Chapter Nine – 'Has to be something here'

"This is taking longer than last time." Luann grew impatient waiting for her turn. "Comic Book Guy needs to hurry up."

"I'm sure he will be finished soon enough, and besides you don't even know what they are going through. None of us do." Lisa explained trying to calm down Luann.

Before Luann could come up with another remark to keep the argument going, Moe noticed something very important. "Hey Luann, your hand is glowing."

"What do you mean my hand is glowing?" Luann questioned in her arrogant tone the others have grown accustomed to hearing.

"It is glowing, like so many of our power plant employees." Smithers joked as Lisa did not think it was as funny.

"I don't think that's true, or at least I hope it is not true. My Dad works there and I don't want to receive any second-hand radiation." Lisa worried.

"I had the lights go out at my bar, and all the workers glowed a nice neon green color. Then Barney turned the lights back on and they stopped." Moe added to gain the attention toward him.

"I'll never go to that bar." Luann scoffed as she looked at the glowing MyPad. "Anyways it's finally my turn so here I go." She clicked the roll icon and the same loud booms were heard through the sky.

"I'm never going to get tired of that noise." Jasper finally said as he stood next to his battleship. "Reminds me of this beauty firing some victory shots at the end of the war.

Luann rolled her eyes as the dice finished rolling and yelled: "Twelve. I rolled a twelve. I will be so far ahead of everyone." She jumped onto the back of the silver dog. "See you later. If you all ever catch up to me." She sat there for a minute, but the dog didn't move.

"Looks like you aren't going anywhere. You dog seems like it's sleeping." Moe teased as everyone gave Luann mean looks.

"Seems you are still here with us." Smithers added. "But your hand is glowing again."

"Once you leave we won't be around to help you play the game. You will have to think for yourself." Lisa also added.

"I'll be fine on my own, you will all see." Luann replied as she lifted the MyPad back up to see why it was glowing. The display had change to show the twelve she rolled with the dice, and also said: doubles, plus one turn. She showed everyone as she bragged. "I'm the first to get an extra turn."

"Just make sure you don't waste it." Jasper warned her.

The dog started to glide away from the others as Luann gave a last shout, but no one really heard what she said. They didn't care to hear what she said.

The ride took as long as it possibly could. Luann grew impatient riding the silver dog into the great unknown. "Twelve is as far as anyone can move in one turn, so any roll after this won't take as long."

She started to get more excited as her destination came into view. "I must be here. Wherever here is." The dog slowed down as it approached a wide flowing river. A small pedestrian bridge crossed the river and led to a dirt trail towards a huge dam.

Luann dismounted the dog and took a long look at the size of the river and dam. "This is big. It might be time to take a hike." She said out loud, to herself. "Someone has to be here."

She petted the dog on the head and starting walking toward the bridge. It was built of wood planks and rope, but when she started across, it seemed more sturdy than it looked. "Why is this thing not moving? It should be shaking with every step." She stopped and then jumped up and landed. The bridge still did not move. "This is weird. It should be shaking. Something doesn't seem right." She was confused but walked across and looked around.

The dirt trail started at the end of the wooden bridge. To the right was a long path that led past a few trailers and eventually in to the dam, to the left it wandered into the forest. "I don't know what waits in the forest, so I think the trailers would be a better guess."

A few steps down the path, behind a few large trees, she noticed a big sign that said: 'Hydro and Electric Dam'. "At least I know the structure in front of me is a hydroelectric dam. I figured it had to be a dam. I know what one of those are." She sarcastically said to herself.

She continued down the path and passed another sign. 'For Sale'. It looked just like the first sign. The trailers were getting closer the further down the path she walked.

Another sign appeared behind a few more trees. 'Electric-side For Sale. Inquire within'. She thought for a second before taking a few more steps and found the sister sign. 'Hydro-side For Sale. Inquire above'.

"Inquire above? That makes no sense. Above what?" She questioned but did not receive an answer standing on the path alone. "The trailers still seem like they should have some answers in them."

The dirt path continued towards the dam and the trailers. "I wish the dog would have dropped me off closer." Even alone, the snide comments were still spoken out loud. "That dog could be more helpful." She said as she approached the first trailer on the right.

It was a standard single-wide trailer that had been set up as an office. It was sturdy and it was cheap. There was a door that Luann tried to open, but it was locked. "Figures." She scoffed as she walked to the windows to spy inside.

No one was inside, and all she could see were many file cabinets and drawings laying across tables. She tried to open a window, but those were locked too. "Glad this didn't help. Only three more trailers to go."

The next trailer appeared to be just as dark inside, but this time the door handle turned and the door opened. "Hello?" She called before walking in. "Anyone here?" She waited a second for a response. No one answered. She flipped on the switch beside the door and several ceiling lights came on. "I guess no one is here, so I'll just help myself to a quick look around.

