prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .011

Entry tags:

You awaken amidst the darkness with only a faint light to greet you. Your body is hemmed in by shards of crystals, gently sparkling and possibly pricking your skin. The surrounding landscape is dyed in the pinks and purples of the dusk filled with crystals protruding from the ground, some as large as a skyscraper. After an hour or two of wandering through the crystal wilderness, a group of people find you worse for wear. They are the gallant Moon Knights from the planet of Prismatica. Because of the strange phenomena during the past months when scientists observed the sudden appearance of rainbow crystals in the sky, the government has been feverishly combing through the moon for more Moonblessed to be rescued. You’ll eventually be brought into Iris’s moon government center.

You all may have your usual inquiries — Where are we? Who are you? What's going on? — and the Prismals are almost too eager to answer. They tell you about their world and about the first appearance of the Moonblessed as the medical staff give you an examination to make sure you’re not carrying any viruses or biological hazards. If you react violently, you may be restrained and nerfed with a specialized neurotransmitting gun that releases a numbing agent through the top of your spine. Once the examinations are over, you’re informed that you will be provided accommodations on their planet during your stay. You will then be escorted to the docks, and led onto a large transport vessel that makes frequent trips back and forth between the Iris moon and the planet. Faces onboard vary from both old and new Moonblessed as well as the local Prismals.

The next destination: Prismatica.

▶ There and Back Again
Iris Moon, Government Center (Arrival) and Planet Prismatica, City of Lunatia | top

Welcome to Prismatica’s hub, Lunatia, the city of your dreams! A bustling metropolis lush with bright lights, vibrant colors, luxuriant plant life, and all the conveniences of technology absent from your own world… It seems like paradise to all the uninitiated. After a quick tour of the city, new arrivals can find themselves getting cozy in their new homes.

A Settle in your new home at Level 2 to find new roommates and say hello to your neighbors! City officials will give you directions to the designated districts across Level 2 and instruct you to pick out a unit. Each apartment complex has a different aesthetic, some may look cozy, some stylish, and some bizarre. The free accommodations have a basic living space that can only fit two or three people at most in one unit.

Starter Chromaspace furnishings are provided which can be controlled with the touch of a built-in panel. Examples are color-changing curtains, transforming sofa beds, cabinets turning into tables, etc. Customizing your apartment or moving out will have to wait until you earn more chroma. Until then, why don’t you check out your new neighborhood or explore the city levels? Maybe your new roommates or neighbors can give you a “hand” with allowance for dinner.

B As a Remooning gift from the Lunar Scientia Headquarters, the dedicated team from the Amphoria Room has released their latest perfected technology: Amphoria Pods. These VR Pods, which can fit up to four people at a time, have been set up in the gaming hub within Level 1’s PrismaPlace. They allow users to upload sceneries of their world in order to create a realistic holographic landscape of their homes that others can access and play around with, granting everyone the means to relive past memories with their loved ones as well as interact with the bestiary of other worlds. The pods also use the same technology that enhanced the popular virtual game, League Match Action Online (LmaO), which means you’re liable to feel the chill of cold environments, the burning heat from boiling water, the hard slap of your ex-lover, or the biting sting of a stray wasp. All who use the Amphoria Pods for the first time this year will also receive a small amount of Chroma in case things get too real.

▶ God Save Us from the Queen
Level 1, PrismaPlace and Level 2, Greatmoon Groves | top

The first month of the year is packed with two of the most important winter events this season: Queen Elara’s birthday and the League Match Action Online (LmaO) PVP semi-finals. It just so happens that the Queen of Lunatia is also a huge LmaO fan. Coincidence? Definitely not! LmaO players and royal family fans alike can meet her at PrismaPlace, where she will be appearing in cosplay of her favorite hero, Ah-Kari, while holding a body pillow of Commander GareBear. You, too, can get an autograph or selfie with the birthday girl if you’re willing to fall in line! Her bodyguards will also be in LmaO cosplay, keeping the crowd under control during the long wait.

Queen Elara

Good day to you all! This may come as a surprise to our guests the Moonblessed, but I am a normal person despite my exalted position. Please do not think of me today as Queen Elara. Instead... my name is Ah-Kari, sorceress of the crystal! With my soul fan blades, through the darkness, I shall slice all who dare hurt my commander in twain!

But when she is not meeting and greeting...

