towerofjamjars | What it says on the tin

Entry tags:

test drive meme

What it says on the tin

TEST DRIVE MEME

You want to join the game with a (new) character? Maybe you’re simply curious about the premise? Or maybe you just need a sample. Well that’s the meme for you to try and test your character as if they were already in the tower! The meme is open to anyone!

• Reply to this entry with a character you consider apping! Put your character’s name and fandom- Your usual meme thing.
• Comment around with your pups. You can also post and tag with characters already in-game of course!
• Most importantly, have fun!!
• ~~Then feel free to go and reserve and app your character when those open.~~

Have a number of prompts to get you started:

[Floor 29]: This floor has seemed pretty peaceful so far, the maze isn't all that hard and the garden that lies beyond it is rather lovely. Still it seems best to head back now that the sun is about to set and nighttime is approaching fast. ...Is that just the leaves rustling in the wind behind you, or is it something more?

[Floor 56]: Oh this looks definitely like an useful floor - the room stretches into a hospital ward, dusty and old, a surgical suite surrounded by a maze of empty beds. The closer you look, the more you'll find that the first impression is quite deceiving - no medical supplies of any sort, unstable lights and what was that noise just now?! Clearly you are the only one on this floor. Or are you?

[Floor 25]: After all you have seen so far, this just might be the first truly innocent floor you see. But is it truly as trustworthy as it seems...? Many other people seem to think so at least! Come and see what they are up to?

[Elevators]: It's quite a long ride between the Dormitories and the Cafeteria - it probably doesn't help that the minutes and seconds seem to stretch out more and more towards eternity, what a hassle. Are well, maybe there is someone stuck with you and up to provide conversation... or entertainment~

[Anywhere]: Do you still have track of just where you are after spending your day exploring the Tower of Animus? If not, you might want to ask someone... or just start climbing the stairs regardless of where you are! Nighttime is approaching fast...

[Event]: Just earlier this day you have been called for (and/or brought in to) an unscheduled collar check-up, in which the color of your collar was changed. It takes a few hours, but soon you feel the effects of it, feel lightheaded and dizzy, feel all your power slip out of your control. Or maybe you heavy to the point of breaking down on the spot, while just none of your powers seem to work. Either way... hopefully you are at a safe place or in friendly company... That is, if either of these things exist in this tower.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wh--- wait, what? What do you mean, not real???

[That was not the kind of thing to just drop on him and then abandon, Asch. But the assistance is needed and begrudgingly taken, albeit with the suspicious raise of an eyebrow. He knew be on this staircase forever if he went at it by himself. Not necessarily a bad thing... unless he got to a nastier floor. But Asch hadn't exactly been the "help the dreck's team" sort unless it somehow benefited him. Even in Guy's time at the Tower, that hadn't changed much.

So why this, all of the sudden...

Guy awkwardly shifts his weight, hooking his arm against the redhead's neck and, when he senses Asch won't drop him, starts heading up the stairs. It's a steady pace, but the tight grip against Asch's shoulder should be enough of a tell to how much the world is spinning as they move.]

So... alright, then, where... exactly are we heading...

Somewhere where we can sit down, for now.

[The upper library shouldn't be too far, at least. Asch starts leading them there, since Guy is pretty obviously not capable of leading himself anywhere.]

And I mean exactly what I said. Turns out everything's an illusion except our souls, the monsters, and the staircase.

[Hey, mister prissy pants, Guy is perfectly capable of leading himself. It might not be in a straight line but it's still forward motion. Still, his memory of what-floor-goes-where is on the hazy side, so letting Asch's directions take the wheel = a-okay.]

The hell... an illusion? How in the world did they pull something like that off? Everything seemed pretty tangible the last I remember...

[Good, because Asch is definitely the one driving this fucked up whatever it is off the staircase and towards some of the chairs in the library.]

It's a film that makes things seem solid - it's designed to fool all the senses.

[Surprise, Guy, there's never been anything but nutrition bars.]

[Not.... quite computing, Asch. Guy shoots him an unamused look, slipping his arm off Asch's shoulder and plopping down into a chair.

Okay, dear god, not the best idea. His head is immediately propped up in his hands, palms pressing against his eyes.

He mutters something under his breath before speaking up a little clearer.]

Asch, have you actually seen this film?

[Take your time, Guy. Asch isn't in a hurry, and also it's his turn to hover over you. Once he's sure Guy is sort-of okay, he takes a seat himself.]

You remember the microchips?

[Of course he does.]

When they activated, they took down the glamour system for the better part of two days.

[Of course he does - he's the one that told Asch, after all. Or at least he thinks he did. It's all kind of fuzzy and hard to make out.]

I'll assume the film is a part of that glamour system, then... [He rubs the base of his thumb against the bridge of his nose with a rough sigh.] If the microchips by themselves were able to affect something like a large-scale illusion, that means that whatever this film is is probably technologically-based.

Did they do anything after things went back to normal?

Well, they took out most of the power supply when the glamour system went down.

[Catching you up on Tower news, as usual.]

There's about three hundred days of power left, and the glamour system still glitches out now and then.

That's... wow. That's a pretty steep punishment. Only half a year...

[Guy hesitates, his expression somber.]

