aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 015 )

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.

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Their head pulls back a little when she has her epiphany. They're not really startled, exactly, but definitely surprised.

They're not entirely sure they follow, but as she pulls out the jug and asks them for permission, they just nod slowly.

She doesn't need to ask, really. Whatever she wants to do is fine.]

[Just because she doesn't have to ask them first doesn't mean it isn't polite to do so- pouring water on somebody without any explanation would be rude.]

[Permission having been secured, she tilts the jug enough to let a thin but steady stream of water run over the bindings, cutting all the way through them to allow the Hollow Knight room to pull themself free.]

[The water does the trick right away. And as part of the tether dissolves, they do find that they can simply pull it away. And they do, if only to prevent it from staining their shell.

...One would think that someone newly freed would be eager to move around.

But the Hollow Knight seems content to just stay in place. There's no need for them to move or do anything else, after all.]

[Muffet nods to herself, looking satisfied at the success of her idea. She goes to put away the water jug and then pauses, holding it out to the Hollow Knight.]

Are you thirsty, at all? I have a fair amount left...

[They look... confused.

Not so much about the water or the idea that they might be thirsty, but the fact that it's being offered to them. Someone... asking? About their needs? And offering to help?

Sounds fake.]

[She waits patiently for a few moments, and eventually recaps the water jug and puts it back in her bag when it becomes clear that the Hollow Knight isn't going to answer.]

Ah, perhaps I shouldn't have skipped the pleasantries- I apologize. My name is Muffet. May I ask yours?

[Their name?

They look a little... lost, at that. They don't have a name, exactly, not the regular sort other bugs have. But they have their title, that their father had given them. That was as precious as a name, if not more so.

However, they can't give it to her. How can they? So they look at her and then around, as if somehow the answer to this problem will just... present itself, somehow.

It doesn't, which is frustrating. They've never had to give their name before. They haven't encountered this problem.

So, eventually, they shake their head, but... slowly. They don't want her to think it's a secret or anything.

They would answer, if they could.

But they can't.]

[She smiles gently, looking sympathetic but not annoyed at their trouble responding.]

I take it you have difficulty speaking? It's all right, you're far from the only one I know who does. I've been learning how to speak in hands, if that helps?

[She punctuates her spoken reply with one pair of hands repeating the same sentiment in sign- she suspects they'd have tried this method already if they could, but it seemed remiss not to at least mention the possibility.]

[They watch as she demonstrates, but they don't understand it. Sign language is foreign to them, so they will have to learn first.

More importantly, the way she describes it... Speaking in hands.

They raise their own hand. Singular. There's a problem here right from the get-go, they're pretty sure.]

Ah, yes... Well, one-handed signing is still entirely workable, if you wish.

[Now that the missing limb has been brought to her attention, her eyes linger on the area more thoughtfully.]

Is it a recent injury? I'd be more than happy to take a look at it, if it's troubling you...

[The Hollow Knight starts to nod... and then shakes their head... and, finally, just tilts their head as they look at the empty space where their other arm should be.

Is it recent? They're...

They aren't sure, actually.

But they pull on their cloak a little. It's fine. It doesn't need to be looked at, either way. They're fine.]

All right, you needn't show me if you'd rather not.

[Muffet definitely does not believe that they're fine. But they don't look badly off enough for her to ignore their privacy.]

Is there anything you do need?

[They stare for... a while. The question is difficult to comprehend, even after she's already done things to help them.

But, finally, after a decent stretch of silence, they shake their head.

No. Of course they do not need anything.

The idea is ridiculous.]

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 015 )

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject