TEST DRIVE MEME ( 005 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #5

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 November 17th and that Applications will open on November 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.

All That Glitters
The caves deep beneath the island's surface are not dimly lit; in fact, they practically sparkle with a strange, unearthly greenish light. Blame it on the crystalline growths that protrude plentifully from every nook and cranny, stalactites and stalagmites alike.

Their glow might be soothing to some, and viscerally terrifying to others, but one thing remains absolutely certain: based on the creaking, groaning noises of shifting rock and the high-pitched tinkle of breaking shards of crystal...

You aren't alone down here. The deeper in you venture, the more the thicker clusters of the things begin to move. And eventually, it will become plain to you that it isn't the crystal at all that's moving, but rather the thing inside of it - something vaguely humanoid shaped, bipedal, with arms and legs and the dull, pale glimmers in the region of what might almost pass for a face.

Formed entirely from crystal.

Upon spotting a living creature, each of them will begin to lurch closer and closer, arms outstretched. Every one is slow and cumbersome and even fragile enough to be smashed, if you dare venture close enough. But once they've trapped you, there is no escaping whatever fate they have in store for you.

And rest assured, it is not a pleasant one.

[The above prompt is a version of our Crystal Clear event from October! Feel free to give the event write-up a read for more information.]

It's High Tide
When you initially wake on the beaches of this strange island with its bleeding, dreamlike edges, you might notice that something seems deeply amiss...something like the fact that you're lying in a whole mess of seawater. Assuming you're not thoroughly soaked already, you'd better figure out a way to get to high ground, because the water level is rising very rapidly. Pretty soon, there might not be anywhere safe to go besides the trees, and even those might not be safe the longer this goes on.

Fortunately for you, if you can find them quickly enough, the island of Mu has helpfully provided some assistance for those who don't feel like doggy-paddling for the duration of the dream. Better hurry and hang onto them before you drown! Unless you'd rather doggy-paddle the whole way out, that is. In which case, we're sure the water feels great.

A Crappy Endeavor
In your travels on this strange new land, you might start to notice something following you. Something...oddly shaped, like a lot of dirt and clay that's consolidated into one great awkward moving lump of a creature. What lies beneath is far more like the common beetle...just much, much larger. And unfortunately for everyone involved, they have a very specific appetite:

Your poop.

Mu has produced a very close approximation of the creatures known as f'rshaymes, animals that go beyond merely being useful for disposing of all that nasty waste. Doiing so comes with significant benefits, as the combined process of mud and excrement as it goes through a F'rshayme's digestive system leaves behind pure clay for the...brave.

Often found in small herds of six to eight individuals, f'rshaymes are extremely docile and would be very easy to turn into a herd of your very own. How nice!

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[unpurify]

[Yeah, no he's pulling away. Sorry Zacharie. Also not addressing his first comment. The Batter knows the merchant had a tendency to sound sinister or cryptic when it suited him. It was the same as last time.

"Bis Vincit, Qui Se Vincit In Vitoria." He hasn't forgotten.]

Is it still flooded?

[Because he's not touching it with a ten-foot pole if it is. Can't swim, remember?]

[creditless]

Not anymore, I think...

[ He'll press onward regardless, assuming the Batter will follow at his own pace. If he doesn't... he'll just turn tail and walk back towards him and insist a walk is more interesting than the crystals. ]

I just want to see it, you know? Hard to appreciate when soggy. I still can't believe I can see the world without a pixel in sight. [ Where everything is segmented into pretty little squares to make up something big. It's just-- there. All of it. As far as your eyes could see. It gave him a headache and filled him with joy. ]

You haven't made friends, probably... but have you met people who interest you? Good or bad.

[unpurify]

[He'll follow, since things seem dead-set on ending up at the beach. Hopefully it still isn't flooded.

The Batter doesn't quite have the same...view point that Zacharie does. As far as he was concerned this was a shift in location, from nothing to something rather then from a video game to reality. The eye-searing colors and the different shapes and sizes of those who inhabit this place were completely new and something he could half-agree on.

It gave him a headache.]

Everyone here is unique.

[Which can translate to good and bad, if Zacharie wants it to. And given that the unique people in their world could be counted on two hands, that's probably saying something.]

