Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion; this is for entertainment purposes only with no copyright infringements intended.
Chapter 1: Arashi no Mae no shizukesa (嵐の前の静けさ.)
Tokyo-3: November 12, 2017
I groaned as I trudged through Tokyo-3. Retrieving the silver pocket watch I keep in my left pocket, I check the time. "11:15. God damn it! I was supposed to have met him a half hour ago." I groaned again and tucked the watch back into my pocket.
I look around and consult the map in my hand. "Why the hell do I have to meet him at some café in the middle of nowhere?" I asked no one in particular.
I check the map a second time and take off at a jog, glad I left my coat back at NERV, or I'd be facing heat exhaustion in no time. Maybe it would have been wise to leave my knives there, too. But then what do I use if I get into a fight? I would have my gun, I guess, but I hate using the damn thing. It's unfair, there's no real chance for the person you're facing.
My phone beeped and then said in a very monotonous voice, "New message from Misato Katsuragi."
I pull my phone out. The message was brief, but caused me some stress: "Pattern blue; ETA: 5 minutes. Hurry." Just then, the alarms started going off.
I swore and picked up my pace, tucking my phone back into my pocket in a fluid motion. Rounding a corner, I crash head first into a kid.
"Hey, sorry about that. I'm in a bit of a rush. Why aren't you in one of the shelters?" I asked as I stumble to my feet.
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," the kid replied. When I finally looked at him, he had short, brown hair, a white shirt, and jeans on.
That can't be him, can it? "Wait, are you Ikari Shinji, by any chance?" I asked.
He stood and dusted himself off before replying, "Yeah, why do you ask?"
"I'm the one sent to pick you up, Kurokawa Toshi," I explained. "Now, if you'll come with me, we need to hurry. We're about to have a ten foot problem on our hands."
As if on cue, gunshots rang out. "Quickly now, we haven't much time."
We took off running towards the nearest NERV entrance, which, as if a cruel joke by some divine forces, happened to be about two blocks away.
Why didn't I use this one? I chastised myself mentally.
After we were standing in the elevator and I had hit the button for Central Dogma, I turned to him. "Do you have the ID card your father sent you?"
He shifted stuff around in his bag before pulling out an envelope. "Here," he handed it to me.
I pulled out the information sheet in it. Birthdate, blood type, height, weight, stuff like that. Clipped to it was a badge. I handed that to him and quickly read the sheet. Shrugging my bag off, I pulled out a small manual from it and put the paper in, before handing it to Shinji. "You might want to read that. As a Section Two agent, I have to enforce the rules, regulations and laws outlined in that."
"NERV? Is that where my father works?" He asked, looking over the first couple of pages.
"Yeah, he's the commander," I explained. "NERV is an agency that works directly under the United Nations; we're charged with protecting Humanity against the beings known as Angels. The JSSDF was fighting one off not long ago, that's what the gunshots were."
"I see," he mumbled, reading the manual.
I grabbed the phone hanging in the elevator and dialled the extension for the bridge. It rang a few times before a voice answered, "Toshi, where are you?"
"Elevator 31-Delta," I answered. "Shinji is with me."
"Good, where are you heading?" the colonel replied.
"The bridge, we're about two minutes out," I explained. "I'll talk with you then."
"Okay," she paused. "What does he know about NERV?"
"Nothing."
"Lovely," she groaned, "We'll fill him in later, then. See you when you get here."
"Okay," I hung the phone back up.
A minute and a half later, the elevator stopped.
In front of us was a massive room. At the far end is a gigantic screen displaying a camera focused on the Angel – which looks much like a human albeit dark green, with a bird-like mask, and bony rib-like structures covering a red sphere in its chest – and a 3D holographic display floating in the area between the screen and the command centre, where we were.
Down one level is the Magi system, Casper, Balthazar, and Melchior. At the back of the room is a raised platform from which Commander Gendo Ikari and Sub-commander Kozo Fuyutsuki oversee the operations. At the front of the bridge are two computer stations. First Lieutenant Maya Ibuki is stationed in front of the right one, and, currently, the left computer is empty.
Standing in the middle of the command centre is none other than the purple-haired Colonel Misato Katsuragi, my superior in both military rank, and NERV status.
Standing over Maya is the blonde scientist, and head of Project E, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi.
"Colonel Katsuragi, Doctor Akagi," I started, "The Third Child, Ikari Shinji is here."
As the two women walk over, I move to the unoccupied station and, after sitting my bag against the console, sit. I retrieve the sheet from it, log in, I begin entering the details into the database.
Another alarm went off. "What the hell?" I groaned.
"The UN is deploying an N2 mine," Maya explained, not sounding too pleased.
I sighed and opened the records on Rei Ayanami. She's not cut out for piloting, yet. That last injury in the activation test last month still hasn't fully healed. I sighed again.
"What's up, Toshi?" Misato asked, sitting on the side of the computer.
"Rei, she's still in critical condition," I explained.
"Still? You'd think with the advanced science and technology we have here, she'd be recovered by now," Misato said in disbelief.
"Is he going to pilot?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Ritsu's showing him Eva-01, and the Commander is supposed to be there to meet him," she answered.
