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Sputnick Legacy - Gen 1.1. - NLC 3 Challenge
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JESSE SPUTNIK - Gen 1 Founder
Knowledge - Pisces
6-0-6-4-9
LTW: Top of Education Career
Likes: Makeup and glasses
Dislikes: Black hair
"Pops! Dad!" Jesse smiled as he embraced both of his fathers. He hadn't seen either of them in four long years. "Thanks for coming all the way out here. I know it's kind of a long drive."
"No worries, Jess," Talbot said, patting his son on the back. "We were surprised when you gave us an address in Cape Calamity, though. I thought you were planning to move home after University?"
"Cape Calamity is home," Jesse said, then watched as his fathers exchanged looks of confusion. "You adopted me from here, remember?"
"But that doesn't make this your home," Jimmy said, scratching his brow.
"This is the only place that I'm from that I know of." Jesse stretched out his arms, indicating the rocky expanse of beach.
Jesse had only been a baby when he'd arrived with the fifth wave of exiled extraterrestrials who were living in semi-secret on Cape Calamity. Most of the other E.T.s had been children and teenagers, and they remembered the names of their planet and the customs of their people. In contrast, Jesse had only ever know his two fathers, the former Space Pirate Jimmy Sputnik and expert Florist Tablot Sputnik (nee Gaines). He'd been adopted from the E.T. Children's Home while still an infant, and as such, the first language he ever learned was Simlish, and the only customs he ever developed were Sim ones.
Of course, most folk didn't know a thing about E.T.s and aliens; they all thought that people who looked unusual, like Jesse did, were suffering from a rare disease of mutation. On paper, Jesse was classified as having Condition X: strain alienism. It was something of a social burden, but Jesse didn't mind it much; he liked a good challenge.
That's why he was embarking on a Legacy Challenge.
"Pops, what do you really think of the house?" Jesse asked Jimmy after giving him a little tour of his sandy shack.
"When you said you'd built it yourself I was expecting something a little nicer. Or with four walls, at least. You always had a lot of mechanical skills when you were a kid."
"Yeah, but those are gone now," Jesse said, smiling slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"I lost them in the last four years."
Jimmy chuckled a little. "You've been at University! I'd say you've been building skills, not losing them."
Jesse took a deep breath; he knew what he was about to say to his father might be upsetting. "I wasn't exactly at University, Pops." Jimmy frowned but said nothing, so Jesse continued. "I didn't do much these last four years but eat, sleep, and breathe. I never practiced the guitar, never did any sports. Pretty soon, it was like I'd never learned how to play an instrument or kick a football in the first place."
"Jess," Jimmy said softly, his face creased with worry. "Why would you do something like that?"
"It's all a part of the plan. I'm building a Legacy, you see."
Jesse drew his father closer and pointed to an elaborate scroll that was placed somewhat ceremoniously on a salvaged sawhorse. "Inside this scroll I've written down ten specific tasks for the next ten generations of the Sputnik family. My own generation's task is 'starting from scratch,' which is why I built this house out of things I found along the beach and at the dump. That's why my clothes are second-hand and tattered, too."
"And what's the task for generation two?"
"They have to live off the land, make all their money selling vegetables or paintings, things they made or grew with their own two hands."
"I see," Jimmy said. He didn't look particularly impressed. "And what about the rest of them?"
Jesse quickly ran him down the list of tasks, wincing a little when he revealed some of them, and smiling wryly at others.
"Son, I don't know what the point of this Legacy is, but it sounds like you're trying to play God. Who's to say that your ancestors are going to want to turn themselves into vampires, just because their so-called 'founder' wrote it down in some fancy-schmancy scroll? They might toss your scroll down the toilet and just do their own thing. Most folks don't like being told what to do."
"I'm not trying to play God," Jesse said, a little offended. "And even so, Sims try to play God all the time, curing diseases and sending Space Pirates like you Moon II. The only thing I did for the last four years was read philosophy, trying to figure out how I could have a place in this world when I wasn't even born here, and that's when I was inspired to create the Legacy. All Sims must struggle if they're going to thrive, and they have to remember the ashes they rose from to fully appreciate their accomplishments. Otherwise, life is meaningless!"
Jimmy sighed. His son's intellect was impressive, but did he have to be so grandiose?
"It still sounds like a bad idea to me. Talbot, what do you think?"
Talbot, who had been listening quietly, stepped forward. "If Jesse wants to do his project I don't know what we can say to stop him. Like you said yourself, folks don't like being told what to do." He turned to Jesse and gave him his endearingly soft smile. "I just don't want you to get into trouble."
"Dad, Pops, you're over-reacting," Jesse said. "It's not like I'm doing anything criminal! I'm going to be the first person of my race--whatever that race is--to spread my progeny on this planet. I just want my people to work hard and develop a sense of pride...and a sense of belonging."