[covertizer]

[ What have you got against his shaft raft, nice lady with a large rod?

But, fair. He's not an overweight guy, but it's still unfair to expect one person to reel him in, literally, against the pull of a current. Akira winds the line around his hand, avoiding the bite of the hook, and nods. ]

No problem. When I'm close, just stick out the trident and I'll do the rest.

[ And hopefully Luna's got a firm grasp, because he's reeling himself in with surprising speed once he gets into the rhythm of it. It won't be long until he's close enough to make the leap to the cliff edge. ]

[creditless]

[ Did Batter even know what a video game was? That was his simple reality. To be reborn and pass again through the same place, was that just the world. That meant he had a lot to teach him, young Թɑժɑաɑղ-- oh no, there goes the filter. Thank goodness this is only the test drive, and he's allowed to slip up with the fourth wall. At least, inside his thoughts. ]

I bet that must be overwhelming. Everyone has a history from a world so different from yours or mine. It's enough to drive someone insane. I, on the other hand, welcome it entirely! I just love a good story.

I wonder if they're all [ HE SUDDENLY COUGHS ] from different places? Then we'd have a lot to learn, amigo. Real people... who might've played our game. Who might've been your god.

[ Okay, lesson two is don't press the filter from this point forward. ]

[unpurify]

[He's used a controller before for a puzzle in Zone 3, but that was the extent of it. The idea of a game wasn't so far-fetched but it was hard to put two and two together regarding his world and a video game.

Again, there's a lot of things to be said to that and the Batter wasn't going to touch it with a ten-foot pole. Don't think about it.]

They would have said something.

[They would have. The Batter's appearance - at least according to everyone he's spoken to thus far - was striking and out of everyone, if the Puppeteer was physically here, they would have recognized him and reattached the strings.

What point would there be in interacting with him otherwise?]

[creditless]

[ Zacharie thinks of Sucre bleeding and almost says the cruelest thing he can: Would they really? Knowing how they were deceived in the end, forced to kill a "mother" and child.

But he doesn't, because he doesn't care that much. He just knows it could hit Batter in the chest so hard he might emote, but it would definitely get them off on the wrong start. Revenge is best served sweet. If he can pull the extra string still in his hands and make the Batter feel, against his kicking and screaming will, that's the best payback he could deliver for everything. ]

Ah, yeah. I suppose.

You said everyone was unique. Who is the unique-est?

[unpurify]

[They both could be cruel to each other. It's something he doesn't bother with - or at least intentionally bother with - but words could hurt more then a baseball bat or a blade. It just took longer.

But there's no point. The Batter isn't a mind reader and Zacharie is Zacharie. What happens will happen, one way or another.]

I don't know.

[Everyone is unique but he hasn't been paying attention any farther then that. Zacharie certainly was one of those but the Batter knew him so (most) of his strangeness wasn't a surprise.]

[passingsmile]

Is that so? Then I am glad you are here so you can experience this, even if you can't explain. [If he's enjoying life then the hows and the whys are fine being left to the side for now.

Provided he has no objections, Setsuna gathers her cloak and sits down nearby on the cold cave floor.]

If it helps, this is all very new to me as well. If I had any advice or information I would be happy to share. [It probably doesn't help. But the willingness to help might mean a little something at the very least.]

you allowed this

[voicebreaking]

[ They're so deep, deep down in the earth that Caelina would think it'd be dark. But no matter where she goes, there's that eerie green light and she doesn't... trust it. It's sickly and unnatural even if it's coming right from the stone itself and the crunching and moaning coming from the deeper parts of the caves aren't helping matters either. All she wants is to get out of here. The hard part is just finding which direction 'out' is.

She doesn't have a weapon on her and her nerves are at their breaking point. So, after what seems like an age of creeping around listening to the cave groan around her, when Caelina turns a sharp twist in the passage and she sees something hunched against the wall, she doesn't register immediately that it's a person. All her fight or flight instincts kick into overdrive and she doesn't even think before she lashes out.

Fortunately, instead of hard, infectious crystal, Caelina's fist sinks into something soft, more pliant.

