[IC] The Jaeger Program (Always Open)

[Avanhelsing]

He followed her on to the SHIVA. Jack got ready and gave a thumbs up to Iris. He was ready to go. Jack nodded. "Yes sir. Ready for handshake." He said clearing his mind and getting ready to go. He was sure he would be fine.

[Shadowcatcher]

Iris pushed her button to talk to everyone. "Ready to go." she said then looked at Jack before closing her eyes.

"Initiating Handshake." she heard again. After a moment she felt a pulling on her mind and she let go.

She could see her life going by like a movie. How short it was...how sad. She felt Jack there in her head, watching and seeing everything. She began to feel embarrassed almost. But she trusted him, he was not judgemental, and soon, it was his turn to show her everything. She felt all his emotions and his pain he had experienced throughout his life. She helped guide him through it so he didnt stick to one and find himself trapped in the drift.

A physical jerk went through her body as she came out of it. She looked around and then glanced at Jack.

"Hey...you okay?"

[Avanhelsing]

Jack stood there ready to go. He was excited but ready to go. He looked at Iris as he heard the command to start the handshake. He let his mind go blank as he felt the pull.

She wasn't kidding about it being sobering and odd. He saw every moment of her life go running by his eyes. It was a strange yet amazing feeling. He let his mind lead her through. She saw it all as she went into his mind. All his failings and weaknesses. Must be a great way to know everything in someone's head. He came to with a slight jerk. "Yah I'm good. I feel odd. That was a strange feeling. A good feeling to be able to see your mind. " He said feeling exactly how he sounded.
"So how are we doing?" He asked pressing the button to talk to the others. "I haven't messed up yet right?" He asked hopefully.

[Shadowcatcher]

Iris waited to hear Raleigh say "The connection is strong you two." before she smiled at Jack.

"Not so bad huh?" she rolled her shoulders with him and heard the sound of SHIVA moving as well. "Calm down, your getting me all hyped up." she said as she felt his excitement.

"Hey Marshall. We're going to do a patrol of the bay while we're out. " she said pushing her comm button. "Lets go." she said. A moment later she heard the helicopter's start to attach and waited until felt the tanks under her Jaeger start to move. "Hey Milo, you okay?" she asked.

[PhoenixEye9]

Milo went in to the drift alone, no guide to help him. Felt oddly like his first date when he got stood up,... Oh shit there that is, aaaaand now it's gone. He was doing fine then there was one memory that snagged him, the one he buried, the massacre... "No, no, no!!" His outside body collapsed for a moment shouting, he realized what was happening he buried it again and then the jerk to reality happened, now he was in control standing.

He heard Jack asking how they were, "nearly trapped to hell, but fine here. Iris?"

[PhoenixEye9]

(Damn it your post broke mine ;-;)

Milo went into the drift alone, no guide to help him through his. It felt oddly like his first date when he got stood up at the theaters,... Oh shit there that is, aaaaand now it's gone. It went smoothly until just before the end, a sudden snag at the memory he buried most, the massacre, knifehead, death, crushed people, broken buildings. Milo inside the Jaeger broke down shouting for a brief moment, "No, no, NO!!" He realized what was about to happen to himself he quickly, and barely buried the memory again.

"Yeah I'm fine, good to go,"

[Shadowcatcher]

Iris heard the shakiness in Milo's voice. "Hey. Stay strong man. Whatever you see, whatever you might get caught on, dont fight it. Remember your memories are a part of you, but they are not everything you are."

The head of SHIVA turned when her mind told it to look over at TITAN where Milo was.

She raised her arm to give him a thumbs up.

[Avanhelsing]

Jack could hear Milo sounding not great. Oh boy. He followed Iris' movements as they went along their merry way. He was honestly waiting for Milo to pull it together so they could could get going on the patrol. "Don't chase it dude. Forget and move on. Works for me..."

[PhoenixEye9]

"Drop it," he said his voice cold, he really shouldn't be such ass, he just didn't like the feeling of people pitying him. Even I they weren't by he felt like they were, it would drive him insane.

"We ready to get mobile?"

[Shadowcatcher]

(Omg you two posted at the exact same time. XD)

Iris heard the cold snap in his voice and she touched her voice button as both Jaegers were being sent out. She didnt like the tone he was using but she said nicely.

"Sorry man. We're just trying to help cuz we care. You dont like it? Get used to it. We're a family here and i'm the bossy over-protective mom. Your the child who gets his ass kicked if he talks back, see how that works? Your Jaeger can protect you from a Kaiju but it cant protect you from me. You feel me?" she said it light heartedly because he seemed to be one who likes jokes.

It was a moment later she felt her Jaeger being lifted as the were flown towards the bay.

[PhoenixEye9]

"I said drop it, I feel you, I get you'll kick my ass later probably a lot over the course of us knowing each other, but right now, drop it" he felt that silent tear coming out.

He shortly there after felt his Jaeger getting pulled up,

[Avanhelsing]

((Two minutes off. New record!!! Closest I've ever seen. ))

Jack laughed at her joke. Yes he could laugh! What about it. "That sounds violent and terrible. " Jack to himself but on the comms. He was trying to get involved in this chat. He felt sort of left out and it bothered him. "So we just going to patrol and figure this all out?" He asked out loud.

