Test Drive Meme VI

[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, and some helpful Heroes of Light 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 and your rescuers 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. The experienced outworlders who helped pull you from your memories may be able to get you caught up to speed. B. CURTI CENTER The researchers at the Curti Center are pretty used to this right now, though there's still no good explanation for the influx of interdimensional travelers from the Dream Width since earlier this year. "Please step into the lobby for a quick survey. We have just a few routine questions, it's invaluable to our research so we do ask you indulge us..." 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 have offered to permanently house all of the outworlders here. 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 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 productive members of society and helping support the local economy, 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 housing elsewhere in the world. 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. And they say, those that party up will live to party on! J. LOVE IS IN THE AIR All the mistletoe would have come in handy here... As January gives way to February, stores and streets are decked in red, pink, and white. Posters line the Curti Center walls advertising Speed Dating events and offer to send flowers with anonymous or signed letters to outworlders and Curti Center employees - though there is some suspicion that a handful of received were never requested by the sender. Who cares! Some romances need an extra push! For the less adventurous types, the love-o-meters stationed at just about every hallway can predict your romantic (and platonic, if you so wish) future with just 100 gil, or even measure how good a potential match between two people will be. Is there any scientific backing to their calculations? That's not important. K. WILD CARD Feeling inspired to create your own prompt? The power is yours!

Comments

Arrival

[exspeariment]

Undyne was already mad when she was taken away from her goal moments before being able to reach it. Plus, she couldn't use her magic here! And nobody seemed to have any answers! So when someone who looks to be a human launched himself at her, clearly trying to attack her, she was freakin' ANGRY.

She started running towards the human. She didn't know who this human was, all she knew was that he was attacking her.

She pulled back her fist and yelled, "NGAAAAAAAAAH!", as she tried to punch the human in the face.

[last_son_of_dathomir]

Maul barely has time to register the figure-some kind of Mon Cal, maybe-when he sees them pulling back their fist to strike him as he charges. With a snarl, Maul goes low and the charge becomes a tackle, bowling into Undyne and attempting to knock her off her feet. He may not have his lightsaber or his connection to the Dark Side but he will have answers.

[exspeariment]

Undyne was knocked down, but got back up quickly, her face contorted in rage.

She tried to shoot lasers out of her robot eye. It flared, but nothing happened.

Whatever! No time to think about that, she was in a fight! She reared back for another punch at Maul.

[last_son_of_dathomir]

With the wind-up Undyne is giving her punches, it should be the simplest thing for Maul to dodge and counterattack.

But then he takes the punch in the face and stumbles back. He feels...weaker than he should be. It's not just that his connection to the Dark Side is missing. Physically, he'snot where he should be either. A side-effect from whatever treatment had been used to...heal him?

A question for later. This alien-not a Mon Cal, but definitely some sort of aquatic-is going to be more of a challenge than he'd anticipated. Fortunately she seems to be suffering from the same issues he's having, judging by the way her cybernetic eye is acting up.

With yet another animalistic snarl of fury, Maul dodges in and throws a punch of his own...but it's a feint. With the punch catching Undyne's attention he instead goes for a kick right to her stomach. But again his movements are slower than he's used to and there's more of a delay than he'd normally give her.

[exspeariment]

Undyne took the hit to her stomach, and fell down. She felt much less strong than normal. Her punches needed to be pulled back now, and it took a lot less to knock her down. Combining that with her magic being gone, and her robot eye not being able to shoot lasers, she was much more limited than normal.

But she wouldn't give up. She was determined to win.

Slowly getting up, she glared at Maul with a look of sheer anger. She grabbed Maul's now-empty cot, and tried to lift it up. It took a lot more effort than normal, but she eventually lifted it above her head, and prepared to chuck it at Maul.

[last_son_of_dathomir]

Maul circles warily as Undyne hefts the cot and then hurls it towards him. Then he makes an error; it's instinctual, really, after a lifetime of Force sensitivity. As the cot is hurled towards him, Maul's arm shoots out, hand open to telekinetically grab hold of it and either toss it aside or, more likely, back at Undyne. Only too late does he remember his connection to the Dark Side has been severed and the gesture is pointless.

At which point the cot beans him in the head and he's knocked back, stunned with an angry snarl of pain.

[exspeariment]

Undyne had to pause after throwing the cot. It had taken a lot more out of her than it normally would.

She took a deep breath to recuperate, then charged at Maul, ready to punch him in the face.