Arrival: Day 0

Their flights arrived from all corners of Simerica, over the course of a long day and evening.  Each had received the packet in the mail, containing a congratulatory letter, a plane ticket, reservation confirmations at an airport hotel along with instructions on catching the hotel shuttle, and vouchers for meals for whatever portion of the day they would spend at the hotel.  Some hid out in their rooms, ordering room service and nervously flipping channels on the TV.  Others ventured out—to the pool (oh, they hoped there’d be a pool available when they got to the house!) to the lobby, to the hotel restaurant where they picked at their meals, scanning the other diners and wondering, wondering—is that girl one of the contestants?  Will that guy be going?  Should I go introduce myself?  But no one did.  At 7 pm, each received a concise message from the Directors.  Wake-up calls would come at 7 AM—they were to leave their bags in their rooms for collection and delivery, and gather in the lobby for the trip to their home for the next 20 sim days.  Not everyone slept well that night.

The van ride to the house wasn’t long, but it was strained and awkward.  A few mumbled introductions, a couple of lame attempts at a joke—but mostly they stared nervously out the windows of the van.  And then, they pulled to the curb in front of a big two-story yellow house in a green, leafy neighborhood of Willow Creek.  It clearly wasn’t the most upscale neighborhood—the railway tracks ran close by, just across the canal—but it wasn’t bad at all.  The house was in good repair, the neighborhood looked clean and tidy, there was no graffiti—some sims let out a sigh of relief.

The van driver climbed out and gathered them on the sidewalk.  

“Please go into the house and into the TV room just to the right.  There’s a welcome DVD ready to play and you will receive further instructions there.  Your bags have already been delivered to your rooms.  Welcome to the House of the Rising Sim.”

He climbed back into the van and in a moment, he and the van had vanished.  It was as if they had never been there—as if somehow the eight Sims had just appeared standing alone in front of the unfamiliar house.  “Well, “ a curvy red-headed Sim burst out, “Let’s get going already, dudes!”  And with that, she jogged up the path and flung open the door.

The DVD was brief.  Most of the Sims watched intently, although one plump girl who’d introduced herself as Deb, insisted on simultaneously turning on the jukebox and dancing throughout the whole presentation.  The DVD contained a welcome to the HRS, a quick list of rules—no contact with their families or friends from home; no illegal substances; no abusive behavior— a video tour of the home and lot (no swimming pool, how disappointing!) and instructions for them to  go upstairs and  locate their rooms by the namecards on the doors.  Each sim was to go into his or her room, unpack and spend some time getting to know his or her roommate.  “Roommate!”  gasped a pretty dark-haired girl in a trendy albeit not overly-flattering outfit of shorts and crop-top.  “You mean we have to share rooms?  What about bathrooms?  I’ve never shared a room with anyone!  Euuw!”

However, they trooped obediently  up the stairs and figured out which rooms were whose.  There was some milling around and angry comments when they realized that the rooms were not at all equivalent—some sims were comfortably housed in large rooms with a nicely- appointed ensuite bathroom, while others were crammed into smaller rooms with cramped accommodations.  Already some sims were feeling rather disgruntled as they closed their doors and set about getting acquainted. 

Alysha, the curvy, pigtailed redhead, found a note on the bed near her suitcase, instructing her to go downstairs at 12:30, along with her unwilling roommate Aileen, and prepare lunch for the group using supplies found in the refrigerator.  After a couple of hours of conversation as they unpacked, the young women followed the directions and Alysha prepared a big salad.  

At 1 pm, she and Aileen called the other sims down for lunch in the dining room.  Some sims seemed to have enjoyed their getting acquainted conversations more than others—some seemed uncomfortable or even angry with the situation, but everyone tried to make the best of it.  After all, they were here, the contracts were signed, there was no getting out of it now.

After lunch, the DVD had said, the sims were free to explore the house, make use of the facilities, continue to get to know one another, and generally relax until 7 pm, at which time they would take a group outing to the park, for a Welcome BBQ and a look at their new community. Some sims jumped right in to tidying up after lunch, while others left their dirty dishes on the table and quickly slipped away to explore.

The park proved to be quite nice—the sims weren’t hungry, and no one chose to take advantage of the grills.  Somewhat to the shock of most of the group, though, Reece salvaged some oatmeal from a garbage can and quickly consumed it alone at a table! 

Keira was also seen digging in the trash—who were these sims?  Why had they been chosen?  Where on earth could they have come from, to behave like that?  And what was it going to be like living with them for the next 20 days?

At the end of the evening, the sims returned to the house.  Some, exhausted by the long and stressful day, quickly retired to bed—only to be woken by their phones at 11 pm, to find a message that all sims must gather in the dining room.  During this meeting, Alysha read aloud from a note which she’d found on her bed after the park outing.

“All sims will receive a wake-up call at 7 AM each morning.  You would be wise to schedule your bedtimes to allow yourselves to be well-rested and ready for a busy day.  Breakfast is self-serve, and there is a mandatory meeting in this room every morning at 9 AM.  Based on our observations of you (several sims looked nervously around at this—it was one thing to be aware that their every move and word were being observed and recorded, but this reminder was a bit unnerving) we have determined that at this point, Aileen has made the best adaptation to the situation.  Tomorrow, she will take on the position of Super Sim and will chair the meeting and convey our instructions for the day.  Sadly, Keira has reacted most poorly to today’s adventures, and will be in the position of Loser for the day. 

 








This meeting is now adjourned.  Goodnight”