CH3
His hands ached, the rough cord that was tied around his wrists was beginning to cut off his circulation. Dinner seemed to be taking an especially long time. Shouts of merriment could be heard through the thin walls of the hut, but they were foreign enough that he did not call out for aid.
Without Leonardus there, there was no guarantee that Rajus and Howardus would help him anyways. He mused briefly on the naming scheme that His Penny, as he was beginning to think of her, had used. She must have read Asterix comics as a child. When he managed to unplug himself, he would have to ask her.
He wiggled down until he was seated on the floor, leaning against the post. The pose offered some respite to his hands, if not his back, and to his feet as well. He was unaccustomed to walking rough paths and homes with dirt floors.
From his new position, he was able to take in his situation a little more fully. He had embedded himself in a game, by accident. But how much of him was truly embedded? Was his body still in his chair at his desk? He was inclined to think it was. Was it reacting to the actions he took in this game land? Were his hands moving? He closed his eyes and imagined himself in the chair, raising his hand and moving it towards the kill switch on the laptop, hovering there. What would happen if he turned it off? Would it kill him?
Would he be forced to spend the rest of his life in this place? He was nearly an elder at his age already, how much longer could he have? Five years? Ten?
Resolutely, he imagined himself pressing the kill switch.
He waited.
And watched his leather shoes fade into rough sewn sandals.
"Drat."
"Wassat?" Penny questioned, walking into the hut, a wooden bowl in her hands and a piece of meat hanging out of her mouth. She took in his position on the floor and raised her eyebrows, giving him a dirty look.
He glared back at her. "I was uncomfortable."
She put the bowl in his lap and then went around behind him.
He could feel the skin of her leg next to his hand as she kneeled, then her hands and arms sliding around his waist and chest. His eyes flashed around the room in horror, was she attempting to seduce him? His Penny had never touched him so, not even during a hug!
Her hands slid back and he felt himself jerked, a tightening sensation over his ribs. A rope. She had fastened him to the post with a rope. The tension on his wrists lessened, and he found his hands free, briefly. She crouched around in front of him, nearly straddling his outstretched legs as she fastened his wrists together again, this time in front of him. So he could eat, he realized belatedly.
She stepped back and sat down on her bed, finally pulling the slab of meat from between her teeth, tearing off a piece and chewing on it, watching him. "You'd better hurry up and eat that, before the rats come." She finally said.
The bowl in his lap held a piece of meat, and to one side was some kind of bread, and some kind of potato, sliced lengthwise and baked.
Ancient french fries. Sheldon sighed, but moved his hands to pick one up, sampling it. "Do you have gravy? Or ketchup?"
"Omadena has not been successful in growing the red fruit." Penny shook her head ruefully. "The mystic believes we need to make a sacrifice to the gods."
Sheldon chewed on the french fry slowly, watching her. Sacrifice would not be needed, he knew that. Penny just hadn't found the proper cheat code yet, going as usual straight for the money. How many times had he told her one must take care to ensure the food was grown before building the mansions, or in this case village.
His Penny had always countered that the only part of the game she really liked was the building and interior decorating part.
When he got back he would have to hack in and reload the nourishment credits. "Have you tried building a green house?"
She just blinked at him, and continued eating.
Off course not, he realized, they had no plastic, no glass. Why oh why, he thought, couldn't he have plugged into Sheldonopolis instead?
"My brother wants to sacrifice you." She said quietly. "I told him he must wait till I have procreated."
Frantically he tried to remember the gestational cycle of the Sims. It was vastly reduced, he knew. A matter of days, not months.
"Do you not think you should have more than one offspring, to ensure a surviving progeny?" He couldn't believe he was volunteering to impregnate her twice, but he needed more time to figure this out, he could not be sacrificed, perhaps with more time he could use his great knowledge of how things work to create glass and thus a green house, growing the tomatoes himself and negating the supposed need for a sacrifice at all.
Penny was nodding reluctantly. "You are right, it would be best to have more than one offspring. I will discuss it with my brother tomorrow." She lay down and pulled a fur throw over her, shutting her eyes. "Night."
He sighed in relief and chewed another fry. He had bought some time. Now to figure out a way to get home.
It wasn't until he was drifting off to sleep uncomfortably that a tiny thought wandered into his mind...
Was it possible for a Sims to have twins?
