Chapter Text
The rain poured down Hermann Gottlieb’s neck, soaking into the layers of long underwear and saturating the inside of his shoes. The sea rose black and heavy, breathing like it was in labor and he could not take his eyes from it. He stood painfully rigid as water tumbled over the cement embankment and ran up hungrily trying to touch his feet. His hand squeezed the top of his cane until the knuckles turned white and his fingertips began to lose sensation. A spray of fine water drops whipped up with a strong wind and went scattering shrapnel- like into his eyes.
“Dr. Gottlieb?”
He didn’t turn…afraid to look away from the ocean. A hand went on his shoulder and he jerked around, pulling back violently, eyes very wide.
“MMmm… yes. Please… I would prefer hands kept to oneself. “
The man just examined his face and returned his hand in his coat pocket.
“I’m Staff Sergeant Joyce. You spoke with me on the phone? Are you alright?”
The officer offered Hermann an umbrella, half broken by the wind, and he looked at it with some confusion before finally taking it with a gloved hand. Water ran in rivulets down the sergeant’s cap, soaking into his coat and obscuring his features.
“Err, yes... The phone. I had expected to be met here by Geiszler. It was his letter that directed me to speak with you. I had been lead to believe he was in difficulties. “
The sergeant gestured to the massive ship docked closest to them. Lines of black figures loaded boxes into its darkened hull and the howling wind rocked the ship, causing it to strain its tethers.
“He’s aboard already, he was just landside to approve some samples he received from Hong Kong. Most of them are loaded as well. He told me to come greet you. He seemed sure you would be here. I had doubts myself. If I was you, I would have stayed where there’s sun. “
Gottlieb looked out again at the ocean and began to feel bile rise up in his throat. If he had any vomit left in him at all he would have been shocked. He had been leaving stomach contents in every available toilet since leaving Munich.
“You’re a smarter man than I. “
“If you’re really coming I’ll be your keeper until we make it to Fortress One. You’re not officially a government man anymore and until you fill out the appropriate nondisclosures and forms, you’re going to be considered a civilian. The pay will be good, but the food will be terrible and you’re never going to feel warm enough. “
The sergeant started to walk towards the ship, taking long strides to the boarding dock, not bothering to wait as Hermann limped a few paces behind him, taking his time and staying as far from the water as possible.
“And Dr. Geiszler? I’d really prefer to hear what I’ll be doing straight from him. “
He tripped on a line of heavy rope snaking from the side of the ship and righted himself painfully to find Joyce looking out across the angry ocean.. He followed the man’s gaze and they both watched as a colossal chunk of the unfinished British Columbia Wall Line fell into the water with a massive splash. There was a groan and a rending noise as the concrete shell collapsed, revealing the metal bones underneath. The skyscraper size of it looked so out of place here it was almost comical.
“I’m glad they never finished that thing Gottlieb. It’s a fucking eyesore. I wish the government would put as much money into taking them down as it did putting them up. They cause nothing but problems. “
Hermann swallowed hard and clutched tightly to the top of his cane.
“It was a necessary evil sergeant. And thankfully now it is over and the walls can be removed... Or fall in their own time.”
“As much as I wish that were true Doctor… I’m not sure it’s wise to take them down yet. And after speaking with Geiszler… well, it’s good you’re here. You left your things at the port authority building correct? I’ll make sure they’re loaded… Here, this is for you. “
He offered the doctor a laminated ID badge with his own dour face on it, glistening wet in the downpour.
“The boat is called the Ontario. It used to be an oil tanker but it belongs to the Pan Pacific now and they’ve repurposed it. There are more research crews on board, a few Rangers and some miscellaneous staff all coming back from R&R in Vancouver. Just show your pass to the man on duty there on the walkway. You’ll have your own room and I’m sure someone will be able to tell you where Geiszler is. I’ll get your belongings sent to your cabin after they’ve been through security.”
He hesitated and reached out slowly to take his battered umbrella back from Gottlieb, examining his pale face for something, debating internally before he continued speaking. Up until then he had shouted to be heard over the weather, but now he leaned close and spoke in a softer voice, barely audible over the storm.
