Ada
Ada met Zeb at the Crater Saturday morning as promised. She’d woken early and then spent most of the morning trying to figure out what to wear. Ada wanted to look her best, but she didn’t want to look like she was trying too hard. She discarded one outfit after another.Eventually she settled on a nice blouse and a cute pair of apricot cropped pants. Maybe these were a bit dressy for the site, but she didn’t care. Still, she decided to pull her hair up into a ponytail to at least give the appearance of ‘casual’.
“Casual but cute,” she declared as she looked herself over in the mirror. Then she sighed. It was the best she could do, she thought. She knew she wasn’t the most drop-dead beautiful sim out there. Normally she didn’t care. She put more of her efforts into her studies and her experiments than she did on her appearance.
Oh well. Zeb was out of her league anyway.
Imagine Ada’s surprise when Zeb’s eyes flashed with…approval?…when he saw her. He looked her over with appreciation, so Ada was glad she’d made the extra effort. Then, he hugged her.
Whoa! This was not the greeting Ada had expected. She had never allowed herself to give in to her desire that this was an actual date, but with Zeb’s hug, she wasn’t so sure that they were just hanging out as friends.
Tentatively, she hugged him back. He smelled good…different from any man she’d ever been close to. If he was wearing cologne or body spray, she had never smelled anything like it. Ada closed her eyes, taking note of Zeb’s strong, muscular chest that pressed against her breasts. Ada was a chest girl. She loved a man who had clearly defined pecs and washboard abs. Zeb’s arms were also muscular, she noted, as they wrapped around her, holding her tightly just for that moment.
Wow. What a hug!
“Um, hi,” she said lamely once he pulled back.
“Hello,” he smiled. Ada felt herself blush.
“Um…so what do you want to see first?”
The both looked around at the site. It was fenced, with large lab building in the center. Outside were sensor arrays, and large satellite dishes that Ada knew were designed to send and receive data from space. What Ada hadn’t expected to see where the many strange plants in the area.
“Wow,” she said, taking it in. She’d never seen so many of these odd plants in town. “They’re everywhere!”
“This is unusual?” Zeb asked.
“Well, I guess. I mean, there aren’t so many in town. And I’ve had a really hard time locating information on them.”
Ada bent toward one and took a small cutting. She’d brought her collection gear just for this purpose. “I wonder…”
Zeb waited until she was done and then they walked around the fence perimeter taking note of how many plants they found. Most were located around the sensor arrays and satellite dishes, but there were a few closer to the lab building.
When they came to what looked like the front entrance, Zeb said, “Do you think we can go inside?”
Ada knew the building was considered Top Secret, but she also knew there were rumors that said people had broken into the building in the past.
“I guess we can try,” she answered. “It’s supposed to be off limits, but I know that there really hasn’t been anybody working here for…well, decades, I guess.”
Zeb was curious about that. “Why did they stop using this facility?” he asked.
Ada shrugged. “I’m not sure. I never asked. Most of the scientists around here either work for the National Sims Institute or they work with the military up at the base.”
Zeb approached the door to the lab and looked up at it expectantly. Ada almost laughed because it was like he was waiting for it to open on its own like the doors would at a grocery story.
Knowing that wouldn’t happen, Ada tried the handle. “I guess it’s locked,” she said.
“Are there other entrances?” Zeb asked.
“Sure. I saw one in the back and another on the side. Want to try those?”
The approached the side entrance first. Ada looked into the window and saw that it opened into what appeared to be a kitchen. The door was locked, not unexpectedly, but Zeb gave it a good twist and sort of shook the handle.
“It appears loose” he said. Then he kind of leaned into the door and hit it. Ada almost laughed again because his action reminded her of someone hitting the TV or an appliance, trying to get it to work. With a TV, sure, she might get slightly better reception if she hit it, but how would slapping the door cause it to magically open?
It didn’t work, of course, but then Zeb turned his body a bit and hit it again. This time, Ada was shocked when the door swung open!
“Let’s see what’s inside,” Zeb said and motioned for her to enter before him.
