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

Futaba Sakura | Persona 5

[promiselisting]

Don't Like That Thing. No Sir. - (Retrieval)

[ Nope. Just. Nope. She is absolutely, positively, not ready to deal with this today. Or next week. She's never been on an airplane before, let alone a jostle-y airship. Other dimensions? Okay yeah sure. Being pulled to other dimensions with no warning? No thank you.

And above all, being trapped in a place where there is nothing familiar about you? At all? Pretty much everyone is a stranger? Not even Necronomicon in her head? Nope. Not dealing with this.

And by "not dealing with this" she means finding a nice corner of the room with a potted plant to sort of hide behind. And... do her best not to panic. ]

Why do a job yourself if you can get minions to do it for you - (Get a job)

[ There's... a small robotic moogle floating around, dustpan and brush in hand, cleaning up the sidewalk and depositing litter in the nearest appropriate place for such garbage. But... that's it. They're working... pretty much by themselves.

As for the Puppetmaster? Sitting under an awning next door to a nearby building, flicking through her iMog Slate with an irritable expression. It's not tech but it's... something. Hopefully she's not standing in your way? Or that you don't take offense at such blatant laziness delegation. ]

Wildcard - anything goes

[ COME AT ME. She's probably gonna be making a beeline for Oktavia pretty fast. ]

1- both of your thread prompts are great and I had to flip a coin

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk is used to ships, especially ones that fly! Whether they're in the air or in space, he's ready! He can handle this!

And then the airship shook in the sky, the inelegant reaction turbulence throwing about fifty monkey wrenches into his gut. Maybe it was the fact that he was in some new place, far from everyone he knew, or maybe it was from lunch, or maybe even the weird, exhausting dreams he woke up from.

But his stomach wasn't having any of this. So when he rounds the corner, looking quite green in the face and sees a potted plant, the holy grail of receptacles for the unfortunate, he lunges towards it, hands around the pot's edges, face held a few inches over the dirt, and-

There's a girl here. He lets out a groan of disoriented despair alongside a single groggy hiccup. ]

H-hi, you might wanna back u-urp... [ He doesn't sound like he can hold this in much longer. ]

[promiselisting]

[ The list of things that could have willingly made her move is short. The list that could make her move fast is even shorter. This? Thankfully? Is on both. For one split second she just stares at him, dumbfounded that someone actually sought out her hiding spot and then... ]

Eugh!

[ She is scrambling away along the wall. Sorry she wants to be nowhere near that. Especially since her own stomach is jumping a bit in sympathy. ]

[chefbayardee]

[ This is good. She's fast. Hunk moves around the potted plant, though it's closer to a skitter, interposing his back between the disaster radius and this poor girl.

And then a hideous noise echoes into the poor plant, somewhere between a woodchipper mauling a couch and a toilet getting clogged. One deep, raspy breath. Another. And then, a wheeze: ]

I... I think I'm good...

[ He waits a moment, and then... just pushes the pot away from him, and away from this girl he just vomited in front of. He doesn't want to smell it, so he's sure she doesn't want to, either. ]

S-sorry...

[promiselisting]

[ Augh yeah those noises are um... they don't leave too much to the imagination and what she imagines makes her stomach want to jump around even more. Which isn't his fault (technically) but- Well. At least he's pushing it away because the smell on top of everything else? Would probably have ended badly. ]

No problem! Not a problem.

[ She's okay she's cool she can handle this. Maybe. If she closes her eyes she can almost think of it instead like they're all in Mona in bus form, trundling along the tracks of Mementos. ]

Is it always this bouncy?

[chefbayardee]

Shouldn't be. [ He groans, turning himself away from the pot of regret and towards the girl. Maybe if he can distract her, she'll be less freaked out. ]

I'm pretty used to space, [ He shrugs, offering a slight smile. ] so either they're bad pilots [ Hunk knows bad pilots, he is one! ] or their engineering is, well, bad.

[ But then he catches himself, his face takes a panicked expression, and- ] I don't mean like faulty! I mean... unrefined. It's like I'm used to sports cars but I'm riding in some antique jalopy.

[promiselisting]

Yeah...

[ She actually thinks she can sort of follow. She hasn't... seen much of this place yet but the overall interior of the ship seems kind of... dated? Ugh, none of this was making sense. Even in the metaverse, things tended to follow a sort of logic? Like gravity and lack thereof and such she wasn't there for Madarame's palace, okay. ]

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[ There's an uncomfortable stress put on those two particular words. She doesn't really like just... waiting like this. Especially with how alien her surroundings are and how not in control of this situation she i. ]

2 - ngl I squealed a little

[studdedcouncilprez]

[Makoto was rubbing her temples trying to wrap her head around the brochure they had given her. She must have read it five times from front to back, but it was still making her head spin. At least the Metaverse followed understandable psychological principles. But this place? It followed its own rules entirely.]

[Thinking that maybe she’d get a better handle on things if she goes for a walk, she instead is going completely against her intentions by keeping her face buried in the pamphlet. She is so into it in fact that she could probably run over a cat crossing her path or...]

[Makoto practically leaps over the puppet as she stumbles into it. Her first instinct? Completely freak out.] Omygoshimsosorry! [Her panic became curiosity when she saw what she ran into.] What...? What are you? [It looked like a moogle but it was clearly mechanical. Despite the potential risk to herself, she kneeled down on her toes and took a closer look.]

[It would be terrible if someone took advantage of her like this...]

Ahhh I hope I don't disappoint ;o;

[promiselisting]

[The commotion does make her look up, eyes widening when she sees who it is. A familiar face, and a very very welcome one at that. She wants to call out-

... okay but first she can't help but take advantage of the situation a tiny bit here.

With a slight snicker, she issues an order to her little clockwork moogle who, dropping its tools, flies around Makoto a couple times rapidly, before flying up to land on top of her head.]

this is already delightful~

[studdedcouncilprez]

[ Makoto backs of as it does. Okay it’s alive and moving uh-uh... Th-think Makoto.]

[Just as she was about to piece together that a mechanical thing probably doesn’t do this sort of thing on its own, the machine jumps on her head (she could swear she saw a pirouette in there, or maybe her eyes was playing tricks on her?)]

[She yelps audibly but stays perfectly still. Her eyes swivel up to see what it’s doing. Her back is arched and her legs bent and her arms spread out. She feels complete ridiculous but doesn’t want the thing to fall.]

G-get down from there... I can’t hold this position for v-very long...

[Her bearings were starting to come to her, but she still didn’t know WHAT this thing was. If this thing was sentient it should recognize the danger of standing on her head. And if it WASN’T... shed deal with that soon.]

'u'

[promiselisting]

[ SNICKERING INTENSIFIES. It's probably audible by now.

That being said, she doesn't have the desire nor the patience to keep this up for too long, so the robotic moogle does a little flip off of her head before zipping on over to the side, where Futaba herself is sitting.

She's grinning. ]

That would be my minion.

[ Yes, she's actually calling it that. ]

[studdedcouncilprez]

[Makoto was just about out of patience when she heard the snickers. She’s all but ready to tear into somebody when a familiar figure stands before her.]

[Her tension drops in an instant. A soft smile forming on her face.]

I should have realized that was something you would do. [She moved toward her friend.] So you are trying a puppetmaster asterisk, Futaba-chan?

Retrieval

[conniemaheswaran]

Sakura's chosen corner is, in fact, already occupied by another anxious passenger of this crazy train. Connie had been doing fine, for a while. Really, she had! The people were nice here. Generally. Sometimes. But it eventually got to be too much with all the sounds and the people and the stress and all the unknown variables and just everything all conspired to send her into Super Anxiety Mode 4 and now she was in a shadowed corner trying her best to prevent a breakdown. The young girl has her back against the wall and is hugging her knees, muttering to herself, "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. I've got nothing, got nothing, got nothing to fear. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here except that's exactly where I don't want to be and oh god I need to calm down."

[promiselisting]

Well uh. Her first instinct is to go find another corner to hide in but. It sounds like whoever this is? Not in so different a boat than her? So instead she... crouches down herself. Arms wrapped around her knees and heart beating fast as it always does when she's anxious like this.

"Y-you too, huh?"

She doesn't know what they've become partners on exactly, in this grand new adventure but you know what, she's not gonna let persnickety things like details stop her right now.

[conniemaheswaran]

Connie nods. Normally, she'd scarper to another quiet corner if anybody decided to intrude upon her very small domain, but considering that the other girl seemed to be suffering from the same overload that she was, it was probably safe to stay. Probably. "Yeah. This, uh, seemed like a decent place to, um, hide. For a while. Until things stop being crazy. Although I doubt things will ever stop being crazy considering where we are, so I guess I'm just trying to delay the inevitable at this point.

"You know," Connie chuckles, sounding more hysteric than mirthful, "I've dealt with some pretty freaky stuff, but this?" she gestures at the dragon eagerly talking it up with a skeleton dressed in a lab coat and goggles, "this is on a whole 'nother level."

[promiselisting]

Taking one moment to glance over at the conversation Connie is indicating, Futaba... stares for half a moment before glancing away again, at her shoelaces. It's enough that most everyone here is a stranger without compounding that everything was looking like a really high-end convention. Or... like a bunch of animes just burst into reality. Both of which would be... kind of neat under normal circumstances? But this isn't normal.

