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NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: OTHER PATHS
- The First Book of Paths:
Paths I - 1:1
- Chapter 1 - A Welcoming / "First" Angel
Written By: James Grabowski
Revision: 0.95 Pre-Release Distribution - FFML & ANIMENET VERSION
Date: August 14, 1998 - September 8, 1998
Time: 10:00:00 PM (EDT) - 8:30:00 PM (EDT)
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* See the end of this document for the Author's Notes *
***SPOILER-WARNING***: This fanfiction will weigh in HEAVILY on
Evangelion storyline. This is in a sense a
replacement for the series, so if you haven't
seen it yet and wanted to, do it now. Otherwise,
continue.
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LEGAL INFORMATION:
All characters contained in this fanfiction are copyright GAINAX,
Project EVA, and any other company and/or division associated with the
creation and/or production of Neon Genesis Evangelion. At this time, they
are used WITHOUT the permission of the aforementioned institutions.
This fanfiction is a production of James Grabowski, and may not be used in
any way, shape, or form without prior permission of the author.
Distribution is subject to prior approval by the author. (i.e.: ASK before
putting it on a web page if you wish to do so, no posting on a newsgroup
w/o permission, etc. etc. etc.)
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Neon Genesis Evangelion: Other Paths
- The First Book of Paths:
Paths I - 1:1
- Chapter 1 - A Welcoming / "First" Angel
She drove down the street like a bat out of hell. She was running
late; REALLY late.
'He's going to arrive at the station at any minute! If he left or
something happened to him... I don't even want to think about what'll
happen to me. The Sub-Commander might be lenient, but the Commander
would be outraged. He'd kill me! It's his son after all! He'll
probably be worried about him... won't he?'
She subconsciously fingered the white cross hung around her neck
and ran a hand through her long purple hair.
'I shouldn't have stayed up so late last night unpacking...' she
thought to herself. '...And drinking,' she quickly added. 'Just moved
into that apartment a couple of days ago, but I still haven't fully
settled in yet. It makes sense. Still, I'm glad for the move. Being
stuck in that last apartment for the past year... that thing was a rats
nest, not an apartment building! A city of advanced technology and they
still have slums! No one deserves to live in a place like that! Now,
this new place: this is really nice...'
And then she suddenly snapped out of her trance. 'No time to
think about that now.' She sped up another ten kilometres per hour.
She began to think about her mission. 'Shinji? Yes, that was
right. I wonder if Shinji got the package that had been left for him on
the train. There was an ID Card for him from his father... and a picture
so that he can recognize me.' She laughed out loud for a moment. 'He'll
probably like the picture.'
She quickly glanced at the papers she had been given concerning
procedures, and the photo of the boy so that she would recognize him.
'He kind of looks somewhat like his father, only... younger, a softer
expression. Kinder. Kind of cute too.' She put that last thought out
of her mind. She was fifteen years older then him after all. 'I'll
probably have to disappoint him when he asks if I have a boyfriend...
even if I don't.'
She adjusted the black sunglasses which shielded her large brown
eyes. The glasses were starting to embed themselves into her skull from
the extreme speed she was driving at. She was decked out in her nicest
dress, one piece covering from shoulders to knees with a higher collar
around the neck, pure black with a white trim, sleeveless, and a bit
tight. A pair of round, golden earrings hung from her ears. 'I might as
well look professional for this after all.'
As she ran down another street sign and raised her speed another
twenty kilometres per hour, Captain Misato Katsuragi recalled how she had
agreed to go through with this...
------------------------------------
"So Ritsuko, how did the experiment go?"
"Do you really have to ask?
Ritsuko was busy smoking a cigarette while filling out seven
piles of paperwork which were about a metre high. Each.
"Were there problems again?"
"It was a lot worse than 'problems' Captain."
"You seem upset. Why do you sound calm?"
"I am upset. Very. I'm just keeping it under control." She took
her cigarette and burnt a hole through one of the papers. She looked as
if she was ready to torch her entire desk.
"Ritsuko..." Misato looked at her friend worriedly. She was also
ready to stop Ritsuko from acting upon any urges to set fire to her desk.
Ritsuko took another puff of her cigarette and spoke again.
"This wasn't just another failed test Misato."
"It must've been something big."
"It was. Unit Zero went berserk during the reactivation."
Misato blinked. "It what?"
"The Second Experimental Station was practically destroyed,
Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki was wounded, and Rei was almost killed. There's
more of course, but I'd rather not get into it," she simply stated.
Misato looked as if she were in shock. She was. "Oh my god..."
"I know."
"And Commander Ikari?"
"Not in a good mood. Don't talk to him if you don't have to."
"I'll keep that in mind," she said, not that she had any reason or
desire to. "Do you know what caused the accident?"
"Not right now. I'll be starting an investigation once I'm done
with all of this paperwork. Some essential precautions were not taken
during that test. And I want to know what caused Unit Zero to go
berserk. It doesn't make sense... Apparently, the pilot had no input,
but I'm sure that it must have had something to do with her, no matter
how remotely. Even if the computers didn't pick it up, something had to
have caused this result, and the pilot seems like a good place to start."
"The pilot? Rei? You think she tore up the entire Experimental
Station on purpose?"
"No, not on purpose. Not intentionally, or even without noticing
it. I have some theories... but I'd rather conduct the investigation
first. No point in making guesses if they're wrong."
"That's what guessing is all about though."
Ritsuko didn't reply.
"How is Rei?"
"She's injured in various places. She'll be fine within two weeks.
I've been asked by the Commander to see to her recovery personally, in
addition to the treatment she's receiving under the medical division,"
Ritsuko replied off-handedly.
Misato began to reflect upon a thought, but it quickly left her as
she observed Ritsuko beginning to fill out another form.
"Hey Ritsuko, I was wondering, what's all of this paperwork for?"
Ritsuko sighed, and then took another puff. She wiped her left
eye, brushing the mole just under it. The bangs of her short, blond hair
hung further over her forehead than usual. "An application to the UN to
increase our budget by... this amount." She pointed to a spot on the
paper she was currently writing on.
Misato's eyes widened. "That much?"
"We have a lot of repairs to do on Unit Zero. And the Commander
wants it ready within three weeks time. For now, we're abandoning the
Second Experimental Station. We have better ways to spend this money."
"But don't you think you're asking for... a LOT extra?"
"Yes. The failure of Unit Zero's activation isn't the only reason
why NERV is applying for so much money. Commander Ikari plans on
returning to testing on Unit One. And that starts tomorrow. Or at
least, discussing it with the pilot starts tomorrow. It would be
ridiculous to throw a potential pilot into such a situation on the same
day." A far away look appeared in her blue eyes. "Sometimes I wish I
wasn't in charge of this project..."
"Unit One? But..."
"I know. We can discuss it later. I have to get back to work.
If we want the application for the supplement passed sometime this week,
then I need to finish this by tonight at the latest. It has to be sent
out by tomorrow afternoon, and I doubt I'll have time to work on this
tomorrow. And then there's that meeting that Commander Ikari called for
later this evening for myself and the Sub-Commander... I should make
myself a pot of coffee."
"..."
"You'd better go. You're on duty in about five minutes,
aren't you?" she asked, a light smile starting to creep up on her lips.
"Rub it in, don't you. Have a GOOD night Project Chairperson
Akagi."
"Look who's talking!"
The two said their goodbyes as Misato left her friend's office.
She entered the main terminal area and hoped she wouldn't get lost this
time. It didn't matter the length of time that she had been a member of
this organization, she just couldn't find her away around in this maze
called NERV Headquarters, Central Dogma. And after so long, it was
getting to be very embarrassing.
As she stood on the tram taking her to God knows where, because
she certainly didn't, she wondered about what Ritsuko had said. 'It must
have had something to do with her,' she had said. She had never seen
very much of that girl, but somehow, she couldn't see Rei being a direct
cause of the accident. 'She's too... quiet, too reclusive. If anything
that girl needs to get out more. Maybe I should get involved...'
She took another wrong turn and continued to think. 'Commander
Ikari plans on returning to testing on Unit One... that's crazy. I
haven't seen it activated even once since I joined this organization six
years ago, even if it was different back then... Unbelievable, that the
Commander would actually try to use it now. The purpose of the
Evangelions seems doubtful too. The Commander sure seems sure of himself
though... it's odd, to say the least. Even if it is NERV's purpose...
She stepped off the tram, and made another turn, this time in
the right direction (when she was supposed to go left), and walked right
into Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki. He dropped his papers. She noticed he was
holding his arm... that must've been where he had been injured.
"Please watch where you are going Captain." he said. She could
tell there was a slight hint of pain in his voice, but otherwise
unnoticeable.
"I'm very sorry Sub-Commander." She bowed in apology.
They both bent down to pick up the papers that Kouzou had
dropped. Misato couldn't help but look at the papers as she collected
them. She saw the words 'urgent', 'important' and 'Shinji Ikari' printed
on them in different places.
'Wait a minute... Ikari?'
"Sub-Commander? If I may ask... who is Shinji Ikari?"
"You shouldn't be reading those Captain."
'Not even on duty yet and I'm already in trouble,' she thought.
She started to turn red.
Kouzou sighed. "It's of no consequence. This was about to be
made common knowledge to NERV personnel anyway."
"I don't understand."
"To begin with, Shinji Ikari is Commander Ikari's son."
'That bastard has a son?!' she screamed in her head. The image of
the Commander smiling and holding this boy's hand made her want to burst
out laughing.
No matter how anyone acted, no one really liked the Commander.
The only exceptions were Ritsuko and Kouzou, and even they sometimes
didn't seem to like him very much.
"The Commander has a son?" she asked formally.
"That's correct. The Commander has made a request for him to
come to headquarters."
"To come here? What for?"
"According to the Marduk Report, young Ikari is the Third
Children." Misato noted a hint of regret in the man's voice.
"The Third? Another has been found?"
Kouzou solemnly nodded.
"Is that why the Commander plans to start testing on Unit One?"
Kouzou looks surprised, and then somewhat angry. "How did you
know about that? That information hasn't been released."
"Ritsuko told me about it."
"..."
Misato became nervous inwardly. The Sub-Commander didn't appear
to be in a very good mood.
"Again, it doesn't matter. That would have been made public to
NERV personnel as well."
Misato silently breathed a sigh of relief.
"He arrives late tomorrow afternoon. The Commander has asked for
someone to act as a liaison for him, to pick him up tomorrow and deliver
him safely to headquarters."
"The Commander must be worried about him..."
"..."
"Sub-Commander?" She noted that the Sub-Commander didn't seem to
be very open to the subject.
"At any rate, if you see Operator Hyuuga, please tell him to
report to the Commander's Office. I'm assigning him the responsibility
of acting as liaison for---"
Misato suddenly interjected her voice into the one-way
conversation. "I could do it."
"---young Ikari tomorrow." The man blinked for a moment, and
looked somewhat surprised. "I'm sorry?"
"I said I'll do it. I don't mind volunteering my time for this.
Better to get someone willingly then have to order them, right?" she
asked smiling.
"Hmmm..." He seemed to contemplate what she just said. "You do
make a point Captain."
"Well?"
"Follow me to my office. I'll explain the procedures to you for
tomorrow. From this point on you're off duty for the remainder of your
shift. You were late anyway. Still getting lost after so long?" A
smirk was present on his face as he turned around.
As she followed the Sub-Commander through the maze of trams, two
thoughts came to mind. 'Why did I volunteer to do this? And... how does
everyone know my time table?! With all the people who work here, why
mine? Even if he IS Sub-Commander!"
------------------------------------
She adjusted her sunglasses again. Just a few more minutes and
she'd be there. She just hoped no one would notice the smell of burnt
rubber and the black tire treads in the streets of Tokyo-3. Then again,
the streets were completely empty today. A state of emergency had been
declared earlier that afternoon, but the reason she had been given was
almost preposterous. A possible sighting of... she let it slip from her
mind. But it was late afternoon now, and that was quite some time ago.
They made the sighting at 12:30, and it was nearly 5:00 now.
She remembered the question she had asked herself the day before.
'Why did I volunteer to do this?' The answer had come to her soon
afterward. She figured that it would be... interesting to meet the
Commander's son. To see if the two were alike. For all she knew, they
could be Yin and Yang. It just piqued her, and her nose for curiosity
always led her to explore, to find the truth. It was her way.
And then, she heard a loud crash. She looked ahead of her and
was almost tempted to hit the breaks. There were 20 UN fighter crafts
flying out from behind a mountain. This didn't bother her. What
bothered her was what was following them.
"Oh, dear god..."
She sped up another 30 kilometres per hour. Her voice took on a
tone of reproach.
"So... they were right when they detected something strange this
morning. And... the Commander was right all this time. They still
exist..." She looked up once more. "Purpose..."
------------------------------------
"All phone services are suspended due to the current state of
emergency. Please try your call again later when restrictions have been
removed."
Shinji Ikari stood just outside the train station at a public
phone. He put the receiver on the hook and sighed. He ran his hand
through the short brown hair which matted his head, and tugged on the
collar of the white school shirt he wore. He looked at the reflection of
his aqua coloured eyes in the metal of the telephone, the blue more
prominent in them, blinked, and sighed. He rubbed his hands on his black
pants and turned around. Soon, he heard a female voice making an
unceremonious announcement throughout the city, the same one he had heard
since he arrived at the station an hour ago.
"Today at 12:30 JST, a state of special emergency has been
declared all over Kanto and Chubu areas surrounding the Tokai district.
Please take refuge in the designated shelters until further information
is available. Repeat: Today at 12:30 JST..."
He tugged on the smaller green shirt he wore under the white
shirt. He turned around and looked at the train schedule posted on the
monitors at the station. Every line read 'Out of service.'
"Well, so much for going back." The train that had brought him
was still at the station, but the driver had already left for a shelter
once they had arrived. No one appeared to be around.
He pulled out the small box that had been placed on the train with
his name on it. He quickly glanced at the paper inside, with brief
instructions on what to do once he had arrived. Unfortunately, he
couldn't carry them out. With phone services down, he couldn't contact
his liaison. He briefly glanced at the ID Card with his last school
photo on it. He had only vague knowledge of what NERV was, explained to
him by his sensei the day before. He took out a picture which was inside
the box and looked at it. A way for him to identify her when he arrived,
his liaison. She was seemingly young, with flowing purple hair and a
bright smile. She was wearing a sleeveless yellow shirt and blue-jean
shorts. She was bent over to face the camera, and was holding one of her
hands making a "V" with her fingers. He read the message written across
the top of the photo:
'Dear Shinji. I'll be coming to meet you as soon as you arrive. Please
wait for me! Misato.'
Then he noticed a smaller caption written underneath:
'PS: Look over here!'
There was a small arrow leading from the message to her breasts.
Apparently, she liked to wear somewhat revealing clothing. Funny how he
hadn't noticed that part on the train. Shinji wondered if she thought
that was all boys were interested in. He followed to wonder if he was
interested... and then decided that he had no clue what to think.
He put the picture and the note back in the box, and put it in the
shoulder bag he had slung over his right shoulder. He spoke aloud,
sounding somewhat distressed.
"She told me to wait for her... but I don't think I can. I'd
better go to a shelter and try to contact her later..." He glanced
around once more in hopes of seeing his liaison waiting for him. "I
shouldn't have come," he muttered, and began to walk down the nearest
street.
But he didn't even take one step. He felt as if someone was
watching him. He turned his head around and looked down another street.
