Ch. 1: The Big Empty

From the serious, determined expression on Derrick Elune's face, it seems unlikely that he's going to waste any time bemoaning his unfortunate past. He never felt sorry for himself, after all. He has just moved to a newly developing suburb in Simsville called Finnland. He previously lived downtown, but he cannot say much about his origins. He does not remember exactly where he was born, and he has not seen his parents since his graduation from elementary school. They took him out to eat after his graduation, dropped him off at a close family friend's dingy apartment in downtown Sim City, and then they were gone. Derrick spent his teenage years moving from friend to friend of friend to friend of friend of friend. He never had to move very far, but on the other hand, he was stuck in the seediest & poorest residential areas of downtown.

None of the people he mooched off of could afford to send him to high school, or so he assumed. He was able to get jobs such as toilet-cleaner and trash-can-picker-upper, but his employers were poor as well and couldn't pay him more than 1 simoleon an hour. The opportunity to escape his cruddy urban life came in the form of a sympathetic policeman who arrested Manette, the woman with whom his parents originally left him. Apparently, a few days after Manette had already kicked Derrick out, she heard from his mom asking about her son. Manette lied and said that Derrick was out with some friends and that she would tell him to call his mother back. She also convinced Derrick's mom to send money so that she could "give the nice, hardworking boy the high school education he deserves". She received 20,000 simoleons in cash the very next week. Manette was about to spend most of the 20 grand on someone's used and stolen RV when she got arrested for identity theft that she committed several months back. The police seized her simoleons and got her to confess how she acquired the cash.


Through street smarts and a tiny amount of information that Manette provided, a cop was able to track Derrick down and give him the money that his parents sent him years ago. He didn't have much to say to Derrick except, "Sorry son, Manette says she didn't write your mother's phone number down and she doesn't remember being told where your parents are. Maybe you can use some of this cash to pay someone to track them down for ya." Derrick thought about this suggestion for a minute, and concluded that 20,000 simoleons would be barely enough to get him out of downtown Sim City and into one of the less-developed neighborhoods in Simsville. He couldn't afford a trustworthy private investigator if he wanted to finally settle down somewhere cozy & pursue his goals of legacy greatness. Plus, he's probably not going to get another chance to completely turn his life around for the better.

Derrick has always dreamed of fathering a long and prestigious family legacy, but that notion has been a farfetched, impossible fantasy to him until now. Now he is hopeful that his legacy dream will come true in some way. He is realistic & practical enough, however, to know that realizing such a dream is not going be easy. He will have to start nearly empty-handed, what with his meager funds and virtually nonexistent employable skills.


"I guess this is as good a start as any," Derrick mumbles to himself. "Non-contraband goods are so expensive!" As he glares at the disgusting pastel green of his newly purchased toilet, he quickly devises a rough plan in his head to start a thrift store business someday [when I have OFB!].