Generation Two - Chapter Five: You Look Familiar

Next on the agenda for Shannon was a long standing wish. To learn the Robotics skill, something that was completely unattainable in Dragon Valley. However, the only way to do that .... was to go to the Robotics Store/Workshop. Tapping into her jet pack, she found herself there in the blink of an eye.
It was fairly busy actually, when she arrived, people bustling around, looking busy.

But then something ... or rather someone, caught her eye.

Not wanting to attract too much attention, she sidled up to the pale skinned elderly gent standing there deep in thought.

Um, excuse me?

He apparently hadn't heard her because he failed to reply.

Pardon me, I don't wish to be rude .... but you look ... familiar to me. have we met? 

He looked suitably confused and baffled as he studied her face.

I don't believe we have, my name is Derrick Powers, the young girl over there playing with her virtual toy is my granddaughter Tina Acker. 

She has a very vivid imagination too. Often likes to pretend she's in medieval Simland addressing her subjects.... oh there she goes again.

Did you say .... Powers?
That I did, yes. Why?
Why I am Shannon Powers, you must be my descendants!

Derrick blinked a couple of times before realising what Shannon had just said.

Oh my! Tina would be so happy to meet you! She's a big big fan of yours, always bragging about her beautiful fairy queen. It's a shame none of us inherited the wings, the ears yes, but sadly not the wings.

Shannon had noticed that but remained quiet. Maybe, just maybe those genes had skipped a generation and may possibly crop up a little later along the family tree.

Please excuse us, we have to go, Tina has scouting to go to and I've got my dominoes club to go to. Hey, it was nice meeting you. Maybe we could meet up one day, have synthesised coffee and reminisce?

With that they were gone, leaving Shannon alone in the workshop/store. She soon found out that it wasn't that simple, getting a Robotics skill. She had to learn the first level of Advanced Technology skill to begin with. So, with nervous shaking hands, Shannon played around with the virtua screen, moving images around and pulling information from files. It was quite unlike the computer they had back home where you used the keys to type in anything.

But her family wasn't far from her mind. Even after fatigue got the better of her and she had to go back to her temporary home to sleep, she had nightmares about her descendants and worried that meeting them maybe wasn't such a good idea to begin with.

Maybe Emit was wrong, that in some way she'd caused a rift in the continuum and it was going to affect her own family back home.

Generation Two - Chapter Four: Welcome to Oasis Landing

Shannon's point of view.

I know I must be mad to do this, but this thing, this metal contraption has been sitting in our front yard for goodness knows how long. After witnessing Blaine breaking down consistently and not being able to find anything here in Dragon Valley (we are so far behind with technology here) I wondered if there was a silver lining of sorts. I mean really, this place is still so medieval in more ways than one.  We should move forward, but the majority of people here are just happy to live in the now.

Life's been lonely without Austin around. Sure I have the girls, but they're moving onwards now with their own independent lives. And then there's Blaine. Poor rusty little mechanical man. I only allow him to potter around the place simply because he was one of those little quirks that Austin introduced into our lives. So I am loath to let him go really.

But I digress. I was talking about the metal contraption. Not a clue where it came from but it is the talk of the town. I know there are whispers about the 'odd family of fairies' and honestly? I do not care. I'd rather be a curiosity for people to gawk at, because that leaves other poor folks alone.

As Austin used to remind me, hey baby don't worry about what people think. Be yourself. As long as you are happy doing that, who cares? Eh babes?

Anyways, after tapping the footplate a couple of times (and seriously hoping that nothing happens), the bugger started up! I was stunned, shocked. So much so that I had to step back otherwise I'd have landed on my butt! Then from the bright glow, the shape of a man appeared and stepped out.

He was very odd looking with blue hair and an outfit that seemed to have glowing seams inserted into the fabric.

Greetings benevolent one.
I wish.
Um hello?
This is the right address I presume? The Powers family? Yes?

He had me at a loss for words, this odd little man.

Um, yes?

Oh boy, have I got a wonderful surprise for you.
Oh really? (I wasn't falling for his charms - if ever he tried to apply them that is - besides he looked rather pompous and full of himself so I indulged him)
I have yes, hold this please.

He handed me a metal case with a clasp on it.

This .... is a time almanac. Take good care of it and it'll help you whenever you need it.

I couldn't resist. I really couldn't.

For ... what?
For your adventures into the future, that's what! Any time traveller will tell you that.

Time .... traveller? Is he on something or what? This is ludicrous, there's no such thing as time travel. Or at least there wasn't the last time I looked. Although as I said earlier, Dragon Valley is so behind with the times that we are positively archaic.

I looked at him with positive indulgence and wondered who on earth - or wherever - he was.

