skippedabeat | Round 4: Test Drive

Entry tags:

test drive

Round 4: Test Drive

Welcome to the fourth test drive!

Please don't worry too much about using your Personas correctly or following the prompts exactly. They're meant to give you starting ideas, but by all means, go wild and add more options!

The objective here is to try out characters and see who you could have the most fun with in the game's setting. However, feel free to follow this link to request a Persona be generated for you as if you were part of the game. (Please try to limit this to only one of your test drive characters if you can as to not overwhelm us! Never mind generating Personas is a pretty fast process! Request for as many characters away as you like!)

If you have questions about the test drive itself, you can ask them here! If you want to play an AU don't forget this entire post can be used for you to get AU scenarios set up and see who your character might have been related too or know before Awakening.

Now then, let's begin...

Prompt 1 - Cat-Astrophe

Eddan's cat problem has not abated in the slightest. If the constant cat noises aren't enough to drive people up the wall, then don't worry; cats have plenty of other ways to. This can range from the simple annoyances, like constantly being in danger of tripping over a cat or five, to the more gross... like the matter of where cats have to, ahem, go.

The city's various animal shelters only have so many hands on deck to catch the fickle felines before they can be either returned to their owners in other cities or find another home in Eddan itself. Thus, there has been a lot of effort to reach out to residents of the city to get volunteers. In fact, it's highly probable that you've been roped into helping gather cats into carriers or taking them to shelters yourself.

Even if you haven't been bullied into being philanthropic, though, the cats don't care. They've weaseled their way into every nook and cranny that the city holds... Which includes people's homes. Don't be surprised if you walk in and there's somehow a cat that you don't own waiting on your couch. Small, dead animals are scattered in your front yard and on your front stoop, territory fights wake you at late hours, and furry balls of fur curl around your ankles every time you walk out the front door.

...So, yeah. You're going to have to deal with it no matter what.

As with previous TDMs, Unawakened characters can get a flash of memory sometime during this prompt and Awakened characters will be able to occasionally pick them out.

Additionally, if both test drive player and game players agree, the aquarium test drive threads can also become game canon! As long as the test drive character is played as being completely unaware of what has happened in the game up to this point. Keep in mind that they would NOT have had a message on their phones. Two Test drive players can also make these game canon if they get accepted (and they keep the same requirements as above).

Prompt 2 - From Dawn to Dusk

The city has been abuzz for the past few weeks. A new string of murders is making front page news and serving as a grim reminder why the nightly curfew is so important. As families, perhaps even someone close to you, mourn, pressure continues to rise at the many police stations and at city hall. The people are afraid and they’re demanding answers.

There's not much time for you to dwell on this.. Like everyone else in the city, you have a lot to do, and a tight schedule to do it in. You don't even notice the application that has appeared on your phone's screen. The headache that follows, however, is strange and disorienting, and it brings with it an odd sensation that something is wrong today. You’re just not sure why.

The day passes by and soon, it's close to midnight. Your body, if you're not in bed by now, is completely exhausted. Despite your best efforts, you'll find yourself closing your eyes. Too bad it's quickly interrupted by a strange noise, and movement like something pulsating softly.

It's your phone, or at least you think it's your phone, but it's never glowed this orange before. There’s mist rising above it almost like fire...something's definitely bizarre about this. Despite your fears, you forces yourself to open it, and click on that strange snake-like icon.

It opens revealing a single statement and blank box;

To begin, please write your name.

Your fingers move on their own. Before you have time to really think about it, and as the pain inside your head becomes so terrible you start breathing rapidly and sweating, you've entered a series of letters and pressed enter. Now you're in a large chatroom with many others...but your 'name' you've never even heard of it...have you? It almost feels like you have...

Prompt 3 - Awakening

The last rays of the sun disappeared over the horizon almost an hour ago, yet here you are, walking through the apple orchards located behind one of the campus wings. The strange app that's been sending you strange clues the past seven days now says you're ready to face the truth. It told you to come here tonight, but never to travel alone. Repeatedly, it warns you to make sure to have someone close by if you're to survive…but besides some friends, what else did you bring with you? Did you pack for this, or did you figure you'd make it up as you go? Are you in a position to be able to bring weapons with you that no one would suspect?

