Lab Of Nature Helpers (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
labassistants) wrote2025-06-07 11:59 am
labassistants) wrote2025-06-07 11:59 am
TEST DRIVE MEME | JUNE/JULY
// TEST DRIVE MEME | JUNE/JULY
Welcome to the Lab Of Nature test drive meme! If you'd like to know more about our game, please look at our main navigation page!
The prompts will always be game canon, provided both characters who participate in a thread are either already in the game, or get accepted in the next application round. The newcomers will be mostly secluded on their own floor for a month, but as of March 2025, characters may use the secret elevator to visit the other typical detainment floors once a week with a single round trip. Choose that trip wisely! Apart from that, they can only interact with current characters in the first two prompts, or by using a network prompt wildcard once they arrive in the facility.
Please be mindful of the content warnings below as you tag around. We ask players joining us to use content warnings for any triggering content that might come up in a thread. Please use your best judgment while you play.
You do not need an invitation to join the Test Drive Meme, it's open for anyone!
Please indicate character name and canon in the subject line of your top-level, along with "current character" for those already in the game or "new character" for newcomers. If they're a CRAU, you can mention that too.
____________________________________________________________________
cw: mention of brainwashing and experimentation, compulsions, ritualistic behavior, hallucinations
The air cackles with unbidden heat. Something that makes your skin ache unbearably. The feeling is hard to really ignore, even as you try to toss and turn. Awareness bites at the back of your mind demandingly. Awaken. Or it could be the tips of hay and dried grass finding purchase on exposed skin. The sound of fire rapidly consuming something nearby also helps in getting you up.
Light Bringers and Flickers awaken strewn across hay bales and dead grass. Bits of hay fiber stick to their newly acquired white linen clothing. Sweat makes the already thin material feel like a second skin from how it clings. It's an absolutely wretched feeling all around.
Mixed amongst the crowd are those few clad in warm-toned linen clothing and armed with stun batons: Enforcers. Long term Light Bringers will take note that their collective bullies have new faces in their roster. They're compelled, just as the rest of those present are, but lurking at the edges of the crowd. Those newly recruited will find themselves shaky and uncertain, but eager to please. Unbidden flashes of what has been done to the newly chosen Enforcers come in waves. Cold tools digging into skin, and whispered voices telling them just what their purpose is.
A dense cornfield surrounds the valley they've found themselves in, enclosing it from the apparent outside world. More striking are several bonfires, dotted around where they've awoken. The fires range in size, from grand blazes of ten feet tall to a collection of flames which wouldn't reach any higher than one's waist. Loose piles of chopped wood and sticks are placed next to them.
Light Bringers who approach can certainly bask in the heat if they so wish. Though, the longer they remain standing there, the worse the compulsion to dance becomes. Before long, Light Bringers will find themselves dancing in a circle around the fires. Those who throw wood into the fires are cheered by the dancers. The urge to destroy is a strong one. Why shouldn't you give into those impulses? What is holding you back from your most base urges? The loose hay bales around you are perfect to destroy. To feed the hungry flames.
The crackling of the flames calls to you to give in.
The fires eventually grow big enough that someone could be consumed by it. Do you step into the welcoming blaze? Or do you continue to dance?
Those who take the plunge (or are pushed by Enforcers) into the flames are not harmed physically. Mentally, though? Well, that's a whole other story. They find themselves lost for what seems like an endless moment, foggy memories both real and fake smashing through them. Reality becomes fiction and fiction becomes reality. After pushing through that befuddling feeling, they'll be on the other side of the fire, but their minds continue to smoulder. To these disoriented few, they'll see a shadowy echo of where they once were, silhouettes of the dancers spinning around them, laughing and jeering. Hallucinations reign supreme, and those afflicted by the fire become hostile to anyone nearby, their grip on reality no more than a weak, clammy-fingered pinch.
Those who don't take the plunge are stuck dancing around the fire, compelled to keep moving. Keep dancing. When the spell does seemingly break, they can scatter across the field to try and avoid the now-aggressive Light Bringers who were afflicted by delusions. Paired with the Enforcers, there isn't much safety to be found.
Fights break out as the fires only seem to grow bigger and bigger, feeding off the strife. The fire is hungry for your unhappiness. Will you feed it?
