It's hard to describe Jeremiah's legacy. Few of you regard him as any sort of hero, despite what he eventually achieved, and yet few malign him as a villain either. It's true that he was a subservient mate, and even though no longer enslaved by the lamp still obeyed my suggestions as if they were orders - perhaps he is felt to be little more than a puppet that danced on my strings.
This is unfair for many reasons. He was the father of my children, and they owe us much to his ancestry as to mine. He was, in his way, a brilliant man, if it did take considerably encouragement. But make no bones about this - he was also a part of why things went wrong, even if he was a bigger part of why things got better.
For almost immediately after reconstructing the school system, I was forced to leave it to others to administer. You cannot blame this entirely on me - as the humans say, "it takes two to tango". The mistakes that my replacement District Superintendent made, that I would have avoided, are at least partly Jeremiah's fault. Had we waited - as well we could have - I could have overseen the transition. It was Jeremiah's insistence that we immediately start a family - blame me for not resisting, if you will - you would not be alone - but remember that I was young, and could have easily waited many years before deciding to have children.
This is unfair for many reasons. He was the father of my children, and they owe us much to his ancestry as to mine. He was, in his way, a brilliant man, if it did take considerably encouragement. But make no bones about this - he was also a part of why things went wrong, even if he was a bigger part of why things got better.
For almost immediately after reconstructing the school system, I was forced to leave it to others to administer. You cannot blame this entirely on me - as the humans say, "it takes two to tango". The mistakes that my replacement District Superintendent made, that I would have avoided, are at least partly Jeremiah's fault. Had we waited - as well we could have - I could have overseen the transition. It was Jeremiah's insistence that we immediately start a family - blame me for not resisting, if you will - you would not be alone - but remember that I was young, and could have easily waited many years before deciding to have children.
When we left off last time, Hydrogen had lifted Education and gotten up the duff with her lamp buddy Jeremiah. She needs at least one child of each gender so that I'm guaranteed the next lamp will produce a compatible spouse.
But I have lots of time, so that won't be an issue. The first thing to do is to get Jeremiah a job; he ends up with Science. While he started reading Gardening books, I had Hydrogen tinker with the toilet to fill time.
The few promotion was easy, the second one was boosted by an opportunity to read a book but still just missed. Never mind, he has 2 days to work on his Gardening skill; he's friends with the boss so Ask for Promotion might be on the cards. Meanwhile Hydrogen was working out to the kids channel.
Hydrogen had twins - a boy named Helium and a girl named Lithium. I gave both the Athletic and Genius traits (recall that Hydrogen's lift was Education).
But I have lots of time, so that won't be an issue. The first thing to do is to get Jeremiah a job; he ends up with Science. While he started reading Gardening books, I had Hydrogen tinker with the toilet to fill time.
The few promotion was easy, the second one was boosted by an opportunity to read a book but still just missed. Never mind, he has 2 days to work on his Gardening skill; he's friends with the boss so Ask for Promotion might be on the cards. Meanwhile Hydrogen was working out to the kids channel.
Hydrogen had twins - a boy named Helium and a girl named Lithium. I gave both the Athletic and Genius traits (recall that Hydrogen's lift was Education).
It must be hard to believe that two of the most reviled names in your history books - Helium and Lithium - were once tiny infants. And yet it was so.
Do your books mention the lengths Jeremiah went to in order to try and advance? That he got badly burned in his first few years, and despite all our cosmic power there was nothing we could do about it? I realise that's hard to believe - you live in the age of full replacement clone bodies - but at the time even a simple shower was unsafe, let alone skin grafts.
Do your books mention the lengths Jeremiah went to in order to try and advance? That he got badly burned in his first few years, and despite all our cosmic power there was nothing we could do about it? I realise that's hard to believe - you live in the age of full replacement clone bodies - but at the time even a simple shower was unsafe, let alone skin grafts.
While Hydrogen was working out (pregnant once more) and taking care of the twins, Jeremiah called over his boss and managed to get a promotion to Useless Contraption Manipulator.
I managed to get to Gardening 5 and Handiness 3 for Jeremiah over the weekend, but then on Monday at work he got singed. That's a whopping -40 moodlet that I cannot clear until Medical is lifted - ouch! Needless to say the "one promotion a day" idea is shafted now, but he should still have plenty of time.
I managed to get to Gardening 5 and Handiness 3 for Jeremiah over the weekend, but then on Monday at work he got singed. That's a whopping -40 moodlet that I cannot clear until Medical is lifted - ouch! Needless to say the "one promotion a day" idea is shafted now, but he should still have plenty of time.
