Jake tried to pay attention to the conversation going on in front of him between Norm and Grace as they walk along in front of him, but his heart was beating heavy in his chest and his head felt like it was full of led.

"How much link time have you logged" Grace asked, her voice cutting through the fog in Jake's mind as they entered into the lab. There were horizontal pods lining the walls that he hadn't really noticed the day before.

"About five hundred and twenty hours," Norm said, wringing his hands together.

"Thats's good" Grace said, almost sounding impressed. Jake could've laughed at the look of relief on Norm's face. He didn't give two shits about what Grace thought of him, but Norm hung off every word out of her mouth like she was some kind of hero, he reminded Jake of a puppy, tail wagging at the smallest praise.

He watched Norm's face light up as Grace motioned to the pod he'd be using, immediately racing to it, running his hands along the edge, a look of awe plastered across his features.

Jake could've groaned as Grace turned to him, "You're here" she said, guiding him to the next pod over, "how much time have you logged?" She asked like she already knew the answer, but he couldn't fault her too much for that considering she was probably right.

"Zip," he shrugged "but I read a manual."

He could almost hear her eye roll as she continued to fiddle with the monitor and he had to fight down the smirk that threatened his lips.

"Tell me you're joking" she grimaced, but he ignored her.

He poked his finger deep into the gel lining, "This is cool" he flashed her an over-exaggerated smile. Jake normally tried to be polite and courteous to most people, finding it the easiest way to get through life. But he'd seen the consequences of Grace's actions, he'd seen the people it had endangered. It was just her bad luck that it happened to be the people Jake cared about. So, as far as he was concerned, she wasn't worthy of usual social graces.

Jake heard the whirr of Norm's machine coming to life and figured that was his cue. He braced himself against the edge and hoisted himself up into the the human-shaped indent in the gel. He tried not to think about how his legs dangled uselessly over the side. He wasn't used to it yet, he hadn't had time, he'd barely gotten out of the hospital before he'd found out about his brother and had been shipped off. Jake had spent his entire life trying to live like Tsu'tey, strong and powerful, obstacles easily overcome with a little brain power and strength, but this was an obstacle he could not overcome and he felt... lesser because of it. But he refused to be useless, refused to be helpless, so when Grace moved to help hoist his legs up into the pod, he shook his head.

"Don't, I got this," he said as he swung his legs in with him. He didn't look up at her, he didn't want to see the pity in her features, he was tired of pity.

"So," Grace sighed, Jake felt his body tense, not sure what to expect, "you just figured you'd come out here, to the most hostile environment known to man with no trading of any kind and... see how it went? What was going through your head?"

The question rattled around in his brain. Jake knew exactly why he was here, knew exactly what he was looking for. For Jake, it hadn't been a question of IF he'd come, it was a question of HOW and WHEN. In his half baked plan, fueled by need and want and longing, he hadn't considered his excuse to throw himself so easily into this situation. They hadn't cared too much when he'd agreed, they'd been to excited about the money they wouldn't be forced to throw away to care.

"Maybe I was sick of doctors telling me what I couldn't do," it wasn't a lie, "and maybe there's something out there, just waiting for me to find it." Okay, maybe that was a little too close to the truth.

Grace seemed to accept his answer, probably writing him off as an adrenaline junky jug-head. He didn't care.

Grace pushed him flat, instructing him to keep his arms and hands inside. "Head down," she bit out as she pulled a breastplate-looking cage of wires and lights down onto this chest. "Just relax and let your mind go blank. Shouldn't be hard for you." She smirked as she grabbed the top half of the pod and began pulling it down.

"Kiss this darkest park of my little white-" the insult got cut off as Grace locked the halves together, leaving Jake alone.

It wasn't dark, the lights from the breastplate made the gel seem almost bioluminescent. He tried to keep his mind clear, not wanting anything to go wrong considering how little he knew about this whole process. But he couldn't keep his mind from wandering to Tsu'tey. He recalled how he had looked the night before, groggy from sleep. He hadn't changed much since Jake had last seen him all those years ago. His features had hardened, and Jake tried not to think of what had happened while Jake had been in stasis. A pang of guilt went through him, while it had only seemed like a moment to Jake, Tsu'tey had waited six years.

Jake's resolve hardened. "Almost there" he whispered to himself before letting his mind go blank.