Eliza wasn't too impressed. "So... you're still a college student, at your age?" she asked with a frighteningly kind tone.
"Oh, I'm playing them for as long as I can," Lilith said lightly.
Max said, "Eliza, let's divide and conquer."
"Ah. I suppose I must keep talking."
"If you can bring yourself to."
"Excuse me for just a moment though, I must attend to something more interesting and urgent than your friend here--"
A dirty object just spoils the mood, doesn't it?
"Madame, I assure you, we regularly sanitize all surfaces in our restaurant."
"Just making sure."
"You can go back to your table now, madame."
"Must I?"
Max headed upstairs to create the distraction.
This is always the fun part.
Now while everyone comes running upstairs to extinguish the fire, we'll swipe the grand piano from right off the stage!
Except... no one came running.
And nothing besides the divider caught on fire.
And for some reason we can't swipe grand pianos in this restaurant, only in our neighbors' homes.
"Eliza, let's just pay the bill and go."
"What do you mean, pay the bill?"
Max swiped another one of the dividers to pay the bill.
"Your stepmom is not a good person. I think I love her," said Lilith on the way back to campus.
Thanks @GlacierSnow I have general ideas for the plot etc but often I feel that I'm just running around trying to catch up with what my sims are doing-- and that's often more fun than what I originally had in mind.
With this story I feel like the failures are much funnier than the successes.
@mightysprite
You can steal the grand piano from The Blue Velvet Nightclub in Willow Creek providing you have level 10 mischief. Eliza is such a great stepmom. With Eliza as Max's mentor, I'm sure he'll be a Supervillain in no time! Great update!
@TeeSea Ohh could it be that Sharing Is Caring neighborhood swiping doesn't depend on mischief skill in the same way? That would explain why she could swipe a neighbor's piano but not a piano elsewhere.
Eliza consulted her neighborhood map. The neighbors' homes had been a nice source of income, but they were just about picked clean at this point.
Eliza had become confident in her tranquilizing handshake skills
as a means of removing the neighbors' furniture without having to take the time to lure them to some other room
There doesn't seem to be a limit on the number of victims
So, time to take this tactic out of the home neighborhood into the big-time.
There was a beautiful big painting in the Waterside Warble that Eliza wished to remove from its location. On a scouting errand, she had already discovered that somehow she had developed the ability to swipe objects outside the neighborhood. Maybe enough Sharing is Caring experience has taught her how to function like a true kleptomaniac. (She does have enough aspiration points for a re-traiting potion if I ever want to give her the kleptomaniac trait officially.)
But somehow, tranquilizing handshake doesn't seem to work outside the home neighborhood. She made the bartender drop to the floor all right, but even while unconscious she still caught Eliza at her swiping.
Hmm. Maybe this is a difference between Sharing Is Caring and regular swiping. Embarrassed, Eliza went home and back to the drawing board.
Meanwhile, Iggy was growing up. He has that saddest of aspirations for someone who lives in a private dwelling: Party Animal. Poor guy. At least he found a suitably party color for his hair. Looks good on you, kid.
And he can hang out with friends at other places. Here's Evie Delgato, his pal since elementary school
Iggy was out with friends one night when he got some sad news.
Nooooo... poor Bob and his tragic love for cake!
Poor Iggy, he has lost his only decent parent!
Iggy drowned his sorrows in painting.
Only sad paintings.
(Is it neo-primitive, or just primitive?)
Eliza didn't want to admit it, but she felt sad too, especially at the prospect of parenting full-time
She loved Iggy but they saw the world in such different ways
"Focus! Why won't you focus?"
"Mom, I'm not going to college, it doesn't matter!"
"Of course you're going to college!"
"No way! I'm going to stay home and paint! Can I just go paint now please?"
"You think you're going to earn any money as a painter?"
(Fortunately they are sims, so his prospects aren't bad really...)
Then Eliza drank potions of plentiful needs and read the obituaries all night.
After that, Eliza was out of potions of plentiful needs. She also wondered if her friends in the magical realm could help her with some additional ways to immobilize people using magic. Preferably, immobilizing them in such a way that they wouldn't catch her swiping things.
