WTiS: Changes
Pascal Curious was having a very busy week. Between his regular job at ConHugeCo Labs, meetings about revamping the town, and filling out endless paperwork supplied by Quinn concerning Wennie’s placement and guardianship, the oldest Curious brother found that he barely had the time to work on his own projects at home. But for once, he really didn’t mind that too much. There were things happening in his life that were actually far more important than research, which was something Pascal could have never imagined himself saying before Rally and Wennie came into his life.
He’d made arrangements with Quinn and Wennie’s psychologist in Sim City to have her evaluated in the hopes that she would be eligible to live outside the Asylum, under his sponsorship. Though Pascal himself couldn’t see any obstacles to that hope becoming a reality, Wennie didn’t seem to share his optimism, and Pascal had made a point of visiting her often as the week wore on, to offer her encouragement and reassurance.
Her worry seemed especially odd to him. Wennie had been placed in the Strangetown Asylum by her father, whom he understood was a successful businessman and a prominent member of the community in Sim City. Wennie explained to him that the move had been less for her mental health and more to make her disappear, so that she wouldn’t be an embarrassment to the family, and that her father would likely not be very receptive toward her release. Pascal found that difficult to believe. What sort of father would do such a thing to his child? He certainly couldn’t imagine ever shunning Rally, no matter what the boy did or how he chose to dress. But Wennie insisted it was so.
So Pascal spent his evenings with her, reassuring her that everything would be fine, that very soon she would be coming to stay with them, and that she would be an important and cherished member of the family at the Curious compound.
And in the course of offering comfort, Pascal strengthened his bond with Wennie even more, and reveled in the intensity of his feelings for her.
One of Pascal’s other concerns was the growing size of the family. That wasn’t a bad thing at all, but it did mean that they were stretching the occupational limits of the compound. He’d made an agreement with a newcomer in town - one Teff Teflin - to do some expansion work on the building in lieu of paying rent on the trailer Pascal had offered to him as a place to stay. Pascal hoped to add a couple of rooms for Rally and Rexx, since both were currently sharing the very small nursery.
Over breakfast on Thursday morning, Pascal mentioned to his brothers that Teff would be by that evening to discuss plans.
Lazlo surprised the entire clan with plans of his own. “I’m not going to be here forever, you know, Pascal. When I move out, one of the boys can have my room.”
Pascal was rather astonished by feeling a touch of distress over the thought of Lazlo moving out, rather than the relief he should have logically felt for the freeing up of space.
“Uncle Lazlo, you’re moving out?” Rally seemed to share Pascal’s feelings as he gazed at Lazlo with serious solid black eyes.
“Well, not right away, bratling,” Lazlo assured lightly with a smile for his nephew. “But eventually, yeah. I mean, I gotta strike out on my own sooner or later. I sure can’t see myself living here for the rest of my life, and I’ve got things going on, you know.”
“Yes… and how is Mina Yagami these days?” Vidcund asked, not bothering to look up from his pancakes.
Lazlo grinned. “She’s doing just fine. She’s in Sihon this weekend, on a location shoot. But, her brother’s family is moving out of their place, going to Liberty City, so she’s thinking about taking over their house.”
“Well, that would put her conveniently close,” Vidcund chuckled.
“It would, wouldn’t it?” Lazlo’s grin grew wider, while Rally frowned heavily and picked at his breakfast with a lack of enthusiasm that went unnoticed under the other family concerns.
“Okay Lazlo,” Pascal knew he should have realized that his younger brothers would eventually want to move out and live their own lives, but facing that prospect was coming as a bit of a shock to him. After all, they’d been together since their parents’ deaths, and it seemed odd to imagine the compound without either Lazlo or Vidcund. “But, you ultimately relocating doesn’t exactly facilitate us right now. Rally needs his own room. Wennie will be moving in, and Rexx is going to transition presently. We require supplementary space regardless.”
The two younger Curious brothers agreed that Pascal was probably right.
His mind on other things, however, Vidcund had pretty much forgotten about the planned home improvements, so it was a bit of a surprise to him to hear the door bell ring in the late afternoon. Irritated at being interrupted while in the middle of working on a paper about the facial-cranial differences between full-sims and half alien-sims, Vid glanced up at a clock and grumbled because Pascal should have been home by then to answer the frammiting door.
Thus his greeting was less than friendly. But Vidcund wasn’t the type to care much about whether or not he was making a good impression. “Yes? What do you want?”
The scruffy man at the door did not look pleased, if the scowl that formed on his face was any indication. “I’m here to talk to Pascal Curious about some remodeling,” he replied tightly.
Vidcund then remembered the conversation over breakfast. “Oh yeah, right, you’re the fella renting our trailer,” he nodded, some of his irritation fading. “Cal mentioned you’d be by. I suppose you can come in.”
Vidcund had at least enough social skills to offer Teff some coffee, but attempts at conversation did not go very well. Teff didn’t seem inclined toward chatting any more than Vid himself did, so the terse exchanges of a couple sentences were inevitably followed by long extremely uncomfortable silences, during which both men frowned at each other.
Instead of going straight home after school, Rally instead decided to stop by the house that his Uncle Lazlo had said Mina Yagami was possibly moving into. The news had not made Rally happy in the least, because if Mina was moving in, then that meant the current occupants of the house were moving out, and there was one occupant in particular that Rally did not want to see leave.
Rally found Aya Yagami lying on the walk in front of her house, watching the clear skies overhead.
Rally and his cousin Kimberly were both very good friends with Aya. The three of them - the only grade schoolers in Strangetown proper - played together often. Being very outgoing and playful, Aya had led the other two into trouble a few times, but that was okay with Rally. She was smart and liked to figure things out, which were traits that Rally naturally found appealing, but she could also be silly and girly and dreamy sometimes, which is why Kimberly liked her.
“My uncle Lazlo says that you’re moving away?” Rally asked as Aya got to her feet.
“Yeah… going to Liberty City. My daddy got a job there. I don’t really want to go, though. I like it here,” Aya told Rally sadly. “And I’m not gonna like being far away from you and Kimberly.”
“I don’t think either Kimberly or I will like that either,” Rally replied. “But I’m sure we will both email you…”
“Yeah, for awhile maybe. But then you guys’ll forget about me because I’ll be so far away,” Aya sighed. “And maybe I’ll end up forgetting about you too.”
“No, I won’t, Aya. I won’t forget you ever.” Rally frowned a bit, then leaned in, beckoning Aya to do the same. “C’mere, I want to tell you a big secret that I’ve known about for a long time now.”
Curious interest breaking through the sadness in her expression, Aya leaned forward and let Rally cup his hand around her ear.
“Someday,” Rally whispered, “You and I are going to get married, Aya Yagami.”
Aya giggled and pulled back. “Rally! We can’t get married!”
“Why not?” he asked seriously, feeling a little stung that she was giggling over his big revelation.
“Because we’re friends!” she exclaimed. “And friends don’t get married. That would just be weird! Only grown-up mommies and daddies get married, don’t you know anything?”
Rally looked a little confused, since he supposed Aya’s reasoning was sound on that theory. The only grown-ups Rally knew who were married were also moms and dads, like his aunt Jenny and uncle Tech. Most of the other adults in his life were boyfriends and girlfriends, and they weren’t married. He considered his father and Wennie briefly. Dad was already a dad, so he could get married, but Wennie was his girlfriend - not a mom - so maybe she couldn’t...? Rally wondered how she would go about changing her status…
“Well okay,” he conceded. “But maybe someday you and I will be moms and dads too, and then we can get married.” However it happened, Rally was sure that it would. Except for the immediate members of his family, Aya was his favorite person in the world, and the news that she would be moving simply didn’t make sense to him, since he felt like they were supposed to be together for always.
“Maybe that would be okay,” Aya looked wistful, because she did like Rally, and playing House with him was fun, so maybe being married to him wouldn’t be so bad either. She imagined they’d live someplace with lots of flowers, because Aya loved flowers, and there would be music too, but it would be very serious and scientifically precise music, because that was what Rally liked best. But, as nice as it was to dream about that, they had to be practical here. “But you and me aren’t ever gonna see each other again, you know. I’m moving too far away. And I don’t think you can get married if you don’t live in the same place as the person you’re marrying.”
Yes, that was a problem too, Rally recognized. But, he was so sure of what he felt. He’d watched her often when she played tag with Kimberly, or watered the flowers for her mother, or swung on the swing at his house, and the music Aya made when she moved, talked or laughed was Rally’s favorite. Maybe it was a little selfish, but he wanted to hear it all the time, and he was convinced that he was supposed to. Like… she was a symphony that had been written just for him…
“It’ll work out somehow,” he insisted with a bit of a sulky grumble. “It’s not fair, though. I don’t want to never see you again. I want you here all the time.”
