SK: 2021

2021! 
==Meta==
===Timeline===
*Team BY's squire catches the flu
*Wash assigned BY's squire
* Lin Feng has an 'accident' ("Cosmic Accident")
* Xiong discovers she has useless monks (LOL)
* Xiong places an emergency request for Pietr
* Marshal @ Panama City tells Pietr he's replacing Feng
* Pietr lands in HK (15hr flight via private jet)
* Xiong pulls him to the office & says 'shit happened' ('shit' being Chao 'randomly' trying to kill himself and going on suicide watch. The OS overwrite clearly has something to do with it but the Lin brothers haven't a clue why (which is part of why Chao's so sick- he's overcome by a loss he didn't know he /had in the first place, plus that feeling goes distinctly against everything he was taught so he's feeling like a failure), nor do the HB or Typhoon teams)
*Home leave - Pietr's a touch more subdued than normal
*Anchorage - WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HYPOTHETICAL YOU CRAZY MARSHAL???
** When Xiong gets an urgent call from Lightcap at 2am HKT, she thinks to herself amid the flailing and yelling on-screen "I signed up for craziness in my own Shatterdome, thank you very much, not someone else's." O hey, that's probably part of the reason that inspires her to bring over Griet and the Voslings--"Your family time probably sucked now that I know your brain was funny. Since it's better now, have some more family time!" 
*Lightcap starts investigating
===Threat===
Xiong would warn him ahead of time as she doesn't know if Pietr'll copy Chao's neural architecture or run into a great, scarred-over wound full of broken glass. So she's like 'shit happened, I don't know what's in there and what's going to happen to you. Chao says it's mostly dealt with but...'
He's in counselling, keeps telling the psychologist "it's just the Ghost Drift". They're doing multiple patrols, I assume? Makes perfect sense.
Interest starts waning in Pokemon which Setsuko picks up on--she ends up having a number of bits and pieces but doesn't put them together.
Maybe he starts drinking less coffee, or not finishing it
I have naught but him in the rec room with his gameboy staring at the battle screen but not doing anything.
Griet picks up on something, as you suggest; his texts are shorter, he may be calling more but they're shorter too (congruent with thinking it's homesickness)
The psychologist is like, "he's got depression but it's probably the Ghost Drift". 
Griet and Lightcap are in regular contact because "tell me EVERYTHING about your Hypothetical family!"
That said, Lightcap's probably paranoid of her brain sliding into a downswing, hears the symptoms, and panics. She sends Chuck to Koffiefontein to drag Pietr back to Anchorage for treatment, and then gets on the phone to shriek at Xiong.
So it could be his home leave gets cut short, and probably part of the reason--or another reason--that inspires her to invite Griet and the Voslings and to bring them over--"Your family time probably sucked now that I know your brain was funny. Since it's better now, have some more family time!"
==Hong Kong==
===Peetah===
“Peetah!"
Pietr grins, scoops up Fei Yen and spins her around, 
She shrieks and hugs his neck. 
He blows a raspberry in her hair. 
Fei Yen giggles, swats at him. 
"Ranger Vos," greets Xiong. "Welcome to Hong Kong." 
Pietr nods, bows. 
Fei Yen giggles more. "Peetah are here, Haha. Peetah, I say'd I show Peetah Hong Kong in Seenee--does Peetah remember?" 
Pietr nods again. 
"Ranger Vos needs to check in," Xiong explains, 
Fei Yen deflates. 
===Greet===
“Welcome to Hong Kong, Ranger Vos.” Marshal Xiong bows deeply as Pietr steps from the helicopter’s ladder.
He bows in return, graceful despite his heavy duffel.
“I will assign you an interpreter for your stay, if you’d like.”
Pietr shakes his head ‘no need.’
Xiong grants him a small smile. “I’d heard as much from my colleagues. Your gear arrived earlier and, unless there’s movement in the Breach, we have no duties for you until oh-six-hundred tomorrow. Corporal Tseng will show you to your accommodations. Stow your belongings and report to my office.”
Pietr nods and follows the marine into the depths of the Shatterdome.
"Take a seat, Ranger." "Before you Drift with Ranger Lin, you should know there may be some risk to your mental health."
Pietr raises an eyebrow.
"Last winter, for no apparently reason, Ranger Lin became severely depressed and had to be placed on suicide watch. He, his brother, and the 'Dome psychologist have been unable to find the cause of his distress, and he continues to struggle with his mood." "I don't know what you'll find in his mind, but it may be unpleasant."
