Drift

--June 11, 2043 · Hong Kong, China, Shatterdome--

"Simulation link imminent. Drift will begin in ten seconds. Pilots, prepare yourselves."

The cold synthetic female voice sounded at just the right moment, soothing Rosen's anxious mood.

Staring at the dark silver metal ceiling, he took a deep breath, emptied his mind, fully relaxed his body, and quietly awaited the impact to come.

"Link initiated."

As the words fell, Rosen's temples twitched. It felt as though a needle had pierced his brain, and then countless images surged toward him like a tidal wave.

Drift was a wondrous thing, though it could only be experienced in the first five generations of Jaegers. Starting with the 6th Generation Jaegers, the minds used to Drift with pilots were the blank, formatted brains of kaiju. All Rosen could see was his own life.

In 2020, Rosen was born.

That same day, his parents were killed in a kaiju attack.

His crying continued for two days and two nights. In the end, people dug him out of the ruins.

After seven turbulent years, Rosen met his mentor, that stubborn, somewhat rebellious old man—Raleigh Beckett.

And Raleigh led Rosen onto a path of defying God.

"Sometimes, insignificant humans simply can't fight God. When a storm rages, for instance, all you can do is hide. But once you become a Jaeger warrior, you become strong enough to fight the storm. Even against God, you'll stand a chance."

It was something Raleigh often said, and Rosen naturally regarded it as the truth.

As for Rosen's name... there was no need to explain it, was there? In the second year after meeting his mentor, Rosen had changed his name to the given names of the couple.

Now, his mentor had died with honor, but Rosen would inherit his aspirations and continue feeling his way down this path until humanity's victory arrived.

"Sync Rate... 53%. Emotional fluctuations detected in the pilot. Neural connection forcibly disconnected. Kunlun simulation initiated. Failed."

Before Rosen's memories could finish, the synthetic female voice brutally interrupted them.

Rosen rubbed his eyes and climbed down from the simulator in disappointment. Looking at the four glaring red words, "Test Failed," on the public screen, his eyes flickered. His lips parted as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, the words never left his mouth.

"Rosen, your third simulation has failed to initiate. Your trainee status will be reduced by one more level, from full trainee to probationary trainee."

Beside the simulator, a staff member in military uniform recorded the result in a notebook while expressionlessly announcing it...

Upon hearing this, the other trainees around them covered their mouths and began whispering among themselves.

Rosen had no intention of paying attention to such gossip. He merely sighed softly, took off his lab coat, packed his things, and left the simulation room. The murmurs gradually died down as he departed.

Rosen was not cold-blooded. Of course he understood joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. When those strange gazes converged on him, he too felt a fierce surge of emotion in his chest.

But that was all.

He had no intention of fighting or arguing back, because he had neither the desire nor the inclination to waste time on such matters.

The beginning of all this stemmed from an incident not long ago.

Two years ago, Rosen entered the pilot selection trials for the Seventh Generation Jaeger—J35VII Kunlun. A year later, he earned the right to pilot Kunlun with an outstanding simulation Sync Rate of 92% and perfect scores across the board. Yet he never expected disaster to follow.

Rosen's first Drift with Kunlun had failed. More precisely, it had been an accident.

The instant the Drift system connected, Rosen fainted for no apparent reason. The 145-meter-tall Kunlun nearly activated the Cloud-Mist High-Pressure Magnetic Storm Ring on its right hand, plunging the entire base into a red-alert crisis.

Afterward, Kunlun was temporarily sealed away. Even now, Rosen still did not know why he had fallen unconscious that day.

And over the following year, Rosen's mental aptitude plummeted off a cliff, dropping to an incomprehensible level—from 92% to 53%.

Did you know? The brain of a Seventh Generation Jaeger was blank. It possessed no independent consciousness. Even if a dog Drifted with Kunlun, its Sync Rate could reach 60%.

As a result, his rank had been demoted three levels in a row: pilot—reserve pilot—pilot candidate—full trainee.

Oh, right. Counting the one from a minute ago, it should have been four levels.

Now, Rosen was merely a probationary trainee. If he could not successfully initiate even one simulation, then he would remain a probationary trainee forever, for the rest of his life.

"..."

Rosen walked down the corridor expressionlessly, his boots clicking against the floor. The faces of those passing him were varied—some mocked him, some ignored him, and some pitied him. Yet no one could see what lay beneath Rosen's stern face.

"Hey, Rosen!"

A voice suddenly called out to Rosen. It was a girl's voice, and anyone who heard it would immediately think of its owner.

People turned toward the sound. Sure enough, the girl in their minds appeared at the far end of the corridor.

At the center of everyone's gaze, a girl of around fifteen came running over with great swagger. She was of Eurasian descent, with fair skin and shoulder-length black hair. She wore a brown sleeveless tank top and athletic shorts, the fitted clothing clearly outlining her budding figure.

Several male trainees in the corridor could not help but feel drawn to her, but that was all—

Because this girl possessed an extremely special identity.

Her name was—Angie Beckett.

She was also the daughter of humanity's heroes—Raleigh Beckett and Mako Mori.

That fact alone was enough to make countless male trainees stop in their tracks.

"Rosen, I called you. Why didn't you answer me?"

Angie squeezed in front of Rosen angrily, hands on her hips and lips pursed. Though she was much shorter than Rosen, she did not lose to him in presence at all.

"I still need to report to Dr. Newton." Rosen expressionlessly pushed Angie aside and continued forward. What he did not know was that merely touching Angie had already drawn countless jealous looks from those around them.

"Tch, so what if you failed? Do you have to act like this? You spend all day studying machinery now. You won't even play simulated battles with me anymore..." Angie complained as she spoke, her tone full of resentment.

"It's precisely because I failed that I chose to study machinery." Rosen still ignored Angie's protest, not even lowering his head. "I don't have spare time to waste on something that will never produce results."

Rosen was not lying. The briefcase in his hand contained a paper he had spent an entire week writing.

Seeing that Rosen would not budge, Angie raised an eyebrow. "Could studying machinery let you defeat kaiju?"

"Of course. Even if the framework of a Seventh Generation Jaeger is made of silicon-based organisms, its internal circuits and weapons still rely on mechanical power. Without machinery, a so-called Jaeger is nothing more than a skeleton." Rosen finally lowered his head. Looking Angie in the eyes, he said seriously, "Or does Miss Angie intend to sit directly on top of your Jaeger—Anshan—and cast magic, using puppet strings to control that corpse in battle?"

"Y-you..." Angie was left speechless by Rosen's rebuke. A flush appeared on her fair, pretty face as she stood there blankly, unsure what to do.

"Then, if you'll excuse me."

Rosen gave a slight nod, then swiftly disappeared around the end of the corridor.

Watching Rosen's somewhat desolate back, Angie hesitated for a moment before finally following after him, her face burning red...