A Shrouded Legacy

[confused04 14]

I've been SO inspired by other peoples wonderful stories which include, but certainly are not limited to Crystal City and The Presence of Being (plus a few others that were unfortunately discontinued).

So, without further delays...

A Shrouded Legacy

 A CJ by Confused04

An early spring heat wave wasn’t particularly something Ynnek enjoyed while dead heading his father’s rose garden.  The job wouldn’t have been nearly as bad had Ynnek actually found these roses beautiful.  But the cold calculation of this small plantation had robbed any aesthetic value.  Simple clean rows with evenly spaced bushes gave the field of roses an inorganic look. These were mere commodities soon to be found in bouquets around the country of Rumeria, particularly in its majestic capital of Rellim City.  Each rose had its destiny, most likely a mother’s day gift at this time of year.  These roses did fetch a good price, but the farm just doesn’t seem right with this patch of roses.  Most of his father’s acreage was still wheat, corn or soy depending on the rotation.  But these roses fetched them an extra profit.

Ynnek wasn’t terribly keen on being a farmhand, never the less his father’s only.  Working several hundred acres was tiring, even with machinery.  At the age of eighteen, Ynnek should have been wooing young ladies at the University of Rellim.  Instead he was taking care of roses for some other guy to woo the girl he never had a chance with.  Best not to think of that Ynnek regularly repeated.  He longed to see the polished stone of the Capital, the glass facades of the Fountain District, and the nightlife of Micklegate Row.  But his father couldn’t bear to pay the price of college tuition.  Even with loans, Ynnek and his father just couldn’t pay two separate living expenses.  For now, Ynnek was stuck in the small town of Heslington.

(The Farmhouse)

His father, Brandon, overshadowed Ynnek as he continued to delicately remove unsightly leaves and dead flowers.

I’ve been watching you from the porch.  Go any slower and I can possibly train the dog to do the job for you”

He chuckles “At least it’s not me doing the job.  Why don’t you work in this heat?”

“You know I’m getting too old for this, I can’t keep bending over and kneeling, it hurts my back”

“The same way dishes hurt your back”

“No, I just hate doing dishes.  Look, I know this isn’t what you really want to be doing, but I don’t have much of a choice.”

“Sure you do, don’t plant roses.”

“Crop prices just aren’t hot lately, it takes four acres of wheat to make the same amount of money one acre did just five years ago.  Bill’s offered to give me a free consultation in turning this place around”

Bill was a friend of Brandon, an agriculture consultant.  He managed to make his millions consulting major corporations in the county.  Ironically, Brandon was in desperate need of help because these corporations used Bill’s advice to drive prices down even lower.  But Brandon was willing to look past this, he just wanted to farm.

“I honestly, Dad, don’t care.  I don’t want to be farming.  Why can’t we just sell the land, make a pretty profit and move to the outskirts of Rellim?”

“Unless you can fetch enough money for a house and the property fees that the city and county steal, the answer is no.  This land in Heslington isn’t worth that much anyway, at best we can get a studio apartment overlooking the treatment plants and rent will screw us over anyway.  I’ve already thought about this and there’s not much ya can do about it.”

“Just let me go to college and I’ll perhaps be able to get a job and afford a place and if we…”

“How naïve can you be!?! You think you’ll just walk out with a diploma to be greeted by six figure checks? No, definitely not in four years. You’ll be lucky to break the 40,000 simolean barrier.  Your mother went that route and it wasn’t worth it for her.”

“You’re calling me naïve, who’s planting a bunch of roses for a living? Who has a house that’s falling apart? Who is unwilling to accept that family owned farms are done with in this country?!?”  Ynnek’s voice rang true with his father, but farming was Brandon’s life.  He wouldn’t be happy in Rellim, ever.  His outburst was soon met with an immediate apology. “Sorry, Dad, I… I’m just ready to go for it on my own.  I understand that this is what you like, but its not for me. “

Brandon tried to reply diplomatically.  “Its okay, but no matter how much I wish that you could go to college, I just can’t afford to have no help on the farm.  Next year if Bill’s advice w…”

His composure melted yet again “Next year, I’ve seen this cycle before.  There will always be a next year and it’ll never become this year.  Look, I’m going to Harry’s, I’ll be back with that jug of milk you need, I can’t stand this heat anymore.” Ynnek threw down what he was doing and jumped into his pickup.  He was irate and couldn’t be bothered to say goodbye to his father.  He knew that anymore talk about delaying his start at college would not end well.  He wanted to cool off, both figuratively and literally.

As his son drove away, Brandon was able to scream one last thing…

“Since when did we need milk!?!”