Pietr nods 'thanks'.
"Go back to your quarters and catch up on your sleep, Ranger. You're dismissed."
Pietr bows and wends his way back to his rooms.
p_a_vos : made it
JASMYNTEE : good
JASMYNTEE : now sleep
p_a_vos : yes sweetee
p_a_vos : call u tomorow?
JASMYNTEE : YES!
p_a_vos : luv u
JASMYNTEE : luv u more
p_a_vos : nope cant
JASMYNTEE : silly man
p_a_vos : yep yrs
JASMYNTEE : yep
In his temporary quarters, Pietr unpacks his handful of photographs and tucks the newest image of Anniek and Griet into the edge of the mirror.
He taps each of them on the nose and smiles.
Pietr’s smile slips as he replaces his phone in his pocket and yawns.
He connects his tablet to the ‘Dome network and checks the deployment schedule. /Shaolin Rogue is technically on deck until local midnight. He sighs, then frowns when he sees the old-fashioned movement alert on the wall. Audio only.
Pietr skims the personnel roster and grins at a familiar name. He memorizes the convoluted path and sets out.
===Ghost in the Shell===
Instead the three crowd a couch a watch Ghost in the Shell. The Lin’s force all new Rangers to do so to gauge their reactions to the concept, trying to see if anyone else had something wonky go down with their Jaeger. The trips geek out, but the Lins think they’re just being the triplets. The Kaidanovskys just look amused, but they always look amused. Herc and Chuck refuse. Pietr looks thoughtful and Chao suspects, fueled also by the uniqueness of Pietr’s mind. Surely if he can form a connection with any human mind, he would be able to hear a Jaeger’s, too.
The question becomes not have you heard any Jaeger, but was there anything different about Shaolin. Chao wants to make sure Shaolin’s not just hiding from him. When Pietr gives him a clearly honest ‘no.’ Chao fishes to see if Pietr’s heard any Jaeger. Pietr hems and haws until Chao admits he thinks he heard Shaolin talking, then admits he can hear Striker. And the reincarnation talk happens. Pietr points to Chao and raises a curious eyebrow. “Something quiet. Perhaps a flower.” Pietr points to himself. Chao gazes through Pietr for an uncomfortable time. “I think it will be a while before your next turn of the wheel. There’s a … fog.” -Good?- “Good’s relative. Things are.”
"You've seen a Jaeger's Ghost."
Pietr raises his eyebrows in question.
"Her soul."
Pietr studies Lin Chao's honest expression. He nods and executes a quick kata.
Chao nods. "Maybe we all hear our first."
Pietr shrugs.
"You still hear her."
Pietr nods. -You don't-
"One day, she was gone. I was heartbroken. Even Feng was shaken," he says with a sad tilt of his head. "We believe the soul is reborn in a new body. I have no doubt this soul will be reborn in another time and place. Perhaps her next story will be a happier one."
Pietr nods and crosses his fingers.
Chao smiles.
The two sit in the sun, quiet for a long while.
.
“A gift on parting,” Chao says quietly offering a small package with both hands.
Pietr bows and accepts it.
“Open it! Open it! Ow! Your elbows are sharp, brother!”
Pietr tears off the brown paper wrapping. He raises an eyebrow.
“/Ghost in the Shell. /Classic anime.”
“The story explores the possibility of software developing souls. Or of the human soul being transferred to software.”
Pietr nods and offers a small smile. ::Thank you.::
===Stars===
January 2021
Mĭn knocks twice on the door and nudged it open.
Pietr brightens instantly, skips over, pecks her cheek, and twirls happily away with his coffee.
"Sockette!" cries Doctor Lightcap and Pietr snatches the other coffee and suddenly Mĭn's being hugged okay hugging. Hugging a superior. Protocol says--
"Pietr," Doctor Lightcap continues, "This is Tang Mĭn, one of the few survivors of an unauthorized Drift. Tang Mĭn, Pietr, our Universally Compatible test Ranger."
Mĭn bows.
So does Pietr.
They whack heads.
Mĭn sees stars.
Pietr keeps his wrist to his nose and was very apologetic.
Mĭn bites the inside of her cheek, eyes watering, and made it very clear it's okay, it's her fault, are you alright?
Pietr checks his wrist, shows her with a smile.
No blood. They're cool.
"Remind me to get you the file, actually. Absolutely fascinating; Tang Mĭn's brain mistook herself for Crimson Typhoon and reacted accordingly." Doctor Lightcap started tugging at the back of Mĭn's shirt. "I seem to recall the lumbar scarring wasn't healing well... Aha!" She turned Mĭn around and happily presented the trio of white lines, not dissimilar to a [claw mark]. "Her brain actually overrode her nervous system!"
