Sounds Good Ch. 04

Patience - I was very impressed by the depth you created for Laura. Just when I thought that I had her classified, you surprised me again. She is, indeed, girlfriend material. Well done.

I was also impressed by Ronnie's reaction when I tried to progress beyond 'intrigued' with both her and Laura at the same time. She put me in my place.

Unfortunately, I do have one negative comment. I thought that Laura's 'vocalizations' were ... too loud. That may be a matter of taste, and perhaps other gamers will be perfectly happy. It was just a bit too much for me.

I am, once again, totally impressed by the replay value you've built into this game. I can readily imagine playing this multiple times, with different roles for the player, and trying different occupations for the roommates.

I may have to play at least five times, just to see all of the swimsuits.

Your fan,

Cyrano

***

I went into my exams with conflicted feelings. No, nothing to do with the game.

For a number of years, I'd felt like I was a burden on my Mom. She'd lost her husband (my father), and had to change her career - all because of me.

She would never admit that, of course. Mom was willing to discuss many aspects of her work, but job satisfaction wasn't among them.

Her salary was quite good, but my condition continued to put a strain on finances. Yes, we have health care, but there are always pharmaceuticals and 'peripherals'. Wheelchairs are damn expensive - and they aren't built to last.

I wanted to pass these courses, and get a job, so that I could contribute to the household expenses. I was tired of feeling like a drain. A negative.

So I studied my ass off, and stayed away from a second date with Laura. I was curious, of course. But I had to concentrate on studying.

The exams were (largely) anti-climactic.

Four out of five were ridiculously easy. What had I been worrying about?

The other one (the second exam) was challenging, but I was very well prepared. By the time I was done, I felt like I'd hit four homeruns and a solid double.

- "I think I nailed them, Mom."

- "I hope so. And I know how much work you put in. That's the part that makes me proud."

I love my Mom.

***

I hate OT.

Maybe OT means 'overtime' to you. Or something else. To me, it means 'Occupational Therapy', and I fucking hate it.

I have to constantly see doctors, and do the same damned tests over and over. They're always monitoring my symptoms, measuring my energy levels, and my reactions to their meds.

- "How do you feel, Daniel?" they ask.

I know that they mean well, for the most part. But I'm thoroughly sick of that question.

I also know that things could be worse. Much worse. When it come to getting the shitty end of the stick, I was remarkably lucky. There are plenty of people who are much worse off than I am. Much worse.

Little kids are dealing with far more serious problems than what I've got. Chances are, their life expectancy won't be anywhere near what I can hope for. It's really not fair.

The therapists want me to be 'positive', to 'move beyond' what I'm thinking or feeling, to concentrate on something useful, or productive.

It could be worse. I know that.

***

Hey Cyrano.

Another great review. Now I understand why Mike wanted you to test our game. We end up discussing the points you raise well past our bedtimes.

I agree with you about Laura's bra. That could be a wicked render. Even Snogg agrees.

Not sure that I feel the same, though, about Laura's 'vocalizations'. Some people like that kind of ... enthusiasm. We're trying to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.

I had a peek at your saved game. Very, very interesting. If you don't mind my asking, why did you choose Heather first?

And - again, I hope I'm not prying - why did you choose the character name 'Tristan'? I'm a big fan of Arthurian lore, myself. Were you channeling Tristan and Isolde? Rather a tragic story, wouldn't you say?

Or did you choose Tristan for 'triste' - sad?

We're making great progress with the final parts of the game - and thanks to your critiques, I do believe that we've made several improvements.

Thanks again,

Patience

I replied by email.

Hey Patience,

To answer to your question about why I began with Heather - it's really simple: she was the first girl to open the door.

Yes, I like the Arthurian legends, too. I chose Tristan on impulse. It could just as easily have been Percival or Palomedes.

If it's not prying on my part ... why 'Patience'? Mike's SBD I understand (all too well, unfortunately), but is there a story behind your alias?

Glad that my reviews have been of help to you. The game is really incredible so far.

Sincerely,

Cyrano

She answered the very next day.

