Author's Notes: Thank you all so much for the incredible feedback for last chapter! Please keep it coming! My history for Jake Pentecost (which bears no resemblance to his history in the sequel apart from his name) is in Chapters 11-12 of Tales From The Front Lines, including the explosion with his maternal grandparents about his father. The days after Knifehead that Tendo and Chuck remember are in Chapters 16-18 of Aurora Australis.

Chapter Eight: Point Me

Mako wasn't sure if the sensations she felt in her mind were damage to her own brain or her partners. The dark places, she suspected, were Raleigh's, not her own. But Dr. Tán had warned her that losing consciousness from oxygen deprivation in combat had broken the drift, and it had left scars in her brain. "You may never experience any cognitive or physical dysfunction, but there was an injury that you need to be aware of."

If I ever pilot again, Mako knew that was the unspoken point. If I ever fight again.

Would Jaegers ever be needed again so desperately? Well, that was the question on the whole planet's mind. While Mako had still been watching, the American Congress and the UN delegates had pressed that question to Marshal Hansen, Sasha Kaidanovsky, Aleksis Kaidanovsky, Dr. Geiszler, both Gottliebs, and every other witness they could get onto the stand:

"Can we be sure the Breach is closed permanently and the kaiju won't come back? Can we be one hundred percent certain?"

The answer had been "of course not" every single time - well, Dr. Geiszler's had been, "of course, not, what kind of dumbass assumes that?!"

As much as Newt's mouth tended to make Mako and Sensei cringe, she'd grinned then as the rest of the personnel in the Hong Kong mess hall whooped and applauded. Newt would be delighted by the memes he'd generated.

Mako was relieved that so far there was no talk of scrapping Crimson Typhoon, and so far the only question should be how many Jaegers should be built now, and to what purposes other than sentries in case of another, future Breach.

And what purpose for me, a Ranger, without a co-pilot?

Like Sensei after Onibaba, Raleigh could never pilot a combat mission again - not if he wanted to survive it. He'd have a fifty-fifty chance if he ever set foot in a Jaeger again, even for a test drive.

So where did that leave Mako?

Her eyes fell on Jake, playing a game on his tablet, and he caught her staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing," she mumbled. How selfish to think this way less than two months after the Breach. She'd all but begged Sensei to be Raleigh's co-pilot - while telling Raleigh to his face he was not right to be pilot of the mission in his own Jaeger - oblivious to what he was putting himself through just to set foot in a Shatterdome again. He'd saved her life when she failed in battle - when by all rights, she'd failed in drift testing with almost-fatal results, as the American Congress had pointed out.

She'd practically dragged Raleigh to her bed. Now she was already thinking of piloting with someone else?

"Hey," Jake put a hand on hers as her eyes welled up. She didn't say anything, and to her relief, he didn't ask what was wrong. No doubt he was imagining it was just memories from the bad drift.

What do I do now? What use am I to anyone now?

Chuck made the call to his old man to tell him what had happened. Herc blurted out, "Fuck!" the minute Chuck said Raleigh had agreed to the experiment. Yeah, Dad knew where this was going.

We all should've seen where this was going. We fucking dropped the ball. No matter what those fancy credentials said, we should've told her to get fucked, that none of us were gonna be her guinea pigs.

Why the hell had Becket said yes? What the hell had he been thinking?

"What've you been doin' for five years? Something pretty important, I reckon?"

"Look, they cancelled the Jaeger Program because of mediocre pilots, it's simple as that!"

It sounded like shit those American Senators had been saying. But it wasn't, was it? It was shit Chuck fucking Hansen had said. All weighing on Chuck's mind more than ever.

"Chuck? You there?"

Chuck blinked. Dad was frowning, poking the holocam. Sasha and Aleksis were now behind him. "Sorry. I shoulda stopped it. The whole thing sounded creepy, but when he'd said yes, I figured it was...damn. I shouldn't have let 'em."

Herc looked startled, at a loss for words, and it was Sasha who leaned over his shoulder and said, "You're not to blame for Becket being deceived, Chuck. We must find out what Choi has learned from questioning them."

Chuck got Tendo, who was now officially more pissed off than Chuck had ever seen him - and Tendo'd had a lot of reasons to be pissed off in the five years Chuck had known him. Tendo too was cursing himself. "I should've checked all this shit before we let them anywhere near the equipment, let alone a pilot! All the credentials from Lightcap and Schoenfeld are fraudulent. Lightcap never responded to their requests for endorsements; Schoenfeld read their papers and told them their theories were half-assed shit. Oh, and Dustin Krieger and Lawrence Taylor may say they're a hundred percent behind us, but I think they're behind whatever makes them money. Their endorsements are legit."

