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fanfic_mausoleum_n_grillNeon Genesis Evangelion
EVA-R Prime Extension
(c) Alex Voutsis
Writer's Notes:
Credit where credit is due to Gainax, etc etc. Evangelion is someone else's property, etc.
Additional Credits to the creators of EVA-R Illustrated Fan Fiction. Find it at http://www.eva-r.com - it is an absolutely brilliant fan fic and essential reading to understand this story. You should have read EVA-R up to episode 53 PRIME before reading this fan fiction.
The other fan fictions that are a part of this storyline are
Light of the Soul/Contact
Light of the Heart/At Last, a Reason
The Runaway
Stand By Me
Another's Touch
Thanks for Caring
House of Cards
In the Shadows
A Wish for Dreamless Sleep
Pandora's Box
Progeny / Second Child
This fan-fiction is intended to continue the story begun in the above episodes.
Homeostasis / Transistasis
The events in this story follow on directly from "Episode 11", the concurrent Progeny and Second Child.
(This thing has been cold for so long.
Only hours ago this armored shape had been bathed in coolant fluid, icy currents around the silent giant. Now it had been freed from cryostasis, but is instead locked in the restraints that lift it into the body of the flying wing - an Evangelion transport. The creature is still silent, still dormant. There is no mind directing this beast, no intention, and no identity. It is an empty vessel, a useless husk of flesh.
And it is still cold - the chillingly thin air of these high altitudes does nothing to warm it. The wind whips up in the gaps between the transport delta wing and the Evangelion's body, creating a shriek of rushing air that competes with the roar of the engines.
Restraints hold it to the aircraft, latching about its legs and shoulders. Its head is only half-armored, as if its designers had not yet finished forming it. Bare skin and bared teeth glint beneath the gleam of two cold, lifeless eyes.
This thing has the feel of him.
Aoi Tamashii stands on the peak of the dormant Eva's chest, where overlapping plates of armor form a ridge that runs up and over the giant's heart. The girl calmly steps forwards, slowly progressing up the Evangelion's form, approaching the silent giant's face.
She is untouched by the winds that shriek around her, and uncaring of the roar of the engines. The thinness of the air does not affect her.
There is no way that she can be here. That doesn't seem to affect her either.
This thing is called Evangelion - designated Unit 06. Not the short-lived creation that Gendo Ikari had spawned to further his goals, but the Unit 06 that had been part of SEELE's schedule. An Evangelion of the Mass Production series; the Unit that had been fabricated in
But SEELE had hidden their true intents from their pawns. It can be said that UNSynaps had been betrayed from the moment they had agreed to act as SEELE's hand.
Aoi can feel the mark that Lyn Anouilh has left on this creature. For a short time they had been one, a few cautious tests with an uncertain boy and an unfinished Eva. But it had been enough for something to form - synchronization, two minds following the same path, the same pattern. The pattern of his thoughts, spiderwebs of nerves half-formed in the dormant tissue of the Evangelion's brain.
He had left his mark on this one, an impression of his thoughts. But this impression is unfamiliar - it is not of the Lyn Anouilh that Aoi knows now. Some thoughts, somethings left over.. worry. Confusion. Hope? Would this make up for it? Would father forgive him?
Anger. The Major. Anger at a man in uniform. Anger.. that Lyn does not hold anymore. Anger that Lyn can no longer understand, no longer has space for in his life.
This Lyn.. is different. Another person. The same person, changed. Changed by time, changed by other people. Changed by life.
She can see it, feel it. Touching on the Eva, she can see the boy that has been left behind, a memory stored in frozen patterns in dormant tissue.
He has changed.. as she has. She has been changed by him.
Her own changes have been.. disruptive. A small smile twists on her lips at the thought - "disruptive" is hardly the term. People have died. The balance is changing - the balance of power, the balance that SEELE has spent so long to keep tipped towards themselves.
And herself - the changes within herself..)
Aoi: ..
(Her change - a separation within her. A convenient deception, one that she has created for him.
One part is called Aoi Tamashii - the girl he knows, the girl she can hide as. The girl who can hide in his arms.
The other is the part that is to blame. The other is the one who plays at SEELE's game, the one that caused deaths.
Which is why they must be separated. Aoi Tamashii must not be blamed Aoi Tamashii must not be.. tainted with those things, not in the eyes of Lyn Anouilh. The only way she could stay with him, and not interfere, is to separate herself.)
Aoi: But.. I have interfered. SEELE sees two possibilities, but are mistaken. I had to interfere; it was the only way to show them the third choice.
(There is only so far she can go, only so much she can tell them. The choice must be theirs - Aoi smiles wryly - otherwise, there is no choice at all. The struggle, the search.. the answers cannot be supplied to them, or else they will be worthless.
And so she must leave them; the two children, groping about in their own world, their small Instrumentality, while she watches SEELE's fist strike down on those who had once been their allies.
And meanwhile another part of her, the separated part, does her best to protect the hidden Sixth Child.)
--------------------------------------------------
(The young anchorman settles the papers down on the desk and watches the operator count down to his cue.
Three, two, one..
On the air.)
French Presenter: Government officials and representatives from the UN are in "damage control" mode this morning after a catastrophic explosion at a military base near
(The scene cuts away from the Presenter to a camera shot; the view tips up and down, clearly zoomed to maximum power as the cameraman strains to get a view of the carnage on the horizon. Even so, very little is visible in the great distance - just a rising column of black smoke, and a general haze over what had once been a UN base.
The camera view zooms back, showing more of the immediate location. Soldiers, military vehicles - a roadblock, clearly preventing the camera crew from getting any closer to the scene. While the picture bobs up and down with the view of the shoulder camera, the news reporter drones on in the background..)
French Presenter: French military groups, assisted by the UN, are preventing entry to the base. Commercial flights have been diverted. Initial reports suggest the detonation of a stored nuclear warhead may have been the source of the blast that was seen and heard more than twenty miles away.
(Another scene change, this time to raging crowds outside what appears to be government building. Groups of police - some in riot gear - are visible at the edges of the screen, watching the crowd warily.)
French Presenter: This explanation has failed to satisfy many; demonstrations jammed noon traffic as protestors blocked streets and surrounded government buildings. Groups chanted for an explanation and calls have been made for the resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs.
(The camera swings wildly now, buffeted by the crowd, eventually rounding on the awesomely expressive face of one of the protestors.)
Protestor: Why? This is all [bleeped out text]! I have family living near that town - they heard tanks and planes before the explosion! Why are they lying to us!?!
(Suddenly the savagery snaps back to calm; this time a clear, still image - a photograph of Tokyo-3..
... and somewhere, far away, Goro Tezuka looks up from the breakfast table to watch the early morning news.
The student's textbooks lie open on the table, surrounding his plate of cereal. Exams are approaching, and this is one kid that doesn't plan to be caught unawares.
The news, however, takes a strange hold on Goro. He raises the volume..)
Japanese Presenter: Fringe groups have forwarded another explanation, claiming that an Angel was the cause of the explosion. This view has been met by extreme skepticism. If the allegation is true, it would be the first attack of its kind to occur on the international stage.
(And as selfish as it is, Goro cannot help expressing his opinions on such matters..)
Goro: It's about time they went somewhere else..!
--------------------------------------------------
French Presenter: An emergency meeting of the United Nations council continues here in
(A fist slams down onto an oaken tabletop.)
General: No comment? How can they not know what has gone on here?
(The shouts of the protestors are muffled by the building's walls, but can still be heard - if only faintly - from within. Here, in one of the most guarded and secure chambers within the government complex, a number of officials, both military and political, discuss matters in the quiet hush of fear.
Not a few are in ill-fitted or creased suits; several being summoned from awkward situations, or, in the case of those out of the country, directly from their beds. Many of the people "present" are not physically there; in this day and age holographic technology is not just the possession of SEELE, and the faint glow surrounding the images of the representatives is easily visible in the darkened room. These people leave their faces visible, rather than concealed behind featureless monoliths bearing SOUND ONLY messages..)
Politician: NERV does not wish to become involved - especially considering the obvious implications of a mysterious Evangelion attacking a brother organization.
Voice: On the contrary, Sir..
(The various figures - both real and projected - turn towards the speaker-transmitted voice.
It is Jean Phillip Anouilh of UNSynaps - or more accurately, the projection of his head. That is the clearest projection of the director that could be transmitted here - from aboard a fleeing craft heading over the arctic seas the signal is weak, the projection flecked with static and occasionally lapses into transparency.
