Evangelion: Redemption (Ch. 14 of 19) - Part 2

[fanfic_mausoleum_n_grill]

(Again, Lyn Anouilh finds himself staring out the window of a moving car; but this time the city is darker, the sun hanging low as afternoon sets in. This turns both the stark skyline of Tokyo-3 and the rubble of the occasional demolished building into a single mass of black against the orange sky. But the Sixth Child is not really interested in the streets and buildings that glide past in the window.)

Misato: So..

Lyn: ..

(Misato leaves the rest unsaid. It was more of a question, something she had already asked him.

Are you alright?

She had asked him during the briefing; Katsuragi hadn't had enough time to be delicate or gentle about telling him. Lyn had seen the tiredness in her eyes, the tiredness that is still there. She had asked him a second time as they had gotten into the car - he accepted her offer to drive him home. Lyn knows that she could easily have gotten NERV security to escort him home, but she must have wanted to do it herself.

Perhaps it was so she could ask a third time.)

Misato: Shinji, Asuka and me.. we'll always be just downstairs. Call on us, visit anytime ..

(She had offered for him to move in. As if it were out of any reason other than sympathy. He had refused.)

Misato: .. whatever.

Lyn: ...

(Lyn knows that his own problems are only background to what has happened in Tokyo-3 in the past few days. That seems almost impossible for him to believe when he thinks about it.

Asuka had seemed unaffected. Lyn hadn't really been listening when she and Misato had spoken in the canteen - Asuka had said something about having something to do at NERV before going home. It was probably better that she didn't go home in the same car as Lyn; Anouilh isn't comfortable having to deal with Asuka at the best of times, and now was certainly not the best of times.

The most lasting impression from what little he had seen of the Second Child was that she was normal - yet she had "missed out" on even more than he had. She and Shinji had gone missing before he had even gone to Aoi's apartment and then everything.. well.. just seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth.

That had been the night that Seyoko Okazaki had been shot.)

Lyn: ...

(Shot. Someone had wanted to kill her, and had put a bullet through her body. She had nearly died of blood loss, and had not yet recovered consciousness. That had been days ago. Judging by the look in Misato's eyes, it might have been years. The doctors had told him not to give up hope, not yet, not until they had run more checks, followed her progress...

Someone had shot her. The thought is completely unbelievable to Lyn. The Sixth Child can't get his mind around that bizarre idea. Someone had wanted to remove Seyoko entirely from the world. Someone had thought she was so important to send two men to kill her.)

Lyn: ...

(He is on his own, now.

Seyoko had been surprised and nervous when she first met Aoi. She had been talking a bit too much, a bit too quickly, but she had still managed to embarrass Lyn thoroughly in the first five minutes of conversation with a few well placed comments.

The memory doesn't even bring a smile to his face this time. Her personal effects rest in the boot of the car - the hospital staff had given them to him to take away. Apparently their owner wouldn't be needing them any time soon.)

Misato: (patiently) We'll be downstairs, anytime you need us..

(Seyoko had been unbelievable.

But then he heard about his father, from Major Arnold.

Impossible.

Hayridge has told him his father was dead. That didn't make any sense, Lyn thought, frowning slightly. He couldn't die. The man was so far away.. barely a blip on the horizon, but always a presence - always a part of his mind, of his memories, a nagging thought, a whisper in the back of his mind. Dad? Dead?

Dad?

Dead?

Lyn dimly remembered the words, delivered in a crisp, military style report by Hayridge. A laser shot from the enemy had melted the fuselage of his father's plane. It had simply been a target of opportunity. The craft had burst into flames barely seconds after Jean Phillip Anouilh had given the last orders of his command, to break formation and split up, to make themselves as troublesome targets as possible. It hadn't saved his father. Maybe it had saved the two personnel carriers that had made it to safety in Tokyo-3. Maybe it had saved Major Arnold Hayridge.

Misato turns a corner, not slowing down as much as a normal driver would, and the rear of the car wobbles a little, right on the edge of sliding out. With a grunt, the Major straightens it up, tromping on the gas. Maybe she's angry - maybe she noticed that he hasn't really been listening to what she says.)

Misato: Don't worry.. you'll be home soon.

(The car zooms through an amber light just before it turns fully red.)

Misato: .. safely.

-----------------------------------------------------

(While the Sixth Child slowly gives ground to the changes to his world and life, another pilot seems unbothered in the face of the chaos that had struck the city and the people..

But in a way, it has given her something to do. Misato is taking Lyn home and will be back for her later; or at least that was what she had told her. So meanwhile..

It had been a nearly spontaneous thought as she had wandered aimlessly through the NERV canteen, idle, bored, and left out of the loop. The canteen stocks meals, boxed in transparent plastic and displayed under warm glass. Staff who are short of time can pick up a quick meal, and most NERV staff are finding their schedules very tight today. Asuka, on the other hand, needs something to do.

Asuka Langley Sohryu strides into the infirmary waiting room, a warm plastic lunchbox under one arm and a strong swing in the other. There, she expects to find Rei Ayanami, whom she had heard - okay, overheard - Misato say would be waiting in the lounge for news.)

Asuka: You're not going to believe it, First, but guess who's..

(The girl trails off as she catches sight of the most unusual thing thus far today: Shinji Ikari.

The Third Child is asleep; the boy's head is lolled to one side on the backrest of his seat. One of his arms is drooped around Rei's shoulders. The two sit together on the row of seats, otherwise alone in the waiting room.)

Asuka: (thinking) I should have figured he'd come here..

-(flashback)- Shinji: I wanted to say I love you. You mean everything to me.

(His words - spoken in Instrumentality - return to her, sharp and quick, almost painful. Asuka doesn't notice her grip on the plastic lunchbox tightening until the pressure causes the seal to pop slightly. At the sound, the First Child looks up, her crimson eyes even more red from the crying and lack of sleep. Asuka's rising anger falters as she is caught in that gaze.)

Rei: What?

Asuka: (quickly) Nothing.

(The red-haired girl lifts the lunch box she had carried here. She can feel the microwaved warmth through the transparent plastic.)

Asuka: Here.

Rei: ..

Asuka: It's for you.

(Asuka sets the box down on the free seat next to Rei, and then after a moment of thought, takes the seat herself, placing the "peace offering" on her lap.

The Second Child offers the lunchbox to the First. Ayanami turns her gaze to it, and then to Shinji's arm, still draped around her corner. With slow, cautious movements, she shifts Shinji's sleeping embrace, gently settling him in his seat. Then - and only then - does she accept the meal and open it.

And only then does Asuka remember something else.)

Asuka: (rummaging through pockets) I.. er... (embarrassed) I'm sure I put them here somewhere..

(By the time Asuka finishes rummaging through her pockets to find the chopsticks she had brought, the First is already eating.. with another pair.)

Asuka: (indignantly) Hey, where did you get those?

(Rei remains silent, picking at her lunchbox carefully, leaving Asuka to grumble and wonder how she managed it. Then Asuka spies it - tucked away neatly under the chair is another, almost identical lunchbox; and she realizes. Shinji had brought one himself.

He had done the same thing, the same kindness, probably hours before Asuka herself had even thought of it.)

Asuka: (fuming) Rrrrghh.. I tried and he.. grr..

(Her face flushed red, part in anger and part in embarrassment. Neither the silent Ayanami or the sleeping Shinji - or the eloquently silent lunchbox that sits empty beneath the chair - takes note of her expression as redness gives way to a slightly less vexed look.)

Asuka: Well, its good to see nothing's really changed.

(Rei's eyes flick up from her meal - her second meal - to focus on Sohryu. The Second Child pretends not to notice and stretches, relaxing in her chair, and repeats an earlier thought.)

Asuka: I should have known he would be here..

Rei: Are you angry?

Asuka: What? With you? (jerks her head towards the sleeping Shinji) Or with the twit?

(Ayanami does not respond, but simply drops her eyes back down to the sleeping Shinji. For a moment the two girls watch his sleeping form - peaceful, unbothered. Asuka is certain that if Shinji knew she were there, seeing him with Rei, he would be anything but peaceful.

He might be ashamed. No, he would be ashamed - that he had come to Rei, that he had brought her a meal, showed some kindness. That realization makes Asuka feel.. bad.

And it brings another thought to the girl; it is hardly a new thought, but something that has been part of the background noise of her life for a long time now. But recent events have brought it straight to the foreground, right in front of her, demanding to be seen, to be spoken.

Asuka speaks.)

Asuka: First.. I was wondering..

(Ayanami continues to eat, relatively unconcerned as the Second Child settles her chin in her hands, staring forwards with unfocused blue eyes.)

Asuka: This is probably a stupid question.

Rei: (eating)

Asuka: Have you ever.. wanted something, or someone, but they've never really.. belonged to you? But to someone else, you know?

(The Second Child does not turn to look for Rei's reaction. From her experiences with Ayanami, Asuka is sure that there will be none.)

Asuka: It's as if this thing is there, with you in your life, but this.. other person needs it too. And it's obvious.

(Rei's chopsticks freeze, but Asuka does not notice, struggling as she is to be open and honest towards the First for once.)

Asuka: And as much as you want to.. hate them for being that 'other person', you know they don't deserve to be hated. That would just be.. mean. It wouldn't be fair, not after what they've been through.

(If she had noticed, Asuka might have seen Rei's hand trembling.)

Asuka: (head drops) Look.. I guess I’m just trying to say..

Rei: ..

Asuka: ..

Rei: ..

Asuka: Never mind.

(The slightly bitter touch to Asuka's voice is lost on Ayanami; Rei stares at the strands of noodles caught in her chopsticks, not really seeing them. The Second Child still fails to notice the attitude of the First, instead rising and brushing down her skirt. Still turned away, Sohryu heads to the door, pausing only to offer what she believes to be a final, peacemaking phrase..)

Asuka: I just hope you understand.. what I'm getting at..

(The door slides shut.)

------------------------------------------------------

(The frozen image blurs, pixels freezing. Suddenly it is clear again.

The audio picks up quick breaths and the rapid slap of shoes against asphalt. The view veers and rocks, up towards the sky, down towards the black ground with dividing white lines. The operator runs and weaves between vehicles - in an outdoor carpark? He struggles to keep the camera level.

The image focuses on a car, turning, heading out of the carpark, the view catching only a brief glimpse of the long dark hair of the driver..

..the car dropped someone off, a teenager carrying some sort of bag or pack. He begins walking towards the parking lot's building - the building where he, and several other pilots, live.

Kensuke Aida had been waiting for someone to turn up, someone to help him with his new project. That someone has arrived.)

Kensuke: Hey! Lyn, hey!

(The walking figure stops and turns slowly, giving the runner time to slow to a walk, the view becoming stabilizing..)

Lyn: ..

(Now the image is much clearer, the young man's face readily visible. Light brown hair and matching eyes. Those eyes seem slightly downcast, a slight frown evident on the young man's face. It is clear that he is not exactly overjoyed to see the camera.. but its owner is too enthusiastic to notice.)

Kensuke: This place is going to start jumping again! First Sohryu and Shinji, and now you're back too? Hey, where's Aoi?

Lyn: I'm not really sure..

Kensuke: Oh yeah, that reminds me..

(The user takes a breath.)

Kensuke: Lyn Anouilh, the Sixth Child. Designated pilot of Eva Unit Six, until its destruction.

Lyn: .. what?

Kensuke: (exuberant) Documentation! You know, the human side of the Evangelion project of twenty-sixteen! Or as close as we can get to human, since I have to include Asuka too. I thought that since I was around you guys so much and you were doing so much important fighting, that I ought to contribute in some way..

(Lyn interrupts, giving perhaps the most information he will all day..)

Lyn: Miss Katsuragi is heading back to pick up Sohryu, so if you want to get footage of her..

(The view almost trembles. Maybe the camera's owner is just fiddling with something.)

Kensuke: Uhhh, I think I'll get some more footage of her another time.. got enough today..

Lyn: What if you get some by mistake?

Kensuke: Oh no, this thing is digital, it's an editing dream. Here, look at this.

(The camera view drops low and twists onto one side, wobbling. The autofocus gives a clear view of a nearby hubcap.)

Kensuke: See?

Lyn: (distracted) Yeah.

Kensuke: I hit this, selecting the file I'm recording. I can edit second-by-second on my computer at home.. its awesome..

Lyn: (to himself) I'm going to have to get something for dinner..

