TEST DRIVE MEME ( 019 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #19

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 January 17th, and Applications on January 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.

Let's Be Heroes
Back in December on the recent island of Maati, the Trial of the Brave was intended to challenge those who approached life with hesitation; the timid, the uncertain, and those who trend too easily toward inaction. Mu, of course, has a habit of neglecting the finer details. And thus...here you are, whether you need the intended lesson or not.

Armed with nothing more than a torch, a short sword, and the clothes on your back, you're sure to enjoy the scenic view of labyrinthine stone walls, low-hanging ceilings, sharp corners hiding all sorts of secrets, and a thick, foreboding darkness. Your light, and the torches of others making their way through the dark, are the only breaks in the seemingly uniform dark.

Those and the lights of the eyes of the other things down here with you, of course. Hidden throughout the maze are scattered innumerable creatures, all of them happy to take advantage of those wandering about on their own. Nighthooks are fiendish, shadowy monsters that appear in the shape of a long-fingered hand. While they cannot physically hurt anything, they specialize in slinking out of the darkness to snuff out any light source they can find...like your torch, for example. Also abundand are the grimlings, hulking, dog-like creatures composed of a seaweed-like blackness and glowing coals for eyes. Should you come across one, several more are bound to be nearby, as they travel in packs. And they are always hungry.

For those lucky enough not to stumble across these creatures? Enjoy your stumble through the dark. There's an exit around here somewhere, if you look hard enough. Probably.

The Waiting Game
The second trial Mu has appropriated is the Trial of the Patient. This test was named for those who exhibit the very antithesis of patience, initially intended to draw in the brash, the reckless, those easily incited into action, and so on. Instead of a dark and lengthy maze, Mu has instead concocted a brightly lit room to test your patience, and lack thereof.

So you should have no trouble at all seeing the entirety of the expansive, gaping void that stretches between you and the only way out.

Stranded on a singular ledge, the space in which you wake is white and seemingly infinite. No ceilings or walls are visible, and peering over the edge of the small platform reveals no flooring below to catch you. The only distinct characteristics to this room are the door opposite you, positioned some couple hundred feet away. There's nothing for you to grab or cling to in order to make your way over there faster. In fact, nothing else seems to help, either. Flight, teleportation, gadgets, you name it - each attempt will inevitably fail, and give you just enough time to contemplate all the ways you went wrong as you go plummeting down (or is it up?) into that endless void. What a shame. Luckily for you, this dream is happy to give you a second chance! And a third, and a fourth...and however many it takes, really. Those who fall will, just as the initial adrenaline shock starts to run out, abruptly find themselves standing right back on the platform where they started. Once again, they'll find themselves staring at that infuriating, impossible-to-reach door. Seems like you may be stuck where you are, for the time being.

We say "for the time being," because the other distinct attribute of this loosely defined room is a second platform, drifting steadily from the doorway to your position. Once it reaches you, you'll be able to climb aboard, and be safely ferried across the room to the exit you so greatly desire. Once it reaches you. Once it...well, it seems to be taking some time. A few minutes. An hour. Something in that ballpark, maybe. Got a good book on you? No? Guess you'll have to find some other way to wile away the time.

You, and whoever else you happen to be stuck with.

Water Rising
The island of Ensō is a relatively flat island, aside from a lone, steep mountain to the north. Mu is less so. It tends to mold itself to whatever shape best suits it, and in this case? It has chosen Ensō. And so that is where you find yourself - positioned at the base of its mountain, no less, only several feet up the beginnings of its slope. Unfortunately, there's not much time to take in the new scenery. Stretched out along the island's coast is a beach of glittering white sand. Further inland, the green sprawl of a jungle blots the horizon. But there's also plenty of ocean. And therein lies the problem.

Creeping through the treelines and rapidly pooling about the mountain's base, said ocean levels are rising quickly. Very quickly. Those who wish to stay and enjoy the view of an island underwater are welcome to it. For everyone else, the only other option is the obvious one: to climb.

To climb very, very quickly. As luck would have it, the rising waters aren't the only danger present. Those too slow to escape its wrath will surely drown, but the higher up you go, the thinner the air becomes, and the more searing the heat. To the west, a crop of dangerous creatures known as lungblossoms claim the wooded thickets that offer reprieve from the intense and unrelenting rays of dream-sun. A confrontation with these living plants may expose you to hallucinogenic spores fit to fill your senses with horrific, nightmarish visions, so tread lightly...but not slowly.

