TEST DRIVE MEME ( 030 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #30

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.

Reserves and Applications are always open, and are processed every weekend.

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.

Polar Opposites
Adventurers in the waking world have had to contend with the temperamental island of Monsun, which has recently undergone some rather drastic changes. These changes have now become all the more evident in Mu. You see, upon waking here, you're likely to end up on one of two sides.

The east side is a frozen wasteland, rife with glaciers and beasts that you could expect to see in an ice age - woolly mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers, and dozens of others besides. While they're not innately hostile creatures, you should probably keep your distance...unless your idea of a good time is getting into a brisk fight with one or more of these beasts. Nothing like a good brawl to warm up the blood, after all!

What's more is that your body may also begin to reflect physical properties inherent to the region. This can be as simple as a thin layer of semi-permanent frost that settles over you, and as complex as sprouting icicle horns and spines all over your body. These changes can be slow to emerge or extremely painful, or relatively painless and immediate. If you get the odd ice-based power to shoot icicles out of your hands or slick the ground beneath you with frost on top of it, well...that's just a bonus, isn't it? On the other hand, you could wake up on the western side of this recreation of Monsun. Things here are just as dangerous, but in a rather different sense. This place is a blasted, scorched wasteland of volcanic corruption. The parts of the land still traversable are little more than seared patches of coal and rock. All around you, rivers of magma seethe in haphazard, highly volatile tributaries. At irregular points, parts of the land detach seemingly at random and drift into the air, as though decoupled from the island's gravity. Heavy chunks of charred rock hover in midair, though it's not clear how it is they remain suspended. The land is periodically rocked with earthquakes that spurt fountains of lava into the air in burning arcs and further fracture what little solid ground you have, causing more of it to break away from the ground and bob listlessly in the empty air.

You can also expect to be pursued by the odd monstrous entity on top of these environmental hazards - so tread carefully!

There are benefits to this, however. Just like with the east side, sticking around on the heat-blasted part of this world may cause your body to reflect physical properties inherent to the region. Whether it's a fiery shimmer bathing your silhouette, your skin becoming blackened and veined with magma, or any other variation besides, is up to you. These changes can be slow to emerge or extremely painful, or relatively painless and immediate. And, of course, if you pick up a fire-based power or two in the interim, that's just a bonus. Maybe you can shoot fire from your hands now, or make whips of lava out of thin air. Pretty badass, right? Totally makes this potentially traumatic transformation worth it, right?

Well, we thought so.

Can't Let It Go
It is in the thick of winter, and while the tropical islands on LifeAftr are only intermittently reflecting this, the dreamworld of Mu is the exception here. You'll have to be careful when braving these thick, high-piled snowdrifts, however. You might see the occasional lump of snow that looks like someone nearby has made a couple of snowmen. That's nice, right? A good sign of civilization?

Not so. These are, in fact, creatures known as snowgoons, and they are very much hostile. So not only is it very cold, but you're being hunted by terrifying snowmen on top of it. They are intrinsically hostile, incredibly lethal, and what's more? They are relentless. It'd be bad enough if these things only wanted to rip you limb from limb, but they don't. What they really want to do is turn you into one of them. They primarily accomplish this by stalking you and hounding you more or less nonstop until you essentially collapse from exhaustion or no longer have any means to fighting them off, and then packing snow around you. Assuming you don't freeze to death, you can still get free as long as they don't get to your head. Once they've covered your face, there's no coming back.

The best way to deal with these creatures is to keep them at a distance as much as possible; snowgoons are only really effective at close range. They can be picked off fairly easily from a distance, though we recommend figuring out some kind of way of generating heat to keep them at bay. These things, true to their appearance, despise fire and heat.

Hope you brought a flamethrower!

Mistletoe? More Like Mistlefoe
Ah, mistletoe. A long-standing wintertime tradition, often used to facilitate all sorts of romantical shenanigans throughout history. This isn't necessarily requisite, or forced, fortunately. In this wintery wonderland, most mistletoe is in its uncut, untendered state - little more than a parasitic fuzz clinging to the branches of the trees overhead.

You have a roughly equal chance of running into two different types of mistletoe. There is, of course, the conventional mistletoe, wherein you will more or less immediately experience the urge to express affection to whoever else is nearest. This can translate to romantic, familial, or platonic affection - cuddling, kissing, hand-holding, hugging, or just plain being nice to them, as per your comfort level. This may be a mutual affection...or it might not.

