aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 005 )

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 )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Heeeeeeelp...

[ Now, see, someone calling for help in a situation like this would usually imply a fair amount of urgency required. But whatever hapless idiot is calling out like that doesn't really sound all that concerned? Just kind of put out, in an "ah, so this is my life" sort of way. Not exactly what you'd expect from someone at the risk of drowning.

And as it turns out, said hapless idiot is not actually currently at risk of drowning. There's Kyouko, having only managed to get half onto her Weird Swan Thing and is currently faceplanted into it with everything below her waist still hanging in the water. Every now and then she gives an ineffectual little kick to try and climb back onto it, but she's too worried about capsizing herself to really struggle too much.

This is your heroine, Imaginaerium. ]

Kyouko!

[ This whole experience up until now had been a strange and surreal one. Crystal zombies in endless cave labyrinths, merciless rising water levels, but what really made it distressing was that she was facing it alone. Everything was either eerie isolation or encounters with total strangers. But now, just hearing Kyouko's voice - even if she was in a bit of a ridiculous state - she feels like she'll be able to handle whatever this place throws their way.

That's only if she doesn't drown, though. Yuka jumps from her swan and swims over to Kyouko to try and help her get properly floating. Her voice is a mix of relief and bewilderment. ]

I thought I was alone out here! Do you know what this place is? Have you seen Orihime anywhere? Did you have any trouble with the monsters underground? [ It's rare for Yuka to be the one who's talking too much, but the circumstances are a bit out there. ]

Yuka-chan!

[ Kyouko jolts up so quick that she very nearly, despite all her previous caution, ends up capsizing. But thankfully for everyone involved, one of the girls here at least is not a human disaster so Kyouko manages to scrabble the rest of the way into her ridiculous floatie swan with Yuka's help before the rest of her ends up a casualty to the seawater too. ]

I-- okay, I was hoping you would know literally any of those answers because I'm stumped, a hundred percent. I haven't seen anyone we know and I just-- I have no idea how we got here! It's not the Imaginaerium but that's about as much as I know for sure.

[ It would have been a good time for a tearful reunion embrace, but right now it'd be hard to have one without someone drowning. Instead, she just goes back to her goose and paddles it back over in time to respond. ]

Yeah... whatever it is, it's something new. I haven't seen anything or anyone I recognized until I found you just now. Everyone else I've met seems just as confused as us...

Guh... so instead of a dream, it's a nightmare...

[ she says this so dramatically that it's hard to take her seriously. and maybe that's the intent -- maybe she's playing the clown a bit to try and ease Yuka's mind in the midst of such a scary situation. or maybe it's just Kyouko Being Kyouko. it's honestly hard to tell.

She rolls over, flops onto her back and lets her feet dangle off the side of the swanmobile, kicking them idly in the water. ]

You still have your Shard with you, right?

[ Both possibilities do play through Yuka's mind, but she ultimately decides that either way, the thing to do is to put on a brave face. She nods, clutching her Shard. ]

I transformed as soon as I got here. If I hadn't been able to, then... ah.

[ She freezes, as if she just realized something a bit too late. ]

[ ... that's a troubling pause. Kyouko sits up properly, popping up from the floor of her swanmobile with a furrowed brow. ]

Well, if you can transform that's... good, right?

[ She says it hesitantly -- it's clear something's bugging Yuka but she's not entirely sure what it might be and it seems a little rude to just take a stab in the dark. ]

...I met and introduced myself to more people while I was transformed.

[ Nothing dangerous, at least. ]

Oh!

[ ... and then the penny drops. ]

... oooohhh. Um. You think any of them are gonna be-- like, weird about it? 'cause I'm just saying right now, if anyone's weird about it, I'm gonna punch them right in the nose. Maybe more than once.

[ depicted in this tag: a heroine. ]

Please don't punch anyone... [ She'd honestly rather someone be weird about it than there be a whole scene. ]

I mean, they'll have to find out eventually, so I'll just deal with it when it happens. I'll be all right, as long as you're there for me.

Right! I'm not going anywhere.

[ She pushes herself up onto her knees so she can reach out from her little floatie and offer Yuka her hand to take. ]

All we've gotta do is stick together and it'll all work itself out, somehow. Probably. And if it doesn't, then we'll work it out together! Easy.

[ Yuka smiles, takes Kyouko's hand, and squeeze lightly. ]

We've always made things work in the end, haven't we? This shouldn't be any different. [ You know, even that one time that one of them betrayed the other and tried to ruin everything. For example. ]

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 005 )

High Tide

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