At the mountain's very peak, an empty temple awaits those who can make it to the end of this terrible and impromptu gauntlet. It will provide shade and a space for the exhausted survivors to congregate. Tend to yourself and others, if you like- or head back out to locate those who haven't had such luck in reaching this haven.

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

wheezes

[exdeus]

[Horatio turns with a calm that is maybe inappropriate for the situation, though it's really just what happens when you don't have anything like adrenaline. He's surprised to see it's another android. It's not a common design choice, in his experience.

And Wash doesn't resemble any design he's encountered before, though he hasn't encountered that many, and it's difficult to make out anything more specific in the dim light. Immediately Horatio wishes he could see more clearly, take a closer look at the way Wash fits together, and then has to remind himself that it's hardly important right now. In the back of his mind he can hear Crispin whining about staying on track and takes that as further reason not to dwell.]

Yes. Someone else here.

[It comes out dry. He'd already said something, hadn't he? Now he just thinks you're slow on the uptake, Wash.

Which is fine. He's encountered quite a few slow robots in his time.]

[accellerate]

[ They shake their head when Eska asks if it hurts.

Doesn't sting at all.

It's not the worst death they've ever experienced (even if the body they pilot isn't strictly theirs, it's still kind of painful to have it desecrated. Linked in and everything).

They figure they might as well give this a try, so they try signing their next question to Eska rather than keep it in their head. ]

So, how'd you fall out of a wizard tower?

Hornet | Hollow Knight | OTA

[sewingresolve]

brave:

[The torch and sword given to her are...not to her taste. Using fire in such a way, and such a strangely shaped nail? It's different enough to cause discomfort, although the darkness granted plenty of that already. She's certainly no coward, but she also knows she's at a considerable disadvantage since she can't see her surroundings so well. Even if she could, her usual methods would snuff the torch.

A sound gets her attention, and instinct kicks in, and with a sharp cry she, um. Chucks the sword in the direction of the noise. It's only when she doesn't feel a thread running against her hand that she realizes she's made a mistake. Possibly two, depending on who the poor soul she just struck out at is.

flood:

[Hornet is having little trouble navigating up the mountain - rough, steep terrain is little issue to her, and even if it is, she has her nail and thread to serve as a grappling hook. These...strange beings, though, some of them are not so lucky. Leaving them to struggle certainly doesn't sit well with her, so those having trouble will find themselves approached by a red-cloaked bug whose body language shows she's a bit uncomfortable with the situation.]

...do you want help?

2

[forwearemany]

(Time flows differently, from Legion's perspective.

Capable of thinking at the speed of light, but with a body that moves at the speed of organics, patience is something they practice as a part of existing in their platform.)

(At the sound of the other, they chatter.)

Uncertain.

C

[demonpuppy]

Um...no. I guess it isn't?

[Chip looks at the turtle-person warily, but they...aren't fae. Just red all the way through, natural for wherever they come from. And faeries don't usually choose big chunky turtles for their bodies.]

[...at least, Chip is pretty sure of that.]

[After a moment's hesitation Chip crosses the space between them and sits down crosslegged facing them, casting the inky void a nervous glance.]

Um, I dunno how to meditate though.

[lightlessfuture]

[ They're not unaccustomed to things they can't necessarily see well hurtling out of the darkness to hit them; that much is easily dodged, though the sword bounces off the wall oddly and glances off a horn. No harm done, really.

What really attracts them is the familiar cry. Maybe it's an illusion, or some kind of strange vision, or...

It could be real. And the possibility of could sends them hurrying into the darkness, looking for the source of that thrown weapon.

So Hornet doesn't hear any real reaction, apart from the sword bouncing off the wall and hitting something, but she does hear tiny, hurried footsteps. Soon enough, the Knight comes into the range of the light, and stops.

It's been...