It's nice to know Eliza has some part of her that still cares about people, even if it is her ex-husband. I think Iggy's painting is early neo-primitive (early=childlike).
She cares very much about Max, or does she? She was able to mold him at an early age, and his growing abilities might just happen to be convenient for her...
Simeon helped Eliza make a fresh batch of Potions of Plentiful Needs. But something went wrong.
That smile on Morgyn! I wonder what he is thinking
What a comeuppance for our vain heroine... now she looks like this
Not even other spellcasters could look upon her without losing their lunches
So Eliza took temporary measures and then cornered a sage.
"Please, you've gotta help me! I look terrible!"
"Lady, the only thing wrong with you is you have a bag over your head."
"I feel as though I'm going to go all strange any moment! Oof! Here it comes!"
(It's true, it comes and goes.)
"There's another potion you can learn, but you have to improve your casting level first."
"Am I ready now?"
"Keep stirring."
That night
"I can't believe this... My beautiful face..."
"You look fine, Mom."
"You're not even looking at me!"
"Of course I'm not looking-- I mean-- your cooking is so delicious that it occupies my complete attention."
Finally Eliza leveled up and was ready to learn some more spells. But first, a potion recipe. Simeon took pity and gave her a free sample of the Potion of Curse Cleansing.
Thank goodness.
Morgyn taught Eliza a spell called Chillio, which could freeze anyone or anything solid. Perhaps this would help immobilize people while Eliza stole things from them.
Unless, of course, it backfires.
Let's try out Chillio in the real world!
The spell went off without a hitch
But a frozen bartender could still stop Eliza from swiping objects. Darn.
Time for the next spell...
Burgliate. Now, here's an idea. You can steal things that are a little bit farther away than with swiping. And you have more choices of what to steal. Let's try this out with another large painting that has evaded Eliza's grasp due to the fence
Perfect!
Burgliate has an energized moodlet and cooldown period similar to the kleptomaniac swiping moodlet. Hmm, that means we could do one of each on each visit. That sounds useful.
Oh, there's nothing you can do. Next time I knock on your door, you'll just yell "Come on in!" like always.
Next spell was from Simeon
Copypasto!
Welcome to Eliza Villareal's flower shop. Where she keeps 100% of the profits.
The objects you can use as a source for Copypasto are a bit limited, but she stole a more valuable flower arrangement and that worked well, at 600 simoleons a pop. Every day she casts Copypasto until she gets all charged up, casts Discharge, then casts Copypasto until she gets all charged up again. (Discharge has a once-a-day cooldown.)
And that is how Eliza made her second 100k.
Oh, one little sentimental gift for my stepson when he comes home from college.
She can't swipe it... but she can Burgliate it. Now she's made good on that failed caper from last time.
Max called to ask Eliza if he should get engaged to Lilith. He hinted as to how she might be helpful with the family business, so Eliza said yes.
Did we almost forget about Iggy? How unkind of us. What's Iggy doing? Well, Evie was such a sweet friend to him in his time of loss
That he decided to repay her kindness
By holding a party at her house!
"Wait, what?"
"It'll be so much fun! Quick, go change!"
"Just tell me you're not inviting your klepto brother?"
"Too late, he's already on his way!"
Iggy was eager to cook party food
"This is inappropriate" called out Supriya.
"Don't worry, everything is fine," called Iggy.
Everything was not fine. But they had a good time anyway.
As the party wound down, Evie and Iggy found themselves completely charmed by each other and now they're together
"How much is this boy going to mess up my life in one evening?" wondered Supriya.
It's was only a matter of time before Eliza learned the Burgliate spell. The world is now her 5 finger discount store. I'm so happy that Iggy found love,
Good eye, @GlacierSnow.
It is neither the contents of an urn nor the remains of an Inferniate victim... it's what happens when Copypasto fails
Eliza always keeps at least two copies of the flower arrangement in reserve, just in case.
Max started his second term at university. He discovered a modestly sized new gym in the student commons. I discovered a new type of workout
Max's brother Hugo is still a student at Britechester and decided to wander onto the Foxbury campus dressed as the Britechester mascot. He was asking for it. Inferniate!
Eliza keeps summoning Max to the magic realm for further training. Max finds this boring. "I know how to make potions of plentiful needs, that's all I need to know. Can I go home to my robotics station yet?"
