Katzgate

[bluemoose 223]

awesome CJ here astronelson!!

[MCO1254 2]

I'm glad to see that you built the most important part of any region, the golf courses. Nice work so far.

[Schulmanator 5,787]

Sweet golf course!

I don't play but I would love to ride the cart everywhere... that'd be fun!

And a very nice pet hotel indeed. Perhaps the Bureau of Feline Affairs will set up a concierge desk in the lobby.

[Lyhoko Leaci 770]

quote>

 Mardon: Looks nice. Though, why are we doing the comments?

Cormani: Don't you usually have Brad and Brian do them?

Leech: You'll see...

 Mardon: Why does he have to do that? Uhh.. er.. apparently it's she right now... you know what I ment.

Cormani: I don't know.

Alexis: Rather annoyingly, both the McDonalds have been knocked down. However, the problem was tracked down to a typo in a copy of the destruction order given to the demolition crews, so McDonalds representatives have asked for another plot of land to build on. We granted this, but removed their monopoly by allowing Chick-Fil-A to build their own store just down the road.quote>

 Mardon: Oops?

Cormani: At least the people have a choice now.

Alexis: Some of the buildings and businesses, as well as the bus and rail systems, have been named after a few interested parties. The said businesses and buildings have erected signs to illustrate the fact.

quote>

 Mardon: The sign is blocking the right lane of the bridge...

quote>

Cormani: You have werewolves there?

On another topic, with the growing population has come demand for a Golf Course. We, that is, the City Council and I, agreed. Here it is:

quote>

 Mardon: It's bigger than the town...

Steve: Alexis, if you wouldn't mind, we would like to play golf. Not stand around while you monologue. Now, could you please tee up?quote>

Cormani: Yes, that could be annoying.

Steve chose a 4-iron. Aiming down the left-hand side, he carried the water and landed next to the tree near the green.

Sparky: Nice shot, Steve!quote>

 Mardon: Nice.

Cormani: Yes it is.

Steve: Something's been bugging me for a while. Although we've been friends for a long time, we know almost nothing about each other. We don't even know each other's birthdays.

Sparky: Well, I was born on the 12th of May, 1974.

Steve: 7th September, 1981 for me. Alexis, what about you?

Alexis, to this point, had looked slightly worried. Now she was somewhat distressed.quote>

 Mardon: Huh?

Alexis: Well, I was born on the 13th of November.

Steve: What year?

Alexis: You wouldn't believe me if I told you how old I am.quote>

Cormani: Why?

Sparky: Sure we would.

Alexis: Can't I just say I'm rather a lot older than Iook?quote>

 Mardon: We could say the same thing...

Sparky: 1837... That would make you over 170 years old!quote>

Cormani: Well, we're more than 170 years old.

 Mardon: Even if we were asleep for all but 30 something years of our lives...

Cormani: Dormant would probably be a better word.

Alexis: About... no, exactly 14,217 years old.quote>

 Mardon: Oi... I'm not quite that old...

Cormani: Yeah, you're only 4 millenia younger.

 Mardon: I don't remember you from the trip to the Milky Way at all, so you're probably not Nacran...

Cormani: You don't looks Ancaron either, but that doesn't mean much... So what are you?

 Mardon: I'm uh... 10,147 by the way.

Cormani: So I'm 10,150, assuming Mardon didn't mess up a date somewhere along the line.

 Mardon: Is this why Leech had us comment?

Cormani: Maybe.

[MTA3479 0]

Pretty cool, love your landscape!

[Follarch 326]

Hahaha, Alexis has alien friends who are "around" her age.

[jacqulina 162]

very nice work love the beaches

[astronelson 339]

I'm sorry I haven't updated for a couple of weeks, my computer had a virus, I downloaded the CAM, my garbage problems skyrocketed, etc.

Well, seeing as those problems have mostly been solved, it's time for

Zelgadis: Oh, I golf. I'm not very good, but I play a little. And the long diagonal road is distinctive, but can look odd at times.

Jaqulina: Thank you.

Chptrk: You have a choice. Abcvs, or a lot of werewolves. There's also a clinic near the golf course, but that's rather exclusive.