Kensuke: And if I need to clear some memory I can cancel and delete the file by just hitting this button -

(Zap.

And the camera is stopped, saved for another time, another place.)

------------------------------------------------------

(This darkness, this silence, this peace.

This place has been her home, her world. Her entire existence had been within the silence of this space, the peace of completion. Free from pain, free from thought and feeling.

Until his face had appeared in her thoughts. And with that came the realization that she might have a face as well.

His face. Her face. She knows the things that make them different, and the things that make them the same. His eyes are golden, while hers are blood-red. His hair is pale, almost white, while hers is a shade of light-blue. Both have starkly pale skin.

He is so much smaller than she is, and seemingly more fragile. She remembers pulling a jumper over his head, the only protection he would have to the cold and wet of the journey to come. She had knelt down on the cracked pavement to bring their eyes level. She remembers his sobbing fear as she held him, cradling his small form as he cried and shook in the entry plug. She remembers his face as she promised to stop them from ever doing that to him again.

Differences and similarities. He is male, she is female. He and she. She is a pilot - the Evangelion that had caused him such fear and discomfort was hers. The purpose - to defeat the enemy, to destroy the Angels - was hers also. But he was created not just for that purpose, but for another. Failure would have meant his destruction as a useless creation, a failed experiment.

Anger. Rage. Feelings that she had not known in the dark and solitary completion within the entry plug.

Solitary. Alone. One, only one. She was not aware of this concept before. The idea of being alone would have been utterly alien if she had not known that he, the other, existed. She would not have known loneliness if she had not understood that others existed. But now she is aware of him, feeling the differences, feeling the point where she stops and he begins.

But she has never touched him, never held him, never promised to protect him. These things are not her memories. But they are her memories. It is her touch.

He is Tenkei. She is Rei Ayanami. She is the First Child.

The entry plug surrounds her. She knows what to call it - it is a memory she has inherited. In a moment of contact, when that presence touched her mind and lived in her body for just a moment, an entire world had been scorched into her mind. She remembers it. What the other had carried in her mind is now carried in Rei Ayanami's mind.

She is the same as her, because that is how Tenkei sees them. To him, they are both Rei Ayanami. They both have the same value. She deserves the same as she.

Other things are also there in her memory. Other faces, other names, but none with the clarity and intensity of Tenkei's face. Nothing is as strong as that need.

Now she cannot feel complete. Now she knows how tiny this space is, this world she has been shackled into. Now she is not free from thought and feeling. She is not free from pain and hate and love and joy and loneliness and terror and comfort and -- )

Rei: ..

(This place is tiny. This place is lonely. This place is trapping her. This place is crushing her.

This place is too small to be her world anymore.

And then a blade of light slices an opening in the darkness.)

------------------------------------------------------

(The damage to the entry plug had been extensive.

Unit 00 had hacked into the shattered body of the Evangelion until it had exposed the entry plug, the controlling system of the Eva. As the fallen creature had pulsed out the last of its blood, Rei had driven her progressive blade through the plug itself.

She had wanted to kill it. What little information could be pulled together from her enraged screaming during the battle didn't shed much light on what had been going on in her mind. Fuyutsuki is certain, however, that it was central to what had happened - and to how she had been able to strike the Eva from such an enormous distance without any target data, how she had sensed the concealed Unit's presence and fired a single shot to cripple the enemy Evangelion's flight system, a shot with impossible accuracy.)

Technician: The primary hatch wasn't damaged sir, but it's sealed up pretty tightly.

Fuyutsuki: Can you open it?

Technician: Yes Sir.

(Fuyutsuki nods as the men continue the operation, fastening cutting equipment onto the hatch. The plug has been linked up to the MAGI's systems in an effort to operate or at least view the interior systems remotely. But those systems are not responding; the entry plug seems to be effectively dead.

This is not surprising, considering that four meters of blade, edged with a ultrasonic cutting field, had slid through the core of the plug and fused it to the floor of the Eva storage cage. The giant knife still rests there, impaling the crippled entry plug, even as they begin to open it.)

------------------------------------------------------

(Glowing, burning lines, so painfully bright. Slashing across the walls of her world, blinding to eyes that have never seen the touch of sunlight. Too bright - she winces, her eyes squinting almost shut - but unwilling to look away.

Her world is finally opening. Beyond it, she might find him..)

------------------------------------------------------

Hyuga: (loudspeaker) Still zero readings from inside the plug.

Technician: Cutting procedure completed!

Fuyutsuki: Open the hatch.

(Vacuum seals slap down on the surface of the plug, hands tighten around grips as the men prepare to lift. They heave, the hatch giving out slightly, LCL swelling out of the opening. A man stumbles on the suddenly-slippery ground, but regains his balance as they shift the hatch off the entrance to the plug.)

------------------------------------------------------

(The slashes of light are replaced by a single, blinding rectangle of whiteness. Her eyes adjusting, she begins to make out figures, shapes, dark shapes of heads and shoulders..)

Rei: (softly) Ten..kei?

(Her muscles, unused for so long, move with sudden pain and stiffness. Her face clears the LCL, her head dragging up the cables and wires that burrow into her skull. Her hands grip the edges of the hatchway as she pulls, the naked girl sitting up in the entry plug.

LCL pours out of her lungs, heaving out in a convulsive retch. Rei's eyes widen as she takes her first breath of real air.

And people are screaming. Shouts. Figures backing away from the plug. Something heavy is dropped suddenly and loudly.

And one gulping yell comes through so clear to her..)

Voice: Jesus Christ, she's ALIVE!!!

------------------------------------------------------

Fuyutsuki: It's dead.

(Fuyutsuki stands to one side of the plug. A technician holds a torch, shining the beam down into the red-tinted LCL. It illuminates the ghostly face of the thing in the plug.

Blood-red eyes, milk-white skin. Brown hair, pale almost to being gray, almost to being white. The LCL is stained red with its blood - no doubt from the wound created when the massive progressive blade of Unit 00 drove through the child's stomach. If Rei had intended to kill it, she had certainly done so. Not a flicker of life remains in those crimson eyes.)

Fuyutsuki: Remove the body and store it for post-mortem analysis. Try to remove the plug systems in as complete a state as possible, we'll have to study what they've done here.

(He looks up, briefly wishing that Ibuki weren't so busy with the Ev.N complement so she might be - if, for no other reason, to remind him that there are still people in the world who think that things like this are an obscenity.)

