When the Zombies Come -- a Cottoneye Decadynasty (COMPLETED)

[MarianT]

Chapter Five -- Full Circle

Gregorio decided that he wanted a Western look with his favorite color, green.



"Whatever," said Neith, as she made another mad dash to the bathroom.



"What's this?" Gregorio asked.



Neith didn't have an answer for him just yet. "In. A. Minute," she gasped.

"I didn't hear you," said Gregorio. "Should I come up on the roof?"

"NO!" shouted Neith.



"It's for our baby boy," she called. "It's for little Hunter."



"Hi, Hunter!" said the Watcher. "Remember me?"

"Abble-oo-argle!" said Hunter.



"According to my notes, you're neurotic again," said the Watcher. "Of course, that could be because you have a father who's plotting to steal candy from you."



"And you're also brave," continued the Watcher, "not that you really need to be brave, surrounded by your loving mother, father, and uncle..."



"...and grandfather," added the Watcher uncertainly. "But don't worry, dear, I'm sure you won't have anything in common with him."



Except for hair and eye color. First blond in the Cottoneye decadynasty.

[Trip]

Now that I think of it, he is the first blond in the family. It's usually an obscenely common hair color in my games.

Nice way to come full-circle with names. Do you plan on giving little Hunter the same personality as his namesake? A mean-spirited, insane heir would be fun, but probably not great for getting best friends.

[smartburn]

Oh, I didn't want to guess, but I was hoping you were going to go with Hunter! Yay!

I'm pleased to see that he's neurotic and I'm hoping you add insane into the mix, but seeing as brave has been added to the little guy (intentional?), it seems he won't be a carbon copy of his namesake which perfectly a-okay...mean-spirited isn't so bad with micromanagement, but the last time I played extensively with one was before I got Generations so...if you do go that route, yay friendly charismatic siblings/uncles/etc.!

[MarianT]

Hunter definitely won't be mean-spirited, but he might get insane. More, I won't say.

[hazelnut]

Hunter Cottoneye lives again.  Are you going to go with the paranoid semi-military set-up again?  (Although I suppose that would mean demolishing the house and rebuilding, so probably not, come to think of it.)

[MarianT]

Chapter Six -- Toddlerhood

Being a toddler wasn't easy for Hunter. Sometimes his parents let him get hungry before they fed him.



He never knew when his dad might steal candy from him.



His mom was okay, but she spent most of her time sculpting.



She made sure he learned how to use the potty.



But Hunter learned how to talk from the mirror in his playpen.



His dad taught him how to walk -- outside, in the cold, on the ice.



And Hunter's bedroom was filled with eyes, eyes that became accusing whenever there was an accident.



Life was tough, but Hunter found a friend.



To his dismay, there was someone else who wanted his friend.



One day, Hunter had to quit playing and go use the potty.



As his mother picked him up and put him in the crib for his nap, he saw something terrible -- his enemy had his friend.



That night, when everyone else was asleep, Hunter went looking for his friend.



Zombies were howling outside, and it was dark, but Hunter kept searching  in the box.



Finally, he located his friend.



The next day while he was playing, he heard his enemy muttering to herself. "Durn kid, leaves his toys all over the place, pees on the floor, they don't pay me enough for this..."

Hunter just smiled.



Not long after that, he had a birthday.



After putting together a wardrobe...



Hunter found his friend. "You'll always be part of my life," he said. "I promise."

[Trip]

Does the last line mean he'll be childish instead?

The bit about his friend and his enemy was adorable.

[Turoskel]

Well when I said maybe he will be called Hunter it was a total guess, very nice to see it come full circle though, he's already such a character can't wait for him to grow up 

[butterfly]

Something is telling me that Hunter likes robots...

[MarianT]

Hunter Cottoneye

Chapter One -- The Boy Robot

Neith wasn't ready to become an elder. Her birthday took her by surprise one night, after she'd gone to bed.



She couldn't wear her goggles anymore. In fact, she couldn't find any hats she liked at all, so Neith decided to settle for flowers in her hair.



She had to find different clothing, too.



On the whole, though, Neith was ready to relax and enjoy life. She'd produced 10 different sculptures to appreciate in value for Hunter, and she had even produced a few more to put on consignment so that Gregorio could achieve his lifetime wish of living in the lap of luxury.

It's time to turn our attention to Hunter. One day he made the discovery that if he tried really hard, he could become a robot.



He could sleep as a robot.



He could take baths as a robot.



Once when he was all alone, Hunter tried eating as a robot. He wasn't sure whether he could stay a robot when other people saw him.



He found out when his dad started tutoring him. "You'll have to change back to human," his dad said. "I'm not giving lessons to a blockhead."



Hunter almost wished that his dad hadn't taken on the job of tutoring him. "George Washington discovered the New World in 1492," Gregorio told him.

"Dad!" Hunter complained. "Forget about history. Let's do math."

"Okay," said Gregorio. "Four times seven is 32, right?"



Either despite or because of Gregorio's unorthodox teaching methods, Hunter had an A average by the first day of school. He wanted to go as a robot.

"I don't think they'll let you on the bus like that," his mother warned.

So Hunter rode his bike.



He walked into school without any problems.



But before he left, his teacher suggested that he attend school in future as a boy.



After school, Hunter went to the hospital to get his allergy shot. He was really glad that he was a robot for that because robots didn't feel any pain.



When he came home, he played with his old robot for a while. "When I grow up, I'm going to have a household full of robots," he said.



His mother didn't say anything then, but the next morning, she reminded him that he wouldn't be able to add simbots or plumbots to his household.



"But once you complete your dynasty requirements, you can do whatever you like," she said. "And as soon as you get on the honor roll, I'll have a surprise for you."



When Hunter got on the bus that morning, he couldn't help wondering what the surprise might be. "Hey, there's the googly-eyed kid," he heard someone say. Another kid laughed. "It's Hunter Googlyeye!" a third exclaimed.



Hunter felt like he couldn't finish his requirements fast enough.

When he returned home from school, he found that his family had a visitor. He wasn't a robot but he was dressed rather oddly. The visitor asked Hunter how things were going. "Bleak," said Hunter. "But I did make the honor roll."



The visitor turned out to be a time traveler, waiting for someone to collect power cells for his time portal.

"I can do that!" said Hunter.

"No!" exclaimed Neith.  "Your great-grandmother Sedna used that as one of her black ops. The only one who can help the time traveler is your father."

"I met him in the garden," said the visitor. "A charming fellow."



Before leaving, the visitor, whose name was Emit Relevart, told Hunter he could come for a visit when he was a teen. Only two more days, thought Hunter.

[Turoskel]

Great chapter Marian 

I gave bot fan to my life states non heir, it's quite fun, I noticed that once she could wear the full suit the design on it changed every time she put it on, not sure if it's random or if it was each time she got a level in bot building, would be so nice if they could build bots, she really wants to do that but has to make do with nanites and chips.

She got an op from Emit for trait chips, I've not even touched the portal yet and the Emit who shows in her relationship panel is certainly not that guy, weird. I'll have to complete it to see who actually shows up. But it appears there are bot building ops you can pick up even in the homeworld which might prove useful to Hunter.

[MarianT]

Thanks, Turoskel!

I'm looking forward to seeing the rest f the costume. I can't say more without spoiling the next chapter.

[MarianT]

Chapter Two -- A Big Disappointment

Hunter celebrated his birthday as soon as he could. He'd made the honor roll the day before, and he couldn't think of any reason to wait until evening.



He hurried to put his wardrobe together. Outerwear and athletic, check.



Everyday and formal, check. Other people might get a tuxedo, but Hunter intended to go to the prom as Dr. Futuro.



Or maybe he'd go as a robot.



