An Alien Ate My Baby: Part 5, Tali

This is how it ended.

You already know how it started. My forebears journals are not merely best sellers, but they are the subjects of movies, interactive entertainment, and a prime time television show ("The Aliens"? Really? Sounds like a B grade sci-fi show).

But nobody likes endings. Nobody wants to talk about them - because if you talk about an ending, you have to face the fact that it's over. And nobody wanted that.

Yet here we are.

Mother left us when I was 16. We weren't really all that close, to be honest. While I was definitely her favourite - the only girl of four children - she wasn't particularly mine. Our bodies require vigorous exercise to fight off atrophy on this low gravity planet - and Uncle Thane was my personal trainer. Our minds require constant stimulation to fight the microbes that cause premature senility - and Aunt Nerys was my tutor. My mother birthed me. She tended to leave the messy parts to her siblings.

Speaking of siblings, my elder brothers Worsel and Tregonsee were frivolous. I don't deny that some of the luxuries we now take for granted are, well, luxurious - nor that it isn't pleasant to have a thriving VirtuNet 24x7. But it was hardly the most pressing problem - the colonist overlords were in open revolt. My twin and I would have to pick up the slack.

Our opponents were desperate. They had retreated to the shell of the colony ship - still impregnable after over a century - and they worked in secret with the only allies that we could not control - the unquiet dead. It is fortunate indeed that our superior biology rendered sleep unnecessary; the almost constant nightly presence of our ectoplasmic ancestors would have guaranteed none of us ever got the rest we didn't need.

While we had enough rations for our own lifetimes, the colony ship contained all the nutrient supplies we'd need for population growth. The people were with us, but only if we could prove our strength.

The military was ours, as was most of the law enforcement and crime syndicate. None of it was of any use - the colony ship had been built to withstand the rigours of deep space, nothing we or the natives had could breach its hull. We couldn't talk them out, we couldn't wait them out - the cold sleep booths were now fully functional again. They could afford to play the long game. We could not.

When we finished last time I'd just moved out Na'toth, leaving Nerys (retired Empress of Evil, 79 days old, kept around to collect and transmute stuff), Worsel (YA, aiming for Architect - all he needs are the careeers), Tregonsee (YA, aiming for Gamer - all he needs is the hacking and careers), Nadreck (teen, aiming for Paranormal), and last but not least Tali (teen, aiming for Naturalist). The teens are 2 days away from YA status. Tali is already level 3 in the Mausoleum career; Nadreck is about 2.5 and, since he doesn't get another work day until after YA hits, he's going to be a bit delayed. It is Week 36, Day 4. My current score is 291; with 4 more points from the final 4 lifts, and the perfect plants or fish from Naturalist, I cannot fail to get 300. All I need is time.

I've used the weather controller liberally to make sure it's usually sunny, to minimise the number of snow days, as the kids actually do benefit from after school activities.

On my 18th birthday, I gave up my study of death at the local graveyard. Nadreck seemed to have more of a grasp upon it. Indeed, my studies were of a completely different nature - I took over the local laboratory and began to experiment with strains of plant and marine life. If we could find something we could eat, then we could wait the colonists out.

Week 36, Day 6, and now we're in the end zone.

But Nadreck did master death. The weapon that the colonists had launched at us was more mystical than scientific. He lured the dead - the ghosts, I suppose we must call them - with tales he had spun, he befriended them, and he got them to agree that if he beat them at chess, they would bother us no more. His logic was infallible, his stories riveting - the most successful author in our lineage, which is no small feat - and the unquiet dead bother us little now. We do occasionally get visits from Kara, Kal-El, Kerrigan, Jon'zz, and Longshot - but given that most of those died horribly after great achievements, we chose to view that as our penance.

Nadreck took the aging Aunt Nerys with him to an undisclosed location. As you know, his experiments to thwart death for her were successful. Aunt Nerys was our first true immortal. I have no intention of revealing where we perform these experiments - the last thing I need to worry about is ageless colonist rebels.

Week 37, Day 5 - Paranormal cleared. Can't really show the ghost friends - they're not on lot - and there's a similar problem with the chess games, but both requirements were satisfied. The novels took the longest.

Nadreck and Nerys move out. And then there were 3.

Despite my misgivings, Worsel did indeed assist us. While mostly focussed on new buildings and luxuries, it was largely his understanding of structural defects that allowed us to begin our siege of the colonist ship.