Korot: Alexis wasn't part of the group that originally went to America. She stayed in Europe, but she did visit America later. And no-one wondered because she just doesn't look that old.

Bluemoose: Thank you.

MCO1254: Yes, the most important area has been built. The rest is just detail, really.

Schulmanator: Thank you. I'll reserve a cart for you. The Bureau of Feline Affairs is welcome to set up a concierge desk.

Leech10: My first Mega Reply! Yay! I'll get to it in a minute.

MTA3479: Thank you.

Archean: "Around", yes.

Jacqulina: Thank you again.

Chapter 4

Something Old,  Something New

Steve's House, Cygnet's Landing, Katzgate

OK, fine. I should have used a higher zoom, and cropped out a lot more. His house is the bottom-left house in the centre.

So as to not arouse suspicion, the trio finished their game before heading to Steve's house.

Steve: 14,217 years old...

Alexis: Yes.

Steve: How?

Alexis: Well, you know at the end of DNA there are telomeres, and every time that DNA replicates, a little bit is cut off the end.

Steve: Yes...

Alexis: Well, part of my DNA codes for telomerase, which lengthens the telomeres, repairing them after each replication. I'm also slightly more resilient than average, and have an excellent immune system.

Steve: Would you mind if I ran some checks? It would only take a moment.

Alexis: Not at all.

Steve went away, and came back with a cotton swab and a small vial. A brisk wipe around Alexis' cheeks was all that was needed to collect a cell sample. Alexis and Sparky stood up, and followed Steve into his lab.

Steve: Now all we need to do is check the cells for telomerase.

Steve placed the cotton swab into his cell analyser. He pushed a few buttons, adjusted a couple of dials, and selected Telomerase from a drop-down menu on the screen. The machine emitted a low hum.

Steve: It should just take a couple of seconds... there!

A green light blinked on above the screen, and a line graph came up.

Steve: I don't believe it!

Sparky: What?

Steve looked over at Alexis.

Steve: According to this, Alexis is, in fact, 14,217 years old. But she has the telomeres of a 23-year old.

Sparky: So, she looks 23 but is in fact much older?

Alexis: Exactly, but I always thought I looked older than that.

Steve looked at his watch, and gave a small gasp.

Steve: I'm sorry, I've got to go. O'Haal's DJing at Kenny's, and I promised I'd be there.

Sparky: Kenny's? Isn't that the -

Steve: Yeah, it is. I'll see you later!

Steve ran off, leaving Sparky and Alexis alone.

Sparky: I would never have guessed it.

Alexis looked at Sparky, and gave a small grin.

Alexis: When you've known as many people as I have, Jessica, you get a knack for knowing. Come on, dinner's on me.

And here is the town, rapidly growing into a small city.

There's no prize for finding the Brown Box cleverly hidden in it... I should really get those dependencies.

Here is Kenny's, where Steve did, in fact, fulfil his promise of being there. That nightlighting's a treat, eh?

And here is the Radio Antenna, because the update isn't quite finished yet. The title is Something Old, Something New. We've had something old, now it's time for something new.

Alexis and Sparky sat in the car in the McDonald's Drive-Through.

Alexis: And that's how Great Britain became such a powerful emp-

Alexis' phone rang. She gave a glance at the screen, and gasped. Pressing the green accept call button, she put the phone to her ear.

Alexis: You've found something?

There was some indistinct excited chatter. Sparky looked over at Alexis.

Alexis: That's great! Go on plan Reach, I repeat, go on plan Reach.

Alexis put down the phone.

Sparky: What was that all about?

Alexis: That was the radio telescope. They've found something.

 

[astronelson 339]

In retrospect, I probably should deal with the Mega Replies first. Oh well.

Originally posted by: Leech10

quote>

 Mardon: Looks nice. Though, why are we doing the comments?

Cormani: Don't you usually have Brad and Brian do them?

Leech: You'll see...quote>

Yes, I was wondering about that too.

 Mardon: Why does he have to do that? Uhh.. er.. apparently it's she right now... you know what I ment.

Cormani: I don't know.

