memesofeternity | TEST DRIVE MEME

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TEST DRIVE MEME

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!

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The chocobo's antics were amusing him to no end, and that was what they were like anyway, very aggressive about getting their greens. It made for some very amusing pictures at least.

His expression was one of relief and he exhaled.

"Oh wow. So you um, know about that?" He asked and then shook his head. "About you I mean?"

Prompto scratched his head a little, ducking his head shyly. "I didn't die. I was still very alive when I just...showed up here."

"I agreed to it, so yes. The part where it took awhile helped cement the memory."

Though, having a memory when he was supposed to be long gone was a bit jarring. How many people could say they felt death take them only to wake? None of this was how it was expected.

He supposed if he had another opportunity at life he would question his belief system. Maybe reassess some things, evaluated some values and the like. Unfortunately for all there was only one opportunity.

Well. Maybe not all in this case.

"Better than being dead, I can assure you of that. Did the Princess manage to meet up with you?"

"I don't actually know how you...you know." He waved his hand a little bit. "We were out of Insomnia and we got the news after it fell and everything." His companions all lost their families, except Iris, and Prompto had no one there to lose.

Prompto shuffled nervously at Nyx's question and he shook his head slowly. "N-Not exactly." He knew who he meant at least.

"When we got to Altissia, and they called on Leviathan, the Empire showed up and Lady Lunafreya died." He looked at the ground, grass was such a fascinating thing. "Noct barely made it and Ignis...if you know him, was blinded."

Altissia had been the definition of 'clusterfuck' in Prompto's opinion.

That was not exactly how he would have wanted to receive any form of bad news. Not sandwiched between other bad information like it was a checklist. Nyx felt everything screech to a halt in his mind, hand going still on the Chocobo.

"She's dead."

War had casualties, of course. Insomnia fell and thousands died. Friends died, people who had families. There was just a certain level of pain that came with working so hard to keep someone alive then to find out they had died.

He needed to sit down. The Chocobo pushes it's head forward to nuzzle against his head and he closes his eyes for a moment.

"...Yes. I know him, the prince's steward."

"I'm sorry." Prompto said, and he truly meant it. He didn't know what Nyx's relationship was with the Oracle, if he knew her very well at all, and unfortunately as of late it had been a checklist of one bad thing after another.

It was really hard to keep optimistic in such trying times, and it was only because of Noctis he was pressing forward to do that.

He would let Nyx have his moment, a little regretful that he hadn't been too kind in saying so. He too had wanted to meet Lady Lunafreya, but that would never happen now.

Nyx was silent, listening to the Chocobo's breathing and soft squawking. He straightens himself, pulling in a breath. Whatever had happened after Lunafreya departed from Insomnia was out of his control. As upset--No. As angry as he was there was nothing to be done now.

This was why when people died for a cause, for a person that they shouldn't some how find out if it was failed or not. In the moment it felt righteous and full of hope. Now it felt empty.

"The only way to go is forward."

That was all he could think to say on it. What grand words could he say to make the moment feel lighter? He had no words of wisdom or sense of pride. His efforts felt wasted for the moment at the least.

She lived, for however longer it had been. When Nyx's head cleared he would be able to process that fact with a more accepting frame of mind.

"Or.. as forward as one can go. Considering you're here and not there."

He let out a slow breath. "Yeah. That's what I'll keep telling myself."

Unfortunately, the story didn't end there and he too was facing a crisis that was hopefully only going to be temporary - and it would, but it would be so much longer than he thought. So much longer than he hoped.

All of that was in the future.

"At least I've seen everyone here." Prompto offered with slight cheer, even though that meant at home someone was missing. Someone important, in his opinion.

"You've seen others from our world here?"

That piqued his interest. Though, it brought worry as well. If everyone was here then what was going on back home? These boys were supposed to be riding forth into the literal sunset to make sure it actually rose the following morning.

"I don't know exactly how I should feel about the hopes for our--your world not actually being in the world."

Right, it wasn't exactly his world any more if he had become literal dust in the wind.

"Yeah, Noct is here, Ignis, Gladio..." Prompto listed them off with a small smile. "They don't all remember the same things I do, some of them are missing time? I'm not too sure. Noct knows though."

Prompto sighed softly, crossing his arms and tapping his fingertips on his elbow.

"So far um, we're...Noct is gone, in the crystal? So the three of us are going to have to um, wait for him I guess." That was the plan, it couldn't take long right?

"Just the three of us." Which was already weird and uncomfortable and no one knew what to say.

Nyx wasn't sure of the crystal aspect but it sounded as if they were on the track to actually succeed regardless of Nyx's personal knowledge of any prophecies or lack there of in this case.

Prompto surely ha a different point he was making in regards to emphasizing the just the three of us aspect of the waiting but Nyx was most likely picking up on the wrong connotation of the statement.

"It's only the three of you left in the fight?"

Really? What were three people meant to do, or even four if you included the king against the full might of the Empire?

"Fight's kind of on hold while Noct is gone in the crystal." He murmurs softly. "At least, we can't kill the Chancellor on our own, I mean..." Prompto hid a tremor at his title, his entire body shaking twice before stopping.

"He's immortal. He needs Noct to come back." He didn't say that he, Gladio and Ignis needed him too. He didn't need to. "To die. I think. I don't really know everything about it."