She continues detailing all the ways the brain-body relationship can go horribly wrong.
Pietr just gets steadily more horrified.
Mĭn wonders at what point it would be polite to leave.
===Seti===
Pietr wants coffee and gives his order via notebook February 19th, 2021.
"You are... deaf?" asks Setsuko.
Pietr nods.
"What's your name?"
-Pietr-
"In sign language."
Pietr makes a face.
"Names are tricky?"
Resigned.
"Hm." Setsuko mulls it over. Finally, "I am a girl?"
.::I am a girl.::
Setsuko grins. "Thought you were a guy."
Pietr rolls his eyes.
.::I am--:: "Setsuko. Uh, lemme write it down." She does. "Means 'melody'."
.::That's pretty::
"Pretty?"
Pietr nods.
.::I am pretty girl::
Pietr grins. ::You are correct.::
.::You are pretty::
He blushes and shows her his ring.
"How would you say that?"
.::Married.::
"Only kind of, though- 90 percent of sign language only roughly correlates to the spoken word?"
Pietr shrugs, 'C'est la vie'.
.::You are married. I am-::
.::Not married?::
.::You are married. I am not married.::
.::You are very good.::
Setsuko bows.
.::Would you like to learn greetings?::
.::I am learn greetings.::
.::Hello. How are you? I am well.::
.::Hello, pretty. You are well married. How are you?::
.::I am happily married.::
.::I am happy.::
.::I like coffee with breakfast.::
.::I not like coffee with breakfast.::
.::Do you drink tea with breakfast?::
.::I drink tea with breakfast. Do you drink with breakfast?::
.::Eat for breakfast?::
"So close," ET replies wryly. ::What do you eat for breakfast?::
.::Coffee.::
ET’s eyebrow says 'no, really'.
.::And toast. I put jam on toast.::
.::I like toast. I eat toast with tea with breakfast.::
.::At breakfast.:: Pietr glances at the clock.
"With whom are you working, and can I steal you away?"
Pietr smiles but shook his head. ::Brain doctor. I'm needed back in the lab soon.::
"Or Doctor Lightcap'll come looking?"
.::Yes.::
.::You needed coffee.::
.::Very, very black.::
"Swallowing the sun black?"
Pietr gives his best endearing smile.
"Shall I walk you back?"
.::I would like you to walk me back to the lab::
.::I would happy to walk back to the lab.::
.::You are amazing.::
"Thank you."
"Seti!" Min taps a travel mug.
Pietr bows.
"Thanks Min, later!"
===Naptime===
February 2021; Hong Kong, HK, China
Bright flash.
Squinch.
Triplet grinning.
Second triplet cooing.
Third triplet starry-eyed behind a mobile.
Taking pictures.
Open eyes.
Triplets jazz-handing, shoving each other, maybe whispering.
Frown.
Triplets freeze.
Assess.
Fei Yen's breathing's deep and even.
Still asleep.
Still tucked under the jacket.
Smile at triplets.
Close eyes.
Bright flash.
Sigh.
Go back to sleep.
===Fei Yen Again===
SNUGGLES!!! Tiny cute thing I can hug you and feel better! But it doesn't work and Pietr's too tired to feel worse. And hopefully Fei Yen gets that Shatterdome adults aren't fantastic at playing. She may be the first to point out something's wrong though. 
===Mate for Life===
See "Mate for Life"
“Ranger Vos! What brings you to Hong Kong?”
Pietr points to the line of Jaeger models of a nearby shelf.
“Ah, /Shaolin Rogue.” Hermann studies his hands. “What may I do for you, Ranger?””
-Rest here?- Pietr jots on a page of his notebook.
“Of course. There is a sofa amid the flotsam on the far side of the lab if you would like to lie down.”
-Thanks- Pietr offers a relieved smile. -Be my alarm?-
“Certainly. Pleasant dreams.”
Pietr nods and picks his way to the couch.
Hermann watches him curl up tightly on his side, head cushioned on his jacket. The mathematician shakes his head and turns back to work.
Nearly three peaceful hours pass before another man enters the workspace.
"Hermann? There's a strange guy sleeping on my couch."
"Please leave the Ranger alone, Newton. He needs undisturbed rest."
"/That's a /Ranger? Why are you hiding one of those jerks?"
"Because he asked politely."
"All he had to do was ask nicely?"