Alexis: Rather annoyingly, both the McDonalds have been knocked down. However, the problem was tracked down to a typo in a copy of the destruction order given to the demolition crews, so McDonalds representatives have asked for another plot of land to build on. We granted this, but removed their monopoly by allowing Chick-Fil-A to build their own store just down the road.quote>

 Mardon: Oops?

Cormani: At least the people have a choice now.quote>

Yes, just having McDonalds can become a little tedious.

Alexis: Some of the buildings and businesses, as well as the bus and rail systems, have been named after a few interested parties. The said businesses and buildings have erected signs to illustrate the fact.

quote>

 Mardon: The sign is blocking the right lane of the bridge...quote>

I didn't notice that. They'll just have to swerve out of the way, won't they?

quote>

Cormani: You have werewolves there?quote>

Well, lycanthropy isn't necessarily actual werewolves, and there haven't been any actual cases endemic to the region as of yet. However, that doesn't stop us researching.

On another topic, with the growing population has come demand for a Golf Course. We, that is, the City Council and I, agreed. Here it is:

quote>

 Mardon: It's bigger than the town...quote>

It's bigger than that section of the town, yes, but not the entire town.

Steve: Alexis, if you wouldn't mind, we would like to play golf. Not stand around while you monologue. Now, could you please tee up?quote>

Cormani: Yes, that could be annoying.quote>

A little, especially as they can't see us... yet.

Steve chose a 4-iron. Aiming down the left-hand side, he carried the water and landed next to the tree near the green.

Sparky: Nice shot, Steve!quote>

 Mardon: Nice.

Cormani: Yes it is.quote>

He practices often. He lives nearby.

Steve: Something's been bugging me for a while. Although we've been friends for a long time, we know almost nothing about each other. We don't even know each other's birthdays.

Sparky: Well, I was born on the 12th of May, 1974.

Steve: 7th September, 1981 for me. Alexis, what about you?

Alexis, to this point, had looked slightly worried. Now she was somewhat distressed.quote>

 Mardon: Huh?quote>

All will become clear...

Alexis: Well, I was born on the 13th of November.

Steve: What year?

Alexis: You wouldn't believe me if I told you how old I am.quote>

Cormani: Why?quote>

Well, her age is just a little outside the normal range.

Sparky: Sure we would.

Alexis: Can't I just say I'm rather a lot older than Iook?quote>

 Mardon: We could say the same thing...quote>

Everyone would like to be older than they look. Only a few people actually are.

Sparky: 1837... That would make you over 170 years old!quote>

Cormani: Well, we're more than 170 years old.

 Mardon: Even if we were asleep for all but 30 something years of our lives...

Cormani: Dormant would probably be a better word.quote>

Dormant, asleep, unconscious, all perfectly good words for what is effectively the same thing.

Alexis: About... no, exactly 14,217 years old.quote>

 Mardon: Oi... I'm not quite that old...

Cormani: Yeah, you're only 4 millenia younger.

 Mardon: I don't remember you from the trip to the Milky Way at all, so you're probably not Nacran...quote>

Oh, she isn't Nacran.

Cormani: You don't looks Ancaron either, but that doesn't mean much... So what are you?quote>

She's not Ancaron either. She's a human variant. More will be revealed... eventually.

 Mardon: I'm uh... 10,147 by the way.

Cormani: So I'm 10,150, assuming Mardon didn't mess up a date somewhere along the line.

 Mardon: Is this why Leech had us comment?

Cormani: Maybe.

quote>

I would think so.

Wait, does this mean I've come up with a number more impossible than Leech? Wow.

[Korot 6]

Let's see if I'm able to do mega replies as well.

Originally posted by: astronelson

Steve's House, Cygnet's Landing, Katzgate

OK, fine. I should have used a higher zoom, and cropped out a lot more. His house is the bottom-left house in the centre.

That doesn't help much, I assume it is the one with the swimming pool?

So as to not arouse suspicion, the trio finished their game before heading to Steve's house.

(snap)

Alexis: Well, you know at the end of DNA there are telomeres, and every time that DNA replicates, a little bit is cut off the end.

Steve: Yes...

