Forged in Fire, Chapter 40: Baby Steps

-.-.-

PPI R&D Workshop

July 29, 2025

0830

Mako inspected the exoskeleton, checking for anything she may have missed. Nearby, Raleigh groaned. "Mako… That's the third check. It's fine."

Stephanie sat on the table edge, legs dangling over the edge. "He's right, Mako. Let's just get started."

Mako shot a glare at Raleigh, but proceeded to walk over to the computer that was monitored the exoskeleton. She touched a few controls, and the suit powered up. "Good to go, Steph."

Next to Mako, Caitlin looked up from her own computer. "Just try to raise your right leg."

Mako watched the feed from the sensors running along Stephanie's spine as they picked up the nerve impulses. It was utter noise to Mako…

Caitlin, however, saw something of value in the lines on the display. "Excellent! What are you feeling?"

Stephanie furrowed her brow. "I don't know… I haven't felt anything like it before… kinda stiff. I mean, I can feel a lot of resistance, but I don't have any experience to compare it to."

"Like your leg's stuck in something thick and goopy, perhaps?"

"Yeah… that's a good way of putting it."

Mako turned to Caitlin. "Is that a good or a bad sign?"

The older woman was grinning. "It's wonderful. The feedback is working as designed. Just like it did when Stacker strapped into the test rig in Pittsburg in 2014."

Raleigh and Stephanie's eyebrows shot up at that revelation. "Wait… Pentecost was an early test pilot, too?"

Mako nodded. "He was the first person to try the Pons. Without that test…" Mako shrugged. "There wouldn't have been Jaegers."

Stephanie grinned. "So I'm Pentecost's replacement in some sense? Out on the cutting edge, trying something untested for the first time?"

Caitlin nodded. "You're as much a test pilot as Chuck Yeager was when he was part of the XS-1 program."

Stephanie nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on trying to lift her leg.

Suddenly, the leg twitched slightly.

"YES!" Mako's face lit up and she hugged Caitlin.

"Well done, Steph!" Caitlin grinned at the former Ranger. "Keep it up."

Stephanie, grinning, tried to move the leg further. Another twitch. And another. But it didn't rise more than a few inches. The grin slowly faded. "Aw, man…"

Raleigh rubbed her shoulder. "Hey. You and Kennedy didn't just get into Hydra Corinthian and wade into battle on your first time in a Jaeger."

Caitlin nodded. "It's a time consuming process to train the computer to recognize your nerve impulse patterns. It's baby steps, Steph."

Stephanie nodded, clearly dejected at the prospect of an extended series of training runs with the suit. "I know, but I was still hoping to just strap in and go. Resume my old life to some extent."

Caitlin walked over to the table and sat down next to Stephanie, and popped her right leg off. She handed it to her. "I told you that it took me a while to get used to this." She tapped the suit. "This isn't any different. It's no different than learning how to pilot a Jaeger. Practice, practice, practice. Lots of fine tuning action/reaction cycles, feedback impulses, that kind of stuff."

Mako came over to join the others. "There is something that you need to focus on, here, too. It works. Yes, it's not perfect on the first run… But that's an incredibly rare event when you get a perfect first run of anything. There's always some issues to work out."

Raleigh chuckled. "So, do I need to go get you a can of Raid?"

Mako playfully punched Raleigh in the shoulder. "Shush. Don't interrupt me."

Stephanie laughed at their antics. "Okay, you two. Get a room while us adults keep working on useful stuff."

Caitlin made a shooing motion at the Rangers. "Go on, you two. We'll keep working here for a while. I'm sure that you've got stuff to do."

Mako groaned. "Ten new Jaegers confirmed, and ten more looking likely. I'm going to have to sub-contract some of the design work!"

"As much as I hate his skirt-chasing tendencies… Call Jasper. He'd be glad to help out again."

"I might just have to do that." Mako took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "You're right. I do need to get back to work on the designs." She headed towards the door, then paused just short of it. "Don't give up, Steph. You've piloted one of the most successful Jaegers of the First Kaiju War to nine kills. You've faced harder tasks and longer odds before and won. You can do this."

Stephanie grinned. "You're right. I have faced greater challenges." She focused on the suit again, and the right leg twitched up a few inches. "Come on, you recalcitrant piece of overpriced junk. MOVE!"

