could work.
It was time to consult the resident scientist. After all, Seth was an actor, what did he know. He'd heard
the shower door open and close a while ago, so he called:
”Hey, Cypress?”

102. In a few moments, the blond man was there. ”Well it seems interesting in the very least”,
Cypress said finally. ”It seems a little shady but I
”You interrupted my plotting. This had better be suppose a website like this is supposed to be like
good.” that. And the explanation seems credible from
what I understand of multiverse theory.”
”I'd say that it's pretty much impossible not to
interrupt your plotting, seeing that you plot all the Seth had no choice but to believe what the
time”, noted Seth. ”Anyway, I think I may have scientist said. He'd read a bit but couldn't say
something here. Come have a look at this that he understood the theory.
website.”
”So... If what this says is true, then we've got
Cypress leaned a bit closer, reading the text Seth some work ahead of us. But essentially what we
showed on the screen. need is... 'a sufficiently powerful explosion'.”
”... open a pathway between dimensions... if the
speed is correct... generate a sufficiently
powerful explosion...” he mumbled.
Seth waited. ”... well?”

103. ”Exactly”, said Cypress. ”Now I'll be able to get some chemicals from work, and probably Marielle can
do something too via her connections in the military... Not so terribly much to do for an actor and a
politician, though.”
Seth didn't bother to remind Cypress that it was in fact him that persuaded Marielle to take the
Military job in the first place. They could use the income and he was able to convince her that if she
was able to get a non-entry-level position, she would mostly be the one giving the commands. Which,
in fact, turned out to be correct, and Marielle was quite enjoying her working life so far.
He shrugged. ”Neither of us are idiots you know. We can help if you give instructions.” Seth didn't like
the idea of receiving instructions from Cypress, but if they wanted to get out of there, what choice did
he have?
”You better”, said Cypress and walked out of the room. Seth heard him mumbling to himself.
He could almost bet that he heard ”Explosions... I like that” before Cypress disappeared into the living
room.

104. Meanwhile, in an unknown location.
”... Explosions... I like that”, said the blond man on the screen, speaking to himself.
”It seems that they bought it.”
”I said they would, it's clever enough.”
”Well they haven't done it yet.”
”No, but they will.”
”We'll see. In any case, good work on planting the information, agent.”

105. Whatever mysterious may have been going on elsewhere, Salahuddin wasn't aware of it in the least.
Instead, he was busy enjoying the one life he had. He had quite come to like that one place in
Strangetown, the one with the beautiful, large pool and the jacuzzi. He kept going back on his free
time, and so he met yet more new sims.

106. Often in the evenings he could be seen playing kicky bag with a few friends or acquintances. It was a
good and relaxing way to set off all the stufying.

107. In the mornings, he shared breakfast with his fellow students. That, too, was a nice break from the
studying.

108. Finally, Salahuddin's gardening had started to produce real results. He was excited to find that now
he was in fact ready to start growing eggplants, which were rumored to have interesting properties.

109. As everything was going so smoothly, Salahuddin decided to try out a new hobby: flower arranging. It
was rather hard on one's back, but talent badges were always worth earning.

110. ”Thank you for studying with me, Michelle. I appreciate it very much”, said Salahuddin one evening as
they were doing research together.
”Don't mention it. We both need to study anyway, and it's more fun... or well, I guess more tolerable
would be a better word, when done together. Besides, you're so busy these days that any way I can
spend a little time with you, I'll do it.”
”I suppose that is a way to look at it”, noted Salahuddin. ”Did you understand the part about the
second derivative?”

111. All through his semester, Salahuddin also kept in touch with his friends, especially Bim. They were
getting closer all the time; Salahuddin felt that perhaps it was becoming more than friendship, but he
wasn't sure whether she felt the same way. He was nervous, but decided to wait and see.
And suddenly, Salahuddin found himself a Junior. Time really flew by.

112. Everything continued as usual. Salahuddin continued his usual activities: studying, praticing his flower
arranging and tending his garden. He had even purchased a compost bin in order to gain some better
quality fertilizer, and was now fertilizing his plants with the autumn leaves and other compostable
trash.

