TEST DRIVE MEME ( 017 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #17

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 November 17th, and Applications on November 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.

Is Anyone There?
What initially promises to be a relaxing island getaway is anything but. The tropical backdrop is all there - swaying palms, crystalline shores, white sand beaches, the whole hog. It's as idyllic as Ensō ever gets in the real world, the waters sparkling just that much more with a polish of dream-shine.

The real problem here is that you're not alone.

While they might be little more than a misted, formless shape at first, they'll rapidly take a more solid form as time goes on: a specter of a single person of great emotional significance. Whoever you might be seeing, they're here to rouse some aspect of your life that was not fully resolved. Someone you did not mourn, someone you did not grieve, someone you loved, someone you cut ties with unkindly, someone who represents a chapter in your life that you have thus far sought to repress. Tailing you relentlessly, refusing to be ignored or brushed aside or forgotten, this specter is hungry for your attention to the exclusion of all else. They will bring every painful association to light and rub those wounds raw, to a terrifyingly parasitic extent. They crave your attention, your love, your devotion, your fear. They are tethered to you, and cannot tolerate the thought that you might pay attention to anyone or anything else.

However they might have been in life, however fondly or not you may remember them, this shadow of them is merely that: a shadow. Desperate for your attention, and likely to grow jealous if you dare direct it anywhere else. They can't live without you. Why should you get to live without them?

In fact...why should you get to live at all? If you don't give them the attention they crave, they might start to demand it a shade more vigorously. They're only going to grow more solid as time wears on - and while no one but you can see them, they have the power to affect you very physically if they so choose.

Choose Your Own Adventure
What you have before you, dear traveler, is a very linear path forward. Deep, tropical woodland, jungle-like in texture and evening-dark, and a well-trodden path that stretches onward in a seemingly infinite, winding road. There is no way to go but backwards or forwards. Or, for the particularly brave...well, you could try moving off the beaten path, but we wouldn't recommend it. As it happens, the surrounding vegetation in this area is mostly comprised of a very irritating sort of foe.

As it happens, most traditional mimics take the form of wooden chests to befuddle and then snack upon any intrepid explorers foolish enough to open a container without checking for teeth first. Such is not always the case, however! Mimicries are what we will tentatively dub...distant cousins of your more conventional mimic. In the waking world, most of them prefer to assume the form of bushes, waiting for an unsuspecting traveler to tread upon the roots that will then snap around their ankles and reel them in, leaves parting to reveal a row of very nasty, very pointed jaws. Tonight, on Mu, their aptitude at blending into the vegetation to prey on the absent-minded explorer is out in full force.

While mimicries are very skilled at impersonating their surroundings, there are plenty of holes in their disguise for those keen of eye. An alert enough traveler may glimpse a pair of yellow, reptilian eyes blinking out from the vegetation before they fade just as fast. Mimicries are highly hostile, prone to attacking once they feel you've drawn close enough for them to take a good chomp, and don't tend to let go of their prey until either it is dead or they are. Armed with spiny teeth and a terrier-like refusal of relinquish their grip under any circumstances, mimicries can vary from genuine danger to outright irritant.

The good news is that, despite their number, mimicries are terribly vulnerable to fire. Happy hunting!

Caught in the Rainbow Current
On the more peaceful side of things, you're also liable to wake on a much quieter island destination - and this time, neither ghosts from your past nor RPG-styled foes will be there to spoil your stay!

Instead, you can take heart in the drifting, multicolored lights that shimmer off the seafoam and flotsam. A bale of kaleidoshells are passing through this region, and they're certainly taking their time in doing so. Resembling a cross between turtles and dugongs, kaleidoshells are so named for their distinctive radiance. Their scales and rainbow-colored shells can get as large as six feet across. The shifting colors on their backs are both bright and reflective. A vast enough number of kaleidoshells can allow for the illusion of an underwater aurora borealis, which is precisely what is occurring now. Kaleidoshells are placid and peaceable creatures by nature in addition to being unfailingly pretty to look at. As they are largely sea-dwelling, their presence in the archipelago is usually seasonal. However, despite the autumn season, Mu has elected to make an exception. Kaleidoshells are particularly slow and unwieldy on land, and thus not much of a threat, but you're probably better off not trying to poach their eggs. They do, however, make a very fine sight around the waters of Mu, especially in this artificial evening. Luminescent, their rainbow patterns glow underwater with the dim pulse of drifting mood lights.

So relax, take in the sights...or wade in to swim alongside them, if you like. They won't mind the company, and there's something singularly enchanting about getting to swim in the tide of a rainbow.

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Comments

[ideismo]

[For a good moment he doesn't move; eventually, however, the blade lowers, and he'll wrench his wrist away from Schwann's grasp.]

We shouldn't stay in one place for too long.

[scythegun]

[Yeager nods at that, and resumes walking. Maybe he should be a bit more concerned about turning his back to Alexei, especially now that he's apparently even crazier than he already was, but it's not like Yeager's really all that concerned. If he gets stabbed, then whatever. That's just how things go sometimes, apparently.

Besides, as Alexei said, none of this is real.

Anyway, they're still being followed, but if whatever monsters are out there didn't attack while they were preoccupied, then they're probably fine for now. Venturing off the path might anger them, but the path is clear and there isn't really any reason to go wandering the jungle, so it's fine for now.]

[ideismo]

[...He isn't sheathing the sword, but at least the imminent threat of being stabbed seems to be keeping Schwann back. Or maybe it's just the knowledge that he's pissed Alexei off enough to make him consider stabbing him; it's hard to say, really. Either way, Alexei is preoccupied with him, so that's surely a net win in some way or another.

