memesofeternity | Test Drive Meme IV

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Test Drive Meme IV

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. The other newly-awakened people have no idea how they came to be here, but now's a good time as ever to introduce yourself to the others on the airship and glean what information you can.

B. CURTI CENTER

The researchers at the Curti Center are not quite so unprepared as last time, but it is still obvious that they are struggling to understand the sudden influx of interdimensional travelers from the Dream Width. "Please step into the lobby for a quick survey. Perhaps there is some common thread we haven't discovered yet..."

The staff will do their best to help the off-worlders settle in. They answer the questions they can, write down all proffered information they can about the arrivals' homeworlds, provide maps and pamphlets about Vaikuntha 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, considering they are still housing the previous arrivals here on the island.

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. PUMPKIN SPICE

Let us send shivers down your spine.

The weather has turned cooler, and with the arrival of autumn comes fall-themed treats, fall fashion, and of course, the beginning of the spookiest holiday season. Even though summer is still newly ended, it is not uncommon to already see people embracing the season in full force. Pumpkins and ghost-moogle decorations begin to appear on porches and in windows, stores offer a pumpkin version of everything, and there is so much orange.

It is all good fun in the day time, but there does seem to be a rise of monstrous activity after the sun sets...

K. WILD CARD

Feeling inspired to create your own prompt? The power is yours!

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The blue-haired boy blinks, looking up in confusion, though... there's something... familiar about this. "Well... yeah. I always go fishing on weekends, it's a great way to relax..."

He doesn't really want to be rude if this girl's met him before and he just doesn't remember. She certainly seems familiar.

But on the other hand, he really has no idea, and he doesn't want to be dishonest, either. He might well be different to her memory, too. A little more tan, an old scar across his face that wasn't there before, an expression that's maybe a little too cheerful and carefree, not yet worn down by message after message that the universe would be better off without him.

"I'm... I'm really sorry, but I... I'm having a lot of trouble remembering where we've met before. Maybe you could give me a reminder?" He grins apologetically, standing up and brushing sand from seawater-soaked shorts. Come to think of it, the voice does feel like he's heard it before. Is it a name that starts with an S? Sarah? Sally?

Edited 2018-09-15 19:33 (UTC)

"Always go..." she had been ready to ream him out, prepped to tear him a new one— but as she looks him over again now that she's close enough, the wind seems to go out of Kid's sails in real time.

Was she really hearing this right? A disbelieving "A..." started to come from the blonde girl, but it never really took off into a full-blown word. Something was knotting in the pit of her stomach and as he stood up, she seemed to stare... then plunk herself down into a heap on the sand, hard.

Could this be... how Serge had felt talking to everyone in Another World? Were they destined to replay this game with the same mistakes?

Looking up at him from her spot in the ground, there was something pleading in the blue of her eyes, as he brow screwed upwards. "You really don't... remember me, mate? It's me— Kid. You're... yer Serge, ain't ya?"

Well now the poor kid just looks guilt-ridden. Here this girl is, clearly knowing him by name, and he can't remember a thing. "Kid? Y-yeah, I'm Serge, I- look, I am so sorry. I've completely forgotten, but..." He puts one hand to his forehead, trying to think for a moment.
"I'm completely drawing a blank, sorry. But, tell you what. Why don't you join me and we can catch up?" He offers her a hand up and a wide, honest smile. "Serge Uehara. My, uh. My dad's from Nakagawa," he offers, by way of explanation.

The last of her hopes were dashed hearing his name. This was Serge Uehara, from Nakagawa. This was Vaikuntha's Serge not the one... that she was looking for all this time. Not the same ghost boy from Arni that had ventured to the ends of the earth both at her heels— and by her side.

There's a silence that fills the space between them as she tries to work it all out, staring into the fire just ahead. But finally, she looks up at his inviting hand, and that smile... the nostalgic feeling of a shoreline washes over Kid in that moment, the image of a shoreline, reaching out for...

"Tch," damn. How was she going to explain this one? "All right, all right," she concedes, smacking her glove down into his palm to accept. "But only 'cause the fish smells so good."

He seems honestly pleased with the result. "You literally can't get 'em fresher than this." He's got a fair spread, a filleted sea bass baking on the coals and a bucket full of some type of mussel steaming next to it. He seats himself in the sand, grinning up at her. "Okay, Kid. Tell me what I've missed since the last time we've met?"

Not one to be shy, the girl reached forward without hesitation to grasp at some of those fillets. It was a good thing that she wore gloves, but that didn't stop Kid from having to juggle it back and forth between her hands ad she blew on it, ready to shove a generous amount in her mouth.

"Last thing I remember's about this place called Chronopolis," her tone was so nonchalant, as though the crazy things she was about to say weren't the least bit abnormal. "But it all got crazy after Fort Dragonia, if you ask me. It's almost like— feels like I was asleep or somethin'."

She paused then, a half-devoured bass in her hands, still steaming. "But... you wouldn't remember any of that since— it was you that was there but— not you," Kid leveled her gaze, looking to meet his eyes as she confessed, "'Cause it was the Serge from another world. My world."

In case there was any doubt, she's definitely an off-worlder.

Edited 2018-09-17 05:56 (UTC)

Serge listens intently, though his brow furrows in confusion as she talks about all these places he's never heard of, places he's never been... He's about to open his mouth to interject, because she's an offworlder, that much is clear now, but then she drops that bit of knowledge.
"I. I don't..."
And yet, it feels... strange, somehow, like he'd forgotten things, and suddenly been reminded of them.
"Another... me? But that's- how can there be two of me?" Chronopolis. There's something about that name, that place, that tugs at the corners of his brain, like a word on the tip of his tongue... "No, it makes... way too much sense. You recognized me, knew me by name... I mean, I guess you could've seen me at the Center and decided to take advantage or something but... why? And I admit it does... kind of feel like I know you. Were we... were we close?"

"Centre, schmenter," she scoffed, as though that was the craziest thing that had been shared between the two of them so far. "I can tell ya that it's like I say it is 'cause... this ain't the first other world I've been to, either. There's plenty of people I've met twice now but," the assurance that had resounded in her voice as she spoke seemed to drop off as she looked down, and off to the side.

"It's definitely the first time... it's been another you." Was it, though? Ugh, that Serge that she traveled with after what had happened at the Fort, it hurt her head to think about it sometimes.

But even then that Serge— he didn't have the warmth in his smile that the one she knew, did. This one, he felt that way, too.

"You an' me..." how could she even begin to describe it? Through all the revelations they'd endure throughout the course of their journey, there were times when she even caught herself starting to... "We were partners."

Edited 2018-09-17 09:15 (UTC)

The blue-haired boy hesitates, now, looking up at the girl across from him... By all rights he should be writing her off as insane, but again this is a piece of knowledge that just... clicks into place, like it was waiting to be remembered. "Look, Kid, I can't... I can't claim to be a replacement for that... other Serge. This is all probably way too deep for me, all this philosophical... me-but-not-me stuff. But-" He grins, now, the melancholy draining out of his expression. "You seem pretty okay to me. How about it, wanna stick together?"

As that digests, so too does the rest of her fillet go down the hatch. At least he wasn't freaking out; maybe the fact that otherworlder's becoming commonplace in Vaikuntha was helping her case.

While she listens though, her last bite goes down with a hard swallow, as Kid's tone takes on a serious edge. "I get it, you're you. You ain't the Serge I used to get on with even though you're a dead-ringer for him an' smell like fish—" the hard truth that she still felt in the bottom of her gut. But all the same, it just felt too natural to be sitting here with him, like this.

Clearing her throat, and wiping at her mouth with her glove, Kid leaned back, closing her eyes as she considered his offer. "But hearin' you ask so nicely like that... I guess I could let ya' tag around with me for awhile."

With that, her head tilted back, one eye opening half-way to peer at him curiously.

Serge laughs. "Well, if I'm gonna be 'tagging around' with you, you're gonna have to get used to fish. Dad used to brag how I knew how to sail before I could walk."
The soft, easy smile returns, and he stares out to sea for a moment. "'Course if we're gonna be friends I'm contractually obligated to inform you that my Mom is gonna insist on having you over for dinner at some point, and she's not gonna take 'no' for an answer." He grins apologetically.

There's something just so charmingly normal about the way he shares all that. It's enough to give Kid, who had hardly lived a normal day in her life since the fire, reason to pause. All of the injustices the boy she knew had suffered over the years just purely by luck of the draw... really, she couldn't think of anyone who deserved this quiet sort of happiness more than Serge.

At least one of them.

Her face screwed up into a sour sort of expression though, remembering something about Marge's house back in Arni.

"She ain't got cats, does she?"

There's a violent shudder at the word, and Serge clears his throat, staring at the sand for a moment. "Uh... no. Definitely not. I don't... really like talking about it but I've got a... a thing about cats. I know it's stupid, and I know that even housecats are pretty harmless, it's like... I look at one, and I just freeze up. Total fight-or-flight mode."
He sighs, a blush coloring his cheeks. "I can't help it. Mom thought about getting a cat as some kind of exposure therapy thing when I was little, but I begged her not to."
He doesn't... elaborate, as to the reason why they have such an effect on him. "I'm guessing other-me didn't have a problem with them?"

Her head tilts curiously at the shudder. "A thing, huh..." Another coincidence. Once he was finished sharing his story however, Kid just shook her head, and looked down contemplatively, pressing her lips together. She was at a crossroads, wondering how much she should say and worrying about saying too much... But, this was Serge, and for better or worse, she just— felt like she could tell him anything.

"Wouldn't say he had no problem, but..." He got over it, right? "Y'see, when he was a kid, there was a thing too. With a panther demon..." Kid fell silent after that, letting the story tell itself. And after awhile, she mirrored the way he had cleared his throat before continuing, too.

"Heard he was pretty skittish around 'em after that. Not that anyone blamed him. Can't say I'm fond of 'em either, to tell ya the truth."

"A panther demon..." He's lost in thought, for several seconds, and seems to withdraw on himself. "It's so weird, how this stuff seems to line up. I don't get it..."
His gaze fixates once more on the sand, frowning. "When I was about seven, there was... a coeurl. Big, feline monster, we think it got into town at night and just managed to avoid getting spotted since we were out in the country. I was in the backyard fixing a hole in my sail, and it just... jumped over the fence. Boat was between me and it, I think that's what saved me. It managed to give me this," he points at the faded scar across the bridge of his nose. "And my Dad must've heard me screaming because he... charged right through the back door and tackled it off me. He killed it, but... he got mauled really badly, and there wasn't a healer around, and..." He trails off, closing his eyes.
"I don't like cats very much."

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Test Drive Meme IV

Re: wildcard

more like s for savage

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