Hi all,
Well... my hard drive chose an annoying time to nosedive. Most of my
files were adequately backed up, but I have some bad news.
The rewrites of parts eleven and twelve (both ready for pre-reading)
were lost, as was the new epilogue. Needless to say, this has set me
back significantly. I will likely require 3+ weeks to get each of the
last parts ready.
On the bright side, part ten was not lost, except for a late draft
that I'd just touched up a few grammar spots. So I can still give you
that part.
Sorry for the coming delays, and I'll try to get those parts together
as quickly as I can.
Sparky
<SPOILER>
PS: I've been told that either in the red cross book or the movies
Unit One is said to be a product of Lilith. This story, however, works
better if I assume that all the Evangelions (and Rei also) were
constructed from ADAM's DNA. So I did. I don't know if EVA-01 as
Lilith is canon or not, but I booted it. Don't be too upset. ^_^
*********
"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: part10.txt
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION:
ASCENT OF THE FALLEN
By Sparky Clarkson
Part Ten:
"O Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (Mark 15:34)
*******
Maya grunted as she nearly tripped over a stool. She froze for a
moment, listening intently in the darkened lab for the sound of the
footsteps she expected. When they did not come, she sighed and
continued down the narrow aisle between the lab benches. It would have
been easier for her to move had she turned on the light, but she dared
not risk alerting any NERV employee to her presence in this remote
lab. Now aware of Commander Ikari's true nature, Maya found herself
becoming suspicious of everyone she met in the hallway--seeing Gendo's
cold eyes behind every smile, hearing his grim voice in every joke.
Finally reaching the end of the lab, Maya turned right and opened a
door, slipping quietly into the next room. She shut the door, then
flipped on the light switch to reveal a small cubicle with three
workstations in it. She knew this room well--this lab had been her
first assignment at NERV, right after she had finished her Ph.D. three
years earlier. Maya seated herself at one of the computers and turned
it on. The unit was old, but it would be powerful enough for her
purposes.
Maya waited nervously as the computer warmed up, then immediately
called up the passive interface. She knew that the genomes of all the
pilots had been sequenced, and had an idea of where that data was
stored. She knew, though, that she did not have enough clearance to
get to them. "Well, Akagi-sempai did teach me," Maya muttered,
"Hopefully, that will be enough."
***
Ritsuko ground out her cigarette in the ashtray and leaned back in her
chair. With a quick ripple of her fingers over the keyboard, she sent
her message coursing down the cables to the Magi, where it would end
up in Kouzou's mailbox. She had not bothered to encrypt the signal--at
this late time, it hardly mattered whether Gendo discovered their
subterfuge or not.
Ritsuko sighed quietly and stretched. She simultaneously felt a
craving for more coffee and a sourness in her stomach that indicated
she'd had too much of the acidic beverage already. She'd run herself
ragged the past few days, trying to assimilate the data she'd found in
Gendo's files and form some kind of cogent response.
Even in his maximum security directory, Gendo had compartmentalized
his information according to some maddening organizational scheme she
still hadn't quite figured out. It was impossible to tell which files
would contain vital data and which would be design specs for a new
electric trolley for Central Dogma. Ritsuko had warned the JIA that
Gendo would move soon, but at the time she had not been able to tell
them what his move would be. Now that she knew, it was too late to do
anything but alert Fuyutsuki and hope he managed to somehow avert the
oncoming catastrophe.
Ritsuko shook her head and leaned forward again. She had to let the
JIA know what was about to happen anyway. Perhaps they could mobilize
some units in the city...
...that was an idle hope, though. _Gendo's probably been digging in
ever since the archangels started appearing,_ she thought as she
started to type up a message for the Director of Intelligence.
On a sudden impulse, she switched windows and slid into the Magi's
passive interface. With a few keystrokes she implemented a monitoring
program and went back to typing the letter. _At least I'll know when
someone is trying to get into the restricted files,_ Ritsuko thought,
_So if Gendo starts moving early, I might get some advance warning._
She hammered out a few lines of her report, then froze in fear as the
computer beeped. The monitoring window came to the top of the layered
set, and she quickly took in the message, relaxing as she saw the ID
of the person trying to worm her way into a forbidden area. "Well,"
she whispered, "Seems you got the message. I suppose I can give you a
hand."
***
Maya gaped as the Magi granted her access to the directory that held
the pilots' genetic maps. She hadn't even done anything yet! _Well,
now's no time to be looking a gift horse in the mouth,_ Maya thought.
_If it's a trap, I'm already caught, and if not, it's too good an
opportunity to pass up._
Maya hit a few keys and called up a program named "Anacom" on her
machine--the principal reason she had chosen this lab. Anacom took any
gene map loaded into it and compared it to maps stored in the Magi's
databases. Then it could analyze the map for almost any factor the
researcher wanted. Maya's first work at NERV had been to use Anacom to
compare DNA from Adam with known species.
Maya opened Rei's gene map into Anacom and entered the command to
begin analysis, telling the program to start with human isomorphs.
That would probably cut the run time down to two minutes or so to find
a good match, then another ten to analyze the polymorphisms. With
luck, Maya could get out of the lab quickly enough that nobody would
note her absence from her usual post--or her activities on the Magi.
Maya's hopes started to evaporate, however, as one minute turned into
five. Maya knew that was enough time to run comparisons with all of
the human isomorphs in the Magi database. Still, the program ran,
searching ever further from the human genome to find a match...
***
Asuka leaned up against the hospital wall, drumming her fingers
rapidly on the grey-painted sheetrock as she waited outside of
Shinji's hospital room. After several minutes, she realized what she
was doing and self-consciously pulled her hands away from the wall.
This, however, only brought them in front of her, where she could
wring them together. Once a she had done this for a few moments, she
went back to drumming. That, at least, could be taken as simple
impatience, and not the heart-squeezing anxiety she really felt.
_What's taking them so long?_ she wondered as she stared at the door,
painted a sickly pastel blue to differentiate it from the weary grey
of the walls. In the half-hour since she had arrived, she had
memorized every square inch of that portal. She had grown to know the
pattern of black marks near the bottom of the door, where people had
used their shoes to hold it open, and the faint scratches near the
middle where equipment stands had gouged away the paint. Her gaze
traveled once again over the numerals embossed in white at eye level,
tracing the curves and lines without really attaching them to the
number they created.
After about five more minutes, the door to room 343 opened and Dr.
