prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .012

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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.

▶ I am the Terror That Flaps in the Night
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 Your new flat is covered in a sprinkling of feathers here, there, and everywhere! They appear to be coming through the air vents. This seems to be a city-wide problem in all buildings, as many news outlets are informing people to stay alert. They believe the feathers are from the masked seraphim, King Majestas, who attacked the Elaran Amphitheater a few weeks back.

You are advised to destroy the feathers on sight. Prolonged contact with these feathers cause hallucinations and paranoia. You will feel as if winged creatures are always after you, be it one-winged angels or dark-winged ducks. Other side effects include hearing the chanting of voices in an indecipherable language out of this galaxy. These hallucinations may cause headaches, dizziness, or nausea. Thankfully, a bit of moonlacing will heal these symptoms away.

▶ Got Milk?
Level 2, Crystal Beach | top

With the Coiled Hearts Festival fast approaching, local fishermen have already begun procuring food across Crystal Beach’s clear waters to meet next month’s demands. Around this time of year, the popularity of octopus dishes dramatically rises. The Lunatians have an annual tradition to prepare flavorful octopus dishes for the romantic season, such as the much-lauded dark chocolate-coated octopus or the mouth-watering octopus braised with red wine.

Everyone is welcome to join this heart-throbbing affair. During the Second and Third months, everyone is encouraged to give your loved ones something special for a long, successful relationship. Friends, family, and new acquaintances are traditionally given a small amount of Demichroma in tiny cute cases, while lovers are given something that reminds the gifter of their homeland.

A Interested in catching your own octopus? Horned taurus octopi very frequently migrate to the shorelines to perform their elaborate mating rituals. It’s easy to find clumps of taurus octopi participating in a vigorous dance, filled with undulations and strange moaning noises that octopi should not be making. You can lure the octopi by either using a special flute which mimics their moans to gather them in heavy droves. It’s ideal to have a partner with you to scoop the octopi quickly into water containers once they’ve become entranced enough.

Play the flute carefully! If the taurus octopi grow too excited by your music, they will squirt white ink. If you are spritzed with the thick substance, you will start either randomly puking or uncontrollably secreting a milky sweet substance from any body part that secretes liquids. Luckily, the high-end boutique Prissy Polyp is nearby in case you need a change of clothes due to any sizable stains. Effects will naturally wear off after an hour.

B Come with a friend and enjoy learning some octopus recipes together. The Crystal Beach Resort has opened a seminar where several professional chefs will be demonstrating and teaching how to cook various dishes of different flavors and ingredients guaranteed to impress your date, and taste-testing is free!

One dish makes use of horned taurus octopi skin as the star ingredient, renowned for its irresistibly delectable scent. The chefs explain the palatable skin is a potent ingredient in various love potions and aphrodisiacs, so add or mix them to your dishes in moderation! The effects have a significant delay, so you may feel fine for a while, but when it hits, it hits hard. You will become enamored with every little thing — hey, you just met them and this is crazy — but that person’s smile, the sound of their voice, or the way they say your name will make you unable to resist the urge to shower them with your affection.

▶ Going Viral
Level 2, Moonlight Medical Center | top

“Help Wanted” posters can be found on virtual forums and announcement boards across Level 1 to 3. The Moonlight Medical Center has put out a call for volunteers due to a recent shortage of medical staff. The work involves filling in for overworked nurses, performing tasks such as feeding patients their meals, wiping away their sweat, changing their clothes, encouraging their spirits, and so on. Any volunteers may directly walk-in at the hospital. You will be provided a nurse uniform and any necessary equipment while on the job.

The shortage has resulted from the hospital recently taking in a severe number of patients from a nearby small village to the west of Lunatia, Port Sylvel, a known shipping and freight destination. The number of patients worryingly keeps on rising by the day and will soon fill all available rooms.

A Some of the patients are experiencing varying degrees of paralysis. The worst cases have crystallizing parts of their body. The hospital staff will stress that you should be careful around patients with crystallized limbs. Patients like these have a history of aggressively biting anyone who comes close hard enough to draw blood. Those bitten will exhibit similar symptoms as the victims, including crystallization on their bodies, and experience a steady drop in Chroma. An uncomfortable heaviness will cause you unable to move without the aid of others as well as an uncontrollable urge to aggressively bite someone.

While affected Moonblessed can cure it by moonlacing, the Prismals can only be cured by a gluteal inoculation the Lunar Scientia has recently managed to develop. The sick and beleaguered will probably hate you less if you aren’t the one trying to stabbing them with injections in the hindquarters.

B Aside from nursing duties, other available tasks to be completed include making coffee for fellow nurses and doctors, delivering flowers to patients, and general housekeeping. Specifically, disinfecting medical equipment, tidying up rooms, and cleaning the spaces around the hospital. As a result of the current situation, many crystal shards can be found decorating multiple surfaces, such as floors, walls, toilet seats, and so on. These will have to be swept away!

However, as your work day progresses, some of the shards can be seen suddenly moving on their own. These crawling shards will start clustering together to turn into elaborate, floating monolithic formations that will then begin attacking anyone nearby. Their main ability includes shooting diamond spears to impale any unfortunate victims in their line of sight. In the midst of the chaos, nurses and doctors will beg the Moonblessed to please protect the sick and wounded. The crystal formations can be destroyed by any method, though because of their incredibly sturdy composition, they require multiple hits before they shatter into dust.

