And the quest also specified what level must be reached in the party-wide gauge to consider the quest fulfilled. So she has her abductee as the host, her female cis character as the caterer and she then invites the other two abductees, along with Gordon’s and Artabeles’ entire in-game families.

When the dinner begins, Marjo receives a DM in-game from Sigrun, out of nowhere:

Sigrun: Did you forget about me? You owe me a favor for the speed kisser achievement!

Marjo: No, I didn’t, but I will invite you to a future, higher-tier party; you made me feel like you chase higher-tier parties

Sigrun: Oh, you fell behind in unlocking the higher-tier parties? I even adopted a child specifically to unlock some higher-tier parties!

What kind of higher-tier parties require throwing parties that, in turn, require at least one child to throw? A puzzled Marjorine is left wondering about the implications of parties requiring a child to unlock.

“It seems like adoption exists in the game. I wonder what the process is like...” Artabeles is left wondering how it even works.

“Sigrun... I really hope that she doesn’t treat her adoptee as simply a tool for unlocking higher-tier parties!” Marjo vents about her past dealings with Sigrun.

But here, Manolia and the other abductee’s player both see fit to bring their entire in-game families in tow. Which, once again, makes her house a little tight for the number of guests.

Because the dinner party is an entry-level one, Marjo finds it easy to accomplish her end of the bargain. First things first: bake that all-dressed pizza! Luckily, all-dressed pizzas aren’t a high-level recipe, but there are so many guests I couldn’t make enough for all.

And she can count her blessings for having the keg on hand: it makes the drink objective very easy. But now comes the turn to cook a second course for those who missed out on the pizza.

“Last time, Sigrun had her characters cook and eat ants climbing a tree. What kind of lame-o recipe will the game make my characters cook?” Marjo dreads the game’s cookbook playing tricks on players.

While she has her cis male tell jokes to the guests, after the final slice of pizza is taken, the second meal assignment comes. Rabbit stew. Which makes her scream uncontrollably.

“The game is making me cook rabbit stew?” Marjo gasps upon seeing the second course assigned to her in the pursuit of her cis female’s promotion to line cook. “What kind of monster eats such cute animals? What kind of monsters are the ghosts of this game?”

“You never ate rabbit stew?” Manolia yelps as she asks the streamer. “Rabbit meat is pretty expensive, I guess…”

“And rabbit stew is one of the most expensive meals in the game… which is why I never cooked it” Gordon realizes that he’s perhaps on a tight budget since construction activity isn’t very high right now. “I tend to stick to the relatively cheap meals!”

By then her party-wide gauge is full, but she needs to fill her personal gauge. Oh boy. I need to have my other characters tell stories to the guests, as well as thank them for their presence. I was too focused on the party-wide gauge that all I did towards my personal one was to tell jokes.

Yet, even with her cisfem doing all the cooking, she feels like the clock is ticking in on her to fill her personal gauge as quickly as she humanly can. Even when the attendees devour the Black Forest cake the game asks her to bake for a dessert.

“Woohoo! I did it! I won better cooking equipment!” she exclaims as the last of her personal gauge fills up while her guests devour the Black Forest cake. “And my cook is promoted to line cook!”

“You mentioned adoption at some point. Not that I would want to adopt a child in-game, but perhaps you could walk us through the early stages of the process!” Artabeles pleads with her. “Please?”

Before any money is spent, the adoption agency starts with a review of the household’s credit report and their history with children, of which they don’t have any.

And then they can choose the life stage and GAB, with a rare chance of the adoptee being intersex. With no indication of their sexual orientation, nor identity.

“The furthest I could go is this screen: where we are treated to portraits of prospective adoptees, as well as their last parents and things to watch out for! I’ll stop right here!”

“However, someone else out there must have experimented with the adoption mechanic!” Artabeles adds.

“Honestly, it makes me feel like players can raise children others got taken away from them!” Gordon comments.

As an adoptee myself, I wonder how the game portrays the trauma surrounding adoptions. Especially the adoptees. That, even though a foster family is often the lesser of the two evils when dealing with adoptees, Gordon can’t help but think of the players who are left to pick up the messes others leave behind. Already that parenthood can be stressful in a normal family.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“It makes me wonder how is this world’s CPS like, when are children taken away!” Marjorine still has unanswered questions. “And especially whether they are any better!”

“I guess, once the real game goes live, a lot of the more hardcore partiers, like Sigrun, will want a child from the get-go, so they can unlock certain higher-tier parties faster” Artabeles makes a note to himself so that, whenever the actual game will be released, he’s going to have a child from the very start, and throw the party requiring one as soon as possible.

The next in-game day, after selling off the old fridge and stove, with new ones earned from the party and quest respectively, Marjo is left wondering whether her trans male is even going to survive the abduction.

“It seems like my male trans get sicker by the day. It’s more than just suspicious tummy aches by now!” Marjo can feel the unease of her character as he moves around the house. “What a rollercoaster! But this is a painful reminder that I need a bigger lot and home!”

“Hopefully, you can make new outfits or dyes that will enable you to take out a bigger mortgage! Speaking of dyes, using one will feel like paint-by-numbers!” Gordon tries to encourage the streamer.

