TEST DRIVE MEME ( 001 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #1

Hello, and welcome to our very first test drive! 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 July 17th and that Applications will open on July 24th, in preparation for the game’s official opening on August 3rd!

But first, two important notes!

1. The island of Mu 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.

Shipwrecked
The white sand of the beach ridges the island’s edge, even if the clear water soon becomes murky the further out you look across the horizon until the turquoise gleam of the tide disappears in a coil of surrounding fog. Indeed, your best prospects may very well be to strike out among the trees or the crags looming out over the foam-capped waves. There’s lumber to be found and made from the palm-like trees, potentially fruit or edible tubers of some kind if you forage about some. The further you travel, however, the more of your surroundings will reveal themselves in a steady unspooling of curiosities.

One corner of Mu’s current construct drops away into a sheer cliff, initially too dangerous to brave for all but the more daredevilish, but if one starts to scan the sharp rocks below, you might catch sight of what appears to be sodden planks of wood - a wreckage tossed up against the rocks. And a little further...a bobbing, shattered wreck of a lifeboat’s remains, potentially bearing supplies that might yet be salvageable.

Fashion what you can from the wood and stone around you or scavenge from the ruin of the land, if you like. But you can’t simply stand around and wait forever. It’s going to get dark sometime - and if a creature of unknown terror doesn’t catch you, the elements surely will.

Storytime

There’s a sense of camaraderie in this cove, you think. As the sun hangs low over the horizon, the world cast into orange hues, long shadows dispersed by roaring fires that dot across the beach.

That’s right, folks: it’s storytime.

There’s no one to preside over this meeting of the minds in Mu. Call it a vague recreation of things to come, if you like, some vaguely fatidic dreamlike state where you may find yourself drawn to the heat and company that awaits you by the fire. And from there, compelled to default to that old instinct that most of intelligent civilization has revered since they were advanced enough to paint geometric shapes on cave walls.

You tell a story.

Perhaps it’s a tragedy, a tale of woe and of personal loss. Perhaps it’s the sort of thing you’d break out after a few rounds of your alcoholic beverage of choice, clapping hands to your knees as you try to bite back your mirth long enough to spill the punchline. Perhaps it’s an adventure of some sort, some unbelievable rendition of your past exploits. The only common thread to be had, as those gathered around the fire share their tales, is the fundamental rule of a ritualistic sharing of stories such as this: its truth.

But how one chooses to define "truth" is, in its own way, another story entirely...

Dance, Sucker, Dance!
The beat of your heart in your chest is difficult to ignore. It judders with a pulsing, rhythmic quality. If you’re one of those that lacks a heart, the beat is still omnipresent and all-encompassing, until your entire body is unwittingly bobbing in time to a metronomic tune that seems ingrained into your very soul. It’s inescapable. You can’t seem to move unless it’s in time to the rhythm that’s now singing in every atom of your being.

But rest assured, you’re not alone in this musical curse. Everything, from the swaying trees to the waves against the beach, jumps in time to the music. And so do the monsters approaching you, that - wait a minute.

Monsters?

Oh, yes. Did we mention those?


It seems you’ve encountered the wrath of the Boogieman, who curses you to only dance to his infernal beat. If you wish to best him, you’ll have to either evade or destroy the blobs of greenish slime that serve as his minions, all in time to the hard beat of the tune in your head. Clear the radius of his curse or risk an open confrontation, if you dare. Don’t worry if you look foolish; chances are anyone else caught in the Boogieman’s thrall feels just the same.

Mu isn’t pulling any punches to start with. It is a flighty creation, after all, and seems to revel in displacing people into new and uncomfortable situations.

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

Asriel Dreemurr | Undertale | Soulgemmed CRAU

[pleasereset]

[The Beach]

[When Asriel wakes up, it doesn't hurt.

It should, considering the last thing he remembers was being forced to eat a poisoned pie for some sadistic game. But it doesn't. His fur and clothes are wet though, and there's... sand? He sits upright, greeted to the sight of an admittedly beautiful ocean and beach. But this isn't Nyoi-Cho, and he doesn't remember being anywhere near the beach in Nyoi-Cho. He checks himself over quickly - no wounds, and his soul gem is still attached to the ring around his finger.]

... Am I dead?

[If he is, it's probably the nicest death he's had so far.]

[Story time.]

[Oh, there's definitely a lot of stories Asriel could tell. But when he has the opportunity to share, he finds himself not really wanting to get into the story of magi that fight off the monsters that live in other people's nightmares.

There is one story he could tell though...]

Okay. This story is about a ninja who has a powerful fox demon living inside of him, that gives him special powers...

beach!!!!!!

[postictal]

[There's a kid on the beach. A "kid" in multiple senses of the word, and Tim's soul (the one that he has, bizarre as that might sound, twinges in a pulse of familiarity.