113. Various friendly souls continued to be kind enough to help him with his schoolwork.

114. Salahuddin also kept spending his free time in Strangetown. That way he met several new sims,
among them a Katelyn Goss.
”Nice to meet you, Katelyn. My name is Salahuddin.”
”Nice to meet you too, Salahuddin”, replied Katelyn smiling. ”So what brings you to these parts of
Strangetown?”
Salahuddin let out a small laugh. ”I suppose the short answer to that would be 'I do not know
exactly'.”
”Oh. That's interesting. Then I suppose there's also a long answer?” asked Katelyn.
”Oh yes, yes in fact there is.”

115. ”That is truly fascinating”, said Katelyn when Salahuddin finished. ”I've never heard of anything like
that before.”
”I will have to admit that neither had I, before it happened to me”, replied Salahuddin.
”So do you plan on staying here or trying to find out where you came from and maybe going back?”
”I do not know. I have liked it in La Fiesta Tech, and I remember nothing of my previous life. But Seth,
whom I talked about, mentioned that they are looking for a way out, so perhaps that is possible too. If
they did find a solution, I do not know what I would do.”

116. Occasionally Salahuddin would meet Seth on these errands to Strangetown. He seemed to live life
mostly to enjoy bubbles, juice, woment and hot tubs, which was perhaps a little bit odd to Salahuddin,
who was more of a ”hard work is its own reward, especially if it results in skillpoints” type of sim
himself. But Seth always seemed friendly towards him, and in fact just about anyone. Despite their
differences, Salahuddin found that they came along nicely.

117. Perhaps the fellow students would have quite liked Seth, thought Salahuddin to himself. Many of
them were quite into parties and dancing.

118. He had other ways to amuse himself. Not that he didn't enjoy a good party or anything, but he felt
that he was left somewhat behind in suddenly being dropped at the doors of college, and wanted to
catch up.

119. He still kept tending his garden faithfully, every day, and the eggplants started to look quite healthy.
Occasionally he was also cheered on.

120. Toward the end of the semester Salahuddin realized that despite his busy life of studying, he was
also getting quite popular. He had plenty of friends both on and off campus.

121. Meanwhile, the quartet over in Strangetown was keeping equally busy.
”How do the calculations seem, mister Jalowitz?” asked Marielle, as Rodney was leaning over the
blueprints of their mansion and calculating something on the side.
He turned back to look. ”Oh, it's you. They're okay. Would be going better if Seth and Cypress had
told me to do it sooner”, he said, slightly irritated. ”But it looks like we'll be fine.”
”Are you sure?”

122. ”Yeah, I'm pretty sure. See here?” Rodney pointed at something on the blueprints, and Marielle
leaned forward slightly to see better.
”This here shows the strength of the walls. They're about three times as strong as in your average
house. Also the foundation materials are very strong.”
”Does this mean that we are safe?”
”Yeah. The roof could use a bit of work, just in case, and perhaps the windows could be replaced, to
have the most unbreakable ones there are, but for the most part, we're all set.”
”Even if mister Vetinari is... mistaken?” asked Marielle. Rodney noted that she didn't seem to trust
Cypress very much, but then again, she was probably right not to.
”I've taken that into account. Even if the explosion were three times as powerful as he calculates...”

123. Slowly Salahuddin was becoming more and more confident with his studies, so he didn't need to
spend as much time on them. Rather, he spent more time out on town. He met his old acquintance,
Bella, again.

124. Bella was a nice lady, but perhaps not as well-mannered as one would think from her looks and outfit.

125. Occasionally there was time for small kicky bag tournaments, and Salahuddin enjoyed those greatly.
Sometimes another old acquintance, Seth would join them. He apparently quite enjoyed kicky bag,
too.

126. That didn't mean that Salahuddin neglected his studies. On the contrary, around that time he
managed to maximize his cooking skill even.

127. He was also keen on making some money for his future in Strangetown – the more he thought about
it, the more certain he became that this was where he wanted to stay – so he kept on digging for
treasure whenever he had the time. It was dirty and hard on the hands, but even the small things like
rocks and bones were worth selling, and in fact, he'd already found an actual treasure chest.
Salahuddin almost didn't believe his eyes when he saw all the gold glistening, and even less would he
believe his ears when he heard how much the chest was worth. Five thousand simoleons would do
wonders for his budget after college.

