"Mori, Mako and Helms, William."
Mako breathed a sigh of relief and ducked her head, smoothing her regulation skirt in an attempt to stop her hands from shaking. Her legs were tense on the hard plastic chair of the assembly hall and the air was cold, even though her palms were sweating. Today was the day she had been waiting for, almost ten years after she left Tokyo. Her first Jaeger simulation trial.
Thank god it's Will. He's not the best but it could be worse. It could be worse... Her thoughts were interrupted by the next set of names, and Deputy Shawlinn continued until every student in the eleventh form had been partnered. He set down the list and turned to them with a grave expression clouding his already formidable features.
"You already know most of what I am about to say, but for those of you who still do not comprehend the situation, I will clarify. Tomorrow is your first time in a partially functioning Jaeger. Tomorrow is when the real test begins.
"For the past nine years you have been working towards this day. Each of you came to us nothing more than a gawping six or seven year old, excited to step inside the "big robots." But tomorrow, remember that these robots can kill you. And remember these robots are not the toys you owned as a child. Jaegers Mark 1 through Mark 4 are nuclear. Out of the ninety students I see before me, forty of you that will go on to pilot Jaegers, and twenty will die of radiation poisoning. The rest from Kaiju attacks, and a very, very small portion from having to teach and handle students like you." There were a few titters from the audience. Mako stared straight ahead, fists clenched in her lap.
"The partners chosen for you are not permanent in any way. After closely analyzing each of your techniques we compiled a list of five partners for each student. For each of the five trial simulations you will have a different partner not only learn to accept multiple neural handshakes, but also for your safety and your safety in the future. Previously there have been cases of partners showing extremely high compatibility on multiple levels during the trial, and in that situation they will do not rotate partners. Most eventually deploy as pilots together. But this year, we shall see. All I can tell you is to remember what we have tried so hard to teach you, and to trust each other. Assembly dismissed."
With that a small amount of chaos ensued with the first sets of partners calling out across the room and stepping over the rows of plastic chairs. Mako craned her neck to find Will amidst the crowd, and finally spotted him, looking a little lost. Stepping onto her chair she waved her arm in his direction.
"Mako!" he called, smiling and sliding around people to meet her. "This is great, our first Jaeger- are you ready?" Will grinned and the two of them began to push out of the assembly hall, heading for the dorms.
"Yes, I'm definitely ready," she said, pushing open the heavy metal doors to the cooling fall air. "I think we'll make a good team."
"Yeah, I sure hope so." Will walked beside her, scuffing his shoes on the gravel. He was very average for the Academy: average height, average intelligence, average fighting skills. But Mako had heard rumors about his testing results with the pre-Drift scanner that checked for the brain's ability to function in the Drift. Rumor had it he was a phenomenon, able to bond quickly and at a depth never before seen. She hoped this would work in their favor, this being their first Drift. Even if it was only a simulated, partial one.
Mako was worried. She would never admit it, but she was unsure if she would be able to stay calm in the simulation. Very few of the students at the Academy had ever truly come face to face with a real Kaiju, and it wasn't something she'd ever forget. If Will brought up the memories of that day or of her parents, even if by mistake, she might go chasing a rabbit and bring down the entire trial. Mako couldn't risk going in there with baggage.
At the fork between the two dorms they stopped. More people had begun the walk to the dorms, and their excited voices carried through the air. "Look, Mako, tomorrow," Will began, "whatever I see, whatever happens, we stay friends, yeah?"
Mako and Will had never been close before, as he had a group of his own and she tended to stay on the fringes, but they maintained a laid-back camaraderie in their lessons together, and she knew he was on her side. She reached out quickly and touched his arm, a brief reassurance.
"Me as well," she replied. "No judgements, no hard feelings. We'll be fine."
"Great." Will grinned again. "See you tomorrow, Mako!"
"Goodnight, Will." The two headed to their dorms, and Mako sank into the bed, not even bothering to change. The other girls on her floor filed in and eventually the lights were turned out. She listened to the quiet sounds of forty-four people breathing in and out.
Mako couldn't sleep.
