test drive meme

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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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James Wei (no not that Wei) | OC | Medical

[wrongwei]

III.

James flipped through the next patient's papers on the clipboard, skimming the details of the nurse's notes as he tried to swallow down the nervous butterflies in his stomach. Clinic visits were old hand by now, but being part of the PPDC was still new and he was always vaguely worried that the next visit would be something he'd never seen before and then what would he do? It wouldn't do to show his new employers that he couldn't live up to his resume. The best thing he could do was to learn about his new patients and put all his skills to use in their favor.

With a quick glance down at himself and a smoothing of his tie and labcoat, he put a hand on the doorknob, took a deep calming breath, and pushed his way in. Immediately he flashed a polite smile he hoped was comforting and not awkward at the person waiting inside.

"Hello. I hope I didn't keep you waiting long. I'm Dr. Wei, what brings you in today?"



IV?!


It was a quiet morning, one of the rare ones. There were no Kaiju actively roaming, and most of the cadets hadn't arrived yet. The hangar crew were mostly buzzing about doing maintenance and repairs, and the few pilots on base were scattered here and there, either eating or resting or in the Kwoon Combat Room. It was the perfect time for James to poke around and explore, familiarize himself with the layout of the base and the academy before things got busy again. After all, at any moment the alarms could ring and everyone would immediately move to their stations.

But for now? It was (relatively) quiet, and it gave James a chance to wander about with his mug of fresh coffee in one hand and his labcoat draped over his other arm. Take in the sights as it were.

> If he's maybe a little absent-minded while walking, well something had caught his eye and it wasn't you until it was too late. "AHHHH!—oh damn it, I'm so sorry, here let me check you—"

> What's a medical doctor doing in this room anyways?

sup you (III)

[techitorleaveit]

In spite of all the cold machinery Joo Mun typically surrounded herself with in her career, there was something about the metallic surfaces in a doctor's office that never quite sat right. Maybe the fact that everything was so clean, without a speck of dust or wear on it. It made her shift in her seat a little, idly reconsidering the necessity of a check up for the headache she'd been haunted by a while now. It was just a headache after all, it'd go away, maybe all she had to do was walk into another sheet of metal and everything would go back to normal-

And then of course, the doctor arrived before she could follow through with her new life choices.

When the door finally opened, Joo Mun turned her head up... and met the doctor's totally-not-awkward smile with a completely blank stare, Followed by the slightest head tilt and squint, as if she were trying to discover the secrets of his identity on his cheek. Wei- she knew a Wei, didn't she? Not personally, not among her friends but a distant friend-

Somehow, in the midst of the cluttered mind of Joo Mun, recognition hit. A flash in her memories of a young man standing next to her younger brother in photographs sent back to the family...

"... You!"

Re: sup you (III)

[wrongwei]

James paused and looked at her more closely as he mentally scrambled to try and remember. But nothing came up. Certainly this engineer's name didn't ring a bell when he looked at the paperwork. Maybe it was just a case of mistaken identity.

"Is... everything all right, ma'am?" he slowly asked, carefully working out the words as he tried to think of what to do next.

Re: sup you (III)

[techitorleaveit]

If James had been making an attempt at calming and pacifying, he'd be quite saddened to know he'd failed miserably.

His face, though more matured than she'd last seen it, had been blatantly familiar to her. All that time she'd spent during her... house-sitting years, to put it nicely, carefully memorizing the faces and names and general lives of every possible friend of the family and relative had paid off in the weirdest way, mostly in gaining her the connections to get the job she held now. Her mother had been the one to suggest it initially; that every good wife should be able to place a name to a face no matter how long it'd been.

Obviously the requirement hadn't been applicable to every one else in the world, but that didn't keep it from stinging a little whenever people didn't remember her back.

"Yah," she snapped, a scowl dropping onto her face, "Is that how you talk to your colleague's sister? You even stayed at my mom's house!"

Re: sup you (III)

[wrongwei]

James snapped the clipboard up like a shield, tensed up defensively and stared blankly at his patient. Colleague's sister? Stayed at her mother's house? When had he...?

When had he done...?

And yet a vague recollection of someone looking similar to her from a photo flashed through his mind. From a long time ago when he was still only in high school on a foreign exchange program. An older girl who—

"Ah!" He pointed at her, eyes wide in recognition.

[techitorleaveit]

"Don't point at your elders like that," was the immediate response to the finger being pointed in her direction, though if her memory served her correctly, the man in front of her wasn't that much younger than her. He was somewhere around her own younger brother's age, but Joo Mun had been raised to respect even a single year's worth of age difference. And that was one thing she was intent on making sure other people respected too.

Leaning back in her seat with her arms crossed, she regarded the man once more, squinting at him a little during her examination.

"So you ended up joining the PPDC too?"

Herc Hansen | Pacific Rim

[oldmanstriker]

There's a man slumped in one of the mess hall chairs, one foot up on the seat next to him, and a jacket spread across his lap.