128. After all the hard work with the shovel, Salahuddin really appreciated being able to relax in the hot tub
and socialize with whoever happened to be there. At this point, it would often be a friend.

129. At this time, I gathered all my courage and decided that it was better to be disappointed in my hopes
than to live in uncertainty, Salahuddin writes. I was so in the charms of the amazing Bim that I simply
had to try. I asked her whether she would go out on a date with me.
To my surprise, she said yes.

130. And indeed, Salahuddin and Bim went on a date. It was perhaps backwards that this was the first
time that he saw her fully clothed, but she explained that as she wanted to enjoy the date, she did not
want to risk mortifying the restaurant staff and being removed from the premises. Salahuddin
supposed this was a reasonable explanation.
They came along brilliantly from the start.

131. ”You are such a charming man, Salahuddin”, said Bim, both charmed and slightly amused at the
same time. Kissing the arm seemed kind of old-fashioned to her, but it was nice, she had to admit.
Salahuddin just smiled and held her hand tightly. ”Shall we go inside?”

132. The restaurant was very nice and cosy, they soon found. While they were waiting for their food,
friendly conversation bubbled easily.
”Salahuddin, can I ask you something?”
”Yes, of course. What did you have in mind?”
”I was wondering... Your speech... It's sort of pretty formal. I can't quite tell where you're from. Is that
your family background or something?”
”Ah”, said Salahuddin, taking a sip of his drink. ”To be honest, I do not know excactly. I have always
spoken like this, it feels natural to me. Whether it comes from my family or somewhere else, I do not
know. Because of the way I found myself in Strangetown, in fact still quite recently, I do not know
whether I have a family somewhere.”
And that quite naturally led to Salahuddin explaining all that there was to explain about his past,
which wasn't very much. But Bim was an excellent listener, and the discussion continued through
their dinner.

133. When they were finishing dessert, Salahuddin had gotten to the end of his tale. Bim reached for his
hand.
”Thank you”, she said and squeezed the hand.
”For what?” asked Salahuddin, surprised.
”For trusting me enough to tell me all this. I really appreciate it. And for this wonderful evening
altogether.”
”You are very welcome, Bim. I am having a very nice evening myself, thank you for that.”
Bim smiled. ”Would you mind if I called you Sal?” she asked suddenly.
For me in this small cell in Alphabetia jail, there is only one person who can call me by that name. But
for the dream me in Strangetown, there was also only one person whom I could imagine naturally
using that name. That person was Bim Weburg.
”No, not at all. In fact, I think I would like that.”

134. ”Thank you again”, said Bim as the evening was drawing to a close. ”I had a wonderful time today,
and I'd love to do this again.”
”As would I”, replied Salahuddin. He was at loss for words, but Bim reached for his hands, then pulled
him close to her.
”You're an incredibly nice guy, Sal.”

135. Salahuddin didn't have a reply to that, but perhaps he didn't need one.

136. Salahuddin had been content with his life all the time in Strangetown, but now that he was going out
with the intelligent, funny and friendly, not to mention gorgeous, Bim, he got back to his scholwork
and extracurricular activities with a new enthusiasm. He wanted to maximize all his skills while still in
college, so that he could... well, he didn't exactly know what he would do when grown up, but in any
case, he could concentrate on doing something else worthwile then. Vague plans and ideas of having
a home together with Bim were forming in his head.

137. Soon afterwards came a time that Salahuddin had been waiting for long: his first eggplants were
finally ripe for picking. While he did so, he wondered whether they really had the properties they were
said to have.

138. He purchased a juicemaking device and placed it in his room. He then placed the freshly picked
eggplants into the machine, followed the instructions and finally poured himself a glass of freshly
pressed eggplant juice. Now was the moment of truth.

139. As he lifted the glass to his lips, Salahuddin was not disappointed: fresh eggplant juice really was a
method of gaining speed in skill building, and it worked exceedingly well. He was content. With the
supply that he had just harvested alongside with the part that was still growing in his garden, he
would plentifully achieve his goal of maximizing his skills before leaving college.

