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test drive meme

Test Drive Meme The Pan Pacific Defense Corps was usually offered any of a variety of local buildings to set up their testing centers. For reasons of access and availability, most testing clinics were set up in central areas for any given community. Those of the PPDC staff on hand vary in their personal intensity. Some of the men and women wearing Strike Group insignia seemed overly serious, to the point of frowning with intensity at some of the youngest checking in for this testing round. Those from the K-Science division are tight with nervous energy as they direct prospective cadets through various activities. Everything was meant to measure potential, looking for that spark that meant they had somebody who was Drift Compatible. The majority of people were turned away after the first series of seemingly random tests, officials looking in eyes, placing odd looking contraptions over heads, asking for people to play a series of short games, one even in a virtual reality set-up.

	( SCENARIO ONE ) If you are still here now, you've made it past the first cut. You'll be sat down in a room with the rest who have made it this far, then systematically led into smaller interview rooms as pairs. If you came with a partner, they're your first interview candidate. If you came on your own, all your interviews are random assignment. All who have been asked to stay are required to sit through and conduct a series of short peer to peer interviews. The questions are straightforward. What is your least favorite color? Which tool in a standard toolbox is most useful to you? What time of day do you accomplish the most? Do you have children? What do you believe the Drift is like? Peer to peer interviews last for half an hour to an hour, and each person is asked to participate in at least three peer-to-peer interviews. There is no punishment for going off script. There is a one-way mirror looking into each interview area, and one door leading into the room with a small panel of glass located on the door. There is a clock on the wall in each room. The time they report is odd, when examined. These are not digital clocks, but timers, counting up time since the last Kaiju attack.

	( SCENARIO TWO ) Congratulations! You have been judged Drift Compatible, and sent home to pack after giving a definite yes to the Pan Pacific Defense Corps. The next thing you face down is the flight into Santiago, Chile, and the subsequent drive in to Valparaíso's Shatterdome. You and the rest of the crowd of soon to be PPDC Ranger Cadets have been gathered together to wait for the old bus scheduled to take you to the Shatterdome. While waiting in the open air, those from any Northern Hemisphere countries may find the summer weather strange. Today's high is going to be in the upper 80's, and there's not a cloud to be seen that's not clinging to the distant mountains. Welcome to Chile. When the bus arrives, it's another hour ride out toward the coastline to get to the Shatterdome. Even better? The bus Air Conditioner is broken. Safe travels, Cadets!

Please set up your own scenarios as you like. The above two scenarios are suggestions. Anything goes!

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With the bus still rattling along, Akito's careful when he stands up, propping himself up with one hand. It makes it easier for him to reach across his seatmate for the window, gives him more room to maneuver without having to get too close. Even if he offered to help her out, he'd still rather keep his distance.

It takes a few moments of fiddling with the lock - the mechanism is maybe a little jammed, or maybe the bus's constant swaying makes it hard to keep applying the right kind of pressure - before it pops open. And ne hard shove from him opens the window enough to let in a gust of air. It's not much cooler than the bus's interior, but at least it's air that's moving. When he drops back into his seat he looks a little more cheerful thanks to his success. Just a little.

"Better?"

A part of Luke is always a little surprised when an encounter with a stranger doesn't result in at least a little insult, a curl of disgust in their voice. He's pleased enough that he's been lucky this time that he smiles easily, ready to wave and go on his way, escape any opportunity to be recognized, and he's halfway through doing that when his eyes actually meet up with those of the person he bumped into and stops cold.

"No way... Raleigh?"

Luke didn't exactly consider himself even a particular fan of Gipsy Danger; everything that reminded him of the attack on Telluride, even jaegers that weren't even present, had left something of a bitter taste in his mouth over the last few years. But he'd have had to be blind and without cable to not be able to recognize a pilot on sight.

And part of the constant familiarity is why it takes him a second to realize what he'd said, coloring faintly with embarrassment. "I mean, Mister... Becket...?" He trails off, not certain if that is any better.

