aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 009 )

Test Drive Meme #9

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 March 17th, and Applications on March 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.

City Slicker
The walls of this place are uniform, gray-tinted, built from sandstone and clay. The architecture is deliberate and monochrome to an unkind extent; homogeneity, here, is the order of the day. All told, while a bit colorless, the place is not unpleasant, particularly with that periwinkle blue midday sky blanketed with soft tufts of cloud overhead.

Except for the shouts of armed guards pursuing you.

You've broken the law, you see. Maybe your hair is too colorful, or your apparel contained pockets. Maybe you carried a weapon without a permit. Whichever one of those ridiculous, lengthy list of laws you've broken, it's put you in the guards' bad sights. Their technology hasn't progressed beyond that of spears and shields, but at least like this, you're being allowed something of a fighting chance.

We say "fighting," but really, your best bet is probably to try and avoid them. Mu has recreated the ironclad system present on the island of Ai'tuoh, though it's eased some of the unfair advantages stacked against you: the militia are no longer cunningly concealed among the populace, and they do not fight with needles slid into arms before you can understand what, precisely, has just gone wrong. This way, at least you have a chance to run before they seize and sedate you.

Which we recommend, by the way. The running.

Sky Islands, or Skylands
While waking on islands is all very well and good - practically par for the course in LifeAftr, in fact - one might need a moment to adjust to the strangeness of this one. This one, it turns out, is floating.

Suspended in midair, this island is one of several dozens peppered throughout the sky. They drift to and fro, close to one another and then away again, but that's far from the most curious thing about them. No; their most peculiar quality is the fact that these islands shift, warping in shape as though caught in a state of perpetual flux. They ripple seamlessly from one visual to the next,: cycling through the varieties of an ice-swept tundra, a lush rainforest, a half-crumbled ruin, and infinite others in the span of mere hours.

And, if you concentrate just enough, you might find that these islands are pliable to even your will. You may be able to mold them like clay through focus of will alone, causing them to gradually shape into something familiar, even desirable: a home you miss, a place you wish you could see. But no matter how you try, you can only fabricate that which is non-sentient - plants, buildings, rocks, trees.

Just take care not to take things too far. You might find that the landscape does not take too kindly to being overly micromanaged. Too much projection of your conscious or subconscious desires will cause the entire thing to start to darken, crumble, and wither away...taking you with it.

And it's a very, very long fall back to earth.

[This prompt is a miniature version of our February event! Feel free to experiment with whatever details you uncover on the info post if you like!]

Kick Back, Relax
It's not all survivalist shenanigans and horrifying, mind-bending events. There are, in fact, plenty of moments of relaxation, of relief, and even fun to be had. Mu is not a wholly unkind being; it can allow you a much-needed respite in the form of something it suspects everyone might enjoy: a good old-fashioned party.

A volleyball net has been strung between two palm trees. A length of driftwood table has been laden with any kind of food you could imagine might be found on an island: drinks served in coconut shells, carmelized shrimp, smoked oysters, skewers of fish. The aquamarine tide laps up at the soft white sand, and those who test the temperature of the shallows will discover that they are pleasantly warm.

And at the center of it all, a cheerful bonfire that kicks up hot flares of sparks into the warm, rich blue of the sky. What a peaceful sight! What a jovial celebration!

Better enjoy it while it's here.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He squints at the request-- he might be a dork, but he's not an idiot. This child knows something he doesn't. And he's not sure how he feels about signing anything he doesn't have very well outlined.

... Unfortunately, also, Kravitz has a horrible gambling problem, and the thought of the possibilities are a bit thrilling. He could never see this child again. That's probable.

He looks skeptically down at Chara, meeting their red eyes with his own.]

How about... five favors. If we meet again past this day, I will owe you five, naturally barring requests for violence and anything that goes against the laws of my previous contracts. Does that sound like a deal?

The pact is sealed. [Chara responds promptly, smiling from ear to ear. Don't worry about it dude it's not like you just sold your SOUL or anything.] Or rather, I agree to the terms proposed.

Ask of me whatever you wish. I shall tell no lies.

[Kravitz, this is why it's called a gambling problem, you little idiot. Regardless, he has to cash in his end now, so. Let's get some mileage.]

What world is this? Is it even real? Is there any-- actual threat?

This particular space is known as Mu; from all accounts, it is both real and not real. [Amazing, how prompt their compliance is when they've got the better end of a deal.]