Max got cursed with the fighting curse. When he shows up to a lot, people jump on him and beat him up. This is actually rather convenient since his reputation keeps getting too good for a villain. Also he is in great shape so he wins the fights. I've decided to keep this curse.
Max and Lilith are enjoying each other a lot. They decided to go to the commons together and steal some furniture
Oops. Two kleptomaniacs in the same room can't steal at the same time. They "catch" each other. I wish they could help each other instead.
I suppose swiping is a private activity.
They went back to their separate homes, embarrassed.
Max and Lilith were thinking about when to tie the knot, when a phone call came about a mysterious inheritance. On account of the fighting curse, they didn't want a large ceremony. They went to a beautiful secluded spot and eloped.
And Max moved in with the Pleasant sisters.
Who are not pleasant to one another
But they've finally graduated and got jobs. Lilith as a Secret Agent in the Villain branch, Angela as a Patron of the Arts.
Lilith and Max decorated their floor of the house with things they've stolen.
Max carried on with his robotic experimentations. The latest: a robotic arm that makes him faster at making all those computer chips and mechanisms, and protects him from electrocution (most of the time).
(And looks really boss on an evil fellow like him)
"Mmmm, not taking the robotic arm off was a great idea... those motors have a number of interesting functions..."
"You're welcome."
"You're doing homework now?"
"Hey, do you enjoy my robotics training, or not?"
Lilith shows her love for Max by jumping on anyone who fights him. Also she tried Expose Supreme Villain on one of those people, but it failed. I'm still not really clear on what that interaction is supposed to be.
Due to this and her constant fighting with her sister, Lilith already has an Atrocious reputation. She keeps getting these phone calls. She always agrees to hold the money, it's like 900 simoleons, and there are never any consequences. Or maybe she's just lucky?
Angela has trouble expressing her feelings about Lilith out loud, so she paints them instead.
I decided Angela needed some kindness in her life so she met Jim, a pizza delivery guy who is Good and Family-oriented. He is a random townie that she cornered on this bridge during his shift, but to be fair, it's a beautiful European stone bridge in the sunset with swans floating by.
Lilith needed a friend besides just Max, so here's Rohan. Once they stopped being mutually tense around each other and actually became friends, they're pretty awesome together. They play a lot of chess and make fun of other people.
And once they got the hang of showing up to a lot and stealing from separate rooms, Max and Lilith started to make a tidy sum every day or two. Plus the inheritance, which was substantial. He's earning more at college than anyone has a right to...
Your stepson? I might be an atrocious character, but even I think that's not a good idea, Eliza.
Eliza is still at work on ways to keep people from interrupting her swiping.
So far here's what she knows.
Tranquilizing handshake: they go to sleep, but they still stop her from swiping.
Chillio: they become frozen in a solid block of ice, but they still stop her from swiping.
She learned a new spell: Morphiate. This spell turns people into, for example, teddy bears
But even a teddy bear can still stop you from swiping, it turns out.
Cross Morphiate off the list.
Next: Minionize.
Eliza tried this one out at the gym.
Magical immobilization, check.
You can command minions to go to sleep. Now that's really immobilized.
Unfortunately, even in that state they can catch you swiping things.
Darn.
Eliza had her workout and a shower and then came back up--
Oh. I see you are still here?
I wonder how long he will stay like that?
Eliza left him that way. Maybe we'll come back another day to see. Or not.
Meanwhile, Eliza found that Burgliate will work on kitchen appliances. Conveniently, many Windenburg homes have some nice ones. Time for another few swings through the neighborhood... Eliza complimented Clara Bjergsen on the elegance of her Scandinavian spare aesthetic.
"Thank you...?" said Clara. "To be honest, I wish we had a little more furniture in here. Perhaps we did at one time... sorry, it's getting harder for me to remember things these days. Let me get you something to drink. ...Now, where did I put the refrigerator?"
Eliza was about ready to give up on magical immobilization as a way to help herself with swiping, and then she stumbled upon a new approach: casting at a distance, thanks to the spellcaster perk Spectral Reach.
The bartender suspects nothing.
They can't catch you at it if you aren't in the room.
Gotcha.
