Drift compatible.
Those words had haunted Joy her entire Jaeger Academy career. Some people were like freaking multi-tools, and some could just drift with anyone. Well, anyone except Joy. No matter who it was she got into a simulation with, her "overbearing personality" and "incessant optimism" could not be tolerated by any of her drift partners. The only reason she was still around was because of her scores. Top 1%. The program still insisted they could find her a partner, but Joy saw the writing on the walls, and heard the whispers in the halls. The other students were looking at her funny, saying things like "incompatible" and "waste of money". Joy knew that if she couldn't find a partner soon, they'd have to kick her out or face a full on mutiny. Despite knowing all this, sticking true to her name, Joy stayed upbeat. She always made sure she had a smile on her face. Because if Joy didn't have her optimism, what else would she have?
The alarm next to her bed continued to go unused as Joy opened her eyes at 6:02. "Getting closer old friend!" she told the inanimate object, giving it a pat before walking over to her dresser to grab her clothes and head to her shower. Enjoying the hot water running over her skin, Joy heard her roommate's alarm going off, followed by the signature "Ugh." A padding noise, then a banging on the door. "Other people use this room too!"
"You got up less than a minute ago!"
"…Don't leave your hair clogging the drain!" The advantage of having Disgust as a roommate, everything was clean. The downside, nothing was clean enough. Joy sighed, glancing down at the spotless drain.
As she was walking through the halls to grab her breakfast, the Academy headmaster caught up with her. And then passed her, but not before he shoved a piece of paper into her hands. Turning it over, she saw another drift test scheduled. For today. In 10 minutes! Quietly cursing the headmaster's name, Joy picked up her pace, now running breakneck speed down the halls.
"I'm just saying, the name does kinda fit."
"Doesn't mean it's a good name!"
Fear sighed, preparing himself to launch into this argument yet again.
"We're all named after emotions, so the rest of the school calling our group 'The Emotions' was kind of inevitable."
Anger stood up from his chair, not gaining much more height, prepared to give Fear a piece of his mind when Joy blurred by, nabbing the apple off his tray and tossing a "Thanks A!" over her shoulder in her wake. Anger sighed, desperately wishing he could get aggravated at Joy. But this happened so much it wasn't even worth it. He sat down again, and muttered "It's still stupid."
Tossing the apple core in a nearby trash can, Joy slowed to a walk right outside the door to the Drift Test room. Checking her watch, she grinned. 2 minutes to spare. Smoothing out her dress and checking her hair in her phone screen, Joy took a deep breath and pushed open the door. "Hi guys, wh-"
"No time to waste, get in the chair!"
Joy shot an incredulous look at the man pushing her towards the chair. "But I was early!"
"Change of plans, get in the chair!" the professor said, shoving her into a chair and ramming the neural helmet down onto her head. Both participants wearing the helmets, the test began automatically. Joy felt the familiar hum in her head as the test started. *It'll never work.* What? That didn't sound like her. It was too negative. *The first try never works.* Before Joy could think about this second thought, she was yanked into a bright light.
Joy had read about this before. The memory sharing part of drifting. But she'd never gotten this far into a drift before, and the logical part of her brain wasn't in the game. The emotion hit her full force. Sadness. Everything felt hopeless.
"Are you sure this was a good idea? These two are practically polar opposites."
"This is the furthest into a drift she's ever gotten. They just need to find some common ground. This'll work. I know it."
Joy was standing in her 7-year-old self's room. At least, she thought so. It was really foggy. The only thing she could make out was a toy train sitting in the floor. As she sat down in front of it, she heard "It's broken." Surprised, she looked around. She thought she saw a figure in the fog, but she couldn't make out anything more. She turned her attention to the train instead. "I broke it and now it'll never work again!" As Joy picked it up, she noticed one of the wheels stayed on the floor. "Nonsense!" Joy exclaimed. "This is easy. Here." She put the wheel back on it's axel, then bent one of the spokes of the wheel over the axel so it would stay on. "There!" she said, holding up the train to the fog person. A hand reached out, and touched the train. As it did, the fog cleared and Joy saw who it was she was drifting with. A short woman with glasses. *Oh no she's cute* Joy thought, realizing too late that, being inside their own minds, this other lady could hear what she thought. Embarrassment hit her like an 18 wheeler, quickly desynchronizing them and ending the drift. As Joy pulled the helmet off her head, the event that had transpired fully processed in her mind. She drifted! She had done it! Jumping up, she grabbed the woman in the chair next to her in a tight hug, cheering. When she calmed down, the headmaster, who must've come in some time during the drift, smiled and said "Joy, meet your new partner Sadness. I think you two will make a great team."