140. The increased speed in learning other skills also gave Salahuddin more time to work on his flower
arranging, and by the end of his semester, he was already getting quite good at it. In fact, good
enough to gain a silver talent badge.

141. ”I thought I'd told you that I don't want to be disturbed when I work on the prototype”, said Cypress
without turning around when Seth entered his room. He was working with some large, mysterious
science equipment.
”Yeah, sorry”, said Seth. ”I just wanted to let you know that Marielle is supervising the construction
workers. The roof should be strengthened properly yet today.”
”You could have told me after I'm done with this.”
”I guess I could have”, said Seth and shrugged. ”You've been in here for a long time, I got curious.”
Seth knew it was best not to irritate Cypress, but he refused to become a doormat, either. He
watched as Cypress followed odd patterns arranging and disarranging on the screen, then typed
something.
”So how's it going?”

142. ”Oh, it's working great alright. Of course it is, it's me making it”, said Cypress, as if Seth's question
had been stupid.
”Oh yeah? When will it be ready, then?”
”It'll take a bit more of time. I'm missing a few more ingredients, but stealing those from work
shouldn't be too much of a problem. Or rather, having someone stealing them for me so that they
don't know they're doing it.”
Seth didn't say anything. For the first time, Cypress smiled. ”It's going to take a bit of time, but when
it's done, it's going to be awesome.”

143. ”Good seeing you around, Salahuddin”, said Michelle while they were playing red hands one day.
”It is good seeing you too, Michelle”, replied Salahuddin. ”I am sorry that I have been somewhat
absent for you and Holly. You do mean very much to me”, he added, slightly worried.
”I know, don't worry about it. We still get to hang out every now and then. Besides, I heard a rumor
that you might be having someone who means very much to you?” she teased.
Salahuddin blushed. ”Umm... Yes, that may be”, he said and smiled. ”How did you know?”
”Oh, Holly told me. She saw you and Bim at a restaurant together.”
”Ah, that explains it.”

144. Thankfully, Michelle was again kind enough to help Salahuddin with his schoolwork.

145. That was incredibly helpful, as Salahuddin had so many other things to concentrate on.

146. In fact, when it came to his studying, Salahuddin had come up with a clever new strategy. In every
area where he had not yet maximized his skills, he now studied until he was on the verge of gaining
his next skillpoint.

147. Then, he would prepare himself a healthy dose of eggplant juice. He would drink it until he had all but
one skillpoint in one area.

148. And then, he would maximize this skill the oldfashioned way. This way, he only needed to gain a tiny
amount of skill in the final and most difficult skillpoint, and could save time. Soon enough, this
strategy awarded him a maximized creativity skill.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's note: If you are wondering why I didn't just let him drink eggplant juice to max his skills,
that'd be because I wanted him to gain the memories correctly, and I'm not sure if eggplant juice does
that.

149. And naturally, there was also Salahuddin's social life to take care of. That took some time as well, but
he was happy to have kept the balance and not just have studied his life away.

150. Not to mention that there was his flower arranging. He was working hard, but the gold badge kept
him waiting still.

151. At that time, I had made up my mind. Or rather, my mind was made up a long time ago, but at this
time I decided to do as my heart told me. I had been seeing Bim regularly for a rather long time, and I
finally wanted her to be mine.
In my waking state, being enamored with another woman was the oddest thing I could ever imagine
happening, but in my dream, Bim was the most natural, indeed the only natural target of my
affections. This was the right time to act.

152. Salahuddin arranged for a nice date for himself and Bim. He selected a beautiful park downtown, and
asked her there on a beautiful summer day.

153. Everything had to be perfect, and it was.

154. When the time felt right, Salahuddin dropped down on one knee.
”What is it, Sal?” asked Bim.
”Bim, darling, I have a question for you”, said Salahuddin.
”Y-yes?” asked Bim, who was beginning to realize the situation she was in.

155. ”Bim Weburg, will you marry me?”

156. ”It's... it's beautiful, Sal”, Bim said, her voice barely a whisper. She took the ring out of its box, looked
at it in awe.
Salahuddin's hands began to tremble. This moment seemed to take an eternity. Bim looked at him,
and as she noticed how nervous he was, she smiled at him.