Anouilh quickly has the attention of the room; among these men and woman it is known that UNSynaps become the inheritor of many of the former branches of NERV outside of
There are very few foreigners here today, and with good reason.)
Anouilh: NERV has been extremely co-operative. Upon hearing of our situation, they offered their support.
(At this, the Japanese Ambassador speaks up, his voice tinged with anger - perhaps resentment at being kept "out of the loop".)
Ambassador: Surely the Japanese Government is the deciding party on where UNSynaps can and cannot relocate their personnel in this emergency!
(The UNSynaps director is quick to respond to this, however, his voice harsh..)
Anouilh: On the contrary, both NERV and UNSynaps have always been under the jurisdiction of the United Nations, rather than any one sovereign nation.
Ambassador: (muttering) ...
Anouilh: And given the situation, we are in the process of migrating our resources to Tokyo-3.
Minister: Wait - migrating? Why? We were under the impression that what attacked your facilities was destroyed by the airstrike at
Anouilh: (steadily) I cannot tell this council that with certainty.
Minister: You cannot? From the reports, the attacker was hit by fifteen N2 mines!
(Anouilh can say nothing in response to this - the silence stretching out uncomfortably for all present, finally broken by an equally angry tirade from one of the Generals.)
General: Munitions, armor and air force resources were severely depleted during the battle. It's not something I'd want to see a second time!
Politician: What is more relevant is how we deal with this public relations disaster. Have you looked outside? They're screaming in the streets for us to "tell the truth"!
General: Then we tell them the "truth" - that this was an Angel attack.
Anouilh: (interrupting) An Angel attack?
Minister: After all, what else could have caused this devastation?
Anouilh: ...
Minister: An Angel it is, then.
(Of course it would be an Angel, Anouilh reflected - he should have known all along. The government would never pass on their suspicions - and the military have already been very selective about what information was made public. As the director of UNSynaps he knows with certainty that some things will not become public - that the attack was not an Angel but instead an Evangelion; an Evangelion produced and controlled by a hostile and human force.
They would not speak of it; as if to whisper its name might bring its attention, and shortly after, its wrath.
All things considered, Anouilh can not really blame them for this act of political self-defense. He had already met with the Minister earlier this day; now he sees that what had passed between them, despite his private hopes, would remain only between those two. The burden of knowledge - and in Jean Phillipe's case, of guilt - would remain wholly private.)
---------------------------------------------------------
(The meeting over, the projectors shut down. The room and its occupants vanish, leaving Anouilh alone in the small dark cabin that had been rigged up on the transport to act as a projection room.
Public relations had never really been his job; with his position of authority within UNsynaps, Anouilh had tried to avoid the limelight as much as possible. This situation conspired against him however - with such a catastrophe destroying their bases, and a near-complete loss of organization, the easiest way of handling a problem is to direct questions "to the top".. and making any attempt to recovery from the disaster as public as possible.)
Anouilh: ...
(An Angel. It would be an acceptable story - a lie is always so much more believable when you make them work for it.
A knock comes from the featureless door of the small chamber. Standing, the director of UNSynaps wheels and turns the handle, pulling the metal aside to reveal a young man in flight uniform - the transport's communications officer.)
Soldier: Message on the shortwave, Sir, on the BDA.
(BDA - the UN must have finished their battle damage assessment.)
Anouilh: Go ahead.
Officer: The
Anouilh: The Evangelion?
Officer: No sign of it - either it was vaporized or it escaped. And the UN liaison said specifically that they didn't want to make any assumptions that might prove costly, sir.
(The director nods and dismisses the man.
Of course the UN wouldn't want to take chances - not with the beating they had taken at
Anouilh: (thinking) Not that we are doing any better..
(Shaking his head, Anouilh exits the tiny chamber and heads forwards into the rest of the plane.
The compartment is one you might find in any large passenger aircraft. Aisles run down between rows of lightly cushioned seats. Windows set in the walls look out into the dark blue of the sky, seen from the upper atmosphere.
The passengers are not as normal. For one thing, they all wear uniforms; some UNSynaps security, some technical staff outfits..
There are many empty seats - there were not enough passengers to fill the craft to capacity. Hastily-gathered equipment sometimes blocks the aisles or occupies empty seats; data discs, cabling, a box of layered printouts, disembodied hard drives.. Most of the UNSynaps personnel are clustered together, a few filled seats in a cabin that is otherwise nearly empty. They talk in low voices, their conversations stilted as they shift from one topic to another, constantly avoiding the most pressing matter at hand.
A few of the personnel do not sit with the others, but have found quiet spaces in the plane to be by themselves. The few that are not occupied in conversations or their own contemplation take the time to give him nods of respect.
Anouilh nods back gravely. He does not like to lie - consciously - to those under his authority. This is why he is not smiling to his people, or telling them that everything will be alright.)
---------------------------------------------------------
(Nothing. No discovery, and no change.
It would take days - weeks, possibly - to properly search the city for the Sixth and Seventh Children. But such a search would be impossible, even if Major Misato Katsuragi hadn't already given up on it. Two security teams, one for either child, had been watching the apartment as Tamashii and Anouilh entered. Neither was seen leaving. Searching the building had found nothing. They were gone - they are gone. And so the report that the security agent had handed Misato a few moments ago leaves her knowing no more than before.
Katsuragi takes a sip from her glass. The water had lost its chill hours ago to the recirculated air of the cage control room.
The chamber hums. Terminals, screens, and the circuitry and cabling behind them are alive with data as they continue their watch over Evangelion Unit 02, and the recovery of its pilot. But again, Misato sees nothing - no visible change in the state of the Second Child.
The symbols on the screens shift and scroll, running through the procedure that Ibuki had programmed. To Misato, most of the technical details are meaningless. The E-project chairperson had explained the theory, but not the specific stages of the recovery operation. While as far as Misato can see there has been no change, Ibuki has retained a quiet confidence during the procedure. So Katsuragi must leave it to her, trusting the younger woman's science..
Her cellular phone buzzes, demanding attention. Katsuragi fishes it out of the depths of her red jacket.)
Misato: It's me.
Hyuga: (phone) Major Katsuragi - you're in backup cage control?
(Misato's eyes flicker briefly across the room almost unconsciously. Arrays of cables feed into terminals and computer systems, replacing the controls that had been shattered in Unit 02's brief moment of movement. Calling the room "backup" is a polite illusion; the room is a mess, but it does the job of overseeing the necessary functions of the Evangelion storage cage.)
Misato: Yeah.. why?
Hyuga: I'm going to patch you through to a UN representative. Data will start coming through the consoles that you have to see.
Misato: Data? Hyuga, what's going on?
Hyuga: There's been an incident - an attack on UN facilities in
(Misato straightens in her seat and pushes off, sending the wheel-mounted chair rolling towards the console arrays. The plastic wheels bump over cables.)
Misato: What's NERV got to do with this?
Hyuga: The UN representatives say it was an Angel that attacked their facilities.
Misato: (flat) What? Patch me through.
Hyuga: Yes Major.
(A screen, previously dead and black, flickers to life. After a brief moment of static an image appears - the head and shoulders of a man in uniform. Military insignia on his shoulders.)
Misato: This is Major Misato Katsuragi, NERV operations director. What the hell is going on?
---------------------------------------------------------
(The boy walks into view.
The fingers of his left hand press against the neck of a cello, cool strings against skin. His other hand cups the shoulder of the instrument as he lifts it. His steps are slightly shuffled, holding the cello away from his body to avoid kicking it.
The grassy ground he walks on, the greenery of the park around him - these are parts of his world, like the cello, and even the boy's appearance. All part of the world he - they - have created. A convenient place, a familiar thought.. someplace where their minds can be protected, now no longer confined by flesh and blood.
Once again we find the Third Child in his own Instrumentality - but he is not alone.
Now he sees his destination. The ground slopes downwards, the hillside ending with a border of smooth rocks and rough gravel where it meets the stream. Some distance away a chair rests in the long grass, its wood-and-metal frame out of place here.
He sets the cello down carefully, kneeling to reach underneath the instrument's body. After a few seconds adjusting the support pin he settles himself in the chair with the cello before him. The instrument is already tuned; the bow strings are coated with a touch of resin.)
Asuka: Just play it already!
