Chapter 4: Aspirations

Sigh. 

Another morning, another series of routing failures. 

And strange arguments. 

Lincoln tries to be the bigger person and apologise. 

"I'm sorry you're such a bitch!" 

Apparently it wasn't sincere enough. 

Lincoln's not scared this time, but angry. 

"Don't call me that!" Tammi says, hot tears in her eyes, "Never call me that!" 

Lincoln doesn't have a chance to respond before she huffs out of the room. 

"Bad memories," Dove tries to explain, "At least, it seems that way..." 

"Yeah, there's more than enough of that to go around," Lincoln mutters to himself. 

Some people work through them by trying to control others, or try to make sure the memories can never repeat themselves, and some of them try to sleep it away. 

It doesn't always work. Bad memories can easily become nightmares. 

It's these nightmares that jolt Guy awake. His phone is shrilly ringing and he fumbles to answer it. 

"H-hello?" 

Guy breathes a shaky sigh of relief when it turns out to just be a coworker. 

"Lab results?" then realisation dawns on him, "Oh, of the cow plant experiments! I am so sorry, I left them on the receptionist's desk! I'll pick it up first thing tomorrow and get it to you, I promise!" 

Guy's mistake is forgiven... this time. He rubs his head as he hangs up the phone. He needs a nice, long bath to help clear his head, and hopefully his armpits... 

The bathroom- as always- is occupied, so Guy opts for a change of clothes and some dinner. 

He smiles broadly as he sinks his fork into the gooey, cheesy pasta, "Macaroni's my favourite! Sometimes, my...dad... would make it. His food was so good!" 

Jinenji smiles, charmed by Guy's childlike enthusiasm, "Too bad he can't be here now. We could all use a decent, home cooked meal." 

Guy pokes at his food uncertainly. The last time he saw his "dad", his "dad" was pretty angry with him. Furious, even. Guy's enthusiasm quickly wanes and he puts his fork down. 

"Not hungry?" Ti asks. 

Guy shakes his head, but doesn't say anything. It seems that he's just lost his appetite. 

"Bad memories," Lincoln echoes Dove from that morning. 

Guy nods. 

But the next morning is a Saturday. After making sure the lab results are sent to the correct department, Guy rushes down the Monte Vista streets. He has plans for today. 

He walks out of the bookstore, most of his paycheck spent but several books in hand. He needs to read up on gardening if he wants to keep his job. 

And that he does. 

Dove glances at Guy's book. 

"Gardening?" her face shrivels with disgust, "You mean you'll be working with bugs and plants? Why?" 

Guy shrugs, "It's for work." 

Dove shudders, "Hope you enjoy getting poisoned!" 

By this point, Guy's already tuning her out. 

Dove quickly leaves the kitchen after that. She shudders again. How can Guy stand being near those things? She heard they even have cow plants in that lab in town. And people call her crazy! Who decided that a cow and a carnivorous venus fly trap needed to be combined!? 

She hopes to escape this disturbing reality for a little while through sleep. 

By the time dinner rolls around, Guy is still reading. 

"Sunny outside, you say?" Gregory mulls over Guy's account of his trip to the bookstore, "And you're not sunburned?" 

"Nope. Never have been." 

"Lucky," Gregory sighs, "Could never stand it myself. Made school absolute hell. Because of it I'm pretty much nocturnal. But you see, I still have plans!" 

"Really? This should be good," Tammi scowls. 

"I want to be a scientist. Like you!" Gregory says to Guy, before turning his attention to Jinenji, "Didn't you say earlier that you wanted to be a doctor?" 

Jinenji nods and a soft smile graces his face, "Studied hard for it in university. If it hadn't been for... you know... maybe I'd be working in a hospital somewhere." 

"You know I read a lot. Before all of...this," Tammi butts in, "They said I could've been anything! But I decided to become a singer instead. You should really hear me sing sometime. Voice of an angel, they said!" 

Jinenji smiles vacantly at Tammi before turning his attention back to Gregory, "You know...if the idea of this place is to achieve our aspirations... it could be a good idea to try studying together, with that machine Guy and Lincoln like to use by the piano." 