Edited 2014-02-04 01:30 (UTC)

[So far Akito's interview partners had given him the feeling that he was maybe on the young end for a candidate, and this latest one wasn't doing much to change that impression. He himself was a couple months shy of eighteen, a student who'd had to spend some time persuading his caretakers to accept the idea of him at least attempting to drop out of school in favor of the PPDC.]

Akito Hyuuga. And it's green.

No, no snarl or venom, here. Just a light laugh and an easy smile.

He's learned through countless encounters and interviews, PR sessions and tv appearances that when it comes to interacting with other people? Just play it cool. Keep your wits about you, don't lose your authority, don't be an idiot, but there's nothing wrong with being nice. There's nothing wrong with being enthusiastic. And where someone in a worse place might have barked at Luke to get the fuck out of the way and watch where they're going, Raleigh only takes another half step to the side and smiles.

"Raleigh is fine." He says, extending his right hand to shake.

This is part of his job. Interacting with the cadets, giving them something to look forward to, a role model. He's earned his titles and respect but Mr. Becket was his father. Raleigh suits him just fine.

"Are you alright?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Could be," Guy says agreeably while scanning everyone, eyes settling here and there on people he'd talked to, seeing if they were alone or chatting with anybody - or seeing if they were missing, still talking to people.

"I heard they're pretty quick once everyone decides they're done, though. How do you think you did? Have any interesting conversations besides the angry ones?"

Edited 2014-02-04 01:52 (UTC)

Friendly was easy to deal with, though Guy had less than charitable assumptions about people who looked like they were above a certain tax bracket. Guy automatically, politely reaches out and gives the pretty boy a firm handshake, putting on a smile. "Well, you're right there. Guy Cecil. Nice to meet you. You want to lead the line of questioning, or should I?"

He figures however he responds will at least tell him a little bit more about the guy - maybe trip a memory. He knows he's heard Suoh before, and that's a Japanese name but he isn't completely Japanese... it's right on the tip of his tongue.

Yuri watches Guy's face--one second, two, three seconds, eyes narrowing with focus--and then breaks the moment, loudly tapping the clipboard against the desk like he's straightening a stack of papers, easy smile back in place as he straightens himself up, too. "I guess it's my turn, huh?" If Guy's looking, now--and frankly Yuri doesn't care if it he is--he'll catch one more focused sweep, something quiet and almost proprietary in his eyes.

He really wants to blow this room, already. Just the thought of the lab coats looking them over makes his shoulders tighten. He can't help but shoot the glass a dark look, even if they dock him on his anti-authoritarian temperament. Again.

But just as easily, he meets Guy's eyes again, casual. "I should probably avoid giving the same answer I gave earlier," hid voice is deliberately sly.

Almost dazed, Luke reaches out and shakes the hand. A few days ago he might have shrunk away at that, but... this place had already been having an impact on him. Andrea Martin hadn't shown him any hatred, he'd sort of repaired the relationship between himself and his best friend, and someone who had every right to hate him had said somethings that left Luke feeling like... maybe he had some direction. Maybe he could make friends.

Not that he was expecting to with Raleigh Becket of all people. He already felt bad just holding him up. But at least he doesn't embarrass himself further by shrinking up and scampering off before he can do something to offend one of the most famous heroes on the planet. He even smiles. It's even genuine.

"Yeah, fine. I just... looking around?" If he comes off sounding uncertain it's because he is. "Uh... obviously not doing a great job of that, though."

Raleigh takes his hand back and sticks them in the pockets of his flight jacket.

"Yeah, me too. Still trying to figure it all out, myself. We haven't been here very long, either."

A pause.

"How are you liking it? Excited?"

It's almost a relief that Yuri breaks the moment, though Guy's pulse is a bit quicker still. He was really unaccustomed to social interaction that mattered.

His eyebrows lift as he follows Yuri's gaze and parses his problem, his mood. Still? Well, of course, Guy thinks. It's almost funny. It isn't like Guy is a huge fan either, what with high-stakes competitive Jaeger technology killing his family, and all. (At least, as far as he's concerned.) But this is the PPDC they're talking about, and they're not even past initial scans. Being obstinate for the sake of it isn't going to get Yuri anywhere.

Omelet, eggs, something like that.

"If you can give a better one," Guy replies, plenty sly in reply - but just because he's goading. You can do a little better than that, right?

Yuri watched Luke turn this over with a raised eyebrow, almost, not not quite, smiling at Luke's obvious reaction.

What the hell was he getting himself into?

"You're welcome." He pauses, looking out over the compound as he starts putting his uniform back to rights. "We should head back. Tuck in your shirt."

If you insist.

[He straightens up to his full height so he can properly glare down at Luke and folds his arms across his chest.]

What is your least favorite color, fon Fabre?

[Funny how he can make a bland question like that sound like an accusation.]

"Hmm."

Yaichirou nodded, trying not to look too worried. A tape measure. Why hadn't he thought of that? Such an answer indicated meticulous planning, pride in one's work, and Tachibana had even managed to work in a message about being inclusive. Honestly, compared to a wrench-- but this was an interview, not a competition, right? He was fine.

"Mornings." This was an answer he could be confident in. Everyone knew that morning larks were hard-working and morally superior. "I find that there are fewer distractions before the rest of the world wakes up. And you, Tachibana?"

Luke reaches up and pulls absently on his ear, thinking back to the conversations he'd had. "Well, two of the three people I talked with recognized me. I guess those actually went about as good as it could've... but I don't really know why they'd let in someone who so many people hate on sight."

He sighs.

"Uh... the other one was Andrea Martin. She was actually really nice? Really... normal. If normal people weren't all mad at me."

This observation doesn't come out sulky, just conversational. Actually he wasn't really bothered by how the interviews went, especially not after talking to Guy. But... well, there wasn't much getting around the facts.

"Huh?" Luke blinks, he'd gotten lost on his thoughts for a minute there, but when Yuri pulls him out of it he starts off, away from the fence. Looking down at himself he automatically starts doing as he was told, straightening his clothes.

And then once his clothes are straight, which doesn't take long, he hadn't undressed far, he continues to fiddle at it unnecessarily, looking anywhere but at the other man.

"Hey, Yuri?" He paused... it sounded strange to call someone else by their name. He didn't have a lot of conversations that got that far, lately.

The pause went on a little longer than he liked as he tried to find the right way to arrange his words, and in the end he just forced them all out, flustering, but not wanting to lose the opportunity. "Thanks. I know you don't... I mean. ...just... thanks. You're a really nice guy."

He'd told Luke the Drift was like sex just to screw with a naive kid; he doubted he'd get the same reaction out of Guy. Five years ago, maybe, but they were both grown up, now. Guy didn't look that easy to fluster.

"Well," he mused. "If you believe the official literature..." Which of course he didn't. Had he ever? "It sounds pretty respectable and dignified. A pure marriage of minds." His tone is obviously flip and mocking. "The symbol and result of the indomitable human will against the kaiju menace, no more prurient than a firm handshake."

Yuri expected the drift to be an ugly place, because emotions in general could get pretty ugly. That's why they were told to 'master their minds'--so co-pilots could clear the Drift of all their emotional detritus and focus on the fight. That was Yuri's theory, anyway. No telling how much it worked except to ask an actual pilot.

"Hmmm," Guy sighs, leaning back and rubbing his chin, as if deeply ruminating. Yuri was being brazenly flip, but the answer itself... For someone with such an attitude... "That's right out of the literature, alright... almost word for word." Almost. Prurient, not so much.

He levels a smile at him, his eyes dancing again. Like he's having fun.

"Well, they say it's the quick studies that get bored the fastest. I guess that hasn't changed at all."

Edited 2014-02-04 04:43 (UTC)

Yuri scowls at him, not liking the implication.