It is an island of dreams, tied in some fashion to an archipelago known to myself as LifeAftr. This city, Ai'tuoh, most certainly exists- we are simply not in a conscious iteration of it.

[A grin, followed by a blithe shrug.] If there is an actual threat here, I haven't come across it. But then, I've never died in this space, either.

Who knows what that would do to a person.

[His brows furrow as Chara mentions death, not wanting to study the implications there.]

I would hope dying somewhere causes them to be dead.

[Whatever, he'll address this later.]

So this is a dream?

[I don't dream, he thinks. How can he be dreaming? Even when he does sleep, he doesn't dream. Has he been kidnapped? Was the Stockade breeched by that blackness? Is he trapped worse than before?]

... Do you know of a way to get out? Or the circumstances in which one might find themselves here? I find myself concerned of the... implications.

Edited (hey dw thats not the icon i picked) 2018-05-13 02:49 (UTC)

One does hope, yes.

[And oh boy, does somewhere like to disappoint.]

For the most part. It is... [They pause, trying to think- how would one phrase it?] a collective consciousness, perhaps? We are both unconscious, but we are also both very much here.

[So, you know. Really typical, easy to explain stuff.]

The same way you'd wake up from any dream; let yourself be attacked, jump off a cliff- startle yourself, in some overly excessive manner. You're hardly stuck here, if that is your concern.

[He didn't strike them as the heroic, duty bound type, but whatever.]

[Congratulations, all of that makes very little sense. Primarily because he really shouldn't be able to dream in the first place, and the ide of doing so with other people is also utterly strange.]

I mean, it was when I was being chased by a number of guards with intent to kill.

[He isn't above just bolting if no one he cares about is here. He certainly isn't going to start some one man crusade to deal with this whole place.]

But you're saying I get hurt, and simply-- wake up? That seems ominous.

[Thanks, they do their best to make the truth as confusing as possible. uwu ]

That obviously isn't enough, sir; haven't you ever jolted awake from the brink of sleep? [If only; it's hard to make relatable references to the Grim Reaper but whatever. Also, Kravitz, have you ever considered that logic is boring?]

It feels like you've just hit the ground, correct? As I've said, sir- startle to the excess. Tripping over or being chased won't quite do it. You need to think you're being grievously injured. It's hardly the end of the world.

I could assist, if you like. For no additional charge.

[=)]

[This is only getting worse. Why did he try and do something that was supposed to make things make more sense and it's Only Getting Worse.

Also, since when was being grievously injured not the end of the world for a mortal?]

Well, I, uhm-- you've probably removed the element of surprise there, so.

[Why?? Is this child?? Offering???]

You seem to be very nonplussed about this whole ordeal.

I personally feel you're underestimating me, sir- but as you wish. [Could've been fun- now, you'll never know. Chara shrugs, smile remaining in place.]

I could start crying, if you'd prefer. Scream for my mother? It all seems rather counterintuitive, at this stage.

A little bit, yes.

[He needs another plan, but he really isn't much to being stabbed. Perhaps he can just hit the limits of this city, find the edges of where the illusion confines him and break through.]

Do you know the way out? The closest way to the edge. If we can make it there, we can cut out way out of bounds.

Cut our way out? [They raise a brow at him; both skeptical-- and curious.] I suppose it's worth an attempt, however...

We're not going to make it with your current attire.

[Time to find new duds, boo.]

[He's excited for a moment that this kid is going to go along with him, and then-- a look down to his suit. Ugh, he likes wearing this, though. But fine.]

To what, something more like that?

[It is what he saw the locals in, so. Because everything has not yet been robbed from him, he can summon his cloak easily, editing the color just a bit (though he's loathe to do so) and pulling the hood up.]

Is that better?

[...Okay yeah, sure, that'll do it. They give his cloak a critical look over, gaze lingering on the hood. It's possible that might not fly, but it will obscure his identity, should they need to start over.]

It will suffice, for now. Shall we? [They walk to the end of the alleyway, carefully looking round the corner.] One last thing; if possible, try not to look directly at anyone.

[They glance back at him, smiling.]

Eyes like ours aren't well received in the best of circumstances.

[It is the one interesting thing of note. Those red eyes. His certainly weren't this color when he was alive.

But he doesn't really have time to worry about it. So he nods, tilts his head down, keeps his eyes low.]

I know how to keep quiet.

[And he will. Putting his faith in this child probably isn't the best idea, but he thinks he can handle himself, if worst comes to worst.]

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 009 )

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