text / audio | un: newt

[groupiedrifter]

Alright, let's not be total wallflowers at prom here, if we're going to be stuck together for the foreseeable future, I think it's only right that we (read: I) start getting to know all of my fellow space cadets. If we're ACTUALLY in space and this isn't some humongous simulation. You guys saw how easy it was for this place to manufacture a hyper-realistic simulation earlier, right? Yikes, big yikes.

But if we ARE in space and we're going to be traveling around, that's actually kind of AWESOME.

No offense to anyone who didn't want to actually be here of course, but you're nuts if you're not a LITTLE curious about the vast expanse of outer space. C'mon. OUTER SPACE! How incredible is that? And here I thought me coming face to face with aliens back home was INCREDIBLE, now we've got ACTUAL OUTER SPACE??? Pinch me I'm in a simulation. LOL.

Sorry I'm rambling, my name's Newt. Dr. Newton Geiszler, but but that sounds so much more boring and overcomplicated than 'Newt', so just stick with that. Worked as a xenobiologist on earth (is there multiple earths or what??? a lot of you are crazy unfamiliar with Kaiju, which is wild to me), helped giant robots fight aliens, the usual. Likes are rock music, playing instruments, tattoos, science and tech, dislikes are bossy pushovers who complain about those things.

Speaking of which, my really good pal from home's name is Hermann Gottlieb, and you should call him Herm to make him REALLY feel at home. :)

It's nice to meet you guys on the NEWTwork. ;P

... Actually—

[Suddenly, the text turns into audio, in which a higher voice with some focal fry bleeds in-]

—can I just abruptly switch to an audio function?

[A pause, and then an excitable:]

Holy shit, how awesome is that?! This is amazing; we've made some pretty monumental gains in technology back home, but we're still working on finessing the finer aspects of neuralogically connecting to networks like these for the general population. I'd love to take one of these apart sometime and see what makes them tick. Good to have an idea of what to expect, in case we need modifications or repairs done at any point.

Anyway. Uh. Hey!

... This whole voices-in-your-head thing can't be good for my train of thought, but geronimo, right?

[If anyone listens beyond that, they may catch the accidental thought-to-audio that follows:]

Wha — oh, dammit.

I sure hope this is the last nosebleed, because I would rather not worry about having accidental brain damage from drifting with aliens.

Comments

[groupiedrifter]

It can be, yeah. It's not like you see their every single waking moment or anything, but if you're trying too hard to conceal something, you'll mentally dredge it up for the other to see. Kind of like trying to lie on a lie detector, but you're getting worked up, so you suck at it?

It's why you have to be a perfect unit. If you can't synchronize, you can't drift.

[He hesitates, something twisting unpleasantly in his stomach. He looks at the spot on the handkerchief he'd just used, painted in drops of blood. Sometimes, he swears he can see the blue afterglow imprinted in his eyes; he can feel that terrifying rush of emotion, see himself cowering in fear from Otachi's long, illuminating tongue. I found you, Newton Geiszler. He swallows hard, and pushes back the strange, unpleasant thought of, drifting with a Kaiju is like riding a rollercoaster. He loves rollercoasters.

Stop, what? No, it was fucking scary, Newt. Get a grip.]

In a way, it makes a relationship you can't have any other way. A kind of — sharing of lives from a perspective no one else can see? But you know, it's probably healthier to have your own thoughts to yourself.

[coordination]

I'd say definitely rather than probably.

[ Yzak's thoughts are nobody else's business unless he decrees it! Still, considering that kind of setup, if one were looking for something so powerful that it needs two pilots, it could be worth it. There's really only one person Yzak can think of who could even possibly pair up with him, though - he didn't go out of his way to specifically ensure that Dearka joined his team as his adjutant for nothing. ​]

Ah—

[ That thought leads him to another, though. One less alien-invaded than what's going on in Newt's mind right now. ]

You said the human brain can't handle all of that on its own. It makes me wonder if that limit would apply to a Coordinator or not.

[ He says that, goes silent for a second, and then adds: ]

Coordinators are human. But genetically enhanced.

[ It's still pretty strange remember that, right, you have to explain this kind of thing to people, because odds are even if another world had something like him, they might not even share the same name. ]

[groupiedrifter]

... Genetically enhanced?

[Well, that's something his little science brain is gonna fixate on.]

What do you mean?

[He's picturing people with lizard eyes and mutated tails. Which is probably way off base, huh???]

[coordination]

[ Wow Newt excuse you you're talking to one. Even though this is through audio so honestly for all he knows Yzak could have lizard eyes and a mutated tail. ]

I mean genetically enhanced. You know, stronger and faster, able to learn things easier and at a quicker rate. We don't really get affected by most diseases, either.

[ "We" he says. And of course there are some exceptions to all of those things - he remembers how weird it was that a comrade of his caught some kind of cold once - weird enough that it was the ~talk~ amongst the cadets, anyway. ]

If you're asking about the process, I'm not a scientist so don't have those kinds of details. All first generation Coordinators were born with those genes due to said modifications happening within the earliest embryotic stages. Us second generations were born inheriting those genes without the need for that.

[groupiedrifter]

[There's only one purely scientific, logical response to this, Yzak, and he says it with conviction:]

So you're basically mini-Supermans.

[coordination]

[ Oh that comment is going right to Yzak's ego. ]

We are capable of a lot.

[ He doesn't even try to hide the pride in his voice there. Still, there's always this weirdness about it. In two wars started from the differences between Naturals and Coordinators, Yzak absolutely was one of those who went into things viewing himself and his people as superior, better, looking down with disdain at the Naturals. He's better about it now, but it's still a little difficult to navigate for him since he doesn't want to be total asshole, but also, Yzak is Yzak and he thinks he's hot shit and will always make this known. ]

1/2

[groupiedrifter]

[groupiedrifter]

... So if I need a pickle jar open, I should call you.

[coordination]

What.

[groupiedrifter]

You said you guys are extra strong, right?

Obviously, if a lid is stuck, you've got to be my go-to guy.

[coordination]

[ That deflates his little ego puff up easily enough. Jar opener? Really!? ]

I.

Guess so?

But who the hell hears that and thinks of opening a jar!?

[groupiedrifter]

Jars can be a real big pain in the ass to open!

[coordination]

... Really?

[ That is an actually serious question. ]

[groupiedrifter]

Uh, yeah, especially if you've got kaiju bits inside them.

One time, I accidentally got a bunch of toxic material on my shirt opening one of those jars and hand to stand naked under the emergency showers for like ten minutes.

[coordination]

That sounds like a needing to be more careful problem on top a jar opening problem.

[groupiedrifter]

Can you really be careful when you're opening a big-ass jar?

[coordination]

Yes!? Of course you can!

Especially if there are dangerous foreign substances in them!

[groupiedrifter]

Oh, c'mon, don't start sounding like Hermann. That's my nightmare.

[Have you met my buddy Herm????? You'd totally get along.]

[coordination]

What's so nightmarish about saying things that make sense?

[ He has not yet but now it is fated to be. This Hermann sounds pretty cool if he's this smart tbh!! ]

[groupiedrifter]

Because it's usually directed at me.

[Two Hermanns, his nightmare!]

[coordination]

There's usually a reason if it happens often!

[groupiedrifter]

Hiccups happen often, too, but it doesn't mean I have to like it!