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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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

Comments

[sealedvessel]

[They freeze up slightly as their sword is taken. Once they realize what's happening, they eye their sibling curiously and... perhaps, with a little bit of doubt. They are a great deal smaller than the nail and the sight is a little ridiculous.

But they seem to have it under control.

Their stare lingers a little longer, before they turn to the tree, gently touching the bark. They may have been taken out of the Abyss, but their world had still been very confined. Even before they had been sealed away to contain the Radiance, their experiences had been very limited.

It wouldn't do if their attachment to Hallownest had caused them to become impure, after all. Not that it had mattered, in the end.

They're interrupted by the small lights and they step back quickly, before turning to look as they start to illuminate their surroundings.

The Hollow Knight walks closer to look at one of the fireflies, only for it to spook and fly off... which also startles the far bigger bug and they jump slightly.

...No one saw that.]

[lightlessfuture]

[ They sit, and hold the much larger nail in their lap, because that's easier than trying to just hold it there all the time.

And they just...watch their sibling wander. Even though they're grown and so much bigger, they still have that same wondering sense of curiosity.

Someone who never got to experience a world that they took on the burden of saving.

Their sibling is startled by one of the fireflies that dot the forest, and in response the Knight press a small hand to their face in a mimicry of laughter. It's...

It's...cute? Yes, they think that's the word. They could imagine them, so much smaller. Whole. And it would be the same.

It hurts, twists something deep inside them, raw and painful. But they watch anyway, because to stop would be to - deny it, to forget it. Hold it in your memory.

(To stop would hurt so much more.) ]

[sealedvessel]

[The Hollow Knight doesn't even really notice the Knight's response to these shenanigans. They're too entranced by everything else, still.

They recover just fine from being startled. As do the fireflies. It seems the curiosity might be mutual, as one of the fireflies flies over to them. When the Hollow Knight carefully lifts their hand to reach out, it decides to land there. It surprises them, but they don't jump this time.

This is when the Hollow Knight looks over to their little sibling, carefully staying still so the firefly doesn't fly off.

Look, look!]

[lightlessfuture]

[ They lean forward as much as they're able to with the much larger, heavier nail in their lap, trying to convey through body language their silent attention.

Yes, they're looking. It's nice.

...They have an idea.

Dream or not, they know exactly what they carry, and that includes the crumbled remains of food. They rustle under their cloak for a handful of crumbs, and then wave with their free hand to get their sibling's attention.

They sprinkle the food out onto the ground in front of them, leaving a little in their hand, even trailing some onto the Hollow Knight's weapon. The fireflies descend; the much smaller insects settling down to feed, little lights in the grass and on the nail and even a few on their hand, appearing like magic.

They tilt their head, inquisitive. Would they like to try? ]

[sealedvessel]

[Movement catches their eye and they look down to see their sibling waving. They're confused at first, at the sight of the crumbs. But as they continue and the fireflies descend, they understand what's happening. Even the firefly that was resting on their hand flies off to join the others.

Carefully, the Hollow Knight moves closer to their sibling and crouches down. Even like this, they're... not exactly at eye level, but it's at least a little closer. They watch the fireflies for a little bit, before looking at their sibling.

Ah.

They...

...

They nod, slowly.

Yes, they would like to try.]

[lightlessfuture]

[ The Knight moves slowly, so they don't startle the much smaller bugs currently busily feeding. They open their hand, palm up, indicating that their elder sibling should do the same.

Once the Hollow Knight has imitated that gesture, they carefully sprinkle crumbs across that open hand. If they wait, palm held up, more fireflies will descend from where they flit and play in the forest's treetops to land and feed.

Neither of them can be anything but silent, robbed of voice from the moment of their birth. But -- it's comfortable. This quiet moment. No words are needed to savour it, take it in.

For the first time in a very long time, the Knight is not thinking of anything much. Not about the future, or the past, or their own troubles, or the complicated and sad tangle of feelings about their sibling being here, now, in this dream.

For the first time in a long time, they feel completely at peace. ]