Fuyutsuki: Get moving.

------------------------------------------------------

SEELE: The Unit performed exceptionally - exceeding our expectations.

Suit: MARI was destroyed.

(There is very little trust in this room.

The twelve obelisks of SEELE are present at their holographic gathering. Within the circle stands a thirteenth projection - that of a man, of average height and build, wearing a dark, well-made business suit.

He is a representative of SEELE's latest ally. When they had believed that Jean-Phillip Anouilh, the director of UNSynaps, had been faltering in his obedience, SEELE had used this group to strike at him. This group had recovered Evangelion Unit 04 from the second branch in the United States, and rebuilt it to their specifications, their purpose.

But SEELE had need of them, and had made them an offer they could not refuse.)

SEELE: Its performance at Aurillac and Nantes was sufficient to ensure the recovery of six of the Evangelion series.

SEELE: More than making up for the loss of the former Unit Four.

SEELE: A regrettable loss, but an acceptable one.

(He can almost hear the slight tone of smugness in those voices. These men had wanted MARI to be destroyed. They had wanted the precious, unique components within the Evangelion to be lost in battle. They had wanted their pawns to remain helplessly dependant on their masters.

He had expected as much. Unit 04 had been recovered with both S2 unit and entry plug - both the means to power and to control the Evangelion. For SEELE, this had been too much of a threat to trust to anyone else. The Suit knows that SEELE has a very bad track record with its "allies". Simply, SEELE does not trust.

They had not trusted Gendo Ikari in his use of NERV, and so had prepared UNSynaps to replace him. They had not trusted UNSynaps, and so had needed to prepare another organization to take its place.

And when they discovered that another group had a fully-functioning Evangelion at their disposal, they had known that they could not allow such a potential danger to their "scenario". This group had be destroyed, or used in their plan. They struck two birds with one stone, incorporating MARI into their schedule as a potential replacement for UNSynaps.

And they had finally conspired to remove the threat that MARI had posed to them. Ordering the Unit to continue the assault on Tokyo-3, expecting three prepared Evangelions to pounce upon it and tear it to pieces. And the S2 unit, and the entry plug, would both be destroyed. Only SEELE would be able to provide them with more components. Yes, the loss of the Unit is "acceptable" to the old men; it is exactly what they had wanted.

The Suit smiles slightly, and chooses this time to let his little secret out.)

Suit: A very regrettable loss - both the S2 unit and the compatibility plug. At least the inclusion of the recovered Evangelions will greatly shorten the time we need to produce -

SEELE: (interrupting) The compatibility plug?

Suit: (thinking) Good catch, old man. I was almost afraid that you'd miss it.

Suit: A minor technical difficulty. We handled it.

Kihl: (angrily) Explain yourself!

(The man's order, projected from God-knows-where, is short and sharp.)

Suit: During tests we held prior to the mobilization order, we had discovered an instability in the original entry plug body. When the order came, we were forced to conclude that it was unsuitable for combat.

SEELE: The original plug was faulty?

Suit: It was only a prototype system when we acquired it. We completed what NERV had started, but there's always the chance of.. bugs slipping in.

SEELE: You exchanged the plugs?

Suit: We reconfigured the compatibility plug you provided us with.

SEELE: (angry) That device was intended only to be used for testing purposes, not for operation!

Suit: The systems that you gave us programming access to were more than sufficient to modify the plug for combat; and as you said, it performed exceptionally. (pauses) A very successful test, if I may say so.

Kihl: And what of the original plug?

Suit: It developed terminal instabilities and refused to synchronize ever again. It has been destroyed.

SEELE: Destroyed?

(The suit pauses for full effect.)

Suit: I guarantee it.

(The circle of obelisks fall silent.)

Suit: (thinking) You want it, don't you. You want to be sure that she's dead, that we've lost the last card we had. You know I'm lying, but you have to believe me.. we don't trust each other enough for anything else.

Suit: (thinking) Worse yet, you need us. You can't afford to lose us.

Kihl: This meeting is over.

(The circle vanishes with a rushing sound, and the Suit smiles again.)

Suit: Lights.

(The room snaps into brightness, and the man shields his eyes briefly. He hears the Officer's footsteps cross the room towards the projection area.)

Officer: That.. didn't go well. We could have used more time.

Suit: I didn't think they would accept my explanation so easily. How did the trace go?

Officer: We have three.

------------------------------------------------------

(The men continue down one of the larger corridors, towards the infirmary.)

Officer: Basic surveillance has started - I know what you're going to say, but we're being careful. But we have to confirm who they are before we move on them.

(The suit's sharp look turns into a grudging nod.)

Suit: Only three.. that's not enough.

Officer: Yes. But according to their schedule, we should have plenty of time to locate them.

Suit: You must insure that every team is thoroughly briefed. We need a green light for all twelve before we move. If a situation is the least bit chancy, if they so much as smell a problem, they back off and shift to another team. We cannot afford to compromise what we are doing.

Officer: My men are professionals. They will handle it as professionals.

(This is not the man that took the orders of the Suit in days past - now he is doing something that he understands; security, deployment.. and eventual elimination. His eyes are narrow and his gaze now meets that of the business Suit, strong and fierce; now they are on even terms. Both men are in their element - the Suit in his espionage, and the Officer in military and security - and loving it.

For a moment, the Suit recognizes something in the Officer, something they have in common. Himself, the Suit would want to be there when SEELE realizes what has been done to them - if just to see the expression on Kihl's face. The Officer, while too old for the field, would simply like to pull the trigger himself.

They both want to beat SEELE.)

Officer: So did they believe you?

Suit: Of course not. But we maintain a polite fiction of trust, for now. We need the parts they can produce, they need the facilities and manpower we control. Why risk a mutually beneficial relationship just because we don't believe each other?

(The dry humor is back. The Officer grimaces.)

Suit: SEELE knows we're playing with them - just like we know they're playing with us. But it's nothing that endangers either of our goals, for now. They'll keep their peace.

Officer: And this facility?

(He gestures rather vaguely at the white washed walls around them. This room is, for the most part, identical to any you might find in a hospital.

