You heard about it every so often but you definitely never saw it. Pilots who'd been in the machines too many times, pushed the sync ratio too high, or limped back to base after taking too many hits.
Depended on which of the old mechanics wanted to frighten one of the new cadets out of dreams that were more likely to get them killed than anything else. You figured all the details about pilots with glassy eyes, shaky hands, and stilted gaits were too exaggerated and too obviously crafted to bring ambitious recruits down a couple pegs.
But every so often a pilot came back from a sortie and you'd see them walk over to that same mechanic who tried to scare some sense into them.
Maybe the machines were asking for something out there. Maybe the pilots were getting tempted to let the machines have it.
You wondered what gilded promises were being made to those pilots who agreed to leave a part of themselves in the cockpit.
You wondered if it was worth it.
