Hi everyone!
Sorry for the delay... I had more problems with my ISP than I
expected. Anyway, I'm settled in here in Chapel Hill now, so I can
finally post the next part of Ascent. I'm going to start releasing
sections on Saturday from now on, because that's easier for me (and
besides, you probably aren't reading them until then anyway.)
Sparky
*********
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."--Isaac Asimov
For Evangelion fanfiction and links visit Heaven's Gate
http://members.tripod.com/Sage_Ohlmin/evafic.htm
A Dies Irae Production
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: Part04.txt
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION:
ASCENT OF THE FALLEN
By Sparky Clarkson
Part Four:
"And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from
thee..." (Matthew 5:29)
*******
In the past, the alarm had achieved its intended effect. The loud
ululating scream of the warning siren had been designed to shock those
who heard it, jolting them with adrenaline even as it alerted them to
danger. In what seemed another life, Shinji had reacted as the makers
had hoped, growing tense and grim even before he got suited up for
battle. Now, though, the sound had worn itself blunt against his mind
from overuse. When the angel attack alarm screamed to life in the
depths of NERV Headquarters, Shinji barely flinched.
Shaking his head ruefully as if he'd just heard a sad story on the
morning news, Shinji closed the battered copy of _Foundation_ he'd
been reading, and set it down next to his coffee cup. He slowly stood
up from the well-cushioned chair in the small pilots' lounge,
groaning, "It'll never end." He remembered himself after a moment and
walked quickly to the boys' locker room.
Kaoru had already gotten into his suit, and he pressed the vacuum-
shrink button just as Shinji entered. "It *is* an attack, is it not?"
Kaoru asked as his friend began stripping out of his clothes, folding
them neatly before placing them in his locker. "I still do not know
what alarm means what."
"Yeah," Shinji replied. After a moment, he asked, "Are you okay with
this, Kaoru? I mean, you'll be fighting one of your brothers."
Kaoru nodded as Shinji began stepping into his plugsuit. "I know," he
said. As Shinji wriggled all the way in and hit the vacuum switch,
Kaoru continued, "It... it is difficult to face the prospect of
killing one of my own kin--as difficult as it must have been for you,
when..." He trailed off for a moment when he saw Shinji's face twist
briefly with pain. "But I am a human now. Circumstance forces me to
fight against the angels. For the time being, we are enemies."
"I'm sorry, Kaoru," Shinji said, "I wish for your sake... for
everyone's sake... that this was over."
Kaoru walked over and patted Shinji on the shoulder. "I know, Shinji.
We just have to be strong for now. There will be a reward for our
perseverance," he replied.
Shinji sighed, then straightened up. "Come on," he said, "Misato will
probably want to brief us."
***
"That's not what I expected," Misato said, frowning. "Before, they
always came here."
"Yeah, like we were some kind of angel magnet," Shigeru agreed.
"Tokyo-3 took the punishment, while the rest of the world asked why
they were funding us."
The viewscreens in Central Dogma, however, revealed that the situation
had changed. An angel rampaging through city streets was not an
unusual sight for Tokyo-3, but the streets under attack this time
belonged to Tokyo-2.
The invader crashing through them looked like the folktale version of
an angel: a gigantic man with huge wings. Subtle differences, though,
made all the difference. The wings were golden in color, and by the
way they sliced through steel-reinforced skyscrapers seemed to have
strong, razor-sharp edges. Also, the angel possessed a strange beauty
never given the messengers in folklore. While the angel was certainly
lovely to look at, its appearance also held something else--as if the
beauty of its soul had shone through to the surface for all to see.
Misato felt drawn to the angel, yearning to run and bask in its
exquisite, unearthly glow. Apparently, many people in Tokyo-2 felt the
same urge; they ran to the immense winged creature and were crushed
beneath its massive feet.
"Few can resist the seduction of Jophiel, the angel of beauty," Gendo
stated dispassionately. Only he, behind the orange lenses of his
glasses, seemed unmoved by the gorgeous angel.
Misato turned, wondering whether the Commander had read her thoughts.
After a moment, she asked, "Why is it attacking Tokyo-2? Will it come
here soon, like the others?"
"No," Gendo replied. "Not without a change in the situation. These new
foes--the archangels--are not like their brethren. They have no need
for unusual shapes to defeat us. Nor do they need to reach Lilith to
fulfill their missions. The archangels have both strength and
subtlety. They will kill the beast by crushing the head."