“On the ship…. at Fortress… Geiszler has accumulated a few… unpleasant nicknames. If you do not like people using them when talking to you, say something. However… it could set you apart from the rest of the staff. “
Hermann regarded him suspiciously.
“I’m sorry… nicknames?”
Sergeant Joyce shook his head and took a step back.
“I shouldn’t say anything, but it’s only fair to give you warning. You are going to be part of the team after all. Geiszler doesn’t get on well with some of the staff or the higher ups. There have been incidents with…”
He faltered, then dropped the subject, raising his voice again.
“I’ll see you on board, I have to go make sure everything that needs to go on board is going on board… not just you. Glad to have you Doctor.”
Gottlieb watched him until his silhouette had disappeared into the mist and spray. He turned slowly, hypnotized again by the heaving water. The idea of getting on a boat and being closer to it felt like madness. He hesitated near the boarding ramp, watching the antlike march of supplies. A helicopter blazed overhead and caught the side of the boat in its search lights for just an instant. It was long enough for Hermann to see that someone had crossed out everything after the O in Ontario and sprayed painted “Outcast” instead. It did nothing to comfort him.
“Oh! You’re looking for the Re-animator? I think he’s down in one of the store rooms. He has a makeshift lab down there. If he gets more than a deck away from his Kaiju bits he starts to freak. ”
Gottlieb frowned and narrowed his eyes at the younger woman, directing as much animosity at her as he possibly could. She just smiled back and took a bite of the apple she had been holding.
“And…. you are?”
She wiped a hand on her dark grey jumpsuit and held it out to him. All the staff he had seen so far wore similar outfits in different colors. It brought uncomfortable memories of the Hong Kong Shatterdome to the surface. He stared at the offered hand, still covered with sticky bits of apple, but made no attempt to reach for it.
“I repeat… Your name?”
She pulled her hand back and her smile faltered a bit.
“Sonia Whateley, former member of the Canadian Coast guard. I was assigned to train as a Ranger at Fortress in the new Jaeger program. I know exactly who you are! I mean everybody does. Especially around here, we knew about you even before the information was declassified.”
“Wait… new Jaeger program? Stop. Just slow down. I’m afraid I’m not up to speed with what is going on. I’ve just come aboard and I’m looking for Geiszler. “
She continued on like she hadn’t heard him, waving one freckled hand out in front of her as she spoke. Everything she said seemed to be accompanied by a gesture. He stood rigid in the rusty metal hallway, dripping water and scowling.
“Yeah! The new program is more about rebuilding and policing than fighting monsters. You’ll see. My brother and I have been training with the Siren Carpathia. It’s one of the new peacekeeping units in the UN Jaeger fleet.”
“Miss Whateley. I’ll find out all about the program I am sure. But I’m very wet and painfully tired. All I want is to speak to Dr. Geiszler and find my cabin. If you cannot help me with either of these I have nothing more to say to you. Also, in future I would prefer you to call my… colleague by his name.”
She looked at him, squinting up one eye and her nose as she did so trying to figure him out. She blew a few strands of copper hair from her face and took a very slow bite of apple, chewing it with large, deliberate smacking noises.
“You’re a much bigger jerk than I thought you would be… Oh I figured you might be a jerk. You have the look of a jerk mind you, but you’re a MUCH bigger jerk than I had originally thought... Come on then. I’ll show you to the meat locker.”
The meat locker, as he found out, was a refrigerated storage room at the foremost part of the enormous tanker. Whateley stopped a few steps from the heavy door and shivered.
“I’m not going in there. The re-an… Newt. Newt’s works gives me the creeps. I checked your cabin number and you’re bunking in the cabin next to his so just have him show you where to go.”
There was the sound of music muted behind the rusting metal door and Gottlieb felt a creeping sense of relief pulse through him. The damp in his clothes was turning to ice and his breath rose up in puffs of steam.
“Thank you officer Whateley, I apologize for being so short before. It has been a long day.”