The flames rapidly growing out of control at least means a hole has been burned into the cornfield, big enough for someone to get through. Clever Light Bringers can duck into the makeshift tunnel. The enclosed corn makes it impossible to go anywhere but forward to escape the fire. Those who try to escape will find themselves running for quite some time, but there is an end in sight.
__________
cw: optional body transformation/horror, animalistic behavior, memory loss, optional immolation
Some emerge from the tunnel through the cornfield. Others are far luckier and awaken in soft grass, unaware of what the others have already gone through. The sun overhead is warm, but comfortingly so. A gentle breeze carries a sweet smell through the air. A grand pink tree sits sentinel over a feast.
A grand wooden table has been set up. Dotted across the table are fresh ripened fruits of all shapes and sizes in woven bowls. Some are recognizable to Light Bringers, some absolutely alien but alluring nonetheless. Several chairs are pulled up to the table, costume pieces draped across the back of each one. To partake, an animal costume must be worn. Light Bringers who try to reach for food without dressing up will find their target endlessly rolling out of their grasp onto another bowl. Untrappable.
The costumes themselves range from a simple wooden mask in the shape of an animal head to more elaborate animal pelts with flower crowns and teeth meant to be draped over your shoulders as you sit down. What most have in common is the subtle association with fangs, claws, hunger… Predator animals. In comparison, the amount of helpless prey animal costumes is fewer, but they are peppered into the selection.
As you partake in the fresh fruit, juices dribbling down your chin, staining your fingers, you feel your thoughts drifting away. Distant, faint. All your worries are gone. There is only the comfort of sunlight warming your back and fruit in hand. The costume you wear slowly starts to subsume you, becoming part of your skin. Your body, your very being. Light Bringers become what costume they've chosen. The new predators at the table seem to take notice of the prey animals present, fruit forgotten in favor of a much richer bounty. Meat.
Light Bringers feel the urge to attack one another, ravenous for a meal unbidden to them as beasts. If the costumes can be removed, Light Bringers will return to their senses. It might be a difficult task, given the simple costumes have become a part of their bodies.
All the while, the fire started in the original field rages onwards, right towards the Light Bringers. Flames consume the tree, then rapidly jump to the table. Light Bringers will quickly discover there is no clear escape route in sight as the blaze circles in. And this time, the fire affects more than just the mind, as it does aim to burn skin and bone alike. A lucky few pass out from the rising smoke. Those unlucky enough to be within reach will feel the heat of the fire gobble them up. An unpleasant death by all measures, but numbed by the delusions running through their minds, whether it be from the animal costumes or the renewed hallucinations started by the flames.
To the people running this place, making your mind warped and changed, you are merely kindling to feed a dying flame. Oh, dear Light Bringer, why not just be swallowed up by the flames and lose yourself entirely?
Those who see the danger coming and flee in time will run into the wall of corn once more, now somehow even denser than before. Like a thick brush, it snags clothing and scratches skin. Progress is hampered, ensuring any escaping Light Bringer will move far slower than the flame which approaches. But just when all seems lost, they are swallowed not by the fire, but by the ground itself, which opens up below their feet. Or perhaps it simply disappears.
Light Bringers who were not lost to the raging flames will instead find themselves free falling into darkness, only to awaken quite abruptly on the cold floor of the facility alongside those who perished.
__________
cw: ritualistic behavior, trophy animals, parasitic animals
Light Bringers who re-awaken on their floors- or the Flicker Floor for those freshly arrived- will find the beige hallways decorated heavily for the season.
Woven flower banners hang overhead, intertwined with strings of animal teeth and bones. The banners sway with the cool air being pumped into the halls. Bones and teeth clatter audibly together. Those who work together could conceivably pull a banner down. Less easily reached are stuffed and mounted animal heads on the wall, ranging from bears, rabbits, foxes and weasels. They're all adorned with flower crowns. Their glassy eyes focus on nothing in particular. Oddly, they're all animals Light Bringers seem to recognize for the most part.
An administrator post is pinned to the top of the network. Nyx02 has a special message for everyone! How exciting!
Ohwhwo wowahie its Sommerzetsy!!
it fun
Errybody get to wear little aninmalala fleshies!!