They were just waiting for Noctis, waiting for deliverance.

The Chancellor? Nyx remembered the Chancellor from the party before the treaty signing but they hadn't shared words. Nyx hadn't really registered him as much of a threat at the time. He was clearly further out of the loop than originally thought. It hadn't been his his place to know though.

"I.. missed quite a bit." Was the best he could come up with at the moment. "I only know as much as the King told me, in the last moments of his life and none of it was in regards to the Chancellor being immortal."

Noctis he knew was the key to turning the tide but that was the extent of it.

"Yeah, that was an unpleasant surprise." He answered a little bitterly, and he really should clamp down on that part of his personality, because holding all that anger couldn't be healthy for him.

"Look...let's just say he's pulling the strings." Prompto ran his fingers through his hair, he didn't want to discuss the Chancellor too much.

"And responsible for pretty much everything."

Nyx presses his lips into a firm line, brows raising as he looks to the Chocobo. So the Empire hadn't been the source of the problem after all. Most likely just as much puppets as everyone else. One man at the center of it seemed almost too simplistic despite the number of complicated webs that would have had to have been woven to pull it off.

"All of that pain and destruction due to one man... Though I suppose it isn't much different when I had assumed it was the Emperor."

Besides the immortality aspect of it. That part needed some further questioning but he knew there was little to be done about it from his and end Prompto seemed uncomfortable.

"And now we are here, for whatever reason." Nyx rubs the Chocobo's head as it pushes against his face again. "Probably more machinations of the gods."

"All of it to come from him." He said softly, nodding in agreement.

Prompto didn't mean to give off the vibe he was uncomfortable, but after he'd spent some up close and personal time with the man, he just didn't feel the need to think about him. Or rather, he couldn't stop.

"Maybe, but I'll take it." He breathed and offered a lopsided smile.

"I kinda need Noct right now, selfish as that is."

If Nyx knew Prompto better perhaps he would have pressed but they knew little of one another. Nyx knew his name and his face, his friendship to Noctis and the other two. But nothing beyond that.

"People are allowed to need their friends without being accused of being selfish."

Nyx did his best to not need anyone but it didn't mean that the presence of the familiar wasn't a comfort.

"Temporary separation is still just temporary. You'll have many years yet to enjoy after the war is finished." If they both survived it anyway. Better to be optimistic in this case.

"Uhh, yeah, but you know. Time with Noct or saving the world?" Prompto offered an uneasy smile. "Think it's a selfish thought."

He didn't know Nyx, but that wasn't for any reason. He'd trained with Cor, Gladio and Ignis, and Noct sometimes, so he didn't really know the Glaives that well, even if he had the uniform.

"Yeah. When it's all over. I can't wait." Prompto confided with a gentler smile. "I just want the end of it to come. To see the sun rise over Eos, you know?"

Nyx wished he'd taken the time to be a little more selfish here and there but Nyx carried enough regrets as it was. He couldn't linger on the past any longer. Too many years wasted trying to rectify something that couldn't be rectified.

"A sun rising can be quite the beautiful sight. I can attest to that."

Considering it was the last thing he'd seen himself. The sun rising, the warmth as it touched on his crumbling skin. He'd seen the sun rise in this world but it was different here.

"Yeah." Prompto smiled a little as he thought about it. "It's been dark for a few days, so I just know that when Noct gets back, we'll see the light again. It'll be worth it."

He was looking forward to that sunrise.

"Anyway, yeah, sorry you didn't..." Prompto hesitated. Make it out of Insomnia? Survive? He just let it trail off.

"But you're here for some reason...like we all are."

That was one way to express condolences he supposed. Usually the dead wasn't supposed to be able to respond to awkward condolences about their state of non-living. Still, it was appreciated. It wasn't often the dead could be consoled.

"I should be thankful, for whatever reason it might be. It isn't often you get a second chance, for however long it might be."

He wanted to say maybe it was a gift for his sacrifice but things hadn't exactly been looking good at the time for him anyway if he wanted to be truly honest.

Prompto smiled and nodded. "I don't know if the Astrals were involved or not, but it seems like something they might do."

He might have been less awkward, but what could he say to someone who'd died about it, really? What would have been more comforting?

"This place seems okay, but it's not Eos. You know?"

Considering the Astrals were usually to blame for things Nyx wouldn't be surprised. Well, possibly a little surprised since it seemed to be a generally positive thing. Though, clearly not for everyone.

"I don't mean to rain on your parade, but most of the Eos that I saw was on fire."

Between Galahd being taken over and then the war on the front lines, followed by Insomnia falling? This place was a step up just based on that alone.

Honestly, if the Astrals were watching over Prompto, they weren't doing a very good job, so he could understand the negative experience very well. If he hadn't seen the Astrals himself he might have doubted their influence.

"Oh yeah, well, it kind of still is?" Prompto said with an uneasy smile. "Although, the Empire for the moment, doesn't seem to be as active considering darkness fell and all that."

The starscourge was going to do damage to both sides. Lunafreya's loss was devastating for the world.

"But, um, we really want to fix it. To take Insomnia back and for Noct to come home so it's like...this is nice, but it's sort of in the way of our goals."

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