She was quick to smile and she slapped him on the back, sending him sprawling a step.
“Ah... Don’t worry about it. Jerks can’t help being jerks. I’ll see you around the mess. Don’t spend too much time down here in creepsville.”
He watched her walk down the dimly lit hall until she was out of sight and stood considering the door, reaching out a hand towards it. He rested long fingers on the handle without opening it, eyes closed taking deep breaths. He listened to the music… the loud continuous clank and hum of the ships engines. There was a third noise; he couldn’t quite place it, despite how familiar it was. The door opened with a gentle push and the meat locker stretched out in front of him. It was easily the size of a football field lit only with a few pools of dim, smoky yellow lamplight, and the glow of Kaiju sample containers. The source of the mystery noise was immediately obvious and he gagged a bit when he first caught sight of it. In a glass tube that stood at least a story high from floor to ceiling, and spanned the length of the enormous room, floated an intact Kaiju heart… and it was beating.
He stared at it, mouth open, taking a slow step from the door onto a small metal staircase. The stairs went down to the main floor of the meat locker which, apart from the area set aside for Geiszler’s samples, was full to brimming with boxes full of supplies and larger, more daunting objects covered in tarps he suspected to be Jaeger parts. The icy stairs took a moment to navigate with his cane and he clung to the guardrail, eyes still on the heart the size of a tank. Walking through the dirty pools of light, Gottlieb felt the first touch of seasickness as the floor swayed beneath his feet.
“Geiszler? … Ne... Newton? Are you here?”
The music pounded now but no matter how hard they tried, Metallica could not play loud enough to drown out the monstrous pulse. He pulled off his wet gloves and shrugged out of his heavy coat, laying it over a chair. He hoped getting out of the wet thing would help the chill. It had been a mistake. He was soaked through and the air in the meat locker gnawed at his skin, the puffs of air rising thick from his nose.
“Newton? I was lead to believe you would be here… please say something”
He couldn’t stop himself, he was inches from the heart’s tank now. In its glowing blue surface he could see his own ghostly reflection. His face gaunt and skull-like.
It reminded him of a turtle’s heart, thickset and revolting. But he noted it had four chambers… just like a humans. He could see the valves opening and closing and had a brief image of being beheaded by one flash through his mind. Gradually, as he stared at it, his focus turned inward, blocking out the movement of the ship and the blare of the stereo speakers until all was silence. He lifted his hand up slowly and rested it on the glass, cane dropping from his nerveless grasp as he went to his knees.
The Hong Kong Street was completely dark, save for one illuminated sign. The sign was blood red, rain-soaked and had on it the silhouette a knife-head Kaiju printed in bold black stencil. An arrow on the sign pointing him down past some buildings made of gnarled bones. Hermann didn’t question any of this at first. He just walked through it, casting a few glances back at the empty fruit vendor stalls and darkened windows. He came to another sign, this one read: “Kaiju Shelter” and under it the same phrase in Chinese, Japanese and French. He kept walking, the silence unnerving, the lack of people confusing. A third sign, this one read: “Newton Geiszler.” And under it was an arrow along with a black stencil graphic of thick, horn rimmed glasses.
“Oh, well. That’s very helpful, thank you. I guess this proves that I am indeed dreaming. But at least I know it is a dream. “
Hermann patted the sign and went in the direction the arrow was pointing him. The buildings seemed to get bigger and more twisted and he stopped when the street ended. In front of him, held in the teeth of an enormous Kaiju skull, was a door. He tapped it with his cane, examining it. A sign over the top warned: “Newton Geiszler -Entry admitted but not encouraged.” The corner of his mouth twitched slightly and he nodded to it, stepping closer.
“Well put. But I’m afraid I’ll have to be going through. It is why I came after all. “
The Kaiju opened its bleached jaw a little wider, and as the doctor watched, the door turned into one of his chalkboards. Numbers formed on it faster than he could follow. Tape spread up the middle of the door in a bright yellow line and then split wide open. Bathed in a wave of sudden blinding sunlight, Gottlieb put a hand up to shield his eyes.
