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

Zacharie | OFF

[creditless]

All That Glitters.

[ ADMINISTRATOR: set command ;{ᴇʀᴀᴤɪɴɢ ᴅᴀᴛᴀ ᴈʀᴏᴍ "ʙᴀᴋᴇʀᴤᴛʀᴇᴇᴛ.ʀᴘᴅ"
;{4ᴛʜ ᴡᴀʟʟ ᴀᴄᴋɴᴏᴡʟᴇᴅɢᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴤᴇᴛ ᴛᴏ 15% ᴋᴇʏ ᴤᴇᴛ; <ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ394702{ᴜɴᴘᴜʀɪᴈʏ} ᴏɴʟʏ>
...
...
... ᴅᴀᴛᴀ ᴅᴇʟᴇᴛᴇᴅ ]

[ Wow, physicality is marvelous. He takes the time to enjoy all five senses while he has them. The crystal cavern looked inviting. Perhaps, maybe not the best term... it looked like the yellow brick road. Zacharie didn't need to follow it, though. He was mighty damp from his swim upwards through something not plastic. All things considered, though, he's not going deeper into the cavern. Why? Because he has the marvelous choice not to! A puppetmaster would be pushing him in, he can sit comfortably outside and go through his knapsack, stitched with his name.

A sewing kit.
A machete.
Three apples.
A bolt of cloth.

The sewing kit and bolt of cloth must have been serendipitous, nothing more. He rolled well on his entry. Zacharie might be a breathing, living human man now, but he still thinks in mechanics that no longer exist. Look at all this color! This high defintion. Those crystals are definitely tempting, right? You could shave them down for tools if you ventured in. His machete looked like it could endure.

Nope. Freedom of choice. No matter how much he knew he should go in the cavern, he's sitting down and peeling an apple with the machete. ]

[unpurify]

[Wow, you're not dead.

Well, actually the Batter shouldn't be surprised to see a familiar...mask, he guesses. Zacharie always had a tendency to show up at expected and least expected times. This was probably one of those 'least expected' times.

And this place revived the dead, regardless if they wanted to be alive or not. So that's that.

The Batter is heavily soaked as well due to the water and the fact that he couldn't swim. Getting away from all that sure was something and finding himself back in this cave wasn't exactly somewhere he wanted to be. But this time rather then a quick painless death via a knife to his skull, he's now +1 merchant peeling an apple with a machete.

Whether or not that's a good thing, on the other hand, is an entirely different thing, isn't it?]

You're alive.

[...hi.]

[creditless]

[ I was never dead, Batter. Just waiting for the next game.

He glances up at the Batter, a cheery looking face painted on his mask. He peeled the apple finally and tossed it to the Batter, having memorized his dextrous skill for catching anything he was programmed to thrown. He intends to share his goods with new and old friends alike. ]

No currency. Hm, hm... guess that's on me.

[ How does he know that? Because if there was currency, there'd be society. ♫ Here in this Crystal Kingdom ♫, there was nothing of value. A crystal mine of this size would have people coming in and out of it...

... if there were anything of value inside. ]

I was always alive.

[unpurify]

[Just as Zacharie predicts or just knows, the Batter catches it easily. He doesn't eat it though. Perhaps it was a product of rarely if ever showing emotions on his own face, but he knew a cheery looking face painted on a mask doesn't mean there was anything cheery about the person. Enoch was always smiling, after all.

But that's none of his business. Not right now.]

None.

[It might have just been idle commentary as Zacharie tended to do sometimes, but it may be for the better to just say it to confirm it. And moving on.]

The switch was flipped off. Everyone is gone.

[The Batter knows this place brought back the dead. Seeing it apply to someone from his world that wasn't himself, however, was really making it sink in.]

[creditless]

[ And his voice counts for nothing? Tut tut, Batter, he's always been friendly and generous to you. Perhaps right now, more than ever. He's offering a bribe. ]

That's a shame, but you can always fix one up. People need, after all. As long as people need, there'll never be an end to currency!

[ So cheerful... he feels his flesh with a genuine curiosity and fascination. So this is what the other person on the screen felt like. Even the little hairs on his arm feel gentle. No wonder they felt like they had so much power and so little restraint. No wonder Batter is the way he is! He borrowed not even a fraction of it. ]

I'm afraid your good amigo knows the script from the beginning to end, so I never truly die. The game is unplayed for a while, but it is played again.

Inevitably.

[ He slices up his apple and shoves the pieces through the hole in his mask. ]

But enough of that! Autonomy, my friend! I can feel my bones and my heart beating. No strings on my back! The world in every shade and color-- thank goodness the mask filters some of it out! [ He opens his arms for a hug. ] I bet you haven't even been hugged yet. Come here.

