TEST DRIVE MEME ( 004 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #4

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.

Remember that Reserves will open on October 17th and that Applications will open on October 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.

Gone Apeshit
The peaceful island upon which you've found yourself is pleasant enough, isn't it? Clear turquoise waters, white sand, verdant copses of trees...it might be a little on the humid side, sure, but what's not to love?

The answer will come in the form of some decidedly simian ululations and howls that will inevitably start echoing through the trees, paired with the occasional loud, firework-like bang of some weapon being fired. The beach itself is safe, or as safe as beaches can possibly be, but setting foot into the jungle proper will prompt immediate, firepower-based retaliation from the group of monkeys that have elected to live there.
That's right: monkeys. Monkeys wielding rudimentary technology, no less, the most prominent example of such being the cannon-like, primitive firearms that shoot coconuts at interlopers. While their precision is not excellent, a direct or indirect hit can cause incredibly serious injury. Sure, you could opt to stay on the sidelines...but without any resources on hand, your only remaining solution is to either risk starvation or exposure, or to confront the gun-toting monkeys directly.

A pity Jumpman isn't here, huh?

Motherclucker
Congratulations! After who knows however long you might have spent exploring this strange new land - be it hours or eons or days or mere minutes - you've finally stumbled across some resources that may be viable! You've encountered a flock of bludroc, their nests brimming with speckled eggs that would surely taste delicious sucked raw or fried on a stone.

Unfortunately, this is a rather vast flock of the creatures, and they do not part with their offspring easily. While they lend themselves easily to domestication, these bludroc are quite wild, and quite unwilling to be beset upon by complete strangers. So if you encroach upon their territory, beware...for you may find yourself set upon by an abundance of pecking, flapping, screeching, colorful creatures.

Tick Tock
Mu's world is a curious one, no doubt. Its creatures often bear a strange resemblance to those in the world of LifeAftr proper, but some fauna can be found on no other landscape, in no other context, besides the dreamlike dips and peaks that only Mu can emulate.

One of those creatures is the clockroach.

Today, they seem strangely intent on flocking around those who have crossed into the lands of Mu for the first time; the uninitiated of LifeAftr. Their shapes are indistinct, to start with, but the click-whisper of rustling, mothlike wings almost sounds like your name, being uttered over and over...and over...and over...

They have a curious look to start with, make no mistake. But the longer you look, the more those forms start to solidify into a shadow to mirror your own, devoid of color or feature, but unmistakably resembling your general shape. While their edges are softly blurred and out of focus, their forms rapidly begin to solidify the more you interact with them. Speaking to them, touching them, even acknowledging them by looking their way, failing to ignore them utterly, will gradually start to bring them into greater clarity and focus. They do not speak. They merely follow - a shadow of your very own, unattached and allowed sentience.
Once they're solid enough to touch, you'll begin to hear a sound. A low, repetitive tick-tick of a timepiece, moving ever closer to some unseen deadline with terrifying regularity. It starts quietly, at first, but begins to grow louder, louder, until it drowns out all else.

The apparition may soothe and speak all it likes, but the artificial dread worming in your heart refuses to be shucked away. Everything else is a shadow hostile, a creature mistrusted. The fog is a tripwire that will surely trap you; that person approaching from over that hill? Doubtless here to kill you, and see that your invisible clock winds to an end.

But that dark storm boiling in the shadow behind you? Surely that has nothing to do with it...

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[intomermaids]

Motherclucker

[ If you happen to be looking in the direction of the huge flock of blue peacocks, you might find one lone Paladin, shifting where the space allows between the birds. There are small ones, and yeah... they're pretty cute.

But also, Lance is hungry. He knows a good looking bird when he sees one-- almost as well as he knows a good looking woman when he sees one.

Too bad he's not a great judge of character. He reaches down to pick up a baby bird, and the surrounding flock begins garbling and crowing angrily at him. He drops the little bird when he is pecked in his hip, which-- ]

Auuugh! C'mon, there's plenty of you around, and only one of me! [ he groans in frustration as the flock hurries away, the promise of death and dismemberment fast on their little beaky mouths. Lance crosses his arms and watches them from afar...