Mako laughed as she and Raleigh headed across the street to the offices.

-.-.-

1109

Miranda watched as Stephanie rolled into the office, visibly frustrated at the slow progress she had been having with the exoskeleton. "Hey, you okay?"

"Just wish this was easier. Driving a Jaeger sure seemed easier than this."

Sergio poked his head out of his office. "That's because you had the simulator to practice with." He frowned. "Hmm… Maybe we need a simulator for these. Don't know how it'd work, but I'll leave a message for the J-techs in Hong Kong and see what we can figure out."

"Thanks… But I don't know if that would help me at this point. I got the leg to move about halfway to the point I wanted it to, but it's…"

"Frustrating. Imagine how Caitlin felt when she was doing this with her leg… You have someone who understands what you're going through. That's a huge help."

Miranda smiled. "Hey, I may not have driven a Jaeger or lost a limb, but if I'm understanding this whole process right, you're learning a new skill. You don't just strap on a pair of skates and hit the ice at the Olympics and take home gold. It takes time, practice, and more than a few sessions where you wind up on your ass in a heap. But in the end, the rewards makes all the time and suffering earlier worth it."

Sergio gaped at Miranda. "For someone so young, you've got a remarkably mature outlook on life."

The petite Australian shrugged. "I get that a lot."

Stephanie rolled up to Miranda and hugged her. "Thanks for the encouragement. But I'm done for the day. I have half a dozen phone calls to make before lunch. After all, the Academy won't start itself."

Sergio chuckled. "Welcome to middle management in the PPDC. Check your free time at the door."

Miranda turned in her swivel chair to face the former Ranger. "Is that so? Because I heard a lot about the hijinks that took place in the Shatterdome during the time between alerts."

To his credit, Sergio's face was as still as if it were made from stone. "I don't know what you're talking about. Many of your stories would have come from Sydney. I never had the opportunity to serve there."

"I'm sure that's true." She gave him a feral grin. "And I'm sure that you have your own particular brand of shenanigans that you two got into up there in Alaska."

Sergio gave her a steady glare. "Some things I will be taking to my grave, Mrs. Hansen." He waggled his eyebrows and disappeared back into his office.

Stephanie laughed at the exchange and rolled down the hall towards her office. "Munchkin, you fit right in with this bunch." She grinned at her. "Welcome to the large family of egotistical robot jockeys, eccentric geniuses, and general do-gooders that is the PPDC."

-.-.-

Hong Kong Shatterdome

July 30, 2025

0642 Hong Kong time

Tendo walked through the once-again bustling hallways of the Shatterdome, coffee cup in one hand and bagel in the other. He nodded at familiar faces in the halls, greeted people who he knew, and maneuvers skillfully past workers prepping the 'Dome for its impending overhaul and update. He finally arrived at the K-Science labs to find Newt waiting for him. "You wanted to see me?"

Newt nodded nervously. "Yeah… Look, I know that I'm our best intelligence asset against the Precursors and the Kaiju… But I need to get out of here before the overhauls begin."

Tendo took a seat. "Why?"

"Because anything… Everything that I see, they can see too. Everything I know, they do too."

"I get that. Why are you asking me for leave time?"

"Because you're the acting Marshall around here."

Tendo rocked back in the chair, caught off guard by how Newt had been described. "Acting Marshall?"

"Yeah. Dude, you're one of the anchors of the PPDC. One of the 'fixed point' people that Pentecost used to talk about. There's no official boss here right now, so everyone has just defaulted to you."

Tendo thought it over for a bit. Okay, I see where he can get that impression… and it explains a lot of why I've been running around like the proverbial headless barnyard bird lately. "Okay, then. Any idea how long you'll be gone?"

Newt shrugged. "I'll keep feeding you guys any Ghost Drift info I get, but I need some time and space to… I dunno. Rediscover myself? Find out who I really am?"

Tendo nodded. "I get it. You've got a lot of vacation and sick time stacked up. I'll have HR burn that off first, then have you put on leave of absence. Just hit us up when you're ready to come back."

Newt smiled. "Thanks. I hope to be back before the Breach reopens."

"We'll let Hermann know to keep some space in his lab set aside for you."

Newt laughed. "No need. I think he'll know that already."

