Stories / The PlumbBob Quest: Part 6
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Welcome to the 6th (and final) part of the PlumbBob Quest (sorry, I know it's been a while). Thankyou for all your comments, they have been very encouraging and much appreciated. Enjoy the story :)

Welcome to the 6th (and final) part of the PlumbBob Quest (sorry, I know it's been a while). Thankyou for all your comments, they have been very encouraging and much appreciated. Enjoy the story :) I opened my eyes and glanced around, feeling woozy, my head aching. I realised I was lying on a sofa. Then, remembering everything, my first reaction was to jump up and yell,
"Jas! Jas? Where are you?" But my head spun, and I fell backwards. Then there was a voice coming from the next room: "Ah, I think she's finally woken up." Dr Jenkins entered the room. Behind him stood Jasper, smiling warmly. "Jasper!" I exclaimed, my voice coming out in a hiss, and I sprung off the sofa and dashed over to the door, encompassing him in a suffocating hug. "Jas - when you fell - I thought you'd - I thought we were going to..."
He gasped for breath.
 We followed Dr Jenkins back into the hallway before he explained. "I thought you might have this reaction," he told us. "I did too, actually. I hoped it would not happen; I thought I had improved the cure beyond that stage... but, in the end, it does not matter. You are alive, and that means the potion worked." "Worked?" I repeated incredulously. "Becky," Jasper said, smiling. "Look up." I did. And was amazed by what I saw. I looked around, and saw that Jasper had one above his head too, a green object, shimmering like a diamond... Dr Jenkins, who did not have one, said, "That there's your PlumbBob. The cure enabled you to see them." He paused. "As you can now see, I don't have one. If you have the strength, you may be able to make yours disappear too. I thought I'd wait until you were both awake." "Tell us how!" I exclaimed, suddenly bright with enthusiasm now that I had passed the initial apprehension about the potion (and Dr Jenkins). Dr Jenkins began to walk around, appearing to be deep in thought. Finally he stopped near the door.
"You must concentrate, of course," he told us. "Concentrate on making your PlumbBob disappear. If you begin to feel that you want to stop, ignore it. That's the PlumbBob making you believe that, not you. Find your Free Will. Fight the PlumbBob with your Free Will." I nodded and frowned determinedly. I looked up at my bright green PlumbBob, hovering above my head so innocently. Go away, I thought. Disappear. I want to think my own thoughts. This thing can't stop me from doing anything I want to do, and can't make me do anything I don't want to do. I have Free Will. I will use it. You don't control me. Nothing happened. Then I thought, You know, this PlumbBob thing isn't so bad. I mean, as far as I know, it's helping me make the right decisions. I shouldn't fight it, really, because it doesn't REALLY make a difference, does it? I relaxed, thinking, I don't know this Dr Jenkins at all. He could be deceiving us... after all, his "cure" made us collapse. Maybe it's HIM who's trying to control us... I should leave. I should get out of here. I should push him out of the way, and leave Jasper, who was under his spell, and get out. I took a step towards Dr Jenkins and the door. Just push him. Just shove him out of the way, and escape. I'll do it. I want to do it. Run, Becky, leave Jasper! I took another step forward and suddenly, I realised what I was doing. No, I thought. How can I leave Jasper here? I trust him. And he trusts Dr Jenkins. And so do I. Stop walking towards the door. That isn't me. That was the PlumbBob. That was the PlumbBob telling me what to do. I don't want to leave. I want to stay with Jasper. I want to be free. I knew it had to be the PlumbBob telling me what to do... because I would NEVER leave him behind! Suddenly a green light flashed above my head, so bright I clapped my hands over my eyes. Finally I opened my eyes again, and gasped. "It's gone!" Dr Jenkins exclaimed. "Well done, well done!" Grinning with joy, I looked over at Jasper. His had disappeared too! "You did it," Dr Jenkins was still speaking. "You both did it!" "Becky, we've done it." Jasper beamed. "We've freed ourselves." "Y-yes... really..." I murmured, smiling. I was having trouble comprehending it. I didn't feel any different. Did this really mean that Jasper and I were really... free... now? Our thoughts were not invaded, our actions were not influenced, our choices were not decided for us? "Thankyou," I said quietly, turning to Dr Jenkins. He, however, had turned solemn. "It makes me so happy to see that finally, after so many years, I am helping others become free. But no one else knows the truth, except for poor Dr Quackenbush, and... Ima... who paid the greatest price for her knowledge," he said grimly. "I can never help the world become free. This is but a small triumph." "Dr Jenkins," I murmured hesitantly. "You can help everyone. You shouldn't give in. You should fight to let the public know the truth. Fight... like Ima." "We will, too," Jasper said determinedly. "We won't let it stay hidden. Right, Becky?" "Right," I agreed firmly. Soon afterwards, we left Dr Jenkins' house. We originally planned to get a taxi home, but I suggested we walk. Our homes weren't too far away, I told Jasper, and I wanted to enjoy walking. And knowing that I was the one telling my body to walk. On our way home, we walked through a park. We were walking slowly. I was looking around and smelling the air. At Jasper's suggestion, we stopped for a while there, to simply rest and maybe talk about everything we'd experienced in so short a time. "Do you think we're really... free now?" I asked after a few moments of silence.
"What do you believe?" he replied, and I knew he was right. There was no doubt about it. It was overwhelming. Already I felt different - more at ease, more in control. Finally we decided to continue walking home. I thought about how I had changed. I felt free, and with this more courageous. I felt free to do something I'd wanted to for a long time. I could do anything. "Hey, Jas," I said carelessly. "Yes?" He stopped and turned around, staring at me curiously. For example, I could kiss my best friend on a bridge beside a pond. In fact I could do anything at all. Then I pulled away and while he was still standing there, I punched him in the shoulder and said, "What's next, aliens?" Then we walked home together, Jasper drifting along behind me in what seemed like jubilant shock. Our PlumbBobs continued to appear sporadically, and each time we had to force them away again. The players were trying to regain control over us. They didn't succeed. But over time, it pained us to have the ability to see the PlumbBobs everyone else carried around. Especially our loved ones. As we grew older, we led a rebellion. Dr Jenkins improved his cure to make it less dangerous, and we joined forces to spread the word to anyone who would listen, handing out cures and gathering others who protested with us. Our forces eventually became so large that the general public, and even the sceptical University, were forced to listen. Dr Jenkins was offered his job again, but he refused, saying he wanted to travel the world instead, giving 'Free Will potions' to everyone he could. Dr Quackenbush retired and joined him. The two of them found Ima Hogg's asylum, but she had died there, a victim of the truth. The librarian, Dorothea Maloney, was reported to the police by an anonymous caller, and questioned for the possession of banned books. It turned out that all the librarians knew about the restricted area, and promised to keep the room secret for the sake of keeping the fascinating and controversial books. However, Dorothea was released, and her ex-boyfriend Michael, hearing of her ordeal, returned and they were reunited. The two of them were some of the first to join our group of freedom campaigners. Eventually Jasper and I got married, and worked together to help spread the word of freedom amongst everyone. The ceremony took place in the park. In time, our PlumbBobs stopped resurfacing altogether. I believe I've come to a sort of understanding with them, the controllers, whoever they are. They've accepted that I don't want to be controlled anymore. Maybe it was them who instructed me to look in the "History of Lint" book in the first place. Who knows? I think they understand now that I want to live my own life, and so they've taken away my PlumbBob, and instead given me Free Will. Well, actually, I gave myself Free Will. Freely. ~ The End ~
Thanks so much for reading all the way to the end! I'm so glad I finally finished my first multi-part story. Of course I must thank all the talented custom content creators, without whom the story would not exist. Also, if anyone wants to read the paper that inspired this, it's called "The Physical World as a Virtual Reality" by Brian Whitworth.
Thanks again! Bye!
- catsandbooks

