TEST DRIVE MEME ( 002 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #2

Hello, and welcome to LifeAftr! We’re pleased that you’re expressing an interest in the game. Here, you can test the waters, gauge how your character may fare in the world of LifeAftr, and even gain some in-game incentives, if you so choose.

Remember that Reserves will open on August 17th and that Applications will open on August 24th!

Two important notes:

1. LifeAftr's test drives take place on the island of Mu, which exists apart from the real world and possesses a dream-like quality that characters are innately aware of from the moment they appear on its shores. No need to panic or fret. Dreams are odd things, after all - and anything can happen in them. Why would anyone question where their mind chooses to wander in its sleep?

2. Due to the nature of Mu, threads in our test drive can not only be accepted as thread samples in your application, but can be accepted as game canon as well. In fact, certain choices your character makes in Mu have the potential to bear in-game consequences, largely in the form of test drive reward items.

I'm on a Boat
The rhythmic rocking may be soothing to start with - perhaps reminiscent of how an infant might feel, rocked in the cradle. Well, up until you wake up long enough to take stock of your surroundings. You're on a flimsy wooden raft, comprised of logs lashed together with straw-like twine. You're surrounded by water on four sides, with the only landmass for miles rearing like an inkblot on the horizon.

Right - and you're not alone, either. You have a raftmate, and they're probably just as shocked and displeased to be here as you are. Good thing the boat appears to have come with a pair of oars - as well as a pair of very large butcher knives.

Those, ah...are probably just for survival's sake.

Probably. Though that's rather up to you, isn't it?

The Beast of the Bay
A roaring bonfire, the sound of waves lapping up against the sand, the uniform dark blanketing all but the orange glow of the embers at your feet - what more could you ask for? Those who huddle around the flames for warmth will find themselves oddly compelled to make something of the setting. It's simply too perfect to resist.

It's time, once again, to tell a story.

In fact, your lives may very well depend on it. As long as there is silence, the fires begin to dim, and the flames sink low. And in the distance, you swear you can hear...a snarling, a liquid yip-growl of a great stalking thing with slavering jaws. Maybe you glimpse it in the corner of your eye, dark-furred and clawed with golden slits for eyes that glow like molten amber.

For as long as your fire burns, you're safe. But you'll need a story to fuel it...and if the story is insufficient, if it's more lie than it is truth, then there's a beast that's hungry for your failure.

Get Spelunked On
The caves built into the cliffs lining the beach may be imposing, but you're going to need protection from the elements, and you might not have much choice if you want to last the night. In you inevitably go - or maybe you simply wake up there, having bypassed the need for a raft and a bad-tempered boatmate.

Never fear if you lack a natural means of producing light - it seems that there's all manner of round, glowing orbs buried in the ceiling of each sea cave. Isn't that thoughtful?
Maybe it would have been, if those orbs dispensing that faint cerulean glow weren't sentient - and annoyed at the sight of so many people invading their dark, secluded, peaceful habitat.

Glowgrubs are pale, wormlike creatures that like to dangle from the ceiling like very peculiar stalactites. Most don't grow any larger than two or three feet, but they can be remarkably fast on the ground when they like to be - and they do like to be, when there are intruders afoot. Armed with fanged mouths on both ends of their slightly striated bodies, glowgrubs can deliver a nasty bite that, while not fatal, is dangerous in its own right.

Those who succumb to the bite of a glowgrub will find themselves drawn, trancelike, to deep water. But while a glowgrub can survive submerging itself in those murky depths for hours at a time, most oxygen-breathing creatures cannot.

So don't go wandering about all alone, all right?

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

Get Spelunked on

[thisisourfuture]

[Why...did that even have to happen?! Hinata had let out a surprised sound and started to protest. But it was too late.] Are you really sure you should randomly eat things? What if those things are poisonous?

[He peers around warily, keeping one knife in hand himself as he scans the area for more worms. Even in what seems like a dream he's serious. Or tries to be.]

...What even is a Radroach? [He's likely going to regret asking.]

[jokeronace]

[Jamil shrugs. It's just some bug meat. This kid's acting like he's never eaten giant insect before.]

Well, if they're poisonous, I would find out once I put it in my mouth, wouldn't I?

[You know. Flawless logic. Jamil takes another big ol' bite. Yum.]

Big fucking irradiated cockroach. Just what it sounds like. Some of 'em glow too, but those are rare.

[thisisourfuture]

[He sighs. If something is going to happen, that's too many bites to stop it now. Hinata takes a step back to use the light to scan the area. Even if that light is bugs. Better than nothing.]

I'll leave that sort of thing to you. ...think this will work for keeping us all out of the storm?

]That had been his objective and losing sight of it now would be a bad idea. A glow worm is moving diown the cave walk. He grips the hilt of his knife a little harder.] Or should we try another one?

[jokeronace]

[Jamil holds up the half-eaten glowing worm with his knife, to help Hinata scope out the cave.]

If the place is really infested, we're either not gonna have to worry about food or we're dead. The third option being we just face the storm. Which might also mean we're dead, depending on how bad it gets.

[God, things were a lot easier in the Mojave, where even if it rained you rarely had to do much to deal with it. Gotta love the desert.]

You wanna try looking for somewhere else to hide out, I won't object. But I don't know how much better luck we'd be lookin' at.

[Jamil keeps an eye on the approaching glowgrub. It hasn't escaped his notice that the things boast some pretty nasty looking teeth. They're like cat-sized meat grinders.]

[thisisourfuture]

[They're running out of time. He stares at the approaching worm while he puts the pieces together. This is so far out of his depth. But.]

