TEST DRIVE MEME

[eternitymods]

A. RETRIEVAL Dreams fade slowly, and awareness returns in increments. The hum of machinery, the smell of recycled air, the murmurs of others waking up around you. The interior of the ship has been outfitted with cots for those Biggs and Wedge retrieve from the Dream Width. Outside of the makeshift infirmary, windows set into the walls of the worn lounge area offer a view of space. It’s time to meet your fellow new arrivals who have been brought together on Biggs and Wedge’s airship. None of you know how you came to be here or where you are going, and the door to the cockpit is locked as the pilots focus on navigating the treacherous obstacles of the Dream Width. You might as well take this moment to introduce yourself to your fellow travelers. B. CURTI CENTER There’s an almost overwhelming aura of excitement in the tower as researchers rush to document this unprecedented number of interdimensional travelers. Over the commotion, the leaders of the Center struggle to explain, ‘Welcome to Vaikuntha. We don’t know why you’ve been brought here, but this is your new home.’ The staff will do their best to help the off-worlders settle in. They answer the questions they can, provide maps and pamphlets about the world and the destinations within it, and even guide the arrivals to a neighborhood where housing has been provided for you. Yes, due to the strange influx of arrivals, you’ll be expected to share, but the Curti staff are doing the best they can under the circumstances. Experiences like these bring people together. Perhaps you are the only one here from your world, but at least you are not alone in this experience. Others are right beside you, learning the same information, planning trips to visit the same new cities, checking out these Job things, and settling in to their new (temporary) homes. C. UP IN THE SKY There’s a whole new world to explore. It’s almost enough to distract from the fact that there’s one place you can’t go- home. You are on an Airship, the main mode of transportation between the major cities of Vaikuntha. While the majority are owned by airlines, perhaps you hitched a ride with a friend that has their own. You can go anywhere in a matter of hours — One can only hope you don’t have motion sickness. D. GUILDS Proud representatives of the Guild are lined up, ready to demonstrate their skills for the new initiates. Make sure to stay behind the designated line, this might get dangerous. So you want a new Job? You'll have to first travel to the Guilds, sign the papers, go through the orientation and introductory lectures, and get basic training. Afterwards, you can freely chat and practice with your fellow members, celebrating your new powers, and checking out your new wardrobe. E. LET'S BE ADVENTURERS Separated from all of your material possessions, connections, and everything you know, and really, what you’re left with is time. Better try to make the most of it. Enough expository banter. It's explorin' time. Maybe instead of spending every day in your room, you'd rather spend it living it up in the city of Lavode, or betting on Chocobo Races in Sparks Goldsaucia. Or maybe you'd rather go and explore the caves and ruins near Arito. With Airships and Chocobos at your disposal, you can go nearly anywhere! F. SIDEQUESTS Maybe you’re telling yourself, ‘I didn’t sign up for this.’ But wait, you did. At least it pays. It all started when you checked the Quest Board.  All you wanted was a few gil to spend, and here you are in the wild, hunting for a Malboro Vine. Or maybe you are in some ancient and decrepit ruins looking for an artifact. Or you could be asked to be janitor for a week. Consider yourself lucky though, at least you don't have to do that alone. G. GET A JOB (THE OTHER KIND) You’ve got a Job, but Claire keeps sighing and muttering about layabout space-people not earning their keep, so it might be time to seek out Employment as well. There are plenty of opportunities to earn some gil in Vaikuntha, no matter where you choose to settle down. Your iMog slate includes listing for employment opportunities. Hopefully you can find something you can live with so that you can start saving up for an airship or the security payment for your permanent housing. H. MOGNET *Ding!* You’ve got Mog-Mail! Thankfully, you can instantaneously chat with your friends around the world thanks to you iMog Slate. And unlike old-fashioned Moogle Letters, you can even send messages to everyone in a blink of an eye! However, despite the change in technology, the old tradition of Mognet Strikes have never gone away. Nobody knows any more whether the Moogles have legitimate reasons to go on strike or if they are just lazy. But today, Mognet is down, and to get information you have no choice but going to the public boards or risk message corruption and mishandling. I. RANDOM ENCOUNTER The ground trembles, and out of nowhere, something hostile appears! Is that battle music playing? You were minding your own business walking around, and suddenly monsters attacked you! Time to put to use the skills you've learned with your Jobs! Will you try to fight on your own or seek help? And remember, you die in random battle, you die FOR REAL. There’s no shame from running from enemies that are a higher level than you! J. WILD CARD Feeling inspired to create your own prompt? The power is yours!