Misato thought for a moment, then gasped, "The UN! The full assembly
meets in Tokyo-2 now! Jophiel's trying to destroy them!"
Kouzou nodded, saying, "Tokyo-2 is no place for the Evas to fight,
though. It is too far away, and there are no places where weapons are
hidden. Our attack would come too late, and would not be effective."
Misato knew the answer. "Well, then... if these archangels will not
come to us by choice, we must lure them here. For the Strategy
Section, I suggest that we evacuate the UN representatives from Tokyo-
2 and bring them here."
Gendo gave her a cold smile, and replied, "An excellent suggestion,
Major Katsuragi. It has already been implemented. The UN
representatives are departing Tokyo-2 in a fleet of VTOL aircraft even
as we speak. They will arrive here in 90 minutes, and I expect Jophiel
will not be far behind. Ready the operational Eva units."
***
The children sat tensely in the briefing room, waiting for Misato to
arrive. Asuka sat in the front row, absentmindedly twirling a lock of
her auburn hair in her fingers. Shinji sat curled up in one of the
chairs, his arms locked around his knees, gazing glumly around the
chamber. Kaoru was in the seat next to him, drumming his fingers on
the arm of the chair, his expression pensive. Rei sat rigidly in the
very back of the room, staring straight ahead.
Misato entered at a brisk pace, scanning the children's faces. Asuka's
expression had gone from vacancy to eagerness as soon as Misato
arrived, but the other three children didn't change. Seeing Rei in her
plugsuit, Misato said, "Rei, you know you don't have to be here. You
don't have a unit right now."
"I wish to stay anyway, as... as a show of support," Rei replied
guardedly, her voice revealing nothing of her intentions.
Misato nodded, noting the brief flash of surprise that appeared on
Asuka's face. Shinji also unfolded from his curled position and sat up
on hearing Rei's words. Misato turned to children and began. "As
usual," she said, "Our information is sketchy. We've seen some footage
of the attacker, but that has told us nothing except that he's big--
about half again as large as an Eva unit. Hopefully, our numerical
advantage will balance out the size disparity."
She continued, "The initial attack occurred at Tokyo-2, beyond the
range of our sensors, so in-depth analysis of the angel's structure
has been impossible. We have no idea where the core is, or what its
capabilities are. So far, it does not seem to have deployed an AT
field, but I think it's safe to expect that it will have a pretty
powerful one." She glanced at Kaoru. Seeing the angel nod, she added,
"I think our best chance in this situation is to use coordinated
attacks. Keep track of where you are, and try not to get in each
other's way. I'll give you further instructions when we know our
tactical situation better. Understood?"
"Yes!" the pilots responded in unison. Misato again found herself
studying them. Asuka was enthusiastic as ever. _Always ready to try
and prove herself,_ Misato noted, then moved on to Shinji. As usual,
he seemed to be a contradiction. His facial expression was one of sad
resignation--_He never wants the fight,_ Misato thought, _the fight
always comes to him,_--but his dark blue eyes displayed a steely
determination.
Kaoru, of course, was nearly unreadable--beyond his obvious concern
for Shinji, he revealed nothing to the Major's eyes. _This is the
moment of truth,_ Misato realized, _Today he'll have a golden
opportunity to betray us again. I can only hope he's been honest with
us._
As the pilots filed out, Rei moved quickly to the front of the room.
She gently grabbed Asuka's shoulder, causing the redhead to spin
around. "What do you want, Wondergirl?" Asuka asked impatiently. Her
resolution to be more patient with others had so far not been extended
to Rei.
"Just... good luck," Rei replied quietly.
Asuka was silent for a moment, staring open-mouthed at the red-eyed
girl. Then she nodded curtly and said, "Thanks Won... thanks, Rei."
Misato almost did a double-take. _Did I miss something?_ she wondered.
She saw Rei lean over and whisper something in Shinji's ear also. The
brown-haired boy smiled and seemed to relax slightly after she spoke
to him. _Perhaps,_ Misato thought, _They're finally learning to work
as a team._
***
The three units silently awaited Jophiel's arrival. EVA-01, -02, and -
05 stood together, staring towards the giant that walked towards them.
Much larger than the Evas, Jophiel seemed unconcerned about the three
creatures made from Adam.
"Okay, kids," Misato's voice came in over the commlink, "I've come up
with a kind of plan. I think it's best to start simple. I want you to
fan out and use your rifles to try and hit that thing from a distance.
If that doesn't work, activate your AT fields and move in with prog
knives. Understand?"
"Yes."
"Got it!"