Zeberon
Zeb knew he had to see what was in the building. There were so many Stra’Cinortcele buds on the grounds outside that he had no doubt a mother plant was somewhere on the premises. He needed to know how mature the plant was. She was reproducing, he could tell, but how close was she to having fully flowering “children”? When the doors refused to open, Zeb palmed his mutli-tool. He didn’t want Ada to see it and question what it did. As a scientist, she was just as curious as himself. He wasn’t ready to tell her more about what was going on or reveal himself to her just yet.
She seemed skeptical that he could open the door to the side entrance, but with a twist, he hid what he did with his multi-tool. He banged on the door a few times as well to hide the sounds his tool made as it disengaged the crude locking mechanism. The door swung open.
“Let’s see what is inside,” he said, smiling triumphantly and motioning Ada to go before him.
The room they entered looked like an eating room. Chairs were scattered around a table and there was a box in the corner that Zeb recognized as the sim equivalent of a food dispenser. There were other appliances as well which he assumed prepared the food since he knew it didn’t come from the dispenser fully prepared as his own food did.
“It’s remarkably clean,” Ada said, looking around. “This has been abandoned for awhile, but there isn’t much dust or debris.”
“Let’s look in the other rooms,” Zeb said, and they proceeded into the next space. This one looked like a workroom or office. There was a computer and some shelves with books on them. Other work surfaces were present as well. What looked to be papers and boxes were scattered on them as well as on the floor.
“It looks like they abandoned this place quickly,” Ada speculated, “but they seemed to be packing up as if to leave even before.”
“I wonder if the computer works,” Zeb said, heading to the machine. He sat and pushed a button. The machine turned on. It was different than he was used to seeing, but after a few attempts, Zeb thought that he had figured out how it worked.
“It works,” he said, “but I am not an expert. I’m not sure I could hack it and find out what happened here.” It was a lie, but he didn’t want to delve too deeply with Ada present, so he stood.
“Let’s keep going,” he said. They went through the rest of the rooms on the first floor. They were much the same as the first, but also included a bathroom. Next to the bathroom was another door.
“Where does this lead?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Ada said, unsurprisingly. She stepped closer and examined the door. “It has a keycard reader instead of a lock.”
Zeb wasn’t sure what a keycard was, but didn’t want to ask and reveal his ignorance.
“It still has power,” Ada continued. “We’d need to find a keycard to open this.”
“Who do you think would have one?” he asked.
Ada shrugged. “I am not sure. I guess one of the older scientists who worked here might. Or maybe someone in the military? They were the ones who made this place ‘Top Secret’. We could ask around, but they might not be willing to tell us anything.”
Zeb nodded. He supposed they would not want people knowing what was behind the door. Zeb thought he knew. He had ways of getting people to cooperate. He resigned himself to using his brain power to get the answers he needed. “We will be discreet,” Zeb said. “You can ask the people you know and trust at work. Maybe one of them would be willing to help or knows something about this.”
“Probably,” Ada agreed. “Marcia, the woman who works our front desks, might know. She likes to gossip, too. I will start with her.”
“I will ask around town,” Zeb said. “I’m new here, but I can use my ignorance to my advantage.”
Ada chuckled. “Well, if we’re going to go to 8 Bells, when we leave here, maybe you can find someone who has had too much juice for their own good. If they are drunk enough, maybe they will spill what they know.”
Zeb agreed. He didn’t think the libations as the 8 Bells establishment were too strong, but he’d noticed that the sims gathered there were more affected by them than he was. Intoxication would cause someone to be impaired enough that maybe Zeb wouldn’t have to use his telepathy to manipulate the sim into giving him what he needed. It was a hope.
Ada
Ada felt like she was on a grand adventure. Breaking into the old lab had really spiked her adrenaline and aroused her curiosity. Normally, she wasn’t one to put much credence into conspiracy theories, but everything about the abandoned lab and the strange plants told her that something was definitely up.
She and Zeb did go to 8 Bells after they left the lab. Unfortunately, it felt like they were doing more research and surveillance instead of it being a date. Zeb spent a lot of time talking to others in the bar and observing people as they drank. It was disheartening, but Ada couldn’t say she was too surprised.
