TEST DRIVE MEME ( 015 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #15

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 September 17th, and Applications on September 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.

Drawn to You
The forest is dark, silent but for the snap-buzz of cricket song. Nearby, the soft babble of running water threads its way between the rough-barked trunks, though the origin of said water is difficult, at first, to pinpoint.

Granted, you probably aren't paying much attention to the forest, or the water, or the darkness. You're probably more concerned about the creatures flitting to and fro in sparse groups, most of them quite small. They tend to vary in appearance - some look to be totally benign, while others considerably less so - but all belong to the same species.

Scribblets are wily beasts, dream-haunters by nature, and they seem to revel in the idle torment they inflict upon those who cross their paths. You, dear travelers, are no exception. And while they are quite easily crushed into dust once caught, they are exceedingly slippery, agile creatures that are most difficult to pin down. If you're not careful enough, the scribblets will fasten a peculiar tether to you. It looks very much like it is made of the same materials they, resembling a sketchy line of crayon, drawn into the third dimension. Their intent, tonight, is to tie you to something that will make your life difficult - binding you to a tree trunk or to a branch far above the ground, tying your hands together...or even tying you to someone else. These bonds will only grow progressively denser and heavier the more you struggle against them.

Fortunately, the solution here is very simple. Like any drawing, it can be washed away if you find water. You'd simply better hope that you're able to collaborate with whoever you must in order to access said water, whether it's working alongside whoever you might be tied to, or convincing someone to lend you a hand.

You'd better hope the scribblets don't go after them either, by the way.

Quarantine Breached
Whatever this place once was, nature has long since claimed it for its own. A darkened, secluded laboratory now nearly swallowed by thick snarls of overgrowth is probably not your ideal vacation spot, particularly since there's a dearth of any decent lighting sources here. Drenched in shadow as this place was, it might have been helpful if you had thought to bring a light.

Fortunately, that problem is soon to be solved! Twin smoldering points of light abruptly ignite several yards away from you, paired with the pitched mechanical hum of engaging circuits. Another pair of lights immediately spritzes to life just beside it, and another pair, and another...and another...and...

Well, there seems to be a lot of them, doesn't there? "Attention," chimes a pitched, automated voice, doubtless issuing from one of the many automatons that have begun to stir awake, one by one. "Potential host sighted. Quarantine breached."

You must understand, traveler: the island of Umui was nothing like this. The guardian units there were conscious nurse-bots, charged with caring for the sick and dying populace of a hospice island. Most did so with as much care as they were capable. But in the initial days of Umui's exploration, a great deal of explorers' anxieties revolved around these fallen automatons, and what possible purpose they may have served.

We invite you to imagine a scenario in which this went horribly wrong.

Consider these automatons to be shadowy, overzealous mirrors of their long-dead, real-world equivalents. They have learned to become hyper-devoted to their task of keeping their patients safe; so devoted, it seems, that nothing will stop them from fulfilling those obligations. They intend to catch and sedate you so that you can be...returned...to a place of safety.

Unfortunately, this place of safety probably entails an inescapable four-walled room or a hospital bed, and it's doubtful, to say in the least, that enough of their programming remains for them to remember to care for and feed you once you've been returned to whatever passes for a quarantine zone. In a decrepit, dilapidated building like this, it's probably not pleasant.

Our advice is to simply not get caught. If this means doing some inevitable destruction to all this complex hardware in the process, well...at least there's no chance you'll be billed for damages.

The New Farm Simulator Looks Great!
It is possible that you vaguely recall being asked to take watch this evening. By whom? Oh, please, that doesn't matter! With the pleasant hum of crickets in the air, and a backdrop of paddocks and grain fields around you, there are plenty of worse ways to spend your evening than this. All you have to do is keep an eye on passive livestock. The farmer's life is a simple one, where your biggest problem is trying not to fall asleep before your shift is over.

In theory, anyway. While the scenery of the quiet countryside may be ideal, the state of the farm's buildings and and fences is far from it. For the curious creatures such as popo, there really isn't much to keep them in one place for long, wide stretches of fenceline ruined by fallen sections. Meaning that these massive, shaggy creatures can simply step over the crushed regions and start plowing their way contentedly in the direction of the fields of grain - fields that were certainly not intended to end up in some silly beast's stomach.

For others, sweet grains aren't as appealing as that sweet, sweet taste of freedom. A word of advice: once the popo are over those hills, you won't be seeing them again. And they might not be terribly fast on their own, but in a herd, they can get to be as dangerous as a stampede.

