TEST DRIVE MEME ( 022 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #22

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.

In conjunction with our monthly Test Drive Meme, Reserves are now open! Applications will open on April 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.

To Dungeons Deep And Caverns Old
Caves are usually natural structures, though the one you find yourself within shows signs of manual influence. Brackets set into stones hold odd, glowing plants that illuminate the darkness with almost neon tones. Slightly sunken ceilings appear less threatening with the addition of great, wood beams to brace them upright, and traversing the more heavily inclined passages becomes far easier with the addition of roughly carved stairwells, worn smooth by the passage of many feet that have passed this way before you.

If it weren't for the way the ground tremors and rumbles underfoot, it would be a strange but otherwise pleasant scene. As it stands, that clamorous shaking only worsens the longer you stand here, rumbles like thunder vibrating through the stone in dense waves. An earthquake? A volcanic eruption?

...a cave-in? Regardless of the cause, that final option is becoming more likely to occur in your general vicinity, the longer these tremors continue. It's time to go - and quickly, before that option is lost to you entirely. To the left, or right? Up, or down? If you look up, if you really squint, a few shimmering rays of sunlight glimmer far, far above your head from a natural skylight, if you think you can survive whatever's happening on the surface. Or you can keep forging your way downward, deeper, and hope that there's a stable little alcove set somewhere in the stone where you can wait this whole thing out. There really are innumerable options in this labyrinthian underground - and what awaits you around the next corner could be your salvation or your downfall.

Your very long downfall. So watch your step.

What's My Age Again?
Last month, adventurers found themselves dealing with the aftermath of a volcanic eruption... and the odd, transformative effects the volcanic ash seemed to have upon them. Ever curious of what occurs in the waking world, Mu has once again sought to emulate this oddity, reshaping its visitors to fit the images of their past - or even their potential future. Waking up in your preteen body is the nightmare of many, but hardly the greatest oddity one might come across in a dream. Fifteen years younger, thirty years older - either way, you seem to be a tad displaced from who you are in the now. Those aware of this may find it something of a challenge, with vocal chords cracking for the first time in years, or creaking bones that don't move quite as fast as they used to. For others, however, nothing appears to be amiss at all; mentally or physically. Your memories may have leapt up to follow suit with these radical changes...or maybe you're an adult mind trying to cope with a toddler's body.

Perhaps this dream is precisely the chance you've been looking for. It's time to relive your childhood, or experience your golden years in peace. The calm, resort-like beachfront you find yourself upon will hinder neither. You could always go looking for answers - where you are, why this is happening to you - but there's no guarantee you'll be successful in locating any.

Maybe you'll get lucky, though, and find someone who believes you.

Worth A Thousand Words
The Chamber of Glyphs is a unique feature to LifeAftr, resting on the border between the waking world and Mu itself. An immense room of seemingly infinite length and height, every space, wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, is occupied by images scratched into stone with chalk and charcoal.

The drawings themselves also appear to be- unique. Beams of light from a chalked-in sun mingle with illustrations raindrops to create a shimmering rainbow. Roughly drawn animals leap away from those who approach, startled out of stillness, and ancient battles play out in never-ending loops upon the floor. Everywhere one looks, drawings seem to shift upon the walls, disappearing and reappearing elsewhere, or mingling with images that had not been there prior. A basin of endless chalk sits next to a firepit in the center of the room, ripe for the inspired artist to take to whatever blank canvas is available in the architecture - and there is always space available. If you're bored of watching the charcoal rabbits leap away to hide in green, chalky grass, perhaps there's a drawing of your own that's ready to come to life, a permanent fixture to the walls about you.

Or not. Take care with just what you decide to draw, as some images may not be content staying glued to flat surfaces. Outliners are perhaps exactly what one would expect them to be, and exactly what they sound like: something that's both out of bounds and out of line. Rogue outlines of chalk, charcoal, and paint, they break away from the surface upon which they were initially spawned to shamble after the living with often awkward shambling. Very few have been given the gift of depth, a fact that leaves most paper thin and prone to crumpling into scribbled heaps.

Though not the greatest of threats, it's best not to let them touch you. Those without depth or dimension may be quite eager to steal yours - and once you find yourself drawn into the two-dimensional spaces across the walls and floor, returning to normal will prove near impossible.

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[whosamacallit]

[ Honestly, she's seen weirder both in dreams and in waking life. Corpses in various stages of decomp, bones in all sorts of material... not much fazes her. ]

Which commonwealth?

