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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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[ Setsuna smirked a bit at the expression. So Sara. He squeezed lightly at the hands holding his. He hadn't really expected to have this luxury again for a very long time. And as frustrating and worrying as her presence was right now, he couldn't deny how much he wanted to just bathe in it. ]

"Yeah. Our pilots wouldn't be as awesome as they are now if they hadn't gone through a few growing pains. I'm ready for some new challenges!"

[ He glanced down, less to focus on their interlocked fingers and more so he could actually think of a question instead of getting lost in seeking out his sister's gaze. Maybe it would at least look less obvious. ]

"All right, my turn. What are you most looking forward to about piloting?"

This earns Tachibana an incredulous stare. The answer was so obvious that it almost seemed like a trick question.

"Preventing loss of life?"

No, that wouldn't do. This was too important to be indecisive. He drew himself up to his full height and fixed Tachibana in a stare that was almost defiant.

"We have the chance to serve in what may be the most successful military endeavor of all time. Without the PPDC, efforts against the Kaiju would be fragmented and ineffective. The Jaeger program has saved countless lives and given mankind a chance at a future. It's united countries that may never have been allies. It protects the cities that our forefathers built. If we succeed, we can contribute to all of that. If you don't find that rewarding..." He shrugged and spread his palms. "I'm not sure what to tell you, really."

"It'll start feeling smaller after a few months. Have you staffed in a Shatterdome before?" She kept her body posture relaxed and open. Andy might be more of an observer by choice, but the old love she had for talking with people came through more often now than before.

Her head nodded slightly at the question, a fond expression passing briefly over her face as the memories were called back. Her time in the Shatterdome before this one had really been a couple of the best years of her life, by far, not only because of the sheer freedom from her old life, but also thanks to just how much she'd gotten to learn and work with the Jaegers.

"The one in Tokyo," she responded with a slight smile, weight shifting comfortably onto one leg as she spoke, "That's where I learned everything I know now."

She can understand the impulse to want to keep family safe. She also understands that frustration. Good intentions can grate, especially if they run against what it is you feel you must do for yourself and your own ideals.

"The Kaiju have been a Pacific danger," she says, hands folding neatly in her lap. "They haven't been interested in crossing into the other seas."

Sakura angles for one of the seats across from Sara, pack jostling on her back as she likewise wrenched open a window. Several open at once might pull in enough cross air movement to keep them feeling cooler. She still doesn't find this as intolerable as back home. The humidity is lower than she expected overall.

"Ah," she says, waiting for another cadet to pass in the aisle before crossing to the seats Sara has staked out. "I felt I had to try. Doing it is a mistake, while not doing it is a bigger one." She's not certain the proverb even applies in this situation, but the words are already out there. Sakura smiles, sheepish, looking briefly down at her hands.

She has to be strong enough to be her own person.

Kate nods as Sakura talks. "Doesn't seem like it. Not yet, anyway." It's not all that odd when she considers that the kaiju's point of origin has always been in the Pacific. "Maybe it's just easier for them to emerge from the Pacific." She has no idea how kaiju think or do their decision making. The only thing she's interested in is stopping them.

"Yes, that must be the case. Still, if they can spend so much energy in swimming to Canada, or to Russia, or to Australia, why don't they swim around the end of South America? Or past New Zealand, into the Indian Ocean?"

Sakura shakes her head, knowing it's irrelevant. Talking about oddities in Kaiju attack patterns isn't part of this interview, or anything more than junior speculation.

"Canada, Russia and Australia are closer. If I was trying to take over the world I'd start with what's closest to me. Not that I'd ever want to do that." She's not really the leader type. Or the dictator type for that matter.

"Anyway, maybe we'll get a class on kaiju attack patterns." That's something that sounded useful. And there have been enough that there's probably a decent amount of data to look over.

"Tactical courses are usually part of any martial training," she says, offering another shier smile. "They'll have us looking at the older attacks too. If we're lucky, one day we'll get to run scenarios in a full pons rig. Much better than something in the arcade!"

Kate can't help the smile on her face at the thought of that. "Man, I'd love that!" A chance to feel what it's like to pilot a Jaeger? Count her in. On the other hand, having to let somebody into her memories? Still kind of terrifying, but there's probably at least one person here she could trust.

"We're going to have to work up to it." And it'll probably be at least three months before they get anywhere near combat simulations like that.

