The Name's Oliver - Ben Oliver. Ch. 159: Duty vs Ethics, Pt. II

[Schipperke]

Genealogy

The biological imperative.  For a species to survive, it needs to renew itself regularly:  to reproduce.  The strange beings that inhabit Dimension H have developed various ways of achieving this goal, including sperm banks and fertility clinics.  Sim wishes make it clear that they, too, are vitally interested in reproduction.  Most Sims approach this in the traditional manner:  a woohoo in the shower, for example.  But what of those Sims who because of their particular circumstances, find themselves lacking a suitable partner? Sims are not biological in nature and so have neither sperm banks nor fertility clinics.  Must those poor Sims be doomed to fade into genetic oblivion?  Enter Create-a-Sim.

She was a lonely widow, left alone after the tragic drowning of her husband on their honeymoon.  For many long years she had lived in solitude with her husband's ghost and a partially-finished nursery to remind her of all she had lost.  Some called her "Hagness" because of her dowdy clothing and old-fashioned hairdo.  She was known to be grumpy and a loner.  But her heart longed for romance.



He was a man from a different place and time.  His life was dedicated to helping unfortunates in need.  His life's work left little time for a personal life.  Later in life he was to become rather well-known, but as our story begins he was younger and his hair was still its natural red colour.  He had already developed a fondness for a certain style of dressing, so that some might have recognized the man in grey.*



They met one day in Create-a-Sim, of all places.  What were they doing there?  Well, the man is known to be a traveller, so perhaps we should not be too surprised at any place he might turn up.  As for the woman, maybe she just felt a need to get away for a bit of renewal.  Perhaps a scientific mind saw something worth preserving in the genes of these two solitary Sims.  In any case, their relationship quickly blossomed into something special.  A child was born, a little boy.



The little fellow was extremely precocious, and in no time at all he was all grown up.





     

Rather than take on the name of either of his two well-known parents, the young man chose his own name.  He would be known as Ben Oliver.**  And now he was ready to leave the protective environment of Create-a-Sim and enter the world.

* Is it my imagination, or does the younger man in grey resemble a certain Dynasty spouse?  I honestly don't know how that came about - there is no genetic connection there that I'm aware of.

** Ben Oliver is the name of one of the Schipperkes that joined our household in August.  He goes by Oliver, but I love his double-jointed name.  Oliver was just under a year old when he arrived, courtesy of a wonderful woman who does Schipperke rescue and who was willing to make the long drive from Oregon to Saskatchewan to bring Oliver and Grace to their new home.  And they are both perfect.  As are all dogs, of course.

As for Oliver's character, allow me to quote from the Schipperke breed standard:  "faithful little watchdog ... active, agile indefatigable ... always curious ... knows the ways of the household, mixes himself into everything and ends by thinking that he is the one who directs the household. ... A better example of inquisitive, perpetual motion it is difficult to find."  That pretty much sums it up.  I think Ben Oliver's namesake will likely have similar traits.  And here he is, this boy who's bouncing on my lap and making the typing go funny:

[Beezy]

Great start, I'm looking forward to this story. 

[TheTripWasInfraGreen]

Waking up to a new story by Schip is the best feeling in the world, I swear.

[MarianT]

Ben Oliver needs a schipperke of his own, don't you think?

[Dextra2]

Genealogy

He's so cute! I could just just pet and hold him! (Yes, I have three lapdogs. Go figure.)
And untill you alluded to Mr. Payne, I was wondering what Chris was doing.

[ratchie]

I honestly thought it was highly desirable dynasty spouse himself at first.

Rachel

[sdhoey]

I too, thought it was a Chris. Then I was like nope Mr. Payne as a young man. I can't wait to read more. The doggie is so cute.

[Louise56]

All I can say is a Schipperke story, YAY! This make my day! 

[Schipperke]

I didn't even notice the similarity between young Mr Payne and Chris when I was taking the pictures - I was just focusing on getting the clothes right.  Then later when I was organizing my screenshots it hit me, and for a few seconds I wondered if I'd used the wrong Sim for Oliver's Dad!  But I know I aged down Mr Payne, and the suit is proof that it wasn't just some random screenie of Chris.  What a surprise!

Then again, does anyone really know who Chris's father is?  As we all know, Mr Payne gets around ... 

[Louise56]

I also see the similarity between them, if mr Payne is his dad we finally know why Chris is so awesome!

[Schipperke]

In the Glade

The young man stood gazing around trying to get his bearings.



He could hear birds singing and the buzzing of small insects.  The air was fragrant with the scent of many different flowers.  The place was inhabited by a variety of animals, particularly rabbits of different colours and sizes.  He wondered where he was.  Then he heard footsteps approaching and turned to find an old man beaming at him.



"Good, you're here!" the old man exclaimed.  Welcome, welcome, my boy.  It's good to see you."

The young man wondered who the old fellow was.

"I'm your father," said the old man.  "They call me Mr Payne.  And you, of course, are Ben Oliver."

Father?  "So this is our home?" the young man ventured.