Week 38, Day 4: Architect lifted. Worsel leaves, and then there were 2.

Tregonsee's study of gaming turned out to have a hidden catch.

There is a game he created. You have almost certainly played it. It is not a game.

And that is all need be said.

Week 38, Day 6, Gamer lifted. Tregonsee leaves.

And then there was 1. Everything is done except level 10 Science.

When I discovered how to bring edible food, flora, and fauna to this world, the colonists time was over. I would like to say that they fought bravely, but in truth they surrendered. They had nothing left to fight for.

We were merciful. You do not know their fates, but be assured that they live. This world of yours - we are guests here, but we are also its masters. The colonists will not be of any further trouble.

But if you think of crossing us, remember their fate - lost to history, kept alive at our whim, and able to be erased whenever we wish. We are merciful. We are just.

But we are also in charge. Forget this at your peril.

Week 39, Day 6, Naturalist is lifted.

The final score was 300:

• Restrictions 25 (all, including Alien Technology).
• Bonuses 193:
• Copious Library 1 (17 books)
• Amazing Naturalist 60 (all space rocks, all metals, all gems, and a bunch of fish and plants)
• Admiral Adonis 49 (trained 10 Sims for 10 hours each, 19 household Sims got to level 10 - that is, all household Sims)
• Skill Meister 30
• I Want It, I Want It 15
• Ghostly Ghosts 15
• Gnamely Gnomes 3 (Mysterious Mr Gnome, Evil Mr Gome, sGnomeman Bittertrotter)
• Money Money Money 10 (2 522 928 - I sold off all our investments, but there was easily another 100k on the lot if I'd wanted it)
• Time in a Bottle 10 (no aging off days used)
• Advantages/Handicaps 100
• Prestige Alien 50
• We don't need no education 30
• Walk to work 10
• It's hopeless 10
• 5 bloopers (-0)
• I picked up a sleeping bag once.
• I forgot to place a hamper.(Be careful with this - lots of packs have hampers, in my case it was Generations).
• I used the telescope once during the day before Espionage was lifted
• Nadreck made friends with 2 ghosts while still a child. This is illegal; he had to wait until YA until he could declare Paranormal. I didn't count either of those ghosts towards his friends; this was 2 bloopers.
• Total: 300 (max)

The total time was 272 days.

If you've read this far, thank you for your time and I hope you've enjoyed my chronicle. Aliens are fairly easy in the end; the only reason my time was so poor is because the lack of expansion packs made it necessary to lift Military to even attempt some of the lifts, and that was an unfortunate ordering.

An Alien Ate My Baby, Part 4: Na'toth

Well well. Aren't you all lucky?

Most of my forebears have been describing how we were constantly being inhibited by the human colonists. And that is still true, but they failed to really explain why.

I am Na'toth. I will never lie to you, not even by omission. You are my descendant, and you deserve nothing but truth.

It is because we are not human. We are not really natives either. We are a fusion - we are Homo Superior, we are human plus. We are better than they are, and they fear us.

When last we met, Na'toth had just aged up a day before, and she's our newly designated heir. To reiterate, I have currently lifted Alien Technology, Business, Culinary, Education, Entertainment, Forensics, Journalism, Politics, Science, and Symphonic.

So, the four teens spend more of their time working out, filling in the gaps with a little Charisma training, making potions, or whatever. The kids make muffins, write books, and play hopscotch. Longshot is out in the snow freezing. Kara is painting to earn some cash.

This superiority is not without costs. Occasionally, we must sacrifice one of our number to strengthen the rest.

You who read this - you benefited. You are who you are because of those who died before you. So I repeat: aren't you lucky? Great Uncle Longshot froze to death for you - you had better be worth it.

Week 26, Day 6, freezing ghost achieved. It takes ages to die of freezing or starvation when you are Hardly Hungry. But it will eventually happen.

On Week 27, Day 1, Garrus becomes a YA; the next day, so does Thane. Garrus already has Become an Astronaut locked as LTW, which is why I was waiting for Thane. I choose Master of the Arts for Thane (he has painting 6, and with both Entertainment and Symphonic lifted he's allowed to learn Guitar), and then I have Thane check the paper. Science, Criminal, and Business are all available. Even if I hadn't lifted Journalism, I'd still be eligible to choose Criminal here (for Master Thief), which of course I do. I'm going to wait 3 days now for Na'toth and Deanna to age up so that they can check the paper - if Garrus ever does, he is required to take a job, and I don't want him taking anything but military. Obviously there is an expiration date on this, but I can wait a week without significant impact as he's not an heir - which means he has another 6 days before he has to worry. He'll probably manage to skip any Graduation Day nonsense as an added bonus.