"Yes ma'am."
"Damn it Kaoru, don't call me 'ma'am'. It makes me feel old."
"Yes, Major Katsuragi."
Misato shook her head and rubbed her eyes. Though more talkative,
Kaoru could be worse than Rei at times. His strangely formal mode of
speech often grated on her nerves. "Move out," she ordered.
Asuka swung out to the left, keeping her rifle trained on the angel at
all times. Kaoru swung out to the right, making sure his aim remained
steady too. Shinji moved forward. Jophiel continued his straight path,
essentially ignoring the Evas. "Now!" Misato ordered, and the three
Evangelions opened fire.
The antimatter rays splashed up against an invisible barrier and
disappeared.
"Such a powerful AT field..." Makoto whispered.
"Scheisse!" Asuka swore, yanking the trigger of her gun a few more
times. As before, the ray dissipated against the massive strength of
the angel's AT field.
"To think that even this is not his full glory..." Kaoru muttered.
"Shit!" Misato shouted, then got a grip on herself. "All right, then
lets move on to Plan B. Asuka and Kaoru, swing out until you are
parallel to the angel, then move in. Shinji, you take it from the
front when they start to charge. Everyone got it?"
The pilots voiced their assent and began to execute the maneuver.
Jophiel seemed to have noticed the last attack, though it had clearly
not done him any injury. He moved his head so that his featureless
eyes (they had neither iris nor pupil, being pure golden) caught a
glimpse of each Eva. The androids reached their appointed positions,
and then charged in on the angel.
Jophiel stood impassively as the three Evas approached. The AT fields
came in contact and simultaneously neutralized each other. Still, the
angel did not so much as twitch until the three Evas were nearly on
it. Then, with an almost haughty inclination of his head, Jophiel
swept his wings downward, at once sending the Evas crashing to the
earth and shooting himself up into the air. The response was so simple
that no-one had anticipated it.
Shinji, however, managed to react in time. EVA-01 reached up and
stabbed its prog knife into Jophiel's foot. But rather than dragging
the angel down, the move caused EVA-01 to be pulled up as the angel
flew into the sky. Shinji growled as he tried to make EVA-01 pull
itself up further onto the angel's foot. But before he could manage
that, the angel kicked its foot violently, shaking the knife loose and
causing EVA-01 to fall 200 meters to the ground.
Shinji screamed as EVA-01 hit the ground and bounced twice.
"Shinji!" Asuka and Kaoru shouted at the same time.
"Keep your eyes on Jophiel, dammit!" Misato screamed. "If the angel
gets to Shinji right now, he doesn't stand a chance!"
EVA-05 whirled and brought its progressive knife up as Jophiel touched
down next to the prone form of EVA-01. But Kaoru's line of attack was
momentarily blocked as EVA-02 tore into the angel, it's progressive
knife striking at every surface available. Jophiel was forced back
towards Kaoru.
The fallen angel wasted no time. He lunged forward and thrust his
knife into Jophiel's back. The archangel of beauty whirled with such
violence that both Evas were thrown free. EVA-05 landed gracelessly on
its shoulder, eliciting a grunt from Kaoru. EVA-02 fared better,
landing on its feet in a crouch.
"Come back here, you bastard!" Asuka shouted as Jophiel once again
began to advance on EVA-01.
But Shinji had recovered somewhat from his bruising fall. EVA-01
struggled to its feet even as EVA-02 slammed into Jophiel yet again.
"Be careful, Asuka," Shinji called, "Nothing's hurt him yet!"
"Wha..." Asuka said as Jophiel once again threw her off. But the truth
of Shinji's statement was obvious. Every wound that the Evas had made
in the massive creature had already closed up, with no sign of lasting
damage.
"What's going on?" Shinji asked as Asuka slowed her attack somewhat.
"The scans aren't much good at this range," Misato said, "But as far
as we can tell, the angel isn't feeling any ill effects from this at
all. We think that you'll have to destroy the angel's core in a single
blow to defeat it," Misato announced over the link.
"Fall back!" Asuka shouted. Kaoru had been about to spring, but saw
the wisdom in her advice and took a few steps back. Shinji, still a
little shaken and unsteady from his fall, also acquiesced.
"The main problem facing us is that we do not know exactly where
Jophiel's core *is*," Kaoru noted.
"What, don't you know?" Shinji asked in disbelief.
"The location of one's core is not a polite subject to discuss," Kaoru
sniffed.