He heard the children before he saw them. The scene before him unfolded picturesque and peaceful. That surprised him more than the grimy Hong Kong Street he had just come from.
A house sat near the edge of a still lake and the air was full of summer smells. Balloons in bright primary colors sat tied to a mailbox at the end of the driveway, swaying placidly in the cool breeze. The doctor lurched forward, curious, moving carefully up the drive towards the white house and the unfamiliar sounds of children laughing. A gang of six year olds ran through a lawn sprinkler and splashed in a kiddie pool set out on the well manicured back lawn. A banner looked over the entire proceedings and announced “Happy Birthday Newt!” Gottlieb watched in his dark, somber clothes and felt very tall and very out of place. Like a Jaeger surrounded by tiny electric cars. He looked for Geiszler… but something inside told him he wasn’t going to find him here.
He walked around the backyard away from the happy kids and spied a large side deck facing the lake. A glass sliding door stood open under a low wood awning, a living room and a flickering TV inside. Newt, newly six years old, sat in a wet bathing suit and towel, watching raptly as Godzilla destroyed Tokyo on the flat screen. He dripped water onto the sofa and stuffed cake into his mouth, not once tearing his eyes away from the scene of black and white carnage. Gottlieb slipped in quietly and watched him. Had he chased the rabbit somehow? How? They had not been drifting. It was true that he still dreamed of Geiszler’s memories … but nothing this clear or precise. Newt spoke but didn’t look away from the TV. The little boy was speaking in perfect German.
“<You can sit and watch with me, I don’t care.>”
Hermann took a sharp breath but said nothing.
“<I don’t think that part of the sofa's wet. >“
There was such a plaintive sadness in this that he found himself gingerly sitting down next to the little boy on the soggy sofa. He watched the movie a moment. It was the American version. He wasn’t as familiar with it as the Japanese. The one he had seen growing up.
“<It’s a… lovely party out there. Why…>”
Newt sucked at the cake frosting stuck to his fork and bowed his head a bit. His slight shoulders hunched defensively.
“<I didn’t want this party anyway. I don’t like them. Mom wanted it… I told her ok because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.>”
Gottlieb spoke gently, afraid he would say something wrong. He was never good with children… well... people in general really.
“<Well that was a very kind thing of you to do.>”
They were both silent again, Newt’s attention back on Godzilla. Hermann looked around the room. The sunny yellow walls, the vases full of flowers. A large piano occupied part of the space and a redwood cello leaned against it, waiting to be played. It looked like a good place to live in. The only thing that looked out of place was the skinny pale kid in the green swim trunks. But then, some things are out of place no matter where they are. He reached for his cane, debating if he should go and look for a way out or… A tiny hand grabbed his sleeve and huge green eyes were looking up into his. Around the left iris a ring of broken blood vessels flared, painful and red.
“<Don’t go. Please? I’ll get you a piece of cake ok?>”
“<I don’t know Newton. I should really be going…>”
“<He’s going to have some cake.>”
He pointed, and when Hermann followed to where he gestured, he let out a soft scream. A Kaiju… at least a category three, was looking through the porch door. It opened its mouths one after the other and roared, shaking the TV from the wall and plaster from the ceiling. A spray of acid blew from its lips and seared the sofa creating holes in the polished wooden floor. The cello fell to the ground with a clang and one of the flower vases exploded into shards of porcelain and water. Two rows of blue eyes searched for them and its tendriled tongue came snaking inside past the sofa and curled around a coffee table. It resembled a bioluminescent jellyfish, unfolding to take them both in. Newton ran towards it, shouting back excitedly.
“<It’s not going to hurt us! Come with me! Come with me into the breach!>”
“<NO! Newton stop!>”
Gottlieb staggered forward, trying to grab the little boy as he ran towards the open mouth filled with rows of razor teeth. Outside the lake house window he could see a world made of pink gelatinous mountains. Vehicles of a black obsidian and smooth blue metal floated in the ice pink sky. Monsters were giving birth and screaming as they did so, the sounds of the wind and the ocean rose like liquid agony in his brain.
