Working as Intended

After battling a multitude of glitches, one of which somehow ended up deleting my entire neighbourhood, it's time to jump back into that wacky world of The Sims. Fortunately any hair-pulling on my part was saved by me keeping a backup of the neighbourhood, so I lost no progress. Well, except potential progress from being able to do this entry about two hours earlier and not constantly cursing to myself, but who cares about that?

Back we go!











With her first day of work still not happening until tomorrow, Moon spends most of her morning cleaning the ash off the kitchen floor and being very mopey about the whole process. Well, dear, if you don't want to clean up the smoldering remains of your house then don't turn the oven on to cook cereal.

I think that's a lesson we all learn at one time or another.





Meanwhile, Rockabuck's been having his list of Wishes constantly be full of demands to purchase an Inventor's Workshop, which costs the family the remainder of their dwindling simoleons. According to the game, his dream is to create 10 Monsters. A feat I wasn't even aware was in the game to begin with.

However...





... I can't properly judge what his reaction to all of this is for the life of me.

Happy? Enthused? Aroused? Gassy?





Unfortunately, since buying the Workshop has left them with literally no money, Rockabuck instead has to venture forth to the local landfill in search of 'scraps', which are used to invent random stuff.

Okay-dokey then!





The landfill appears to be the dumping ground for all the poorly stretched and blurred textures from every video game of the 1990's. Also, a microwave and curiously large cog. And half a chair?





Elsewhere, Moon waddled over to the fridge to make some grilled cheese sandwiches, realized the household had no money, then immediately made a beeline for the garbage bin. Hopefully the two actions are not related.





She only stopped for periodic but fleeting realizations of what her life has become.





After about two hours of scrummaging, and finding quite the nice pile of scrap, I quickly sent Moon off down the road, hoping to occupy her for a while until some small amount of money managed to come in an--





WHAT

NO

STOP DOING THAT!!





Thankfully, her desperate capers for survival went unnoticed.





... At least until she pranced off next door and started rummaging in front of some new folks to the neighbourhood.

This is not how you greet new familys, Moon. This is not how you greet them at all.





The woman was not amused by Moon's attempts at making something halfway resembling breakfast, and started constantly scolding her and seemingly insinuating that she was a Yeti. After some precise apologies (ie: complete gibberish and arm flailing), Moon was invited into the household, where she promptly...





... starting insulting the woman's children...





... and then took a nice, long sleep in one of their beds.





Elsewhere-- and that word's going to get used a lot, so get used to it, bub --immediately after school, while Moon was still soundly sleeping in the complete stranger's house, Zap decided to visit the home of the young lad he played Make-Out Monday with last night.





However, it seems that Zap blames the man-- for some reason --for him staying out after curfew and being caught by the police yesterday. Oh, the love-filled, conflicting drama of youth! I'm sure if this was a more legitimate avenue of storytelling and not a series of virtual characters acting batshit insane then this would be a rather dramatic moment, but they're not, so it isn't.





Back at the household, poor Giddy just stares down at her homework in quiet contemplation. No doubt wondering why she's the only sane one in this family. I sympathize, and I can only wish I knew why, kid.





A few hours later, Zap returns home, and is then immediately grounded by Rockabuck for reasons beyond my comprehension. Perhaps he knows of the all men's team tonsil hockey tournament that happened last night? Way to be close-minded there, Rockabuck!

However, if it was because Zap's late, then the punishment is a bit hypocritical coming from the guy who just upped and abandoned his kids for two days for sudden vacation purposes.





By the time midnight rolled around, Moon was finally kicked out of her guest's home. Apparently while wearing formal attire.

Hey, don't look at me! I was busy elsewhere!





At home, the day-old remains of dinner go largely untouched.

I suspect the plague of rats will descend at any moment.





When Moon at last returns home, she, and again I'm not kidding here, walks over to the bookshelf and just starts staring at it for hours, while everyone else heads off to bed. And when I mean hours...





I mean hours.





At around four in the morning, when Moon's AI somehow underps itself and she heads to bed...

A stranger appears on the lot!





OH GOD WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!??

WAIT

IS THAT A-





So, uh.... yeah, there are robots now!

F--Fair enough? According to the game-- and I'll have to take it's word on this since I never saw it happen -- Rockabuck used all the scraps he found during the day to invent himself a robot when night fell. All while he was asleep. Somehow.

The fact that the robot is the completely wrong model for invented robots just adds to the mystery.





Rockabuck seems to adapt rather quickly however, and does the first thing any of us would do if a robot appeared and said they were designed to be our new friend: Call up and brag about it to everyone he knows!

By the by, classy pajamas you're sporting there, champ.





Unfortunately, the thrill does not last for long, as when Rockabuck goes to use the toilet shortly after, it's plugged!





A realization he takes in remarkably good stride.





The robot continues to do what all logic-defined automatons are well renowned for.

Also, the game calls the robot Sophie. Just to clear things up.

How that's meant to clear anything up is beyond me, but let's just start small, okay?





Far, far away in the same room, Zap decides to try and take revenge on Rockabuck (or the next person to use the shower anyway) for grounding him by switching the shampoo with hair dye. Oh, Zap, you rebellious young upstart!

Worth nothing is that the only Sim here with the Rebellious trait, Giddy, is the happiest and most peaceful of the lot.





As Zap runs off to catch the morning bus that has managed to wedge itself into the rear end of a nearby car, he gains a positive little moodlet about getting 'revenge' on Rockabuck when he next pops into the shower.

An unknown hindrance in his plans however, is that...





Rockabuck seems to be way too happy about having an awesome robot friend to worry about taking a shower today.

Whoopsie-daisy!





Eventually getting bored of the squishy meatbags and their looping footage of video game cinematics, Sophie the robot decides to take a walk about the town mid-morning. I'm sure this will go perfectly well and not freak out anybody.





Sophie's order of business seems to involve finding the first house she likes, just down the road.

She then kicks open the door...





... smashes their toilet (?!)...





... and then promptly heads back home before anyone inside manages to figure out what the hell just happened.





While I was monitoring that, frankly, completely insane turn of events, Whatsherface decided to drop by and hang out with Rockabuck. Apparently not at all phased that he lives in a pathetic little squalor. But, hey, she's obviously had to put up with worse realizations to get to this point, so I suppose it's not all bad.

Makes you wonder what her other boyfriend is like.





It doesn't take long for the couple to make their way into the bedroom.

There's not enough space to... ahem... WooHoo, but they are perfectly fine with getting intimate none-the-less.





As for the robot?





The robot watches.