Main Street

Harry's Diner

Ynnek sat down for dinner with a greasy burger and a watery milkshake at hand.   Harry’s Diner acted as several stops for the town.  They provided a good cheap meal, that often consisted of the greasiest food around.  The diner also acted as a corner store, selling odds and ends.  The final component of the store was a small hardware section where farmers could pick up that particular sized nut and bolt.  Hard times had hit everyone in town, well at least those who bothered to stay even at the first signs of trouble.  After scarfing down a quick bite to eat, Ynnek proceeded to pay for a jug of milk at the cashier.  Behind him someone spoke.  His voice hoarse with years of tobacco use and his breath certainly confirmed it.

“Do you know Dr. Wallace?”

Ynnek promptly answered no.  He still had this feeling that whoever asked the question was still staring at him.  He turned to look, but the gentleman was already out the door as the welcome bell rang…

[Krio 626]

I'm so confused at 3:47 am. But but, I'll read the story after I wake up. Nice little village, but download some custom content. And isn't dr. Wallace also in Half Life 2?

[football_fever 6]

Inspired by me? Awe shucks. It's cool to see the Sims 2 in another CJ. The games fit really well together. I think it gives a story CJ a more visual element as well.

Great start, my friend. I can't wait to see the "polished stone of the Capital, the glass facades of the Fountain District, and the nightlife of Micklegate Row"

[daniel01 0]

nice start with the Sims there

keep up the good work

daniel01

[HabLeUrG 32]

excellent work!

[jacqulina 162]

oh great wait there lol got to make a coffee first while i read........................long pause .....right here i am ready.great start to your cj,excellent story im glad they made a profit from the roses it is hard work on farms,i love the farms very pretty great sims action there and dialogue,wonderfull work and pics my friend.

[hamsterTK 93]

So our guy is stuck...hopefully that wont be the case too much longer. I'm definetely going to watch where this goes

Its great everyone making story cj's. I need to work on mine but RLS keeps kicking me in the balls

[Man-kk 0]

Great CJ mate love it. Very nice story can't wait to see more! I'll pop into harrys diner later. ^^

Welldone

Mankk

[homeandaway 1]

GREAT!, cant wait to see more of this entertaining CJ!.

Take care

~AleX~

[MrCinatit 30]

Great, great start, confused - I like the marriage of The Sims and SimCity 4, very nicely done.

And already we have a character we like in Ynnek, and a little bit of mystery. Hmmmm. What of this Dr. Wallace.

Keep up the great work.

[Voulpiotis 4]

Excellent!

[confused04 14]

Replies: Update 2

Thanks for all the wonderful comments. Just to give you a heads up, I am looking to update tonight.  I hope to include some "history" and perhaps even introduce a certain someone . 

Krio: Thanks, I intend to include custom BATs.  I was thinking of going "non-descript little town" and no better way than to use SC4 buildings.  I can't create Rellim City as I envision it without custom BATS .

football_fever: I can't wait to start showing off Rellim.  A lot of the names and locales are Minneapolis and York, England inspired so I'll get my wish of blending aspects of the two. Don't be bashful, I check daily to see if Crystal City is updated

daniel01: Thanks, mixing the Sims 2 and SC4 gives a nice mix to tell a story that has characters. 

HabLeUrg: Thanks, apperciate it

jacqulina: Thanks for stopping by.  Yea, I worked on a farm down in Pocklington, England for a few weeks and they were telling me how hard it was.  Like how wool sells for less than it takes to pay for a professional sheep shearer.  How planting trees is more profitable than planting food.  They've cut there staff from 15 to 2 for over a thousand acres! Farming is hard work.

hamsterTK: Yea, he's unfortunate. I've gonna based it on friends who've struggled to leave their hometown cause at that age, you really do want independence and I was lucky to get that with a lot of eagerness from my father. When he dropped me off at college, he basically said "You got everything, good, I'm not staying, keep in touch... CYA!" and drove off RLS has taken its toll on me as well.

Man-kk: Thanks, the visual I had in my head was actually based of a Fish and Chips stop that I like (although they only dealt with Fish and chips).  I made it a combined store/diner to show how things weren't going too well in Heslington.

homeandaway: Thanks, hopefully tonight you'll see more.

MrCinatit: Yea, the mystery gets a bit thicker after this. The title of the story is quite difficult to tie into the story without knowing  few key details. Dr. Wallace is a character that I like immensely and I can't wait to show you (Tonight!).