And what of my boys Beryllium and Boron, you may ask? They too were once tiny infants. Some of you are thinking you have access to time travel - you can snuff out the boys lives before they can grow to become the danger they are destined to become.
Do you think us that stupid? Destinies are locked with my family - use your magic, use your science, you will find your attempts to travel to my time will fail. They have always failed. They always will fail. Do not seek the ending before the beginning - but you have forgotten my lessons. You will forget this one too, no doubt - it is of no moment.
Do you think us that stupid? Destinies are locked with my family - use your magic, use your science, you will find your attempts to travel to my time will fail. They have always failed. They always will fail. Do not seek the ending before the beginning - but you have forgotten my lessons. You will forget this one too, no doubt - it is of no moment.
4 kids is probably enough; with Culinary still restricted it can be difficult to feed them otherwise. Certainly it will be very challenging to teach more than 4 toddlers the toddler skills in time.
Apparently my pregnancy was rougher this time, because I only got to pick one trait for each. Boron ended up a Friendly Genius, while Beryllium is an Easily Impressed Genius.
I managed to get the first set of toddlers fully trained by the time they became children, and then got started on the second set. Jeremiah made Carnivorous Plant Tender, but I'm struggling to get one promotion every 2 days - once Fishing becomes a metric, I suspect it will take 3.
Apparently my pregnancy was rougher this time, because I only got to pick one trait for each. Boron ended up a Friendly Genius, while Beryllium is an Easily Impressed Genius.
I managed to get the first set of toddlers fully trained by the time they became children, and then got started on the second set. Jeremiah made Carnivorous Plant Tender, but I'm struggling to get one promotion every 2 days - once Fishing becomes a metric, I suspect it will take 3.
There was a plan some years ago by a certain cell of the resistance. Planning to kill Lithium as a child. Foolish - it was a mistake to introduce the temporal mechanic technology, and one that I still regret. But we were protected then, and we are protected now - there she is in pigtails, take your best shot.
Both the older twins grabbed Ambitious on aging up. As they aged up I had no beds for them, but it was fortunately close to midnight so I managed to fix that in time. The irony is I forget to buy items all the time, but you're not allowed to "save up" and buy two at once, and I know that earlier on their birthday I bought the computer.
Tell me truly - when you see Boron and Beryllium, working on their math homework with their brother and sister, do you see the monsters you claim they became? Or do you see blue skinned children, and worry that you owe those children for the lives of your own?
I got the younger twins Ambitious as well. Jeremiah's progress was slow but steady; on the day Hydrogen became an adult, he was an Aquatic Ecosystem Tweaker, which is where fishing kicks in. But even though he needed another 4 promotions, and would likely take at least 3 work days for each, he still had 7 days to adulthood so I was more than confident.
"The Pleasant Faces of Evil", I believe was the article your resistance distributed. I must congratulate you - I'd thought we'd managed to destroy all copies of our family photographs except for our own, but there was always a question mark over that half niece. You proved that even those of our family - distant relations, certainly, but don't let that spoil your mood - can find themselves seduced by the promise of fame or fortune. You must feel so proud for such a discovery.
She was dealt with, of course. After we'd explained the situation she was most remorseful, and worked very hard to redeem herself. Any grammatical errors in our autobiographies are hers - yes, that's right. Your poster child is our proof reader and personal assistant. Do you treat your traitors as well?
We all know the answer to that one.
She was dealt with, of course. After we'd explained the situation she was most remorseful, and worked very hard to redeem herself. Any grammatical errors in our autobiographies are hers - yes, that's right. Your poster child is our proof reader and personal assistant. Do you treat your traitors as well?
We all know the answer to that one.
On Week 5, Day 2, Hydrogen got the Professor challenge while Helium and Lithium became teens. I gave them both Slob, to ease the feeding requirements. Helium has Athletics 3, Logic 7, Painting 1, and Writing 3. Lithium has Athletics 3, Logic 8, Painting 1, and Writing 1.
The next day brought Jeremiah's birthday (to elder) and a promotion to Top Secret Researcher. With considerable annoyance I noticed that aging up did not even clear the Singed condition, so he's going to be stuck with that forever.
A few days later, the other two twins became teens; I gave them both Athletic. The teens are now working out when they're not at school - but they've actually missed fairly few days due to snow.
Jeremiah got to Creature-Robot Cross Breeder and got the Plumber challenge.