Oh forgive me, I didn't introduce myself. I am Emit Relevart - time traveller extraordinaire and your guide into the future.
You mean there really IS such a thing as time travel?
But of course. I have spent many an aeon perfecting this portal and travelling through time, space and many other vortices.
Is it ... safe?
Of course it is. Although some folks do tend to suffer from travel sickness a couple of times when they travel.
And should I go through this portal, the present won't be affected in any way? I won't find my family has vanished or whatever?
Nope, the only thing that will change ... is the future, simply because that's one area that isn't fixed and prone to many variables.
Can I travel to the past?
No. sadly that cannot happen.
Oh, so once I go there, I cannot return?
Oh, I never said that. Um, what actually happens is that everybody has a different signature DNA strand that the portal recognises. It also remembers whereabouts you were in the 'present' and is programmed to send you back without any time being lost whatsoever.
Sounds complicated.
Try it.
Um, I'm not so sure.
You can see your family in the future there.
We survive? Please, tell me we survive and we are successful.
Hop aboard and see for yourself.

So .... after nervously stepping into the portal, within a few nanoseconds, (as far as I know, it could have been hours, days,weeks even years in this thing), I finally stepped out into a wonderous, bright, clean looking place.

Emit was standing there waiting for me. How he managed to do that I really honestly don't know and I resisted the temptation to ask him.

Welcome to Oasis Landing and your home until you wish to return back to your original abode. Any questions?
This..... this is ..... marvellous! It is ..... gorgeous.... it is...... words fail me here!
It is a nice place isn't it?

What are they like for schools and education and all that?
They have geniuses by the dozen here. Nobody is overlooked.
Oh that's good. Technology is far in advance I presume?
More than you'll ever know.
You said I could see my family here.
All in good time ....
They are here.... aren't they?
You'll see.
Stop being vague, I want to know now.

I swear he smiled indulgently at me. I know I sounded like a kid demanding to know everything, but the prospects of seeing my family was just too much. It really was.

There are two branches of your descendants living here, and doing pretty well for themselves. They have a strong family bond because they live not far from one another.

I was so excited that I had a whole heap of wishes that I wanted to do whilst I was here. but I focused on just the one.

Sooo, how long can I stay here?
As long as you want, there's no time limit at all.
Oh good, then I've got loads of time to explore and do stuff like meet the family.
Yes.
Anything of interest here?
There's Legacy Park, that's always a popular choice.
Ohh I'd like to go there, if that's ok.
Of course, but here's something that you might find useful for getting around though.

He handed me a jet pack.

Try this on for size and see what it feels like.

I did and wow, it felt amazing, didn't crush my wings at all. Mind you, being a fairy myself, the whole concept of flying wasn't exactly new to me. At least I didn't fall head first into the ground! I even impressed Emit.

I must admit, you have adapted pretty well already. No travel sickness, and using a jet pack with relative ease. I'd say you were definitely destined to live your life here in Oasis Landing. I can see you are eager to explore, so I'll let you go a wandering and check out everything we have to offer here in Oasis Landing.

And so I did, I headed to Legacy Park where I met with a few locals, although I swear this poor man's wife wasn't too happy to see me chatting to her husband. She kept glaring daggers at me so I thought I'd better scarper before the claws came out.

There was one statue there that intrigued me. It was of a woman who had won the lottery .... and gave it all away to charity! Ohhh to be that woman and be immortalised here in Legacy Park.

It made me wonder if our numbers ever came up. I wanted to go check but wasn't quite sure where that would actually take place. Thankfully my jet pack also came with a map of the town as well as a route and venue locator.

I headed off to City Hall to check the records, but unfortunately they didn't have any for us. Oh never mind, it was worth a try anyways.

I tell you what though, I am really impressed with this town and what it had to offer. I look forward to exploring much more.

Generation Two Chapter Three - The 'Mystery Man'

Sophie's point of view:

I have discoverd who mom is seeing. And it is darned creepy, really. I mean it.
It all began when she suddenly took a great interest in that metal portal thingy out in the front garden.

I can't remember where I was when it happened, the flash of light, the humming and buzzing. She should never have touched it in the first place. But it's been there for ages now, and curiosity got the better of mom and she activated it.

How, I really do not know, but it started up. Out of all of us, I'd have expected say Hannah or Nessa.... or even Blaine to show a lot more interest, but nope. It just HAD to be mom.

According to some of our closest neighbours, you could see this beam of light practically from space, it was so bright!!

But then HE turned up.

Emit Relevart.
Claims he is from the future.
Yeah, riiiiight.

Says that he can take mom there and back in the blink of an eye.
Handed her a small metal box, said it was an 'almanac of time' and would help her on her travels

That he would wait for her at the 'other side'.
Methinks he is warping people's minds to believe what they want.