Alexis: Well, part of my DNA codes for telomerase, which lengthens the telomeres, repairing them after each replication. I'm also slightly more resilient than average, and have an excellent immune system.

I was told of the existence of telomerase, but also that it only extends your life for a certain time, not give you immortal life.

Steve: Would you mind if I ran some checks? It would only take a moment.

Alexis: Not at all.

Steve went away, and came back with a cotton swab and a small vial. A brisk wipe around Alexis' cheeks was all that was needed to collect a cell sample. Alexis and Sparky stood up, and followed Steve into his lab.

Steve: Now all we need to do is check the cells for telomerase.

Steve placed the cotton swab into his cell analyser. He pushed a few buttons, adjusted a couple of dials, and selected Telomerase from a drop-down menu on the screen. The machine emitted a low hum.

Steve: It should just take a couple of seconds... there!

A green light blinked on above the screen, and a line graph came up.

Steve: I don't believe it!

Sparky: What?

Steve looked over at Alexis.

Steve: According to this, Alexis is, in fact, 14,217 years old. But she has the telomeres of a 23-year old.

Sparky: So, she looks 23 but is in fact much older?

Alexis: Exactly, but I always thought I looked older than that.

I didn't know that DNA tells you someone's age, especially as that is generally measured by the length of the telomeres.

Steve looked at his watch, and gave a small gasp.

Steve: I'm sorry, I've got to go. O'Haal's DJing at Kenny's, and I promised I'd be there.

Sparky: Kenny's? Isn't that the -

- gay bar? I guess so. To whom did he actually promise it?

And here is the town, rapidly growing into a small city.

There's no prize for finding the Brown Box cleverly hidden in it... I should really get those dependencies.

There should be, at this zoom level, it is pretty dificult to detect a brown box.

Here is Kenny's, where Steve did, in fact, fulfil his promise of being there. That nightlighting's a treat, eh?

It is that building with those different coloured windows? And none of the neighbours complains about the noise of having a disco right next door?

And here is the Radio Antenna, because the update isn't quite finished yet. The title is Something Old, Something New. We've had something old, now it's time for something new.

Alexis and Sparky sat in the car in the McDonald's Drive-Through.

Alexis: And that's how Great Britain became such a powerful emp-

Alexis' phone rang. She gave a glance at the screen, and gasped. Pressing the green accept call button, she put the phone to her ear.

Alexis: You've found something?

There was some indistinct excited chatter. Sparky looked over at Alexis.

Alexis: That's great! Go on plan Reach, I repeat, go on plan Reach.

Alexis put down the phone.

Sparky: What was that all about?

Alexis: That was the radio telescope. They've found something.

 

Extraterrestial life? I though that such a thing would only be known once the data has been computized, which isn't done at the antena, but done by distributed computing, aka BOINC. Still, it would be pretty big news.

Regards,

Korot

[b22rian 153]

Nice Cj here...

Excellent use of signs and descripions...

Brian

[Chptrk 86]

I must say, I actually understood the science! I feel so smart! Very interesting story you have here, Antenna picks something up, more about Alexis is learned. Maybe it's because of her age she became the leader? I wonder if Steve is meeting "a man with a good vocabulary"? I remember things.

As for the clinic discussion, I think I might go with the werewolves. At least the ones in chat are nice.

[jacqulina 162]

excellent work my friend,great dialogue too

[ironicepitome 0]

very nice! btw, have they found anything yet?

[Zelgadis 638]

Something old: Alexis

Something new: The city

That right?

Say... Has she changed her name at some point? I doubt anyone was going by the name "Alexis" 14,000 years ago.

Seems Steve has a party side.

Wonder if we'll be learning anything interesting about Sparky.

ISF

[Lyhoko Leaci 770]

Cormani: Hey, a story!

Mardon: Nice!

Leech: Please note the creation of an alternate timeline... this Mardon and Cormani isn't the ones that commented earlier...

OK, fine. I should have used a higher zoom, and cropped out a lot more. His house is the bottom-left house in the centre.quote>

Mardon: The one with no trees in the yard?

Steve: 14,217 years old...quote>

Cormani: 14,217?