In the distance, a blue-haired girl was watching him. Shinji blinked for
a moment, and then was startled by the sound of a flock of birds. He
looked as they flew off. When he looked back, the girl was gone.
"That was odd." He decided to head for a shelter.
But before he could take a full step, a loud crash sent him
stumbling back into the phone. Unfortunately, he had stumbled into the
side of the phone, causing him to flatten out against it.
"Ow..." He stood up straight again, and put his back to the
public phone's side. "What happened?"
Telephone wires and power lines were swaying about in the air,
and a few of the vehicles on the road had jumped forward slightly.
"Was it an earthquake?" he wondered aloud. "It couldn't have
been."
He paused and looked up into the sky. He saw a group of aircraft
flying slowly away from a small mountain a mere half a kilometre or so
away. More were flying overhead, through the openings in the buildings
of the city, heading for the others. He noticed they all had the letters
"UN" stamped on them.
He squinted slightly at the site. "United Nations? What's
happening in this city?"
The answer to his question lumbered out from behind the same
mountain. Shinji gasped loudly and stopped breathing.
"... w... what is that thing?!"
------------------------------------
"... w... what is that thing?!"
Maya Ibuki looked up at the monstrosity on the view screen from
her position on the right end of a joint workstation. She could feel
light beads of sweat beginning to develop in her short black hair and
on her face.
This screen was one of the many which suspended itself as a
holographic image in the gigantic room, meaning it was extremely large
itself, especially considering that she was only at the mid level of the
room. Far below her, many other workers glanced up at the gigantic
display, much in the same state as her. Needless to say, the display
gave a perfect view of the present events.
"This has got to be impossible..." muttered the ashen faced
Shigeru Aoba, seated at the other end of joint workstation,
subconsciously pushing his longer brown hair behind his shoulders.
"It sure doesn't look impossible..." whispered an equally pale
Makoto Hyuuga, who was seated between the two. He took off his glasses
and wiped them with a small cloth which he had produced from his
pocket, and running a hand through his straight brown hair in disbelief.
The same thought ran through the minds of the three operators at
the same time.
'The Commander was right.'
In the back of the large room, on a spire a level (about three
metres) higher than the one the three operators were on, a brown haired
and brown bearded man sat down at a desk, his chin resting just above his
his white-gloved hands, folded neatly in front of his face. His dark
glasses reflected the images on the screen. The jacket of his dark blue
uniform hung open, his red shirt a direct contrast to the uniform.
Beside him, a gray-haired man who looked to be somewhat older than the
first stood with his arms behind his back. He brushed the arms of his
brown uniform, identical in every way to the former's with the exception
of colour and that it was fastened. He held his right arm for a moment,
and then reverted to his previous position. Behind them was another
larger spire, which branched out in three direction, producing three
workstations like the one below, two staircases at opposite ends leading
up to it, just like the staircases leading to the larger area below them.
On the wall of the larger spire directly behind the two men the word
"NERV" was written, the letters "NE on one line, "RV" on the next
beginning from under the "E", and the image of half a leaf, its stem
extending from the top half of the "E" and the main cross-section of
the leaf itself completing the shape at the bottom half of the "R",
the entire design a dull red.
Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki turned to the man sitting at the desk.
"Ikari. Has it been so long?"
"Fifteen years."
"There's no doubt about it then. It seems you were right."
"It would be nice to say that I wasn't. But my sources were
highly reliable."
Both men looked up at the screen once more. A creature of immense
size was walking forward, surrounded by about 20 UN aircraft fighters.
It was humanoid in form, but not in appearance. Its skin was of a dark
green hue, and its long limbs were like rubber in appearance and action.
the arms were oddly shaped, as large points jutted out of both of its
elbows. It had an exoskeleton, a single oddly-shaped bone which covered
it's shoulder blades, and another which reached out from inside its skin
to cover its chest like large claws. Behind the prison formed by the
bones on its chest a large red orb silently glowed. Its visage was
rather strange, apparently part of the highest point on its chest. It
was an off-white hemisphere, with two black holes which could be called
"eyes", and a long white bone protruding from it, which could have been
called its "nose". It looked as if it were a mask of sorts, but the
"eyes" would occasionally blink, and it kept turning its "head" looking
at its surroundings. It was an odd and frightful site to most people.
"The Angels have returned," spoke Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki.
"..."
==================------------------------------------==================
Chapter 1
A Welcoming / "First" Angel
==================------------------------------------==================
"How are the commanders from the UN?"
"Highly amusing. They're discussing strategy."
"What a waste of time."
"Man's arrogance will lead him where he wills."
"Do we have the right to say that?"
"Of course. It's arrogance within truth."
Silence. The shouts and orders of the commanders from the UN
could be heard. The three of them were seated on a spire directly in
front of NERV's Commander's, the three behind a large desk. The spire
seemed to be out of place in the room, indicating that it was removable.
From the view of the NERV Commander, the one on the right was smoking
heavily, his short black hair unwavering. The one on the left was
intently watching the screen, saying nothing. The one in the center was
different, his hair gray in contrast to the blackness of the others, his
face much more aged. He was the superior commander of the three. He was
speaking into a portable microphone attached to the lapel of his uniform,
shouting loudly while a flood of anger washed over both his face and
his voice.
"I don't give a damn! Open fire!"
"Yes sir!" came the reply from the speaker on the desk.
The two men in the background looked on, seemingly unfazed by
the events unfolding before them.
"I don't know whether I should laugh or feel sorry for them,"
the Sub-Commander whispered.
"It's best not to do either." The calm reply was rather
indifferent in nature. "Let them have their fun for now. It won't last
for very long."
The Sub-Commander nodded slightly, and continued to stare at the
screen, as the first of the UN aircraft opened fire at the Angel.
------------------------------------
The young Shinji Ikari looked on as each aircraft began to fire a
barrage of missiles at the creature. He nearly jumped to the ground as
one of the aircraft from overhead launched a missile at the creature,
which passed a mere two metres over his head. It was the time to faint,
but he couldn't move; he was frozen in place. Whether it was from
curiosity, absolute terror, or a mixture of both he didn't know. All he
knew was that something was happening before his eyes that he deemed
impossible. Except that it wasn't.
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "This can't be happening," he
managed to stutter. "What is it?" He figured that if the UN were
trying to destroy it, then it was something bad. But still, he couldn't
move. He desperately wanted to.
He looked on as a cloud of fire engulfed the creature. The UN
forces must have destroyed it.
And that was when a solid beam of energy rushed out of its palm,
smashing into one of the aircraft, impaling it, and sending it crashing
to the ground. More accurately, crashing into a building directly in
front of the young Ikari. Shards of metal flew by his prone body,
missing him by mere centimetres.
Shinji began to breathe heavily.
'Tha... that girl... if I hadn't... I...'
But he didn't have time to think about how he had almost lost his
life. The beam retracted back into its arm. Shinji gasped once more and
turned white as he saw the creature rise off the ground, light spreading
around the area it had just stood, destroying the area around its feet.
It was coming towards him, and it was coming fast.
He fell to the ground, and looked at the creature heading towards
him. It was then that Shinji Ikari realized he was going to die, and
that he would've been better off if he had stayed with his sensei in
Atsugi.
But his final thoughts were interrupted as the squealing of tires
filled his ears, and a light blue car came jetting towards him, stopping
a metre away from him, the passenger side of the door facing him.
The door flew open, just missing his head, and the smiling face of a
young woman popped out. She sounded surprisingly optimistic to him.
"Sorry to keep you waiting! Are you ready to go?"
"YES!"
He immediately realized that this was the woman he had been
waiting for, his liaison. He hastily scrambled into the car with his
bag, and the woman backed up the car... just in time to avoid getting
crushed by one of the large feet of the creature as it finally set down
in front of them. The woman slammed her foot to the gas pedal of the
car and raced off in the direction of the mountain that the creature
had just come from.
"Why are we going this way?"
"I don't think it will be following us, if that's what you're
worried about."
As it turned out, she was right. Moments later, the creature
began to walk out of the city, but at a ninety degree angle from where it
had just come from. The aircraft continued to fly in formation around
the creature, not risking another attack for the moment. The woman left
her foot pushing the gas pedal into the car floor, and continued to drive
straight ahead.
"Well Mr. Ikari, welcome to Tokyo-3."
Shinji gulped and managed a weak "Thank you". He just looked out
the window and stared at the creature, which had brought down another of
the UN aircraft flying around its upper body. Neither he nor the woman
said anything else as she continued to race farther away from the
creature, heading towards a road which encircled the entire city of
Tokyo-3.
------------------------------------
"This is pathetic."
"I know Fuyutsuki."
"And you intend to let them play this out?"
"If we don't, then we won't get a chance ourselves."
The Commander and Sub-Commander continued to watch the three
Commanders from the UN as they attempted to direct the situation. The
three of them stared at the screen as the Angel brought down another two
of their aircraft.
"Sir! Our current air force resources don't have enough firepower
to bring the target down! What are your orders?" the speaker cackled.
"Deploy the divisions from the American base at Atsugi and all
aircraft available from the Japanese Air Defense Force at Iruma!. Open
fire with all land-based artillery available in the surrounding regions,
and continue the missile launch from the current aircraft!" ordered the
elder commander.
"Don't let that thing get away! Lure it away from the city and
destroy it at any cost. Full-scale assault!" the smoker added.
The Sub-Commander looked on with disinterest.
"Idiots."
Everyone in the room watched as more military vehicles entered
the scene, firing every piece of artillery available to them. Machine
guns, surface to air missiles, air to air missiles, guided missiles,
cannon shells, machine gun fire, and in an extreme case, even a
foot-soldier attack were used against the enemy. None of them even left
a scratch on the Angel. Within two minutes time of the arrival of the
reinforcements, the military had completely drained its resources of
firepower, and had lost most of their land-based infantry, both soldier
and vehicle alike. The last assault on the Angel came from a newcomer to
the battle scene, a black jet flying overhead. It fired a missile about
five times the size of the other aircraft, which split open on contact
with the Angel's arm as it attempted to block it. The resulting
explosion took out the remainder of the land-based infantry, and the land
under it. Nonetheless, when the smoke cleared, the Angel was still
standing in all of its splendor, with about fifteen aircraft flying
around it. That became thirteen as it took down two more with one swipe
of its arm.
Kouzou tore his eyes away from the carnage to look directly at
Commander Ikari. "This is pathetic Ikari. How can we let them throw
their lives away like this?"
Gendou glanced up at the man while giving his reply. "If we
don't, we may lose even more. You know that Fuyutsuki." He returned
his attention to the display.
"..." Kouzou looked back up at the display, his eyes beginning
to narrow. "Fools. They continue to waste their lives when they know
they have no chance. The only plus side to this is that they are far
enough outside of the city boundaries that no damage is being inflicted
on us." He watched as the black jet crashed to the ground, another
victim of the Angel's attack. "Arrogant fools."
Meanwhile, the commanders from the UN were beginning to conference
among themselves, but loud enough that everyone in the vicinity could
hear them.
"Every attack out there was a direct hit!" shouted the commander
on the left. He was still slouched in his seat, staring at the display
in disbelief.
"None of our standard artillery had any impact on the creature.
It's disgusting. How are we supposed to take that thing out with such
pathetic weapons?" asked the elder, fingering the lapel of his jacket.
"Pathetic weapons? Damn it, we could have taken out half a
country with all of that firepower!" the smoker yelled at his compatriot.
He put out his cigarette and lit another.
Kouzou spoke quietly to Gendou again, this time keeping his eyes
on the display. "Absolute Terror Field... that's helping to protect it,
isn't it." It was a statement rather than a question.
"Naturally," came the reply. "But it's able to repel the firepower
without the need of the AT Field." He let out a brief grunt. "Its more
effective to transport it around the city than to use it to defend itself.
Its skin is taking care of that. How else would it have stayed alive
after this bombardment?"
Gendou watched the continuing efforts of the UN military on the
screen.
"Regular weapons won't have any effect on it."
"What do you think they plan to do?" Kouzou said, indicating the
commanders.
"The only viable option available."
The Sub-Commander's expression changed from passive indifference
to a hint of rage. His eyes narrowed. "At the least, we won't bear any
of the damage."
"The most incurred will only effect a small section of the
outside perimeter." He glanced up at Kouzou. "Which was evacuated
earlier."
Kouzou continued to stare at the screen. 'Is it really worth
it?' he wondered, knowing full well what would happen next.
The commanders had concluded their conference.
"This can't go on anymore. We're just leading our officers to
their deaths. I'm contacting central command. There's only one more
alternative," the man said as he put out his cigarette.
"The N2, Iwasaki?" asked the one who had decided to sit up.
"The N2, Matsuo," he replied.
The phone on the desk rang.
"It looks as if there's no need to contact them," the elder
commented.
Iwasaki pulled out a small card and slid it through a slot next to
the phone. After a short beep, Iwasaki picked up the receiver. "This is
Sub-Commander Iwasaki. Yes... yes, I was just about to request clearance
for... yes... yes, both Sub-Commander Matsuo and Commander Maruyama have
come to the same agreement. Yes... we know what to do if this fails.
Understood sir. We'll deploy it as originally planned." He replaced the
phone on the receiver. He nodded to Maruyama, who began to talk into the
communicator on his lapel.
"Cease fire. Deploy the N2 bomb, and then pull out immediately.
Halt all attacks from the air. I repeat, deploy the N2 bomb and pull
out."
Kouzou looked on. 'Arrogant fools,' he thought. 'I wonder...
if Katsuragi was able to find the Third Children...'
------------------------------------
Shinji and his liaison had driven far from the perimeter of the
city. The creature had been led further from the city, albeit in
twisting directions as it had been the one doing the leading. It ended
up being closer to them then the city was, but the distance between it
and them was still far enough for the both of them to feel some relief.
It was currently walking over a large hill, decimated by the UN's
attempts at destroying the creature. Misato had been watching the whole
affair through a pair of field binoculars since she had stopped the car.
Shinji had remained silent since they had pulled out of the city,
somewhat in shock at the events unfolding before him. His head was also
being crushed by Misato's breasts as she leaned over him to get a better
glimpse out of the window. He was steadily regaining his composure from
the shock of how he had almost been killed. Misato wasn't affecting him
at the moment, nor did she seem to be anytime soon. Still, he discovered
that breathing would be very important if he wanted to stay alive.
"Mi... Miss..."
"Shhhhhhhhh..."
He remained silent and managed to squeeze out of his position to
get a better look out the window and to take in some air.
'I'm not that much closer to the creature then she is, and she
does have the binoculars...'
He stared at the creature in the distance.
'I wonder... what it is...'
Misato looked on at the creature as it walked away. This wasn't
how she had intended to spend her day. She thought she would actually
have gotten to talk the boy, rather than have to ignore him like this.
This was far too important, and it was too dangerous to attempt to get
back into the city at the moment. She continued to look out the window
with the binoculars. 'So... they're back. But... why now? Why did they
return so suddenly? It doesn't make sense...' Her thoughts were cut off
as she saw the remaining aircraft pull away from the Angel, very
quickly.
"What's happening?" she wondered aloud.
And then it hit her. She had seen the entire scene unfold in
front of her. She had seen the military move in without any results.
There was only one thing left to try.
"Oh damn!!!"
Shinji glanced up at his liaison. He had no idea what was
happening.
"They're going to use an N2?! Damn it! Get down Shinji!!!"