[ Zacharie finally knows his shape! Shorter than the Batter but strong, more hair, darker skin. This is so much nicer than lifting five pixels worth of arms around someone's shoulder. He lifts him in a friendly hug despite their size difference, them promptly lets him go. ]

And just with that, I can't wait to see what the things I mimed actually felt like!

Majima | Yakuza (0)

[themaddogofshimano]

All That Glitters

[Boy, one minute you're about to cross a line you can never uncross, and the next? Well, you're sitting bolt upright in a cave full of glowing crystals. Fingers still curled around your knife, cramping from the stress of gripping the handle so damn hard. Your shirt is on, despite being absent only moments ago. You are slightly damp.]

[What a weird world.]

[Majima's body shakes with silent laughter and after a moment he lets his head fall back in exasperation. Well? What is this shit? Has he finally died, taken a bullet in the heat of battle, been dealt one too many blows to the head and bit the proverbial dust? What will Makoto do now? His warped reflection in the crystal ceiling mocks him with a cruel grin.]

[...he's, uh. He's not grinning. So his reflection shouldn't be grinning.]

What the fuck? Oh shi-

[Majima rolls out of the way just in time to avoid a chunk of crystal breaking free and falling to the ground with a brassy resonance. It's vaguely humanoid in shape, with hands groping slowly outward for his prone form and a twisted shadow of a mouth just beneath the glowing "face", smirking. Boy does it piss him right the hell off, too.]

[All he can do is stare at it dumbly. This makes no sense. This is literally not a possibility. He was not here just a few seconds prior. All he has is a knife for fuck's sake, this is rock-paper-scissors basics, he loses by default.]

[Somebody wanna explain or, at the very least, get him moving?]

Wildcard/High Tide

[How he got out of the caves is a blur at this point. All Majima knows is that he's been here too long and something is seriously not right. No matter where he goes, the water level follows. You can find him in any number of locations across Mu, wringing out his shirt and swearing profusely under his breath. Water laps at his heels as he trudges upwards, always upward, and finally comes to rest in the branches of a tree.]

[If you aren't the type to approach a soggy, one-eyed man with a knife, he'll call out to anyone who gets near:]

Hey, the hell's goin' on here?!

[unpurify]

[Now the Batter remembers how much Zacharie liked to talk. Not nearly as frequently or as verbose as the Judge is (was) but he was a chatty person. Also he's touchy. Why.

The Batter doesn't return the hug, but he doesn't push Zacharie away either. It helps that the other man doesn't hold on for too long. He's tempted to take a step back just incase he tries again once the merchant lets go but doesn't. There's your free hug Zacharie. Don't do it again.

He's also not going to address that 'inevitably' comment. There's to many things to say to such a loaded statement.]

It feels no different. There's just more color.

[It's blinding, yes. And there's the urge to drain the colors away again. It's not stopping.]

[creditless]

You have no idea how it feels for someone who mostly only stands in fixed positions and teleports.

[ He squats and does a full body stretch, various joints crackling along the way. He feels alive! He is alive! For the first time in the universe, he is alive and breathing. The only thing he's missing is-- he slips his hand up behind his mask. Yup. This place probably couldn't change that. ]

You have no strings, do you, dear Batter?

[ He sounds a bit pitying, even if his mood on that is thank god. ]

There's no prompt for you to say something back to me. You just say what you feel! That's an amazing step for you, I'm proud. I bet you can't even name who your God was anymore.

[ A compliment and a dig, because when your game has been played millions of times and it all ended one of two ways too late, your blacklist is thousands of miles long. ]

I look forward to meeting the true you.

[unpurify]

[He doesn't. The Batter was always moving. The only time he wasn't was when the Puppeteer wasn't controlling him, so he slept, or when he was dead and then permanently dead.

"The switch is now on OFF." Only not.

But Zacharie raises a good point. The Batter looks down at his hands. He can still see the snapped threads wrapped around his limbs. In a sense, yes he no longer had the strings of the Puppeteer in him but they were still - physically, mentally and metaphorically - there.

Can he put a name to the being that once controlled him?]

██

[...apparently not, if the fact the Batter can't answer. It's not like the Puppeteer ever went by one name, but running through them all was an exercise in futility. Again.]

That is conversations. Answering what others say.

[Says the person who is terrible at even small talk. But it's not a glance into anything new or exciting about the Batter. This was his true self in its purest form.

Nothing more, nothing less.]

Akira Kurusu | Persona 5

[covertizer]

All That Glitters

[ Normally, he'd like to think he'd be prepared for surprises. Planning, gathering information and executing heists has been his life for the past year - he knows what he's doing. But maybe he'd grown complacent after the main dangers back home had been dealt with. Because he hadn't expected to nod off in the back of a van and wake up... here.

He doesn't even know where here is. There's never been a palace that looks like this - glittering and bright with the eeriest sense of being watched, or at least that there's something here other than just himself.

