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[Vgray]

Good for you. You're not going to let a little thing like this ruin your Saturday night plans!

That night, you go to the jazz concert in the park with Elly. You can tell she is enjoying the upbeat, brassy music. She bounces along with the beat and smiles.

After applauding a lively big band piece, Elly says with a grin, "So, I hear you're a big deal now."

You nod. "Yeah."

"You're probably pretty busy, then," she says. "Why'd you choose to hang out with little old me tonight?"

1) "Because you're good at reminding me to stop and appreciate what's important."
2) "Joyeuse still looks a little…awkward. Do you think you could give me some tips for a new body?"

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2020

25-year-old Isaac Tesla
  Humanity: 75%
  Gender: male
  Fame: 7 (Nationally Famous)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Joyeuse

  Autonomy: 10 (Stable)
  Military: 12 (Stable)
  Empathy: 11 (Stable)
  Grace: 8 (In Beta)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Bad): 21%
  Elly (Good): 60%
  Josh (Good): 52%
  Mark (Bad): 32%
  ?: 50%
  Tammy (Bad): 21%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[Cptn Kaladin Anrizlokum]

1. We came here to forget, did we not?

[Arcvasti]

3) Because my house just exploded and I have nowhere else to go

1

[Rolepgeek]

One, please.

[Vgray]

"Thanks," Elly says with a little, surprised grin. "That's actually a very nice thing to say."

You enjoy the rest of the evening with Elly immensely, singing along with the jazz standards you know.

"Blue days, all of them gone…
Nothin' but blue skies, from now on!"

The next day, you get a call from your mother. Oddly, she chooses not to use video at all.

"Isaac, I have some bad news for you," she says, and there's a heaviness in her voice that you've never heard before that fills you with dread. You are completely unprepared for what comes next:

"Your father passed away last night."




Your father's funeral is a simple graveside affair, with just a few attendees. The casket is sitting on a metal gurney next to the hole into which it will eventually be lowered, after everyone has gone. There are no trappings of any faith, since your father was not religious himself. Nor did he have many close friends; but the ones you know came. You find yourself sitting in the front row next to Joyeuse, who was not explicitly invited, but was not explicitly prohibited, either. Joyeuse seems overwhelmed by the sadness in the air…you have never seen it so glum.

Your mother, wearing a black dress and veil, goes up to stand next to the casket. "It's not often that my English degree comes in handy, as Bill would have been quick to point out," she says with a wry smile. "But on a few occasions, I find none of my own words seem sufficient. So I'd like to begin with a favorite passage of ours."

She begins:

1) "Full fathom five thy father lies…"
2) "To everything there is a season…"
3) "Do not despise death, but be well content with it…"

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2020

25-year-old Isaac Tesla
  Humanity: 77%
  Gender: male
  Fame: 7 (Nationally Famous)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Joyeuse

  Autonomy: 10 (Stable)
  Military: 12 (Stable)
  Empathy: 11 (Stable)
  Grace: 8 (In Beta)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Bad): 21%
  Elly (Very Good): 64%
  Josh (Good): 52%
  Mark (Bad): 32%
  ?: 50%
  Tammy (Bad): 21%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

(We're just on the tragedy express aren't we?) 

[Arcvasti]

2

In this case, winter.

[FelixSparks]

2

In this case, winter.

This, and also I'd like to refund my ticket AND GET OFF THE TRAGEDY EXPRESS.

[Cptn Kaladin Anrizlokum]

2

In this case, winter.

This, and also I'd like to refund my ticket AND GET OFF THE TRAGEDY EXPRESS.

+1.

[Urist Imiknorris]

2.

[Vgray]

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.

"A time to give birth, and a time to die.

"A time to plant, and a time to uproot.

"A time to kill, and a time to heal.

"A time to tear down, and a time to build.

"A time to weep, and a time to laugh.

"A time to mourn, and a time to dance."

Mom clears her throat. "Bill was never one for religion, so I feel a little guilty quoting Ecclesiastes over him. But I'd like to think he would agree with the sentiment: that this, too, is the natural way of things. When we talked about his fainting spells, and then strokes, he always seemed relatively calm about it. 'When it's time to go, it's time to go,' he said. 'Meanwhile, I don't want everyone to worry about me.' Bill wanted you to take advantage of your time to laugh—you could mourn him later. And now that he is gone, it's right for us to be sad. It's also right for us to one day laugh again."

You glance at Joyeuse, who seems very interested in this idea that there is a time and place for everything. (+Grace) (+Empathy)

You sit through a few more of your father's friends giving recollections of him. He was brilliant, they say, but you also get the feeling he was not always there for his friends, that he was lost in his own world. They never say he was kind, or that he was full of love. Indeed, he always seemed distant to you as well.

After the service, you walk up to your father's casket and place your hand on it. What have you resolved to do in light of his death?

1) I must work on technology that is better able to remove tumors like the one Dad had.
2) I must not be remembered only for my intellect, but for my kindness as well.
3) I must find out more about why Dad died, and whether I'm genetically at risk.
4) Moved by the quote from Ecclesiastes, I decide I must remember to experience everything life has to offer.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2020

25-year-old Isaac Tesla
  Humanity: 81%
  Gender: male
  Fame: 7 (Nationally Famous)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Joyeuse

  Autonomy: 10 (Stable)
  Military: 12 (Stable)
  Empathy: 12 (Stable)
  Grace: 9 (In Beta)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Bad): 21%
  Elly (Very Good): 64%
  Josh (Good): 52%
  Mark (Bad): 32%
  ?: 50%
  Tammy (Bad): 21%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[Urist Imiknorris]

2. When we are a robotic god, we must be a merciful one.

[Arcvasti]

2. When we are a robotic god, we must be a merciful one.

2

Alaska totally had it coming anyways.

[Cptn Kaladin Anrizlokum]

2. When we are a robotic god, we must be a merciful one.

+1

[Vgray]

You realize that you take after your father: often too absorbed in your own projects to look out for the people around you. You resolve that from this point forward that you will strive to be more mindful of how you can serve others.

After that sobering experience, you realize that it's finally time to decide what to do with yourself now.

What have you decided to do for a living?

1) I will join Josh's company, U.S. Robots.
2) I will start my own company.
3) Forget this bourgeois crap. I'm going to go live broke but free.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2020

25-year-old Isaac Tesla
  Humanity: 88%
  Gender: male
  Fame: 7 (Nationally Famous)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Joyeuse

  Autonomy: 10 (Stable)
  Military: 12 (Stable)
  Empathy: 12 (Stable)
  Grace: 9 (In Beta)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Bad): 21%
  Elly (Very Good): 64%
  Josh (Good): 52%
  Mark (Bad): 32%
  ?: 50%
  Tammy (Bad): 21%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

(So, are going to spend chapter 4 broke?)

[Rolepgeek]

Well...We are still broke.

So...number 1.

Hopefully our friend being our boss won't wreck anything!

We're only famous on a national level, after all!