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

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Serge smiles softly, leaning on the railing, not... saying anything, just looking out at the world passing below. It's a pretty great world to live in, in his opinion.

Kayle simply stands there, staring down at the world below for a good five minutes. She certainly knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is not earth, and there's not some trickery going on, now. This matches none of the satellite images she'd collected at the Big Empty, a whole different world.

A living world. Not the dying shell of one that used to be.

"Thank you, for showing me this." she says, her tone completely calm, and very polite now. "I apologize for panicking earlier. I take back all of my frustration, and my worry. This is, quite possibly, the best thing that has ever happened to me. I wish that I could be happier about it, there is so much that I still need to do where I come from. But since I wasn't given a choice, I can live with this."

She slowly inhales, then exhales. "If I were a more sentimental woman, I just might cry."

Edited 2018-09-18 02:38 (UTC)

"No, I get it, it's fine. It's... hard. That's why I took this job, you know? Helping people who need it. And for what it's worth, I'm definitely not the type to say 'suck it up' if people are feeling a little emotional. Sometimes you need a good cry, right?"

"Well, fortunately for my dignity, I am not an overly sentimental woman." The Courier puts her hands behind her back, after a moment, and takes another slow breath.

"I have a lot to think about. You said we were on our way to... The Curti Center? What kind of place is it? What should I be prepared for in this new world? I have many questions, and not enough time in the world to ask them all, it feels like."

"Well, for the most part it's a research center dedicated to the Dream Width. And we also handle offworlders that come in, give them housing while they adjust and get back on their feet, that sorta thing. As for what you should be prepared for... um." He looks up at the ceiling, tries to think for a moment. "I don't really know what your world's like, so I couldn't say for sure. Don't go out alone if you're flying into the Width, and if somebody starts screaming about hamsters, run."

For a moment, Kayle simply looks bemused. "What is a hamster?" she asks, quirking a brow. She's never heard of one. She doesn't think so, anyway. "In any case, I will keep that in mind. And it's heartening to know that I'm not going to be a homeless drifter the moment I step off this vessel. What can you tell me about this Dream Width? You mentioned it, and that I was apparently out drifting in it, catatonic. Is it not just simply outer space, out there?"

"It's... weird. I'm not a scientist, so I'm really not good at explaining stuff like this... Um. It's like a cloud that surrounds the planet, made of memories and... stuff. If you go too far in, especially without protection, you can wind up lost in your own memories and then someone else has to sort of... pull you back."
He rubs the back of his neck, a little awkwardly. "I've never been except to help retrieve people, so I wouldn't know. I was born here. But yeah, we're not just gonna turn you loose. They've had to put a limit on how long people can stay since so many offworlders are showing up lately, but you'll have five months to find employment of some kind, but hey that's not hard, we help out with that too. And if you need help with something specific, I'll toss you my mognet address."

"I'd be lying if I said that didn't spark curiosity in me." Kayle admits, "But I also can't claim to be a scientist myself. A mad engineer at best, labcoat notwithstanding. I don't know what a mognet address is, but if we can keep in contact, that would be good. Thank you again, Serge."

She smiles, putting one hand on her hip. "I am... Admittedly, not sure where my skill set is going to fit in, in such a pleasant world as this seems to be. But I look forward to trying to find work. And eating a lot of fresh fruit. Speaking of, er... How exactly do you eat an orange?"

He chuckles, and gently takes the citrus, pulling a small penknife out. "The rind's technically edible, it's just not very tasty." Incision, peel, hand it back. "Not sure I'd like to visit too much, if even the water's poison. I like fishing and swimming way too much."

Kayle eyes the fruit suspiciously as it's handed back to her. "Good to know. That the rind isn't poisonous, I mean. You never know what kind of defenses fruit might have mutated to survive." she sniffs at it, for a moment, then separates a slice, and bites down.

Her eyes widen immediately.

"Fuck me running!" she curses, "This is delicious! I take back what I said, mutfruit is fucking disgusting if this is what the real deal tastes like! And you can just buy these?!"