Sugane was kind of baffled by the response. It was definitely a different definition of "reward" than he was considering and he still wasn't sure that "reward" was the right word for it. Yaichirou was very serious about it, though, so maybe it was something he should think over himself.

"I see. I never thought about it that way." Now probably wasn't the best time to think about it, though, since they should be focused on ending the interview and moving on to their next round instead of arguing.

"Are we finished?"

"Hmm."

He deserves that glare, probably. That's one thing he had always taken for granted. It was a cold day in hell when he disagreed with his parents, but they would at least hear him out and include him in discussions about his future. Sometimes he forgets that everyone wasn't that lucky. He almost regrets the accusation-- just not enough to apologize. He sits back and shifts his gaze to the passing scenery.

"Regardless, it's good to see a familiar face here. Why do you want to be a pilot, though? It's a fairly radical change of direction."

There's a brief moment where he's tempted to inform Yaichirou that he doesn't have any idea what Kou's direction was, but he bites his tongue again. It's social commentary, he knows it is. It had been expected for so long that Kou would inherit the responsibility as head of the Ichijo family that it makes perfect sense for someone who's been out of the scene for a while not to have any new speculations on the matter.

Something hot and bitter bubbles up in his throat and Kou swallows it, forcing the ugly burning feeling to stew in his guts where it belongs. He glances away, wishing the bus would hit a big bump and throw them all to the floor so he could get out of answering.

It doesn't. What sounds like a change of topic to any casual observers who happen to speak fluent Japanese should be a razor edged explanation to Yaichirou's ears if he thinks it over. "Sachiko will be having a birthday, soon. I wonder what local toys I can find to send to her..."

"I think so." He stood and gave a polite smile. "Thank you Tachibana. Best of luck to you."

It was a stark contrast to the self righteous arrogance of his speech. He was back on autopilot, just acting out the appropriate formalities. His opinion of Tachibana wasn't part of the script.

"I hear good things coming out of Tokyo." It wasn't one of the Shatterdomes she'd been to, but Jaeger pilots weren't entirely inclined toward 'dome hopping without reassignments or reasons to be shipped in. When it came down to assisting on any given fight, the extras were flown and shipped in while the Kaiju were still swimming their way to whatever shore they were destroying next.

Thoughts better saved for a little later. "Find this room any different here than it was there?"

Logic isn't Yaichirou's strong suit so his first reaction is a long stare, but he figures it out. His expression reverts to polite stoicism. It seems appropriate for such an evasive answer, and it conveniently lets him avoid his own feelings on the matter. Empathy is as useless as it is uncomfortable.

"I could help you you find something age appropriate if you like, " he offers, still staring out the window. "I've survived three baby brothers, so I may be of some use."

There were a lot of possible answers to that. Sara ran through them all in her head, trying to consider which might leave the best impression on their observers. As a fundamentally honest person, Sara would never have outright lied, but she was shrewd enough to think about which true answer would put her in the best light. In the end, though, she realized she didn't know what they might be looking for, and pure impulse won out.

"I guess the chance to prove myself. To really show what I'm made of! And the chance to make my life mean something..." She took a deep breath. "What about you? Same question."

Edited 2014-02-27 17:49 (UTC)

[ Setsuna smiled awkwardly at Sara's response. It really did capture all facets of her from her determination to her need to reach others. ]

"You didn't need to come all this way for that, Sara."

[ Her life meant more to him than she would ever know...

He, on the other hand, couldn't claim anything even remotely altruistic surrounding his thoughts on the Jaegers. His reasons for entering the program were one thing, but his desire to drive one of those beasts of metal was entirely based on one thing. And he wasn't afraid to admit it to their observers. ]

"Me?"

[ He turned his head to the mirror and shot it, and the people behind it, a dark smile, as he answered. ]

"I want to personally make those ugly bastards things pay."

"Sure." Kou responds, a bit less stoic perhaps as he gazes glumly out the window. It isn't the power or prestige that he's worried about losing. Honestly, he couldn't care less about those. But the idea of not being needed anymore is painful. His family gave him a home when he needed one and then poured years and years into raising him for this, and now he can't even fulfill that duty for them in return. The whole of his existence is pointless.

And yeah, fine, he doesn't want to talk about it. Alright?

[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."

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?"

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?"

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."

"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..."

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test drive meme

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Shindou Takuto | Inazuma Eleven GO!

Scenario 2

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