Full Summary: 17 year-old Ceres Beaker is brilliant by definition- an analytical straight-A student. However, she knows little about the world around her due to a sheltered upbringing in her father's laboratory. When she's paired with feisty Nicola Curious for a school project, she begins seeing life in a new light. Another chance encounter with a stranger from her father's past calls everything she thought she knew into question. Will her discoveries change her life for better or for worse?

General Notes:

There's a few things I wanted to say:

1. This fic takes place in The Sims 4 Universe. I make allusions to Sims 2 but overall it's The Sims 4 Universe and takes place in Oasis Springs.

2. This is a goofy little detail, but I refer to the language class in Ceres' high school as Simlish rather than English, even though the characters appear to be speaking English. This is simply because, you know, writing all the dialogue in Simlish isn't realistic and would be impossible to read.

3. I rated this story M for a reason. There is explicit abuse in this story towards a minor (well, a 17-year-old, but still, a minor) as well as a gaslighting parent. If this could be triggering to you in any way, I'd advise you to skip this fic.

4. Tycho is a female who is part alien but looks like a normal Sim. This is following the Sims 4 Lore for the Curious Family in the gallery. From the wiki: "In the version of the Curious family that is available on the Maxis Gallery page, Pascal is in his first trimester of an alien pregnancy, with one female baby on the way. However, the baby that is born will always be a normal Sim (and have all of Pascal's genetics) because he is set as her only parent. She will also always be female." That being said, she still has alien DNA in this story, so I'm not completely following the lore.

And that's it. I hope you enjoy!

1...2...3...4... Ceres was on her back, desperately trying to move her fingers. If she could just move her fingers, the rest of her body would wake up. ...5..6...7...8...9...10...11.. It wasn't working. Her diaphragm was paralyzed and her oxygen-starved lungs burned. 12...13...14…15… I don't want to die. Not like this. Her right pinky twitched. 16...17..18...19… 20! All of the fingers on her right hand flexed and she gasped as the paralysis subsided at last. She rolled onto her side as she caught her breath, focusing on the abstract painting on the wall across from her bed. She was back after phasing out of reality for… who knew how long?

5:46 am. Her phone screen read. She had to be awake in just a few minutes- at least she was well-rested for once. No night terrors, but at what cost? She heard footsteps descending the stairs just outside of her bedroom. Her father was awake. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand, only to stumble into her vanity. Her legs were still partially paralyzed. She made a spiteful mental note of that and waited for a few minutes. Once she was finally able to stand, she let out a deep, shuddering breath.

"Ceres?" Her father called to her from the kitchen.

"Yeah. I'm up." She called back before putting on the same outfit she wore at least three times a week- dark skinny jeans, a gray t-shirt, and a blue hoodie. She wore cutesy lace socks underneath her black combat boots, simply because they were softer and more comfortable than a standard pair. She put on some mascara and a nude lip gloss before making her way downstairs, holding onto the railing tightly. She'd taken quite a tumble a few days prior, due to an earlier version of the sedative her father was working on.

He was already dressed in his lab coat when she arrived in the kitchen. Still feeling a bit dazed, Ceres grabbed a chocolate-flavored instant meal and plopped down hard on a kitchen chair. Her father made himself a bowl of cereal and sat across from her, an expectant look on his face.

"I was paralyzed again. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move… and when I got up I almost fell again." She griped.

"I'm afraid there's not much I can do about that. It wouldn't really be a sedative if I took out the muscle relaxing component." Loki said firmly.

"Relaxing? I thought I was going to die because I literally couldn't breathe!"

"Ceres, I'm not changing it. It's stopped your night terrors, and that's all we need it to do. Now hold out your hand."

"But dad-"

"Now, Ceres."

The girl sighed and held out her right hand. She winced preemptively as her father pulled out his miniature blood sampling device. It was kind of like a diabetes test, only it took more blood and was pretty painful.

"Ow!" Ceres yelped as the device pricked her thumb.

"You're overreacting. You expect pain, so you feel it." Loki said condescendingly. Ceres stuck her thumb in her mouth and glared at her father.