Watanabe walked out, followed by a nurse and two interns. The doctor
was cleaning his glasses with a handkerchief, his eyes squinting in a
way that might have reflected concern, or just an effort to see
without their usual assistance
Asuka stepped forward and intercepted him as he was about to head down
the hallway. "What's going on?" she demanded, "Can I see him?"
"Oh, Asuka," the doctor said, looking up from his cleaning. He looked
tired and somewhat frayed, as if he'd been working extra hours. "I
almost didn't see you there," he continued, pausing as the other
medical workers continued towards their destination. "Shinji's
condition hasn't changed noticeably, but it will be a while before we
know for sure whether this last treatment worked or not. You can go in
and see him if you like, but I have to get moving. Rei's in the same
boat as Shinji, you know."
Asuka stiffened briefly at this reminder of her failure, but only
nodded in reply. "I... I understand. Tell her hi for me, okay?"
Toshio smiled warmly and nodded. "I certainly will, Asuka. Take care
of yourself," he replied, then turned and followed his entourage down
the hall. His lanky legs quickly carried him to the other medics.
Asuka turned back to the door and opened it, quickly slipping into the
dim room. Shinji lay still in the narrow bed, his face drawn with
pain. Next to his bed, an I.V. motor whirred away, automatically
administering the nutrients that kept him alive and the medication
that Dr. Watanabe hoped would help him wake up.
The room had the usual two chairs in addition to the bed, but Asuka
didn't move towards either of them. Instead, she quietly closed the
door behind her, then leaned up against it. Standing with her back
against the door, she watched Shinji sleep for a while, then
whispered, "We've both been so stupid."
Shinji shifted slightly in the bed, causing Asuka's heart to race for
a moment, but he quickly lapsed back into total stillness. She sagged
against the door, supporting almost all her weight on it, as she
whispered, "We wasted so much time, and now... will we ever have the
chance to do things the right way?"
Asuka slowly approached Shinji's bed, reaching down when she got there
to take hold of his hand. Seconds ticked away in the tomb-silent room
before Asuka finally said, "I can't lose you now, Shinji... please
wake up." She stood watching his unmoving form as tears started to
gather in his eyes. _I'm just as selfish as ever,_ she thought as she
gazed at him. _I want him to wake up for my sake, when I'm not even
sure... Do I have a right to ask for him if I'm just going to hurt him
again? At least now he's at peace..._
<--
Asuka opened the door just a crack so that she could see the two men
talking in the sitting room. The darkness of the hall ensured that she
wouldn't be seen while she eavesdropped.
Her father ran a hand through his blonde hair and took a slow sip of
the golden wine in his glass. "I'm not saying I'm happy about it," he
said as he leaned back in his chair, "But perhaps it's for the best
that it ended. Towards the end there, you could almost see the pain in
her eyes while she tried to understand the world. It's better for her,
better for everyone."
The darkly-dressed man seated in the other chair nodded and adjusted
his amber-tinted glasses. "And the child?" he asked, his voice cold
and uncaring.
"Well, for Asuka's sake I wish Kyoko had lived... but at least now
Kyoko's at peace."
-->
Asuka staggered back from the bed, half sobbing, "What am I thinking?"
_Can I really be so callous as to want Shinji's death so my life will
be simpler?_ she wondered as she stepped further back. She felt cool
metal under her hands and realized she'd retreated all the way to the
door. "I'm worthless," she moaned, "I'm just like my father... just
like yours."
Asuka almost jumped as the door opened behind her. She spun around,
the motion causing some of the moisture in her eyes to spill out. The
open door admitted an exhausted-looking Kaoru, who instantly locked
his eyes on Asuka's.
"You have been crying," Kaoru said softly, stepping towards the
redhead as he quietly closed the door. He started to reach towards her
face, as if to brush the teardrops away, but he stopped halfway
through the motion.
Asuka noticed his red-rimmed eyes, and the faint worry lines that
seemed to have appeared overnight. "You've been crying, too," she
responded quietly. Her own hands crept forward, but she forced them to
stay at her sides.
Kaoru nodded slowly, his frown deepening. After a moment he asked,
"What is wrong, Asuka? Is something wrong with Shinji?"
Asuka shook her head, feeling new tears creeping into her eyes. "No,"
she whispered, her voice almost cracking with her emotional strain,
"I'm the problem." She tried to run out of the room past Kaoru, but he
stepped into her path. As she collided with him, the strength went out
of Asuka and she collapsed against the fallen angel's chest.
"I'm so worried," she moaned, clinging tightly to Kaoru's shirt, "And
I don't know how I feel anymore..."
Kaoru raised his arms to protectively encircle the girl. "I
understand," he whispered, supporting her against his chest. "I have
been... confused also. "
"About what?" Asuka asked.
"My feelings for you, and... for Shinji," Kaoru quietly replied.
"I think we may have the same problem," Asuka said, fighting back a
new wave of tears.
Kaoru nodded slowly, gazing steadily at the redhead. "It is hard for
you to tell me this," he noted.
"I... I'm not used to sharing how I feel," Asuka replied. "Two days
ago, I probably couldn't have told you that, but..."
"But you found out that Shinji loved you," Kaoru finished.
Her voice barely above a whisper, Asuka asked, "You knew? He told
you?"
Kaoru smiled sadly, saying, "He could never find the strength to tell
you himself. He feared your reaction."
Asuka gave out a ragged moan and completely slumped against the fallen
angel. She felt his arms tighten around her as she threatened to fall
to the floor. "I've been so stupid," she gasped, "I always pushed him
away... I was too afraid to let anyone in where I could get hurt...
and all along we could have healed each other if we'd only..."
"Shh," Kaoru soothed, gently rubbing his hand up and down her back.
"There is still time, Asuka. Shinji will wake up, and you can start
over, the right way."
"But..." Asuka protested.
Kaoru cut her off. "But there is that other boy, is there not?" he
asked.
***
Maya almost jumped as the computer beeped at her. She cursed herself
briefly for losing her focus at such a critical time, quickly turning
her attention to the monitor. She shook the mouse, bringing the screen
to life, and then froze as she saw the program's output.
Results for Entity: Ayanami Rei
No isomorphic match found
Nearest Neighbors (% Homology)
Entity: ADAM (65)
Entity: LILITH (53)
Strain: Homo Sapiens Sapiens AJ (51)
Strain: Homo Sapiens Sapiens AC (51)
"This can't be right," Maya muttered under her breath. "There's no way
she can be closer to Adam than Lilith." When she'd had her job here
before, the results had always been the same. No species, not even
humans, had greater than 20% sequence homology with Adam. Yet here she
had a blatant contradiction of that rule.