“ He’s coming around. “
Hermann felt his body violently shaking around him, his teeth chattering and his heart thrashing painful and arrhythmic in his chest. Someone pulled back a pair of defibrillator panels and set them down slowly as if disappointed.
“Didn’t even get to shock em...”
“Well that’s a good thing! Give him room!”
He tried to focus on something… anything or anyone he knew but they were all strangers. He choked… his tongue felt swollen. He had never been so cold in his entire life. When the next words came out of his mouth, he didn’t even realize they were German.
“<co-c..co..cold… h-help>
A woman’s face hovered close, and for a brief moment he thought it was Vanessa. But no. this woman was much older. Her skin was too light.
“It’s gonna be ok sweetheart… we're gonna get you outta here and someplace warm, comprende?
His brain fired off synapses that didn’t even make sense. He had to swim deeper to find the delicious squid where it was hiding... or… he had to go teach a class on bio-mechanics or… he had to throw up… or he had to do all three.
“Well don’t just stand there like idiots! Apurarse! Hurry up!”
He choked, unable to speak again as hands lifted him up. His clothes stuck to the icy ground and crackled stiffly when he was folded into the arms of a man much bigger than he was.
Near his ear two women were arguing in Spanish. How long had he been passed out in the meat locker? His brain started to merge into one thought process again and he realized unhappily how stupid this must look.
“I don’t know Cariño… there are some heat packs in the infirmary I’m sure. Just go find them!”
“Alright mama! I’m going! I’m going! “
Hermann felt his head loll and he stared up at the ship lights as they passed, they were all that same nauseating florescent yellow.
“<Geiszler… where is->”
The older woman was back in his line of sight and she was squeezing his arm warmly.
“My daughter Neta went to get something from the meat locker and found you unconscious in front of the Kraken tank. You must have overexerted yourself. Going down into the refrigerator with wet clothes ah… bad as a child. “
The man carrying Gottlieb grunted as they walked up the stairs to the cabins and she smiled at him.
“It’s not far. His ID badge says his room is near the Rangers. Right next to Newton’s. My name is Nita Melero and this is Harry Archer. You are Hermann Gottlieb yes... Oh... Oh no you don’t have to say anything cariño. I knew you would be coming aboard. Newton told me at breakfast. “
He gagged again, spit building at the corners of his mouth. He couldn’t talk now for how hard his teeth were clicking. The cabin was so cramped that when they finally reached it, Nita had to wait in the hallway a moment so Harry could lay Gottlieb out on the bed. She squeezed past the bear of a man and patted his shoulder.
“Thank you Harry. Be my helper and go find some hot tea eh? And if you see my lazy daughter, tell her to hurry up with the heat packs. “
Harry grunted again saying something half heard under his breath and lumbered quickly away. Nita scrambled, searching the tiny closet and under the bed for blankets. She sat and attempted to untie Gottlieb’s icy shoelaces, pulling off his shoes and socks. She yanked at his sweater vest and his slacks, muttering to herself in Spanish as she did so. He felt like a five year old but was far too cold and miserable to argue. She wrapped the blankets around him and took one of his pale hands rubbing life back into it.
“That was very close. You could have died down there. Newton is usually asleep in the evenings and it could have been many hours before anyone found you… you scientists. I always have to watch you now eh?”
He sighed and finally gave her a weak half smile as the shivering spasms rocked him, sending pain up his bad leg. He really was going to kill Geiszler this time. No more putting it off.
Neta, who in every way looked like a younger clone of her mother, appeared in the doorway, arms full of heat packs with Defense Corp insignias plastered all over them.
“It took you long enough! He could have died a Popsicle and you would have been taking your time smelling the flowers!”
“Come on mama! I was going as fast as I could!” She snapped a few of the packs and handed them to Nita, who slipped them into Gottlieb’s armpits and around his legs. He started to relax a bit as he listened to them argue. The shivering eased and the rolling of the ship suddenly felt more soothing than sickening.