But deeper in the facility this likeness fades. A visitor to descend into the lower levels of the base would first have to pass through rigorous decontamination procedures. Here on one of the upper levels, however, the restrictions are far less limiting. The Officer nods at the doctor at the door as they enter the small room. Their voices drop slightly as they see the patient on the single bed, a plastic tube feeding into a bandage on her arm, feeding her bloodstream, feeding her tired, fragile body.)

Suit: They could expose this facility to the UN, or try to weaken us some other way. But if they cause an accident, we cause an accident.

Officer: And we all get even? Starting a conflict with SEELE would be disastrous. I'm sure you remember what happened to their previous "partners"? You haven't forgotten the assaults already, have you?

Suit: The entire situation that resulted with the destruction of MARI is one they initiated - they wanted the Eva destroyed. We let them do so, with a price - we keep the original entry plug. But they don't know exactly what we've gained.

Officer: Neither do we.

Suit: I think she might surprise all of us.

(He directs his attention to the bandage-clad figure that lies on the room's bed. She calmly regards the men with her crimson eyes. The girl does not speak now - but when she did, nobody on the base could understand her.)

Suit: We have a translator coming in. Maybe we'll be able to figure out who this 'original plug' is.

------------------------------------------------------

(An empty home.

The remains of lunch rest on the kitchen table. Throwaway plastic container, foil sachets of sauce, paper sachet for chopsticks, the chopsticks themselves.. a few stray grains of rice, brown with soy, remain where Lyn hadn't bothered to scrape them out of the grooved plastic container. The whole thing is held shut by the rubber band that had come with the meal when the Sixth Child had bought it from the take-away on the corner.)

Lyn: ..

(The staff at the hospital had given him Okazaki's personal effects to take home. Lyn had carefully made Seyoko's bed and placed her things on the sheets. There were the clothes she had been wearing when she had been admitted, now cleaned, dried, and folded. Her NERV issue firearm, with holster and spare magazine all in a small plastic carry case, was placed beside. Her wallet, cards, identification, some cash, and a level 2 parking permit. Watch, sunglasses, hairbrush, lipstick, a palm-sized container of cosmetics. A few crumpled receipts. Footwear, the boots she had been wearing when she was found, bleeding and nearly dead. The same boots that Seyoko had teased him with, the ones she had brought home the day she had met Aoi Tamashii.

The remote control doesn't seem to work. He pushes the button a few more times, but the TV remains dead and blank. Eventually Lyn whacks the remote lightly. It must knock the batteries into place, because it suddenly works again. Lyn flicks from channel to channel. A teen soap opera. An anime about some crazy girl with pink hair and a guitar. A documentary about the prophesized end of the world, pointing to the same omens being fulfilled today as there had been before Anouilh had even been born.)

Lyn: ..

(He flicked from channel to channel, watching things happen. Just like things have been happening to him.

It seems to Lyn as if his life is being played out at a distance. Seyoko shot, his father dead, old UNSynaps facilities - ones he had briefly trained in - destroyed. Hayridge, the Major, here, working for NERV. An Evangelion in Tokyo-3, being reconfigured with him, Lyn Anouilh, as the pilot designate.

And yet he doesn't feel anything. He doesn't have to feel pain, or anger, or helplessness, or regret. Because he can't make himself believe that this is real.

The world and everything that has happened seems a step outside of him, somehow separated from him. It seems distant, unreal, as if he is going to wake up and realize that it was a dream. Of course his father isn't dead, he couldn't have died. There was no assault in France, that's impossible. He was not led into another chamber, leaving Aoi alone in a room full of armed men.)

Lyn: (softly) Aoi..

(He says her name quietly, wondering at the magic that he had once felt saying that name. He repeats it.)

Lyn: Aoi Tamashii.

(Like so many other things, her name just leaves him feeling numb.

After they had put him in Unit 01, after he had seen that thing in Shinji's Eva, Aoi had been something hold onto. He remembers holding her, his face in her hair, her warmth, her smell. Her voice as he lay near her, in front of the TV. How it felt to reach out at take her hand, to feel her squeeze his fingers, comforting. That comfort is gone now, led away by two men armed with carbine assault rifles. It is not just that the NERV soldiers had separated him and Aoi. It was that Lyn does not know why they had done it, why they had needed those weapons.

This numbness can't last, he is certain of that.)

Lyn: ..

(He'll feel something. Eventually something will prick him, or touch the wrong nerve. Eventually he'll. see someone or something it the numbness will be replaced by pain, or anger. Aoi will speak to him at school. Someone, Hayridge maybe, will offer condolences for his father's death. "He Was A Good Man." Asuka will smirk at how she doesn't have to put up with him using her Unit 02. And then he will feel something.

But not yet.

The trip back to headquarters goes a lot quicker than he had expected.

He is not sure why he wants to go back to the Geo-Front so soon. Maybe he wants to see something that will make him feel something. Maybe to find Aoi. Maybe to let off some rounds in the firing range - the shopping mall and video arcades are closed for repairs to damage caused by the battle. Maybe to see this new Evangelion, he assumes it to be his Evangelion - maybe he'll feel something.

Maybe he'll meet Katsuragi, who went to all the trouble of driving home, and she'll chew him out. Perhaps it will hit him then.

Through the plexiglass screen of the Cage Observation room, Lyn sees the activity in the chamber beyond - the removal of the remains of the enemy Evangelion, repairs being done to the launching system - but the new Evangelion is absent. What is happening in the chamber, like so much of what has happened in the city, seems to have nothing to do with the Sixth Child.)

Yuri: Anouilh? Lyn?

(He turns, almost surprised to hear someone call his name. The technician waves at him from the other side of the room, where she too is watching the activity in the Cage. Lyn remembers vaguely that Yuri had been injured; he had seen her briefly with gauze around her head, bandages over her ears. There are no signs of her injuries now. A coffee cup in her hands shows that she is taking a short break, but it seems that her work has given her something else to do..)

Yuri: The new Eva is getting pretty high priority. I thought you might like to know - Major Katsuragi seems to think it's best to get the new one ship shape as soon as we could.

Lyn: (looking out through the screen) Miss Furikawa.. you're working on the Eva? The new one?

Yuri: Yeah, I'm overseeing a lot of the reconfiguration. It looks similar to the others, a bit thinner though, and we'll need to give it a designation in case more of the same come knocking..

(She sips her coffee, then grins slightly.)

Yuri: Would you like to see it?

