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

[ungrieved]

[A weapon. Why? So Gabe can shove it in Keith's back? That must be what he's expecting. That's what anyone with any rational sense would expect from him. He's a menace. He is.]

[He considers telling Keith no, go suck it, just to be petulant, but he'd probably feel better knowing he could shank the dude and run if he so chose. It's all about who can control who, and he'd really prefer to not be the only one of the two of them who doesn't have a means to killing the other. So he yanks the flap of his pack open and starts rooting around in the contents, eventually coming up with a brown, hairy fruit.]

[Gabe's keeping up well enough, but he's also heavily considering the merits of lobbing the coconut at Keith's head.]

Think this counts as a weapon?

[mammal_robot]

"WHAT?"

Of course, she couldn't hear him either. She was pointing, though. Robo turned and trudged along the way she was pointing, reflecting that some kind of built in flotation device might be a worthwhile upgrade.

Eventually he saw a tree that wasn't entirely submerged and looked pretty sturdy. He tested his weight on it a bit, then started climbing. The tree groaned a bit under the weight, but he did eventually surface.

Head above water, Robo waited for Foley to paddle over.

[covertizer]

If we were kidnapped, I missed it happening.

[ And that just feels like a blow to his pride, if there'd been a mass kidnapping of his team and he hadn't even noticed it happening.

He flops back again, bonelessly onto the flat part of the flotation device.]

No app, no Metaverse. If we were in the Metaverse, then we'd be able to access the app to get out again.

[ So he's just assuming they're not in the Metaverse, somehow. Until proven otherwise. ]

I don't think it matters if we're a threat or not.

[covertizer]

As much as I can be.

[ Although he's still not pulling out weapon! How about that. Instead, he's looking around to find a way past them, if possible, for the moment... ]

[covertizer]

Slow, but you couldn't outrun them?

[ He's subconsciously leaning forward to get a look at the dust on his shoulder, and please. The roll gets Akechi a slow look from shoulder to face and back again.

Hmm. ]

Well, if you came from that direction, I'm going in [ he points in the complete opposite direction ] that one.

[thermalwind]

If you're desperate. It serves better as a day of water and food. [He pulls his own pack off his shoulder, keeping his weapon free to swing if necessary. Salt, oats, knife, toothbrush. He draws the small blade and checks its edge.

Keith nods to himself and flips it, offering it hilt first. Good. If they have to go different ways then he will have at least armed him for his own safety.]

Here, take it. If we get separated you'll have a way to fend off any animals or whatever is here. I'll show you later how to get the coconut open without spilling the water.

[ungrieved]

[He's just...giving it to him?]

[He doesn't even know him. He could be wicked. He could be cruel. He might sink it into Keith's back just because he can. He might try to hilt the blade in the flesh of the only person trying to help him, because he's just that terrible. He could do any number of things. How could someone be so stupid?]

[Gabe, on the other hand, isn't stupid enough to deny that gift. He drops the coconut back into his pack at once and seizes the blade instantly, his attention fixed wholly on the blade and the way it catches the light, glinting in the dreamlike haze of sun.]

You know a lot about surviving on desert islands, huh?

[thermalwind]

How do they attack? [He'll focus on the rest when he learns more intel. He nods once, yes he's seen the sharks. He'd planned to go after one before nightfall. He doesn't have rations on him.]

[thermalwind]

[He points at the ledge that leads away from the alcove. A series of ledges and paths form a walkway to a tunnel through the upper part of the cavern.]

If you can move quietly we can take that route. It puts us up over them. I've checked it out. Next step is a little tricker.

[shineinside]

"Are you a scientist? I can't imagine most people would see something like this and start wondering about the biology behind it right away."

[shineinside]

If you see a chance to get through, take it!

[ And she's off again, this time straight towards the enemy.

Yuka puts all the momentum of her charge into a punch, and the monster staggers, but doesn't go down. A few more rapid-fire blows and it's cracking, but these things are sturdier than she expected.

She isn't loving her odds in an extended fight, but hopefully she can at least draw their attention long enough for Akira to get by... ]

[thermalwind]

[He takes a step back as his companion stares at the blade. Keith keeps his eyes on him, watching for any tell-tale signs of an attack. He hasn't forgotten the strange behavior before, but his conscience won't let him leave him defenseless.

The question is which does he operate as Voltron or? His blade returns to a knife and he silently revises his plans of defense.]

Required part of training. Had to be able to get intel back safely.

[shineinside]

[ Looks like it'd be a tricky climb for an ordinary person... good thing we got us a couple of coolkids here. ]

What's the next step?

