RE: CADET #971103 • • • TAMASHIRO , TINA
ASSIGNED TO J-TECH , EVALUATION SCORE OF < 300 > POINTS
THOUGH WE ARE IN THE EYE OF THE STORM
her father dies in san francisco. he was there for work; her mother refuses to speak about it, cries and leaves the room whenever tina tries to bring it up. her father died in san fransisco and took tina’s mother with him.
her mother is a ghost of her former self, her smile doesn’t reach her eyes, her hands shake when they are near open bodies of water. she was once a dignified woman, her mother, she was once someone to be respected. tina knows, even at her five years of age, what a pitiful being her mother has become.
they move to south korea the day after the attack on sydney. tina’s mother holds her close, tells her she loves her once before boarding the plane. they ride in silence, the flight attendants don’t smile anymore; the pilot asks for a moment of silence before taking off. there is no greater fear than that of which is unknown.
tina was never sure what exactly it was that her mother did, the papers left constantly scattered across her desk were of no help either. it’s numbers and letter, complicated jargon and lists. tina’s mother smiles hollowly, her dark eyes searching into tina’s. “i-i’m an important person, tina. i really am. look, i’m going to stop those monsters that took daddy away.”
her mother throws herself into her work, pulls more, and more away from tina until her daughter becomes accustomed to the silence. she misses her birthday for the next four years, a tired apology slipping from her lips more often than not. tina’s okay, tina doesn’t care. why did anyone consider birthdays so important, anyway?
by the end of the kaiju war, tina has lost both her father and mother. what a pitiful girl, that one.
WE SHALL STAND STRONG LIKE TITANS
“i joined because of my mom.” there is a silence that follows, an unplanned pause. tina continues, suddenly unsure of what to do with herself. “i dunno … i guess it was just the most natural next step.” she’s tucking her hands under her thighs, shifting her weight from one side to the other in her seat; the man balances his clipboard on his knee, and tina suddenly feels so small under his gaze. “i’m no saying that getting into the academy is easy, it’s not. it’s a tedious process. i was, like, in limbo for three months. three. some people get accepted two weeks after the application process.” the man nods, tina takes it as a sign to continue. “but i came in on my mother’s recommendation. i heard that they were really hard on people with, y’know, connections.” tina laughs, a slip of a thing gushing past her tight lips. the man doesn’t say much in response, scribbles something else down on his clipboard before turning back to her.
“i applied as soon as i could, right, like as soon as i turned eighteen.” her shoulder rises in a shrug, eyes suddenly searching elsewhere to look instead of holding the man’s gaze. “it was hard, the first few months. i was never interested in being ranger. so, the physical stuff was absolutely excruciating. i think i, like, dislocated my shoulder once.” the man continues to stare at her expectantly, tina sighs. “my mother was an engineer. i live, breathe, and eat that shit.” there’s a smile forming on her lips, almost timidly. the man nods, but doesn’t offer much else. “i like to think i’m fairly exceptional. i’m in the top 5% of my current class. that’s tough shit. these people fight tooth and nail for this, it’s terrifying.” tina leans back in her seat, stares at the man’s feet. “you remind my a lot of my dad, hugh.”
hugh smiles, pen tapping at his clipboard. “your mother said the same thing.”
You have been accepted. Please proceed to create your account in the time frame of (3) days; then, it is required to add the admins 「 Bobby + Suzy」and patiently wait for one of the admins to add you before adding anyone else. Cheers to joining the night with us!