Mardon: I'm only 10,130!

Cormani: 14 thousand, 10 thousand, what's the difference?

Mardon: Just a span of time longer than any single Earth based civilization has lasted...

Alexis: Well, you know at the end of DNA there are telomeres, and every time that DNA replicates, a little bit is cut off the end.

Steve: Yes...

Alexis: Well, part of my DNA codes for telomerase, which lengthens the telomeres, repairing them after each replication. I'm also slightly more resilient than average, and have an excellent immune system.quote>

Cormani: We're made of self repairing artificial cells that are very resilient.

Mardon: Not to mention they can easily specialize, and change change specializations within seconds, unlike human cells.

Steve: Now all we need to do is check the cells for telomerase.

Steve placed the cotton swab into his cell analyser. He pushed a few buttons, adjusted a couple of dials, and selected Telomerase from a drop-down menu on the screen. The machine emitted a low hum.quote>

Cormani: I wonder what the machine would find if someone put nacran cells in it...

Steve: I don't believe it!

Sparky: What?quote>

Mardon: What?

Steve: According to this, Alexis is, in fact, 14,217 years old. But she has the telomeres of a 23-year old.quote>

Cormani: You have machines that tell you how old you are?

Steve: I'm sorry, I've got to go. O'Haal's DJing at Kenny's, and I promised I'd be there.

Sparky: Kenny's? Isn't that the -

Steve: Yeah, it is. I'll see you later!quote>

Mardon: You're no fun. You didn't let me hear what it was!

There's no prize for finding the Brown Box cleverly hidden in it... I should really get those dependencies.quote>

Cormani: Is that it, over there on one of the piers on the left side of the screen?

Alexis and Sparky sat in the car in the McDonald's Drive-Through.

Alexis: And that's how Great Britain became such a powerful emp-

Alexis' phone rang.quote>

Mardon: Don't you have when that happens?

She gave a glance at the screen, and gasped. Pressing the green accept call button, she put the phone to her ear.

Alexis: You've found something?

There was some indistinct excited chatter. Sparky looked over at Alexis.

Alexis: That's great! Go on plan Reach, I repeat, go on plan Reach.quote>

Cormani: Okay? I don't know what the "plan Reach" is.

Mardon: Nor do I.

Cormnai: Care to tell me?

Alexis: That was the radio telescope. They've found something.quote>

Mardon: What?

Cormani: It can't be us... the ship is phase cloaked, and we aren't transmitting any radio waves...

Mardon: But we're not picking up anything, either.

[DCMetro34 576]

Awesome start! the region was great, and so is your latest update. Very unique!

[FloM. 1]

I like your CJ, very interesting town. I especially like the way how detailed your town looks - good job!

[astronelson 339]

Apologies.

Due to computer troubles, this CJ is now on hold. However, I conveniently backed up my SC4 files after the previous update, so, when the computer is repaired, I should be able to continue with it. Thank you for reading and commenting on Katzgate, and I hope to resolve these issues as soon as possible.

[Schulmanator 5,787]

Whew! Thank goodness for backups. I will be back when you press "play" again...

[Chptrk 86]

Good thing you had a backup!

I was wondering why I haven't seen you around lately, good to know you'll be back.

I'll be waiting...

[Zelgadis 638]

Good for backups indeed. Until I started reading CJ's, I was quite unaware as to how many people actually don't back up their stuff. And here's me who won't buy a computer with less than two hard drives just in case...

ISF

[Patricius Maximus 236]

Originally posted by: astronelson

Due to computer troubles, this CJ is now on hold. However, I conveniently backed up my SC4 files after the previous update, so, when the computer is repaired, I should be able to continue with it.quote>

Congratulations. You are one of the few people I have seen create a CJ and have sense enough to back it up externally. I hope your computer can be repaired as soon as possible, and that reminds me -- time to perform another backup of my cities....

[Lyhoko Leaci 770]

Pesky computer problems... good thing you had a backup.

Speaking of backups, I just started a new system that should be a lot quicker than my previous manual backups, after the long initial backup... (which is currently bogged down in my 1.8 GB plugins folder...)