Shit. So there's multiple people from the castle here, then. The differences between this kid and the one he remembers are superficial, as far as he's concerned - after all, what's the likelihood that it's someone else entirely?]

Asriel. [He jogs to catch up to the lump of white fur on the beach - a human, stocky and bearing a camera strapped to his chest, his chin ringed with a six o' clock shadow.] You okay?

[pleasereset]

[Asriel lifts his head immediately when he hears his name being called. But he doesn't recognize the voice or the person approaching him. No one he would know from Nyoi-Cho, but they know him?

He tenses slightly, trying to look calm and not like a scared, nervous wreck.]

I'm not sure?

[Is he still poisoned? Is this an effect of poisoning, where strange people talk to you on beaches?]

... Um, I'm sorry. Do I know you?

[postictal]

[Every nightmare he's ever had about Jay comes screaming to a halt in his head, a blank lack of recognition sheeting his expression into that dull emptiness he never glimpsed on the camera, those handfuls of times he showed his face on the entries.

Do I know you?

He's only talked to him a handful of times, but Asriel...remembered him, last he checked.]

Tim. [He draws his name out nervously, eyebrows lifting slowly.] It's...Tim. From the castle.

the beach

[unpurify]

No.

[The simple, if blunt, answer comes from a man in a baseball uniform and gripping a baseball bat in hand standing a little ways away. The Batter himself had just woken and was walking around before he stumbled across this....creature?

Curious.]

What are you?

the beach

[pleasereset]

[The answer is blunt, and Asriel's not really sure if he should be relieved that he answer is "no". If he's not dead then maybe... a Witch's Labyrinth? Before he can think it over longer, the Batter asks him a question.]

I'm a mo...

[He catches himself quickly. While he used to openly admit to being a monster, being a monster hasn't exactly gone well for him in recent months. Better to be safe than sorry.]

I'm a magi. Are you one too?

[unpurify]

[The Batter doesn't miss the slip. And because of that Asriel is being observed closely. He does not know what a 'magi' is but none of the beings he has met so far were anything like the Elsens.

So if this creature displays signs of hostility, then he knew what to do.]

No. I'm the Batter.

[It's not a particularly nice introduction but it will do in his opinion.]

Who are you?

[madnest]

[ Surprise. The sand-covered lump isn't dead. Not too far away sits a girl cross-legged in a rainbow-colored life vest. The paisleys on it seem to all be focused on him, but that would be silly, because clothing isn't alive, right?

If it was just clothing it would be right. ]

If you are dead, so am I.

[Said as non-chalantly as one can be about the possibility of the end of ones existence. But hey, she sounds like she doesn't give a fuck because she's pretty sure she's not dead. It is just funny to say. Humor is important in developing relationships with other beings.

Death is kind of difficult to pinpoint after your first trip into the astral plane of existence. But she thinks if she was really a corpse, she wouldn't be stuck in this primitive human body on a paradise island. Hopefully her soul would get the clue and fly back to her actual body, wherever it was.]

[pleasereset]

[It's someone else he doesn't recognize. He can't figure it out. Maybe he really is dead?]

I guess if we are, this isn't a bad place to wake up in?

[It's a little too nonchalant for a kid to casually talk about dying, but it's not the first time he's died. It is the most peaceful he's died, considering he was in so much pain a few moments ago.]

Are you... from Nyoi-Cho?

[madnest]

No. I'm from

[Technically Earth, but also technically Meta. Actually not from anywhere. Avians were wanderers, and so wander she did. Just because it was wandering across dimensions instead of wandering across grasslands didn't matter.

She waves her hand.]

I'm from a lot of places.

[She's more interested in where he's talking about anyway.]

What's Nyoi-Cho? Your planet?

The Beach

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Is that... a boss monster? Okay, now she's really confused. Still, probably best to try answering his question first. After all, he looks very young and very lost- it's only right to try and help him.]

I do hope not, since it would raise uncomfortable questions about what I'm doing here. You haven't been hurt, have you? I know a bit of healing magic.

[After all, when baking involves making healing items, it helps to have at least some skill with green magic.]

[pleasereset]

[Finally a familiar voice, but not one he expected he ever hear again. He turns suddenly, and...

It's Muffet. Muffet's here. He stumbles over his words, trying to give her an answer. The last monster he'd seen, had spent months with, was Mettaton. And Asriel more or less expected Mettaton to be the only monster he'd ever get to interact with.]

I-I-

I'm not hurt - at least not anymore? Just um, just feeling really lost right now.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[She smiles gently, hoping to reassure him. The poor boy seems frightened- no wonder, if he's been stranded here as suddenly as she has, without anyone who's supposed to be looking out for him around.]

I'm glad you're all right, then. Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure how I wound up here, myself. Do you want to look around together and see if we can find something?