Something is out there, and it's getting closer.

Before you can think, you see it: a large, blackish mass, almost like slime, slithering along the ground resembling a vaguely humanoid shape with glowing yellow eyes. When it roars again, it reveals rows and rows of teeth. This was a mistake your brain warns. The strange name from the chatroom, the days leading up to this...you're fairly certain even if you are prepared that you're going to die.

And yet, something inside you stirs. Even as they move closer, you find yourself charging instead of running, as your heartbeat increases. A voice inside is guiding you, each movement bringing forth a surge of memories of a past that you had lost. You’re angry and confused, but your pain, your fears, your rage for all of this… all of that needs to be taken out on those creatures.

All you need to do now is to tear out your heart.

Prompt 4 - A new, old life

Now that you have your memories back, the strange veil of this world has been somewhat lifted. Things that seemed simple now seem strange. You have so many questions, but not enough answers. Then there's the new weapons you wield and the strange creature inside of you...your Heart Persona.

During the day, you are encouraged to continue to live as you did before, but with old and new memories together, sometimes it is difficult to keep acting like you did. Will it cause issues in your job or school life? Will it change your reactions to whatever life you had here? Do you notice others like you who have awakened?

Maybe it would be a good time to send a chatroom message, just to ask others what they are planning to do. Maybe you should set up a meeting to fight shadows at night. Maybe you’ll organize a plan of attack or set up a club to escape the strange looks others have been giving you. Maybe you just want someone's opinion on the best place to have pizza. Hey, no one said you had to use the AppleNET just for serious things, after all.

OOC

Welcome to the fourth test drive! You can find the planning post here.

If you have any questions regarding the game, you can ask them in the FAQ page or ask it directly in the planning post. Thank you, and have fun with us!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There's nothing but sympathy on her face as she watches him.

"It's hard," she says finally. "These past lives. And memories."

Her first one was pain. The constant, grinding pain of losing her friends and being trapped in the dark with no escape.

She has no words of advice for him. She wouldn't know how to banish that darkness, when she couldn't even fight off her own.

Hard is an understatement. Everything's wrong. He's wrong, and where somewhere in his memories he knows he's gotten used to reveling in that fact, but right now... At least by now he's starting to gain some ability to be coherent.

"Past life, huh." That description doesn't feel sufficient. Those memories are too... present. Not to mention the way everyone else had talked about them, that he hadn't fully understood until now. "It's not just that. It's real." He looks up at her, sparing a nod and glance to his surroundings. "And this is fake."

She nods, reluctantly.

"I remember hearing, when I was younger, that the world ended and began anew. But the people who survived into the new world were left without their memories, so they could build new lives without the pain of remembering."

It's not quite the same. But it helps her understand it, even if just a little.

"I don't know if that's better or worse."

He finally pulls himself to his feet, dusting himself off a bit. "If that's the case, then it might be better not to remember at all." And then he can't help but flinch slightly as one of his old, real, memories surfaces about what Gai was like when he temporarily had amnesia. Maybe ignorance is bliss, after all. Though on some level he can't help but rebel against that thought.

"Someone owes us a thorough explanation of what's going on here." That feels better. Directing that frustration to some kind of action.

That she knows she can agree with, and she nods.

"We should get out of here first. I don't know how many more of those creatures there are, but we're better off not finding out."

"I wouldn't mind killing a few more of them, personally."

But he's not arguing, really.

Well, he might just get his wish. A few more of the shadows make their way over.

"How good are you at fighting?" she checks, sliding ahead of him just in case, readying her bow first.

"More than enough for these." It's a bit odd to say, considering his human self wouldn't have made such a claim, but now he has a sword and he remembers how to use it, among some other powers that are new and different. It's not what he's used to, in any sense of the phrase, but it's enough to work with.

He picks a target, different from the one she's aiming her bow at, and moves in to strike at it.

Well, if he think it's better to engage directly, Aqua's not going to argue. She's just going to fire off arrows at the creatures flanking his target, making sure that nothing's going to take him by surprise.