It's been a long time, since they've seen her last. Here, in the dark, it could be just as ephemeral as the dreams they've had many times before. So they stand transfixed, half-lit by the flickering torchlight, unable to bring themselves to move closer yet in case it breaks something. ]

[somedummiesarecute]

... [ The word "good" isn't a word that Plumeria would have thought up when it came down to Guzma. That little girl, and the kahuna's son, and this princess...they're good. Where good is a side, they exist like super heroes, driven by their impulses to be Good. Guzma isn't evil, surely, but...he would never call himself 'good,' and Plumeria knows it. Misunderstood? Maybe...

With a small realization, she realizes that Guzma's never really fit into a label, besides the one he made for himself. Not "Good." Not "Evil."

Big, bad Guzma is here.

...she favors her right leg, leaning and looking at a nearby pebble. She wonders how he's doing-- what he's been doing here in Ultra Space. If hanging out with this kid alone on an island has made him mad, or...if he's happier here. She can't stay-- there's a group of little dummies who need a big sister to keep them out of trouble, but...if he's happy, he could stay. Not that she could decide that for him.

Whatever the case, she brings her gaze back up to Lillie. She won't release a thing. Ice and poison are shields behind her eyes, as if she were silently asking Lillie not to trust her. ]

You've always been you, princess. [ her eyes shut. ] Anyone who can take that from you is weaker than you, and wants that strength for themselves. Don't let them.

[somedummiesarecute]

[ she drops down, her heart still pounding from the running she'd been doing with Salazzle. The sword flies over her head and demolishes...whatever was behind her. She rises slowly and takes a few steps forward. ]

What are you talking about? [ he's speaking in riddles-- and no one, no one has ever needed to escort Plumeria anywhere. Except in a police station a few times. Man. That was dreadful. After a quiet moment, she continues. ] You get a kick out of this, don't you? Weirdo.

[ he might be crazier than Guzma. Maybe. Certainly more bloodthirsty. ]

[jagarico]

[At least he knows when to get serious and he does as Akira suggests, getting into position. He can already see the glowing eyes making it's way towards them.]

[somedummiesarecute]

[ Swan dive off the mountain? Her eyebrow quirks up. What the hell? ]

What are you talking about, Guzma? [ she narrows her eyes. What a welcome party. Yeesh. ] You jumped into a portal. The princess and that girl came in here looking for you. Are they around?

[ she spares another glance around them. He's acting weird, and her arm hurts, and this is a pretty realistic dream...for a dream, anyway. He keeps glaring at her, and the ice in her eyes hardens. She wasn't going to grovel to him for something she didn't do-- and she doesn't grovel. Not in the vocabulary. You want Plumeria, you get the genuine article, always. Her voice is as well-practiced and normal as ever. ]

What happened? [ "To you? How'd you get here? Why am I here? Why are you glaring at me like that?"

The longer he glares and sneers, the darker her expression becomes. His number two in number and skill...only. She was used to directing his rage and helping him focus his emotions, but not on herself...and that isn't going to start now. ]

my girl :D

[bookthefts]

( A wave of relief crashes over Irene as the woman makes it, as the first words from her mouth aren't questions about how she did that, and as she immediately mentions continuing. Sensible. A woman after Irene's own heart. )

Absolutely not.

( The agreement is sharp and immediate as Irene picks her skirts up and jumps, managing to clear the modest gap between one shelf of rock and the next. She doesn't plan on letting this be the end of her, there's still a half-read book in her accommodations in London. She still has an apprentice counting on her, friends and work to do. (Admittedly the work, at this point in time, is not what she'd consider a driving force. She still rather dreads the next assignment the Library will drop in her lap after the whole ordeal in Venice.)

Instinct tells her to keep moving, but practicality demands patience, as does the voice in her head reminding her that she has only just saved this woman, and who knows — she may prove useful. While her new ally catches up, Irene eyeballs their path. A sheer face of rock they'd need to scale.

Very well. She can make this easier. Hurrying forward, Irene presses herself to the rock face, Irene whispers in the Language: )

Rock which I am touching, expand yourself in the direction of my feet as I step backwards and become a set of stairs for us to climb.

( And so she steps back, just enough to make a rather narrow set of stairs unfurl before her. )

[battlefront]

[He had managed to gain some height the further he ran, and the further the terrain shifted. But it still wasn't enough. The water was rising fast and it was making it harder to keep his footing long enough to move any faster.

