I've put a *lot* of work into re-writing my current work, EVA 2055, pretty much from scratch. This is the prologue, with the first episode to follow, hopefully later this week.

If you've read any of the previous version of EVA 2055, then forget all of what you read. As I said, this is re-written pretty much from scratch, and the plot itself has been fundamentally changed.

Anyway, enough babbling, time for the fic. C&C begged for. Gratuitous begging by request only.

Disclaimer: Anything I own, I own. Anything I don't own, I don't own.

Spoiler Warning: This may spoil 'Rebirth', but I seriously doubt it. The next chapter, however...

EVA 2055 Episode 0.1, Exodus 0:0 "Karen's Last"

"I will redeem them from death."
-Hosea 13:14

Wednesday September 7, 2055

Johnathan Engstrom, head of research for the Daedalus Institute, a
subsidiary of the Ahriman Financial Combine, looked out past his
terminal at the city around him. Plasteel and ferrocrete held up
inhabited mountains of glass, the towers of Tokyo-5, outside the
window of his corner office on the seventy-sixth story of the
Daedalus Institute's head office.

He focused his attention back on the display of his terminal. His
idleness had caused the screensaver to activate, covering the
screen with a lattice of honeycomb cells, slowly filling with red.
In the centre of the screen an SD version of the idoru Rei Toei
sat, legs crossed. Occasionally, she blinked.

Engstrom sighed. This day, this day would be Karen's last. Tomorrow
the only remnant of the girl named Karen Liebewitz, the red-haired
angel waiting upstairs, would be another girl. The girl who Karen
was supposed to be.

He waved his hand through a control-space, and the display screen
cleared. The idoru's SD form disappeared as well.

He turned as the door behind him opened.

"Father, they're waiting for you upstairs." Said Tracey Engstrom.

He sighed again. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

Tracey remained motionless.

"Go on, go, I'll be there."

"You're thinking about Karen again, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Father, they warned you. I warned you."

"Yes, I know. Don't get attached to the ghola."

"She's fourteen, father. Do you remember what I was like when I was
fourteen?"

He looked up at his daughter, twenty years old, and one of the
Daedalus Institute's best research assistants. He smiled. "Yes. Yes
I do."

"I was a little terror, remember. I was an absolute bitch."

"Yes, you were."

"Thanks."

"But Karen is not you. She's not even herself. She is nothing
like... like the other one. The one she's supposed to be."

"Sohryu."

Engstrom winced at the name. "Yes. Her."

"Asuka Langley Sohryu. No. Karen's not like her. At least, not from
what the many reports say about the original Asuka."

"I know. You've met her. You've talked to her. She knows you."

"Father, they're waiting."

"Tracey, please. Tell me. Is this... Is this right?"

"It is what she was born for."

"Of course. But... I can't help but wonder. What would an older
Karen Liebewitz be like?"

"Father, stop it. Even... even if you could..."

"Tracey, doesn't she deserve a life? Doesn't she deserve a life in
which the sole reason for her existence is not to become the human
sacrifice in a ritual to resurrect a dead girl?!"

"Father, it's not human sacrifice! We restore the memories of the
original to the body of the ghola. No one is sacrificed. No one
dies."

"I taught you the process, remember. I know that. But Karen will
die, just as Sohryu will live again. Her memories will be lost. It
will be as if she had never existed."

"Father, it's not for us to decide."

"I know."

"Come on. Let's go."

"Tracey..."

"Father, we need to go."

"Tracey, promise me something. These next few days and weeks will
be dangerous, to all of us. We all know the risks. The Mercantile
Group are dedicated to their agenda, there are no limits to the
methods they will use."

"Father, we're safe. The Combine's security forces..."

"Don't fool yourself Tracey. You may die. I may die. Promise me
that if I die, you will do everything in your power to give Karen
Liebewitz a life. A life of her own."

"Father..."

"You know it can be done. We can restore a ghola to merely first
layer memories. Their memories of previous ghola lives. It's the
process we plan to use with the other one."

"Father, please..."

"Tracey, I want you to promise me that you will at least try. I
don't want Karen's life to be lost forever. She deserves a life of
her own."

Tracey Engstrom looked sadly at the father she loved. Oh dear god,
please, don't let him die. "Yes, father."

"Say it. I want you to promise..."

"I promise, father. I promise I will try as hard as I can to stop
this day from being Karen's last."

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Author's Notes:
Gholas are taken directly from Frank Herbert's excellent 'Dune' series of novels.
Rei Toei is the pivotal character in William Gibson's 'Idoru'.
I came up with the idea for this part of the story while I was staring blankly at my screensaver. In case you hadn't guessed.

Many thanks go to:
Sebastion Fitsroy - Texans, Drugs and Rock n' Roll Department
Penny Sullivan - Trying On Jackets To See If They Match Misato's Dept.
Matthew Horgan - Douglas Baeder Was Cooler Than Erwin Rommel Dept.
Seth Kowal - Zeruel Could Beat A Troll Doll Any Day Dept.

WinAmp(TM) is now playing: Weird Al Yankovic-Gump
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"Gott ist in seinem Himmel, alles gut mit der Welt"
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Check out EVA 2055 at:
http://www.geocities.com/dalziel_86/index2.htm
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"Misato Katsuragi? You want to know the truth about NERV?
My name is Neo. I think I can help you. But it won't be
what you expected."
(Yes, I ripped this idea. Whoever's it was, hey, it was too
cool not too!)
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