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Krieger and Taylor signed off on anything that'd make them look good before, why should it change now?" Herc growled. "What do the triplets think? Can we get these bastards arrested by the local authorities?"

"They're working on it," said Tendo. "Local authorities just rubber-stamped the documents when they saw all the big names, but Cheung and Jin and their crew have a lot of clout. They think they can get all the authorizations revoked - but once arrests happen, Krieger and Taylor and whichever US bigshots are backing these assholes are gonna scream."

"Maybe," said Sasha, smirking. "Or they may distance themselves and leave Metacortex and its operatives to face the fire. We can encourage that quietly while we're here. "

Tendo sighed. "I've actually got some sympathetic press contacts, but not sure if I should use 'em. I don't want to put Raleigh and Mako through a media shitstorm - another one, anyway."

"Yeah, no, don't involve the press," said Herc. "I just want these fuckers to get their asses handed to them and to make it clear that nobody comes swanning in and turns former pilots into guinea pigs for profit, and if they try, they'll fucking pay for it."

"Got it."

"How are they?" asked Aleksis. "Mako and Raleigh?"

Tendo sighed. "Sedated. Tán says there's no full-blown brain damage, but this has triggered both of them all to hell." He tapped the bruise on his neck. "Mako nearly put me through the floor when I stopped her from just ripping the rig off Raleigh's head. He went catatonic; she freaked the fuck out."

"Jesus," Herc muttered. "Tell Tán I want to be in the loop. When they wake up, I want to know."

"Mako's woken up a couple of times. Raleigh's still under. She's coherent, but that's about it. She hasn't said much. Jake's with her, and we're all taking turns looking in on them."

Like after Knifehead. Chuck remembered from Herc's memories, what he'd witnessed in Anchorage. Only then Becket was the one screaming. It didn't matter, really. If a driftmare was scream-worthy, both pilots would scream, just sometimes at different times. Chuck knew that all too well.

After Taurax, Chuck had had driftmares of dragging his son's battered body through Striker's superstructure as water cascaded after them and the kaiju's eyes glared through the torn conn-pod - Herc hadn't screamed at the time, but Chuck had woken up screaming more than once.

They'd both woken up screaming from trying to stop Rakshasa from tearing into Vulcan Specter.

"What else do we do now? If you're not gonna tell the press about this, you can't tell Congress - they'll tell everybody," he said.

"Yeah, it's just two more days 'till they adjourn, though they'll probably call us back," said Herc. "Whatever. The Chinese government wants to back us, Japan and Russia are coming back on board, and the damn French are dreaming about Jaegers for anti-terrorism. The Americans'll either get on board or get left behind and they know it."

Tendo was expecting a full repeat of the days after Knifehead. Sometimes it took Allison and the baby to remind him that it wasn't 2020.

Somebody from Team Gipsy Version 1 (as the snarkier personnel called it) was always in the infirmary at Rals and Mako's side, accompanied by Jake Pentecost more often than not. When Raleigh started to come out from under the drugs, Tendo tried to chivvy Jake out of the infirmary, but the kid wouldn't have it.

"Listen...after a blowup like that, pilots...can flip out. It's really hard to see," Tendo explained clumsily.

Jake Pentecost gave Tendo a "no shit, Sherlock" look that reminded him half of Marshal Pentecost, half of Chuck Hansen. And a dash of Rals before Knifehead. "I know what drift shock is and what it does to pilots; I'm not gonna faint."

Yeah, fair enough. However much of a surprise his existence had been to everyone, Stacker Pentecost's son was unlikely to panic even if Raleigh and/or Mako did wake up screaming.

But they didn't wake up screaming.

Raleigh twitched awake suddenly, and everyone held their breath, but he wrapped an arm around Mako and looked around with clear eyes. "What day's it?" he mumbled.

"It's been about thirty-six hours," said Dr. Tán. "Do you remember everything?"

Raleigh's eyes lost focus, and Tendo slipped into the past again, because he knew that expression all too well. "Yeah," Raleigh whispered. "I remember."

Mako stirred herself a few moments later, and put a hand on his face. He pressed his forehead to hers and they both shut their eyes.

