“Okay, that’s just creepy,” his sister said, and Eli’s ears perked up.

“Seriously creepy,” the friend said.

Eli stood and walked down the hall. “What’s going on?” he said. “What’s creepy?”

“Listen,” Lily said, and she squeezed My Pal Violet’s hand. The toy spoke as if through some kind of voice modification software. It said, “Uh-oh. Something’s not right.”

Then it said, “I can learn your name” as if deep underwater.

“I think it’s dying,” the friend said.

“You mean the batteries are dying,” Eli said.

“Can you change them for us?” Lily asked.

It was the last thing he felt like doing, because it would prolong the annoyance.

“Please?” the girls said in unison.

So he took Violet to the drawer in the kitchen where the tiny screwdriver would be and then unscrewed the battery cover underneath purple fur and saw the batteries were leaky and corroded. He grabbed a paper towel and removed them and threw them out even though he knew you weren’t supposed to. He called out, “Bad news!”

His sister and her friend came into the room.

“It’s all corroded and stuff,” he said, hoping she wasn’t going to get upset and trying to hide that he was sort of grateful. “It’s not safe to play with anymore.”

His sister exchanged a look with her friend, and the friend shrugged, and his sister said, “Oh well, it’s for babies anyway. Want to play Barbies?”

And off they went.

Back in his room Eli played music on his phone and checked in on his Sims. The mood in Willow Creek seemed kind of down, like he felt. None of the quests offered to Eliot seemed any fun at all. He’d never seen a few of them—like Bond with a Community Elder, or Stop a Crime.

To pep himself up, Eli decided it was time to add someone new to the mix and set about creating the Sim who might be Eliot’s perfect match. After scrolling through avatars, he chose one he thought was cute and sporty. He gave her the goal of finding a life partner and made her interests parallel to Eliot’s. He started getting her house built and furnished and helped her make a friend and get a job as a barista. He named her Beth.

He sent Eliot to work and sent Beth to the restaurant, which was another place that Eli wished were real. Eli helped Eliot with his shift, then sent him home.

Eli loved the whole layout of Eliot’s house and wished he lived in a place just like it. Open plan with an L-shaped kitchen/living/dining area. A peek-through fireplace between the living room and a smaller office/den. It was there that Eliot went to watch TV after he’d had a snack.