And flowars!
i hear fruit is tatsy!!
i thik the yellowcoats lefted u a surmprise!! woaaaooh
wha t traditioms do u celebrate : o????
Arranged in a circle on one of the main tables is an array of flower crowns. Each has been carefully woven together with twine and branches. The flowers all range in color and shape, but are very fresh. It's something beautiful to wear on your head to celebrate the season.
Unfortunately, the flowers being fresh means they are very much alive and waiting. When worn they will sink hidden teeth into your skull after an hour or two of being inactive. Struggling against the new seemingly permanent addition leaves bloody gashes on your head. Those with a gentler touch could stroke the flower crown to make it pop off more willingly. A gentle touch might save your scalp a few scrapes.
Once freed, the flower crowns will scuttle across the tiled floor, trying to latch onto the next unsuspecting Light Bringer.
The prompts will always be game canon, provided both characters who participate in a thread are either already in the game, or get accepted in the next application round. The newcomers will be mostly secluded on their own floor for a month, but as of March 2025, characters may use the secret elevator to visit the other typical detainment floors once a week with a single round trip. Choose that trip wisely! Apart from that, they can only interact with current characters in the first two prompts, or by using a network prompt wildcard once they arrive in the facility.
Please be mindful of the content warnings below as you tag around. We ask players joining us to use content warnings for any triggering content that might come up in a thread. Please use your best judgment while you play.
You do not need an invitation to join the Test Drive Meme, it's open for anyone!
Please indicate character name and canon in the subject line of your top-level, along with "current character" for those already in the game or "new character" for newcomers. If they're a CRAU, you can mention that too.
____________________________________________________________________
ONE
cw: mention of brainwashing and experimentation, compulsions, ritualistic behavior, hallucinations
The air cackles with unbidden heat. Something that makes your skin ache unbearably. The feeling is hard to really ignore, even as you try to toss and turn. Awareness bites at the back of your mind demandingly. Awaken. Or it could be the tips of hay and dried grass finding purchase on exposed skin. The sound of fire rapidly consuming something nearby also helps in getting you up.
Light Bringers and Flickers awaken strewn across hay bales and dead grass. Bits of hay fiber stick to their newly acquired white linen clothing. Sweat makes the already thin material feel like a second skin from how it clings. It's an absolutely wretched feeling all around.
Mixed amongst the crowd are those few clad in warm-toned linen clothing and armed with stun batons: Enforcers. Long term Light Bringers will take note that their collective bullies have new faces in their roster. They're compelled, just as the rest of those present are, but lurking at the edges of the crowd. Those newly recruited will find themselves shaky and uncertain, but eager to please. Unbidden flashes of what has been done to the newly chosen Enforcers come in waves. Cold tools digging into skin, and whispered voices telling them just what their purpose is.
A dense cornfield surrounds the valley they've found themselves in, enclosing it from the apparent outside world. More striking are several bonfires, dotted around where they've awoken. The fires range in size, from grand blazes of ten feet tall to a collection of flames which wouldn't reach any higher than one's waist. Loose piles of chopped wood and sticks are placed next to them.
Light Bringers who approach can certainly bask in the heat if they so wish. Though, the longer they remain standing there, the worse the compulsion to dance becomes. Before long, Light Bringers will find themselves dancing in a circle around the fires. Those who throw wood into the fires are cheered by the dancers. The urge to destroy is a strong one. Why shouldn't you give into those impulses? What is holding you back from your most base urges? The loose hay bales around you are perfect to destroy. To feed the hungry flames.
The crackling of the flames calls to you to give in.
The fires eventually grow big enough that someone could be consumed by it. Do you step into the welcoming blaze? Or do you continue to dance?
Those who take the plunge (or are pushed by Enforcers) into the flames are not harmed physically. Mentally, though? Well, that's a whole other story. They find themselves lost for what seems like an endless moment, foggy memories both real and fake smashing through them. Reality becomes fiction and fiction becomes reality. After pushing through that befuddling feeling, they'll be on the other side of the fire, but their minds continue to smoulder. To these disoriented few, they'll see a shadowy echo of where they once were, silhouettes of the dancers spinning around them, laughing and jeering. Hallucinations reign supreme, and those afflicted by the fire become hostile to anyone nearby, their grip on reality no more than a weak, clammy-fingered pinch.