"Quiet night, huh?"
"Yes, it seems there's not much for me to do here tonight. Maybe I'll go home early."
Some stolen objects are too pretty to sell. Keeping this one
Harvestfest dinner at the Pleasants'.
Eliza enjoyed bonding with Lilith. They're getting along well after all.
If you can't swipe while someone is unconscious, can you Burgliate?
Well, it says you get caught... but you still get the painting!
Victory!!
We're going to keep this one, too.
And Eliza got promoted. Now she's a true villain.
Feeling pretty good about herself.
(Not only that, but the big chair comes in pink.)
Did we almost forget about Iggy again? Well, he aged up, moved to the Ragdoll Refurb in Brindleton Bay with Evie to be near her family, and got engaged via phone call. We wish them the best. Perhaps in their own home, they'll find it.
Max spent his last term at university mostly focusing on his own robotics project. He had always admired his servo friend Zeus, and now it seemed he was close to creating a servo of his very own.
Even choosing the right paint took a lot of time and concentration
"Max, I'm pregnant!"
"That's nice-- what do you think is better, this diode or that one?"
Finally the moment came to pull the big blue lever
I did it! It's alive! It's happy!
Her name is Margin of Error.
"Now let's discuss the purpose of your existence: to steal things.
I've given your programming a trait that will allow you to steal things from others, and it will give you extra energy when you do. This will enrich our household."
"What is 'enrich' ?"
"Well, it means we can have big fancy houses, take amazing vacations, eat delicious food..."
"Ha ha! Silly humans! I do not eat food, I take up very little space and can be happy wherever I am!"
And then Margin of Error started going on about other silly human pursuits.
Max called Zeus on the phone. "I have a problem. It got on to the subject of vacuums and now it won't stop. Can you come over?"
Zeus helped Max and Margin of Error get off to a good start.
Lilith finds the servos better company than her sister, who makes her feel like this.
Margin of Error has the maker aspiration. She is always happy to see the Upcycling Initiative NAP inspector
And happy to see everyone, really
Max gave her a work area in back. She happily made eco upgrade parts, recycled them, and made eco upgrade parts out of the recycled bits and pieces, etc. She seems to enjoy loops.
"What happened to you?"
"New coat of paint! Ha ha!"
Max gave her a tuneup.
Then she recharged herself. Which apparently they do out of thin air. Didn't even have to plug into the wall or anything. Ok, the moodlet is funny
Meanwhile, the normie in the house continued to date the cute pizza delivery guy. "Is that what you're wearing on our date?"
"Pleasantly surprised, eh?"
"Uhm..."
On the next date he was dressed marginally better although he went a bit overboard with the accessories.
He's a sweet guy though. Angela's going to keep him.
Margin of Error had been reading the mischief skill book for a while now. It was time to teach her how to steal. First stop: Diego Lobo's apartment.
"These are wonderful beings! Great trip! May we steal them?"
"I... don't actually know how to steal cats."
"I will converse with cats while you steal things then!"
"Margin of Error, not so loud! Get in here, you have things to learn. And we need to be very quick and quiet before the guy who just invited us in actually walks into the room where we are. Okay. See this piano?"
"I see piano."
"Okay. Now go to the other room for five seconds."
"....Five seconds have elapsed. I return."
"See? Piano is now ours!"
"I see no piano."
"You have no idea what's going on here, do you?"
"Ha ha!"
Getting machines to do what you want is not always easy.
Next stop: the Von Haunt estate.
"So you steal things, and then we get money."
"Silly humans! Okay! I can't steal anything here!"
Oh right, she has to have a higher Mischief skill in order to be of any use as a kleptomaniac.
But there was one thing--
"You can do it, Margin of Error!"
"Ha ha! I do feel more energized!"
Max let her recycle the sign. It was worth 0 simoleons anyway.
Margin of Error likes to read the mischief book next to Max so they can study together.
Max's presentation for class includes a historic picture of a villain who... looks oddly like Max. I decided it's Jacques in his youth.
As Margin of Error's stealing improved, the three of them got the hang of tag-teaming large estates.
Who needs magical immobilization when you can just force the occupants of the house to come chat with you in any location you desire?