Lyn: ...

(Yuri taps at one of her consoles and a video link appears, covering the glass observation port and hiding the gruesome removal behind.)

Yuri: (smiling) As you can see its a bit bland at the moment.. since its most likely to be yours, I guess any preference you have..

(Lyn Anouilh stares at the video feed, taking in the well-remembered design of Evangelion Unit 06 - manufactured in France, it is exactly as he remembers from his initial training..

And there, looking up at it, captivated by the familiarity, he still feels nothing.)

Lyn: You might as well.. paint it yellow.

Yuri: (curiously) Like the old one? I thought you didn't like that color.

Lyn: (quietly) Why bother changing?

------------------------------------------------------

(The swing should not be moving. Rei Ayanami's shoes rest beside her discarded schoolbag. The grass is cool between her toes.

She hadn't removed the shoes to enjoy the feeling of the blades of grass under her bare feet, as she and Tenkei normally would, but out of habit. It was just a habit of hers to drop her things in that particular spot. It was habit to come to this park during the school lunch break. It was habit to bring Tenkei to the swings.

The swing should not be moving, because Tenkei is not on it.

When she had first pushed the boy on the swing, it had been an imitation of the actions of others, of "normal people". Normal people that Rei had seen on her way to school - "normal" being people not like her, not like Tenkei. People who called others family because of birth and blood and law. But Rei called Tenkei her son because of none of these things, but instead because she felt something. She had called him her son, and he had called her his mother, and when they had played on the swings, they had done what they had thought was a "normal thing" for a mother and child to do.

The swing should not be moving, but it is. The chain links squeak as the empty swing goes back and forth.)

Rei: (softly) Where..

(The First Child knows that this is not real. Her last memory was of being in the waiting room, after Shinji had left. She had felt so tired, her eyelids heavy with the need to sleep..)

Rei: Where are you?

(The swing stops as the soles of sneakers dig in slightly into the earth. Rei's crimson eyes suddenly brim with tears she they lock onto the passenger between the chains - it is exactly who she wants to see.)

Tenkei: He made your mistake. You have so much in common; but I wonder..

(Rei approaches, her hands already reaching - but the boy's next words make her falter.)

Tenkei: I wonder if you are not making the same mistake now. Seeing what you think should be there. Blinding yourself with the walls you have built around yourself.

(She remembers drooping in her seat, her eyes closing, her body relaxing into sleep.

Rei halts, staring at the small child on the swing before her. He is Tenkei in every physical sense; but Tenkei, as Rei knows him, is so much more than this..

..than this..

..copy.)

Rei: (quietly) Why are you here?

Tenkei: Who are you?

(The questions, again. The first time this intruder had spoken to her, Rei had seen it as Kaworu Nagisa - the unknown being, the thing that threatened her and who she is. The second time this intruder had spoken to her, Rei had seen it as faceless; although it was no longer the Seventeenth Angel, it was just as alien, and yet just as familiar.

And now the same is facing her. A familiar face, but with an alien intent. It has taken the form of the thing that she had most wanted to see.

Rei holds back a strange surge of anger that rises at that thought, at that apparent.. violation. This thing should never have taken this form.

But the thing is here, and again Rei Ayanami answers its questions.)

Rei: I.. am Rei Ayanami. The designated pilot of Unit Zero.

Tenkei: And who is Shinji Ikari?

Rei: The pilot of Unit One. My.. friend.

Tenkei: Your brother?

Rei: No.

Asuka: But Shinji calls you his sister.

(And now it is the Second Child. The red haired girl stands up, smoothing the skirt of her school uniform.)

Asuka: That makes him your brother, right?

(The tones of her voice match Asuka's, making it a slightly petulant demand that Rei answer and agree with her. Rei briefly wonders why this thing has taken Sohryu's form.)

Rei: He.. finds it comfortable, something easy to hold on to.

Asuka: So Shinji calls you sister because it's simple for him?

Rei: He doesn't worry if..

Asuka: (interrupting) You mean that he doesn't have to think of you as Rei, because it's easier to lump you as a sister.

Rei: (softly) He doesn't want to face his feelings..

Asuka: (accusingly) It means he doesn't want to admit that he can love more than one person.

Rei: ..

Tenkei: And who is Tenkei?

(Another change. Rei looks away, not willing to meet eyes with this copy of the boy. She knows it is just an illusion, but seeing his face brings up the same feelings, the same need, the same pain. The memory that the boy lies somewhere in NERV headquarters being tended to, being.. worked on, as technicians might work on the shattered body of an Evangelion.)

Rei: Tenkei is my son.

Tenkei: Not because of birth.

(Rei's voice cracks slightly as she stares off towards the edge of the park.)

Rei: No. It is how we feel about each other.

Tenkei: No. It is because you refuse to face your feelings - like Shinji.

Rei: No.

Tenkei: You simplify what you feel by calling him your son. But truth is much more complicated than such a simple word.

Rei: He is my son. I protect him.

Tenkei: You protect the Lilim. Does that make you the mother of the human race?

Rei: He wants me to be his mother!

Shinji: But it's a cheat, an easy way out. It's easier to think about someone if you already know who they are, without having to look, to understand them. A lie is so much simpler than the complicated truth, than a living being.

(Now it is Shinji Ikari again. His expression, normally understanding, concerned or hesitant around Rei, is now hardened and judgmental.)

Shinji: But this is more than just about his name.. or about how you see him. But about what you are.

(Ayanami stares at the intruder. She composes herself, and in a moment her face is as it "normally" is; cold, unresponsive. She knows this thing that is talking to her for a reason - the reason it had tried to convey during the other times it had spoken to her. Rei Ayanami stares at the intruder and knows that it wants something.)

Shinji: You can change. You have changed. Asuka was right for a long time about you - you were Wondergirl. You obeyed your orders, you did what others wanted you to do, what others accepted you were going to do.

Rei: I did what was necessary.

Shinji: The only way you ever.. expressed yourself was through self destruction; when you would sacrifice yourself, try to kill yourself.

-(flashback)- Lunging forward, past the bulk of Unit 01, into the particle stream. The blinding light from the 5th Angel's weapon pours down on her..

-(flashback)- Rei: I will take the defensive position.

-(flashback)- Rei, engaging Unit 00's self-destruct mechanism..

