Pilots Dairy Pilot : TNT ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 1 Date : 12 November 2003. Monday. This is the first entry of the Pilots Dairy. I have the sad privilege to brief those who read this on the development of our Mecha. And probably my own demise. After finishing all the theory in Mecha Studies, We here doing 1st year studies in Anime Institute of Technology are starting our practical. We spilt into groups and design, build, test and pilot our own mecha. We are Group E. There's myself, TNT. Simon, Lysandria, and Kage. So the 4 of us sat around today thinking of how we're going to do this. Only the top 5 groups out of the 30 are aloud to continue, so we need a good few ideas. Against my protests, a part biological mech design has been chosen. Simon is doing the main processor and user interface. Lysandria is doing the actual construction and mobility. Kage is doing weapons, arms and defenses. "What am I doing then?" I STUPIDLY asked. "Your piloting it!" Simon replied. And as I'm "doing nothing" I have to type up the report. A large argument ensued and we all went home. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 2 Date : 13 November 2003. Tuesday. We discussed the mecha design again. We went over the pro's and cons Pros: A bio internal structure is hardier then an electronic. Bio-mechs have superior mobility. Bio-mechs are cheaper to repair. Bio-mechs can repair themselves during battle. They are very easy to upgrade. They use less power. You get far superior control in a Bio-mech. The synchronization factor between Pilot and mecha makes a huge difference in a battle. Cons: Bio-mechs feel pain, which is often transferred to the pilot. Bio-mechs are unpredictable. Bio-mechs can go out of control. 1 out of every 34 bio-mech interfaces have caused permanent brain damage on the pilot. Lysandria assured me that the mech wasn't going to be all biological, barely 20% actually. Simon tried to assure me that my brain wouldn't melt in the interface. Great... Lysandria left early to "borrow" a few items for the mechs construction. Kage told me that everything would be fine, and I wouldn't miss my brain when it's gone. I hit him with a chair and left the 2 plotting. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 3 Date : 14 November 2003. Wednesday. Well the blue prints been drawn up. Its a horrific looking lanky thing. Most the part-bio mecha I've seen look like anorexic sprinters. Ours will look like an anorexic nerd. Its 9 meters tall and 3 meters wide. It will be powered by an internal Cold Fusion generator. Our cursed Mecha Studies head told us what we've got to do in the test. It will be taking place in the Light Mech Testing Bay. It'll have to walk 30 meters, press a button on the wall, Pick up a 4 ton girder, and move it to a designated place 5 meters away, then test fire it's rifle (Which we also have to make) at 3 stationary targets. We've got 2 weeks to finish the mecha!!! That Mary Ikari really overworks us! We got our Mech bay that evening. Its a bit like a small council house from the outside. The only difference was that there is a large basement and a door that takes up half the front wall. The left side. Only the right side is livable with 2 floors. We'll be living in them, till the 2 weeks are up, or if we're lucky enough to be in the top 5, till the end of the term. We seemed to have gotten a little Jack Russell with the place as well. We've named the little guy Sparky cause we're all useless with names. Lysandria returned with 2 Hi-Ace Vans full of junk, so construction started today. ...After the 2 hours that Lysandria spent playing with Sparky. Kage suggested I try some Tai Chi to improve my sync ratio. I informed him that the interface wasn't built yet so I had no sync ratio. To which he replied "Not with that attitude you won't!". I left the bay puzzled. Watched some TV. Fed Sparky. I'm now off to bed. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 4 Date : 15 November 2003. Thursday. A pretty lousy day in all. I should have known it would be since breakfast. Kage _somehow_ accidentally brushed his teeth with Aria's (Lysandria's nick name) leg razor. No one knows _how_ he did it. He just barged into the kitchen, shouted at Aria, then threw up in the sink. I burnt the scrambled eggs and had to _scrape_ the sink clean. Worst of all was the tragic death of little Sparky. We got the Bio-structure from the chem labs. A horrific looking thing with tendons and muscle, with no skin. The head was a stub with a single blank eye. It was 8 feet tall and 2 feet wide. It freaked us all out. Its a half clone of some creature. They wouldn't tell us what. Its nearly alive. It has organs and everything. But it doesn't have a brain or a soul. The thing is...It needs a brain to synchronize with a pilot so I don't know what Simons going to do. Anyway...During the construction, the "thing" twitched, knocking one of the heavy shoulder plates onto Sparky. We were all really upset and stopped work for the day. Simon said he'd take care of the remains. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 5 Date : 16 November 2003. Friday. Work started again today. The Bio-structure is now encased in a carbon frame. The frame is very far out from the muscle. Aria told me that this was for so they could fit in all the mechanical and electronic parts. Supposedly their going to "dissect" the Bio-structure and replace huge chunks of it with cybernetics. All the organs were torn out to fit a "coffin". A "coffin" is Mecha slang for a tiny cockpit that doesn't allow much movement. This one, like most coffins, will stand upright in the mechs chest. I'm really not sure about this... Simons gotten the interface and main processor online. It can't do anything cause the mech isn't even nearly finished. It isn't even connected. But Simon has run a few program checks and he assures us its fine. "You'll be getting a plug suit for your first synchronization test tomorrow!" He told me. I'm not looking forward to it. I wonder how Simon dealt with the lack of a brain in the processor and interface? ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 6 Date : 17 November 2003. Saturday. I nearly forgot to type this blasted thing My head throbs and I'm still shaking. A "plug suit" he called it! All it was was an old tracksuit (that smelled) and a helmet. The helmet was made up of a bicycle helmet (pedal, not motor) with 2 wires coming out the top along with a large pair of goggles that will be connected to the mechs sensors in the head. We left the goggles up because there was really no need for them. I felt a twinge of pain as I put on the helmet. Then Simon hit the switch. The last thing I remember was a flood of images, sounds, feelings and emotions. Then I was on the front lawn with Kage holding me and down screaming at me to wake up. They told me later that the link lasted 2 seconds. Then I threw my head back, breaking the wires, and began screaming in Latin and ran up the stairs and out the front door. But I don't even know a word in Latin! I'm in bed at the moment. I was too weak to stand after that. Simons trying to figure out what happened. Aria came in and congratulated me on getting a 18% sync rate. Incredible high for first go. Simon said "We'll try again tomorrow!". I told him where he could stick his processor. I know I'll have to do it... I'm just really unhappy about it ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 7 Date : 18 November 2003. Sunday. The guys decided to let me stay in bed the WHOLE day, which was great. Just myself, Feico-chan (My little catgirl doll =^�^= ) and the TV remote! The fire alarm woke me up, so I guess Kage "cooked" breakfast. They worked all day as I watched TV. And on the news, the police are still looking for a rampant thief who stole �300,000 worth of electronic equipment from various companies, along with 2 Hi-Ace Vans. The police think that these robberies are linked with the theft of 7 college professors cars. Aria sure had been busy... The guys came up to check on me tonight. I've pretty much recovered, I just still have a few unfamiliar images and sounds in my memory. They also told me why I'm still needed to pilot the wretched device. The college ran sync probability tests of all of us. I had the highest, followed by Lysandria, Kage and Simon. And in these early days they need as high a sync ratio as possible. Simon found the problem with the interface and said he's fixed it, so I'll be doing another test tomorrow. Kage has finished the design of the rifle. Aria has the entire internal structure of the left leg put in. Aria suggested that the reason I synchronize so well was because there was so little for the interface to get lost in. I thought about this for a minute, the threw Feico-chan at her. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 8 Date : 19 November 2003. Monday. I may just get through this alive! ^_^ Did the second sync ratio test this morning. Simon told me he narrowed the neural connection and drastically lowered the interfaces output into me. I was linked for 2 minutes. Except for a twinge of pain as the helmet was activated, which was the wires going into my scalp, everything was fine. I experienced some strange sounds as I first plugged in and a strange face flashed in front of me at 1 minute, 12 seconds. But otherwise it was fine. My sync ratio was only 4% but that's more then enough for a dry run. I helped Kage with the rifle. It is meant to shoot spinning discs (Typical Kage!) but we haven't enough time to perfect the rail-gun magnetic firing mechanism. We came up with a novel idea. The rifle will have 2 magazines. 1 with the actual discs. Another with an explosive charge. 3 discs will be fired at a time by the explosive charge going off in a chamber just behind them. There will be 7 explosive charges and 21 discs so we'll get 7 shots. It won't be the most accurate weapon in the world but could be deadly with better components. Lysandria's nearly finished the right leg. She told me that a lot of pressure was going to be put on the servos and hydraulics. More then what would be put on the Bio-structure! It will have to be able to lift at least 30 tons to be safe. The body will supposedly weigh 20 tons. Not much for a mech its size. Most the armor is aluminum. _Again_ I'm doing all the cooking! You think one of them could cook! ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 9 Date : 20 November 2003. Tuesday. Got no sleep last night. Kept getting nightmares. Simon told me this can be an early side effect if synchronizational mecha interfaces, but it would go soon. You don't get problems like this with ordinary mecha! But I'm getting no sympathy from the rest...so they can do their own blasted cooking. It was Aria's turn tonight. Work was suspended due to food poisoning. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 10 Date : 21 November 2003. Wednesday. More orders from Miss Ikari! We're only aloud to test the interface of the mecha. We're not aloud to actually test drive the thing or the weapons because of safety and insurance reasons. She forgot to tell us this last week. If she did, maybe Groups C and M would still be with us... 10 Groups in all have dropped out of the original 30. Groups C, J, K, M, P, T, W, V, B1 & C1. C and M were vaporized, due to reasons unknown. B1 and C1 had both their whole Mech bays wiped out when C1's Fission Generator had a meltdown. The explosion was so large it hit B1's bay across the street. Most got out in time. J, P and V just gave up and went drinking. K and W had severe fire trouble, burning the everything in their mech bays to ash, and had to give up. T had a little interface problem. They we're going for the same type of Mecha that we are. Their pilots head EXPLODED! That really boosted my confidence. Aria tried to give me some encouragement. "If its only 1 in 34 pilots who end up brain damaged, now that 1 had his head blown up, all over the walls so I hear, your safe! In a *pop* sound and all!...". That didn't exactly help... Kage is finished the outer design of the Tri-Disc rifle, or the "Shredder" as we've nicknamed it. He's also working on something in his room but won't tell us what it is. Lysandria's finished the internal structure of the legs and hips. None of the Bio-structure can be seen below the waist. She's started on the torso and a flight pack. Simon is still fiddling with the processor and has started the coffin in the mecha's chest. I did another sync ratio test. I'm up to 8% and didn't feel a thing. We did a little control practice run with a game of Pong. I got to level 65! My highest EVER! This sync control system is certainly better then usual methods. I'm now doing a lot of welding for the rest of them. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 11 Date : 22 November 2003. Thursday. A pretty hectic day. We're behind schedule and need sleep. Kage got the Shredder finished. But hadn't even started on the arms! So him and Aria got into a huge fight and aren't talking to one another. Kage is now starting work on the right arm. I did another sync test and got a ratio of 9% Simon shouted at me for not trying hard enough to raise the percentage. I shouted back that it was his useless interface and we nearly came to blows. We're not talking either. Cos I'm right and he's wrong. The coffin is finished. This probably isn't the time to remind them I'm not a lover of _tiny_ cramped spaces. Its a tiny space which is entered from a door in the front. The chest opens up. There are straps for my shins, thighs, waist and forearms. There's also pedals for my feet and gloves for my hand. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 12 Date : 23 November 2003. Friday. A good day! We're back on schedule. Kage is finished the right arm and is talking again to Lysandria. Lysandria has armor the torso. It's looks pretty tough, but that aluminum will have to be changed when the test run is completed. My own sync rate is growing exponentially. I'm at 14% already! I stood into the coffin for the first time and Simon talked me through all the controls. I've got to say, it's very instinctive. But very small. I was very nervous. And this was with the chest open! We got the Cold Fusion generator finally working. I've insisted we put in a secondary Ionic Dynamo that I had made for an old Power Armor suit.. I find the extra bit of energy they give out in pulses great in high drain situations. The only sticky point is the head. We've tried all the sensors we could get but none could give a large enough spectrum that we'll need for a Bio-mech with sync interface. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 13 Date : 24 November 2003. Saturday. Great days! Great days! We pulled an all nighter and finished the head. We looked at all the sensor cameras Aria had "acquired". There was 25. Simon picked the 14 best and told us his idea. No one of them could give us a good enough image for the syncronisational interface (SI). So we'll have 7 for each eye. Each sensor will be geared for one part of the spectrum. This arrangement should give unparalleled image quality. We set the sensors in a kind of gattling gun style formation. This formation was then covered with reinforced plexi-glass. This repeated on the other side. This gave our cyber-nerd huge glasses. They will have to be dumped after the test run because they are a huge target in a fight. The whole body is sealed now. Just have to reinforce the arms and legs. Kage wants to do a bit more on the arms. The SI is fully instated into the mecha. We've just a few final checks and additions and our mecha will be finished. We really must give him a name... I did a sync test in the coffin today. 22%! Simon has really done a great job on the interface. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 14 Date : 25 November 2003. Sunday. It's finished. The cursed beast is finally finished! And 2 days ahead of shedule!! We all just went to bed! ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 15 Date : 26 November 2003. Monday. Not much to do today. Simon went off to the pub to celebrate. Kage went back to his room to finish whatever he's been doing in there. Aria is calibrating the mechs flight pack. A pair of "Graviton Wings" whatever they are. I've sprayed our mecha a nice prototype bright yellow, which will be changed if we get through the test. The test is on Wednesday, so we can take tomorrow easy. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 16 Date : 27 November 2003. Tuesday. Bloody typical! I'm wrecked. I'm probably the only one still awake! Lysandria showed us the Graviton Wings. It was a large backpack welded into the back. 2 long, elegent wings extended from each side, and vibrated slightly. They generate an enormous amount of lift by using Gravametric waves. The whole theory evades me. We were so pleased with ourselves, having finished the mech so early. So we decided to do a little test. We had the mecha held to a support crane. This would allow it to raise itself 20 feet off the ground, so nothing could go horrifically wrong. So we got a remote for the Wings and tried them out at 1/8 power. Very powerful. And if we were using a titanium frame it would probably been stressed by the lift. Since it was carbon steel and aluminium armor the wins tore the back off and went into orbit. Dragging our lovely Cold Fusion generator behind it! Pure Panic!!!!! We had to fix the entire torso frame, check for any other damage, and find an alternative power source. All in 21 hours! Thats including sleep! Well the Wings tore it cleanly so there wasn't much damage. But a new power source was the problem. TNT to the rescue. I got a hold of a Diesel Submarines engine. With some quick modifications, it will now run on Jet fuel and will easily power the mecha. Its big and ugly and sticks out the back about a foot. And it has 2 exaust pipes, which are now worn on the mechas back. But it'll work. I'm nervous about the test run tomorrow. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 17 Date : 28 November 2003. Wednesday. EXAM : TEST RUN I'm writing this on the truck going in. Simon and Lysandria are doing a couple of final system checks. Kage seems only to be annoying me. When I pulled out this pad he asked me if I'm writing my last will and testament. Not very funny. But I nearly feel like I should. I'm really worried. We found out what Kage had been working on all this time. He was forging a huge, 6 meter long Katana. Incredibly exquisite and elegant. It's only ordinary steel and wouldn't be much use against other mecha. He admitted this, saying it was for good luck. I thanked him. We attached onto the mecha's back. It was really thoughtful. I'm tying my lucky bandana around the mechas neck. I can get really superstitious at times. It helps me relax. ****** Log Entry 17 Amendment 1. We can watch the proceedings through a high window looking into Light Mech Testing Bay from the control room. There are 10 of us doing the test today. A, B, D, E, F, G, H, I, L and N. In that order. I�m just writing this to relax. The A Group just went now. They owned a sleek looking non-bio mech. Poor guys. Their generator wouldn't work. I hope I'm that lucky. Why did I join a college that's fatalities outnumber the drop-out rate 2:1? ****** Log Entry 17 Amendment 2. I've finally stopped crying. Goddess this looks bad. Group B just went. Another part-Bio-mech with SI. They started up the mech. There was a muffled *pop*. Nothing happened. After 5 minutes, a techie was sent in to see if the pilot was ok. He opened the cockpit. He began throwing up violently. "Another Headbang?" Supervisor Ritsuko asked calmly. If I don't make it, I want Simon, Aria and Kage to know...That I will come back and butcher them all horribly! ****** Log Entry 17 Amendment 3. D just went. Another disaster. They owned a great big, rolly pooly mecha. It took 3 steps, before something, probably a main support, broke. The left leg was taking a step and punched straight into the mechas body. The pilot is alive but she's badly scraped and shaken. This will be the first time I'll be in the coffin with the chest closed. But cramped spaces are the least of my problems. If I survive then there will be another amendment. If there isn't, then I'm probably dead really... I left Feico-chan with Aria. I wouldn't thrust Kage to give it back. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 18 Date : 29 November 2003. Thursday. #### LOG EMPTY #### ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 19 Date : 30 November 2003. Friday. #### LOG EMPTY #### ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 20 Date : 1 December 2003. Saturday. Well I survived. I've been told I've been in a coma for 2 days. My back is tender, I've got a throbbing head ache, a nasty gash on the top of my forehead (covered with a bandage) and my left arm aches. I don't really know what happened. The nurse wouldn't tell me anything. Supervisor Misato Kasuragi came in to see if I was ok. Along with Supervisor Maia. We passed and are in the top 5. Groups E, H, O, R and Z. They said that the memory�s would come back, probably tonight, in horrific flashbacks. Well as long as it's horrific... The guys came in to see me today. Aria brought in Feico-chan. They all said they were really worried about me. Misato told me I'd be ok in a few days, maybe, and that there appeared to be no brain damage they couldn't repair. I'm not the only one in the ward There are 7 other pilots. 