There's gotta be a way to get closer... ]

Apeshit!

[ it didn't take long to find one. A walking, howling, gun slinging monkey-man. Incredible. Incredible. Lance pulls forth his mighty weapon-- only to find that the gun itself is...not forming? It's still in key form?

Normally it just????? Works immediately?????? Lance glares at it angrily!! ]

C'mon, work you stupid-- [ he taps it against his hip and it finally transforms into his gun! He grins wildly, pulling the larger ranged weapon to sit at his shoulder. ]

Lance, sharpshooter extraordinaire, takes his place to end the evil monkey reign once and for all.

[ he takes a lower position behind a fallen tree, aiming carefully-- despite his arrogance, he's able to take a clean shot and fell one monkey. Which is cause for celebration! Yas! Yasss, queen! YAS! ]

Heck yes!

[ the screech of another monkey and the rude fire of a nearby firearm causes Lance to pull himself behind a local tree and use it as a shield for cover! No way to get a good shot here.

Also, what the hell is going on?! ]

Couldn't resist - Ape shit

[thermalwind]

[A few more coconuts hammer into the tree before angry screeching erupts and something much more solid hits the trunk. The forest goes silent.

A familiar knife with a glowing sigil quivers in the trunk until a hand comes out the dark and rips it out.]

I dealt with the problem. You can come out now.

[Keith pivots to keep an eye on the tree but watches for any trouble in the woods. The hell he's getting smacked with another coconut. That shit hurts!]

Oh my good gollY GOSH HI

[intomermaids]

[ the fire stops, and peeking out from behind his well founded (and mostly torn up) cover results in a mixture of relief and...bitterness. It's Keith. Perfect. Great. Here to save the day? ]

I had it covered!! [ he basically stomps out, though there's no denying that he certainly did not have it covered. His gun shrinks down into it's bayard form, which forces the suspect stare of the blue paladin on it. ]

You notice something funny with your bayard? Mine's actin' wonky.

[ he shakes it for good measure. Yep. It's just a bayard now. ]

Hi!!

[thermalwind]

[He’d normally refute Lance’s remark about having his tail covered. This isn’t a normal day. Keith scans the area around them and flips the knife in his hand. The sounds of the forest slowly return.]

Yeah I did. My shield didn’t come up when I called it either.

[He holds up his black bayard and wills it to change. Nothing. It changes on the second try.]

Probably shouldn’t trust our armor and weapons right now.

[The bayard snaps right back to inactivated shape. Keith narrows his eyes.] We need to find the others and see just what is going on.

C:

[intomermaids]

Shouldn't trust our-- [ he repeats the words somewhat incredulously!! Pardon!! Excuse??? ] Yeah, I don't know if you knew, but I'm kind of the sharpshooter of the team?!

[ he shakes his bayard several times until it changes back into a gun!! It immediately changes back into a bayard. The fury. ]

What'm I supposed to do without a gun to, y'know, sharp shoot with??

[ Lance holds the bayard like a gun and looks at Keith!! Look at this!! It isn't a gun!!! ]

[thermalwind]

Stop messing with it already! We're wasting time.

[He snaps and turns to scan the forest again. He had come from north of here and ambushed the apes firing on Lance. How far? Keith looks back over his shoulder and points, forming his fingers into a gun.]

I cut through one of their guns but the other should be intact. Help me find it.

[His temper isn't roused yet. Yet. He trudges off in the direction he'd come, moving slowly and quietly. There's not enough chaos to say Voltron is in town but give it five minutes.]

They dropped it. Might be hidden by thick grass.

[intomermaids]

[ don't think that you're gonna get away without some sarcastic pantomime, Keith. Lance silently mocks Keith behind his back and scowls into a bush, sorting through it ferociously. Ugh. Stupid Keith. Stupid not-gun. He's got one, er, assigned job.