"Locked." As she tried to open the first file cabinet. "Locked again." The second file cabinet didn't open either. "Still locked." She screamed as she punched the third file cabinet. "Let me search the desk instead."

She walked towards the desk which was a mess. It was stacked with papers, notes, and assorted drawings. None of which Luann could make heads or tails of. She moved some of the papers to reveal the wooden surface. It was a good place to start. "Might be something useful, once I get through all the clutter." Most of the unwanted pages she moved to the top of the file cabinet, then proceeded to sit in the chair.

The first thing she picked up was a notebook full of hand-written notes. She read several pages to see if anything of interest could be found. "Mayor meeting. What is a mayor meeting?" She continued reading the next couple pages and saw some interesting notes.

'Electric #12 and Hydro #28' and 'I am the mayor.' She read and started to think what it meant. "Who is the mayor?" She continued on now reading aloud. 'One utility is four, both are ten.' She looked confused at that sentence. 'Paired with the railroad guy. Mr Berg-something.' She seemed to have found what she needed, but figured more information couldn't hurt.

Next on the her list was the desk calendar with several dates circled in red. 'Tenth: First game begins. Eleventh: First games ends.' She paused as she thought to herself, "That was short." She continued looking for important dates. 'Twenty-first: Emergency mayor meeting, game starts immediately'. "Well, today is the twenty-first, is this referring to us? All these notes seem to be about our game. Today's date is a giveaway. Electric #12. I did roll a twelve to get here. I just wonder what the four and ten deal with, and who is Mr Berg-something. Yet more questions to..."

She stopped mid-sentence as there was the noise of footsteps outside. She quickly hid in an area behind the desk and next to a file cabinet she thought no one could see her.

The door opened and a man entered. "Hello? Someone in here? Or did the mayor forget to turn out the lights again. We make energy, no sense wasting it." The man said as he turned off the lights, locked the door, and left.

Luann did not know whether she should have answered or hid. But now the lights were out and it was rather dark. "That couldn't have been the mayor since he was looking for him. I should continue looking for the mayor." She came out from her hiding spot and walked across the dark room, and left the trailer. "Two more to check out."

The next trailer was a few yards down the path, and Luann made her way to it. She decided this time to look in the window first before trying the door. This office trailer looked very organized. Everything was straight and orderly. Tables of neatly stacked papers. The desk was perfectly aligned. "Maybe this is where I need to go. At least it looks better than the last one." But when she tried the door, it was locked. "Figures again. The nice trailer had to be locked. One more to try."

The further down the path toward the last trailer she got, she could not help but looking up and seeing the dam grow in size. "If this truly is for sale. I should buy it. It is big and could be worth a lot of money."

As she approached the last trailer, light shone out of its windows. Luann thought she should quietly approach it. Voices could be heard from inside. This was the moment she decided that answers were more important than stealth. What could they do anyways? "I need to find the mayor. This is the best chance to find him."

Through the window she could see a meeting in progress. Six men in suits around a central table. She politely knocked and the conversation inside stopped. The door opened as the man closest to the door answered. "Can I help you?" He calmly asked.

"I am looking for the mayor." Luann confidently said. "Are you the mayor, or is he inside this trailer?"

"I am not the mayor." The man replied. "But I do work for him. We all do and unfortunately for you, he is not in this meeting. Did you check his trailer. It is the second one."

Luann did not know whether to admit she was snooping and hiding inside, or just play dumb. The delay in her answer got to the point she had to make a decision.

"There was no one in that trailer." She admitted without lying. "This is the only one I have found people in. Can you tell me where the mayor is. I would like to buy the dam."

"Buy the dam? We just finished building it a few days ago. It is already for sale?" The man was confused. "Why didn't they tell us it was being sold?"

"The For Sale signs. Down this path. Have you not seen them?" Luann asked.

"I don't really pay attention. I'm just a planner." The man stated.

"Does the mayor know the dam is for sale? What can he tell me about the first game? Why was it so short? And this second game that I'm a part of, what does he know?" Luann asked so many questions, but got zero answers.

"What game? Is this a joke? We are just city planners in here, and we are planning the next structure." The man tried to close the door, but Luann's foot prevented that.

"Next structure? What is it? You must tell me. I need to know." She demanded.

"All I know is, Mr Moneybags wants to expand the city in the near future with more houses on properties, and maybe some hotels. We, the city planners, have to come up with a construction plan for zoning." The planner responded. "The mayor is probably inside the dam polishing his statues. They just got delivered yesterday. Just check in with the guard and ask for Cecil." The man finished and closed the door.

Luann felt she had got the answers she was looking for and continued toward the dam. At least now she had the name of a person.

The dam was towering now as she stood at the base of it, next to a guard house. "Need something?" The guard asked.

"I was sent here to talk to Cecil." She answered.

"Sent by who?" The guard wondered. "This dam is brand new, and you are the second person here, besides the delivery guy."

