He knew how he'd answered it before. Just thinking about it had him lifting a hand to rub at the back of his neck, almost embarrassed at his own awkwardness. His most common thought was 'I have no idea', and now, facing someone who had done it, that almost seemed like the right answer. But now he really asked himself - what did he think the Drift would be like?
Memories came quick, ones he'd pretty much forgotten about until he started really thinking. "His name was Kevin. This guy I was bunked with in school. Unlike the rest of us, he was a huge sci-fi geek. His free time was spent watching old DVDs of Star Trek and Star Wars and about a thousand other things that had 'star' in it somewhere, I'm pretty sure," he started, remembering how eager the guy was to get other people into his favourite thing, and how Mike often used him as an excuse not to go home on breaks. Kevin, unlike the rest of them, didn't really have a home to go to.
"He ended up giving me something of a crash course one Christmas break. Vulcans." Mike glanced up from his thoughts, having not even realised he'd half-bowed his head, looking into the middle distance somewhere between Andy's knee and the floor. "You know, Spock and Tuvok and all that. He talked about the mind meld and how Star Trek had inspired DARPA scientists into making the whole jet fighter thing. How people had started work on the mind-controlled wheelchair, I think it was, not long before K-Day.
"I remember watching the scene of Spock and the lump-monster thing in the cave," he went on, hand waving off his having no idea of the word "Horta." "And then when he passed his soul into McCoy. And then, in the other series, when Spock's dad had to use Captain Picard to feel his emotions so he could do his job as an ambassador. I think that's the closest thing I'd ever thought of to the Drift before jaegers were built."
Mike shifted in his chair, sitting up more straightly. "I've gotta say that part of it makes me think of schizophrenia. Or multiple personalities. Hearing voices that aren't yours. Having somebody else in your head. I'm... actually a little afraid of what it'll feel like," he admitted. "When I think of actually Drifting, I think of vertigo. The world moving around me, making me dizzy. But then I think of instinct."
That was when he finally could meet her eyes.
"Of knowing what to do because someone else had a great idea and we both have the knowhow when it comes to making it happen. And the satisfaction of managing to work with someone so seamlessly, you really are making one body work - even if it's a hugeass body that weighs more tons than I can count."
He laughed faintly, then, hand back at the back of his neck, head shaking, bowing - almost seeming to withdraw. "Sounds like magic. And it sounds like pure sap, too."
no subject
He knew how he'd answered it before. Just thinking about it had him lifting a hand to rub at the back of his neck, almost embarrassed at his own awkwardness. His most common thought was 'I have no idea', and now, facing someone who had done it, that almost seemed like the right answer. But now he really asked himself - what did he think the Drift would be like?
Memories came quick, ones he'd pretty much forgotten about until he started really thinking. "His name was Kevin. This guy I was bunked with in school. Unlike the rest of us, he was a huge sci-fi geek. His free time was spent watching old DVDs of Star Trek and Star Wars and about a thousand other things that had 'star' in it somewhere, I'm pretty sure," he started, remembering how eager the guy was to get other people into his favourite thing, and how Mike often used him as an excuse not to go home on breaks. Kevin, unlike the rest of them, didn't really have a home to go to.
"He ended up giving me something of a crash course one Christmas break. Vulcans." Mike glanced up from his thoughts, having not even realised he'd half-bowed his head, looking into the middle distance somewhere between Andy's knee and the floor. "You know, Spock and Tuvok and all that. He talked about the mind meld and how Star Trek had inspired DARPA scientists into making the whole jet fighter thing. How people had started work on the mind-controlled wheelchair, I think it was, not long before K-Day.
"I remember watching the scene of Spock and the lump-monster thing in the cave," he went on, hand waving off his having no idea of the word "Horta." "And then when he passed his soul into McCoy. And then, in the other series, when Spock's dad had to use Captain Picard to feel his emotions so he could do his job as an ambassador. I think that's the closest thing I'd ever thought of to the Drift before jaegers were built."
Mike shifted in his chair, sitting up more straightly. "I've gotta say that part of it makes me think of schizophrenia. Or multiple personalities. Hearing voices that aren't yours. Having somebody else in your head. I'm... actually a little afraid of what it'll feel like," he admitted. "When I think of actually Drifting, I think of vertigo. The world moving around me, making me dizzy. But then I think of instinct."
That was when he finally could meet her eyes.
"Of knowing what to do because someone else had a great idea and we both have the knowhow when it comes to making it happen. And the satisfaction of managing to work with someone so seamlessly, you really are making one body work - even if it's a hugeass body that weighs more tons than I can count."
He laughed faintly, then, hand back at the back of his neck, head shaking, bowing - almost seeming to withdraw. "Sounds like magic. And it sounds like pure sap, too."