157. ”Of course I will, silly!” she said and put the ring to her finger.

158. ”I love you so much!”
”I love you too.”

159. It was close to nightfall, and in order to celebrate their engagement, Salahuddin and Bim went to a
nice restaurant to have dinner. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was great, and the company
was of course the best it could be.

160. It was a night to remember.

161. As long as the dream lasted, I was the happiest man on Earth. I was young, I was intelligent, I was in
love and about to start a life of my own with the most amazing woman one could ever think of.
When I woke up, I realized that the best night of my life was one that never happened.

162. After his engagement, Salahuddin felt that time passed very quickly. In what seemed almost no time
at all, he gained his gold badge in in flower arrangement. This badge had kept him waiting for a very
long time, and suddenly he had it.

163. So now, he was able to make the famed snapdragon flowers. That was yet an additional way to earn
some money for the home he was now planning for himself and Bim, and in addition, maybe such a
miraculous plant would be useful also in said home. After all, it was supposed to emit a scent that
was healthy for whoever breathed it.

164. He of course needed to study, but there wasn't much left of that.

165. Salahuddin's hard work with his skill points was starting to pay itself back, as he was maximizing
them at an increasing speed. Next in turn was his logic skill.

166. The remainder of Salahuddin's final semester in college went by in a haze. He was so concentrated
in doing what he did that he hardly noticed the time passing.

167. And suddenly, that was it. He had graduated, with an overall grade of Summa cum Laude. This was
where life began. He was free.

168. The next morning, as he took a shower, Salahuddin pondered on the life that he was about to begin.
He decided that he wouldn't leave campus straight away, as he still had some things to do, and he
wasn't in any particular hurry. He wanted to earn yet more skill points, and collect some more money
so he could offer Bim the beautiful home she deserved.
So off to work it was.

169. Salahuddin started his project by maximizing his mechanical skill. This meant that he only had
charisma and body left to maximize, and he knew that he would be able to manage both in his
remaining time on campus.

170. His charisma wasn't, in fact, far behind, and soon he had maximized it as well.

171. Since his studying was going so well, Salahuddin decided to reward himself with a break of one
evening, and headed to his favorite location in Strangetown, the public pool. There he came across
Bella, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.
”Salahuddin, what a nice surprise”, she said, smiling. ”Long time no see. What's going on with you,
you haven't been abducted by aliens have you?”
Salahuddin smiled back. ”Oh no, no I have not. I am sorry that I have not kept in touch with you as
much as I would have liked, I have been rather busy with my studies. But that is now a thing of the
past, as I have just graduated few days ago.”
”Oh, congratulations!” said Bella.
The conversation went on for a while, but as Bella was talking about her work, Salahuddin felt a tug
on his sleeve.

172. ”Salahuddin, old pal!”
Salahuddin felt himself being pulled into a hug. It was Seth.
”Seth, what a pleasant surprise.”
”Oh, am I interrupting you?” asked Seth, looking to Salahuddin and Bella and back.
”Oh no”, said Bella, ”It's fine, I suppose I should be going anyway. Salahuddin, we'll keep in touch?”
”Absolutely.”
”So”, said Seth as he watched Bella head for the changing booths. ”What's going on with you?”

173. ”Well, in fact I am doing quite well, thank you”, said Salahuddin. ”I have graduated with Summa Cum
Laude only a few days ago.”
”Already? I didn't realize time went by that fast”, said Seth, astonished.
”Yes. I plan on staying on campus for a short while yet, before I move to Strangetown and have a
family with my fiancée.”
”I was just going to say that apparently you've gotten engaged”, said Seth, gesturing towards
Salahuddin's ring. ”Congratulations!”
”Thank you. I am a lucky man indeed.”
Seth smiled. ”So I take it that you haven't changed your mind about staying in Strangetown, then?”

