The second year of the Simbia Project saw many interesting developments, most notable perhaps being the construction of windmills and a power grid available to the residents for an additional bill. The Grand Llama had been skeptic at first, but was convinced by his Councill of Ellders that access to proper entertainment is a key factor to living a long natural life. In addition, television and limited internet access would be superb ways to further inform the colonists of their leader's great deeds.
It might seem strange that only a year had passed when the founding generation turned grey, but as to be expected of a nation with near-immortal leaders, the SimVanian calendar is calculated a bit differently from most.
While the business sector had recently begun to flourish, the island's disease did not let itself be forgotten. Peter Lawless was just about to have a conference call with an arcade game vendor from SimVania when he choked up and perished.
His mother Tiffany did not take the news well and followed her son shortly thereafter.
Poor Bobby was a witness on both occasions, and could barely sleep in his own bed until his teen birthday.
Unfortunately he wasn't the only child distraught by the death of a brother. It took a long time for Kyle to smile again after Johnny's sudden passing.
While Randy mourned the loss of both his son and his youth, Kelly took it upon herself to expand the family business. It had recently been discovered that the local sealife had not suffered as much as previously thought, and she soon turned that discovery into cold, hard profit.
Kelly also managed to expand the store's market to more luxurious items. Seriously, did none of the guards at the off-shore center think to check whether their prisoners still had heist money on them?
What she had in business sense, Kelly unfortunately lacked in love. Randy still refused to make her his official spouse, even though she was now pregnant with his child.
His marriage to Samantha had never been mono-amorous, but he still couldn't bring himself to call anyone else his wife.
Although it would only be a matter of time before he had to: it was his child after all, and it would make everything so much easier for the little bastard to not be counted a bastard.
Theresa soon became old enough to teach herself the tricks of the grocery trade and ambitiously began drawing up building plans and budget sheets for even more retail stores.
Kyle did not grow up as pragmatic, his head still in the grey clouds from the day he lost his brother. He grew restless, blaming everyone and everything for Johnny's death, and began fantasizing of a coup against the authorities guarding the island.
Once he lost his head to that dream, Kelly was the only one strong enough to pull him back down to earth. Yet, she was the only thing besides revenge that made him soar...
If his father wouldn't make an honest woman out of her, maybe one day...?
---
After the tragedies of his childhood, Bobby learned to live life one step at a time, giving up dreams and ambitions for mundane, but achievable goals. Paint-by-number artistry, eating 200 grilled cheese sandwiches; it didn't matter what the goal was, as long as it kept his mind occupied.
With Tiffany's craftsmanship no longer around, Lawrence decided to turn their trinkets-and-gadgets shop into a sandwich-deli-slash-art gallery.
Much as he disliked having to share his recipe outside of the family, their concept was such a success that two pairs of hands could by no means keep up with the demand.
Despite setting out to embrace the gloomier side of teenhood, Bobby eventually found someone to lift his spirits. Theresa knew what it felt like to lose a loved one; she also knew how to look past it, and even gave Bobby some ambitions for the shop he'd previously seen as a mere way of passing the time.
Randy often insisted on chaperoning the two, knowing full well "what boys his age could get up to". Nevermind the fact that Randy and Lawrence had once had a fling themselves...
...and equally nevermind that there was nothing stopping Theresa from sneaking across the street in the middle of the night.
Ever since he'd first started working at the grocery store, Shaun Wheeler and Lawrence had been regularly exchanging glances and flirts with one another. As store manager he was practically an islander already; why not make it official and kill a few birds in the process?
While same-sex marriages are legal back in SimVania, the limitations set by the Breeding Program didn't allow Shaun to become Lawrence's official spouse. In due time, he would be expected to set up his own household and get married, but for now his only obligations were to mind the Huffman's's store and look after his 'roommate'.
He knew Kelly had half a mind to replace him with one of her contacts, but he didn't mind much: Shaun had been saving his pennies, and once he'd been let go from the store, he would open a dance studio and teach the island's young how to move it.
---
Saddled with an empty nest, Jack and Jane did initially struggle a little to fill their days, having not been alone together since before Phil's adoption.
At least with the boys momentarily out of the house they could finally set out to renovate the house.
Although it wasn't as much a renovation as a totally new building; however, they had made sure to leave Phil's writing corner just the way it was when he'd left, so as not to disturb its energies.
It was also high time to move in their respective girlfriends, Joanne McClellan and Suzanne Hanby. The detention center was soon to run out of beds, and seeing as these girls were already spending most nights away from theirs, it was only fit to kick them out and register them as inhabitants.
Joanne was a music teacher for the children at the detention center and was still expected to attend it regularly for classes. She'd once been a minor celebrity back in SimVania, and was determined to continue her music career despite the adversities.
Meanwhile, Suzanne was... well, Suzanne.
To some, Jack and Jane's arrangement might have seemed strange, but no one of their neighbors judged. Who was to complain about a few more living mates, if one had room under one's roof and heart?
And it sure as hell beats loneliness.
With ticket sales at the venue still going strong, Jack decided to open a little flower shop next to the stage and the axe-throwing course (a decision which surprisingly did not end up in broken windows or worse).
He'd been importing flowers for himself (and eventual dates) for a long time now, but it had taken him a long time to build up the skill to make bouquets worthy of selling. Now he'd finally discovered just the right notes to get any chick (or dude) into the right mood.
Meanwhile, Jane expanded her renovation frenzy to their venue and held a grand re-opening party to celebrate.
Even some of the service and construction droids joined in on the fun. While it did raise concerns for the guests on whether the authorities were monitoring them, Jane managed to assuade her crowd that had they been doing anything illegal, the authorities would surely have interfered already.
After all, where else was there to go to get away from it all?
"Oh wow, I married in rich! I mean, I always knew you guys were loaded, but dang!"
"Michelle, please just shut up already."
~ End of rotation 5
