Mako Mori

I was 10 years old when the first invasion began. I lived with my parents in one of the villages in Japan. I had no brothers or sisters, so my parents loved and took care of me. He spent his childhood with his father in his workshop.

After the attack of the first Kaiju, I felt fear and sadness. I felt sorry for all the people of San Francisco and we followed the events on TV. It was a whole day of suffering. It was difficult to watch this disaster.

Then there were other attacks and the world changed. At such a young age, I did not understand much, but now, when I am standing next to the office of the most famous person in the world, I feel my involvement in the struggle and understand better everything that happened then.

After these numerous Kaiju attacks, I felt the economic crisis on me. Parents usually try to shield their child from family problems, but when your parents are struggling, it's hard not to notice. My parents lost their jobs and my dad had to move with us to Tokyo and work at a factory for the manufacture of armor for Jaegers.

Father had experience working with metal, so he was hired. The money he earned was enough for us to live on, but my mother got cancer and it became difficult for us to live again.

But we stuck together as a family. We even gotten over the loss of our home after the Kaiju attack on Tokyo. Mom blamed Torterra for this. She said that he left us and went to travel the world. We felt protected when he fought and we felt for him every time he shed his blood protecting us. But when he left, our hope wavered.

Years passed, and Torterra did not return. He became very popular on that side of the planet, but people in the Pacific hated him. Every video of him relaxing on the beach disgusted us. He seems to have taken a vacation.

Although it was strange for me that he left, I learned to live with it. Torterra was our hero, but the Jaeger pilots also sacrificed their lives for us. The pilots got as much respect from me as Torterra.

Now I'm also a pilot. And I am happy to serve humanity and have the opportunity to protect those I love.

When I was still in school, people came to our class with complex devices. This happened only in big cities. These people tested a person's ability to drift.

My parents were horrified by the fact that I passed all the tests with the best and entered the top ten candidates from Japan. They were shocked, but also proud of it. My mother's condition was deteriorating and we had no money for cancer treatment. No one had more funds for such things. But when I became a candidate for the Jaeger program, the government began to pay me a scholarship for studies.

I didn't have any advantages or anything special, but my brain was very good for drifting. That's why I could control Jaeger better than others at the simulations. But there was a problem. I didn't have a drifting partner. Most of the candidates were siblings, there were even three twin brothers from China, but I had none.

I really wanted to be a pilot, but without a partner it was useless. No one at the academy suited me. I prayed to be given a chance. Even if I die in battle, the pilot's family will receive a pension and will be able to have free treatment. This was another reason why I tried and did not give up hope.

One day, the legendary Yancy Becket came to the academy. He and his brother Raleigh Beckett were experienced pilots and respected by all. Even when he just flew into the academy, we were taken outside and lined up to honor him. We stood in full dress and saluted him as he passed us.

The next day we found out he was retiring and looking for a drifting partner for his brother. All the students immediately began to glow with joy and the opportunity to drift with the veteran. But there were also those who did not even want to take a kinship test. Most of them were those who already had a partner.

I was fortunate to. Yancy Beckett was very pleased when my brain showed good synchronization with his brain on tests. We didn't drift because it wasn't a good idea to drift with a lot of people. It was like a rabbit hole.

When you drift, you see all of your partner's memories and with each new partner, those memories are added to your brain. After the third partner, you will already have the memory of 4 people in your head. With such a brain, no one will be able to drift well with you.

And here I am. I am standing near the office. I didn't know Raleigh Becket yet, but his brother and I became friends. He is very sensitive and worried about me during my studies at the academy. I no longer went through general training with others and the rest of the students envied me. During this time, Yancy became like the big brother I never had.

If Raleigh is the same as Yancy, then he and I will be fast friends. After meeting with Marshall, I have a scheduled drift from Raleigh.

"Miss Mako. Glad to congratulate you on graduating from the academy," Marshal greeted me as he left the office.

"Thank you, Mr. Pentecost. I am honored to be here."

"Come in, please." Marshal invited me to his office, and I went inside. He pointed to a chair and I sat down.

"Thank you."

"Miss Mako. I would like to talk to you about drifting with Mr. Raleigh."

"Yes sir! Do not worry. We were taught how to drift in the academy. If you are worried about the gender difference, then I would like to assure you that it will not be an issue when drifting." I thought a lot about it, and at the academy we were prepared for it. So that I don't see while drifting, I shouldn't dwell on it.