(Her voice is sharp and impatient, annoyed and slightly exasperated. Shinji doesn't seem to react, his face low as he concentrates. But a closer look, around his eyes and around the edges of his mouth, might show something..
Almost to himself, Shinji Ikari smiles.
He begins to play. It is a simple piece, slipping from a leading melody to a supporting note, then back into melody. Sometimes the sound is beautiful, sometimes delicate, and sometimes bland and simple. In the end, the sound is incomplete; it is not music to be played by one instrument alone, but to be played within an orchestra. The cello is just one piece of a greater whole, and the absence of that whole can be heard and felt in the music.
Asuka Langley Sohryu listens and watches. Where she sits in the tall grass she is almost hidden from view; a splash of red rising out from the green around her body. Her eyes follow the movements of Shinji's fingertips as they press another note into the neck of the cello.
Shinji draws the bow off the strings; the last note quivers through the instrument as the incomplete music ceases.)
Shinji: Asuka.. has she..?
(Asuka's gaze shifts over, looking across the greenery.)
Asuka: No.. not yet.
(Her eyes settle on the tree for a brief moment. It could be called a construct of her mind - something about her that had been built in this place, something she had created in this world because it is a part of her.
Corpses hang from the branches - two of them. A mother and..
Her eyes return to Shinji. She had tried to hide this part of herself from him - to block it out, to keep it away from the rest of this world they had made, to protect him from it, to protect her from how he might judge her. But now it is in plain view; Shinji has already made clear that he will not approach it, or her memories of it, without her permission.
Memories can be touched in this place. They have shared memories before, through the contact.
There had been a chain-link fence before, separating the tree from the children, keeping it away. That fenceline had formed the border of their world - and still does, circling the boundaries of this little existence they cling to. Except now the tree is a part of that existence, no longer kept away, a little closer to them - so to speak.
Asuka is waiting.)
Shinji: When do you think she'll come?
Asuka: (sighs) I don't know, okay? I don't know if she'll come at all!
Shinji: ..
Asuka: ..
Shinji: So.. you think that she's tried to.. reach you, before now?
Asuka: ..
(This is a possibility that Asuka had only recently realized. The thought is.. alarming..)
Asuka: ..she might have. It might have been her..
Shinji: ..
Asuka: Or maybe not..
Shinji: ..
Asuka: I don't want to think that she would have hurt me like that.
Shinji: Could she have done it and not known? That would expl-
Asuka: (interrupts, angry) That doesn't change it at all! She still hurt me!
Shinji: ..
Asuka: ..
Shinji: You might have hurt her too..
Asuka: ..
Shinji: .. sorry.
Asuka: No, you're right.
-(flashback)-Voice: Asuka, come be with me..
-(flashback)-Voice: Asuka, come die with me..
-(flashback)-Voice: Die with me, Asuka..
(It seems so long ago, but she remembers. They both remember. Shinji shared some small part of that experience with Asuka through the contact - when their minds had no physical barriers between them, some of those painful memories had slipped over. But many of them didn't; Asuka's own mind had acted as a shield, holding it all back, all away, blinding Shinji from the hardest of the memories.
But Shinji's memories of this are not just the ones he shares with Asuka; he also remembers what it had been like back then, when he could only watch Asuka in her pain, as she struggled with her own demons. Worse, when Shinji had given up trying to reach her, given up trying to help.
That thing, that Angel..
Asuka does not think of it as the Angel. She has tried very a very long time not to think of the Fifteenth as an Angel.
That thing had reached into her, ripped into her memories and found those things that hurt the most. Painful thoughts, horrible memories, things that ate at everything she had built up around herself, all the walls that guarded her against those pains..
But now, after all this time, another possibility has risen; it was not the Angel that was reaching in..
But it was something else that was reaching out.)
Asuka: By keeping her away.. by refusing to even think that she might have been trying to reach me..
Shinji: ..
Asuka: .. then I might have.. hurt her.
(The thought that the voice that had taunted her, pulled at her, tried to rip her from what she thought was her place in the world..
.. was the voice of something lonely, something desperate..
.. something that was still alive, in Eva..
.. in her Unit 02.)
---------------------------------------------------------
(Major Katsuragi tips the glass slightly - a trickle of water slips around in the bottom. Setting it back down, she stares at the now-blank screen as she hears the door behind her slide open.)
Fuyutsuki: Major, I was told you were conferencing with the UN on the new situation.
(Misato turns slightly, looking over at the vice-commander as he steps into the room.)
Misato: What have you heard?
Fuyutsuki: Essentially everything he could have told you about the Angel's attack.
Misato: (abruptly) It wasn't an Angel attack.
Fuyutsuki: I know.
Misato: ..
Fuyutsuki: Three facilities in
Misato: And six Evangelions, or so I'm told. They want protection - and we're the only ones that can help, especially if this claim of a hostile Eva holds any weight.
Fuyutsuki: (quietly) I can assure you that it does, Major.
Misato: They're promising us Evangelions in return for protection and amnesty? Why does it take a disaster before the UN lets us have a few more Evas?
Fuyutsuki: You destroy Eva with Eva. The UN needed a fail-safe.
Misato: (tired) Oh that's just great to hear.
(The old man walks over to the consoles, idly looking over the ongoing recovery operation.)
Fuyutsuki: I'm surprised you aren't waving a gun around, trying to get answers..
(Katsuragi's voice is edged with weariness, but still retains a touch of humor.)
Misato: I've been trying to give it up. (looks up) This Evangelion - where the hell did they get it?
Fuyutsuki: I'm not sure of that, but I have a few ideas. It's not as important as who they are.
(Misato reaches for her glass, and stops as she remembers that it is empty.)
Misato: I assume intelligence is already on it?
Fuyutsuki: Of course.
Misato: And the convoy is on-route.. we've got preparations to make.
---------------------------------------------------------
(Hours have passed since the operation has begun. Occasionally the tired face of one technician is replaced by a fresher one, as the next shift slowly takes over from the previous.)
Operator #1: Diagnostic shows the flight system is running at operational specifications. Delivery system confirms greenlight status.
Operator #2: The signal is stable, no feedback errors. Test pattern confirms; there is no sign of the disruptive pattern. (looks up) Seems like you were right, sir.
(The officer grunts; he can get away with a short and unrevealing response this time. He is, after all, the ranking officer. And as the ranking officer, he has found that part of his duty is to stay on duty, as the long shift wears on.
But MARI is flying MARI has fought. The damn thing is actually doing it. Even if he could leave, he would not have slept while knowing that this is happening.
They had expected some sort of retaliation by the time MARI hit the third base; the assaults on
Operator #1: Secondary drive providing sixty-two percent thrust.
Operator #2: Simulations have determined two interception points, Sir. 40 north, 135 east, over the Sea of Japan, and 55 north, 150 east - the
Officer: Very good.
---------------------------------------------------------
(The fist of Evangelion Unit 02 had driven through the wall of the cage control chamber. The systems in the room had been shattered beyond any hope of functioning and Yuri Furikawa, who had been on shift in the chamber at the time, had come close to losing her life.
Repairs have not gone far in restoring the smashed systems, and the chamber is still in disarray - the wall between the cage and the control room is still torn open, the surviving sign of Unit 02's brief moment of movement. But the carnage has been salvaged, with a temporary network of jury-rigged cables and data-feeds transferring control of the cage to the backup system that had been pulled together after the "accident".
Cables sprout seemingly at random out of the broken consoles and from ports in the cracked walls. They run in layers across the floor, twist off down corridors.. the emergency systems are a maze that only a few of those who had been involved in the salvage really understand..
..and none would notice if a few cables had been added afterwards.
And so, unknown to Ibuki and the others who had jury-rigged the emergency systems, not all of the cables feed data to the backup control room.
From the dark expanse of his office, Gendo Ikari watches over Evangelion Unit 01.)
Gendo: (typing)
(His fingers flash over the keyboard as he checks through the system. The information he has access to is limited by the jury-rigged system - being in the cage would be preferable. But every available screen, readout, every piece of information confirms what he had hoped.
The boy had seen her - the reactivation of Unit One with the Sixth Child, officially an attempt to keep their numbers of active Evas up, had been purely to see if she would respond. She had. She had been there, she had reached out.
She is ready.
Their efforts finally brought about the reward. The experimental unit that had decayed and died - a catalyst. The AT field experiments that had first brought about the contact. Finally, after all the effort, she is ready.
