<-- Summary previous generation
From Sirio's diary
I don't know the details of what's happening at their place, in particular whether they managed to make peace with Arizhel or not, but Florian definitively seems way more cheerful than just a few weeks ago. He also seems full of energy and ideas, and that's why he often ends up suggesting things like this one.
Sirio: Could you explain to me again what we are doing here in front of the gym?
Florian: It's to build up some muscles, of course! Everyone calls us squid heads at school already, we really can't afford these mollusc-like arms if we want to impress some girl!
Sirio: Ah, that's what you had in mind…
Florian: It's useless, you still look like a mollusc.
Sirio: You're merciless!
Sport isn't really for me, and then I keep being distracted by that painting I visualised in my head a few weeks ago but which I wasn't able to complete yet. But it's also true that these weak arms aren't really nice to look at, it's a pain to admit it but Florian might be right about this...
Florian: Why is it so heavy?
Sirio: It was your idea, not mine!
Later we joined Halley and the rest of the group at a nearby diner. At this point I'm sure even you noticed it, my dear diary, noticed that I'm not a very social person. But the small group of guys put together by Halley it's quite cosy even for me, no matter if we go out to eat together, play in the park or go to the cinema. They are all good people, it's fun and not stressfull to be around them. Or, at least, this is usually the case.
Halley is one of the youngest people in the group, only Florian is younger than her, yet she always manages to be a strong guide to everyone. She is also the one who usually proposes what to do in the next few days, and recently she is becoming more and more ambitious with her plans...
Halley: I think I had a great idea this time! How about going on vacation together, before New Years?
Sirio: What, on vacation? And where do you plan to go?
She hadn't said anything yet, still I could clearly perceive it from her. She was thrilled about something she knew we would generally not be allowed to do.
Halley: I've seen the commercial online, it sounds so cool! In practice, there is this travel agency that organizes holidays outside New Sixam. We just need to keep up a credible disguise on all the time, they'll take care of the rest!
Sirio: It sounds risky…
Halley: Well, technically, our laws don't prohibit us to leave New Sixam anymore, and by now many countries are allowing us Sixamians to visit their places.
We talk about it often in school, we go on a field trip practically every year to the planet Sixam but almost none of us has ever seen any other country on this planet. The opening of the other countries has just been so slow, and so much paperwork is still required... Yet there would be so many beautiful places to see besides this desert, like the sea, the mountains, the forests… These are all things that we have only seen in photography.
I can see why she would be tempted, yet if she's one of the youngest people among us, I'm by far the oldest. I'm not good at this stuff, but it's my responsibility to try to be the mature person here, isn't it?
Sirio: Yes, but a visa is required, and we are still forbidden to use disguises and telepathy anyway!
Halley: But the chances they would notice anything are super low! That's the perfect chance to pass unnoticed and avoid a lot of boring paperwork instead.
Sirio: To begin with, I can't disguise myself easily. And neither can Sophia, or Florian. Wouldn't it be easier to just hang around here as usual instead?
???: (confused) You really can't? I didn't know it!
Florian: The disguise is only a very superficial change of the skin and the hair, so we can't make the tendrils disappear from our heads.
???: Oh.
Halley: But your tendrils aren't that big anyway, couldn't you just cover them with a lot of hair?
Florian: Uhm… I've never tried it... Thinking about it, it could work, what do you think, Sirio?
Sirio: ...
What I was thinking was that the conversation wasn't going in the direction I was hoping for.
Sophia: I know many people who did similar vacations, they are a lot of fun and nothing bad happened. However... I don't think it would be a good idea to take me along with you, I just can't disguise myself in any way.
Halley: Don't even think about it, you have to come!
Sophia: But…
Halley: Many hybrids still live outside New Sixam, everyone knows it! I'm sure no one will notice!
Sophia: Uhm… okay, I'll think about it for a bit, then.
And so we all did, we thought about it for two days. I was probably the most pessimistic of the whole bunch, there were so many things that could have gone wrong… As I said, being the oldest I felt responsible for them.
But in no time Halley had everything arranged, and everyone seemed excited to travel to some new place, even if it meant spending most of our (little) savings. Yet the temptation was so strong, leaving this place to finally see new landscapes, new lights, new colours... Long story short, eventually I fell for the fascination of that little adventure and accepted to participate too. Don't judge me, my dear diary, I've never said I would actually have managed to be that responsible and mature.
So we all found ourselves together in a lovely mountain cabin in a place called Granite Falls, quite North of Sim City. Needless to say, our families think we are somewhere else completely. It wasn't easy to keep our real plan a secret from them, we had to avoid Toq and his omnipresent telepathy for days… But, finally, here we are!
It's the first time we've seen any snow at all, I didn't expect a landscape to be so beautiful... As I didn't expect the cold to feel this cold, it's freezing outside!
Halley: (from downstairs) Hey Sirio, are you still upstairs?
Sirio: Just a sec!
It's the first time I've used a disguise for so long, will it work? This strange hairdo was Halley's idea as well, at first glance it would seem effective, but... Maybe I should keep my hat on as well, just in case.
Halley: So, what do you think?
Sophia: (amused) So you chose red hair too, huh?
Halley: Yes, I copied the style from a magazine!
Sophia: It looks great on you!
It's very strange to see us all wearing a disguise, in certain moments I struggle to recognize the others...
Sirio: Hey, Florian, is that you?
Florian: What, Sirio? Why did you choose that face?
Sirio: (laughing ) I could make the same question!
-----------------------------------------------------
We spent a whole week up there, exploring as much as possible that place so different from our home. There are magnificent views of the snow-capped mountains and waterfalls, I would love to paint them… But the easel really couldn't fit in my suitcase. I guess I'll have to settle for some pencil sketches instead.