Before he could say anything, he found himself under his liaison,
keeping him pushed down hard to the car seat. He never knew what to do
in situations like this. He didn't think about things like this very
much. However, he knew that this situation wasn't good. She had looked
horrified when she had jumped on him. He knew something was about to
happen to them.
And he was right. The next thing either of them knew, an
extremely loud explosion filled their ears. Shinji managed to raise
his eyes to look out the window. Though he couldn't see straight ahead,
he could see a gigantic pillar of fire raising high into the sky, and it
was very thick. Large rings of smoke were moving outward from it.
It was obvious that it wasn't going to come close to them, but it
didn't have to. He could feel the ground around him beginning to rumble.
The next thing he knew, the car he was in was being tossed along the
ground like a child's toy. Unfortunately, a real car isn't as durable.
It was being repeatedly smashed as it was rolled along the ground, a good
three-eighths of a kilometre before it stopped to rest on the passenger
side. He was suddenly thankful that he had been pinned to the seat the
entire time. He would have been dead otherwise.
He looked at the woman still pinning him down. She didn't appear
to be injured.
"I... I think we've stopped," he said to her calmly.
She looked up at him and nodded. She carefully let him go and
stood up on the passenger side window. Shinji did the same. This was
quite a feet considering the two of them had been upside-down to that
side. They both silently stared out at the explosion. The flames
at the center of the explosion were still burning high and strongly.
An extremely strong wind was still blowing, but not quite strong enough
to blow over the car. The ground around them was somewhat devastated
from the shock wave, but it appeared they were safe for now. The two of
them both subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
"I wasn't expecting this when I came," they both said at the
exact same time.
The two of them blinked, looked at each other, and then continued
to stare out at the explosion's origin.
------------------------------------
Everyone in the room looked on as the explosion decimated the
landscape, and ultimately, the Angel inhabiting it.
"Success!" shouted Maruyama.
"We did it! A job well done." declared Matsuo. He was letting
his formalities escape him slightly.
"I'm sorry Mister Ikari," called Iwasaki behind him, a smirk
having developed on his face. "But it seems as if your services won't be
required. You can clean up the mess, if you'd like to feel as if you
had a part in this."
Kouzou began to smirk, and talk in low tones that only Gendou
could hear.
"That man is an arrogant bastard," he stated. "He has no idea
what he's talking about."
"Let him enjoy it Fuyutsuki. It will be worth it."
"It would be nice to make a retort when the time comes. But
sadly, that would make us no better then they are."
"Which is why we lay in wait in silence. Why sink down to their
level when the results of their idiocy will be their punishment?"
"Exactly."
Kouzou noticed that, behind his gloves, Gendou was smirking as
well. 'Not a surprise,' he thought to himself. 'No one is perfect,
after all.' He returned his attention to the screen, awaiting the
inevitable. Maya's voice resounded through the room.
"Incoming shockwave."
The display changed to static.
------------------------------------
"Are you all right?" she asked him.
"Yes, I think so. My mouth is full of dirt though." He spat
some out for emphasis. That was from attempting to talk to her while
the wind had continued to blow.
They had both climbed out of the car. The wind had died down, and
any possible danger appeared to have disappeared. Flames and smoke
continued to billow in the distance. The ground around them was
devastated. It would be a rough ride to get back to the road, which
wasn't too far. They both hoped it had fared better.
"Do you think you could give me a hand with my car?"
"Sure."
The two set themselves against the roof of the car, in a pushing
position.
"Okay. One... two... three... PUSH!!!"
The two struggled with the car for about half a minute. At last,
their patience and perseverance were rewarded as the car flipped over,
landing on its wheels.
"Whew. Thank you very much."
"You're welcome. Miss Katsuragi.
"There's no need to be so formal," she said as she removed her
glasses. It was the first time Shinji had gotten to take a full look at
her face. She was very beautiful actually. "Please, call me Misato.
Even though I've been with you since this started, we haven't been able
to talk. It's nice to finally meet you Shinji Ikari."
"Well, thank you Miss Katsu... I mean, Misato."
Misato continued to smile.
"That's better. Well, I guess you know, that I'll be your liaison
until we get to NERV."
"Yes. I got the package that was left for me on the train, and I
read the note."
"Does that mean you got the picture too?"
"Errr..." Shinji blushed slightly, looking somewhat uncomfortable.
Misato giggled. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you. So,
are you ready to go?" she asked, as Shinji's normal skin colour returned.
"Yes, I'm ready."
"Well, climb in... uhhh..."
She looked at her car. There were was a large crack running
through the windshield, the passenger side window had been completely
smashed out (luckily on to the ground, rather than in the car), and parts
of the car were threatening to fall off (side mirrors, bumpers, and some
plating). As she glanced under the car, she noted that the gas tank was
also missing, some ten metres away.
"Ummm... could you wait a moment?"
"Sure."
She walked over to the car, and gently turned the key in the
ignition. She heard the engine sputter, and then die.
"Lovely. Shinji, this may take a while..."
"Do you need any help?"
She tossed him a roll of duct tape.
"Do you mind taping pieces of my car which are falling off?"
"Uhhh... sure."
"Great. I'm going to get to work hot wiring the engine."
"Hot wiring?!"
"Relax, it's my own car. We have to get going, right? I can make
it work without any gas." She proceeded to open the trunk of her car
and undid some fastenings which had kept a large covered pile securely
tied down. Under the covers were a large number of car batteries.
Shinji just stared. He decided it would be better to work on
taping the car then to wonder if his liaison was a potential thief.
"Well, time to get to work!" she said smiling. 'I want to cry...'
she thought to herself as she started connecting some wires.
It was very quiet as they worked. Misato thought to herself that
it would be better to talk once they were on the rode. Shinji seemed
kind of distracted at the moment.
------------------------------------
"Still nothing..."
"Don't worry Matsuo," his fellow commander, Iwasaki, said to him.
"The scanners should be up again momentarily."
"The target couldn't have survived that. It's impossible," stated
Maruyama. "Still..." He looked up and spoke in a louder voice. "What
is the status of the target?"
Maya spoke up from the front of the room. "The target's status
is unknown. Too much interference was caused from the blast."
The three UN Commanders sat discussing their achievement. In
the back, the men of NERV continued to stare at the screen.
"...disgusting..."
"And yet, they are like us. That is why we 'respect' them."
"We respect them because they hold power over us. It's that which
we respect."
"Too true Fuyutsuki."
Maya spoke up from the front. "The sensors are coming back
on-line."
A three dimensional graph representing the energy levels in the
area where the N2 bomb had been detonated came on to the display. It was
nearly empty.
"And that proves it," said Iwasaki with a grin.
Suddenly, directly opposite Maya on the other end of the
triple-manned workstation, Hyuuga spoke up.
"High energy readings detected at the explosions epicenter!"
"Confirmed. No relation to activation of the N2 device," Shigeru
added in quick succession.
On the graph, a number of lines started to rise high up, all at
the center.
"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" yelled a stunned Matsuo as he fell out of his
seat and smacked his head on the floor of the spire. He couldn't believe
what he had just heard.
Both Kouzou and Gendou suppressed chuckles.
"The visuals are coming back on-line," stated Maya.
The screen's display changed from the rapidly fluctuating graph
to the scene where the N2 bomb had just gone off. Although still fiery,
something was quite clearly shown at its epicenter.
It was the Angel, and it was very much alive.
"Damn..." whispered Matsuo, as he climbed back into his seat,
rubbing his head.
"That was our last alternative. Th.. there's nothing else
left..." stuttered Maruyama. He looked somewhat pale.
"What kind of demon from hell is this?!" an angered Iwasaki yelled
as he pounded the desk with his fist.
The Angel stood still and didn't move. It appeared to be injured,
two faces where there had been one before, as if the first had been
nothing more than a mask. However, both showed signs of life, the new
one more prominent. It was just like the other, except that it didn't
have a 'nose'. Parts of its body had been ripped open, but not very
much. Not one drop of blood came from any of its wounds, although organs
of both pink and blue colour could be seen. Its injuries were pulsing
slowly, a pale green liquid beginning to secrete from them, covering the
areas which had been injured.
Kouzou and Gendou looked on from the background.
"And now would be the time to laugh Fuyutsuki."
"If this were the time."
"I agree."
"I guess that is the end of the military's attempts."
"Most likely."
The two stared on. Kouzou looked at the Angel's faces. The
original face was beginning to solidify into position next to the new
one. The liquid which was being secreted from the wounds was beginning
to solidify, matching the colour of the Angel's skin.
"Not surprising. It's beginning to regenerate, just as expected."
"Naturally. If it couldn't, what would be its point of being an
autonomous weapon of invasion? It would simply die."
The eyes of the newer visage began to glow, and a beam of energy
was released. Static returned to the screen.
"Scanners are off-line," announced Maya. It was already obvious
to everyone.
"And it can increase its functions. Rather impressive."
"And it continues to grow in intelligence with each passing
moment."
"Well Ikari, how long do you believe until it will attack us
again?"
"Not long enough. It may not attempt to fully heal itself before
it continues on the offensive, even though there's nothing that the UN
can use against it to halt it. An hour. Perhaps two, but unlikely.
"..."
"..."
"Do you think that if the UN hadn't initiated an assault, this
may have been avoided?"
"Perhaps. It's much too late to reflect on the past now. A
testament to the will of man."
"To the will of the ignorant."
There was a brief silence between the two."
"We are wasting our time," Kouzou muttered.
"Agreed."
"It is about time we had a talk with our... observers... from the
UN."
"As soon as they are ready to speak to us."
Kouzou looked up at the screen again. The Angel was regenerating
itself fairly quickly. It could be a few hours, maybe just one before it
decided to renew its assault.
"Ikari." It was Maruyama.
Kouzou looked up at the ceiling. "And so it begins..."
------------------------------------
"I'm really sorry about this."
"..."
After getting her car running, Misato had decided that the "scenic
route" would be the best way to get back into the city. This was because
she decided that driving within range of the Angel after what had just
happened would be a very bad idea. This involved driving around the city
until she decided it would be a good idea to turn back in.
"There's another road leading back to the city somewhere around
here..."
"I know. We just passed it."
"WHAT?!"
Misato slammed on the brakes and spun the steering wheel of her
car around, making a 180 degree turn on the spot.
"Aaaa!"
Misato waved her hand at him and smiled. "Oh calm down. I know
what I'm doing."
"That's what you said about the engine, wasn't it?"
"And it's working, right?"
"Yes it is. Although how you managed to make it work with twenty
car batteries attached to it is beyond me..."
"Just something I learned in my college days."
"Uh huh. And I was wondering... just why do you have those in
your car anyway?"
Misato blinked, and began to speak nervously. "!!! Well, you
see, err... I just moved, and I had them all at my old apartment, and I
never really got to unpacking them..." she explained.
'I hope he buys that,' she thought.
He looked at her suspiciously. "...Who would keep car batteries
in their house?"
Misato replied, trying to act inconspicuous. "Oh who asked you
anyway. Even if it doesn't look like it, I work for a branch of the UN,
so it won't be a problem. Okay? It is an emergency anyway..."
"...but... you had them BEFORE this happened."
Misato looked at her charge. He had an expression on his face
showing his disbelief of her. The frown signaled to her that it was
time to get out of this conversation.
"You're starting to bother me, and bore me too. You're so unlike
your age. You're not as cute as I thought you were." She sighed,
trying to make him jealous.
Obviously it didn't work, because he just kept the same
expression.
"Really."
She started to chuckle. "Oh, did I get you angry? I'm sorry.
But you're a boy after all, so that makes it fun!"
"...you're childish for your age, aren't you?"
Misato twitched. She grinned... evilly. Then she floored the
gas pedal and sped off, swerving back and forth between the lanes leading
back to Tokyo-3, doing her best to come as close to the railings as
possible without hitting them.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
"Are you sorry yet?"
Shinji continued screaming. Misato had just smashed through the
railing on the road.
"Why don't you want to apologize?"
"BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO DRIVE INTO THAT TREE!!!"
"What? Oh, you're right."
She happily turned the wheel and redirected herself back on to the
road, smashing another railing.
"Does that make you feel better?"
Shinji's skin and hair colour came close to matching his white
shirt.
"... I... I... I... I'm... sor...ry..."
"That's better."
She slowed down to a much slower, and much safer driving speed.
Colour returned to Shinji's appearance.
"Oh, I'm sorry Shinji. I wouldn't do anything to hurt you.
You're too cute."
Shinji just gulped and nodded.
'I guess he won't say much right now,' Misato thought.
"Oh! I just remembered..." Misato exclaimed aloud. "I have to
make arrangements with headquarters... Shinji, could you hand me the
phone please?"
"Sure."
He shakily picked up the receiver end of the car phone and handed
it to her. She dialed a few numbers and soon got a response.
"Who is this?"
"Hyuuga?"
"Captain? I'm switching you to a scrambled line. Hold on."
A few moments of silence passed.
"All right."
"Hyuuga, could you please put me on with Dr. Akagi?"
"She's unavailable right now." There was a pause. Makoto spoke
again, but with a lower voice. "And this isn't a good time. The
commanders from the UN are deep in discussion with the Commander and
Sub-Commander."
"So, it's gone that far..." her voice drifted off.
"Captain Katsuragi?" Makoto's question was one of concern.
"It's nothing. Listen. I have the Third Children with me. I'm
on my way back into the city. I need you to tell me where the closest
entrance is."
"I see. Hold on... I have your location on my screen. The
coordinates should be coming through to your computer now..."
The miniature display in Misato's car lit up.
"That's closer than I thought."
"Are you sure the two of you can make it here safely?"
"Don't worry about it. Keeping him safe is the most important
thing to me right now."
Shinji looked up at that comment.
"I need you to prepare some transport for us. Do you think you
could have a car-transport train ready once we reach the location? A
linear one---my car won't fit into the other models. Preferably an
express."
"Don't worry. One will be ready within 15 minutes."
"So it'll be there by the time we arrive. Perfect."
"I'll get on it right away. Be careful now Captain..."
"Don't worry Hyuuga. If something happens to him, I'll take full
responsibility. I'm the one who said I would pick him up after all."
"The both of you take care."
And the line was disconnected.
"Strange..." thought Misato aloud. "He sounded like..."
"Misato? Are you all right?"
"Hmmm? Yeah, I'm fine Shinji."
Misato's thoughts entered her head. How she had volunteered to
pick him up. That had felt good. How they had outrun the Angel. That
had been exhilarating. How her car had been nearly totaled. An image
of herself standing in her dress next to her totaled car, with pieces
taped to it, and herself looking somewhat depressed popped into her mind.
'My car!' she exclaimed in her image. 'My beautiful car! What
happened to you!' Tears started to well up in her image's eyes. 'I
haven't even finished paying for you yet! 33 loan payments to go...
And I didn't have any insurance! I just had you fixed, and now repair
costs... AGAIN!' She started sniffing in her image, on the verge of
crying.
In the real world, she looked down at her dress. She noticed a
small tear across the thigh area, barely noticeable... but she noticed
it.
'And my best dress is ruined! And I was feeling so good today!'
she said in her image. She collapsed onto the hood of her car crying.
That's when her entire car fell apart, and she sat in the mess crying
as the batteries caught fire and formed large dollar signs while...
"Misato?"
Misato smiled at Shinji. Her thought was quickly washed away by
the sound of Shinji's voice. "What is it?"
"Before on the phone... you said that you were the one who said
you would pick me up... did you want to?"
"Of course! If I didn't want to, I wouldn't have asked to."