"Probably a glitch in the program," Maya muttered to herself, but she
mentally added, _Or perhaps this is why Gendo wanted to keep me from
looking._ She called up a new search. _Only one way to find out,_ she
thought as she directed the program to compare mitochondrial DNA for
all pilots, ADAM, and Lilith. The results would reveal Rei's lineage
for certain.
She initialized the comparison engine, then leaned back in her chair.
This would take far less time than the first search, because she only
had a few sequences to investigate. She glanced at her watch. _A good
thing, too,_ she thought, _I've got duty in less than an hour._
***
"That's the whole problem," Asuka agreed. "I care about both of you,
and I... I feel like I'm toying with both of you. I... I can't let
myself betray either of you, but I don't know how to avoid it."
Kaoru gently pulled Asuka back from his chest. She looked up, afraid
to meet his gaze, but at the same time longing to see acceptance in
it. The grey-haired boy smiled at her and said, "I understand... I
love you too, but I do not know how to characterize my feelings. All
these different kinds of love are still so new to me... they seem...
artificial... somehow."
"But what can I do? How can I choose one of you without hurting the
other?"
"Do not worry," Kaoru said, pulling her closer for a moment. "Shinji
and I both love you, and we love one another also. If you care for
both of us, but ultimately choose one, the other will understand."
Asuka shook her head. "That can't work," she said, "If you love me
like you say, then whoever I don't choose will still get hurt."
"Pain is a part of life," Kaoru responded, "It is the joy of loving
others, and feeling their love for you, that makes the pain
worthwhile. I know you can only choose one of us as your mate. That
does not mean you cannot still love the other. There will be pain,
yes... but we can overcome it, because we love each other."
Asuka looked up into Kaoru's eyes. "I..." she said, starting to
protest, but trailed off. After a moment, she straightened slightly
and hugged the fallen angel as tightly as she could. "Thank you," she
said at last. "For everything."
When she felt collected again, Asuka stepped back from Kaoru and
straightened her dress. "I guess I should be going," she said quietly.
"Do you not want to wait for Shinji to wake up?" Kaoru asked, smiling.
Asuka turned back towards the bed and saw that Shinji had begun to
toss and turn. In a few quick steps she had reached his side, with
Kaoru just behind. The red-haired girl very gently reached down and
grasped Shinji's hand, but even that light touch seemed to jolt the
boy to consciousness. His eyes flew open, staring blankly out into the
dim room until they focused on Asuka.
With an almost convulsive movement, Shinji bolted upright in the bed
and wrapped his arms around Asuka. Pressing his cheek against hers, he
murmured, "You're all right, you're all right... oh God, I was so
worried...." Suddenly, he realized what he was doing and released her,
letting his arms fall into his lap. "I... I'm sorry," he said
sheepishly, staring down at his hands. "I just... I had such terrible
dreams... nightmares... about the battle. I... I..." he said, trailing
off at the end.
Asuka reached out and placed a hand underneath Shinji's chin, raising
it so she could see into his midnight-blue eyes. "Don't apologize,
Shinji," she whispered, "Not for this."
Shinji took a deep breath, and then calmly reached out to hug Asuka
again. She sat next to him on the bed, wrapping her own arms around
her roommate. "Asuka," he whispered, "I... I've been a coward."
"Don't say that, Shinji. It's not true, no matter how many times I
said it."
"Yes it is... I've been afraid to tell you something... something you
need to know. I... I know you may not feel the same way about me,
but... you make my life complete in a way nobody else does. I never
told you because I thought... I thought you might get mad and leave,
and I knew I couldn't face life without you again. I... I love you,
Asuka. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
Asuka shifted so that she was eye to eye with Shinji. "Idiot," she
whispered, "I love you, too." With that, she leaned forward and
briefly pressed her lips against his. Pulling him tightly against her,
she said, "I'm the one who owes you an apology... I was so cruel to
you from the moment I got here. I'm amazed you don't hate me."
"I don't... I could never..." Shinji replied, but Asuka shook her
head.
"You should have. For a while, I hated you... or I thought I did. I
think... I think I saw how much you could mean to me. It scared me,
and I tried to fight it," Asuka said. She took a deep breath, then
continued, "I'm still a little afraid... I'm so worried that I'll hurt
you, or Kaoru. It frightens me how much you both need me... and how
much I need you. I'm still not sure where my heart will lead me, but I
want you to know--no matter what happens, I love you."
After a few moments, the two teenagers relaxed their holds on each
other. Asuka kissed Shinji on the cheek and stood, straightening out
her dress as she stepped back from the bed. "I should go tell Misato
you're up," she said, not moving towards the door. "She's been worried
sick about you."
Shinji smiled slightly, saying, "Yeah... I'd like her to know I'm all
right."
Asuka nodded. "All right, then. I'll be back in a bit," she replied,
then turned and walked to the door. As she opened it to step out, she
looked back towards the two boys and said, "Thank you... both of you."
***
Misato suddenly realized she had been staring at the ramen cup for
nearly three minutes. With a sigh, she tossed it into her shopping
basket and continued down the aisle. She'd had difficulty
concentrating all day--Maya's troubling revelations the day before had
kept creeping into her mind, disrupting any line of thought Misato was
on.
Of course, Maya's secrets were only one factor contributing to
Misato's distress. Alone, the technician's affair with Gendo probably
wouldn't have been so worrisome, even with the deep suspicion Misato
had towards her commander. Its conjunction with the injuries Shinji
and Rei had suffered, and the perilous emotional states of Asuka and
Kaoru, however, was easily enough to drive Misato to distraction. The
fact that she'd been barred from seeing Rei at all since the accident
was the final straw. Misato had barely gotten to the store without an
accident; even her usual reckless driving had never caused so many
close calls before.
A dull pain from her mouth drew Misato's attention to the fact that
she had been gnawing on her lower lip for the past few moments as she
reviewed her troubles. She smiled, remembering how many times she'd
seen a worried Makoto do the same thing in Central Dogma during a
battle. _I guess what Kaoru said is right,_ she thought as she headed
towards the beer cooler in the back of the store, _We really do start
to resemble the people we love._ She chuckled as she tossed a six pack
into her basket, thinking, _I wonder if I'll start acting like the
kids soon._
Reminded of her charges, Misato decided to check her voice mail, in
case the doctors had called to give her any updates about the
children. She set her grocery basket on the floor and pulled her phone
from its place at her hip. When she flipped it open, however, she saw
that the battery had died. _Strange,_ she mused, _I could have sworn I
recharged it last night... I guess I must have just forgotten._ She
slid the phone back into its case and retrieved the basket. "Oh well,"
she muttered, "I'll just have to call in when I get home. I doubt
anything important has happened, anyway."
