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

2B | Nier:Automata

[2b_ornot_2b]

1. It Always Feels Like

[Androids don't dream. Despite the abruptness and oddity of her surroundings, the lack of familiarity in everything and everyone- even the lack of her Pod, both concern and an irritant- 2B doesn't question those changes. She takes in the occurrence, recognizes, at the least, the quaking of the ground, and springs into action. There's housing about the place, structures that loom into vision through the thick smoke and ash as she hurries along, a sword slung over each shoulder as she kicks in doors and calls out for anyone who might need aid, who hasn't found their way out yet, who've become turned around.

Anyone at all, really.]

If you can hear me, call out! We must evacuate immediately.

[Over and over, there's no response. That's hardly reason to stop trying.]


2. Nothing Changed At All

[These are

Humans.

Initially, as she first awakens in this strange place, any caution 2B may have felt falls way to a wide-eyed state of fascination. Hidden behind what appears to be a blindfold, her eyes follow each figure that comes close to her, listening to their mundane chatter, eyeing off every mundane task.

They're so different to what she had thought they might be like, these humans.

Dressed starkly in comparison to the more traditional robes of the people of Tempide, 2B stands out as she stands to the side of a large road, watching a small group of children as they scratch out a hopscotch grid on the cobblestone, and start taking turns across it. As fixated as she appears to be on this, those who approach will find her quick to ask them questions, tone almost... eager. Desperate to understand.]

What are they doing?

2

[scourgingstars]

I believe it’s a game of sorts.

[There was something oddly...nostalgic about this place, to Ardyn. It wasn’t familiar in so many words, but the structure and form felt almost like a long-forgotten memory to him. How fitting, then, that they seemed to be displaced from time itself.]

I’m afraid I’m not wholly familiar with the rules, but the sight’s far from uncommon. Just a simple manner of passing time requiring little more than a means to draw it out.

[2b_ornot_2b]

[Another human, maybe- for all he looks like any member of the Resistance, with his raggedy collection of layered clothing. The scruff of an unshaven face was a good tip-off; she'd yet to meet an android sporting a 5 o'clock shadow.]

I see... [At least, partially.] Do they really have time for this? It doesn't look productive; surely there's something that needs doing.

[scourgingstars]

[maybe androids needed better customization options]

Presumably. That’s a funny sort of thing about mortals; such limited time and yet they devise endless ways to waste it. And at that age they’ve no concept of their impermanence; some never bother to develop one at all.

[2b_ornot_2b]

[Maybe someone needs to sit in a box for a few thousand years-- more.

2B purses her lips, considering. In that, robot children were very much the same- completely blind to the looming dangers of the world around them.]

They lived such short lives. Maybe it's better this way; ignorant, yes. But not afraid.

[She turns her attention to him entirely, arms crossed.]

If you're not mortal, then what are you?

[scourgingstars]

It’s an enviable state—not knowing enough to fear an ending, but guaranteed one all the same. Oh, to be so young and carefree.

[He shrugged at the question, looking to 2B with a smile not quite touching his eyes.]

I am but a long and unfortunate tale with no end in sight or meaning to speak of. But most simply call me ‘Ardyn’. Ardyn Lucis Caelum is my name, and the trappings of humankind at once fascinate and elude me.

[2b_ornot_2b]

[Once again, her lips purse. It's the look of someone not wholly satisfied with his answer, but- an answer had been given. Just not a wholly complete one.]

Pod- [She begins, cutting short as she remembers her constant companion isn't so constant, here. There was no point in asking for analysis. All she had was his words.

Even if his answer was incomplete, at best.]

Apologies. I am YoRHa Unit 2B. All of this- [She gestures at the people around them.] seems well before my time.

Do you know how we came to be here?

1

[slaughtermatic]

[Smoke. Fire's burning. Can taste it in his mouth, the cling of ash and Witch knows what else. Can't remember anything to a certain point. Remember dying, yeah. Remember that. Remember the barrel of a laser up against the bottom of their chin and the hiss of discharging plasma. Then he wakes up here.]

[Left arm won't move. Left arm's pinned. Some part of a building has tipped over and Poison tried to scramble out of the way, but the disorientation that comes from being postmortem means they couldn't move quick enough. Pain is electric. Pain's good, Poison. Means you're still breathing.]

[Someone's calling out. Could be BLind. Could be a killjoy. Could be someone else. If they're here to kill him, apparently they'll have to do a better job than Korse did, and Korse was pretty fucking thorough. Laser blast to the skull is usually enough to send someone off to the Witch. But, hell, maybe She didn't want Poison hanging off her mailbox yet.]

[Poison means to keep quiet and let them be. Instead, they swallow a mouthful of hot ash and start coughing, loud enough for just about anyone passing through to hear.]

[Fuck.]

[2b_ornot_2b]

[The coughing is enough to give tell that someone's home- it continues, a hoarse grating that eventually leads to rushed feet colliding with the tips of his boots. With how thick the smoke is, they're both lucky for that.