"Oh."
She noticed that his mood seemed to lighten slightly after that.
Misato kept smiling as she drove into the city.
------------------------------------
Gendou Ikari and Kouzou Fuyutsuki stood on the lower spire where
the three head operators were toiling away. Gendou was staring straight
ahead at the inserted spire a few metres away from him, where the
commanders from the UN sat. He did not look up at them. Kouzou had
even less interest.
"So you understand Mr. Ikari that in no way are we suggesting that
we are incapable of fighting this creature," mused Matsuo.
"It is just that we feel that NERV would have a better chance of
success than us. And under these conditions, it would be best that we
succeed," commented Iwasaki.
"So, you do understand the situation, don't you?" asked Maruyama.
"Of course," came the reply of the unfazed Gendou Ikari.
Kouzou looked on from another metre or two away at the
discussion taking place between the UN commanders and the Commander of
NERV. He had long since lost interest in their discussion, and had
preferred to stand among the head operators of NERV, directing them
instead. Even if it wasn't a large difference in distance. He watched
the screen above, Maya already having gotten the scanners on-line. The
Angel was still regenerating itself, but it seemed to be taking longer
to do so than it had originally.
'How much longer...' he thought to himself. He could hear the
UN commanders in the background making excuses.
"Their pride is more important to them than their own lives. It's
abominable."
That was when he noticed the three bridge operators in front of
him looking at him. One glance was all the convincing they needed to
return to their work.
'The truth is... they probably agree.'
A snicker from Shigeru confirmed that.
------------------------------------
"This looks like a parking garage... but it's closed off."
"It's much more Shinji. Watch."
Shinji sat and stared ahead. Misato had driven down a long road
leading to what looked like a small tunnel. The only problem was the
blockade in front of it, restricting access. Large steel poles rose up
from the ground, and appeared to be letting off energy... they were
electrified. Behind it, a normal barrier for blocking access to a
street, like a toll booth, blocked off the road. It suggested to him
that this was usually open, and probably wouldn't have used the blockade
set before them. There was a way around he noted, looking at the roads
to the left and right.
He thought of ways to get through it. The only way through the
blockade into the tunnel-like structure would be for someone to open it,
by remote obviously. Maybe an attempt to ram it with the car could work,
and...
'Oh no. She wouldn't...' he thought worriedly.
Misato slowly eased the car back.
'She couldn't...'
Misato floored the gas pedal.
'She did!'
Shinji gulped.
Misato pressed a button on the computer in her car. The steel
bars of the blockade retracted upwards out of the ground. Shinji was
very relieved.
Then he noticed that the normal barriers hadn't gone up.
'I knew it...' he thought as the car drove right through them,
smashing them to bits.
"That shouldn't have happened..." muttered Misato.
Shinji looked back. The stubs of the barriers moved upwards.
'I don't think you were supposed to drive at it at that speed,'
he thought.
------------------------------------
"What's the Angel's current status?" asked Kouzou.
"According to these readings... it has succeeded in regenerating
50% of the damaged tissue. The pattern shows that the time between
the percentage intervals increased, meaning it's taking longer to
regenerate with each moment," replied Shigeru.
"Well. At least we have some luck. And still we can't do
anything. The UN... the organization has deteriorated over the years.
Image seems to have become more important than decisive action."
Three heads nodded in agreement.
------------------------------------
"You see? All safe now. No more driving."
Shinji smiled at the comment.
"If I ever drive with you again, I promise I won't be such a
maniac, okay? It was just an emergency today, that's all."
"Th... thank you," he replied.
They were parked on what appeared to be a large gray lift, divided
into sections. It looked like there was room for more cars, the same
size, or similar to the size, of Misato's. However, they were alone.
Behind them a large door had closed, the NERV logo printed across it.
The lighting in the room was deep red. An announcement sounded through
the area concerning the car-transport train, its destination only known
to Misato, despite the announcement.
"The gate is now closed. The train is now departing. This train
is leaving from station B-22 and heading for station G-33."
"Misato?"
"Yes?"
"Could you please tell me... what this place is?"
The lighting in the room changed to normal, white lighting. The
shades of red disappeared. The two passengers of the car felt the ground
rumble underneath them as the train lurched forward, and began its slow
and steady voyage.
"You don't know? You haven't been given any information?"
"Just an ID Card. I had instructions for once I reached the city,
but they were to contact you, and you already found me."
"Well, to begin with, the name of this organization is NERV."
"NERV?"
"Yes. It is a secret organization which is under direct influence
by the UN. In reality though, we're more independent than not."
"This... this is where my father works, his organization, right?"
"That's right," she looked at him. She noticed his mood had
become more depressed. "Are you all right?"
Shinji's face had a look of fear on it. Briefly, the image of a
young boy with a small bag, and crying, came to his mind. A large
shadow, a man, was walking away from the boy.
Shinji realized where he was and looked up.
"Yes... I'm fine."
"You do know what he does, don't you?"
"Not really. Last night, my sensei told me that it had to do with
protecting the human race..."
------------------------------------
The previous night's transaction played over in his mind.
"Shinji."
"Yes, sensei?"
"As I said earlier, we would discuss this over dinner. We are
eating now."
"Yes. I know."
"Your father... has 'requested' that you go to him. That much you
already know." He strained 'requested', distaste in his voice.
"I know."
"There is more. This isn't temporary. Your father has requested
that you permanently move."
"What? ...Why?"
"I do not know. I do not understand your father."
Shinji could tell his sensei was lying, no matter how hard he
tried to hide it.
"Arrangements will be made to have your belongings transported to
Tokyo-3."
"Why do I have to leave? I do not want to."
"Shinji... I am sorry, but you have to. In the end, it is still
your choice to make. However, this is more important than you realize.
"What do you mean?"
"...Do you know what your father does?" He realized what he just
said. "No, of course you don't. I am sorry."
"..."
"Your father... he is involved with the UN... in a way."
"Father is?"
"Yes. He has a very important job. He works for the safety of
the human race."
"..."
"I realize this must be too much for you too take in all at once."
"But sensei... I..."
"Shinji, it is your choice. Personally, I would prefer it if you
didn't go. There is much I can still teach you here."
"..."
"But... it may be best for you if you did go. How long ago was
it?"
"...three years."
"Three years. Shinji. It may be time that you stand up and learn
the truth. The time to confront your fears, your curiosities, your
desires. The time to confront your father, and the time to confront
yourself."
"..."
"The first lesson I taught you is the most important thing I will
ever be able to teach you. You must remember it well. It was what will
decide your life Shinji. At times you have listened to it, and at times
you have not. But remember, it is what makes you, Shinji Ikari.
"..."
"The first lesson I taught you. The way you should live your life
so that your life shall be the way you wish to live it."
Shinji looked at his sensei, determination in his voice. "I
understand sensei."
His sensei smiled at him. "You must not run away."
------------------------------------
Shinji looked at Misato, who was staring at the windshield of her
car. She had a distracted look on her face.
Shinji looked at his reflection in the side mirror.
"I mustn't run away."
------------------------------------
Gendou Ikari stood before the UN commanders. To Gendou's left,
Iwasaki, to Gendou's right, Matsuo, and directly before Gendou, Maruyama.
The commanders presence was rather commanding, forcing those who wished
to speak with them to look upwards. No one did. Kouzou had his head
turned, looking out of the corner of his eye, a smirk spread across his
face. he looked at Gendou rather than the commanders, not giving them
the pleasure. Gendou, though very close, kept a level head and a firm
expression.
Maruyama spoke. "As of 18:00 hours JST, all command of this
operation and any further operations concerning these circumstances
should the occasion arrive have officially been transferred to NERV."
Matsuo turned his head down to face Gendou. "From now on, you
will have full command. We will be observing how you handle the
situation. You do understand that, don't you?"
"Yes sir," replied the Commander of NERV.
'He's humoring them,' thought Kouzou.
"Commander Ikari, it is true that we are ineffective both
offensively and defensively in this situation, considering the available
weaponry. Anything stronger would destroy the city," remarked Iwasaki,
not at all pleased with the UN's inefficiency.
"But despite the beliefs of our superiors, we find it... odd that
you believe you can succeed where we have field. Are you that confident
that you can destroy it?"
Gendou adjusted his glasses and grinned. "Of course. That is
the purpose of NERV."
'He is humoring himself as well,' thought Kouzou.
"Very well. We expect much of you. Do your job," responded
Maruyama.
Maruyama pressed a button in front of him. The spire lowered,
sinking deep into the area which contained it. Once the three Commanders
were below the level of the floor, a hatch over the spire closed. It
blended in perfectly with the floor. The room was back to its proper
shape, the sole spire being that of the Commander's.
"If the hatch were open longer, perhaps we could have thrown
something at them to knock some sense into their heads," remarked
Kouzou.
"This isn't a time to joke."
"And I am not joking."
He had almost gotten a chuckle out of Gendou.
"Ibuki, what is the status of the target?" asked Kouzou.
"The target has regenerated 55% of its damaged structure. No sign
of it moving."
"If we decided to attack now, the intercept effectiveness rate
would be at 7.5%. Higher than the UN by 5%, but still not nearly
high enough for effective combat," announced Shigeru.
"Well Ikari, it seems we have a job to do. The UN will not help
us. They can't. How do you plan to combat it?"
"Simple. I already have Dr. Akagi working on the plan."
"And what is that?"
"We will activate Unit One."
Kouzou's voice took on a slightly more angered tone. "...Are you
serious Ikari? After the experiment with Unit Zero yesterday?" He
rubbed his arm without realizing it.
"Yes, I am."
"Very well. And just how will we do that? I do not think Rei is
capable of piloting. You said so yourself." Kouzou remembered the
image of the young pilot being removed from the entry plug as his arm
had been treated. It wasn't the most pleasant of his memories.
"That is correct. It is convenient that one is being delivered
today."
Kouzou's voice took on a surprised tone. "Do you truly mean
that?" He regained his composure. "Three years... and you would
immediately put him in this situation?"
"That is the only choice available."
Kouzou's eyes narrowed. "That is the only choice you're willing
to look at."
------------------------------------
"Misato?"
"Hmmm?" Shinji had shaken her out of another trance. She looked
over at him. "What is it Shinji?"
"My father... are we, going to be meeting him?"
"Well, yes, of course! Why wouldn't we?"
"..."
Misato saw the distressed look in Shinji's face. She knew
something was wrong. And somehow... she understood him.
"Father..."
'I should change the subject...' she thought to herself. She was
beginning to worry.
"You said you received an ID Card. Would you mind giving it to me
please? The letter from your father too. I have to verify everything."
"Hmmm? Oh, sure..."
Shinji opened the shoulder bag set before him. He rummaged
through it until he found the box he had gotten on the train. He then
pulled out a folded sheet of paper. He handed her the paper.
"Hmmm..." she muttered. 'Come. This might explain something. It
doesn't seem like they have a father-son relationship.'
Shinji opened the box and pulled out a small plastic ID Card and
handed it to her. She took it from him, and matched the face on the
card with the photo she had and the boy in front of her.
"Everything checks out." She handed him back the paper and the ID
Card.
Shinji put them both in the box. While it was open, Misato
noticed the photo she had left him still in it.
"So Shinji, how DID you like the photo?"
Shinji didn't blush this time, but he didn't say anything either.
Misato giggled.
"You already asked me about that," he said.
"I know, but I couldn't resist," she responded, smiling.
"..."
"Well, since everything is in order, I'll give you this."
She handed him a fair-sized green-covered book with the word
'NERV' printed across the cover. "Top Secret" is printed in both
English and Japanese across the back.
"A full description of NERV, what it is, basics of laws, its
purpose, etc. Since you'll be here for a while, it's important that you
know all of this."
"I see..." He looked at the book cover. "This is all about my
father's work. He asked me to come only to work for him?"
Misato didn't respond. She didn't know how.
"It's not surprising," he continued in a mildly depressed tone of
voice. "He only wanted something from me. Why..."
Misato spoke to him in a calm voice. "It doesn't sound like you
get along too well with your father..." Her voice perked up a little.
"Don't worry about it. I find him cold too. Just like my father was..."
Shinji's head snapped up. "Your... father?" he asked her, very
surprised. He didn't get a response. Misato was looking out the window.
'Is she like me?' Shinji wondered. For a brief moment, he felt
content.
The transport train continued to travel downwards. Shinji had
no idea where it was taking them, but it wasn't the most important thing
on his mind. He had questions about his father... Then something that
had been out of reach in his mind suddenly came into view.
'The girl. That was a strange experience. She disappeared as
soon as I looked away. Almost crushed by... I would've been standing
where it hit if I hadn't seen her. But... it doesn't make sense. No
one could have moved fast enough to disappear like that, so... how did
she disappear? Did I imagine her? Maybe I just saw something that
looked like a person, a reflection of light...'
He reflected upon his last thought.
'I don't even believe that myself. There was a person there.
Why?'
Any further thoughts about the girl and his first near-death
experience instantly fled as the train emerged out of the tunnel they
had been traveling through into a much larger area.
"AMAZING!!!"
'That impressed him,' Misato thought.
"It's an underground city! A real Geo-Front!" Shinji exclaimed.
It was certainly a sight to behold. As the train descended the
rail leading to the floor of the Geo-Front, Shinji was able to take in
a view of it all. Above them were towering buildings, built into the
ceiling. Apparently, these were the shelters of the city. It was a
massive site. Below them was the Geo-Front itself. A variety of
structures dotted the land, much of it surrounded by an underground
lake. It was very bright in the Geo-Front as well. Artificial lights
gave the impression that the Geo-Front had its own sun. He noticed that
the level of brightness was the same as above ground, that it adjusted
with the time of day. It was truly a marvelous vision, and very
beautiful. Large cable-like structures were attached throughout it, the
tracks for car-transport trains like the one he was currently on. At the
very center of the landscape below was a pyramid-like structure, larger
than any other structure on the floor of the Geo-Front. It wasn't very
large, but as he noticed in a large pool of water next to it, it seemed
to progress underground. Just how far he had no idea.
"Do you like what you see Shinji?" Misato asked him.
Shinji nodded.
"This is the hidden base of the main branch of NERV Headquarters,"
she explained, smiling. "This is what the rebuilding of our world
depends on, its foundation. This is the fortress which is a symbol of
the future of the human race. Welcome to NERV, Shinji Ikari."
Shinji looked at her. Slowly, but surely, he smiled.
'The smile looks better on him.'
==================------------------------------------==================
NEON GENESIS
EVANGELION: OTHER PATHS
Paths I - 1:1
Chapter 1 :
A Welcoming / "First" Angel
==================------------------------------------==================
"So, Akagi actually agreed to it," Kouzou said. His voice held
a hint of spite, but not enough to attract the Commander's attention in
that manner.
"Of course. She had to," replied Gendou.
"And where is she right now?"
"Swimming."
Kouzou looked confused. "Swimming?"
------------------------------------
Ritsuko Akagi, dressed in a wet suit, goggles, and an oxygen tank,
was about 8 metres deep in a pink liquid examining a large metal fixture.
'He actually plans to operate Unit One today? I didn't think he
would be so serious...' she thought as she worked, looking for any flaws
in the structure. 'I knew he wanted to return to testing on the Eva, but
when he said he planned on doing it with his son, I didn't think he
meant on the same day he arrived. Even with the Angel...' She began
to swim to the surface.
'It just doesn't seem right.'
------------------------------------
"What is this place Misato?" Shinji asked her.