***
"That's funny," Asuka mumbled as she dropped the phone back into its
cradle, "It didn't even ring." She nodded to the nurse at the station,
then turned towards the elevators. "I guess I should go home and wait
for her," Asuka muttered as she punched the button to summon the lift.
"She's probably shopping or something."
***
The simple apartment had never improved from its sorry state. Unopened
letters poured out of the overburdened mail slot, and papers lay
strewn wildly about the room, covering the unmade bed, dresser, and
floor with careless equality. The pale grey linoleum floor tiles hid
beneath a brown crust of grime, and green spots of mildew marred the
ceramic surfaces of the bathroom.
"You offered her so little, Ikari. I wonder why she never abandoned
you," said the old man as he stood just inside the unlocked door.
Wisely deciding to keep his shoes on, he carefully stepped into the
cluttered apartment, ignoring the odors wafting from the kitchenette
and the sputtering mini-fridge. His ebony cane tapped the tiles only
lightly, leaving no impression on the dirt with its hoof-shaped foot.
Taking a longer look around the room, the old man sneered, "In such
opulence do His servants live. Allahu-akbar indeed." With a sweep of
his arthritic hand he overturned the plain mattress, watching as the
cheap synthetic padding spilled out of it onto the floor. "Such
devotion will make my task far more difficult," the old man muttered
angrily as he began to stalk out of the apartment.
Turning, the old man caught a glint of sunlight reflecting from
something on the floor. He bent down to grab the reflective object,
and lifted Gendo Ikari's glasses from the floor. Holding them in front
of his visor, the intruder noticed the prominent cracks in the plain
lenses--some old and filled with grime, others newer and clean. The
old man chuckled to himself as he let the shattered lenses fall to the
floor. "Perhaps the strings are broken after all," he whispered, then
laughed quietly and added, "And Ikari will dance to my song, strings
or no."
The old man left the small room as carefully has he had entered,
turning back as he reached the door. "This too will be mine," he
muttered, then left.
The lengthening shadows had no reply.
***
The workstation beeped again, and Maya turned away from the door.
She'd heard sounds in the lab only a second ago, and her heart was
still pounding loudly in her chest. Hoping the noise had come from one
of the automated machines, she turned back to the computer and
examined the output.
MITOCHONDRIAL DNA ASSESSMENT
REFERENCE SEQUENCE: Ayanami Rei
EXACT MATCHES FOUND:
Entity: ADAM
Entity: LILITH
Entity: Ikari Shinji
Entity: Ikari Yui
Entity: Nagisa Kaoru
"You took quite a risk, Lt. Ibuki," a voice behind Maya said as she
read the last line. The young scientist gasped and spun around,
awkwardly falling against the workstation. "You should feel lucky that
I'm on your side," the voice continued as Kouzou stepped out of the
shadows in front of her.
"Vice-Commander!" Maya gasped, nearly collapsing onto the table, "You
scared me to death!"
"I apologize," the old man replied, motioning Maya away from the
monitor. He leaned down and inspected the results from the program.
After a moment, he turned to Maya and said, "This is what Gendo tried
to hide?"
Maya nodded, her heart still thumping from the shock of being found.
"They--they're all from the same family. One of them may even be the
mother of the rest," she answered, after taking a deep breath to try
and calm her nerves.
Kouzou stood and started to leave the room. "Report to Central Dogma
for your shift, Lieutenant... as soon as you erase all evidence of
your activities here. Have Lt. Hyuga help you contact Major
Katsuragi... we need the whole staff on hand for what's coming."
"What *is* coming, Vice-Commander?" Maya asked as she reached over and
started to clear the workstation's memory.
"The end, Lieutenant."
"The end of what?"
"Unless we are prepared, mankind."
***
"You sure know how to pick 'em, Kensuke," Touji said as the train
pulled into the main Tokyo-3 terminal. As the four children stood and
waited for the doors to open, he continued. "Five minutes from the
city, and you wouldn't know it from the light--we could see
everything!"
"Thanks!" the bespectacled youth replied, shifting his telescope case
on his shoulder. "We got really lucky, though. The alignment of the
planets, the fact that the impact occurred right after sundown... it's
almost like we were meant to see it."
"Well, like Touji said, you still picked a good spot. We all liked it.
Right, Anita?"
The small girl who had been clinging tightly to Touji's hand nodded
vigorously, saying, "Yeah! It was pretty!"
Touji grinned and lifted his sister up to his shoulders as they left
the station. "It's not every day you get to see a comet collide with a
planet. Now the Martians know how we felt, I guess."
"Thank goodness for modern optics," Kensuke said. "Twenty years ago
you'd be lucky to see something like that from the ground at all."
"Well, where to now?" Touji asked as the children started to make
their way down the street. _Really, I don't care,_ Touji thought as he
glanced at Hikari. Anita shifted on his shoulders and the one-time
athlete's smile widened. _I'm with the two most wonderful girls on the
planet. Anywhere I'm with them is perfect._
"I think we should go to the shopping district," Hikari said, smiling
back at her boyfriend. "We'll get some get-well presents for Shinji
and Rei."
The mention of the two injured children darkened Touji's mood for a
moment. "I wish they'd let us see them," he growled. "They need their
friends at a time like this."
Kensuke stopped dead at those words, going a little pale, but Hikari
didn't seem to notice. "I know," she agreed, "but it's not just us.
Asuka told me the other day that nobody's been allowed to see Rei
except the doctors."
Anita apparently noticed Kensuke's change of mood, because she
suddenly asked, "Are you okay, Ken-kun?" She squirmed slightly and
Touji acknowledged the hint by setting her down. The little girl ran
over to the military nut, her short hair bouncing with her exaggerated
steps. "I'll hold your hand if it makes you feel better," she
promised.
Kensuke smiled weakly and shook himself. "I... it's nothing," he said.
He reached towards the little girl, saying "I'll hold your hand
anyway, though."
Anita laughed cheerily and seized Kensuke's arm, starting to pull him
towards a window full of toys. Hikari wrapped an arm of her own around
Touji and began to follow them, saying "Kensuke may have just bitten
off more than he can chew."