She crouches, staring through her visor at his condition, and swears softly. Shit is precisely what's occurring, his arm wedged beneath a collapsed beam that doesn't seem at all eager to move.

She's cut through steel before. Does it often. Rending hard materials apart is her element, though she'll hold her long sword close enough for him to see before she attempts to hack at the piece, warning blunt and to the point.]

Don't move, unless you want to lose your limb.

[slaughtermatic]

[It's hard to squint through the pain, but Poison's a killjoy; pain's just part of living. The static-burst of the agony shooting from fingertips to nerves to shoulder isn't enough to disrupt their vision entirely, because he can still see the tuft of pale hair, clothes that're a hell of a lot finer than anything a killjoy would wear.]

[BLi? Too fancy. What the fuck. What other options are there.]

[Talking hurts. Scratches the back of their throat, but it's what Poison is to bare his teeth anyway and wheeze out a shuddering laugh.]

You gonna cut me down t'size, sunshine?

[2b_ornot_2b]

Only if you get in the way. [And hopefully he's not stupid enough to do so. Shifting her stance, she gauges the best point to start - a few feet above him, where the wood begins to slant upwards. The sword comes down with an angry crack of steel into wood.

It's not jarring, but it's not that easy. The width of the blade sinks in, but no further. She'll have to be precise, or start cutting in angles.

It's his best chance. Neither of them will have any luck moving the beam as a whole.]

Status report. Are there any injuries that will hinder you from walking?

[slaughtermatic]

[The violent jolt of the impact of severing wood still jostles them on the spot, enough to shoot a fresh bolt of pain down across the trapped limb. Fingers feeling for the raygun holstered at their side aren't successful in tugging it out; the angle of his body makes it impossible.]

[Just lucky that she's actually trying to cut them loose. Maybe to take him in? Nah, that ain't BLi's style. The fancy garb ain't BLi's style. This is something else.]

I need t'walk, so I'll walk. [If they can't walk, they crawl. Simple.]

[Reach up, brace the butt of his free palm up underneath the beam and strain, shoulders pressed down against the dirt. Muscles quiver with the effort to try and lift it. It's fucking excruciating, of course, but when's that ever stopped Party Poison?]

[2b_ornot_2b]

[Stubborn. If they're injured badly enough, she'll know about it once they're out- all the bravado in the world isn't going to stop a crippling wound from exhibiting once his body is on the move. So she says nothing, concentrating on her task and making neat work of chipping through the wood, uncomfortably aware of how much thicker the smoke is getting, the ominous groans of the ceiling overhead. This structure is made to be eaten by flames, not withstand it. They're running out of time.

Three more harsh stricks of blade against wood, and the newly established end of the beam hits the ground, leaving them pinned under significantly less weight. It's still a task for a man pinned. Propping her swords up against the wall, she crouches, pushing up against the remainder of the beam with gloved hands and a velvet-covered shoulder.]

Come on. Come on, you piece of junk!

[They really do not have the time for this shit.]

[slaughtermatic]

[Can't move. No leverage to move. The beam, severed from the middle, is easier to handle than it was before, at least. She's even helping. Definitely not BLi. Can't imagine what she's got to gain from helping a zone rat, but they can worry about that later.]

[The beam shifts up incrementally enough for Poison to start inching out from underneath, palm still braced underneath. The smoke pouring from above has their eyes streaming, sticks in his lungs.]

[Secondary. It's all secondary.]

[Worms out from underneath, if slowly, and rolls away from it entirely.]

[Can't think about the way their arm feels like it might've been crushed to jelly. Don't look at it. He looks at it, it'll feel insurfuckingmoutable. Got a free hand. Free hand's all they need.]

We're shiny. We're shiny. Let's move.

[2b_ornot_2b]

[No need to tell her twice. She's clasping the elbow of his good arm before he even starts speaking, hauling them to their feet. No need to breathe, not for her- she's aware of the open door, can feel the smoke and heat being sucked towards that open source of oxygen. Time to go, before things get worse.

Without a word, she guides them to the door. Outside isn't an instant relief from the smoke, but the world is slightly cooler, the raging fires of the buildings and mountains encouraging a vicious wind to pick up that drags on her skirt and hair.]

We keep going until you need to stop. If you hear someone calling, tell me.

[slaughtermatic]

[Strong, ain't she? The breath's ragged in their lungs, but that ain't about to stop him any. Not about to slow them down. Can move on their own, too, so move and don't let her go dragging him around. The smoke's hot and the heat presses down on them less once they're both out in the open, and hey, look at that - fuckin' mountains.]

Don't think we're in the Zones anymore.

[A laugh rasps at the back of their throat, rusty and broken with a cough. Arm hangs useless at his side. Can still thumb at the raygun at their hip, so unholster it and get to moving.]