There was a dull thud, and the room shook slightly. The screen at the far end turned to static.
I shook my head slightly, "That isn't going to do much..."
"Restoring visuals," the computer stated. The screen flickered white then slowly displayed the image of the angel. It was melted slightly, with strange gills on its side and the mask was cracked and pushed to the side. Upon closer inspection, one could see that a second mask was forming underneath the first one.
"I'm not piloting that… thing!" a voice rang out on the communications system.
"You will pilot or you will be forcibly removed," a much deeper voice replied; it was none other than the commander himself, Gendo Ikari.
"I haven't seen you for three years and suddenly you want me to come here, just to pilot this…creature?" Shinji screamed.
Misato and I exchanged glances and she was the first to say what we were both thinking, "We better go resolve this."
I nodded and the two of us took the elevator to the Cages. Stepping off, we could were in another large room. At one end lay many rails going to the surface for Eva use only. To our right were four bays, although, only one was occupied right now.
In it was a mech of roughly ten feet in height and slightly humanoid in appearance. It had two things protruding from its shoulders, called pylons. The majority of the machine was purple, while the knees, elbows and ankles were black. Like the rest of it, the shoulders were purple with black sides and a green triangle on the top and slightly towards the front. On its head was a small horn, roughly six inches long, which made it resemble a Japanese demon called an Oni.
"If you won't pilot it, then Rei will," Gendo stated. "Fuyutsuki, wake Rei."
"Commander, I'm afraid I can't let you do that. As the overseer of NERV personnel safety, which extends to the pilots, it is within my authority to prevent a pilot for doing so if I deem them unfit for duty. With Rei in critical condition, to force her to pilot would be sending her to her death," I said loud enough for my voice to carry to him, but not sound as though I was yelling.
"Then what do you propose we do, Major Kurokawa?" he asked, adjusting his glasses.
"I'll… pilot it," Shinji mumbled.
"What did you say?" Gendo said, "Speak up, boy."
"I said I'll pilot it!" the Third Child yelled out.
"Until you pilot, I can't stop you, so go ahead," I explained.
"Let's get him a plug suit," Misato ordered.
"There's one in the change room, it should fit him," Ritsuko said.
"Toshi, can you show him where the change rooms are?" Misato asked.
"Yeah, sure," I muttered, leading the way. Shinji plodded along not far behind me.
A few halls later, we were outside the change rooms. "Here you go, Shinji. Hurry and change, we're a bit short on time."
He nodded and vanished inside. He returned a few minutes later with a very loose fitting plug suit on. Shaking my head and trying not to laugh, I told him, "Press the button on your wrist. It'll pressurize the suit."
I heard the distinct hiss of air being forced out of the suit. "Let's go," I said. We'd taken no more than two steps before there was another explosion, and the base shook slightly. A light fixture fell from the roof and landed right in front of me. "Kuso! Move it!" I yelled. "Follow this hall back to the Cages. Ritsuko should be waiting by Eva-01."
Shinji nodded and ran off. I turned down a hall adjacent to this one and made for the bridge. "Any NERV personnel hurt?" I asked upon entering the command centre.
"No reports so far," Maya replied.
"Good and the status of the shelters?" I quickly sat at the second station. After typing a few commands in, the status of the pilot and any reports of injuries popped up on the screen. So far, there haven't been any.
"No reports of damages to the shelters," Maya answered.
A couple minutes later, Ritsuko entered the bridge. "He's in. It seemed to open for him just fine," she said.
The console beeped and the graphs for Shinji's heart rate, blood pressure, brain waves, and LCL pressure appeared on screen. "Heart rate and blood pressure slightly elevated, but still within limits," I stated.
"Begin LCL pressurization," Ritsuko ordered.
"Shinji, relax. The fluid directly oxygenates your blood, you won't drown," I said when I noticed his heart rate spike. "LCL pressure at 101.3kPa, everything nominal," I explained to Ritsuko.
"Connecting A10 nerves to the Eva," Maya stated, "Connection normal."
"Pilot status still within limits. Heart rate and brain waves are slightly elevated, though," I informed Ritsuko.
"Evangelion Unit-01 link complete," Maya finished.
Here's hoping all goes as planned. I looked up at the open channel to Shinji. "You okay in there?"
"Yeah. But why does it smell like blood in here?" he replied.
I hesitated and I was about to respond, but Ritsuko beat me, "LCL contains large amounts of iron and copper, as does blood."
The way she responded didn't sit well with me. It seemed almost like she was lying to him. I'll ask her about that another time.
"Transport Eva-01 to Elevator 5," Misato ordered.
Shinji's heart rate increased a couple beats, "Relax, Shinji. Last thing we need is you having a heart attack, okay?"
He smiled weakly at my joke.
"Evangelion launch!" Misato barked and the elevator below Unit-01 flew up the rails to the streets of Tokyo-3.
A/N: Well, here's the first part, I'm going to plan stuff out from here. The plot of this takes place in an AU, but stays closer to Rebuild's storyline than the TV series.
If you find any errors, let me know in a review.
Thanks to Matsuko Hirioko for helping make sure the characters were consistent and correcting a few errors.
Next chapter: Saigai ga hassei (災害が発生。)