The wait is almost too much.)
Gendo: (typing)
(But there is too much attention now - with the recovery operation on Unit 02, he would not be able to work on Unit 01 undisturbed..
..and so, for a little while longer, Gendo Ikari waits. It is something that a decade of practice has allowed him to master.)
---------------------------------------------------------
Asuka: What was it like before I appeared?
(The bow runs over the strings of the cello, continuing to hum its incomplete sound. It is a slow melody, something that would run underneath the faster, more expressive violin. The cello makes half a sound, half of the music; the other half is a mystery, digging at the memory, at where one might have heard it before..
The Third Child thinks about the question as he continues his practice. How do you answer a question like that? How do you take the question?
What was your life before you knew me?
Have I changed your life? Have I changed your heart?
Shinji has learned so much about Asuka during this time - too much. Not too much of Asuka, but too much of the things that she might want to keep private. Things she wants to keep secret, to protect herself, hide herself from memories that might hurt. Shinji has learned some of these things - sometimes he had wanted to know, he had reached out.. and regretted not making it her choice.
Now she is asking. She could reach out, as he had, and simply take the memories. But after their experiences in this place they have both chosen not to. She is asking him to tell her willingly, and he struggles to answer as best as he can.)
Shinji: When I first came to Tokyo-3.. I don't know..
Shinji: I guess I came to tell him ..
Shinji: Tell him that I hated him.
(In the sudden, absolute silence, the Second Child can hear Asuka breathing.)
Shinji: My father, I mean. This.. is part of it. Part of me. Part of why I do things, I suppose. I wanted him to want me - to want his son. If he wanted me, then I.. it gave me some power. I could hurt him, by saying no. I.. really wanted to hurt him.
(The fence starts to quiver, the metal wires shivering, as if shook by hands. Shinji ploughs onward, his voice suddenly faster, more urgent.)
Shinji: I wanted to say that I hated him. Just when he said he wanted me I would tell him that I've hated him ever since -
(He cuts himself off - he had almost let the barrier slip. The fence is quiet again; Shinji lowers his head, his voice quiet, his eyes dark.)
Shinji: But then.. I didn't. Maybe I wouldn't have been able to tell him - even if he had given me the chance. Maybe I just would have been happy that somebody wanted me around.. even if it was my father.
Shinji: (quietly) That's why I came when he called, because I thought maybe he wanted me - and thinking that might be true.. made me feel better.
Shinji: But he didn't. He didn't want me. He needed me. NERV needed me to do a job. I was the only one who could do it.. the "Third Child".
Asuka: ..
Shinji: They didn't want me. I was something that had to be put up with - because there was someone I had to be.. and I've hated being that person for a long time. I hated.. being myself.
(The Third Child raises his head, the gloom briefly falling away from him as he smiles weakly.)
Asuka: ..
Shinji: Asuka?
Asuka: Keep playing, Shinji.
(The sound of the cello picks up again, playing its low, slow melody.)
Shinji: When Misato took me in.. and I wanted to know if I was just a part of her job. I wanted to know if she wanted me around. I didn't want to be there because she felt pity for me, or because she had to, but because..
Asuka: ..
Shinji: I'm not sure what reason I was looking for. Something. Anything.
(Anything.
The music continues, note flowing to note.)
Asuka: What about Rei?
(The music stops with a sudden squeal as the bow jars in Shinji's hands.)
Shinji: Uh..
(Something in Shinji's mind - call it his instinct for self-preservation - warns him to be very careful around this topic with Asuka. He tries to shake it off - he ought to know her better by now.
Of course, there are some things he doesn't know..)
Shinji: Are you sure you..
Asuka: (firm) Shinji..
Shinji: ..
Asuka: I'm asking, aren't I?
Shinji: ..
(His fingers flex on the neck of the cello, pressing against the strings.)
Shinji: ..yeah, you are, I guess..
(Now he does not play - he rests the bow on his leg and stares down the strings of the cello towards the bridge of the instrument, half-hunched as he speaks.)
Shinji: I wanted people to want me near. My father, I wanted him to appreciate me. Misato - I didn't want to be living with her because she felt sorry for me, or because it was part of her work at NERV..
Shinji: But Rei didn't want anything. She didn't seem to need anything. No - it was like she had no.. value.
Shinji: No one wanted her. No one would tell her that she was worth more than what she was doing. She was worse than me. She seemed to be.. throwing herself away at every chance. Sacrificing herself. She said she had nothing else. She didn't think she was.. special.
Shinji: I wanted to tell her that she was special.
Asuka: ..
Shinji: I wanted to tell her that she was worth something to me, that she deserved more. I wanted to say..
Asuka: ..
Shinji: I wanted to say I love you. You mean everything to me. Whatever else, there is one person in the world who..
(He closes his eyes as he hears the sound that Asuka makes now - an intake a breath, almost like a gasp, almost like a shudder. But she does not shout, or rage, or hit him.)
Asuka: Shinji..
(Her voice is very quiet, but Shinji hears no anger in it. Just a hesitant, cautious question..)
Asuka: Did you..
Shinji: ..
Asuka: Do you..?
Shinji: Do I.. love her? I.. couldn't say, if I did.. if I knew..
Asuka: ..
Shinji: She just didn't.. want. She didn't have a value for herself. She was living with zero written on her, as if that was all she was worth. Even I could see that all she needed was someone to tell her, and nobody would, so maybe if it was me..
Asuka: ..
Shinji: That's why.. I don't know.. but then, there was the Angel. The Sixteenth, and in the fight Rei -
(The Third Child cuts himself off - he had almost said "died".
He looks over at Asuka; she is still watching and waiting for him to continue. She is only asking for his story, not taking his memories. He doesn't have to tell her everything.
And he realizes that this is not his secret to tell, but Rei's.)
Shinji: She didn't put any value in herself. I thought it's because she doesn't need anyone to care - and maybe that's how it is.
Asuka: ..
Shinji: But that doesn't mean that caring doesn't.. make her happy.
(This is a memory Shinji is willing to share with her. He feels the barrier slip slightly as his mind reaches for Asuka. His eyes question, and the Second Child nods once.)
-(flashback)-
(Hand pressing down on the warm stickiness of blood. Torn tissue, feeling fragile under his hands, as if the pressure to stop the bleeding is hurting her more.
They are in a car - Shinji is aware of others, Misato at the wheel, Asuka's voice..)
Asuka: Oh shit, Misato! She's bleeding everywhere! Can't we go any faster?
(A mass of pale hair cradled in Asuka's arms as she holds the First Child. Something that Shinji had never imagined.
Arguing between Misato and Asuka. Lyn crammed in with them. Rei's skin as white as marble, shock and blood loss. Her eyes open, her hand resting on Shinji's, her face smiling up into his.)
-(flashback)-
(It had been after she had died. After she had been replaced. Until then, Shinji had been.. uncertain about this new Rei. But that one thing had remained the same, constant and comforting. It had felt as if it were the same person he had known from before.
But he keeps this thought from Asuka, keeping it secret.)
Shinji: Someone cared. I cared. And for a minute it mattered. It made a difference to her, and I like to think about that sometimes..
Asuka: ..
Shinji: She never seemed to have anything, and that didn't - doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem right. People like Misato, or you, or even me can meet people, reach people, but Rei just - didn't. She was always alone. She went where she was told and did what was needed, and that was about all.
(The Third Child bites her lip, taking in all that had been said..)
Asuka: ..
Shinji: When I first saw her with Tenkei.. when I first saw how much they meant to each other, I was.. jealous.
Asuka: ..!
Shinji: But.. I was happy for her. I like to know that she's got something she can.. that she can say mine. I want. Something that makes her happy. Something that's valuable, that makes her feel valuable, that makes her life a happy one.
Shinji: I like knowing that she's happy. I want it to last for her as long as it can.
---------------------------------------------------------
(The plugsuit seals with a hiss, constricting around her body. Rei Ayanami flexes her fingers, checking that the synthetic fabrics are properly set. Her actions are slow, deliberate - she is in no rush. There is no point in hurrying; the enemy is still hours away, as is the launch of EVA-00.
There is another reason for her delay - she knows that he will be waiting for her. She also knows what he will say.)
Rei: ..
(Her preparations here are complete, but she holds back a little while longer. A few more moments are spent silently in the locker room as the First Child gives herself a little more time before she has to face him.