“Aw... buen chico, you sleep then. I’ll come back soon to check on you. I’ll tell Newton you were looking for him yes? “
She stroked his cheek with a warm hand and he wanted to tell her she was acting ridiculous, he was a 37 year old man. But he was asleep before the first words were out of his mouth.
The ocean was big like he was. The ocean was deep and had many good places to hide. The water held him up and made him feel light. The land made him heavy and it was hard to breathe there, but the water was good and deep and cold. He found a school of fish and opened his mouth, sucking them in like krill. He was never full, always hungry, always searching. He made a loud pinging noise and waited for answers from others. Sometimes he would hear them, sometimes not. There were not many of them and they were always in his mind but he still liked to know they were there. He surfaced a moment and saw a ship on the horizon. It was small but he did not want it to see him. He went down deeper … deeper and deeper where there was no light but his own. The blue of him illuminating the deep cracks in the earth where he liked to sleep. He pinged again. There was no reply. There were no others here. Just in his head always. But he would find them. They would be there. There were others and there would be more like them. Lots more.
Gottlieb woke slowly and felt like he was coming out of a bad hangover. His body was stiff and his leg was screaming. He shifted his weight and tried to move onto his side. It sometimes helped. It took a moment to remember where he was. The dreamlike images of endless black water still clung to his brain. But they were already disappearing. He pulled the blankets closer and burrowed into the warmth, ready to float back to sleep.
“Good Morning… Well... Good afternoon I guess.”
Gottlieb looked up, surprised. Newton Geiszler was sitting across from the bed in a chair that folded out from that wall along with a thin metal desk. Most of him was obscured in shadow. A foul-smelling space heater chugged at his feet and the only light came from a single miserable light bulb strung above their heads. The light swung in slow circles as the boat rolled and swayed. The ocean had been choppy and unpleasant since they had cast off.
The man had Hermann’s cane and was fiddling with the top of it, holding it up where it caught the light. The cane handle was made of carved bone and shone in places where Gottlieb had rubbed at it repeatedly, almost ritualistically with his thumb. The carving was not friendly; it had a large mouth full of exaggerated teeth and rows of small cruel eyes.
“This is great. It looks just like Slattern. Is this real Kaiju bone? “
“Why didn’t you meet me! Why didn’t you come see me right away? You’re the reason I’m here in the first place. Your letter…”
“I… I should have. I’m sorry. How the hell was I supposed to know you would have an episode your first hour on the ship?”
The Doctor dropped his hurting head back down on his pillow and when he spoke, his voice was husky and strained.
“Geiszler… why am I here. One of the people I met mentioned a new Jaeger program… and the sergeant was very cryptic… about the Kaiju not being gone. I’m confused. You said in your letter you needed my help. You claimed you had something that only I could help you with. Well. I’m here now…. explain it to me.”
Newton took a very deep breath and was quiet for a long time, gathering his thoughts.
“Well… it started with the whales. They’re all gone.”
“You have called me here… to the far corner of the world. To the coldest reaches of civilization… because a few whales are nowhere to be found?
“No… they’re missing because they’ve been eaten. If you were something as big as a Kaiju… even a category 2., you need something to eat that’s at least a mouthful. Whales have no natural defense besides size… why would they need it? Up until the past decade or so they were the biggest motherfuckers in the ocean. They were the apex water mammals. And they aren’t the only things missing. Huge schools of fish along the Pacific Rim and now in the Atlantic… just gone. It’s like the ocean is emptying out. The Kaiju are coming back Hermann. They’re coming back but they aren’t attacking us. We need to know why.”
“Stop… just stop. This is foolish even for you… all this about whales is just you creating more wild theories out of half-baked speculation. Even if the whales were really gone they could have been eaten by the previous Kaiju… this program you’ve involved me in. What is this about really? I feel as If I’ve been shanghaied.”
Newt shifted in the dark, his face hidden except for the glint of reflection off his glasses.
“You haven’t signed any paper-work, you can leave anytime you want. You’ve been declassified for what... a year? And what have you done since then man? “
“... I’ve been published... my book about Breach theory and of course teaching in Munich.”
Newton snorted at that, spinning the cane between the palms of his hands.
