| “Well, it’s nothing too important.” Piper said. Scully looked at her. “Well, it’s not like I haven’t done projects like this the night before. That’s how I work. I do best under pressure.” None of them spoke for a while as they continued to watch the home movies. “What are we watching?” Doggett finally asked. “Home videos of my sisters and me. We were so adorable.” Piper explained. “What are you doing?” Doggett asked. “Trying to trim the hedges.” Piper answered, laughing. “At age two and a half.” Piper responded. The three of them watched the screen intently. Piper was holding a large pair of hedge clippers as she tried to cut leaves. The clippers were almost as tall as her and by the way she was holding them, it looked as if she was about to cut her leg off. Lynn, was swinging on a swing set in front of her. Suzanne pushed a lawnmower that was as tall as she was across the screen. “Who was the smart one who gave you hedge clippers?” Doggett asked. “Lynn thought it would be funny to see what would happened.” Piper answered. “You must admit, it is pretty funny to watch.” She thought for a moment. “You know, life is so simple when you’re a little kid. All you want to do is go outside and play in the leaves or on the swings. But as you grow older, you need something more to keep you occupied. You need a television show, a movie or…The Sims.” Piper grew silent. “What is it?” Scully wondered. “This all connected to the Sims.” “I’m not following. I thought the Sims was a game.” Doggett said. “It is. This is going to sound crazy but please listen to me. When this all started, when I was on the phone with Maxine, I was playing the Sims. As part of the game, you have to make friends. My Sim called two of her friends, a man and a woman. They came over later that night. Just like you guys came over.” Piper explained. “Piper…” Doggett began. “No, listen.” Piper said. “When I was on the phone with Maxine, my Sim television was stolen. So then, you guys came over that night and then the next morning my television was stolen. Scully, after you left to confirm that I was on the phone with Max I played the Sims again. This time my stove lit on fire and my Sim died. So, then later on that night my mother was killed by catching on fire. I played the game the next day and my Sim died from drowning in a swimming pool. That’s when Doggett asked me to go out to lunch. I agreed and went upstairs to get ready. Then, I thought about all of this and I knew something was going to happen so I called Erin to check up on things when I was gone.” Piper paused. “Now, I haven’t played the game since, but I know these murders have to do with the game.” “If it’s true, how can we prove it?” Scully asked. “If it’s true. This thing is implausible.” Doggett said. “Maybe to you.” Scully said. “But Agent Mulder and I have seen similar cases.” Scully looked to Piper. “Do you know where the Sims is manufactured?” “I’m not sure but…hang on.” Piper said. She stood up and walked over to her computer table. She reached up and grabbed a box. She opened the box and took a pamphlet from the inside. “Redwood City, California.” “Then we need to go there.” Scully said. Scully stood up and walked over to the stairs.” “Hold it. You’re going out on a limb here.” Doggett commented. “We have no avenues on this investigation. You have to trust me on this.” Scully said. Doggett sighed. “Fine. I’ll call for two plane tickets and we’ll leave tonight.” Scully started up the stairs as Doggett stood up. “Two tickets?” Piper shouted. “Try three.” “You’re not coming with us.” Scully said. “Who knows how long we’ll be out there and how dangerous it could become.” “Look, I don’t care. I have the money and the time. We’re on February vacation. My parents died because of this. I was there when this all started and I want to be there when it ends.” Piper pleaded. “We can’t just take you with us.” Doggett explained. ”There will be certain places that you can’t go with us and we can’t leave you all alone in California.” Scully said. “Then I’ll take someone with me. Max would go in a heartbeat. I know she would.” Piper begged. Scully looked to Doggett who nodded. “Fine.” Scully said. Piper jumped up and ran to hug Scully. “Call Max and tell her to get ready in a few hours.” “Thank you.” Piper said as she reached for the phone. Chapter 10 February 20, 2001 5:12 AM Maxine looked over at Scully and Doggett who were sleeping. Piper was sitting to the right of her, listening to her headphones. Her lips mouthed the words. Maxine held a book in her hands. She looked at it and then closed it. She tapped Piper on the shoulder. Piper took her headphones off and looked at her. “Tired?” Maxine asked. Piper sighed. “Sort of. But I’m too excited too sleep.” “Haven’t you been to California before?” Max wondered. She popped a peanut into her mouth and she chewed it quietly. “Yea, twice but never without my parents and never with friends. Do you realize how much freedom we’re going to have? When they don’t want us around during the investigation we get to go off alone. How cool is that?” “It will be fun.” Piper looked over at Scully who sat next to her. Doggett was at the window seat. His head was against the window and a little pile of drool had formed on the wall. Piper looked at Max and the two of them began to laugh. “He looks comfortable.” Max joked. Piper turned around and scanned the rest of the plane. There were a few groups of scattered people around. Two or three flight attendants momentarily walked by. A black and white movie played at the front of the plane but no one seemed to be paying attention to it. “You think the rest of the people on this plane think Scully and Doggett are our parents?” Piper wondered. Max rolled her eyes. “God I hope not.” The two of them began to laugh. * * * * Four hours later, they had landed and had found a Taxi. Piper, Max, and Scully piled in the back while Doggett took a seat in the front. Piper sat by the window and stared out at the sights around them. The streets were full of people. Cars and taxis were backed up in the streets. “Where can I take you folks?” The taxi driver asked. “To the Chariot hotel.” Doggett responded. "Will do but it might take some time. This is what we call rush hour around here.” The man explained as he pulled out into traffic. “So, have you and your family got anything big planned for today?” The man asked Doggett. “Oh we’re not…” Doggett began. “Family.” Piper and Maxine answered together. They looked at each other and giggled. Doggett looked back at them and smiled. * * * * “Hey this is nice.” Max said as she bounced on one of the beds. Piper walked through the door with her suitcase in her hand. She dumped her suitcase on the ground and jumped on the bed. She grabbed a pillow from the bed and hit Max in the back with it. She fell of the bed but quickly jumped up and grabbed the other pillow. They were both standing on the bed, hitting each other when Doggett walked in carrying his suitcase. “I guess this is your room.” He said. He walked past them, smiling and then opened another door. He walked into another room. Piper and Max stopped hitting each other and watched as he opened his suitcase and quickly put away all of his clothes. They were neatly folded and pressed. Piper looked at Maxine who looked back at her and they began their pillow fight again. A few minutes later Scully walked in from another door on the other side of the room. She walked across the room, ignoring Piper and Max. She walked into Doggett’s room. He was lying down on his bed holding a phone book. He looked up at Scully as she walked in. “You sure we did the right thing by letting them come with us?” Doggett asked. “They’ll prove to be useful…I hope.” Scully said. “Anyway, we should tame the wild beasts so we can go to the Sim…Factory.” Doggett nodded and got off the bed. The two of them walked into Piper and Max’s room. They had moved off the first bed and they were now fighting on the second. Each of them had two pillows now, one in each hand. They disregarded Scully and Doggett as they continued to hit each other. Max’s glasses had fallen off. Scully walked towards them and picked them up. Scully cleared her throat, hoping to get their attention. They didn’t notice. “Excuse me.” She said softly. Still, the girls continued to fight. |