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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[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."

[righthemisphere]

Raleigh pulls back slightly, brows pinned high on his head.

"Is that right..huh."

Herc is just a Ranger his ass. He's been in the program longer than just about anyone and is personal friends with Pentecost. If anyone one would knew something it would be Hercules Hansen. Then again, who is to say he'd tell if he did.

[oldmanstriker]

Stacker had been strangely quiet on this front. Another worrying development. Still, he knew Stacker. He would tell Herc if he felt it was necessary.

"Yes, it is." Herc says, his tone carrying an ultimatum. Drop it.

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.

[sanguining]

"New experiences and new people. I'm rather excited." There wasn't much excitement in his tone. He was still cheerful, still upbeat but there was a decided flatness to Soujirou's affect. He wasn't lying, of course, there was some amount of excitement but it generally paled in comparison to his Goals.

[nisemoron]

...Hmm. He'd backed himself into a bit of a corner here, hadn't he? His scripted bullshit would sound especially fake after he had already broken character. He rifled through a few more possible answers, tapping his finger on the table, but nothing suitable came to mind and time was ticking. He would have to go with honesty and hope for the best.

"I think it sounds unpleasant. It's an invasion of privacy and the emotional aspects of it add uncertainty, which is precisely what you don't want in a life or death situation, and I imagine having another person's memories floating around in your head is a significant distraction. Fortunately none of us are here to enjoy an easy career path. Like all the challenges of the Academy, I believe that the rewards of mastering the Drift are well worth the trouble.

[nisemoron]

"I see."

That's enough to keep him from popping a vein, but it's not enough to satisfy him.

"And is that because they came around to your reasoning, or because you were going to run off regardless of their decision?"

His tone is more curiosity than accusation. It's appalling of course, but it's just horrible enough to be fascinating. Besides, who doesn't enjoy a good opportunity to feel superior?

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]

"No, not very much. Only what is necessary," she says, as if the clarification actual offers any clarity. "What my father cannot handle, I try." Something she'd complained of heavily over the years, but a younger Sakura had a different sense of duty and obligation and desires out of life than she did anymore.

Her fingers find the short ends of her hair, thumb and forefinger twisting the strands together in idle motions.

[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!

[doubleshot]

Andrea was finishing her round of stretches at the tail end of her morning routine. Her head turned toward the entrance of the Kwoon Combat Room. SHe couldn't say she recognized the woman she saw there by sight, but it wasn't entirely unusual. The staffing in any Shatterdome was about as monstrous in size as the Jaegers stationed there.

"Talking about the Cadets?" It was a shot in the dark, but a fairly appropriate one. Few in the Shatterdome could be completely unaware of who was due in today.

[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.

[boomerangarrow]

The non-answer is just fine by her. She didn't even attempt to answer the question. Younger Kate spent most of her time learning hand to hand and archery. Building things had never been in her wheelhouse.

"I've never really used a toolbox," she shrugs. It's jut a fact about herself. Her dad would always call people in to fix things if they broke.

[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?"

[ex_serrulata608]

"It wouldn't be like the ones used by the Jaeger Mechanics. I wonder if we'll learn about those, if we enter the program?" Part of her was fascinated with the construction of humanoid robots, though her interest lay more heavily in the field of biological processes.

"How about children?" What a direct and invasive question!

[nisemoron]

The smile, if one was generous enough to call it that, vanishes. He's never been the paragon of patience and if she can't be appeased then there's no reason to humor her. He folds his arms across his chest and gives her an icy stare.

"Fortunately the PPDC doesn't pick pilots based on their smiles. I expect I'll get along with my partner by making an effort to meet them halfway, which is more than you seem willing to do."

He's careful to sound firm without sounding aggressive. There's no need to call attention to them and moreover, she's obviously trying to piss him off. If he gets worked up then she wins. That would be unacceptable.

[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.

[gyroscopic]

"Mmm." Simon mumbles to himself, stalling for time while he tries to come up with an answer. Definitely couldn't be red or blue. Maybe it was something neutral? But those drab colors reminded him of the shatterdomes he'd spent several years of his life in, and some of the best memories. "Hmmm." Or it could be something really bright and obnoxious? But neon greens and blues and even pinks just made him think of the lights on a terminal, monitoring Helix Plunge's status.

After a long moment he sighed, sounding defeated. "Nope. I can't do it. I have good memories of all of them."

[ex_serrulata608]

She laughs in spite of herself, pushing her lips together and trying to swallow the sound. She more or less succeeds, feeling the nervous edge to her own actions.

Be calm.

"All colors have their merits. What colors have the warmest memories for you?" She finds herself curious, in spite of feeling rude for asking so forthrightly.

[boomerangarrow]

"No." Quick, simple and to the point. It's one of the ones on the sheet, so she can't be mad at Sakura for asking.

"I'd guess we'd have to learn about the Jaeger Mechanic toolboxes. If we're using machines like that, we better know how they work." Especially if something goes wrong out in the middle of the mission. It's not likely to happen, but it's a possibility. Though it's not one that Kate likes to think about. "I doubt all of us are going to become pilots."