Queen Elara

My comrades, we're going to make history today. We're going for a new record. Perhaps the highest kill counts or the fastest clear for this map — it matters not. We’ve practiced day and night for this tournament, so let us show everyone that we’re not to be taken lightly! Also, the livestream is going in the royal archive, so make your successors proud!!

... she will be furiously grinding her character and training her skills in LmaO in the hopes of qualifying for the finals. Spectators will see her bring her own team full of hapless palace attendants who are there to either serve as her practice match partners or provide support to the one-woman army that is Queen Elara.

PrismaPlace is packed with giant crowds, many of them also in cosplay. While the semi-finals are taking place, new and old LmaO players alike can participate in the game’s current campaign: players who form teams get an improved chance of spawning unique monsters as well as winning rare items and skins in those prized lootboxes! Teams can also try to clear the event’s story together, featuring an aerial battle fought on griffin-back, which is heavily inspired by the popular Lunatian epic, The Battle of Abraxas, a colorful and complex story about the conflict between two families fighting over the fictional land of griffins, Abraxas.

A Progression in the event requires acquiring a griffin mount and getting it ready for battle. You can lure a wild one to yourself with a special veggie pie on a fishing pole. Should the griffin reject the lure, your character will be caught in a wind gaol and can only break out with the help of other players. Should you succeed, raising the griffin is a tedious task that involves players training alongside their respective griffins, running laps with them, taking them to hunt monsters, and feeding them properly. Depending on their diet, the food you give them will affect the color of its plumage and their battle stats.

Or you can skip the hard work and simply moonlace with your teammates through all the progression bars and required materials to save time. Once finished, you’ll be able to battle one another through the thunderous aerial domain of Abraxas. Clearing the event will net you an event-exclusive skin inspired by the royal family’s shining celestial robes and a weapon skin of a body pillow with your favorite character, so do your best!

B In celebration of Queen Elara’s birthday, the office of the royal household is hosting a modest tea party in the Greatmoon Groves. Swiffy bots that are normally programmed to remind visitors to keep the groves clean are now playing a birthday jingle on repeat. For people who prefer to be away from the blinding neon lights and the thumping techno music of PrismaPlace, this is the ideal escape. Unlimited tea and cookies are being served!

The tea is a soft-colored lilac concoction made from Ehrysian tea leaves that are known to cause a huge spike of alertness and is popular to Moon Knights and office workers with long night shifts as well as gamers for those all-night grinding sessions. The assorted cookies have either Ah-Kari or Commander GareBear printed on them. In case it isn't obvious yet, both are the birthday girl’s favorite LmaO characters.

Any Moonblessed looking for extra income is welcome to be royal attendants for the day; the hours are paid by Demichroma. They must be properly dressed up as maids or butlers (outfits provided by the royal household) as they serve tables.

▶ Say Cheese
Level 3, Caihong | top

Meanwhile, Caihong is in the midst of Remooning festivities in celebration of the new year, and merriment usually lasts a fortnight, filled with fireworks in the sky. Upon entering the district, beautiful Prismals with rat ears and tails greet you with a Happy Remooning and eagerly tug you along to join in.

Those welcomed will receive a pack of multi-colored sparklers, mooncakes topped with cheese, and a glowing drink called Champagne Supernova, poured in a thin glass in your hand. If you are over eighteen, the rat Prismals will ask if you prefer your drink with a kick. If you say yes, then they will add flavorful ice that causes extreme intoxication and might leave you to be susceptible to all levels of suggestion. Saying no (or if you’re under 18) will simply leave it as a sweet drink.

A One of the party games being played by the locals is called Lucky Tail, which is basically pinning the tail on the holographic rat stand-in — with a twist, it must be played with a partner! Another participant will blindfold you, spin you around, then push you forward. The stand-in is located at the end of unsteady elevated platforms forming a maze, filled to the brim with distracting objects underneath. They’re long, they’re thick, and they’re vibrating furiously in an attempt to knock you off the platforms.

Your partner must guide you by voice to successfully navigate through the maze! The game is rigged with various mechanisms, so stepping on specific platforms will activate a number of traps against you or your partner: machines that may tickle, drop colorful slime, or cause the platform to repetitively spin, and who knows what else?

Should you manage to get through the obstacle course and pin the tail successfully, you and your partner will win copious amounts of Demichroma, courtesy of Buwan from Buwan’s Stop.

B Another attraction is a fun magic glamour booth known for its face or body swap features. The booth staff, clad in their festive rat paraphernalia, will encourage you and your friends to take aesthetic shots using an illusion generator. The effects last an hour. Photographed images can be instantly uploaded and shared in Prismagram. New year, new you! Why not take the chance to celebrate this momentous occasion in a unique fashion? It’s all in good humor.