Gregory nods vigorously, "Yeah! Get a head start before we start working for real. I like the sound of that. Hear that Guy? Maybe I'll be your boss someday!" He elbows Guy softly who smiles at him but doesn't look away from his book. 

"And then what?" Tammi interrupts, "If you can even get those jobs you want and reach your life goal or whatever, where would you go after here?" 

Gregory pins Jinenji with an intense stare, "Doctors make lots of money, yeah? You and I, we could live together! Imagine it, all of the research we could do together!" 

"Because that would totally work," Tammi says with an eye roll, "You guys haven't seen what people can really be like out there. I have, and believe me, it's not so nice out there." 

"If you're worried you can't find another exercise partner, don't worry. There's gym memberships!" Jinenji smiles, believing he's found the source of Tammi's negativity, "You and Ti could still work out together after we all move out." 

Tammi rolls her eyes again, "I am perfectly capable of doing things by myself! More than you two. I'm not saying it to be mean- honest - I'm just trying to look out for you. If I can't do it..." 

Gregory shrugs, "Well, that doesn't change the fact that I still want to learn how that machine works. C'mon Jinenji, what do you say? Want to read that science machine manual with me and run some experiments?" 

Jinenji is easily persuaded. 

As the pair walks out, excitedly scheming and planning together, Dove corners Tammi. 

"Tammi, what the hell?" Dove seethes, "They just want to study together, what was all that about?" 

"I'm just trying to look out for them!" Tammi defends herself, "It's just studying now, but where does studying get anyone? Guy hasn't picked up a science book in his life and they still employed him!" 

"Yes! But he started from the bottom. Maybe Gregory and Jinenji won't have to this way!" 

Tammi stares at Dove for a long moment, seemingly bested. 

"But how much can we trust the writers of those books they're studying? What if-," 

"Tammi, just stop. Listen to yourself! Guy uses those manuals and he's an employed scientist. You think you know better than a scientist?" 

Tammi scoffs, "If that scientist is Guy, then yeah, maybe I do." 

"Ugh, I am so sick of you!" Dove explodes, "All you do is complain and yell at us!" 

"I'm just trying to-,!" 

"Cut the crap!" Dove angrily interjects, "You slapped Lincoln for no reason!  I thought maybe it was because of what he called you... but you're so mean all the time!" 

Dove jerks her head in Guy's direction, "You insult him, and why Tammi? Huh!? What's your problem?" 

And just for a second, it looks like Tammi is about to cry. 

Dove shakes her head in disgust and pushes past Tammi. All this arguing has made her tired. 

"What kind of things have you been telling people?" Tammi furiously demands once Guy stands up, "Have I ever insulted you ever?" 

"Well..." Guy sees the anger on Tammi's face and decides it would be better not to answer. 

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Maybe keep your lies to yourself!" 

"No..." Guy says quietly, "No, I'm not the liar. You're trying to confuse me!" 

"Come on now-," 

"Just leave me alone!" Guy demands sulkily. 

Tammi sighs as Guy stalks out of the room. Just why won't people trust her judgement? She's actually had her own job before! She's been in a relationship before! She has promise, damn it! 

People just never listen, do they? 

Most of Guy's tension fades away at the sight of his new planters. His boss gave them to him at the end of his shift so he could have his own small garden indoors, safe from the oncoming cold of fall outside. 

"I'll keep you safe," Guy tells the little seed as he plants it in the soil, "I promise." 

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AN: TAMMI. WHY. 

She fights with eeeeeeveryone! It's made me remember how annoying the diva trait is. 

Gregory also has the ambitious trait, hence why his plans are so...lofty. I wish I could actually let him and Jinenji get their dream jobs, but alas, they're stuck in the house. At least they can mess with the science machine and the piano :P

Tammi does have a point- Gregory and Jinenji living together would probably not work out so well if how they live together in this house is any indication. They are great together as friends, but leave their food out all the time and spend hours talking to themselves and freaking out.

Chapter 3: You Sciency Types

Guy rushes off to his carpool, cursing under his breath. He overslept! 