▶ 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

~~Seen the near-end of one world, seen 'em all~~

"Yeah," Tachibana nodded. "The time we spend in jaunts where we have overlays, we're mostly just along for the ride, living their lives with only their memories for that period before returning to ourselves in Liminal."

"That sounds pretty incredible," Kenzaki said, smiling at him. All the things they'd been through. With and without another version of himself.

He sipped at his tea again. 'So, are you trying to get back home?"

There was a noticeable shift as Tachibana looked down at the mug in his hands, pressing his lips together a long moment.

"...no," he admitted.

Kenzaki nodded slowly, and reached out to grip the other man's forearm for a moment.

"If you're happy here, that's good," he said. "Not like I don't know what it's like. Not going home."

Tachibana blinked, looking up again, honestly rather surprised to hear that reassurance. After a moment, a faint smile returned to his face.

"And you even have people to return to, back there," he added, reaching over to put a hand ontop of Kenzaki's. "One of my biggest regrets is that you were the one who made that sacrifice," he admitted, voice softening.

It should have been him, the man who had lost everything. Not Kenzaki, who had so many people around him, who had such a bright future...

They're both older now, and though Kenzaki had a little more experience now than he once did, Tachibana would always be his senpai. He'd always care about him. (He was still amazed to be able to speak with him again at all.)

Tachibana's hand was warm on his, and Kenzaki smiled at him, before ducking his head in embarrassment. "Ah, don't worry about that. Had to be me. And you have people there too, right?"

Again, Tachibana's eyes lowered before he slowly shook his head. "Mutsuki didn't really need me, after everything." Which was how it should be. That Mutsuki had been so lightly affected by everything... was only right.

"And Karasuma retired not long after BOARD was rebuilt."

Kenzaki frowned at that, put his tea down, and scooted his chair closer. "I- I'm not sure that's right, Tachibana-san."

He didn't want to make Tachibana feel worse about not wanting to go home, but he didn't want to make him feel like Kenzaki thought he didn't matter to people.

"I'm sure they both miss you. But you should do what makes you feel better. If you're happier here, then that's good. I'm sure Hajime," and his voice broke only slightly on that word, "is glad you're here, too."

"Time stops for us, while we're away," Tachibana pointed out, voice soft. "Else our world would have been destroyed the moment you or Hajime were taken out of it."

A small, amused huff escaped after. "If it hadn't been the same Hajime I'd Traveled with, I'm sure he wouldn't be," he corrected. C'mon, Kenzaki, you can't tell him you've forgotten how many times you had to stand between the two of them. ~~and there's no way you would have known about how he couldn't seal Hajime. Any of the times he had the opening~~.

And that's not a pleasant thought, but Tachibana's right, of course. It makes sense. When he returned back to his world after the business with that pediatric intern doctor, and the asshole, it still existed.

"Yeah, I was kind of hoping you two would be better friends by now," Kenzaki admitted, leaning close enough to bump shoulders with Tachibana. "I knew you two would be able to get along eventually, even if you still fought now and then. Friends fight sometimes, right?"

...not that he knows. Not really.

~~That's a terrifying thought.~~

"When Hajime's involved?" Tachibana chuckled, returning the gentle bump. "Fairly sure there isn't a day we don't fight. Never seriously, of course," because here, they were friends.

Much to the utter confusion of them both.

"Back home... there really wasn't a reason to even go near each other," he admitted, with a faint shrug. "Outside of sometimes seeing him when going out to eat. So I really didn't get to even know him, until we both were in Liminal."

Never seriously?

Kenzaki breathed out a breath he hadn't even known he was holding. So Hajime has found some happiness, some friendship, even if Amane-chan wasn't here. "You're both happy? Sometimes?"

Nothing Battle Fight level serious. Nothing ever worse than misplaced concern and frustration. ... none of the times Hajime had to be taken down after the Arcana or something else messed with him enough to make him lose his mind counted.

Tachibana chuckled softly. "I can't speak for Hajime." He wasn't sure if Hajime understood what happiness was, outside of time spent with Kenzaki and Amane.

... not that he quite knew if he himself understood it either, outside of similar situations.

"I'll - I'll have to ask him," Kenzaki realized, shaking his head at himself again. If Tachibana was right, and he had no reason to think he wasn't, then maybe he could actually. Talk. To Hajime again. In person.

"Yeah," Tachibana nodded with a warm smile. "That, I'm sure, would make him happy."

"I've never been great at knowing how to make people happy. That'd be..."

He trails off, not knowing how to end that sentence, either. Awesome? Great?

Bizarre?

Maybe he can figure out how to make Tachibana-san a little happier, too.

"Idiot," Tachibana's voice was warm and fond with the insult, hand moving to rest on Kenzaki's head, gently mussing his hair. "How can you say something like that?"

With how seemingly effortlessly Kenzaki seemed to bring a smile to someone's face, how he somehow managed to melt Hajime's Undead exterior, how he managed to somehow be the force that brought their rag tag group together... of course he knew how to make people happy. Even if he didn't realize it.

That felt incredible.

Kenzaki made a soft sound, turning an embarrassed smile to Tachibana-san. It wasn't just being in this place that made it feel good. It was Tachibana. It was that expression on his face. It was how much he obviously cared.

It was not having to go through that whole introduction thing again, because Tachibana knew him.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ TDM .012

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