"I'll bet," Touji said, by now accustomed to his sister's occasional
fits of hyperactivity. He chuckled slightly as he saw his camouflage-
wearing friend pretending to be interested in a window full of dolls.
Touji slowed, though, as he noticed an old man walking along the
sidewalk nearby.
Unlike the other pedestrians, who constantly wove around each other,
paused to look in the store windows, or stopped to greet old friends,
the aging gaijin *strolled* along the sidewalk, as if the bustle
around him did not exist. His eyes hidden by a strange visor, he cut
through the throng like a knife--the crowd opened up before him and
closed behind him, never impeding his progress. The goat's hoof at the
foot of his ebony cane tapped the ground lightly as he walked, as if
the gnarled hand that clenched the delicately carved dragon at its top
did so more out of affectation than need for support.
Touji shrugged and started to turn away, but froze, startled, when the
gaijin's head snapped around to gaze directly at the one-time athlete.
Touji's feet seemed rooted to the ground for a moment, but when the
old man spoke to him, he hurried towards the toy store as quickly as
he could.
For when the old man's lips had moved, Touji had heard the papery
voice as if the speaker stood right next to him instead of across a
crowded street. And though the now-sinister gaijin said only one word,
it had chilled the boy to his core.
The old man had sneered, "Fourth."
***
"I just don't understand it!" Maya shouted, slamming her hand down on
the console. After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she cut
off the call for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"Still not able to get through?" Makoto asked.
"I can't even get it to ring! I've tried her cell phone, her home
phone, even *my* home phone just to check if anything's working.
Nothing's gotten through!"
Makoto shook his head and returned his gaze to the diagnostics screen
he had been inspecting. "It's the strangest thing," he commented.
"According to the Magi, nothing's wrong, but I can't seem to get
anything useful from the external feeds--just static. It's like
they're seeing something we don't."
"Well, we better start seeing the same thing soon... I have a feeling
that if we don't there'll be Hell to pay."
***
"I'm glad it's over," Shinji said, sitting up on the edge of his bed.
"What is over?"
"The hiding," Shinji said, "Disguising how I felt because I was
afraid. I'm glad that's over. Since I've come here, everything bad in
my life has started changing, and I think I'm at the end of that, the
start of a better life."
"I am happy for you," Kaoru replied, smiling. "You deserve that."
Shinji grinned back at his friend for a moment, then tentatively
stretched his arms. "I don't feel as weak as usual," he commented,
then added, "which is odd, because I've been in here for what, two
weeks?"
Kaoru nodded. "The doctors told me that they decided to try
stimulating our muscles to prevent atrophy while we were ill. I also
felt unusually strong when I awoke."
Shinji slid down from the bed and walked over to the small closet. He
stopped with his hand on the door and asked, "Misato didn't try to do
the laundry again, did she?"
Kaoru laughed quietly and replied, "No. Hyuga-san took care of the
chores."
"That's good," Shinji replied. He reached into the closet, but stopped
again when the door to the room opened to reveal the Vice-Commander.
The old man paused in the doorway for a moment, then stepped in.
"It's good you're awake, Shinji-kun," Fuyutsuki said, the severe set
of his face softening for a moment.
"Why are you here... sir?" Shinji asked. The Vice-Commander had never
seemed particularly concerned about him before. "Does my... father...
want to see me?"
Fuyutsuki shook his head. "I came to see you on my own, Shinji.
Tonight--many things may happen tonight. I thought that... in case I
had no other chance, I should tell you something."
Shinji let the closet door close. "What--"
"When your mother got into the Eva that day, she made a great
sacrifice so that you would have a future. I just needed to tell you,
as someone who knew her well, that she would be proud of you."
Shinji tried to speak, but found that his throat had constricted
around the words, holding them inside.
The Vice-Commander looked uncomfortable for a moment, then cleared his
throat. "I have to leave now, Shinji... I'm needed to deal with a
delicate situation, one that could well get out of hand before this
night is over. Though I'd rather it not be so, you may be needed to
help. Whatever happens tonight, I want you to trust yourself to do the
right thing. In spite of your father, your past... in spite of
everything... you've become a good person. In the end, I think that
will be all you need."
With that, the Vice-Commander turned and left the room, leaving Shinji
staring slack-mouthed at the door.
"Shinji-kun? Are you all right?" Kaoru asked, rising from the place
he'd taken in a chair.
"She died..." Shinji finally whispered.
"Shinji?"
"She died... for me..."
"What happened, Shinji?" Kaoru asked, finally grabbing hold of
Shinji's shoulders.
The blue-eyed boy allowed himself to collapse against the fallen
angel, murmuring, "My mom... died inside Eva... I never knew why
she..."
"Shinji..."
"She... the Eva... absorbed her, like it did me... only she didn't
escape."
Kaoru tensed up instantly, and Shinji almost staggered back, surprised
by his friend's sudden change in attitude. Blinking to clear the tears
away from his eyes, Shinji turned towards his friend.
Kaoru's milky skin had somehow gotten paler, seeming almost
transparent. His eyes were wide, and he trembled slightly. After a
moment, he shook his head and gasped, "You were absorbed by the Eva?
That... that is not possible!"
***
Misato slid her card through the slot on the door and gracelessly
kicked the door open, trying to maintain a grip on the ten or so bags
she had carried up with her. As the group of bags threatened to get
out of hand, Asuka appeared just inside the apartment and grabbed one
of them, lessening her guardian's load.
"Well, I can guess where you've been," Asuka commented as she carried
her bag to the kitchen, setting it carelessly down on the table. "I've
been trying to get a hold of you for hours."
"Sorry," Misato replied, shrugging out of her jacket and placing it on
a chair, "My cell phone batteries died about halfway through my
shopping trip. What did you need me for?"
Asuka smiled and said, "Shinji's awake."
"Really?!" Misato shouted, then dove for the phone. She quickly tapped
in the number for Shinji's room in the infirmary, then waited for him
to pick up.
The phone on the other end didn't even ring.
Misato waited for nearly a minute, then slowly returned the handset to
its cradle. _Don't panic,_ she told herself, _It's probably just a
little glitch or outage..._ But even as she turned away from the
phone, Misato had a vision of the orange text she had read on the Magi
screens: text that inextricably linked the Commander to the men who
had destroyed her world.
"You won't do it again," she muttered, then grabbed her jacket off the
chair. "Come on Asuka!" she called, "We're going to HQ."
