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!

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[lapapesse]

I...

[Wait a minute.]

Akechi-kun?

[Holy shit.]

Is-

I mean, how are you here? [Definitely holy shit.] This has to be a dream.

[thermalwind]

About three of them. They’re probably looking for anyone that passed by. Or they just might be wandering.

[He pulls his knife from the sheathe at his back and flips it in his hand. He’d have to move out from the alcove along the wall or expose their hiding place.]

I can’t make any sense of their lumbering around.

hot hot december spoilers in here

[raygunner]

I'd wager a guess that this is, indeed, a dream.

[ He sounds so pleasant, but... there's an edge to his voice. ]

But I assure you, I'm very much alive. It seems our friend the Storyteller decided to bring me back from the dead. It's a miracle, isn't it?

[thermalwind]

[Suddenly the bad word he heard in the name doesn’t matter anymore. He climbs to his feet and stores his knife. Even before he wouldn’t have risked something like that with as little equipment as he has.

His hand scanner is on the fritz.]

What are the other dangerous threats? Tell me about each one.

[anesaiyan]

What? [ She gives this girl a once-over. Caulifla doesn't sense a lot of power from her, but she guesses those gloves must make up for it. ]

Well you can have those ones. [ She gestures at, like, a group of two that had been knocked away during the explosion. ] The rest are mine.

[justthehardway]

More like you can have that one- [She pointed at one off to the side that had one arm.] -and I'll get the rest.

[thermalwind]

Do you have a problem with me? [His eyes narrow as his temper sparks. It’s been a while since that was struck quite the same way as it used to be.]

The beach is step one. We take the next step from there because I haven’t scouted any further than that. [He has no idea what set this guy off but if he knew that train of thought. The spark would turn to a firestorm. He has always been alone until Shiro gave him even a shred of a chance.]

We’re losing time.

[anesaiyan]

[ Yeah, no. Caulifa grabs Vi by the collar or whatever passes for one and pulls her down to her height. Caulifla is very strong. ]

You trying to pick a fight with me!?

Re: A Crappy Endeavour

[mammal_robot]

"Duly noted. I'll make a point to wash these clothes when I'm done here." Just because you couldn't smell things was no excuse to go stinking up the camp. "Maybe not exactly reversing, but it's definitely taking waste compounds and turning it into something simpler. I can't think of many things like it in nature."

He poked at the clay and muttered "Maybe it works like spiders turning food into silk. What would the point be, though?"

High Tide

[actionmycology]

Okay, so waking up on a beach you didn't fall asleep in? Not a great feeling. And the realization that the tide is only rising? Even worse.

Fortunately for Elizabeth Foley, Action Scientist, she manages to get a hold of one of those inflatable phallic duck rafts and has been safely floating ever since.

Once the initial excitement is over, it's.... kind of boring, actually. There's not a lot to look at, and as the water gets deeper and deeper the scenery gets more and more sparse. Not much to do but look in the depths below, and watch as fish begin to swim across what was formerly dry land. It's kind of a bizarre sight, honestly, and...

Hold on. Is that Robo down there?

"Holy shit. ROBO! UP HERE!"

And now she's just gonna... splash her feet in the water around her, trying to draw the attention of the submerged robot 20 feet below her.

[mammal_robot]

Robo looked up when he heard someone thrashing around and hey look it was mushroom girl up there!

She appeared to be trying to attract his attention, but he couldn't hear what she was saying through 20 feet of water. He waved back to signal that she had his attention now, but followed it up with a shrug because now what?

[ungrieved]

Why would you think that?

[Immediately, his eyebrows lift, his expression morphing into one of absolute innocence. Why would he have a problem with anyone, anyone at all, who can boast the right to a normal life free of the ghosting pain that wracked his wretched, formless existence long past his expiration date?]

[But, fine. Despite that smoldering resentment, he's not terribly eager to throw away the life he's been unexpectedly blessed with. Not now.]

Then let's take step one.

[esper_magic]

[ And here Terra has no idea there was a bad word in it! ]

Well... there's the tiger sharks.. in the ocean. You've probably seen those already..? And.. the centipuppies, and lungblossoms..