"I was reading because I was bored." That was sort of a lie. Yuri had never been much of a student; academics had just plain never interested him, and he thought his chances of going to any kind of college were pretty damn slim, so he hadn't really bothered. But he did read all that recruitment pamphlets and, when he joined, the assorted hand books. He liked to know the rhetoric, and to see how the PPDC measured up to its own standards.

Guy lets that one slide. Fair enough, really. Though he had to wonder why they selected mostly Americans who would be sure to recognize Luke... but with Andrea Martin in the mix, maybe they were testing the rough waters with a failsafe judge as backup.

"They're probably figuring out if it's really going to be a liability," he offers. "If you're Drift Compatible, and you find someone, all it takes is one saved city and one blush on camera, maybe some stammering about how you don't deserve the praise and you're just doing your best to make a difference. Even if some people will always be stubborn, public opinion can change in the blink of an eye these days, Luke... even yours."

Chelsea grins again, not fooled by the non-answer despite Hitagi's composure. She's done more than her fair share of deflection in her day; you can't bullshit a bullshitter.

"Well then, why don't I help you out? A standard toolbox usually contains a hammer, a screwdriver, some kind of wrench, a set of pliers, a tape measurer, a boxcutter, and a pair of scissors. There's often a lot more than that, but those are the basics." The lollipop is shifted around in her mouth as she continues to speak. "And you know, that's exactly why I thought this question was so interesting. The tool that someone picks can say a lot about them, if you think about it."

A thoughtful pause.

"I'd say a screwdriver would be the most useful tool for someone like me. You can pry something open with it, or manipulate screws, or use the handle to administer blunt force. It's an instrument with flexibility."

"Hmm, really?"

She tilts her head to the side, still smiling, expression revealing nothing except that same coy amusement. But she seems to know better than to press the issue, putting the sweet away with a light shrug.

"Suit yourself. But you know, saying that makes you sound like a guy with a sour personality."

Those red eyes glitter as she watches him.

Luke can feel his face going red again, just at the idea of being caught on camera again... it takes a second before he realizes Guy seems to think this is showing him in a positive light. "I-I don't think it's going to be all that easy."

It was true, though. He really hadn't thought about what life would be like if he did become a pilot. He never wanted to be on camera again. The idea was almost enough to make him want to look into some other options.

"You liar. You just don't believe in doing things halfway."

Guy is all casual, teasing confidence - three things a skinny, tawny-haired Gardios had exactly zero of. The only reason it isn't completely alien is the invested accusation of it - the scenario is an echo of long ago, little desperate arguments between kids that don't make any sense.

Like the time Guy had shouted, as a bold-faced, crying, below-the-belt retort, that Yuri was nice.

And it had actually worked. (Am not! Yuri had screamed again and again, until Mary had broken them up.)

Does it still work?

Guy can't help but smile at the cosmic irony of it all. Luke had to be the only person in this building, and every single building like it across the world, who hadn't thought through all the fame, glory and attention that came with this particular career path.

"Probably not. You could always change your hair, get an iris dye," he gestures vaguely, habitual little handwaves. "Go by a new name. They'll dig it up, but it'll throw them off a little."

Unless we get accepted and they catch us on our way, he doesn't say, which will probably happen. He'd already thought of potential headlines for his own situation anyway - Luke would certainly be the prodigal son. The papers would eat him up no matter what he did, but everyone loved someone trying not to take credit.

"Pull a you, you mean?"

Luke is fully aware that Guy was joking.... but he can't help but find himself taken with the idea. What if he could just disappear and never be Luke fon Fabre again? That felt like not a bad solution to a lot of his problems.

"What name would I even use?" He paused, absently chewing his lip. "What hair color? I wonder how I'd look with something more... normal." The red hair and green eyes had been kind of A Thing in his family, he'd always gotten a lot of comments on it. The idea of something a little less eye-catching sure sounded appealing at this point, though.

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