Shinji shook his head ruefully, and began trying to think of some way
to determine where the angel's core might be. Jophiel paused in its
advance, looking from one Eva to the next while Shinji kept an eye on
him. After a few fruitless moments, Shinji asked, "Are you sure we
don't know *anything* about this angel, Misato?"
"Only that he's the angel of beauty, however that helps," Misato
replied.
"Beauty... beauty..." Shinji muttered. _Maybe that has something to do
with it. What do I know about beauty?_ he thought. After a tense
moment, he remembered a discussion he'd had with his teacher about art
once. _What did he say,_ Shinji thought, _'Beauty is in the eye of the
beholder...'_
"That's it!" Shinji shouted.
"What?" Misato asked immediately.
"Look... I, um... I think the angel's core might be in his eye,"
Shinji said.
"Perhaps you haven't noticed, stupid," Asuka remarked dryly, "But that
thing has two of them."
"Well then, we have to try both," Shinji said. "I'll go for the right,
you go left, OK?"
Asuka grunted in assent, adding, "Kaoru... how about you just try to
distract it."
"Very well. Let us begin"
Kaoru charged the angel from behind as Shinji and Asuka ran at it from
the front. The angel looked like it was going to take off again, but
EVA-05 leapt up and buried its prog knife in one of the wings. Kaoru
willed his unit to grab the tip of the other wing, howling in pain as
the razor-edged appendage cut deeply into the palm of his Eva. The
angel, its upward progress halted, attempted to swat the two Evas
assaulting it from the front away with its hands. Shinji, still not at
full strength after the fall, was caught by one hand and knocked to
the side. He was back up almost immediately, but his Eva was limping.
Asuka, on the other hand, leaped over the angel's fist and with an
overhand chopping motion buried her Eva's prog knife in the angel's
left eye. "It's the right eye!" she shouted, seeing the wound already
starting to close.
"I can't make it!" Shinji shouted. Jophiel's massive hand had closed
around his Eva's throat. Shinji felt like he was being choked.
"Catch!" he coughed, and tossed his prog knife to Asuka. Still holding
the first knife in her right hand, she reached out with her left,
caught Shinji's blade, reversed it, and plunged it into Jophiel's
right eye.
An immense gout of flame exploded from the eye, knocking Asuka back.
"AT fields NOW!" Misato shouted over the radio. Kaoru and Asuka
managed to throw up fields at full strength, but Shinji in his
weakened state could only achieve a half effort. The angel exploded,
singeing Shinji's Eva and causing him to feel a burning pain over his
whole body. Again, Shinji screamed.
The firestorm was quickly over, leaving no trace that the angel had
been there at all. EVA-01 had landed face-down on the ground. EVA-02
was on its back 50 meters to its left, and EVA-05, spilling liters of
fluid from its ravaged palm, crouched near the ground 200 meters in
front of them. The wound closed quickly.
"Such pain..." Kaoru moaned. "I was not ready for it... I had
forgotten..."
Asuka merely panted from exertion for a moment. Then she shouted, "Hey
Shinji! You all right?"
"Yeah, I'm OK," Shinji said. His voice was weak, and his breathing was
slightly shallower than normal. He grunted as he willed his Eva to
push itself into a standing position.
"Good job, kids!" Misato said over the radio. "Get on back to the
cages, shower off and relax. Dinner's on me tonight!"
"Please tell me that does *not* mean you'll be cooking," Asuka said.
"Actually, I was thinking of paying a visit to Shigeru's friends,"
Misato replied.
"Oh, the Golden Arches," Kaoru replied. "I have been looking forward
to seeing them."
Shigeru's rather indignant voice piped in, "Hey man, they're
*artists*. They can't let their creativity be sapped by difficult
careers."
Shinji sighed and switched off his communicator.
***
Misato picked up the trays and carried them off to the trashcan. The
burger joint was packed with people too busy to be bothered with
preparing their own food, and Shigeru's long-haired friends were being
kept hard at work filling the gap.
Asuka leaned back with a contented sigh. "I haven't had a good burger
in a while," she commented.
Kaoru looked a tiny bit queasy. "Is all food that comes from America
so... greasy?" he asked. He and Shinji were sitting on the opposite
side of the booth from Asuka.
"Oh yeah," Asuka said happily. "Pound for pound, Americans have more
fat than any other nation in the world. And that's leaving out the fat
in their brains."
"Aren't you American, Asuka?" Shinji asked.
"Ich bin ein Berliner!" Asuka shot back angrily.
"You are a jelly donut?" Kaoru asked innocently. Asuka threw a wadded-
up napkin at him.