"I'm not interested in these things, Miss Mako. If you can't handle even that, then you don't belong among my pilots." Marshal didn't like Mako's train of thought. Although she was only a child of 19 years, but he expected from his pilots army discipline.

"Sorry, Sir." Mako became embarrassed. She tried to hide from Marshal's gaze, but the situation demanded that she remain unemotional.

"While drifting with Mr. Raleigh, you will learn secret information that is only available to me and him." Although Marshall was able to drift without emotion or thought, he had not met more people capable of such pure drift. There was a high possibility that Mako would find out everything he told Mr. Raleigh.

"Secret information? What kind of information?" Mako's thoughts bounced between theories about some conspiracy to some illegal activities and sectarians.

'Do they want to recruit me somewhere in a sect? They want to blackmail me before the drift starts, so I don't have a chance to say anything after?'' Mako's face paled, even though she already had a pale face. Her short black hair fell over her eyes and she fixed them with a trembling hand.

"This information relates to our fight against the Kaiju. We know more than the public, but in certain circumstances we cannot disclose this information. If this information becomes known to the enemy, then humanity will have less chance of survival."

"What? I... I don't understand. What enemy? Can the Kaiju somehow collect information on people?" Mr. Pentecost's words were strange to Mako. There were many theories about the origin of the Kaiju, but to learn that everything we were taught in the academy about them was false was shocking.

"That's why I called you here. This information can cause a crash while drifting. I need Mr. Raleigh to be in order, and if your brain gets stuck in his memories, I might lose him. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir." Mako answered uncertainly.

"You are not allowed to share this information with anyone. Even to members of the World Council."

"They don't have this information?" This information was also shocking for Mako. This means that Mr. Pentecost is keeping secret information even from his management.

There was silence in the room. The marshal did not answer this question because he had made himself clear and there was no need to repeat himself.

"Sir… this is treason." Mako said quietly. She understood that hiding such information was a very serious crime.

"Don't rush to conclusions. From the very first day of this war, there was only one being that could fight the Kaiju. No one on this planet knew the enemy better than he did, and only he could end this war. Everything I built during these years of war was only possible thanks to him and the information you will learn I also received from him."

"Are you talking about Torterra?" Mako was confused. As far as is known, Torterra was only able to speak after returning from a trip around the world.

"Yes. He is the only one who knows what is going on here. At the first meeting with him, he told me who our enemy is and what to expect from him. And thanks to this information, we do not wander in the dark. We know what's coming next and how to deal with it."

"But why can't you tell everyone about it? I heard about the difficulties with funding and about the Wall of Life project, it's no secret that the World Council redirects funds there." Mako tried to understand everything. If everything were to be told, wouldn't the World Council stop withdrawing money from the Jaeger program?

"Our enemy is here to destroy us. And this is a war in which all means are suitable for our destruction. Their attacks are not random and they send not only Kaiju into our world. The less people know, the better."

"Not only the Kaiju?"

"Yes. Do you know about Torterra being nuked again? It happened to him on the island."

"Yes, I heard about it. Someone wanted to kill him so that the United States would not have such a powerful ally."

"This is the official version, Miss Mako. Actually, it was another Kaiju attack. And it was aimed at killing Torterra. They attack him from time to time, trying to get him out of the way, but luckily he is still alive. But even if he dies, we have all the information we need to end this war. And after your drift with Mr. Raleigh, you will be a part of it. You are ready?"

Mako remained silent as she considered everything Marshal had told her. She felt hope in that. Even though it seemed wrong to withhold such information, she couldn't help but feel glad that someone was keeping the situation under control. Mako felt in her heart that she wanted to be a part of it too. She wanted to win this war and if that meant keeping a secret, she would.

Marshal Stacker Pentecost was the man who fought, not the World Council. Only he stood on the battlefield and only he could win this war. The World Council only puts pressure on him and withdraws money. What right do they have to know the truth? If the enemy really can gather information, then these people from the World Council will be the cause of the death of humanity.

Mako was not stupid and could understand that. These people were bureaucrats and there were too many of them. The possibility of the presence of a traitor among thousands and thousands of politicians could not be dismissed. Especially when Kaiju fans appear on the Internet from time to time.

"You are right, Sir! It is impossible to allow the dissemination of any information important to the enemy. Even among officials." Mako's gaze became hard and determined. She was ready to do everything necessary to fight the enemy.

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