He's tossing a ball up into the air, catching it, not even glancing at it. He seems to be paying the act as little attention as possible. Of course, anyone who's not been under a rock for the past five years will notice the man as one Hercules Hansen, pilot of the Australian Jaeger Lucky Seven.

And he seems lost in thought, tossing the ball, his gaze fixed on the table in front of him.

o hay buddy

[righthemisphere]

"Ranger Hansen?" A not completely unfamiliar voice calls from several yards away, excited footsteps barely kept in check.

Raleigh had been in the General Assembly hall just now, met and spoken with Chuck for the first time. He can't believe how lucky he is to be stationed with Striker Eureka. Hercules is kind of a personal hero to him. He's cool, effortlessly commends authority, incredibly effective on the battlefield and does it all while being a complete badass. Not to mention he's now got the biggest and baddest Jaeger around.

It would be rude not to say hello.

Not that Raleigh has gone looking for him or anything, he's actually on a snack finding mission. That's his cover, in any case.

[oldmanstriker]

Herc catches the ball, shifts to look over his shoulder. He expected this. How could he not, given his history?

He catches sight of a familiar face walking towards him, and his memory flips a card. He shifts, straighter, dropping his boot from the other chair.

"Raleigh Becket." Yep, he remembers you. He stands as the younger man gets closer. "I heard you'd been stationed here, mate."

[righthemisphere]

"That's right." He answers with a nod and a smile and stops a few feet away, holding his hand out to shake.

"Things are quiet up North. I guess they figured we'd be quicker to respond down here. And with Ranger Moreno off active duty.." He leaves it. They all know why they're there.

"It's a pleasure seeing you again, Sir. I look forward to getting a good look at your new Jaeger."

[oldmanstriker]

And Herc takes Raleigh's hand, his grip tight, hand rough, no doubt from years of working on planes, jaegers and anything he can tinker with. Herc seems the hands-on type, after all.

"Yeah, she's a beaut, alright. Shame there's gonna be no more Mark V's. The Kaiju wouldn't stand a chance with more machines like Striker out there."

[righthemisphere]

"I was meaning to ask you about that." Raleigh presses, answering the shake with a grasp just as firm.

"Why did the PPDC stop production? We're training twice as many cadets, now. What are they supposed to pilot?"

[oldmanstriker]

"Wrong person to ask, mate. I have no clue."

And it concerned him. What were they training these guys for? Regardless, Herc wasn't in a position to ask, he was just a Ranger... Although, he would be pestering his friends higher up the food chain about it.

"All I know is that we're here, and that's all there is to it for now."

Simon Gryber | Gurren Lagann | Scenarion 1

[gyroscopic]

((He's an ex-ranger, public background is here))

"Ah, this really brings me back." Not that his entry into the academy, the Alaskan branch, had exactly gone like this. There wasn't any pretense of finding someone for him to drift with, Kamina had made that decision long before they even arrived. But he'd been younger then, like a lot of the faces here. Nervous and wondering if it was possible, why anyone might believe he could possibly pilot.

It was hard to believe how it'd all turned out.

Simon slumps easily into the folding chair, smiling at the person across from him. This wasn't like the past. Kamina wasn't here, so Simon would just have to be completely confident in his place. "I guess we should start with names, eh? I'm Simon. How's it going?"

[ex_serrulata608]

Sakura stares in abject terror. She recognises him -- how could anyone not? -- but there has to be some mistake. Her mouth opens, trying to answer his question, eyes darting to the door. Someone will surely walk in and correct this before long.

Only no one comes. Sakura swallows, torn between standing to bow and offering one while seated. She settles for not making a further awkward mess of things, schooling her expression into a polite smile after she straightened from her seated bow. "Ha-- Sakura Haruno. The weather is very nice today."

What the hell are you doing?! He didn't ask about the weather!

[gyroscopic]

"Nice to meet you, Haruno-san." His accent when he says her name marks him as obviously a westerner, and the san just slips in there. He pauses, then laughs a little self consciously. "Sorry, habit! And you're right, it's a lot warmer here than what I'd be expecting back in Japan."

He responds to her statement like he didn't find it, or her behavior, strange at all. He's more preoccupied by skimming over the paper with the proposed questions. "These look really boring... Do you think they can really determine drift compatibility with these?" Well, he didn't want to doubt the people behind the glass. Science sure was mysterious.

[ex_serrulata608]

The accent makes her inclined to smile, if only behind an upraised hand. She politely cleared her throat, already more at ease between how he acted and her own control. Concentrating on breathing evenly and being grounded was doing wonders for her overall.

"Yes, they do seem boring, though that may be why they work. Not for the answers? For the way people talk, back and forth. I'm not certain we have to stick to the list." The last came as a confession, hand falling away from her lips to rest in her lap. "The testing earlier may be a better judge of compatibility with the system. This may be about people... instead of the equipment?"

[gyroscopic]

"I guess you're right." It was easy to imagine what sort of answers Kamina would have had to these questions. "Something like how if two people are compatible, they can talk about nothing for hours?"

That really was nostalgic. He smiles, and slams the paper back down on the table, suddenly more electric, though the rest of his posture remains relaxed. "Okay! So let's do it. What's your least favorite color?"