Neither of them said anything for hours.

They both ate and drank when the medics brought their trays, moving in slow, trembling synch like pilots did after hard combat. Tendo and Jake and the other non-medics hovered and talked to each other and pretended not to be watching closely. Every now and then, somebody'd step over to them, ask if they were okay, if they needed anything. It was always a nod or a headshake.

Chuck Hansen even came in. Well, that alone didn't shock Tendo so much; Chuck always checked in on injured pilots, and no doubt he'd send a report on to Herc. But it was the way he looked at Mako and Raleigh that threw Tendo, with a softness that Tendo hadn't seen…well, ever, from Chuck Hansen towards Mako Mori or Raleigh Becket. Chuck was capable of being gentle, especially in the infirmary towards pilots and personnel. Tendo'd seen less and less of it during the last year of the war, especially after Team Vulcan and Team Ronin went down.

Then again, the last year of the war'd been so frenzied, Tendo himself had barely had a chance to be around Chuck in the infirmaries at the same time. Indra Hassan had been the one who said Chuck seemed to care less and less.

Maybe the old Chuck was coming back, but…there was something more in his eyes as he surreptitiously watched Raleigh and Mako. Something…different. Concern, no question, but…like…

Marshal Pentecost. He'd never failed to look in on pilots and crew in the infirmary either. Always poised, always controlled, but now Tendo remembered that look. In Marshal's eyes had been something much deeper than just a commander's duty to his people.

Something took a sharp breath, and Tendo turned to see Jake Pentecost staring at Chuck Hansen like…well, like he was seeing a ghost. Chuck blinked, met Jake's eyes, and actually cringed a little, then he was all Chuck again…maybe a few years younger, the teenaged pilot prodigy so unsure and desperate to hide it that Tendo barely remembered anymore.

Chuck backed out the infirmary door and fled. Jake actually started to go after him, but Tendo put a hand out. "Hey, no," he said. Jake – damn, the look in his eyes reminded Tendo of Chuck at sixteen, which made all too much sense. "I get it, I really do, but…remember," he lowered his voice even further, moving subtly as far away from Raleigh and Mako as he could so there was no chance they'd overhear. "He and your dad drifted in combat right before you dad died. There's nothing more catastrophic to a pilot, and these first months, they're really hard. I don't blame you, but give him time, 'kay?"

Jake dropped his eyes, but after a long silence, he nodded. Tendo squeezed his shoulder.

"No!"

At Raleigh's voice, everybody in the infirmary jumped. Rals was leaning away from the nurse who was trying to give him an injection. Dr. Tán dropped his tablet and came around the beds. "What? Raleigh, it's the same med we've - "

"I know! I'm good," Raleigh moved with more energy than anybody expected, hurriedly pushing the bedclothes aside, and Mako went in unison with him, both of them scrambling out of bed. "It's not – we don't need anymore sedatives. I mean," he shook his head and looked at Mako.

She nodded. "We'll be okay. We just need some time." She wrapped one arm tight around his waist. "May we go back to quarters?"

Dr. Tán frowned and went back for his discarded tablet, studying it. Jake brushed past Tendo and dared to say what everyone else was thinking. "You up to it already?"

Rals actually mustered a smile at the kid. Tendo hadn't expected that, and judging by the murmur from the others, neither had they. "Yeah. It's not like we've got a kaiju to fight anytime soon." He slid his arm around Mako, the two of them so physically close they might've been melding.

Dr. Tán looked up and announced, "Okay, if you're certain the shock isn't bad enough to keep you from functioning, I'll release you. But," he raised his stylus. "You're to report at the mess hall for meals – take it somewhere else, but you get your nutrition, and report back here every twenty-four hours for a check-up until further notice, and if you miss either, I'll hunt you both down and keep you here until I'm satisfied you're not a risk to yourselves. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," said Mako.

She and Raleigh hurried out of the infirmary, still clutching each other, but steady on their feet. Everyone stared after them. "Are you sure about this, sir?" Tendo asked.

Dr. Tán sighed. "Not exactly. On one hand, there's no physical damage; they're alert and coherent. On the other, they just got mindfucked with what I have no doubt was all of both of their worst memories. I have no idea what that's done to them."

Washington, D.C., Joint Congressional Hearings on Jaeger Program…

"Look, dude, if you want to gamble your lives, your country's lives, and the whole planet's lives that the aliens who sent the kaiju aren't going to treat this as just a setback, that's on you!" Newt snapped at Senator Block. "I'm telling you, if they were willing to wait it out sixty-five million years ago before trying again, they might just take another shot!"