Let's have a nice chat while my associates rob you blind. Then they'll come out and chat, and I'll go rob you blind. Have a nice day!
(Or, you can fight me due to my curse, while my associates rob you blind. Either way.)
Toward the end of the week, Max completed a second servo, gave him the Kleptomaniac trait, and named him Standard Deviation. Margin of Error got a new gray metal plating so that Max could tell them apart more easily.
Now time to train this one up in Mischief...
The first haul from the first time out when both servos were really and truly able to steal something. All four kleptos swiped, and Max also Burgliated.
They're making more money than any college students have a right to.
Also, Lilith switched to the Criminal career so as to fulfill her aspiration, and is now a Boss. Which I think is what Jacques was before he died. Family business.
Comments
Eliza is such a "good" influence on Max and their antics crack me up! Great update!
Max invited Eliza out to dinner to meet Lilith.
Eliza wasn't too impressed. "So... you're still a college student, at your age?" she asked with a frighteningly kind tone.
"Oh, I'm playing them for as long as I can," Lilith said lightly.
Max said, "Eliza, let's divide and conquer."
"Ah. I suppose I must keep talking."
"If you can bring yourself to."
"Excuse me for just a moment though, I must attend to something more interesting and urgent than your friend here--"
A dirty object just spoils the mood, doesn't it?
"Madame, I assure you, we regularly sanitize all surfaces in our restaurant."
"Just making sure."
"You can go back to your table now, madame."
"Must I?"
Max headed upstairs to create the distraction.
This is always the fun part.
Now while everyone comes running upstairs to extinguish the fire, we'll swipe the grand piano from right off the stage!
Except... no one came running.
And nothing besides the divider caught on fire.
And for some reason we can't swipe grand pianos in this restaurant, only in our neighbors' homes.
"Eliza, let's just pay the bill and go."
"What do you mean, pay the bill?"
Max swiped another one of the dividers to pay the bill.
"Your stepmom is not a good person. I think I love her," said Lilith on the way back to campus.
And this line, just says everything about the way sims behave.
I'm really enjoying this story.
With this story I feel like the failures are much funnier than the successes.
You can steal the grand piano from The Blue Velvet Nightclub in Willow Creek providing you have level 10 mischief. Eliza is such a great stepmom. With Eliza as Max's mentor, I'm sure he'll be a Supervillain in no time! Great update!
Eliza consulted her neighborhood map. The neighbors' homes had been a nice source of income, but they were just about picked clean at this point.
Eliza had become confident in her tranquilizing handshake skills
as a means of removing the neighbors' furniture without having to take the time to lure them to some other room
There doesn't seem to be a limit on the number of victims
So, time to take this tactic out of the home neighborhood into the big-time.
There was a beautiful big painting in the Waterside Warble that Eliza wished to remove from its location. On a scouting errand, she had already discovered that somehow she had developed the ability to swipe objects outside the neighborhood. Maybe enough Sharing is Caring experience has taught her how to function like a true kleptomaniac. (She does have enough aspiration points for a re-traiting potion if I ever want to give her the kleptomaniac trait officially.)
But somehow, tranquilizing handshake doesn't seem to work outside the home neighborhood. She made the bartender drop to the floor all right, but even while unconscious she still caught Eliza at her swiping.
Hmm. Maybe this is a difference between Sharing Is Caring and regular swiping. Embarrassed, Eliza went home and back to the drawing board.
Meanwhile, Iggy was growing up. He has that saddest of aspirations for someone who lives in a private dwelling: Party Animal. Poor guy. At least he found a suitably party color for his hair. Looks good on you, kid.
And he can hang out with friends at other places. Here's Evie Delgato, his pal since elementary school
Iggy was out with friends one night when he got some sad news.
Nooooo... poor Bob and his tragic love for cake!
Poor Iggy, he has lost his only decent parent!
Iggy drowned his sorrows in painting.
Only sad paintings.
(Is it neo-primitive, or just primitive?)
Eliza didn't want to admit it, but she felt sad too, especially at the prospect of parenting full-time
She loved Iggy but they saw the world in such different ways
"Focus! Why won't you focus?"
"Mom, I'm not going to college, it doesn't matter!"
"Of course you're going to college!"
"No way! I'm going to stay home and paint! Can I just go paint now please?"