“What matters now is that your abductee stays healthy. It was a deeply traumatic experience for him, and this tumor can’t be left unchecked!” Manolia warns her.

“Yeah, you kept forgetting about making a follow-up visit after the two days he was stuck on that rental wheelchair, and you must return it, too!” Artabeles reminds her that she hasn’t returned the rental wheelchair.

I get it, another 100 piastres for a trip to the hospital. However, my first trip to the hospital for this ghost was for his broken legs, Marjo has her trans male calls the ambulance for his second trip to the hospital, shortly after waking up and then vomiting.

“I hope that these aliens haven’t screwed my character over forever! Fingers crossed that it’s not some incurable alien disease!” Marjo whines as the ambulance takes her trans male away for a follow-up visit, where, hopefully, the doctors will tell her what this tumor really is, and whether there’s a treatment plan for it.

As with last time, I don’t think it’s a good idea to have one of my characters travel to the hospital with him, because I need to save up for a bigger lot and house! I’ll just have to craft more copies of the black-and-red dress I designed for Manolia! I don’t want to be mortgaged to the hilt! Marjo keeps on trucking while he eagerly awaits the result of the medical tests. But at the same time, she knows medical tests aren’t free.

By then, she starts fearing that the aliens caused a cancer in her male trans, and that expensive surgery might be required.

“First, my character broke a leg, and then this tumor in his belly I sent him to the hospital for? What’s next, the tumor will back the family into a corner because of the cost of the surgery?” Marjo keeps ranting while her face turns red.

“I sure hope not, Marjo. You played with the hand you were dealt, getting abducted by aliens, much less get a potentially lethal alien tumor from an abduction is not something I wish on anyone, not even in a game” Gordon sighs, on the edge of his seat, just like several of her own viewers.

“In a sense, paying five hundred piastres for a leg cast is making healthcare insurance look better than in the real world. However, a tumor that seemingly balloons out of control might cause the bill to be steeper!” Marjo’s dad interjects on air.

“I really wonder how are medical bills determined in this game…” Artabeles sighs, because his characters never got sick, not even from STIs.

At the same time, he, like Sigrun, is also going through the adoption process. What the? Players already had children taken away? He muses as he chooses to adopt a child based on life stage and GAB.

He then sees a few names of previous parents whom he recognizes by having played with them at some point.

“Because I play a gay couple, with one of them being trans, I know my couple is barren, so I need to adopt to get a child. However, I wonder what happens if more than one player wants to adopt the same child...” Artabeles sighs, as he’s about to find out when trying to adopt an infant girl. “On my honor as a gyan-avspar, I swear I will take better care of the infant than her previous parents!”

“It’s not the first time you mentioned gyan-avspar! You never told us what gyan-avspar were!” Marjo whines.

“Yeah, you seem to be implying that gyan-avspars are some sort of sworn officers!” Manolia deadpans Artabeles while his trans ghost is summoned to court.

Only, this time around, beyond the need to pay for the paperwork, he would need to attend a court hearing against the other prospective parent, with court costs on top of what he already incurred for the first stage.

Speaking of court hearing, Artabeles is caught in a mini-game against the one playing the other prospective parent, both being pro se. The judge presiding over it begins by stating what led the previous parents to have the infant taken away.

I can’t believe that player would give up on a baby that easily, unless they ran out of money! He muses as the judge asks the two how they plan on taking care of the infant, and what love means to them in a family context. I might not unlock the higher-tier parties as quickly as Sigrun, but I want to experience all stages of parenthood in this game! It will make me a better player if I do so!

Speaking of parenthood, the judge asks the two players questions about early child-rearing, what they would do in specific situations they will likely run into with the baby, and finally what they envision the changes in their life the baby brings, should they be awarded custody of the baby.

“I didn’t think the adoption process would be that complicated when two or more people want to adopt the same baby! I expected it to be: choose who to adopt, pay the CPS fees, then meet with the child and, if possible, the previous parents, along with the social worker! I didn’t expect adoption to require a court hearing in which a judge decides who are the next parents!” Artabeles rants about the adoption process’ complexity. “On top of that, I lost the court hearing minigame!”

Artabeles is then sent back to the choice screen, but doesn’t pay the CPS fees a second time. However, he prays that no other player claims the adoptee of his choice. Apparently, other players have a 30-second window to put a claim on an adoptee to then trigger the court hearing minigame. Because of it, I’m down 6k piastres.

“And… yes! I finally have a little girl that my gay couple can call their own! However, the court fees of the first attempt cost me way more than the CPS base fees!”

While Artabeles is taking out a loan to buy some equipment to take care of a baby, and then a toddler later down the road, Marjo, on the other hand, finally receives the results of the medical tests performed on her trans male:

“Turns out that the alien tumor my trans male has is actually an alien baby. It seems like I have two options: get an abortion for a fee, or carry the baby to term, which will last five to six more in-game days” Marjo drops the news on her stream.

“This game has abortion?” Manolia gasps. “I think it would be to your long-term benefit not to have the abortion at this point… but perhaps later you can have one!”

“I wonder how do alien babies differ from human ones in this game…” Artabeles sighs.

“Fine, I’ll carry the alien baby to term!”