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

Makoto Niijima | Persona 5

[lapapesse]

[A: All that Glitters]

[All things considered, a glowing green cavern is a lot better than an entirely black cavern she can't see in, especially since it keeps making weird noises, and let's be real: Makoto's nerves are frayed enough.

Always.

So she's a bit jumpy, but not as jumpy as she would be if, say, it were completely dark. Which it's not. So she's fine. This is fiiiine. It's eerie, creepy, and being companion with only her own thoughts and footsteps for noise is totally not helping at all, but who cares, right?]

W-what was that-?!

[Something moved. She knows it. There's something in the reflection of the crystal caves; in the glimmering light, and the... creaking stones. And then, there's a noise from somewhere behind her. A motion. The sense of life.

She whirls around, and she punches it, with a shriek.

Hope that was a crystal monster and not, say, someone's face.]

[B: It's Hiiiiiiiigh Tide]

[No dramatic tumbleweeds skipping past, here, even though Makoto does technically carry a revolver. Sorry, cowboys.

She does, however, wake with a start, and a splutter of water and a-

Oh god. Where is she? This is... not home, or at least nowhere nearby that she's seen? She takes a moment to take stock of the area... but it just looks like a tropical beach. The water is nice and warm, the air thick with humidity, and...

... The water is now up over her legs and toward her stomach. It's rising, fast. She's barely gotten her bearings and she realizes she has to go - now. On the plus side, Makoto is fast. She's always been pretty quick with her footwork, and she's, outside of Akira, the fastest of the Persona users in the group, so she's good at putting the pedal to the metal - full throttle, nonstop.

Issue: She has no idea where she's going and it seems like no matter where she runs, the water is right there behind her. This is some weird nightmare... if it's even a dream, but being soaked to the bone at least feels real enough. It's a good ways through this that she... sort of trips over one of the flotation devices, and, desperate, grabs hold of it before getting onboard... or as much as she can.

... Really?

This is what it is?

... And besides...] Where... am I?

high tide hang ten

[covertizer]

[ Akira's still bobbing along on his own not-at-all-phallic-looking-flotation device, from where he'd managed to grab one when he first arrived and come across the steadily rising tide.

He's managed to keep himself as close to the coast as he can, with some practised and totally elegant, obviously, flailing when the current starts pulling him away.

But for the most part, he's just been... floating. His trousers are a lost cause, so his legs have just been dangling in the ocean and getting hideously drenched, and he's been periodically propping himself up on his elbows to try and catch sight of ... anyone, really. But seeing someone he did actually recognise?

Bonus. ]

If you don't know then how am I supposed to?

[ Who's the brains of this operation? ]

[lapapesse]

[Well she's not the only one, but...]

I'm not-

Wait, if you're here, then is this a dream...? Or did we get sucked into a truly weird Palace?

[You know. Without going through any of the usual steps like 'using the Metanav.'

Where else is the tide going to come in this hard, this fast? After all, it has most of the island drowned by now - she looked, there's barely anywhere to go.

So, instead, she's just going to put her hand on her chin and think.]

... Or... did we end up somewhere else?

I'm sorry, I have no idea what this is supposed to be. [Clearly it's her fault somehow.]

[covertizer]

[ There's an awkward moments as he tries to dig in his trouser pocket without unbalancing the raft, but once it's passed he's waving a decidedly-not-working cell phone in the air. ]

No app, no Metaverse?

[ It gets dropped onto his stomach with little fanfare. Oof. ]

If this is a palace, we messed up getting here, somehow. You're the first familiar person I've seen.

[ And it's not like they can access it from different locations... as far as he's away? Maybe they can, but the organisation involved to get them all to access the Metaverse at exactly the same time, and the chance of it actually working? Unlikely, probably. ]

[lapapesse]

[Okay. No app, no metaverse... that's one part of her questions answered. So then... maybe someone else brought them here? She's not sure how that would work, but...

It's a good thought, though. To get them all inside the Metaverse at the same time... is unlikely, but if it's just the two of them, that's slightly... well, more likely.]

Did... someone else bring us here, then? I mean, it is possible to incidentally bring others into the Metaverse with you...

[She pauses, looks at her hands. She is most definitely not in her thief outfit.]

And... we're not considered a threat yet, I don't think. Do you think maybe that's it?

[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.

[lapapesse]

[Well, she would have had to not notice, either, and that would definitely be weird circumstances. Something slipping past Makoto. Unheard of.]

But if your phone's broken, or waterlogged, then we wouldn't know...

[No, it's a fruitless endeavor. She's just clinging to it because she's confused and off-balance, and it's a familiar concept. It's obvious she's caught herself with the sigh she gives.]

Right. Not like either of us are much of a threat right now. [Not when they're a couple of drowned rats on a life-...

uh.

floaty

thing.]

... Do we have to wait for the tide to go out, then?

[covertizer]

[ ... ... ... ugh, right. His phone is water damaged, or something. But... surely if they'd accessed it somehow, they would've had some indication this was a palace. Shadows milling around, anyone milling around.

Akira sighs as well. It's like a sigh brigade. ]

You never know. What if we stay here long enough we count as pollution? We'd be a threat then.

[ He sloshes his arms through the water, idly. ]

Probably. There could be a strong current under there, and that'd be trouble.

[lapapesse]

... There'll probably be a strong current when the tide goes back out anyway, and I don't particularly want to find out how far away from a mainland we are.

[You know, when they get pulled out to sea.

On one of these ridiculous flotation devices.]

I think by the time we have stayed here long enough to be considered 'pollution', the tide will have gone out... and if we're lucky, it won't be so long that something else happens...

