A Strange Town, Indeed: A Sims 2 DS Fanfiction

Chapter 11: Evil #3

Over the next few days, I began to notice what looked like piles of metal on the floor of the hotel. I decided to let it go for now and get them cleaned up, but I had a feeling Alfred had something to do with it, so I planned to ask him about them at some point.

At this point, Alfred seemed perfectly friendly. He helped improve the penthouse like he said he would, and we got along rather well. It seemed as if he was the first genuinely decent person to stay in the penthouse since I became manager.

But I still had a bad feeling gnawing at me that would not fade away.

And...then there was Tristan. I still hadn't told him about my sudden change of heart, and I knew I needed to. But I was afraid of breaking his heart. I knew how that felt and I hated the thought of putting him through that sort of pain.

But at the same time, stringing him along would probably be even worse. So I called him and asked him to meet me in the lion lounge tonight so we could talk.

When I arrived there at 8:50 PM, he was already there waiting for me. "Hey, Alessa," he said," You said you wanted to talk to me about something. Is it about..." He looked around to make sure no one was listening, "The Ratticator thing?"

"No, Tristan...it's about us," I said, "More specifically, my feelings for you..." I then explained everything I'd come to realize over the last few days since that kiss. "I feel terrible for having to do this, it's just...I didn't want to mislead you any more than I might have already done," I said honestly.

Tristan listened with patient ears. He definitely looked hurt, but not angry. "It's OK, Alessa...I get it. Thanks for being honest with me."

"I'd rather do that than string you along or something. I figured that, in the long run, doing that would've only hurt you more," I said. I then gave him a hug, not knowing what else to do at this point. He hugged me back, and we talked a bit more before I went to take care of some hotel-related things.

Once done, I decided to head up and ask Alfred about the metal piles now before turning in for the night.

"Hi, Alfred," I greeted him as I stepped out of the elevator.

"Manager Alessa, I have much to regret this day," he replied,"It seems I have been the victim of entropic forces. My primary heuristic data modulator has been acting very strangely lately. I am unable to prevent it from randomly ejecting metal detritus. To put it another way: I am responsible for the heaps of metal Ick piling up in your hotel. I apologize."

"It's okay," I told him, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"To prevent this from occurring on a regular basis I will require a new heuristic data modulator. If you would be so kind as to procure me a new data modulator, I will clean up what piles I can."

"I've taken care of a few of them, but yeah, they really are piling up at this point," I said honestly, "Thank you, Alfred, I'd really appreciate the help."

"And I yours," he said, "I assume you would like to sleep before going to procure the data modulator, am I correct?" Alfred asked. I nodded. "Then do so. I will patiently wait in the penthouse for you to return."

"Thanks," I said, heading back toward the elevator. "Night, Alfred."

"Goodnight, manager Alessa," said Alfred.

The next morning, I purchased the data modulator from the store. They only had the one, so I hoped Alfred could use it alright. I had to replace a couple of items in one of the other hotel rooms and run a few errands before I could return to Alfred, and I also had a shit-ton of work to do as mayor since I'd fallen behind during my abduction. Thankfully, Strangetown was quite a small town, so I was able to catch up eventually.