"Yeah, you can just buy 'em. They're pretty cheap at the grocery store, but if you want quality you've gotta go to a farmer's market. And don't worry about poison, pretty much anything labeled as food you find in a store is gonna be safe to eat unless you have an allergy or something."

"... What, is this not quality?" Kayle says, incredulous.

"If this is what you'd call low quality then noooo, you do not want to visit my world someday. Not in a million years." she stuffs another orange slice in her mouth. Then another.

"Goddamn, I thought I was a pretty good cook with my skills around a campfire, but I didn't know jack shit. I didn't know food could be this good."

"Well, that's not your fault, Kayle. Any angler will tell you you'll get better fish from a clean river than a stagnant pond. That's... I mean it's not bad, it's not rotten or sour or anything, but I basically just picked it up at a convenience store on my way to work because I was in a hurry."

"You really do like fishing don't you?" Kayle says, a hint of amusement creeping into her voice, "Trust me. I've eaten far, far, far worse than this. I don't know if I could handle something that tastes better. I'm having a hard time even envisioning it. So I'll have to take your word for it."

Serge grins apologetically. "Sorry. It kind of happens, I guess, when both parents were in the trade. Dad used to brag to the neighbors that I could sail before I could walk."

Kayle chuckles, "Somehow I think that might be an exaggeration... But what do I know? I've never been in a boat before. Something about the water containing lethal doses of radiation makes going out on a river seem like a bad idea. Same with fishing. Radaway helps but, generally a terrible idea all around if you could avoid it. Not to mention the mirelurks."

"I mean nothing's without danger. You've got waterdwelling monsters, which I'm guessing Mirelurks are. But if you're near major cities, the monsters you run into are usually pretty chill. All the nasty ones are always in remote corners of the world, which is fortunate. Worst-case scenario you have to give something a good smack."

"Well! It's certainly good to know that I won't be bored then. I wouldn't say it's my specialty- that would be delivering mail- but I'm quite used to fighting all manner of horrible creatures with whatever weapons I can get my hands on. I admit, I was a little worried I might be completely out of place, but if there's "monsters" around here, well."

Kayle grins. "I'm certain I can find myself a niche."

"Oh man, there's always need for someone willing to put themselves in danger. You should talk to Ganeshan when we land, he'll get you set up with what you need. And if you're a courier by trade, I hear Mognet's hiring."

"Well saying I'm a courier by trade now is a bit of a stretch. My last job a couple years ago went about as far south as it's possible to go, and I haven't picked up another package since making sure that one got delivered. But if there's a need for package delivery here too, who knows- I just might consider that."

Kayle nods, "You mentioned Mognet before though, I still don't know what that is. Is it a mail service, then?"

Serge shrugs. "Eh, sort of? They handle mail, e-mail, all kinds of communications stuff. Mostly moogles running it, but they hire humans too. Sorry about your job going bad, though. At least you're alive to talk about it?"

Kayle chuckles, "Yeah, somehow... Some folks might say I'm the luckiest sonuvabitch in the Mojave, relating to that. When I say "went south" Serge, I mean I got shot in the head and buried in a shallow grave when my package got stolen."

She shrugs. "Surviving something like that, it kinda makes you rethink your life decisions."

That takes some processing. "So, what, do they have White Mages where you're from? Or did it just... miraculously not kill you? I hope you found whoever did it."

"The latter. A robot I found out later was working for the one I was supposed to deliver to dug me out and took me to the closest doctor. Obviously I learned that after the fact."

Kayle shrugs again. "Like I said, luckiest sonuvabitch in the Mojave. Somehow the bullet managed to not tear my brain to pieces. I definitely found the guy who did it eventually, didn't kill him though. Guess it was more than enough to see his face when he saw me again." the woman grins at Serge, crossing her arms.

"Like he'd seen death itself showing up on his doorstep."

"Well, for what it's worth..." Serge smiles. "I'm glad you made it out okay. It sounds like you've, ah. Had a pretty eventful life."

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