They Blinded Me With Science – 1.3 – The Mysterious Phone Call

Life in Sunset Valley was extremely different than Bridgeport and it was taking some getting used to. Though the view from my land was certainly one thing I got used to very quickly!

I was grateful to whoever gave me the newspaper subscription. I read it every morning and usually reread it at some point later in the day. It was all I had to do, really, other than going to the park. Which is something I did quite often. I really enjoyed it there, pleased by the sound of the fountain and the scent of the flowers. Plus I could play chess… for free!

It was at the park where I got a call back from the manager at the grocery store. I was asked to come in for an interview, which was a good sign–right? I set up the interview for the next day and then went back to my land to check on how far Pauline had gotten.

“Not bad,” I said to myself. I was kinda hoping all four walls would be up by now but Pauline worked alone. Which meant she worked slowly. However that also meant she was very inexpensive and I could afford to get this done. So I wasn’t gonna complain. After talking with her about prices, I realized that I would pretty much have zero simoleons by the time this was finished… unless I got that job.

That night I ate the last of my food for dinner.

I chewed very slowly, contemplating my position in life. I mentally made a list of the things I’d need the most, once my house was done. A toilet for sure, so I didn’t have to go running over to the park every time I needed to use one. And a shower–I was beginning to smell a bit funky from being unable to wash up in anything more than a sink. Maybe in the morning before my interview I’d take a swim in the ocean. Then at least I’d smell like the sea instead of my own sweat.

~

Even though I wasn’t late I ran all the way to the grocery store the next morning. I felt better about myself since when I arrived at the beach I discovered little shower-type things that allowed me to rinse off. I rinsed off fully-dressed (since there were no curtains to hide me from public eye) and then lay in the sun till I dried off. My phone said I had ten minutes to get to the interview but I always liked being early.

I was asked all sorts of questions. A bit about my past, a bit about what I wanted out of life, and of course about my skills. I did some math for them and bagged fake groceries for what felt like an hour. Once I was through the manager shook my hand and welcomed me to the team.

“Be here tomorrow at four. You’ll be restocking the produce.”

I thanked him several times before heading on home. And it was starting to look like a home, too! Pauline only had one more wall to put up and since she was finished with the other job she had she promised me that the next day I would have all the walls, a door, and a bathroom.

~

The next day I wore my other set of clothes as I went to the park. In the bathroom, I used the sink to wash my good(ish) clothes and then scrub myself off. The rest of the day was spent under the sun to dry off and I felt pretty clean by the time I got to the store to start my day.

Boy it was busy! There were so many vegetables! SO MUCH FRUIT! And the fruit was taken out of the bins at a pretty fast rate. Apples and watermelons were big sellers in this town and I discovered from a co-worker it was because of superstition.

“According to an old-wives tale, if you eat a bunch of apples when you’re preggers you’ll have a boy,” my co-worker explained. “And watermelon gives you a girl.”

I just rolled my eyes as I added more watermelons to the bin. Some people would believe anything.

~

After what felt like twelve hours, my three hour shift was over. I took off my apron and walked out of the store, stretching my sore arms and rubbing my sore shoulders. When I stepped through the doors I glanced towards my land. I quickly headed on over, overjoyed to see a front door! I ran inside and beamed at the tiny room in the corner. There was already a door up for that, too, and I quickly went inside.

Nothing yet, but that made sense. I hadn’t gotten a shower or toilet. I would have to stop by the general store in the morning to get one. I went over to my backpack and pulled out the two plaques from school. I hung them up on the wall, first my graduation certificate and then my ‘Most Likely’ award.

I slept pretty soundly that night, the best I had slept in ages.

~

“Hey Jacob!”

“Hey Aiden,” I said, tilting my head so I could rest the phone between my head and shoulder. “I was wondering if you’d do me a big favor.”

“What is it?”

“Well I finally have a roof but only one window. Pauline promised to get them in tomorrow but I was wondering if you’d help me install some lights?”

“Sure thing!” Aiden replied. “I’ll be over in a jiffy.”

When Aiden arrived I showed him where the windows would be and so together we worked on where to put the lights. He seemed a bit nervous as we did and finally I asked him if he was okay. When I did, he practically jumped out of his skin.

“Yes!” he gulped. “Why?”

“You look pale. Is everything going all right? How’s work?”

