Kyo and Rinto were childhood friends and paired together. Rei quickly walked up to him. Oliver rolled his eyes when he say Nao pairing up with Kazumi. It was clear Rei had something of a crush on him. Oliver had caught him sneaking peaks at him when they washed up together in the saunas and baths many times. Naked bonding with your brothers in arms was part of Japanese culture. Because they were all teenagers going through puberty, it was quite clear that Rei was gay. Nao was too. Rei was the second tallest. Oliver had no choice other than to go into the mock cockpit with Rei. Everyone had already paired up. It would not only be rude, but also destructive to their team cohesion. He already did not speak their native language. If Rinto and Kyo jumped ship now, they would leave him stranded on base. They went in together. It was an exciting time for both of them. There were 2 piloting platforms. Oliver and Rei took their helmets and put them on. They sat back to back in the middle as they all were instructed before they bent forward. Now they were butt to butt. The visors then flipped on.
Synchronizing was not a simple task. Now that they were in their augmented reality, it was time to connect. For recruits, they were told to imagine a king-sized bed. Once it appeared, the pilots were to get on. Since both of the recruits were equal and starting to get the hand of their roles, they were to discuss what roles they should take amongst themselves. It was up to them but, obviously, they would both be judged for the result whether they failed or succeeded. The mock cockpit was set to shut down if a connection was not reached in 5 minutes. For combat readiness, it was crucial to synchronize within 3 minutes. Over 5 was intolerable and would result in them not being able to go. A new pair would simply replace them for the duration of the mission. The clock was ticking. Oliver and Rei were together. "I want to be the Top." Oliver said slowly and clearly. He knew from all the lessons that language was not a barrier here. They were truly in the preliminary stages of melding minds. "Huh!? I want to be Top, Oliver-kun. I think that you'd be good at being the Bottom." Sei said, shaking his head.
Oliver could not accept that. He was the second smallest in the group. He was also the youngest member. Oilver's father and grandfather were both Bottoms. If he gave in here, it was almost certain that he would never be able to become a Top. The role of the Bottom was to not only meld with the fuselage of the Shine, but also accept a fair bit of discomfort as they felt the insertion of the Top's consciousness inside them so that the Top could control the mech. For recruits, they were all told to imagine the bed so that it would be easier to synchronize. Both pilots would be focusing on the same thing and have the same task while in the augmented reality. The recruits were all taught how to get on their hands and knees so they could be mounted. It was basically enacting doggy style. Obviously, seasoned veterans did not need all the crude visuals. What mattered here were the white and black pulses that the pilots emitted. The Top emits the positive pulse, which is white, and the Bottom emits the negative pulse, which is black. The 2 pilots' pulses needed to mesh together and synchronize properly.