Voulpiotis: Thanks! Come back any time

Unfortunately (for you guys anyway ) I'm on vacation starting tomorrow to Paris, Munich, Vienna, Rome, Nice, Beziers, and Barcelona for 12 days.  I won't be able to update, but I will be writing the story as I go along.  Hopefully when I get back, I can update.  Thanks for tuning in!

Edit: Well, due to some issues with certain mods... I have to delay the update... I sincerely apologize.  But all I have are text and half my character pics so it would make for a lackluster update.  Its filled with necessary background story that involves a bit of genetics, cell biology, and Rumerian historical context.  For those who aren't into science or hearing about the mythology of Rumeria, than having no pictures would make it fairly "half-done" update for ya and I don't want that.  So, in short, it'll be about two weeks before I can come back and Update this. It bums me out, but I have to pack...

[Schulmanator 5,812]

[jacqulina 162]

hi my friend yes farming is hard work and not much money to be made in it,i hope you sort out your probs and im looking forward to your next update

[confused04 14]

Shrouded Legacy

Update 2

Ynnek returned from the store, still focused on the odd encounter at Harry’s. The sun’s brutal rays gave way for the oncoming night as the sun set.   The familiar sputter of the old pick up had awoken Rohen, his faithful companion.  There she was, wagging her tail and begging for a few minutes of attention as he came out of the driver’s seat.  A few strokes through her thick mane brought her joy.  Ynnek had other things to do and continued towards the kitchen.

“I’m back”

“I figured it wouldn’t be long, I heard your pick up when it was leaving Main Street.”

“While I was at Harry’s, someone asked me if they knew a Dr. Wallace. Is he one of your doctors? “

“No, not at all, never heard the name.” He said immediately.

“Do you think he’s the owner of the clinic in New Westinshire?”

“I wouldn’t know. It’s probably someone looking for family.”

“There’s only fifty people in this town, and perhaps two hundred in New Westinshire, we know everyone.  I’ve never heard of Dr. Wallace“

“I don’t really have time to think about someone looking for Dr. Wallace. It’s some out of towner looking in the wrong town, simple.”

Ynnek couldn’t really disagree with his reasoning.  Despite his father’s logic, he still couldn’t let it go.  Something about the man at Harry’s seemed out of place.  If there indeed was  a new doctor in town, it would have caused an exciting stir. But, not even a whisper of this had occurred. 

Before he could dive into his late night dinner, Ynnek had a few chores to finish in the barn, none of which were too difficult.  It beat working in the field all day beneath the sun’s rays.  At this point, his stomach cried out for a meal.  He returned to smell a familiar aroma as he closed the door behind him. Brandon had just finished cooking Ynnek’s favorite meal.  A perfectly roasted leg of lamb, complete with roast potatoes and green bean casserole.  Instantly, Ynnek recognized it as the “I’m sorry for how everything has turned out” meal.

“Here you go, enjoy.” He said in a clear yet simple tone, gently resting the plate in front of Ynnek.

In a way, Ynnek felt bad for having this meal.  It wasn’t his father’s fault for everything, it was just the luck of the draw and his sudden departure from the rose plantation certainly wasn’t the most mature of actions.  But, the fact that there was lamb in front of him didn’t really make him think terribly long. The meal was mostly silent, but it was punctuated by brief bouts of chit chat which covered mostly sports, but the occasional joke was tossed about. 

“Thanks Dad”

“I’ve got a big surprise for you…”

Ynnek was baffled.  He thought to himself ‘Wasn’t the meal the surprise?’   A few anxious seconds passed as his father walked over to the computer and shuffled a few papers around.  He palmed what looked like a small piece of paper, obstructing Ynnek’s view.  Smiling, his father presented Ynnek with an online rail reservation.  Without hesitation, Ynnek grabbed the paper and read the destination… Rellim City – Northern Moors Station. 

“Dad, I’m… I’m a bit confused.  You won’t let me go to the University of Rellim but you’ll send me up there for no reason?”

“’No reason’ wouldn’t exactly be true.  I was talking to an old friend and he says he has a job that will both pay you and in exchange for your labor, he’ll send me some back.  I’d figure that this is the best I can do.  You might not be at the college, but it’s a start. 

“Why is he giving you money for sending me?”

“He’s paying you below the living wage, but you don’t have to pay for housing as he’ll give you a spare room at his place.  It’ll give you plenty to eat and enjoy yourself.  The money he’ll send back would just be money that isn’t being used for housing.  He’s doing both of us a huge favor.”

“You need me for the summer, though.  I know you’re doing me a favor, but I also know you can’t work this place without me.  Rohen might be smart, but she still lacks an opposable thumb.”

“Well, I can figure a way around your absence; the local kids always want a few extra bucks and I can always pull that from the grocery bill,” referring to Ynnek’s ferocious appetite. 