Comments

An Introduction

[conniemaheswaran]

PROMPT A
[A young human girl with dark brown skin and a short, fluffy bob of black hair tosses and turns in her cot, mumbling something about killer bird blobs. Her eyes snap open and she sits straight up, head whipping violently back and forth as she takes in her new surroundings.]

Huh? How- what hap- where am I?

[Shaking her head, Connie tumbles free of the cot. She's wearing a dark leather aviator's jacket over a cerulean tee, her blue jeans rolled up slightly to leave some room for her sensible red sneakers. Gawking at the large variety of strange passengers, she strolls up to the window and peers out into the Dream Width, eyes nearly bulging out of her sockets.]

Woah... wait just a second. Where's-

[Forcing herself away from the magnificent view, Connie double checks the rest of the infirmary, searching high and low for her jam bud to no avail. Lips pursed in a thin line, she begins pacing down the length of the cabin, mumbling to herself.]

Okay, Connie, let's review the situation. One, I'm trapped in a... completely different ship? Last I remember I was, or, well, we were crashing in the hold of the Sun Incinerator to get some rest before heading back home. Two, Steven, Lars, and the Off Colors aren't here, or at least I haven't seen them yet. Three, there appear to be a variety of species laid up in... wherever here is.

[She groans, then realizes something, reaching for an object at her shoulder that is no longer there.]

Great. Just fantastic. Both my sword and all my survival equipment are gone. Amazing!

[She shakes her head, pinching the bridge of her nose.]

None of this makes any sense!

PROMPT B
[Connie clenches her fist, staring at the ground.]

So... what you're saying is that nobody's made it back home? Ever?

[Tears welling at the corners of her eyes, Connie turns away.]

Excuse me. I... I just need a moment. Please. This... it's a lot to take in.

PROMPT D
[Connie watches with delight as the swordmasters show off their craft, dueling each other in a near-blinding flurry of shining steel. When the demonstration is over, she begins to approach one of the recruiters, before stopping. She takes another step, then another, raising a finger, but backs off at the last second, uncertain. She was just so... young. And considering that apparently the Width had sapped all of her strength, showing off her own skills wasn't an option. How in all the hells was she supposed to get her asterisk?]

PROMPT D, PART 2
[Eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets at the flash displays of magic put on by the black mages, Connie shows none of the hesitation that she did at the swordmaster guild, practically bouncing up to one of the demonstrators.]

Hi! Um, hi. Yeah. My name's Connie. Connie Maheswaran. I'm, just... wow. In case it wasn't, heh, obvious already, I'm from offworld. Or, er, off dimension. It's kind of a fuzzy area, isn't it? Oh god I'm rambling. Anyways, I know I probably seem a bit, um, young for this line of work, but the thing is I, I really want to learn magic, and I, um... I want to help the people here. There are so many monsters and threats and evil beings just kinda stomping all over the people on this world, and it, it... I dunno. Maybe I'm a dumb kid but I feel like it's my duty to try and help people here. This place his my home now, and I, um, I should do my best to defend it. Right. God. That was so embarrassing and I'm just going to stop talking now.

b.

[zanarkandian]

[Oh, that hurts. He hates it when girls cry. Tidus approaches, trying to smile at her.]

Hey. Just because no one has doesn't mean no one will, right?

[But that sounds wrong even to him. He's been through this once before.]

I mean...I know it hurts. I was already taken from home before I got here, and now I don't know if I'll ever get back. But you've got friends to help you here, right?

Re: b.

[conniemaheswaran]

Connie sniffles slightly. "Yeah. Thanks. It's just I'm... worried, I guess. When you're taken away from your home planet just weeks after it's become a blip on an intergalactic conqueror's radar it's a bit, um, stressful? I mean, logically, it should always be stressful knowing that any moment Earth could be bumped up the to-do list of the Diamonds, but the fact that I can't do anything about it now somehow makes it worse. Sorry, I'm rambling. You're right, though, I do have, um... well, maybe not friends yet, since I hardly know any of you, but acquaintances? Maybe?"

b.