But prom wouldn't happen for a few days. Right now there was something that Hunter was much more excited about -- a trip to the future. He and Mom were going to visit for a day, just to see the sights and to pick up some books for Hunter to study. After he graduated from high school, he would go to Oasis Landing to get a job and maximize the bot building skill.

But when he joined Mom at the time portal, he learned some terrible news. Emit Relevart couldn't guarantee that they'd return to their own time. "Right now there's a five to seven year fluctuation -- not a problem for me, but for someone who had to be in a certain place at a certain time --" he shrugged apologetically.

"I don't have to be anywhere," Hunter protested, but his mother shook her head no.
 
"You might jeopardize the dynasty," she said.

Hours later, his mother knocked at his bedroom door. "Hunter?" she called. "Once you've completed your requirements, you can go anywhere, do anything. And I've gone over the family records -- street art should be easy to supermax, and you can do education or business as a career. Plus your dad's found two more diving opportunities we didn't know about. If you work hard -- and you've got the workaholic trait now, so that shouldn't be a problem -- I bet you can finish by the time you have your adult birthday."

Eventually Hunter picked up the street art bag. Tagging the house didn't fully relieve his emotions, but it did help.



That night he dreamed about going to Oasis Landing. He recognized the city immediately.



He rode the Zephyr out to visit his descendants, but they weren't home.



He took the opportunity to learn how to use a jetpack.



But best of all, he met a plumbot.



In the dream, Hunter became a robot himself.



It was a dream he didn't want to wake up from. When his mother called, he tried to pretend that he hadn't heard her.

"There's something you have to see up on the roof," she called. "Come on!"

Wearily, Hunter got dressed and climbed up the ladder. "What's that?" he asked.

"Emit Relevart dropped it off," she said. "You can use it to learn bot building."



All of a sudden, the day looked a lot better. Even prom might be fun. Especially since he was going as Dr. Futuro. As he left the house, Hunter discovered that another gift had been dropped off by the time traveler.



To his relief, he managed to dismount without falling down, but it was a near thing.

[MarianT]

Chapter Three -- Why Hunter Hates Snowflake Day

There are times in a dynasty when not much happens. One day the most exciting thing was that Gregorio became an elder.



Another day, the excitement was Hunter completing a black op -- doing a work-study project at Costa Corp. The career he really wanted was to build plumbots, but since he couldn't do that, going into business would have to suffice.



Finally, the day arrived when Hunter became a young adult.



Hunter picked out his new wardrobe -- an everyday outfit that he would wear when he went swimming, a formal outfit that he would wear for street painting, and an athletic outfit that he would wear any time.



But his favorite outfit would turn out to be his outer wear, suitable even when the temperature was 80 degrees.



Hunter graduated at the top of his class and was named Valedictorian and Most Likely to Offend. Hunter didn't think the latter was fair -- he was insane, not inappropriate.



Things were dull for a while. Hunter made progress at work.



He also developed his skill in street art, with help from Gregorio and Neith when it came time for clean-up.



When they weren't flirting, his parents spent most of their time dancing.



And then came Snowflake Day. They decided to throw a Gift-Giving Party, and since Gregorio was a party animal, he sent out the invitations. They put up a tree in the living room and waited for their guests.



Nobody came.

That sort of thing is enough to bother anybody (Was it something I said? Do I need a new deodorant?), but it really gets to neurotics. To calm himself down, Hunter checked to make sure the stove was working properly.



He did such a good job of putting out the fire and replacing the stove, that the fireman fined him $500 for calling in a fire unnecessarily.
That evening an uninvited guest did make an appearance.



They put Neith's tombstone up on the roof, looking out over the ocean.



Hunter tried becoming a robot so that he wouldn't feel so bad about his mother dying.



It didn't work.

[Turoskel]

Aww poor Hunter, I had that happen with a party before now, then everybody turned up the next day instead when my sims were going off to work