Sirio: Hey, Halley, it's freezing!
Halley: I like this stuff, the snow, it's so much fun!
???: (whispering) Everything here is so different from New Sixam!
? ?: (whispering) And who knows how many other things we missed so far! Think about it, our place it's mostly a big desert region, but just outside the border there are so many different places!
Halley: (whispering) I think that's why this kind of vacation is so popular right now. If you think about it it's a pure absurdity, we can teleport to other planets like Sixam in an instant, but then they make it impossible for us even to travel to Sim City! It doesn't make any sense, that's it!
----------------------------------------------------------
The vacation proceeded quickly, among snowball fights, walks in the woods and bonfires. Many seem to be there just to enjoy the scenery, but the more days go by the more it became clear to me that someone had very different plans for this holiday…
Thinking about it, when Florian said that he "wanted to go to the gym to impress the girls", I should probably have suspected already that he had already someone in mind...
Florian: (embarrassed) Hey, Sophia, I have a question for you, even if it's a bit embarrassing…
Sophia: (perplexed) Okay, I think? What is it about?
Florian: Well, lately I was starting to think about asking Halley out sooner or later, but I have no idea how to do it! You are her best friend, aren't you? Do you have any suggestions, by chance?
It took Sophia a while to respond, and the combination of colours around her was one of the strangest I've ever seen. There were so many different colours, all together, and they changed so quickly… And Florian must have noticed something was off too.
Sophia's expression, on the other hand, remained impassive the whole time, and she eventually responded with a laconic:
Sophia: I guess that wasn't what you wanted to hear, but… ehm… Let's say it doesn't seem like a great idea to me.
Florian: (disappointed) Oh. Okay…
Needless to say, Florian sulked for the rest of the holiday. I really had no idea that, among all people, he could have had a crush on my cousin...
Sophia: Maybe later we should try skating?
Halley: Sounds like a great idea, you know! But… (whispering) What's wrong with Florian? He's been grumpy all day long! Do you know why?
Sophia: (whispering) Ahm... I could have an idea about it, yes...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The more days go by, the more careless we became. We were in the middle of nowhere after all, and we didn't see other people in ages, who would have noticed if we put down our disguises just for a few hours when being at the cabin, we thought?
Eventually, we were feeling so confident that we even ventured outside the cabin for a midnight snowball fight. The vacation was almost over, when would we have had another chance to play with snow?
Sophia: Ah ah, I didn't miss this time!
Halley: (concerned) Um, guys, isn't that the ranger?
Needless to say, the ranger saw us right away, and the moment she realized who we really were she decided to run away. At the same time, the sky was turning cloudy, and the weather seemed to be about to change again.
We let our guard down too much, and at that point we were in real trouble.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Halley: It's all my fault, we should have been more careful with the disguises!
Sophia: Actually, it's more like it was everyone's fault.
Halley: …
Sophia: And now we should think of a way to fix this mess before we cause a diplomatic conflict, I guess.
Halley: …I heard the others saying the phone line are down, it must be because of the snowstorm that just started. If no one has come here yet to pick us up, maybe that means they can't contact the outside.
Sophia: I think tomorrow you'll have to wipe the memory of quite a few people then… As soon as the snowstorm ends, of course.
Sophia: C'mon, one way or another everything will work out!
Halley: Um... I really hope so.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Easier said than done, “wipe everyone's memory”… That's going to be a lot of work, that's what. We all feel like huge idiots right now, but what matters most now is to solve this mess as quickly as possible.
Halley: That's the guy in the bear suit over there, right?
We erased the memories about the previous 12 hours from all 29 people around the place, needless to say I and Florian had to do most of the job (and we got such a bad headache as a result as well…) But at least now nobody should want to arrest us now, isn't it?
Halley: (relieved) Well, we did it, didn't we?
Sirio: This is the last time I'll let anyone convince me to use a disguise, I swear!
-----------------------------------------------------
Needless to say, a few hours later, we packed all our stuff up and headed home. We could have stayed another day, but no one was in the mood for it any longer.
Sirio: (cautious) Hi Toq. How are you doing?
Toq: (vague) You are wearing curiously warm clothing, I did not think the climate was so cold in your destination.
Halley: Well, it's always better to be careful with your clothes, isn't it, uncle Toq? The weather is strange sometimes…
Toq: Um um.
I don't think Toq bought it even for a second. It's almost impossible to hide something from him, we should have avoided him for much longer to manage to keep the secret.
On the other hand he seemed extremely calm though, there was no shade of orange that could betray concern or tension around him.
But if there was anyone we really didn't want to know this story, that was...
Sirio: (whispering) Please, Toq, could you not tell mom about this? You know that would turn into a drama!
Halley: (whispering) Yes, and don't tell my parents either!
Toq first replied with a half smile, before telling us again:
Toq: (ironic) I do not know what you are talking about. Dinner is ready by the way, I suggest you to change your clothes to something more suited for the local weather.
-----------------------------------------------
§HermioneSims§ corner
Quite a weird chapter, that's probably what you may think right now, isn't it? Sirio and Halley's friends really got a strange idea out of nowhere, and a very risky one too, this time.
Why did I make this choice? Mostly, I was bored about spending so much time in the Strangerville neighbour, that's (almost) the whole reason. I originally wrote this chapter around the time when I started writing my thesis, I needed a vacation too :P
Oh, dear. I bet Toq knows. I wonder what he'll decide to do. I can understand everyone's frustration about wanting to travel and it's not fair that they have to keep up disguises. It can get boring to stay in the same place for so long and teenagers can be recklessly adventurous. I love the disguises you picked for them, by the way.
ReplyDelete