It made Aya feel very special when he said that. Special and happy and tingly all at the same time. “Wanna be girlfriend and boyfriend?” she asked quietly.
That was a very big and important step forward, Rally knew. There were friends, and then there were best friends - which is what they were now - and then the next step in the friendship hierarchy was girlfriends and boyfriends. That meant they were better than just best friends. Being Aya’s boyfriend would give him the right to do grand things like share gum, write her name in his school notebook (she could do the same with his name, but in her case, she was allowed to draw hearts around it), and hold her hand. When they transitioned, they’d even be able to kiss! Rally wasn’t sure how it would work with her living so far away, but he was still convinced it would come out right, so he really didn’t have to think twice about it.
“Yep,” he nodded. “Let’s do that.”
“Yay!” Aya laughed delightedly and threw her arms around him in a hug, which he was glad to return, because being girlfriend and boyfriend gave them the right to do that too.
When Pascal arrived home, late from finishing up on a project at work, it was to find Teff sitting by himself in the kitchen, looking rather miffed. He could hear Vidcund playing with Rexx in another part of the house, and he had to sigh inwardly over his brother’s social skills. Really, was it too much to ask that Vidcund exhibit some civility toward a guest and not leave him sitting alone?
He apologized and insisted that Teff stay for dinner, though the other man once again said dinner wasn’t necessary. But actually, it was. While Pascal had no doubt that Teff was eager to talk business, the eldest Curious brother preferred dinner to be made before Rally arrived home, so there would be no time to discuss the house plans until afterwards regardless. Besides, a nice home-cooked dinner was the least he could do to make up for Vidcund’s rudeness.
When Rally arrived home, he was naturally curious about their guest. Though Pascal warned him not to be a bother, the boy sat down to chatter at Teff almost immediately.
Pascal worried at first that this might annoy Teff even further, so he was pleasantly surprised and pleased when he heard the man encouraging the conversation and getting along amicably with his son.
Dinner turned out well, though with Vidcund’s return to the table, there was some mild tension, but Rally seemed determined to fill any pauses in the conversation. He enthusiastically brought up the subject of weather, which wasn’t a surprise since it was currently a topic of some concern in the household. Unusual cloud cover in the evenings had made astronomical observation a bit dicey lately. Rally was apparently hoping that meant Strangetown might see snow.
General opinion at the table was that snow was near impossible. Likely there had been a change in local weather patterns thanks to pollution from Sim City or something of that sort, but nothing of any lasting significance. As Vidcund pointed out, Strangetown’s weather had been consistently sunny for generations. “Grandma and Dad both kept pretty detailed records on the weather and there’s been nothing but sunshine here since the Curious clan first settled in the area. No reason for it to change now.”
Pascal suspected that Lazlo’s good natured disagreement was based more on just wanting to irritate his brother then on any real scientific basis. “Oh I dunno, Vid! I hear there was hail spotted in Metro this morning. Pretty damn weird, if you ask me.”
“Hail!” Vidcund snorted. “That’s fnarging absurd, Lazlo.”
“It is possible, Vidcund,” Pascal felt he had to point out, even if he rather doubted Lazlo’s report as well. “Though, I’ll admit, exceedingly unlikely. While we do have sufficient dust particles in the air over the area upon which ice might accrete, we generally lack the thunderstorm systems that are particularly conducive to hailstone formation.”
“That’s exactly why it’s so weird,” Lazlo nodded. “I heard it fell from our usual clear blue sky. Really, this merits some investigation.”
“You go to it, Lazlo,” Vidcund rolled his eyes. “If you do manage to find any hail, I’m betting it’ll be hiding in the same place as that mythical hpyerflux field of yours…”
“If it can hail, then it can snow,” Rally said firmly, deciding that the matter was settled as far as he was concerned, and that his hope of snow wasn’t as far-fetched as the adults seemed to think.
After dinner, Pascal shooed the rest of the family out of the kitchen so that he and Teff could at last talk business. He noticed that Teff now seemed more relaxed and less annoyed, which was definitely a positive. Breaking out a good after-dinner wine, he and his guest spent some time discussing the house and what Pascal wanted to do with it, and how that compared to what Teff thought was actually possible given budget and physics.
