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]

Of course I'd miss you, silly girl. You're my friend.

[gipsy_danger]

And you are mine, Hercules.

She gives him an affectionate rush of emotion before leaning in to kiss his cheek.

You should go. They are going to wonder.

[striker_eureka]

It's so much simpler to communicate like this, when words aren't necessarily needed and emotions are easily felt. He likes it.

Oh, they're already wondering. That little stunt you pulled with the music is going to have be teased endlessly.

I hope you're happy.

To lessen the blow, he winks at her, smiling.

[gipsy_danger]

That triggers laughter all around.

Very happy. I cannot regret the means I used to get your attention, because it worked. Therefore I am very happy, Hercules.

[striker_eureka]

Good. I don't like you being sad.

He kisses her cheek in a mirror of what she did with him.

Will you let me come visit you tomorrow?

[gipsy_danger]

I don't like you being sad, either. I'm sorry I hurt you.

She smiles at him, happy and giddy.

Of course. I was hoping you would.

[striker_eureka]

He smiles and cups her cheek in his palm.

Then I will see you tomorrow, young lady.

Behave yourself, now.

[gipsy_danger]

I will try. Goodbye, Hercules. He gets a final embrace before they disconnect, and Gipsy is left alone with her thoughts and he is again by himself in the pod.

This time though, no one is angry or hurt.

[striker_eureka]

As anticipated, Hercules gets a lot of shit about Gipsy and her apparent crush from his fellow pilots and the support staff alike throughout the next few days, but it's mostly good-natured, so he doesn't make a big fuss over it.

It's almost peaceful, really. He pops in to see her during the day, they have a brief chat, and then he leaves. He's getting better at piloting her solo, even though they're not actually running or fighting or anything, and she gets the company she so clearly craves.

Everything is going fine, until it comes time for Hercules to test out piloting Gipsy with another pilot.

[gipsy_danger]

She knew he'd get reamed for it, but Gipsy cannot bring herself to be too upset about it. She got to see him, she accomplished her goal.

Besides, it's not Gipsy that's getting teased and made fun of. So, there's that.

But she enjoys the visits and the time she spends with him, though he tells her they have found another pilot that's Drift compatible with him, Gipsy isn't terribly sure about it. She's become so accustomed to him that she's immediately jealous about the introduction of someone else.

She knows that him piloting alone isn't an option, though. So, she tells Hercules she'll allow it -- though she knows she doesn't exactly have much of a choice.

[striker_eureka]

Herc takes a moment to warn Mako about just how nosy this Jaeger really is, and not to be alarmed if she starts poking around in her head. It's nothing personal, Gipsy just likes to know everything.

Mako seems excited and not at all put off by the thought of a behemoth reading her thoughts, so he has high hopes for how this is all going to go.

It would be impossible for him to get in the drift before Mako, so he's not quite sure what to expect when they try it together. But there's no Gipsy-avatar waiting for him, just that nebulous sense of another presence in the back of his mind. He smiles around at her, though, and nods encouragingly to Mako.

Gipsy, love, this is Mako. I was hoping she could be your new pilot.

[gipsy_danger]

It's for the best that he warns Mako, because Gipsy really is a nosy little brat. She doesn't prod too deeply into the woman's thoughts though -- the girl is clearly a rookie and Gipsy doesn't want to trigger anything that would be potentially harmful to Hercules.

Mako will notice that Gipsy is fiercely protective of the man.

Hello, Mako. Gipsy's voice is hesitantly terse as she settles in to both Hercules and Mako's consciousness. Are we training today?

[striker_eureka]

Mako seems to clue in on that remarkably quickly, if the sideways looks she's giving Herc are any indication. Someone has clearly been talking to her about Hercules Hansen and his robot girlfriend.

He suppresses a mental sigh.

I just wanted to see if you two were compatible. Or rather, if the three of us were.

Mako always seemed like too sweet a girl to really make things difficult for him, but who knows. Gipsy is the only Jaeger with an AI as advanced as this, the other pilots don't seem to understand that, for all intents and purposes, she's a human being residing inside this metal machine. If Mako says the wrong thing and upsets Gipsy...

[gipsy_danger]

She can hear that mental sigh, Hercules.

So far, Gipsy remains professional about it and her voice stays entirely robotic. Mako is fine, really, and hasn't said anything outright that has irritated or frustrated the mech. Not yet, anyway.

Initiating launch operations; Gipsy Danger. Are you ready to activate the Jaeger?

[striker_eureka]

Hey, he didn't actually do it, she can't yell at him for it.

He doesn't like hearing her voice be so emotionless; Herc has grown really used to Gipsy having all the range of inflection of a human being. In fact, sometimes it's hard for him to remember that in reality she's a giant robot first, and her sweetly naive avatar second.

"Ready," he says out loud for the control room, and the switch is flipped that loosens Gipsy from her moorings.

Ready darling? he asks Gipsy, giving her a reassuring smile.

There's a flash of something in Japanese in the back of his mind, there and gone too quickly for him to process it. His Japanese is rudimentary at best, despite all his efforts — old dogs and new tricks and all that — and so even if he had time to study it, he probably wouldn't have gotten very far with it. Oh well. He can only hope it was Mako being excited about their new adventure.

[gipsy_danger]

She would apologize for sliding into the robotic role; but this is official. The AIs lilting voice continues speaking, as if he hadn't just called her 'darling'.

Calibration complete. Two pilots engaged in neural bridge. 3...2...1...Connection complete. Proceed with caution.

Except, Mako -- you really should not think such thoughts while inside of the Drift, especially when the Jaeger can speak Japanese and take offense. Now, Gipsy knows that it probably wasn't intentional and that Mako is a rookie.

However.

Gipsy is also a protective and petty little thing and when comments are made -- even quietly -- she retaliates.