“W-work?” he stammered, eyes going a bit wide. “Why? Did something happen? Did you hear something?”

I frowned, my brow furrowing at this strange behavior. “No, I’m just worried about you. Did something happen at work?”

Aiden blinked several times them smiled. “No. We have a project going on but… not making much headway. Can’t tell you anymore, you know. Top secret.”

I nodded and went back to working on the light fixture. Aiden worked at the science facility in town and was often talking about their strange experiments. At least, he talked about the experiments that weren’t being kept quiet. Sometimes I wondered if they were doing something illegal but I trusted Aiden.

“Your house is looking great!” Aiden exclaimed once we finished getting the lights up and turned on.

We talked about my house and he said he’d help me get my bathroom stuff installed when I was able to, and put the lights up in there. After he left I curled up on my sleeping bag. It took me a while to get to sleep that night and I stared up at the night sky, hoping it didn’t rain before the roof was put up the next day. Rain and electricity didn’t exactly go well together….

~

Not bad, I thought when I went into my house after work the next day. Pauline was still there, packing up her things.

She grinned at me. “Oh good, I was hoping to catch you. Tomorrow I’ll start work on the windows and then the finishing touches–wallpaper, paint, siding, floors…” She lifted her eyebrows, staring at me with a sly smile. “What colors are you thinking?”

“Green!” I replied immediately. “I want this room to be green.”

Pauline giggled and stepped closer to me. “What about the bathroom?”

I turned slightly away from her, hoping I wouldn’t accidentally insult her. “White?” I asked.

“White,” she agreed. “Wooden floors will be the cheapest but I’m thinking tiles or linoleum for the bathroom…”

We discussed floors and what color of frames for the window and then she left, shutting the door behind her. I then called Aiden and he drove over, bringing the shower and toilet I had bought. It took us late into the night to get everything installed but I was more than ecstatic once it was done.

A bathroom! A real bathroom! My own bathroom! No more running to the park in an emergency, no more getting showers fully dressed. I celebrated by getting a shower which felt amazing. I didn’t have hot water yet but I didn’t care. I just felt so pleased to be clean.

I crawled into my sleeping bag and began to drift to sleep.

~

Brrring…

“Uh…?”

Brrrrring!

I sat up, gasping slightly at the sound that had jarred me from my dreams. It was really late, who on earth would be calling. I unzipped the sleeping bag and pulled the phone out, rubbing one eye sleepily as I answered.

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this Jacob Danevbie?”

I stifled a yawn. “Yeah, and it’s almost midnight. Who’s this?”

“I work for the Landgraab Industries. I’m sure you’ve heard of us.”

My mind was a bit fuzzy but then it clicked. “Oh yeah, the science lab. Wait–that’s where Aiden works. Is Aiden okay? Was there an accident?”

There was silence for a moment. “Mr. Jones is fine, he’s at home. I’m calling about something else. We heard, ah, through the grapevine that you’ve been doing quite well with logic.” I was extremely confused and when I didn’t respond, the person on the other line continued. “I was wondering if you’d do us a favor?”

“What’s going on?”

“We were wondering if you could possibly talk to someone… let’s just call her a friend of ours, who seems to think that logic isn’t as… important as it really is. You understand, surely?”

“What’s this about?” I demanded, feeling very grouchy now and more than bewildered. “It’s almost midnight and–“

“Mr. Danevbie, we’re sorry for the late hour but it’s been a bit of a busy day for us.” I couldn’t tell whether it was a male or a female and I asked for their name. The person just sighed slightly. “That’s not the issue. We were wondering if you could possibly talk with our friend about the logic problem.”

“THIS IS INSANE!” I yelled into the phone. “You call me up in the middle of the night and–“

“There will be compensation, of course,” the person cooed. “If you agree to this we will send you a ‘gift’ in thanks for your help, something like a book perhaps? Mr. Jones seemed to think you’d help us out with this.”

I rubbed my temples and then shook my head. “Okay, fine.”

“Good! We’ll send you a text with all the information. Have a goodnight, Mr. Danevbie.”

Click. I looked down at the phone, wondering if I had just agreed to do something illegal. Then my phone chirped as I received the text. There was a picture, a name, and an address. I closed my phone and went back into my sleeping bag, deciding to deal with this in the morning and also to give Aiden a call to try to figure out what the heck just happened.