Has anyone at the top said anything about what will happen when the power runs out?

It's not really a punishment; it applies to them too, after all.

[A bit of a shrug.]

If they don't find another power source, and we don't break out before then? Apparently, we're all going to die.

[He sounds downright pleased about it.]

[...

...

Asch, the look that Guy is giving you is bordering something between deadly and barely restrained horror.

They're all going to die. Die. What happened to saving people's souls with the Tower? If things had truly collapsed, then maybe it was just an extreme measure to regain some form of control. But at the cost of so many lives...

Nothing was worth that. Whatever godforsaken project this had turned into... that couldn't be worth so many souls, lost forever.

Guy can feel his throat go dry, quickly casting his gaze to the floor and clasping his hands together tightly. He doesn't say anything. He can't say anything. Not until he's got a good grip on his composure.

The silence hangs heavily. Asch can break it if he feels it's necessary. But for right now, Guy keeps quiet.]

[He'll wait, at least for a while. He's used to this kind of reaction, really; seeing death, true death, as freedom isn't something that even most of his allies do. Asch sees that risk and embraces it. Most people don't.

Instead he just crosses his arms awkwardly and finally says.]

Apparently, the administrators plan to consume the souls still trapped in their worlds as fuel, instead.

[He's glad you're back, Guy, and not Tower-fuel. That's why.]

[Welll, that comment totally made the situation better. Totally.

Except not really.

Guy can feel the tension that shoots up his back and through his hands, his fingers clenching a bit harder at Asch's words. So, failure to find a way out would mean the death of everyone. Not just the people in this Tower... but all those people still left behind on planets from different timelines. People on Auldrant. Innocents... millions of innocents for the sake of one sick, twisted game of capture-and-release.

...

Easy. Breathe in, breathe out. Don't lose your cool. You just got back. Get information, figure out a plan, keep it together.

There's a subtle turn of the blonde's head, his gaze not moving from the floor and his voice staying low.]

You're treating this pretty lightly.

[His immediate reaction is to close up, to get angry and ignore it... But Guy, at least, deserves better than that. Asch doesn't have the right to demand honest answers out of him unless he's honest right back.

So a short silence, where Asch runs a hand through his bangs - he's been doing that more, lately, a sign of the stress getting to him even if nothing else is.]

If I stop to look to the side, or behind me, I'll never start moving forward again. And there's not time for stopping anymore.

[The answer is quite a bit deeper than what Guy would normally expect from Asch. No brushing aside? No sullen insults?]

As long as it's keeping distractions and trivialities out of the way, sure. You take chances, hopefully for the better. But that doesn't mean throwing your sense of caution out the window. Even without this whole mess hanging over our heads, I think that would be obvious.

[It's a jab to the far-too-cheery tone Asch had used speaking of death - as if he didn't realize what it truly meant for him and for the people around him. That wasn't an attitude Guy could respect.]

[And here Guy does hit a nerve.]

There's only so much caution will do for you.

[Almost unconsciously, Asch makes an aborted movement towards his neck - snap and black, that's all he remembers.]

And that somehow means it should be ignored?

[Not that Asch had meant that. But a little blind implication should be enough to stir a little more of an actual answer out of the God-General, wouldn't it? As far as Guy could see, he wasn't thinking things through the way that he should.

He throws the redhead an unimpressed look.]

Tower or not, you can't just barrel through things and call it progress. You're not immortal, Asch.

I didn't say that. But there's only so much that can be done.

[He growls under his breath.]

And I'm not going to let fear of what might happen make me helpless.

It's not much better if it's making you foolhardy instead.

[It's a Fabre in front of him, after all. Luke and his father were the same way. The narrowed line of thought toward one side or the other would definitely not surprise him.]

[His gaze narrows.]

They want us to not act, Guy. They're scared. And hell if I'm not going to give them a reason to be.

You say that like it's enough.

[Proving his point so far, mister icy pants. There's a bitter edge to his words, very similar to how he'd addressed Asch when they had been together on the Tartarus.]

You're expecting fear and this apathetic attitude of yours to get something bold accomplished in your favor. That hardly changes that you're dealing with the same knee-jerk reactions from the same people that have always had the upper hand. Just because they're scared doesn't mean they can't shift things to fit their plans. All jumping in for the sake of action is going to do is kill you... not to mention possibly endangering everyone around you.

And for some damn reason, you're okay with that.

[There was no reason to let themselves or their homeworlds die because of this place. But Guy would not stand for pointless sacrifices or martyrdom.]

And not acting will get us nothing. That's what they want. They want us corralled and controlled by fear of the consequences.

[Guy might be bitter, but Asch is equally so, and frustrated besides.]

Maybe you're okay with that. But I don't intend to roll over for them.

[That the administrators don't want them to act is plenty enough reason to act, for Asch. Plenty of reason for other people, too.]

That's not--- [Hooo boy, okay. Don't snap. Deep breath. He's just an idiot and completely missing the point Guy is trying to make.]

When the hell did I say I was okay with that?

Well, you're practically telling me to sit down and take it!

[Pissy mode activated!]

[Aha. There's the temper he knows and hates.]

Don't put words in my mouth. That isn't what I was talking about and you know it.

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