But...... mom being mom, she is totally smitten. Has discovered she can learn the robotics skill in ... what's that place called .....???? Oh yeah ... Oasis Landing ....

So apparently, that's what she did. She 'apparently' went into the future.

Great. Thanks for nothing. Leaving me here with my nutty sister and a species confused Simbot that STILL thinks it's a human sim.

Generation Two - Chapter Two - Button Shaped Puppy Dog Eyes.

The good news is..... I've been ungrounded. Mom thought I'd behaved well enough so that I could actually go out to work. I'm surprised that the boss at the Spa actually kept my job for me. Yeah, admittedly it's just folding towels and such, but it is a job. It earns me some extra pocket money.

  
 I think it's because he/she (I haven't actually MET the big boss yet) has kids my age or maybe older, and can completely understand my situation.

I still think Pat has some responsibility here though. Sending me out on a wild goose chase, claiming to have a date, when he knew I was grounded the first time. Yeah riiight. And now he's gotten around to mocking me too. I've just discovered by chance, that he is a Diva.

Figures.

Anyways, now I realise the ulterior motive here. Mom ungrounds me, then tells me to keep an eye on Vanessa. Yeah riiiiight. She's fine. Really. Nothing a good head shrink can't handle!! I mean I love her to bits.... but she's been acting very odd lately.

Playing with that water slide - in the middle of a frosty Spring evening, playing pillow fights with her IF Hespa - in her underwear - before rushing inside to warm herself by the fire.

And.... even though I can't really 'see' Hespa. I suspect that she's developed a mega crush on our Nessa. She's following her everywhere with those stitched on button shaped puppy dog eyes.

You know what slse I think?
I think Mom's going out on a date. Secretly meeting someone. She's made herself look really pretty and stuff.

See? She looks younger than us now!!!!

Trouble with being ungrounded is that I've been soooo used to sneaking around, that I can't break out of that habit.

See?

I wanted to complete an important opportunity - collecting gems and rocks, but it looks as if I'm up to no good! I swear I've BEEN ungrounded now. I promise!

Remember that Invention Gnome that Blaine created/discovered/whatever? I caught it eyeing up one of the fireworks the other day.

Evil Pyromaniac much?

Generation 2 Chapter One - Sophie

Hi, as you probably know, my name is Sophie and I've been chosen as the heir 'apparent' in this family. I want to thank whoever voted for me, I wasn't aware that there was such a thing, I really thought that it was a 'first come first served' scenario with William in the front running.

I must admit, I was taken aback by all of this, it is such a huge burden to shoulder, and I haven't really started off on the right foot here. But I'll do my best, after all, I'm still a teen and I've got a long long life ahead of me. 
The house is starting to become a bit too quiet lately, what with Wills and Hannah leaving. I still call them and chat. We are still pretty close. It'll be both Vanessa and my birthdays soon, then she'll be gone, just mom and Blaine and myself left in the house. I do wish that Blaine would either go ... or at least retire and potter around the place. He is getting waaay too old now and breaking down continuously.
Mom is moping around the place too. It's nice to see her hanging around, but she's got it into her head that she wants to see William married. Yeah, good luck with that one, I haven't seen him dating anybody at all! And she's bemoaning the fact that she's single once more and still young.

Ugh Mom, please, go get a guy. We're not stopping you. Really.

Speaking of Mom, I decided to get back into her good books.
I waited until Nessa was home, and asked her help with my homework.

Dunno why you need help sis, you're pretty smart.
Yeah, but I skipped school remember? If I don't get my grades up, I won't graduate.

Yeah, true, but just let me eat this cereal first okay?

It was hard trying to concentrate on Pleasantview - A Documented History, with Vanessa crunching at her bowl of granola and Mom singing 'Where's My Mommy?' at the counter whilst cooking pancakes, but I managed anyways.

Mom? I did it, I did my homework!
Well done Sophie, but you're still not out of the woods just yet, you still need to learn a few more life lessons before I can forgive you.
Aw man.

*sigh* I'd better do the laundry.
Vanessa: hey, that was on MY wishes list Sophie!

Ugh, being a teenager SUCKS!

Ohhhhh but I gotta tell you this though.
Something strange has been happening here in Dragon Valley.
Portals have been popping up everywhere!
And I mean ....

E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E.!!!!

One appeared in our front garden! Buzzing and humming and glowing and stuff!

I overheard Blaine wishing he was going into the future.
WHAT?!?!?!?!

This thing time travels???????

Cool! Maybe I could give it a go one day.
But *sigh* I cannot.

I'm still grounded. grrrrr