"You should try sometime."
"Whatever. Why didn't you stick him in your quarters? Nothing ever happens in there."
"He needs someone to wake him if the movement alert sounds."
"Dude, /no one can sleep through that."
"He can."
"What is he, deaf?"
"Yes."
[A beat. 
"You're] serious. There's a deaf Ranger sleeping on my couch."
Hermann rolls his eyes. "Didn't I just say that?"
"Ho-how does that even /work? Isn't that like sticking /you in a Jaeger?"
“I didn't realize you thought so highly of me ... “
“What? You'd be /worse than useless in a fight. How's /he supposed to manage?””
Hermann's jaw tightens; he growls, "The Ranger is partly responsible for your latest blemish."
"Hammerjaw? The deaf guy on my couch killed Hammerjaw?" Newt [blinks. “Wow.”
"Quite."]
“Wait a minute. Very funny, Hermann. /Edenwhatsitsname's pilots are girls.”
“/Women, Newton, one of whom was injured. /Eden Assassin could not be relieved so Ranger Vos stepped in temporarily.”
“I thought pilots mated for life.”
“That's normally the case. Ranger Vos is an exception.”
“He can mate with anyone?”
Hermann rolls his eyes. “He's universally Drift Compatible. You apparently haven't read Doctor Lightcap's report on him.”
Newt's expression changes, turning crafty. “Can you send me a copy of that paper?”
==Intervention==
===Cold Coffee===
March 2021, Koffiefontein, FS, South Africa
Chuck sneezes, nose tickled by the dust kicked up by the departing bus. She glances around. Yup, Koffiefontein's still small, still dusty, still poor, still more like home than any other place. She sighs, shoulders her duffel, heads across the highway.
Toward Pietr.
Chuck's reaching for the keys to his house (Not hers, no, but damned ....) except the door's already opening.
"Officer Darling," says Griet, lips thinned.
Chuck nods, swallows. Fights to keep her eyes away from the ground.
"You're here for Pietr."
Nods again. Takes a breath.
"Come in. Hopefully he'll be glad to see you," Griet says, steps aside, tilts her head.
Chuck's heart wiggles, drops as she steps through to the kitchen.
It's worse than Caitlin thought.
The man at the table barely looks like Pietr.
His shoulders slump, his eyes are dull, he barely waves when he catches sight of Chuck.
A tiny wisp of hope sparks to life at the cup of coffee—at least that's normal—but when Chuck touches the mug, it's cold. And there goes the hope.
She taps Pietr's hand until he looks at her. ::Hey. We're gonna get y' fixed, alright?::
.::Does Lightcap have a plan?::
.::She does.::
Pietr nods, sighs. 
Chuck swallows. ::How much do you like hockey?::
===Travelling===
Pietr's been out cold since the edge of town.
He insists on sleeping against Chuck's shoulder.
She's getting sick of the taste of fairy floss.
And there are two more hours of this before they get to the airport.
==Lightcap & Xiong==
===Xiong===
Xiong gets an urgent call from Lightcap at 2am HKT, she thinks to herself amid the flailing and yelling on-screen, "I signed up for craziness in my own Shatterdome, thank you very much, not someone else's." 
"What did you do to him?!"
"Ranger Lightcap?" Xiong shifts the phone farther from her ear.
"His neural pathways! Different! Like he's been depressed for /years!"
"Caitlin, are you talking about Ranger Vos?"
"/Yes! What did you do to him?! He was /fine when we sent him to you and now he's a clinically depressed /wreck!"
Xiong sighs. "I warned him this could happen."
"Lin Chao has been struggling with depression for several years now."
"And you hooked Vos up to him?"
"Yes. /Shaolin Rogue needed a co-pilot."
===Reparations===
Lightcap ends the call. 
Xiong rests her head against her hands and breathes deeply. 
Hong Kong is a madhouse. But it's fun. Childish. Silly. Ridiculous, exasperating, a break from the real world. No one ever gets hurt. No one was ever /supposed to get hurt. Nothing malicious, nothing irreparable. Just crazy, bizarre, and not out of place in a cartoon.
And yet. 
Xiong takes a deep breath. 
Hands on her desk. 
The phone is a challenge, not a setback.
Xiong did see that coming, and although she was hopeful, she's not surprised. 
The phone does not mock her. 
(It wouldn't dare.)
If anything, she's more annoyed with herself. 
"Marshal? I have Ranger Vos' parents' number, if you would like."
"Thank you, Nang."