Talbot's eyes met his husband's. It hadn't been easy for Jesse to grow up in Sim City, where there were so few people with "Condition X." Maybe he would have fostered more of an identity, had he grown up in Cape Calamity.
"We love you," Talbot said, hugging Jesse close. "And wish you the best...with everything."
"Thanks, Dad." Jesse swallowed hard. He knew he wouldn't be seeing his fathers for a while. Starting from scratch meant starting with no connections, no friends...but oh, he would miss them.
"I wish you the best, too," Jimmy said gruffly, his hug firmer, and a little more desperate.
"And you love me, too?" Jesse teased.
"I do."
Jesse watched until their car had disappeared, then he returned to the Legacy scroll. He hated to admit it, but Pops had a point--there was no way to guarantee that his ancestors would follow the tasks he had outlined for them.
If only there were a way to force them to do so. Would that be wrong? Any more wrong than the parent who forces their child to eat his or her vegetables?
Jesse pondered it for a while, then let it go. It was a problem he could tackle later.
Meanwhile, he would have to find himself a wife.
Jesse wasn't much of a socializer, so he was lucky, really, when the phone rang.
"Hey kid!" the voice on the other end said, as if he and Jesse were long-time friends. Weirdly, the voice did sound kind of familiar.
"Who's this?" Jesse asked.
"Farr! Farr Cortho? From the E.T. Children's Home? Aw, maybe you don't remember me...you were just a kid."
"A baby," Jesse corrected.
"Right. So me and some of the other E.T.s heard you were in town and thought you might want to re-connect. You game?"
"Sure, I guess so!"
"Cool. Meet me downtown..." Farr rattled off an address and said he would send a cab. Jesse hung up the phone with satisfaction. That was fast!
The taxi dropped Jesse off at a club of some kind, and Farr was in the waiting area, his blue skin sparkling in the neon lights.
"Hey! You're here! What do you want to do first?"
"Well, maybe this isn't the place, but I really need to find a job...any chance that there's someone I could network with here?"
Farr leaned over and laughed heartily. "What?! You don't network at a club, you hook up! This place is crawling with all sorts of birds. Grab some feathers!"
In demonstration of his own advice, Farr soon after began making out with Tanya, the other E.T. in their group. Jesse watched dispassionately from a distance. The fervor they showcased indicated that their actions were driven by some sort of primal, bodily desire, but it was one that Jesse was utterly unfamiliar with. Perhaps his alien body didn't secrete the proper chemicals?
Even in the hot tub, he smiled at Tanya's form not because it was shapely or pleasant, but because he found it amusing that a Catsapien would willingly enter water. Tanya was one highly evolved cat!
The outing drug on into the morning hours, and Jesse found himself irritable not just from lack of sleep, but from Farr and Tanya's constant pawing of each-other (literally pawing, in Tanya's case). Hadn't they had enough?
No, apparently they had not.
"La-la-la! Can't hear what you're doing!" Jesse sang, pumping his legs furiously as he swung himself higher and higher.
The last stop of the outing was at a coffee shop, which was good since Jesse was dead on his feet. They had visited four or five places downtown, and Jesse hadn't met a potential wife anywhere.
As he sipped his espresso, Jesse watched two E.T.s of the same race speak animatedly with each other. Most of the exiles had been sent to this planet in twos, like Noah's Ark, with one of each gender presumably so they could continue their own species when they grew up. Perhaps (and unlike Farr) those of Jesse's race were only attracted to their own kind? If that was the case, his legacy was doomed to fail.
Jesse went home in a bad mood.
The next morning, Jesse scoured the newspaper for a job in the Education field. What Pops had said about 'playing god' was weighing on his conscious a little, so he had decided that if he became a teacher, it would be a noble enough profession to help diminish the evils of his Legacy tasks. Not that he really thought the tasks were evil...but still, it didn't hurt to keep his karma in check.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a single teaching-related job in the paper. He would just have to wait until one showed up.
When he took the newspaper to the recycling bin, Jesse was startled by a fierce, barking dog, who chased Jesse straight into his own house. Maybe living in a house without walls wasn't such a great idea.
Watching the dog, Jesse's mind worked fast. Every problem had a solution so long as you took control of it. He picked up a nearby stick and raised it high.
"Fetch," he said, in a commanding voice.
The dog's barks trailed off and his tail began to wag uncertainly. He was intrigued.
Jesse threw the stick as far as he could, and the dog chased after it, kicking up sand and dust.
They played for most of the morning.
Jesse had been going about the problem of finding a wife all wrong. He had let Farr Cortho drag him all around downtown to clubs, bars, and grocery stores that didn't follow health codes when it came to photo booths. Jesse wasn't likely to find a wife at those places--he was much more likely to have success going to places that he actually enjoyed, like museums and gaming cafes.