[ Let's be specific here. 'Commonwealth' narrows it down, but precision is key. ]

[the_archivist]

[He takes in a deep breath when they finally reach the outside, and closes his eyes. It feels nice. He hasn't had much time to really breathe since- since the Unknowing, and no, six months in a coma or- or dead or whatever state he'd been in didn't count as a rest.]

I suppose so. I've never had much chance to study... history? Anthropology? [He thinks it's one of those, maybe both.] I guess it's why the dark is such a big fear.

[veracus]

[Instead of simply nodding, she draws in her sketchbook again. This time she draws a happy face. Her actual expression is completely blank.]

[merimna]

Believe me, I don't want to either! [And he gratefully takes her hand.]

[merimna]

[When Michael lifts him into his arms, he has no idea how to react. He just stares at Michael, wide-eyed and awkwardly smiling, a familiar "oh no what is happening to me" expression. It just makes him look more adorable really.]

I'm... happy to see you too?

[merimna]

[At first, he's silent. But one question comes to his mind.]

Er, so... I hope this doesn't offend you or anything, but why are you dressed like that?

...Spelunking?

[eudaimonikos]

I could throw you so high in the air right now!

[Buuuuuuuuuuuut he could only probably get away with doing that to Jason. As delightful as this is, Michael decides to set Chidi down again.]

How are you? Oh - hey, real quick, what's the last thing you remember?

[Time's weird here, after all. That's the only thing he means, and it's only after he says it that he thinks about all the reboots. Surely it's not possible that - no, no, picking him up would've seemed a lot weirder if Chidi were expecting Good Place Architect Michael.]

[a_shadow]

I'm a soldier.

[ That isn't really that good of an answer to someone like him, who doesn't come from a world where soldiers routinely wear biomechanical body armor, but she doesn't know how extremely odd he would find it. ]

[syntheticmemories]

[Very funny.

He'll have you know this getup is a useful identifier!! Everyone knows he's a detective when they see him. It's like a wearable advertisement.]

Well, looking at the clues we can say we're probably not in the Commonwealth, we're pretty far underground, and we're at risk of being buried alive if we don't get a move on.

[He takes stock of what he can in the dim lighting, a spindly metal hand taking his cigarette and knocking the ashes onto the floor absently. Loose pebbles tumble down the walls along with clouds of dirt and dust, each rumble of the earth shaking free a little more debris.]

I'm well past my warranty, but you look like you've got some life left in you. You should head for the surface.

[syntheticmemories]

The New England Commonwealth.

[She must not be from the Boston area, he notes, if she isn't familiar with the name. As far as he's aware, it's the only commonwealth intact in the country. There weren't a ton of organized areas that were still livable back home. That said, humans could survive in the damnedest places. Just look at the Mojave Desert. That place, if the stories were true, was not meant for people to live in. Period.

Nick takes a drag from his cigarette and watches a picture of a tree swaying in an invisible breeze. Brings up a little bit of nostalgia for the old times, before the war. Back when he was still Nick Valentine and not a machine pretending to be Nick Valentine.]

What's left of it, anyway.

[assoverelbow]

[Genji scales the walls effortlessly - he had years of training before he was turned into Overwatch's latest marvel, and it makes scaling the rocks as easy as breathing. He minds his pace, though, not wanting to get too far away in case the other man - he should have asked for his name in return, he's realizing - needs assistance.

It would be terrible if he climbed all the way up, just to fall because of loose rocks.]

You don't need to tell me twice.

[The fact this place seems so close to caving in on itself makes his appearance here even more baffling. He wouldn't have chosen to come here, so how did he wind up trapped here?]

Be careful.

[Though the warning is probably unnecessary.]

[assoverelbow]

It is! Father says that means my bond with them is going to be really strong!

[He could explain more than nothing, but he doesn't think it needs to be explained. Everyone knows about the dragons the Shimadas call on for aid.

(This is a lie. Nobody knows about the dragons.)]

And that sounds really boring. Dreams are fun! You can do anything you want in them!

[assoverelbow]

[Okay, gumshoe. Whatever you say.]

The Commonwealth? [He sounds amused by the very idea.

He cocks his head, watching the robot for a moment. He's so peculiar. He's nothing like the omnics at the monastery, or any other omnic he's met on his travels. He's worlds apart from Zenyatta, that's for certain, and it makes him...strange.

What makes him stranger, still, is how he seems to accept the idea of being left to die.]

It seems you have some life as well, Mr. Detective. [The man hasn't said as much, but come on. With that getup and that accent he can't not be a detective.] We can leave together.

[antepone]

[ She pulls him up and lets go of his hand, then gestures to the exit. ]

This way. It's not too far, at least. We aren't in danger of being trapped--that's good.

[merimna]

Oh. A soldier.