After he rushes off to work, the rest of the household is either sleepily starting their day or ready to go to bed. Tina, Tammi, and Ti are the former. 

"Do you want to work out together?" Ti asks Tammi, "My pipe-cleaner arms are useless. If we ever get to leave, I need to be strong!" she strikes a strong-man pose, flexing her small muscles. 

Tammi giggles, "Alright. I might know a thing or two about fitness... don't have this outfit for nothing!" 

"This is a case of the blind leading the blind," Tina says from the piano, "The only muscle Ti has are those beachballs she calls breasts. But I guess that's better than having nothing like Ms. Legwarmers over there. What are you, an 80s workout video?" 

Ti and Tammi walk out of the room to find the pullup bar, completely oblivious to Tina's jabs at their chests. 

Thank plumbob, they're finally gone. Now she can play in peace. 

Well, not for long. Only an hour later Tammi wanders back in with Dove. Distracted by the music, neither of them can remember what they initially came in here for. 

Aw, Dove, it's ok... 

Soon the room fills up as other residents wake up and Guy comes home from work. Lincoln gives him tips on his research at the science machine. 

"Once you get really good at this, you can even make clones! Or, well, try...turns out it's not very 'ethical'." 

"You tried to clone a person, didn't you?" Ti hisses, "That's against the rules!" 

Lincoln glowers, "I did it for Heather..." 

"Who's that?" Guy asks. 

Lincoln zones out, lost in thought. 

Oh, Heather... 

Why did it have to end up this way? 

He just wanted to see her again. To give her another chance. To let her parents be with their daughter again.

Was that so wrong? 

In the kitchen, Ti finally makes some macaroni without burning it. 

Too bad something else is on her mind. 

"Adequate! Just adequate. You used to do better than this, before the accident! W-what changed..." 

"Oooh, macaroni," Lincoln says, seemingly coming out of nowhere. He doesn't seem to notice Ti's muttering. 

"If I try hard enough, maybe I can remember how to do it like before..." 

Lincoln tries to will the macaroni to him with his thoughts. 

He's a bit disappointed when it doesn't work. 

"Oh, you look spiffy today! Going somewhere?" Tammi asks a nicely dressed but reeking Jinenji. 

"No...not unless the pull-up bar counts..." 

Dove seems to be trying to aid Lincoln's telekinesis. 

Wow, that smile looks...sincere. 

Guy finally gets around to fixing the computer like Tammi wanted. It's hardly sparking or smoking as she claimed, but is definitely not turning on. He finds that its backlight is broken, causing the screen to stay dark even when the power button is pressed and the computer is plugged in. 

He does his best and eventually the computer turns on as it should. Tired from a day of research, work, and repair, Guy turns in early while there's bed space. 

Gregory protects the computer from any interlopers. 

He fails to notice the trap planted on the old machine, ready to jam the fan at the touch of the power button. 

Guy's sleep is short and fitful and he wakes up starving. There's several (actually decent!) dishes in the fridge, and he groggily reaches for the waffles. 

Jinenji regales Guy of tales of his and Dove's adventure in the backyard, chasing down fireflies. 

"When we finally caught them, we had to let them go. Their legs and the way they glow...it's gross," Jinenji shudders. Dove murmurs in agreement. 

Guy tilts his head. Fireflies? Here? He's never seen any before... 

"Then why go after them?" 

Jinenji's face brightens up, "They're not indigenous to this area! I wanted to catch one and study it with you and Lincoln at the science machine... but... other than the creepy legs..." 

"-he felt bad that any experiments could kill them. So he let them go," Dove finishes for him. "Personally, I think it's better that we let them go. It sends a message to the others." 

"The others...?" Guy questions. 

Dove looks around, "The other bugs. Could never stand them. They'd come into my room, bite me, infect me with things. Doctors said there was nothing wrong with me, that I never had any bug bites, but they're clever, those bugs. There's a lot we don't know about them." 

Jinenji nods, "That's why I wanted to study them. But some things are probably left best undisturbed." 