Misato seemed to be having some trouble getting through the press of
people in front of the trash cans. The heavy food and the day's
exertion was causing the children to feel lethargic, and they just sat
for a moment. Then Shinji said, "Asuka?"
"Yeah?"
"You were great today."
Asuka smiled at Shinji. "Thanks," she said. "You weren't too bad
yourself. That was a great throw." Turning to Kaoru, she added, "And
you did pretty good too, mop-head. Up until you grabbed that wing, I
was thinking you might not have any balls. I guess you grew some."
Shinji and Kaoru looked at each other for a moment after she said
that, and then both burst out laughing.
"What?" Asuka asked. "What's so funny?"
But neither boy would answer.
***
Shinji slowly sipped the hot tea, sighing quietly as the warm liquid
soothed away some of his aches. He'd blended the leaves for this
himself a while ago after reading a similar recipe in a magazine. The
result was a beverage perfect for relaxing knotted muscles--something
useful when he was sore from a day of piloting, or tense from the
ghost pain that lingered after the Eva sustained an injury.
Shinji took another sip and sank into the cushions of the couch. He
watched listlessly as Asuka flipped rapidly through channel after
channel on the TV. She sat on the opposite end of the couch from
Shinji, with Pen-Pen between them. Occasionally, the bird squawked to
show its particular displeasure at a program. A few times, Shinji saw
something that looked interesting, but Asuka always moved on and
Shinji didn't really care enough to say anything. He planned to go to
bed soon, anyway, so there was no sense in starting to watch a show.
Shinji wondered briefly where Misato had gone. After she dropped Kaoru
off at his apartment, she'd taken Asuka and Shinji home, then gone
back out almost immediately. The major had been intentionally vague
about her destination, almost mysterious. "I guess she went to Hyuga-
kun's," he said quietly before taking another sip of tea.
"Hm?" Asuka asked, then realized what Shinji was talking about. "Oh,
yeah. You're probably right."
The children fell silent again. Pen-Pen gave up on Asuka's ever
finding anything to watch, hopped off the couch, and waddled to the
kitchen. Shinji drained the last of his tea, letting the final bit of
warmth from the liquid spread through his limbs. Asuka took the
opportunity to scoot over next to Shinji. The boy shied away a bit,
but didn't shift his own location.
"This is so boring," Asuka said, then turned off the TV and tossed the
remote over the back of the couch. Shinji shrugged noncommittally and
put his teacup down on the floor. Boredom, he had come to realize, was
often a welcome change from the hectic events of his recent life. He
didn't particularly mind it.
Asuka interrupted his train of thought by asking, "Do you remember
what we did last time I got bored?" A sly grin spread across her face.
Shinji blushed and quietly replied, "Yeah."
Asuka reached out and grabbed Shinji's cheek, turning his face towards
her. She ran her other hand through his hair and around to the back of
his head, pushing him forward so that his lips ever so gently met
hers. After a moment, Shinji's arms wrapped lightly around Asuka's
shoulders and pulled her closer to him.
A few seconds later, Asuka broke the kiss and dropped her arms so that
they were hugging Shinji's torso. "Your breath still tickles when you
kiss," she quietly scolded.
Shinji smiled slightly. "You... you didn't seem to mind this time," he
responded, blushing.
Asuka smiled slightly, explaining, "You do the other parts well enough
to make up for that." She leaned away from him and broke the embrace,
sliding back onto the cushions of the couch.
"Shinji?" she asked, "Do you remember when I first woke up and asked
you what was wrong because you looked so thin?"
"Yeah."
Asuka's eyes softened a bit at that word. The wavering in Shinji's
voice had alerted her that this was still painful territory for her
roommate. "I just wanted to know if you feel up to talking about it
yet," she said.
"I, um... I..." Shinji said, trying to start up. He wanted to tell
Asuka about it, but he had a hard time making the words come out.
Finally he managed to say, "It... it's about Kaoru."
"Really? I was wondering about that. Until you kissed me back a moment
ago, I thought he might be your boyfriend."
Shinji blushed deep red. "It... it... it's not like that," he said,
"We don't... I mean..." He trailed off into random syllables. Finally
he pulled himself together enough to say, "It's hard to explain."
Asuka smiled, and said "It's all right." She paused, then asked, "So
what happened with him that hurt you so much?"
Shinji closed his eyes and fell limply back into the cushions of the
couch. "It all happened so fast," he said. "You disappeared for almost
a week, and I was going crazy. I couldn't really talk to Misato or
Rei, and without you... I felt so alone. On the same day security
found you, Kaoru showed up.