[Beat.]

Wait. What?

[merimna]

[Instantly:] Not great! Seeing as I'm nine years old?

Oh, the last thing I remember... [He thinks, becoming serious.] I was just about to give up my memories. Of Eleanor, of everyone. But, instead of waking up in the new neighborhood, I woke up... here? As a nine-year old?

Have I mentioned that I'm nine? Because it's rather alarming!

[a_shadow]

What? It's my armor.

[ She glances back at him to make sure he's keeping on course. ]

Granted, it's more advanced than your average foot soldier's armor. It's experimental.

[eudaimonikos]

...sorry, you're doing what?

[Is this - is he the less informed one here? That's never happened before, and he immediately hates it!]

You're not really nine, Chidi, you just look nine. Rest of you, same as ever. Just think of it as being very short! [He spreads his hands, grinning for a second, and theeeen we're going back to his thing.] So you're doing what?

a

[evergonnahaunt]

[Being addressed by an unfamiliar voice is startling. Nobody's actually talked to Ben except for Klaus in so long that he doesn't actually remember how new people work.]

Are. You can see me? [Wildly, Ben looks around. Klaus is still missing.] Why can you see me? Are you a medium too?

[yeenaw]

[Boy climbs like a mountain goat. Arthur is vaguely annoyed by how effortless it seems for the other man; but he's impressed, more, and bites his tongue to concentrate on getting up there. At Genji's warning, he gives a short huff of laughter.]

Reckon I'm past bein' careful by now. [He grunts, picking up the pace so he doesn't have to raise his voice quite as loudly. If they're going to be escape buddies, they may as well get better acquainted.] So what's your story, feller? Sure don't look like a miner or a Murfree to me.

goodbye ffxv we knew thee well. hello, family therapy sessions.

[warpstriking]

[Well good, because technically? He is. They both are.]

I would say surprising, but not much is after the family cryptid says "hello." [Ardyn. He means Ardyn, if it weren't obvious by the very brief impersonation. (It's scary how it's slightly better than his Ignis one.) Though honestly almost their entire line can technically, well, fit that bill in some circles.

He smiles back, almost as off-kilter, before saying in a solemn tone that would likely shock most of his friends.] Yeah. Noctis Lucis Caelum, CXIVth and last of our line.

[sandsister]

[It's a bizarre reaction. Unexpected and the questions that follow are equally strange. There are very few people who don't know who she is at this point, but that's fine! It gives her a fun chance to explain it and she's always game for that.]

Of course I can see you-I'm an intoner. I'm not as good as One, but I can see pretty much anything.

[She steps away from another crumbling rock, heading towards him since he seems to be having a crisis. It'll be easier to protect him if he's beside her.]

Soooo why wouldn't I be able to see you? Oh! Are you a ghost?

[evergonnahaunt]

[Is he a ghost? What's the word for when you're a startlingly real manifestation of a person who can interact with objects and eat like a real person primarily due to your brother's powers?

. . . Knowing Klaus, the word is probably "ghost" so.]

Probably. [He doesn't know if being Literally Summoned by your brother changes the supernatural classification one falls into.] Usually only my brother can see me.

i.

[kindashy]

[The dripping overhead from stalactites echoes down the long and winding caverns, and at first, the clop clop might easily be mistaken for dribbles of water from whatever reservoir, or trapped moisture above. However, after but a minute, the distant noises become louder, and less like water droplets, and more like...hooves? It's a sound Arthur will certainly recognize, as bizarre as it could be to think of a horse getting stuck in a place like this. Hell, if any sort of horse fell down here, it'd probably be better off being put down humanely.

The moment he starts talking, there's a sudden and drastic halt of the hooves, and flutter as something moves very quickly off the beaten path. Seems you've gotten the attention of something, Old Boy, and it has decided you are not one of its friends and something it...probably should avoid, with a no good, rotten, pottymouth like that.]

[yeenaw]

[He sure does recognize the heavy click of hooves on stone, and it whips Arthur's head right around. Once he realizes that he's not just hearing things, Arthur, freezes with one toe shoved awkwardly into a crack and another scraping around for purchase in the wall.]

[H... orse???]

[Still got no clue where he is, but horses and caves don't mix the last time he checked. The tight quarters suffocates them and they're liable to fall and break their necks on the uneven, often wet stone. Sure as hell can't ride one properly. A wild horse, trying to get away from a storm, maybe? He detaches from the wall quick, grunting at his ungraceful landing, just in time to catch a flutter of gold disappearing around the bend. Arthur blinks.]

[He only knows one horse with coloring like that.]

Nah... Buell? That you, boy?