 
I'm not sure whose private jet it is, but Xiong totally borrows one for the occasion. 
==Anchorage==
===The Letter===
A quiet knock.
Pietr peeks around the half-open door, waves sheepishly.
"Y' read it?"
Nods. Sits across from you.
===Anchorage 2.0===
::You're it.::
::Leave me alone.::
::Why?::
::Don't wanna talk to you.::
::Why not? I'm a nice guy.::
"That's the problem," she mumbles.
::What?::
"Nothin'."
A skeptical look. ::You're worried.:: He traces a furrow between his eyebrows.
Chuck snorts. ::Yeah. Okay. I'm worried about Drifting again.::
Both of Pietr's eyebrows rise. ::Something bad happen?::
"Yeeeeaaa ... "
::Does Caitlin know?::
"Noooo ... "
::Medical?::
"No."
::Should they?::
"No!"
Pietr chews his lip. ::Sure? We'll help you. Support you.::
"Would you just back off?!"
Pietr gestures 'calm down.' ::Only want to help.::
"Well, you're making it worse."
Pietr blinks, eyes snap wide. ::You have a crush on me. You're afraid I'll find out Drifting.::
Chuck gapes.
::No worries now, right?:: He grins.
"You absolute /bastard."
===Bonded===
“Pietr, please don’t think I’m crazy, but when you and Chuck--or any of your other co-pilots--are close together, can you talk to them mind-to-mind?”
-Will my answer make a difference on if I can go home someday?-
“No. It doesn’t go beyond you and I.”
-I can hear and speak to Chuck when we are in the same city.-
“Emotions, too?”
-Yes. The range of those is somewhat greater.-
“What about Striker or the other Jaegers you’ve jockeyed?”
Pietr chokes on a nervous sound. -Only Striker.-
“It’s okay. Sergio and Brawler and I have the same connection. I know part of what you’re going through.”
===Swingin' Party===
April 2021; Anchorage, AK, United States
"Right."
Pietr rolls his eyes. ::It's only patrol. Nothing will happen.::
"Lightcap'll still kill you if yer not in test-top shape tomorrow."
Pietr sighs. ::Which way to Russia again?::
Chuck glares. "Be serious."
Cory peers down at them. "Is that your pre-launch ritual?"
Chuck wrinkles her nose and double checks the back. 
"He can't talk." 
"Going down!"
Cory drops half a foot.
Still swinging.
.::What's she asking?::
Cory looks on with horrified fascination. "He-he can't talk?"
"Nope." Chuck tightens the screws on Pietr's chest armor. "He cannot talk." She mouths, 'Keep signing.'
.::I will sign nonsense.::
"How's he supposed to tell me what to do?"
"Just follow his lead."
.::Her eyes are half the size of her head.::
"But he can't talk!" 
"Audibly." 
.::And I'm worried they'll fall out.::
"You're kidding, right? She's kidding? Someone tell me she's kidding?" 
.::If she doesn't fall out of the harness first.::
"Getting a little nervous, eh, Cory?" jokes a tech.
"Harness still too high," mutters another. 
"That's kinda adorable," says Zeke. 
.::That's not really nonsense, though.::
"Adorable? Adorable?"
"Hold still, Cory."
"Sorry--"
"Like yer dancing."
.::Rubber duck spider shoes there's a drop bear wearing underwear ....::
"How's that even a thing?"
Chuck shrugs. "Works well enough playing golf in the sim with 'im."
See Good Ol'Hockey Game
==Hong Kong 2021 2.0==
===From Hong Kong with Love===
See "From Hong Kong with Love scraps"
===For When You're Here===
2021 June (SK, HK)
Setsuko plunks down on the couch beside Pietr and hands him a box. ::We have this thing in the cafeteria where we try to get each staff member their own mug. It's basically impossible, but the key word is 'try'. Anyway, didn't manage to pull that off when you were here last, but hopefully this makes up for it.::
.::Dare I ask?::
.::The circumstances of its acquisition are a bit sketchy, I'll admit, but it won't kill you. Shouldn't, anyway. Otherwise I owe my brother five hundred...:: She wrinkles her nose. ::Otherwise I'll owe him five bucks.::
.::I'm only worth five bucks?:: Pietr pouts.
.::Had to make it within reason,:: Setsuko explains. ::Otherwise he'd end up owing me everything.::
.::Thought your brother was doing the owing, not the seller.::
.::The seller would have hell to pay.:: She grins.
.::Nicely done.::
.::Thank you! Now hurry up and open it!::
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Category:SK: 2021
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