Part of Pascal’s plan included adding a partial second level to the building, so he and Teff did a quick survey of the roof and Teff gave him some figures on what could be done. Pascal was pleased that Teff really seemed to know his stuff. He would be sure to report that to Yuuki, who had mentioned that she was interested in hiring Teff to do some of the town renovation.
In fact, Pascal found himself hoping that work for the town would keep Teff in the area for awhile. He appeared to be a capable man with good strong practical skills, and ever since the military had pretty much pulled out of the area, before Pascal was even born, they had been lacking someone with those types of qualifications. In spite of Teff’s loner attitude - typical for a wanderer, Pascal supposed - he felt the man would be a good asset to Strangetown.
As if in defiance of the dinner conversation concerning odd weather, it was a nice night. Warm and clear, just as Strangetown usually was. As they finished their tour of the roof, Pascal noticed Teff looking down into town, his expression a somewhat distant.
“It’s a good place to live,” Pascal ventured into the silence that Teff had stretched between them.
“Nn,” Teff responded, a brief flash of irritation crossing his face. “I’m sure it is. But I’m not interested, Curious. Just passing through.” He abruptly turned and headed back downstairs.
“Alright,” Pascal nodded, willing to let it drop for civility’s sake as he followed Teff.
Pascal had taken Friday off so that he could drive into Sim City and meet at the office of Wennie’s psychologist to hear the results of her evaluation that morning, and participate in a meeting to decide whether she was eligible for release from the Asylum. As he arrived at the office, he felt confident that everything would go smoothly and that Wennie would be joining the family in short order.
The receptionist let him know that it would be just a few minutes before the meeting began, so Pascal had a seat in the waiting room. He could have ridden into the city with Wennie and Quinn, but they had had to come very early for her evaluation and it hadn’t been practical for him to join them, as he would have ended up waiting most of the morning in the city with nothing to do. Now that he thought about it, however, Pascal regretted the decision. He should have gone along even if it was an inefficient use of time, simply to offer support to Wennie, who he knew was nervous about everything.
He would have to apologize, Pascal decided. He glanced up as a young man entered the office and noted that he looked a little frightened and nervous. Another patient, perhaps? Although… there was something familiar about him, the way he moved, the tone of his voice as he asked the receptionist if the doctor was ready for him yet…
Pascal was startled, but the arrival of Quinn the caretaker servo confirmed it. “Wennie?” he asked, getting to his feet.
The young man turned and looked relieved. “Pascal, you’re here!”
It certainly was a surprise for Pascal to see Wennie looking so different, but he’d often wondered what she looked like without her usual make-up and now he knew. As a young man, Wennie seemed very young and uncertain, but no less beautiful to Pascal’s admittedly biased eyes. He embraced him tightly with a smile.
“This is a surprise,” he commented.
“Is it okay?” Wennie asked worriedly as they sat down. “I had to borrow the jacket and jeans, I didn’t have anything appropriate, but Quinn thought it would be better if I didn’t… you know, look like I usually do… to make it look like I’m getting better…”
“It’s fine, you look very good,” Pascal assured him honestly, though he couldn’t say that he thought much of Quinn’s advice in this case. There was nothing wrong with Wennie, in his opinion, so Pascal didn’t think that it was necessary for him to dress or behave any way other than how he wanted to.
“You have to understand,” Quinn explained when Pascal questioned him on it. “You and I may not think that there is anything wrong with him, but Wennie’s father does, and that his cross-dressing is symptomatic of mental illness. In order to show improvement, I thought it best to remove what he would take as proof of no improvement at all.”
It did make sense when put that way, so Pascal let it drop and asked Wennie how his evaluation had gone. The young man didn’t seem all that confident, but it was Quinn’s opinion that things had gone very well, and he was convinced that Dr. Neumann would be recommending placement in Pascal’s household. That meant Wennie’s father was now the only obstacle.
Their conversation was interrupted when Dr. Neuman finally arrived, with apologies for his lateness.
Wennie introduced Pascal to his doctor. “Very nice to meet you, Mr. Curious,” Dr. Neumann shook the eldest Curious brother’s hand. “And thank you for offering to sponsor Owain’s placement outside the Asylum.”
It took Pascal a few beats to remember that Owain was Wennie’s real name, and to adjust his mind to using it. He assured Neumann that it was his pleasure and that his family - who worked with the Asylum inmates often - had grown very fond of Owain and looked forward to him joining the fold.