"This is Central Dogma. The base of NERV Headquarters."
The two of them were walking down a large hallway. Far ahead of
them behind a large pane of glass, Shinji could see the building expand
to immense proportions, a gigantic maze. They had entered through
another tunnel on the base of the Geo-Front floor, and it had progressed
downward, so just how far under the ground he had no idea. He felt
odd without his bag, having left it in Misato's car. Especially
considering it could fall apart at any moment. But Misato had insisted
that it would be nothing but a hassle. He wouldn't need it for now
anyway. However, he did carry the NERV manual under his arm.
"How big is it?"
"I've been part of the organization for six years and I'm still
getting lost."
His eyes widened. "That big?"
"Yes... but I also have trouble with directions," she said looking
embarrassed.
Shinji said nothing. He began to sweat slightly.
"Follow me." They shortly reached the end of the hallway. Misato
held a red jacket slung over one of her arms, and in her hands, a group
of papers. She pulled out a map from among the papers she had with
herself and unfolded it. The drawing on it was hexagonal in size, filled
with intricately detailed routes and passages. She quickly glanced out
of the pane of glass. "Let's see now... we're here, so that means we
go... that way!" She pointed to her left. She began walking in that
direction, still looking at the map.
"Ummm... Misato? There's a---"
He closed his eyes as he heard the sound of someone smacking their
head against something hard.
"...glass wall, there."
"I can see that," mumbled Misato into the glass. She pried
herself off of the wall and looked at her map. Shinji peeked over her
shoulder.
'She's holding the map upside-down,' he thought to himself. 'Is
she just acting this way on purpose?'
Misato blinked and looked at the map again. "Oh. That's why the
writing was upside-down." She turned the map right-side-up and walked
toward a tram in the opposite direction, leading into the much larger,
complex network.
Shinji slowly opened the book Misato had given him and began to
read silently while he followed her. 'Welcome to NERV. Introduction,
Page 2...' He flipped the page. 'NERV is an organization established
under the United Nations. It has been in existence since the year 2009.
Formerly known as Gehirn, the main responsibility of NERV is...'
------------------------------------
Ritsuko sat down on a small metal pier outstretched 5 metres into
the liquid she had been swimming in. She slowly removed the oxygen tank
from her back and looked up at the machine she had been working on.
"So odd... but not as odd as if it works."
She removed the goggles from her head and looked at her
reflection in the water. She smiled for a moment, and let her normal
expression replace her smile.
"It's too bad that it must be him," she said. "Should he have to
do this? Should he have known what was awaiting him?"
Silence answered her. She looked up and sighed.
"I wonder if they're back yet? Or..." She laughed for a moment.
"Or if she got lost again."
------------------------------------
'I got lost again!' she thought to herself. An image of the tram
exploding and sending her flying across Central Dogma came to mind.
"I was sure this was the right way," she said out loud, looking at
the map.
Shinji continued to read the book he had been given. He spared
one glance to look ahead to see a large access hatch open, allowing the
tram to continue onwards.
A large gust of wind blew through the hatch as it had opened. If
Shinji had kept his eyes looking ahead of him rather than on the book, he
would have noticed Misato keeping one hand on her skirt to keep it from
fluttering upwards. Apparently, it wasn't as tight as it seemed.
"This place isn't the best for comfortable clothing," she
complained out loud. Then she sighed. "How am I supposed to find you
Ritsuko?"
Shinji kept reading.
"I'm really sorry. I should spend more time in the main complex I
guess."
Shinji looked up from the book.
"Misato?"
"Yes?"
"Ummm... we've... already passed this place... three times..."
Misato frowned, and sighed again. Shinji returned to reading.
"Well, don't worry about it. This is here for a reason, so that
people like us will use it. It's not like we're going to be here
forever..."
She pulled out a cellular phone.
"...because I give up!" she shouted, very frustrated. She dialed
a few numbers.
"Hyuuga? Please let Ritsuko know that I'm looking for her. It'd
help if I knew where to look..."
------------------------------------
Ritsuko was in the middle of removing her aqua-coloured bathing
suit which she wore under her multi-coloured wet suit when she heard the
announcement. It was Makoto.
"Would the chairperson of Project E, head of Section 1 of the
Technical Department, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, please report to Captain Misato
Katsuragi, head of Section 1 of the Operations Department immediately."
"Just when I'm changing. It figures." She quickly replaced the
straps of her bathing suit over her shoulders and put on a long lab coat
and some sandals. "That must've been heard throughout the entire
complex! Let it be a testament to Misato's... abilities, I guess."
She grabbed a cellular phone from the locker in front of her and
dialed a few numbers. She walked out of the changing room and down the
hallway. Makoto picked up the line on the other side.
"Dr. Akagi?"
Ritsuko sighed. "Where is she?"
------------------------------------
Kouzou looked on with mild interest as Makoto gave Dr. Akagi
Captain Katsuragi's location. He rolled his eyes and almost grinned.
"She must've gotten lost again."
------------------------------------
"Just great. Now EVERYBODY knows."
Shinji kept reading. He didn't want to get involved.
The two of them were riding an elevator upwards. Neither of them
knew where they were, but Shinji was the only one with an excuse.
Misato's expression changed to a smile as she watched herself in
the elevator's doors.
"Well, this isn't a big deal. At least she'll find me now! Of
course, maybe that isn't such a good thing..."
Her thoughts were shattered as the doors opened. She found
herself face to face with Ritsuko. Ritsuko had a strange grin on her
face, and her eyes were staring directly into Misato's. Misato looked
both embarrassed and scared at the same time.
"Ri... Ritsuko..." she stuttered.
Ritsuko stepped right up to Misato, nose to nose. Misato took a
step back, not sure what to do.
"Getting lost again are we Captain?" Ritsuko asked her, obviously
enjoying the situation.
"Well... errr..." Misato began to squirm under the pressure.
Ritsuko's grin suddenly disappeared, and was replaced by a more
serious expression.
"You know Misato, this isn't the time, not with the current
situation. We are short on manpower, workers, and time. At least I was
able to send the application, but money isn't a factor at the moment."
"I'm sorry," responded Misato, her voice dejected. However, her
mood lit up instantly. "But I called you for a reason. I found him!"
"Him?"
That was when Ritsuko finally noticed the young man standing at
the other end of the elevator. His nose was buried in a NERV manual, and
hadn't been paying any attention to their conversation.
"You found the boy?" Ritsuko asked her.
"Yes," Misato replied, growing serious, although her tone still
suggested her light mood. "According to the Marduk Report, this is the
Third Children, Shinji Ikari. Shinji?"
Shinji looked up from his book at the mention of his name.
"Yes?"
"This is Dr. Ritsuko Akagi."
"It's nice to meet you Shinji." Ritsuko said, smiling. She held
out a hand to him.
"Uh... yes. Hello, Dr. Akagi," he replied, a little unsure. He
shook her hand
"You can call me Ritsuko," she said.
"...All right, Ritsuko." He returned to reading the book,
somewhat nervous. He just wasn't very social.
"It must be the swimsuit," Misato whispered to Ritsuko.
"You're the only one who thinks like that Misato," came the reply.
"I know, I know. But seriously... he's a lot like his father...
in the social sense..."
Ritsuko smiled at him. She noticed that his expression had become
a little more... depressing.
"Well," she said. "We had better get going."
"Where to?" Misato asked.
"The cage," came the reply.
"So soon?" she asked.
"There's no harm in introducing them, right?" she asked.
She held back the truth about the situation. 'Why do I?' she
asked herself.
"I guess."
Ritsuko walked out of the elevator.
"Hey, where are you going?" Misato asked her.
"To finish changing of course!" she replied. "You didn't actually
think I would go up there dressed like this now, do you? I don't work in
this outfit."
Misato caught up with her, Shinji tagging along behind, still
reading the manual.
"Why ARE you dressed like that anyway?" Misato asked.
"I was working," came the reply.
Misato's mouth opened and closed as Ritsuko continued to smile.
------------------------------------
"Dr. Akagi has contacted them," announced Makoto from the front of
the main workstation.
"I understand," came the Commander's reply. He was still in the
lower area of the room, and facing the wall opposite of the display. He
walked over to a small transport lift to his right, next to one of the
two staircases leading to the upper portion of the room. He put his
hands on the railing and faced the Sub-Commander.
"I'm leaving the situation to you until I return Fuyutsuki."
"Understood," came the reply. "And Ikari?"
"Yes?"
The next words were said very seriously, but a hint of concern was
apparent. "Watch yourself."
"A double meaning..." came the response. He pressed the button at
the base of the railing, and the platform descended downwards, along with
Gendou Ikari. A hatch closed over his head.
"Three years... since they last saw each other," Kouzou softly
spoke aloud, a small grin spread across his face. "You say you still
care about her Gendou... you have a chance to prove it."
He suddenly saw the intensity of the light change in the room.
His expression instantly grew serious, as he turned around to face the
display, a red tactical map replacing the display of the Angel.
"The target has regenerated 95% of its structure," Shigeru stated.
"It has resumed movement, but at a slower pace than before."
"Estimated time of arrival until it reaches the city?"
"20 minutes."
"All right," said Kouzou, his military instincts starting to take
control. "Red alert. All hands proceed to battle stations, Level 1.
Prepare for defensive countermeasures, but wait for further orders
before initiating any sort of retaliation. We don't want to lose
any more lives today."
He glanced at a digital watch on his wrist. '7:00... it did not
take that long for the Angel to heal... just how long did the Captain
wander around?'
------------------------------------
Ritsuko walked out of the changing room still wearing the lab
coat. However, instead of an aqua-coloured bathing suit, she was now
wearing a blue shirt with a high collar and a zipper down the middle,
dark nylons, and a short black skirt reaching halfway down her thigh,
with a set of black high heels. Her normal outfit.
"Shall we go?"
Misato followed Ritsuko through a few hallways, Shinji beside her,
and still reading. Misato moved on ahead to talk privately with Ritsuko.
"He doesn't talk very much, does he Misato?" Ritsuko asked her.
"No, not really," she said. "Before he did... maybe it was
because I teased him too much."
"I don't think so. He is just like his father in that respect..."
"But just in that. He seems to be a lot..."
"A lot what?"
"Nicer. Easier to get along with."
Ritsuko only nodded silently.
"Cuter too."
"Misato!" Ritsuko snapped.
"That's all I said. Nothing else." She began to whistle.
"I should hope not," Ritsuko replied. "Come on, the lift to the
upper area is here."
"Why not take the docking elevator? Wouldn't it be faster?"
"About the same time actually, but it's on the other side.
Besides we need to get to the bridge first."
"Up close and personal?"
"Exactly."
The three of them entered a chamber just off the side of the
hallway, and got onto a large lift. Ritsuko slid an ID card through an
opening in the panel and keyed in a few controls. It rumbled for a
moment, and began its assent at a steady pace. It was quite dark, except
to one side of the lift, which had an odd dark pink colour to it.
Shadows were present in it. It seemed to be some sort of large
container... very large.
"Amazing..."
"What Misato?"
"That they've come."
"I know."
A voice disturbed their short conversation. It was another
announcement, this time from Maya.
"Red alert! This is an emergency! All hands to battle stations,
Level 1. Assume defensive positions and await further orders before
ground interception. This is not a drill."
"Damn. This is serious, isn't it Ritsuko?" Misato asked as she
slipped her red officer's jacket on.
"Extremely. I wish it weren't."
"So Ritsuko... how is Unit Zero today?"
"Much like yesterday. We'll proceed with plans for it once this
situation is taken care of."
"And... Unit One?" She had less hopefulness in her voice this
time.
"It has been fitted with the B-Type equipment, and is currently
undergoing refrigeration, unlike the total cryo-stasis of Unit Zero.
Just look to your left Misato."
She looked to her left. She could make out the shadow of a giant
hand in the container. How far away it was from them she couldn't
judge."
"I see. And you plan to return to testing on it?"
"That's right." Ritsuko furrowed her eyebrows for a moment.
'Another lie. It's gone further than testing because of this...'
"Do you think you'll actually manage to get it to work? All
attempts in the past came up... well... empty."
"I know. It's sad. The probability of it synching with a pilot
is zero decimal zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero one (0.000000001)
percent. One in one-quadrillionth. We call it, ironically enough, the
O-Nine System (O-9 System), or Unit O-Nine (Unit O-9), rather than Unit
One. Perfect names, don't you think?"
"So, it doesn't work. That was simple enough to explain."
"Don't insult me! It's the letter 'o', not the number zero.
There's still the possibility, even if it is small," she said
defensively. "It's different from the Production Model in that respect."
"Well, they are only numbers."
"That's right."
"And I guess it's a bit late to be saying 'sorry, it didn't work',
isn't it?"
"That goes without saying, especially at a time like this."
They both sighed at the same time.
Shinji continued to read.
------------------------------------
Gendou Ikari silently walked down a brightly lit corridor to his
destination, a vantage point overlooking the first "cage", Unit One's
present location. Two rows of video terminals on either side of him
were blank; turned on, but nothing displayed.
He reached the end of the corridor and looked down. He was
standing in front of a large pane of glass, the same width and height as
the corridor, which was part of a lowered section of ceiling suspended
directly over the Eva. Beyond it, the ceiling rose to a higher height,
where other passages were available, including stairwells and railings to
observe or direct the situation. Raised higher above the pane at the
base of the higher portion of ceiling was a platform that extended
outward over the Eva, and near it, a hydraulic device holding a white
tube.
Gendou had seen this room many times before.
He momentarily thought of what Kouzou had said to him.
'Watch yourself. A double meaning. Be careful, that was for the
others. In truth, he means my actions. Why is he concerned about what
happens here...'
Gendou looked down at the Unit, then at one of the terminals.
They all suddenly lit up, displaying the room below. Total darkness.
'Is it because... perhaps... but there is no other way this can be
done. There is no other way I would want to.'
Silence.
'But what would she want? And... is it what I want?'
Silence.
'I do not have an answer. I will do this as how I see fit.'
------------------------------------
"Would you mind driving Ritsuko?"
"Not a problem. I'd feel safer actually."
The three of them were in a small speed boat. Not far from them
was the lift from which they had just walked off of. Ritsuko was at the
helm, heading for a stairwell attached to a large structure ahead of
them, an out of place wall.
Shinji had finally put down the book, although he wasn't done
reading yet. He had decided to observe his surroundings. He found it
odd that the water was pink.
"Hmmm... what's that?" He noticed the large structure ahead of
him was not uniform in colour. Although the majority of it was green, he
noticed that around its center, a large multi hued piece of metal, mostly
purple with touches of orange and green in it, extended downwards for
some distance. 'That's strange.'
"If I may ask... where are you taking me?"
"To show you something," Ritsuko replied.
Nobody said anything for the remainder of the voyage.
------------------------------------
"Current status?" asked Kouzou.
"ETA 5 minutes until it enters firing range of the city," Shigeru
answered.
"Before we can fire, or before it can?"
"It."
------------------------------------
The door to the stairwell was left slightly ajar. Shinji was led
across a large platform by the two ladies. The room was filled with
total darkness, except for a crack of light from the open door.
"...Otherwise, we'd fall off into the coolant," Ritsuko explained.
"That's coolant?"
"I know. You think it's strange. It's just a colour though,"
Misato commented.
"I can't see anything..." he whispered.
The three of them stopped walking. The door closed behind them.
"How did it close by itself?" Shinji asked.
