Disclaimer: I don't own anything in here...
"It runs under an external power supply. Without a connection it can run for 12 hours in a dormant state, allowing the pilot to live that long until retrieval is achieved. Under a full combat run, the battery can run out as fast as 5 minutes, along with life support."
"Not very fuel-efficient. So, since it's connected to an "extension cord", if it's accidentally cut, then the pilot only has but a few minutes to get out alive."
"That's pretty much it."
"And where exactly do we attach weaponry."
"We don't. It only carries handheld weaponry."
Takihiro wiped his face in frustration. Here he was with a mech, with apparently no purpose, because for combat against other mechs it was useless, and no one was allowed to test it under Commander Ikari's orders.
"Okay," he said. "If I give it a handheld missile launcher, will it be able to carry it? Are its polyacetene fibers able to endure that kind of weight? For pete's sake, how much weight will this thing be able to carry? If I send it out to combat, can it carry enough ammo to sustain itself?"
"Actually, sir," Yuri responded, "I can't even test how much it can carry. It has no critical allocation spaces, so I can't give it a weapons configuration test. And not only that, but its internal structure is not steel or the newer endo-steel, and the undercarriage is not myomer, at all."
"If it's not made out of metal, then what is it made out of?"
"Sir, it's made out of living tissue."
Takihiro turned to the direction of the mech. He did not know what it was, but something began to creep inside him.
"You're telling me this thing is alive?"
"Alive would mean it is conscious of its existence. But this is merely an extension of the pilot. Unlike our mechs, or clan technology, this mech does not only reply to the pilot's movement coordination, but also to its emotional state. Emotions like anger and desperation can be channeled to the mech, resulting in better performance. The brain is still the pilot."
Takihiro was in a control room, and with him were Yuri and Dr. Evans, who had just spoken. Both him and Yuri were there to try to figure out as much as possible about the mech without having to interfere with the Commander's orders. Dr. Evans seemed to be running tests on her own, but she occasionally turned to look at Takihiro, who seemed to be breaking under pressure. Having been assigned the new mech, but having been given no additional information about it, Takihiro felt he had been told to take care of something he could not touch, look, or feel.
"Wait a second," he said. "Yuri is saying this thing is made of tissue, and you just confirmed that. So the second heartbeat was not created by an echo, but by this thing. You're telling me this thing also has internal organs? If it has a heart, does it have lungs? If it has lungs, then it needs blood. What else does it have? A liver? A stomach? Do we have to feed that thing?"
Takihiro's voice grew excited with anger, yet Dr. Evans' voice remained calm.
"You don't have to do anything, besides your regular tasks performed on a mech. That is maintenance and weapons check and reload. Yuri and I will be taking charge of its internal systems run, and the pilot. Of course, you know, this is all classified. Everyone else will simply take it as a new mech, and it's your job to make sure no one begins snooping around."
"Who knows about this?"
"No one besides those that need to know."
"And how long have you known about it."
"Long enough to understand its importance."
"Doctor?" Yuri asked. "These pilot synch tests. When do we run them?"
"As early as tomorrow. Since the pilot is awake, I can push the tests."
"And it's the boy who will be piloting it?" Takihiro asked, calming down.
"Yes. His age range is the most qualified. An older mind might find the task of synchronizing with another too much of a burden due to emotional baggage. After the age of thirteen, many adolescents are still free of unnecessary burdens, but are old enough to carry responsibilities. In the case of our pilot, he is fourteen, and, most importantly, he has experience. We shouldn't waste such an opportunity."
"Where was he trained?"
"That, I do not know. When I got the reports, he was already classified as a pilot. But I do know that there might be others, but I don't know when, or if, we will see them."
"And how do you know there are others?"
"Because, as a pilot, he is referred to as the Third Child."
"Doctor," said Yuri, trying to find the right question. "Why did you keep us in the dark?"
"Simple. I could not share any of this with you until I knew you two were cleared. Kadena and Tenku will have to be kept out of this, of course. Only Yuri and myself will be the only ones allowed to tamper with the insides of the mech. Everyone else will deal with its exterior."
"Agreed. But I can't fit this thing with our weaponry. I will need handheld armament."
"Understood. But I am not in charge of that, so you will have to request them from Commander Ikari. But before you begin readying it for battle, I will have to run the performance tests on the mech and the pilot."
"And that will begin tomorrow?"
"At the latest."
"Doctor," Again asked Yuri. "What about the computer system."
"Right now I need to see the pilot. As soon as I am done with him, I'll come by and we'll finish it off. Meanwhile, start putting in the new commands up to code line 21-33. After that we'll both have to do it at the same time."
