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31_days2014-05-20 06:55 pm
bane-6.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2014-05-20 06:55 pm
[May 20] [Pacific Rim] Still Time
Title: Still Time
Day/Theme: 20. orenda (the invocation of the power of human will to change the world around us)
Series: Pacific Rim
Character/Pairing: Hermann/Newt
Rating: part 20 of 31, Hermann's POV
Hermann was busting out all the stops with the new machines. He had designed sentries with the same AI code as the small jaegers and was sending them out to all the potential Breach sites. He also used the information from the original Breach to configure them to only be a threat to Kaiju. The original Breach had only allowed something with a Kaiju's genetic code to pass through. The sentries would only target it.
There were bound to be political repercussions later, but Hermann told himself that would be someone else's argument. He had deliberately made the sentries as non-humanoid as possible. It was much harder to be threatened by something that looked like rolling hatstand with a head like a security camera. They were also armed, but mostly with hook hands to latch on and be carried wherever the Kaiju ran to and an injectable supply of ammonia oxidizing bacteria. He had gotten the idea from a fish tank and had no idea how affective it would be.
Newt had let him test it on some of the previous samples, but wasn't willing to contaminate his experiment with the live one. Hermann hadn't even seen the thing since it had been brought in. There was a special cell for it a few more levels down. Newt was spending all his waking hours with it. It really did feel like they were working separately again and it was bothersome. He could still feel Newt through their connection, but it was always distracted and distant.
Every time Hermann tried to go down there, Newt would sense him coming and meet him halfway. Sometimes he could be persuaded to come eat or rest for an hour or two, before he scuttled back into his hole again. Sometimes, he would be collapsed asleep when Hermann got back to their room. A few times Hermann had awoken to him trying and failing to slip into bed quietly.
Hermann missed him and had said as much. Newt had looked like he was going to cry and had held him for a long time after that. The next day had been back to distance and dismay. Hermann had gone back to work too, keeping the mental doors open in unspoken invitation. It was easy to bury himself in the work. He was determined that the sooner this was ended, the sooner things would be back to normal, even though he knew it might never be over. If the Kaiju could keep coming, they might always keep coming. His brief time as a happy man with a partner who understood might be just that. Brief. Over.
He put down the chalk and wiped his hands off before he sat down and then buried his face in his palms. He hadn't been this lonely the last time he had had had to work alone. How many years ago had that been? You have seriously compromised my efficiency! he thought hard at Newt and felt some kind of pang in response. He was rubbing his eyes and was such a relief to have them closed that he had to count backwards to see how long ago he really had slept. He didn't want to go back to the room and sleep alone and wake up alone and go back to work alone.
There was some kind of solution to this problem. There always was. Surely he wouldn't be in the way if he just went downstairs to sleep near Newt. It might be enough to soothe the fretful thoughts that kept telling him he was missing something. Something wasn't adding up, something wasn't right, they whispered and he knew better than not to believe it. There was still time to fix it though. He got up and found his cane and hurried for the escalator.
Day/Theme: 20. orenda (the invocation of the power of human will to change the world around us)
Series: Pacific Rim
Character/Pairing: Hermann/Newt
Rating: part 20 of 31, Hermann's POV
Hermann was busting out all the stops with the new machines. He had designed sentries with the same AI code as the small jaegers and was sending them out to all the potential Breach sites. He also used the information from the original Breach to configure them to only be a threat to Kaiju. The original Breach had only allowed something with a Kaiju's genetic code to pass through. The sentries would only target it.
There were bound to be political repercussions later, but Hermann told himself that would be someone else's argument. He had deliberately made the sentries as non-humanoid as possible. It was much harder to be threatened by something that looked like rolling hatstand with a head like a security camera. They were also armed, but mostly with hook hands to latch on and be carried wherever the Kaiju ran to and an injectable supply of ammonia oxidizing bacteria. He had gotten the idea from a fish tank and had no idea how affective it would be.
Newt had let him test it on some of the previous samples, but wasn't willing to contaminate his experiment with the live one. Hermann hadn't even seen the thing since it had been brought in. There was a special cell for it a few more levels down. Newt was spending all his waking hours with it. It really did feel like they were working separately again and it was bothersome. He could still feel Newt through their connection, but it was always distracted and distant.
Every time Hermann tried to go down there, Newt would sense him coming and meet him halfway. Sometimes he could be persuaded to come eat or rest for an hour or two, before he scuttled back into his hole again. Sometimes, he would be collapsed asleep when Hermann got back to their room. A few times Hermann had awoken to him trying and failing to slip into bed quietly.
Hermann missed him and had said as much. Newt had looked like he was going to cry and had held him for a long time after that. The next day had been back to distance and dismay. Hermann had gone back to work too, keeping the mental doors open in unspoken invitation. It was easy to bury himself in the work. He was determined that the sooner this was ended, the sooner things would be back to normal, even though he knew it might never be over. If the Kaiju could keep coming, they might always keep coming. His brief time as a happy man with a partner who understood might be just that. Brief. Over.
He put down the chalk and wiped his hands off before he sat down and then buried his face in his palms. He hadn't been this lonely the last time he had had had to work alone. How many years ago had that been? You have seriously compromised my efficiency! he thought hard at Newt and felt some kind of pang in response. He was rubbing his eyes and was such a relief to have them closed that he had to count backwards to see how long ago he really had slept. He didn't want to go back to the room and sleep alone and wake up alone and go back to work alone.
There was some kind of solution to this problem. There always was. Surely he wouldn't be in the way if he just went downstairs to sleep near Newt. It might be enough to soothe the fretful thoughts that kept telling him he was missing something. Something wasn't adding up, something wasn't right, they whispered and he knew better than not to believe it. There was still time to fix it though. He got up and found his cane and hurried for the escalator.