There is also the other type of mistletoe. Instead of a one true soulmate, this type will select your one true foemate. Upon crossing paths with this type of mistletoe, you will be seized with the immediate and overwhelming desire to fight whoever else is nearest. This sensation might be mutual, or it might be wholly one-sided. This can translate to an unthinkable, murderous bloodlust that obscures all other reason, or it might relate to a polite request for a formal duel. This parasitic plant has selected your government-assigned nemesis; are you really going to run from that?

Unfortunately for you, these two types of mistletoe are virtually indistinguishable from one another. It's entirely possible for one person to be affected by the former and another person to be affected by the latter simultaneously.

Good luck.

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( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

Try a freezing day in hell

[uptightness]

There's still that flash of bright hair from under her toque and those electric green eyes that turn towards the person talking. Carolina has mellowed out a little in her 'old' age, not just ignoring people, or worse. It is why she does pause, hands in the pockets of her coat, to regard the stranger.

"Yes?" There is that slight drawl to the word, the other words left unspoken but clear enough. What do you want? She might not ignore or attack, but she's also not sunshine and lollipops either.

[mybadside]

The voice, those eyes just like her asshole father, of course he knows who she is. Well... there's a surprise. A very interesting surprise.

"Agent Carolina." Omega gives her a broad smile that was entirely lacking any sort of friendliness. He had come so close to killing her. And it would have been glorious! At the time Texas had no idea who Carolina really was and the Director... he would have gotten to watch. Helpless.

Ah well, you can't win all the time.

"How unexpected. Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

Would you like to be?

[uptightness]

Her eyes narrow in turn, regarding him with a contemplative look. There is something... But Carolina can't put her finger on what it is about him that has her hackles raising. He knows who she is out of armour, which is surprisingly less people than one might think.

Judging by his stance and the expression on his face, no one that she is on good terms with, which is more people than she might care to admit. Her arrogance in her younger days has caused a lot of issues, but she is out there to make amends. "Depends who you ask."

[mybadside]

He would admit that the red hair was a surprise. If he'd had to guess, he would have gone with blond.

"Anyone else on the Mother of Invention that day." He shrugs casually. It had been a hell of a thing to see. And a perfect reason to GTFO.

Nothing personal.

[uptightness]

"They'd all be wrong." Not that she had gone out of her way to change people's perception of that. In fact, just the opposite. She had let everyone think she was until she was ready to make her move. Still... Her eyes narrow again, searching through her memory. Someone who had worked there? She hadn't paid much attention to anyone or anything, aside from staying and regaining first place. "Who are you?"

[mybadside]

"So I see." He's actually rather impressed, by all rights she should have died. Some humans are full of surprises.

"We never got the chance to be formally introduced." Her confusion brings a smirk to his face. He truly loves having the advantage in a situation. When dealing with her and her skill level, it's all about advantages. Unfortunately, he doesn't have as many as he'd prefer. "My name is O'Malley."

[uptightness]

She's clearly not making any more to tell him how she survived the fall. Carolina actually has no desire to do so. Those that had counted knew the truth, after the fact, of course, but she had never been far without her grappling hook...

It's her own turn to narrow her eyes, as it may not be a name that only one individual uses, but in the context of everything, it is pretty telling. It might be more of a shock, were it not for Texas. "And you were destroyed, Omega- or has that not taken place for you yet?"

So a little rude there, but hey...

[mybadside]

Omega's eyes widen briefly with surprise before his expression darkens. "Very good."

He has no idea how she figured it out, but there goes a large chunk of any advantage he has. "And I'm not easy to destroy. They've been trying for years."

The EMP was pretty effective actually.

[uptightness]

She had heard about what had happened when she had been off investigating. Second hand stories, of course, as Carolina had been occupied elsewhere and not dealing with the AIs or the EMP. "The Reds and the Blues are quite tenacious."

[mybadside]

"Those idiots?" He scoffs. "Please, they couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag."

He'd never met worse excuses for simtroopers. Well, maybe those guys during the capture the flag. That was a gruesome little bit of fun, he especially enjoyed the impalement part.