There are two buttons to press: (A) CUSTOM or (B) RANDOM. Pressing A will allow participants to customize their desired effects. Pressing B will cause the illusion magic to randomly rearrange participants in questionable positions, new outfits (or lack thereof), and you may even come out of the booth looking like your best friend or your worst rival. The possibilities are endless!

▶ Questions
If you have any questions regarding this test drive meme, please ask them in the Questions thread below.

▶ As a reminder, test drive memes are for new characters only. However, current players are more than welcome to use these prompts for their own posts in the IC communities, personal inboxes, catch-all posts, etc.!
▶ As our test drive memes are game canon, feel free to keep any threads that happen here as canon for your character should they be accepted.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's almost always amusing seeing people's reactions to his height (that's what he thinks she's surprised about), even with his forced downsized somehow. Granted that seven-foot is still pretty dang tall to most, but it's not quite the same when one was nearly thirty-foot tall before.

The amusement isn't visible due to the faceplate he's wearing, though. Promise that it's under there. His head cants to the side when he sees the smile on her, unsure what's she smiling about while he takes in the smaller robot appearance. Looking at her properly now, she's unmistakably mechanical.]

I won't deny they're performing well. I just never seen anyone thanking them before. [A bit weird actually. People don't normally thanks their toaster for doing its job. Anyways. The swiffy bots is a very brief topic as his interest is far more on the android, and so swiftly changes the focus of the topic on her next.]

I can see that you are mechanical. Pleased to meet you. I am Soundwave, a Cybertronian.

[Despite his scary appearance, he knows how to be polite. And speaking of appearance, Aigis might also note that on top of his head is a pair of metallic bunny ears.]

[Rest assured, she has thanked the toaster at least once.

While there are certainly a lot of other strange things here (such as organic counterparts to the rabbit ears on his head) and it hasn't felt as necessary to hide what she is, it's a relief to eliminate the uncertainty of wondering whether someone can tell or what they might think of it. She nods, clasping her hands together and resting them atop her bow to indicate herself as her smile quirks a little wider.] That's correct.

My name is Aigis. I am an Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon. It's a pleasure to meet you too.

[A small, curious tilt of the head not unlike his. Cybertronian. The roots of the word all make sense, of course, but they aren't very specific; there's further context she's missing, then.] What exactly is a "Cybertronian?" I've never heard that term.

["Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon". His rabbit ears twitch in his curiosity. The second android he met here and she's also a weapon. He wonders if humans have a thing with building an android with a weapon and also making them look like cute girls... Well, nothing wrong like that, she seems to have her own sapience, and so would treat her like any other normal person.

Still, he's curious about her. Weapon provides enough of a context to tell what she was built for, but likewise her own curiosity over Cybertronian, he doesn't know what "Anti-Shadow" entails, exactly. But, ah, he should answer her first.]

Hm, so is everyone else here it seems. [It's still weird having to explain the term, despite already being used to the fact that everyone here is likely from a different universe. Cybertronians were (in)famous all around the galaxy for their galaxy-spanning civil war. His vents huff air, almost like a sigh before he answers.] Cybertronians are a mechanical lifeform from the planet Cybertron.

[Simply put, they're an alien species, much like most other species brought to this planet.]

[Interesting, and an answer that Aigis doesn't expect. A demonym means that there's a significant population of Cybertronians. Given that they're named after the planet (presumably,) that also implies that they're the dominant species.

Her eyes are wide with intent as she turns this over in her head. After a moment, she lowers her hands back to her sides and nods again:] I see.

I'm from Earth. Mechanical lifeforms aren't standard there... I'm the only one that I'm aware of. [She loves her human friends dearly, but it is a bit of a lonely thought.] I was built to combat a threat that most humans aren't equipped to fight.

[...theoretically, anyway.]

[Certainly are the dominant and only species there. Were. His homeworld was destroyed, but that's a sad story he won't bring up.

That does sound lonely, and he can understand that, being the only one of his species here.]

Hm, you're not the only mechanical lifeform in this city. Though organics are the majority, there are some mechs you can find here. [Reassurance, maybe. He should let her know there are others like her here, aside from himself.]

I see. I assumed you are from Earth. You do look human. [Well, for the most part, she does.] And the threat is... Shadow, I presume from your title. What are they?