Tendo stood up and shook Newt's hand. "Well, then. Just remember that you are also one of those fixed points, too. You'll always be welcome here."

"Thanks, man. I appreciate that."

Tendo smiled and retrieved his coffee. "Good luck, man. See you around."

Newt gave Tendo a mock salute and headed to his quarters to pack.

-.-.-

0800 Hong Kong time (1700 Sacramento time)

The remnants of the PPDC leadership convened a conference call every so often to keep everyone in the loop. Now was one of those calls.

Tendo looked at the other participants. Team Gipsy, the Chiefs, the D'Onofrios, Herc, Hermann, our new boss Mr. Baxter, and… Steph? Need to make a private call afterwards. "Okay, how is everyone?"

Herc led off. "Things are coming along nicely here. We've got a J-Tech spinoff project coming along nicely, and the new Shatterdome site has started excavation."

Raleigh picked up where Herc left off. "The Academy curriculum has really taken shape. Steph has been a huge help for that. We're finalizing the staff and picking an initial location for the first few weeks, until the Frisco 'Dome's up and running."

Mako went next. "We've got a lot of Jaegers to design still, but the first three are fully fleshed out and ready to commit to hardware development. I'll do one more Jaeger, but the rest are going to be parceled out to others to finish. I've got Jasper Schoenfield leading a team working on a few, but the rest are going to go to others over the next few weeks. Fuji Heavy Industries has called dibs on Zephyr Angel, and I'm willing to let them have it… unless there's any naysayers."

Baxter shook his head. "I see no reason to block that. It's a good move on several levels. Politics, economics, logistics…" He shrugged. "We're going to need to split up production, though, if we want to get all forty done in any reasonable time."

Tendo nearly choked on his coffee. "Forty?!"

Mako was equally surprised. "The options weren't supposed to be finalized for another few months!"

"The nations in question all called me this morning. They're all in. The extra ten orders from the non-Pac Rim nations tipped the scales for them."

Tendo whistled in awe and leaned back in his chair. "Forty Jaegers… Those Kaiju don't stand a chance!"

Mako nodded. "If we restart and retool Sao Paulo, we can get them all done in two years."

Baxter nodded. "I'll get that rolling. Embraer will be delighted to help again."

Crunch jumped in. "I'll help you with that. Aki has the NorCal plant under control."

Tendo nodded. "And a couple of old friend of yours arrived a few days ago and offered their services."

Crunch's eyes narrowed. "Which old friends."

Tendo waved to a few people off to the side of LOCCENT, who walked into the field of view of the camera. Crunch's look of utter delight made the surprise totally worth it.

Several former Jaeger Crew Chiefs had volunteered to help out at the PPDC again, but Tendo hadn't been able to find much for them to do. Now that the 'Domes were being overhauled and the Jaeger fleet was being rebuilt, they had more than enough to do.

Kama Koi, the former Chief for Cherno Alpha, stepped forward. "Don't worry, Cap. I'll take charge of the setup of the new Hong Kong Assembly Facility."

Zelinda Christani, the former Chief for Tacit Ronin, and Astrid Drews, the former Chief for Brawler Yukon, both stepped forward. "We're going to go stateside and help with the Academy."

Zhang Li, the former Chief of Crimson Typhoon, smiled. "I'll take over for you on the Sao Paulo project, Colin. You're needed to help train new Chiefs. With forty Jaegers, we can't rely on people who have heritage from the Jaegers of old. We must mold them from scratch. And I can't think of anyone better than you for that."

Crunch smiled as he saw his old friends again. "Thank you, everyone. This will make things a lot easier."

Kama grinned. "Which is precisely why we signed back up. Besides, we were bored."

Aki chuckled. "I know that feeling."

Herc also grinned. "Then it's a good thing that the craziness is about to start. No time for anyone to be bored. And it all starts on the 10th. Everyone in this call will be there in their dress uniforms. The PPDC is going to be reinstated, and we're going to fully announce the Mark VI lineup as it stands right now. We'll also be publicly unveiling the plans for rebuilding San Francisco and the Ranger Memorial."

Everyone gave some signal of understanding, and the call cut off. Tendo thought about calling Stephanie, but decided that it could wait until the meet in San Francisco. Never thought that I'd be here. Twelve years later and a senior member of one of the most elite combat forces in the world. He took another sip of coffee and turned to the Chiefs. "Let's get ready to pack up LOCCENT. We need to be out in a week so that they can do the overhauls."