Mother was a ruthless psychopath. I'll say it, if nobody else does. She basically killed all of her siblings, out of petty jealousy. You can say that she had some sort of greater good in mind if you like - whatever helps you to sleep. I hope you realise, my children, that your grandmother was not a woman you should feel any particular nostalgia for. If you've met her ectoplasmic form, you'll know this. Of course, despite the horrors she inflicted on our aunts and uncles, she herself died peacefully of old age.

There is no justice. There is only us.

Week 27, Day 4, Kara dies. That's the last of my platinum tombstones required, so I'm really hoping I can get Garrus to lift Military so I can avoid any further deaths.

But enough of my morality.

It took them a while to place my siblings and I. It is true that Thane was employed fairly swiftly - he says that he managed to infiltrate the local black marketeers, but in truth they shanghaied him - it wasn't really his choice. After a year of waiting, they finally decided to train me as a spy. Their thought was that I would be able to infiltrate the natives and spot sympathisers, for a coming war.

Evidently they had no true knowledge where my loyalties lay.

Garrus was 24 before they finally found him a position cleaning latrines at the local military base. The colonists loathe us, but they should not have let us on the base, even in such a demeaning position.

Deanna, they took an even graver risk. They required her to register as an organ donor, but they should never have let us into their hospitals.

The local sports-ball team was doing very poorly - the Councillors 11 was getting completely smashed by the Colonists Crushers. So when my brother Mordin came of age, they decided to force him to see what could be done about that, starting him out with an all-access pass to the councillor's team.

Thane's initial survey of the mobsters revealed that it was more difficult than he imagined - he needed help. Nerys came to his rescue - eventually, all criminals would work for her.

Week 27, Day 5. Na'toth checks the paper and sees Business, Culinary, and Journalism. All are clear already, so I can refuse and try again the next day. Na'toth chooses Living in the Lap of Luxury as her LTW (Deanna already has World Renowned Surgeon locked).

The next day is Graduation Day. Thane (the only one employed) is already friends with his boss, and so this is actually pretty good timing. The paper the next day has Science, Culinary, and Law Enforcement - so Na'toth is now in Espionage. I now have to hope I get lucky, because it's no longer worth delaying any longer (Mordin is still 5 more days from becoming a YA).

On the next day, Military is amongst the four options (Law Enforcement, Politics, Science are the other three - apparently there are "3 to 5" each day, though it seems waited towards 3). So Garrus takes that, and I choose to wait another day for Deanna. There, the choices were Medical, Military, and Retired (thanks SP!) - so she takes Medical. This was kind of lucky, but I did have plenty of LTR points saved for Change Lifetime Wish if needed.

It all rounds out with Mordin taking Athletics and Nerys getting Criminal - literally the only two possible jobs they could get, as with Military not yet lifted, Architect, Gamer, and Paranormal are all off limits.

With Nerys running interference, Thane quickly broke a lot of the corruption by stealing embarrassing secrets. Of course there is still crime, but it's no longer tacitly supported at the government level. When you children came of age, you were able to choose what to do with your life.

OK, that isn't true, of course. But the choice you were mandated to make was mandated by me, not by corrupt government employees.

Week 30, Day 2, Master Thief is lifted. Thane's hanging around for a little while though, as he may well be able to clear 2 Guitar skill challenges (Guitar Star is basically impossible, but Money Maker is easy enough, and Master Guitarist just needs me to lift Military so I can get to the store).

As for my contribution? That was in two parts. The first was to build on the spy network that Thane uncovered and turn it to our own use. We quickly identified criminal elements and those that would not work for us, were put away or blown away, as the occasion merited. Harsh, but these were revolutionary times.

Week 30, Day 3, Espionage lifted (thanks to a call in the previous day). Na'toth is still the designated heir; she has 4 days until she's an adult, so she will have plenty of time. I need to wait for Military to clear anyway (at least another 6 days - so many days off), so I might as well see if any new alien males pop by.

Deanna's new fusion of native and human biological knowledge allowed us to genetically modify some of the native bacteria to produce fresh water. What was once in short supply is now in abundance, and at a stroke this also ended a lot of preventable diseases, allowing the newly uncorrupt doctors and researchers to focus their attention on actually advancing their knowledge instead of merely treating symptoms.