“Are you really going to waste away, teaching rich frat brat’s string theory Gottlieb? I did it for six years and I don’t recommend it.”
“Tenure is a comfortable idea to me. I’ve done my service to the world don’t you think? You know what I think Geiszler? You WANT the Kaiju to come back. I see right through you and your… tattoos and your... adrenal addictions. You miss them! You miss the thrill.”
He curled his lip in a sneer.
“You miss the monsters.”
The light flickered... The heater let out a burp of gasoline scented hot air.
“Well what’s your excuse? You didn’t have to come when I called. You just showed up in a Canadian shipyard with a suitcase. All you really had to show for this past year was a divorce you never talked about in our letters and what I’m sure is a really shitty little apartment where you make yourself some really shitty little meals. I read your book about Breach theory. I read your articles in the science journals. And I know you better than anyone Dr. Gottlieb. You might as well get a tattoo that says please kill me before I die of boredom right on your … amazingly large forehead. Let’s not lie to ourselves what this is really about. ”
He leaned forward into the light and removed his glasses. His entire face illuminated completely for the first time. His left eyelid sagged slightly and some of the muscles in his cheek didn’t move when he tried to smile. Gottlieb moved physically backwards in the bed, repulsed despite himself.
“Yeah, not pretty is it?... A guy in his thirties with stroke damage. I tried drifting with someone else. I didn’t want to and I told them I wasn’t compatible. The brass thinks that any chunk-head military guy can drift with you. I guess in the past they’ve only dealt with Jaeger pilots from fighting backgrounds. You don’t see a lot of MIT grads piloting robots. My brain didn’t meld with the guy they chose. Most of the pilots… they fly with family or friends. I don’t think I can fly with anyone but you.”
It took a moment for Hermann to find his voice again, and when he did, a moment longer to figure out what to say.
“You never told me about this… Why… why are you piloting at all?”
Newton leaned back into the dark, hiding his face again which was a bit of a relief.
“They needed warriors during the war. The war is technically over. But the whales aren’t coming back and the ocean is full of big mysterious bleeps on the radar. Disappearing ships and unreported sightings the populous doesn’t know about. The world isn’t done being afraid and they need researchers... scientists. Not soldiers. You are the only other person on this planet who saw into the hive. Otachi in Hong Kong wasn’t the first Kaiju to come here pregnant and we both know it. You get the ocean dreams too. We have to do something in the field for once. Sitting in the lab is getting nothing accomplished. “
His voice turned shrill and more than a little desperate.
“You do dream like I do... I know you do. I get ghost-drift images about you… and about the hive. Don’t lie Hermann. You DO get the ocean dreams don’t you?”
“… Yes Newton. I do have the ocean dreams.”
Geiszler rubbed at the Kaiju head again, like a man praying with a rosary, letting his fingers trace the teeth, the slanted chin and the hammer-like shape of the head.
“I don’t think you’re telling me everything Newton. I believe that you’ve convinced the higher ups there are more Kaiju. But I don’t understand why they would want you… us to drive a Jaeger. It makes very little sense. Building new jaegers at all makes little sense. The program was decommissioned. Even if we did save them in the end… It’s all considered obsolete now.”
A thought struck him then and he looked at Newton, trying to see his eyes in the dark.
“That heart. It’s alive. How did you get that heart?”
“I… I don’t even know where to start with that question Hermann. Just… won’t you trust me? Please? I really need someone in my corner right now you know?”
Newton rubbed at one tattooed arm, tugging at the sleeve of his wool jacket uncomfortably. He tapped one foot and bounced his leg, still full of raw nervous energy. Hermann saw the six year old hiding from own birthday party sitting there in the shadows. It caused a tug inside and he knew that really, he had missed his friend. The neural-connection had never shaken them loose and seeing Newton filled up a deep hungry void that he had not been able to name until now. He let out a long, excruciating sigh.
“I’ll help as best I can Newton. Now… please get the hell out of here and let me die in peace.“
“Sure thing buddy, you do that. I’ll bring you something to eat later.”