"You think you're going to earn any money as a painter?"
(Fortunately they are sims, so his prospects aren't bad really...)
Then Eliza drank potions of plentiful needs and read the obituaries all night.
After that, Eliza was out of potions of plentiful needs. She also wondered if her friends in the magical realm could help her with some additional ways to immobilize people using magic. Preferably, immobilizing them in such a way that they wouldn't catch her swiping things.
To be continued...
Poor Iggy.
And I love how Eliza's response is to drink a plentiful needs potion and read obituaries all night. Classic.
Great update.
Simeon helped Eliza make a fresh batch of Potions of Plentiful Needs. But something went wrong.
That smile on Morgyn! I wonder what he is thinking
Not even other spellcasters could look upon her without losing their lunches
So Eliza took temporary measures and then cornered a sage.
"Please, you've gotta help me! I look terrible!"
"Lady, the only thing wrong with you is you have a bag over your head."
"I feel as though I'm going to go all strange any moment! Oof! Here it comes!"
(It's true, it comes and goes.)
"There's another potion you can learn, but you have to improve your casting level first."
"Am I ready now?"
"Keep stirring."
That night
"I can't believe this... My beautiful face..."
"You look fine, Mom."
"You're not even looking at me!"
"Of course I'm not looking-- I mean-- your cooking is so delicious that it occupies my complete attention."
Finally Eliza leveled up and was ready to learn some more spells. But first, a potion recipe. Simeon took pity and gave her a free sample of the Potion of Curse Cleansing.
Thank goodness.
Morgyn taught Eliza a spell called Chillio, which could freeze anyone or anything solid. Perhaps this would help immobilize people while Eliza stole things from them.
Unless, of course, it backfires.
Let's try out Chillio in the real world!
The spell went off without a hitch
But a frozen bartender could still stop Eliza from swiping objects. Darn.
Time for the next spell...
Perfect!
Burgliate has an energized moodlet and cooldown period similar to the kleptomaniac swiping moodlet. Hmm, that means we could do one of each on each visit. That sounds useful.
Oh, there's nothing you can do. Next time I knock on your door, you'll just yell "Come on in!" like always.
Next spell was from Simeon
Welcome to Eliza Villareal's flower shop. Where she keeps 100% of the profits.
The objects you can use as a source for Copypasto are a bit limited, but she stole a more valuable flower arrangement and that worked well, at 600 simoleons a pop. Every day she casts Copypasto until she gets all charged up, casts Discharge, then casts Copypasto until she gets all charged up again. (Discharge has a once-a-day cooldown.)
And that is how Eliza made her second 100k.
Oh, one little sentimental gift for my stepson when he comes home from college.
Max called to ask Eliza if he should get engaged to Lilith. He hinted as to how she might be helpful with the family business, so Eliza said yes.
Did we almost forget about Iggy? How unkind of us. What's Iggy doing? Well, Evie was such a sweet friend to him in his time of loss
That he decided to repay her kindness
By holding a party at her house!
"Wait, what?"
"It'll be so much fun! Quick, go change!"
"Just tell me you're not inviting your klepto brother?"
"Too late, he's already on his way!"
Iggy was eager to cook party food
"This is inappropriate" called out Supriya.
"Don't worry, everything is fine," called Iggy.
Everything was not fine. But they had a good time anyway.
As the party wound down, Evie and Iggy found themselves completely charmed by each other and now they're together
"How much is this boy going to mess up my life in one evening?" wondered Supriya.
Eliza... What is that suspicious little lump of ash you've got in there amongst the flower vases?
It is neither the contents of an urn nor the remains of an Inferniate victim... it's what happens when Copypasto fails
Eliza always keeps at least two copies of the flower arrangement in reserve, just in case.
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Max's brother Hugo is still a student at Britechester and decided to wander onto the Foxbury campus dressed as the Britechester mascot. He was asking for it. Inferniate!
Eliza keeps summoning Max to the magic realm for further training. Max finds this boring. "I know how to make potions of plentiful needs, that's all I need to know. Can I go home to my robotics station yet?"
Max got cursed with the fighting curse. When he shows up to a lot, people jump on him and beat him up. This is actually rather convenient since his reputation keeps getting too good for a villain. Also he is in great shape so he wins the fights. I've decided to keep this curse.