At eight o'clock, the trials began. First up was Jillian West and Mac Benson. According to the mass of onlookers standing in the balcony, there were hardly any mishaps. The pair emerged from the simulator panting but smiling and were promptly attacked by a mob of terrified peers.
The second and third continued in the same vein. Students were able to see inside the simulation room by a camera broadcasting live onto the wall right next to it. The simulator room was immense, almost the same size as a Jaeger's head control room, with the same full body controls and intraneural response system. The only difference was the absence of the actual Jaeger body. Pilots wore the same suits but viewed a fake scenario on the front monitors. They felt the same weight resistance as with a real Jaeger and would move in accordance to shifts in the virtual gravity the same, but each blow and hit would only land virtually.
The fourth trial was a sensation. By this time the entire eleventh form had gathered, as well as whatever older students were on break, and they watched as Maria Conetra and Amelia Brent took down a Kaiju 4 with perfect ease and synchronization. Their movements at the controls were almost beautiful to watch, and later a student bringing tea to the adults in the simulation control room would boast that he heard them say it was the best debut trial ever performed in Academy History.
It wasn't until the sixth trial that anything really happened. According to a few keen ears, Gunther Frince got knocked out of alignment by Hill Ping's memory of a car accident and was hastily taken to the medic. Despite his speedy recovery, the air in the waiting room suddenly became electric as everyone watching realized the danger of the trial and what they were in for.
After three more pairs and another barely held neural-handshake later, it was Mako and Will's turn. They had been watching since the beginning, and as they got up to leave they were given pats on the back and "Good lucks!" from all the others in the room.
"We got this," Will said confidently, pushing open the door to the simulator and holding it for Mako. She tried to banter back but her voice caught in her throat and she could only nod.
They crossed the metal floor to the control harness frames and paused.
"Left or right?" Mako whispered.
"I'll take the right, yeah?" Will adjusted the arm pads on his suit and stepped into the right frame, his boots clicking into place on the foot control locks. Mako took a deep breath and stepped up into the left, a bit of a stretch for her. She breathed again, trying to remember everything she had learned.
When Mako had entered the Pan Pacific Defense Academy she had already learned more than any other students just from being raised by a rotation of cooks, dorm aides, and deputies for the previous year. Sensei Pentecoste had brought her there after the Kaiju ravaged her city and killed her-
No, she told herself sharply. Empty mind, empty body. The mantra of her first Kendo teacher had helped her more than once when she felt like she was drowning in her own history. An aide bustled in to check the frames and adjust the controls to their heights, chattering the whole time.
"Hi there, you two must be Mako and Will, well I'm Coral, and I've been doing this for a good long time and barely anybody has gotten hurt on my watch so don't you worry a bit, now as you know this is only a partial Drift so you will have access to each others memories but you won't be able to enter them fully and go chasing any rabbits, you hear? And with this kind of Drift your connection will be very light, surface memories only in most cases, of course that was not the case with those two girls today but everything is being very closely watched by trained professionals in the simulation control room, alright? Any questions? No? Here we go then!"
Giving a final pat to Mako and Will she pressed a button and the screens sprang to life in front of them. As she was heading back to the exit, Mako swivelled around.
"Coral- What's this Jaeger's name?"
The aide looked surprised, resting her weight on one leg and scratching the nape of her neck. "Well, it's a model of the American's Romeo Blue, so it'll be that, I suppose. Romeo Blue."
"Romeo Blue," Mako repeated softly. A voice came over the intercom relaying basic information, and finally came the countdown for the neural handshake. Mako looked over at Will and saw him fidgeting, ready to go. She looked back at the screen and closed her eyes.
"Initiating neural handshake in three. Two. One."
Romeo Blue, blue like her coat the day her parents left her at home to go to the grocery store and never came back even though she got on her blue coat and one shoe all by herself and left the flat to go find them, they lived over the grocery store so why weren't they home yet, why did they leave her-
Mako was falling, flying, being sucked into her own memories close enough to touch but not quite and she could feel someone else with her in the Drift, someone else's presence and vitality and memories-
Will's farm had remained untouched by the Kaiju because it was so far inland but he hated it, hated being separated from a place he could help and a chance to prove himself and his family, his relatives on the coast he loved and cared for with amazing loyalty, just like everything else in his life, he was not a fighter but a defender-
Mako's harness frame tilted and she was yanked into the present. She blinked out of Will's memory and saw on the a massive Kaiju, a level four at least, barreling towards them through the water, the waves it was pushing up causing the unattended Jaeger to tilt slightly backwards, and in turn, their harness frames as well.