“I guess you got things worked out.  What will I be doing?”

“He said something about painting and renovation work. He says demand for fixing up abandon houses in some of the areas that got bombed during the Third Bermian War.”

“Haven’t those places been abandoned for almost two decades?”

“Eighteen years to be more precise… the war ended shortly after you were born.  The housing market had been in a decline as many people no longer trusted living in the cities.  Now that the tide has turned and more people want to leave the countryside for city-livin’, demand for these places is absurdly high.”

“Job doesn’t sound too bad and as long as I’m in the City, I’ll be fine.  Thanks Dad.”

“Don’t thank me, thank Wes Vaun.  He’ll be the one looking after you.”

Brandon lectured Ynnek as he packed to catch the train.  Mostly about respecting Wes and minding his manners.  With little success, Brandon tried recalling areas of Rellim that Ynnek might find interesting, but his son had tuned him out long ago during his manners bit.

> >

18 Years Ago- The Height of the Third Bermian War

Rellim Biowarefare Agency - Grand Mountains

The hum of the laboratory wasn’t audible to Dr. Wallace anymore.  A slow work week would have been another man’s full time.  Beside him was one of his eager assistants, just out of college, ready to test four years of education.  Periodically the building shook as errant shells pummeled the mountains.  Nothing would concern them as they were deep below ground in a secret government complex designed for the Rellim BioWarfare Agency. 

Only about a hundred miles separated them and the front lines, not far saying the original border was over nine hundred miles away. The installation was hidden deep within the Grand Mountains, south of the Capitol.  Rellim City had fallen under siege from three sides and was constantly bombarded by the Bermians.  It was unlikely the city would have fallen, but there was a sense of urgency.   The First and Second Bermian Wars didn’t see Bermians past the borders of the contested Meriva Province.  Now they had come knocking on the doors of Congress demanding Rumerian unconditional surrender. 

Dr. Wallace could hear the bomb sirens wail again, but only faintly deep within the complex.  He returned to the computers which were nearly finishing analyzing the results of a recent test.

“At the rate they’re going, we might have to evacuate this place soon.  It’s only a matter of time before Bermian soldiers ransack this place,” he said nonchalantly.  He wasn’t terribly scared since the government had placed them under strong protection from several elite units.

“The last reports I’ve heard said the front lines are being held.  We should start pushing them back soon, it just took us far too long to mobilize our army and conduct the draft.  With their standing army being as large as it was, they were ready to mow through the countryside quite quickly.  We won’t be losing any more ground.”

“Good, Bermian worms should go back to their country. We weren’t the ones making absurd claims for Meriva.”

“To be fair, we did agree to cede cities predominately inhabited by Bermians, which we’ve still yet to do.  That was a condition of the treaty ending the Second Bermian War.”

“Terrorizing ethnic Rumerians out so as to make these cities mostly Bermian doesn’t count.  They for sure were involved in those bombings that ripped through Rumerian churches and neighborhoods.  Don’t make them sound like the innocent ones Dr. Wallace."

One of the Meriva bombings that terrorized ethnic Rumerian cities.

 

“You’re right, both countries are at fault. It’s just not as simple as it seems.  I still contend that we were the aggressors.  We built the Cedric Dam to control the Cedric River.  We gave them nothing more than a trickle before it reached their half of the Cedricdale. Four million people depended on that water, now less than a million remain.

“Bermia has plenty of water to use. If they don’t want to use their money for building their infrastructure, that’s their problem.  The Cedric supplied the water for the western half of our country where most of our food is produced.  Once the Westfold Aquifer dried up, we had no choice.”

“So you really can’t blame them for anything, we took their water and they wanted some of their land, which again, some of it was legitimate complaints.”

“The Bermians could live without the Cedric, they could live without their settlements… we can’t live without water for food, and we can’t live when we’re being bombed! Clearly we are in the right.”

“You speak of living, we did things to live and now we are dying for those things. Not much of an improvement.”

“Never really thought of it that way. I still hate Bermians…”

 

The Cedric and the Cedricdale before the construction of the dual dams.

The new Cedric Reservoir and the Cedric Dual Dam Complex

What remained for the Bermians.

A window popped up on the computer screen.  The analysis had been finished. 

“Success!!” he yelled.  Months of work had finally finished.  Thrilled that he had finally created a gene for the protein to combat the deadly Shearer’s Virus IV, he sat down in his lab chair in satisfaction.  It wasn’t long before that smug feeling faded and he realized the implications.  He knew that once this protein was sent to the Genetics lab, they would work on a gene for the production of the SV IV vaccine gene.

