Deeply confused by Howard's comment but not wanting to betray his lack of knowledge, Arnold politely agreed and said a hurried goodbye, before opening the next door apartment, the one that matched the keys he'd found. Closing the door behind him, he let out a sigh of relief for a moment, before looking out to take in the apartment that was apparently where everyone thought he lived. It wasn't a shoebox, but it was on the small side; poking about he found there was a main living room, a bedroom, one bathroom and a little kitchenette. Some of the decor he recognized, his old chess team trophy from highschool that Barbara was always wanting him to throw out, a bookshelf he remembered purchasing, and so on, but there were just as many unfamiliar things, like many of the titles on the shelf or the novelty Battlestar Galactica themed clock on the wall. Overall though, there wasn't that much decor, with the whole place being kinda sparsely furnished. There was a couch, a plasma screen tv, and a single lamp in the main room, plus a few other odds and ends, but that was it.
It honestly reminded him of the apartment he'd lived in as a college senior, definitely the home of a bachelor. The bed was a twin, there were scattered takeout containers all over, the kitchen looked rarely used, and the tops of the cabinets were covered in dust. It looked like he lived alone which was a huge relief, as he was worried he might actually have a freaking husband in this reality with how things were going. At least I can use this place as a base of operations while I try to get to the bottom of this, he told himself while he searched through drawers until he found a pad of paper and a pencil. Taking a seat on the couch, he tried to list out all of the weird changes he'd discovered so far, to try and find some sort of pattern.
-
I'm no longer married to Barbara, and apparently not Kyla's father. Consequently I don't live in my house, but they still do and are part of another family.
-
Most people seem to be gay, or maybe gay and straight are flipped? Guy in the cell said he didn't think I'd swing that way, so straight people obviously still exist but maybe we're the minority.
-
Karyn Black and Zoe Gibson have both been aged up to what looks like their early 20s, college age, but they hold senior positions. It's like two sorority girls have been put in charge of the criminal justice system but no one thinks it's weird; Zoe didn't seem to recognize me, but she might not have been looking closely.
-
Presumably the Gibsons no longer live next door since Jon is now in my apartment complex and related to Howard Drullers, and Zoe is an adult.
-
Everything's a bit nicer, a bit newer. It's like the whole city got a cash infusion.
-
That Weird Fucking Tower
-
Old Sheriff and DA missing, unsure if they're still in town.
-
Lots of businesses have changed slightly or been replaced.
-
No one else remembers how things are supposed to be? Am I the first person to come back to town since whatever made them all go whackadoo happened?
He sat back, frustrated. That was all he could remember off the top of his head, and while listing it all out made sense to him, he wasn't sure what to do with this information. If it had been just one big change, like the gay thing, or if everything had centered on someone specific like Zoe, he'd have something to go on, but none of it seemed to connect up. Like, why were Zoe and Karyn alone aged up like they were and put in such senior positions, and Kyla was still a highschool student living in the same house? Setting the question of what in the hell could even accomplish all this, he couldn't figure out what the goal of it all was, how it all connected up.
Finding the clicker, her flipped the television on, needing just a moment to decompress after a very stressful day. The TV came to life and began automatically playing an episode of Friends, which he was fine with as a bit of comfort food, but as he watched, he noticed something was wrong. It wasn't an episode he'd seen before, he didn't think or maybe it was, sitcoms like this tended to blur together. The weird thing was that instead of Monica being married to Chandler she was with Rachel. He slammed the pause button.
"I thought this was localized to Lakeview, but..." Arnold muttered. Did this mean the whole show had changed everywhere, or was something about whatever was effecting Lakeview transforming any media within the area of influence? He hadn't seen any of this type stuff back during his trip, so he'd been working on the hypothesis that everything was centered in his hometown, but now he was questioning it. Getting up to check the bookshelf, he randomly flipped open his copy of Return of the King and discovered that weirdly enough, the whole Fellowship were female versions of themselves, like Froda and Pippa. *Wait, but nobody in the real world is a different gender, as far as I know..."
He crossed back to the couch and sat down in a flump, accidentally siting on the controller when he did so. It switched the channel and suddenly he found himself watching the new.
"-as I said it is my great honor to commemorate the opening of Luxia Tower," a stunning blonde woman behind a podium said confidently, "which will bring thousands upon thousands of new jobs to the Lakeview area." The watching crowd burst into applause as the woman smiled. She was a young woman, and gorgeous, with cascading golden hair, bright blue eyes, dimples, a winning smile, a large bust and an athletic figure. To Arnold she looked a lot like a younger, dare he say even more attractive, version of Susan McMillan. She wore a sharp magenta skirt suit, and even with the distance the camera was at, he clocked a glimmering diamond on her ring finger. With a start he realized the smiling woman, who was stepping away from the podium to shake some hands as the camera pulled away, was a college aged version of Sarah McMillan, a girl he knew of due to his daughter's constant complaints about her.
"Those were Mayor McMillan's remarks following the cutting of the ribbon for the new Luxia Tower," a voice announced as the camera faded out from the scene back to a studio where a pretty latina anchor was speaking, to her right was a fashionably suited man with slicked back hair and a sculpted goatee. "The mayor was central in bringing this large new investment to our city, and was asked by the Chamber of Commerce and the Tower's first primary tenants, Duncan technologies, to officially open the facility," the curvy latina continued. "I'd say the mayor had a pretty good day, wouldn't you, Lawrence?"
The other anchor chuckled, "absolutely, and her numbers are reflecting that. Mayor McMillan has always been popular, sweeping in with 73% of the vote in the last election, but as of today her approval numbers are in the high 80s. It's no surprise we're hearing whispers of a possible gubernatorial run next year."
The latina smiled as she straightened some papers on her desk, "well speaking of our beloved mayor, her better half, our own little first lady Tiffany McMillan, was seen today-"
Arnold turned the television off, trying to grasp the new information he'd just been presented with. This was the third woman he'd found who was old enough to be an adult but seemed to be way too young for the position they held. The Sarah McMillan on screen looked old enough to be a sorority president, not mayor. Also she'd apparently been mayor for some time according to the anchors. This was the first real pattern he'd centered in on, three girls, all students at Lakeview Academy, all aged up into their early 20s, all holding senior positions in the city's leadership. He still didn't understand why any of that was, but it seemed like the only thing he could really grab onto to look into.
"Maybe they know something," he told himself, before trying to figure out the daunting task of how he was going to get the sheriff, the DA or the mayor alone to question.