"He... I still can't explain it very well... he makes me feel
wonderful. When he's talking to me, I feel so calm and comfortable,
like none of my problems really matter. We became good friends so
quickly... He said... he said..." Shinji suddenly found himself
freezing up. How could he explain this to Asuka? Sure, she was much
nicer after leaving her coma, but he still had no idea how to deal
with her, and no clue how she would react to what he did. And those
words... they were so personal, so precious to him. How could he tell
her about them?
Asuka grabbed Shinji's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It's all
right," she said. "If you can't tell me now, just hold onto it. I
don't want to upset you."
Shinji wondered at the expression of compassion in her eyes. _I never
thought she could show such kindness,_ he mused. He took a deep breath
and continued, "Thanks, Asuka. Like I said, we became friends really
fast. But... but it all went wrong. He... he... was an angel. He
almost destroyed all of us, but..."
Asuka reassuringly squeezed Shinji's hand as he continued, "In the
end, Kaoru gave himself up. He surrendered to me, and he said that
either he could survive or I could. He wanted me to live, so he told
me to kill him. And... I did."
Asuka's jaw dropped. "You... killed him?" she asked.
"I murdered my last friend, Asuka. I felt so dirty and alone... I just
wanted everything to go away. I think, subconsciously, I was trying to
starve myself to death."
"So how'd Kaoru come back?" Asuka asked.
"His soul went up to heaven and he decided to fall back to earth so
that... so that he could be with me. So now he's human, like us."
Asuka nodded. For a moment she sat, apparently lost in thought. Then
she said, "I can see why you felt so bad. I know it can't be undone,
but for what it's worth, I wish that it had been someone else who had
to do that."
"Thanks," Shinji said. After a moment, he added, "I... I'm glad you're
home, Asuka. I really missed you. I never knew before you went away
how much I... I needed you."
Asuka blushed slightly. "Idiot," she muttered, tousling Shinji's hair.
"I'm really glad you didn't manage to starve yourself while I was
out." She paused, then continued, "I don't remember much of the time I
spent in the coma, but I do remember that... your voice was the sound
that set me free. Kaoru's not the only one who came back because of
you."
Shinji's smiled at his red-headed roommate. "Thanks," he whispered.
The two children simply sat there on the couch for a few minutes,
relaxing.
At last, Asuka stood up and patted Shinji's shoulder. "I'm worn out,"
she said, "I'm gonna go to bed."
"Me too," Shinji agreed, standing slowly. He winced slightly as a
twinge of phantom pain in his knee shot up through his leg. He walked
gingerly to his room, as Asuka went to hers.
Just as he was about to go in, he heard, "Good night, Shinji-kun."
"Good night, Asuka... thanks for listening."
*****
Ritsuko chuckled--a grim, quiet sound in the close confines of the
van. The blonde scientist sat comfortably on one of the bench seats,
her cuffed hands resting in her lap. One of the security guards had
just buckled her in, and was now closing the door of the black van.
The color had incited Ritsuko's laughter. _I can only wonder,_ she
thought, _Why they always choose black as the color of these vans.
They certainly couldn't pick anything more conspicuous. One day
they'll probably get burned for their lack of creativity._
The guard locked the door and then moved to sit in the bench behind
her. Ritsuko watched him for a moment out of the corner of her eye,
then turned back to face the front. The other two guards in the van
sat in the driver and passenger seats. They talked quietly for a
moment, and then started the van.
"So where am I going?" Ritsuko asked.
The guard in the passenger seat turned around. "There's a detention
facility at supply dump 045 in the mountains. We're taking you there,
ma'am," he replied.
Ritsuko gave the man a wry smile. "I don't suppose I can expect a
trial when I get there," she stated.
The guard shrugged. "I wouldn't know anything about that, ma'am. I'm
only here to make sure you don't escape."
Ritsuko looked down at the padlocked heavy steel cuffs on her hands as
the van began to roll. "I'm sure the task will be a worthy challenge
to your professional capabilities," she replied with a rueful grin.
The guard smiled, laughed, and turned back towards the front. Ritsuko
continued to face forward. The van had no windows in the rear, so her
only view was through the windshield as the guard quickly drove the
van through the streets of Tokyo-3. _Hmm,_ she thought, _They seem to
have built the city back almost completely._ She caught a glimpse of
ammo being loaded into one of the depots and continued, _And it seems
the angels are still a threat. My ears didn't deceive me yesterday
after all._
Ritsuko had hardly believed her senses when she heard the angel attack
siren the previous morning. Everything she had learned from Gendo had
led her to believe that Tabris was the last angel. Then again, she
should have known that the scenario had changed when she didn't turn
into LCL within a few days of Tabris's death.
