He had to get stronger.

Michael Simnitch spent all of his free time training. The Cow was too weak to fight for herself. If he wanted to save her, he had to become strong enough to take on the Llama.



He would paint her over and over, different scenes from her past. He was certain by now that he knew what had led her down this path. He didn’t care. All that mattered was that he was her champion and he needed to save her.

He knew that Daisy was worried about him. Siri also came by a lot, whispering with Daisy and glancing at him when they thought he wasn’t looking. It wasn’t important. Sometimes other people came by as well. They weren’t important.



One night, Michael finished his training session and knew that he was at the peak of his strength now. It was time.



He glanced around. Of course the Llama stood there, as he always did, with that smug grin on his stuffed face. He never seemed threatened by Michael’s harsh training. The time had come to teach him a lesson he wouldn’t forget.

Michael walked over to the Llama and slapped him as hard as he could.



“So, you think to challenge the Llama, puny Champion? The nerve of yours! In deference to the Wise One, I will grant you this one last warning: Stand back. This battle does not concern you.”



The time for words had passed long ago. Michael knew that. Wordlessly, he charged at his enemy. For the Cow. For her sake. He was her Champion.



The Llama was a formidable fighter. Strong and agile. He seemed to know where Michael would attack him even before Michael himself had decided. But Michael refused to waver. As the Llama rained punches on him, he kept his thoughts focused on the person he was fighting for. The Cow. It was all for the Cow.



It might have been sheer luck, but in the end, the Llama was the one to lose. Defeated, he limped away from the lot, leaving Michael victorious.



And as the sun rose, the Cow appeared once more.



Michael ran towards her and gave her a hug. “You’re safe! You’ve finally returned to me!”



The Cow smiled and looked at Michael and he thought he saw sadness in her cow face.

“I have returned, Michael, and it is all thanks to you. My tormentor has been subdued, I will now have time to regain my strength.

But, Michael, your role in this must be over now. You have your own life to live, and it is not one I have a place in. You have to forget me, Michael. Forget me and live on. May the time you spent as my Champion be nothing more than a fleeting dream to you. It is time to wake up, Michael.”



“You have a special gift, one I am not sure you are even aware of. It has shown you the course you needed to take to free me. Let it now show you the course needed to free yourself.

Goodbye, Michael.”



“Consider this my last gift to you.”



“That’s it, then? You’re letting him go?”

“Yes. The girl has been waiting for him all this time. And even when he was under my spell, a part of him still yearned for her as well. He will be happier that way.”



“You could have won, you know? If you had left with him…”

“So? What sort of victory would that have been for me? At the expense of another? Bound forever to someone who did not wish to be bound to me?”

“That is all, then?”

“What can I say? I’ve always liked happy endings.”



“And besides, it’s not like this was my only chance at freedom.”

“Oh? You could have fooled me there. I seem to recall you being desperate and alone when that painter was the only one who would open his heart to you.”

“And he defeated you in the end, did he not? There is something about that gift of his that I believe will turn out to be the key to my salvation.”



“So that now, even if I let him go, I believe that this gift will live on in his bloodline. If anything, I have begun to create my own followers by setting him free.”

“It will take generations for them to measure up even slightly to my own.”

“I have all the time in the world. That reminds me… our deal?”



“Done. It wasn’t a difficult choice by any means. I’ll admit I was surprised that you actually went through with it. Your only follower for the lowest of my minions?”

“The Wise One, as you call her, right? I don’t think you could ever have hoped to tame her spirit. She never was as weak-minded as the rest of those.”

“I assume you like her as well?”



“I do. And she tried to protect him. I had to repay that debt somehow. Now she is out of your grasp.”

“Is that so?”

“She will leave soon. And she won’t bear your mark when she does.”



“The Wise One doesn’t need my mark. Her time here was spent wisely. She has awakened her hunger for knowledge and will continue so satisfy it. Mark my words, this woman will become one of the pillars of her society. And her beginnings were here, with me.”



“There is something to be said for letting her go. She will live and prosper, bring forth her own family. And when they return here…”

“We will see. After all, the future is not set in stone, is it?”


And that's all the college storylines for Gen 1 finished!

The Cow... Like I said before, this story really wrote itself. She was stalking Michael Simnitch to the point where she'd spend half the day sitting in front of his door. That was when I remembered that I still had a number of cow paintings in my custom paintings folder, and it went from there. I think the guy in the cow paintings is one of the Pleasantview teen townies I sent to college, but I'm not sure. He's meant to be... well, the Llama, for the purposes of this story. Unfortunately, the actual Llama has the darkest skintone.

Speaking of ancient pictures from my folder, the ghost Michael is painting in one of the pictures is how Lyla Grunt's ghost looked in my first Strangetown. She's one of those corrupted ghosts that change their appearance, so the real Lyla looks different. Actually, a working Lyla is one of the reasons I decided to play Strangetown from scratch. I also have Pascal's first alien daughter (who may reappear in this story) and a picture of my favorite glitch involving Loki Beaker (that will reappear in this story) saved as a painting.

Siri originally had a very different storyline. Her hunger for knowledge led her to the Llama Cult, and she was going to join them. Both her and her husband Siegfried Halfdanarsson are going for the Spy career, so it was a really good fit. She would have founded a very powerful empire with the Llama's help. Instead, Siri decided to help Michael escape from his dangerous situation and the Cow freed her in return. The last pictures are some screenshots of Siri as an adult along with her husband and toddler son.

Speaking of which, what happened to the other siblings? We'll find out soon. Coming up next: Where are they now?