Anyway.]

...The monsters here seem relatively docile. I was around some of them earlier with no real problems.

[Again, he was in the water with some of them and managed to keep both legs. Somehow.]

[scythegun]

It's certainly surprising, but I'm not complaining! Not that I think anything we'd find would be any more than an annoyance at best, but it's nice not to have to fight every few minutes.

[seriously, making the trip to dahngest is suffering]

[ideismo]

Not to be a bore, but I'll save judgement on how much of a threat they are until they decide to actually fight us.

[For all he knows these things could absolutely rip us apart, they're just intelligent enough not to until they know for a fact that they can.

...The turtles were pretty, though.]

[scythegun]

Yes, yes, I suppose some caution doesn't hurt. Still, if they are that strong, they should be fun to fight!

[Priorities!]

[ideismo]

[...

You know what? Yeah, actually.]

Oh, absolutely.

[scythegun]

[That gets him to glance over his shoulder for a moment before laughing.]

And here I thought you didn't know how to have fun!

[ideismo]

[Ehh, he's not really surprised to hear that? He's pretty sure most people don't find him terribly engaging; authoritative, yes, but engaging is another matter.]

I don't happen to prioritize it, that's all.

[scythegun]

That's certainly not surprising. When was the last time you did anything for fun, anyway? When you were a child? Or were you just as serious then as you are now?

[It's not exactly pleasant teasing, but it's not pointed either.]

[ideismo]

[For what it's worth, it doesn't get him to close off entirely again; of course, he isn't sure what to do with it, seeing as it's not as though anyone ever really interacts with him like this - when...was the last time anyone talked to him like this, anyway? - but he seems able to dismiss it in some way, at least.]

...I've been told that I was apparently more of a small adult than a child, which I assume is a polite way of calling me overly serious.

[scythegun]

I'd be surprised if you had been a normal child! "Overly serious" is exactly what I was assuming. You could stand to lighten up a little, ja?

[ideismo]

[But have you considered: no.]

I do have responsibilities that can't simply be ignored.

[scythegun]

Of course, but I'm not telling you to ignore them, just loosen up a little! It really isn't all that difficult, I promise~!

[ideismo]

It's hardly any concern of yours, anyway.

[For...several reasons?? For several reasons.]

[scythegun]

[He could say it's a concern of his because he has to work with Alexei, but ehhh... effort... Not to mention addressing all of That in some way, and he's really not interesting in doing that right now. Or ever, really!

So instead he shrugs and dismisses it.]

I wouldn't call it a concern.

[Ah, but it looks like the creatures that have been tailing us have picked up some more friends. There are three on our left now, and he's not able to tell if the one behind us has picked up any buddies. He'll go quiet again while he keeps an eye on them.]

[ideismo]

Hardly any business of yours, then.

[But no, he's aware of it too, and he's not particularly fond of the notion that they've got company - or at least, more company than they had before. His grip tightens a bit on that sword of his; he's still carrying it underhand for whatever reason, but at the very least he seems entirely willing to use it.

He allows his free hand to drift back a bit, as though verifying that Schwann is still there; he definitely is - of course he is - and Alexei should probably be concerned with how solid he feels, but for the time being he's content with the notion that nothing stupid is happening on the Schwann front for the time being.]

[scythegun]

[Fair enough, he supposes. It gets another shrug out of him anyway, but for the time being he'll remain quiet. Whatever it is those things are doing out there, it doesn't seem to be a threat for the time being. Of course, it's possible they're just biding their time until their numbers are great enough to overwhelm them... Well, we'll see how it goes if that happens.

There's another split in the path up ahead, but this time both paths are clear. It's a bit difficult to make out what's down either of them given how thick the jungle is, but neither path seems particularly dangerous or noteworthy.]

...What do you think?

[ideismo]

Whichever path we take, we should be sure we remember it. If we're this far in, we likely won't be returning to the beach itself in any sort of timely manner either way, but if we need to get back for whatever reason, it's for the best that we make sure that we can.

[That said, though...]

Both look equally worn. Go right; see if we continue to be followed.

[scythegun]

Of course. As though I would forget so easily...?

[He acts laidback but come on, he's not going to get us lost (unless he thinks it'll be funny).

Anyway, the right path does take us further away from the things in the underbrush on our left; they don't follow at first, but eventually one of them works up the courage to scurry across the left path and jump into the foliage nearby. That gives us enough time to see that it's a... bush...??

Yeager pauses for a moment before continuing without comment; that sure is a thing that happened, but we'll just have to wait and see if they're actually going to attack or not.]

[ideismo]

[...You know, that's. Fine. Okay. He's out in the middle of nowhere with Yeager, he's vividly hallucinating Schwann, and we're being stalked by sentient bushes that are apparently pack hunters.]

...Right. Of course. That might as well happen.

[SURE. WHY THE FUCK NOT.]

[scythegun]

[It gets him to laugh and glance over his shoulder again.]

Is that the final straw? You really are suffering so much today, ja? Are you sure you can handle our little friends?

[Speaking of friends, there are quite a few pairs of eyes on the right side that Yeager hasn't noticed yet. It looks like we've got even more company up ahead.]

[ideismo]

Don't start, unless you want to be the one to find out if they're carnivorous.

[for fuck's sake.]

[scythegun]

What, are you going to try to feed me to them?

[ideismo]

The answer to that depends on how petty you believe I am, doesn't it.