#atom beaker

When he arrived, he was instantly swarmed by their two young children. Both redheads like their mother, with teal blue eyes like their father, they looked up at Conrad excitedly.

"Are you really a cop?" The boy cocked his head sideways

"Really," Conrad confirmed. "Colonel Conrad Gordon with Brindleton Bay PD."

"Wow! Can I tell you a secret?" Playing along, Conrad leaned in close. "I want to be a cop when I grow up, but my dad says I'm too smart. But I want to solve crimes and be a detective in a trenchcoat like the movies!"

"I've never worn a trenchcoat. Sounds more like a private investigator."

"Well...could I wear a trenchcoat?"

"You probably could, as long as people could still see your badge."

His sister made a face at his side. "He's not gonna be a cop. He's too afraid of the dark."

"I am not."

"You are too. Are our parents in trouble or something, Colonel?"

"They're not in trouble. I just want to talk to them."

"Have you ever been to Sulani?"

"A couple times, yeah."

"Our Aunt Erin just moved to Sulani to be a nurse, and then she eloped with a lady who says she's not a mermaid, but I think she looks like one. Her name's Leila."

Small world, Conrad thought. "I think I might know her. Leila Illes?"

"Yeah! Are you a detective-magician?"

"Atom! Ceres! Let the nice detective sit down," urged their mother. "Apologize for bickering with each other and head upstairs to finish your math problems; let your mother and father have a chat."

"Yes, mother."

Conrad wasn't sure if he heard it right, but there was something almost robotic in their response. Maybe he was distracted by what the Beakers did for a living. "Cute kids," he said. "How old are they?"

"They're five and a half, but they're already doing work at a fifth grade level," boasted their father, Loki.

"I know what you mean. My stepson's a genius, taking advanced classes at his high school and always working hard on math problems I'll never understand."

"That's a high school in...Brindleton Bay?"

The snobby Beakers tried to hide their giggles. Brindleton Bay was backwoods to plenty of city people, but the Beakers weren't born and raised in San Myshuno.

"So how did a kid from Aurora Skies and a ballet dancing science major from Strangerville come to build the best genetics research lab in Simlandia?"

"Are you writing our autobiography, Colonel?"

"Maybe not if you tell me anything interesting."

"We met in college," said Loki. "We both came to San Myshuno for university and we met in second year biology class."

"We were a great team from the start."

"You authored a few papers together, and I found them really interesting. Comparing the science of genetically modifying dogs to genetically modifying humans."

Loki Beaker shook his head in frustration. "Not the science, the steps. They were methodology papers, Colonel. Are you sure you followed them very well?"

Conrad laughed. "I'm not as smart as my stepson, but these days he's more into neuropsych for a project he's working on. I wanted to talk to the two of you as experts in genetic research. My sisters-in-law are expecting a baby carrying both of their genetics thanks to the work you do at your lab."

"What we work on is very confidential. Anything we're allowed to talk about is easy to read about in the news."

"That's true, but I'm a little more interested in the the work you used to do than the work you're doing now."

"We started Beaker Labs right after university."

"With a lot of money, and neither of grew up particularly wealthy. Circe got a dance scholarship but transferred to bioscience in year two, and you hadn't even worked to save for a few years. Your co-authored thesis was written around the same time me and my old partner busted a puppy mill in the Spice District."

The scientists shifted uncomfortably on the sofa.

"Your internship with with Real Labs was located at the same place where we busted this puppy mill, but when my partner and I toured the scene, we didn't find any lab equipment."

"Maybe the puppy mill went in right after we left," suggested Circe. But Conrad wasn't buying it.

"I don't think two young lab interns were ringleaders in any kind of operation for luxury clients looking for designer dogs. I might even buy that you didn't know the dogs were being sold, but when Real Labs was dissolved, their paperwork disappeared, too."

"What a shame," Ceres mused.

"You talk like you're guilty, Mrs. Beaker. Like you knew exactly what was going on, and might even know whether they're still operating somewhere else."

"Are designer dogs really a crime?"

"It's unethical, and black market pet sales without proper registration is illegal."

The Beakers shared a knowing look, as if they shared a brainwave. "We haven't had anything to do with anyone at Real Labs since they disbanded. When the scientists knew the cops were closing in on the puppy mill, they packed up everything and forged the last half of our internship scores so we'd stay quiet," explained Loki. "And they paid us."

"So they funded your lab. And they've never come back looking for a favour for any of that?"

"Most of the scientists we worked with were older, and the rest completely disappeared. We don't know a thing about their work anymore. We were just kids trying to graduate, and we thought if the lab was working with the university, it was fine."

"The lab told the university they were doing genetic research with dogs to prolong their lifespans."

Circe nodded. "They just left out the rest."

"And you truly have no idea whether the organization is still operating?"

They shrugged. "We told you, we don't even know who was running the lab. We were like rats, accepting orders from unnamed bosses. Our tasks were always sent to us by computer."

Conrad frowned. The Beakers weren't revealing much, whether or not they knew more - and he thought they probably did. But San Myshuno detectives had searched their lab and found nothing to link them to any ongoing black market puppy sales.

"It's getting close to dinner and we've got to feed the children," Loki said, as Conrad caught Circe sneering. "Is there anything else we can do for you, Colonel Gordon?"

"Yeah, I just have one more question. Sorta personal, but our family dog, Gord...he's a Bernese and he came from the mill and he's about sixteen right now. You did the work; how long do you think he's got left?"

Circe smiled pridefully at this confirmation their scientific research had worked, despite the ethics. "The thing is, Colonel, we really couldn't say. Once they left the lab, the mill took control and we didn't know anything about where the dogs were going. I don't think any of the dogs we modified have died of natural causes since the lab closed, but we haven't exactly tracked them in the last sixteen years."

"Researching human genetics is much more rewarding," Loki sniffed, as Circe dismissed the notion they were still involved.

Conrad nodded. He didn't trust them, but he wasn't convinced of their motive.

"I know your work at Beaker Labs is too important to let an underground crime network selling genetically-enhanced dogs hamper your reputation, but I'm not convinced you have no idea where I could find them. I'll leave my information, and if something triggers some memories that might lead me in the right direction, you can reach out to me anytime."

"Colonel Gordon, we really don't know a thing," Circe insisted, as Ceres raced downstairs to announce she'd finished her math problems before Atom.

With that, Conrad left the city for the long drive back to Brindleton Bay. He'd miss dinner with his own family and had no new leads to show for it, but now the Beakers knew he was looking. ->

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WCIF The Beakers: Loki, Circe, Atom and Ceres are from the Sims 4 Gallery Maxis Official account. They were posted when Strangerville was released, with a different version of Nyon Specter who I deleted, because there's only one Nyon in my save! I changed up their lore a little because I don't like it (I don't care if it was the same in Sims 3). This is not the political economy in which I want to be writing or reading about blonde-haired blue-eyed possible clones. So Atom and Ceres have their father's eye colour and mother's hair colour and that's their Sims In Bloom lore.

Loki's sister, Erin Beaker (aka Singles from Sims lore) is a Gallery creation by MotherRosebud. Fun fact, but when I sent Nicola and Arista to Ciudad Enamorada, if they didn't vibe I had backups. But they did vibe, so instead of introducing them to Leila Illes (Sulani townie who's been divorced from Oliana Ngata for a while now) and Erin, I introduced Leila to Erin and speed-ran their courtship and elopement in two in-game hours. May this be a much more compatible relationship for Leila than her marriage to Oliana turned out to be!

• Loki dreams of one day splicing Sim and cowplant genes to create the perfect predator specimen. If only research institutes weren't constrained by silly things such as "ethics". All scientific progress is good progress in his eyes. If his experiments on Nervous Subject don't prove fruitful, his next goal is to nab an Alien for testing purposes.

• Circe believes the last frontier for science to conquer is death. Unlocking the secret to immortality would be her crowning achievement. As one of the few people in town aware of Nervous's parentage, she is determined to understand his unique genetic material.

• Atom and Ceres are clones of the morally questionable Loki. They're little geniuses who finish each other's sentences and seem to communicate telepathically. Creepy child twins to the max.