Let's hit the red line.

2

[catpiper]

[Ghosts typically aren't as forgiving or kind as this vision is making them out to be. Whatever's happening here, she's not a fan. They could turn on people at any moment and she's been tense the entire time, not even bothering to join in when the kids start playing some weird game. She's gonna remember this, hopefully, if she wakes up. If this is a dream. It looks fun.

But even tho she's never seen this before, she can gather what's happening for this poor soul who just doesn't get it.]

They're jumping in boxes with points in them. They'll win the sun if they jump very high and really fast and collect all the numbers.

[Obviously. This makes The Most Sense.]

I know it's scary, but it's easier to see if you take that thing off your eyes. You can put it back on if your heart starts beating really fast.

[2b_ornot_2b]

That seems unlikely. [It's true that they're going quickly, but none of the children appear interested in jumping very high- and why would any of them be interested in winning the sun in the first place? None of them appeared to have the technology to reach it.

Still, she's bemused enough by the answer to give her companion a look. It's another-- child. Small and slight. This one actually sees her.

It's enough to have her hesitating in her argument, fingering the fabric of her visor.]

And I can see just fine.

[catpiper]

[The stranger's distrust of her explanation almost makes her second guess herself, as she looks back to the kids jumping back and forth. Idk, seems valid? They're out for something. There's numbers-that's points. Why wouldn't they want rights to the sun??

But that's a q for another day because I can see just fine sounds like a lie.

Ren takes a couple steps forward, making an attempt to get directly in front of her, and kneels to the ground to get a better view of her face from that vantage point. It sure looks like a blindfold.]

Do you have darkvision? Is that why you can see through that dark thing?

[And if so, she has some theories to test when she gets home. Where's Kravitz!!!]

[2b_ornot_2b]

[Once again, there's a pause. Slowly, 2B crouches as well, hands reaching to undo the knot at the back of her head. This is a child- her curiosity reminiscent of robot children she had...pursued, when they'd gone missing.

9S isn't here to field the questions, but at the least, she hasn't asked about that.]

It's not as dark on the other side. [Light grey eyes blink rapidly as she draws the visor away, offering it to the girl.] See for yourself.

[It might not bear any of its usual functions, but it's as clear a visor as ever.]

[catpiper]

[The unexpected gesture doesn't go ignored. Ren's grubby fingers wrap around the visor as it's offered, carefully holding the ends of it in her hands. It feels like fabric. There's no way it won't look pitch black when she holds it up to her eyes-there must be something special about this woman. Something different about her pretty eyes that makes it easier, but-

She tries it anyway, holding it up across her face and-

She can see things-see this lady as clear as day through the fabric. Like she isn't holding something up to her face. This is wild.]

It's not dark.

[Don't mind her as she stares up at the SUN, which would've been something she won, had it not been for these ghost children ignoring her. Then she drops her gaze directly at the ground to look at all this awesome funky dirt. Amazing.]

Are these sunglasses? Is that why you wear them?

[2b_ornot_2b]

No, it's not. [See, tiny? She's been seeing perfectly fine this entire time. It gives a small amount of satisfaction, easily pushed aside as the tiny moron stares right at a burning pile of rocks before 2B can warn her away from it.]

Usually, they help me see things about my surroundings I wouldn't notice. It's not going to stop your eyes from being damaged by the sun- don't do that again.

[She doesn't want to be responsible for turning the first human child she's ever met blind.]

[catpiper]

[This tiny moron does what she WANTS and lives free of consequences, although she does heed this lady's advice. Because it did hurt. Little colorful circles are dotting her vision and not even this blindfold can shake them off. If she blinks enough, they'll go away though.]

I'll put it back on you.

[She motions for her to lean down a bit so she can Do That. Stop being tall.]

What things can you see with them? Different ghosts? Treasures? That kind of thing?

[2b_ornot_2b]

[Ah. Well...okay? It's awkward, but she leans down, bangs framing her face as she glances up at the child- and in very no-nonsense terms-]

Please don't pull my hair.

[And then she'll wait patiently for Ren to finish. All these questions... if 9S could make an appearance now, she would appreciate it.]

Not ghosts. Sometimes, certain objects are highlighted; things of monetary value, or resources. Depending on the location, my visor can exhibit a map of the surroundings, soundwaves created by anything nearby- a few other components.

[Like how many more times she needs to slice something in half before it stays down.]

[catpiper]

I won't do that until you say 'Ren, I want you to braid my hair' because then I have to pull on it a little.

[Telling someone not to do something is a surefire way to make them feel compelled to do just that.

Fortunately, Ren's far beyond the hair pulling stage of life and easily places the visor back on her face, right where it had been with no issue. Not yet, anyway.]

You should say 'hello' to Drifter. They have a friend that makes maps for them too. They know where to find treasure and things like that.

[They'd get along pretty well, is her thought. They could be visor pod buddies.]