This didn't feel like a dream. He was trying not to panic but it's just a little water and he knows how to swim, but the thought still reams in the back of his mind regardless. This would be a really stupid way to die, after everything.

But he hears a voice above him - one he's not familiar with but god, someone else was here, too. It's both a relief and added dread. He doesn't want to get someone else killed, too.

But there's no time to think about that. The water's already waist-high on him and he jumps, managing to catch the hand and one foot onto a rock for balance.]

[jagarico]

[It's okay. It takes a while to be able to follow his train of thought.]

My name is Yusuke Kitagawa. My apologies for not introducing myself earlier. That was very rude of me.

[hyperlit]

[That makes no sense at all. Is their...have they never met another blue-skin, in their entire life? Were they the only one of their kind? It makes no sense. None of it. None of it. They're laboring to make some sense of the point - when a spiked spore abruptly smashes into the rock they were planning to use as a handhole, sending chunks of stone pinwheeling toward them.]

[The Drifter ducks. Conversation, it seems, will have to wait.]

above

[The Lungblossom's waving tendrils are unmistakable.]

brave!

[hyperlit]

[They've made their way through poorly-lit chambers before. That isn't so impossible. It's more difficult when all they have to operate off of is sound and the quiet scrape of feet over stone. They've been making progress slowly, steadily, right up until - ]

[Something shouts and there's a flash of something silvery that goes streaking toward them. The Drifter dashes to one side. They almost don't make it. It tears through their cloak, and almost succeeds in pinning them to the wall.]

[Their blade ignites in a blaze of cyan, held aloft.]

[They cannot cry out by way of challenge, but perhaps that will be sufficient.]

HELLO.........

[counterblows]

[God, this would be easier if he had his helmet. The H.U.D. was fried on arrival, but at least he might be able to fucking see more than two feet in front of him.]

[The voice doesn't sound familiar. That's also a good sign. The uniform dark is bad enough without hallucinations being tossed into the mix, and he's had more than enough of those things in his lifetime, thanks.]

[Deep breath. Keep moving. His tone is level.]

All right, well, keep talking so I can find you. I can't see shit down here. [ - oh, wait, no. There's the light of another torch.] Actually, never mind. I'll come to you.

[want_to_belong]

[Once Cloud's hand reached his he squeezed and clapped his other hand over it, pulling with all of his strength to get him up. Without any superior strength, he needed to put his whole body into it.

And as soon as Cloud was up and he got a good look at his face he paused. Like he was somehow surprised to see him. His eyes instinctively glanced down to Cloud's hand, but he was wearing gloves. Brushing that off, he continued climbing up.]

Hey, uh, this might be a weird question. How old are you?

Lyse | Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood | ota!

[stormblooded]

[Canonpoint is post-4.4!]

1. trial(s) of the brave(s)

[Lyse is pretty much the polar opposite of this trial's intended audience, but luckily(?) Mu's seen fit to pose it to her anyway. The darkness doesn't scare her overmuch, but her torchlight barely penetrates it, and all the corridors down here look the same... Is she going in circles? And where is everyone, anyway? She wouldn't have come to a place like this alone, that's for sure. They must have gotten separated. Yeah, that tracks.]

Hey! ... Can anybody hear me? [- she calls out, her voice echoing off the stone walls. But it seems she hasn't yet noticed the faint glow of grimling eyes stalking behind her...]

2. the waiting room

[Now here's a trial tailor-made for her. Granted, Lyse has learned to temper her impulsiveness when it counts - i.e., when the enemy could retaliate against innocent people and outweigh any good she managed to do. But this isn't that kind of situation, is it? And she's not a patient woman by nature. So being stuck in a featureless void with nothing to do, it's... a little bit torturous!

At the moment, she's leaning over the edge, gazing out at the second platform with a hand above her eyes to shade them from the sourceless light. Right now, it's definitely too far - she's capable of some pretty astounding feats of strength and agility, but even she can't cross a hundred yalms in a single bound.

Well, how about a second opinion, though? Since she's sort of gradually noticed someone else in here with her, just now. She glances at the other person and gestures at the platform.]

Is that - is that actually moving? Or am I just imagining things?

3. previously on baywatch

[It's a beautiful island, for a moment... not unlike the scenery of the Ruby Sea. Although those islands didn't suddenly start sinking into the ocean...!