-.-.-

Mako and Raleigh's apartment

July 29, 2025

1822

Stephanie, the D'Onofrios, Herc, and the Gottliebs had come over to the apartment for a movie night that Raleigh and Mako had decided to put on. A quick poll resulted in Mako putting in The Wind Rises. As the movie had started, Raleigh playfully scooped up Mako and put her in his lap, where she seemed to assume a cat-like state of relaxation. Stephanie watched as Mako seemed to relax, and correctly deduced that it was more than just the typical romantic/Ghost Drift intimacy of unrelated Rangers.

After the movie ended and the men had started debating the technical side of the movie, Stephanie pulled Mako aside for a chat. "Mako… I really wish I had a better way of bringing this up, but… There's more to your cuddles with Raleigh than just being intimate, isn't there."

Mako squirmed, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. "Yes, there is."

"Ahh… It all clicks now."

"What does?"

"Okay, lemme explain first. I had a cousin who was diagnosed with Aspergers, back when that was the thing to do."

"So you're saying I have Aspergers?" Mako's eyes narrowed.

"No, I'm saying that you show many of the same signs and signals of having it. It's not a good or a bad thing. It just…. It's a part of what makes you, you."

Mako was clearly confused. "Wait. I'm lost. It's a medical condition, but it's not?"

"They wrapped it in with autism back around K-Day, if memory serves. It's nothing to be ashamed of, Mako. It just means that your brain tackles things in a slightly different way than most people. You're able to utterly focus on a task. You enjoy a sense of order in your life. You have a particular field or topic that utterly fascinates you. You have fewer friends, but they're really close to you. And you have a harder time interacting with outsiders."

Mako nodded at the descriptions, all of which fit her perfectly. "But how does the cuddling have any relevance to that?"

"Do you feel safer and more comfortable when you're wrapped up, under physical compression across a large area of your body?"

"Why does that matter?"

"When my cousin got worked up or stressed, he would wrap himself up in a blanket. I used to think it was funny, but when I was old enough to understand, my mom explained it to me."

Mako thought back over the last few years. The waking up to find myself wrapped in my blankets when Gipsy was giving me trouble, pulling my seatbelt or crash harness tight when things got bumpy, the comfort of Raleigh's hugs and cuddling after a nightmare... "Yes, I do. I never really connected it until now."

Stephanie grinned. "I'm no expert, but it sure seems like you're an extremely high-functioning Aspie. Like I said, it's nothing to be ashamed of. You've been able to manage the symptoms on your own. Many Aspies would love to be able to do that. It took my cousin a long time and more than a few medication changes to get to that point."

Mako leaned against the wall, clearly shaken up by the revelation. "So, is there anything else I should know about it?"

"Not really. Like I said, you're managing the symptoms really well. Just… be yourself."

Mako nodded. "Can this just be our secret? You, me, and Raleigh?"

"Raleigh?" Stephanie instinctively looked over her shoulder, only to find the other Ranger still in discussion with Herc about the merits of the Zero versus the Wildcat, whatever that meant. "He's busy with the guys still."

"He's only half-involved in that conversation. He's been… listening in."

Stephanie slapped her forehead. "Right. You two are strong Ghosters. How he's kept… Wait. Said too much."

"Oh, no. Please, do continue." Mako gave the wheelchair-bound woman a feral grin. "You obviously know something about that secret project of his. I've been trying to crack that for weeks, without success."

"Nope. This is the first I heard of any secret project. And now I am curious as well… but he'll know that I'll just report to you now." She looked at the men in the common area. "Hmmm… We can squeeze play Tendo in a few days. He's got ears everywhere."

"Perfect." Mako's grin softened to a friendlier smile. "Let's go crash their debate over the better fighter in the Pacific Theatre of WWII. I'm going to make Herc's head spin."

"Now that I want to see."

-.-.-

Author's notes: I know, "How the hell is he so productive all of a sudden?!" Three words: Long. Road. Trip.

As for Aspie Mako… I'm an extremely high-functioning Aspie myself, and I used to hang with a bunch of fellow Aspies, so I was delighted to see Mako's character in the movie. I could totally see her as high-functioning, and it's been a strong headcanon since.