“Shall we then?” Dr. Neumann turned to lead the way. “Mr. Yoshizumi is waiting for us in the conference room.”
They all followed him, though Pascal saw the frightened light in Wennie’s eyes. It bothered him that a son could be so wary of his own father. He tried to offer reassurance, touching the young man’s back lightly from behind. “It’ll be alright, Wennie,” he whispered low enough so that his words would be heard only by the one they were meant for. “Relax. I will be in attendance with you the entire time.”
He saw Wennie pause, then he nodded, took a deep breath and continued on resolutely. Pascal hoped that his presence helped.
They entered the conference room to find a stern-looking older gentleman waiting for them and Pascal was startled to realize that he recognized him. Pascal wasn’t personally familiar with him, of course, but this was Ilias Yoshizumi, owner of one of the largest corporations in Sim City - Megaplex Rex - which in turn owned the company that owned ConHugeCo labs, where Pascal and his brothers worked. Suddenly finding himself facing the man who was essentially his ultimate boss was a little unnerving, to say the least, and Pascal couldn’t believe that he’d failed to make the mental connection between Wennie Yoshizumi and this powerful important Sim City businessman.
Ilias Yoshizumi paid no attention to his son at first, instead standing to be introduced to Pascal. His greeting was terse, but not unsociable, and Pascal had the feeling that he was being closely scrutinized and sized up through the strength of his handshake.
Everyone, except for Pascal, settled around the conference table. The eldest Curious sat on a comfortable lounge to the side, since he was there simply as Wennie’s sponsor and wasn’t a part of the deliberations over whether or not Wennie was eligible for placement outside the Asylum.
Dr. Neumann got things started with a brief review of Wennie’s case, and how he had been placed in the Asylum to be treated for gender identity issues and depression. He described some of the treatments Wennie had undergone and progress made so far. Pascal noticed that no mention was made of Wennie’s reported death by fire, which he had come across when hacking into the Asylum’s files and patient records. He wondered if the doctor even knew about that.
“According to reports regularly submitted by Quinn here,” Dr. Neumann gestured across the table at the servobot, “Owain is doing very well and has progressed beyond what care the Asylum can provide. Based on my periodic evaluations, including our session this morning, I would have to say I agree. It seems to me that Owain has outgrown the Asylum and would now benefit from placement in a more family-like environment, with more freedom of movement and interactions with others.”
“Seems far too permissive to me,” Yoshizumi replied tightly. “Letting the boy run about without supervision… what’s wrong with the environment at the Asylum? Seems to me he can get plenty of interaction with others right there without having to leave the place.”
“Mr. Yoshizumi, your son is a Family sim, and there simply are not many opportunities for him to interact as a Family sim in any meaningful way with other inmates,” Quinn buzzed in explanation. “The Curious family has offered him a place in a situation where Owain will be better able to fulfill his wants as a Family sim, without restrictions and without the background noise of the Asylum. I would not want to see him fall into an aspiration failure, especially when there is an alternative available.”
Yoshizumi looked across the table and addressed his son for the first time since Wennie had entered the room. “Is that the problem?” he asked, voice hard with a slight accent of mocking. “Are you going to have a breakdown if you can’t play house?”
Wennie looked startled to have such a question put to him so abruptly, and he was clearly at a loss for how to respond. “No… no sir, but…”
“Mr. Yoshizumi, I don’t think there’s any call for such harshness,” Quinn piped up, humming with disapproval.
“And why not? Treating him like a fragile little head case never did him any good - that’s when he started getting all weird and wearing the wrong things.” He gestured across the table at Wennie, indicating what the young man was wearing. “This transparent attempt to dress like a man doesn’t fool me in the least. Turn him loose from the Asylum and the first thing he’ll do is put on some damned frou-frou dress.”
Wennie looked distressed but really couldn’t say anything, because his father’s accusation was the truth.
“Now, Mr. Yoshizumi,” Dr. Neumann said quietly, trying to steer the conversation back into a more positive direction. “I think that Owain is making a remarkable effort to please you today, by wearing something he thought you would approve of. And we’ve discussed this problem before. Some sims are simply biologically hardwired to perceive themselves as being gendered differently than what their outward appearance would suggest…”
“And that’s just bleeding heart nonsense!” Yoshizumi interrupted, commanding immediate silence from everyone else at the table. “Keep feeding him that rhetoric and I’ll be getting my son a new psychologist, doctor. He’s staying put, and that’s that.”
