| “Enough!” Doggett shouted. Piper turned and looked to him. Maxine took her pillow and swung, hitting Piper. She flew off the bed and went head first into the desk. Max fell onto the bed, laughing. Doggett tried to stifle his laugh. Scully raced over to where Piper fell. “Piper, are you okay?” Scully asked. Piper sat up and clutched her head. “Just a major headache.” Piper said. She picked herself up and walked over to the bed. She sat down and glared at Maxine who had finally stopped laughing. “Sorry.” She mumbled. Piper lightly punched her in the arm. Max clutched her arm as if it were in pain though Piper knew it wasn’t nearly as much as what she was feeling now. Scully handed Maxine her glasses. She took them gratefully and then put them on. “Agent Doggett and I are going to the Sim factory...” Scully began. “You can’t leave us here by ourselves. I came to help solve…” Piper began. “You couldn’t have hit your head that hard.” Doggett interrupted. “You still have that pushy attitude.” “Piper, you didn’t let me finish. Agent Doggett and I are going to the Sim factory to look around and accompany you to talk to the president of the company.” Scully said. “Wait, you want me to talk to the president?” Piper asked, taken aback. Usually Mulder and Scully wanted her as far away from the investigation as possible and she thought Doggett would be even more against it. “You’re the only one who can tell the story.” Doggett responded. “Yea, but I’m a teenager. He would never believe me.” Piper stammered. She looked at Doggett and she knew he didn’t believe her either. “Well, that’s why we’re there to back you up.” Scully said. “Come on, let’s go.” Chapter 11 9:31 AM Scully, Doggett, Piper, and Maxine walked through the Sim factory. Large machines lined the walls. Workers were positioned at each machine making sure everything ran smoothly. Supervisors walked along the walls, checking everything out. “So these are the guys who make my favorite game come to life.” Piper whispered to Max. Max smiled and continued to walk. The employees all stared at the four of them with a coldness in their eye. They didn’t want anyone invading their territory. “Excuse me.” A man said behind Piper. Piper turned around. She looked at the man and smiled. Max, Doggett, and Scully turned around as well. The man was younger, probably in his late teens, early twenties. He had dark hair, which matched his brown eyes perfectly. Max looked over at Piper who didn’t take her eyes off the man. The man looked at Piper and smiled as well. I’ve seen that smile somewhere before, Piper thought to herself. The question is where, she wondered. “Is there something wrong?” Scully finally asked the man, wondering if Piper would ever take her eyes off the man. “Yes, actually there is.” The man said. He tore his eyes away from Piper and looked at Scully. “You can’t just walk through this factory unsupervised.” Doggett pulled out his badge. “We’re with the FBI.” He said, showing the man his badge. The man seemed stunned. “Still, I cannot allow you to walk through here without a…chaperone. “ He said. “We’re looking to talk to the president of this company…Mr. Myron Sim.” Scully said. “He’s my father.” The man said. He outstretched his hand to Scully. “I’m Orman Sim.” He shook hands with Scully as he smiled at Piper. “I can take you to my father.” He offered. “That would be appreciated.” Doggett said. “Thank you.” Orman made his way to the front. He walked along swiftly. Doggett walked next to him with Scully not far behind. Max and Piper hung back a little ways. “What kind of name is Orman?” Max asked, laughing. “Who cares, that guy is gorgeous.” Piper said. Max began to laugh hysterically. “What?” Piper asked. “Nothing.” Max said. “There’s something about his smile, though. It reminds me of something or someone, I just can’t pinpoint what it is.” “You’re weird.” Max said. “You know, I was just thinking.” Piper began. “I’m going to have to try to explain this entire thing to Orman’s father. What if I mess up? Or worse…what if I mess up and Orman’s in the room?” “Piper, how can you mess up? You’re telling a story, you’re not reciting one of those annoying history reports we have to do.” “True, I guess after doing those, this should be a synch.” Piper said though a cloud of doubt still lingered over her head. * * * * Orman knocked on a door. They were all standing in a large hallway that was away from the noise and business of the factory. “Who is it?” A man asked from inside the room. “It’s me, father.” Orman responded. “I have some people here from the FBI who would like to talk to you.” A few seconds passed. Piper tried to get her thoughts together as she tried to remember all the details of the story. She breathed deeply. “Come in.” The voice said. Orman opened the door and walked in. Scully and Doggett followed. Piper tried to take a step but she couldn’t. Max slightly pushed her and she went. “I see the whole family has arrived.” The man said. “We’re not family.” Doggett, Maxine, and Piper said together. They all looked at each other and smiled. “I’m Special Agent Dana Scully, this is my partner John Doggett.” Scully said. “You were the one on the phone.” He said. “Yes. This is Piper Alexander and her friend Maxine Keil.” Scully continued. “I’m Myron Sim, founder and president of the entire Sim operation.” The man said proudly. “Orman, you may go now.” Orman nodded and walked out, closing the door behind him. “Please, sit down.” “Thank you.” Doggett said. Piper and Scully sat in two seats that were right in front of the man’s desk. Doggett and Maxine sat farther behind. “Now, let me get this straight. You think my game the Sims has something to do with crimes that have been committed?” “Yes sir.” Scully responded. “What type of crimes?” Myron asked. “In one case, sir, it was a robbery. In two other instances it was death.” Scully explained. “Death?” Myron said. He was stunned. “Yes sir.” Piper said. A tear came to her eye. Scully reached over and squeezed her hand. Piper nodded. “My parents are dead because of what I believe has to do with your game.” “I’m not sure I follow. How could a computer game result in deaths?” Myron asked. “We’re not exactly sure, sir.” Doggett said, jumping in. “Just listen to Piper’s story and you might hear something that surprises you.” Maxine added in. Piper looked back at Max and sighed. She turned back towards Myron and swallowed. “Well, sir, my family has played with your Sim games since I can remember. You name it and we have it.” Piper explained. “Sounds like my kind of family.” Myron said. Piper smiled slightly. “When the Sims first came out, my friend Erin Pierce immediately bought it. She played and expressed to me how fun it was. A few weeks later, my father went out and bought the game for my two sisters and I. All three of us quickly got hooked on playing it. We became masters of the game. Then, the living large version of the game came out. We bought it the day it hit the shelves and we installed it as soon as we got home. The game would keep us occupied for hours. My sisters, each having their own computers got their own copies so all three of us could play it at the same time.” “And believe me, they played non stop.” Maxine said. Piper nodded. “Up until a few days ago, the game was great. Even through the countless burglary attempts, kitchen fires, and Sims dying I still kept playing. Three days ago my Sim television was stolen. It was nothing new to me, it happened all the time so I continued to play. The next morning I awoke to find my own television had been stolen.” “That could have happened to anyone. Purely coincidental.” Myron said. “True and I didn’t even pick up on the connection until recently. Police investigated and found no evidence of anything. I took it as just a plain old robbery. Later that day, I again sat down and played the Sims. This time, one of my Sims attempted to cook and they lit the stove on fire, which ultimately led to their demise. I found it odd that they had caught on fire in the first place because they had plenty of cooking skills but when I looked at their skill chart, they had no skills. That night at dinner my mother was cooking on the stove.” Tears began to roll down Piper’s face. “The stove lit on fire and she died early the next morning in the hospital.” Myron handed a tissue to Piper. She took it and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry about your mother but it still could have been coincidental.” |