for striker_eureka

[gipsy_danger]

((starting here))

True to her word, Gipsy waits.

Of course, she can't do much other than that -- she's fairly constrained by previous injuries, and though her arm has been reattached and repaired she still can't quite walk on her own. This, Gipsy makes abundantly clear in beeps and grumbles, but it's mostly ignored because there's nothing they can do about it quite yet. Progress is being made, but it's not nearly fast enough for her satisfaction.

It's why she's grumpy as hell when he comes the next day; beeps decidedly irritated and far too loud for someone that had been drifting solo with a jaeger the previous day.

(( other conclusions Here. ))

Comments

[striker_eureka]

Whatever the reason, Herc is just glad (or will be glad later when he finds out) that his request was honored. The Jaegers do so much to protect them, the least they could do is have a little care when handling them.

Like he promised, he returns the next day, suited up and mentally prepared to try something incredibly foolish.

Jaegers aren't build for solo pilots. They haven't been since Mark I.

Still, Gipsy had promised not to hurt him, and he believes her. Which is why he steps into the conn-pod without hesitation, leans back against the support with a little smile on his face as the countdown begins.

Good morning, Gipsy.

[gipsy_danger]

She welcomes him in eagerly, mental switches flipping this fuse and that while he gets settled in. She knows that what they're going to do is dangerous and she's trying to make it as safe as possible. That means some internal maintenance that she's thankfully capable of taking care of herself.

Good morning, Hercules. Are you rested?

[striker_eureka]

As rested as I can be, considering.

The cots in the bunks around here aren't the best, and Herc is old enough now that sleeping on a hard thin mattress isn't a negligible thing any more. He wakes up with more aches and pains than he'd like to admit to, most days. But that's what morning exercise is good for, at least.

How are you, love? Are you feeling better?

[gipsy_danger]

I’m sorry. She automatically assumes the ‘considering’ remark is referring to what happened yesterday, and she mentally cringes, just a bit. She’s guilty and sheepish with her next statement.

Yes. Much better, thank you. Your engineers listened to you.

[striker_eureka]

It's not your fault, Gipsy. I just have a shitty bed.

He can feel her sheepishness and it makes him smile a little. She's a sweet girl, for a giant monster-fighting robot. Hopefully she can feel how fine he is, make her feel a little better.

Good, I'm glad. They need to know to respect a pretty girl like you.

[gipsy_danger]

You need something better than that rubbish. She's adament about it, poking a little into his head to find out what it is that he sleeps on, what it is that causes him these aches and pains that she can feel. That he's older than Yancy and Raleigh doesn't register -- not really.

Oh, stop. You're going to make me blush.

[striker_eureka]

He's going to have to sit her down and explain that Raleigh — not so much Yancy, but maybe — is almost young enough to be his son. That after a certain point in time, the human body starts to slow down. And considering the damage he's put his through, it's no real surprise that he's starting to get tired. It's standard issue, not much I can do about it now. Not while there's no funding for them.

He chuckles, reaching up and patting the side of his control panel fondly. That'd be the day.

[gipsy_danger]

The day he does that is not going to be a good day. At all.

Are you ready to walk?

Gipsy sounds like she is – she’s eager and vibrating in his mind, excitement trickling into the Drift.

[striker_eureka]

Herc fully expects to die in his Jaeger, brought down by a Kaiju. He's been expecting that for ten years now, and there are times when he's almost surprised that it hasn't happened yet. He's one of the oldest pilots still in action; all the others his age were killed, their Jaegers destroyed. It's going to be a tough conversation, that's for sure.

I am if you are.

He knows she is, he can feel her excitement. And he'd be lying if he said he wasn't excited too.

[gipsy_danger]

Part of the problem now is that Gipsy considers him one of her pilots -- even if he's primarily pilot of another Jaeger, Gipsy will still fight to protect him unless it directly conflicts with the safety of her own pilots. Drifting with sentient robots can be a tricky, tricky business.

Good. Disengage me; we will walk the perimeter of the Shatterdome.

[striker_eureka]

Considering he has no intention of ever putting Raleigh in danger, he's fairly certain it won't be a problem. Still, he thinks her concern for him is touching.

Yes ma'am. He pushes the requisite sequence of buttons to unlock her supports.

Alright, baby, let's do this thing.

[gipsy_danger]

Not intentionally, anyway.

Gipsy feels the holds release on her frame and she tests the freedom by rolling her shoulders, feeling the satisfying click click click of metal sliding into its proper place down her entire frame.

That feels good. Better than ever – she’s had a complete overhaul, and while she doesn’t look new, she feels infinitely better.

I need you to be my eyes –keep people away from us. Other than that, I will handle the controls – it will not be you that drives. There’s an easy grin in her voice.

This time, you are along only for the ride, Hercules Hansen.

[striker_eureka]

It's odd, drifting with a machine and feeling all that they feel. He can sense the satisfaction she feels when she tests out her limbs and finds everything working the way it should be, but the little frisson of excitement skating down his spine is all him.

You going easy on me? he accuses, a grin of his own stretching across his face.

