They were all pretty nice in Kyle's opinion. He did have any problems with them. They looked at him on the first day and wondered what to expect from him. Not just the officers and trainers, but the other recruits on the base did too. When his comrades had fathers as active pilots, they spent time in several nice European countries. Their French and German was totally fluent. It was much better than Kyle barely literate English. Kyle also refused to ditch his old clothes or his cloth for the pilot suit. They meant way too much to him. The first few months were spent in a boot camp. Then they were allowed to get in their Shine simulator room. While in training, all the prospective Glowies wore the training mech suit. That was no longer an option. Kyle still ties the cloth around his neck. It certainly made him stand out. The suits were not comfortable. Not at all. These were the standard tan and had the word "Testing" on the chest. They also did not have sleeves or pant legs. It was all part of a hazing ritual. None of his squad mates were orphans like him. He was the youngest member of the squad.
Kyle was tall for his age, so that did not matter as much now. Now that they had gotten this far they had to attempt synchronizing in pairs. He went up to one of his squad mates. "Want to sync up with me!? I think that I can be a good Top. I'll be sure to be nice as you take Bottom." he proposed. The boy looked pretty scared himself at the prospect. His name was Tyler. He just nodded his head. They went to the mock cockpit for the synchronization simulation. Excitement was building for both of them as the approached. There were 2 piloting platforms. Kyle and Tyler 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 the recruits were equal and starting to get the hand of the roles, they were to discuss what roles they should take among themselves.
It was up to them. Obviously, they would both be judged for the result whether they failed or succeeded here. 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 together 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. Kyle and Tyler were together. "I want to be the Top." Kyle 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, Kyle. I think that you'd be good at being the Bottom." Tyler said, shaking his head. Clearly, he had gotten over his fright now that he was here. "What!? I asked you if you wanted to be Bottom before we got here! You said yes." Kyle snapped at him. "Oh, right..." Tyler just trailed off. Kyle crossed his arms. "Fine. We can do it his way for now. Next time, I'll be Top." he said. Kyle was fine with that. "Okay. Deal. Let's go." he said. They shook on it.
