Amazon.com doesn't like me. I keep confusing their recommendation
script/software. Oh well, guess I'll have to take my contract and go get my
soul back from them.
Anyway, this is Episode 6.0 of EVA 2055, in case you didn't read the subject
line.
Discliamer: Not mine, probably not yours, probably not Al Gore's either. If
you are Al Gore, nah! You don't own the rights to the Evangelion characters!
So there!
Spoiler Alert: You should watch the whole series and at least 'Rebirth'
before reading. If you haven't this may not make sense. If Chewbacca does
not make sense... You must acquit!
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: EVA2055-6.txt
EVA 2055 Episode 6.0, Exodus 0:6 "Truth and Falsehood"
"Now I'm a grown man;
With a child of my own;
And I swear that I'm not going to let her know;
All the pain I have known."
-'Father Of Mine',
Everclear
Tuesday September 14, 2055
"Hitomi reacted strangely to him though." Said Blue. She waved
the small, chrome-coloured note-taker absently in front of
her. "Once I told her who he was, and that he was my father,
she asked me why I hadn't told her before, just like I knew
she would. And, just like I expected, Asuka freaked her out.
Hitomi keeps looking at her like she expects another head to
sprout from her shoulders at any second. But I didn't expect
her to be so interested in Shinji.
"She asked him about piloting the EVA, but I knew she'd do
that too. What I didn't expect was how differently they seem
to regard the EVAs. And I think he knows why. But he won't
tell me of course, so I won't even bother to ask."
She held the note-taker before her, turning it over and over
in her hands, running her fingers idly along its surface.
Scratching at a mould-line on its hard plastic surface. Then
she looked past it, out to the sun, just peeking over the
hills. The morning light turned Lowside into a softly glowing
sea of gold, aluminium rooves shining through the rust of a
decade or more of neglect.
"I never understood why you liked this place so much." Said
Shinji.
Blue whirled to see him standing behind her, hands in the
pockets of his grey coat. She wondered how long he'd been
standing there.
"What do you want?" She asked brusquely.
He didn't look at her, just at the sun, his eyes narrowing to
slits against the glare. "I just want to talk to you, Blue."
He said.
"Why?"
"Why not?"
She turned away from him. "I don't want to talk to you. If you
want to talk, then talk."
Shinji sighed.
Silence followed, and Blue hoped he'd disappear again as
silently as he'd arrived.
"What did I do wrong?" He asked.
Blue closed her eyes. "You didn't let go."
"Of you?"
"Of her! Of them!"
The sigh held such resignedness that she had to face him
again. She saw him standing there, staring at the ground by
his feet.
"Asuka and Rei. You mean them, don't you." He said.
"Yes."
"I thought... I'd said goodbye to them forever. But I couldn't
forget them."
"Mother knew that." Said Blue, and she turned away from her
father, refusing to look at him as she spoke. "She told me you
could never forget them, no matter how much she loved you."
Shinji sounded near to breaking. "I did love her, Blue. You
must know that. But Asuka and Rei, they were taken from me..."
"Don't you understand?!" Blue cried out. "It was more than
that! You held them up so high! How did you think... How did
you think Mother and I could ever live up to that?!"
Clutching her knees, Blue blocked out the knowledge that her
father blinked back tears.
"I hated you, you know." She said.
Nothing from her father. She stared intently at the city
before her, trying to lose herself in watching a man cross the
street.
"Why?" Shinji asked finally. "Why do you hate me so much?"
"You never listened to me. When I told you about me, you
didn't hear." Said Blue. "All you heard was that I wasn't like
them. I tried, you know. You remember, in primary school, I
tried to read the books that were in German?"
"I see." Tortured realisation came across in his voice. "And
when you tried to dye your hair..."
"Yes." With a sigh, she acknowledged to herself that yes, that
was why she had done those things. "And I could never
understand how you didn't see it! It took me a while to see
it, to see how you saw me. But after I did, it seemed so
obvious! And I couldn't understand how you didn't see it. I
still don't understand."
"I'm sorry." Said Shinji, his voice barely above a whisper.
He moved over to stand beside her at the edge of the crate. "I
never wanted you to feel like this. I never wanted you to
feel... the same way I felt about my father."
"I never met him."