Saying that, Dr. Evans stepped out. Takihiro looked around the control room. Three more were being built around the dock housing the mech. As of right now, the rooms were nothing more than a pile of monitors and holo-vid monitors with control panels scattered all over the floor. But he knew that both, Daniella and Yuri, were extremely talented. By tomorrow, he knew for sure, this room would be a true control room.
"So what new program is this?" He asked as he got a closer look at Yuri's terminal.
"Dr. Evans designed a system where at critical moments, it would respond more efficiently to critical conditions involving the mech and other factors."
"And how does it know how to respond?"
"Usually, terminals are composed of one "mind" that controls decision making. In this case, there would be three. That way, the chance of error is greatly reduced by having a decision taken as a majority, rather than the single overpowering choice of one."
"And what is this system called?"
"MAGI."
=====
"Once again, I'm in a strange place."
The door opened, and he immediately closed his eyes, pretending sleep. Dr. Evans wasn't tricked so easily, so she simply stepped inside and took a seat next to him.
"Shinji, I am Dr. Evans. I want to talk to your for a little while."
He did not respond, but simply remained still.
"I know you're not sleeping. I used the same trick on my parents, you know. So, I want to ask you a couple of questions. But I need you to look at me."
He opened his eyes and slowly turned to her.
"You know you will have to pilot again."
"I don't want to. Because of me, everyone is dead, except my father."
Suddenly he remembered.
"Kaji! I saw Kaji! I want to talk to him!"
She was taken by surprise by the sudden change in the boy's demeanor.
"Shinji! Please! Tell me who Kaji is, and we'll go see him."
"Kaji is the one that opened the plug! I remember! Please I want to see him!"
"No, Shinji. The ones that opened the hatch were Tenku and Takihiro. I saw them while they did it."
"No! Please! I remember Kaji. His face! Does he still have his ponytail? I know it was him! He still does not shave!"
She realized he was talking about Takihiro. He had confused him with someone else, but if that was what it took, then she had no other choice. Her job was to make sure the pilot was ready, and the mech in synch with the pilot. Commander Ikari was very specific about the program. Everyone involved knew that time was running out. As long as the pilot was not functioning correctly, then Nerv was prone to attack. Unfortunately, Daniella had no idea where the attack was coming from.
"Shinji," she sighed. "Get dressed. We're going to see Kaji."
She got up and left the room. As the door closed, she realized that that might be the reason why Takihiro was assigned the boy. The pilot was still a child, and it would need a familiar face to cope with the changes. And in the way things ran with Commander Ikari, it looked like the boy would get no encouragement from him.
"It runs under an external power supply. Without a connection it can run for 12 hours in a dormant state, allowing the pilot to live that long until retrieval is achieved. Under a full combat run, the battery can run out as fast as 5 minutes, along with life support."
"Not very fuel-efficient. So, since it's connected to an "extension cord", if it's accidentally cut, then the pilot only has but a few minutes to get out alive."
"That's pretty much it."
"And where exactly do we attach weaponry."
"We don't. It only carries handheld weaponry."
Takihiro wiped his face in frustration. Here he was with a mech, with apparently no purpose, because for combat against other mechs it was useless, and no one was allowed to test it under Commander Ikari's orders.
"Okay," he said. "If I give it a handheld missile launcher, will it be able to carry it? Are its polyacetene fibers able to endure that kind of weight? For pete's sake, how much weight will this thing be able to carry? If I send it out to combat, can it carry enough ammo to sustain itself?"
"Actually, sir," Yuri responded, "I can't even test how much it can carry. It has no critical allocation spaces, so I can't give it a weapons configuration test. And not only that, but its internal structure is not steel or the newer endo-steel, and the undercarriage is not myomer, at all."
"If it's not made out of metal, then what is it made out of?"
"Sir, it's made out of living tissue."
Takihiro turned to the direction of the mech. He did not know what it was, but something began to creep inside him.
"You're telling me this thing is alive?"
"Alive would mean it is conscious of its existence. But this is merely an extension of the pilot. Unlike our mechs, or clan technology, this mech does not only reply to the pilot's movement coordination, but also to its emotional state. Emotions like anger and desperation can be channeled to the mech, resulting in better performance. The brain is still the pilot."
Takihiro was in a control room, and with him were Yuri and Dr. Evans, who had just spoken. Both him and Yuri were there to try to figure out as much as possible about the mech without having to interfere with the Commander's orders. Dr. Evans seemed to be running tests on her own, but she occasionally turned to look at Takihiro, who seemed to be breaking under pressure. Having been assigned the new mech, but having been given no additional information about it, Takihiro felt he had been told to take care of something he could not touch, look, or feel.
"Wait a second," he said. "Yuri is saying this thing is made of tissue, and you just confirmed that. So the second heartbeat was not created by an echo, but by this thing. You're telling me this thing also has internal organs? If it has a heart, does it have lungs? If it has lungs, then it needs blood. What else does it have? A liver? A stomach? Do we have to feed that thing?"
