Creation began on 04-29-14
Creation ended on 06-22-14
Neon Genesis Evangelion
The Horrid Aftermath: Impact Disaster
A/N: Mostly manga-based, and for a reason.
"…It's gonna self-destruct!" Misato gasped, watching on the screens as the Third Angel wrapped itself around Unit-01 and its core glowed brightly.
BOOM! The Angel exploded and enveloped the entire portion of Tokyo-3 in light as the fire took the shape of a large cross.
"Where's…the Eva?" Misato questioned, and, as the light dimmed on the screens, her answer came. "Oh, dear God."
Evangelion Unit-01 was on the ground, scorched, mangled and its head and neck assembly disconnected from its body. Parts of the armor were melted down to the layers of artificial muscle and bone underneath, and the armor surrounding the face of the unit was destroyed, revealing a brownish, hornless creature's face beneath the armored being.
"What about Shinji?" She asked the technicians, wondering if the plug was ejected or if the boy had survived the explosion.
"The Entry Plug…didn't eject," one of the men responded.
"Vital signs have been confirmed," one of the women added, sadly, "but only from the Eva. Pilot's vitals are unknown."
"Dispatch an emergency crew to the Eva," went Gendo Ikari to the command bridge.
"Ikari," went Kozo Fuyutsuki to the commander, "this…was too extreme."
-x-
Nothing was able to connect to him after the Angel grabbed his arm and snapped it in half, following with the severe eye trauma. He was surrounded by a fog of heavy rain in the darkness. There was some noise, but his hearing couldn't tell him what it was, only that there was noise around him in the fog.
"…Over here…"
"…My God…"
"…Can't…"
"…Supposed to be…"
"…Still breathing…"
"…Contact…"
Voices. Voices of people he hadn't seen or spoken with. He tried to speak up, but he heard nothing from his mouth. Then, he tried to raise his left arm, but he felt as though nothing had happened when he did that, either. All he could tell was that…in some strange way…something just wasn't right. Something wasn't right, anymore.
-x-
"…What sort of organization are you running here, Ikari?!" One of the generals from earlier in the operation against the Third Angel shouted at Gendo. "Too much blood has already been spilled. Those soldiers that gave their lives to protect this country knew what they were up against when they took the orders to face that thing out there, but this boy knew barely anything ahead of time!"
"And we're to just accept that you chose him to fight the Angel when the N² assault failed?" Another general questioned. "There were lines to tread cautiously, Ikari…and you crossed one too many."
But Gendo ignored their complaints. So long as the Angel was defeated, there was nothing else that needed to be said. While the cost of repairs to Unit-01 and the bodies damaged by the Angel's self-destruction would cost as much as a small country, it would be a necessity in the ongoing feud with the Angels yet to come…and NERV would require Unit-01 more than anything. More than anyone.
-x-
"Akagi-Sempai?" Maya Ibuki greeted the faux-blond Ritsuko Akagi, wandering down the NERV trauma unit, looking into the room that housed their most recent patient…and their sole visitor for the time being. "How long has Captain Katsuragi been in there?"
Ritsuko sighed, "She hasn't left ever since he was brought in. He's being kept sedated until we can find the proper dosage of painkiller for him."
"No amount of painkillers will help him recover from what had befallen him, Sempai," Maya informed her. "And he's on life support. It's anyone's guess how long he has left."
-x-
"…Your son suffered third and fourth-degree burns to over eighty percent of his body," a man informed Gendo and Fuyutsuki the severity of Shinji's injuries as a result of the explosion. "His right arm was damaged to the point of amputation, along with his legs. In addition, he may suffer from partial blindness and deafness to his eyes and ears. If he survives from his medical-induced coma, he will be paralyzed from the waist down…and confined to a wheelchair until he dies from organ failure or some other casualty caused by this incident."
Both heads of NERV were presented with the medical photos of Shinji's injuries and the statistics provided from the other injuries he was mentioned to have. While Gendo didn't show any reaction to the awful pictures, Fuyutsuki grimaced at the boy's severe misfortune. He, initially, had no worries about Shinji being inside the Eva, but after the explosion and its aftermath, he started to doubt everything he believed in, including people's beliefs. The elder saw this boy…and now he was seeing what was left of him that was barely hanging on.
"What are you suggesting?" Fuyutsuki asked him.
"Medical technology has progressed to the point where we can do what was once science fiction," the man expressed. "We put him through extensive, cybernetic and nanotech reconstruction and let nature take its course."
"You mean, convert him," Gendo clarified.
"Yes," the man answered.
"You mean, this might save him, but what would it really mean?" Fuyutsuki asked him. "What kind of life will he have?"
-x-
"…What's going on?" Makoto Hyuga asked Misato, visiting Shinji in his room, seeing him in the devastating state his body was in.
"The commander's decision is what's going on," Misato responded in a cold tone. "There's this cyberneticist that says a series of procedures can save Shinji, but needs consent from a parent or guardian, which nobody in the Ikari family seems to be concerned about giving."
"The commander doesn't think heroic measures should be taken? But that's insane! His son defeated the Angel and got hurt because of it! What about his other relatives?"