She remembered she wasn't alone and turned her head to see Will pulling himself back to the task at hand. "Level four," she called to him over the sound of machinery and alien roars. "On my count, Hemlock sequence." She suddenly realized she didn't need to say anything out loud, because with a click she was no longer in her own body but somewhere in between herself and her copilot, simultaneously seeing out of her own eyes and Will's, thinking her own thoughts and listening to his. The effect was disconcerting and she felt like her own consciousness was being torn away.
Empty mind, empty body, she thought frantically, and from across the room she heard Will's own repetition of her phrase, mirrored then followed with something that she had to strain to pick up.
Protect and defend, protect and defend. His words carried through the Drift and Mako found herself chanting along. "Protect and defend!" she yelled aloud, raising her arms and watching the ring control on her left wrist activate while she gripped the handbar passing through the center of the disk tightly. Will copied the movement and they dropped to a crouch.
"Alright!" Will shouted. "Here we go!" They both took half a step backward as one, and Mako could feel the Jaeger respond. Under the machine she felt Will, his eagerness and personality seeping into her mind and emboldening her. They raised their arms and prepared, the Kaiju drawing closer, closer, until they were jumping and pivoting, their fist connecting with the Kaiju's side and their left arm wrapping around its neck. The controls on Will's suit glowed red as he struggled to hold it down while Mako activated the knife on the Jaeger's right side. Swinging it with the force of a nuclear reactor she plunged it into the creature's side only to hear Will's strangled warning.
"Mako, tail-"
The world shifted. The Jaeger seemed to fly through the air from the blow delivered by the Kaiju's barbed tail as their harness frames tilted backwards. Jarred by the simulated impact, Mako groaned and felt for injuries, quickly checking Will through the Drift. Although it was only a simulation, it felt real.
"Our left arm is out," she called as they pushed the Jaeger to its feet. The Kaiju had disappeared under the water.
"What's the plan? The thing's gonna come back any minute."
Mako didn't bother to answer, simply going through the Drift and pulling up one of Will's earlier memories: a rodeo, specifically the bull riders.
"I know it's a little unconventional," she began, but he cut her off.
"You're crazy, Mako, but we're fighting a massive sea demon from hell, so why not?" He laughed unconvincingly and they set their stance, scanning the water. A shadow flashed fifty meters to the right and began heading for them at top speed beneath the surface.
"Thar she blows," Will whispered, and Mako sent out a quick prayer. Please let this work, don't make me get thrown out of the Academy, please, please...
And for the second time, they jumped.
"William Helms and Mako Mori, please report to your Simulation Review meeting in 106."
The PA interrupted the Jaeger Mechanics class with a loud three-tone ring. The calls had been coming all day, and most teachers had almost given up lessons entirely. Their instructor for this class, ex-Ranger Yushi Hanto, had set them loose on his stash of Jaeger Monthly and told them to find one article to read and analyze for next week, but most students had quickly located a piece and begun to wander around the room. Will left his friends and Mako jumped out of her seat by the window in her haste to cross the room.
"Nervous?" he asked as they entered the empty corridor and began the walk to the reviewing room. She shook her head while her knees knocked together.
"Are you?" she responded.
"Of course." Will drummed his hands against his legs as Mako strode to keep up. Seeing her terrified look he fumbled. "We'll be alright, though, I mean even with what happened and everything, they wouldn't eject us."
"We'll see," she answered. They reached the room and pushed open the door. Inside were three chairs centered around a large table. On the table was a small projector. In one of the chairs was Deputy Shawlinn.
"Come in, sit." The Deputy motioned for them to close the door, and they both sat down. He pushed a button on the projector and suddenly Mako was watching herself and Will, viewed as if looking straight through the Jaeger's visor. She noticed in shock how afraid she looked when she came out of the Drift and saw the Kaiju, and how out of synch her and Will's motions actually were, although at the time they felt like ying and yang. The Deputy chuckled at Will's comment about the sea demon from hell, but his brow furrowed deeply when they leapt onto the Kaiju's back and put it in a chokehold before slitting its throat. The screen went dead and Mako turned quickly to the Deputy.