The centipuppies are like.. large furry bugs? Doglike bugs. The lungblossoms are ...well, plants, but they still can attack you if they're threatened. [ Fire fungus. Yikes. She luckily has managed to avoid getting targeted by the hallucinogenic gas though. ]

[justthehardway]

[Whups down we go. Vi was pretty tall, but definitely lost to Caulifla in pure physical strength. She was difficult to pick a fight with, though.]

You'd know if I was trying to pick a fight with you, on account of you'd need help picking up all your teeth.

oh there's a hot sack of something in here

[lapapesse]

... The Storyteller?

[Okay, now she figures this whole thing is fishy. There has to be something up.]

Where are we? [Maybe it's putting a little too much faith that he'll answer her honestly, but... oh whatever. A shot it is.]

[raygunner]

Oh, so you weren't visited by him before this. Interesting.

[ he knows something you don't know, ha ha haha ha ]

An island. [ wow thanks! ] Strangely enough, it's a different island than the one I've been on for a while now.

[anesaiyan]

What!? [ NO YOU DIDN'T.

Caulifla's response is predictable. She's already got a grip on Vi, so she just. Tosses her. Several dozen feet, into a group of those crystal monsters. ]

[justthehardway]

[Vi took a moment, as she flew through the air, to not reflect on any of her life choices up to this point. She hadn't gotten where she was today by second guessing herself. It wasn't like she hadn't known this crazy chick wasn't crazy strong already. She just wasn't the type to curb her tongue for anyone.

She reoriented herself as best she could and turned the headlong tumble into a rocket assisted elbow drop and took out three of the monsters, then sprang back to her feet. She hurt like HELL, but at this point she'd rather die then let her new opponent see it.]

Thanks for the assist, short stuff! Maybe if you can break more than I can right here, I'll admit you're pretty tough!

[Look.

She had a certain streak of madcap brilliance, but no one had EVER accused Vi of having good judgement.]

[shineinside]

"Hmm..." Biology wasn't exactly her strong suit, but it was still an interesting question. "What if it's just that? Spider silk, I mean. Spiders weave webs, so maybe they can use the clay to make something else."

[mammal_robot]

"Could be could be. If that were the case, they'd probably have a nest somewhere. It'd be a sensible way to protect their eggs."

[thermalwind]

[Keith falls silent, but his guard is up. He picks his way along and points out dangerous spots to avoid without a word. When they reach the beach he unsheathes his blade. Purple light suffuses the metal and it transforms into a kukuri-styled sword. The blade gently curves to the point at the end. He puts both his arms through the straps of his pack and pulls his hood over his face.]

Check your pack for a weapon. We don’t know what’s out there.

[He moves towards the edge of the beach but moves slow enough that he doesn’t lose him.]

[shineinside]

[ Yuka glances at Keith as he flips the knife. He looks like he's about the same age as her, but at the same time he seems much more used to extreme situations like this. She files that under things to ask about once the immediate peril is over. ]

If it comes down to it, I think I can handle three of them. I'd feel a little better if we could get past them without a fight, though.

[actionmycology]

Right. Of course he can't hear her - but at least he's aware of her existence now. They can sort of try and coordinate something this way, she hopes.

God damn it. She really should have designed some sort of emergency floatation device when she helped rebuild his body. When you think about how his life goes, it's really only a matter of time before he gets himself dropped in the mariana trench somehow.

"Okay, so uh." She thinks out loud, before gesturing northward, to a sturdy-looking tree she can see sticking out of the water. Mmmmmaybe it'll hold his weight? There's only one way to find out.

"THAT WAY. GO THAT WAY."

[lapapesse]

[And slowly, very slowly, her look pulls into a frown. She'd wanted to believe that there was something in Akechi worth saving, when they'd made their plea to him. Right there at the end, when he'd done what he had done, that had seemed genuine. But there's something in his tone that makes her on edge.]

Yes, I could tell it's an island. What I want to know is which island. [The very slightest strain in her voice in turn. It's that edge of anger Makoto keeps. They're not that different in that regard.] Or to be most precise, where in the world are we - this whole thing just feels like some kind of a dream. Is it a part of the Cognitive World?

[anesaiyan]

Is that what you want to do!? Fine!

HRRRAAH!!! [ That's the tradition power-up shout, complete with most of the monsters and possibly Vi getting knocked back just by the power radiating off of her.

Also, Caulifla is now blond, with green eyes, and has a huge golden aura around her.

Don't blink or you'll miss her rushing into the biggest group of monsters she can find. ]