The library at Britechester University was packed this day and David needed a place to sit down and quietly edit his Strangerville case notes in some peace. Even though he was seconded to the Department of Paranormal Research as Cornelius' field agent he was first a history post-graduate student at the University and needed to put in the odd appearance on campus. His dorm was far too noisy to concentrate and get work done so it was to the library he went: Only to find that the debating society had taken over the building and were making their own racket. So he went outside and tried to find a place at a table to sit down.
There was one space left, which he would have to share. However, as this other person was a stunningly attractive blonde he didn't mind at all.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" he asked the student.
"Not yet it isn't" she replied. "Go ahead"
David sat down and started to get his notebooks ready. The girl had stopped looking at her own coursework and was watching what he was doing.
"What are you studying?" she asked him.
"I'm a history post-grad working on a field assignment." he replied.
"Oh that sounds very interesting!" she said, leaning forwards towards him; elbows resting on the table and with her head place on her upturned hands. "Tell me more..."
David met her gaze and smiled. "I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss my work..." he replied.
"You could tell me but then you'd have to kill me, something like that?" she said, returning his smile.
"Exactly..." but before he could ask this girl about what she was studying they were approached by another person who seemed agitated.
A very glamourous looking woman of indeterminate age strode over to David. To him she seemed vaguely familiar but he couldn't place where he had seen her before.
"Are you David Wright?" she asked, forcefully.
"I am. And who wants to know?" he replied.
"My name is Bella Goth..." she said and the penny dropped with him: Bella Goth. Socialite, fashion icon and a woman with a mysterious past. He had seen her in magazines and in the news.
"Mrs Goth, I recognise you now. How may I help?"
"I understand you work with Dr Jon Cornelius. Is this correct?"
"You work with Cornelius!" the young student exclaimed, her face lighting up in a smile.
"I do. I am his research assistant. What is this about Mrs Goth?"
"I hear you are investigating Strangerville. I am here to tell you to stop! STOP! Cease your activities there. No good can come of it!"
David was surprised at this reaction from her. What was possessing this woman to come all the way here to make this demand?
"Why should we stop our work, Mrs Goth?" he asked.
"You are meddling in things you do not understand!" she replied.
"That is literally what we get paid to do, ma'am." David said, nonchalantly.
"Heed my warning, Mr Wright! Stop your boss at all costs!" and with that, she turned tail and stormed off.
"Man, that was weird" said David, shaking his head.
"So you work for Cornelius do you? What's he like in real life?" asked the girl with a wide eyed look of a fangirl. David just rolled his eyes in disbelief instead.
David had arranged to meet Cornelius at Pepper's Pub, a lively and trendy watering hole in the middle of Britechester. Their work these last couple of days had been in isolation with one another and David felt he had to share what went on with Bella Goth.
Cornelius was making banter with a cute blonde student who was dancing and invited him to join in but on spotting David he politely declined and headed over to his colleague.
"What a charming young lady" said Cornelius. "Anyway, to business. I wish I had some more news from the DPR labs but all our tests are coming up negative at the moment. Every hypothesis I have about those plants and pods isn't being backed up by scientific evidence. I trust you have more positive news."
"It's more like an extra complication, Cornelius" said David. "On campus I had a run in with a local socialite called Bella Goth. You won't know her..."
"As a matter of fact I am aware of her, or more accurately her husband. He's a novelist and I've read a number of his books. Bella Goth you say...what was the nature of your run in?"
"She's aware we're working on the Strangerville case and implored us to stop investigating it."
"Well that's an interesting development..." said Cornelius, pensively and stroking his chin. "You are aware of her past, David?"
"A little, I know she was kidnapped a few years ago"
"No one ever said it was a kidnapping. She disappeared for a few weeks and claims she has no memory of what happened to her."
"And you think her disappearance has something to do with our investigation into Strangerville?"
After Cornelius had left to return to Strangerville, David headed over to the refectory to get some dinner but on his way he ran into that student who witnessed the incident with Bella Goth.