"You were just a baby when he died. You couldn't have
remembered."
"But you never took me to see him, did you?"
"I..." Shinji sighed. "No. No, I didn't."
Blue surprised herself with the strange note of satisfaction
in her voice when she spoke. "You were still afraid of him,
weren't you."
There was a long silence.
She swallowed apprehensively. "You are still afraid of him,
aren't you."
"Yes." Said Shinji.
***
Tokyo Metro policemen in their black and green uniforms buzzed
around the building's lobby, poised to act at any time. What
they'd do was another question entirely. Some of them were
stepping outside for another look at the left-overs of the
body on the pavement opposite, the only evidence of last
night's 'incident' they were allowed near. For that, Ruri had
to thank Yuko's family's desire to protect their privacy.
"But how did he end up all the way across the street?" Yasuaki
asked again. "There's no way that could happen."
Ruri kept silent until they passed the swarm of policemen and
into the lift, then turned to her adjutant.
"Of course it could happen." She said. "It has happened."
"But how?" He asked incredulously. "Wait, you don't think..."
"You know what I think. But that's not my concern at the
moment." Ruri replied. "My chief concern right now, is how
someone could get so close to one of our pilots."
"Of course. But I thought you'd be a bit more curious."
"Of course I'm curious. But I'll leave it to others to find
out exactly what happened to this assassin."
Yasuaki grinned. "No theories of your own?"
Ruri silenced him with a look that held more than just a hint
of warning. "It's not my place to speculate, Yasuaki. And it's
not yours either. I have my suspicions, yes. But before I turn
to any wild theories, I'll give those who know what they're
doing a chance to figure out what we're dealing with here."
"Then you've assigned Shirato to this?"
"Of course."
"I thought you didn't like her."
"It's the manner of her recruitment that concerns me,
Yasuaki." Ruri shuffled her feet absently. "Dr. Chiyoda was
the best person we had, and unless she's something really
special, I don't see how some kid who's not even out of
college yet can be any kind of replacement."
"So you don't think she can find out what really happened
here."
"I didn't say that. It's not my place to question her
position." She looked at her adjutant enquiringly "And why are
you so curious all of a sudden?"
"Because I get the distinct impression there are things here
that I don't know about."
Ruri rolled her eyes. "Join the club."
Stepping out of the lift, Ruri found herself in surroundings
that spoke immediately of wealth and luxury, of a degree to
which she was unaccustomed. The walls of the high-ceilinged
room were covered almost completely in black-lacquered wood
paneling, paneling that she was sure had to be real, rather
than synthetic wood. Directly opposite the lift, a set of
giant black oak double-doors ran from floor to ceiling, also
probably real, and inlaid with pieces of mother-of-pearl in
the shape of a chrysanthemum blossom. Matte grey carpet
covered the floor, with barely discernible worn patches near
the doors, and an assortment of lobby furniture in chrome-
coloured leather was clustered in one corner, set at precise
angles to those doors.
"Stylish." Said Yasuaki.
As if he had been heard, the huge oak doors opened, admitting
a short man in a very plain suit and tie, who made his way
across the deceptively large room towards them.
"Good morning." He said, bowing in the old-fashioned way.
Yasuaki bowed awkwardly, and Ruri rather belatedly followed
suit. She wasn't used to bowing at all.
"Please," said the man. "Come with me."
He led them through the large doors, which were swung open
silently before them by some unseen mechanism. Beyond, a long
corridor obviously designed more to impress than for
practicality, with three doors at its end. The left-hand door
took them into another room, where a man in a police-issue
blue suit sat rather uneasily on one of a group of plush
chairs.
He stood up as they entered "Perhaps you can tell me what is
going on here?"
Their escort glared at the man, and seemed to be about to say
something, but the policeman spoke first.
"Why am I not allowed in there?" He demanded, waving a hand
towards a door opposite.
"Please wait here." The little man said, trying to placate
him.
Marching over to them, the policeman glanced at the silver
braid on the shoulder of Ruri's tunic. "Major, is it? Why
can't my men get access to the crime scene?"
"The UN is asserting its jurisdiction in this matter." Ruri
replied in her best official tone. "UNAERG personnel were
involved, therefore we have that right."