Herc managed not to grin at the way many of the other Americans were exchanging looks. Some of the politicians were affronted, some…disconcerted, undoubtedly imagining the impact on their polling numbers, the reporters were practically salivating, and the spectators were glaring daggers mostly at the politicians.

"How can humanity trust someone who drifted with the kaiju hive mind?!" exclaimed Block.

Newt raised his hands like claws and, hilariously, half the panel jumped. "Yeeessss, I've totally been possessed, Senator! That's why I'm standing here telling you not to let your guard down, it's all part of my evil plan, I'm just not very good at making evil plans, bwahahahahh!"

"Newton!" Hermann hissed, but there were guffaws and applause from the spectators, and even some of the politicians (the ones supporting the Jaeger Program) were grinning.

"Dr. Geiszler, please, this is a serious conversation," said a Congresswoman who'd spent her time outside her political offices working with attack survivors throughout the war. Herc had liked her, but now couldn't remember her name – oh, there it was right in front of her seat: A. Wyatt. Her voice cracked from stifled laughter, but she went on, "We appreciate your point, but let's have some decorum."

Surprisingly, Newt straightened. "Yes, ma'am, sorry."

There was a long, startled pause among the Jaeger Program delegates and everyone else who knew anything at all about Newton Geiszler. "Well, that was new," Hermann muttered.

"I doubt anyone is going to blame the kaiju for Newt's sudden ability to use tact, love," Vanessa Gottlieb murmured, leaning over Hermann's shoulder. Herc had to look away to his snickering hidden as Hermann blushed.

"How much do you suggest the American government budget for continuing to operate a Jaeger Program, Dr. Geiszler?" asked a Congressman.

"Congressman, I'm a xenobiologist, not an accountant. You've got people you pay for that; ask them."

This time, Herc definitely heard Hermann stifle a snort of laughter. Fortunately, the roar of laughter and applause hid the sound from the microphones.

The session abruptly adjourned – not because Newt had freaked out too many of the panelists. Instead, Herc, the Kaidanovskys, and the scientists joined a crowd gathered around screens watching the Chinese Prime Minister and a group of their military making an announcement. "China's security council has voted unanimously to resume funding for the Hong Kong Shatterdome and support the restoration of Crimson Typhoon, as well as the building of two more Jaegers. We have determined the expenditures are warranted as a preventative for any future threats, and are receiving proposals from private and public organizations for other uses of Jaeger technology for the betterment of our people."

"Way to go, Wei Tang clan," murmured Newt. "Any word on those quacks who fucked up Raleigh's head?"

Herc smiled to himself, reading a secure message from Tendo. "Quietly removed from the Dome today and on their way for questioning by the Chinese authorities for industrial espionage and falsified credentials resulting to the injury persons under government protection. Krieger and Taylor know about it, but they're not exactly running to the press to express their outrage."

"The sessions tomorrow and Friday are canceled so President Lunk can meet with his joint chiefs and security committees," said Sasha with a shameless grin. "Russia is preparing to follow China's lead: the Vladivostok Shatterdome will re-open, and both nations are in talks with Japan for a 'mutual defense' treaty in the event of a future incursion one day."

"So their domestic Jaegers will handle domestic problems, unless it's a kaiju attack," mused Vanessa Gottlieb, as Hermann bounced the baby against his chest. "Then we resume the original deployment procedures."

"Exactly," said Sasha.

"Big question's going to be, what are these 'domestic deployments' gonna look like?" said Herc.

"Where do the rest of us go from here?" asked Newt. "Just back to the Dome and wait for them to figure themselves out?"

Sasha shook her head. "We don't stop simply because they do. We stay ahead of them. They'll look for other ways to get to our people. They'll look for ways to turn Jaeger Tech into weapons of war and domination. We won't allow it."

"Bloody well right," Herc growled. "Let's talk with Cheung and Jin when we get back – away from any ears. China's been good to us, but some in their government may have bright ideas for Jaeger tech that we pilots have a problem with."

"The boys won't stand for it," said Aleksis. "And they have great weight among their people. They'll be with us."