Hey Cyrano,

I don't mind you asking at all. In addition to King Arthur, I've always liked the Iliad and the Odyssey. One of my favourite characters is Penelope, the wife of Odysseus.

Good news! The final part of the game is almost ready.

There will be bugs aplenty, I'm sure, so we'll have time to hear your thoughts about the endings. But there are quite a few significant changes - many of them thanks to your critiques.

I'll only give you one hint: take a good look around the kitchen.

Enjoy!

Patience

I knew about the Trojan war, but I wasn't so strong on the Odyssey. A quick search told me all I needed to know about Penelope.

She was the wife of Odysseus, the man who spent 10 years at the siege of Troy, and then another 10 trying to get back home.

When all the other Greek heroes came home, but Odysseus didn't, there were many who considered him dead. There were also men who came forwards and tried to persuade Penelope to marry them, since her husband wasn't going to return.

There were quite a few of these suitors. 108, to be exact. They ate her food, drank her wine, and badgered her to choose one of them.

She managed to fob them off one way or another, including by telling them that she would choose a new husband when she had finished weaving a burial shroud for her elderly father-in-law. (Every night, she unravelled the work she'd done that day.)

Later readers saw Penelope as a representation of loyalty. But Patience chose to see ... Patience.

***

There didn't seem to be any point playing the game now, with the new release so imminent. So I concentrated on other things, like looking for work opportunities that I might qualify for, once my online diploma came through.

Mom offered to help out there.

- "If you don't mind, Dan, I'll talk to my boss about you."

- "I don't know ... it sounds like ..."

- "Favouritism? Nepotism? It's not always what you know ..."

- "It's who you know. Okay, Mom. Can't hurt to try, I guess. Thank you."

I played a few other games, including some old classics, and another dating sim - which, quite frankly, couldn't hold a candle to The Apartment.

Basically, I wasted a lot of time until the final release came out.

***

It was Patience who sent me the new version. Hope you like it! she added.

Even before I downloaded it, I realized that one of my suggestions had borne fruit: they'd changed the title. I had to laugh when I saw what they'd chosen to replace 'The Apartment'.

A Bird in the Hand.

I loved it. Much catchier, and far more indicative of the nature of the game.

The first screen was different, too: gone was the run-down building (a la Physical Graffiti); in its place, a cartoonish shrub - no, a large bush - with two songbirds sitting on the branches. The style of the artwork made me think of Monty Python, and Terry Gilliam.

Much, much better - and the image was another clue as to the best way to succeed in the game. Choose one girl, and concentrate on her. (I was sure that someone would find the Laura-Michelle connection eventually - assuming that Mike didn't leak it right away.)

The music was different, too. Better than their original choice - but only marginally. It sounded good, to be honest. I just knew, from experience, that it would grow stale after a few hours of gameplay.

And if I intended to follow all 5 girls to their endings, I'd be turning the volume on the music all the way down.

When I arrived at the Apartment, the door was opened by ... Heather.

- Hi! I'm Heather. You're here about the room, right? Come on in.

I took that as a good omen for what I intended to do: play the 5 stories in the same order I'd done them originally.

I gave the girls the same roles as I had the very first time: Heather was the athlete, Laura the bartender, Ronnie the waitress, and so on ... For myself, I took IT specialist, because I already knew how to earn money that way.

Then I played the game in a very generic way.

I worked and worked, to accumulate a sizeable war chest. Then I chatted with all of the girls, advancing all of them to the level of close friends, but being careful not to cross that line - to 'intrigued'.

Then, I could save that game, and re-start from there, instead of starting over fresh 5 times. I don't mind a little grinding ... but not five times in a row.

Of course, I made a beeline for the kitchen, to see what Patience had been hinting about. It wasn't hard to find. There was a glowing space on the fridge, which was just begging to be clicked on.

It was a calendar, held up by fridge magnets.

Laura / work appeared on every day from Thursday to Saturday (she was the bartender). Heather / swim practice was on there, from Monday to Friday (except for Thursday, which said Swim Meet instead).