"Permission to explain, sir, it was my fault-"
"Permission not granted, Mori." Mako shut her mouth quickly and felt her heart racing. Deputy Shawlinn pinched the bridge of his nose. "For a first run that wasn't bad. It wasn't good, and in a real Jaeger you may have gotten killed, but not bad." There was no hint of admiration in his voice as he studied them both carefully. "Helms, you're too hesitant. You like to play defense, okay, but in a combat situation you need to strike first. We paired you because we thought Mori's aggressive techniques would even out the balance, but I think you both can do better."
Mako relaxed her clenched fists in relief but felt a blush spreading across her cheeks. I must do better.
"Mori," the Deputy continued, "your fighting was superior but you seemed uncomfortable with the neural handshake. We came close to pulling the plug because of the rabbit you spotted. Even though this was only a partial Drift, Will's natural Drifting depth made the neural handshake tighter, closer to what a full Drift would be. Let go. Let the Drift carry you, and trust Will. You tried to shake out the connection within the first two minutes and that's what knocks people out of alignment, Mori. I know you're better than this."
Mako's face was on fire. She felt like she had failed everyone. She felt like crying but she promised she wouldn't, she promised Sensei Pentecost she'd be the strongest Jaeger pilot in the Pacific.
"Next week, Helms will be with Randy Veenstra, and Mori with Uma Clarke. You're dismissed."
"Not bad!" Will crowed when they got into the hallway. "Not bad, Mako, not bad! I think we're still in the running to be professional Jaeger pilots, yeah?"
Mako nodded but didn't trust herself to speak. "Let's head back to class, then, I'm sure Hanto is mad about all of us missing." Will took a few steps down the hall before realizing Mako wasn't beside him.
"You go ahead," she said quietly. He gave her a look but went without a word. As soon as the coast was clear Mako sprinted in the opposite direction and slammed into the bathroom. Her breath hitched in her throat and she clutched the ceramic sink, her knuckles white. In the mirror she saw the same girl she'd been when the Kaiju killed her parents and left her wandering the streets.
"I am not a lost little girl," she told the reflection. "Not anymore." She imagined Sensei Pentecost with his crisp blue uniform and shiny black shoes and the mustache she liked to pull on when she was younger and he visited her at the Academy. When she was thirteen she threatened to shave it off but he just laughed and told her she'd have to win one hundred rounds of sparring before he let her. That week she practically lived in the gym.
"Shoulders back, chin up, little wolf," he always said. Sensei piloted Coyote Tango, but Mako swore she'd be stronger than even him so he'd taken to calling her "little wolf" or even "little Kaiju" when he was extremely upset.
The girl in the mirror straightened her spine and wiped her tearless red cheeks. Mako smoothed her short cropped black hair and exhaled. Pushing open the doors she slipped into the hallway and sped back to class, determined to prove herself the second she got the chance.
The second trial simulation went without a hitch. She and Uma had been in the same kendo and sparring classes since second form so their technique was much more similar. During the neural handshake Mako almost chased the rabbit into a memory of her parents, but instead she saw something in Uma that made her pause.
Her family had always been small, just the three of them, and they liked it that way, Uma and her fathers. But after her biological father's husband threw her out of the house for a day after he found a pocket knife in her bureau she went to the park and her fathers decided to leave the city by way of the Golden Gate Bridge. She never heard from them again.
Mako managed to complete the trial, but after she approached Uma and bent in a quick bow. "I am sorry about your parents, and I apologize for bringing it up in the Drift."
"Don't worry about it, Mako," Uma pushed her long hair back. "I'm sure you have stuff you'd rather not let in the Drift, but maybe if we ever pilot together we'll talk about it."
"Of course. Thank you, Uma." Mako tucked her own hair behind her ears and mentally prepared herself for the second review.
"Sloppy, Mako. You're improving, but try again next week with Yates Ingersol."
"Yates! Wake up- Yates! Yates, you're slipping-" Mako fought to keep control of the Drift but Yates was already neck deep in a memory of his older brother leaving for college.