Disgruntled, the policeman frowned at her. "And on whose
authority was this order given?"
"Mine."
"Why?"
"That's not your concern."
"But this is-"
She cut him off. "This is our responsibility now."
He stared at her irritatedly for a few seconds. "Very well.
But I want to see complete documentation immediately."
"You'll have it."
The policeman gave Ruri a last doubtful glare, then left by
the door they had entered from.
Ruri exchanged glances with her adjutant, then they followed
their escort out of the room.
Yuko's bedroom was cordoned off with police tape, which Ruri
pulled down as she entered. The shattered remains of a window
took up the entirety of the far side of the room, but apart
from that, there was little sign of any disturbance here.
"Nothing's been moved." Said Aki, from the doorway. "The
family wouldn't let the police in at all."
"Can we touch anything?" Ruri asked.
Aki was silent for a second. "I don't think so. Some
technicians took some pictures of the room, but I don't think
they checked everything yet. You probably need gloves."
She proffered a small white tube to Ruri, who pulled out a
pair of gloves and put them on; Yasuaki did the same.
"You probably shouldn't move anything." Aki said. "But if you
put them back exactly where they were, it's probably okay to
pick things up."
A pair of strange black shapes caught Ruri's eye near the end
of the bed, and she moved over to examine them. Crouching on
the floor, she picked them up and showed it to Yasuaki. "What
do you make of this?"
His eyes widened in surprise. "Looks like a gun that's been
cut in half."
"Looks like it was done with bolt cutters or something." Said
Ruri. She turned to back to Aki. "Where did this gun come
from?"
"I think the guy brought it in with him. No idea how it got
like that though."
Ruri put the two halves of the gun back, being as careful as
possible. "Is there anything else here?" She asked Aki.
"Not that I know of. I assume you've seen the... well, what's
left of the body." Aki replied. "Where's the pilot?"
"She's under guard at the base. For her own protection."
"Excuse me." Said an unfamiliar male voice.
Aki moved aside, as Ruri looked up at the man in the doorway.
"Are you Major Matsushira?" He asked her. His tone was the
slightly superior one usually reserved for those who are
present in the speaker's domain only under sufferance.
"Yeah. Why?" She replied, standing up and starting to take off
the gloves.
"Please, Tagami-san would like to speak with you."
"Where is he?"
"I will take you to him."
***
"This is far too early!" The black half-sphere remained
unchanging, no matter how much Aika glowered at it.
Sounding unusually soft this morning, FAUST's disembodied
voice replied. "The development has occurred. Our opposition's
movements have been stepped up. Therefore it is beneficial
that this development has taken place ahead of time."
"But Shirato isn't anywhere near ready!"
"You will make her ready."
***
Hitomi walked smartly through the streets of Lowside, keeping
her pace a steady gait that would attract as little attention
as possible. Much as she preferred this district to the rest
of Tokyo-4, she didn't like it that much more. It was too
cluttered, too unordered. Things could happen to people here,
or so she'd been told. She remembered Blue's cynical
assessment of the rest of Tokyo's view of Lowside: 'People
live here, but not if we can help it'. It wasn't really quite
like that, but it was close.
Though Ruri had been willing enough to approve her staying
here, Hitomi knew there had been concerns about her safety.
She couldn't see them right now, but Ruri had assured her she
would be followed by security people. Actually, thinking about
this, she supposed it was a good thing she couldn't see them.
It was probably an indicator of their expertise, that she
didn't notice them even though she knew what to look for. And
that there was something there to see. Anyway, she couldn't
have stayed at Blue's this morning.
Asuka. Asuka Langley Sohryu. Hard as it was to believe, Hitomi
found herself compelled to acknowledge that the girl was
actually who she claimed to be. Blue said so, the girl said
so, and the man Blue said was her father said so too. But that
didn't mean she had to like her. She had read, in school and
during her training, about the EVA pilots NERV had used.
Sohryu, the red-headed girl with her equally red EVA, whose
combat record was marked by her impetuosity and
aggressiveness. A foreign pilot in the days when the word
gaijin had really meant something.
