The Sum of All Parts: Black
Neon Chronicle Evangelion
Chronicle 0:3
Shinji stood at the telephone booth, tapping his foot impatiently.
The world around him had gone insane; the streets were deserted, the
Level Four siren was sounding, multiple explosions were rocking the
city, and to top it all off he could almost swear that he saw a girl
with light blue hair run past him on the street, just before the last
explosion.
He plopped down onto the curb and scratched his head. What was
taking Misato so long? He got paged with the official NERV signal so
whatever the matter was it had to be important -- important enough to
declare a state of war over the city.
He pulled out a picture of Misato bending over, revealing part of
her ample bosom, and he just had to roll his eyes as he flipped it over
to reveal a rough sketch of a map. The map said he had the right street
corner -- near Clockhill Station.
Suddenly a car screeched to a half it front of him, and Misato
swung open the passenger-side door. "Get in!" she exclaimed.
"Well, it's about time!" Shinji said, climbing in and shutting the
door. "What the heck is going on? It's a war zone out there!"
"I'll tell you when I get you to your father," Misato said, eyes
front, hands tightly gripping the steering wheel.
"My father? What does he want with me? It's a bit too late for
more aptitude tests, don't you think?" Shinji leaned back in his seat.
"And another thing, where's Asuka?"
"She's spending the night at Hikari's. Besides, Commander Ikari
specifically requested you."
Shinji crossed his arms. "This had better be good."
"Fire!" the UN general barked.
On the viewscreen, the front row of twenty-seven M1 Abrams tanks
fired in perfect unison at the target, a large distorted dark green
humanoid shape with a bone white 'head' and claws for hands.
"No effect!" Kyusaku said from his monitor. "Phase variance
detected around the target!"
"Energy spike coming from the target!" Ritsuko cried.
The monster's eyes flashed, and twenty-seven tanks went up in
pillars of light, in perfect unison. As did the second row, and finally
the third row.
The target then faced the camera. The viewscreen went white, and
then black.
"They're wasting their time," Fuyutsuki muttered from their post
on the top tier in Central Dogma.
"Let them," Gendo replied, hiding his mouth with his white gloved
hands clasped in front of him. "We needed to stall for a few minutes,
anyway."
"Damn! It's a tough bastard, isn't it?" the JDF general said.
"Not a problem," the UN commander grunted. "We'll deploy the N2
bomb."
"Are all the civilians in the area evacuated?" Gendo whispered.
"Already taken care of, Commander," Fuyutsuki replied.
"We're using the underground rail? Why?"
"Because that's our orders," Misato said.
"But it's so much faster to use the front gate. Isn't Dad waiting
in his office?" Shinji asked.
Misato scratched her temple in irritation. "Yes, he is -- his
other office."
"What other office?" Shinji gave a start. "You... you don't
mean --"
Suddenly a shock wave smashed into the side of the car.
"Sir, confirmed detonation of the N2 bomb!"
The UN commander slammed a fist down. "Ha! We got him!"
The JDF commander crossed his arms and looked at Gendo. "You see,
we didn't need you or your expensive toys, did we, Ikari?"
"We'll see," Gendo replied quietly.
"Visual readings from grounds zero temporarily lost," Ritsuko
said. "Reconnect in ten seconds."
"Standing by for confirmation of the destruction of the target!"
Kyusaku said.
"What do we need confirmation for?" the JDF commander said.
"There's no way it could withstand an explosion of that magnitude!"
"Energy surge coming from ground zero!" Kyusaku exclaimed.
"It... it can't be!" the UN commander breathed.
"Visual contact reestablished at the blast site! Switching to main
monitor now!" Ritsuko said.
The main viewscreen flickered back to life. There, in the center
of a massive crater, stood the monster, charred, blistered, even
smouldering, but very much still intact, and...
"Breathing," Kyusaku whispered. "It's actually breathing..."
"That was our trump card..." the JDF commander said.
"Pattern BLUE!" Ritsuko exclaimed.
"What does that mean?" the UN commander asked.
"It's an Angel," Gendo replied.
"One, two, three, PUSH!"
Shinji and Misato strained to push the car back onto its wheels
from its current sideways position.
"Who... ugh... could be stupid enough to detonate an N2 bomb
within the city?" Shinji grunted.
"The UN, that's who," Misato replied. "Okay! Clear!"
The car fell onto its wheels, bouncing slightly on its battered
suspension.
"Let's go!" Misato said, scrambling into the driver's seat.
"This had better be really good, Dad," Shinji muttered.
"As of this moment, the UN turns over command of this operation to
you, Commander Ikari," the UN general reluctantly said. "But how can we
be certain that your methods are more effective?"
Gendo pushed back his glasses. "You can't. But you don't have any
choice, do you?"
The JDF commander glared at him. The UN general simply rubbed his
temples.
"You needn't be concerned, gentlemen," Gendo said. "This is the
purpose of NERV."
"Well, we'll be leaving it in your hands, then," the UN commander
said, pressing a button.
Gendo waited for the esteemed generals' platform to sink below
ground and for the safety hatch to close, and then turned to face his
crew.
"Initialize Unit-01," he said.
"What? But we don't have any pilots!" Ritsuko protested.
"I've sent for one," Gendo replied. "The First Child should be
arriving any minute now."
The rail transport carrying Misato's battered car emerged from the
two-mile tunnel, and Shinji was greeted by a soft, orange light that
filled the underground chamber. Upside-down buildings hung suspended
from the ceiling, and below, surrounded by a grove of trees, was an
obsidian pyramid, one corner of which was bordered by a reverse
pyramidal depression.