Hope you weren't expecting an easy night, because in LifeAftr, there's no CJB cheats menu to save you.

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Comments

i

[fireindreams]

[The darkness was the last thing in the world that would bother Grimm and the machines were easy to dodge for one capable of his speed. Grimm knew the reality of these machines, had met ARUM-25 and knew their willingness to help despite their confusion over their missing memories. These automatons may still have the same desire to help but he cannot say their 'help' will be the same as ARUM-25's. And he did not particularly appreciate being sedated with no warning.

Shutting them down was the only option even if that meant the machines' destruction.

The crack-bang of Grimm teleporting in nearby interrupts the machines' chanting of their commands but he stops dead for a brief minute once he sees who they are advancing on.

The impossible happens here, this Grimm knows. But this is quite the curious impossibility.

But there could be time for his curiosity later. The automatic voices are drowned out by the screech of the Troupe Master's firebats as they stream forward to latch themselves to one of the automatons and begin to melt the metal down to a functionless puddle.

It gets the attention of the rest of the automatons but Grimm is gone again, only to re-appear behind another to smash it with a vicious uppercut.

He does not mind running interference for the Hollow Knight but they will eventually need to get moving.]

[sealedvessel]

[Taking action is a concept they've grown unfamiliar with. Their whole purpose had been to not take action. To contain, to stay, to resist. Everything they had been taught starting with don't.

Without the light forcing them to move, their instinct is to do nothing at all. to let the machines do whatever it is they intend and not fight it. They were not what he had been meant to resist.

But all those thoughts are interrupted at the sudden appearance of a different type of light. Not the pure radiant light of dawn. This is warmth and crackling and burning.

The melting of metal, not prepared to handle the fiery attacks.

It's curiosity and caution in equal measure that compels them to rise up. It's slow and difficult, but they stand once more. Collecting their nail from the floor before they forget. The weight helps ground them. Even as they do this, they try to keep their gaze focused on Grimm, even with his quick movements.

This is... confusing. And they're not sure what should come next.]

[fireindreams]

[For the briefest of moments, Grimm wished his abilities as the Nightmare King were reflected in his mortal vessel. Those fire pillars would make short work of things.

He would also burn down the building and that monstrous God would leak into reality. So no.

Grimm's movements are quick and flashy, bending it into the vicious dances he was well known for. A God who regulated his powers into the mere tricks of a performer was still a God and Grimm is still powerful. But the machines had the advantage of pure numbers so no matter how many he reduced to melted trash, another would always take its place.

Eventually Grimm teleports back to the Hollow Knight's side.]

I would offer a better greeting then these machines, my friend, but sadly I cannot. Would you mind giving me a hand to stop their advance?

[He cannot do it alone.]

[sealedvessel]

[It's a request, not an order, or a demand.

But it's close enough.

Without even giving it a moment's thought, the Hollow Knight tightens the grip on their nail and they lunge. The second they're no longer helpless on the floor, they're a force to be reckoned with. There's a clatter as the bisected remains of an automaton fall down, felled in an instant. The next few are taken care of just as quickly, in a swift series of slashes.

With no infection to slow them down, there's little holding them back. And fighting like this... it's second nature. Right now, as they are, they could do this all day.

They don't have to be in their right mind to take care of a foe.]

[fireindreams]

[They spring to action the minute Grimm asks and even while they are not in their top form, the Hollow Knight cleaves a path through the machines like the force of nature they are.

An unmovable wall against an unstoppable force. Exactly how the Pale King made them to be.

Grimm does not stand idly by as the Hollow Knight fights and soon leaps back into the action again. Spikes rip upwards from the ground to impale robots that come too close to the Troupe Master, moves that are hard to track. A dance that took the little Vessel Grimm met for the first time many tries to pick up the rhythm.

On and on, until there is silence.]

[sealedvessel]

[It's a simple matter. A task given. And a task completed, as eventually every machine falls. Any more that are here must be deeper in. Nowhere nearby and, thus, nothing the Hollow Knight feels they need to worry about.

The purpose fulfilled, they drop back into a slouch, their nail once again dragging behind them. It's no longer needed at the ready.

And they feel... tired.

That's nothing new, of course. They usually do.

They only just lift their head a little, to look towards Grimm. As if expecting something, but they don't really know what it is they're expecting.

This is all a lot.]

[fireindreams]

[Silence finally falls upon the room and Grimm relaxes. He is not tired from such a battle but it is no surprise that the Hollow Knight is. This is a dream but they are still weak from the infection that ate away at their body for eons.