Max and Lilith are enjoying each other a lot. They decided to go to the commons together and steal some furniture
Oops. Two kleptomaniacs in the same room can't steal at the same time. They "catch" each other. I wish they could help each other instead.
I suppose swiping is a private activity.
They went back to their separate homes, embarrassed.
Max and Lilith were thinking about when to tie the knot, when a phone call came about a mysterious inheritance. On account of the fighting curse, they didn't want a large ceremony. They went to a beautiful secluded spot and eloped.
And Max moved in with the Pleasant sisters.
Who are not pleasant to one another
But they've finally graduated and got jobs. Lilith as a Secret Agent in the Villain branch, Angela as a Patron of the Arts.
Lilith and Max decorated their floor of the house with things they've stolen.
Max carried on with his robotic experimentations. The latest: a robotic arm that makes him faster at making all those computer chips and mechanisms, and protects him from electrocution (most of the time).
(And looks really boss on an evil fellow like him)
"Mmmm, not taking the robotic arm off was a great idea... those motors have a number of interesting functions..."
"You're welcome."
"You're doing homework now?"
"Hey, do you enjoy my robotics training, or not?"
Lilith shows her love for Max by jumping on anyone who fights him. Also she tried Expose Supreme Villain on one of those people, but it failed. I'm still not really clear on what that interaction is supposed to be.
Due to this and her constant fighting with her sister, Lilith already has an Atrocious reputation. She keeps getting these phone calls. She always agrees to hold the money, it's like 900 simoleons, and there are never any consequences. Or maybe she's just lucky?
Angela has trouble expressing her feelings about Lilith out loud, so she paints them instead.
I decided Angela needed some kindness in her life so she met Jim, a pizza delivery guy who is Good and Family-oriented. He is a random townie that she cornered on this bridge during his shift, but to be fair, it's a beautiful European stone bridge in the sunset with swans floating by.
Lilith needed a friend besides just Max, so here's Rohan. Once they stopped being mutually tense around each other and actually became friends, they're pretty awesome together. They play a lot of chess and make fun of other people.
And once they got the hang of showing up to a lot and stealing from separate rooms, Max and Lilith started to make a tidy sum every day or two. Plus the inheritance, which was substantial. He's earning more at college than anyone has a right to...
Your stepson? I might be an atrocious character, but even I think that's not a good idea, Eliza.
The Magical Immobilization Caper, part 3
Eliza is still at work on ways to keep people from interrupting her swiping.
So far here's what she knows.
Tranquilizing handshake: they go to sleep, but they still stop her from swiping.
Chillio: they become frozen in a solid block of ice, but they still stop her from swiping.
She learned a new spell: Morphiate. This spell turns people into, for example, teddy bears
But even a teddy bear can still stop you from swiping, it turns out.
Cross Morphiate off the list.
Next: Minionize.
Eliza tried this one out at the gym.
Magical immobilization, check.
You can command minions to go to sleep. Now that's really immobilized.
Unfortunately, even in that state they can catch you swiping things.
Darn.
Eliza had her workout and a shower and then came back up--
Oh. I see you are still here?
I wonder how long he will stay like that?
Eliza left him that way. Maybe we'll come back another day to see. Or not.
Meanwhile, Eliza found that Burgliate will work on kitchen appliances. Conveniently, many Windenburg homes have some nice ones. Time for another few swings through the neighborhood... Eliza complimented Clara Bjergsen on the elegance of her Scandinavian spare aesthetic.
"Thank you...?" said Clara. "To be honest, I wish we had a little more furniture in here. Perhaps we did at one time... sorry, it's getting harder for me to remember things these days. Let me get you something to drink. ...Now, where did I put the refrigerator?"
Eliza was about ready to give up on magical immobilization as a way to help herself with swiping, and then she stumbled upon a new approach: casting at a distance, thanks to the spellcaster perk Spectral Reach.
They can't catch you at it if you aren't in the room.
Gotcha.
"Quiet night, huh?"
"Yes, it seems there's not much for me to do here tonight. Maybe I'll go home early."
Some stolen objects are too pretty to sell. Keeping this one
Harvestfest dinner at the Pleasants'.