Hong Kong Shatterdome…

It was a little awkward for Jake sometimes being in Mako's room with Raleigh asleep in her bed. Then again, both she and Raleigh looked so wrung-out, Jake doubted getting frisky was anywhere on their minds. (And if he ever got a hint it was, he'd be out of that room so fast the corridor cameras would probably miss him.)

"He doesn't sleep easily," Mako said at one point, sitting on the opposite end of the bed working on something as Raleigh dozed. "When he does, I let him even if it's the middle of the day. When things are bad, he can't sleep for days. I was afraid that would happen again now."

Jake had been surreptitiously reading the Chinese government's translated recruiting announcement for their new official Jaeger Program. There'd be three Chinese Jaegers, counting Crimson Typhoon once he was repaired, and they'd need pilots. The Chinese had always had a mini-Academy of their own not far from their Shatterdome. Now it would be their own, and they'd train pilots of their own, but they weren't limiting it to their own nationals.

"I used to think about…going for Academy, when I was old enough. I knew Dad wouldn't let me 'till I was close to eighteen like he did you, but once the U.S. closed the Academy…"

Mako smiled, if sadly. "You'd make a good pilot. He thought so."

"Remember when they let me have a go in the fighter simulator?" Jake asked, hoping to cheer her up. "Don't be so sure."

It'd been a very realistic flight simulator for jet fighters at one of the Royal Air Force bases Jake begged to visit when he was thirteen. Dad had once been stationed there with Jake's Mum, Aunt Luna, and Aunt Tamsin. Gran and Gramps had been against it, but Jake had been just tall enough to meet the minimum height requirements, and Dad had enough clout for the men in charge to let him have a go.

He'd thrown up. Gran and Gramps had been appalled, Dad had been reassuring that it happened often, and Mako'd tried to be sympathetic but couldn't stop giggling. "Maybe I wouldn't throw up in a Jaeger," he'd suggested, only for Gran and Gramps to look even more appalled.

"The pons simulator can make you throw up too," Mako had warned him.

After the explosion with Gran and Gramps over Jake "following your father's violent ways," Jake had been determined that even if he couldn't pilot a Jaeger, he would become a pilot of something. I'm not like Chuck Hansen. I don't turn on my Dad, he'd thought.

Weird, and really uncomfortable to remember that now. "What're you going to do now?" he asked his sister. He didn't show her the recruiting announcement. Mako was already part of the Jaeger Program, and Jake really doubted the Chinese would be in a hurry to kick her out just because she wasn't Chinese. Hell, from what he knew of the Wei brothers, they'd throw a royal fit if that happened.

Mako sighed, moving to a chair next to her bed so she could rub Raleigh's arm as he tossed in his sleep. He calmed down just from her touching him, like a restless cat. "I keep thinking about that. I don't know. I want…I don't think I could leave and be a civilian. Not now. Maybe not ever, as long as the Jaeger Program exists in some way. But I feel there are other things I should do now, now that I have time. I'm just…not sure."

"Like what?"

It was a very long time before Mako managed to answer, and when she did, it was so quiet he could barely hear her. "I want to go back to Tangeshima," she whispered. "I haven't seen it since my family died."

Jake inhaled slowly against the sudden churning of his stomach. Like Jake, Mako still had a few blood relatives left. Her father had had a brother, a sister in law, a few uncles and aunts. But none of them had taken Mako in after Onibaba. She'd confided in him once that they'd never liked her mother, and had been disappointed when Mako, a girl, was the only child born to her father. Dad had pulled considerable weight as pilot of Coyote Tango against Onibaba – something he did not like doing – just to secure a few things for Mako to inherit, and all of them were in this little room. A 16th century traditional Samurai sword, a tea set, a hanbō, a few toys and books. A faded poster of a J-pop children's band Mako had loved. A threadbare pusheen cookie plush that she used to sleep with who still had a place of honor right next to her mother's tea things.

All of what Mako had left of her blood family could fit into one small box. One of the few times Jake had seen Dad really angry (naturally, when he'd been hiding and eavesdropping without Dad and Mako's counselor knowing), was one of the second times Jake met her in person in Lima. They'd not been sure how they'd get along, only to run each other ragged to the point that Mako had needed a nap and Jake had needed a bath to get all the dirt off him.