With no weapon to hand, and without the security to know he has time to cycle through his own mind to see if there's any way he could pull out a Persona against all odds, Akira does the next best thing and steps back until his back is pressed against the wall, against the uneven bumps of crystal. Less chances for a surprise attack this way. ]

All right. Let's go.

[ Find an exit. Instead of carving a path in, he's going to carve a path out. ]

High Tide/Wild Card

[ When he's finally out of that stupid cave, Akira immediately flops, boneless to the ground and just lies there. Exhausted and for all his confidence, a little shaken. ]

No more solo infiltration.

[ He'd probably lie there for a lot longer, but it becomes apparent that the water level isn't just lapping lazily at his body. It's rising around him, and quickly.]

.... Shit.

[ It's been A Day. Let him have a swear.

He scrambles to his feet, and immediately starts looking around for some high ground or something he can used to counteract the rising tides around him. And then he spots some of the eerie and bizarre looking floatation devices bobbing merrily in the distance.

...

... fuck it, he'll take it.

Anyone who may also be bobbing along on the rising tides may eventually come across him, sprawled out across one of the floaties, much as he'd been sprawled out on the beach earlier. This is fine.]

It's HIIIGHHH TIDE

[shedgrace]

[Lunafreya's been here, once upon a dream. While Mu's shifting geography is impossible to navigate from memory, the assurance that this is, in some way, not entirely real helps her keep her head against the rising waters and make it to high ground. There, on a rocky cliff, she waits out the flood, clothed once more in Noctis's spare outfit, idly practicing her casting with his fishing rod.

A person floating by, slumped across some...thing... shatters her otherwise peaceful moment.]

Excuse me! There--can you hear me? Are you all right?

cowabunga

[covertizer]

[ Hopefully Luna isn't expecting a verbal response - boy just outrun crystal monsters and rising tides, and the combination of warm sun and bobbing ocean is proving effective at making him feel pretty chilled out and a little sleepy.

But he can hear someone calling to him, so he does raise a lazy arm - and boy that that ever look like An Effort - and offer up a universal symbol that he's doin' fine.



He good.]

[shedgrace]

[Uh...huh. Sure.]

...Would you like me to reel you in so you don't drift too far from land?

[covertizer]

[ Does this look like the face of a liar?

I mean, she can actually see it now, seeing as he's pushed himself up onto his elbows to assess the distance between himself and land - and subsequently the distance between Luna and him. ]

It'd be appreciated, yeah.

[ Please and thank you. If he starts swimming now he'll probably just end up bobbing face down. ]

Setsuna | I Am Setsuna

[passingsmile]

Crystals Are Forever

[Let it never be said that Setsuna is a violent person. The route of least resistance is the one she prefers by far. If a battle can be won by talking and coming to terms with one another then that's all the better for both parties. However, try as she might, there is no reasoning with these creatures.

A sudden bolt of lightning appears and illuminates the caves as it strikes one of the crystal creatures, promptly shattering it. Thank goodness her techs are still usable here.]

Please! I can tell there is still life in you, isn't there? We do not have to fight.

[Desperate as her plea is to reason with the human-like shapes embedded within the crystal it does Setsuna no good. The creatures continue to hobble towards her, slowly spreading out so to block off any route of escape. Help?]

Crystals Are A Girl's Best Friend (cw: related to the crystalline disease, body horror, death. i couldn't resist. if your character wants to put Setsuna out of her misery that is fine by me. mu is just a dream it's fiiine.)

[When did it happen? Was it when she stopped to try and heal another infected by the disease and her hand brushed those crystal like growths. Or was it during a close fight with the creatures where she had to rely on her chakrams at close range. It's hard to pinpoint the exact moment it all went wrong.

Setsuna has her cloak pulled tightly around her, obscuring most of her body from view as she trudges through the caves. Her right arm feels heavy, feels wrong in every sense of the word as the crystals eat away at it. No amount of healing magic would turn back the growths. If this is how it ends then she's going to offer what aid she can before it's too late.

She forces herself on, smile on her face that sometimes wavers and gives way, though she's trying her very best to mask the pain when she comes across whoever she meets down here in the caves.]

How are you doing? If you need any help then allow me to assist you.

[Her forehead feels clammy, hair matting against her skin as a fever sets in. But she has to remain strong. There are so many that have placed their hope in her after all.]

The Tide Is High / Wildcard

[The rising water is definitely a concern. Thank goodness for these well placed... Flotation devices. The odd design gives Setsuna pause for a moment before she grabs one and hurries over to the nearest person she can find.]

Here, take this. The water won't be as much of a worry if you hold onto it... I hope.

[It's probably ocean worthy despite the weird design, right...??

When not offering to help others stay afloat, Setsuna can be found floating in the water on her own inflatable thing. Between the rising water, her cloak, long hair and the intricate hair ornament on her head, Setsuna is doing a great impression of some kind of half-drowned angel. Paddle over and say hello?]