"I... I-I'm pretty sure I've seen weirder? I can't... think of anything right now, but..." she trails off because yeah, ultimately? No, she doesn't sound sure at all. It's kind of hard to when you're sort of fighting to keep your thoughts coherent as is.

[conniemaheswaran]

"Fighting Prism Constructs or Cluster Mutants or Corrupted Gems is normal weird. This freaky weird." Connie doesn't even realize that Sakura probably has no idea what she's talking about. She's too wrapped up in the opportunity to finally vent to a fellow anxiety sufferer about the ordeal they've found themselves in. It's not every day you meet another socially awkward nerd behind a plant vase.

Going on another tangent, Connie says, "You know what's really, really strange, though? All of us--including the freakin' dragon--share the English language! And look, so many people are dressed in obviously feudalistic clothing, and, and some people even have anime-colored hair?! What is even going on?"

Retrieval

[homelate]

[ Okay, okay, okay. This is happening, somehow. Or she's going nuts. Even more... than usual. Sayori wasn't the only one who wasn't ready to accept this, she knew it. But other people weren't going through her type of existential despair. Little did she know, she would find a bird of her feather. But instead of panicked pacing-- she was huddled in a corner.

She looked so small. It reminded her of Natsuki. Very, very briefly, the older girl thought to mind her own business. But she couldn't bring herself to look away. So Sayori breathes in, and slowly approaches Futaba with a soft voice. ]

Hi... Do you mind if I sit here with you?

[ Can't even bring herself to say "it's alright!" off the bat, she's chastising herself for this, what kind of optimism and dissipation of worries can she instill with an attitude like that... but she hasn't entirely recovered from this ordeal, that might actually be more concerning if no one minded this at all. ]

[promiselisting]

[ Oh god strangers talking to her this... She can do this? Maybe? ]

I-I.... Um....

[ Finally after a few moments of struggling to find the right words she just. Nods jerkily. That'll have to do. ]

[homelate]

[ That looked like a desperate reaction. Sayori's not sure if she just made this situation worse... She's chastising herself for the possibility, but puts on a small smile of reassurance. Maybe if she fakes it enough, it'll actually work. ]

I-I mean! You kinda looked like you both wanted to have company and wanted to be left alone... if that makes sense. But you probably wanted to see a friend instead of some worried stranger...

It's kinda wild, huh? [ Her lighthearted laugh ends up sounding hollow, dear lord Sayori why did you think you could do this now you're just going to get anxious together. ]

[promiselisting]

[ Okay yeah, Sayori is... kinda spot on with a lot of that. Which is actually kind of relieving in its own way. ]

Y-yeah. That's one way to put it.

[ It's just... a lot at once. And as Sayori pointed out, none of her friends around her, that she can see. ]

[homelate]

[ She didn't scare her. Okay, that's good. Sayori's gentle smile this time around comes easier with that knowledge. ]

I know. One word's not enough. Umm, maybe unbelievable? Life-changing? World-shattering? Ahh... do compound words count?

[ --Maybe that last one is a little too real. ]

job! assuming initial meetups have already happened if thats cool!

[jocoeur]

( at first, akira is just looking at the robo-moogle do its job. his head moves back and forth as he watches the puppet go about its task, his expression rather blank.

eventually, he moves to join in, picking up an errant piece of scrap paper off the ground, and moves to dispose of it properly, giving the moogle a thumbs up as he passes.

you're doing a good job, dude. akira is here to support you, just like your master! it's only when he goes to grab a can from the ground that he notices futaba under the awning with a slightly surprised— ) Oh?

Yeah that's fine!

[promiselisting]

[ Him noticing her is pretty much the cue for her noticing him. And she just about immediately jumps up and runs over. ]

A-ah! Wait!

[ Don't do her job for her they'll think she's not doing it herself! Even though she kind of isn't Her robo moogle minion is doing it, it counts!!!! Only now that she's here she just kind of. Stops. Not entirely sure what to do here except maybe. Pick up the can he was aiming for. To throw it away herself.

She should... probably explain too. Y'know. ]

I-I got a job.

Retrieval

[dumbingofage]

[It's only going to get worse. There's a metallic rolling sound of something sliding back and forth, and the second it stops the sounds comes back.

Looking around and you might find a source of this noise, a girl, roughly the same age as Futaba placing bullets on the floor and watching them roll around like marbles, fascinated of how they move back and forth in this room.

Yuuri hasn't been on anything like a plane before either, hell she's only seen one once in action and it blew up. In any case the rolling sound isn't going to stop anytime soon]