Hey guys! I’ve been writing a lot lately, like well into generation four. I have a huge build-up of chapters, so I’m really glad these are getting posted bi-weekly. Sundays and Wednesdays, yo.

So last time, Rigel followed another child into the back basement rooms of the Madhouse. I just wanna address the weird layout of the Madhouse’s basement. It’s based off an actual basement of a building in which I once partied, and it was just as weird as you’d think. Like, old broken shit lying around, random walls made of concrete, extra rooms popping out of nowhere. And I thought, damn, it just gets spookier the further back you go. I want to put this in my sims game.

So I did, and now Rigel is living here!!

Link takes him to the furthest back room which I guess she occupies. It’s full of the aforementioned random broken shit, and a few creepy children.

Like this one. This is Mischa, she’s the other resident toddler. The first thing Rigel notices is the dirty old teddy bear she always carries around. It looks pretty cuddly. Rigel wants that teddy bear.

Link plays with Rigel for a bit, and then leaves him with an old can of dog food. That’s pretty much what they live on down here.

Rigel is nervous to explore any further on his own. He finds an old dresser drawer, and feels a bit safer when he’s inside. He decides this is as good a spot as any to fall asleep.

After the first few days Rigel becomes a bit more familiar with the other children. Most of the others keep to themselves, and don’t talk too much. This kid is Bugs. Link explains that they call him that cause he’s buggy and nutso.

Rigel doesn’t really know what that means, until he sees Bugs’ artwork. If Bugs isn’t busy rocking back and forth in a corner, he’s drawing nonsense on the walls. Rigel spends a lot of time watching him, and Bugs doesn’t seem to mind.

Then there’s Jed. He gets to sleep on the big mattress all by himself because he’s the one who sneaks upstairs to scrounge for food.

Jed brings them the same half rotten stuff that Rigel’s been eating for the last few years of his life, so it’s not much of an adjustment.

There aren’t very many toys down here. Rigel learns that it’s usually Jed who gets them, since he’s the biggest and noone will fight him for them. Rigel knows he’s not big enough to take anything from Jed.

He’s still envious of Mischa’s teddy bear, though. She seems to have picked up on this, and is more watchful than usual.

The first time he wrenches it out of her grasp, she wails and smacks him. But he’s just a bit stronger, and is able to keep it away.

After Rigel smacks her back a few times, Mischa gives up and falls angrily asleep. Her drying tears leave white streaks through the dirt on her cheeks.

Rigel glances warily over at Link sometimes to see if she’ll intervene, but she never seems interested. Rigel never keeps the bear from Mischa forever. He always throws it back at her when he’s done.

Sometimes they hear loud yelling, crashing, and banging from the rest of the building. Even though noone ever bothers them, the children are still nervous about it. Scary sounds from upstairs are the only thing that seems to bring them together into a trembling huddle.

This is also the only time Bugs seems concerned about the outside world. And it’s the only time he shows that he can speak, although it’s just disturbed nonsense repeated in a high, tense voice.

Bugs: Shhh! Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Shhhhh, time for sleep!

Even with what Jed can steal for them, they’re almost always hungry.

Rigel learns that the best way to cope with hunger is to just sleep through it. Sometimes when he wakes up there’s something to eat, sometimes not.

A lot of the time he is awoken by Bugs screaming himself awake. After the first few months, it doesn’t wake him up anymore.

This one eyed teddy bear, guys. What a creepy thing.

I guess I should mention that the kids don’t just occupy this one room. There are two more rooms I haven’t shown, so I will now, just cause.

This is the weird little room in the corner. It contains more of Bugs’ awesome writing, and an old dirty toilet.

And then this is the room between where the kids stay and the room with the stairs. This room contains a broken chair, a broken bench, and a broken fridge.

So this is pretty much just life. Playing with Link, watching Bugs be eccentric, fighting visciously over toys with Mischa, eating garbage, and sleeping off starvation.

It’s the kind of life where you want to be as independent as possible, which is why Rigel has to grow up pretty quickly.

This is Rigel at five. He can speak just fine now, not that he ever does. His hair has grown long and tangled, and all he has to wear are old scrounged clothes. None of the children down here are very close, and Rigel mostly just uses them to get what he needs, and gives them what they need in turn. Generally he tries to avoid them, as they always seem to be busy fighting over toys, having night terrors, and wetting themselves. Therefore, he has gained the noble trait of Loner.

It’s been two years since anyone knew his real name, including himself. Since Link started calling him Rylo, that’s all he’s answered to. Sometimes new children would show up, too. And they’d also disappear. Jed did. This is another reason why it’s not worth the effort to care about them.

He takes his own survival very seriously, and thinks the other children are silly for sitting around in a basement when they’re starving. But he’s not weak, he can be sneaky.

The cold snow on his feet isn’t important. Rylo is strong and nimble, and is good at finding food. He discovers that the benefit of being the one to find the food is that you can eat all you need before sharing with anyone else.

He still does, though. Mostly to keep the other children from complaining. Mischa’s outbursts can get particularly loud, so Rylo does his best to keep everyone quiet.

So remember that time where I posted Chapter 2.20, in which Noemi attends her first Madhouse party? I got a few comments on that post saying stuff like “Oh no, I hope she gets out!”. Yeah, that didn’t happen, and I’m sorry to disappoint you all so dramatically. You’ll just have to hope for Rylo, I guess.