"Now. I need you to give this note to the office when you get to school."

"Why? What does it say?"

"It's excusing you from classes for next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday."

Ceres swallowed.

"Not again."

"Yes, again. I need you in the lab. I'm perfecting a new device that-"

Ceres tuned out as he started explaining his latest useless invention, which she'd be forced to test. She wondered why he didn't just post an ad in the classifieds section of the paper to recruit test subjects. Then again, he'd mentioned before how he didn't want to have to pay anyone, or have a lawsuit on his hands. He couldn't be certain of his inventions' safety, yet he tested them on her, his only daughter. Ceres sometimes wondered if he'd secretly taken out a life insurance policy on her.

"Yeah, okay, dad." She chugged the rest of her instant meal and stood up, finally feeling secure on her feet again. She didn't know why she'd applied lipgloss when she was about to drink something. Now she had to put it on again. She made her way to the downstairs bathroom and parted her blonde hair to the side before reapplying her lipgloss and staring at herself in the mirror for a moment. She was the spitting image of her father- it was actually quite odd and a little scary. There was no semblance of her mother's features at all. Ceres had seen a few pictures in an album Loki kept on a high bookshelf. Her mother was a redhead, and her facial features were far less intense than Loki's.

She sighed. At least her blue eyes weren't red and puffy like when she'd first started taking the sedative. Even her classmates, who normally didn't care or even notice her existence, asked her if she was okay because it looked like she'd been crying. She sighed again and walked over to the living room, where she swung her backpack over her shoulder and headed out the front door, or, rather, the front arch. There was no front door on their house despite her father's secrecy. Not that it ever got cold or snowed in Oasis Springs. Still, Ceres wondered how his expensive lab equipment hadn't been ripped off yet.

Then again, people were afraid of Loki. The mad scientist thing was pretty well-known, especially to Ceres' classmates. She didn't have any friends, probably because of that, but she didn't care. Nobody really bullied her either. She was just kind of there. And that's fine.

The walk to Oasis Springs High School took about ten minutes. The 1,000 or so students congregated in groups outside of the main entrance every morning. Some were finishing homework, some were bullying others, and some were laughing obnoxiously with their friends. There were the typical cliques- the popular crowd, the goth crowd, the alien crowd, the nerd crowd, the drama geeks, and the mathletes. Ceres had briefly entertained the idea of joining the mathletes, but that required social interaction and going to stupid competitions. She didn't need to win a competition to prove she was smart- all of her teachers, with the exception of her Simlish and phy ed teachers, wrote it on her assignments and report cards daily. Ceres is gifted. Ceres has a bright future.

She walked past each crowd of students purposefully, just wanting to plant her butt on her chair in her first class, biology. She had a half-done Simlish assignment to bullshit before second period, which was after homeroom for some reason. Something about long-dead poets and their influence on modern writing. Spoiler alert: No one cares. Ceres thought upon arriving at her class and opening her notebook.

The rest of her class filed in slowly shortly before the second bell rang, indicating that they should be in class or face consequences. Ceres suddenly remembered the note in her pocket and groaned. Now she'd have to drop it off in the office right before lunch, and then all the tables in the lunchroom would be taken and she'd be forced to sit with somebody. Thankfully, nobody sat next to her at her lab table.

"Sul sul, everyone!" The biology teacher, Ms. Darves smiled as she got up from her desk and stood in front of the class. She was a recent university graduate and tried a little too hard to relate to her younger students. She had blonde highlights in her hair and wore clothes that bordered on hip yet unprofessional. "It looks like everyone's present today, which is great! Instead of doing a conventional final for the end of the semester, I thought I'd do something fun."

The students glanced at each other, knowing that "fun" in teacher speak meant something that really wasn't all that fun.

"We're going to do a project instead. You'll be paired up and present your project at the end of the semester! We'll also have a little party on the last day of class before Winterfest Break."

The students chattered, some excitedly. Ceres just glanced up for a minute then went back to bullshitting her essay. She'd been part of group and partner projects before and inevitably ended up doing most of the work. Not that she cared. Like her father, she was particular about some things and had a good idea of how she wanted them to be presented.