“It ultimately comes down to what’s best for him emotionally,” Neumann continued, doing his best to not be intimidated by the powerful man’s threat. He pointedly turned his attention from the senior Yoshizumi to the junior. “Owain, what do you think is best for you now? Moving on from the Asylum, or remaining there, as your father wishes you to, and having me reevaluate you in another six months to see how things are going?”
Wennie looked down at the table for a long moment. This was a stand off between himself and his father, and it had happened many times before. He knew full well that he was expected to back down and obeisance to what his father demanded of him.
On the other side of the room, Pascal - who had listened to all of this with his heart hurting, and with disbelief and growing uncharacteristic anger - silently willed Wennie to be strong, to truthfully say what he wanted.
Wennie looked up and purposely addressed his reply back to Dr. Neaumann. “I want to go live with the Curious family,” he said quietly with a small waver in his voice, but with growing determination as he continued. “I think it’ll be kind of scary being away from the Asylum, but I want the chance to try it. They’re willing to let me be a part of their family and I… I haven’t had a family in years…”
“Owain!” Yoshizumi snapped, clearly insulted and perhaps a bit stung.
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?” Wennie asked honestly, finally looking at the man sitting across the table from him. “From the first time I said I thought I was supposed to be a girl, way back when I was a child, you’ve done nothing but push me away, shuffle me off to live with relatives I barely knew, and then finally hid me away in Strangtown. You never came to see me, you just paid Dr. Neumann’s bill and forgot about me the rest of the time.” He took a nervous breath. “In fact, I bet the only reason you’re here now is because you’re afraid that if I get out of the Asylum, someone will see me and find out that Ilias Yoshizumi’s son is a freak.”
There was an expression of growing anger on the elder Yoshizumi’s face, but he didn’t respond immediately.
“Owain,” Neumann put into the conversational pause quietly, but with a small pleased smile on his face. “We’ve talked about this. You’re not a freak.”
“Oh no Doctor, he’s right,” Yoshizumi spoke up, glaring at his son. “He is a freak. In fact he’s a disgusting deviant whom I’m ashamed bears my last name - -“
“Stop it!” Pascal interrupted sharply. He was inwardly rather surprised to realize that he was already on his feet and at the table, having jumped to Wennie’s defense before he even noticed that he was moving. He was proud of the young man for speaking up and facing down his father, but he had lost patience for the man’s callous and even cruel treatment of his son. “If you’re so humiliated that he carries the name Yoshizumi, I would be pleased to offer him a far more principled and respected name.”
“Oh yes, I know all about the Curious name,” Yoshizumi said lowly as he too got to his feet and turned to face Pascal. “Good old Notzo Curious, one of the first settlers in the rural Strangetown area… except for the military of course. They had a base there first, but thanks to Notzo and a few shady deals he made with one Lerato Muenda, the military ended up pulling out of there as fast as they could pack their mess kits,” he paused for dramatic effect, though none was really needed for the clearly caught-off-guard Pascal, who hadn’t expected that Yoshizumi would even know who he was, let alone his grandfather.
“One has to wonder,” the older man sneered in a tone that plainly said he knew the answer to his own question. “What could be bad enough to send the military running?”
Pascal bristled at the implication that his ancestor was at the center of some conspiracy or untoward deal, though his mind was in a bit of a confused whirl at the same time. What on SimEarth was Yoshizumi talking about? He did not like to be caught lacking knowledge. “You don’t know anything about my family,” he replied defensively.
“Clearly neither do you,” Yoshizumi sounded nothing less than disgusted. “One of these days, for a lark, you should ask your unusual brother-in-law about the secrets your parents took to their rather unfortunate graves.”
At that, Pascal’s indignation vanished to make room for growing bewilderment. It showed on his face. Tech and his parents? Secrets? What was Yoshizumi talking about and how did he even know about Pascal’s family?
Yoshizumi nodded at him knowingly, pulling himself up straight, giving the appearance that he was lording his knowledge over the other man. “That’s right,” he snapped harshly. “The skeletons of that truth you’re supposedly so dedicated to seeking lie in your own family’s closet, Curious. Unearth them and then see if you can still claim that your name is more honorable than mine.”