Eliza enjoyed bonding with Lilith. They're getting along well after all.
If you can't swipe while someone is unconscious, can you Burgliate?
Victory!!
We're going to keep this one, too.
And Eliza got promoted. Now she's a true villain.
Feeling pretty good about herself.
(Not only that, but the big chair comes in pink.)
Did we almost forget about Iggy again? Well, he aged up, moved to the Ragdoll Refurb in Brindleton Bay with Evie to be near her family, and got engaged via phone call. We wish them the best. Perhaps in their own home, they'll find it.
Even choosing the right paint took a lot of time and concentration
"Max, I'm pregnant!"
"That's nice-- what do you think is better, this diode or that one?"
Finally the moment came to pull the big blue lever
I did it! It's alive! It's happy!
Her name is Margin of Error.
"Now let's discuss the purpose of your existence: to steal things.
"What is 'enrich' ?"
"Well, it means we can have big fancy houses, take amazing vacations, eat delicious food..."
"Ha ha! Silly humans! I do not eat food, I take up very little space and can be happy wherever I am!"
And then Margin of Error started going on about other silly human pursuits.
Max called Zeus on the phone. "I have a problem. It got on to the subject of vacuums and now it won't stop. Can you come over?"
Zeus helped Max and Margin of Error get off to a good start.
Lilith finds the servos better company than her sister, who makes her feel like this.
Margin of Error has the maker aspiration. She is always happy to see the Upcycling Initiative NAP inspector
And happy to see everyone, really
Max gave her a work area in back. She happily made eco upgrade parts, recycled them, and made eco upgrade parts out of the recycled bits and pieces, etc. She seems to enjoy loops.
"What happened to you?"
"New coat of paint! Ha ha!"
Max gave her a tuneup.
Then she recharged herself. Which apparently they do out of thin air. Didn't even have to plug into the wall or anything. Ok, the moodlet is funny
Meanwhile, the normie in the house continued to date the cute pizza delivery guy. "Is that what you're wearing on our date?"
"Pleasantly surprised, eh?"
On the next date he was dressed marginally better although he went a bit overboard with the accessories.
He's a sweet guy though. Angela's going to keep him.
Margin of Error had been reading the mischief skill book for a while now. It was time to teach her how to steal. First stop: Diego Lobo's apartment.
"I... don't actually know how to steal cats."
"I will converse with cats while you steal things then!"
"Margin of Error, not so loud! Get in here, you have things to learn. And we need to be very quick and quiet before the guy who just invited us in actually walks into the room where we are. Okay. See this piano?"
"I see piano."
"Okay. Now go to the other room for five seconds."
"....Five seconds have elapsed. I return."
"See? Piano is now ours!"
"I see no piano."
"You have no idea what's going on here, do you?"
"Ha ha!"
Getting machines to do what you want is not always easy.
Next stop: the Von Haunt estate.
"Silly humans! Okay! I can't steal anything here!"
Oh right, she has to have a higher Mischief skill in order to be of any use as a kleptomaniac.
But there was one thing--
"You can do it, Margin of Error!"
"Ha ha! I do feel more energized!"
Max let her recycle the sign. It was worth 0 simoleons anyway.
Margin of Error likes to read the mischief book next to Max so they can study together.
Max's presentation for class includes a historic picture of a villain who... looks oddly like Max. I decided it's Jacques in his youth.
As Margin of Error's stealing improved, the three of them got the hang of tag-teaming large estates.
Let's have a nice chat while my associates rob you blind. Then they'll come out and chat, and I'll go rob you blind. Have a nice day!
(Or, you can fight me due to my curse, while my associates rob you blind. Either way.)
Toward the end of the week, Max completed a second servo, gave him the Kleptomaniac trait, and named him Standard Deviation. Margin of Error got a new gray metal plating so that Max could tell them apart more easily.
Now time to train this one up in Mischief...
The first haul from the first time out when both servos were really and truly able to steal something. All four kleptos swiped, and Max also Burgliated.
They're making more money than any college students have a right to.
Also, Lilith switched to the Criminal career so as to fulfill her aspiration, and is now a Boss. Which I think is what Jacques was before he died. Family business.