Same day, Medical lifted. At least the synchronised toilet trips can stop - most of the household are now packing the trifecta of Steel Bladder, Hardly Hungry, and Dirt Defiant. A few also have Simmunity, and Na'toth has Fertility Treatment. I've been liberally using Midlife Crisis, which is the reason not all of the household has everything - but they will.

Garrus finally managed to train and equip an actual standing army. The colonists were far from happy with this - virtually all the members were natives, for one - but it wasn't really a military coup.

Because we were basically already in charge.

Now that we were able to commandeer a personal escort and claim buildings for our own use, Garrus set himself up a permanent barracks and Deanna set herself up a lab for medical research. It was time for me to consider my next contribution.

As I said, I will never lie to you. Why you had to find out who your mother was in this journal is ... complicated. Let us say that it was time to inject human genes back into our lineage - because the colonists were a mockery of their former selves. The natives, however - buoyed by our numerous triumphs, they were beginning to think they were superior to us.

They were not. They are not. We are something better, and we needed to make sure they understood that.

Week 31, Day 2, Military lifted. Thus begins the exodus - Deanna and Garrus both leave. Thane is hanging around to clear a couple of skill challenges, while Mordin and Nerys are still lifting their restrictions (and of course Na'toth is the heir).

We are the fusion of mental and physical perfection, thanks to Mordin's discovery of anti-atrophy techniques. He started his own clinic devoted to them - we, of course, get free service.

Week 31, Day 3, Athletics is lifted. I can now (mostly) dismantle my original house - I've been living in the Politics house but I had most of my original still there as a shell, because of objects I couldn't delete. It's still partly there because of tombstones, but mostly it's gone now.

And that's about when you come in. Worsel and Tregonsee, my twin first borns. I won't bore you with your own exploits here - you're well aware of them, I'm sure. I may cover the highlights, though.

You may wonder who your father is. You will continue to do so - I will never tell you. He is unimportant, no more relevant in your upbringing than the manufacturer of your teddy bear. You are my children - not his.

Week 31, Day 7. I need 4 more (including these two), and it literally does not matter whether they count as aliens or not, because I don't need an heir, only spares. I'm going to have Worsel lift Architect and Tregonsee lift Gamer. Meanwhile Nerys is on target to lift on her next work day (assuming she doesn't get arrested), while a lot of training is going on for Adonis points.

So with any impetus for finding a new alien to mate with, I just grabbed one of the Adonis trainees into the shower. It was the same one for both sets of kids, but that was coincidental rather than by design.

With Nerys's achievements the criminal element in the colony now worked entirely for us. We no longer had any fear of mundane threats - were we not blessed with native biology and still needed sleep, we would doubtless be able to sleep far more soundly. But there are still the ectoplasmic threats. That, of course, you are well aware of.

Week 32, Day 3, Criminal lifted. I was arrested a total of 3 times, which set me back considerably.

After all, Nadreck, that was really your area of expertise.

But as our line has ever been matriarchal, it is fitting that new life was brought to us by Tali. I remember when you were just a tiny infant, my sweet child.

Then you were a toddler, a child, and even a teen. You cried when Uncle Thane left for his retirement home, but you understood - he did not wish to burden us with an angry ghost.

Week 32, Day 4, the last two midgets are born. Nadreck will lift Paranormal, and Tali will lift Naturalist. I have Nerys and Thane making nightly raids to steal space rocks from the science facility on a sort of "while-you-wait" basis; Thane is also helping out with the toddlers and Nerys is burning a lot of brain power transmuting.

There's not really a lot to say here; the teens got part time jobs where appropriate, they were all trained to 10 Athletics, and Thane kept collecting gems and (where appropriate) transmuting them. On Week 36, Day 1, when Thane was 90, I had him move out (can't have him dying after all).

And that was why I had to leave too. I leave you in the care of Aunty Nerys, and your older brothers. I know we will see each other again - in this life, or the next.

Week 36, Day 4, Na'toth moves out. Thane was already dead by this point, so clearly I can't rely on them to live very long after 90 - and this is her 90th day. One last push in the next instalment.

An Alien Ate My Baby: Part 3, Kara

It's time for me to continue what Mum and Grannie started.

My name is Kara. I am basically a native of this planet - my human DNA only really shows in the fact that I still have hair, which my brothers and uncles lack. Perhaps it's a girl thing.

