On my thirteenth birthday, I received a copy of a Sims game my parents bought for me. At first, I wasn't too excited for the game because I was more into action style games like first person shooters. It didn't take too long for my parents to convince me to give the game a try.
When I launched the game, it seemed to be a pretty simple game; make your own family, decide what they do, and stuff like that. The first thing I did was build the mansion where my family was going to live. After three days of hard work, the mansion was finished. I had built the mansion with almost everything that I would die to have in my house. I built an indoor pool, a workout room, a master bedroom, a kid’s room, and so much more. It was nothing short of sheer perfection. Now that the residence was built, I needed to create the family that would live in it. I needed them to be perfect too, nothing short of my expectations. I wanted the perfect family.
The character creation screen appeared and gave me the base model of a tall male with blue eyes and brown hair wearing a red polo and brown cargo pants. I took a second glance at him and thought to myself, “This is exactly what I imagined him to be!” I looked at the name the game generated. It called him Danny. I decided that since he was designed perfectly by random, that his random name was fitting. I clicked on the check mark and continued making the rest of his family.
I created a wife befitting his appearance and personality and gave them three beautiful children. My family was finally complete. The last step was to get them more money so that they could be moved into the mansion I created for them. I finally had the complete control of a family in the palms of my hands. I could do anything I wanted with them. I looked to the top right corner to notice that a message box appeared displaying Danny’s picture. The message read, “Thank you for the house, we are grateful.” This was amazing; the Sim I created actually spoke to me. I was confused but flattered by his gratitude.
A year had passed in the game. Somehow, the children were teenagers and Elaine, the wife, was a high-ranking police officer that got a promotion almost every day. Danny, however, was the definition of procrastinator, but there was something odd about him. Anytime I gave him a command, he would ignore it and continue doing whatever he wanted. He wouldn't even go to work, no matter how many times I gave him the command to do so. A while ago, he even opened a text box and said, “You can’t make me do whatever you want!” That message scared me. Last time I checked, the Sims were not supposed to be self-aware, yet he was the only one who actually talked to me, and acknowledged my existence.
One day, in particular, truly stood out to me in the game. Elaine took the kids out for the day to the beach while Danny was sleeping in for the day. As much as I wanted to watch Elaine and the kids on the beach, I figured that I should watch the house just in case any burglars showed up, that way I’d be able to get one of the Sims to call the cops, or to let Elaine handle them. While I was watching over the house, Danny was just waking up. Something bothered me about Danny though; his face actually looked scared and confused. He started running around the house, making a stop in every room and then running back around the house. Once he had searched every room, a message box appeared. It read, “My family? Where’s my family?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM!?!” I was petrified; I wanted to answer him. I wanted to tell him they were at the beach, safe and sound. I couldn't think of a way to do so, but I was scared about what would happen if he didn’t find them. He started screaming and running around the house again. Another message box appeared reading “WHERE ARE THEY!?!” This box repeatedly appeared for a couple minutes as he ran around the house frantically. He wouldn't listen to any commands I gave him. In fact, he’d scold me for trying. He’d say things like “SITTING DOWN WILL HELP NO ONE!!!” and “HOW CAN I SLEEP WHILE MY FAMILY’S MISSING!?!”
Minutes had passed and he was still frantic. However, he had started to calm down. Finally, he was just standing in the middle of the living room, looking down at the floor. Any command I gave him, he would reply with “not now…” He really looked depressed. He thought that his family was gone, never to return. Before anything else could go wrong, I commanded Elaine to return with the kids. Right after I gave that command, a message box appeared with Danny’s picture in it like always, reading “goodbye.” The screen panned back to Danny’s location, showing him standing there with the Grim Reaper fading in out of nowhere. Danny grabbed the reaper’s scythe and dismembered his own head. The reaper even seemed phased by his actions. He backed away slowly, picked up his scythe, and faded away leaving the body on the floor. Elaine arrived with the kids, to the sight of headless Danny, lying on the ground. They all burst into tears, crying for the loss of a loved one. Then, a text box appeared. There was no picture in it. It wasn't from anyone apparently. What it said will haunt me till the day I die. “This is what happens when you try and play God.”