There is a rap on the door, the metal producing a muffled sound. Rei's eyes close.
More rapping on the door - three knocks, light and quick. She had not thought that the boy would be so determined to speak to her about it. More knocking, insistent, impatient, desperate. Whatever he feels, whatever is driving him, is something strong - as strong as the fear that Rei herself feels now.
She is coming. The other.)
-(flashback)- I am Rei Ayanami!
(The other Rei. The other her.
She has felt her in dreams - seen through her eyes, touched through her skin. Seen her world, and felt her need. Her need for contact, her need for Tenkei. She sees those feelings for what they are - a need far stronger, far more desperate than anything this one - the third of many - has ever felt.
She needs what the First Child values the most - what has given her meaning and joy. For Tenkei she had abandoned Tokyo-3 and fled, despite the dangers, despite the uncertainty of losing everything else that she had called her "life" beforehand., despite the absolute terror of stepping outside the boundaries that she had depended on for so long. For Tenkei she had changed herself, changed her life to suit his needs. For Tenkei she had taken on the role of the mother, cared for him, loved him.
And now she is coming to take him, to take what Rei now refuses to give up, what Rei cannot let go of.
More taps against the door.
A press on the access pad opens the door; as Rei expected it is Tenkei who is waiting for her. He had wanted to speak, determined in getting her attention, but now he falters, stepping back as Rei exits the locker room.)
Rei: Yes?
Tenkei: ..
Rei: (flat) You wanted to speak with me?
(Her words seem to sting the boy; suddenly he is struggling with the language he had learnt such a short time ago. Without waiting for him Rei turns and heads down the corridor - Tenkei struggles to keep up as he finally blurts it out.)
Tenkei: I don't want to fight her.
(Rei's steps almost falter. When Rei had first seen the other, she had felt fear. Tenkei had not. He had been happy.)
Tenkei: Rei.. she deserves a chance.
Rei: ..
Tenkei: She deserves what you were given!
(Rei stops, turning to face the child.)
Rei: I want you to go.
Tenkei: ..
Rei: If you will not fight her, then I will not have you with me when she arrives.
Tenkei: (slowly) You are going to-
Rei: (interrupting) Go before Major Katsuragi knows. Leave. You can escape them as you have before.
Tenkei: But you're..
(Rei snaps back into step, making a distance between herself and the boy with quick strides. Tenkei watches as she goes, almost shivering as he realizes..)
Tenkei: (quietly) You're going to kill her?
---------------------------------------------------------
Asuka: You do, huh?
Shinji: .. yeah.. I do.
Asuka: That's.. a nice way of putting it.
(Shinji smiles; Asuka quietly wonders if the smile is from thoughts of Rei, or from the wistful tone she had accidentally let into her voice.
Her thoughts are cut off as she and Shinji both hear the sound.)
Voice: (distant) Asuka..
(A woman's voice. That voice. Asuka is standing before she realizes that she has moved.)
Asuka: I have to go.
Shinji: Are you sure..?
Voice: (distant) Come be with me..
Asuka: Yes, I'm sure.
Shinji: Isn't there any other-
Asuka: No Shinji. I should have realized this before.
(And then she is off at a run, leaving him behind before his words can weaken her resolve.)
Asuka: (thinking) I have to do this.. it could hurt, but I have to do this!
Voice: (closer) Come die with me..
(Louder now, from ahead of her, uphill. Asuka runs, struggling up the terrain.)
Voice: Come die, and be with me!
(Feet lash through the long grass, arms pumping at her sides.)
Voice: I've missed you.. why won't you be with me?
(Louder, closer. She brushes her hair out of her face as the steeper ground slows her pace.)
Voice: Die with me..
(So loud now, from all around her. Still no sight of her. Lungs taking ragged breaths, leg muscles aching.)
Voice: Die with me..
(And the greenery disappears into the halls of her memories.
Running. Happy. Good news that I'll share with you, Mama. The door opens.
Her stepmother, looking away. Uncaring eyes. She had given up trying to reach the child - too much like an adult, utterly refusing her new mother.
The door opens, and the girl halts, taking a deep breath to blurt out the news, her blue eyes wide and a wide smile on her young face.
Kaji's arm stiffens, holding her away as he leaves the apartment. He smells of Misato's perfume. She must have been all over him.
She had been told to keep it a secret, but that couldn't include Mama - they shared everything!
She wasn't anything like Misato.. she's just a kid! A teenager, with weird disgusting stuff happening to her body. Angels. Stupid Third Child.
The door opens and she steps through; for a long moment she doesn't realize what she is seeing.
She can't do anything right. It's everyone else's fault. But she can't keep saying that, she can't keep believing it..)
Child: (small voice) Mama..
(And when it seemed almost within her reach, when things might be better, he couldn't answer her..)
Child: Mama!
(Answeransweransweransweransweransweransweransweransweransweransweranswer-)
Asuka: (screaming) All of you just SHUT UP!!!
(And everything is silent. The grass is motionless, the linked wire fence frozen - even Shinji, far behind, is a statue.
She has reached it - the barrier, the borderline. Asuka's crimson-clad feet slow to a jog - then a walk. Step after step, first one foot, then the other. Her appearance has changed - to face this, she needs protection. And her mind - her world - has provided it.
Wearing her plugsuit as if it were armor, she is Asuka Langley Sohryu, the Second Child. The designated pilot of Evangelion Unit 02. Still the pilot, despite everything that could have taken that away from her. That has to count for something.
It counts as protection, at least, as the figure comes into view.
She stands just beyond the fenceline, not touching the wire, but close. The woman is silent now, watching the Second Child as she approaches.
Asuka's stride is confident, steady. Her expression is blank as she looks at her mother.
And she stops within an arm's reach of the fence.)
Asuka: ..
Kyoko: ..
Asuka: Aren't you going to say something?
Asuka: Aren't you going to tell me you love me?
Asuka: Aren't you going to say you're sorry? Aren't you going to promise to make up for it?
Kyoko: ..
Asuka: Of course not. You don't even know me. I'm not that little girl who needed you so badly.
Asuka: I'm not your daughter - I'm not that little girl anymore.
Asuka: Do you think she would have been able to make it through this? Needing a mother who just.. who..
Asuka: (quietly) Someone who needed you.
Asuka: I'm not that little girl anymore. She wouldn't last ten seconds where I am.
Asuka: I am Asuka Langley Sohryu.
Asuka: I don't need you anymore. I don't want you around me.
Kyoko: ..
Asuka: Aren't you going to say something?
Asuka: 'No, Asuka, it's not like that'? Aren't you?
Kyoko: ..
Asuka: Then why are you still here?
Asuka: Can't you see I don't want you? Can't you see I don't need you?
Asuka: Why don't you just go away?
(Asuka waits for a reply, separated from the woman by the wire fence.
Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu is still there; her face, so like Asuka's, is shadowed as she dips her head, her eyes downcast.)
Kyoko: Because..
Asuka: ..
Kyoko: You've never let me in.
Kyoko: I've tried to help you, to know you.. but I've only hurt you.
Kyoko: So you don't need me.
(Her eyes shut, and her words quicken.)
Kyoko: Good. It's good that you don't need me. I guess it shows you're strong. At least, I think that's what it means.
(She opens her eyes and looks at the young woman who she can no longer call her daughter.)
Kyoko: You don't need me. But I want to be near you. I want my daughter.
Kyoko: It's my.. weakness. I can't be like you.
(Now her voice cracks; she takes a breath to steady herself.)
Kyoko: You don't want me around, but.. I want you to be with me, if just for a little while.
Kyoko: Please, be strong for me.. let me be near you.. just for a bit..
Kyoko: You used to be my daughter. Please, just let me have that for a little while?
Asuka: ..
(The air is fresh, touched with the smell of greenery and earth. As Asuka shifts slightly on her feet, she can feel the soft ground give slightly under her feet. She looks through the links of the fence at the woman opposite her.)
Asuka: (turning) This way.
(She begins to walk; the woman steps into stride alongside her.
Asuka begins to talk, almost absently running a hand along the links of the fence.)
Asuka: You're dead.
Kyoko: ..
Asuka: I don't want you. I don't need you.
(Her fingers trail across the wires of the fence.)
Asuka: The only thing you could do is hurt me.
Kyoko: ..
Asuka: And you want me to give you a chance to hurt me again.
Kyoko: ..
