TE̬ST DR̢̹̪̿I̲͈̰̣ͭ̌͜VE MEM̦̭E̬ ( ͣ͛0͓̝̙ͮ̈̑ͯ25̮̘̝̟̞̲̌ͪ ̭̜ͭͣ̐͟)̣͈͖̻̗͓̬ͩͪ

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #25

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 July 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.

3. Are you. Still there?
Why?

If You Close Your Eyes
The island of Umui is strikingly beautiful, particularly for those with a love for flowers. Past the ruins of villages long since emptied, the island plays host to an immense variety of flora. No matter where one's eyes turn, flowers will be in full bloom, regardless of climate, region, or time of year. You will find a seemingly endless and contradictory carpeting of multicolored blooms peppering the rolling, grassy hillsides: daisies nestle aside carnations, cactus flowers aside crocuses, and plenty more besides. Whether these flowers be tropical, rare, or seasonal seems to have no bearing on the fact that all of them are blooming at once in a gorgeous tapestry of unfurled petals.

Unfortunately for you, these flowers are a solemn indication that you're walking on a gravesite. The people here perished from an affliction they termed the Overgrowth, an illness that now runs in your veins as well. You can probably guess what it does, based on the name alone.

If you can't, don't worry. You'll soon see for yourself. Overgrowth takes over the body in various stages, none of which are pleasant. It's very likely that you'll advance to the second stage rapidly - coughing up lumps of petals as buds break your skin from within, drenching you in a rash of color. Whether you're sprouting buttercups or marigolds or irises or birds of paradise, it will become very clear that, unless you do something, these flowers will swallow you whole. Don't stop the affliction in time, and you'll learn firsthand how painful Overgrowth symptoms can be - your limbs will start to stiffen, you might lose feeling in your nerves, you'll start coughing up blood and plant matter, among others. You can try picking the petals off, or burning them, but you'll find that this solution is a very painful one in addition to wholly temporary. There is only one known cure to the Overgrowth:

Honesty. That is to say, emotional honesty - you must be open and honest about who you are, what you fear, what you regret...you know. All those terrible, ugly things that you to never think about!

Overgrowth takes root in those with repressed emotions and deep secrets. In order to be free of it, the cure is fairly simple, logically. Is there something you need to get off your chest? Some confession that's aching to be made? Some guilt or regret that you've repressed, that's been dragging you down for years? Some admission to which you've never come to terms?

It's time to tell someone. Or...not tell someone, and bear with the consequences of that. Either way, you'd best make a decision soon. The flowers are spreading quickly.

And they're determined to outlive you.

It Always Feels Like
This island destination is pleasant enough at first glance: beaches of white sand, crystalline waters, and the curve of two large mountains narrowing down into a delightfully fertile valley running through the very heart of the land. It might be tempting to go roaming through that valley in search of something of note. If you do, you'll be rewarded with a lush farm full of all sorts of freshly grown produce - peppers, sweet potatoes, squash, tomatoes, snap beans, corn, melons of every shape and size...basically what you'd expect to find growing in lush farmland in the middle of summer.

There are certainly signs that this place is populated, due to the structures built into the walls of the mountains and the fact that the farm seems to have been so carefully tended to, but whoever may live here is nowhere to be seen. So you might as well take what you like from the farmland, right? No one's here to stop you.

The telltale rumbling from above is suggestive of why that might be. You, dear adventurer, are currently on Mu's best approximation of the island of Cahypdo, which is home to a very large and very active volcano.

Honestly. When it's not the flowers, it's the rocks. So that idyllic scene soon erupts, quite literally, into its polar opposite. Lava and ash start spewing from the mountain top as it forcibly detonates, and molten ribbons of magma begin pouring sluggishly down the sloping crags.

You're now faced with a choice, adventurer: you can either try and outrun the natural disaster, and make for the waves, for all the good that'll do you - who knows? Maybe you'll find an abandoned boat and be faced with the fun task of trying to row away as quickly as possible! - or you can run for the other mountain, where the mouth of a cave appears to be visible. The local tunnels will certainly shield you from the worst of the smoke and heat, at least until the eruption calms down some. There is always a threat of collapse in the tunnels, of course...among other things.

Maybe you should chance the waves instead, actually. The caves are poorly lit, and the rumbling overhead occasionally shakes trails of dust from the ceiling. These tunnels don't feel very sturdy at all...

But wait, just ahead - something seems to be illuminating the way. A peculiar, greenish cast. In fact, it's moving...toward you?

