Quest for Immortality: Chapter 23

As usual I will put explanations in the footnotes but because it will help you understand the chapter title and some of the terms in the dialogue I have linked short definitions to some terms.  Those links will be underlined and in blue like the chapter title below which is linked.

Dues Ex Machina

Greetings Liam watchers.  As you can see Liam is very unhappy right now with his current situation.  At least he isn’t by himself in his hour of need.  Though he’s made some very stupid decisions he listened to Keely and got the lawyers.  They might not be criminal lawyers but at least they know how these things work.  Human justice systems are so quaint and backward in my opinion but then again they cannot weigh hearts and must go on evidence and instinct.

::Ring::

“Hello.   Carrie?  What’s wrong?”

It sounds like Carrie might have encountered a problem at home where the police search is still on-going.

“Stolen items?  Wait… slow down….. I see.”

Her stash of loot must have been discovered.  This will give the authorities something else to weigh against Liam.

Well that snapped Liam out of his moppy mood.

“Carrie don’t say anything to anyone.  Tell them your lawyer is coming so you are going to wait to talk to them.  Okay don’t panic.  I’ll be there soon.”

“Hey Mya, what’s going on?  If the kids need me…”

“Don’t worry.  Carrie’s just gotten herself in a little trouble and I’m going there to work things out.  You just stay here with Prim and worry about your own mess.”

“Yes, Liam the best thing for you right now is to cooperate with the investigation.  I’ll be here to make sure they can’t trap you into any corners and say things damaging to you.”

“Alright, I just don’t like feeling so powerless.”

“I’ll check in with you two later.”

“Things are just going from bad to worse aren’t they Primrose?”

“Hmm…”

That just might be an understatement.  Of course, I’ll have to wait and see just what these charges are, but Liam just might be in a hole too deep to climb out of on his own.  The rules of the Game state that he must help himself and I’m not too sure there are any ropes I can throw out hoping he’d notice.

“Mr. Gelman I’m Detective Scout Sargent and I have some questions for you.  You’re rights were read to you already, correct?”

“Yes, Detective.  I’m confused though.  I think they might have made a mistake.”

“No there is no mistake Mr. Gelman.  Betsy Wynn was your former housekeeper and nanny, was she not?”

“Yeah.  She went crazy though and tried to kill one of my baby mommas and maybe even me.”

“While she’s been in custody she admitted to three murders.”

“You said he had been implicated in murder by Betsy Wynn?”

“Yes.  Mr. Gelman, you  remember Ingrid Ethelridge?”

This should be interesting since it seemed to be out-of-sight and out-of-mind for Liam where Ingrid was concerned.  He never questioned that she didn’t just walk away.

“Yes she was an old girlfriend.  She just took off and left one day.  Betsy saw her go.”

“Betsy admitted she attempted to feed her to your cowplant.  Through research we discovered she actually survived fortunately but you didn’t know that at the time.  You found out about her attempt and used that against her didn’t you?”

“I don’t know what you mean, Detective.  When Betsy said Ingrid left I didn’t have any reason to question it.”

I’m sure this sounds like a deliberate lie to the Detective.  Poor Liam’s wanton oblivion is catching up to him.

“She told us that you found out about her past and that gave you reason didn’t it?”

This “past” must be what Seth was alluding to when he was talking to Betsy that day when Elena Queen interrupted.

“Past?  I don’t know anything at all about her past.”

“Mr. Gelman, you expect me to believe a man wouldn’t check the background of a woman he’s going to entrust his children with?  You found out she had broken out of a facility for the criminally insane, that she had been put in for killing her family, and used it to blackmail her into doing your bidding.  You used it to get her to get rid of Holly Greenwood for you.”

I can’t say I’m surprised that Betsy had killed before but I’m sure Liam is in a state of shock right now.  He really should’ve asked for references and a background check when he hired her but he just wanted help in the house right away.  I’m not sure the police will believe the truth though especially in light of how Liam benefited by Holly’s death.

“Unless you have proof of any of this other than Miss Wynn’s claims I’d suggest you stop badgering my client.” 

“Fair enough, Miss Wood.  I’ll move on to the final death in question.  There is no body but we believe you, Mr. Gelman, can confirm the circumstances of Marian Harms death since you put her up it so you could have cowplant milk to prolong your youth.”

“Cowplant milk?  Oh Watcher I… didn’t stop to think… she told me not to question where it came from…”

“So you admit to drinking the cow plant milk?”

“Liam don’t answer that.”

That just might be the nail in Liam’s proverbial coffin.  Perhaps the police would believe one of those things was a genuine over sight but with all of these things added together it doesn’t look good.  He might just have to forfeit the challenge though it would be a shame.

“He already has and has implicated himself.”

“There is nothing he’s said that shows he is anything more than unobservant.”

“I highly doubt anyone could be that oblivious of things going on around them.”

“Who’s that?”

What is she doing there?

“Well I don’t know what’s going on but a pretty lady is always a welcome interruption.”

“Goddesses are always pleasing to the eyes of mortals but I’m not here to talk about me.”

I know you can hear me and you have no right to interfere and you should not be telling him who you are.   We are supposed to let them forget about us.

“Yeah, so is this in my head or something?  They all freeze and a goddess appears so I can escape the stress.”