Takihiro's voice grew excited with anger, yet Dr. Evans' voice remained calm.
"You don't have to do anything, besides your regular tasks performed on a mech. That is maintenance and weapons check and reload. Yuri and I will be taking charge of its internal systems run, and the pilot. Of course, you know, this is all classified. Everyone else will simply take it as a new mech, and it's your job to make sure no one begins snooping around."
"Who knows about this?"
"No one besides those that need to know."
"And how long have you known about it."
"Long enough to understand its importance."
"Doctor?" Yuri asked. "These pilot synch tests. When do we run them?"
"As early as tomorrow. Since the pilot is awake, I can push the tests."
"And it's the boy who will be piloting it?" Takihiro asked, calming down.
"Yes. His age range is the most qualified. An older mind might find the task of synchronizing with another too much of a burden due to emotional baggage. After the age of thirteen, many adolescents are still free of unnecessary burdens, but are old enough to carry responsibilities. In the case of our pilot, he is fourteen, and, most importantly, he has experience. We shouldn't waste such an opportunity."
"Where was he trained?"
"That, I do not know. When I got the reports, he was already classified as a pilot. But I do know that there might be others, but I don't know when, or if, we will see them."
"And how do you know there are others?"
"Because, as a pilot, he is referred to as the Third Child."
"Doctor," said Yuri, trying to find the right question. "Why did you keep us in the dark?"
"Simple. I could not share any of this with you until I knew you two were cleared. Kadena and Tenku will have to be kept out of this, of course. Only Yuri and myself will be the only ones allowed to tamper with the insides of the mech. Everyone else will deal with its exterior."
"Agreed. But I can't fit this thing with our weaponry. I will need handheld armament."
"Understood. But I am not in charge of that, so you will have to request them from Commander Ikari. But before you begin readying it for battle, I will have to run the performance tests on the mech and the pilot."
"And that will begin tomorrow?"
"At the latest."
"Doctor," Again asked Yuri. "What about the computer system."
"Right now I need to see the pilot. As soon as I am done with him, I'll come by and we'll finish it off. Meanwhile, start putting in the new commands up to code line 21-33. After that we'll both have to do it at the same time."
Saying that, Dr. Evans stepped out. Takihiro looked around the control room. Three more were being built around the dock housing the mech. As of right now, the rooms were nothing more than a pile of monitors and holo-vid monitors with control panels scattered all over the floor. But he knew that both, Daniella and Yuri, were extremely talented. By tomorrow, he knew for sure, this room would be a true control room.
"So what new program is this?" He asked as he got a closer look at Yuri's terminal.
"Dr. Evans designed a system where at critical moments, it would respond more efficiently to critical conditions involving the mech and other factors."
"And how does it know how to respond?"
"Usually, terminals are composed of one "mind" that controls decision making. In this case, there would be three. That way, the chance of error is greatly reduced by having a decision taken as a majority, rather than the single overpowering choice of one."
"And what is this system called?"
"MAGI."
=====
"Once again, I'm in a strange place."
The door opened, and he immediately closed his eyes, pretending sleep. Dr. Evans wasn't tricked so easily, so she simply stepped inside and took a seat next to him.
"Shinji, I am Dr. Evans. I want to talk to your for a little while."
He did not respond, but simply remained still.
"I know you're not sleeping. I used the same trick on my parents, you know. So, I want to ask you a couple of questions. But I need you to look at me."
He opened his eyes and slowly turned to her.
"You know you will have to pilot again."
"I don't want to. Because of me, everyone is dead, except my father."
Suddenly he remembered.
"Kaji! I saw Kaji! I want to talk to him!"
She was taken by surprise by the sudden change in the boy's demeanor.
"Shinji! Please! Tell me who Kaji is, and we'll go see him."
"Kaji is the one that opened the plug! I remember! Please I want to see him!"
"No, Shinji. The ones that opened the hatch were Tenku and Takihiro. I saw them while they did it."
"No! Please! I remember Kaji. His face! Does he still have his ponytail? I know it was him! He still does not shave!"
She realized he was talking about Takihiro. He had confused him with someone else, but if that was what it took, then she had no other choice. Her job was to make sure the pilot was ready, and the mech in synch with the pilot. Commander Ikari was very specific about the program. Everyone involved knew that time was running out. As long as the pilot was not functioning correctly, then Nerv was prone to attack. Unfortunately, Daniella had no idea where the attack was coming from.
"Shinji," she sighed. "Get dressed. We're going to see Kaji."
She got up and left the room. As the door closed, she realized that that might be the reason why Takihiro was assigned the boy. The pilot was still a child, and it would need a familiar face to cope with the changes. And in the way things ran with Commander Ikari, it looked like the boy would get no encouragement from him.