We were born into a world that was wrong. Grannie was a human colonist, and she should have been awoken on an uninhabited world, with the technological advantages her people were used to available and robotically controlled. Instead she awoke here, where there was a pre-existing native population (highly advanced in some ways), not only without the technological assistance expected but without even the most basic necessities. It has been a struggle for survival, in which her choice - to mate with the natives - has been our key to thriving.

Unlike the human colonists, we no longer suffer premature senility. Mum set up a schooling system, so we kids get the benefit of a complete education - at least as far as our teenage years. We have uncovered remnants of the original human technology that we are still studying, but we have used it to launch a weather control satellite. We haven't used it yet - Uncle Teal'c says it is not fully functional, and that he is in any case not sure that spring will be followed by a summer - but it's nice to know we could. Further study will be needed.

Today is my 13th birthday.

When last we left, I'd just finished lifting Alien Technology via the Alien Baby method. So far we have 5 lifts: Hopelessness, Alien Technology, plus Education, Forensics, and Symphonic. Kara is the heir (as the first female child), and we pick up the action the day before her birthday.

The early Education lift means that I have an entire family of Slobs, and Culinary is far, far down the list of my priorities (not that I have any way to choose yet, of course). It's also useful for Tutoring, which means despite the Snow Days I have no problem maintaining my grades.

We are home schooled, for the most part - the continual winter makes it difficult to get to the school on most days, and the military does not consider school to be a very high priority. It is foolish decisions like this that drove Mum and Grannie so hard, and will serve as my own motivation. Besides my twin Longshot, I have two twin elder brothers, and two twin younger siblings - but we are insufficient. To truly achieve our destiny will require generations, and as Mum's first born girl, that falls to me. Mum and Grannie were both fortunate to meet natives in their youth, but while we have a frequent visitor, she is female. She will not be of use to us; she is old, and unable to bear the children we will need.

We do not wish to weaken our line, but should we not meet any other male natives, I may be forced to breed with a human. There is some merit to such a plan. We do not desire conquest; our fusion with the natives was never intended as an agenda, but merely a survival strategy. Perhaps a fresh infusion of human DNA into our line will further understanding between our races. But human DNA is weak, and I consider it a last resort.

Week 16, Day 4. I have 4 teens now, and 2 children.

The current alien visitor is female, as Kara alludes to the left. Even if she were a young adult, that would be useless to me, as I've chosen the It's Hopeless handicap - I must have a matriarchy. Presumably, I won't get a new alien visitor spawned until this one is no longer available; with how long aliens live "in the wild", I will likely have to arrange some sort of accident if I want to avoid a human mate. With only Generations and Seasons, the Divide By Zero trick isn't available; I would need to trap the alien. That's not impossible. I could in principle even arrange some sort of fire to finish her off.

I figure if I'm going to do this, I'd best do it as soon as possible. The basics are that I need to build a cage on my top floor (as that's my "storage floor"); the cage needs to be big enough to hold the alien and a grill. Then, I lure the alien into the cage and move the door away. Finally, I have someone start making hot dogs, and then cancel it, and when it's about to start a fire, I move the grill into the cage.

As some small amount of construction is involved, this plan will need to wait until Monday.

Fortunately a new native visitor arrived before I was seriously forced to start courting any of the human colonists.

Before I can put that into motion, a male alien arrives. Of course I hustle Kara down to make his acquaintance - it's a Thursday, so as long as I can get him on her relationship panel, she'll be able to war dial him later.

On their eighteenth birthday, my brothers were assigned jobs by the town councillors. In their continuing effort to snub our family, Jon'zz was made a Paper Boy, and Kal-El a dish washer in the local military mess hall.

In our continuing tradition of making lemonade from lemons, we will turn this to our advantage. I am not immediately certain how. But we will find a way.

It was a time of transition. Mum and Uncle Teal'c were old - the forgotten anagathic drugs of their human homeworld a distant memory, almost mythical. They were still in good physical and mental shape, but by mutual agreement they decided that, with Jon'zz and Kal-El now bringing in money, it was time to stop being a drain on the family. Something about this world - those who die do not really go, and some remnant of them remains to haunt the living. Sticking strictly to curfew, they began to spend most of their time at the local park, reminding themselves of what it was they intended to save. The idea was that when their time came they would haunt the rudimentary outlines of what was supposed to be a thriving green sanctuary (rather than the reality of a bleak dusty city square), instead of bothering their family.

It was a noble idea. So noble that, without my really noticing, they stopped eating.