[zanarkandian]

"Yeah, I know how that is. But my friends are pretty strong. They used to tease me about how weak I was---they can get by without me, I hope. But it's okay to be scared---those diamonds do sound pretty scary."

He smiles. "You'll definitely have friends soon. Maybe we could be?"

Re: b.

[conniemaheswaran]

"Heh. Maybe. From the sound of things, you kinda need friends to watch your back if you so much as step out of the city. I used to be pretty competent, but," Connie sighs, flexing her arm. "It's like somebody decided to roll back all those dozens of hours of training in a few seconds. Which is, um, pretty irritating. Hopefully that'll change when we get our asterisk thingies."

[zanarkandian]

"Yeah, it's pretty frustrating. I worked really hard to prove myself as a guardian---just have to get by on running away 'til then, I guess," he sighs.

"What kind of training did you want to do?

[conniemaheswaran]

Connie chews on the inside of her cheek, deliberating. "Well, heh, believe it or not, I actually used to be a really good swordfighter back home! Okay, maybe not really good, but I like to think I was at least competent. So I think getting those skills back is my top priority. But, on the other hand... magic! This world has magic! How could I possibly pass an opportunity to learn magic up!"

[zanarkandian]

"Magic is pretty cool," he nods. "I wish my friend Lulu was here. She could probably teach you all kinds of stuff! But yeah, I'm a swordsman too. I want to try to focus on that first. I think I'd just fry my own hide if I tried magic."

He snorted. "There's all kinds of swords, though. What do you like to use?"

[conniemaheswaran]

Connie's eyes light up when Tidus asks about her preferred weapons. "Oh! Well, I was trained in one- and two-handed backsword variants, but outside of training I primarily use a single-edged zweihander with a broad blade and a basket hilt. It can be a bit unwieldy at times, but the reach and cutting power is worth it, especially when you're fighting monsters ten times your size. I guess you could say I've dabbled a little bit in sword-and-shield combat, but that's, um... that's a complicated matter."

D.

[stfuporom]

[While not a representative himself, one of the people in line steps forward with a huff of indignation. He's a young man, probably in his late-teens or earl-twenties, and looks down Connie with an appraising air.]

Breathe.

Re: D.

[conniemaheswaran]

"Um, yes. That is, um, probably a good idea." Taking his advice, Connie takes a few deep breaths. "Sorry, it's just that I'm, well, um, my world was actually pretty mundane for the most part, and I, uh, kinda fantasized about learning magic my entire life? I mean, I did get into the weirder side of things after a little bit, but I never actually learned any spells or anything like that. So, it's just... exciting and overwhelming and a bunch of other different things all mixing up in this big awkward speech vomit that I'm currently getting all over your ears. I know that this probably isn't helping my case."

[stfuporom]

[He raises a hand to his temple and shakes his head.]

Stop. Just stop.

Your magic is going to run away from you and catch a cat on fire if you keep going in that many directions. And then you'll feel embarrassed and swear off your magic and then we'll have one less black mage asterisk to hand out to people.

Is that what you want? A charbroiled cat on your conscience?

[conniemaheswaran]

"Right. Right." Connie breathes in and out once more. "If I want to learn properly, I need to focus." After a few more moments, she calms down significantly. "Thanks. I just get worked up about things like this. Probably more than is healthy. Definitely more than is healthy, actually. Um, if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

[stfuporom]

He fold his arms at the question, noting the girl's change in demeanor. "Palom." The boy stated flatly, not asking the girl hers.

He takes a further moment and leans in a little. She was intriguing, he would admit, but then again so are other kids her age. This required some prodding. "What interest do you have with black magic? Not very many girls are interested in blowing things up. Don't you think healing magic would be more for you?"

[conniemaheswaran]

Connie's eye twitched. "Healing magic won't kill the monsters that make a regular habit of trying to murder me whenever I so much as step outside whatever city or village I'm staying at. Well, granted, it could make a difference against undead-class monsters, but fireballs and steel will also do the job in that case."