***
Kouzou had not turned the lights up when he entered the room. His
reflective mood and the business it would hopefully precede were
better suited to the darkness. He leaned back in the uncomfortable
chair, calmly eyeing the frail shape resting on the bed. After a
moment, he shifted his gaze to the smaller, sturdier form at rest on
the side table.
His hand trembling in revulsion, he dragged his fingers along the
barrel, feeling the black matte surface with all the eagerness of a
man touching a corpse. He shook his head and stood, trying to walk off
the memory the firearm had elicited.
<--
Kouzou stared at the gun for several moments, noting the warmth of the
black barrel, the slight sulfuric smell, the coolness of the checkered
grip. Then, with a frown of disgust, he threw the recently-fired
weapon down onto the lifeless body of Kaji Ryouji.
-->
_I shouldn't hate the gun,_ Kouzou thought, crossing his hands behind
his back, _It is only a tool: neither good nor evil but for the will
of the man wielding it._ He turned his gaze towards the girl on the
bed. _And yet,_ he mused as Rei slept motionlessly, _The creator's own
evil can imprint itself upon the tool. Made to kill a man, or made to
kill mankind... both indict the maker. What drove me to help
construct... it? her? I no longer know what to say._
For a moment, in the darkness, Kouzou could see another face on the
albino girl, a face somewhat older, but made more beautiful by its
warmth. _I guess I am a fool--asking questions when I already know the
answers. Gendo's selfishness, my selfishness... we wanted the same
thing, though I never suspected how costly it would be. I never
understood the price a resurrection would exact._ He glanced back
towards the gun, only a few steps away should he need it, and frowned.
"Now I know all too well."
Kouzou leaned forward on the railing of the hospital bed, partially
balancing himself with his hands. He could feel them trembling, their
grip made insecure by his self-disgust. "Who will wield you, Rei? Can
anyone wrest you from Gendo? Can I?"
Kouzou closed his eyes momentarily, trying to prepare himself for the
dangerous task ahead. After a few deep breaths he felt ready to face
the future. He straightened to turn away from the bed, but Rei's face
caught his attention. Though her expression had been perfectly neutral
only moments before, the corners of Rei's mouth had now turned upwards
in a slight smile.
"Can the weapon wield itself?" Kouzou quietly asked.
Any answer was forestalled as the door slid open.
"I did not expect you to be here, Kouzou," Gendo said quietly, his
words slow and precise.
Kouzou turned slowly, pretending not to hear the chill in his
superior's voice and replied, "You aren't the only one who cares about
her, Gendo."
Gendo snorted. "She is only a tool, Kouzou. A pawn to advance the
plan."
"Is that all she means to you? All she meant?"
Kouzou's effort produced a rewarding flash of anger in Gendo's
expression, but the Commander quickly brought himself back under
control. He replied, "Perhaps she meant more, once. Perhaps. But it
was only Yui's memory--I'm sure of that now."
"You weren't sure before?"
Gendo ignored the response, instead saying, "It's too bad I didn't
know where you were. You missed quite a show."
Caught off guard by the sudden change in topic, Kouzou could only
muster, "Eh?"
"Hojevah-Mahbra 4 collided with Mars less than an hour ago," Gendo
said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. Kouzou raised
an eyebrow at the uncharacteristic gesture, but knew he couldn't
respond. He had to keep the conversation going until he had a chance.
"Is that so? I never knew you cared for astronomy, Gendo. A new hobby,
perhaps?"
Gendo's lips curled slightly upward in a sly smile. "An old one,
actually," he replied. "Man has always watched the stars, hoping to
find signs of the future in light from the past. Superstition, mostly,
but many superstitions have a basis in reality. God occasionally
heralds his greater deeds with signs in the heavens."
"I suppose that *would* fit with your obsession for prediction,"
Kouzou said, frowning. The gun was so close...
"Indeed. The stars have told me that my wait has ended."
Kouzou stiffened. The gun now seemed much too far away. "Gendo, I know
what you plan to do," he calmly said.
"Do you?"
"I also know that there are alternatives. You could change the
course..."
"But I will not."
"I know," Kouzou admitted. _If only I could use the tools as well as
he can,_ the professor thought, eyeing the impotent weapon on the end
table.
Gendo pulled his hands out of his pockets, and Kouzou instantly saw
that one of them held a silenced pistol. "I can't leave any loose
ends, Kouzou," Gendo said, his voice smug, "Forgive me, old friend."
Kouzou stared into Gendo's eyes, and for a moment he almost thought he
could see the emotions hidden behind the orange lenses. The old
professor stood as straight as he could, knowing he could never reach
his own pistol, and fired the only shot he had left. He took a deep
breath, and said, "No."
***
The darkness seethed, whirling with the tortured movement of
malevolent shadow-draped shapes. The boiling gloom constantly brushed
up against Rei's unprotected skin, a thousand unwanted caresses from
scabrous hands. The crimson-eyed girl floated frozen in that
blackness, powerless to defend herself against the grasping demons of
her subconscious mind.
Rei no longer knew how long she had been the victim of this assault.
It seemed almost timeless, a pressure on the borders of her being that
had neither beginning nor end. Despite the weariness of her spirit,
though, Rei felt something inside her that pressed her to endure. She
almost felt as if she were gaining strength from a connection of some
kind, though to whom or what she could not fathom.
Even so, she felt herself weakening, fading away from the fatigue of
facing her violation. The connection that brought her strength seemed
weakened and tenuous, and Rei expected it to disappear completely
soon. She did not know if she could hold to existence after that. She
did not even know if she wanted to.
Suddenly, a flash of light appeared directly in front of her and a
glowing ocean of particles began moving away from the center of her
visual field.
Rei felt charged by a sudden burst of energy as the tenuous connection
transformed from a mere thread into a great conduit, funneling power
into her soul she could not have imagined scant seconds earlier. The
violent darkness retreated from the blue glow that suddenly enveloped
the pale girl, leaving her with only two figures.
"Ikari," she whispered, and both of them turned towards her.
"The time has come, Rei," one said, and as he spoke it seemed that the
amber lenses shielding his eyes transformed into something else. For a
brief moment, his face became craggier, his hair grey. Then it resumed
the shape she had known all her life--the familiar visage of Ikari
Gendo.
"Don't trust a father like him," the other said, and as he spoke it
seemed a woman stood behind him, a woman whose smiling face looked not
unlike Rei's own. The phantom faded though, leaving Ikari Shinji
standing alone.
"You have been given a purpose, Rei... a purpose you must fulfill. Do
not waste time with these foolish things," the elder Ikari retorted,
the traces of grey fading into and out of his hair once again.