I'm not sure we'll find anything better. ...it's probably more likely all these caves are infested. This might be a better chance than a cave that's-

[Thunder splits the air, with a nearly deafening crack. Hinata winces.]

...that might be even more infested.

[jokeronace]

[The glowgrub seems to suddenly pick up speed and is suddenly extremely close, which startles Jamil enough that he yelps and tries to crush it underfoot. It's too big to be taken in by one good stomp, though, and now it's just angrier. It launches itself at the exposed part of his ankle, the pants of his suit far too short, the hems partially frayed, and takes a big old bite out of him. Jamil wails and kicks his foot, trying to shake it off, and when it's finally dislodged it's sent flying back the way it came.]

Urgh. [He grunts and inspects the bite, which is already bleeding into his sock. It is a really nasty bite, punctures numerous and not exactly shallow. It got a pretty good grip of him. Sure would be nice if he had a stimpak or two, or hell, a full doctor's bag could go a long way by the end of the night, if this is any indication of things to come.]

Can you go kill that thing before it gets its friends!?

[He doesn't have anything to clean the wound, not to mention clean bandages, so he just sets to work taking off his shoe and his dirty sock and wrapping the latter around his ankle to at least catch the blood. It'll probably get infected, let's be real, but at least it's just a dream and he won't have to deal with this when he wakes up.

Plus, even if he woke up and still had a big fucking worm bite, he'd have all his medical supplies and Arcade to patch him up right.]

[thisisourfuture]

[Everything happens all at once. The way it always does. The worm moves too fast for him to react and before he knows it the scent of blood is strong. His mind unfreezes and he darts after the creature like an arrow shot from a bow. If the glow worm brings others they could be over run. The blade feels heavy in his hand and the worm whips around at speed to face him. But he timed it. His blade coming down at an angle with the edge facing out.

Not to attack but to guard against a bite. The creature has a mind but probably didn't think of a passive attack when it started a rush for his ankle. It's momentum is used against it. It impales its self with a sickening speed. He lets go of the knife but not before his hand gets cut. He hisses in pain.

Hinata draws back away to draw his other knife and in the heat of the moment finishes it off. Later he will think about that. Right now he gathers up dead worm and blade while retreating back to Jamil. He dumps the corpse nearby and stuffs his blades away.] Ugh. It stinks!

...let's get out of here and get your foot seen to. [He reaches up and removes his tie with his clean hand. He winds it around the series of cuts on his sluggishly bleeding hand.]

Do you need help walking?

[jokeronace]

No, I can walk. Run into a lotta desert wildlife where I'm from. ...Also get stabbed a lot. Point is, I can work through pain. Though it usually helps if I got a stimpak, at least...

[But, yeah. It's probably better to get out of here. No point in wandering into a cave full of killer worms.

He's taking his impaled, half eaten worm with him, though. He starts limping toward the exit with it.]

What exactly's the plan, though? It's not like we've got bandages and alcohol out on the beach. And I already found out the water's full of salt the hard way.

[That's right, ch'boy drank ocean water. How was he supposed to know it wasn't the same as a big ass lake?]

[thisisourfuture]

Couldn't you smell the salt in the air near the water? [Hinata sighs, collects the dead worm corpse, and falls in behind him.]

...the plan for now is to get out of here before the blood attracts more worms. It's true we can't really clean that wound. Or mine. But we can at least double check what we tied over them once we're out of here.

[Maybe if he doesn't comment about the reference to being stabbed a lot. He won't get the headache he always gets when things don't make sense. Fat chance of it but he'll try anything once. As if to remind himself it can always get worse he glances around. No worms have yet come seeking out the blood.]

And anyway if you have a bad reaction to eating those things I'd like to at least be closer to the others. [Maybe someone could do something to help. Maybe he'll wake up and the trial doors will be open waiting for him to once again solve a murder. It's still likely this is one really weird dream.]

[jokeronace]

And I'm supposed to know that means salt in the water!?

[You won't win, Hinata, his Intelligence stat is like 4 or something.]

I'm more likely to get a bad reaction from venom or something. The things don't even taste irradiated. Besides, I know if I'm aware I'm dreaming, I'm not gonna let myself puke up glow worms.

[He wiggles his wrapped ankle.]

The cloth on this ain't clean. I gotta take this off soon and hope real hard I don't lead anything that's likely to follow a trail of blood to me. Or I'll get infection, and then I'll be sick.

[He shrugs, and continues limping.]

Maybe we can clean 'em in the rain.

[thisisourfuture]

If we had a container to keep the water in. I don't see why not. [Once again, he wonders how his companion got this far in life. His hand stings under the tie keeping his cuts closed. But, something is starting to nag him.]

You think this is a dream. ...so has everyone I've met so far.

[Why does that bother him? It's like almost knowing the answer to some riddle.]

[jokeronace]

[By stealing and eating everything he can get his grubby little hands on.

Jamil may know the rules of the desert wasteland, but he has no conception of the rules here on a wet, tropical island.]

Yeah? Maybe it's just a really self aware dream.

[Still, for everyone in a dream to be aware it's a dream, to the point that a dream character is pointing it out? That's a little... off.]

You notice how hazy it all is? Things are kinda... blurry on the edges. Plus half of what's going on is dream logic. It's either a dream or one of those fuckin' vault experiments. Just watch. We're all hooked up to a machine and living in some virtual world. Or some kinda scientific shared dream experiment is happening. Bet I'll wake up first.

[He hopes he'll wake up first. He's about over how wet it is out here. It makes him feel all slimy.]