The PlumbBob Quest: Part 6

Aug 31, 2010 by catsandbooks
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    14 Comment(s) posted so far

    On Aug 31, 2010 jarlet wrote:

    Extraordinary story and finally a happy ending \:wub\: ! i'll stay tuned for other great stories from you!great work!\:D

    On Aug 31, 2010 Fikcija wrote:

    Awesome! I had a feeling they would become a couple after they obtained their free will \:D It was a great story, I enjoyed reading every part of it!

    On Aug 31, 2010 martoele wrote:

    Excellent story. I loved reading it from the beginning to the end and I don't mean only this chapter! I really do hope that you will come up with something as nice as this story. \:wub\:  Cogratulations on having this story featured on the Sims2 index page. \:cool\: ~ Margo

    On Aug 31, 2010 kolapants wrote:

    Catsandbooks, I am so happy that it all worked out. I have read all of your stories! You are an amazing storywriter! I actually am writing story about a modern rapunzel. Maybe i could post al little of it on your page?         teddybear5 aka Cassie

    On Sep 1, 2010 tillybud wrote:

    I'm writing this before i read the last chapter. Your story has been amazing and i'm genuinely sad to be reading the final part. I'm excited to find out whats going to happen and yet part of me doesn't want to read it cus then it'll be over.. tragic huh LOL .. off to get myself a cuppa before i settle down to read this \:wub\:

    On Sep 1, 2010 Mangio wrote:

    Aww such a wonderful ending \:rah\: I'm glad they helped changed the world. Now they have free will, no need for those dreaded plumbobs \:P Love the pics, such a well written chapter \:wub\: I sure am going to miss such an interesting read \;\)

    On Sep 1, 2010 fredbrenny wrote:

    \:rah\: Applause!!! \:rah\:  Great read! Great story, perfect balance in text and screen, Great rythm!

    On Sep 2, 2010 DarthAshoka wrote:

    Amazing!
    i love it sooooo much! im looking forward to reading more of ur amazing stories!

    On Sep 2, 2010 Desu Baloney wrote:

    Sad to see it end, but another fantastic chapter as always! Something I love about this story is that the screenshots are always perfect, and match what's happening perfectly. I really enjoyed this story~! Thank you for writing it. 5.0

    On Sep 4, 2010 Illandrya wrote:

    Awesome ending! You should take a bow over this wonderful story which has kept me going from the first screen to the last. I am sad to see it end, of course, but think you have handled this last chapter perfectly.

    On Sep 10, 2010 RatRaceRob wrote:

    Oh, splendid work from beginning to end!  I will miss this one, but you've done such a fantastic job with the ending, how could I possibly complain?  I have no doubt I will continue to read and enjoy your stories in the future!  \:rah\:

    On Sep 12, 2010 Flatter wrote:

    I liked your story very much, great idea, great realisation great pace \:rah\: Secretly I had expected the ending to be something like that: "Afterword by the author: The characters Jasper and Becky have freed the world they live in by disabling the savegame to load so I can't control anyone there anymore nor shoot any pics" (yeah, I know, way too technical-inclined). You have created a much more placable and peacable ending that had the additional advantage of having lovely pics too! \:\)

    On Sep 18, 2010 fabrizioammollo wrote:

    This is really enjoyable story, even if it makes me feels a little guilty toward my Sims... \:\)

    On Mar 10, 2011 emilymarie0201 wrote:

    I loved this story!!\:wub\: definitely one of my favorites!

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