174. ”No, I am afraid not. I have been quite happy here all the time since I came, and now that I am
settling down and having a family of my own, I do not think I could possibly consider leaving.”
”That's what I thought.”
”How is it going, your plan to find a way out?” asked Salahuddin.
”Well, Cypress says we aren't really supposed to talk about it, but you know his style, I think he just
says so to boss us around and not for any real reason. Anyway, it seems we're onto something,
actually what we're trying to do might succeed pretty soon.”
”It sounds like it is going quite well for you as well, then”, Salahuddin noted. ”I wish the best of luck for
your attempt.”
”Yeah, thanks. Umm... When were you planning to move to Strangetown again?” asked Seth.

175. ”Oh, me and my fiancée have talked about two weeks. In that time both of us should be more than
ready. Why do you ask?”
”No reason, no reason...” said Seth, looking pensive. ”Can I give you a small piece of advice,
though?”
”Advice?” Salahuddin asked, confused.
”Yeah... Look, I'm not really supposed to say this but... If you're moving here in two weeks, then the
night before, I'd recommend staying on campus, just in case.”
”Staying on campus?”
”Yeah”, said Seth. ”Look, I wasn't supposed to tell you even that, I really can't. But... For your own
safety. You might warn your fiancée to stay inside, too.”
With that, and a half a smile, Seth shook Salahuddin's hand and was gone before he could ask
anything more.

176. After he had gone, Salahuddin spent a few hours digging for treasure by the community pool. For
one, he could use yet a little bit of money to give Bim the life she deserved, and secondly, he needed
to think.
From what Seth had said, it was rather obvious that something rather dangerous was going to be
happening the night before he was planning to move. And he had not said so, but Salahuddin sensed
a connection between this danger and the plan which Seth had mentioned. So perhaps what Seth,
Cypress, Marielle and Rodney were planning to do to break the barrier between dimensions was
something hazardous?
From what he had earlier heard from Seth, Salahuddin knew that Cypress was working as a scientist.
So perhaps he had access to some machinery that could help them. And he supposed it was to be
expected that this kind of machinery would be dangerous. But he couldn't get any further than that
with his ponderings.
In any case, perhaps it was best to do as Seth had told him to do, and spend his last college night on
campus. Just in case.

177. The very next day was an important one for Salahuddin. After all his hard work, he was only one final
skill point away from his dream of maximizing all his skill. Right in the morning, he set to work on that
final body skill point, and before lunchtime, he had achieved his dream. The feeling was rather
amazing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Salahuddin achieved his Lifetime Want of maximizing 7 skills shortly after his graduation. His new
Lifetime Want is to Become Mad Scientist.

178. With this achievement under his belt, it was good to get down to his remaining business, of which one
was earning money. One good way to do so was to make more snapdragon bouquets.

179. Also digging for treasure turned out to be lucrative as well, at least on occasion. Namely on such an
occasion where Salahuddin found an actual treasure.

180. When Salahuddin was not working on his monetary situation, he was working on his social relations,
be it on campus, in Strangetown, or Downtown.

181. In fact, at some point he realized that he could also combine the two.

182. Fishing may not have been the most lucrative pastime there was, but nevertheless, it meant some
income, and surprisingly, it soon became a ridiculously popular one for the men in Strangetown.

183. And even if the catch was mostly old boots, one could sometimes get lucky.

184. What turned out to be much more lucrative pastime, however, was playing different instruments.
Salahuddin was a very talented player, and he was generously tipped. It didn't hurt that he received
the collective tips of the whole band, apparently as a goodwill measure of some kind.

185. Naturally, Salahuddin and Bim also met regularly.
”... and I saw this most beautiful house, three bedrooms and two baths, very nicely renovated, and
not very expensive. Maybe we should go look at it? I think it would be a very nice home for a young
couple, and a bit of room for kids, too.”
Salahuddin smiled. ”I would love that, darling.”

186. Both Salahuddin and Bim were in a cheerful mood. Salahuddin had graduated, and it wouldn't be
long until they would start their life together.
”To us, to our future!” suggested Salahuddin a toast, and Bim happily joined him: ”To the future!”