[stfuporom]

"You're a weird girl." His grin curls in a wry smile. "Most of you don't figure that out and leave the actual work to us. Good for you." Despite his words he didn't actually mean it. In fact, he knew several girls that would kick his ass seven ways to Sunday if they heard him say that, even to get a rise out of someone.

"Alright, fine. I like a challenge. In recognition that one of your number is learning a little common sense, I'll be willing to share with you a few pointers to get you started."

[conniemaheswaran]

On the one hand, Connie was sorely tempted to introduce to Palom exactly why it was foolhardy to apply broad stereotypes to women, and to act like an arrogant ass to them to boot. On the other hand, he was the only person who had deigned to extend an offer of training to her. Swallowing her pride, Connie nodded, bowing to Palom. "Thank you for your offer. I accept it with the utmost gratitude. My name is Connie, and I will be happy to be your student." If one listened closely, they could hear a vaguely sarcastic twinge in her voice.

A

[kuposcreed]

[So many new arrivals. So many people worried about where they are and where they came from and what's going on now. This time around, Bonnie doesn't have any answers to offer, and it's a bit odd to be on the receiving end of it, but it's all a bit similar to last time right? Maybe she can help a bit.

Spotting the distraught girl, the hooded moogle flutters over to her and gives her some gentle pats on her shoulder.]

There there, kupo. I know this is all strange, but I promise it's not all bad, kupo.

Re: A

[conniemaheswaran]

Connie laughs hysterically. "What's not bad about it? I'm separated from home with no obvious way to get back, hovering above an," she fishes some pamphlets out of her pocket, showing Bonnie the ones detailing the dangerous flora and fauna of Vaikuntha, "extraordinarily dangerous world, and I don't know a single person here!"

Re: A

[kuposcreed]

Bonnie looked at the pamphlets she was being shown. To her own assurance it looked like things in this world lined up with Crystallis pretty well so far. She wasn't so far out of her element as others were.

"Kupo~ It might be dangerous, but most worlds are dangerous in their own ways, right kupo? And this one seems a lot like mine. Oh, I know..." The moogle giggled softly and then held out her paw.

"I'm Bonnie, kupo. Back on Crystallis I was the personal moogle to the Hero and Famous Assassin Mary Read. There, now you know someone here, kupo."

Re: A

[conniemaheswaran]

Connie smiles. "Thanks. I guess you're right. I mean, it can't be any more deadly than fighting the Light Warrior. Hopefully. Um, Connie. That's my name. Connie Maheswaran."

Re: A

[kuposcreed]

The moogle looked confused for a moment. Light Warrior ran a bit close to Hero of Light and she had to mentally unhitch the train that had her picturing Connie fighting the likes of Cloud and Ramza. But that thought reminded her of a few others.

"Well, um, it can be deadly, kupo. But we'll all be working together. Just like last time, kupo. Whatever we're here for, I'm sure you all will be able to beat it!"

Re: A

[conniemaheswaran]

"Wait. What do you mean by 'last time?'" Connie asks, eyebrow raised. "Is this some sort of cycle? You said that we're here for a reason. What do you mean by that?"

Re: A

[kuposcreed]

"Ah, kupoooo, how to put this. I'm from a world where people were brought from other worlds to be Heroes, kupo. I was a moogle who helped out my Hero, and other Heroes had moogles too." Bonnie nods at the other moogles fluttering around, checking on people and answering questions.

"My Hero was the best though. Mary is super cool, kupo. She's a pirate, and an Assassin! That's kinda like a ninja, kupo." Losing the thread there, Bonnie. "Ah! Um, anyway, we all worked together and we saved Crystallis, and me and Mary went home with Miss Saori. They make a nice couple, kupo. And Saori cooks a lot of delicious food."

She pauses and then looks around, drooping a bit in her fluttering. "But...kupoooo, that was that world, and we stopped the cycle there. I don't know what's going on now. Or where Mary is, kupo..."

Re: A

[conniemaheswaran]

Connie pinches the bridge of her nose. "Great. Considering the extraordinarily high density of heroes that seemed to have been picked up on this run," she looks out at the people with multicolored and spiky hair and rummage sale reject outfits, "It looks like the multiverse is starting to make a regular habit out of yoinking people out of their home dimensions to solve its problems. And I guess not even pulling a world-saving shift before exempts you from this ridiculousness!"