Unfortunately, she's leaving herself wide open for one to come at her from the side.

Better is debatable, but he will be the first to say that physically swinging a sword at something is definitely more satisfying this moment. He notices the arrows catching the other ones nearby, and glances back at her when there's a break in the enemies around him... only to see one sneaking up next to her.

"Look out!" He calls, and there's an odd moment of panic, because he's not that far but he's not close enough to get back, not when he's human and can't move the way he should, and being just too far away to do something about a monster sneaking up on someone is a position he's been in before. It's not quite conscious when he suddenly recalls the new powers he's been given and hits the monster in question with a magic attack, in the element of light.

She only sees the monster at the last minute, and on reflex, tries to set up a shield, only to feel very different magic within her, failing to respond the way she's used to. It's luck that Juggler's able to save her.

"Thank you," she says, pulling her sword to help defend. "Be careful."

She needs to remember that she's not alone. That someone may need her not to get hurt, and definitely not to fall.

For a moment, he just stands there, not quite sure what he just did. Light? That's... new. And yet, he felt it and understood what it was. It's not the first time whatever odd power had attached itself to him had seen fit to give him a magic attack, but it's different from what he'd been using against the monsters. Why...?

He doesn't immediately respond to her words, though they do pull him out of his thoughts a little bit, and he can't help the bit of laughter that follows. Light element. How thoroughly ironic.

"Shouldn't I be the one to say that to you?" About being careful, considering what just happened. Though it's not bad advice considering in that moment he spent confused, the shadows have gotten closer again. He's ready for them with his sword, though he might need that support as two of them come at him at once from different directions.

Aqua brings her sword down on another creature as Juggler's words hit. It's...it's good for her, she knows. She should be watching out for herself. But the fact that she still isn't scares her a little more than she's willing to admit. Maybe there's more to this whole demon thing than just a sea monster with a tiara.

"My magic isn't the same," she admits. "I won't let it happen again."

Juggler takes care of the creature in front of him and turns to deal with the one flanking him, to discover that Aqua's gotten to it already. The words are interesting.

"You had magic before, then."

She nods, testing an ice spell. It's not as strong as blizzaga would have been, or any of her others.

"For a long time. I guess this world isn't as kind about letting us use what we know."

With nothing too close at the moment, Juggler shifts to magic again as well, returning to the somewhat more familiar dark spell he'd been using against the shadows before Aqua got there.

"So it seems. My abilities are different, too."

The sudden shift to darkness instead of light catches her by surprise.

"How are you able to use both?"

It's never been possible, according to Master Eraqus and everything she's studied.

He glances over to her at that question, raising an eyebrow at the perplexed look on her face. It seems appropriate.

"How would I know?" He just got these powers, after all, though that particular combination of elements seems like it might have been designed to mock him. "If you ask me, what you saw before is the strange one."

"I see," she answers, her spirits plummeting. So there wasn't an answer after all--nothing that could have prevented her friends from going down the path they had.

She still distrusts the darkness, but if Juggler can also wield light, she can at least work with him for now.

She's disappointed. He can tell that. In a way, he is too, though he doubts for the same reason. Darkness is his element; there's no reason for him to have light abilities, and even less reason to it to protect a stranger. He's not sure why he did, aside from maybe the all-too-domestic memories from here interfering with his own self concept. But this life was fake to begin with wasn't it?

He replies with a vague smirk, with a slightly sadistic edge that hadn't been there a moment before. "In fact, I can't imagine why I would have that at all. Why should this place give me the powers of my enemies?"

That's not encouraging in the least, but Aqua has enough of her memories back to know better than to rise to his bait. She's gotten herself into too many messes because she had to argue.

"We still have to get out of here, right?" she points out. "So no matter what powers we've got, we need to use them."

There's a slight snort at that. He's not arguing, and he won't hesitate to harness that power if he needs to, now that he knows he has it. Still, he'll stick with the one that's more comfortable for as long as it's working. And to that end, he throws another dark spell at one of the remaining shadows.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Round 4: Test Drive

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