Admittedly, Lyse does have a brief moment of panic before she remembers oh, right, blessing of the kami, I can breathe underwater. (Which has almost undoubtedly been nerfed somehow, of course, but she doesn't know that.) But not every landwalker is so lucky! So instead of fleeing, she skirts the water's edge, moving upward only when she absolutely has to, and looking for anyone who's struggling to climb or swim. Anybody need a lifeguard?]

A because I couldn't resist

[ishotyouuu]

[Generally it's a good idea to not announce your presence when you've got your murder-gumption up, but Damien can be forgiven for making such a rookie error. After all, it's not like Wade has any capacity to shut the fuck up when his fighting spirit's on the rise. But right now there's a boisterous-sounding dude approaching his flank with what is most likely an edged weapon. Wade should maybe... do something about that.

As if his moves have been choreographed, Wade pulls a swift turn-pivot out of the way of the shortsword, his beam katana roaring to life with an electrical hum to block the blade.]

Slow your roll there, tiger. Don't just stick it right in there on the first date, come on-- at least buy me dinner first. Nice ensemble, bee-tee-dubs. Did Hot Topic have a sale or are you just lookin' for the rest of Tenacious D?

[wanderingdoctorfaust]

They are certainly right about having something in common:
Faust has no idea what they're talking about. A 'Way'? 'Empath Path'? Those could mean any number things, potentially many more than that, considering their world is likely different from his. For now, it'd probably be best to just take the 'type of healer' part and go with it.

"That's wonderful to hear. I can sense you have quite the magnanimous soul within you, young Eska."

...good golly, he really starts to sound his age when he's tired. Fortunately he doesn't need bodily strength to speak with warmth nor pride, even for a creature he has known nary two minutes. Or perhaps the physical exhaustion is just making him sappy. Either-or!

i.

[stormblooded]

[The noise ahead of him, though, turns out to be a human woman in a red dress. Her torch has gone out somehow (thanks, nighthooks), so she was following the light from his. But now she's got a sword pointed at her, so. Lyse puts her hands up to show she's unarmed - she's a monk, not a gladiator, so it's not like she needed the sword.]

Whoa! Sorry. Didn't mean to sneak up on you.

[ninjatortle]

[Funny. They know that normally, they shouldn't be able to comprehend the meaning behind the movement of hands. But, hey, once monks advance far enough in their training, their attunement to the ki of others lets them understand all language! Maybe they've just hit that point! Maybe that's just the weird dream-logic of this dream. Whatever the case, they don't question it. Just accept.]

Oh, it's a great story! See, we maybe sort of weren't exactly... invited? The guy who lived there had been gone for a long time. Arrested for tax evasion or something. But all his security was still active! So there were a lot of false doors to trick you and stop your progress. Some of them were mimics that would just try and eat you, but when you go through the rest? They dump you out in the air several hundred feet up, and you fall all the way back down to earth.

[You know. Normal everyday home security features.]

So we figured we'd just test them by having me go through, you know? If it was a trap, I'd fall out of the tower, run back up the stairs again, and tell them. If it was real, I just had to stick my head through the door and say so! Smart problem solving, right?

[ninjatortle]

Oh, no, not at all! You were in the middle of some very heavy thinking. It's super nice to meet you, though! I'm sorry for dropping in unannounced on... uh...

[They look around, taking in the majesty of scenic Absolutely Nowhere.]

...Is this your house?

[smallra]

[As he gets a clear view of the person ahead of him, Lotor's eyes widen, then he frowns. She's not exactly the kind of creature he was expecting to find in a place like this. She doesn't look particularly threatening. He recognizes the woman's gesture as one that indicates a lack of hostility, but he doesn't lower his guard or his sword. It could be a trick. He doesn't recognize her species, and her appearance could be deceptive.]

Identify yourself immediately.

[Hopefully, that sounded commanding enough! He's never been on an independent mission like this before, and he wants to do this right.]

[ninjatortle]

Oh, gosh, I don't know about that! I'm just a silly turtle trying to make a few friends, that's all.

[Eska blurts, flustered.]

It's just human nature to see someone who's hurting and want to alleviate it, right?

[...]

Or, uh. Tortle nature. People nature? Um, you get what I mean.