jaegeracademy | [ open ] Valparaíso, Jewel of the Pacific

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[ open ] Valparaíso, Jewel of the Pacific

Characters: OPEN to all!
Location: The city of Valparaíso, Chile.
Date/Time: The first weekend of March (1st & 2nd).
Summary: The first group of Cadets are finally released on the city of Valparaíso. With a curious city wanting to meet them, both Cadets and Staff of the Shatterdome itself will find plenty of people willing and curious to hear what it is they're up to - not to mention complain about the unapologetic ugliness of the Shatterdome.
Additional Notes: Cadets are expected to be in uniform and represent the PPDC at it's best. For more information and any questions, please refer to this post in the OOC community.

Valparaíso is a city with an old reputation, struck hard by the Panama Canal back at its completion, and struggling and rising to a place of cultural prominence since. Nowadays it remains an important sea port along the Chilean coast, though not as busy as San Antonio, and has helped foster artistic communities and a wealth of Chilean culture well worth recognition and appreciation on its own.

For such a beautiful city, the Shatterdome is both an honor and an eyesore. The Cadets from the new program are a subject of gossip and fascination, novelty selling them in the short term in ways that weren't sustainable over time.

For those who hadn't been able to spend time outside looking over the city, Valparaíso provided all kinds of sights and hidden gems, from murals on stairs to a hundred plus year old tram that runs the hillsides, museums paying homage to the 16th Century roots of the city, to statues and architectural structures and beaches galore. Free from the industrial efficiency of the Shatterdome for a short time, where will the Cadets and Staff find themselves today? The possibilities might not be endless in actuality, but they were a far cry more varied than the last two weeks had been!

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Hanji's volunteered to go along with the cadets, if only to keep a distant eye on them. So it's not a surprise when she finds one of them trying to strike up conversation with the locals in the Naval Museum's garden. She waits for them to finish and then approaches with a grin, "Enjoying your time in the city, cadet? How's your Spanish?"

She's trying to remember his name, but she can't quite place it yet.

To be fair on Hanji's side, Hilbert isn't the most active student in her lectures. Kaiju are definitely not his thing.

"Yes ma'am. It's actually pretty nice here, even if my Spanish isn't up to par. High school didn't prepare me for slang." Sure, the language classes help and he knows basics and all from the mandatory credit he had last year are great... But it's still a totally different experience. He returns her grin, though it's a little nervous. "I'm mostly unused to the popularity."

"Oh?" Her expression perks up and she slumps onto the bench next to him, arms splayed out over the backrest of the bench. She's long-limbed and she just tends to take up a lot of space, where ever she goes.

"Lots of friends at home?"

"I had a lot of people I was friendly with, yeah. You know, classmates and teachers and all. The people in the club I was in. Girls, I guess, even if I don't really care about that..." Hilbert sighs, slouching back with his hands behind his head. The kind of boy you'd come to if you need something, or someone to get something for you, but maybe not the kind you'd invite to parties. It wasn't even like his high school life'd even really started before he'd been able to join in too. But that doesn't bother him too much. He's in love with one thing, and that is Jaegers. "But nothing like this. They weren't kidding when they said that Rangers and all were like rockstars."

But as soon as it's out, he's quick to continue. "Not that I'm saying we cadets are or anything like that, since we're still in training and all, but... Yeah."

"It can be a bit overwhelming - but they're all people, just like you and me," Hanji smiles. Hearing and seeing all of the reactions from the cadets was interesting. Almost all of them had stars in their eyes and were just excited to be there, let alone be in the running for being a Ranger. She leans toward Hilbert slightly, as if she's confiding something.

"Well, you're our hope for the future. Remember that."

Hilbert straightens up a little when she leans in to speak, and after hesitating he nods.

"Yes ma'am, I know. It seems like a pretty heavy responsibility to have though, for those actually going out there." But he was under that too. Rangers are only one part of that hope!