"Electronically. I just used a remote control to operate it,"
Ritsuko said. If Shinji could have seen anything, he would have seen her
holding a small remote in her hand.
"I still can't see anything..." he said.
"Hang on. Let me take care of that." She pressed another button
on the remote and the room instantly lit up.
Shinji screamed.
------------------------------------
'It appears they have arrived...' Gendou observed the scene from
above.
------------------------------------
The three of them stood on a large platform which extended from
one side of the room to the other, left to right, forming an "H". The
ends of the H which moved deeper into the room bent upwards, transfixed
into the wall. The three of them were standing in the very center of
that "H". The areas not covered by the platform were filled with the
coolant. Some technicians in orange uniforms were working around the
room, although how they had worked in the dark Shinji didn't know. He
didn't care either. This had no impact on him. It was what was directly
ahead of him that had caught his attention. He was near the edge of the
platform, and he stared ahead in shock and amazement.
Staring back at him was what appeared to be the head of a gigantic
robot. It was mostly coloured purple, but there were ensembles of gray
along the joints and partially along what would be its chest, except that
most of it was in the coolant. As well, colours of orange, green and
red appeared on various features, though they seemed to extend further
downwards. Its face was frightening to look at, but an aura of safety
surrounded it. It's mouth was formed from two jagged metallic gray
areas, top and bottom, giving the impression of a large set of teeth.
Its eyes were empty of any emotion, but instead, panes of yellow glass
could be seen in the sockets. A large horn stood out from the top of its
forehead, extending upwards and backwards, which extended near a lowered
section of the ceiling of the structure.
Shinji was speechless. He quickly regained his composure, albeit
somewhat shaken.
"It's a... face... a giant robot?"
He quickly reopened the book he had been given and started to skim
over the pages.
"Don't bother wasting your time," announced Ritsuko, walking
closer to him. "You won't find it in there. This is heavily top secret,
even more so than what's in that manual."
"Then... what is it?"
"This is the synthetic humanoid life form and fighting machine,
Evangelion, which we have been developing for a very long time. The
quest for the safety of humanity has led us to create it."
"It's impressive, isn't it Shinji?" Misato had walked up next to
him.
Shinji looked somewhat stunned, even intrigued. "This is part of
my father's work, isn't it?"
"That---"
Ritsuko was cut off.
"That is correct." A deep male voice sounded through the room.
Everyone looked up to see Gendou Ikari looking down at them, a grim
expression on his face. He focused his eyes on Shinji.
"It has been a while, hasn't it?"
"Father..."
Shinji looked up at him for a moment, unsure of what to do. He
made a decision. He averted his eyes, turning his head away from him,
an expression of distaste clearly printed across his face.
Gendou smirked. "You haven't changed I see." All of the displays
showed Shinji's face, turned away.
Misato looked on at the confident elder Ikari and the angered
younger Ikari. She didn't know what to say. So she said nothing.
"It is time. We are moving out."
This, Misato reacted to. She was more distressed than angered.
"Moving out? How can we do that? After Unit Zero's experiment
yesterday, there's no Eva we can use!"
Suddenly it donned on her. She turned to Ritsuko. "You're
planning on using Unit One now?!"
"There are no alternatives. Believe me." Ritsuko's tone had
become much more serious. However, faint traces of regret could be heard
in her voice, though barely.
"Now hold on!" exclaimed Misato, still in shock. "Rei definitely
can't do it! Not after yesterday! You were there, you know what
happened! We don't have a pilot. It's impossible!"
"That's not true. One has arrived."
Misato's expression took on anger. She attempted to keep her
voice calm, with much difficulty.
"You can't be serious."
"There is no choice."
"DAMN IT RITSUKO!" Misato had lost control. "I didn't do this to
bring someone here who could die in it! Why damn it?!"
'I'm sorry Misato, I didn't want to. I didn't even think this
would happen until a few hours ago,' Ritsuko thought.
She said nothing.
Misato continued to glare at her. Ritsuko broke her gaze from
Misato's piercing eyes and looked down at Shinji, his head still averted
from his father's gaze. She spoke softly, but firmly.
"Shinji Ikari."
He looked up at her. "Yes?"
"You have been chosen to pilot the Evangelion. Unit One."
Shinji's eyes widened. He looked at her. No words came out.
Misato spoke again, under control, this time with pleading in her
voice.
"But even for Rei Ayanami... it took her seven months to
synchronize with the Evangelion. And even then, something happened that
made it stop... don't you remember?"
Ritsuko's voice continued, unwavering. "At the moment, stopping
the Angel is our highest priority. We have to take this chance, as small
as it may be. The odds of finding someone who can synchronize with an
Eva are small, and for Unit One, near zero. He has the potential to
accomplish this, and it's our only possible option for defeating the
Angel. Do you understand, CAPTAIN Katsuragi?"
Misato looked at the Eva out of the corner of her eye, an angered
expression across her face. 'Damn it.'
"...understood."
Shinji finally spoke up. He didn't want strangers deciding his
future for him. 'This isn't right.' His voice was wavering between
sadness and anger.
"Father... why did you call me?"
"What do you think? You already know why."
"You called me, to get into this... this thing, and fight. Fight
the creature out there."
"You understand."
Anger won.
"NO!!! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TELL ME TO DO THIS!!!" He paused.
"I knew you didn't want me..."
"That is not true. I have a use for you now. That is why I
summoned you."
"And why me?"
"Because, you are the only one who is capable."
"You have no right to do this to me. Do you care about what I
think?" Shinji began to fight back tears, his eyes closed in anger.
Everyone looked up at that comment.
"That is not my concern."
Shinji felt as if his heart had been torn out of his chest and
ripped open. His voice became nothing more than a strong, hoarse
whisper.
"I can not do this. It is completely foreign to me. Unknown.
Why do you think I can?"
"You will be instructed. You will learn."
'What is he hiding. He avoided my question,' Shinji thought to
himself. It wasn't his highest concern.
"I can't... I won't... It's impossible!" he yelled, staring at
the floor, his eyes closed.
"If you are going to do this, stop wasting time. Otherwise,
leave! Just get out!" Gendou's voice was cold, and deadly serious in
nature.
The last words echoed through the room. Shinji's eyes opened
widely. Everyone in the room looked at Shinji with sullen expressions on
their faces. They could see the emotional beating he was taking.
Everyone in the room felt, in one way or another, sorry for the situation
he was in. But they also knew the desperateness of the situation.
Gendou was unique; he blocked out any feelings he may have had. He had
more important matters than the emotions of a child to worry about.
And suddenly, everything was thrown out of proportion. The entire
room shook, maintenance men holding on to anything sturdy. The three on
the platform and Gendou above struggled to maintain their balance.
------------------------------------
"Reports are confirmed. That blast took out an area nine blocks
in size!" announced Makoto, looking grim.
"Damn it!" shouted Kouzou.
Everyone in the room looked on at the scene. The Angel, though
still a fair distance away, standing on top of a hill overlooking the
city, had just looked at the city. The eyes of its central head had
glowed, and instantly a beam of energy had shot out of the ground high
into the sky, forming a cross. It had expanded, wiping out an area
roughly three blocks wide by three blocks high.
"Extent of the damage?"
"Total. Nothing is left there. No casualties, the entire area
had been evacuated. The shot penetrated the ground... no damage to any
of the shelters."
"Damn it, this is not good..." muttered Kouzou.
"Should we order an attack sir?" asked Maya.
"No. It would be pointless. We'll have to wait."
"Then why did you order defensive countermeasures?"
Kouzou looked at her, a sullen expression on his face.
"Sometimes... people just need hope."
------------------------------------
"Damn it!" muttered Gendou. "It has discovered our location.
Time has run out."
"Shinji, we have no time. Please." Ritsuko looked at Shinji with
a firm expression.
Shinji looked at her, not liking what he saw. He turned towards
Misato, but she had the same expression on her face, perhaps even more
serious.
"Board it and pilot," was all she said.
'Why are they abandoning me?' he asked himself. 'They are more
concerned with their lives... it's understandable.'
"I didn't come all this way to be made to fight. It isn't right."
He continued to stare at the floor.
Misato walked over to him and bent down, to be face to face with
the young Ikari. Her concern was apparent on her face. She spoke calmly
to him. "Shinji? Why did you come here then?"
"I..." He stopped. He turned his head away, refusing to face
her.
"You can't run away Shinji. Not from your father, and not from
yourself."
The words struck a cord in the boy's heart. His sensei's words
returned to him. His own words returned to him. But it wasn't enough.
The pain was too great.
"I understand... but... I CAN'T DO THIS!" He shouted the last
part out so that everyone in the room heard. The words sunk into every
heart and mind in the room. Misato's expression became firm and set once
more. She stood up and backed away a few steps.
There was no action in the room for half a minute. No one moved,
no one spoke, no one thought. They simply existed.
The elder Ikari had had enough.
'Very well. It appears that some convincing is in order.'
He turned to one of the displays and pressed a small button on it.
"Fuyutsuki."
A moment later, Kouzou's face showed up on the display.
"What is it Ikari?" His tone was serious. The situation had
begun to darken his mood.
"Wake up Rei."
Kouzou nearly screamed. 'Is that man insane?!' echoed through his
head. He kept his expression set nonetheless.
"Are you serious? Are you actually planning on using her?"
"She isn't dead."
"But Ikari, you know the condition she's in. If she even attempts
to pilot, it will kill her."
"Nothing will happen to her. It's just for... persuasion."
"So, you just plan to use her for your own ends, don't you."
Gendou blinked. Kouzou almost thought he saw a flash of guilt
in Gendou's shrouded eyes, but only for an instant. It didn't last.
"Wait," Kouzou said. He turned away, the display cutting off
to blackness.
------------------------------------
"Damn it," Kouzou said, staring at the screen. "At times, that
man is..." He decided to forget about it. This wasn't the time.
"Hyuuga?"
"Yes sir?"
"Open an audio only channel to Rei's hospital room at your
workstation."
"Sir?"
"Just do it."
Makoto worked for a few moments.
"Channel opened."
"Understood." He walked over to Makoto's workstation and began to
speak a little more softly. "Rei?"
No response.
"Rei?"
A soft female voice answered him. "...Yes?"
"Commander Ikari wishes to speak with you."
"I understand," came the reply.
"Put her through to the Commander."
------------------------------------
Moments later, a message stating 'Sound Only' appeared on the
display formerly inhabited by Kouzou's face.
"Rei?" came Commander Ikari's question. His tone remained serious
to the situation at hand.
"Yes."
"Our spare is unusable. You will pilot Unit One."
"...Yes."
The channel closed.
'It's only a matter of time now...' he thought. He looked up into
the room at Ritsuko.
"We will be using Rei."
"What?" came Ritsuko's shocked reply. She wasn't expecting this.
"You can't mean that. Not after---"
"We will be using Rei," he said, cutting her off. He was not in
a mood to have his orders questioned.
Ritsuko looked up at him with a worried expression, then at the
Eva. Her face was soon replaced by a very serious expression. She
glanced at Shinji, then started to walk away down the left side of the
platform. Her voice was one of a commander, giving orders to be obeyed.
"Cancel all work on the current project," came her angered tone.
Some annoyance was obviously present. "Reconfigure all systems for Rei
Ayanami and then reactivate!"
"Understood," came Maya's reply from the control centre. "Sending
orders to all members of Project E. Aborting current process and
restarting."
Misato looked up at Gendou for a moment. 'That man is mad,' she
thought. 'There's no other way to describe him.' She looked at Shinji
for a moment, his head still staring at the floor. Her expression became
dead set, and she too walked away, to the right. There was nothing she
could do.
Shinji stared at the ground, unmoving. In his mind, thoughts
rolled through, one after another, never stopping. 'I knew he didn't
need me. I wasn't necessary to him. He never cared about me... I can be
replaced...' The image of the young boy came to his mind once more. A
memory from the past... it was how he felt. It was the past repeating
itself.
He continued to emotionally torment himself, until he heard a set
of doors slide open to his left. That was when he looked up and saw a
group of three doctors rolling in a hospital table. He looked at it from
a distance.
'Who are they?' he wondered, somewhat of a puzzled expression
showing through his depressed face. 'This isn't the place for an injured
person.' He took on self-pity. 'This isn't a place for me.'
The doctors continued to roll the table slowly, their destination
the other end of the platform. As they passed, Shinji was able to get a
good luck at its inhabitant.
It was a young female. She looked to be about his age, the best
he could tell from the brief look he got. Short and fairly straight blue
hair hung loosely from her head, almost reaching her shoulders, bangs
reaching over her forehead. Her skin was pale with a slight pink tint,
that of an albino. What truly caught Shinji's attention however were her
eyes. The pupils were completely red, and in which for a brief moment,
he lost himself...
But that wasn't what was important to him at the moment. It was
how she looked. She was dressed in a skin-tight white body suit, which
covered her from the end of her legs to her neck. The only exceptions
were the sleeves which appeared to have been removed. There was an
extension to the suit, a white object with green ends, which formed a
semi-circle around her, just under her breasts. Black stripes seemed to
stretch out from the side of the legs, towards the back, but he couldn't
tell for sure. Other occurrences of black appeared sporadically around
the suit. In her hair were two small devices, about five or six
centimetres long each, on either side of the top of her head. She could
be considered to be quite beautiful, but it didn't matter to him, not at
the moment at least. There was something much more important. She was
injured. Badly.
He didn't know if both of her eyes were opened, just her left one.
Her right eye was covered with a type of eye patch, bandaging, held in
place by a small piece of tape and a wrapping around her forehead. A
tube from an IV unit was attached to the center of her left arm. On both
of her arms, from her elbow to her wrist, they were completely wrapped in
bandages. Another wrapping was around her left shoulder, which proceeded
to continue under her uniform and wrapped around her chest. The sides of
the upper portion of the uniform, along with the arms, had been removed
to make room for the bandaging. Shinji was sure that there was more
under the uniform around the lower area of her legs, because they were
somewhat thicker.
His eyes widened. He realized that this was the girl he had seen
earlier that day, the one who had indirectly saved his life.
'But, it couldn't have been her... she hadn't been injured like
this...'
He didn't know what to think... but the thoughts left him as he
realized something else.
This was Rei. She was supposed to pilot instead of him.
He felt sick.
He felt guilty.
He felt anger towards his father.
'How can he expect her to do this?' he wondered.
The doctors reached the other end of the platform and stopped
pushing the bed. They took off the IV device attached to the girl,
returned to the other side of the room, and walked out the same door
they had entered from. The girl slowly forced herself to sit up.
She whimpered in pain. She was breathing heavily, small cries
escaping her mouth.
Shinji looked on, an expression of nervousness and guilt spread
across his face. 'She can't do this! She can barely sit up! This would
kill her!' he thought. 'This can't happen... What happened to her...?'
He continued to stare at Rei, unsure of what to do.
'What is my father thinking?' He was tempted to look up. 'He
can't let her do this...'
The entire room shook.
------------------------------------
Kouzou regained his footing.
"Damage report!"
"The Angel has succeeded to destroy another 9 block area
of the city. No casualties above ground. But... the blast has extended
into the Geo-Front. Shelters 23 and 24 have been uprooted."
"Occupancy?"
"They weren't highly populated, about 30 or so people in each.
They won't survive impact," Shigeru announced, a grim expression on his
face.
"Damn it!"
"Impact into the Geo-Front in 5 seconds. They are heading for...
shit, right next to the main area of Central Dogma!" He was nervous now.
"Prepare for impact!"
Everyone grabbed on to something.