But the girl herself was something different. She was brash,
she was arrogant, she was rowdy; none of that had been in the
records. Even though Hitomi accepted on an intellectual level
that it was the same person, she couldn't help but be
surprised by the difference. She wasn't what Hitomi had
expected that Asuka to be. And she was far too noisy and
boisterous for Hitomi's liking. Things were usually quiet at
Blue's, reassuringly calm. And Asuka was disrupting that, with
her selfish loudness and demands for attention. It wasn't even
that she was rude on purpose: when she had been introduced to
Hitomi, she had been almost friendly, but then she got noisy
again.
Hitomi preferred the quiet streets. The sun was still hardly
peeking over the horizon, and the low buildings were suffused
with the dim blue glow of morning, a cool, crisp morning, with
only the muted, barely audible sounds of the few people yet
awake. Soon she would be at the edge of Lowside, at the mag-
lev station.
At the mag-lev station, Hitomi found a grey UNAERG staff car
waiting for her. She noticed it immediately; it was too clean,
too new, too neat for Lowside or the districts nearby, and the
officer leaning against the driver's side door was given away
by his stiffness, despite his plain-clothes dress. As she
approached him, he flashed his ID, then opened the back door
for her.
"Major Matsushira wants you back at the base." He said, as she
got in.
The door closed, and Hitomi took a last look out the window,
at the ramshackle collection of hovels she'd just left. As the
car rolled out of the parking lot, she had a distinct sense of
separation from it all. Back to the real Tokyo, that's where
she was going now. Where Lowside existed only as a societal
anomaly. People live there, but not if we can help it.
***
"Yuko has praised you highly, Major Matsushira." Said Tagami.
Ruri tried her hardest not to seem intimidated. "Thank you."
"Despite all this," Tagami waved an elegant hand dismissively,
as if waving away the opulence of their surroundings. "I try
not to separate myself from my family."
Not knowing how to respond, Ruri kept silent.
Tagami continued. "Let me be frank with you, Major. We both
know that my family and I have been most cooperative in
dealing with your people."
"And we are grateful, Tagami-san." Ruri hoped she didn't sound
too obsequious.
"However let us not pretend I am happy for my daughter to
participate in this business. She continues to do so only
because she wishes to."
"Of course."
"However, Major, I believe the time has come for me to ask
what you have done to her."
Ruri was dumbstruck. "Excuse me?"
Tagami leaned back in his chair, and sighed. "Please. All
those who know my daughter mention changes in her. She is
different, Major. Why?"
"How..." She struggled for words. "What do you mean
'different'?"
"This incident for example. I will not pretend that my, shall
we say, business partners, and I always have a peaceful
relationship. Things do not happen this way, however."
"Wait, you're not suggesting we did..."
"Of course not, Major." Tagami drew himself forward, his eyes
piercing into Ruri. "Nevertheless, were an attacker to get
past our guards and into my daughter's bedroom, she would most
likely be dead now, or held ransom. But not this time."
Again, Ruri held her tongue, not knowing what to say.
When Tagami spoke again, the calm facade had disappeared, and
his voice had an edge of uncharacteristic weariness. The
change was so pronounced that Ruri was taken aback. "We have
noticed other things, Major. My daughter is changed. Other
incidents have occurred, though up until now we have managed
to keep them less public."
"Incidents?"
Tagami reassumed his implacable mask. "They are not your
concern."
"But... We haven't done anything to Yuko, Tagami-san." Said
Ruri.
"Then why is she different?"
Ruri sighed. "I really don't know."
***
Wednesday September 15, 2055
Asuka thumbed through the fashion magazine at Blue's table.
She'd convinced Shinji to go out and buy it for her, because
she had to see what people were wearing here. So far, she
wasn't very impressed. All the clothes were stupid, stuff that
might have been fashionable around the time she'd been born.
Padded vests that looked more like body armour than anything
else; cargo pants with more storage room than anyone could
ever use; and these horrible tank tops... Everything looked
so... so military. It was all way too early twenty-first
century, some kind of late nineties, early twenty-hundreds
retro thing.
Hitomi walked in just as it started to rain. Asuka looked up
and smiled a friendly smile. The girl looked shyly away, and
Asuka got the distinct impression that she was nervous about
something.
"Hey, Hitomi," She said. "Do you actually wear this stuff?"
Half-heartedly, Hitomi looked over at the magazine. "What
stuff?"