It's a very subtle retaliation too, though Hercules can probably feel the discontent bubbling inside of Gipsy as something is snapped back in Japanese, sans robo-voice.

[striker_eureka]

Hercules is not used to not knowing what's going on inside the Drift, but that's what he gets for having a copilot whose native tongue is something other than English. Memories are one thing, but thoughts...

He was just trying to make Gipsy feel a little more comfortable; the last time they walked together, he had been so exhausted by the experience that he needed a few days to recuperate. The last thing he wanted was for her to react badly to the thought of him getting injured or something. He knows how protective she is of him.

Which is why, in hindsight, he shouldn't be surprised that she snipes back at Mako for whatever it was she said.

Mako was pretty surprised, though, jumping and letting out a 'meep' of surprise that sends her rocking in her harness. Which, apparently knocked her out of her current mindset and into a tailspin.

"Shit!" He can't reach her from where he is right now, being separated and all that, but Herc still tries. "Mako!"

Mako! Dammit, focus! You're chasing the rabbit, do not do this. Mako!

[gipsy_danger]

The moment that Gipsy senses she's startled Mako, she tries to calm her down. Gipsy hadn't realized the girl was like a skittish cat and that one slight exchange would be enough to knock her out of sequence. She tries to do damage control alongside Hercules, but she can feel Mako chasing that rabbit and in doing so, the girl takes Gipsy's systems right out of the 'bot's own hands.

Miss Mori. Focus, please. Come back.

Mako is losing herself in one hell of a terrifying memory, and Gipsy cannot wrench control back and away from the girl.

Hercules, I cannot stop her--

And it's getting worse and worse. The more Mako walks into the memory the more Gipsy loses control. Weapons and defense systems start powering up, plasma canons start to activate and Gipsy feels so helpless and panicked in the face of it all.

She's overriding all of my protocols, Hercules -- she's going to blow a hole right in the side of this Shatterdome--!

[striker_eureka]

Herc can absently hear Tendo and Chuck and Stacker shouting in the control room, can sense some kind of commotion happening down on the floor, but he's being pulled along with Mako into her memories.

He has enough faculties left to try to reassure Gipsy first, though. I'll try to get her out. Fight this, Gipsy. Do not let her fire that cannon—

And then down he goes, into the deep recesses of Mako's mind. He's known the girl for a long time, actually, almost since Stacker rescued her. They fought alongside each other when the Jaeger program was in its infancy, so Mako and Chuck were often thrown together to keep each other busy while their parents discussed strategy or trained or whatever. So he knows instantly what she's reliving.

He still tries to stop her, though.

[gipsy_danger]

I will stop her, Hercules Hansen. Good luck.

Gipsy knows that they are safe inside of the Jaeger -- it's everyone else in the Shatterdome in a whole pack of trouble.

Distancing herself from Hercules and Mako, Gipsy begins to fight with Mako over the control of the weapons. She doesn't like doing it, and feels a little like she's abandoning him but Gipsy knows that if she's going to regain control of the weapons systems, she needs her full concentration and the ability to focus only on that. She cannot be lost in a memory while trying to power down her weapons.

If Hercules can calm Mako enough to 'let go', Gipsy will be able to wrench the power back. Right now though, Mako's got a strong grip on that plasma cannon trigger and everything that Gipsy tries fails.

She can hear the shouting in the command room, but she pays it no mind. Instead she fights against Mako's fear, issuing calm and soothing vibes as she tries to override what it is Mako is doing. The memory is an intense one, but still Gipsy tries.

[striker_eureka]

Herc does his best to project his faith in Gipsy before he goes down with Mako, but he's not sure if she got it.

Regardless, he can't think of that now.

Now he spends all his energy trying to convince Mako to let go of her memories, to surface, to realize reality is different for her now that she's not longer a terrified child. But it doesn't work. Nothing works, and eventually Hercules gives up. Wrenching himself out of Mako's head, he starts the shut-down sequence from inside.

I gotta go, Gipsy. I'm sorry.

And then he's loose from his moorings and rushing over to physically yank Mako out of her conn-pod. The instant she's unplugged she collapses into his arms and the cannon starts to power down.

"Mako! Mako, are you okay?" He has to fumble her helmet off so he can pat her cheeks, relieved when he sees her eyelids fluttering as she wakes up.

"Gipsy, are you okay?"

[gipsy_danger]

Gipsy doesn't panic, to her credit. She works and fights fights to wrestle control of the weapons from Mako, and very nearly has it when Herc breaks the connection and she's left snatching at air, startled from the sudden and jarring disconnect.

As soon as Gipsy feels Mako break free as well, she starts to power everything down, including her processor. Mako isn't connected anymore, but Gipsy isn't going to take the chance. Not today.

She can't answer Hercules much since she's powering down, but she manages a soft beep before she offlines herself for the time being.

[striker_eureka]

He heaves a huge sigh of relief when he hears Gipsy beep at him once in their "one for yes, two for no" system before all her systems shut down.

Well.

That was something of a disaster.

[gipsy_danger]

It kind of was, yes. Luckily for Gipsy, she doesn't get to deal with the aftermath like Hercules does. She has a feeling they're going to be grounded after this and she might be getting a talking to from Hercules...

But it's not like he hadn't warned the girl.

So for once, Gipsy doesn't feel immeasurably guilty about something. A little, of course, because she obviously should have had more self restraint, but still.

Gipsy knows that he's probably going to come chew her out, so she allows minimum power, and waits.

[striker_eureka]

The fallout is pretty bad, yeah.

But when Herc comes to visit Gipsy, it's not to yell at her. It's, first, to just sit down in her cockpit and relax a little, take a bit of a rest. Only after a few moments of silence does he strap in and link up.

Gipsy? Are you alright, love?