Unfortunately, the soft, pliant thing is Akira's stomach. ]

Oh--

[ It takes her brain a second to catch up but then all of a sudden, she's spluttering and bright red and what in the world did I just do-- ]

Oh my goodness, I'm so-- I can't-- oh, my lord I'm so sorry, I didn't-- are you quite alright I didn't mean to--

[ AS FIRST IMPRESSIONS GO, SURELY SHE'S SWEEPING THIS BOY OFF HIS FEET ]

[creditless]

You're lying. You are perceptive by nature. Strings might guide you, but not your words. The way you speak to people and understand them is immutable.

[ That was going to be the first step in Plan: B.A.T.T.E.R. (build a thoughtful, thinking, endogenous... reaper. He wasn't good at abbreviations, okay? Reaper worked just fine. ]

So tell me, who have you been taking interest in? Not as though you take interest in them as in you care about them, but who makes you turn your head and feel curious? There must be someone.

[creditless]

Thank you for your courtesy! I would have to draw up a map, tell an extraordinary long tale, have you pity me and my friends, and then ultimately be confused by some of the terms I use. It would be a disaster, amiga! So a spirit tasting and seeing and smelling and feeling things for the first time is the best thing to say.

[ She can sit next to him! He promises, he's not a master of Purification. He doesn't bat to death anything that moves. ]

It's okay! Very simply: we will learn together. There's nothing wrong with being new at anything, no matter what it is. Including a kidnapping.

[unpurify]

[Zacharie isn't wrong with reaper anyways, considering...

The Batter doesn't answer for a good while. A full, honest answer would be everyone he's met so far but that was due to the fact that none of them were Elsen. All unique in their own ways.

But there is someone in particular he can bring up. He's sure Zacharie will appreciate the irony of who exactly it is.]

A child. I don't know their name. But they are strong.

[Strong in their power and convictions. Strong enough to put him out of his misery, to give him a second option rather then dying from parasitic crystals or by his own hand.]

i did....

[covertizer]

[ In full credit to his pride, Akira does hear someone coming down the passage before their fist meets his gut with all the force of a terrified girl in a deep cave full of infectious rock monsters.

He has just about enough time to brace himself, so when she punches him he doesn't smack back into the uneven wall like a sack of sad potatoes. He does, however, fold over with a choked wheezing sound like a deflating cat, hand clutching at his stomach like it's going to help rush all the air back into his body.

... He's aware of the frantic --- apologies? Is that an apology?? He doesn't actually know what she's saying, only that it sounds panicky.

So he raises a hand, confidently, calling for silence despite his hunched over sad man poise right now. What wisdom will he impart?]

... Ow.

[ Yes. Ow. ]

[creditless]

A child?

[ Zacharie sounds incredulous but he doesn't look it underneath the mask. Given their everything with Hugo and all. ]

If It's by how you define strength, I am absolutely terrified! Or do you mean strong in a metaphorical sense?

[ Either way, he made a friend he presumably hasn't killed? Maybe he has killed. Maybe resets were still in play. Either way, he would love to encourage that friendship. Or... enemies, if all reasonable possibilities are to be considered. ]

What do you feel should be done about the child?

[unpurify]

Both.

[So very strong. Then again he doesn't know much about said child, not even their name, so what they're like when they inevitably hit a wall is probably another story.

And this time it was the other way around: they killed him. Perhaps that was just karma at work. But at Zacharie's next question he just shrugs.]

I don't know.

[This child didn't spell any sort of end. Nothing would happen if the Batter killed them. They would revive like any other in this place, just like him or Zacharie would. So...

He's got nothing.]

ai blank | original character

[lacksfeeling]

it's high noon tide.

[ Okay, wow. Ai's never had a dream like this before. Then again, she doesn't usually remember her dreams, and the ones that she does end up recalling tend to be things that are a little more boring and dull on the scale, something that she's almost questioning when she sees— ]

...That looks like a dick with a face. [ Yes, she's speaking those words out loud. And yes, she's going to be looking at the nearest person and asking: ] Do you think that since this showed up in my dreams that I'm somehow "adickted"?

[ Horrible. She is literally the worst. ]

a crappy endeavor. (literally!)

[ ... ]

I don't mind giving them shit if they really want to eat it, [ It's probably strange that a cute teenage girl like her is speaking those words without a hint of shame at all in her face or even the slightest bit of emotion settling there ] but you probably should look away if you do. Unless you really want to watch. I won't judge you.