[Shadowcatcher]

Iris respected Milo enough to drop it so she went to answer his question. "We're going to the bay, far enough out not to do any damage, and we're gonna basically test drive these Jaegers." she was specifically speaking to Milo on the next part. "Test out everything. Get to know where everything is. Theres no rush really. After that we'll do a patrol and head home. I got a date with a hot guy and some katana again today boys and i dont want to be late."

She laughed when Marshall Becket said "Oh please, you? Men look at you and you send them running. You wont give anyone the time of day."

"I have my prefrences." she said simply, an image of her Marshall flashed in her mind for a moment.

"It sucks being the only attractive girl around. The hounds have no one else to bother."

"Dont let Mako hear you say that." she heard Choi say with a laugh.

[Avanhelsing]

Jack looked at her with a fake sad look on his face. "Aww. Are Milo and I not hot by your standards? " He looked down sadly. "I like to think I'm good looking. What do you think Milo? You think you are good looking?" He asked still laughing. He figured a good bit of teasing would lighten the mood a bit with Milo. Get him out of his funk.

[PhoenixEye9]

"I think Im not that bad, unless maybe Iris is Italian, always wanting you to eat," His old joking coming out, but inside he still felt heavy, his voice refused to show it though

"Hey Iris you Italian?"

[Shadowcatcher]

"Italian, no way. I'm Russian baby. I'm good at hiding my accent." she braced herself as her Jaeger was detached from the helicopters and they fell into about knee deep water.

She looked around before talking again. This time she let her accent go out. "I'm used to hiding my accent because when i was younger people would say it sounds wierd and made fun of me for it. I adopted the american accent as best i could as that is what most people are used to, but, this does feel a bit more comfortable. " she said.

"I can see why Dvorak. You sound so different. ...its nasty." Choi said.

"Ay, fuck you." she said still using her accent. it made the 'fuck' sound like 'fak'. Then she laughed.

[Garrison]

Josh went back to his room, deciding to take a nap. He had some time to kill and figured being rested was a good idea. He hadn't really figured out the Shatterdome yet so he had no idea what kind of recreation it held, if any at all. Once he learned the place a little better, he would soon stop confining himself to his room so much. Josh slept for about 2 hours, got up and washed his face to escape feeling groggy. Iris wouldn't be happy with him if he was late, that was for sure. He put on a tank top and some dickies shorts. Fairly certain that his testing was what the 3 hour meeting was for. Now with something close to 30 minutes left, he decided to just head on over and wait there. Being early was never a problem for Josh.

[PhoenixEye9]

Milo sat in his Jaeger, thinking for a moment before playing with all the gadgets, and doing what he plans to make as one of his signature moves, Sweet Chin Music. "Shit works, shit definitely works,"

[Phloem]

Throughout breakfast, after the basic introductions were made, Emmett mostly just ate quietly and laughed along at any jokes that were told. Before he knew it, his tray of food was completely exhausted and he wondered whether he should get a second serving. It sounded like a good idea, but then again, he was going to be doing a simulation soon and he predicted it to involve a lot of movement. He didn't have any motion sickness, but being thrown about in a metal chassis was bound to induce at least some indigestion.

Soon, it was time for everyone to part ways for the day. Emmett said his goodbyes to everyone, making a point to address them by their first names. Mostly for his own benefit though, so that he could remember them. It'd be pretty embarrassing, not to mention rude, to forget someone's name after a day.

Turning his attention back to Mako, he followed her to the Sim Room. In all honestly, he was thankful to have some sort of a guide to show him where he needed to go. He'd wager this place was probably even bigger than his hometown. Then again, his hometown was pretty small, but that wasn't the point. Looking at all these forked corridors, he'd be legitimately impressed if people didn't get lost in here once in awhile.

[Shadowcatcher]

Mako Mori was a little upset she would miss the trial run, but was confident it would go smoothly. Heading to the Simulation Room, she helped get Emmett all set up in his suit. "The simulation is based on five Kaiju fights. You must defeat a Kaiju or defend the city from it for five turns. Each one will be scored separately and you must pass four of the five to become a Ranger." she paused as he was led into the 'test head'. As the engineers got him set up, she spoke through the mic. "I'm sure you will do well. Initiating Kaiju Simulation 1."

---

For nearly two hours and a half, Iris, Jack, and Milo tested out their Jaegers. While Milo was testing out some signature moves like the goofball he was, Iris had her and Jack focus on being the best team possible. They tried out using all four arms, it was a little chaotic but nothing they couldn't work on another day. At times the two of them had conflicting ideas about naming their four arm technique. Iris wanted something simple and easy to remember, but Jack wanted something awesome like the Wang Tang triplets and their infamous "Thundercloud Technique." It was a stupid idea so instead of fighting about it, they left the argument for another day.

Bdfore she knew it the perimeter check and trial run was over and they had to head back. Once they did, Marshall Becket came up to her and pulled her to the side. "Hey Iris, i have a kind of present for you. I know its been a rough few days for you but you'll be happy to know an old friend has come back home." he said.

Iris crossed her arms. She had a good 20 minutes before she had to start trials with Joshua soon. "What are you talking about Raleigh? Who's come home?" she asked, slightly annoyed he hinted about what happened to Leo.

"You know how the other half of your room is empty because a certain someone was transferred for a year?"

"Yeah, Molly but...Wait MOLLY'S HERE?" she said excitedly.

He laughed. "Yeah she's waiting in your room but- hey! Come back!" he called, but Iris was already running as fast she could to room 114.