Shinji: But that's different now, isn't it?

Rei: ..

(The form of the Third Child shifts, changing, and vanishes. Now there is no one speaking to Ayanami, but she can still hear its voice. It no longer needs a physical image to talk to her - or rather, Rei no longer needs to see it in a physical form.)

Voice: You've found this boy, this.. Tenkei. Now, you have something else. Something you want. Now you have something else that you express yourself through. You've changed.

Rei: Is that you want? You want me to change?

Voice: Shinji has changed. He battled with himself so long as he sat next to you, tormented over if he should put his arm around your shoulders.. afraid it would mean to much, that you might pull away.. but he did it, and not because he thinks of you as a sister.

Rei: He felt that he should do it.

Voice: He wanted to be the sort of person who would do it. He struggles to change. He struggles with the question of how to reach a person much more.. difficult to reach than yourself.

Rei: What do you want from me?

Voice: Soon I will need you to do something for me. You will have to change, to become something you are not. I want you to promise that when I ask you to do this thing for me, you will do it without hesitation.

(It wants something. And now, Rei is beginning to see it.)

Rei: Why should I promise you anything?

(And the intruder takes a form again, standing before Rei.)

Tenkei: Because I can save this life for you.

------------------------------------------------------

(Hikari Horaki is a very nice, very helpful person.)

Asuka: (thinking) But sometimes, Hikari, you're just a little too helpful..

(Asuka Langley Sorhyu sits on the mattress in her bedroom, leafing through her textbook. She and Shinji have missed out on a chunk of the semester's work, and with the exams coming up Asuka knows that horrible, pointless and stupid study is inevitable. Her only consolation is that the three stooges must be dowsing their drawers in terror at having to put their pea sized brains to some real work.)

Asuka: (thinking) Those idiots.

(She sits crosslegged, facing the wall as she bends her head over the textbook. From her bedroom she hears the apartment door slide open.)

Misato: (voice, from outside) Hey, I'm back! Anyone here?

Shinji: (voice) I'm here, Misato. Asuka's in her room -

Asuka: (loudly) I can tell her myself, Shinji! (more nicely) I'm in my room, Misato.

(It had been strange when Asuka had gotten home - all of three days ago now. Even though Shinji still hadn't 'returned' himself, something had shifted in Misato's posture as they had stepped back into the apartment, back to where they had all lived together. That tiny change in Katsuragi's demeanor had been Asuka's only warning. A second later she had nearly been crushed in a hug.

It had been surprising, and uncomfortable, and annoying. It had also been nice. Over the next few days Asuka had gotten used to Misato suddenly and unexpectedly hugging her.)

Asuka: (to herself) Now at least Shinji can get squeezed to death a bit..

(Her attention returns to her textbook. Asuka pages through the book in something approaching disgust - after this one, she still has a book on chemistry heavy enough to brain a horse, not to mention a few hundred printouts that had been handed out. Asuka had stuffed her handouts into her book and forgotten them, but Hikari - helpful, caring Hikari - had inside knowledge on the exam. Those handouts were vital for passing the tests, and all that was left of Asuka's copies were crumpled papers crushed into the crannies in the bottom of her school bag - the few that she hadn't tossed out.

Helpful Hikari had gotten her copies. She had said it wasn't too much bother since she was already getting copies for Touji too. Asuka had nearly screamed.

There is a knock at door.)

Shinji: (outside, softly) Asuka, can I come in?

(Asuka flicks back a few pages in her textbook. A few biting comments rise quickly in her mind, ready to be fired at the Third Child at the first provocation. She holds back the urge.)

Asuka: (not looking) Sure.

(.. and the Third Child slides open the bedroom door and steps in. As he does, Asuka is suddenly and viciously greeted by the mental image of him at the hospital, asleep with his arm around Rei's shoulder.)

Asuka: (nastily) I didn't think you'd make it home today.. I thought you were going to spend the night or something..

(Sorhyu bites her lip as she realizes what she just said.)

Shinji: I know, Rei told me that you.. came by and said hi. I'm sorry if I -

(Asuka's head snaps around as her response comes close to biting Shinji's head off.)

Asuka: What the hell are you doing apologizing, Shinji? Just what have you done wrong, huh?

Shinji: (aback) Nothing, I..

Asuka: Exactly.

(The young man's words falter as Asuka turns back to her textbook again - although she pays very close attention to what Shinji says next..)

Shinji: I wanted to thank you. For being nice to Rei.

Asuka: (dismissive) Yeah well.

Shinji: It was really nice of you..

Asuka: I said okay, so just drop it, alright?

Shinji: Okay.

Asuka: (thinking) Sometimes I just can't stand him..

(Asuka hears the footsteps of the Third Child, and then the sliding noise as her door closes.)

Asuka: (thinking) Mein Gott.. he's gone..

(She sighs with relief - too soon.)

Shinji: (from the doorway) I expected you to be home today, studying.

(The Second Child nearly jumps out of her seat, pages flapping wildly as she loses her place.

He knows.. he knows she wasn't home. More importantly, he didn't walk out - he's still here, talking about it. And he's shut the door, he wants privacy..)

Shinji: Exams are coming up.. I think we have a lot of catching up to do.

(The double meaning - intentional or not - isn't lost on Asuka as she composes herself, closing her textbook and slowly swiveling the chair around to look him in the eye.)

Asuka: Okay Third Child, why are you here?

Shinji: ..

(So much for the bravery - Shinji's eyes seem to go everywhere but where they might meet Asuka's. They go over the handouts and textbooks that she had been looking over. They find something very interesting on his desk. They lock onto Asuka's right ear. And finally they meet her eyes.)

Shinji: I want to know if you remember what I remember.

(Two meanings - twice now. Is she talking to the same Shinji?

Asuka remembers what he is talking about. Although she had 'been back' for several days, the Second Child's memories of what she experienced are still very, very fresh.

Asuka remembers what it had been like. The contact between Units 01 and 02 had scarred them both, allowing a trickle of thought between the two teenagers. Things had passed between them - feelings, memories, the comforting knowledge that the other was there, within reaching distance. The trickle had swelled to a flow, and then to a torrent, and finally it had destroyed them.

Asuka remembers when there had been no barriers between them, nothing between them except the things they had wanted to keep - the things they had tried to hide, the things they had agreed to respect and keep secret.

