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

[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.

[thermalwind]

I know that! Help me find the other one. I saw it drop somewhere over-

[His foot snags on something hidden in the grass and he's too far from the tree to use it to save himself. Keith goes down too quickly to stop his fall. Pain flashes across his face and for one moment he imagines the whole world on fire.

He puts both hands on the ground and pushes himself up to peer at what he'd tripped over. Lying in the grass, now flipped barrel up, is the missing second gun. It's intact and in fairly good shape. He peers up at Lance with narrowed eyes and hisses low, his voice promising violence if he's disobeyed.]

Not one word.

[intomermaids]

[ ....oh hell no. Keith? Tripping? Not one word? Lance follows him over and laughs at him openly. ]

Aha...ah. Thanks, man. I needed that. "Comic Relief Keith." Kinda got a good ring to it, y'know?

[ he extends a hand out to help Keith up. No, no, Lance, don't worry. Karma isn't an actual thing. ]

[thermalwind]

[His narrowed eyes follow Lance like a bird of prey sighting their target. It’s for no reason what so ever that he shifts so his feet are back under him when he grabs for Lance’s hand. He yanks hard. Welcome to the floor bar. He comes back up to a standing position and retrieves the gun.

Keith flips it in his hand, offering it handle first. What was that about karma again?]

Just make sure not to let Hunk know you’re using Coconuts as ammo. He’d never let us hear the end of it.

[intomermaids]

[ Lance definitely is thrown face first into the dirt, and he actually stays put for a second. He did not. The rage from Lance's red face could probably heat the ground beneath him, if he didn't push himself up and sit up toward Keith--

...who is handing him the gun. Lance scowls!! What is this!! This pity gun!! This horrible, coconut filled, 'got-my-ass-dragged-into-the-dirt' pity gun!!! ]

Keith!! [ he dusts off his shirt and stands up, using the crook of his elbow to clear his face of all dirt and mud. What a not happy child. He takes the gun quickly, giving it an angry look over. Stupid Keith. Stupid Keith and his stupid ninja fast reflexes. ]

I am so not gonna forget this. [ he mad. His look softens just a bit when Keith talks about hunk, and it makes the blue paladin feel for the grooves that make the weapon...work. It's brutally prehistoric. A coconut is picked up and placed into the main chamber, and Lance cocks the weapon to ready the weapon. ]

There's enough coconuts that the big guy could make a coconut pie and we'd still be able to take out a Galra ship! And coconuts regrow! [ his own words sink in a bit. This is pretty smart. ]

[thermalwind]

They're also heavy. If they strike a target they'll slow down. [He had radiated smug satisfaction while Lance had been on the ground. Now he's back to business, scanning the trees and motioning for Lance to follow him into the bushes. They can make fun of each other and crack wise after they catch their bearings.]

You could just punch someone with your bayard if they get close. [He ghosts forward, light on his feet as he leads the way. The forest is starting to thin and he moves into the deeper shadows. It's a brisk pace but Keith frequently pauses to take in their surroundings and mentally map out what they've seen so far.]

...I came from this way. There's a beach ahead of us.