[ But you probably should actually stop her before she starts pulling down her skirt. "Probably" being the key word here. There's also the option to do the exact opposite, of course. ]

( OOC: Basics you need to know: Ai is a young teenage girl from a modern day city that is suffering a condition that causes her to have issues feeling emotions, but she pretends to have them. Those with empathy abilities are free to notice this! Her world also deals with 'soulmates', in a way, because of her condition, too. Also if you want to wildcard it up, I'm pretty open to that, too, just hit me up. )

[creditless]

Ah! Confliction of the heart. Promising indeed. You have no idea how lucky you are to land here, my dear Batteur! 'I don't know' means something other than black and white. You're conflicted. You don't have a certain reason or someone to choose for you.

Choice is marvelous. I think you should get used to it, comfortably.

[ Is this just antagonizing the Batter instead of reassuring him? Possibly. Because the only reasonable feeling for the Batter to start out with is one all living beings start out with-- Fear. ]

[passingsmile]

[Okay she has to laugh a little there.] I feel you might have already lost me! But the bottom line is you're getting to do all these things for the first time. So I'm very happy for you, sir.

[Thank goodness, she would rather not be bat to death. She's saving the dying for when she's home thank you. Getting comfortable, Setsuna removes the large circular weapon from her hair ornament and sets it down. It's not fun having that weighing you down constantly okay.]

Learning together certainly makes this all seem a little easier to handle. Though if us being here is truly a result of a kidnapping... Then I believe our friends might arrive shortly. [Kidnappings happen, she's been there before. She gives a knowing nod and a smile at that.]

[unpurify]

[It's not helpful at any rate. And he has been making choices Zacharie. If someone asks him to do something, he does it if it's needed. There you go.

Seemingly ignoring Zacharie, the Batter keeps walking until they get to the beach. Good, it's not flooded anymore! Just very very wet. He's going to have to dry out his shoes again. That is, if this just doesn't turn out to be a dream again. For something that never dreamed until he arrived here, the Batter was finding the lines were starting to blur a little for him.

Concerning but not worth thinking about for too long.]

This is it.

[Have fun buddy.]

1/2

[creditless]

It's nice.

[ ...

...

...

...

... ]

For a video ga--

[creditless]

Kidding! Absolutely kidding. I don't think I'm built for a world more real than this. I feel like if I tried, all of my-- atoms, is it now? -- would float apart with nothing to keep them sticking together. This is the real world.

This is where the person that made us lives. Somewhere like this.

It's nice.

...

Batter, you must think it is a little beautiful.

[creditless]

[ She is very beautiful. In all honesty, she's the most beautiful woman Zacharie has ever seen, but he'd only ever met two. Still, her garments, her weapon, all of her-- is keenly beautiful because she's the first he's seen in high definition.

He's not going to do anything about it beyond mentioning it, mind you. He's just noticing it like you would a four leaf clover, he's not exactly equipped for flirting. And although this is mostly a caricature, he's not handsome. ]

Given my existence was very minimal before I came here, you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I don't mean it in a skeeving way or any kind of come hither way, though, how rude-- it's just so new to me that I feel like i have to say it.

How do I explain... oh! We are three dimensional now? I used to be less.

[unpurify]

[He's going to ask for a wiffle bat and smack you with it every time you break the 4th wall Zacharie.]

I don't care.

[And did you really expect anything else from him? Because he'd be kidding himself if it was otherwise. It doesn't matter if somewhere looks nice. If it comes down to it, the Batter would purify it all the same.]

[passingsmile]

[Zacharie is plenty handsome! In an "all life is beautiful and precious" kind of way. And honestly any person with a heart on their shirt must have plenty of inner beauty. Or at least that's what she thinks from looking at him. What a kind and loving person you are Zacharie.

That said, Setsuna is not at all used to this kind of talk and visibly seems a little surprised as she fumbles with her words.]

Is... Is that right? That's very flattering, thank you... I-I'm sure you will come across many other beautiful people that you can admire? [It's not as certain sounding as she wanted- But oh, lets move on!] Ah, what do you mean by three dimensional?