The concept was simple; a plasmid would be created but tagged with a marker that human cells would recognize as an important macromolecule necessary for cell maintenance. This would bring vital genes that could be transcribed by polymerases in the host human cells creating proteins necessary for the destruction of viral protein coats that will be used later as a substrate for another enzyme coded in the same plasmid.  These protein coats are necessary for the proliferation of the virus into other cells.  Without it, the viral DNA is stuck within this cell.  However, to dispose of the viral genome, the infected cell must be destroyed.  This is accomplished by using the products of the now defunct viral protein coats as a substrate for an intercellular membrane protein.  This will induce a conformational change in the protein changing the surface of the membrane to make the cell appear foreign.  At this point, the immune system will recognize the cell as foreign and destroy it, allowing none of the viral genome to replicate and destroy more cells.  Dr. Wallace had just finished creating the transmembrane protein and the analysis had shown success in creating the conformational change as well as complete destruction by components of the human immune system.>>

>>What had disturbed Dr. Wallace was that this vaccine wasn’t in the interest of stopping the spread of SV IV; it was to release SV IV. Without this vaccine, the release of SV IV by the Rumerian government, a particularly fast replicator, would come back and kill millions back in Rumeria.  The intent was to use SV IV against Bermia and end this war quickly, but without having to fear the virus crossing the border into Rumerian territory. With this breakthrough, even if the virus came into Rumeria, it would do no harm.

Dr. Wallace was interested in his work as it was indeed interesting and could have implications in stopping other viruses.  But he knew that his superiors could care less about the “grand scheme of things”.  Many claim science is cold and immoral, and today Dr. Wallace felt the same. What he deemed a success was a failure for humans in general.  The death of millions of Bermians would negate any pride he had.

“How would you feel if I said that we needed to destroy this ?”

“Dr. Wallace, is this theoretical or do you really mean it?” The look on Dr. Wallace’s stern face answered it for him. He was a bit puzzled. “You mean you are going to sacrifice this country!?!  You aren’t making much sense here.  I thought you were the bright one.”

“I’m not going to ‘save’ my country by killing millions of Bermians and who knows how far outside the border it might spread after that.  You realize that we would be dooming hundreds of millions of people. I can’t have this on my shoulders and despite how much you hate Bermians, I know you can’t either.”

“But,… what about Rumeria, you’re dooming her and her citizens.”

“As I’ve said before, we should be pushing them back next week. I’d rather sacrifice several hundred thousand soldiers of my own country then to kill hundreds of millions elsewhere.”

The assistant sat for a few minutes.  Dr. Wallace knew if he couldn’t convince his assistant, then he would be turned in, tried for high treason, and summarily executed.  The assistant leaned forward placing his elbows on the terminal as he cupped his hands and placed them against his forehead. Tense moments passed, but Dr. Wallace’s arguments prevailed as his assistant agreed.

“I agree. I’ll help you under one condition… We don’t destroy the SV IV vaccine gene.”

“What do you mean? That’s not helping at all!”

“We merely hide it. Look, we don’t have control of the virus and as long as this virus exists, this vaccine will be needed. SV IV was manufactured, but only by simply changing SV III.  The virus is only a mutation away from killing us all anyway.  We will need this vaccine genuinely.  You know what happened in the flu outbreak sixty years ago, it’s the same way.  They knew about the virus, but they didn’t know that it could mutate into a supervirus.  Now we have a chance to prevent this, but without using the virus as a weapon.”

“Hiding it does seem good, but we can’t leave this facility with it. We’re gonna be searched before we walk out of this complex.”

“Dr. Wallace, have you heard of cell fate determination?”

“Yes… but I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan.”

 

 

FINALLY!

Sorry for the delay, but Update 2 is up! Enjoy!

[jacqulina 162]

interesting story my friend fantastic work and pics great dialogue too

[Schulmanator 5,812]

Cool! The story is looking good.

[football_fever 6]

Bout time! jk...this must mean you're done with finals?

I think some SC4 pics were missing. The places were marked, but no pictures were there

[homeandaway 1]

great storyline, cant wait to see more of your work my friend, be safe and take care

~alex~

[hamsterTK 93]

uh oh...

this kind of reminds me of resident evil lol. Hopefully it would turn people into zombies

anyways, I suppose this guy sees himself as a noble realpolitik, people like that are dangerous. How long till he steals this stuff and spreads it around without anyone knowng?

[Darth Krow 0]

its resident evil all over again RUN lol its good so far cant wait to see more

[homeandaway 1]

cant wait to see more my friend, be safe

~alex~