Shinji slowly reached out towards her, a slight smile on his face.
"You don't have to be lonely, Rei," he said. An image of her filthy
apartment momentarily flashed in front of Rei's eyes, quickly
resolving once again to the glowing void and the two Ikaris.
"What should I do..." she muttered, glancing from the Ikari she had
known and trusted to the one she did know and trust.
"You should obey orders, as you always have," Gendo commanded, his
face stony.
"I think maybe... you should smile," Shinji suggested, his hand still
extended towards the blue-haired girl.
The decision took only a moment, as years of mental discipline showed
their benefit.
Ayanami Rei smiled, and the darkness evaporated.
***
Gendo casually tossed the syringe away from the bed, not caring what
happened to the vessel now that it had served its purpose. As the
wire-thin needle bent itself on the plastic tiles, Gendo pressed the
cotton gauze down on the puncture site in Rei's arm. It would not do
for any of the drug to leak back out of her veins--its nature left
little room for error. As he waited, the Commander allowed his gaze to
wander up from the inside of her elbow towards her face.
Rei's face; Yui's face. Gendo had suffered through ten years of nearly
unbearable torture--to have Yui, *his* Yui, so close, near enough to
touch... and yet not there at all. Tonight, though, Gendo's eyes did
not mistake the pale blue hair for brown, the milky skin for rose.
_Tonight, at last, it ends,_ he thought, staring at the young girl who
at once embodied his anguish and promised to deliver him from it.
Realizing that the injection would soon take effect, Gendo stepped
back from the metal-railed bed. Just as he did so, Rei let out a
strangled scream and bolted upright in the bed, her body twisting
painfully as she fell forward, bent double. Another convulsion sent
her crashing into the rails so strongly that the entire bed rolled
several centimeters to the left. She continued to thrash around wildly
for several seconds before she at last collapsed in a shuddering heap
in the middle of the bed.
Satisfied that the drug had taken effect, Gendo stepped forward and
grabbed Rei by her hospital gown, lifting her from the antiseptic
sheets. "The time has come, Rei," he said, "You must fulfill your
purpose."
Rei's eyes fluttered open, and she stared dully at the man who had
ruled her life. With a wheezing voice, she protested, "I am... not...
your doll."
Gendo smirked and lifted the girl bodily out of the bed, untroubled by
her feeble attempts to fight him off. "If you say so," he said, half
dragging the girl towards the door. As he reached it, he dropped Rei
to the floor, where she made several ineffectual attempts to lift
herself up while he removed the silenced pistol from his pocket. He
checked the clip, and decided that eleven bullets would probably be
enough to clear the way to the elevators. "Don't struggle so hard,
Rei," the Commander whispered as he knelt down to pick her up again.
"The drug I used to wake you up will disrupt your motor nerves for
some time yet."
Slinging the girl over his shoulder, Ikari Gendo kicked the door open
and stepped out into the hall.
***
"Touji, are you even paying attention?"
The crippled boy nearly jumped, startled out of his reverie by the
voice of his girlfriend. Seeing Touji's momentary distress, Hikari
stepped out from the racks of dresses and wrapped an arm around him.
"Are you all right, Touji?" she asked, tightening the hug for a
moment.
"Yeah," the former jock replied, "I... I'm just thinking."
"Worried about Shinji and Rei?"
"Yeah... I guess."
"You don't need to worry, big brother!" Anita said, clamping onto
Touji's leg. "Shinji'll get better!" In a less sure voice, she added,
"Right, Ken-kun?"
Her question did not get an answer. The color drained from Kensuke's
face, and he put an arm out against the wall of the department store
to steady himself.
"What's going on here?" Hikari demanded, looking at the two boys. "Are
you hiding something from us?"
Touji shook his head and put an arm around her shoulders, saying, "No,
Hikari... I just... have a bad feeling, tonight..." He gazed out the
window at the crowded streets, just as he had been doing moments ago,
looking for the strange old man. _I must have imagined it,_ he
thought, _I'm just worried about Shinji, and it's making me see
things._ He shook his head, and continued, "It doesn't matter, though.
Let's... let's go buy some get-well presents for Shinji and Rei."
"Presents?" Anita asked hopefully.
"Not for you, kiddo," Touji chided, "But maybe if you're good..."
Anita beamed at her brother and clung even more tightly to his leg.
***
Gendo dumped Rei from his shoulder into the corner of the elevator,
ignoring the groan of pain that warbled from her lips. Reaching
underneath the collar of his shirt, Gendo lifted out a slender silver
chain. At its end dangled a steel ankh with odd serrations along the
longest arm. Gendo inserted it into a hole in the panel, and then hit
a small button marked with a red omega.
As the elevator began to move, Gendo calmly ejected the empty clip
from his pistol, simultaneously pulling a replacement out of the
inside of his officer's jacket. In a single smooth motion that
revealed hours of preparation, Gendo inserted the new clip, cocked the
pistol, and fired it into the electronic eye at the top of the
elevator.
Lowering the gun, Gendo realized that the temperature in the cabin had
increased several degrees. Warily, he turned towards Rei, grunting
with relief when he saw she had not moved.
He then smiled, realizing that her skin was glowing.
***
"The first failing of Eden occurred because Lilith agreed to serve the
Enemy early on," Kaoru explained, the words rattling rapidly out of
his mouth as he paced the hospital room in agitation. "As a result,
she and Adam were incompatible. Since Adam still walked in light while
she did not, Lilith was expelled. Eventually, life began to spring
from her, but neither she nor her children were able to become one
with Adam. Nor can those descended solely from her synchronize with
Eva, made from Adam. Only those descended from Lilith's first
children, who shared the seed of Adam, could pilot the Evangelions.
All the pilots, to some extent, were *natus de Adamo*. But Adam's seed
entered mankind too long ago. Becoming one with the Eva... being
absorbed into it... should be impossible for a lilim..." Suddenly,
Kaoru froze.
"Oh Allah," he muttered, "I have been a fool."
"What?" Shinji asked.
"I have the answer..." Kaoru began, but the wailing of alarms
prevented him from explaining.
***
"Angel detected descending to Terminal Dogma!" Shigeru screamed.
Makoto whirled. "What?" he shouted.
"AT field pattern blue detected in an elevator descending to Terminal
Dogma," Shigeru repeated. "It's intermittent, but clearly
identifiable!"
"Damn!" Maya said, and buried her face in her hands.