_I wonder how Gendo is taking the delay,_ Ritsuko thought. _He always
showed such eagerness for the complementation project._
The van pulled onto the highway and turned towards the mountains,
accelerating as it hit more deserted roads. Ritsuko closed her eyes
and tried to work out a geometric proof in her head. She instantly
visualized a right triangle and began casting about mentally for some
new avenue of approach. Since she'd been arrested, she had proven the
Pythagorean theorem 20 different ways. The past week had been a dry
spell, though, with only one proof to show for days of thought. She
decided that she would have to redouble her efforts. _I wonder if it
can be done with circles..._ she mused, then lost the thought as the
van turned onto a gravel road.
"Shit," she muttered, and opened her eyes again. In the twilight, the
mountain they were now driving up took on a startling golden color.
_Natural beauty,_ Ritsuko mused, _It's been so long since I thought
about it. After all that time I spent working to improve nature, I
forgot how wonderful the original itself can be..._
For several kilometers, Ritsuko just gazed through the windshield at
the scenery the van was passing through. The bumpy ride over the
gravel was just beginning to get to her when the van suddenly spun out
of control and skidded into a ditch.
"Dammit!" the driver swore, "That's a blowout. At least we've got a
spare in the back. Come on, help me." He tapped the arm of the man in
the passenger seat, and both guards got out. A moment later, Ritsuko
heard the rear doors of the van open. The guard behind her made a
grunting noise as he helped them free up the spare tire. Then he made
a gurgling noise. Dead silence settled over the area.
Ritsuko closed her eyes. _Three dead,_ she thought. _Gendo must truly
hate me if he is willing to kill three of his own guards just to cover
my murder._
Strangely, though, the death blow she expected never came. Instead,
the van door opened to reveal two men in camouflage uniforms. One of
them spoke as the other unbuckled Ritsuko and undid her handcuffs.
"Good evening ma'am," he said, "You have been rerouted. You may now
choose your destination. If you come with us, you will become an
employee of the Japanese Intelligence Agency."
"And if I decide not to?"
"Then we will shoot you and blow your body up when we explode the
van."
"Not much of a choice, is it?" Ritsuko asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No."
"I assume I will be assigned to try and wheedle some secrets out of
NERV for the JIA?"
"I do not know, ma'am. I am a retrieval specialist, and information
about you is need-to-know only."
"It's not so much of a mystery, anyway. I agree."
"Walk this way, ma'am," the operative said, and led Ritsuko away while
his partner began placing explosives all over the van. Out of the
corner of her eye, Ritsuko saw the bodies of the dead guards slumped
near the rear of the vehicle.
"I am sorry," a familiar voice said, "It could not be done any other
way."
Ritsuko spun towards the source of the voice, her eyes widening as
they confirmed what her ears had told her. "You?" she gasped.
"Yes," the man replied. "It's time to start setting things right.
Gendo has gone far enough."
"I agree. But I would never have expected *you* to do something like
this."
"I did not always work for him, Ritsuko. I have decided that I will
not work for him any more."
"'To everything there is a season,'" Ritsuko quoted.
"'And a time to every purpose under heaven,'" Kouzou replied.
*****
"Report," Gendo said coldly as Kouzou entered the frigid office.
Kouzou looked down to the sheaf of papers in his hand. "The manifest
confirms that three boxes of high explosive shells were placed in the
van to be taken to the supply dump. All evidence points to an
accident. Tracks in the gravel indicate that the van drove off the
road for some reason. If the shells were not properly secured, they
might have gone off when the van stopped," he said.
"Survivors?"
"None," Kouzou said, frowning. "I'm sorry Gendo, but... there's no
doubt. She's dead."
Gendo snorted. "Dead, alive... it makes no difference to me now. She
was of no further use to me," he retorted. After a pause he continued,
"Delete this incident from the records, and change them so that they
give no destination for her extradition. Though Akagi was useless,
there are some useful people who might become difficult to control
should they learn of her death."
"Yes, sir," Kouzou replied.
"That will be all."