As it happens, these caves are populated by roaming, humanoid masses of living crystal: Quartzacoatl. The lumbering, person-shaped, eight foot tall mass of crystal approaching you isn't what you should be scared of, no. It's just the product of something that ravaged the body of what was once a living thing, converting flesh into a greenish, crystalline growth. They may have been living creatures themselves, once, but they are now merely hosts to the parasitic crystals that have consumed them, driven by the constant need to spread. All it takes is one touch to transmit the virus, leaving behind shards of glasslike crystal beading on your flesh. You do have a little bit of time to potentially amputate the affected area before the crystalline virus hits your bloodstream...if you can stomach it.

Quartzalcoatls can be shattered with enough force, though it's best to take care not to breathe in any of those shards of crystal they shed if you succeed. Otherwise...your best strategy is to either hide or find some way to turn the environment against them. Quartzalcoatls don't have the best eyesight, trusting their crystal protrusions to light the way for them. But the cave ceilings are notably unstable, and can be potentially collapsed inward with enough force, as long as you don't mind risking your own neck.

So where's safe, then? On the surface, where burning rocks still fall from the sky? Across the sea, boiling from the heat of the lava ribboning into it? Or under the ground, where if tremors don't cause the earth to swallow you whole, something much, much worse may do so instead?

That's a question only you can answer.

Nothing Changed At All
Deep, deep beneath the waves, on the ocean floor, the remains of a sunken city litter the sand and coral reefs with portions of broken buildings and ancient, barnacle-encrusted suggestions of a civilization that dwelled here, long before you came along. It very much resembles the one travelers recently got the opportunity to explore, sunken just off the coast of Ensō.

In the waking world, it's still an underwater wreck to be perused and picked over by adventurers, untold years past its destruction.

Here, though? In the dreaming land of Mu, you get to witness firsthand what this city was like, because now you're in a proper version of this ancient city - a version that's clean, dry, and populated. The buildings are simple cuts of wood and stone, utilitarian and to the point. The streets are lit by braziers fixed to the exterior of buildings, and the roads flip between paved and dirt. The people are dressed in clothes of an equally simple nature as they move briskly through the streets and in and out of buildings. It is, all in all, a very far cry from the modern age, more akin to humanity's earliest recorded civilizations than anything particularly advanced. The longer you're here, however, the more you'll realize something rather important about this city. Namely, you'll realize that the people will not acknowledge you. In fact, if you try and stand in their way, they'll even walk right on through you. It's as though you're a ghost. As though you're not even there. You can't move through any of the buildings, but attempting to interact with any of the civilians in this strange city will yield nothing, save for the possibility of the unsettling feeling that you're not really there.

They're not the only things walking these streets. The longer you roam this place, the more you'll start to hear it: the soft, whispery sound of something...behind you. The appearance of these pursuers will vary, from feathers and fur to scales, but one thing they all have in common is that ethereal, almost wisp-like texture.

The people here won't acknowledge you, but the creatures known only as clockroaches will. Like you, they seem to be in a phase removed from the city; the citizens don't seem to notice them, and the clockroaches don't seem to care to stalk any of them, either. But they seem to have picked up on the fact that you don't belong here - that you are a thing out of place. They're coming for you. At first it will be one or two, then half a dozen, and then more. You're drawing them like moths to a flame, just by being here. If you turn around quickly enough, you'll catch glimpses of them, rustling like sheaves of paper, or dead leaves over the ground. Looking like shadows, looking like half-formed echoes of something you can't place...or looking like something you fear.

There is no way out of this city. The only way to drive these creatures away is to get them to manifest, to get them to come close enough to you to become solid. Even then, this won't kill them - but doing something to spook them will ensure that they don't bother you for a little while. Attacking them, shouting at them, doing something unexpected, whatever it may be, will only work once they feel that you are in a position that they can take advantage of: whether that be paralyzed with fear or completely unaware. Then, and only then, can you strike.

If you don't try and scare them away...they'll prey on your paranoia, your fear, and any other negative emotion they can inspire. They will work you into a state of hysteria, if they must. They will gather around you, more and more and more of them, until you can't see the city walls or the sky or even the sun at all.

They will feed, and they will feed well.

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

Mikumo Guynemer | Macross 🜂 | OTA (CW: Body Horror)

[ikenai]

1. If You Close Your Eyes

[Walking amongst the flowers is a woman with hair that reaches all the way to her knees the same shade as some of the buds. As she moves along, her hand trailing along beside her through the foliage reverently, she sings passionately. Her voice is strong, full, and powerful, but there is a tinge of sadness that laces it.

However, she is cut off mid-song by wet, strangled coughing. The arm that raises from her side to cover her mouth is covered with flowers in various shades of blue and purple. When she finally stops coughing, her voice is rough and tired and her palm is littered with purple crocus petals.]

Flowers? What is going on?