"I've written down all the pairs. Please wait to sit by your partner until I'm done announcing everyone." Ms. Darves grinned.

The class groaned in unison. Ceres looked up again, scoping out who she might be paired with. There was Donna, a stereotypical preppy rich girl who always wore oversized pink sunglasses and carried a designer backpack. Next to her was Stephan, a goth kid who always looked as disinterested in everything as Ceres felt. There was George, a stoner who was always half asleep, and Rudy, captain of the football team. Stephan or George, please. Ceres thought, They don't give a fuck, I don't give a fuck.

"Alright, our first pair is Donna and David."

David was a shy mathlete. Interesting combination. Ceres tuned out most of the other announced pairs. Rudy and George got paired together and looked equally dismayed.

"...And finally, Ceres and Nicola." Nicola Curious? You've gotta be kidding me. Ceres looked over at the other girl, who gave her a chipper smile. She wasn't necessarily a prep or super popular, but she was that annoying nice girl who tried to be friends with everyone. She'd talked to Ceres before, but it was only to ask about a history assignment. Ceres gave her a fake half smile and shut her Simlish notebook, finally done with her essay.

"You may sit next to your partner and I'll come around to explain the topic of your project." Ms. Darves said in her usual overtly chipper tone. Everyone got up except for Ceres, who nonchalantly waited for her partner to come to her.

"Hey!" Nicola said brightly, that stupid smile never leaving her face. She was wearing an equally stupid outfit, a pink sundress with chunky white sandals. She reeked of perfume and her winged eyeliner was uneven.

"Hey." Ceres gave her another half-smile.

"I saw you working on that Simlish assignment. Pretty easy, right?"

"Yeah. Easy." She said flatly. Nicola adjusted her thick black glasses.

"I hope we get something cool, like the solar system."

Great. She's as stupid as she looks.

"Umm… it's biology. We're going to get something like plants or animals."

"Oh. Right. I kind of suck at science. Sorry."

"Gee, I couldn't tell."

The smile fell from Nicola's face just as Ms. Darves walked up, clipboard in hand.

"Ceres, Nicola, your topic is punnett squares and genetics. I expect a creative presentation with properly cited sources."

Nicola's smile quickly spread across her face again.

"That sounds cool!"

"Yeah, that stuff should be cool." Ceres said flatly, although her curiosity was piqued.

"I'm glad you're excited. We'll all be going to the school library once a week for research, but I expect you to meet up by yourselves. Trust me, good teamwork will really benefit your grade." Ms. Darves said, tucking a strand of highlighted chestnut brown hair behind her ear. The bell rang, signaling the end of the period.

"I'll see you all tomorrow! Remember to get together with your partners regularly and, most importantly, have fun!"

Right. Fun. Ceres stood up to leave.

"Wait, we should get together after school today. You can come to my house and-"

"I'm busy." Ceres said truthfully, "I have lots of other homework." She was the type to get all of her homework done right after school.

"Oh." Nicola frowned. "Tomorrow, then? It's Saturday."

"Yeah, sure, that works."

"Give me your phone so I can put in my number and address. I'll give you mine so you can put yours in."

Ceres suppressed an exasperated sigh.

"Alright." She gave the other girl her phone, which had a cracked screen and a worn blue case. It had lasted her all through high school. Nicola's phone was much newer and very pink.

"Alright. There you go." She handed Ceres' phone back. She'd put a cat emoji by her name.

"Thanks. I'll… I'll see you tomorrow."

"And in Simlish class." Nicola reminded her cheerfully.

"Right. That too." She hoped that Nicola wouldn't get the wrong idea- they weren't friends. Ceres almost told her that, but the girl practically skipped away before she could get another word out.

The rest of the day was a lot of the same- Ceres got a talking to after Simlish Class, she hid behind the bleachers in phys ed, she turned her absence note in to the office, and she ate lunch alone by a tree in the courtyard. By the time the final bell rang, she was exasperated and wanted to punch something. She settled on her pillow once she got home, also putting it over her head for a few minutes before doing her homework. The afternoon turned into evening, and the evening turned into night.