Ronnie / work, Nalani / art class, and Michelle / night school were all there as well.

Patience was a genius. She'd taken my comment about how hard it was to find the girls, sometimes, and come up with a simple, elegant solution.

There were a couple of special events on the calendar, as well: outdoor concert, Party, and one birthday (one of the characters - more on that later).

I sent them an audio critique which was highly complimentary (well, I was honest about the music). Other than that, I had nothing but praise for them. They'd substantially improved their game, and I was really impressed by Patience's calendar.

***

I started with Heather. There were no changes to her early story. I went to her swimming practices, hung out in the kitchen when she was cooking, and bought her the gifts I knew she would like.

There were no new revelations about her personality. But after our restaurant date, and the mutual oral sex, Heather had a renewed bout of self-doubt.

Will you ... are you going to be at the party? she asked.

I'd seen it on the calendar, and Heather had referred to it once or twice. It was a Halloween costume party. The other girls were excited, talking about their plans for dressing up, and trying to find out what I was going to wear.

- Of course I'll be there.

- Oh - that's good. She sounded surprisingly vulnerable.

- Heather. We'll be there together. You and me.

- You mean ... umm ...

- Heather? Aren't you my girlfriend?

There was that brilliant smile. She was positively glowing.

- Yes. I am. And ... you're my boyfriend.

- Absolutely.

I don't know what kind of price Snogg and Patience intended to charge for their game. But that single render of Heather smiling happily was worth a million bucks.

***

That must have been my cue to go shopping, because now there were new items to buy at the store: costumes.

Tristan might have been confident enough to go as a caveman, but I wasn't. A monk? In the end, I paid a little more for a pirate costume.

It wasn't that I wanted to go as a pirate, especially. But they were all out of Caveman and Monk costumes.

That made me laugh. I understood the reason. If Snogg wanted to show the player at the party, he would have had to draw several more illustrations, depending on the costume I picked. More dialogue for Patience, more coding for Mike. In this case, I had to agree that no choice was a good choice.

There were other people attending the party, but they only appeared as figures in the background. There was no dialogue with anyone other than the roommates.

Nalani came as a Princess, which struck me as appropriate. Michelle was a wicked gypsy fortune teller, with a mischievous glint in her eye.

Laura was a rather grisly vampire, with a ton of makeup and streaks of blood around her mouth. She'd gone over the line from Goth to truly gruesome. Ronnie was a witch, with the pointed hat and a grotesque fake nose. She'd blacked out a few teeth, for effect.

- Heather's just adjusting her costume. said Michelle. Say something nice; she went to a lot of trouble.

And there she was.

- Wow ... was all I could think of to say.

- That'll do. said Michelle.

Heather had a laurel wreath on her head. Beneath it, she wore some kind of thin leather circlet, to hold her hair in place. It also held a small semi-precious stone in the center of her forehead.

Her only garment was a ... I didn't even know what to call it. A shift? It was shirt and skirt in one, plain white. It left part of her shoulders and all of her arms bare.

It was almost knee length. Below that, she had an elaborate pair of sandals with straps that wound around her lower legs.

The shift didn't show much leg, and it certainly wasn't low-cut. But it was quite sheer. After a good, long look at Snogg's illustration, I came to the conclusion that Heather wasn't wearing a bra under her costume. Or panties, either.

That was really daring, for her.

- You look amazing! I told her.

- So do you! But ... you don't think it's too ...

- Perfect? You look spectacular, Heather. At first I thought that you were Artemis. Goddess of the hunt. But the laurel wreath explains it - Olympic athlete?

- You like it?

There was another render from the party, of the two of us dancing. Tristan's head was out of sight, though you could see the pirate suit. I was much more interested in Heather's costume.

She looked positively statuesque. And there definitely seemed to be a distinct lack of underwear underneath her shift.

- Amazing. I repeated.

- You don't think it's too daring?

- You look - and feel - incredible.

- I can't believe I let Michelle talk me into this.

- I'll have to thank her.