Being devilishly handsome and extremely amazing just kind of comes with his general existence. Keith denies it. Won't he be surprised when Lance finds the gun first. ]

Yeah, yeah-- easy for you to say. You've got a stabby, death-knife! You're the hand-to-hand guy! [ he leans over and shuffles through some empty bushes. Stupid Keith. Stupid, accurate Keith. ]

[thermalwind]

That's blade guy, not hand-to-hand! [Keith snarls and rips open a bush with more force than necessary. Lance is starting to get under his skin. He slips between two thick bushes and nearly falls over the body of one of the two coconut snipers. His hand slaps against the trunk of the nearest tree to prevent him from kissing the dirt.]

Lance! Over here.

[He leans forward, letting his eyes adjust. The two bodies are sprawled right here he left them. One gun is in two parts. But the second is missing. He steps carefully over the first body. The ammo is scattered about but intact. Good.]

[intomermaids]

[ Keith might not see the aggressive glare that Lance is shooting him, but it is definitely happening. That beings said, he comes when summoned (albeit stubbornly) and hovers behind Keith over the broken gun. ]

Great! [ the attitude drips from his words. He leans down to pick up half of the broken weapon, and then holds it up to look over. He's a pretty great marksman, but his actual rifle knowledge is pretty minimal, outside of shining it like they did in the old timey movies in front of a saloon. Cowboy hat dipped enticingly.

This isn't one of those times. Lance looks absolutely put off by the suggestion this would compare to his own, more comfortable rifle. But...it's a start. He heaves out a sigh and reaches down to pick up the second part. ]

Listen, man, I don't really think a broken gun's gonna help us.

Apeshit:

[mamaterasu]

[Well, of course there'd still be remnants of the apes around, though Ammy is a little surprised they're still picking fights with people. One would think they'd learn after such a devastating defeat a few weeks prior, but...well, she did feel a deep-seated malevolence in them. Perhaps that sort of dark hatred and need for revenge blinds their intellect. It's sad, but cannot be helped.

Once again she's faced with an oddly-clad stranger wielding some...very peculiar looking...canon? What in the world?? W-Well, anyway, she's actually in a much better place now than she was in her last battle with these apes. Ammy has her powers (though Lance will perhaps not see her godly form at all) and knows they're not as freely given to her as they were in Nippon. However, her weapons work very well, and they don't cost her any ink at all to use. Switching out of her glaive, the wolf rushes forward on the monkey's blind side, a streak of white against the lush greenery. She's far more lithe and flexible than a human is, and these sorts of forest areas are where she reigns supreme.

There's a loud growl and a hideous screech from the monkey as Ammy leaps upon it and lashes out with her blade. Tsukuyomi doesn't strike the ape, but it does manage to obliterate a coconut fired from that crude canon - the splash of water and bits of the thick husk getting caught in both their fur from such close range. The two animals holler and turn against one another as they wrestle, Ammy forgoing her blade to utilize her teeth and claws instead. She gets a hard kick with one of those strong legs, and she yelps as she goes flying back and off the ape.]

Poo-poo-terasu.

[intomermaids]

[ the fire stops for a second, and Lance sucks in a deep breath. Okay. Showtime. Just dive out all cool-- if there are hidden ladies, they'd love that, probably. Yeah. A small peak reveals that the angry ape has ceased fire due to...a dog? A white dog. They wrestle, and even Lance knows that the shot would take more time than he has an allowance for, so he simply tries to aim his weapon at the offending creature.

Amaterasu's yelp snaps his concentration a bit, and he watches the animal that so valiantly went to his aid get thrown not so valiantly off of the ape, and Lance has to draw in another steadying breath and exhale before he can confidently raise his rifle again. In a matter of moments, he's firing again. The ape is a little heartier than the other one that was felled in one swoop, however, and after bellowing out a loud cry, runs away from both of them. An angry dog and a man with a boom boom stick? Probably best to leave.

Lance looks on proudly!! He did a good job!! All by himself!! ]

Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about! Get outta here! [ he holds the gun over his shoulder-- which quickly returns to bayard form. After a few shakes, it fitzes at him angrily and refuses to return to weapon form...Lance groans. ]

Ugh. What in the- [ a dog. The other dog. He looks around until he spots Ammy-- a pretty dog. A...a wolf??? What the hell??? ]

Uh, you doin' okay?