Grimm does not want to lessen the Hollow Knight's will to hold on for as long as they did but their state was not something that could be ignored.

He approaches and bows lowly.]

Finally we meet Hollow Knight. I am Grimm, master of the Grimm Troupe.

[He does not know if they will recognize the name. Grimm could not say if the Pale King ever spoke of him or if Wyrm did, which title he used.]

Is there anything I can do for you?

[sealedvessel]

["Finally"?

No, they do not recognize the name. It's not one their father had deemed to share with them. Or, if he had, it's one long forgotten. But Grimm's behavior, the polite introduction... It's unexpected.

Perhaps it had just been very, very long since someone had last introduced themselves to them. It did happen, sometimes, when they were little. But that seems like an eternity ago, now.

And then, the question.

That, more than any of this, startles them. The way they look up is sudden and the way their gaze holds on Grimm is...

Uncomprehending.

Do... for them?

What would be the point in that?]

[fireindreams]

[His name goes without apparent recognition and in a way that is good. Grimm knew the Pale King well enough to know he did not put much stock in his relationships bar one...and that ended as well as one would expect. The proof is right in front of the God of Nightmares.

The confused look the Hollow Knight fixes him with is both expected and sad. Did they truly not expect some form of help once the battle was over?]

One can assume none of us wish to find out where those machines intend to take us if we are caught. I am incapable of teleporting with someone but I can still help you along if you wish it.

[It would be slow going but he has no intention of leaving them behind in this place. The Knight would not forgive Grimm if they found out.]

[sealedvessel]

[Honestly, the Hollow Knight hadn't been concerned with what the machines had intended. And Grimm's statement makes them consider that more. Whatever they'd intended with Grimm, who looks perfectly fine... That would have been wrong.

But as for themselves...

They look down at the remains of the automatons and without even thinking, their hand moves over to their other shoulder, to where their other arm was, once.

Help them along...

It doesn't seem safe. For whoever else is out there.]

[fireindreams]

[Inevitably when one knew the Pale King for as long as Grimm did, they learned how to "read" their body language. The Pale King was not a normal bug and did not feel but the Troupe Master learned to look for the moment when he saw something that caused the gears in his head to turn.

He remembers when they first met and the blank stare Wyrm gave him, something new and interesting that had presented itself before the old God.

But the point is Grimm was decent at reading the expressionless. And the Hollow Knight has more worries then most normally would. He shakes his head and, if they allow it, reaches out to place a hand on their shoulder.]

The Radiance is not here and her sickness does not ravage this land. The disease that plagues the minds of these machines are not do to your presence.

[From what they all learned it was a disease that had seeped into the land of Umui long before anyone from Enso set foot on these shores.]

[sealedvessel]

[They don't move when Grimm puts a hand on their shoulder, don't stop him from doing it, but they look up. Confused. As if the sensation doesn't make any sense to them.

What he's saying doesn't make any sense, either.

No Radiance? No sickness?

...Is it really that simple?

They shoot the machines one last look, but that's all. If they were not here to contain the infection, the Radiance, then they really were acting without purpose.

Without...






The Hollow Knight is almost frozen, suddenly.

What... are they supposed to do now?]

[fireindreams]

[Grimm can understand their confusion. He was a vessel for the Nightmare King, Master and clan, but Grimm had his freedom. He walked many land as the scarlet eyes of the God of Nightmares, bound only by the Lantern and the call of the Ritual when his life cycle reached its end.

The Hollow Knight did not have that. Grimm did not know how Wyrm raised them but he is willing to bet he could guess. The Pale King stayed true to what he created something for and the Hollow Knight had been created to be a seal to hold back the Radiance's rage. That is how they have lived and to suddenly be given their freedom after all they had endured...

It would be a shock if they were not unsure of what to do.]

I understand your confusion, my friend. Perhaps, rather then worrying about the Radiance for the moment, we should seek an exit. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have once we do.

[Give them an objective, even if it is as simple as finding an exit. It would help at least to keep their hands busy.]

[sealedvessel]

[Not worry about the Radiance? You might as well tell someone to stop their heart from beating, Grimm.

But it does... help, to have something else to hold onto for now. Something to do, even if they can't focus completely. They don't bother to acknowledge the statement directly, but the Hollow Knight does start looking around.

An exit...

They know it won't be where they came from. So, they pick a different direction and... start walking. How else are they going to find anything, right?]