[Her face twists into a frown as she stares at the flora in her hand. She must be ill, right? This isn't Ragna or the Globular System. She's been sloppy. There's no Delta Squad or other members of Walküre to make sure she's safe. There's no Lady M or Xaos to take her and heal her on the Elipsion. She'll have to find someone nearby to figure out what's wrong. Because her chests hurts too much for her to sing again.

And that's unacceptable.

With all the grace she can muster while out of breath, Mikumo heads towards where she thinks other people might be.]

Hello? Is anyone there?

Nothing Changed At All

[Having lived on Ragna for the last three years, Mikumo is very used to planets that are mostly water-based. To be fair, however, none of the living areas are quite like this. Although, she can't help thinking that Q-lulu would love this place. The size of the buildings and architecture definitely remind her of Ragna, versus any other planet in the Globular system and so she relaxes as she strolls down the streets, breathing as easily as if she has no worries on her mind.

When she spots a couple coming her way, she gives them her most charming smile, but is ignored. That never happens. Confused, she calls out to the people.]

Excuse me, could you tell me what the name of this city is?

[Again, she's ignored, but instead of letting it anger her, she continues towards the main area of the city. She pulls up short as a cart comes speeding by, but the driver doesn't stop as it barrels towards her. She tries to scramble away, but isn't fast enough. She braces for impact by curling as small as she can and waits. And waits longer still.

Nothing.

Confused, she stands up, looking around with wide red eyes. She turns a few times, her hair spinning around with the action. As it passes through a man walking by her, she lets out a sound of alarm and reaches out to grab the nearest person's arm, only for her hands to phase right through. Like she's a hologram, insubstantial.

While she's trying to deal with that might mean, she catches a black shape out of the corner of her eyes and she turns to face it. A large black shadow of something half-man, half-bird stumbles towards her. And another one is right behind it. They walked through the people in the crowded street on their way to her. Flashes of the last time she was surrounded come back to her, Windemerean soldiers under orders to capture her. Fear and anger flare in her eyes and she raises her hands, ready to fight anything that does touch her.]

I don't know who you are, but I'm not going anywhere with you!

close your eyes

[aimoaimo]

[The first time she heard Sheryl's voice, it had shaken her soul to its core. The Galactic Fairy's rise to stardom was sudden and she had followed the girl's path every step of the way. Every single, every cd, every concert special was so powerful and she can remember, vividly, the first time she had stuck those headphones in her ears and how Sheryl's music made her feel, well before she had become an idol in her own right.

And that feeling surges through her again, when another powerful voice echoes through the forest, her hand falling against her stomach because she can feel it. She's certain if the vajra were here, they would hear that song too. And it's been so, so long since she heard another singer with that kind of power.

It takes her mind off whatever's happening in this weird dream, at least. The violets poking through the skin on her arms is painful and the sudden distraction keeps her from trying to rip them out. But she's freaking out. A bit nervous about all this. There's no reprieve-her whole body is afflicted with this weird problem. Even when her hair raises up to catch more of that song, a sharp pain shoots through her body. Terrible. Bad bad bad.

But what's not terrible is that at least the singer? Is responding? And she's not alone in this weird place-dream or not.]

Oh, hello! Um. Please stay there-I'm coming over.

[ikenai]

[Mikumo lifts her head at the sound of another voice and lets out a small sigh of relief that is short lived as she starts that disgustingly wet coughing again. It lasts a lot longer the second time and when it's over, she's expelled more flower petals.]

This is some sort of cruel joke, right?

[There's only been one time when she's been this helpless and scared, and she can't even blame it on crazed Windemerean nobles this time.]

Why is this happening?

[aimoaimo]

[Fighting the desire to lay down and continue trekking through the woods is difficult, but she manages to follow the sound of the woman's voice, reaching her just as the petals fall from her mouth.

It sends a shiver down her spine.]

I think it's a dream. It has to be. This can't be real.

[She was in bed and now she's on some bizarre island, with flowers painfully ripping through her skin. Thankfully they're covered by her outfit, but it doesn't stop her from being all too aware of their existence. ]

Who are you?

[ikenai]

[Mikumo turns towards Ranka, tears of pain in her red eyes. The face and voice seem familiar, but it's difficult to string together coherent thought outside of the immediate situation.

With a sardonic smile, she wipes her eyes with the fingers of one violet-encased hand. The flowers have started to stick out of her half-gloves, ruining the effect of her outfit]

This seems strange, even for my life. I don't think it's a dream.

[Not that she knows where she is, aside from "not home".]

Mikumo Guynemer of Walküre. You?

[aimoaimo]

[Of Walkure makes her think this is a name she should know. Another idol group? The universe is huge and she wouldn't doubt it, especially with that powerful voice. But it doesn't ring a bell. Can't recall it from the local stations or from history books.

