Chapter 3: Simulation
That night, I was wayyyy too excited to sleep. I was finally gonna try a simulation after so long (I thought it was a long time). Kai told me that I had to get my sleep, but as usual, of course, I didn't listen. Sometimes Kai tried to act like my father or something, trying to control me, for some weird reason.
The next day, I realised I overslept because Kai had to go and wake me up again.
"Sorry, sorry," I mumbled as I got out of bed. Breakfast was cool because Kai was bragging about how he and I were gonna try out the simulation today and probably get at least 10 Kaiju kills (I actually agreed with him on this one).
When the others heard me and Kai, they laughed, and Kai and I joined in after a few moments.
After breakfast, Kai and I headed to the simulation room, my heart pounding with excitement as I stepped in.
"Okay so later just follow my lead, and don't do anything too crazy," Kai said. Rolling my eyes, I reply,"I'll be able to see inside your head, bro. And besides, I think you'll be the one doing crazy shit." Kai smirked
"Maybe."
So after the briefing that Sensei Wu gave me and Kai about the controls, headset and everything, Sensei Wu gives me and Kai the headsets for the simulation and heads out of the room. Following Sensei's instructions, Kai and I stood on the platform in the middle of the room, and put our headsets on.
The world instantly changed, pixel by pixel, the real world fading into the simulation. I looked down at myself, I was in a jaeger pilot suit, and so was Kai.
"Drift sequence initiated."
The robotic voice annouced my second time going into the drift with Kai and our minds connected once again. This time I saw more of Kai's memories than mine, probably because I had almost forgotten about my old life. I saw Kai and Nya as kids, when a Kaiju attacked. It looked like they were running away, but I could not see it very clearly. I saw one of my memories though.
The one where I ran away from home.
And just as fast as it started, the drift sequence stabilized and I found myself in the head of Striker Phoenix (I recognized it). I was slightly in a daze from the neural load, but quickly recovered.
I heard rain pounding outside of the room. Was it from the simulation?
"Just to remind you Em, we don't need to worry about causing damage, most people would be hiding in an underground bunker by now," Kai said.
Outside the Jaeger was Ninjago City, and a Kaiju waiting to pounce. It charged straight ahead at us, and we had to raise our arms to block the incoming monster. I felt the impact and stumbled backwards slightly, receiving a glare from Kai. I silently cursed at him as the Kaiju continued pushing against the Jaeger, bringing it to the outskirts of the city. There was only a few steps towards the ocean now.
Before the Kaiju could skirt to the side to get ready for another attack, Kai and I landed a hit on the Kaiju's head. It fought back, claws tearing into the Jaeger's arm, pushing it into the water.
I didn't know that when piloting a Jaeger, any damage caused to it would be transmitted to me. I felt the Kaiju digging into my arm, Kai felt it too, grimacing as he looked at me.
"Ya good?"
I didn't reply, my attention focused on the Kaiju pinning the Jaeger down in the water. Water started rushing into the helmet when the Kaiju broke through the glass, and I felt Kai's panic in the drift, he didn't know what to do. We were holding our breath, Kai panicking, me activating the plasma gun and shot that son of a bitch.
"Stand up!" I thought, hoping that Kai could get my message. Kai looked at me and nodded, and with the last of our energy, we let the Jaeger stand up. The water started flowing out of the helmet and Kai and I were gasping for air.
"Is it dead?" Kai gasped, still trying to catch his breath. Even though this was a simulation, it felt so real, my heart racing at the thought of drowning in the Jaeger's head.
I felt movement in the water. Waves rushing against the Jaeger's leg.
It was alive.
The Kaiju rose from out of the water, ready to fight once again. I saw Kai's thoughts, there was a fishing boat nearby, full of people. I nodded at him, and Kai activated the plasma gun on his side of the Jaeger while I moved the fishing boat out of the way, setting it down gently further away from the fight.
And then suddenly, the Kaiju crushed the Jaeger head, me and Kai along with it.
I was breathing heavily, sweating, thinking I was dead, until the image faded back into the simulation room. I stared at Kai; he stared at me back in silence.
The silence was maintained when Sensei Wu came into the simulation room, a disappointed look painted on his face.
"You saw it?"I asked. Sensei Wu nodded.
"Your mission as Jaeger pilots is to kill Kaiju and save people. In the simulation, there was a boat full of people. You will not risk the lives of millions in Ninjago City, for only a few men. Understand?"
"But Sensei-" I protested, but I was cut off by Kai.
"With all due respect Sensei, it was not Ember's idea to move the fishing boat, it was mine."
I gave Kai a small nudge with my elbow, glaring at him and sending the message of "Bro, it was our fault, not just yours".
"It seems like you both aren't ready to face a Kaiju," Sensei Wu said as he moved to walk out of the room. Before he left though, he turned around.
"Yet."
Kai and I grinned at each other and we went to meet up with the others for lunch.
During lunch, Kai and I told the others whatever happened in the simulation, besides the "getting crushed inside the head of a Jaeger" part.
"Em's a pretty good pilot now, better than I expected," Kai said. I folded my arms and smirked.
"I'm quite sure you expected me to be the 'best pilot in the world', seeing I did so well." Kai chuckled and playfully hit me on the shoulder.
"What did you guys see in the drift?" Cole asked. I avoided Kai's gaze, hoping he didn't see the memory of me running away from home.
"I saw a lot of my own memories, and some of Em's," Kai said simply, and said nothing more about it.
After lunch, as I was heading towards the training area to spar with the others, Kai pulled me into a corridor, hidden from sight from the others.
"OI! What do you want?" I snatched my arm away from him.
"During the drift, I saw into your memories," Kai said.
"And?"
"I saw you...running away from your home, your parents, your family."
"So?"
Kai sighed. "You saw my memories, didn't you?" I nodded. "My parents were killed in a Kaiju attack when I was 5. Nya and I were left to fend for ourselves, until Sensei Wu found us."
"The first Kaiju attack," I whispered. "I was burned by the Kaiju's blood when it was taken down," I raised my voice to its normal volume.
"I lost my parents in that attack, I thought they were invincible, that they would always be there, but I was wrong." I saw the hurt on Kai's face, deep beneath the layers that he built over it. "Don't take your family for granted Em. You never know when you might lose them."
I rolled my eyes, heading out of the corridor and into the training area.
I felt a little bit of pity for Kai, the dude's gone through so much. I shook it off quickly. He didn't have to act like my parents, trying to control me all the time.
And yet, somewhere in my heart, I felt the longing to go back to my family.