[mamaterasu]

[Falling over in a heap, Ammy rolls over onto her feet - a simple kick like that is nothing to the things she's endured on her journey - and she shakes herself off. It still smarts, of course, and she growls after the ape, more affronted than anything. The things got the last laugh on her, and she really doesn't appreciate it. The fur on her neck stands up a bit, but seems to relax (like herself), once she turns over her shoulder and begins to wag her tail. Ah yes, the youngster here.

Trotting up to him, Ammy shakes a bit of grass and dirt out of her fur that snagged when she fell to the ground like that, scratching at a particularly unpleasant knot that formed with a few twigs and pebbles clinging to her fur. Yeah, she's fine - totally a-okay!! Her lips turn up into a happy smile, tongue hanging out from her lower jaw as she begins to curiously sniff at thing youngster. Hm, hm...you're new, aren't you? She doesn't recall your scent at all, though considering the scope of this place, Amaterasu is...never really certain how real it all is.

Her nose twitches as she sniffs at the bayard - snuffling quickly at it. Urgh, it...doesn't smell like steel? Or iron... She honestly can't place the scent at all, and the device is almost like the bizarre things Waka utilizes. Heck, it remind her a little bit of the control panel on the Ark of Yamato that he piloted, only...dare she say? Odder. More advanced.]

[intomermaids]

[ A happy dog...even Lance finds himself charmed by the fluffy goddess. Now, the blue paladin isn't entirely familiar with dogs-- but he knows how they work of course. Ammy sniffs him and grins a lovely, puppy grin that makes Lance crack out a smile, too. ]

Yeah, I know. [ he gives her some scratches behind her ears and her neck, dusting her free of a few more twigs and the like with the back of his hand. ] I was awesome. But you were pretty awesome too, little guy! Girl? [ er??? error code 728??? Ammy sniffs at his bayard and he offers it to her. Doesn't work well anyway...dumb thing. ]

Hey, so I'm looking for my lion. It's, uh... [ he rubs the back of his head. ] It's red. Have you seen anything like that? It's huge, and probably has this weird forcefield thing around it. [ his fingers wiggle and his hands move in a circular motion.

Because obviously Ammy can tell him what she has and hasn't seen. >:C Obviously. ] You seen anything like that?

[mamaterasu]

[Oh. Oh, this is nice. Tail wagging a bit faster, Ammy leans her head into Lance's hand, letting his fingers find those spots that are just impossible for the wolf to reach herself. She allow him to groom her a bit, yipping only once or twice when he pulls her fur while removing a few knotted brambles, but she never once tries to nip or move awa--whoa there, fella!

You? You were awesome? I mean, yes that is very true, but them again she full on tackled an ape and all but hacked its little shoulder canon n half. You were hiding behind a tree, if she recalls correct--ah, there it is. Her own praise. All is forgiven, do continue. uwu]

Wroouu...

[The wolf yawns loudly, licking over her nose, then snuggles a bit closer to this human, taking the opportunity to gnaw just a bit on the strange object he carries, to test what exactly it was. She doesn't even know once she gets a good chew in, tongue tasting something that is and yet...isn't quite metal. No metal she's ever got her teeth onto, anyway. Not iron, steel...so what is it? And she feels a hum of power, too, sort of like gekigami's lightning, but again not...quite. Bleh. It's too confusing. Magic. It's magic, and that's easier to accept than anything scientific. Which she may or may not know exists...

Tilting her head with a curious noise, Ammy blinks. What the heck is a lion? Well, he gives a description - huge and red and surrounded by a barrier. Hmm...well, she doesn't think the ocean counts quite as a barrier, but huge and red she has seen! Or, well, red-orange...ish. Turning around, Ammy heads toward the Storyteller's shrine. It'll be a bit of a walk, hopefully Lance can keep up, though she does often stop and wait for him when she gets too far ahead. Ammy is far better suited to trekking through the forest than any human is.]