Loki was hard at work in his laboratory, most likely fine-tuning the invention Ceres would have to test the following week. He didn't even eat dinner with her or force her to give him another blood sample. He was still working around 10:30, and Ceres knew that this was a rare opportunity to go for a walk. She liked late-night walks, although she could only sneak out when her father was preoccupied with his work. She crept down the stairs and zipped up her blue hoodie, taking care to skip the one squeaky step near the bottom.

It was a surprisingly brisk night in Oasis Springs, with a gentle chilly breeze blowing past the cacti and kicking up sand. There was loud music blaring from a nearby house. It belonged to two sisters and their mother, along with a younger guy Ceres assumed was a sugar baby. The music faded as she came to a more deserted part of town, her quiet place. But she quickly realized she wasn't alone. There was a figure standing on top of a nearby sand dune, looking into a telescope. She walked past them purposefully, annoyed that someone else had discovered her special place. But then the figure turned to look at her. She stopped walking and stared back.

They just stood there for a moment, watching each other.

"Hello?" The figure said finally. Ceres recoiled and started to walk away. "Hey, wait."

She paused and stared straight ahead.

"Hey… come here for a minute."

Okay, he's going to mug me or rape me. Time to go. She continued walking.

"Ceres."

What the hell? She froze as the other sim approached her..

"Ceres. It's okay." They stopped a few feet away from her.

"How… how do you know my name?" The question came out in a choked whisper. No response.

"I'm a friend."

Ceres studied the other sim. She could only make out gaunt features and spiked hair.

"I know you don't remember." He said softly. She was speechless.

"But it can be a good thing, not remembering."

"Who… who are you?"

The stranger put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground.

"Just a friend. That's all you need to know for now." He turned away and walked back towards his telescope. "There's a lot I need to tell you, but you're not ready yet."

"What the hell are you talking about? How do you know me? I've never seen you before in my life."

The stranger paused and turned around to face her again.

"It's worse than I thought." He muttered.

"What's worse than you thought?" Ceres was getting a little frantic.

"Your memory. I understand. He put me through the same thing."

"Who?"

"Your father. We go back a long way. I'll tell you about it when you're ready."

"Ready? What am I getting ready for?"

The sim turned around again and walked back up the dune.

"Hey! What the hell are you talking about? Tell me how you know my father!"

The sim simply resumed looking through his telescope. Ceres threw her hands up and stormed away. Whatever. He's probably just some crazy sim who's heard rumors about my father and gets off by creeping others out. But how does he know my name?

"Ceres!"

"What?" She growled.

"I'm here every night. Feel free to come back whenever you want to. Remember, I'm a friend."

"I won't." She said coldly, turning on her heels and jogging away.

Relief washed over her when she arrived home and heard the din of lab equipment- her father was still working and hadn't noticed her absence. That was, until she put her foot on the squeaky step.

"Ceres."

Fuck.

Loki emerged from his laboratory, his arms crossed and expression stern.

"Dad, I-"

"You ran away again. How many times do I have to tell you, Ceres? You're going to get hurt out there."

She just looked down at her feet.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Ceres. Why were you out there?"

"I… I just wanted to go out. That's all."

"I'm not stupid, Ceres. You're trying to run away."

"What? No, I-" She let out a yelp as her father grabbed her and put her in a headlock. She felt a cold needle enter one of the veins in her neck. It wasn't the sedative- it was something much worse. She immediately went limp, but her eyes didn't close. She was still very much aware of everything happening around her. She could practically feel her pupils dilating.

"There. Don't feel much like running now, do you?"

Loki dropped her like a ragdoll. And a ragdoll she was- there was no sensation in her limbs. Ceres' brain was telling her arms and legs to move, but they wouldn't unless her father coaxed them to do so.

"Don't worry, we can still test my new invention- it doesn't require voluntary movement on behalf of the subject." Loki scooped her up in his arms and took her back to the laboratory.