Week 18, Day 1, I finally have YAs. Now, in my witch game, I delayed finding a job in order to avoid getting hit with graduation day. But I regret having done that, and I decided not to do it again.

Kal-El is Ambitious, Athletic, Schmoozer, Slob, Virtuoso; he has the skills Athletics 10, Charisma 2, Cooking 6 (via Tutoring), Guitar 1 (via Tutoring), Logic 9, Painting 2. The missing skill is Writing, which makes his LTW of Professional Author an unfortunate choice, but I forgot to check. The first job in the paper is Retired (silly Story Progression), so I check the next job and end up with Culinary. Not my favourite, but given he has Cooking 6 already, it could certainly have gone a lot worse there.

Jon'zz is Ambitious, Athletic, Loner, Schmoozer, Slob; his skills are Athletics 10, Charisma 1, Logic 8, Painting 6. His LTW is Super Popular. The 3rd job in the paper (skipping Retired and Culinary) is Journalism, which is a lot more promising and can be made to work with Super Popular if I'm careful.

I've been keeping Teal'c and Delenn around. I was hoping to get them to 150k, but they're both hovering around 100k and don't have 50k in easily gettable stuff, plus they're both 89 days old. Aliens in the household don't live any longer than any other Sim, so it's time to prepare to get rid of them. It's currently a Sunday, and Monday is my zombie day, so I'll put them outside on Tuesday to die, assuming they live that long.

Fortunately our native kin spirited away the bodies. Uncle Teal'c was already the subject of experiments when he was alive; my family will never be the subject of poorly filmed autopsy videos.

Goal achieved. They had a good run; at the end there Teal'c was pulling in 25k a week from his novels (mostly two masterpieces), while Delenn passed on about 30 odd skill points to various kids via Tutoring.

There is of course a mood crash now, but better to rip the band aid off all at once - there's no cumulative effect from 2 deaths.

Longshot's and my 18th birthday came all too soon. The most appropriate placement they found for my brother - whose mind and body were almost perfect, and who was better educated than any of the councillors - was as a coffee courier at the local market. And then they claimed to have completely lost my paperwork; it took almost a year of protests and counter-filing before they finally placed me as a test subject.

I refused.

They noted that this was my right, but if I did refuse, my entire family would be unemployable for the next four generations.

If Uncle Teal'c could survive it, I suppose so could I. Reluctantly, then, I accepted the job.

Our younger twins, Kerrigan, and Wrex, were soon 18 as well. This time, they were assigned respectively to polish the local mayor's podium, and to assist the local marching band. Once again, we would find a way to turn these insults into postings they would dearly regret.

Same day (week 18, day 4), the next set of twins are YAs, and now my heir is actually useful. :)

Longshot is Ambitious, Inappropriate, Loves the Outdoors, Schmoozer, and Slob; his skills are Athletics 10, Charisma 2, Logic 8, Painting 6, Writing 1. I chose Heartbreaker as his LTW. Checking the paper, the first job is Journalism, which I skip. Business is 2nd, so that's where Longshot lands.

Kara is Ambitious, Artistic, Family-Oriented, Schmoozer, and Slob. She has the skills Athletics 10, Charisma 3, Logic 8, Writing 4, with the LTW of Surrounded By Family. I'm running out of feasible non-job related LTWs, but I have just enough for this generation. Unfortunately, Kara misses out on immediate employment, as the third job is Retired again. (That is a bug in Story Progression that has already bitten me twice now).

The next day was Graduation Day. No problem for Jon'zz and Kal-El, who were already best friends with their bosses, or for Kara, who only got her Science job after graduation, but I had to spend all day war dialling Longshot's boss. Fortunately it was a Thursday, and it all worked out.

Kerrigan and Wrex became adults and got Politics and Music (Entertainment) respectively. Their graduation day was immediate, but as it was a Monday, they managed to make friends with their boss via war dialling. Kara was the tricky one; she'd (foolishly in retrospect) made no effect to befriend her boss, and missed several war dial hours because the boss was at work. But she just managed to squeak it in.

Clever Jon'zz took a position as paper boy on his 18th birthday. Now he is the face and the voice of all the news that anyone actually believes - our pirate newspaper is distributed via the natives, and while I'm sure the councillors are under no illusions about the source, they cannot prove our involvement. The support of local organisations is overwhelming - our Help Wanted ad section alone places the council under enormous pressure to look the other way. My children will have choices we did not have.