Asuka remembers watching Shinji as he lay beneath the weight of a girl. Naked flesh on naked flesh. And it had been Asuka, her body lying on his. But at the same time it had not been her, but an illusion, a creation of Shinji's thoughts and fantasies. He had spoken quietly, trying to express what he wanted. Not sex - although he admitted that it was part of it.

Asuka remembers feeling sick, almost violated that someone could imagine such a thing - but realizing that it might happen every day, hidden inside people's heads. Shinji hadn't done anything with the illusion, and Asuka had felt alternately relieved and disappointed.

Asuka remembers leaning forward, pressing her lips against Shinji's. No - it hadn't been Shinji, but another illusion, another creation. This one had been hers, a convenient image of Shinji she could touch and speak to. She remembers clawing at it, pummeling it with her fists and tearing it apart, reducing the Shinji-doll down to scraps of fabric, clods of stuffing and the occasional glass eye, staring blue and lifeless upwards.

Asuka remembers hugging him - hugging Shinji, the real Shinji. She remembers telling him it was alright.)

Asuka: Yeah.. I remember.

(Shinji's question had been two questions; the other being something so much more important.)

Asuka: (thinking) Are you still in my head?

(There are still parts of Shinji's memories in Asuka's mind. Sights and sounds and sensations that Asuka knows she could not possibly have experienced.

Asuka remembers staring up at the dismembered form of Unit 02, her Evangelion, streaked with blue-purple blood, exposed tissue bleeding where the head and arms should have been. She remembers the gut-wrenching feeling that had passed through him - through Shinji, the horrible images that had appeared in his mind, images of her, Asuka, killed.

Asuka remembers falling forwards, her weight landing on the naked form of Rei Ayanami. The moment is seared into Shinji's memory in agonizing detail - the feeling of the floor under one hand, the feeling of soft flesh under the other. The pulse of machinery. The shape of Ayanami's face, the depths of her crimson eyes. All of these are Shinji's memories, but have become residents of Asuka' head.

But Asuka can no longer reach Shinji's thoughts - she can no longer feel his presence as she had used to.)

Shinji: ..

(He must have noticed the intensity of her gaze.. because sure enough, he slowly shakes his head in the negative.)

Shinji: Then it was real..

Asuka: Yeah.. you .. want to talk about it?

(The young man considers it, raising his eyes to meet hers as he quietly thinks. She can see the sadness in his gaze, clear and true, over their discovery - the contact is over. The memories, too, will fade with time. That is what he really wanted to know.. she can read his response in his eyes before he says it.)

Shinji: No.. not yet. Maybe.. later.

(And this time he does leave, closing the door on his way out, leaving a confused and equally saddened girl behind, who eventually turns back to try and find her place in the textbook.)

------------------------------------------------------

(A day has finally come to its end.

Kozou Fuyutsuki closes his eyes for a moment. Staffing problems have been addressed, the disposal of the enemy Evangelion, this MARI, is being taken care of. Both Shinji and Asuka appear to have fully recovered, which in itself is an enormous burden off Fuyutsuki's mind. The UNSynaps personnel are being run through the system efficiently and soon will be sorted into positions, the spies weeded out.

Some things will be delayed out of necessity. Aoi Tamashii is one such thing. Various concerns from the UN and other military groups are also things for another time, when the various alliances and groups finally come forward with a united front. A dinner has been scheduled, for some weeks in the future - the aged Professor wonders if he will be able to dig himself out from under this pile of work to attend. He is the host, after all. Naturally.

Fuyutsuki sits at the former Commander's desk, attacking the last of the "housekeeping" affairs that NERV must have attended to. He resists the urge to leave it to tomorrow and head home immediately, but eventually resigns himself to a late night. At least the end is in sight.)

Maya: (from the entrance) Sir?

(Fuyutsuki looks up, slightly surprised to see the Project E Chairperson. The old man had left the office's vast door open; the light from outside eased the claustrophobic loneliness that Gendo Ikari's office tended to project. Fuyutsuki does not feel comfortable in this vast, dark room, and Ibuki's arrival is a welcome one.

But as she speaks, Fuyutsuki remembers that there is one more issue to be dealt with, one more promise to be kept. And this one cannot be delayed.)

Maya: (quietly) When this started, when you showed me the children, you promised me some.. information.

Fuyutsuki: (looking down) Yes. I did.

(He turns to the computer screen projecting from the desk's surface. The bustle of the repair work, Tenkei's condition, the thing in the plug.. everything had conspired to postpone the completion of this small request.

Using Ikari's access level, Fuyutsuki is surprised at how quickly he can find the desired information. He glances at it only briefly, seeing what he had expected - or dreaded - and not willing to discover the more brutal details. With a keypress he begins to print the data, pages sliding into a tray just underneath the desk.

Only two pages, and it is finished. Somehow Fuyutsuki finds that two pages is far too little to account for the death a human being.

He retrieves the warm sheets of paper and holds them out to Ibuki. The young woman reaches out and takes them, her expression calm. She checks the page ordering and begins to read in silence.)

Fuyutsuki: I'm sorry. I should have done something to protect her.

Maya: (pauses her reading) Don't apologize.. she did some things that even I can't forgive her for.

Fuyutsuki: Apart from Ikari, she was the only other person who could tell us where Adam might be. After the Seventeenth Angel, he kept that knowledge even from me.

(Maya does not respond, engrossed in the details of the report. Finally, she finishes up and with shaking hands, lets the papers slide to the desktop.)

Maya: (very quietly) She never saw trial.. and I know that this report will never see the light of day.

Fuyutsuki: ...

Maya: Its just one woman, after all - barely anyone remembers, let alone.. cares.

(The young woman turns to leave, walking just a bit too quickly to hide the break in her composure. Fuyutsuki calls out after her.)

Fuyutsuki: Ibuki!

(The woman pauses, stiff and upright, not turning to face him. For that, Fuyutsuki is glad - he is glad he cannot see her face - tears, or anger, or disgust at how he had failed the ethics he had once sworn to. For a moment the old man wishes for the cold, distant composure that Ikari had carried around him, that thing that shielded him from other people's pain.)

Fuyutsuki: Maya.. take care of yourself - don't do anything.. naive.

Maya: (softly) I never did, Commander.

TO BE CONTINUED.

[Chapter 15]