Now for something completely different: Motherclucker~

[esper_magic]

[ It's true, the birds were cute! Too cute... TO LIVE. ... Okay no, but Terra was making her way along a path nearby, looking around for sturdy leaves and vines when she heard Lance's cry of frustration and the angry clucking of chicken curses. Who knew such cute things had such fowl mouths .... I'm sorry I'll leave. ]

Hello?

[ Terra stepped between a pair of trees, peeking over towards the flock of birds plus Paladin, tilting her head. ]

Um...are you okay...?

[intomermaids]

[ Lance brushes at his jeans a bit and bristles silently for a moment before he hears Terra's lovely voice.

Play it cool, Lance. ]

Much better now that you're here. [ SUCH SUAVE!!! He even wiggles his eyebrows. ] Don't worry, you're safe from these birds when you're with me. I'm a paladin of-- ouch!

[ a little one is pecking at his ankle. He lifts his offended ankle up higher and glares sourly at the little thing!!! STOP IT HE'S TRYING TO LOOK COOL!! ]

[esper_magic]

[ Blinkblink. ]

Really? Well that's good. [ She thinks. ANd ... wait, safe from the birds? But they seemed to be more interested in assaulting Lance than her, right now! ]

You're a ... Paladin of Ouch...? [ In spite of herself, she couldn't help but smile a little at the sight of the little bird pecking indigantly at his ankle. Oh dear~! ]

[intomermaids]

N-no! No! [ BACKPADDLE, LANCE!!! THE PALADINS OF OUCH ARE NOT REAL AND THEY DON'T SOUND COOL ANYWAY ] A Paladin...of Voltron.

[ the pride in his voice, and the way that his arms open up like he's ready to catch her when she faints upon surprise are...palpable. ]

What's your name? I'm Lance. [ he's sparkling. What a happy boy. ]

[esper_magic]

[ Well if they WERE real their feelings are hurt now! Terra watches Lance curiously, but there's... no recognition whatsoever when he says the name of his.. job class? She has... so many questions. Paladins, Voltron...? Why he's holding his arms open like that...? ]

Oh..! That must be a very... important position? [ Judging from how proud he sounded. Though she sounds quite unsure of her assessment. ]

My name? My name is Terra. It's nice to meet you, Lance.

[intomermaids]

It...uh, it is. You've never heard of Voltron before??

[ he sounds, er, confused. Does not compute. Paladin of Voltron + Hot babes = hot babes wanting to get his autograph and cuddle and trade numbers and stuff. This is obviously a hot babe. WHAT IS MISSING IN THIS PICTURE

The little blue chicken near his feet stands beside him and clucks. Lance looks down at it with confusion, and it just stares back up at him. ]

Yeah, good t'meet you too. Where are we?

[esper_magic]

[ Oh god, this is something she's supposed to know? It's Common Knowledge(tm)? She fidgets a little uneasily - she didn't like admitting she had no memories - what if EVERYONE knew about Voltron and she was doomed to forever be clueless? ]

I... um, n-no.. I'm sorry... [ She glances away, nervously touching her arm. OH THE SHAME. ]

I.. I don't know either, actually. I've only been here about... a month? but this isn't any place I know. I just woke up here one day.

[ The Storyteller did try to clear up some things but to be honest? Way over her head. ]

apeshit

[imnodding]

[ So this is the worst, which is something Hunk has probably said at some point during their whole... excursion. Quest. And honestly, this monkey empire thing is so much more up Pidge's alley than his, if for no other reason than Hunk packing the Big Slow Gun that might hit some monkeys if they sit still, yeah, but it could also just completely wreck some of their most vital support trees.

Plus yeah, the bayards are like super on the fritz right now for some reason. Sunspots? Magnetic frequencies? Who knows?