[Well, that's a dark thought. Except...] Hopefully this is just some weird dream. It feels enough to be one... and that's saying something considering some of the Palaces we've been in. [She leans forward, pushing the... swan? Thing?'s head down toward the water a little, and then letting it spring back up.]

... Where did these things even come from? Maybe there's dry land wherever they came from.

[covertizer]

[ Please don't push the head of the shaft-raft like that Makoto, it's a bit distracting.

Because that

does not look like a swan, yo. ]

If it is, it's weird that we're sharing the same dream. [ That speaks of something more deliberate to him. If this isn't the Metaverse, then how are they sharing the same experiences? There must be something, or someone, forcing the issue. ] Maybe if someone brought us here, they left us a gift. So we didn't drown horribly before we can get round to whatever it is they want us to do?

[lapapesse]

[Well it's the closest approximation. It's a swan float thing without an actual swan head.

Look, she doesn't have a dirty mind, she's not a teenage boy.]

Yes, it is strange. [She looks around again.]

Well this isn't exactly going to help us for food or water... though I suppose if it's just a dream that's not a concern. But what are we supposed to do? We really can't do anything if we're stuck on these things in the middle of the ocean.

[covertizer]

[ According to other threads, it is quite a phallic floaty. Give a poor guy a break, it does look pretty phallic... ]

For now... all we can do is float.

[ he flops back down and waves a hand. He's tired, and there's a lot to take in. For the moment, the most they can do is try not to get seasick or bob too far away from the island. Or, that's what it seems like. ]

Once the tide's lower, we can get back on land and scout the area. At least we know to head for higher ground when the tide comes back in this time. We'll be prepared.

[lapapesse]

... I suppose the good news is that the time between high and low tide is only six hours... [She's not even sure what to make of everything going on here, but the place feels like a dream.]

... So I guess we have plenty of time to think about what we're doing while we're waiting for it to recede. [He's going to flop over. She's too... stuck in her own brain to do that. So she kicks her feet a few times and turns around, thoughtfully looking over their surroundings.]

This is some high tide, though. How are trees able to survive being mostly submerged during it so often? There's only a couple of the highest places on that island over there outside of the water.

[A pause.] No, I'm not sure that's the question I want to ask. This is more than just 'high tide'. The shoreline increase of water should only be... maybe a couple meters. This is more than just that. [Yeah sorry, Akira, you're going to be stuck with Makoto in Pondering mode.]

[covertizer]

[ There's something almost soothing about having someone else doing the worrying for him. He wafts his hands through the water every now and again to push himself back towards the shore when he feels he's going a bit too far but... ]

Maybe we can examine the trees more when the tide is down. They don't look any worse for wear, if this is a common thing.

[ Trust Makoto to come up with the interesting questions though. Why the intense change in the height of the tides... and how do the trees not drown every day? Why aren't they all gathered on the highest ground...?

... Mrrr. He tries rolling over on the floaty without wobbling it ridiculously. It's An Effort. ]

Maybe there are secrets. [ They're good at uncovering secrets and dragging them, kicking and screaming, into the light. ]

[lapapesse]

[Well, if it was going to be anyone, it was going to be Makoto. Miss Worries About Everything And That's Why She's Team Mom.

For her part, though, she's just sitting on her little swan with her chin in her hand in her classical Thinking Pose.]

Yes, that was part of my concern.

[Back up and over the island, back down to what she can see of the trees...]

Secrets behind a natural phenomena? Well, I suppose it wouldn't be the wildest thing we've discovered, but it would be worth looking into. [That's right: "we".]

[covertizer]

[ She's getting World's Best Mom mug for her birthday. It'll be worth it, even if he might have to dodge if she throws it at him. ]

Uncovering what people keep hidden is kind of our trademark. Can't stop now, just because we're not in Kansas anymore. [ or. y'know. Tokyo. But cultural references are hip.

... even that means he just volunteered himself to poke around trees for hours on end to figure out why they aren't waterlogged and dead. good... ]

[lapapesse]

[She will aim right between the eyes. Watch your Nice Glasses, Akira.]

You're right, even if our hands are a bit tied at the moment. There's not much we probably can't get to the bottom of, if we work together and think about it enough.

[Welcome to once again being dragged around on a Makoto Investigation Outing. It'll be just like their Confidant. Minus the fake dating.

Maybe.]

Do you think, if the tide goes in this fast, it will recede just as quickly? In that case, we will have to watch out for undertow. It might be worth it to slowly start working our way toward the high ground either way.

[covertizer]

[ His glasses have done no harm, leave the innocents alone...! ]

See? Teamwork.

[ TEAMWORRRRRRRRRRRRK ]

Maybe. Maybe we'll get sucked out to see and find a secret island full of treasures and mythological creatures....

... Ryuji'd probably love this. [ Pirates. ]

[lapapesse]

[Please, it's not like he needs the glasses to see. She just makes a little noise at 'teamwork'. Yes, she's aware. She may have had a bad spat of being the lonely type, but she's good with friends now.]

That's a thought. Maybe we'd find Captain Kidd's treasure, even. [Not Ryuji's Persona, the actual Captain William Kidd.]

But more realistically, I'd imagine, hopefully we'll be able to find signs of where where are. Or somewhere to maybe dry out the phones and start figuring it out.

the tide is high and you're hoooooooooldin onnnnnnnn

[raygunner]

[ Wow, this just keeps getting better and better. Hilariously enough, it's Nijima now. She'd acted all high and mighty and hadn't spat in his face for messing with her sister, but who's to say it won't happen? Akechi's not counting on their forgiveness to hold, really. And if they have their Personas, too...

Well. It's a good thing she's freaking out, isn't it? ]

Would you like some assistance, Nijima-san?

[ Honey, vinegar, etc. ]

[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.

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?

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.

[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?