Weirder still is the woman doesn't recognize her. It's been so long since she's last had to introduce herself.]

Ranka Lee, but-

[The flowers are protruding through Mikumo's hand in a way that has to be painful, if the tears in her eyes and her own experience are anything to go by.]

Here, sit down. We can-I'll find someone to help you. I'm sure there's a doctor around.

[ikenai]

[Actual recognition cuts through the pain and Mikumo manages a smile.]

Ranka Lee! Of course. I thought I'd seen your face before, but I couldn't be sure. It's been a while since you've been broadcasted in the Globular System.

[That's because of Walküre. The people of Globular did happen to love to see and hear Mikumo and the other girls.

At the prodding of her fellow idol, Mikumo folds her long, flower covered legs underneath her to rest in the grass.]

You're the first person I've seen since I... woke up here. I don't know if there is anyone else.

[aimoaimo]

[The weird thing is she just had a concert that would've been broadcast around the universe. It had been in tandem with Sheryl's, so she knows it was the talk of the town right now, if ratings were anything to go by.

But concerts and networks aren't that important when there's something this weird's happening. There's a hoarseness in her throat that makes itself known as she tries to speak up again. A weight pushing down on her chest that hadn't been there a few minutes ago.]

We'll find someone. We can't be alone here.

[If this other woman is an idol, that's all the more reason for people to search them. And she pulls out the little green frog phone with difficulty, since bending her elbow is becoming a concerning problem, trying to connect to a network.]

The U.N Spacy should have a base around here, right? Or-

[The SMS. Either one of her brothers. They have to be around and she desperately clicks her phone to get some kind of connection.]

We had to get here somehow. Someone will find us.

[ikenai]

[Yeah, she just had that double concert with Sheryl like five years ago. And while it was nice to go back through the database of the U.N. Spacy to watch it, prerecorded broadcasts were nowhere near as effective against the Var as live performances. Hence why Lady M and Xaos kept Walküre so busy.

At the mention of the Spacy and the appearance of the strange phone, Mikumo clicks her tech nails together, trying to see if she can get a connection.

Static. A lot of static. No Kaname or Mirage or Arad. Being kidnapped isn't the most comforting, especially since this time is mimicking the last in the pain levels. Before she can start to truly panic, however, she looks over at the other idol and tries to smile.]

You know, I have a group member that is a lot like you. If what the interviews about you are right.

[aimoaimo]

What? Really?

[That brings a smile to her face-the first one since her arrival. That comment distracts her from trying to reset the green frog wifi on her phone, as she attempts every emergency number she can think of, public knowledge or otherwise. The one time neither of her brothers are in within phone distance. She can't even feel the vajra. They're this far away from civilization?]

I hope I can meet her and-and everyone else in your group someday, Mikumo-san. Maybe-

[They're here. It's not impossible. Sheryl could be nearby too.]

We should try looking for them. What are their names?

[ikenai]

[Oddly enough, Ranka isn't a member of her group, but she does seem to have the same air around her as Freyja that Mikumo finds a little more comfort with her, despite being...wherever they were.]

I'm sure they'd love to meet you as well. Someday.

[Certainly stranger things had happened before while she was trapped on the Fleet with Kaname. Including the dead coming back to life.]

Kaname Buccaneer, Makina Nakajima, Reina Prowler and Freyja Wion, but I can't reach them or any of the Delta Squadron on our com lines.

[She holds up her hands, displaying the tech nails expertly.]

Although, honestly, those didn't work in the last place I was taken to either.

[aimoaimo]

[It's a curious situation-Delta squadron implies some kind of military connection that isn't entirely unheard of in their line of work. Her songs were used for war-it makes sense other places would continue to use them for related purposes, even if there's no fighting involved. The Vajra had calmed down, the Galaxy was no more and-

Somehow, she feels like that wasn't really the end of it.

And none of those names sound familiar, but that's not unheard of. The universe is too vast to know everyone, though she tucks them in her memory all the same.]

There's got to be a way to get through to someone. Someone had to bring us here, right? Or maybe other singers were taken too-we should look for them.

[ikenai]

[Mikumo's not ready to really go into the issues with the Globular System. Who would believe that a planet would actually sabotage the rest of the others to fall victim to the Var. It's ridiculous and if she hadn't lived through it, she would have dismissed it as an outright lie.

She'd gladly only have to do preventative performances for the rest of her life to have that be a lie.

The fact that Ranka has no clue what's going on isn't really helpful, but her mere presence is enough for Mikumo to push the pain of the flowers growing out of her body to the side to stand once more.]

Well, just sitting around here isn't going to help us. Let's see if we can find someone else. I doubt if we'll like anything we hear though.