[shedgrace]

A moment, then. ...I'll try to cast the line just past you, so as not to injure you or your... raft.

[It's a p e n i s.

Lunafreya breathes in and out to steady herself. She's not much of a fisherman yet. But this boy is counting on her, so she raises the rod and casts--whzzzzzzz plop!--just past him, but a little to the side. Drat, so close.]

My apologies; is that near enough that you might reach?

[covertizer]

[ It is a beautiful and noble steed that only looks a little like a dick. Rude.

Akira's eyes follow the curve of the line and bait as it soars through the air and lands.... not on the raft but close enough that he can take it from here. Luna gets another thumbs up. ]

Yeah, I've got it.

[ He shuffles himself up the raft and anchors himself to the entirely non-phallic-don't-be-so-lewd head of the raft with an arm and a leg, and then leans himself off the raft and out into the open water. His arm and part of his torso is almost submerged in the process, but... he manages to snag his fingers around the line and secure it with a little effort. ]

... [ Tug, tug. Yup. He's got it. ] Ready when you are.

All That Glitters

[passingsmile]

[Man with a knife and eye patch? Meet girl with ridiculous looking hair ornament.

There's no time to lose, not with that creature reaching out menacingly. She's tried reasoning with the crystal monsters to no avail, so the only option now would be to--]

Please watch out, cover your head!!

[That's all the warning Majima gets before a bolt of lightning appears from the ceiling of the cave and cracks down into the monster, crystal fragments splintering away as the creature topples back.

It might not be much of an explanation for all the strange goings on, but at least it deals with the immediate threat?]

[passingsmile]

[Well Zacharie certainly looks to be enjoying himself, and more importantly doesn't seem too threatening... Machete and mask aside of course. But let it never be said that Setsuna judges by appearance.

She approaches slowly with a warm smile, eyes flitting between the expression on the mask and the eye holes.]

Are you enjoying your food? I want to say you are, but... [The mask makes it hard to be 100% certain. And to think she's used to traveling with a masked man.]

[shedgrace]

[Only now does Lunafreya consider the possibility that she is not built to reel a near full-grown human being in, even if he's floating on a PENISBOAT. What's more, is Noctis's fishing rod constructed to withstand such a weight? Is the line?

She just presses her lips together with determination and begins, carefully, unfailingly, to reel the line back in. She puts her trust in Noctis and her faith in her will. She cannot fail.

Slowly, both her sneakered feet planted steadily against the stone, the line starts to pull Akira in.]

Do you think--you might be able to pull yourself up, if I hold my trident out to you when you near?

[What with the flooding and all, her cliff's more of a natural stone jetty, really.]

[creditless]

[ Zacharie already wants another hug, despite the fact that it's the Batter. Because who knew hugs were so important? Wow. He's going to learn about a lot of important things. ]

I know you have an identity, the Puppeteer didn't speak your words most of the time... but with the strings fully cut, now you have to maintain it on your own. Outside of a script! That means you will change and so will I.

[ He shoves another apple piece between his mask. So juicy! Real food, instead of the rotmeat that he sold at his booth. Zacharie never entreated himself to corpse sugar, either, so this was really nice... ]

That is the most exciting of all. Watching your earnest self, in incubation inside of the script, grow.

[creditless]

[ He's been slicing apple pieces thin enough to shove through his mask holes, so don't worry, he's enjoying them just fine. ]

This is the first real meal I've ever had. I can't explain why, though... think of me as a spirit that was given life here, and this is all very new to me.

[ There's no need to talk game-talk around other people. It's rude. ]

[unpurify]

[No. Hug him again and he'll toss you into the ocean. We'll see if a not!cat can swim.

Once again, Zacharie had a point. The Batter's words had been his alone, that much was true, as was the end goal. The Puppeteer had allowed him to get up again and again after each death and drove him forward. Keep going.

But now the Batter had to get back up on his own after dying. And with no point to his existence...]

It doesn't matter to me.

[If Zacharie wanted to, fine. But for the Batter it's safer inside of a coma.]

1/2

[creditless]

It doesn't have to matter to you.

[ Sinisterly: ]

It's just going to happen to you, as all living things.

[creditless]

Let's take a walk on the beach!

[ He takes the Batter's forearm, and tugs him along as if nothing matters. Really, he's testing his limits as an NPC, seeing if he is able to guide someone against their will. If he loses, all the better! ]

I've heard lots of things about beaches. They're nothing like plastic at all. There's sand and shoreline and it's nice and quiet, perfect to have a discussion about home or what you've been doing since you got here. You have the smell of this island on you, so presumably, you've been here a while.

[ blatantly: You smell like you bathe yourself with the limited resources here. You stink a bit. ]

There's even the remnants of living things that wash up, sometimes. I want to see it again. I left too soon.