187. After the waiter had taken away their dinner ”I do not know what exactly it is that they are
dishes, Salahuddin turned to Bim. planning, but apparently there is a risk of some
kind. So, please, Bim, do stay inside that night.”
”Darling, I have a slightly... odd request for you.”
Bim's brow furrowed. ”That sounds suspicious.
”Yes, Sal?” asked Bim, expectantly. Shouldn't we talk to the police or something?”
”Do you remember those sims I talked to you ”I considered that”, admitted Salahuddin. ”But I
earlier, those four I found myself with when I do not know what it is that they are planning to
came here?” do, or where, and what it is that might happen.
And after all, I do not think that attempting to
”I do. What about them?” leave Strangetown would be illegal in any way.
Besides, I do not think that many sims know
”It seems that they are planning to attempt to about the multiverse theory, or here at least. I do
leave Strangetown, the night before my move not think we would be believed even if we talked
there. Seth warned me that I should stay on to the police.”
campus that night, just in case anything goes
wrong I suppose. Bim didn't look entirely happy, but she nodded. ”I
suppose you're right. Very well, I promise to stay
home and be careful.”

188. When it was time to say goodbye, Salahuddin drew Bim near him and caressed her cheek. ”I love
you, Bim.”
”I love you too, Sal.”
”I'll be seeing you soon. Remember, the day before we meet again...”
Bim nodded. ”... stay inside. I will. You do the same.”
”I will.”
As long as I live, I will never forget that moment, as much as it was merely a dream. That moment
was when I last saw her before... But I am getting ahead of myself.

189. But in fact, Salahuddin was not getting very far ahead. Of course, there were yet things to do, sims to
meet and money to earn, but the settled time for him to move to Strangetown was getting very, very
close. And really, those last few days were a bit of a blur, he didn't remember very much of them.

190. He did remember that one of those last few days, he managed to dig up another real treasure. That
would go a long way for getting him and Bim the dream house they were talking about.
The last times really were a lot about dreaming, anxiously awaiting the future.
And then, suddenly, the future came.

191. ”Well it seems someone is in a good mood today”, commented Seth as he watched Cypress strut
forward with his suitcase. He, Rodney and Marielle were following Cypress as he walked into the
empty warehouse they'd found themselves in all that time ago.
”Of course I'm in a good mood”, said Cypress, smiling a rather intimidating smile. ”There's going to
be a massive explosion, one that should open the inter-dimensional gates for us. If it does, it's all
thanks to me. And even if it doesn't, there's still the massive explosion. I just can't lose. Even you
can't ruin my day today.”

192. The four of them walked further inside, next to a large window, so that Cypress would have as much
light as possible. They watched on as he put the suitcase down on a pile of cardboard boxes, opened
it and checked some wires inside. Then he took a small device that looked like a simple clock, and
wired it in, resting it on top of the suitcase.

193. Seth looked at the thing in front of them. It looked way too cliché to actually work, to actually be
dangerous. But if Cypress could be trusted with one thing, it was making things dangerous. So he
decided to, unless proven wrong, believe that it was. Rodney and Marielle seemed to agree with that.

194. Cypress dusted off his hands, then adjusted a small knob on the timer.
”Alright, we're done here”, he said to the others, looking satisfied. No one else seemed to know what
to say. ”We've got about... fifteen minutes before the timer ticks to zero. So unless anyone objects, I'd
suggest let's get out of here.”

195. No one needed telling twice. The quartet spurted out of the warehouse, to make it to the safety of
their home before... whatever it was that would happen, happened.

196. Those fifteen minutes passed. For four sims, they were the longest fifteen minutes in their entire
lives. In the basement of their mansion they waited, and listened.
For the rest of Strangetown, they were as any other fifteen minutes. Peaceful, uneventful minutes
under the hot summer sun.

197. *BOOOOOOOOM*

198. The stereo sound echoed in the room, and there was laughter that sounded near hysterical.
”Hahahaha, they did it, they did it, YES!”
”Could you FEEL that? I could totally feel that, it was AWESOME!”
”Come on, we couldn't possibly feel that, we're no where near Strangetown.”
”I know, I know, but it was almost as if I'd been there. That was awesome!”
”I know, right?”
”Agents, agents, let's contain ourselves okay? That was truly work well done, congratulations, all!
Time to crack open the champagne! And after that, I think we're going to need some popcorn.”