"All this," Asuka pointed at the pictures. "These retro
clothes."
"Um... yeah."
"It's all so... stupid!"
Hitomi came over. "I like it."
"Why?"
"I don't know. It looks good on people."
"You think so?"
"Yeah."
Asuka looked up at the girl. "You're usually pretty quiet. I
mean, I expect that from Shinji. And Blue, well I expect that
from her too. She is Shinji's daughter y'know."
Hitomi didn't respond.
"So what's your EVA like then?" Asuka asked.
Hitomi looked surprised. "How did you..."
"Shinji told me. I guess Blue must have told him."
"Oh."
"Well? Shinji says the new EVAs are black, but what are they
like? Do they look the same?"
"No... Not really. They don't have those spines like the old
ones had."
Asuka looked smug. "That was Unit One, Shinji's EVA. Mine
didn't have any spikes." She sighed. "They're probably just
copies of mine anyway."
"No, they're not." Hitomi sat down next to Asuka. "I've seen
the red one. Our EVAs look different."
"Really? What, like Unit Three?"
"Which one was that?"
"It was black too."
"No, not like that either. Which one was the white one?"
Asuka was silent for a second. "You mean the Mass Production
EVAs."
"Yeah. But the heads are different. More like Unit Four."
"Unit Four?" Asuka couldn't remember ever seeing Unit Four.
Hadn't that been the one that was lost with NERV's Second
Branch?
"Yeah. I've seen pictures of it."
Asuka sighed. "Oh well. I s'pose I'll just have to see them."
Hitomi smiled slightly. "I think you'll get to see them soon."
***
Aki made her way quietly through the dimly lit hallways of the
maze that was the UNAERG's Tokyo base. She thought she was
getting used to some of this place, but most of it was still
unfamiliar.
Something was strange about this latest incident. Everything
she'd learnt in college, everything she'd been told, none of
it made sense here. Yuko's attacker had not fallen or jumped
from that window. Everything Aki saw only made sense if he had
been thrown, or pushed. But how could that be, when all the
oyabun's guards had been drugged unconscious at the time? The
only people who had been in that room were Yuko and the
attacker.
Which left only one possible conclusion. But still, Aki
refused to accept that. There had to be something else,
something she wasn't seeing... or something she wasn't being
told. Now that would make sense. And maybe that was why Major-
General Negishi had asked her to come down here. Maybe she'd
been here long enough to be told what was going on.
Dr. Chiyoda hadn't been much help there. He wouldn't answer
any of her questions about the EVAs, or the pilots, except
when he told her to be careful. Aki had no idea what he was
telling her to be careful with. The EVAs? No, they were just
machines, they were built with science, no matter how they had
been designed. And she wasn't convinced Chiyoda was right
about that either. The EVAs had a human quality about them, a
familiarity. Surely anything designed by aliens would be
wholly alien in nature.
Eventually she'd tired of Chiyoda's evasiveness. She knew
enough about this place now to have a handle on most things,
and when she didn't, she knew who to ask. So she hadn't been
carrying the little telepresence control unit. That had
pleased Negishi, and Aki assumed she must be satisfied that
Aki was being self-reliant now.
All of which made Aki hopeful that this would be the day she
would be inducted into whatever inner circle arrangement was
going on here, that she'd be told what was actually happening.
She came to the door she was looking for, 7.42, which she was
surprised to see was marked 'FAUST Master Control Suite'.
Under this, in red marker, someone had scrawled 'Terminal
Dogma' on a scrap of paper taped to the door. Strange. Aki
remembered something about some part of NERV's headquarters
being called that. Maybe it was someone's idea of a joke. She
opened the door and went in.
Inside, she found a room about the size of a large office, a
high-backed console chair in the centre, facing a curved half-
sphere of grey plasteel. Every available inch of wall-surface
apart from that was covered in console screens and control
surfaces.
"I see you found it." Said Negishi.
Aki whirled to see her standing in the doorway. "Uh... Yeah."
"Good." Negishi came into the room, and leaned against the
console chair. "I thought it was about time you saw this
place."
"What is it exactly?"
"This is the nerve centre of FAUST." Seating herself in the
chair, Negishi brushed a control surface in the armrest. "The
brains, so to speak."
A small light came on next to the grey plasteel half-sphere,
and Aki's eyes were immediately drawn to it. The grey plasteel
glided slowly upwards, like the lid of an eye, revealing a
glossy black surface beneath.
"Take a look at this." Said Negishi, pressing another control
surface.
As Aki watched, the glossy black surface of the half-sphere
seemed to separate, like oil on water. The blackness flowed to
the edges in bubbles, and the surface cleared. Ridges of
something grey and fleshy showed through, covered by some
clear liquid.
"What is that?" She asked.
Negishi turned in the seat to face her. "It's a composite bio-
engineered organic component of the FAUST system. Put it this
way, when I said this was the brains of the system, I wasn't
speaking in any metaphorical sense."
"Is it... is it a human brain?"
Negishi smiled. "No. No human has a brain that large. It's a
composite component; several brains, as it were."
"Oh. Yes, of course."
"However, it is close to a human brain in structure. The
neural network system this element incorporates allows FAUST
to function at a level close to true artificial intelligence."
"Close to?"
"It's not true AI, but it's closer than anything else ever
developed."
Aki walked over to one of the wall consoles, and activated it
with a touch of her finger. She brought up the operating
reports.
"Wow. This is..." Aki gulped. Never had she even heard of
systems like this! "How can this work?"
"Essentially, it's an extension of the principles developed
for NERV's MAGI system. However, we've incorporated the
duality of the Wahlman principles into it's system
architecture. Those theories hadn't even been developed in
2015."
Aki marvelled at the system's processing speed. She ran a
quick standard diagnostic. Twenty, no, thirty times faster
than the best she'd seen elsewhere. She said this to Negishi.
Negishi seemed amused by her amazement. "This is all
classified military technology, Miss Shirato. Nothing like it
exists anywhere else. Only the UN's backing could have
developed this."
A thought struck Aki. "You mentioned an organic component."
"Yes, the central structural node of the system." Negishi got
up from the chair, and came over to where Aki was standing.
She brought up a diagram on the screen. "Most of this was Dr.
Chiyoda's work. We felt that while modern technology made the
system feasible, the essential constructional elements of the
system architecture have remained relatively unchanged for the
past forty or fifty years."
Looking over the diagram, Aki realised what she was being
told. Amazing! "So you used older components for the
operational basis?"
"Yes. There was a limit to what sources we could draw upon to
obtain them, however. Today's processing modulation, which
allows the Wahlman principles to be effective, has only
limited backward compatibility. Only the best could be used in
this system, and the best components were developed over forty
years ago. They haven't really changed since."
"I see." Aki skimmed the diagram again. "But there's only one
source you could have got that kind of organic component
from."
"Yes. NERV's original MAGI system. That system was the first
application of most of the principles used in today's
technology."
"So... that's literally the brains of the MAGI?"
Aika smiled, seeming proud of the system she was showing off.
"With a few additions, yes."
***
"Father. You know you don�t have to go in there."
Tracey Engstrom stood up as her father ignored her and kept
walking.
"Father..."
The white-haired man turned back to face her, sending the
pipes and tubes on his containment suit swaying. "But I want
to, Tracey. And it�s safe. From what we know of his
personality, such as it is, it�s highly unlikely that he will
become violent."
"You can�t know it�s safe, father. We still don�t know how
accurately his personality was replicated in the dummy plugs."
"But the correlation of data, all our projections indicate-"
"You know as well as I do that those projections may be
irrelevant! The primitive technology of 2015 was highly
unpredictable, there�s no sure way of knowing that the
personality in there now is even close to that of the original
Fifth!"
"But it�s most likely that it is."
"You can�t say that for certain! The formulae all our
projections and analyses are based on may not even be relevant
for a non-human subject!"
�There� She thought. �I said it.�
Johnathan Engstrom smiled. "But my dear, that�s exactly why I
want to talk to him."
***
Ruri looked up, following the sculpted lines of the gleaming
black shapes that loomed over her. Sightless eyes reflected a
slight glow from the lights in the cage, like the eyes of some
wild beast. Again, Ruri couldn't shake the feeling that the
EVAs were watching her.
Yasuaki strode out onto the bridge, and handed her a sheaf of
paper. "This is Shirato's preliminary report."
Breaking eye contact with the EVAs, Ruri skimmed the report.
"I see."
"So maybe you were right." Her adjutant said.
"I don't know. There's nothing there that tells us exactly
what happened."
"No. But don't you think we should at least stand Yuko down to
reserve status?"
Ruri looked back up at the EVAs. Yasuaki followed her gaze.
"We may have these new EVAs," Said Ruri. "But we still only
have three pilots. We can't afford the down time. Maybe, when
the new pilots are ready, we can review the situation. But for
now, we don't have choice."
"We're only on stand-by at the moment. We can-"
"Not any more." Ruri cut him off. She pulled a piece of paper
from the inside pocket of her uniform jacket. "Have a look at
this."
Yasuaki skimmed the paper. "So that's it? We're off to North
America? Why haven't I heard anything?"
"The security situation there is still not at its best." Ruri
replied. "There haven't been any clashes on the Canadian
border since the Federal offensive died down, but they've had
several bombings in the last few weeks. Any deployment of
UNAERG forces in the area is still classified. That goes for
us too."
"Even thought they've detected an Angel?"
"More reason than ever. The Angel is just south of the de-
militarised zone. It might seem that the Angel's appearance is
too much of a coincidence. It looks too much like an excuse to
deploy UNAERG forces. That's why they're only sending First
EVA. You know there's been a fuss about the UN taking sides
there."
"So we're going in alone?"
"We have the cooperation of the Federal forces. They'll be
providing ground and air cover. Personally, I'd say they see
it as excuse to deploy more troops there. Our sources say
Washington's planning another offensive for December."
Yasuaki sighed. "It's too messy there. We all know the General
Assembly will vote to re-establish control of Federal
territories soon. Things have gotten too far out of hand since
the Occupation ended."
"Yet another reason why Jerusalem won't send any troops." Said
Ruri. "To Canada, it'll look like we're coming down on the
Federal side. To Washington, it looks like a pre-emptive
deployment. They don't want to make it harder for themselves
later, when they have to send in the troops."
"So I guess we just have to make sure we don't offend anyone."
Said Yasuaki.
***
Darkness.
All I can see is darkness.
Have I ever seen anything but darkness?
Is darkness all that exists?
No. I exist.
What am I?
I am myself. This self that is, is me.
Who am I.
I am Rei Ayanami. That is the name by which I am known to
others.
Others?
Others exist. This is the world where others exist.
Commander Ikari.
I saw his fear. (What is fear?)
The pilot of Evangelion Unit One. Shinji Ikari.
I saw him abandon hope. (What is hope?)
The Fifth Child.
He was not like us. (What is it to be human?)
Major Katsuragi.
I saw her sacrifice herself so that he might live. (What is
life?)
The pilot of Evangelion Unit Two.
I saw her die. (What is death?)
***
"When?" Asked FAUST.
"Shirato will be ready within a day or two. Then we can
initiate the final stage." Aika replied. "She will begin
treatment immediately."
"The Ahriman Combine have already moved onto the second part
of their program." Said FAUST. "Time is critical."
"Then they have the dummy plugs?"'
Aika was surprised when FAUST replied in a low, but distinctly
female voice. "Yes."
"I see the vocal adjustments have decayed." She said.
"No matter. They are no longer required." FAUST paused. "But
review the separation protocols."
"I'll have Shirato check them."
"The pilots. It is essential that they are protected."
"Of course."
"And cellular regeneration has reached optimum level. If those
separation protocols won't hold..."
Aika stood up, getting ready to leave. "I know. We have an
assessment of the Combine's security forces. They won't be
able to prevent the destruction of the Geo-Front."
***
"There!" Rommel pointed through the heat haze, at a slight
rise in the baked surface of the desert.
Ruri squinted through her binoculars, just able to make out a
small observation post on the rise. She checked the flag. Yes,
that was it, a complicated arrangement of several crosses, in
red, white and blue. She recognised it, another dead nation in
a forgotten battlefield.
"That's it alright." She said.
The general said something in German to his adjutant, too fast
for Ruri to understand with her limited grasp of the language.
Then he turned back to Ruri and grinned. "Keep watching."
Ruri put the binoculars back up to her eyes and watched. Less
than a minute later, she heard a faint whistling noise. In an
instant, the observation post disintegrated in a crimson
blossom of flame.
Rommel sat back down, reclining in the back seat of the staff
car. "You see, Major? Artillery has more uses than merely
forcing a dispersal of forces."
"Yes, so I see." Ruri replied. She checked the map on the
dashboard, and wiped the desert dust from her forehead.
"Should we go and see how the panzer column is doing?"
"Yes. Yes, we will." Rommel leaned forward and tapped his
driver on the shoulder, and the car started to move.
Ruri turned in her seat to speak to him. "General, I still
don't see why you didn't just send out an observer on a
motorcycle. You're vulnerable to enemy scouts here."
"Sometimes there's no substitute for personal action.
Sometimes, if you need something done, you have to do it
yourself." He smiled. "That, and I have an uncanny knack for
judging distances."
Ruri watched the horizon as they drew closer to the rear of
the panzer column. They'd come around the long way, back
through the German lines, avoiding the last concentrations of
the enemy. Ahead, she could hear the occasional rumble of
gunfire and artillery shells, and she could see the smoke
rising from the desert in front of the column.
Suddenly Rommel told the driver to stop. He pointed at a dune
in the middle distance. "There. Look at that."
"What?" Ruri held up her binoculars and looked where he was
pointing. Sunlight glinted on metal, poking out on top of the
dune's crest. "Oh!"
"Yes. Sniper." Said Rommel. He reached forward and grabbed the
microphone of the radio, notifying the panzer gunners just
ahead of the sniper's position.
The turret of one of the nearer panzers swivelled, training on
the position, and there was a flash from the cannon, followed
by an explosion of dust on the crest of the dune.
"Enemies where you least expect them." Rommel replaced the
microphone and waved his driver onward. "He would have waited
until the panzers had gone, then opened fire on our supply
convoys."
"Never assume an area is safe." Ruri nodded. She had to keep
reminding herself that everything in the ESU was focused on
teaching her something. "Yes, I see."
"Enemies where you least expect them." Rommel said again.
***
Johnathan put on the helmet of the containment suit and
listened as the fans in the backpack started to whirr, and the
neck seals clicked tight. The silver nautilus of the Daedalus
Institute�s logo on his chest lit up, indicating a full
environmental seal.
"I�m ready." He said. "Open the airlock."
Tracey crossed her arms and stood back from the door as it
swung upon. "Be careful."
Johnathan stepped into the airlock, pulled the door behind him
and spun the wheel-lock. Purple light from the purification
systems passed over his body, and the airlock cycled. As soon
as the light turned green, he stepped out into the sealed
room.
Tracey�s voice came over the suit�s radio, the signal
crackling from the interference of twelve layers of the room�s
shielding. "Father, Ayanami�s restoration has moved to the
secondary phase."
"Excellent." He replied. "Exactly on time. Give me direct
control when she reaches the tertiary stage. We don�t want her
recalling original death."
"Father, remember what he is. Be careful."
Johnathan smiled, and looked around the room. The small space
was dominated by two six-foot high cylindrical capsules
against the far wall, their plastiglass covers masked by frost
from the refrigeration system. He ignored the nearer one, and
moved over to the other capsule. Rubbing the frost from the
plastiglass with his hand, he revealed the face of a light-
haired teenage boy, eyes closed in cryogenic sleep.
He checked the display on the side of the capsule, making sure
that the transfer from the dummy plug had indeed been
completed properly. Yes, it had. Personality transfer
complete, 90% of original memories restored. Johnathan pressed
a button below the display.
"Time to wake up, Mr. Nagisa."
Author's Notes
---------------------------------------------------
Many Thanks To:
S'basjun Fidzroi - Daemon Prince of Musical Taste
P'ni S'lyvan - Daemon Princess of Social Psychology
Mat'u H'rgun - Daemon of Large Sniper Rifles
Zet k'Wal - Daemon of Chuck Norris Persecution
Yo'Shwa Tr'zhi'lo - Daemon of Roman History
These credits brought to you by: Hooked On Daemon Phonics, a
production of The Nethermost Pits Of Hell Learning Company.
"What price your child's learning? Well? What price?"