"Where is everyone?" Makoto asked, realizing that none of the
commanders had arrived. "Shigeru, cut the power to that elevator!" he
cried.
"Not working!" Shigeru replied, having already tried that. "Whoever's
in there is using a command key. Only the Commanders and Major
Katsuragi have the authority to override it!"
"THEN GET A HOLD OF THEM!" Makoto screamed.
***
"Proceed immediately to shelters. This is not a drill. Danger
imminent. Proceed immediately to shelters," the PA system droned.
People were running every which way, the streams of humanity swirling
madly in a maelstrom of chaos. Buffeted by the crowds, Hikari,
Kensuke, Touji, and Anita tried to make their way towards an
appropriate shelter.
"Damn all these jerks who didn't bother to learn the escape routes,"
Touji muttered. He nearly fell as one of the confused adults
accidentally kicked his artificial leg. Hikari reached out and caught
him, nearly falling herself as she tried to support the crippled boy.
"We have to make sure we don't get separated," she said. "Kensuke,
take Anita's hand, will you?"
The otaku complied, grabbing the little girl's hand gingerly, then
squeezing it tightly as another collision with an adult nearly tore
her away from the tiny group. "Almost there," he whispered into the
young girl's ear. She turned to him and nodded. Her eyes were wide
with fright, but she was not crying.
At last the four children came to the large doors of the sanctuary.
Touji led them into the huge elevator, then pulled them over to a
corner. Within seconds the lift had filled completely with people, and
it began its descent to the city bunkers.
"What's going on?" Anita asked. She had spent so long in the hospital
that she had missed nearly all the previous combats.
"It's an angel attacking," Touji said. "The Evangelion pilots will
take care of it," he added reassuringly when he saw the fright in his
little sister's eyes. Hikari nodded and gave the girl a hug to calm
her.
Kensuke, however, shook his head. "Without Shinji and Rei, how can
they defeat it?" he wondered.
***
At the sound of the alarms, Ritsuko quickly stepped out of her
apartment and started down the hallway. Her shadow from the JIA was
behind her in a second, saying, "Let's get to the shelter."
"No."
"What?"
Ritsuko whirled on the large security man and stared coolly into his
opaque sunglasses. "If we go into the shelter, then there's a good
chance neither of us will come out alive. I'm not ready to die yet.
Are you?"
The security man's face lost its expression of shock, settling back
into its impassive professional mask. "Where would you have us go,
then?"
Ritsuko turned back around and started down the hallway again. "I
don't give a damn where *you* go," she called. "But *I'm* going to
NERV."
***
Shinji grabbed the interface clips out of his locker and tucked them
into his hair just as Makoto charged into the locker room. "Shinji,"
he called, "There's no time to change! You have to get to Terminal
Dogma immediately!"
"What's happening?" Shinji asked, already headed towards his cage.
"The Commander... he betrayed us," Makoto replied. "He put all the
Evas except yours in cryostasis, and now he's taken an angel directly
into Terminal Dogma."
Shinji stopped, stunned by the news. Suspicion flashed into his
expression and he asked, "Where's Rei?"
"We don't know, Shinji."
"Shinji," Kaoru said, "You have to go now. Like Hyuga-san said,
there's no time."
Shinji nodded. "Come with me," he said, starting to move again. "You
can boost my synchronization if we need it, and your unit's in
stasis."
Kaoru nodded and slid his own clips on, following Shinji as quickly as
he could. Both boys clambered into the entry plug, getting only mildly
rattled around as it was lifted into position.
As the synchronization initiated, Kaoru felt a brief wave of nausea,
something he had never experienced in Units Two or Five. Something
inside the Eva itself resisted his integration. But he was *natus de
Adamo*, one who could easily synchronize with any Eva, at least in
theory. He could think of only one explanation, a hypothesis confirmed
when Shinji briefly embraced the fallen angel.
In that moment, the nausea dissipated, and Kaoru became aware of an
unusual warmth in the entry plug. It might have been the simple
presence of two bodies, but in his heart Kaoru knew better--he had
experienced this sensation before. Under his breath, he muttered,
"Shekina..."
***
The blue sports car screeched to a stop in the parking deck of NERV,
but the wailing of the alarms overpowered the squealing tires. Misato
and Asuka vaulted out of the coupe and charged towards the door. While
Asuka swiped their cards, Misato pulled out a large pistol and cocked
it. In response to Asuka's questioning stare, Misato replied, "Just in
case."
The door opened, and they were off.
***
EVA-01 stood motionless on the shore of the LCL lake in Terminal
Dogma. "Come on, move!" Shinji grunted as he tried to will the
machine-monster forward.
"Shinji, you're still synchronized... why aren't you moving?" Makoto
called.
"I don't know!" Shinji shouted. He looked towards the center of the
lake, where Gendo stood impassively at the base of the giant crucifix.
Rei was crumpled on the ground next to him. The Commander had the air
of a man waiting for a train he knew would be on time, and regarded
the motionless Eva without anything resembling fear in his eyes.
"We do not have time to try anything with Eva," Kaoru said quietly.
"We have to try and save Rei ourselves."
"Our- ourselves?" Shinji asked. He took a deep breath, then said, "I
guess we don't really have a choice."
Shinji ejected the entry plug, and EVA-01 fell still. Kaoru opened the
hatch, and both boys splashed out into the lake of LCL. Kaoru felt an
eerie chill as he came up knee-deep in the pool where his body had
fallen last time he was here. Shinji fell onto his face, and Kaoru
helped him up.
"Run on!" Shinji shouted. "I'll catch up. We've gotta save Rei!"
Kaoru nodded and took off, hearing Shinji start up behind him a moment
later. Kaoru concentrated on the blue-haired girl, who shivered
violently at the foot of the crucified white giant. Blood trickled
from the girl's nose, and bruises were beginning to spread on her arms
and legs. As he neared the massive cross, Kaoru could see that Rei's
breathing was very shallow.
Belatedly, Kaoru noticed that Gendo was removing something from his
jacket. The boy was so surprised to see what the object was that he
stumbled and skidded forward in the LCL. That stumble saved his life,
because the first bullet that Gendo fired went above the fallen
angel's head.
But as Kaoru struggled to stand he saw that Gendo had corrected his
aim. As Kaoru got to his knees, he found himself looking straight down
the barrel of the small, silenced pistol.
Gendo smiled...
...squeezed the trigger...
...and Shinji purposefully stepped in front of his friend. The bullet
shattered a lower rib, then ricocheted upward through Shinji's left
lung and lodged in his spine.
*******