199. It was the afternoon of Salahuddin's last day on campus. He had called Bim to reminded her to stay
inside, and had been packing his possessions ever since. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but
Salahuddin felt inexplicably worried. What was it that was probably going on in Strangetown right
now? Had he done the right thing by letting the others do whatever they were doing? And if not, what
could he possibly have done to prevent it?
He jumped when the phone rang.
”Hello. Salahuddin Chamcha speaking.”
…
”Seth? I thought you were busy with your plan.”
…
”I am sorry, the line is very bad for some reason. What did you say, again?”

200. ”What do you mean the plan failed?”
…
”Explosion, what explosion?”
…
”The line is bad again, what did you say about useful objects?”
…
”Seth, what have you done?”
But before Salahuddin could get any answers, the line was dead.

201. There was nothing Salahuddin could do. He tried to call Seth back, and he tried to call Bim, but the
phone was mysteriously not working. He looked out the window, and thought he might be seeing
something odd in the horizon, about where he estimated Strangetown would be. He didn't know what
Seth had tried to tell him about useful objects, so he packed his diploma, a fresh thinking cap and a
snapdragon bouquet.
He started going to his friends to explain the mysterious phonecall and say his goodbyes.
”Of course you have to go”, said Michelle and hugged Salahuddin tightly. ”I hope it's nothing and that
everyone is safe.”
”Thank you, Michelle. Take care of yourself.” Never had Salahuddin meant those words as much as
he did now.
”We'll be fine, whatever it is”, she replied seriously. ”It's you I'm worried about.”

202. Evening had come when Salahuddin found Holly in the kitchen.
”Salahuddin! Michelle told my you were leaving”, Holly said as she grabbed him for a tight hug.
”Yes, tonight”, Salahuddin replied. ”I am afraid that something is wrong in Strangetown, and I have
not been able to reach Bim. I would have left tomorrow morning in any case, but now I absolutely
have to go. I have to know”, he said, worry apparent on his features.
”Maybe it's nothing, maybe it's just some temporary problem with the phones or something”, Holly
said, trying to reassure Salahuddin.
”Yes, hopefully -” started Salahuddin, but was cut mid-sentence, as the electricity in the dorm cut off.
Now Holly, too, was getting worried. ”Go”, she said quietly. ”Go make sure that your lady-friend is
safe and take care of yourself.”
Salahuddin nodded. ”Stay safe, Holly”, he said, hugged her one more time and with that, walked out.

203. The next morning, I had somehow managed the long trip from the university to Strangetown, and had
partially found the truth about the situation. Apparently, there had been an explosion, somewhere
rather close to the warehouse where I had first found myself a few years earlier. The nuclear power
plant that supplied power to most of Strangetown had gone critical, and caused a second, even
bigger explosion. This I learned from sims who were hurrying to leave town, escaping mobs of
criminals and goodness knows what. I would have escaped too, but I could not. Bim was still out
there.
I will never forget that chilly morning when I finally arrived to Strangetown, or what was left of it, and
found a plot of land that no one had apparently claimed as their own, where I could build a shelter of
my own. Cold, hungry, tired, worried, but miraculously alive, I stood there in the middle of the desert,
about to start a life that was apparently going to become very different from what I had expected.
Dream or not, this truly was the end of the world.

204. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's notes:
As you will have guessed by now, Villains or Heroes? is my attempt at Pinstar's Apocalypse
Challenge. I've felt like starting a side project for The Bookacy Family Alphabet Adventures for a
while, and as the idea struck me, I just had to give it a try. I'm trying my best not to screw up, but this
is a very hard challenge and there's a non-trivial chance that I might actually fail, in which case I'll
consider starting over. I definitely like the sims enough to keep going. Also, even though Villains or
Heroes? is at least semi-plotty, as is my alphabetacy these days, it's still a challenge story, and this
challenge tends to result in certain consequences in storytelling, such as ugliness in pictures and
such. I hope you bear with me!
I'd like to thank Dicreasy, Docnerd and Mzyra (in alphabetical order!), for borrowing me their
wonderful characters, whom I have not portrayed and will not portray entirely accurately, at least all
the time. Apologies for any inconsistencies! I'd also like to thank Orikes for the beautiful house where
the abovementioned borrowed characters reside.
That's all folks! Thanks for reading, and until next time, happy simming!