The next day brought Jeremiah's birthday (to elder) and a promotion to Top Secret Researcher. With considerable annoyance I noticed that aging up did not even clear the Singed condition, so he's going to be stuck with that forever.
A few days later, the other two twins became teens; I gave them both Athletic. The teens are now working out when they're not at school - but they've actually missed fairly few days due to snow.
Jeremiah got to Creature-Robot Cross Breeder and got the Plumber challenge.
It's amazing how little credit we get. If you were to ask the person in the street what the biggest problem they had back in the day, they wouldn't have said zombies, or crime, or even hunger. It was a simple thing - no electricity. Having to rely on a meagre supply of candles, with even sunlight unreliable.
We fixed that. We fixed it relatively quickly, considering Jeremiah essentially had to go from Aristotle to Hawking in a few decades instead of centuries. We know you blame us for this most of all - restoring technology to the world, which was not ready for it. Perhaps you are right, after all, but you sit there reading my autobiography on the HoloNet, eating hydroponically grown synthbeef, and perhaps even enjoying anagathic treatments to extend your life. So be careful to avoid throwing stones, as your house seems awfully transparent and even GlasSteel can be broken.
We fixed that. We fixed it relatively quickly, considering Jeremiah essentially had to go from Aristotle to Hawking in a few decades instead of centuries. We know you blame us for this most of all - restoring technology to the world, which was not ready for it. Perhaps you are right, after all, but you sit there reading my autobiography on the HoloNet, eating hydroponically grown synthbeef, and perhaps even enjoying anagathic treatments to extend your life. So be careful to avoid throwing stones, as your house seems awfully transparent and even GlasSteel can be broken.
On week 6, day 6 Jeremiah lifts Science. He has 14 days till he's an elder, but it's highly unlikely to be useful - he has no points of Writing and only 1 of Painting, so he's not going to make Illustrious Author (his LTW) in that time.
Science is a prerequisite for a bunch of cool things, but it doesn't unlock many cool things on its own. The main exception is the chemistry set, which is indeed a handy item to have with Education lifted, as teens can freely use it. However, with the possibility of singing, it is best left alone until Medical is lifted as well, unless you have an Inappropriate Sim.
I noted that it was 4 days till the full moon. Genies can't freeze - they appear automatically immune to cold. But one door remained open.
Lithium got the Body Builder achievement, and then this happened:
Science is a prerequisite for a bunch of cool things, but it doesn't unlock many cool things on its own. The main exception is the chemistry set, which is indeed a handy item to have with Education lifted, as teens can freely use it. However, with the possibility of singing, it is best left alone until Medical is lifted as well, unless you have an Inappropriate Sim.
I noted that it was 4 days till the full moon. Genies can't freeze - they appear automatically immune to cold. But one door remained open.
Lithium got the Body Builder achievement, and then this happened:
I've heard what you say. That our "sacrifice" wasn't really meaningful, because we all came back. That we had a revolving doorway to the netherworld, so dying wasn't really even important when we did it.
Do you have a full belly? Do you know what it is like to be truly starving, when you know that there is food only metres away, and you fight the urge to eat with sheer willpower? And then you get dragged into the netherworld, with only a tenuous link back, not knowing whether the Resurrection Elixir will ever even be discovered, let alone whether it will work?
Of course not. Some of you reading this having already had life extension treatments several times, and you have never known hunger. How dare you judge Jeremiah for his sacrifice? He opened a door that many of us had to follow him through, and even if we did find a way to come back - which was highly speculative even much later, and completely unknown to Jeremiah - that does not lessen our sacrifice, it makes it greater. Even in death we continued to serve you - we, who your insignificant rebellion call evil.
Do you have a full belly? Do you know what it is like to be truly starving, when you know that there is food only metres away, and you fight the urge to eat with sheer willpower? And then you get dragged into the netherworld, with only a tenuous link back, not knowing whether the Resurrection Elixir will ever even be discovered, let alone whether it will work?
Of course not. Some of you reading this having already had life extension treatments several times, and you have never known hunger. How dare you judge Jeremiah for his sacrifice? He opened a door that many of us had to follow him through, and even if we did find a way to come back - which was highly speculative even much later, and completely unknown to Jeremiah - that does not lessen our sacrifice, it makes it greater. Even in death we continued to serve you - we, who your insignificant rebellion call evil.
It seems I forgot to feed him after standing him far over in the back corner of the lot. I can't think what came over me.
It's week 7, day 1; the elder twins are just about due to become young adults. Let's resume then.
It's week 7, day 1; the elder twins are just about due to become young adults. Let's resume then.
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