With that, Yoshizumi stepped around Pascal, as if disregarding that he was even there, and strode purposefully out of the room. Silence dropped into place as the door was shut behind him, with Pascal too confused - a feeling he did not like in the least - to say anything and the other three unsure of what had just happened between the two men.
“Well,” Neumann cleared his throat after an uncomfortable moment. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll see if I can catch up and get a definite answer from him on Owain’s placement…”
Pascal nodded vaguely and sank into the chair that Yoshizumi had abandoned, his thoughts racing in perplexed circles. Grandpa Notzo responsible for the military pulling out of Strangetown? Secrets his parents took to their graves? And Tech was somehow mixed up in it all? It didn’t make any sense! Tech hadn’t even known his parents - Jenny had met and married him after Glarn and Kitty died - so how could the alien be privy to any of their secrets? And what secrets could they possibly have anyway?
“He’s not going to let me go,” Wennie’s quiet voice broke through Pascal’s thoughts, sounding sad and distant. “I’m sorry Pascal…”
Pascal looked up, ashamed that he’d momentarily forgotten about Wennie. “Oh no, Wennie, it’s alright. Please, pay no mind to what just occurred or what was verbalized. It was all inconsequential.”
“I would have to question the validity of that statement, Mr. Curious,” Quinn binged.
Pascal winced a little, since Quinn was right. And, he realized, there was some further cause for concern here. If Yoshizumi knew about his family - or thought he knew anyway, Pascal wasn’t convinced there was any truth in what the man had said - then he had obviously done his homework on the man who wanted to sponsor his son’s release from the Asylum. That meant chances were good that he also knew that Pascal and his brothers worked for ConHugeCo, and that was potentially a very serious problem.
But it was a problem for later. “Well, for the present time, it’s inconsequential,” Pascal told Quinn pointedly, then turned his full attention back on the young man sitting across from him. “Wennie, I don’t believe what just happened necessarily indicates that your father would not allow your release from the Asylum,” he said with as much conviction as he could.
“No offence Pascal, but were you at the same meeting I was?” Wennie looked up with a frown. “He obviously came up with plenty of reasons to dislike you so that he could justify not turning my guardianship over to you. He doesn’t want me to get out.”
“If that is the case, then we’ll simply have to approach the situation from a fresh direction,” Pascal said, with purposeful buoyancy to his words in the hopes of cheering Wennie up and renewing his hope. “This is not a failure, inamorata, it is merely a setback.”
“Are you sure?” Wennie looked uncertain, but he did really want to believe in Pascal’s confidence.
“Yes, of course,” Pascal stood up and came around the table, gesturing for Wennie to stand as well. “Now, I would be remiss if I did not offer you accolades and inform you of how proud I am that you spoke up for your own desires against your father’s.” He pulled Wennie into an embrace.
Wennie laughed nervously. “I was shaking the entire time!”
“I can certainly understand why now that I’ve met him,” Pascal nodded, once again wondering about the things Yoshizumi had said about his family. Naturally these accusations would have to be investigated. “The man is a force not to be reckoned with lightly, however,” he smiled at the young man in his arms. “Reckon with him we shall, and we will prevail, I promise you that.”
Wennie smiled, love in his eyes for Pascal as the other man leaned in to kiss him.
Reassuring Wennie was easy compared to the thought of facing his brothers and telling them that he had probably put their jobs in jeopardy, but Pascal knew that it had to be done. For the time being, he decided not to mention Yoshizumi’s accusations against their family; he wanted to investigate those himself.
After Rally had left the dinner table that evening, Pascal explained to Vidcund and Lazlo what had happened, saying that he’d inadvertently antagonized the man who owned the company they worked for. Both of Pascal’s brothers had been wondering how the meeting had gone, and had picked up on Pascal being more withdrawn than usual during earlier dinner conversation, but neither had expected something like this.
“You think he would target us just because you stood up for Wennie?” Lazlo asked, admittedly a little confused.
“I would not put it past him to use our positions in the corporation as some sort of leverage. A man who would keep his own son locked in an asylum to preserve his standing and reputation is likely very accomplished at dealing in an underhanded fashion.”
“Oh great, Cal,” Vidcund wasn’t pleased, to say the least. “You develop emotions and one of the first things you do with them is piss off the guy that pays our salaries?”
“Hey, Vid, that’s pretty harsh,” Lazlo shot a disapproving look across the table. “It’s not Cal’s fault this guy is a jerkwad.”