[gipsy_danger]

Yes, she says bluntly, smirking around the edges of their connection. I have to. For him to survive this, anyway.

Is it strange, feeling all that I feel? As far back as my original inception, it has been focused around humans; what they think, what they feel. Certainly, the drift is mutual, but how much attention do you pilots really pay?

She lets a trickle of what it's like to be a massive machine, towering over buildings and humans and kaiju alike trickle into his mind before reeling it back in.

[striker_eureka]

He barks out a surprised laugh, shaking his head a little. Well. Thank you, I think. He knows that this would be far too dangerous if she let him fully control her on his own. Even just doing this is risky. If Stacker were here, he'd be getting a right dressing down by now.

He's about to answer her when she lets him feel a little more of what it's like to be a Jaeger, and he's left reeling. But in a good way, this time. He's not ashamed to admit he gasps, his eyes wide as his poor human brain tries to process what it's like to be that large, that powerful.

It's incredible.

Oh, Gipsy.

[gipsy_danger]

Your human mind cannot handle what it is like to be fully Jaeger, she says gently, waiting a few moments until she is fully disengaged from the locks that held her still. She takes a tentative step outwards, then another, careful in her pace. The area is clear – it had been all morning though if it wasn’t before, Gipsy’s movement ensured that it is now. A jaeger moving is no small thing – literally or figuratively.

But that is a taste. I am sorry I cannot show you more. Because truly, it is magnificent. She truly regrets that they have to hold back on some things – because she would like him to experience it.

She finds the Drift to be a strange and fickle thing; allowing freedom in thoughts and emotion and sensation – from human to human and human to machine and vice versa. She feels what they feel – everything is shared and so little holds barred.

Save…this. And pain. Pain and anguish – she shields her pilots from that as much as she can, otherwise, they will be overwhelmed and can end up chasing rabbits while Gipsy is left scrambling to try and force them to regain control. Otherwise, severe damage is probable.

[striker_eureka]

Back in the beginning, Jaegers were just machines and so no real thought was given to whether or not they felt the damage that was being done to them. And then they were fitted with AIs to help them maneuver, and then those AIs started developing personalities of their own, but Herc is pretty sure people still don't think about how they survive the damage done to them. Just thinking about it makes him ache in sympathy.

Me too, love. He would like to be able to experience what it's like fully, to see life through her "eyes" but he knows he would never be able to handle it. Sadly.

So instead he focuses on this right now, on helping her steer her way around the 'dome as she stretches her legs after five long years in stasis.

How are you doing? Everything okay still?

[gipsy_danger]

Yes. Very well.

She's enjoying herself despite it all; walking around the Shatterdome gives her a sense of freedom that she hasn't felt in several very long years.

And you? Is this too much?

[striker_eureka]

Naw, I'm alright.

He says that all the time, though, claims to be fine when he isn't. But she can feel the truth in his words now, which is why he doesn't bother elaborating past that, just lets her do her thing as he helps her steer and monitors her from the inside.

[gipsy_danger]

Suspicion hovers, but then the truth in what he’s saying seeps through the Drift and she’s satisfied with that, and presses the issue no further.

Instead, she takes her time on their ‘walk’, and allows him to revel in her joy at being able to move around again and regain her functionality and maneuverability. It’s been a long time since she’s been able to achieve this moderation of freedom, so now she’s reveling in it, and taking her sweet time at reacquainting herself with her own body.

It’s a challenge, though; holding back to protect him, protocols chirping at her when she goes to far from her ‘allowed’ space, and the occasional human darting between her legs – it’s exhausting.

[striker_eureka]

While Gipsy is the one doing most of the work, Herc is still walking inside her, moving his limbs in tandem with hers; he's not sure if it's helping her at all or if it's just annoying, but it's become such a deeply-ingrained habit that he can't help himself. He'll just keep on keeping on, as it were, until she tells him to stop.

He's reluctant to stop, actually, since Gipsy is enjoying herself so much, but eventually he knows he has to call it off.

Gipsy, love, I think it's time we head back. He can sense how tired she is now, how difficult it is for her to hold so much back and do most of the work herself, especially since she's not fully recovered yet. He doesn't want her to push herself too far and end up doing irreversible damage to her internal systems.

[gipsy_danger]

It's helping; not in so much that he's assisting with moving, but it helps to know that he's there as a sort of support network - -that even if it's habit, it's also done because he does want to help.

But her own exhaustion starts to bleed over, and she knows he's right, even if she's reluctant to stop.

Alright.

She turns, and she starts back towards her designated docking bay, though she's practically dragging her feet -- mostly with reluctance.

[striker_eureka]

Her reluctance makes him smile a little, and he pats her control panel again.

We'll try this again tomorrow, alright? He's just as reluctant to end this as she is, really, and the prospect of walking with her again is exciting.

[gipsy_danger]

You should take a day off, you know.

As much as that excites her, she's actually scolding him, just a little.

This is not good for you, doing this alone.

[striker_eureka]

He chuckles softly, a wry smile on his face.

Aw, but then I'd miss you, darling. There's not much for me to do in this joint when we're not battling Kaijus.