Those who don't take the plunge are stuck dancing around the fire, compelled to keep moving. Keep dancing. When the spell does seemingly break, they can scatter across the field to try and avoid the now-aggressive Light Bringers who were afflicted by delusions. Paired with the Enforcers, there isn't much safety to be found.
Fights break out as the fires only seem to grow bigger and bigger, feeding off the strife. The fire is hungry for your unhappiness. Will you feed it?
The flames rapidly growing out of control at least means a hole has been burned into the cornfield, big enough for someone to get through. Clever Light Bringers can duck into the makeshift tunnel. The enclosed corn makes it impossible to go anywhere but forward to escape the fire. Those who try to escape will find themselves running for quite some time, but there is an end in sight.
TWO
cw: optional body transformation/horror, animalistic behavior, memory loss, optional immolation
Some emerge from the tunnel through the cornfield. Others are far luckier and awaken in soft grass, unaware of what the others have already gone through. The sun overhead is warm, but comfortingly so. A gentle breeze carries a sweet smell through the air. A grand pink tree sits sentinel over a feast.
A grand wooden table has been set up. Dotted across the table are fresh ripened fruits of all shapes and sizes in woven bowls. Some are recognizable to Light Bringers, some absolutely alien but alluring nonetheless. Several chairs are pulled up to the table, costume pieces draped across the back of each one. To partake, an animal costume must be worn. Light Bringers who try to reach for food without dressing up will find their target endlessly rolling out of their grasp onto another bowl. Untrappable.
The costumes themselves range from a simple wooden mask in the shape of an animal head to more elaborate animal pelts with flower crowns and teeth meant to be draped over your shoulders as you sit down. What most have in common is the subtle association with fangs, claws, hunger… Predator animals. In comparison, the amount of helpless prey animal costumes is fewer, but they are peppered into the selection.
As you partake in the fresh fruit, juices dribbling down your chin, staining your fingers, you feel your thoughts drifting away. Distant, faint. All your worries are gone. There is only the comfort of sunlight warming your back and fruit in hand. The costume you wear slowly starts to subsume you, becoming part of your skin. Your body, your very being. Light Bringers become what costume they've chosen. The new predators at the table seem to take notice of the prey animals present, fruit forgotten in favor of a much richer bounty. Meat.
Light Bringers feel the urge to attack one another, ravenous for a meal unbidden to them as beasts. If the costumes can be removed, Light Bringers will return to their senses. It might be a difficult task, given the simple costumes have become a part of their bodies.
All the while, the fire started in the original field rages onwards, right towards the Light Bringers. Flames consume the tree, then rapidly jump to the table. Light Bringers will quickly discover there is no clear escape route in sight as the blaze circles in. And this time, the fire affects more than just the mind, as it does aim to burn skin and bone alike. A lucky few pass out from the rising smoke. Those unlucky enough to be within reach will feel the heat of the fire gobble them up. An unpleasant death by all measures, but numbed by the delusions running through their minds, whether it be from the animal costumes or the renewed hallucinations started by the flames.
To the people running this place, making your mind warped and changed, you are merely kindling to feed a dying flame. Oh, dear Light Bringer, why not just be swallowed up by the flames and lose yourself entirely?
Those who see the danger coming and flee in time will run into the wall of corn once more, now somehow even denser than before. Like a thick brush, it snags clothing and scratches skin. Progress is hampered, ensuring any escaping Light Bringer will move far slower than the flame which approaches. But just when all seems lost, they are swallowed not by the fire, but by the ground itself, which opens up below their feet. Or perhaps it simply disappears.
Light Bringers who were not lost to the raging flames will instead find themselves free falling into darkness, only to awaken quite abruptly on the cold floor of the facility alongside those who perished.
THREE
cw: ritualistic behavior, trophy animals, parasitic animals
Light Bringers who re-awaken on their floors- or the Flicker Floor for those freshly arrived- will find the beige hallways decorated heavily for the season.
Woven flower banners hang overhead, intertwined with strings of animal teeth and bones. The banners sway with the cool air being pumped into the halls. Bones and teeth clatter audibly together. Those who work together could conceivably pull a banner down. Less easily reached are stuffed and mounted animal heads on the wall, ranging from bears, rabbits, foxes and weasels. They're all adorned with flower crowns. Their glassy eyes focus on nothing in particular. Oddly, they're all animals Light Bringers seem to recognize for the most part.
