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

[triggerhappytraitor]

"Taking it slow, then?" Tachibana continues to gently tease. "Since it wasn't as if you really had a chance before, with everything."

[chalicejoker]

"He's been wandering for years at this point--he was still wearing the same jacket." Hajime shakes his head. "I'm just getting him back on his feet. It's the least I can do." Why, yes, it's an awkward dodge.

[triggerhappytraitor]

Tachibana can't help but chuckle slightly. "One of the few things BOARD did right was issue quality clothing," he pointed out, hands shifting in the pockets of his own, rather well worn jacket.

There was a slightly pause before he continued. "I know the two of us have fought more often than not in the past, but... I've seen the way Kenzaki talks about you. The faith and trust that he has... and the warmth that's in his voice."

"He's a very honest type of person, but also one that doesn't often realize how he feels until someone points it out to him. So make sure you tell him how you feel, once you figure it out."

[chalicejoker]

Hajime looks a little bewildered by all of this, because what. He and Tachibana had never exactly been close. Sure, they still ran into each other from time to time, but they weren't...close. Certainly nowhere near close enough for him to expect this kind of sentiment from the other man. "...all right." There's a long pause. "Are you feeling alright?"

[triggerhappytraitor]

Tachibana nodded. "Went on a little detour, you could say, since I saw you last. Ran into your reincarnation, if you can believe it. Though you and Kenzaki being human now, you might," he half chuckled, shaking his head.

[chalicejoker]

Hajime's eyes narrow. "That's one of the most ridiculous stories I've ever heard."

[triggerhappytraitor]

"No more ridiculous than anything else that went on in that place," Tachibana returned. "Not that I expect you to believe any of it. I sure as hell wouldn't, if our positions were reversed."

Not too far away was a small, but rather audible gasp! and seconds later, Garren was running over as fast as his tiny legs could take him, waving his arms happily. Hajime! Hajime was there! That meant Ryo would be there too!!

[chalicejoker]

Hajime would have commented on what Tachibana was saying, but wait. WAIT. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING?! He could only stare at Garren and, for the first time, actually miss being an Undead if only for the reason that his senses would have been able to tell him what the hell was going on. "The hell is that?"

Look, the resemblance hasn't escaped him. His human eyes can see that much.

[triggerhappytraitor]

Thing...? Garren slowed to a stop, looking utterly crestfallen. Hajime didn't recognize him...? That meant....

Tachibana knelt down next to his partner, opening his arms to let the small pog clamber over and cling to him.

"This is Garren," Tachibana introduced, standing back up again as the pog half hid his mask against his Slammer's side.

[chalicejoker]

This does nothing to help Hajime's confusion. "But you're Garren." And the blobby thing stands on its own.

Figuratively speaking, anyway. It's sort of trying to hide now.

[triggerhappytraitor]

Garren nodded, making the outline of the diamond on his chest before moving out over to be against Tachibana's chest.

The Rider nodded. "Yeah. In a way... he's sort of his world's version of me, you could say."

[chalicejoker]

Hajime frowns slightly. He remains unmoved by Garren's clearly uncomfortable plight. "...what world?"

[triggerhappytraitor]

"We called it the Pogemon world, since that's what he and the others like him are. His entire village is Riders like him."

[chalicejoker]

Hajime can only stare at Tachibana and Garren for a long moment. "...that sounds absolutely ludicrous."

[triggerhappytraitor]

Garren made some quick signs, one mimicking antenna.

"Yeah, he's a bit more of a jerk, like how he was in your world. But that's because we're not Kenzaki or Amane," Tachibana explained with a smile.

Garren tilted his head slightly before accepting that with a small nod.

[chalicejoker]

And at the mention of those two...well. "...they're going to be worried about me. I need to get back." Because he's really not quite sure where he's gotten off to or where "here" even is.