“No, he’s right, Lazlo. Instead of remaining calm, I reacted with illogical foolhardiness,” Pascal sighed, wondering what he’d been thinking, where his head had been at. He had never before been the type to jump hotly into confrontations. “I’m sorry.”
“Aw c’mon, no need to apologize, Cal. You were defending the sim you love, and believe me, reason and logic get chucked right out the window when someone you care about is in trouble,” Lazlo grinned, actually pretty proud of his brother for standing up for Wennie. “And really, it isn’t any big thing. ConHugeCo has never really taken my energy physics research seriously anyway; they just wanted me to produce technology they could sell. But La Fiesta has been after me for awhile to teach and do my research there. I never took ‘em up on it, because switching over seemed like a hassle, but now…” he shrugged good-naturedly. “Might be a good time for a change.”
This was the first Pascal had heard about Lazlo getting an offer from La Fiesta. “Really?” he asked, and readily admitted that he felt extremely relieved when his youngest brother nodded and grinned.
“I’ve been asked to participate in a lecture tour with other leading exobiologists,” Vidcund commented after a slight clearing of his throat, much to the surprise of both of his siblings. “I hadn’t accepted the invitation because of the commitment - it’s a year-long tour all over the northern continent. Arexx is still young and I didn’t want to put the full burden of caring for him on you two,” he paused for a thoughtful moment. “But, admittedly, it is something I would like to do.”
“Wow, a lecture tour! Cool!” Lazlo beamed, tucking back into his food.
“Vidcund…” Pascal felt as if the nice predictable life he and his brothers had been living for so long was suddenly spiraling out of control from the forces of change. He felt bad that his impetuous mistake was the catalyst of that change, and there was still the distress over the thought that his brothers were starting to move away from the close family core, looking to live their own lives, but Pascal also knew that he was glad that they were both being offered such rich opportunities. “Please, accept the offer if it’s what you want. You could have done so even if this situation hadn’t evolved. I’m happy to take responsibility for Arexx’s care during your absence.”
“Oh sure, watching out for the little rugrat is no problem,” Lazlo agreed off-handedly, then grinned again at Pascal. “So, that settles that, Cal. Me and Vid are covered, now all you gotta do is find yourself another position somewhere and the big boss won’t have any leverage over you.”
Yes, that took care of the problem with the job situation, Pascal thought moodily to himself as Lazlo and Vidcund made conversation around him about their new possibilities. But what about the accusations Yoshizumi had made against the Curious family? Something Notzo had done that drove the military away… secrets Glarn and Kitty Curious never revealed to their children?
Pascal needed to investigate, and the first place to start would be with his brother-in-law…
Notes:
1. Boy, the Curiouses sure spent a lot of time eating in this installment, didn't they? >_>
2. Just as a disclaimer, I don't know anything about the real-life legality of moving someone from a hospital or extended care setting back out into society. I'm sure I'm going about it all wrong. However, my sims do not live in the real world, thank goodness, so I can make it happen any way that I want.
3. A brief comment about Aya's family moving to Liberty City: A lot of the placenames in my sims stories come from other video games, just because it amuses me. Liberty City comes from Grand Theft Auto 3 (and I think they returned there for the latest one, but we haven't gotten it yet). Other places on my SimEarth include Vice City (also GTA), Tantegel (a town from the original Dragon Warrior, one of my favorite RPGs ever), and Nova Prospekt (the prison colony from Half Life 2). Of course, Paragon City and the Rogue Isles are there too. Someday I have got to try drawing a map of my SimEarth, it's a very interesting place (coincidently enough, I have an assignment coming up for my Civics class where I am supposed to draw a map of a place that's significant to me....).
4. A large majority of these pictures were taken before the Seasons expansion came out, that's how long I've been sitting on them. ^^;; I need to stop playing so far ahead on certain plotlines and let the rest of the story catch up.
5. I love the name Megaplex Rex. :D
6. The song in the title picture is "Everything Changes" by Sheila Brody, off the first Pokemon television soundtrack. I know, I know! Pokemon! I'm still mentally 12 years old, I can't help it! (in my defense, it's a good song, except for the voice-overs from the characters)
Next time: ...... I got no clue!! According to my story outline, I was supposed to go back and check in with Johnny next, but (though it's not really apparent) my plot got amazingly more complicated thanks to this installment, so I'm going to have to give some thought to what happens next *scribbles frantically all over her outline*