"With knives... and explosives."

[uptightness]

"And yet here we are." Mind, Carolina wouldn't exactly disagree. There were many times that she thought they were idiots. But, they are her idiots, and somehow, they do manage to get the impossible done. Most of the time anyway.

[mybadside]

"Yes." There's a hiss to the word, as if it's utterly distasteful. Because it is. "That lies more with Sigma and his pet's blind obsessions than anything they accomplished."

He starts to walk a circle around her, keeping to the distance they already have established. He's not actively planning on attacking her but he is restless. Without Doc's ongoing mediating influence Omega finds it hard to just be still.

"Did they kill you?"

She had mentioned his 'death' and with the 'here we are' comment... well, he finds the idea interesting. Unlikely, but interesting. Why is she here?

[uptightness]

She doesn't take her attention from him, watching him as he moves. In that case, they are similar, as Carolina tends to be restless, needing to do something. Taking lessons from Grif had been the hardest thing that she had done in a long, long time.

"I'm still alive." She doesn't explain any further, as if he wants to know, he will have to ask for it. Let him work out what he can...

[mybadside]

"Then you're with them somehow." How else would she know about their tenacity? She must have some kind of first hand experience.

He moves a step closer in his path, testing his boundaries with her. Just how much will she let him get away with...

[uptightness]

He can come as close as he wants, but she won't guarantee it's not going to end with a punch in the face. Tex had been somewhere else before this place, but it doesn't seem to be the same with him, unless he's really good at hiding it.

"I'm with them somehow." A part of the team. A part of the family.

[mybadside]

He would never suggest it, but a punch might do him some good. Get him used to the realities of having a flesh and blood body instead of just hitchhiking in one. She isn't dropping her guard by looking away though. So he'll keep just out of kicking distance for now. Because honestly, with her combat style, he expects a kick as an opening move first.

"You have my condolences." He gives her a dark, rolling chuckle.

[uptightness]

"Completely not necessary." Which make give a little more information in to the relationship that Carolina has with them. They are family, and she will fight to defend them against any threat. They had, surprisingly, taught her quite a few life lessons, learning how to be lazy aside, and without them and Wash, Carolina wouldn't be where she was today/

[mybadside]

"Daddy's little girl is growing up." He sneers at her and turns on his heel to walk back around her the other way. Stalking. "Not worried they'll drag you down...?"

[uptightness]

Her jaw clenches slightly at that, knowing full well that for the longest time she had been too blond to see anything but her father. But the man that he had become... He was only a shade of a man, and she knew that a large part of him had died when her mother had. "No. Freelancer is no more."

[mybadside]

"No one left to keep you on your toes then... " The corner of his mouth twitches into a flash of a smile. "To easy to get complacent."

He inches just a little closer.

"To get sloppy."

[uptightness]

"You want to test that theory?" He'll find it severely lacking, if he does. Even in retirement, Carolina had been hard pressed to sit still. She might have some more aches and pains in the morning, reminders of her injuries over the years, but she's no less deadly, just less likely to try to kill someone off the bat.

[mybadside]

"I plan to." He growls and then switches to almost friendly. "But, I wouldn't want to be rude. We'll have our chance."

He's learned the value of delayed gratification. DuFresne was at least good for something.

[uptightness]

She's always looking over her shoulder anyway, but she does have to wonder if he completely understands the situation. Well, that would be his problem, unless he started to make problems. Then Carolina would step in. "I'd say name the time and place, but I've a feeling you prefer to surprise me."

[mybadside]

"We're practically related. Shouldn't we want to get to know each other first."

He definitely doesn't understand and that's fine by him. He's not one hundred percent convinced that this isn't some kind of glitching out.

"Some people take being attacked so personally."

In a twisted way he sees his intention as a good thing for her. He totally has her best interest in mind. It being fun for him is completely coincidental.

[uptightness]

Remnants. Fragments. Ghosts. He's not Epsilon, not by a long shot, and Carolina had had a bit of an issue with him in the beginning. That does still sting, losing him, and he had been someone that she trusted, and loved.

"Why do I think your idea of getting to know each other and mine would be vastly different." She'd seen enough, knew the history of what she hadn't been around for. It's not that she blames the AI, given what had happened to them, but it doesn't make her want to put her guard down either.