But when they left the bar, Zeb surprised her.
“Could we go to your home and continue to talk about what we discovered today?” he asked.
“Um, ok.” she answered and then mentally reviewed the state of her trailer as she’d left it. Well, as long as they stayed in the small living area, it should be fine. She had all of her clothes heaped in a pile in her bedroom. No need to go in there, she thought, even if she secretly wished that there would be.
“I could make us some supper, too,” she said, realizing that she was hungry. They’d only eaten chips and olives at the bar and she’d had nothing for breakfast because she’d been too nervous to meet Zeb at the lab.
They walked from the bar to her home located in the small trailer park just south of the crater. “It’s not much,” she said, gesturing to her trailer. “I don’t make much at the Institute, and I really don’t need to have a huge house,” she nervously explained. “There’s just me, and I work too much to really think about how I live. But I have maintained the yard. It’s hard to keep grass in Strangerville. The desert always wants to take it back.”
Zeb looked around. “What are these?” he asked, noticing the lawn ornaments she had littering her yard.
Ada blushed. “Oh, I just think they’re cute. I like gnomes. And the flamingo was a gift.”
They went inside. “Here’s the kitchen and the living room and there’s a bathroom in there.”
“What’s in there?” Zeb asked, indicating her bedroom door. Ada blushed again. “That’s my room.”
Zeb walked around the small space, making Ada feel even more nervous and embarrassed. “It’s small, I know,” she said.
“It is sufficient,” Zeb said. “Cozy…comfortable,” he added, sitting on her small loveseat.
“I’ll just make some food. Do you like mac n’ cheese?”
“I’ve never had it. I’m sure it will be fine.”
Ada was shocked. “Never had mac n’ cheese!? How did you live? Are you a vegan or something?”
This time Zeb blushed. “No, I’m not a vegan.”
“Well you’re in for a treat!”
Ada focused on preparing their food and tried to keep up some small talk. She asked Zeb about his childhood, his career, and his interests.
“I do not have siblings,” he said. “I grew up quite far from here. I had never even heard of this place before I got here.”
“Wow, I thought everyone had heard of Strangerville. There have been documentaries and such done about the meteor crater for years. It’s a huge tourist trap now.”
Zeb shrugged, not really answering why he hadn’t heard of it. Instead he surprised her by telling her that like herself, he was a scientist.
“You are? But what do you study? Are you a biologist? You seem really interested in the plant we found. Is that why you are here?”
“I’m not a biologist,” he stated. “I suppose you’d call me…environmentalist? I study ecosystems, how they function and how to maximize their potential.”
“Ah,” Ada said, nodding. She hadn’t really pegged Zeb as an environmentalist. He didn’t seem like the type. But Ada supposed that she was stereotyping and that scientists should really be beyond such things.
“So are you studying the ecosystem here? Is that why you came even though you had no idea that Strangerville even existed?”
“Ah, no. I’m here by accident. I was headed somewhere else and then my vehicle malfunctioned. Now I’m stuck here for awhile.”
“Oh! Well, that’s too bad. But I guess I’m glad. I wouldn’t have met you if you hadn’t broken down here.” Ada blushed. Was she being too forward? She was terrible at flirting.
“I’m glad I came here as well,” Zeb said, smiling. He got up from the couch and came into her small kitchenette. “That smells good. Is it the mac ‘n cheese you spoke of? Is it ready to eat?”
Ada gave her noodles one more stir to avoid looking at Zeb who seemed to fill the whole space. The noodles were done, so she got out a serving bowl and a couple of plates.
“Here you go,” she handed a plate to Zeb. “Sorry about my table,” she murmured. “I tend to work from home. I usually eat on my couch.”
“That will be acceptable,” he said and took his plate back to the loveseat. Ada sat down next to him, feeling the heat from his body radiating against her legs where they almost touched.
How she managed to eat and not spill on herself, she’d never know!
When they finished, Ada took Zeb’s plate to the sink and proceeded to wash up. She hated keeping an untidy kitchen. Zeb looked puzzled as she poured soap into the pan she’d used to make the noodles.
“You do not have a cleansing unit?” he asked.