Week 21, Day 2, Journalism lifted with 4 days to go until adult. As an added bonus he has 129k LTR points, with 20k currently queued and easy to get (all Writing related). So he will definitely get a platinum tombstone. (He has of course already achieved his Super Popular LTW).

Further, this is going to make it considerably easier on Wrex to get his Tinkerer LTW, as he can now visit the library to read Handiness books (plus poor Kal-El can read Cooking books, though he's managed to get to Culinary 8 without anything but the first one).

Longshot moved from a coffee boy through the ranks to the most powerful businessman in town. Perhaps the world, although the natives seem not to really understand the concept of capitalism. Thanks to his contacts we are basically free of most shortages, though there is still a lack of luxuries. Even after this many years, we're still living off the emergency rations from Grannie's colony ship; it's good that they were well stocked - decades of food, for hundreds of colonists - but the food is bland, and in short supply.

Week 21, Day 6, Business lifted. Longshot is hanging around to finish his LTW, and then I'll have to play it by ear as to whether he gets to live any longer than that; given Kara's LTW of 5 kids I will need to start clearing the decks soon.

Fortunately we didn't have long to wait. Kal-El's experiments have produced a much nicer selection of flavours. We are still eating basically a variation of yeast - there are still no fresh ingredients available - but there shouldn't be any more shortages, at least, and meal times can actually be fun rather than perfunctory.

Week 21, Day 7 - Culinary is lifted.

Eventually, and with the help of the native technology we had scavenged from their space ship, I was able to perform several experiments and figure out how to repair some of the colony ship systems. The fusion reactor was now online, and we had electricity restored. I surreptitiously made sure that the natives had access as well - I didn't know whether or not it was compatible with their own technology, but we owed them that much.

Week 22, Day 2, Science lifted. This was just what I needed.

The plan:

1. Buy a one-square television.
2. Wash hands over and over at sink until it breaks.
3. Midlife Crisis Longshot, make him a technophobe, break the television.
4. Have Jon'zz stand in the puddle and repair the television.

I do not blame my siblings. Here's what happened.

We got a television, salvaged from the colony ship, and hooked it up. There was, of course, nothing really to watch. But even the static really bothered Longshot, and in a quirky personality trait I'd swear he didn't even have before, he decided to take a hammer to the television.

Jon'zz decided to fix it. I don't know why he didn't leave it for Wrex or me - or even to use our technokinetic powers - but he apparently felt he knew what he was doing. I had described electricity as a "flow of electrons"; Jon'zz decided that was similar to how water flows, and decided it was best to repair the television in a puddle of water.

He got a shock. Apparently, he took that as a good sign. The next shock was his last.

Jon'zz achieved more than any of us ever had before; even the councillors wanted to honour his memory. His urn is made of platinum, and his essence still remains near it.

Platinum electrocution death achieved. I'm not bothered about the location; Kerrigan should lift Politics on Wednesday (it is currently Tuesday - same day as Kara's promotion) and then I plan on moving a bunch of stuff over to the new building. No Athletics yet, so a lot of duplicates, but that's fine. You can see the Food Replicator here; I was trying to break that too, but I'm not sure that it can be broken.

And why didn't I stop him? I've asked myself that many times. Certainly I was ... distracted ... by the native I invited over to celebrate my breakthroughs. But I think on some level I felt a burning desire to replace my siblings with children of my own. I am not proud of it, but it had to be done - housing was still at a premium, and we just didn't have the room. I do not intend to spare myself when the time comes. I am uncertain whether that is of any comfort to Jon'zz in his afterlife.

To be fair, I actually waited until after getting Kara pregnant before offing Jon'zz. But it works better for the story if I tell it this way - and it was only an hour or two difference. I mention this purely in the interests of honesty.

Kerrigan became the leader of the colony. Admittedly there is rife corruption and she is often ignored, but we did manage to get our home rezoned so that we could make more use of nearby land.

I'm not proud of what happened next.

My pregnancy was noticeable. I asked Kerrigan to cook me some hot dogs. She was a little surprised - after all, Kal-El is a master chef, and I'd never eaten cooked food before. But I explained that Kal-El was busy with his novel and I didn't want to disturb him.

"But we don't even own a grill!" I smiled, and I led her to the little out building we'd had constructed - just a tiny little room with a grill. Ever ready to help out her pregnant sister, she took the hot dogs to the grill.