(Asuka's hand stops suddenly - on the frame of a door, built into the fence. At her touch, it swings open soundlessly.)
Asuka: This is your chance, Mama.
Kyoko: ..
(Kyoko hesitates at the threshold, setting one hand against the frame. Then a step, and another step, and she is inside.)
Asuka: ..
(Inside, in her daughter's world once again. Kyoko opens her mouth to speak-
-and laughs as Asuka flings her arms around her mother in a hug.
Arms squeeze tightly as mother and daughter embrace, spoken words muffled by tears mixed with laughter.)
Asuka: I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Mama, I had to be sure..
(Kyoko smile is all forgiveness, all understanding - unseen by Asuka who is buried in her arms, but it is still a genuine smile.)
Asuka: I had to be sure you wanted me, not a..
(Her voice cuts short, and she squeezes her mother even more tightly, letting everything - her fears, her anger, her uncertainty - flow through, letting it all be burnt up in a moment.
It is a little while later before she lets go. The two women step away from each other; and, unusually, Asuka is at a loss for words. Her mother is a little better off..)
Kyoko: (looks down) Strange choice of clothes for a reunion..
(Asuka glances down at her form-fitting plug suit, for the first time on display for her mother. And for this.. new set of eyes, it seems a little too.. expressive? Asuka blushes, but still smiles. The plug suit's red is abruptly replaced by the yellow of a comfortable dress; the plugsuit - her "armor" - is no longer necessary.)
Kyoko: So you gave me another chance.
Asuka: (smiling, nods)
Kyoko: Do you want to go back?
Asuka: Soon. I'd like a bit more time here, though.
(She reaches out, wrapping her arms around her mother again.)
Asuka: Just a little time to be with you.
(And for a moment, that is enough.)
---------------------------------------------------------
(In another world - the world which Shinji and Asuka were so recently torn from - the recent events in
Man-made light forms images in the darkness; they form dark shapes, convenient and faceless disguises. The twelve obelisks of SEELE meet in their circle.)
SEELE: It draws closer now.
SEELE: Our allies assure us that their toy will be successful.
SEELE: It performed well enough in
SEELE: A task it must fail. But our sources in Tokyo-3 report that Ikari's preparations are less.. complete, than we had hoped.
Kihl: Ikari will not fail us now. The difficulty that he has been to our work will be a benefit in this situation.
SEELE: Provided that nothing will go wrong. The S2 unit in the hands of the Americans was not acceptable; in the hands of Ikari, unthinkable.
SEELE: But no worse than the power we presently have no choice in allowing him. Even with Unit One his reach is severely limited.
SEELE: The UN will change that. After the dust from this incident has settled, his reach will be their only protection. Their fear will drive them to his side.
SEELE: So much the better. The more they beg and scrape for him, the further his reach will extend, and the more his strength will thin out.
(Throughout the conversation one obelisk is silent - as it has been for some time now. The member who had spoken through the mask of SEELE 03, a man named
Of course the circle of SEELE know that Kimio is dead, and are not fooled by this illusion. Since this meeting is simply for the group, they have no need of this deception, but this way is so much more.. familiar.)
SEELE: His Evangelions cannot protect the world. The UN's fear will eventually serve as a weakness, their need for him a liability.
SEELE: And the Americans will provide us with the perfect tool to heighten that fear. An Angel attacking a distant nation is a thing that can be ignored by the governments of the world. An Evangelion attacking their population is a catastrophe that demands a solution.
SEELE: Then the threat of Unit One could be eliminated.
Kihl: Ikari will never allow it out of his sight for exactly that reason.
SEELE: Then Unit One will always be a danger, that will only be neutralized at the very end.
SEELE: Meanwhile, we must balance the power we give our new allies with the control we exert over them. They do not trust us.
SEELE: They need us. Necessity is more certain than trust, need is stronger than want.
SEELE: With the destruction of their prized unit, their need will be heightened by their fear, their actions slowed to follow our schedule.
Kihl: So we lose what may have been a powerful tool.. but gain time to finish the work.
---------------------------------------------------------
(The sirens fade with the end of the evacuation announcement.
The city has been warned of the coming danger. News reports are scanty, as always, but unlike previous attacks there is another source of information - the international press. Of course what they know is limited only to "authorized information", the few facts and more than a few lies that military and UN public relations groups are willing to release.
There have been attacks upon UN installations in
The preparations have begun and the population is evacuating to their shelters. The exercise is well rehearsed, with people moving in steady, organized streams. This has happened many times before, and it shows in the order and control of the evacuation, and the lack of panic in the people.
Tenkei does not walk with the crowd; his sneaker-covered feet move against the flow, taking him away from the entrances to the Geo-Front. People blindly step around him, eased out of his way by the same power that renders the city's security grid blind to him.
Another is coming, another of her. Tenkei has felt Rei's fear, Rei's terror at losing him. But whatever she feels, the boy knows that it is nothing compared to what the existence that the other must endure.
She is alone - utterly alone. Defined only in a moment of contact, almost a dream, where she found a name she could grasp for herself..
And the face of a child to which she is reaching..
She must be coming here. And Tenkei will be waiting.)
---------------------------------------------------------
(The fenceline slips behind them as they walk beyond the boundary, out into the other. The greenery and warmth is left behind - Asuka hesitates.
She turns, looking back - the fence is still in reach, still something to cling to. Within its metal grasp is a world, a comfortable world where Shinji is. Where she could be.
Going back is not something she has to do. This is something she has chosen. As their thoughts had merged, something between them had been shared - a specific thought, an understanding of this place. A reason to go back.
Now she chooses to go back; to leave this comfortable world behind. Closing her eyes, Asuka hopes briefly that when she awakens she will remember why she gave it up.
Kyoko's grip on her hand is gentle, not pulling - not trying to force her. Asuka faces forward again, turning her back on the safe world behind her. Her eyes still closed, she takes a step.
She feels a burst of fear as her world vanishes behind her, leaving her in..
.. darkness..
.. absence..
.. void.
There is a void here. Or rather, there used to be something here. Something had been in this space, taking up this matter. This thing had possessed a face, a name. This thing had existed. This thing had been a person.
It still exists - people remember her.
Something she remembers - memories, a distant rush of voices, to many and too faint to make anything out - no, wait.
A woman's voice, transmitted through a communication system, giving orders as the "soldiers" under her command prepare for battle.)
Misato: Units One and Two will mount a co-ordinated attack in a series of waves. In other words, close in and take turns!
(Unit Two. Eva - pilot of Eva. The child of Eva, the child who would protect them. A child who had to do what was necessary.)
Asuka: They attacked us! When someone's attacking you, you can't just sit there and do nothing, right?
(A reason to be who she is?
Appreciated. Special. An Eva pilot. A chosen being. Without it, she was..)
Asuka: What are you, stupid? It's like sound! Or radio. For someone who spends so many hours listening to those headphones of yours you don't-
(Another child. Another who is special? She knows him.)
Asuka: I guess you really are an idiot..
(Maybe too well..
There are others, too..)
Misato: The sixth child is the only person who fits those specifics at the moment.. and since only Shinji can pilot Eva Unit One, we have to improv-
Asuka: (shouting) No!!!
Asuka: Misato! I'm not letting that English tart in my Unit Two!!!
(Eva is value. Eva is her value. Her Unit Two.
No. That's wrong.
She can't lose it. She can't lose being a pilot. Being a pilot means being her. Child of Eva, within Unit Two.
Wait..
Others. A world of others. Other's touch. Other's gaze. What they see of her, how they speak to her.
Shinji: (grins) After all, combat's a man's job!
(The message screen flickers and vanishes, taking away that smiling face and the most convenient target of her anger. What he had done was so annoying..)
Asuka: (annoyed) Ruuuugh... Unit Two will back him up..
(Pilot of Unit One. Shinji. That idiot.)
Rei: (radio) Unit Zero will back up as well.
(And her..
Staring, crimson eyes nearly shadowed in the dim light. She had heard her voice, watched that porcelain face twist with a brief flicker of oh-so-human emotion - concern, fear..
She had said he was still in there. He was in danger. Asuka had tried to push her, to get another response..)
Asuka: (bitingly) Oh, are my comments about Shinji pissing you off Wondergirl?
Rei: I wonder.. do you only pilot an Eva for the praise of others?
(Those two..
Suspicion. Pain, almost. Jealousy? Who the hell is this girl? What is with her?! What is with them?!?