"I should've been there..." he breathed, eyes glazed over with the past, right hand raising to release the chainsword. Mako felt her entire being shift like her head had been shaken violently. The alignment had been thrown, and now Yates had relinquished control almost entirely. The simulation was in a city this time, and they had been sneaking up behind a level 2 Kaiju when Yates saw a poster advertising college loans, pulling him out of an already unsteady handshake into a memory of his brother.
The sound of the sword expanding had alerted the beast and Mako was struggling to pilot the entire Jaeger solo, trying to swing the arm in defense as the Kaiju lunged. Yates dropped to his knees inside the cockpit and Mako's thrust threw them both off balance. The screens flashed red, the harness frames turned sideways, the Kaiju clamped its talons around the Jaeger-
Black.
Mako's adrenaline was pulsing but she was unable to move until the frame righted itself. Raging, she unlocked her boots, arms, and spinal connectors and strode over to Yates. He was unconscious and Mako began to feel the headache from her attempt at a solo pilot. Kneeling she pushed at the locking mechanism on his boots, then his arms, and finally the spine. He collapsed into her arms and she tried to shout for help but the room was spinning, tilting like the Kaiju had actually torn it apart. She heard the door fly open and looked up to see Deputy Shawlinn sprinting in, closely followed by four adults.
"It's Yates," she said weakly. "He lost it, I tried-" Shawlinn silenced her with a wave of his hand and the other adults surrounded them, three lifting Yates' limp form while he and the other slung her arms over their shoulders. They took one step forward but the nausea surged like a tidal wave and Mako's world went dark.
"Mako. Listen to my voice, Mako. You need to wake up. Wake up, little wolf."
Mako's eyes flew open. "Sensei Pentecost?" she whispered, turning her head towards the familiar deep voice.
"Hello, Mako." Stacker Pentecost looked tired. His shoulders curved inwards and the bags under his eyes screamed "world-weary" although he smiled and took her hand. The medical wing's blanket was rough against her arm. "I heard about your trial runs."
Mako turned her face away, swallowing hard. She was certain she'd be kicked out of the program now, what with one unorthodox procedure and one entirely wrecked simulation. She turned back to Pentecost. "How is Yates?"
"Oh, he'll be fine. Just a little shaken." He sighed heavily and pulled the chair closer. "They've cancelled the rest of his trials though, and the Academy Board will decide if he's fit to continue on if he... encounters such a major block every time he Drifts. It's dangerous to his copilot if he can't be controlled in the cockpit." He studied her bloodshot eyes. "They told me you tried to pilot the Jaeger alone."
Mako sighed and avoided eye contact. "He was so far gone," she whispered. "I had to do something, the Kaiju was going to tear the city apart-"
Pentecost stopped her and gripped her hand even tighter, locking her gaze in his. "Listen to me and remember this, Mako Mori. In a real fight you have to remember the consequences and that you'll be the one living with those consequences. You know the consequences of taking on the neural load of an entire Jaeger, both of us know better than anyone." Mako nodded silently. She knew Pentecost had piloted Coyote Tango alone for 18 minutes and the weight had destroyed him and given him cancer. If he ever Drifted again he would die. It was a fact he hid behind his sharply creased suits, but Mako had seen him taking his pills and wiping away nosebleeds more times than she could count.
"I only thought of the people," she said quietly. "Of the families."
"Even so, little wolf, you have your own family to come back to." Pentecost loosened his grip on her hand and began to stand, putting on his coat. "Make sure you come back to me every time, you hear?"
She nodded and smiled sadly. "Yes, sensei."
"And Mako?" Pentecost paused in the doorframe. "I am damn proud of you for piloting that Jaeger and facing that Kaiju all by yourself. Damn proud."
(Hello, and welcome to Chasing the Rabbit! My name is Andie, and for something that started as a small pet project this has really grown. It's like one of those sponge pills you put in water that expands into a dinosaur(Kaiju?). Anyways, I'll probably keep this thing going for a while, so hopefully you'll stick along for the ride! I'm hoping to get into the time between Mako's graduation and when she finally meets Raleigh, so stick around, yeah?)