...Oh dear, I almost forgot to introduce myself. I'm Muffet, lately of Hotland. And you?

neighs from the beach

[crosslaced]

[Asriel will hear snuffling very close by, before a well-meaning muzzle bumps against his head. Maribelle the horse has found something that smells familiar, and is most definitely a fellow herbivore anyway; after nudging the goat friend to confirm his wellbeing, she ambles off to watch him from a short distance.

Neigh!!

Her saddle is hanging from her flank, loose. She doesn't quite seem to mind. At least the rest of her straps seem intact, evidence of ownership. Doesn't she seem a bit familiar?]

[pleasereset]

[Asriel jumps a little at the surprise sniffing, before turning his head and finding... a horse?

There's a saddle, so maybe whoever she belongs to is close by? But he feels like he's seen this horse around before. Maybe it's just his imagination though. After all, he's not really sure what's going on around here.]

Oh uh... hello, did you get lost too?

backflips straight into hell

[achievementhunter]

I'd say we are. Or...almost, at least.

[They had hoped- that he would be able to live happily ever after.

But hope is a very silly thing, isn't it? It's warm, here. The sun is shining; a light breeze tousles their hair- and his fur, they imagine. The sky is a vivid, unbroken blue. The water is calm and majestic. It glimmers, almost like a jewel.

It's a fitting end. Of course their mind would imagine him up, in its very last moments.]

Hello, Asriel.

ohhhh boy

[pleasereset]

[That - that voice.

Asriel turns quickly, stumbles through the sand to get on his feet. And they're here. He can't tell if this is all a dream, or if this his is final moments before the poison takes him. But whatever it is, he's overcome with the sheer relief of finally seeing someone he thought he'd lost for good.

The person he told too late that he loved them, and wanted them to stay.]

Chara, it's - it's you! It really is you!

[At least he hopes. He's a little afraid to approach, in case they vanish all over again. The tears come almost immediately, but he's just so glad.]

I really thought I lost you for good, I'm so glad to see you...!

BEACH

[builditstrong]

[There's a, uh. Small, furry something sitting up from the sand. Which wouldn't be so strange, even despite the general shortage of furry somethings these days. But this furry something is also talking. And wearing clothes like a person.]

[Which, Kid figures with a sort of mental shrug, means they are some kind of person, which means they're due all the usual courtesies of a person.]

Nope. Don' think so.

[He's a kid (man) of few words. He does offer a hand to help the kid (literal?) up.]

[pleasereset]

Maybe I'm dreaming. How strong was that poison...?

[It's muttered under his breath, before he notices the hand. Though if Kid listens closely enough, he could probably still here him. Asriel's not quite that quiet.

Asriel takes it and lets himself be pulled up.]

Thanks. Um, I don't suppose you'd know where we are, do you?

story time!!

[solperierat]

[Much as Ed is worried about the fact that this minotaur is so painfully young, he smiles and nods to the kid. It doesn't look like his changes have fully set in, and he can only hope the poor child isn't suffering from the hunger just yet.]

A ninja? Those're the guys that sneak around in all black, right? [Ed isn't exactly 100% on how ninjas are supposed to work, but Lan Fan had given him something of an idea.] He must've had a lot of tricks up his sleeve.

[pleasereset]

Yeah!! Well he could turn into a powerful demon too! But it's too strong for him to control it... luckily he makes a lot of other ninja friends with special powers that can help him! He's got a really cool power where he can make multiples of himself and it really helps him when he's fighting the bad guy ninjas...

Beachtime. u know this guy

[mttbrandlegs]

If you are dead, then that means I am as well.

[The voice is familiar, and not too far away. A handful of feet away, a very familiar robot lays in the sand, his limbs akimbo. He could have moved, yes, but he doesn't really feel like it. Water, sand...it all ruins a robot's circuits.

Even a magical one like Mettaton.

So he shouldn't expedite the process, right?]

Witch or Nightmare? Truly I do wonder...it's pretty realistic, isn't it?

[pleasereset]

Mettaton! Why are you... I thought this was a dream from eating that pie?

[Still, he's relieved that he isn't the only magi here. But if they're both here in a weird place like this...]

It's got to be a Labyrinth of some kind, right? I'm not sure what else it could be.

Story time (and also hello!)

[mymostvulnerable]

[As the adult, it's Toriel's duty to tend to the fire. And as Asriel's mother, it is also Toriel's duty to listen to her son's wild tales. She adds more wood to their formerly meager fire, stokes it with some of her magic, and then takes the seat closest to her child. When she looks at him, it is with profound love.]

What kind of special powers?

eeee hello goat mom

[pleasereset]

[When Toriel sits down next to him, it's hard to imagine that Asriel could get anymore energetic about his demon ninja story. Her being here still feels like some kind of surreal dream.]

Well!! He can make lots of clones of himself to help him fight off bad guy ninjas! And he can shapeshift, but it's really hard for him to do and he can't control it very well but he gets better at controlling it later when he learns more about being a powerful ninja!