"It's a long story. The silver dog dropped me off..." She started to explain.

"Cecil said weird things would be happening around here. Ever since the statues arrived. Go inside and turn right. Down the hall to the turbine room. You'll find him. He is polishing that statue again." The guard gave her directions, and pressed a button to unlock the door.

It opened and Luann walked inside, turned right as the guard instructed, and continued until she was in a very large and very loud room. The turbine room was full of electric turbines driven by the waterfall inside the dam, in which the result was electricity. Standing next to turbine number three was a tall man with a sponge, shining the statue.

"Excuse me sir. You must be Cecil." Luann interrupted his polishing.

"That is correct. Cecil Terwilliger, mayor of the Hydro and Electric Dam. How may I help you?" He turned to face her.

"I would like to buy the dam. Both halves. How much?" She looked him straight in the eye, and was ready to negotiate.

"I'm afraid that's not how it works. You came in on the electric side, so you can only buy the electric side." Cecil explained. "I am the mayor of both sides. But as a player of the game, one utility is available per entry. You will have to find the other space."

"So if this is the electric side, #12, the other side would be at #28. Take me there." Luann demanded.

"How do you know that if this is only your first roll? You possibly can't know that." Cecil looked annoyed at the information she already knew. "Being the mayor, I still have the advantage over you. I'm not telling you how to buy this property until you tell me how you know what you do."

This was the decision Luann didn't want to have to make. "Fine." She hesitated. "Your trailer was unlocked so..."

"You took a look inside. What did you see?" Cecil questioned nervously.

"Why was the first game so short with Professor Frink and where is he now?" Luann questioned back to show she had gained some knowledge from inside his trailer.

"He played the game with the wrong strategy. I never saw him here at the dam, so I don't have first-hand information why he lost. Even at the meeting he wouldn't explain how he lost so fast. Seven turns and it was game over. I will warn you to be extremely careful. This game will change drastically when Burns gets bored."

Luann was stunned at what she had heard. "So Professor Frink is alive?"

"Oh yes. Alive and well. Well, maybe just alive. He is around here somewhere. Maybe you will find him, and he can tell you what he did wrong. Anyways, this statue is the key to the game. Just place your MyPad in his hands and the rest will be told. I have another statue to shine. Maybe I'll see you around." Cecil walked away with sponge in hand and left Luann to do what she had came to do.

She placed her MyPad in Burns' hands and stood back as two holographic Burns appeared beside the statue. One on each side. The left one was green, the right one was red. The one on the left spoke first.

"Welcome to the electric side of the Hydroelectric dam. This side is for sale, and for your information so is the other side. One hundred fifty dollars will buy this side of the dam. When anyone else visits here, they will be charged four times the normal admission price for a tour. Now make your decision."

She thought for a quick second. "The four and the ten. If I can get both, does that mean ten times the price. It sounds like a great deal." She pressed the buy button and received three receipts from the statue. The left holographic Burns disappeared as the right one remained. The first receipt said title-deed. The second showed her a balance of thirteen hundred fifty dollars remaining. The third was a coupon for a free entry to the hydro-side of the dam.

As she finished reading this coupon, the red hologram Burns spoke. "You are the first to roll doubles, it will be your turn again. As a way to help speed up the game. Please remove your MyPad from the statue and place it in my hands."

She was confused how placing it into a holograms arms would even work but figured since the beginning bridge seemed weird, this couldn't be any worse. She removed it from the statue hands and placed it into the holograms arms.

"Excellent. Now watch this." The hologram said in a strange tone. Nothing happened. "Now go back to your silver dog. Remove the MyPad and I'll meet you there.

She did as ordered and removed it. The red hologram faded away. It still appeared as nothing had happened. "Watch this? Whatever." She scoffed and left the turbine room, and exited the dam.

As she left the door, the guard was nowhere to be found. This didn't bother her, so she continued down the path. She approached the trailer with the zoning meeting and thought she should thank the man for helping her. She tried the door and it would not open. The lights were still on so she peered through the windows.

They were all standing around the table shaking hands. She knocked on the window and waited a second, but no one moved. "No one is moving, as if they are frozen." She felt a chill and looked around at an eerie quiet. This was the time she didn't notice the sound of the water around the dam either. It was perfectly quiet.

She hurried back to her dog to escape from this quiet, and as promised a red hologram was standing beside the dog. "Hello again."

"What did you do?" She asked out of confusion.

"It is still your turn, so I froze time so you could return to your token and continue your turn without anyone being able to interrupt you." The hologram explained. "You will learn later that actions can be taken while it isn't even your turn. Just consider this a free lesson." And with that, the hologram disappeared and the noise of falling water was heard again.

She looked down at the MyPad as it lit up with a roll icon. She cautiously pressed it and the familiar booms were heard.

"I guess time is ticking again. I just need to move on and away from the red hologram."