He'd heard Dad talking to Mako's counselor with an ease that he never seemed to have towards Gran and Gramps. Jake had been a little jealous, even if Mako was wicked fun, and slipped into a crawlspace to spy on them. "You know there are limits to the amount of personal property you can bring to a Shatterdome," Dad had been fuming, pacing back and forth. "Most of the crews really struggle to cull their belongings enough, even when we stretch the rules. I don't have to stretch the rules for Mako's things – she's a twelve-year-old girl who should have armloads of toys, music, decorations, and I should be having to rein in her spending habits, but she owns next to nothing. With her clothes, she fills half a child's sized trunk. It's bloody obscene."

"Have you tried to interest her in more things?" The counselor – what was her name? Dr. Schneider, had asked patiently.

"Of course. She likes music. I bought her an iPod with the highest level of storage, hoping it would tempt her. She has added to it. She likes the music here in Lima when we take her out. K-pop seems to interest her now, but I know there were bands she liked at home before the attack. She won't buy them. She has one poster from before."

"It's been less than two years, Marshal. You're going to need patience and so is she. It may be some time before she's ready to face all she left behind."

Jake blinked back to the present, wondering if Mako'd noticed, but she was staring off into space herself. He cautiously came around the bed, careful not to wake Raleigh, whose sleep had calmed again, and touched her shoulder. She blinked. "You okay?" When she nodded, he pressed, "Are you sure? I mean…don't take this the wrong way, but from what you told me, I'd say none of those people back there deserve to see you or call you their family."

"I've thought that," she admitted, her eyes narrowing. "Raleigh thinks the same." On cue, he sighed in his sleep. "His father left him, his brother, and his sister after their mother died – days after their mother died. Only Yancy was of age. He simply deserted them. Raleigh was afraid he'd come back seeking fame after Yamarashi, but it turned out he had died months before. They never knew quite what to think about it."

Sounds like that's a git who got exactly what he deserved, Jake thought, but he swallowed it. If Mako got upset, Raleigh'd almost surely wake up.

"Whatever the PPDC decides to do, it's gonna take at least a few months to sort themselves out," Jake said carefully. "You should do – both of you – you should do stuff for yourselves for awhile. You've earned that much."

Mako sighed. "But in the end, I must choose where I'll go and what I'll be. I want to be with the Jaeger Program, if not as a pilot, at least as part of it. Raleigh may not want to be surrounded by this anymore. He came to save the world."

Raleigh mumbled, "He came to save th'world, but he stayed with you. He's not goin' anywhere if you're not, and he's just fine with that."

Mako huffed and ruffled his hair. "How long have you been eavesdropping on us?!" she demanded.

"'Bout thirty seconds, tha's all." He did look bleary-eyed when he opened them and looked at her, but the way he looked at her. Damn, Jake wanted someone to look at him that way someday. Mako slid her hand into Raleigh's, and Jake knew he was invisible but didn't mind so much, because he'd read a few stories, seen a few movies about soulmates, but never really sat next to them and got to see the way they looked at each other.

"So you would put up with all this noise and chaos if I wanted to stay?" Mako asked. Her voice was playful, but there was something dead-earnest underneath it that even Jake could hear.

Raleigh shifted, shaking off the last of sleep and didn't break eye contact with her. "Yes." There was no hesitation in his voice. "I want to stay with you. I don't care where." Never mind hesitation, it was almost desperation. Jake fidgeted, sensing there shouldn't be an audience for this conversation, but not sure how to get out without being rude.

Mako stroked back his mussed hair. "I won't leave you, Raleigh-chan. Ever. We'll decide later where we'll go and what we do." She wrinkled her nose. "Once we know what the options are."

To Be Continued...

Coming Soon: They may be physically recovered, but the drift disaster has triggered painful memories, and Mako forces Raleigh to confront what he's been carrying inside since Knifehead in Chapter Nine: Listen To Me!

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Original Character Guide

Dr. Steven Tán: Chief medical officer of the Jaeger Program, originally at the Jaeger Academy and gradually migrated to Hong Kong as the program closed down. Chinese-American, early 40s.

President Jerald "Jerry" Lunk: President of the United States. Billionaire hotel mogul who ran on a campaign of "make America safe again" in 2024, proponent of the Wall, now arguing over who has the strongest Jaegers. Likes to use Twitter. No, he's not based on anyone in the real world. Seriously. No, really.

Senator Gill Block: United States Senator from the plains states, was pro-Wall and backed by inland real estate owners, now part of the joint committee investigating the Jaeger Program and debating America's future with it.

Congresswoman Andrea Wyatt: United States Representative from the Pacific Northwest states, pro-Jaeger Program throughout her career, now part of the joint committee.