------------------------------------
The entire room shook again, worse than before. A loud crash was
heard. Something had almost hit them.
The room was in turmoil. People were thrown to the floor left and
right. The elder Ikari was the only one who managed to keep his footing.
Maintenance workers struggled to hold on to railings. Ritsuko was thrown
to the floor of the platform. Misato nearly fell into the coolant, but
managed to fall over on to her stomach on the platform instead, her
papers scattering around her. Shinji toppled over backwards, landing on
his back, but managed to sit up. Rei's cry was heard as the table
toppled over, sending her crashing to the ground.
Directly over Shinji, the wiring from a group of very large lights
had dislodged from the ceiling, and the lights were heading straight for
him at a tremendous speed.
"SHINJI!" Misato yelled. She was going to see him die. She felt
sick to her stomach.
He did the only thing he could. He covered his head with his
hands and yelled.
But the impact never came.
With a short rumble, the right arm of the Evangelion broke away
from its restraints within the water, raised its arm around the bridge,
and its hand over its own head, and consequently Shinji's. The lights
crashed into it and bounced harmlessly off it into the coolant below.
One of them took a different path.
It was heading straight for the glass shield which Gendou stood
before.
It smashed into the glass and fell into the liquid below.
It didn't even scratch it.
Gendou smirked.
'Perfection.'
------------------------------------
"Dear lord..."
The people in the control centre had seen the scene happen at each
step.
"It moved! How did that happen?!" Maya muttered.
"It took out the restraints on the right wall! That was
impossible!" exclaimed Makoto in amazement.
Kouzou looked at the screen and closed his eyes for a moment.
'It seems Gendou may have been right about him after all.'
------------------------------------
"That was impossible!" shouted Ritsuko. "It simply can't do that!
There was no entry plug inserted. There's no power running into it!
THAT COULDN'T HAPPEN!" She was in shock, and still kneeling on the
floor.
"That was interesting," muttered Misato under her breath. She
started speaking aloud, but to herself.
"How could it do that without anything interfacing with it, much
less without power? It doesn't make sense."
She looked up and saw Shinji slowly bringing his arms down,
staring at the Eva in amazement.
Something in the back of Misato's mind told her this wasn't an
accident. "Was it trying to protect... him?" She looked at the young
man. He seemed frightened, but oddly calm.
She smiled. "He CAN do it."
------------------------------------
"The Angel has ceased fire. It is entering the city."
"Tell all units to pull out immediately. Cancel the operation."
"Sir?"
"I don't think they will be necessary now."
------------------------------------
Shinji stared at the machine before him. It had saved his life.
It had reacted the same way he had... he didn't understand it. 'Why
did it save me? How?' he wondered.
But his thoughts were cut short. He heard a small whimper coming
from his right. He looked over and saw Rei lying on the ground. She was
in serious pain.
His eyes widened. 'This is horrible.' He scrambled to his feet
and ran over to her as fast as he could, at a speed that only a person
under extreme pressure or in an urgent situation could accomplish. He
knelt beside her, reaching around her back and gripping her shoulder
to help her sit up, holding her right arm to help support her. Her eye
remained closed tightly, a reflex at attempting to bear the pain coursing
through her body. She was still breathing heavily, small cries of pain
escaping her lips, her teeth tightly clenched. Shinji looked at her for
a moment, the only thought on his mind being his concern for her. 'She
can't be made to do this. She'll kill herself is she tries, I know it.'
He looked over at the Eva. It wasn't moving. He didn't know what
to do.
That was when he felt his right hand was somewhat wet. He turned
his head back to Rei. He took his hand off of her arm and looked at it.
It was covered in blood. Hers.
His eyes widened again. A tight knot formed in his stomach.
He couldn't let his father make her do this. She needed help.
He looked at her again. She was suffering in pain, attempting to
bear it but failing miserably. The fall had made her injuries worse.
She continued to whimper, unable to do much else.
Shinji closed his eyes tightly, the images flowing through his
mind. His father abandoning him. His arrival to Tokyo-3. The Angel
rampaging around the city. The N2 explosion. His first look at the
Evangelion. Rei injured, his father ordering her to pilot it... because
he didn't want to.
'The first lesson I taught you. The way you should live your life
so that your life shall be the way you wish to live.' He heard his
sensei's words echo through his thoughts.
His voice was a hoarse whisper, meant only for himself to hear.
"I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away.
I mustn't run away." He opened his eyes. "I MUSTN'T RUN AWAY!"
He looked at Rei one more time. She had fallen unconscious in his
arms. The bleeding had stopped. Nonetheless, the expression on her face
looked more at peace, rather than the painful one which had dotted her
face just moments before. He felt the feeling of regret once more.
'This is my fault... or is it my father's...'
"I'm sorry," he whispered quietly.
He looked up from the unconscious girl.
"I'll do it," he said in a determined voice. "I'll pilot it."
------------------------------------
Gendou looked on from above. No one saw him, but he was genuinely
smiling. 'Of course he would... It's the way he is.' He glanced at the
unconscious form of Rei in Shinji's arms. 'I'm sorry...'
He spoke up, his voice in its usual serious manner. "Get the
medical team back in here. Have Rei taken back immediately."
He opened a channel to the control centre. He continued to speak,
so that both the workers below and those in the control centre could
here. "Cancel all orders to restart Unit One with Rei's profile. We
will be using the Third Children. All maintenance workers leave the area
immediately."
With that, all the displays around him shut off. He turned around
and walked back towards the lift to the control centre.
------------------------------------
"You heard the Commander! Everyone clear out of here!" shouted
Misato. It seemed that she had decided to take control of the situation.
That was enough for every maintenance worker in the room to clear out
within a minute.
Shinji watched as the doctors reentered the room, and placed Rei
back on the hospital table. They had wheeled her out quickly.
'She seemed much more calm, at peace as they had taken her away.
Is she going to be all right?... What happened to her?'
"Shinji?"
He shook his gaze from the floor and his thoughts about Rei from
his mind and looked up at Misato. "Yes?"
"Follow me. We need to get you up to the plug."
"Plug?"
------------------------------------
"You weren't kidding."
They had taken a lift in the right wall up to a doorway near the
ceiling of the room, somewhat higher than the window from which Gendou
Ikari had stood behind. They had walked out over a walkway affixed to
the upper walls of the room, its origins from both the left and right
wall. However, at the center of the walkway, high above the Eva, a
large obstacle entered the path, and was the purpose of the walkway
altogether. It was a large white tube, one of its further ends attached
to a large hydraulic device, suspended in a long ways position parallel to
the walkway, and directly over the center of the Eva, albeit higher up.
Along the top of the tube, a section which was about half the tube's
length, most of the width, and centered was mostly open; the portion of
the tube which would have filled the gap was raised and slid back,
suspended over the tube and yet still attached. A red ring was painted
around the circumference of the tube, a metre away from its apparent
front. About three metres away from its rear, a gold ring was painted
around its circumference, and right next to it and extending towards its
end for about a metre and a half, it was painted gray, although some
circuitry was melded into that pattern. On either side of the tube, the
number '01' was printed across it in large black numbers which were as
tall as the tube itself, about a metre away from the red ring. The
remaining end of the tube was shaped slightly different, its end somewhat
of a bulb due to the thinning of the tube between the gray section and
itself. The hydraulic device was attached to a higher portion of the
ceiling, and the bulb attached to the device. Along the side of the tube
which the two of them faced, another metre or so away from the painted
'01' and about three eights of the way away from the tube's front, an
emergency hatch large enough for someone to comfortably fit through
and outlined in red was present. Inside, on the floor of the tube just
slightly further back than the hatch was a unit which filled up the
width of the tube. It was composed of a large chair, and a variety of
controls extending from a rounded, hemispherical, and yet oblong metal
structure protruding from the seat's front. Extending from the back of
the seat was another metal structure, yet much larger in that it extended
back into the tubes interior for about two metres. The designations of
the NERV logo, followed by "Evangelion", "01" and "2014" on subsequent
lines were printed across its back. The 'plug' itself was extremely
long, about the same length as the bridge Shinji had found himself on
just moments before, and about the same height and width as his own
height.
"This is the entry plug. It's an interface for the pilot of an
Evangelion so that he or she can control."
"It's big."
"You noticed that too."
"What... do I do?"
"Just sit down."
"I see."
He moved towards the entry plug, but stopped as a hand came to
rest on his shoulder.
"Wait."
"What is it?" he asked puzzled.
Misato reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out two small
devices. They were identical to the ones that were in Rei's hair, except
they had somewhat of a faint blue tint to them. She handed them to him.
"What are these?"
"Neural enhancers. They'll help you to synchronize with the Eva."
"Synchronize?"
"I'll explain it to you afterwards, all right?"
"...All right."
Shinji looked at the devices in his hands.
'I don't understand what they do... but Misato must know what
she's talking about.'
He remembered how they had been placed on Rei's head and did the
same. He walked up to the edge of the entry plug and put his hands on
the metal. It was cold. He carefully and quickly climbed up to the
large opening on the top of the tube and lowered himself into the seat.
He placed his legs around the metal structure in front of him and
looked around. Before him were a set of controls. Two handles were the
most prominent thing set before him, in addition to a panel of buttons
and switches. There were a variety of small displays surrounding him,
and a thin piece of glass to his side. A small network of extremely thin
and nearly invisible wiring ran though it. He noticed the same thing
covering the orange-tinted walls of the interior of the entry plug
entirely. If the light of the room hadn't been shining in the plug, he
never would have noticed. Another display was affixed in the entry plug,
a large digital clock of sorts. It wasn't active, all the lines for the
numbers darkened.
"Misato, what is all this wiring for?" he asked, pointing to the
glass panel and the inside of the plug.
Misato pulled herself up and popped her upper body into the hatch.
"They are used as displays. They generate perfect images of the
area seen by the Eva, giving the impression that you're actually there,
as if you were in a cockpit rather than a sealed tube. That," she said
pointing to the panel, "is for communications with us."
"Oh."
It felt somewhat strange to be where he was. Yet somehow it
seemed... comfortable.
"What do I do now?" he asked.
"Just wait. I'm going down to the control centre. Once I get
there, the hatch will close and the entry plug will be lowered into
the back of the Eva in a few minutes. Can you see the panels down
there?"
He carefully stood up in the seat and looked down through the
platform grating to his side. Sure enough, he could see the back of the
Eva had panels placed on it which indicated that they were removable, and
as such the location for the entry plug. He nodded and sat back down.
"Okay. Just wait in the seat then. I'll contact you as soon as
I get there, all right?"
He nodded.
She half-smiled, then let go of the entry plug, dropped on to
the walkway, and walked away.
He stood up and looked out of the entry plug again. He could hear
a sucking sound emanating from outside the area he was in, and could
visibly see the coolant level dropping. The Evangelion was becoming much
larger than how it had first looked.
Shinji looked around again and sighed. 'What have I gotten into?'
------------------------------------
Ritsuko and Misato were silent.
Ritsuko had had the boat removed from the premises and had quickly
ordered the draining of the sea of coolant. Misato had met her back on
the platform in front of the Eva, the aptly named 'Umbilical Bridge'.
The two of them quickly exited out the same door from which the doctor's
had arrived, opposite of the one which Misato had used to bring Shinji to
the entry plug. They had taken the lift past the doorway which led to
the walkway surrounding the room and leading to the entry plug, to the
uppermost section, the ceiling above the Evangelion, and into a long
hallway. They walked by a lift leading directly into the Central Dogma
area, the one which the doctors and Rei had come from, covered the gap
between it and another lift, the same one which the elder Ikari had taken
from the control centre. Just off to their right was a small staircase
which led into another larger hallway. Although much shorter, it lead to
the viewpoint over the Evangelion, where the elder Ikari had been seen
earlier. Further down was another lift leading into the right wall. The
hallway continued appeared to extend great lengths in both directions,
but for some odd reason, abruptly stopped in both directions, sealed off
by an oddly coloured metal wall. They both stepped on to the lift and
had begun the journey to the control centre.
Ritsuko and Misato had been silent the entire time. Misato
decided to change that.
"Ritsuko," Misato said.
No answer.
"Why did you lie to me?"
No answer.
"Damn it Ritsuko!" She grabbed her friend by the collar of her
coat. Her voice was filled with anger, but was eerily calm. "Why did
you lie?"
"I only found out a few hours ago. I didn't have the chance since
then."
"Didn't have the chance? You said in the lift that there were no
pilots. You had known. You could've told me then. You lied to me
then."
"I'm sorry," she said, a distracted look on her face. She was
looking away from Misato's face. "I didn't want you to overreact."
Misato tightened the grip on Ritsuko's collar. "Overreact? What
did you think Ritsuko? That I'd watch you tell him that he'd be the
pilot and I'd just smile and nod in approval?"
Ritsuko turned her head and stared directly into Misato's eyes.
"No."
Misato's voice softened and she let go of Ritsuko's collar. "Why
didn't you tell me?" she asked again.
Ritsuko looked at her for a moment. "Because I didn't want to see
you hurt. I've known you long enough to know what will bother you. We
both knew he would become a pilot. It wasn't my intention for him to be
thrown into it like this, or even to force him into it at all."
Misato looked at her. On this rare occasion, her friend wasn't
using her higher rank to her advantage, or her down to business attitude.
She was speaking as a person.
"I guess it was nice," Misato started, "that he didn't decide to
do it because of orders, or his father."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm surprised that you don't understand Ritsuko. It's obvious.
He's doing it because of Rei."
Ritsuko nodded her head slightly. "A proper reason, but he should
be doing it for himself."
"True, but he has to start somewhere, right?" she asked,
hopefulness in her voice. That soon switched over to admiration. "And
in a way, he is doing it for himself. He's doing it because he wants to
keep her safe. That's his reason right now. In time, he will have
others."
Ritsuko looked at her long-time friend. At times she could be one
of the most go-lucky people in the world; as if she were still a teenager
back in college. And at other times... she was the wisest person she had
ever met.
"...The Commander used her to get him to do it. You know that,
don't you?" Ritsuko asked her, back to her normal, down to business
attitude.
Misato's voice became colder. "I know. And she has no idea. It
makes me sick."
"Perhaps she does. But I doubt that would be her intention. She
would have piloted the Eva if Shinji hadn't stepped in."
"..."
"I don't like it either Misato."
Misato's eyes widened for a moment. She hadn't expected to hear
that.
Misato smiled. Ritsuko did the same. An understanding had been
reached.
Friendship isn't an easy thing to destroy.
------------------------------------
The lift appeared in the control centre, Misato and Ritsuko its
passengers. The two walked over to the main control area, the one
centered on the ground before the gigantic display, where Maya, Makoto
and Shigeru were. Misato took up a stance behind Makoto.
"What's our status?"
"The unfreezing of Unit One has been completed. All coolant has
been drained from the area. The binding for its right arm has been
repaired. It's in proper position for loading the entry plug."
A glass display had risen up in front of Maya's workstation. It
was identical to the one in the entry plug.
"Termination signal confirmed. Plug is ready for entry."
"Insert the entry plug," Ritsuko spoke.
------------------------------------
Shinji was startled as the section of the entry plug above him
slid closed.
"I guess we're starting."
Outside the plug, the back of the Evangelion took on some changes.
A panel attached to its head flipped upwards, followed by another panel
attached to its back. A hole shaped for the entry plug was present.
Shinji felt the plug rumble as the machine which had been attached
to the plug began to move, moving the plug off of its platform and into
the air. He also felt the plug changing position; it was doing a near 90
degree rotation.
