Memories, Part One

Why did I think continuity was a good idea for this, huh? Why? Oh well, on we go.


'We've had our memories taken from us. With this book we can learn our pasts and find a way of defeating Nathen. That's what Harriet told me.'





'What's in the book?'






'It's a scrapbook. If I'm right, it's been compiled by Harriet's agency and placed in the house so we could find it.'





'Why couldn't they just tell us all this stuff?'






'Apparently our brains have been tampered with by aliens or something so that we can only learn the truth ourselves.'





'So... what's inside?'







'Hey... that place looks familiar somehow... like in a dream...'






'This house was our first home. As babies we were abandoned on the doorstep and brought in by the owner, a kindly man by the name of Lumpy. Lumpy Crombie.'





'Lumpy?'






'Wait a moment: you're saying we were abandoned as babies at this house?'






'Yes.'






'So either four mothers with newborn babies coincidentally abandoned their babies at the exact same house or we're all related.'





'No, no, no. Look, the note that was left on the doorstep's been put in here.'






'Let me see.'







(click for large)

'Well, I guess this all seems in order.'






'Dude, I never realised you had such hairy wrists.'






'Naysayers at school said it'd be my palms, but I guess I lucked out.'






'OK, so we were left in the care of a man called Lumpy. What was he like then?'






'A friendly transexual sports columnist and former punk rocker. Lumpy Crombie was the lead singer in a band called Victor's Igloo. According to these newspaper cuttings, the band was critically slammed after every performance. There's a couple of pictures of him here.'





'Uh... we were raised by him?! I'm sure I'd have remembered such a... distinctive face.'





'He wasn't the only one who raised us apparently... there's a letter here.'






Kids, if you're reading this then that means that I have passed on and you are all in serious danger. A woman called Harriet Rum has continued this scrapbook from where I left off to give you all an idea as to how special you are. And to protect you. If you ever meet her, listen to what she says. And avoid Normann at all costs! As I write this, I am preparing to kill him and put an end to all this. God help us. Lumpy.



'Shortly after Lumpy took us in, a man called Normann moved into the house as a lodger and he helped bring us up.'







'Normann had nothing to his name but the clothes on his back and a swagger stick fashioned from... a femur!'





'What's a femur?'






'A raccoon-like animal I think?'






'No, it's a leg bone! That means that Normann was- oh god!-'






'NATHEN!!!'







'Lumpy wasn't aware of Normann's true reasons for moving in until it was too late. This is very grave- oh, hey! Baby pictures!'






'Aww, I was cute back then.'






'For a baby, you had a knowing stare. I don't like it.'







'... I hate babies and all things cute except three-legged piglets. This is uncool.'






'Aw, look at you in your little pink dress. I think it's adorable. Snrk.'







'HAHAHAHA!'






*sniff*







'You had a labcoat back then?'






'Yes, I've always wanted to be a doctor. I used to perform appendectomies on rocks, and smaller children when I was little.'





'Yeah, I think I remember that. They never did find Thomas did they?'






'I'm glad our memories are returning. Some things are just too cherished to forget.'






'And so as time passed, Normann ignored our needs and neglected us to the point of abuse leaving Lumpy to pick up the pieces...'






'Nooreen, you smelly little thing. My eyes may be the size of pinheads but my nose still works, ho ho ho!'







'What the fuck?! THESE ARE NOT THE HAPPY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES I WAS PROMISED.'






'We were forced by Normann's cruel ways to live in a state of filth and stagnation. But... to what end?'





'Why didn't Lumpy do anything?'






'Normann had a hold over him, some kind of hypnosis... we were needed for something and he needed to be sure there would be no interference.'






'I'd like to know why we were being fed bottles of kryptonite.'







'Lumpy was a tough nut to crack. He managed to resist Normann's influence enough to keep us alive, but his existence was an empty husk. He longed for death.'





Children can be so cruel.