[ex_serrulata608]

"I don't know if there's any particular one that has no redeeming qualities," she said, knowing she was going to have to come up with some specific for the sake of not sounding evasive. "Black?"

Conversing on about nothing for hours? She supposed she'd been that way before, when she was younger, with at least some of her peers. Before the competitive edge of everything made that sort of leisurely activity a thing of the past.

Shindou Takuto | Inazuma Eleven GO!

[presto_turn]

[Scenario 1]

By the time he settles down in the interview room, Shindou looks like all the tension inside of him has been taken hold of from both ends and stretched tight. He presses his back board-straight into his chair, keeps his lips set tersely together, and doesn't permit himself to frown. It's the not knowing that's getting to him. Every new test feels as arbitrary as the last, and he can't even tell what it means that he's apparently "passed" so far, let alone what he's supposed to be showing them now.

The list of interview questions, clasped between both hands on a clipboard, isn't helping. He wrinkles his nose at them in confusion and displeasure before looking up towards his first partner. That stern expression softens just a little, apologetic, as he does so. He shouldn't take his nerves out on anyone else going through this. They're all here for the same thing.

"Is it alright if I ask first?" That must be a rhetorical question, because he only flicks his eyes back downwards and reads, "What's your least favorite color?"

[Scenario 2]

He is outright melting in the seat of this bus.

Not that it's so much worse than Tokyo in the summer. But their transport is practically an oven without air-conditioning, and the energy's already been sapped from him by the ages-long flight from Japan. He ought to be trying to get to know the other recruits seated around him, at least learning their names. They're going to be working together and relying on one another, after all. Still, with sweat matting his hair to his neck and eyes sore and heavy, he's weary enough from just dealing with himself.

Oh, and for a bonus, the big water bottle he'd filled up before they left has gone dry now. He squeezes it in one hand, crumpling the logo from his last school's football club. His other reaches up to wipe his brow, and he visibly stifles a sigh.

Then finally bothers to glance over to his side.

"I'm sorry. I haven't even said hello yet." If he forces himself to pay attention to everyone else, maybe this will go faster. "The trip's been a long one for me."

Scenario 2

[wyvernraiser]

She could have traveled with the other PPDC employees, but there had to be a nurse with the new cadets during their trip to the Shatterdome. Despite the possibility of emergencies happening mid-transit, Cherche is a bit distraught over having Minerva, her monitor lizard, in a cage throughout her travels. And then there's having to leave a teenage son behind in France, though he should be used to it by now. And there's the heat. Her hand embroidered handkerchiefs can only mop up so much sweat from her brow. So she didn't have the initial energy to initiate a conversation with the boy sitting next to her.

"It's alright," she says with a tired smile on her face. Now that she takes a better look at him, he looks just about the same age as the son she left in France. Or is this boy older? It's hard to tell with Asians sometimes. "Is this your first time in Chile?"

[presto_turn]

Shindou tilts his head into a slight, affirmative nod and musters up a vague smile.

"It is. My father took me to Rio de Janeiro once when I was younger, but that's the closest I've been before now."

That had been before the first Kaiju attacks, of course. Afterwards, there'd been so much less time for family vacations, and certainly no thought of traveling anywhere not set firmly away from the Pacific. And then there'd been the Onibaba Incident...

He shrugs.

"Sorry, are you part of the cadet class, too?" The age-range of accepted students was still a bit perplexing. It made it hard to tell which of his fellow passengers would be classmates and which were more like chaperones. "Or are you already with the PPDC?"

[wyvernraiser]

Aww, how cute! It warms Cherche's heart to know that she still passes for a student somehow.

"You can think of me as your school nurse." Since that's what she will be doing in the Shatterdome most of the time. Her full job description would be a bit more intimidating. "I'm here to make sure that none of you get any major injuries during training." But she won't be there to stop people from getting hurt. Trainings are supposed to hurt.

She pulls a plastic container from her bag and opens it. "Would you want an orange slice?" she asks, offering it to him. "It's chilled. Or at least it's supposed to."

[presto_turn]

"Oh, that makes more sense. Thank you for looking out for us."

He can't really bow, seated next to the window on this cramped bus, but it's still more or less reflex for Shindou to dip his head into a rough approximation of one after that answer. (Just because it had been a long day didn't excuse letting his manners slip. Especially not with school staff!)

When he raises his eyes back up, though, there's not even a second thought about refusing one of the nurse's oranges. He reaches over, takes one delicately between two fingers, and pops it in his mouth. It's more lukewarm than anything by now, but the sweet juice is a relief either way.

"Thanks for that, too. I didn't think to get anything for the ride up..."

[wyvernraiser]

"You're very welcome but you really should have eaten something before the trip. Nothing too heavy. When I was home, I made sure that my son would have at least a sandwich..."

She catches herself and tries to laugh it out. "I'm sorry, I guess even adults can feel a bit homesick too."

She takes an orange slice and pushes it in her mouth. She should have put it somewhere that would have kept it cold.