The move was long and arduous. Three flights, all packed to bursting, the last of which was over-seated with an entire orphanage worth of screaming children, then a five hour-long bus trip across bumpy, jagged roads that hadn't been repaired for what seemed a century, and the last twenty minutes had been spent beside a taxi driver who hadn't bathed in at least a month.
But Honey Beebee had arrived. At last.
To Sunset Valley.
The taxi driver beeped and sped away, and a fresh breeze carrying the wintry scents of snow and sea replaced that of bad body odour. She inhaled a long, deep breath then gazed at her new home.
The house was perfect. Both it, the flights, the bus, and the taxi had near exhausted the allowance the higher-ups had given her, but from first impressions it seemed that it had been worth every penny.
She clicked her fingers, summoning a full set of carefully-placed furniture, and waltzed inside.
Unfortunately she had made the mistake of arriving in the Valley during winter. She wouldn't be capable of beginning that which she had been sent to do until warmer climates arrived, but that didn't mean she couldn't prepare.
Settling down on the couch, she read book after book on cooking, gardening, and French adventures. After all, going to France was her next goal; that was where the sweet, sweet nectar was from.
A small smile touched her lips as she turned another page and eyed the lush vineyards of the French countryside.
Yes.
The higher-ups would be pleased indeed. They wouldn't be able to enjoy their new base without a plentiful supply of nectar, and the nectar itself was the key to making more money to fund the remainder of this grand project.
It was just a matter of time.
Over the passing weeks, more and more books were read, TV shows were watched, and plans were plotted. Everything must be perfect for when the higher-ups eventually arrived.
Sunset Valley had no idea what was coming for it. None at all.
The snow eventually melted and Honey set to work on her garden. The garden that would fund her trip to France and the purchasing of nectar related goods. The garden that would implant the knowledge-seeds necessary for the future nectar-gardening she would undertake. The garden that...........
.........would get eaten by zombies in the middle of the night???
She glared out the window as the brazen creature tore her lettuce to shreds. If there was ever a hitch in her plans, this would be it. Now she would have to spend some of savings on building a fence to protect her garden.
Such a waste of nectar-money, she sighed, glaring at the fence. The higher-ups hadn't said a thing about there being supernatural elements in Sunset Valley, although it would make sense.
Why else would they have chosen this particular city to build their headquarters?
Her frown deepened. Now she had to scavenge in order to make up for the money she had just wasted.
After a day of dirtying her hands picking flowers and mushrooms and stumbling across rocks and metals, she went to the park and discovered an Easter hunt ongoing.
There were people to her left, people to her right, all of whom were searching for colourful eggs... all of whom were missing the eggs right in front of her.
With a quick shrug of her shoulders, she picked up all the eggs and took them to the vendor.
"Oh noice, lady. You found two ornamental eggs, you did. And a gnome! That's worth a lot, it is."
He deposited $3000 into her hand and saluted.
A grin spread over her face. This random hunt had paid back the fence and then some! She would be off to France in no time.
France was every bit as beautiful as she had imagined, but there was no time to sight-see, neither was there time to partake in any of the adventures plastered all over the bulletin boards.
She went straight to the local nectar-house and placed all of her money on the counter. The nectar-keeper offered her a wide grin and a bow, then waved his arm around the shop.
"Yes, yes. Many fine tools here. Nectar maker. Racks. Racks very important. Age nectar; taste better."
"I'll buy the lot!"
Several racks and a nectar making machine spiralled into the air and smallened themselves, fitting perfectly into her handbag for transportation.
Her work was complete. It was a pity she couldn't stay and admire the countryside, but alas, she had a secret base that needed building and a lot of nectar that needed to be available at all moments.
Honey soon returned to Sunset Valley. However, within moments of her stepping out of the taxi, her phone rang.
"It's the middle of Summer!" The voice of a higher-up screeched. "You've been in the Valley for two seasons and we haven't had a single progress report!"
"I-I'm sorry," Honey stammered. "Everything is under way. I'm about to start phase three of the plan tomorrow morning."
"Tonight!" The higher-up shouted.
"Y-yes, sir."
She hung up the phone, flung her handbag to the ground, found a shovel and started digging. A secret basement beneath the house hadn't been her original plan, but it would have to do for now.
There had been wood and roof tiles left over from when the house had been built, so she quickly got to work on the Nectar Studio as well. Mostly so that the neighbours wouldn't notice the basement.
Once everything had been complete, she called the local arborist and begged for a few trees, free of cost. She was out of money. There would be no more until the Nectar Studio was in business.
The tree-man refused vehemently, until she offered him the first batch of nectar.
"We have a deal, lass," he grunted, whilst dumping trees into the front yard. "Ye can plant these yerself though."
And so she did.
Now there were two reasons she needed to make nectar. One, to repay the arborist, and two, to supply her superiors.
As she rushed to her newly built Nectar Studio, her phone rang again.
Before she could answer with a, "Hello?" the same higher-up from earlier screeched into her ear.
"We'll be there tomorrow. Everything had better be ready."
"U-uhhh," she stuttered. "N-no. No, no, no. I need at least $20,000 more before it will be ready."
"It's in your account," the voice snapped. "Everything had better be perfect. Four p.m. On the dot."
The higher-up hung up before she could respond.
"Shit," she said, and winced. "Okay, calm down, Honey. We can do this."
Finishing up the first batch of Nectar, Honey raced down the basement stairs and started painting the room in company colours. As she painted, she called the local furniture and electronic stores and demanded desks and computers be delivered as soon as possible.
Cat photos were hung from every second panel, and the finest tapestries hung where their illustrious leader would sit and give out commands.
There was no time for sleep, food, or to even weed her garden.
The servers were put online. The finishing touches were positioned onto the carpet. Her phone's alarm rang 4 o'clock. Screeching cars rounded the bend. Honey raced up the stairs.
Three of the higher-ups sped onto the lot and climbed out of their cars.
Honey saluted with a shaky arm and stood at attention.
"When lambo?" she greeted them.
"When lambo," they snapped back in unison. "Now, show us your success."
This was originally going to be an entry for the Hive Gaming Communities Creative Building Contest but I got carried away whilst playing and didn't take as many screenshots as I would've liked for creative-building purposes, annndddd due to my Story-Telling Tendencies this post is way over the word limit set in the contest conditions and doesn't allow room for talking about the build itself.
I hope that you enjoy it anyway! Good luck to everyone who does enter the contest! 😊
Until next time,
Thanks for stopping by!
and are from the game: The Sims 3