Ada laughed. “You mean a dishwasher? No. Just me. A dishwasher would take up more space than I have in this kitchen.”
“Ah.”
After she finished cleaning, Ada sat down again, but now things were awkward. Zeb had come over with the intent to discuss what they had discovered, but she couldn’t seem to focus on that. She got distracted by his chest and how his shirt pulled across his beautiful pecs. When he spoke, she stared at his lips and missed what he had said.
“Um, what?” she asked for like the third time.
“I wondered if we took a picture of the plant, we could upload it and see if others had ever seen one or knew more about it.”
“Oh, yeah. That seems like a good idea.”
Zeb spoke some more and gestured with his hand to articulate his idea better. Ada was mesmerized by his long fingers. What was wrong with her?! She had never had so much difficulty concentrating on a scientific problem as she was right now.
The only thing she wanted to experiment on right now was the man sitting next to her. What would it feel like to have his hands on her? How would those amazing pecs feel under her hand if she was to rub it across them? If he took his shirt off, would the rest of his upper body be as well-defined.
“Ada, you are distracted. Are you getting tired? I will go.” Zeb stood.
“Oh! Wait. I’m not tired. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be distracted.” Ada stood too. She wasn’t sure what to do. She wanted Zeb to stay, but not so they could keep talking about the strange plants or how they would get a keycard to the lab.
“I will go,” Zeb repeated. “You need rest.”
“No, don’t. I’m not tired.” Ada said again. “I just…well…I mean…” she stammered. Then, in a very risky, and completely bold move that was very unlike her, Ada leaned in and kissed him.
It wasn’t a long kiss, or even a particularly romantic one. She just sort of leaned in a pecked. She didn’t even hit his mouth straight on, sort of kissing right at the edge of his full lips and his cheek. Then she pulled back, completely embarrassed.
“Oh my sims! Sorry, sorry! I don’t know why I did that.” Ada’s face felt like it was on fire. She wanted to just melt into the floor and disappear.
“Ada. Don’t be sorry.” Zeb stepped into her and then his mouth was on hers. He was much better at kissing her than she’d been at kissing him. He started with just his mouth touching hers. He pressed gently, but firmly at first, and then he stepped into her and his arms were around her and then he was just devouring her.
And she was devouring him right back! Her hands moved up and down his back and she pressed herself into him even more. He rubbed himself against her and she felt him. Oh my sims! He was aroused. For her! She couldn’t believe what was happening.
But then, just as suddenly as he had grabbed her, he let her go and stepped back.
Ada just stood there with her mouth, lips swollen from their fierce kiss, slightly open. She was practically panting.
“Now I’m the one who is sorry,” Zeb said, breathing hard himself. He blushed a bit, too, which made Ada even hotter. Who could resist a strong, muscular man who blushed?
“I should go.”
Never before had Ada wanted to jump into bed with another sim so soon after meeting him, let alone after their first date. And Ada wasn’t sure if this had even been a first date. She had to practically bite her tongue to stop herself from inviting him into her bedroom to continue their passionate embrace and take it to its natural conclusion.
“Ok,” she said instead.
“I will see you again,” Zeb said. He stepped into her one more time, but this time the kiss he gave her was a sweet peck. “I will see you again,” he whispered his promise into her lips. Then he stepped away and she watched him head out of her trailer.
“Ohmysims!” she breathed. If it weren’t for the faint tingling in her lips, Ada might not have believed that that kiss had really happened.
Zeberon
Zeb cursed himself the entire trip from Ada’s small abode to the hidden location of his ship. Kissing the girl was something he shouldn’t have done. It complicated everything. He should be concentrating on the investigation of the mother plant, but now he couldn’t stop fixating on Ada and the softness of her lips.
She had kissed him first, but he shouldn’t have kissed her back. Ah, Hels! who was he kidding. There was no way he could have stopped himself from kissing her back. And he wanted to do a lot more than that, too. It had taken all of his willpower to leave her the the tiny dining area and kitchen of her home instead of taking her through the door she had indicated was her bedroom.
Back at his ship, Zeb immediately headed to the cleansing stall for a cold shower. It didn’t help.
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