We danced, and had a few drinks. The party itself was surprisingly brief. When I thought about it afterwards, I guessed that the event was some sort of natural choke-point in the story. If the player, by this point, was still trying to woo more than one of the roommates, he would have to finally declare himself.

There was no option to dance with one of the other girls. The player had to man up, and make his choice.

Also, the party served as a prelude to a very nice scene with Heather. We'd done the dates; now, she shyly invited me back to her room.

- I guess we can clean up in the morning. I suggested.

- Oh. Don't worry. Michelle said she'd take care of it.

- Then I really must thank her.

Heather stood beside her bed, still dressed in her wonderful costume. Snogg was cheating a bit: it was virtually the same render I'd already seen, just against a different background.

I wasn't complaining, though.

I helped Heather out of her costume. The laurel wreath came off; the circlet remained. I knelt before her, to help unstrap her complicated sandals. Meanwhile, she pulled the shift over her head.

The next render wasn't a repeat.

Wow.

Pardon me for repeating myself. But I'd forgotten how appealing Heather's tan lines were. They accentuated the lower halves of her lovely breasts, like plump dumplings. They also drew my eye south of her bikini line, to her shaven pussy.

I sat her down on the edge of the bed, so that I could reach her breasts with hands and lips and tongue. I stroked her legs as well, and finally gently touched her pussy. I intended to go down on her again.

- No. she said. I want to ... I want to make love, this time. Please.

That one piece of vocal acting was superb. I felt it in my chest. It wasn't the words, really - it was the delivery.

Things proceeded rapidly from there. I knelt between Heather's legs, and skinned on a condom.

The render was wonderful. It was a beautiful image. And one short line of dialogue made the whole scene.

- I love you.

It was a great sex scene. Heather moaned. I really couldn't imagine how the illustration or the dialogue could have been any better.

Tristan lasted a lot longer than I did.

***

Heather made me feel about nine feet tall. She was pretty, with a great body, and she wanted to please me.

As I wanted to please her.

There was a notation on the calendar, in the first week of November: Heather B.D..

In case I'd missed the hint, Michelle made sure of it.

- You know it's her birthday next week, right?

- I most certainly do.

I ordered a cake at the bakery - Heather had mentioned something about chocolate, earlier, so I got her the chocolatiest one I could find.

Then I went out and bought a silver bracelet. It took virtually every last penny I'd earned in the game, but I figured it was worth it.

It was.

Heather seemed surprised by the fuss we all made over her. The roommates all sang 'Happy Birthday' - a nice touch, I thought (Laura sang the loudest).

They had presents for her (undisclosed). My gift was centre stage, then, and Heather was genuinely shocked that I'd gone to that much trouble and expense.

- But you're my girlfriend. I reminded her.

That led (a little too quickly, in my opinion), to Heather's bedroom. After a few tender exchanges, she was lying back on her bed, completely naked.

The quality of Snogg's work made me temporarily forget my qualms and criticisms. Heather had a lovely face, and a wonderful physique. Her breasts separated, to either side of her chest, but it didn't look at all unnatural.

Her tan lines, again, were a definite turn-on. There was a second illustration, where she'd raised her knees, and spread her legs just a little more - but the look on her face still made me think that she was a bit fearful, a bit ... hesitant.

- You're beautiful, Heather.

- You really think so?

- Absolutely.

- Are you ... going to make love to me?

- As often as you want. As long as you want.

I entered her in the missionary position. Heather drew me down for a passionate kiss. She came before I did (what a wonderful game!), and I lay beside her, re-entering her from behind. In this position, I could fondle her breasts as I sawed in an out of her.

We finished doggie-style. Her marvelous breasts swung beneath her, and I took a firm hold on her hips as I began to thrust into her more rapidly. Her moans increased in volume and in frequency.

***

Heather would have made an excellent girlfriend. True, she was a bit insecure, and needed reassurance fairly often. But I could understand that, given her history.

She was pretty, wholesome, and gifted with a lovely body. In real life, I would have felt fortunate to have her as just a friend. As a girlfriend? That was well beyond the range of my wildest dreams.