And it worked! Sort of. A girl at the marine museum came up to Jesse and admired him openly, at least. It wasn't the same as being ravished the way Farr had been ravished by Tanya, but it was a start.
At the bowling alley, Jesse found himself particularly interested in a girl sitting at the counter. Could she be the one? Why was he so drawn to her?
By the end of the day, Jesse returned home with vague-but-uncertain interest in at least four girls. None of them had stood out to him more than the other, and he debated over who to call first as he picked up the phone. The short-haired blond had been cute, but so were the red-heads. Too bad not a single one of them wore glasses!
As he thought it over, a plan began to develop.
Jesse ended up inviting all four of the girls.
Paulette seemed slightly in awe of him as he served her a sushi lunch. Perhaps she was attracted to those with "Condition X" (some people were), or perhaps she just admired his sushi-rolling skills.
Chelsey, on the other hand, appeared neutral about the whole affair. At least she was getting some free sushi out of the deal.
Gilly and Gina were torn between shock and amusement--or maybe they just liked the dirty books they found in Jesse's makeshift bookcase.
Gina must have fancied Jesse a little, thought--either than or the sushi had gone straight through her.
Ultimately, though, it was Paulette who made the first move.
"I like your shirt," she said, smiling. "What is that, a tapestry?"
Jesse blushed and curled in on himself.
"Let me feel it," she said, "with my lips!" Then she grabbed his arm and kissed up the length of it.
Jesse nearly swooned. Perhaps his body secreted chemicals and hormones after all!
Emboldened, Jesse asked Paulette out on a date, and they met up first thing the next morning at the bowling alley where they'd first met. Jesse rolled a gutter ball, but Paulette still seemed impressed.
As they danced slowly by the pinball machines, Jesse realized this was the most comfortable he had ever been with a girl....
Until he remembered that they were in public! Where everyone could see them! His shyness gripped him like a vise and he shuddered out of Paulette's embrace. Her eyes revealed her hurt and confusion.
"I have to go," Jesse said abruptly. "I left a souffle in the oven."
And then he went home as fast as he could.
Paulette would surely hate him now. With little enthusiasm, he called up Gilly, the blond, and invited her over for a date. This time they would have their date at home, where no one could see them.
Imagine Jesse's surprise when, in the middle of his date with Gilly, Paulette walked by his house. She strolled up to him and gripped him hard by the lapels of his shirt.
Jesse's mouth hung open in shock. Was she going to beat the stuffing out of him?
No. She leaned him back and kissed him passionately. Gilly seemed not to notice nor care.
"I was in the mood for souffle," she said.
Jesse's head spun. Paulette was the perfect woman for him--he had to make her his wife!
"Move in with me," he said. "I'll make you all the souffle you want."
Paulette stepped back so fast she nearly dropped Jesse on the ground.
"Hold your horses! I like you, Jesse, but your house doesn't even have walls. I'm a townie with a good job--why would I want to live here?"
She looked at him expectantly, and Jesse realized she was waiting for an answer.
"Follow me," Jesse said, leading her to the sawhorse where the Legacy scroll sat. "There's a reason I live in a house like this, and it's because I'm starting from scratch..."
He told her about his vision, about the tasks he had planned for the future. She listened raptly, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
"It's fascinating," she said. "It's like you're a pebble in the pond, and the ripples will spread out far, far beyond you. There's no telling how it could change the course of your descendants, or even the course of the world...."
As she babbled on, Jesse realized that she, like him, was a Knowledge Sim.
When she finished talking, she looked at him seriously. "I want to be a part of it."
"So you'll move in?"
"Yes."
He sighed in relief, then pulled her close.
Things were going to be much better now. MUCH better.
Jesse awoke from a light snooze and saw shadows moving a few feet away from the bed. Paulette was standing in the torchlight, smoothing on a new outfit.
"Do you like my dress?" she asked when Jesse came over to her. "Now that I live here, I have to start from scratch, too!"
"Wow...it's something. Where did you find it?:
"Oh, I went all Pretty in Pink in High School and tried to design a pretty prom dress using two old, ugly dresses. That equation never works. This little frock is the result!"
"Okay, but you can wear shoes, you know!" Jesse laughed.
"I know that, but I can't help it! I'm just excited to be a part of your Legacy."
Jesse knew then without a doubt that Paulette had been the right choice.
"Welcome to the Legacy," he said.
****
NOTES:
-I will be doing this Legacy along with my continuing Prosperity Challenge, rotating each on a weekly basis. So some weeks I will update this, and on others I will update Cape Calamity. :)
-If you want to know about the specific tasks that each generation of the Sputnik Legacy will face, check out this post.
Click to read on for Gen 1.2!
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