[Oh, that is exciting, and it shows in the smile on her face! She notes it for future reference; perhaps she can follow up on that information later. It would be nice to meet others who may understand her struggles...

Another nod, and she elaborates, businesslike.] Shadows are beings created from the suppressed negative feelings of humans. They pose a significant danger to humanity when left unchecked...but they exist outside of normal time and space, so most humans aren't even aware of them.

I'm equipped with weapons and a Persona so that I may navigate these unusual spaces and eliminate Shadows. A "Persona" is the power that a human awakens to when they are able to tame the Shadow created from their psyche. [As far as she understands it, anyway. The fine details elude her somewhat, but then again, that's why she was really created; to help understand and control the phenomena of Shadows and Personas.]

[Good, robots and mechs should meet and stick together.

And the explanation is certainly appreciated, especially with how she delivered it.]

I see. Creatures born from suppressed negative feelings, I suppose something like that can exist... Going by your explanation, "Shadows" are manifested from negative feelings, I assume "Persona" is a manifestation of your ego.

[That's an interesting power. He doesn't exactly understand what sort of power from gaining a Persona, though there was a detail in her explanation that has him wondering about something else.]

You said a human can awaken to such a power. I suppose you are a special case if you are able to be equipped with one yourself.

Yes, that's right. [To both insights, regarding the ego and her being a special case. She's quiet for a moment as she thinks on how best to describe what allows her to function the way she does, her gaze neutral as she accesses the data on her build.] All Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons are made with a component that is similarly found outside of normal time and space. You could think of it as our heart. That's what allows us to access this power the way that humans do.

[And what gives them the confusing existence of having humanlike thoughts and feelings while residing in mechanical bodies.

After another beat of consideration, she continues, a tentative note in her voice:] I can demonstrate the ability if you're curious.

[She's still more used to having to hide it all, but there are other Persona-users here and she's certain that some of them have disclosed the ability to others by now. Simply showing one of her Personas wouldn't put her at any additional risk at this point. And—well, she knows if she were hearing this explanation, she would be intrigued to see it, so.]

[A machine with a heart. As Cybertronians, it's not at all a weird concept for mechanical beings to have something like that, only that their 'hearts' are their 'sparks'. But for a mechanical being that was manmade or built, for them to possess something like a heart is relatively new to Soundwave.

His head tilts at her offer. He did wonder about seeing her power, and now that she's offering to demonstrate it to him, hmmm... He notes the tentativeness in her voice.]

I am intrigued to see this power of yours. If you are comfortable demonstrating it to me here, then go ahead.

[There aren't many people around the grove, the only spectator around here are himself and the local animals who followed him. But if she would like to change the location for that, he wouldn't mind it. Having his own unnatural power, he can understand wanting to hide it from the general populace. Which he'll disclose to Aigis after her demonstration. It's only fair for him to do something similar.]

[Though she hasn't noticed anyone else approaching besides the wildlife, Aigis does take a cursory look around to assess the area. Besides the habit of being secretive, she wouldn't want to cause alarm to any bystanders; even though she doesn't plan to go on the offensive, the sight of a Persona can be intimidating!

Once she's determined that they're alone, she nods.] ...Okay.

[She takes a few steps back to give herself—or rather, her Persona—more space. Closing her eyes in concentration, she listens to the voices in the sea of her soul, focuses...

And a figure unfurls from a bright blue aura and thin air above her, closer to Soundwave's size than to Aigis's.

She hovers above Aigis, her shield spun to her back such that she can regard Soundwave. Aigis glances up to her in indication, and then back to her robotic companion with a smile.] Her name is Athena.

[He watches Aigis in silent anticipation, curiosity about to be sated. Then, there's a blue aura and a large figure appearing above the young lady. His small furry friends trot over to behind Soundwave when the Persona manifested, intimidated by her, and their small heads peek out behind his legs, curiously looking up at her. Meanwhile, Soundwave himself is impressed by the display as he stares up at the Persona.

His expression manages to bleed through the mask somewhat; his visor curls and widens in a way that expressed a mix of surprise and amazement.]

Ah. Greetings, Athena.

[Unconsiously said in response to being given her name. Can she speak? He's not certain of that, but he already blurted out a greeting to her, and the Persona does seem like she's acknowledging his presence at least. In any case, he then turns back down to Aigis.]

Your power is unlike anything I've ever seen. Impressive. [... He thinks she's cool.] What can she do?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ TDM .011

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject