Well, here we have the fourth episode of EVA 2055. Any and all C&C would be
greatly appreciated. Read and enjoy.
Disclaimer: What I own, I own. What I don't own, I don't own.
Spoiler Alert: Prior knowledge of most, if not all of the series, including
the movies, is probably, though not definitely, essential for this story to
make sense. So, if you haven't seen the whole series, and the movies, this
may or may not give away certain things, and/or not make sense. To sum up:
Watch the series. 'tis canon. 'tis good.
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: EVA2055-4.txt
EVA 2055 Episode 4.0 Exodus 0:4 "Jungle/Nest Of Vipers"
"I am just a worthless liar;
I am just an imbecile;
I will only complicate you;
Trust in me and fall as well"
-'Sober'
Tool
Sunday September 12, 2055
Special Autonomous Zone of Aceh, Republic of the United States Of
Indonesia
>From where Ruri stood on the concrete observation tower of the
outpost, she could see for miles out across the surrounding jungle.
The air here was warm, even this early in the day. To the east, the
EVAs flew in out of the orange morning sun, the broad wings of the
three carrier planes silhouetted perfectly against it. Coming in
fast, growing larger with each second.
Beside Ruri, a voice spoke Californian-accented Japanese. "I'm a very
lucky man."
She turned to face him. "Incredibly lucky. I'm surprised they let you
come along."
The man smiled wryly. "Well, I am the best at my job."
"That's not what I meant. I'm surprised they let anyone come along."
"Even you couldn't have hidden the EVAs from the media forever.
Better that you reveal them now. While you only have three."
"I'll ignore what that last statement implies regarding your part in
information leaks. And don't you mean it's better that High Command
grant you an exclusive?"
"Yes, of course, there's that as well. But I've never made any effort
to conceal *that* from your High Command. Or from you."
Ruri kept her stern expression. "Just don't get in the way."
She climbed down from the tower, and met Yasuaki at the landing
field, where the carrier planes manoeuvred into position.
Yasuaki looked back up to where Random was marshalling his camera
crew to film the landing. "Did they have to send him?"
His open derision for the journalist made Ruri grin. "Of course. Who
else could drive off any jungle predators with sheer arrogance?"
"Random Fydell, world's most conceited war correspondent." Her
adjutant declared mockingly. "What kind of a name is 'Random',
anyway?"
"His mother gave it to him." Ruri replied, focusing her attention
anywhere but on the subject of their conversation. "He once told me
that she thought it would bring her son good luck. There's an old
belief that if you know the name of a thing, you can have some power
over it."
This brought a shrug from Yasuaki, who returned his attention to the
landing field.
The EVAs had been brought upright now, and the carrier planes were
lowering them gently to the ground. As their feet made contact, Ruri
made for Hitomi's EVA, Unit 14, Yasuaki in tow.
She called out to the technicians as she approached. "Have the entry-
plug ejected and prepared for the pilot. Hitomi will make an initial
probe as soon as she arrives."
They scrambled to obey, removing the docking clamps from the
shoulders and wheeling in a scaffold behind it for the plug to rest
on once ejected. The plug slid smoothly out of the EVA's back under
its own power, and peeled open like a banana, revealing the cockpit
inside.
Ruri started to walk towards the communications tent that had been
set up in a corner of the clearing around the outpost, Yasuaki
delivering a quick update as they moved.
"The pilots' ETA is approximately forty minutes. We'll make that
foray as soon as possible, providing the Angel hasn't moved."
"Where is it right now?"
"It's holding position fourteen kilometres south-west of here,
exactly where it was reported by the RUSI monitors in Jakarta. It's a
pity Aceh has to rely on the monitoring systems of the RUSI. They
need their own surveillance network. It might have provided us with
better data, and sooner."
They reached the comms tent, and Yasuaki quickly directed the
technician at the detection console to bring up a visual of the
Angel.
"There."
Ruri studied the hazy image in front of her. She could make out a
faint circular shape, curved spines protruding from it at random
points.
She moved closer to the technician. "What's your name, soldier?"
"Corporal Tsukushi, Ma'am."
"Tsukushi, can we get a better image of this thing?"
The man made a gesture over a control-plate, and the Angel's shape
became slightly clearer.
"I think that's the best we can get, Ma'am." He said. "It's
completely invisible to all visual forms of detection. We're only
getting it this clearly by matching sonar, radar and energy emission
readings."
"Energy emissions?"
"Ah, yeah." He tapped a screen, which lit up with a wave-form graph.
"A signature consistent with an AT field, held close to its body.
That's what's keeping it in the air."
Ruri stood up. "We need Chiyoda here."
"We can have Shirato brought back from Jerusalem, Ma'am." Murmured
Yasuaki.
She thought for a moment. "No. I need someone there with the new
pilots. When she's finished there, then have her brought in."
***
Sunday September 12, 2055
Jerusalem, Israel/Palestine
As soon as she met him, Aki had decided that Karel Bruznevic had to
be one of the good guys. Along with being just plain charming in a
way she was sure he treated everybody, he was also quite good-
looking; even in the rather severe UNOBK officer's uniform he wore.
The six-hour flight from Tokyo to Tel Aviv hadn't been too tiring,
but when the sub-orbital had touched down at Ben-Gurion International
Airport, she still wanted to rest.
Meeting her at the airport and introducing himself as her liaison
here, he had seemed to sense this. They took a high-speed mag-lev to
Jerusalem, a private cabin specially laid on for them by the UN
making things a lot more comfortable. The hotel where she was
staying, and the UNAERG's headquarters itself, were both in the
Israeli part of the holy city, but instead of going straight there,
Bruznevic had taken her across the border to the Palestinian sector.
To a caf�, where they sat for at least an hour or two, Aki draining
several blacker-than-black coffees, while Karel filled her in on
UNAERG internal politics in his precise Japanese. The black,
insignia-studded UNOBK uniform brought swift service from the cafe
staff, who seemed to be accustomed to the patronage of such officers.
"At the moment," He continued, taking a bite from a pastry dish whose
name Aki couldn't pronounce. "Your presence here is not exactly
welcome."
"Why's that?"
He smiled. "First EVA is something of a political hot potato here. So
long as it remains the sole concern of UNAERG Japan, many bureaucrats
in Jerusalem will be very happy."
"But?"
"But with the new pilots being trained here, rather than in Japan
like the others were, the matter of First EVA's role is brought a
little closer to home. I imagine you will encounter a certain measure
of hostility. Nothing overt, of course. But everyone will no doubt
make it clear to you exactly what they think of your department."
She fixed him with an inquiring expression. "Why? What is it about
First EVA that bothers them so much?"
"It's a question of history." Karel replied, leaning back and
clasping his hands in front of him with a calm meticulousness. "The
bureaucracy knows that the member nation-states of the UN tend to
have long memories. They remember the last time EVAs were used, and
what was planned after the Angels left. While First EVA has the
Angels to contend with, the bureaucracy has nothing to worry about.
However, they must spend every spare second in ensuring that once the
Angels are gone, First EVA is dismantled."
"Why?"
"With their near-invulnerability to conventional weapons and their
unfortunate history, the EVAs make the perfect terror weapon. And
that worries the nation-states. The devil finds work for idle hands,
as they say. They're worried that after the Angels are dealt with,
the UN may turn on the nation-states, using the EVAs, against which
they are powerless."
"But what about the EVA Compact?"
"That's another reason the nation-states don't like First EVA,
because it hammers home the fact that the Compact does not apply to
the UN."
"But it wasn't supposed to, was it?"
"Yes and no. The clause that allowed the UN access to the EVA
technology while the nation-states were denied it was intended as an
emergency measure. It was assumed that the UN would never actually
invoke it. But that assumption was wrong, as the founding of First
EVA has demonstrated. The nation-states seemed happy enough to let
the UN assert itself as the new global power, so long is it did it
discreetly. But now that the UN has shown that it does not feel
itself constrained by the restrictions it imposes on them, they may
not remain silent. And those in the UN's bureaucracy don't want their
carefully built positions to crumble away. Therefore, they need to
make sure that once the Angels have been dealt with, First EVA
disappears again."
Aki felt she was getting in over her head here. She hadn't wanted to
get drawn into games of politics, but her position now seemed to have
put her in the cross-fire, so to speak.
The way Bruznevic spoke, he seemed to know exactly what was going on.
Perhaps he could be of some help in navigating this sea of confusion.
"And what's your position in all this?" She asked. "How do you know
so much about it?"
Bruznevic smiled, as if he had known she'd ask the question. "Me? I
am simply a UNOBK observer. I play no part in these games myself. But
I do pass on what I know to those in my organisation who might hope
to benefit from this division in the UNAERG."
'A spy!' Aki thought immediately. 'He's a spy! But why has he been
assigned to escort me? He was assigned by Major-General Negishi�'
"Do you know Major-General Negishi?" She asked, testing her theory.
"She's one of the commanders of First EVA, the one who nominated you
as my liaison."
"Ah, I see you've guessed my true role in this." There was a sparkle
in his eyes as he spoke, as if he found the whole situation
incredibly amusing. "Yes, I owe your Major-General Negishi a whole
string of favours. She is aware of the nest of vipers you've been
sent into unwittingly, and felt my assistance might be appropriate."
***
"A little more co-operation might be handy, Major." Said Random. "I
am only trying to do my job here."
Ruri kept moving, making him walk backwards to stay in front of her.
"So am I. My job does not necessarily require me to co-operate with
you."
He persisted. "I just want pictures of the pilots inside the entry-
plugs, as publicity stills. You know as well as I do that I was sent
here to help the UNAERG's publicity. I can't do that if you don't
work with me."
"Work with you?!" She stopped, glaring at him angrily. "Do you
remember the last time I 'worked with you'?!"
"I apologised, didn't I? And I destroyed the tapes, all of them. If I
hadn't, I imagine you wouldn't be a Major, would you?"
She continued her livid stare. "Are you blackmailing me, Random
Fydell?"
"Of course not�"
"I should hope not. Or a certain journalist might fall victim to the
kind of guerrilla ambush that I believe is common around here." She
pushed past him, making for the transport VTOL that was landing on
the nearby pad.
***
Hitomi jumped out of the VTOL in front of the other two, happy to
back on solid ground after the flight. She'd decided very quickly
that she definitely didn't like military VTOL transports. The sub-
orbital from Tokyo to Jakarta had taken less time than the flight
from Jakarta to here, and in the sub-orbital they'd been a lot
further off the ground. The VTOL had flown so low over the jungle and
sea that she was sure she could have opened the door and scooped up a
handful of water, or pulled off one of the waving palm fronds. The
jungle definitely looked better from down here on the ground.
"Hitomi, you'd better get ready to go." Said Ruri. "You'll make the
first venture against the Angel, as soon as you're ready."
Hitomi quickly made her way inside the concrete bunker of the
outpost's main building, found the change room, and put on her plug-
suit. When she got back outside, Ruri directed her up onto the
boarding scaffold, and she climbed into the plug's cockpit seat.
Immediately, she noticed that one of the secondary controls had a
yellow sticker on it labelled 'RES System'. It was an unpleasant
change in the familiar environment of the plug.
"Are you ready to go?" Asked Ruri, over the comm-link.
"Yes Ma'am. But what does this RES control do?"
"You'll find out in a minute. Get ready to move out."
"Yes Ma'am."
She flicked a switch and the plug peeled back into shape around her
like the petals of a flower closing up, then slid itself into the
EVA's back. She lay back as the LCL filled the plug, and let the EVA
send its feelers into her mind, ready to pluck the commands from her
consciousness. It was an invasive presence, but she didn't find it
disturbing; in fact it felt like she was being drawn into the EVA.
She brought the external visuals online with a twist of will.
"External sensors engaged." She said. "Release locks."
"Locks released."
"S^2 cycling up to active mode."
"Active mode initiated. S^2 operating at tertiary efficiency level."
"Unit 14 is good to go."
Ruri's voice came in again. "Pick up the Vulcan rifle on the rack
next you, then proceed to the co-ordinates on-screen, and await
further orders."
"Yes Ma'am."
She nudged the EVA forward, away from the scaffold, retrieved the
Vulcan, and started to walk towards the point on her map. The thick
rainforest came up to the EVA's thighs, but it parted easily as she
moved through it. Branches snapped, and birds rose out of the
treetops like butterflies from grass.
"Where's the Angel?" She asked, once she reached the co-ordinates.
"You're looking at it." Said Ruri. "Turn on the RES System."
Hitomi obeyed. In front of her, a pink line moved down across the
visual, revealing a faint round outline, floating in the air a few
hundred metres away.
Ruri continued. "The Angel is invisible to visual detection, but the
RES System correlates radar, sonar and energy readings to build up an
image of it. That's what you're looking at now."
Hitomi stared at the motionless shape. Gradually, it grew clearer,
and she could see lots of curved spikes coming out if it. They looked
sharp, like blades. She summoned up the EVA's energy monitoring
program, which showed the faint sine-curve of an AT field around the
creature.
"What do I do now?" She asked.
"We need more data on the Angel. Try an attack with the Vulcan rifle.
We don't know what it can do yet, so be careful."
"Yes Ma'am."
Hitomi brought the Vulcan up to her shoulder and pressed the trigger,
launching a stream of explosive shells. As they approached the Angel,
it wavered like heat haze in the air, and the shells exploded against
the orange field that swelled into existence around it.
Immediately, the comm-net filled with technical chatter.
"AT field reaction registered."
"Energy readings show relative spatial tolerance levels of twenty to
twenty-five."
"Cross-referencing complete, no match."
"Field type match negative."
Ruri's voice cut through the babble. "Very good, Hitomi. Now try your
field."
"I�" Hitomi bit her lip. "I don't know if I can do it again."
"You'll be fine, Hitomi. Just do what you did last time."
"I'll try�"
Hitomi lay back inside the plug, trying to calm her thoughts with the
measured breathing Blue had taught her. The AT field� She'd been glad
at finally being able to use an AT field, but� but it hadn't seemed
right, not when she thought about it later. She knew she could do it
again� but she wasn't sure she should. At the time, the feeling of
strength, of power, had been exhilarating, satisfying. It just didn't
feel right. And it wasn't anything like the experience Shiroh had
described. It felt� draining.
"Go ahead, Hitomi, activate your field." Said Ruri.
She steeled herself. "Yes Ma'am."
The AT field sprang to life around her, presenting itself as a fine
distortion of the air, barely visible.
"Now, expand it to meet the Angel's."
Slowly at first, then gaining speed as Hitomi pushed it, the AT field
spread. She felt the contact with the Angel's field like a prick of
static electricity, but just for a second. Strange� Shiroh had never
mentioned any feedback from the AT field itself�
"AT field waveforms equalising. Mutual negation in three, two, one."
"Field harmonics read clear. Interference is down to point zero one
percent."
"No reaction detected from the Angel."
"Alright, Hitomi." Ruri's voice broke in again. "You can de-activate
your field. We'll need time to analyse the data. Return to the
outpost and stand down."
Hitomi relaxed, cut power to the field. The draining feeling came
again, just like it had last time. She turned back towards the
outpost.
And almost didn't hear the loud whine behind her.
She whirled at the sound, just in time to see a streak of green
lightning arc out towards to her.
"Hitomi!" Ruri cried out, but the sound was lost in the girl's
scream, and the clamour of shrieking alarms.
***
Wednesday April 23, 2054
Former Republic of Chile
Declared a UN Protectorate as of April 6, 2054
Captain Ruri Matsushira marched up the steps of the palace that had,
until the ceasefire less than twelve hours ago, been occupied by the
separatist guerrilla forces who now fled into the hills. The
guerrillas' leader, a man who called himself Jose Martinez Stalin,
had installed himself in this palace, and proclaimed himself
President of the Republic, suspending the constitution and assuming
all executive powers of government. Simultaneously, his men had
seized the city, and several of the provincial capitals, declaring
the territory north of the national capital Santiago an autonomous
nation.
That had been four weeks ago. Since then, the UNAERG forces had
landed on the south-west coast, quickly making their way to the
capital and re-taking it. Ruri had been in the front of that advance,
her division the first to reach the city, before being cut off from
the rest of the force by renewed ambushes to the south.
But now the fighting in Santiago was almost over. Ruri had led her
men in a short and erratic campaign to prepare the city for the
relief force, and she had now been given the honour of escorting
Chile's new leader to the palace. Security in Santiago was still not
the best. In fact, up until this latest ceasefire, the palace had
been the guerrillas' headquarters, and Ruri wasn't all that confident
of its safety. But the UNAERG commanders had insisted that the new
premier should be installed as soon as possible, to boost the morale
of the troops who would now go on to eliminate the guerrilla
strongholds in the north. And so she obeyed.
The premier walked at Ruri's right, taking the steps two at a time.
Behind her, a platoon of the division's best men followed. And to her
left was Random. His camera crew filmed from the bottom of the steps,
ignoring the unfriendly glances they received from the troops. Ruri
glanced affectionately at Random as they reached the top of the
stairs, before she turned to the premier, gesturing for him to
proceed inside. The three of them entered, troops fanning out along
the corridor in front of them, checking every door and crevice. They
headed for the room that would be the premier's office, just recently
vacated by the guerrilla leader, Stalin.
"I'm sure it's safe." Random announced confidently as they entered.
"And the lighting's just perfect!"
Ruri wasn't so sure. The giant glass window behind the desk certainly
provided a lot of light, but it could also let in other things.
Sniper shots for one thing. And no telling what had been left behind
here.
Random was busy directing his camera crew into the room, setting up
to film the premier take his seat behind that desk, symbolically
assuming the mantle of power at last.
Still a little nervous about the security risk of the giant window,
Ruri despatched one of her lieutenants to check the level of armour
which protected it.
"Mr. Premier, please, go ahead." Said Random.
The premier took his place behind the desk, and Random and his camera
crew applauded. The man smiled graciously.
Random called her over. "Ah, Ruri, do you mind if those soldiers
behind him move out of shot, just a little?"
She frowned. "I don't know�"
"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine. Just for a second, while we shoot this."
"I'm really not sure that's a good idea�"
Random smiled his captivating smile. "It's just for this one shot.
Work with me on this, please?"
The smile melted Ruri's resistance. What could go wrong? Her men had
the palace surrounded, nothing bigger than a mosquito could get in or
out without her personal approval.
"It'll be fine." Said Random. "Trust me."
Ruri smiled back, then turned to her troops. "Okay, you guys in front
of the window, just move a little to the side."
Random returned to consult his camera crew. "Just a little more." He
said.
The soldiers next to the window looked to Ruri. She nodded in
approval, and they moved.
"A little more."
Ruri nodded, and the soldiers moved further from the window.
Random checked the camera again, then looked over at Ruri. "Just a
few inches more."
She nodded again, the soldiers moved again, and that was when the
guerrillas attacked.
At the time, she was sure they had to have shot out the window with a
high-explosive shell. Only later did an examination of the glass
fragments reveal that the window had been smashed from inside,
probably with a miniature sonic charge, concealed by the fleeing
guerrillas. Who, it seemed, hadn't actually fled. Half a dozen men in
jungle fatigues burst in through the broken window, cutting down the
closest of Ruri's men with short bursts from their stripped-down
assault rifles. Afterwards, Ruri tried to assure herself that it
wouldn't have mattered if they'd been closer to the window, but she
knew that wasn't true.
She dived for cover as her troops returned fire. But their response
was restricted, because they couldn't risk hitting the premier. Four
of the attackers fell, while the remaining two grabbed the premier,
hauling him backwards out the window, their retreat covered by smoke
grenades. The smoke didn't stop Ruri, who led her men out of the
window after them. The escaping raiders ran towards a waiting
helicopter, which lifted off before their pursuers could reach them.
The next few days were just confused memories of the race through the
endless jungle, and the rescue of the premier. She remembered the
rescue itself, and some of the chase. There wasn't much more of that
time that she remembered. But she clearly remembered knowing
absolutely that this was her own fault. She remembered her fear, fear
that she would fail, that the promising military career she had
carved out would crumble away. That the stability it brought would
leave her as well. And she remembered Random's callous indifference
when she returned victorious.
He agreed to destroy the tapes, of course, before he left for
whatever more important arena of battle he was being sent to cover.
So none of her superiors ever found out that the premier's kidnapping
might have been averted if she hadn't listened to Random. And the
premier himself was so grateful to his rescuers that even the thought
of revealing what he had seen seemed utterly alien to him. So she'd
been promoted.
Promoted to a position she wasn't sure she deserved. Yet she resolved
to make herself worthy of the position. When she was assigned to
First EVA, she saw immediately what she had to do. She looked into
the history of the position, finding only the records of NERV's
Director of Operations, a Captain (later Major) Misato Katsuragi. The
closest thing Ruri had to a predecessor in her new assignment. So she
knew she had to do better than Katsuragi had, to succeed where that
other woman had failed.
Records showed Katsuragi had died when the JSSDF had raided NERV's
headquarters. Presumably she had been killed by the NERV security
forces, like the rest of the base's staff. And there was nothing to
indicate she had ever realised what had really been going on there,
never even had a clue about what the EVAs were, or what NERV intended
to do with them. So Ruri swore she wouldn't repeat the mistakes of
her predecessor. She would not die without knowing what was going on.
And there was still a lot she didn't know�
***
Aki climbed the concrete steps up to the entrance of the UNAERG
headquarters, Karel's uniformed presence beside her parting the tide
of people on the steps. They seemed a little afraid of him, though
more of the uniform than of Karel himself.
Acknowledging this, he turned to speak to Aki as soon as they left
the press: "UNOBK officers are usually only sent here when someone
gets in trouble." He explained. "That's why the uniform scares them.
It's one of the disadvantages of working for the UNOBK."
"Does that happen a lot?" Asked Aki. "People getting in trouble with
the UNOBK, I mean."
Karel smiled. "More than you might think. But I'd prefer not to
discuss that here. We're here to see the pilots. Come on. This way."
Aki followed him along a bewildering succession of corridors, through
the depths of the building. She was quite quickly disorientated,
finding it impossible to retain her sense of direction. Eventually
they stopped, in front of a door marked in English as 'Restricted
Access Level Nine', Hebrew characters below that presumably repeating
the message.
Karel swiped a card through a barely visible slot, and a small square
of the wall lit up, which he pressed his palm to. The door slid open
silently.
Inside, as Aki's eyes adjusted to the gloom, she could make out a
long display screen running the length of one wall. It glowed with a
faint light, not even enough to see properly. Behind her, the door
slid closed.
"So this is the girl." Said a male voice from a darkened corner of
the room.
The voice spoke English, with a strange accent Aki couldn't place.
A tall man stepped into the dim light. "So, Miss Shirato, you are the
new recruit to First EVA."
"Ah, yeah." Aki replied. She was a little surprised at the man's
knowledge of her recruitment.
"My name is Louis LeHavre." He said. "I am in charge of the pilots'
training here. I hope that our professional relationship will not be
so� strained as my relationship with your predecessor, Dr. Chiyoda."
Karel cleared his throat. "Good afternoon, Louis."
Louis seemed to notice him for the first time. "Ah, Comrade
Bruznevic. Good of you to escort the young lady here." He sneered.
"Unfortunately, your presence is no longer required."
"I have orders to stay with her."
Aki looked at him. Orders?
"Very well." Said Louis.
The two men eyed each other venomously.
Karel spoke first. "Let her meet the pilots."
"Of course, of course." Louis returned his attention to Aki, smiling.
"They are currently completing a training exercise here, Miss
Shirato. Shall we wait for them in my office?"
"Sure."
"Excellent, please, come this way."
He led them out of the room, and further along the corridor.
As they walked, Aki whispered to Karel. "What can you tell me about
this guy?"
"Louis LeHavre is a rather unpleasant character. As you may have
guessed, I've� had some involvement with him before. If I were you,
I'd be very careful what you say around him. He's got extensive
connections throughout the UNAERG's hierarchy. And he particularly
dislikes me."
"I've noticed."
Louis stopped in front of a door with his name on a black plate,
repeated in Hebrew below. "Come in, Miss Shirato."
Inside, Louis sat down behind the desk, and waved Aki to a seat
opposite. It was the only chair in the room, forcing Karel to remain
standing.
"So, Miss Shirato, might I be so bold as to ask which of your
superiors it was that sent you here to Jerusalem?"
"Major-General Negishi, Mr. LeHavre."
"Please, call me Louis." He smiled ingratiatingly. "Aika Negishi, was
it? Hmm. The more, ah� 'informed', shall we say, of First EVA's
commanders, I think you'll find."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, don't worry. Satoshi Yokugawa is a competent commander. But if
you have an insight into the less formal structure of First EVA, as I
believe I do, you will see the definitive split between the two. It's
all based on who has the real power."
"Really?" Aki replied, playing along for now. She was beginning to
see why Karel had warned her. But Karel had been assigned to escort
her by Major-General Negishi�
"Yes." Louis continued. "However, she was not the only one
responsible for your being sent here. I have been asked by those I
represent to offer you the chance to substantially improve your
career prospects."
"What do you mean?"
"There are those of us within the UNAERG who believe there is more to
First EVA than there appears to be. We want you to find out if our
suspicions are correct. Particularly in regard to Aika Negishi."
Aki wasn't surprised. She had thought this might be where the man was
leading, but she was shocked by the man's audacity, that he was
making this offer right in front of Karel, an officer of the UN
command's internal intelligence arm. Unless Karel was�
"Do these suspicions surprise you, Miss Shirato?" Louis asked,
obviously mistaking the cause of her shock. "They shouldn't, you
know. The EVAs are more than they seem, as you might already have
realised. Similarly, the body which controls them is subject to a
degree of speculation on its real purpose."
Karel still wasn't saying anything. Aki wanted to look around, to see
his expression, but that would have been too obvious.
"What is it you want me to do?" She asked, stalling for time.
"Very simple. Merely keep your eyes open for anything that is not how
it should be. In time, you may be asked to perform specific tasks. In
return, you will receive substantial remuneration." He opened a
drawer next to his chair, and took something out of it. "In times
past, it was customary to display a large briefcase of bullion or
paper currency when proposing arrangements of this type. In this era
of less physical representations of funds, I am afraid all I can show
you is this."
He placed a small plastic swipe-card on the desk. Aki picked it up,
examining it. It was a popular brand of anonymous debit card, the
amount printed on its surface more than Aki had ever seen in her
life. The area of the card where previous debits would have been
indicated with a small notch was clear.
"The amount you now hold in your hands," Louis continued. "Is
equivalent to just under half of what the annual gross domestic
product of the United States of America was at the beginning of this
century. Taking fifty-five years of inflation into account, of
course."
At this point, Karel leaned forward to hiss in her ear in a slightly
panicked voice. "I think we should leave. Right now."
About time, Aki thought. She stood up. "I don't think I should make
this kind of decision right now. I need time to think."
"I'm sorry, Miss Shirato, but I can't allow that." He sounded
disappointed.
But he made no move to stop them.
Outside, Karel walked quickly out of the building, fast enough that
Aki had to half-run to keep up with him.
"What's going on here?" She asked, as soon as they reached the paved
square in front of the building.
"I'm not sure exactly." Karel replied, still looking very worried. "I
knew they might try something like this, but that's not what's
worrying me. It's the fact he did it right there in front of me.
That's bad, very bad."
"Why? Why that in particular?"
"I can't explain at the moment. I will later, if I can. Right now, we
need to get you on a plane back to Tokyo."
He started to walk to the street, where a row of cabs was waiting.
Aki called after him, then hurried to catch up. "But why? I have to
stay here to meet the pilots, don't I?"
Karel looked straight at her. "It appears that's no longer the case,
Miss Shirato. I am responsible for your safety here. And I'm telling
you, you need to leave. Now."
***
In the ad-hoc command centre inside the outpost's main concrete
bunker, Ruri was getting anxious.
"Ma'am, the EVA is still not responding to remote commands."
"Ejection systems have not activated."
"Pilot's life signs are faint, but she's alive."
She tried again to raise Hitomi on the comm-link, to no avail.
Yasuaki cleared his throat behind her. "Ma'am, EVAs 15 and 16 are
ready to move out."
"Thank you, Captain."
She turned and marched out of the bunker, making for the pad where
several VTOLs cycled up to speed, ready to take off.
As she exited the bunker, Random appeared beside her. "We're coming
with you, Major."
"You don't know where I'm going." She retorted.
"It doesn't matter; if you're going there, it has to be more
important than what's happening here." He grinned.
Ruri scowled. Damn him and his logic. "Okay, fine. But only one
camera, and I get the tape before we land again. Mount up."
Obviously proud of this little victory, Random yelled at his camera
crew, and hurried after Ruri, climbing into the VTOL and taking a
seat beside her. "So where are we going, Major?"
"You'll see."
The VTOL dusted off, and pivoted to the south-west. As it rose above
the rainforest canopy, they could see the two EVAs moving into the
jungle, towards the downed Unit 14. The EVA lay slumped on its front,
arms hanging limp, legs splayed unnaturally. It was lucky it had
landed on its front, otherwise it would have to have been turned over
before the plug could be ejected.
Ruri activated her headset, opening a comm-net channel to Yuko and
Shiroh. "Your orders are as follows: Units 15 and 16 will interpose
themselves between the Angel and Unit 14. Both your EVAs now have
operational RES systems, so you should have no problems detecting the
Angel. You will cover us as we move in to retrieve the pilot of Unit
14. If the Angel moves, attack it. Got that?"
The pilots responded in unison. "Yes Ma'am."
"Good. Proceed."
As the VTOL drew closer, and the EVAs moved into position, Ruri
turned around to see Random smirking.
She glared at him furiously. "What is it?"
"This is a rescue operation, I see."
She waited for him to say something else, but he didn't. "And what's
that supposed to mean?"
"Never mind. Merely an ironic detail, relevant to past events."
She suddenly realised what he was referring to, and recoiled from the
twinge of shame she felt. Quickly, Ruri turned away, returning her
attention to the EVA that they were approaching.
As soon as the VTOL touched down, she jumped out. Random tried to
follow with his camera crew, but she ordered him to stay in the VTOL
before running towards the EVA. Already, the technicians had opened
up the external manual control suite in its ankle.
Ruri stormed up to them. "Eject the plug, now!"
"We're working as fast as we can, Ma'am."
"Terminal locks disengaged."
"Primary power re-directed."
"Plug eject in three, two, one."
With a loud pneumatic hiss, the plug slid smoothly out of the EVA's
back, peeling open as it did. Ruri scrambled up the rope ladder that
had been fastened to the EVA's side, and rushed over to Hitomi.
Overhead, one of the VTOLs moved into position above them, lowering a
stretcher.
Hitomi was unconscious, but breathing. Ruri helped the medics move
her onto the stretcher, before it was hauled back up.
As the VTOL turned back to the outpost, Ruri looked up at the space
where she knew the Angel would be. She still couldn't see anything.
But she hadn't expected to.
She opened a channel to Yuko and Shiroh, and started back to the
VTOL. "Any activity from the Angel?"
"No Ma'am."
"Good. As soon as the VTOLs are back in the air, you are to attack.
Shiroh, you will use your progressive knife, Yuko, cover him with the
Vulcan. If Shiroh's attack is unsuccessful, withdraw. Yuko, unless I
say otherwise, you will not approach the Angel. Clear?"
"Yes Ma'am."
"Attack on my command."
Ruri climbed into the VTOL, and buckled the harness. Beside her,
Random did the same.
"Going to see some action are we, Major?" He said, grinning.
She glared at him. "Film what you like, so long as I get the tapes."
The VTOL's engines, already cycling at idle, grew in pitch to a high
whirring as the craft dusted off. Ruri scrambled forward into the
cockpit, evicting the co-pilot and taking his position. When they
were hovering over the jungle, she took over, bringing them around so
she could see the EVAs clearly, and engaging the rudimentary RES
imaging system. The Angel's faint, shimmering outline sprang into
existence in the air.
Transferring control of the craft back to the pilot, she returned to
Shiroh and Yuko. "Ready?"
"Yes Ma'am."
"Yes Ma'am."
"Go!"
As Ruri watched, Shiroh moved gingerly towards the Angel, the knife
held sword-fashion, pointing at it. He slashed at it, but the blow
glanced of the orange shapes that had appeared around the Angel,
plainly visible to the naked eye.
"Activate AT field."
Shiroh's own field became visible, triggering a barrage of comms
chatter. Shiroh struck again, cutting deeply into the creature's
hide. Before he could press his advantage, an emerald streak of
lightning jumped from the Angel's body, throwing him backwards.
Ruri gasped. "Shiroh, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He replied, as the fallen EVA got back to its feet. "Just
feels like I stuck a fork in a wall socket."
"That was a discharge of stored kinetic energy." She said, reading
from the screen in front of her. "When you hit its field, the Angel
must have absorbed the blow, and then thrown it back at you."
"So what do we do?" Asked Yuko.
"You should be fine, now that its field's gone. Shiroh, attack
again."
"Yes Ma'am."
The boy charged the Angel, stabbing at it with the progressive knife.
Just as he pulled the knife back for a second strike, the green
lightning threw him back to the ground.
"What was that?" Ruri yelled at the technicians over the comm-link.
"The same reaction, but without an AT field!"
"What�"
Ruri was cut off as the VTOL jolted in the air. Looking out, she saw
the same green lightning stab out at one of the VTOLs closer to the
Angel, sending it tumbling to the ground. More lightning came, taking
out the others. Next to Ruri in the cockpit, the pilot pulled back
hard on the stick, reversing the throttle, and the VTOL shot
backwards, away from the Angel.
Ruri grabbed on to a handle, steadying herself, and re-activated the
comm-link.
"Shiroh?! Shiroh, can you hear me?!"
No response.
Yuko's voice came over the silent comm-link. "Ma'am?"
"Yuko, get out of there! We don't know what its range�"
Another jagged streak of green lightning shot out towards Yuko, and
the girl threw up a hand in front of her in an instinctive attempt to
lessen the blow�
And the lightning crackled around the orange sphere of light that now
surrounded Unit 15.
As the lightning dissipated harmlessly, Yuko lowered her hand, but
the AT field remained. The Angel showed no reaction.
Ruri scrambled for the comm-link. "Good work, Yuko! Attack as soon as
you're ready!"
Yuko's reply was filled with pride. "Yes Ma'am!"
Drawing her progressive knife, Yuko let out a surprisingly primal
roar, and charged. Her first strike carved deep into the creature,
its AT field disappearing without resistance as soon as Yuko's made
contact. Bringing her other arm up in a vicious scything motion, she
ripped a huge gash through its surface with the sonic glaive, and
dark crimson blood began to pour form the wounds, appearing to come
surrealistically from the empty air. As the flow of blood increased,
the Angel's outline flickered, then became fully visible.
Not pausing for a second, Yuko continued to gut the creature, working
it over with the knives. More and more blood spread across the green
jungle canopy, until it was running in small rivers down the gently
sloping landscape. Again and again, she stabbed at it, hacking and
slashing wildly, until it finally dropped from the air, but even
then, she could not seem to resist inflicting more damage. Discarding
the knives absently, the EVA hunched down next to the carcass.
As Ruri watched, Yuko pulled the body apart with her bare hands, and
plunged one huge EVA fist into the creature's innards. She pulled out
some unidentifiable internal organ, and flung it away across the
trees. Then, after clawing at the Angel's corpse a few more times,
obviously less interested now, the EVA knelt quietly on the ground
and was still.
***
Tokyo-5, Japan
"Yes, it was."
Yasuaki still looked sceptical. "How can you be so sure?"
Ruri started to pace the floor of her office, arms crossed. "I just
know, alright. It wasn't any out of control machine, it was her. Yuko
did it, not the EVA."
"How do you know?"
"I don't know� it's just the way it happened. I just know it wasn't
the EVA."
"What, you know Yuko well enough to tell that it was her?"
"No, it's got nothing to do with how well I know her behaviour." Ruri
frowned. "It was just, a feeling, I guess."
Her adjutant rolled his eyes. "Anyway, Units 17, 18 and 19 will be
here on Tuesday. Yokugawa wants you to inspect them on arrival. With
Shirato's assistance."
"Hmm. I'm still not happy with her explanation of why she didn't meet
the pilots."
"The UNOBK have verified it from their own sources. Their man,
Bruznevic, identified a danger to Miss Shirato, and therefore advised
her to return to Japan as soon as possible. But they refuse to state
what this 'danger' was."
Ruri stopped pacing. "And Shirato's not talking either� Any chance I
could meet this Bruznevic?"
Yasuaki's expression hardened. "No, I'm afraid not. Karel Bruznevic
was found dead in the Israeli section of Jerusalem at 2100 this
evening. I just received the report about five minutes before I came
here. A single gunshot wound to the left temple. Possibly connected
to this danger he identified. Or so the UNOBK says."
***
Miss Shirato,
I told you I'd try to explain. Explain why I was concerned that Louis
was so open in his approach to you, especially in front of me. There
was only one reason he could have for this openness, you see. And
that was his complete confidence that I would not have time to tell
those who would listen. By the time you read this, I may have been
proven correct.
It only remains for me to warn you, to help you understand the danger
you are in. There are more things in this world than there may
appear, especially in the world you now find yourself in. There are
many threats to your life, so many I have no time to list them. And
those who would threaten you have many different reasons to do so.
Trust Aika Negishi. There is no piece of advice I can give that will
help you more in the coming days and weeks. She will come to be the
rock on which you may stand, without fear of being swept away. So
trust her, and listen to her. Her assistance may prove to be what
saves you. Even though it could not save me.
Karel Bruznevic
------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Notes:
'Aceh' is pronounced 'AH-chay'.
I chose the name 'Random Fydell' for its meaning: the meaning of
random being obvious, while Fydell is a philological corruption of
the Latin 'fidelitas', or faith. It was only once I was halfway
through the story that I realised why the name 'Random' had seemed so
familiar to me: those who have read Douglas Adams' 'Mostly Harmless'
will know what I'm talking about.
Many thanks to:
Sebastion Fitsroy
Penny Sullivan
Matthew Horgan
Seth Kowal
Joshua Trujillo