Guy thinks about Tula, before the...incident. How she could never leave things alone. How she was always analysing things, always asking him strange questions. Or were they really that strange? He furrows his brow.

"Yeah, you're right," Guy agrees, "Some things are just too confusing to think about." 

His head hurting a bit from a lack of sleep and strange thoughts, Guy goes back to bed. Jinenji and Dove go to the bathroom to wash up. 

"Ugh, shower's broken again. I knew we shouldn't have trusted seizure-face to fix it," Tina mutters to herself. 

"Faces don't cause seizures," Jinenji says from behind her, "Unless you mean a seizure of the face... I think that's just called a grimace." 

"Shut up, you sound like an encyclopedia," Tina snaps. 

Jinenji only blinks as Tina shoves him roughly to the side so she can brush her teeth. 

Is there something wrong with encyclopedias? 

After Tina leaves, the sink suddenly bursts into a spray of water. Dove and Tammi come in at the same time, Dove to use the toilet and Tammi to use the shower. 

"Jinenji, what the hell!? I leave you alone for two seconds and you break the sink!" Tammi sighs with exasperation. 

"It wasn't me..." 

"Well, are you suggesting it was me? All I did was walk in here!" 

"Must have been the bugs," Dove murmurs. 

"What happened to the sink!?" Gregory exclaims as he walks into the room. 

"Probably seizure-face's fault," Tina answers from behind him. 

"But wasn't it you?" Jinenji asks Tina, "You were just brushing your teeth here..." 

Tina's face screws up with effort as she tries to remember. Was it really her? 

"I haven't been in here all night," she says, "I'm telling you, Guy was the last person to touch it!" It must have been, right? If she can't remember being in here, then someone else must have broken the sink, surely. 

Sigh. 

The joy of having 7 uncontrollable sims and broken plumbing. 

Then Lincoln comes in and gets slapped across the face by Tammi. 

"Did one of your weird experiments do this?" Tammi demands, "I can't live in such squalor! One of you sciency types better fix this!" 

Lincoln looks at Tammi, terror etched into every line of his face. No one's ever hit him before. He runs out of the bathroom and everyone stares at Tammi. 

"What?" she says defensively, "He's trying to make our lives miserable! You saw what he did to the sink, the toilet, and the shower!" At everyone's silence, Tammi begins to feel panic, "I-I didn't do anything wrong!" she flees the room. 

Guy, on the other hand, is celebrating. A promotion! Say hello to Monte Vista's newest lab assistant! The increase in pay means Guy can now easily cover the bills at home. 

...the bills. Oh CRAP. The bills! When was the last time he paid those!? 

When he gets home he's relieved to find that the bills still have several days left before they're due. Before he can pay them, Gregory drags him inside. 

"Fix the sink before it kills someone," he instructs. He doesn't give any more detail, leaving Guy to repair the broken plumbing, as confused as ever. 

Dove and Lincoln are finishing up a meal together in the kitchen. 

"I didn't really break the sink and everything, did I?" Lincoln asks Dove, unable to think about anything but the stinging in his cheek. 

"I don't think so," Dove answers honestly, "Not unless you can control stuff with your mind or something." 

Lincoln sits, his dirty bowl in hand, for a long time, deep in thought. He can't control things with his mind. 

If he could, Heather would still be here. 

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AN: "This is a just for fun blog," I said as I searched for the screenshots I took during Lincoln's generation, "Not story driven at all," I told myself as I contemplated characterization while typing up this entry, "I'm doing this just for the challenge." 

Heather is actually a made-over (and different personality) Feather Libros from Becky's "Archers of Barnacle Bay" Random legacy. You can tell I have a soft spot for her characters! 

So I took tons of screenshots in what is now Lincoln's save. I actually made a story line for all the generations I've played in it (4 so far) and have all the pictures. I just...couldn't find the motivation to write it all out. I have something like 3,900 pictures from that save. Having him and Tammi in this challenge is making me reconsider my decision to not blog about his family. I'm starting to miss playing the Silverlys. 

Weird. 

For all of that seriousness, I feel like you all deserve this funny outtake: 

Dove definitely has a reason to hate the outdoors.