*****
Shinji set down the water can and gently brushed some dirt off one of
the leaves of the vine. The moist soil adhered to his skin, staining
the depressions between the ridges on his fingers brown, but he didn't
mind. The process of gardening relaxed him more than any other
activity. _No wonder Kaji-san always liked to come here,_ Shinji
thought as he released the leaf and rested his hands in the rich loam.
As he kneaded the soil with his fingers, he listened to the whir of
the fans in the Geofront, and Kaoru's humming. The fallen angel was
leaning against a tree several feet away, repeating the melody of the
hymn from Holst's "Jupiter." Shinji closed his eyes and let his mind
float free, at peace in the midst of the idyllic scene.
"Making mud pies, Third Child?" Asuka asked. Shinji opened his eyes to
see her standing at the edge of the clearing that held the little
garden. Her voice had been slightly mocking, but her expression didn't
seem to hold any malice.
Shinji grinned. "No," he replied softly, "just... gardening."
Asuka walked across the clearing to the melon patch and took in the
sight of the healthy plants. "I guess it stands to reason that you
would have a green thumb," she said, smirking, "You're so
domesticated."
"Green thumb?" Kaoru asked, seeming slightly confused. He looked at
Shinji's mud-splattered hands. "Shinji's thumbs are brown," he
commented.
"It's an idiom, stupid," Asuka replied. "It means he has a gift for
making plants grow."
"Oh," Kaoru replied, "I see. Well, the ability to help life thrive is
something we all have, yet still it is a rare and wonderful gift."
"I think I know what you mean," Shinji said, nodding. He brushed his
fingers lightly along one of the vines as he continued, "As pilots,
our job is to take life. We're supposed to be proud of our skill at
killing. But I gain more satisfaction from taking care of these plants
than from doing anything in Eva."
"So you planted these yourself?" Asuka asked.
"No," Shinji replied, still staring at the vines, "They... they were
Kaji's... before he disappeared."
An uneasy silence settled over the clearing for several moments.
Asuka broke it by saying, "I miss him, Shinji. I wish he were here."
Shinji didn't lift his head. "I do too," he murmured.
After a moment, Asuka asked, "Shinji?"
Shinji looked up. "Yeah?"
"Could... could I help?"
Shinji blinked. Asuka had been a little different since she got out of
her coma, but he would never have expected her to do something like
this. _I guess it's because they were Kaji's,_ he thought. A few
seconds later, he said, "Sure. I read a whole book on taking care of
these. The secret, you see, is to make sure you water them
regularly..."
*****
EVA-00's massive, single eye stared blankly at the trio standing on
the catwalk. Maya turned to face Rei and asked, "Are you ready to get
back into the Eva, Rei?"
"I must."
"That's not true," Misato said. "If you have any misgivings at all we
can put this off. We need a fourth pilot, but there's no need to
rush."
"Eventually, though, I must go in," Rei replied, her face
expressionless. "It is no worse to go now than later."
Misato shook her head. There was no getting around that simple truth.
Commander Ikari had ordered Rei to once more begin training in EVA-00,
and so, inevitably, she would. Nothing could brush aside that iron
order.
"I will change now," Rei said quietly, and left.
Maya watched Rei leave, shaking her head as the girl walked calmly out
of the room. "It's so sad," she sighed. "She seemed to be doing so
well... just the other day she read a poem for me, and she sounded
so... so *normal*. But now it's back to this--the same old robotic
Rei."
Misato nodded and said, "I know. Since Kaoru's return, she's been
behaving more like an everyday girl. I can't explain why she started
to change... but I have some ideas on what reversed the trend."
"You think that the prospect of getting back into the Eva has her
retreating into her shell."
"It makes sense, doesn't it?" Misato said. "Asuka's Eva tried to steal
her mind. Touji's Eva destroyed his body. Shinji's Eva swallowed him
completely for a while. Maybe Unit Zero saps Rei's personality."
Maya frowned and bit her lip. "It's something to look into," she said,
"Even if I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it. I'll go
examine some of her neural records. Maybe there's some trauma
associated with her experiences in Unit Zero that we haven't caught on
to yet."
Misato nodded, but thought, _Or maybe it's just that getting into EVA-
00 reminds her of what she really is. That's trauma enough._ After a
moment she said, "Go ahead and do it. A personality isn't essential
for a pilot, but I think the four of them would work together better
if she had one. In the meantime, we should probably try to cheer her
up."
Maya nodded, then turned to Misato with a confused look on her face.
"How do you plan to do *that*?" she asked. "Rei isn't the most
responsive of people, even when she's in a more normal mood."
"I'm not sure yet," Misato said, "but I have an idea..."
*******