"Oh, no!" his father chuckled.  "This is the glade.  It's a kind of way station for me when I visit the world of Sims.  Not quite like home, although my long-eared friends do give it quite a welcoming atmosphere, don't you think?"

The young man asked where their home was, if this was not it.

The old man said, "I have much to tell you, Oliver.  You may find it a bit hard to take in, but I'll do my best to explain things.  First, you need to know that there are two worlds - the world of Sims, and the world of my people.  Well, there's Dimension H, of course, but the beings there are an entirely different species so we won't worry about them for now.  My homeland is far away, not so much in physical distance as in - well, psychological distance, I suppose we might call it.



"My homeland is an idyllic place of learning, culture and peace.  A place where harmony rules and where everyone is your friend.  Unfortunately, the world of Sims is not always harmonious.  Some Sims are lonely, poor, struggling with circumstances or their own imperfections.  I decided to dedicate my life to helping those unfortunates as best I could."

The young man asked if they were going to be going to this homeland of his father's.

"The journey is long and arduous," said the old man.  "Oh, I have no doubt that you'd survive it, but the return trip might be a problem.  So we need to discuss what you will do.  Your mother is a normal Sim, so you are really a hybrid - part of both worlds.  You have the ability to live in either world.  But only one of them can be your true home."

So why had the old man chosen to spend his life so far from the homeland he described in such glowing terms?

"There is a special happiness in helping others," the old man said simply.  "It has to do with having the Good trait, which of course you have inherited."



The old man and his son talked for many long hours.  The boy had so much to learn.  Finally the old man said, "Why don't you take some time before you decide?  There's no rush.  Go explore the world of Sims.  Meet people, see the sights, learn things.  Then once you've had a chance to do that, come back and we'll discuss your future."

The young man felt quite overwhelmed by all this.  He agreed that he should take time to think things over.   The old man embraced his son and watched him leave to travel from the glade to the world of Sims.

[Dextra2]

We're going to see where Mr. Payne comes from? Ohhh.... *eats popcorn* I like the bunnies too!

[Schipperke]

Exploring the World of Sims, part I

Diary Entry

The trip to my new home was long and disorienting.  My clothes were stolen somewhere along the way and replaced with a very strange outfit. 



I was very ill-equipped for my new life.  As I was leaving Create-a-Sim, the authorities had handed me a diploma stating I had graduated from the Community School for the Gifted.  It was a sham.  I had never attended school in my life, not because I didn't want to, but because the option didn't exist in Create-a-Sim.  And as you might expect, my skills were nonexistent.  I knew absolutely nothing.  My brain was as empty as my social calendar.  I had a lot to learn about life.

After a haircut and a shopping trip to replace my missing clothes, I set out to explore the world.  In China I studied martial arts with the experts.



In Egypt I explored the tombs and pyramids.



Last (but certainly not least), I visited France.  The French people were very welcoming and made it easy for me to obtain my final level 3 visa, which made me extremely happy.  I was also relieved to have not encountered any of the nasty travel bugs that I had heard of.  The only bugs I saw were colourful butterflies, and they seemed quite harmless.



On returning home, I convinced the town to allow me to use a vacant lot to give martial arts classes.  The residents of Moonlight Falls were very interested in this new skill, and I soon had many pupils.  The women's classes were especially popular.



I wanted to learn everything.  I sought out the most remote fishing spots.



I joined the military because they said they were looking for adventurous lads like myself.  In my spare time I studied many skills.  One of the skills I learned was painting.  One night as I was finishing up a picture, I heard a strange whooshing noise overhead but when I turned to look, there was nothing there.



I learned about money and its importance.  But my salary from the military barely paid the bills.  How did other Sims find the money for all their big houses and expensive cars?  One evening I was surfing the internet and ran across an autobiography written by "Nameless Sim," which gave me an idea.*



Using the contacts my father gave me, I managed to get in touch with Nameless.  He told me that the golden room had in fact been much larger than was ever made public.  In reality, there were several levels of golden rooms under the evildoers' meeting house.  "And we don't know what to do with it all!" he exclaimed.  "Statues with holes in them - can you imagine?  Nobody wants a statue with a hole in it."  I was sure I could do something with the defective statues, so we agreed on a price and I arranged for delivery.



I seemed to have a knack for selling, because I had no difficulty finding buyers for the golden statues.  Word got out that the statues were loot from the Sundown Town golden rooms, and soon collectors were fighting over them.  I bought low, sold high, and soon had more money than I knew what to do with.

Donating money to charity made me feel good.



But there was a limit on charitable donations, and I wasn't sure the money ever got to the people who needed it.  One day I saw an old man dressed in rags rummaging in a garbage can in front of an expensive house, and I understood why my father felt the need to try to help others.



Diary Entry Ends

*Nameless' story is described in Mission Highly Unlikely (link in my signature).

[SadieHamming]

Another Schipperke story! I'm so happy I found this.
Great Start!
Your dog is so cute!
Also, I love the name Oliver!

[KimK972]

 I was grinning from ear to ear reading through these first few chapters - another story from Schipperke! I'm still smiling, as a matter of fact. Your stories are always so inventive, well told, and entertaining. Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us again!