He was going to fall. He gripped the chair with all of his might.
But the impact he expected never came. Strangely enough, the
momentary sensation he had felt that he would fall to the front of the
plug disappeared. And even though he knew he should be falling toward
the ground, he found himself sitting in the seat as if he had never
changed position, as if the plug itself had its own center of gravity.
"This is so strange... what kind of illusion is this?"
He suddenly felt a sensation of falling as the machine moved the
plug downwards, until it had placed the plug an eighth of the way into
the hole. It detached itself from the plug, and moved upwards. The
mechanisms inside the Eva went to work along with the hydraulic device,
pulling the plug all the way in. Shinji heard the sounds of the panels
of the Eva closing behind him
He was inside it.
------------------------------------
"Begin the first connection," Ritsuko announced.
"Connection completed," Maya replied.
"Open up a video channel to Unit One," Misato said.
Makoto looked out of the corner of his eye. "It's being taken
care of."
------------------------------------
The glass panel to his right suddenly lit up. Both Ritsuko and
Misato's faces were present, as well as those of people he hadn't met.
It was a view of the area of the control centre where they were working.
"Shinji, can you hear me? Are you ready?" Misato asked.
"Yes."
"All right." She nodded to Ritsuko.
Ritsuko nodded back and looked at Maya. "Commence LCL injection."
'LCL?' Shinji wondered.
The entry plug began to fill with a yellow liquid.
"Huh? What is this? I'm gonna drown!"
The LCL proceeded to rise above his legs, stomach, shoulders, and
head, to the very top of the tube, but not before he had taken a very
deep breath and held it.
Ritsuko looked at him, then realized what was wrong. "Shinji,
don't worry. It's breathable. As soon as your lungs have been filled
with the LCL, it will directly supply your lungs with oxygen. It will
take a little time to get used to it, but soon enough, you won't even
notice it." She paused. "You should breathe before you pass out from
lack of oxygen."
Shinji, who had been turning blue at the time, let his breath slip
out, and by reflex, inhaled a large amount of LCL. He choked and coughed
for a few moments, but then found he could breathe easily, although he
found it somewhat peculiar, and the sensation on his skin also felt
strange. The smell was... odd. It made him feel a little ill.
"I feel nauseous," he muttered queasily.
"Deal with it!" came Misato's reply. "You're a man, aren't you?"
"What does my gender have to do with anything?" he asked.
Misato raised her hand, her mouth open... and said nothing.
"Are the technicians at ground level?"
"Yes Captain," came Shigeru's reply. "They took the lift to the
floor of the cage. All equipment is in place.
"Good."
"Connect the main power supply. Transmit power to all circuits
upon contact," Ritsuko ordered.
"Roger," came Shigeru's reply.
Shinji felt the Evangelion rumble slightly. Outside of the unit,
a large block of metal, with a long, thick power cord running out of it
had been attached to its back, on its spinal column.
"Begin A-10 nerve connection."
Shinji looked around him as the entry plug's size seemed to have
suddenly grown to an immense size. The walls of the entry plug had
seemed to have moved away considerably in distance. The walls around him
glowed a variety of colours, followed by bursts of white lights.
"Switch language logic to the default, Japanese. Make sure all
initial contacts are set."
The white lights soon faded away to total darkness, instantly
replaced by a view of the cage in front of him, or rather, the Eva. He
had a large view of the area Extending for metres in all directions
covering the majority of the area in front of him, and partially to his
sides, spanning as much distance as the Eva's eyes and external sensors
could take in. Where the walls of the entry plug had been before, there
was total darkness, but Shinji sensed (and felt as he reached out his
arms) that the walls were still there, and when he peered closely, he
could faintly see the yellow walls of the entry plug surrounding him,
but it was near impossible to notice. The sensation was that he was in
a much larger area than he really was.
In the control centre, a variety of displays appeared on the glass
panel in front of Maya. One of them showed a large amount of small green
blocks, a different code written on each appearing, one after the other.
Another showed a display of wires in various shapes connecting to each
other in different sequences. A third showed an outline of the
Evangelion's body, and a brief list of its systems next to it. The
outline filled with colour as each system came on-line. A fourth display
showed two jagged lines, as they became more rounded and straight, they
began to come together.
Maya glanced at the fourth display in amazement. "Connecting
the pilot to the Eva. Bi-directional circuits are open." The lines
continued to fluctuate, becoming more rounded, and then soon overlapped
each other in the same shape. They stopped moving, and resembled a nerve
pattern.
"Oh my... Already?"
Ritsuko stared at the display, a smile spread across her face.
"Outstanding. His synchronization ratio with the Eva is at 41.3%!
Without any training... truly incredible."
Maya smiled at the display. "All harmonics values are nominal.
No anomalies detected."
Ritsuko looked up at Misato, a positive expression on her face.
"We can do this." She sounded irregularly positive.
Misato stared at her in amazement. 'This shouldn't have been
possible!'
"Very well. Shinji?"
"Yes?"
"I'm going to switch to an audio only channel, all right?"
"Yes."
She waved her hand to Makoto, who worked at his control panel
momentarily. Moments later, "Sound Only" replaced the visual in the
entry plug of the Eva.
"Prepare to launch!"
------------------------------------
Outside of the Evangelion, the structure of the room began to
change. Large gates which had served as walls in front of and
behind the Eva slid away. Shigeru's and Makoto's voices could be heard
alternating through the massive room, and through Shinji's connection in
the Eva.
"Release the primary lock bolts."
Large hydraulic bolts which had been attached from the side walls
rumbled and dislodged themselves from the Eva, extending outward to the
exterior of the wall.
"Primary lock bolts have been cleared."
"Remove the umbilical bridge."
The platform which had surrounded the Eva began to slide
backwards, leaving a large distance between it and the Eva. The
technicians below made sure to keep out of the path of the equipment as
they worked for its removal.
"Umbilical bridge at a safe distance."
"Release secondary lock bolts."
Another set of bolts which had been attached to the Eva dislodged
themselves. The walls which had encompassed both of the Eva's arms and
had served as passages slid away to the back and front of the room.
"Secondary lock bolts have been cleared."
"Remove the primary and secondary restraints."
"Disengage safety locks one through fifteen."
A multitude of wires detached themselves from the Evangelion's
body. Various clasps and metal panels which had held the Evangelion in
position slid away in the direction of the lock bolts. Around its feet
and arms, metal panels which had been formed to act as shackles dislodged
and slid away with other nearby components.
The entire time, Shinji observed as each restraint was removed
from the Evangelion, and the workers below handled the operation.
Nonetheless, he could not get a perfect view of it. He was very high up.
He waited patiently in his seat, a determined look on his face.
'I can do this.'
'I have to.'
'...I won't run away.'
"The internal battery is fully charged. Five minutes are
available if needed."
"The external power supply socket is operational. There are no
problems detected with either power source."
Maya's voice broke through the procedures. "Evangelion Unit One
being transported to the launch pad."
The Evangelion itself began to slide backwards, and then upwards
at a slant once it had cleared the ceiling fixture over its head. The
room was even more enormous than Shinji had imagined. He felt the
Evangelion stop as its back reached the wall behind him. He looked up
to see a multitude of portals opening directly over his head.
"Oh no."
------------------------------------
"Ejection path is ready. Status is green," Maya announced.
"It's ready for launch. At your command Misato," Ritsuko spoke.
"I understand."
She turned around to face Commander Ikari and Sub-Commander
Fuyutsuki. Gendou assumed his common pose behind the desk, his hands
folded across his mouth and chin. Kouzou assumed his stance, hands
behind his back, staring at the display ahead.
"It doesn't matter if it works or not, does it?"
"Yes it does Captain," Commander Ikari replied, his calm voice
heard by all. "If it doesn't, then our future will end here."
"I see."
She turned around to face the display.
Kouzou turned towards Gendou and spoke in a tone of voice which
only the two of them could here.
"Do you truly agree with how you choose to accomplish this?"
Gendou smirked.
"To be honest... I do not know. At the moment, this is the only
way possible. We will leave it at that for now."
Kouzou continued to stare at the display. 'What does he think?'
he wondered.
Gendou stared at the display, the Angel walking through the city.
'If I'm concerned for his well-being... I do not know. I do not
intentionally wish him pain if that is the question.'
Gendou remained silent, his thoughts brooding within him. The
silence in the control centre was broken instantaneously.
"Launch Eva!" came the shout of Captain Misato Katsuragi.
------------------------------------
"Uuurrrrrrrrrggggggg..."
Shinji struggled to keep his eyes open as he was propelled into
the air at an amazing speed. How fast or how far he was traveling he
had no idea. His only thought was to remain conscious.
Within moments, with the sound of the platform he had ridden
locking into place, and a brief jolt, he found himself at ground level.
He looked directly ahead. In the distance, the creature known to
him only as an Angel walked from behind a building. It stopped and
looked at him.
He looked back at it. He was not scared. He was not nervous. He
was there. All thought emptied his mind as he stared at what would soon
be his opponent. His enemy.
Thoughts briefly filled his mind as he remembered the day's
happenings. Tokyo-3. The Angel. Misato. NERV. Ritsuko.
The Evangelion.
His Father.
Rei.
His expression became firm once more.
'I can do this.'
'I believe I can.'
'I have to.'
The thoughts flashed through his mind one more time.
"I won't run away."
------------------------------------
From within the control centre, everyone looked on at another
display, one which was much wider and served to give a view of the entire
scene.
At the right end stood the Evangelion, Unit One, staring straight
ahead, still attached to the platform which had brought it to street
level.
At the left stood the Angel, in all its gore and gruesome
splendor. It did not move or act. It observed the other.
Tension filled the room. Everyone locked eyes on the display
before them. They all knew what would soon come.
"Shinji," Misato whispered quietly.
"Good luck."
She paused for a moment, and then smiled.
"I know you can do it."
------------------------------------
Within the Evangelion, the audio channel to the control centre was
still opened. He had heard Misato's words crystal clear.
Shinji sighed, and forced himself to smile.
"I can do it."
TO BE CONTINUED...
----
MISATO: Finding himself flung into battle out of his own will, Shinji
fights the Angel and overcomes all danger! Nonetheless, the
memories of his dreadful experience remain clouded in his mind.
A caring but quick to judge Misato takes him in as her roommate.
Is this what they really need? Shinji closes in on himself that
first night, the thoughts of his recent experiences too much for
him all at once. Little does he realize that he doesn't have
to be alone in his struggle. It's all in the next episode,
"The Beast / Welcome Home". Watch for it!
==========================================================================
==========================================================================
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
I'd better start from the beginning with my chapter numbering
system. Here's how it works:
The First Book of Paths
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1
Paths I - 1:1
^ ^ ^
2 3 4
Chapter 1 - A Welcoming / "First" Angel
^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5 6
1 = (BIBLE = Formal Book Title)
The formal book title. Basically, the full book title when
read, rather than the abbreviated version. ("Paths I" in this case)
2 = (BIBLE = Book Number)
Book number (i.e.: "Paths I" is The First Book of Paths,
"Paths II" is The Second Book of Paths, etc.)
This number will change when there is a MAJOR change to the series.
Example, if the world blew up, that would definitely be a new
book number... provided anyone survived. <g> This number
shouldn't change more than once by my reckoning, maybe twice.
3 = (BIBLE = Chapter Number)
The grouping number in that book. This number changes when
certain plot elements change, allowing me to group Chapters
together under a common theme. For example, say 5:1, 5:2, 5:3,
all had something running strongly in it. However, if the
following chapter, a different strong plot element was introduced,
it would be 6:1. To simplify, think of how the Evangelion tapes
were grouped in twos (0:1, 0:2, etc.), and the two Episodes had
something in common. This is like that, except time gaps between
Chapters will be much smaller, if any.
4 = (BIBLE = Verse Number)
The Chapter number within the grouping. For example, the first
chapter of a grouping would be 1 (5:1), the second 2 (5:2), the
third 3 (5:3), and so forth.
5 = The official chapter number, for easy reference, and the best
and easiest way to refer to this series. Think of it as an
Episode number.
6 = The Chapter title. I might be developing mid-chapter titles,
but this is how it goes. So far, I'm sticking to a double-title
genre, which is how I prefer it. Explains two main points, the
theory of the episode.
I'll also quickly bring up another point: I'm a Canadian. As
such, I use the Canadian spellings of certain words (which is the British
spellings). No comments on the words "metre", "humour", "colour", or
other words like that. These aren't errors, and yes, I do know how to
spell. =)
Well, this certainly was a trial and a half. I never knew that
I'd end up designing a complete layout for Central Dogma in NERV
Headquarters! Let me rephrase that: I never knew I'd end up designing
a complete layout for NERV Headquarters, period! That certainly took
time, patience, re-watching parts of Episode 1 over and over, and so
forth. Just like designing the blasted entry plug meant re-watching the
introduction to Episode 5 over and over... *whew* To be honest, detail
and explanation on the structure of NERV and the Evas was never really
covered that well in NGE, so now I have that monstrous task ahead of me
whenever I have to explain location. <g> It sure is interesting mind
you...
This, this certainly turned out to be much longer than
anticipated for a Chapter, and truth be told, this will be the average
size. If you hate reading, I'm very sorry (then again, why are you
reading this then?). At any rate, I said this would be a long project.
I wasn't kidding. ^_^
Chapter 2 will bring on Shinji's battle with the Angel and his
own internal battle to understand what happened to him. Also, be
advised that I've finally passed the point where I can really start
throwing in plot twists (and yet remain true to my goal). Let me put
it this way: most fans of Evangelion should like the end of Chapter 2.
I'll leave it to you to ponder that statement...
Keep in mind that I am still set to certain criteria, but there
will be addition. For example, Chapter 3 won't have any episode related
instances (if there are any, very few), because Chapter 3 will be a
complete writing of my own. Please remember, between the time Shinji
arrived and the time of Episode 3, there was three weeks (and in that
same episode, they say there was two weeks as well <g>, unless they meant
he only started school a week after arrival...). That's quite a gap
to fill, isn't it? Of course, keep in mind that the time line belongs
to me now... <evil laugh> Don't worry, I'll be back to Angels before
you know it, but remember, the Angels aren't my largest concern at the
moment.
The beginning of "other paths" for the characters of Neon Genesis
Evangelion has already begun. Who's to say what can happen now...
except of course, those plans of mine...
At any rate, if there are any comments and/or criticisms, let me
know ASAP. I want to get this out to a public release ASAP. The next
installment will be as mentioned above, and fans of Evangelion can expect
a little surprise. Trust me, no one will see it coming until they read
it. Here's a couple of hints; it has nothing to do with new pilots or
Evangelions, and it doesn't involve face lifting any of the current
characters. I'll leave this for anyone to take a guess. <g> Comments
are welcome, but flames will be put out with the electronic equivalent
of water. Ja na!
==========================================================================
James Grabowski
- sephirius@japan.crosswinds.net
For The Most Recent Versions:
- http://www.crosswinds.net/japan/~sephirius
- Click on "Anime Fanfiction" to get to the latest releases of:
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Other Paths
(becomes available with an RAAC release)
------------------------------------
"Man is descended from one alone.
One way or another, we're all related.
With this knowledge, the wall blocking the "truth" is destroyed,
Leaving an opportunity that can be used to a positive advantage.
One that can change man's perception forever,
And consequently, prove the theorem wrong..."
"And now it becomes a reality."