Group Log : Q&A Session 001

[inurhead]

Characters: Any/all
Location: The Meeting Hall
Date/Time: Sunday afternoon
Summary: Q&A with a Ranger. All Rangers and staff welcome to answer Q&A. All cadets are invited to the session, but attendance is not mandatory.
Additional Notes: Start your own threads, jack some of mine, go nuts. This is just another mingle post but it's also meant to be informative ICly. Other staff and Rangers showing up for interactions with the cadets is wholeheartedly encouraged.


The meeting hall, like every other area of the Shatterdome, has the feel of an industrial environment. The walls are lined with bleachers on three sides, while the forth side has a platform and podium. In the middle are rows of chairs, desks, and tables. It's clear that a large audience can be accommodated by the room when there's need, though the group that gathers there today isn't nearly enough to fill it.

Cadets will be directed to sit at some of the tables closer to the podium when they arrive, and given scratch paper to take notes on. Staff will be directed to the large table on the podium, which has a row of conference microphones, lamps, and water pitchers already set up. Everything is neat, cool, and professional. The fluorescent lighting and stern expressions of the support staff encourage a sombre attitude, but if anyone is looking up toward the podium they might catch at least one of the Rangers smiling as he peeks out from behind the curtains during the initial set up. He's wearing something like a wetsuit at the moment, though it won't be fully visible until he emerges for the demonstration.

Sharpen your pencils and have a seat, guys. You might even learn something.

Comments

Drivesuit demonstrations

[inurhead]

As the session begins, Yancy (and any other Rangers who volunteered) emerge in their circuitry suits, which look a lot like wetsuits but seem to have odd designs that appear to be circuitry sewn into the material. Those familiar with nerve systems may recognize the patterns.

They'll be undergoing the full suit up process to show the cadets what equipment they can expect to become familiar with when it comes time for their own Pons experiences. No actual bridging will take place this session, but feel free to ask about it anyway. All stages of the demonstration are open to cadet questions and concerns.

ooopen?

[suicidemission]

There's a reason Chuck volunteered and it's not to stand here in spandex on display for everyone else to stare at like some kind of goddamn zoo animal.

Course, the other volunteers are also in the skin tight circuitry suits, and that means he gets a great view of Yancy Becket's ass.

Plus, free food later, so. There's a plus here somewhere, just gotta find the silver linings.

[spareheir]

Yancy Becket seems entirely at ease in his own skimpy outfit, frankly. However, it isn't to him that Kou directs a question, raising his hand first as though they're in a classroom. It feels a little like a classroom, doesn't it?

"Do you feel the connections when the machine goes on, sir?"

'Goes on' being the closest approximation he can come up with quickly to the word he wants, which is more like 'activates' or 'engages.'

[suicidemission]

Chuck is incredibly distracted by that too, Jesus Yancy. His attention is pulled away though, and he blinks at the question at first because Yancy's ass wow but then comes back to reality.

"When the relay gel dispenses, that firse up the circuitry suit, yeah? It's sorta what connects everything. Dunno bout anyone else though - but I feel Striker once I'm in the Drift."

This thread is jackable, Cadets! Get in here.

[inurhead]

"We absolutely feel the connections of the circuitry suit." Yancy adds to Chuck's response, and spins around slowly to give the audience a good view of the connective fibers as he speaks. "It corresponds to points on our nervous system, to give us better control of the Jaegers. The relay gel Ranger Hansen just mentioned isn't dispensed until we're fully suited up."

He raises a hand and gestures in the direction of the curtain, which parts enough to allow what appears to be a pit team through. They're wearing uniforms emblazoned with Gipsy Danger's name, and lugging a few carts with a lot of machinery on them. As they join the Rangers on the platform, Yancy gives them another signal to hold up. The first piece of the battle armor (cuirass) hovers in the hands of the team member. Yancy turns so that his backside and shoulders are displayed to the Cadets, so they'll be able to see the armor as it's fitted to him. He glances back over his shoulder and explains the function.

"This is the battle armor. Piloting a Jaeger is tough on a human body. We need a protective boost to withstand it."

[righthemisphere]

"Not to mention the Conn-pod is right in the heart of everything." Raleigh pipes up from his position a few feet away, arms lightly crossed over his chest, an easy smile tugging at the side of his mouth.

"If a Jaeger gets knocked, so do you."

Yancy is just loving this, isn't he. Raleigh doesn't remember this being a part of the job description, but if it means getting him out of his daily duties he's happy to parade around in his suit and prowl over the buffet. Sure, he thinks, why not.

"And staying connected, being able to feel what's going on makes piloting that much easier. Like your Jaeger is just a huge extension of yourself."

Which, in many ways, it is.

[secondtry]

"So what's the overextension injury ratio in actual combat? Getting yanked around like that has to land you with some sprains." Mike asked, not really bothering to raise his hand. It seemed like questions were few and far between at the moment and, while Mike had already gone through all this, he did have a few things that he was curious about.

After all, he'd never actually gotten beyond single-person simulations and single sims didn't exactly have the whiplash factor that the big sims did.

[chosethewar]

The dark-haired young man had been mostly quiet the whole time but finally cut in with a curious question.

"How closely attuned are you with the Jaeger though? Does your brain interpret say pain sensations with injuries to your Jaeger? If it was to lose an arm would those sensations translate to the drivesuit as actual physical pain? Or do they have a failsafe to keep the pilots from being overwhelmed by the feedback from the Jaeger?"

[inurhead]

The rest of the cuirass was snapped into place, the breastplate, the shoulder pauldrons, and the squeal of compression torque fastened them into place.

"Good questions," Yancy responded, as he turned to face forward again. Pointing first to Decaf Guy... what was that Cadet's name again? Damn. Mike something. "The fact is, injuries happen. Every Shatterdome is equipped with medical facilities, including specialists. The sports medicine Officers at Anchorage could tell you some ugly stories. Hell, I could show you a few little battle scars. The idea is to try not to get hurt. Because-"

Now Yancy points to the other Cadet, one that he hasn't met yet. "The circuitry suit connects to our nerves for exactly that reason. We feel the blows the machine sustains. Ranger Becket touched on the subject of being jerked around in the Pod, but the real danger is leaving your Jaeger open to attack. Pilots have lost feeling in their arms for months over tough blows like that. The injuries don't have to be physical to be real. The nature of the Drift is a shared experience. Anything that hurts you, or your co-pilot, or the machine? Everybody feels it. So don't leave yourself vulnerable to attacks, alright?"

[suicidemission]

See, and Chuck is actually paying attention to this - sure he's been through drills and heard the same shit over and over and over again and heard it from pilots and ex-pilots, but this is coming from Raleigh and Yancy and he tends to place their opinions and experiences over a lot of other people.

Idols, and all that. Gotta love hero worship.

Regardless he's quiet and listening, not adding anything for the moment but just...absorbing.