When Lance pulls himself back into what Hunk is affectionately dubbing "the safety zone," Hunk is in the vicinity already. Lance is an action guy and he gets a lot of action ideas, and it's good to let him just test it out, get it out of his system. Lance is a smart guy in his own way! Sometimes he comes up with solutions nobody else would! There's. There's not a lot of options to uncover here, though, he guesses. Yep, Hunk is here in cover doing what he does best: panicking slightly, thinking in overtime, and getting a little salty about the whole affair. ]

You know, I could maybe give these dudes a pass on trying to kill us. I mean, it wouldn't be easy, but I could do it. We show up on their island, they don't like trespassers, we've got whole fleets of Galra ships trying to kill us half the time anyway. I get it!

[ He keeps right on fiddling with his bayard for a moment, but it is really not having any business now. ]

But when you waste that many perfectly good coconuts on attempted murder, people are gonna start drawing a line! And as much as I hate to say it-- I'm that people. That people? It's me. And Lance, I think we're gonna have to cut our losses and build our own coconut cannon for the greater good of ending this senseless coconut slaughter!

[ Maybe Hunk is panicking slightly more than just slightly. He's doing his best to channel it, also this is so many words, my bad. ]

OH MY GOD????

[intomermaids]

[ Hunk's talking again, but it's really more like...giving a small, anxiety driven speech. Everything he's saying is right on the money, though-- they did just kinda magically plop out of the sky onto this island. Woke up here like they were getting out of their own beds. The beach reminds Lance of home, in a way-- lots of water, and sun. Some of the nearby huts, though fashioned in a weird way, reminded him of some of the fishing huts that he and his brothers made back on Earth.

He shakes his head. None of that changes the fact that there's a Monkey with a Gun and he's reloading that weapon pretty quick. ]

No time for a canon, big guy! [ the rifle phases back to a bayard, and IT IS SHAKEN FURIOUSLY. COME ON. COME ON BAYARD--

As he shakes the priceless key, trying to get it to reform to his gun, it is shot out of his hand-- by a coconut. The coconut and the bayard fly a few feet away, and Lance growls bitterly!! How dare!! How dare!! ]

We gotta get up there and make him stop firing!! Any ideas?! [ he holds his hand close to his chest. Not broken, but dang that smarts. This monkey is going to see a world of pain if Lance gets his hands on them.

Another few coconuts fly between them. >:C dumb, stupid monkey. ]

the artists formerly known as the legs of voltron pvp a primate

[imnodding]

[ Hunk's sense of coconut justice is disrupted by Lance taking a coconut to the hand. He picks one up for a few seconds like he's thinking of lobbing it back the other way, for vengeance (because you always avenge your friends on the battlefield, duh), but that... that would just give the monkey back a coconut to shoot at them. It's a dilemma.

War really is hell. ]

Uhh-- okay. Okay.

[ He mutters "okay" like five more times and starts fiddling with his bayard again instead. Which is a more fancy-sounding engineer way to say he starts hitting it, which frankly fixes a lot of things in the mechanical world. ]

Stop the coconuts, stop the monkey, get the bayard. No pressure, just the difference between us getting to find our lions and us getting taken out like old-timey cartoon characters. [ Smack. ] Okay. If I get my bayard back online I can lay down some cover fire. Maybe, maybe try to get a branch out from under him? I could make a distraction? But we're pretty much guaranteed to lose coverage from trees two through seven once I start firing, and that's a big hit to the safety zone! It's a little now-or-never.

[ WHY CAN'T THIS SPECIES JUST BAKE COCONUT CREME PIES AND CONVERSE LIKE CIVILIZED FOLK. ]

motherclucker

[impurifies]

[ Yuri's been here for a while - she's not quite brave enough to just scoop up a bird and besides, she doesn't have anything on her she could use it to prep for cooking. It's eggs or nothing but even that's been proving difficult. She can't even get near a nest without one of the parents squawking and flapping at her and she's like to not have her eyes pecked out quite this soon into her stay here.

She's trying to ingratiate herself to the flock a bit, in hopes it might make them less likely to peck, when he grabs at one of the birds. Which, of course, means that all Yuri's careful work goes up in smoke. Oh well. ]

No, wait, come back...!

[ Aaaand there go the birds. Oh well. ]

Ah... it was going so well, too...