'One day I'll leave this world and be free of your stupid fat face, your lousy pinstripe suit, and those horrifying eyes of yours.'





'... Why... are you doing this to me...'







'Because I hate you and your species. You're a stepping stone on the path to the Earth's destruction. Nothing more and nothing less.'






'The... Earth? You're... m-mad...'







'They say I'm mad, but I think you'll find I'm the sanest person on this planet.'







'Life is a disease! AND I AM THE CURE!'






'... That's... The Matrix...'







'Shut the fuck up! I only need you to keep the small humans maintained so I can keep them dosed.'





'Dosed? What do you... mean...?'








'What do you think I mean?! Do you think that's milk you've been feeding them all this time? No! It's flarflumion, a chemical compound of my own creation! It will allow me to leave this stinking rock forever! MWAHAHAHA!'




'You're... a monster...'







'My plan is foolproof.'





---

'That's it! Normann was using the green liquid inside these bottles to alter our DNA so we could be used for his spaceship... he's been gathering limbs from lots of people over the years, but some essential parts needed to be developed over a number of years... from infancy.'



'And I was engineered so that my limbs could be used for some sort of Earth-destroying weapon?'





'Exactly.'






'When I first met Nathen he said he was collecting limbs so he could write a book.'






'A cover story.'






'You're telling me he covered his mass murder and mutilation of young women by, in fact, telling people he was mass murdering and mutilating young women?'





'Well, we've already been told he's not very smart.'






'I still don't understand how this is supposed to tell us how to destroy him.'






'We'll have to keep reading then.'







Whooooooooooa! My looooove, my daaaaaaarliiiiiiiing!


Even twenty years ago you would often find things that were not Nooreen.


'I need to... break free... must find a way... got to save the kids...'






If anyone's wondering, it was not me who created Lumpy and Normann, it was Catriona. She's the master of ugly sims.


'Dude, this is all pretty tragic stuff. Aren't there any pictures of us on swings or anything? Or covered in chocolate?'





'Well, it appears that one day Normann got lazy and Lumpy was able to break free of the brain control he'd been under for so many years.'






'Is that social services?! I need you to come round right now! There are four kids here in dire need of help! A man called Normann's been neglecting them for years. They deserve a new home. They deserve... happiness.'





'We'll be over immediately! By gum, we shall rescue these children four! We'll just give the police a ring and they'll investigate this Normann character. Lawks!'

'Don't bother the police... I'll deal with him myself.'








'Put down the girl and turn around, Normann, you son of a bitch!'







'So, you have broken free, Mr Crombie. Your persistence is admirable. But now you must die.'





'No, Normann. Now it's time for you to die - FROM BEES!'







'BEES?!'






'BEES!'







MOTHERFUCKIN' BEES!


'NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooo...'







'What in Christ's name happened here?'







'Bees got him.'







'And they reduced him to a pile of ash? Dear lord, admin won't be pleased. This makes no sense.'






'It's an end. That's good enough for me.'








'... I'm free...'






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'RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAGH!!! YOU WILL SUFFER FOR THIS!'







'Help! Somebody help!'








'He screamed and begged for fully five minutes but no one ever came... and all young Catriona could do was sit and laugh at what she thought was nothing more than a silly game.'





'But it was no game. Lumpy was never found, and by the time Social Services had arrived, Normann had fled, leaving us all behind.'





'That's terrible... but what happened next? Did the bees kill him or not? Where the fuck did the bees come from anyway?'





'I don't believe we'll find all the answers to our questions here, but it's obvious that Nathen can't be killed by conventional means-'





'Bees are not conventional means!-'






'We have to keep on reading. The more we read, the more our memories will come back to us, the more chance we have of foiling Nathen's evil scheme. You don't want to be turned into a space weapon do you?'




'No...'






'Then don't ask silly questions.'






'I'd like to know who's taking all the photog-






'Shh!'







'Hey, Joe, you'll never believe what just happened.'