“No silly Liam I made them stop so it won’t ruin anything.  They won’t know I was here and I can help without interfering directly.”

It doesn’t work like that he knows you are interfering.  If you want to take part in the game you can’t do anything to assist him.

“Oh hush Isy I’m not a part of your stupid game I’m just pausing it and there is nothing the matter with that?”

“Isy?” 

“Well it’s actually Isis but she doesn’t go by that with you, you know her as Kalliah.  It’s so much easier to just move around and change forms than names.  I’m Bast by the way.”

“Bast?”

“That’s right.  I’ve always gone by Bast or Bastet.  I’m a protection goddess and I’m here to offer you a deal.”

“Just because you see someone you like about to fail doesn’t give you the right to interfere.”

Now he has to appear…

“You’re just sore because if I help you might not win Isy’s stupid game, Set.”

Bast, I demand you and Seth leave immediately and wipe Liam’s memory.

“The sisters will fail yet again and you shouldn’t take it personally just because you don’t like me.  How childish can you be?”

“The only reason why you’re involved is that you are holding a grudge against Isy and her family for something that happened thousands of years ago.  That’s pretty childish if you ask me.” 

That’s it….

“Isy!  Nephy!  You decided to join us!”

“Excuse me but what is going on here?”

“I’m here to collect my friends here.”

“Friends?”  ::Chuckles::

“Bast if you intend to play the game you must follow the rules.”

“I’m not playing, I don’t approve with toying with mortals.  If you think about it, Nephthys, you’re just as bad as Set.  It’s not fair that you don’t disclose that they’ll have the God of Chaos throwing things in their path to mess them up.  Your gift to prolong life is a plant that has to eat sims making it kind of impossible.”

“Does the peg in Hounds and Jackals have to know how or why its being moved around the board?”

“You mean all this time I’ve only been a pawn in some grudge game between Egyptian Gods?”

“Well if you think about it this is more like Senet where the human has to commune with us to be successful.”

“It’s supposed to be difficult so we limit our help.”

“Difficult is one thing but things are pretty much set up to make the human fail.  The last 5 humans to take it failed.  I’m just offering to referee and give him a bit more of a chance.  You do want Liam to have a fair chance don’t you?”

“I suppose that I will allow it as long as what you offer is only information or a way to information that could benefit him if he chooses to apply it.”

“You do make a fair point Bast.  I suppose it would be better if the human had more of a fair chance so I’d like a chance to offer my own deal.”

“I trust Bast not to do anything too underhanded but I don’t trust you Set.”

“Let me get this straight?  Either I’m left to try to muddle through this mess on my own or I can take a deal that will get me out of it?  Don’t I get some say in it?”

“We could careless about what you think human.”

“I was going to say I’d like to hear what you had to say too but you’re such a jackass I’m not so sure.”

“Why don’t you both present your deals then and let him choose.”

“I will present mine first and instead of  hidden difficulties I will make what I will use against you transparent.  I shall wipe the memories of the police and see to it all evidence against you vanishes but in exchange you will have to marry someone of my choice.  I will pick out your bride and make sure that she makes your life and challenge difficult.”

“So basically you want me to exchange one kind of prison for another?  That’s your offer?”

“Liam I have one that will let you keep your freedom but not totally ignore the consequences of your actions.  I’ll make sure the truth comes out of Betsy so you won’t go to jail and you get treated fairly in court.”

“All I ask of you is to build a shrine to me on your property and serve me.  In exchange I’ll stay on your property and give you advice when asked.”

“Be wise in your choice Liam I have but one gift left to give and that is all I will do for you.  It is up to whether you win or loose the game because it is in your hands.”

***

- The voting page is separate.  Please do vote to decide what deal Liam should take.

- This chapter unveils my inner drama history nerd in my playful tribute to the device of Dues Ex Machina.  If you clicked on the definition linked in the title you will see that it literally means “God from the Machine” and refers to the fact that often times in Greek theatre when the hero was in an impossible situation a god, brought to the stage by a crane to simulate coming down from the heavens, would show up a fix it.  As you can see, though they didn’t descend from cranes, I introduced Gods and Goddesses to offer Liam a way out of the situation he would not be able to get himself.

- As some of you suspected my immortals are actually ancient Egyptian Deities.  I’ll be posting profiles that go a little deeper into them and my interpretations of them in this story soon but now I’ll just give some links and basics.  Bast/Bastet, who helpfully revealed herself is a protection goddess and goddess of cats.  Kalliah is Isis goddess of life, rebirth and birth.  Toya is actually Nephthys goddess of death, night and lamentation.  Seth/Set is the god of chaos, darkness and storms.  The game naturally reflects the interests of Isis and Nephtys in that it involves child-birth and a chance to prolong life or cheat death.

- Two ancient Egyptian games are referenced the first is a game called Hounds and Jackals that involved moving  pegs along a board and is akin to the modern game of Chutes and Ladders involving strategy.  The second game Senet is not completely understood, though thought to be similar to backgammon, but apparently it involved using strategies connected to different gods in an effort to commune with them.

Posted by jbfairybirdsimstories on February 1, 2013

http://jbfairybirdsimstories.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/quest-for-immortality-chapter-23/