"Oh, hello again...David" she said with a little bit too much familiarity for someone he'd only just met.
"Hello again...you have me at a disadvantage, Miss...?"
"Oh, my name's Perri" she said with a beaming smile.
"Nice to meet you...again...Perri. You're out of luck today: I've just met up with Cornelius but he's had to return to his home...you just missed him."
"Just my luck!" she replied, looking slightly dejected. "Oh, no offence to you...your work sounds amazing and what about that lady acting all spooky towards you? Wow, what are you up to?"
"I told you; I'm not at liberty to say." he replied, smiling politely at her. "I can talk to you about anything except for my current assignment. I'm going for a bite to eat now, would you like to join me?"
Perri smiled warmly at David and said "That would be neat".
They grabbed some food from the canteen and took a seat. "So...David...if you can't talk about your current work assignment can you talk about Cornelius? What's he like? Is he as brilliant as he sounds? Is he single?"
Yeah, this isn't a date that's going anywhere... David thought to himself as he smiled a little grimace of annoyance.
Ah, Bella's mysterious disappearance... as someone who mostly played The Sims 2 in the past, this brings me memories... And, because of those memories, I see a lot of hypotheses about why she may be so upset about investigating Strangerville!
Also, poor David, everyone seems more interested in Cornelius instead. XD
Cornelius and David didn't say a word as they ate breakfast. Today was a big day: The descent to the lowest levels of the secret laboratory. They had the protective suits, they had a plan in place to explore those depths and now was the moment of truth, the final search for answers. After they had eaten and cleared away the dishes, they packed the HAZMAT suits into hold all bags and gathered any other useful items for the trip. Before they stepped out the door, Cornelius turned to David. "Are you ready for this expedition?" Cornelius asked David. "Primed and ready to go, Cornelius." he replied. Cornelius nodded. "Then there's no time to delay" he said as he picked up the car keys and headed to the door. They left the house and locked up before heading to a parked Ford Bronco that belonged to the DPR. However, the two men noticed that the skies above Strangerville were a particularly sickly green colour, more so than in recent days. "I...
"My name is Doctor Jon Quayle Cornelius and I am what is known as a New Wave scientist and parapsychologist. A little over a month ago I received a request from the Department of Paranormal Research in America for my help in investigating a mystery they had encountered in the town of Strangerville. They couldn't tell me much but what they were able to piqued my interest so I am taking a leave of absence from my work at Cambridge University and travelling to the United States to do some field work in trying to solve this mystery. My companion in this investigation is David Wright. A promising young history postgraduate and expert in the arcane who was born and raised in nearby Sim City. His local knowledge will be invaluable in my investigations. What we're up against I don't know at this stage but I feel it is my duty as a scholar to keep a journal of our findings for posterity." "The place has barely changed since I was last here, Cornelius" said Da...
From the journal of Doctor Jon Quayle Cornelius. Things have become worse: Since breaching the locked level of the secret laboratory things back in Strangerville have become more serious. The mysterious pods all around town have all opened and strange, alien plants have sprouted. The plants resemble the ones we discovered in the lab but, perhaps more ominously, the sky has turned a sickly pale green-grey colour. I fear we might be running out of time to discover and prevent the threat that is trying to engulf us... "Cornelius! Come here! Those strange purple floating spores we found at the lab...they're in your bathroom!" exclaimed David. Since the semester at Britechester had finished, David had moved out of the halls of residence and had moved in with Cornelius so he could study the alien plants better. However, he didn't think they would be actually inside the house. "They're in the lounge as well, David. In fact all over to...
Ah, Bella's mysterious disappearance... as someone who mostly played The Sims 2 in the past, this brings me memories... And, because of those memories, I see a lot of hypotheses about why she may be so upset about investigating Strangerville!
ReplyDeleteAlso, poor David, everyone seems more interested in Cornelius instead. XD