The Sims: Twenty-One Years Later Prologue

Alexander Goth had long suspected Don Lothario’s and the Caliente sisters’ involvement in his mother’s strange disappearance. At times, he even was suspicious of his own father, especially after Mortimer’s whirlwind courtship and elopement with Dina. Sadly, before he could find out what his father knew, Mortimer passed away. Dina gave birth to a son shortly after. At the reading of the will, both Alexander and Cassandra were stunned to learn their father’s will had been altered. Everything was in complete order, however, and the siblings were forced out of the family estate with a small inheritance of only five thousand simoleons apiece.

Cassandra’s best friend, Mary Sue Pleasant invited them to live with her. She’d kicked out her ne’er do well husband, Daniel. She had forgiven him for his indiscretion with the maid, but when she caught him with Nina Caliente, Mary Sue had had enough. Cassandra had never recovered from Don’s leaving her at the altar and withdrew, focusing on work. When she was around, she really wasn’t, and Alexander had to muddle through his teen years alone–in a noisy house with the constant fighting between Mary Sue’s twin daughters. The Pleasant family was not so pleasant, and his family was a mess, and Alexander blamed the most obvious involved. He worked hard at university and entered the scientist career, following in his father’s and sister’s footsteps.

Alexander discovered his father’s time machine and resolved to return to a time when life was simpler. When his mother was around, his parents loved each other, and Cassandra smiled. Unfortunately, Alexander made a slight calculation error and ended up further back in the past: the sleepy town of Sunset Valley where his parents were still children. Fortunately, Alexander met Emit Relevant, a time traveler, who offered to take him through a portal to Oasis Landing, a possibility of the future where the Beaker twins might help Alexander figure out how to return to his own time and place. “At the very least, you could live in Oasis Landing,” Emit told him. “It’s too dangerous to live in your past–you could end up never having been born!”

After researching the families on Oasis Landing and finding no descendants of either the Goths nor Bachelors, Alexander set out to contact the reclusive twins. Ceres and Atom kept to themselves and were not forthcoming with much information, but Alexander did learn that an experiment had transported them to Oasis Landing from Strangetown. At least Strangetown was strangely familiar. He had heard of the dusty desert where odd phenomenon occurred. The twins confirmed they had seen a woman who looked similar to the picture Alexander carried; however, she was widely known as Johnny and Jill Smith’s aunt. Alexander didn’t know any Smiths, and, with a heavy heart, concluded these were two different Bellas. The twins agreed to help Alexander, first by returning to Sunset Valley where they would re-calibrate his time machine. “The portal has been a well established link between Sunset Valley and Oasis Landing, so after we have made the changes, we’ll return.” They were true to their word, and upon triple checking the data, all agreed it should return Alexander to his own time. He thanked them for their help and stepped into the time machine, resigned to just work harder in his career and put the past in the past.

However, when Alexander emerged, he was on a completely unfamiliar world. It was unlike anything he’d seen. Sunset Valley was somewhat familiar, as he had looked through his parents’ scrapbooks, and even Oasis Landing had a futuristic yet familiar feel. This was strange.

Almost in despair of finding out any real information, Alexander encountered the mail carrier Mathilde Goth. “I have no idea if we are related or not, but there is a Goth in the graveyard. I’d recommend talking to Christina Landgraab. She is a scientist–somewhat of an eccentric, but she might help you.” Christina indeed was able to take Alexander see the tombstone. “This is quite odd,” she told Alexander, looking at him so long he felt uncomfortable. “If what you say is true, and the Caliente sisters were involved, I think I may have an idea of what happened. And, Alexander,” she spoke barely above a whisper, “I believe our futures–and pasts–are entwined. I will help you.”

For the first time since he could remember, Alexander felt hope. Even knowing the rudimentary risks of time–and relative dimension in space–travel, Alexander eagerly pinned his hopes on Christina’s helping him. “Yes, I think we can restore both you and your mother to your proper places.” After several years, the SIDRAT (as Christina named it) was completed. The SIDRAT wasn’t as simple as a time portal or a time machine, and Christina arranged for a “pilot” as she called her. “No guarantees, as you well know, but here’s hoping,” Christina said, “If all goes well, you’ll awaken to see your mother and father, a child back in Pleasantview. You won’t remember any of this, which is why I’m sending along someone to watch over you.” Christina paused, holding back the reasons she was so interested in Alexander’s past events and correcting, as she thought of it, the timeline. “Good luck,” Christina said as she closed the lid on the stasis tank. Alexander breathed in deeply and closed his eyes. He felt drowsy, and his last conscious thoughts were of his mother’s laughter.