An administrator post is pinned to the top of the network. Nyx02 has a special message for everyone! How exciting!
Ohwhwo wowahie its Sommerzetsy!!
it fun
Errybody get to wear little aninmalala fleshies!!
And flowars!
i hear fruit is tatsy!!
i thik the yellowcoats lefted u a surmprise!! woaaaooh
wha t traditioms do u celebrate : o????
Arranged in a circle on one of the main tables is an array of flower crowns. Each has been carefully woven together with twine and branches. The flowers all range in color and shape, but are very fresh. It's something beautiful to wear on your head to celebrate the season.
Unfortunately, the flowers being fresh means they are very much alive and waiting. When worn they will sink hidden teeth into your skull after an hour or two of being inactive. Struggling against the new seemingly permanent addition leaves bloody gashes on your head. Those with a gentler touch could stroke the flower crown to make it pop off more willingly. A gentle touch might save your scalp a few scrapes.
Once freed, the flower crowns will scuttle across the tiled floor, trying to latch onto the next unsuspecting Light Bringer.
QUESTIONS
CLICK HERE FOR THE QUESTIONS
Can my character bring anything from the experiment back to the facility?
No. All characters are changed into a clean set of clothes when they're returned to the facility, so their pockets will be empty.
Who are/what are Enforcers?
Enforcers are your fellow players! Their characters were selected to be brainwashed by the scientists to act as local instigators and bullies. They're armed with stun batons and intend to produce light no matter the cost. Check this handy dandy page for more info and who is an Enforcer!
Wait, the Enforcers are armed?
Yes! Each Enforcer has a stun baton. When used it will activate the chip in your character's neck, giving them a horrible shock. Only Enforcers can use the stun batons/activate them!
What happens to my character if they reach into the fire?
Your character will begin hallucinating once they've made contact with the fire. Leaping entirely through the fire leads to far worse hallucinations. This includes fake memories and their sense of reality being warped.
Is my character compelled to dance?
Yes, but they can break out of it. The compulsion will keep returning the longer they linger there.
What animal costumes are there?
Primarily, there are bears, foxes, rabbits, mice, and weasels. Very Earth-specific animals. If you'd like to say there is a common wooden creature costume present, feel free! No T-rexes, pokémon or other fantasy animals, alas.
Does my character have to attack the others?
They will feel extremely compelled to, and grow hungrier the longer they resist. It is up to you how they cope with that.
Does my character think they're an animal while in costume?
Yes! They've taken on the role of the beast they've chosen. Predators will go after prey animals! Prey will try to flee or band together.
What if my character doesn't wear a costume?
They get to deal with a bunch of weird half transformed animals mauling each other. Good luck with the mess. If they manage to pry off the masks or capes, they can rescue their friends!
What is Sommerzetsy?
Sommerzoet, actually! Silly Nyx. Sommerzoet is an in-game world holiday based on the summer months! We thought it would make for a fun TDM.
Can my characters keep the decorations?
They can keep the decorations for the next two weeks, before the flowers, banners and teeth all turn to dust in their hands. Woe.
Can the characters eat the bone/teeth?
If you'd like, but it'll offer you no nutritional value.
Are the flower crowns alive!?
They most certainly are! They're looking to perch somewhere, so your head will do. You can remove them by gently stroking the petals until they loosen up.
Can we kill the flower crowns?
Yes! As far as flowers can be killed, anyway.
Can we befriend the flower crowns?
If you'd like, but they'll keep wanting to dig teeth into scalps. Maybe find a different target for your crown friend to play with? They will disappear when the Sommerzoet season ends around June 30th.
Quick lore check! Who is Nyx02?
An AI that lives in the computers of the facility ever since March 2025. Nyx02 is a poor recreation of an AI who once was, acting more as a virus than a proper caretaker. She's taken over for Helios01 (the previous AI), and it's… causing some troubles for new and old Light Bringers alike. Let's hope the scientists find a way to get rid of her soon.
If you have other, more broad questions about the game itself or characters you wish to play, please ask on the FAQ instead.