Faces. Voices. Misato. Doctor Akagi, gone now. That girl who replaced her, Ibuki. Maya? Seyoko Okazaki, Lyn's.. what is she? The voices of the Central Dogma crew, their faces seen rarely. The commanders, Shinji's dad and that older man, Fuyutsuki. Hikari in her school uniform. Hikari out of uniform, out of place in a short skirt as they stand in the cinema foyer. Aoi Tamashii. Aoi and Lyn together at school.
School. Places. The entry plug. Home. Her bed. Her room. The lockers in the Geo-Front. Traincars, looking down at the underground expanse. Trees, water. The pyramid. Buildings clinging like concrete stalactites. Images flicker by.
Smells. Blood in the entry plug. Lavender perfume. Shinji. Ayanami. The plastic smell of nylon, stale-lunchbox odors while rummaging in her backpack. The smell of cooked food from Hikari's bag; a lunch to be shared with Touji the stooge. Air conditioning in the Geo-Front. The hot smell of sun-warmed asphalt. The weird smell of mixed instant-meals, a warning from the kitchen that Misato is cooking. Cheap dinners bought at a place down the road from the apartment. Annoying looks from Shinji, as if she should put up with Misato's cooking. Shinji. That idiot.
Touch. Keys on her computer-pad at school. Cool bedsheets at night in the perpetual summer of Tokyo-3. Dull touch felt through the fabric of her plugsuit. His lips in a kiss stolen on his birthday.
Slowly, Asuka Langley Sohryu rediscovers the world that is her life.)
---------------------------------------------------------
Rei: Major?
(This isn't like the other briefings Misato Katsuragi has held. Those times the threat had been certain, clear, analyzed. Misato could tell each pilot what had to be done, and what role they had to play.
This time the threat is not clear. The MAGI's efforts each produced wildly varying information and outcomes; there were too many variables, too many unknowns for the supercomputers to provide answers or strategies.
This time, there is only one pilot.
Rei Ayanami is seated, her hands folded neatly in her lap, her expression as calm and expressionless as ever. For this "briefing" Misato has chosen to sit next to the pilot, speaking to her from a more-or-less equal level.)
Misato: UN facilities in France have been attacked. At those bases, Evangelions produced by the UN were being held in storage.
Rei: ..
Misato: We strongly suspect that whatever it was that attacked the bases was an Evangelion - of course this is secure NERV information, and you can't tell anyone that. It would be too dangerous if it became public knowledge.
Rei: ..
Misato: Rei, this isn't an alert situation - not yet anyway. But there's a risk, so we need to have you on standby for immediate launch.
Rei: Then I will remain in NERV Central.
Misato: Yes..
(Misato continues, choosing her words carefully. As she speaks, the Major tries to attain some sort of eye contact with Rei - but the young woman's gaze is fixed on the opposite wall of the room.)
Misato: You understand that Shinji and Asuka will not be with you.. you'll have to fight it alone (adds quickly) if we do have to launch Unit Zero, that is.
Rei: I understand.
Misato: And if this thing is an Evangelion, then it's being directed by people - that means it won't fight like anything we've faced before. It may know how our systems work, like the power grid, and the weapon delivery systems; we have to assume that it will attack your support systems to make you an easier target.
Rei: Yes.
Misato: But we're all here for you - everything is being done to prepare for this. We're still analyzing the attack in France, getting every scrap of information about this thing that we can.
Rei: ..
Misato: I.. I really should ask you this now rather than later - in case we don't get a chance when, I guess I should say if an attack comes. You won't have any backup - no other Evas, you'll be on your own out there. So..
Rei: ..
Misato: I know that Tenkei is no longer a part of the Eva project, but if there's any time we'll need his help it'll be now. Maya or someone would eventually have to tell you but it's best that I say it now-
Rei: (interrupting) No.
Misato: .. what Rei?
Rei: No. Tenkei will not fight it.
Misato: I know that it's been difficult -
(The young woman interrupts again, her soft voice quiet, but certain.)
Rei: Tenkei will not fight.
(Her crimson gaze turns to lock on Katsuragi.)
Rei: NERV security will protect him in the Geo-Front while I destroy the enemy.
---------------------------------------------------------
(Maya Ibuki shakes her head in disbelief as she walks down the corridors of NERV Central.
She had let Rei run. The former student of Doctor Akagi had told Tenkei of the danger he had been in - the deadline that Commander Ikari had set for some improvement in the Ev.N complement's performance. She had known that Rei would not let go of the boy. She had let the two of them run away, fleeing from the city and NERV.
By some miracle they had returned. There had been no penalties, and no punishment. Tenkei was simply no longer a part of the project - the order of Commander Ikari, who had only a few days before been ready to order Ibuki to prepare "replacements".. and most likely order the original destroyed.
Tenkei was no longer a part of the project; no longer to be put into the entry plug that seemed to frighten and hurt him so much. NERV was willing to be lenient, to let him go.
How rare.)
Maya: (thinking) How quickly we change our minds when something frightens us - we go back to doing what is necessary. I should have given the news to Rei myself, rather than let Major Katsuragi do it..
(So much that has to be done, so many preparations. All made worse by the state that NERV is in; missing pilots, unstable Evangelions..
She breaks off the corridor through a doorway; Ibuki's destination is the backup control room of the cage.)
Maya: Give me an update on Asuka's recovery.
Gendo: I believe Yuri Furikawa has gone to get a coffee.
(Ibuki almost gasps at the Commander's voice. He stands before the terminals with his back to her, his eyes observing the screens through the tint of his glasses.)
Gendo: Twenty-five is underway.
Maya: Uh.. Sir?
Gendo: I read the procedure you submitted to Commander Fuyutsuki. Stage twenty-five is underway.
(Ibuki composes herself, shaking off the surprise of seeing Ikari here. After all, it's not as if she's done anything wrong..)
Maya: Yes Sir. Thank you Sir.
(The Commander turns for the door and leaves, never once looking at the Project-E Chairperson.)
Maya: ..
Maya: ..what was he doing here?
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Touji: You think Shinji and the others are gettin' ready to fight now?
(The call to evacuate had been made during the work day; for the greatest degree of efficiency, the allocation of shelters in the Geo-Front are not made according to name or family, but location when the evacuation is carried out. It was agreed upon by the city's designers that it would be faster for all the civilians in a location - be it a workplace, schoolyard, or shopping mall - to move as a group rather than go piecemeal from entrance to entrance, shelter to shelter.
Since the call was made during the school day, the class has evacuated as a group to their designated shelter. If the call had been made in other times, then Touji and Kensuke would have been separated - Touji would most likely have been with his sister, who is presently with her class in nearby shelter.)
Kensuke: I don't know.. Misato was pretty down about whatever was wrong with him and Asuka.
Touji: You think those two'r okay?
(The taller boy's eyes shift, finding Hikari Horaki among the people in the shelter. The class representative sits among other girls from the class - voted through class election into the position again, she seems confident in running for a position of more authority, where she could be move involved with school activities and help more students.)
Kensuke: I'm pretty sure that she would have told us if something was really wrong with them.
(Not long ago Touji Suzahara would have said that anything involved with school activities was pretty geeky; 'the sorta thing that'd make all da boys think she's a weirdo or something' is more or less exactly what he would have said, quite possibly to Hikari's face if Asuka Langley Sohryu and her fists didn't live on the same planet. Touji isn't stupid.
He wouldn't say that sort of thing now. Not because it would probably make Hikari not speak to him forever, or even because of the threat of Asuka, but because he no longer believes it. Hikari isn't any sort of geek, she's just.. concerned about people. It's sorta sweet in a way.
Touji can't believe he just thought that.)
Kensuke: You heard about the attack on the news?
Touji: (distracted) That.. France thing, right?
Kensuke: Right - people are saying that it was an Angel that attacked the bases!
Touji: Well, so?
Kensuke: So? That means the enemy is changing their tactics! Something big has changed!
Touji: (disinterested) Right, whatever.. as long as they don't come after us I'm happy..
(What was worse was the noticeboards.
There are noticeboards in hallways and outside classrooms around the school, where school-related announcements are posted. The students also receive newsletters and updates by email, even if they can only access them on the terminals in class. None of this really bothered the former Fourth Child. The greatest moment of Touji Suzahara's existence on the internet was when he discovered how to delete school-related messages without ever reading them. Noticeboards were merely something to try to peel off the wall in extreme boredom emergencies, or a convenient source of bluetack for holding up posters in Touji's bedroom.
