academyooc | test drive meme

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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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( scenario i.)

The chairs are strictly utilitarian things, all hard edges and unyielding lines that offer support but not an ounce of comfort. Yet Chelsea lounges in hers as though it came with plush cushions and a flexible spine, seemingly at ease with herself and her surroundings. A lollipop is in her mouth; she toys with it idly as she scans the questions.

"—Which tool in a standard toolbox is most useful to you?" A pause, then a lazy grin spreads across her face. "Oh, this sounds like a much better question to start with. Like, what does someone's favorite color have to do with anything?"

Her focus shifts to the person sitting across from her. A cocked eyebrow, the slightest dip of her head forward. Something that might be a challenge glitters in those bright red eyes as she waits, expectant, for an answer.

"Well?"

( scenario ii.)

Despite the heat, one of the cadets is working away at a lollipop with obvious relish as she gazes out the window. There's an easy smile on her face, no obvious tension to be found in the lines of her body, yet the look in her eyes is grim as well as faraway. It's not the gaze of someone wrapped up in idle, pleasant thoughts.....Ah, but maybe that's just a trick of the light. Because in the next moment, she's turning easily to offer another lollipop (this one still wrapped) to the nearest person with a grin too lazy and too mischievous to be appropriate in the slightest. As if this was a carefree school trip to somewhere fun, somewhere safe.

"Hey, you want one? It's a long trip."

There's only coy amusement to be found in her gaze, now.

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Across the aisle from her she would find her perfect foil. His posture was as stiff as hers was relaxed, his brows furrowed as he focused on the cadet handbook in his lap. Occasionally he would look up but he had no interest in the scenery. He focused on the other cadets instead, eyeing them when he thought no one was watching, sizing up each of his companions in turn. He was going to be stuck with them for quite some time, after all. Best to know what he was getting into.

He jumped a little when the girl addressed him, which was ridiculous. It's not like there was anything to feel guilty about.

"No thank you." He gave the lollipop a dubious look. "I'm not fond of sweet things."

"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.

He turns his gaze on the girl, eyes narrowed. She's definitely making fun of him. There's no way that sparkle in her eyes is benign. Still, he doesn't want to start his term with an argument so he takes a deep breath and doesn’t say that sweets are nutrionally poor and detrimental to a cadet's diet.

"I do appreciate your kindness, but it's merely a matter of taste. I didn't intend to appear sour."

If that's true, he should probably dispense with that perpetual scowl lurking under his thin veil of stoicism.

The deceptively frivolous smile doesn't falter; she'd laugh if she knew what he was thinking. Of course candy was bad for you — childish self-indulgence was half the fun of eating it. With their world threatened by monsters from beyond the distant stars, it was good to have a taste of something sweet to remind yourself that there was more to life than blood and bitterness and fear.

Or maybe she's the only one that needs that sort of thing. She wouldn't be surprised.

"You should try smiling next time! I bet it won't kill you."

Two fingers are applied to her cheeks, at the corners of her mouth, pushing up to exaggerate her smile. He's clearly meant to imitate the expression.

It's a good thing that they can't know each others' thoughts because they could easily argue the entire duration of the trip. As far as Yaichirou is concerned, their dire situation is all the more reason to be serious; the stakes are too high to give in to childish pleasures. If you allow yourself to take it easy on the details, soon you'll be slacking off on the things that mattered and before you know it you've contributed to the inevitable obliteration of the human race. It's a lot of pressure, but they knew what they were getting into when they enlisted. If she can't take it then maybe she should've stayed at home.

As it is, she's left him a little dumbfounded. If he follows her lead and smiles like that-- well for starters he looks absolutely ridiculous, but more importantly comes off as a pushover, and that's a sure invitation for more harassment. If he refuses, all that the half-attentive cadets around them will see is him picking a fight with a sweet-looking generous young woman. He would be branded a troublemaker before they've even arrived.

After some hesitation, his mouth twitches into something that's not totally unlike a smile, though it doesn't venture out to the rest of his face.

"No," he says through gritted teeth. "I suppose it wouldn't kill me."

The embarrassment might, though.

And she would have gladly latched onto the chance for some banter. Anything to take her mind off the grim memories of loss and terror trying to crowd in, trying to sour her resolve to take an active role in repelling the Kaiju. There's a lot of pain hiding beneath her frivolous attitude, a lot of lingering anxiety. No one here, her included, wanted to die.

But no matter what, staying at home (what remained of home, that is) was simply not an option. She could barely live with herself as-is, let alone if she had to continue sitting back and doing nothing to help. To really help — to make a difference.

His "effort" yields raised brows and a disappointed noise. "Come on, is that the best you've got?" It would be fair to wonder just why she gave even a tenth of a damn. Almost as if Chelsea was aware of this, she continues with: "Piloting is a two-person job, you know. How are you gonna get along with your partner if you can't even smile like a normal person?"

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.

"I can't say I even know what comes in a standard toolbox." She's gotten better at this after several interviews. Deflecting and with the truth. Her fifty-seventh non-answer since coming into the testing center but her posture is impeccable and the steadiness of her eyes never wavers. She's probably failing. This is her fifty-seventh non-answer and if she's passed wouldn't they have told her? Then again the same could be said if she's failed. "Your turn. However, I don't just want to know which one. I want to know why and what you'd do with it that you'd consider it so useful."

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."

"So from your answer, I take it that you're someone who prizes flexibility?" Only the rise of her voice at the end makes her words a question. The slightest narrowing of her eyes however give away that she considers it more of a conclusion. "Still, it's rather limiting. We can only find out so much from one choice. Personality type, any psychological disorders, how someone might approach a problem."

She shifts in her seat, the first sign of restlessness from her. "Our particular answer to this question may reveal a lot about us but given that we're allowed several choices from which to pick, it might still leave quite a bit unrevealed or open to interpretation. That freedom of choice can give someone room to pick the one that would show them in the best possible light. I'd rather know how someone would answer when their choices are more limited."

And she still hasn't given her own answer to the question.

"Yep. It's a smarter way to live than just crashing through everything."

She speaks confidently, as if from experience. However...Chelsea's eyes narrow a touch and she shifts back a little more in her chair. The ceiling is regarded thoughtfully for a long moment. "But I can't say you're wrong, about any of that. It's definitely a pretty flawed interview process. Considering everything at stake, you gotta wonder what the top brass is thinking."

A shrug, then, as if it had nothing to do with her. Her gaze flickers back to Hitagi's face and she asks, in a tone that's calm yet brooks no argument:

"Even so, I want to hear your answer. Color me curious."

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test drive meme

chelsea | akame ga kill!

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