"This... This is the Geofront!" Shinji exclaimed. "I had no idea
it really existed!"
"Welcome to the real Headquarters of NERV," Misato said. "That
building you're accustomed to is simply the old Gehirn facility. It's a
front to show the rest of the world."
"But... why?"
"Think of the panic we'd cause if the world knew too soon."
"Knew what too soon?"
Misato smiled. "That when we say 'we're here to save the world',
we really mean it.."
"The Angel has passed the perimeter mines and is advancing towards
the Geofront!" Kyusaku reported.
"As expected," Fuyutsuki said grimly.
"I've sent Dr. Akagi to retrieve Shinji and Captain Katsuragi,"
Gendo said to his sub-commander as he stepped onto a lift. "I'm leaving
this in your hands."
Fuyutsuki nodded. "All right! Deploy the Mishima field artillery!"
"This way," Ritsuko said. "You're lucky Commander Ikari sent me to
fetch the two of you."
"I've got an excuse," Shinji said. "I've never been here before."
"Oh, shut up," Misato said.
Suddenly they entered a vast chamber with a long metal walkway
spanning the gap. Below them, sickly pink fluid splashed against the
metal walls, and in the center of the room lay...
"An EVA Unit!" Shinji exclaimed. "A real Evangelion unit!"
"Unit-01, to be precise," Ritsuko said.
"I don't understand," Misato said, rubbing her chin. "What are we
doing here? We don't have a pilot yet."
"Yes, we do," a voice called from a balcony above the EVA's head.
"Dad!" Shinji said.
"Hello, Shinji. Have you and your sister been eating well?" Gendo
asked.
"As well as could be expected, since neither you nor Mom have been
home for days," Shinji replied. "Now what's this all about?"
"Well, you see, son, we're in need of a pilot." Gendo paused.
Shinji opened his mouth to speak, but realization overtook him.
"Oh no. You don't mean --"
Gendo nodded indulgently. "That's right. You're it."
"This is what you get me all the way here for?" Shinji exclaimed.
"Does Mom know about this?"
"No," Gendo said, "there's been no time to notify her. Besides,
it's an emergency."
"But you know how she feels about me and Rei just taking the
synchro tests! Think about what she's going to say about this! Are you
drunk or something?"
Gendo shook his head. "Nope. 'Fraid not, son."
Shinji paused, slapping a fist into his palm. "Wait. Now I know
why you sent her on that trip to Germany all of a sudden -- you were
planning to pull this stunt all along!" Shinji said, pointing an
accusing finger at his father.
"Maybe," Gendo said, shrugging. "Does it matter? All that matters
right now is that the world needs saving and you're the best pilot I
have. Or would you rather I got Rei or Asuka to do it?"
"I..." Shinji paused. His father had a point. On the one hand, he
didn't want his baby sister getting involved with anything that could
get her hurt or worse. On the other hand, if Asuka did pilot the EVA and
succeeded in repelling the attack, he and the others would never hear
the end of it at school. He had no choice. "Fine. I'll do it. But if
something happens to me --"
"Nothing will happen to you," Gendo interrupted. "I picked you
because I thought you could best handle this situation. Now all that's
left is for you to show me that you didn't score highest in the aptitude
tests for nothing. Ritsuko, prep him for the entry plug. Misato, report
to Central Dogma and take over operations command for Sub-commander
Fuyutsuki." He looked at his son. "Make me proud."
Shinji nodded and followed Ritsuko to the loading area.
"Are you ready, Shinji?" Misato said.
"Yeah," Shinji replied over the comm link.
"All right." Misato nodded to Ritsuko.
"Insert entry plug!" Ritsuko said.
"Insertion complete!" Kyusaku replied. "LCL inflow activated."
"I hate this part," Shinji voice muttered, followed by a gurgling
sound.
"Don't panic," Ritsuko said, "the LCL will allow direct oxygen
exchange to your lungs."
"I know that," Shinji replied, "I just really, really hate how
this stuff tastes. Bleah!"
"Primary language set to Japanese. Commencing first stage
synchronization," Kyusaku declared.
"Piece of cake," Shinji said.
"Second stage synchronization commencing," Kyusaku said.
"How are you feeling?" Gendo asked.
"Hungry," Shinji said. "You owe me dinner, Dad!"
Gendo chuckled from his seat, although he hid his smile behind his
clasped hands.
Ritsuko looked at him expectantly.
He nodded.
"Begin tertiary synchronization," she said.
"Commencing," Kyusaku said, setting the sliders up past the red.
"Ow..." Shinji said.
"What's wrong?" Misato asked.
"Oh, nothing," Shinji replied, "just a slight head rush."
Gendo allowed himself a sigh of relief.
"Release primary bolt lock and primary and secondary restraints,"
Misato said.
"Confirmed," Kyusaku said.
"Releasing umbilical bridge," Ritsuko said. "Internal battery at
full. External power nominal."
"Use launch elevator 3 for deployment," Misato said. "Open all
hatches to gate 5."
"All launch preparations are complete," Kyusaku announced.
"Commander Ikari," Misato said, turning to him, "do we proceed?"
"Of course. If we don't, then all humanity is doomed," he said.
"Proceed."
Misato nodded and turned to face the main viewscreen. "Evangelion
Unit-01, LAUNCH!"
To be continued...
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wom
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Indeed, it seems to me, one of the most vital qualities for a writer to
have is an ability to see the potentialities for impending doom in
everything that happens.
- Dwight Swain