They're not meant to be read - not by him, anyway. That's something that the Hikari Horaki's of the world do, not the Touji Suzahara's. But now, every time he walks by a noticeboard, every time he receives an email from a school administration account, there is a horrible temptation to read it.
His newsletters, which would normally be dropped in the bin on the way out of class, or possibly reincarnated as a series of paper planes, now get their corners creased from page turning. He stops in front of notice boards, but not to swipe the bluetack. He hasn't hit the auto-delete option on his terminal for over a month.
He has begun - against all the instincts and habits that have kept him well out of the way of school activities for the past eight years - to watch what was happening in "the school community".
And the very worst part is that Touji Suzahara now knows EXACTLY how to sign up for next year's student representative elections. Somehow the information had managed to insert itself into his head without his knowledge, because he can't remember looking it up.
He was "getting into it". Well, it had sounded good when Hikari had said it.)
Touji: ..
(The former Fourth Child quietly wonders what will become of him.)
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(Major Katsuragi's eyes scan her report as she reads out the last updates on the defensive status of the city. Active launch routes, weapon stations, defensive batteries, sensory arrays.. all are routinely checked as part of the daily operation of NERV. But today another set checks had been ordered; although NERV is technically under constant alert, this "advanced warning" has everyone on edge.
NERV security is not helping - their perpetually watchful eye for sabotage and infiltration has gone into double-time, with off-duty agents being called on-shift.
Tenkei is gone - not simply had Rei refused to help convince him to pilot with her, but he is missing. The teams that had been set to follow and protect him have reported his disappearance. Ikari takes the news calmly from behind his desk.)
Misato: Although past experience warns us not to rely upon his abilities, the absence of the Ev.N puts us in a tighter situation than before.
Gendo: You will have to make do with what you have, Major.
Misato: Yes Sir. I have a recommendation, Sir - we should attempt to maintain the illusion of strength. Presently we are at lowered capacity, with the Second and Third Children.. ill, and the Sixth and Seventh Children missing, we have only one operational Evangelion. In the event of a confrontation we would be at an enormous disadvantage; a risk we should not take, Sir.
Gendo: Continue, major.
Misato: Presumably whoever created the enemy Eva unit will be aware of the bloodspectrum signatures the Evangelions produce. When the enemy - if it survived the N2 strike at Evreux - approaches the city, it will be able to detect our Evas if they come into proximity with it.
Misato: Unit One can be fitted with a remote RAM feed and launched. Although it will remain effectively inactive and hidden in a platform casing, it is possible to stimulate Unit One remotely, and without the presence of a pilot, to produce an easily identifiable bloodtype signature. In addition to an active Unit Zero, this will create the image of two functioning Evan-
Gendo: (interrupting) Unit One is not to be tampered with.
Misato: I've spoken with the Chairperson and confirmed that this can be done sir. The remote plug is already prepared-
Gendo: Consider the Unit as outside of your authority as Head of Operations. It will not be used.
Misato: ..yes sir.
(Misato Katsuragi finishes her report in an efficient drone, mechanically reading out the tactical reports and updates.
Her mind, meanwhile, is elsewhere. Ikari has given her one more clue.)
Misato: (thinking) This must be it..
Misato: (thinking) Fuyutsuki said this would end soon.. but he isn't the sort to "end" it, not that way. He's not the type.
(A compliment, really - Fuyutsuki is, in many ways, nothing like Gendo Ikari. His compassion has separated him in Misato's mind; he wouldn't arrange Ikari's murder, even if he could.)
Misato: (thinking) It must be Commander Ikari. And Unit One..
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(The craft descends, the whiteness of the cloud cover finally parting to reveal the Sea of Okhotsk.
The afternoon sun reflects off the distant waters. North of Japan, the sea of Okhotsk is the last leg of their journey; the convoy of fleeing craft are within reach of the safety of Tokyo-3. Ahead of them, preparations have been made for the arrival of the survivors - landing locations and airspace priorities have been transmitted by radio as NERV prepares to accept both arriving personnel and arriving Evangelions.
Jean-Phillip Anouilh shakes his head at the thought - UNSynaps Evas, stored in Tokyo-3. Weapons created to destroy them, now being practically handed over. As he gazes through one of the transport's windows, his earpiece keeps him "connected" to the messages being shuffled from the UNSynaps convoy to NERV's air traffic control.)
Voice: (radio) Descending.. no visual contact, radar is clear.
(The personnel in the passenger section seem relieved - knowing they are close to safety, they seem relieved, relaxed.. some are even catching up on their sleep. But the director of UNSynaps feels the opposite; safety is close, but..)
Voice: (radio) We're reaching the cloud cover.. what're the weather conditions up ahead? What are we dropping into?
(..but there are always doubts. Always the fear that just as the goal grows near, something will go wrong.)
Voice: (radio) Flight? Are you reading me?
(Anouilh rises from his seat, quick strides taking him to the pilot's compartment. By the time the door slides shut behind him, small fears have changed into something larger.)
Pilot: They're gone - no contact with the forward delta-wing, sir. Last radio message was usual reports, no mayday, no sighting..
Voice: (radio) We should give them a few more minutes to regain contact. Until then, keep in radio contact and-
(They see the flash of light through the craft's canopy. The voice on the radio cuts out.)
Pilot: Jesus..
(It is barely visible on the horizon, but it is there. A falling ball of fire, trailing smoke as it dives towards the sea.)
Anouilh: ..
Voice: (radio) What was that?
Anouilh: (to radio) All craft, split up! Drop to low altitude and break the convoy into pieces - put as much distance as you can between yourself and friendly craft! If we make ourselves sparse enough targets, some of us might get around this thing!
(There is a flurry of response over the radio as the convoy break formation. Craft almost drop from the skies, diving from the heights in hopes of escaping the attention of whatever had struck down the other craft. Anouilh steadies himself against the back wall of the cabin as the plane suddenly dips.)
Pilot: Dropping now, keep your eyes open for that thing. Our rate of descent is-
(The cabin glows white hot.
MARI's beam weapon unleashes only a brief pulse; a half second of laser-light that runs along the spine of the craft. The cockpit is struck first and bursts open, blasting out in a flaming flower of debris. Molten metal cools and hardens in the cold air. As the beam slices down the body of the plane the pressured air within spurts out in burning jets. For the personnel on board, the pain is only briefly felt.
A bare second passes, the gaping wound along the aircraft's body trailing flames. Fuel tanks rupture in the sudden heat and the craft becomes another burning wreck, falling from the sky.
MARI's final attack on the convoy has begun.)
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(The wind that sets the grass to gently sway is silent, soft, unheard against the constant melody of Shinji's cello. His stool surrounded by a waving sea of green, the Third Child plays the bow across the strings, his ear turned towards his hand on the neck of the cello.
Unaffected by the violence and pain of the outside world, unaware of Tenkei's hopes and of Rei's fears, he plays his music. He is not bothered by Asuka's absence, having some small idea of what is happening to her. Nor is he bothered by the question of who is speaking to him.)
Voice: Are you happy?
(The music drops low suddenly, down to a dark, rich note that throbs back and forth across the cello, rumbling out from the wooden frame. A single note that repeats itself once, twice, three times, and sighs into silence, Shinji sighing with it as he listens to the sound die, his eyes closed.)
Shinji: Am I happy?
Voice: Your life, outside here. Are you happy?
Shinji: That's.. hard for me to answer.
(He sets the bow on a higher string, checking the positioning of his fingers.)
Shinji: Does it mean.. what in my life do I like? What in my life do I hate?
(And the bow is moving over the instrument again, drawing from the cello a simple set of notes, gliding from sound to sound. He stops.)
Shinji: I like the music. I like the way it sounds, the way it feels. I like the times when I can just make the music, and the sounds just.. flow. But it isn't all easy. Sometimes I get frustrated, when something doesn't work. I hit a set of notes that my fingers just.. it seems like they can't do them. Or worse, when I can do them but I feel nothing. When it isn't worth it, when it's just a routine.
Shinji: Do good things happening make a bad life worth putting up with? Do bad things happening make a good life unbearable?
Shinji: But that's isn't it, is it? That's not the questions that's really being asked.. You want to understand something that doesn't make sense.
Shinji: You want to know why are we going back.
Shinji: Don't you, mother?
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