Now, I don't know for sure why she got distracted, but I'd hazard a guess it was the wrecking crew taking out the room around her, and then throwing down bricks to seal her in. Perhaps she pounded on the walls and didn't see the fire start behind her.

Week 22, Day 4, Politics lifted. On schedule. Unfortunately for Kerrigan, she has 148k LTR points. That's another way of saying I don't like her chances. Kal-El is on 139k with enough locked that he can make it in a few days too. Longshot is way behind on only 121k; Wrex is on less than 100k (but to be fair he has level 10 Music locked, which is worth 6750).

I only need 5 in the whole game of course. If Longshot can convince me he'll make it by the time I off Kal-El, he can live a little longer - but it will be a tough sell. I've used electrocution, I have fire and starvation available, and old age is going to be one of them. I'll likely have to use drowning for the last (it's tough to get freezing, they often starve first), which will have to wait for Medical. In essence, Longshot will have to convince me he deserves to starve. :)

I fear she will be an angry spirit. But she had achieved so much - too much. I couldn't bear the thought of my children idolising their aunt instead of their mother.

Longshot, Kal-El, and Wrex began to give me a wide berth. It was particularly hard on Wrex, as he loved his twin dearly.

I believe I mentioned fire was on the table? Well, it's off now. :)

My twin boys have completely native features. With every generation we are less human; Garrus and Thane have no visible features to mark Grannie's contribution.

But I want - need - a large family. So I met up with my native lover once more.

Garrus and Wrex. Of course I need a girl, but in any case I have a Surrounded By Family LTW to fulfil.

Wrex's new status as a rock star has exploded the new television and radio industries. Everyone wants a piece of my little brother, and we are reaping the benefits - not all of them entirely tangible, it is true, but there are certain frequencies conducive to fertility that I have previously been able to induce only with vigorous and tiring physical exercise. Now there is a radio station that plays this all the time, and I can relax and look after my babies.

Week 23, Day 1, Entertainment lifted. This opens up quite a lot of LTRs, plus I can now listen to the kids radio without working out. By no means a top tier lift but by no means useless either.

Even with the space afforded us by the accidents Kerrigan and Jon'zz suffered, it was still too cramped for us. It's not a physical thing. We have room, we have food. It's more of a sort of boundary limit. It's hard to even express in human language - the natives call it The Eight Sim Limit, roughly translated.

With the arrival of Na'toth (my heir) and Deanna, we were once again hard up against this quasi-spiritual limitation. And so Kal-El, the culinary master, was denied food. For all his accomplishments, avoiding starvation was not within his purview.

Week 23, Day 4. Kal-El becomes the third platinum ghost (starvation). I have expedited things because I need the space; Wrex is also on death watch (despite having enough LTR points that he absolutely could make it to platinum himself). Longshot is on 141k with about 6k locked, so he'll definitely be a platinum as well (possibly old age, possibly drowning if I unlock Medical quickly - but not freezing, as he has Hardly Hungry and it would take too long). Presumably Kara will be my 5th and last (she is only 95k, but her LTW will give her 40k and she has lots of time and high value locks).

They say that the music of a rock star becomes all the more valuable after he dies. So, look at it as the family having made an investment in Wrex's career - I'm sure, if his frozen spirit considers things in such a manner, he will be less spiteful.

Week 23, Day 6, Wrex freezes to death. I'm unsure why Kal-El didn't. The trigger is that they have have the Frozen Solid moodlet when they starve to death; Kal-El even after many hours in the snow only had "chilly". In any case this is not a platinum tombstone - but it doesn't need to be. Longshot is already at 147k and will easily get to 150; I'm kind of regretting buying Hardly Hungry for him now. But fair enough, he's handy to help train toddlers.

Perhaps as I get older my fertility has decreased; this is the first single birth in my family. And it will not be enough.

Only a single baby? Bah. I want 6, not 5, so I got Kara pregnant again.

But with Nerys, it finally will be.

I mean, honestly. Who has babies one at a time? Apologies to my readers - this is just embarrassing. :)

With middle age behind me - and Longshot, of course - we're now primarily bringing in income for my children by selling paintings. I'm getting a bit old to keep the journal.

Now that Na'toth is a teenager, I believe I will let her continue from here, though I am not going anywhere for a while.

Week 25, Day 3, Kara (and Longshot) becomes an elder. All of his 6 kids will be teens in plenty of time for her LTW.

3 days later, Na'toth and Deanna both became teens, so as this means I now have a teenage heir, it's time to switch.