"Just promise me one thing..." Hanji's voice drops slightly, as if she's imparting a secret of great importance, "...if you become a Ranger, bring me back a kaiju."

... Right. This was the teacher who was really, really into them. Of course she'd ask something like that. The cadet leans back into the bench, nodding slowly. "If I end up one, though honestly I'm... not really looking forward to that, I'll try. But getting back a kaiju alive is tough, isn't it?"

"Exceedingly. Ahhh, I probably shouldn't even be asking you. I don't know how we'd contain one, even if we captured it," Hanji replies, sounding a little disappointed at the idea. Despite the age gap and her nominal position of authority, she acts very casual.

"But if all we can ever get is dead tissue, I don't know how we're going to ever really understand them."

Her casualness is actually something that he's starting to like about her. Though he's pretty friendly with others, sometimes he finds it hard to feel comfortable around them, so her attitude is really relaxing for him. He can talk freely! Or he feels like he can, anyway.

"And it's not like we can really observe either, huh. Like we do animals and all." Hilbert pauses, thinking himself. "... Do you think they have baby kaiju? Or are they like, sci-fi made."

"I wish I knew!" Hanji sighs and leans forward, propping her elbows on her knees and cupping her chin in her hands as she stares wistfully across the garden.

"There's so much we don't know about them - they're probably natural-born, somehow. But we don't know why they're attacking us or how we fit into their ecosystem - if they have one. That's the problem with aliens..."

Hilbert finds himself mimicking her position too, though he's only using one hand instead of both. Kaiju seriously weren't his forte or anything, but listening to Hanji be so passionate and interested in it even outside the classroom kind of makes him want to learn more too. Machines were pretty easy to understand in comparison to living things like like kaiju... and people. That's partially why he ultimately preferred them. And the were super cool.

He feels his stomach twisting queasily, but at least his voice doesn't waver in his offer. "I promise I'll be your eyes if I become a Ranger, ma'am. It'll be useful to know too. I mean, we might find eggs or something in one of the Kaiju someday!"

"If they don't decompose like they usually do..." Hanji mumbles, half to herself, mind lost in thought for a moment. Then she seems to snap out of it and her attention is back on Hilbert, smile as sunny as ever.

"I appreciate that! Thanks," she laughs and reaches over to ruffle Hilbert's hair in a somewhat affectionate manner. Although it almost feels like it's more the kind of gesture someone would give to a favored pet.

"Yeah, no problem." Despite feeling more like a pet than a person, Hilbert enjoys the casualness over the nauseating thought of fighting a kaiju one day. Even though he was wanting to work outside rather than inside them... If he'd be better placed as a Ranger, chances are he'd do it. To help protect people and all.

But he does have a question. Kind of wishing he paid more than base attention in class. But he'll definitely do better in the future. "They like, rot really fast, right? Why?"

He'd better do better in class, because Hanji has the power of Pass/Fail over him. And she'll know if he's not studying enough. Not that it matters much right now, because someone is asking questions about kaiju and they really need to be answered. She flashes a wide grin, eyes flashing behind her glasses, "That's a good question! We're not entirely sure yet - we think it has something to do with their chemical and biological makeup and how it interacts with out atmosphere. We don't see anything like it on Earth - nothing decomposes that quickly unless there are certain outside factors acting on it."

She frowns in concentration, "Plus then they become toxic..."

He will! Promise! He's just used to skirting by in school, but that won't cut it here!

"It sounds like a weird defense thing, but I can't even think of what could hunt them..." If anything, assuming they weren't the hunters. Which it seemed they were. Hilbert might be a small time fan of monster movies, but even they didn't really compare.

"They seem more like apex predators. If something else does hunt them, I hope it doesn't follow them over..." Hanji laughs, but it's not exactly a joke so much as true.

The'd be awful, if something like that happened... Hilbert would laugh too, but. His lack of vocab knowledge. "What's an apex hunter?"

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[ open ] Valparaíso, Jewel of the Pacific

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