[ungrieved]

Intel.

[He snickers at that one. Sounds like a kid playing pretend with dart guns. He's gotta be, right? He can't be any older than Gabe himself appears to be. What kind of kid gets hired to some kind of special operation? Bullshit.]

That's priceless.

[covertizer]

[ He's on it.

It's a case of dodging slow, but heavy and weighted swipes from the other monsters, keeping them occupied until he can find that gap and go for it. The way he moves is practised, and quick - ducking and weaving behind outcrops of crystal and moving when the monsters swing for them, sending shards and splinters of crystal everywhere.

If Yuka can just unbalance that one she's wailing on, he might have something. Might. ]

[esper_magic]

I've never actually seen a centipuppy, I've only heard of them, but the lungblossoms have a kind of gas as one of its defenses - and they've also been known to spit out a kind of spikey spore, and a fiery fungus that it shoots in terms of long range attacks.

[shineinside]

[ The Reflectors are all well above the average human in a fight, but Yuka was, unfortunately, physically the weakest fighter in the group. If Kyouko was here, she could probably do this in one hit. Heck, if Kyouko were here, they'd probably already have punched their way back up to the surface.

But Kyouko isn't here, so there's no point in thinking about it like that, is there?

After taking a moment to regain her footing, Yuka jumps backwards, plants her feet against the wall, and launches herself straight at the thing with all her strength, like something between a tackle and a battering ram. The monster reels from the impact, this time falling on its back with a crash. ]

[covertizer]

[ There.

As soon as the monster reels backwards, Akira shoots towards it, using the now-slope of it's body as a ramp to run up until he hits the head of the monster. Once he's there, he uses the head as a board to leap into the air from. There's a flash of burning blue fire and dark chains wrapping around his body and the figure that towers up behind him: tall and elegant, yet eerie and dark, wreathed in fire and wings and pointed slash of a smile.

Not unlike the one on Akira's face right now. ]

Arsene!

[ There's a swoop as the figure behind him bears down on the monsters around them, arm slashing out - it's a heavy blow, not enough to crack or really damage the monsters, but enough to push them back and open up the area more.

In the middle of all this, Akira lands on the ground in a cat like crouch, and gestures to Yuka with a sharp motion. ]

Move! While they're distracted!

[yourattention]

If my sister could hear you, she'd check to see if you hit your head. I'm a psychopath, actually.

[Despite the phrasing, he's talking with a casual indifference. Like he's been called various shades of psycho for so long it's just a plain fact, no different than the weather.]

Didn't your mother teach you not to talk to strangers?

[ungrieved]

[He starts to laugh at that, a little. He can relate, okay? He just finds that - hilarious. On so many levels. In so many ways.]

Mostly she taught me not to tease my sister, not to come home late, and not to piss off my dad. [All of which he managed anyway, while at the same time being a deceased specter of everyone's subconscious disgust with one another. But, you know, same difference.]

Never really been good at taking her advice.

[yourattention]

Then we have something in common - even if all my mom ever told me was that I shouldn't be angry my dad read all my emails and my sister used to spy on me to earn brownie points with him.

[That's how his dad even knew he had a personal email account, after all. Perfect little Zoe told him he'd been talking to his friends online and that's why he was always holed up in his room.]

[ungrieved]

Wow. Your dad hated you.

[He sounds, uh, kind of ridiculously giddy about that. Like, more gleeful that someone's dad was a spying creep than any other kid should be. Or maybe he's just reveling in the notion that he's not the only one with a dad who wasn't overfond of him.]

Mine just pretended that I didn't exist. [Which...to be fair? He technically didn't.]

[mammal_robot]

"An adventurer and something of a celebrity, but yes I've always been a scientist first."

He'd promised Tesla that, when he was still alive.

[yourattention]

He didn't hate me - he'd have to care about me to hate me. [That too is said like it's just a plain fact. He doesn't know Larry didn't cry at his funeral, but he wouldn't be surprised if someone told him.] I was just a bad investment he had to try and recoup.

[Connor is not entirely sure where he's going, but the raft sure is going. The idea is to get to the islets, but it's possible he's only ever gotten there by mana pool so this could be fun.]

[ungrieved]

[Gabe barks out a hearty, brief laugh at that. Check this out. Two fucked up kids with fucked up lives. There's something oddly appealing about that. He doesn't have to be jealous of this one. Well, mostly.]

[He probably lived a lot longer.]

Were you a greedy little twerp for hogging all the family attention? Huh?