4 others had been killed. The girl beside me was very sweet. She was the pilot from Group D. She's ok but very shaken. She loved telling a few horror stories about what happened. She was in one piece, but supposedly if it was a male pilot, it'd be a different story. Eep And of course as an anime character she had to use an awful pun. She said she "had a close shave". Eew! I tried to remember what happened. I got into the coffin and they closed the chest. I was in the dark for about a minute before the Light Mech Testing Bay was declared safe. So I stared up the engine. The visors came to life and everything went ok. I walked the 30 meters easily, if a bit unsteady. It only took me 2 goes to press the button on the wall. The girder was a bit of a strain, but the dynamo helped enormously. Then came the rifle test. I remember holding the Shredder up and taking aim, then the controls seemed to get..."slippery" is the best word I can think of. I tried to regain control. Then I'm looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling. In the med bay. Also...the hair around the head plugs has fallen out. Maia said it'll grow back. And for some reason, I'm now fluent in Latin! ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 21 Date : 2 December 2003. Sunday. "Horrific flashbacks" are right. All night I got them. Them, along with the video footage showed me what happened. The mecha went, what is commonly known as, Berserk. It threw the Shredder down. and just went around tearing the place apart. Supervisor Ritsuko used the Bays emergency laser to cut the fuel line in the engine, causing an explosion. But the dynamo kept it going for 2 minutes. This was one of the things that helped us pass. The mecha finally tore its left arm off with the teeth that had just sprung from the head. It then proceeded to pound said head into a sticky paste against the walls. The flashbacks centered on the rifle though, so I asked Kage to do a test firing. I'll be going home tomorrow. Not that I'm fine. I spent 2 hours convinced I was Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. I called Aria Scarecrow, Simon Tin man and was convinced that Kage was Toto. Supposedly these episodes will subside in a week or 2. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 22 Date : 3 December 2003. Monday. I'm back home. But I wear a Jay Kay style hat when going out to cover up the 2 bald patches. We test fired the Shredder today. We found a _li'l_ design flaw. The fact it blows up in an incredible explosion. Actually, there seemed to be a crack in the casing of the first explosive charge. This set off all the other charges on the first shot. If I had used it during the test run I'd have been killed as the aluminum wouldn't have offered any protection. Kage is trying to figure what could have caused the crack. I'm still not fully recovered yet. The guys told me that in the middle of dinner, I jumped up on the table, flapped my arms, then hid in the corner of the room, mewing till someone put down a saucer of milk. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 23 Date : 4 December 2003. Tuesday. My hair grew back last night. The speed that it did is quite disturbing. It'll be a LONG time before I get back in that coffin again. We got the remains of mech back today. The head needs to be rebuilt, it needs a new left arm, and a complete overhaul of the armor and other parts that we now can upgrade with the lager budget and better equipment we've gotten. I accidentally christened the damned thing. "What are we going to do with the cerebral hemorrhager?" I asked. So the Hemorrhager got it's name. For some reason I didn't wear any pants today. I wonder if there�s any medication I can take. ************************************************************************************************* Log Entry 24 Date : 5 December 2003. Wednesday. Got the next assignment. Its 2 weeks to prepare for a 3 minute close-range battle with another groups mech. We're up against Group O. A horrific, all Bio-mech. All muscle and tendons. It is nearly 12 meters tall and 6 meters wide. It has long claws on it's left hand and some sort of laser in the right, attached to a tentecle. They seem to have great control over the laser, showing they can cut the range to use it as a light saber. This thing passed all the Test Run easily. It picked up the 4 ton weight like it was nothing. In one "hand"! We really haven't got a chance. The thing is I'm sure I recognise it. But I'm sure I wouldn't forget something like that easily. Where did I see it? Today, Alex, I was Kitty-N. From 8am to 4pm. I went to Ritsuko to see if they could do anything. She said that it was impossible to do anything for me, just let it get out of my system. "Hopefully it will go..." she said. Great... She was worried that the interface may still have a copy of myself stored in it's brain and that I should warn the rest of them about that. It's been decided to no-longer have me as the pilot. WHO-HOO! Kage will be doing the fight since he'll be able to take any damage better then Aria. I'm doing the weapons. I've got some great ideas for taking on flesh. I'm going to build a shield for the mech. It'll help us survive the 2 minutes, which I think is the only way we're going to get through this. Good luck Kage! I must remember to tell him about what Ritsuko said, in the morning. *************************************************************************************************