Lune Valley: 3x03
The robbery at Kirby's had put all of the settlers on edge; they needed protection. Although the source of her superior strength and agility was a secret, the results were not, and Effie was all too happy to put those skills to use for her friends.
She began patrolling the settlement regularly every night.
Of course, the night she had her transformation always made her a little too frisky, and she couldn't help playing a prank on her brother.
"Holy Plumbob, Effie! Stop it before my bladder goes into the red!"
Callum tried to reconnect with her by waking up early to welcome her home every night.
Effie wasn't interested.
They sat in silence as the sun rose while Effie pointedly ignored his presence.
Callum didn't have much time to worry about his deteriorating relationship with his sister. There was work to be done.
He spent much of his time at his workstation, tinkering, inventing, building.
And having the occasional mad scientist moment.
Of course, all his tinkering turned the Quigley household into a field test for his prototypes.
Which did not always go as well as could be hoped.
The moment he turned his first CleanBot on, it went on a rampage.
Mashing the button as hard as he could proved ineffective. "Argh! Stop! I said stop, you stupid bot!"
Even though she witnessed the whole thing, Effie didn't lift a finger to help, and Callum knew better than to ask.
"Damn it. I was sure this one was ready." He muttered to himself after finally managing to shut it off.
He hefted the bot back to its base and began the work to repair it.
He fiddled with the dials on the control at its base, as well. "Just for good measure. Can't be too careful." He mumbled quietly as he reset the controls and dialed the power back.
Then he spotted some faulty wiring and sighed. He'd have to take it back to his workstation for more intensive repairs.
One afternoon, Stu ran into George, who was out for a run. Stu invited him inside to hang out for a bit.
George was only too happy to agree, as the Quigleys had one of the first televisions in town. (Built by Callum, of course.)
As a villainous burglar popped up on the screen, George turned to Stu. "I'm glad your sister is on the job, keeping criminals like that away from Lune Valley."
A little while later, Callum wandered in. "George, could you excuse us a moment? I need to talk to Stu."
"No problem. Mind if I use your tub? I'm feeling pretty rank."
"Sure, it's right in there."
"What's up, bro?"
"It's... Well... Have you talked to Effie lately?"
"I mean, about me--"
"Whoa, stop right there."
"You know I love you, bro, but..."
"...this has zilch to do with me. And I'm not getting in the middle of it."
"I mean, she could cream me even before she wolfed out! I know I'm not too bright, but I'm not that stupid."
"Look, Cal, you messed up. You gotta talk to her yourself."
"But it's not my fault, Stu! It just sort of happened."
"Besides, I didn't know they were that serious or anything. It's not like Effie's ever been big on commitment before."
"I know! I'll soup up her stationary bike! If I do some figures, maybe I can speed up the..."
This is not going to end well, bro. Stu didn't even bother to say it out loud. There was no point once Callum got that look in his eyes.
Callum quickly wandered off to draw up plans. George returned moments later to rejoin Stu on the sofa.
As the sun set, Effie appeared from her bedroom and joined Stu and George for a few minutes before she had to get ready for her nightly patrolling.
George and Stu weren't paying much attention to the broadcast, though.
"Nora and I are still newlyweds, even with the girls. We make lots of time for each other."
"We're trying for more babies already."
"Uh, isn't that gonna be a handful, man?"
"Sure, but it's all I've ever wanted!"
Effie booed just a little too loudly at the action on screen.
Even though night had fallen, Callum was still outside working on his robotics.
He was testing his latest HydroBot while he waited for some calculations to finish for Effie's bike.
George, having taken Effie's subtle hints, wandered outside to find Callum.
"Before I go, I just wanted to thank you for the work you've been doing for all of us."
"Nora and I are grateful. I know everyone is."
Callum was a little taken aback by the compliment, but he managed to stutter out a thank you before George said goodnight and left.
Effie was doing a great job at protecting Lune Valley and Kirby was impressed.
He used some of the town's funds to send her to the nearest police academy for training.
Effie was glad for the time away from home every day.
She felt she had a lot of thinking to do.
"Good morning, Effie."
"You doing all right?"
"Who, me? I'm great! Just a little nervous about my first day at the academy, I guess."
"Okay, then. We're off!"
Effie nodded, then fell silent as she settled in for the drive.
Commentary:
I'm sorry I've been so absent. Grad school is eating my time. I haven't kept up with anything sims-related at all. I'm sitting on a backlog of updates (including this one), which, combined with some school technical difficulties, is the only reason I'm able to post today. I'm working on my schedule, so here's hoping this won't continue much longer. I miss playing sims, reading sims stories and just the whole sims community. :(