"I tried getting in contact with his uncle, but he blew me off completely."
"Maybe…Shinji doesn't have anyone."
Misato looked down at Shinji's bandaged head and face, took hold of his only hand, his only limb left mobile while the rest had been removed due to extensive damage done to them, and couldn't help but pray that his end came quickly and painlessly."
-x-
"…How was Rei today?" Ritsuko asked Gendo, standing in front of the ruins of the damaged facility that housed Unit-00 for the time being, a plug with a cross-shaped end sticking out of its back. "Did you see her at the hospital?"
"She can work again in thirty days," he answered her, "by that time, we'll be ready to reactivate Unit-00 and Unit-01 will be repaired."
"And what of the boy?"
But Gendo didn't answer her on the subject of his son. It wasn't a hidden truth that he cared very little about Shinji, but wouldn't give consent to have heroic measures performed to save him. Some of the agency believed that, if need be, Gendo would keep his son on life-support until he decided to pull the plug on him.
-x-
At his desk, Kozo Fuyutsuki looked at a small photograph of Yui and Shinji from the time he was small. The boy had this innocent smile, like there wasn't anything wrong in his little world. And now, years later to the present, he couldn't recognize the little boy that lost his mother and was abandoned by his father, the very same father that sent for him to fight an enemy he knew nothing about, suffered greatly because something awful went wrong, and wouldn't lift a finger to save him. He even tried to contact the uncle, only to be turned away.
It was like Shinji was reduced to being a throwaway, some sort of gambit NERV took…only to see that, while they were able to survive, they were treating their little hero like he was an unappreciated commodity or disposable asset. But that wasn't true. It shouldn't be true.
"You mean, this might save him, but what would it really mean?" He recalled himself asking the cyberneticist on his suggestion on how to save Shinji. "What kind of life will he have?"
"He would have his mobility restored," the cyberneticist had explained the possibilities, "along with complete control over his tolerance to pain, auditory and hearing capabilities repaired and enhanced. He would be…better than he had been…better than he is right now."
Sighing, he picked up a phone and dialed a number, thinking of a recent dream he had before he saw Shinji return to the city. In his dream, his nightmare, Shinji died, along with hundreds of people…and this little, ebony-haired girl with a round tummy standing in front of him, yelling at him over the death of the boy, questioning why the people hurt him the way they had, why they let him suffer up to his final breath.
I'm going to go to Hell for this, he thought.
-x-
Misato felt stupid right now, bringing flowers to the boy that had lost all but one of his limbs and probably wouldn't be able to smell anything, but this helped to remind her that somebody at least gave a damn about his well-being. She stepped into his room, but dropped the bouquet at the sight in front of her. Instead of seeing Shinji hooked to life-support and heart-monitoring equipment, she saw an empty bed. There was nothing to indicate that the boy had ever been here.
"Captain Katsuragi?" She turned around to face a male nurse. "What are you doing here?"
"The Third Child," she said, pointing to the empty bed. "He was here yesterday. Where is he now?"
"You mean, you weren't informed?" The nurse asked her.
"Informed? About what?" She questioned.
-x-
"…I'm surprised that Commander Ikari consented to having his son transferred to Medical Angel's Tokyo-3 facility," a female technician said to a male technician.
"Except there's a rumor going around that he didn't consent," the man told her.
"If he didn't consent, then why were there some Medical Angel people by late in the night picking up the Third Child?" Another male technician questioned.
As the rumor mill expanded a bit across the Geo-Front, Gendo was furious inside his office, looking at the copy of the consent form Medical Angel's representative presented him in order to get Shinji the cybernetic and medical aid that would restore him…with his signature written at the bottom…but not in his handwriting. This meant that the signature had been forged, which should've nullified any form of agreement, but he was waiting on a phone call to return from Medical Angel's Tokyo-3 facility located outside the city where the Third Child was taken to late in the night.
Ring-ring-ring! His phone finally went off, and he picked up.
"This Medical Angel's Tokyo-3 facility, responding to a call from Gendo Ikari," came a woman's voice over the phone.
"This is Gendo Ikari," he responded.
"Yes, you had complained about a forged signature of yours on a consent form you were given a few days ago?"
"That's right."
"I'm sorry, sir, but the man that handed the form in seemed desperate to save your son, who would've lived for only a few days if he didn't get the help he needed from Medical Angel. The gentleman was even prepared to pay for his medical needs until he was informed that the company would take care of the costs in his recovery and rehabilitation."
"And who was this gentleman?"
"I'm afraid I can't give out that information. I can't disclose the confidentiality of those that visit or are employed at Medical Angel. If you wish to speak with the head or a representative of Medical Angel, please schedule an appointment and you will be spoken with in due time. Good day to you."
The woman hung up before Gendo could complain further that the company was taking this forged signature business with very little concern.
"Dammit!" He yelled. Who the Hell could've done this?!
-x-
"But who would want to forge Commander Ikari's signature on a consent form?" Misato asked Ritsuko, who was using the MAGI to trace the handwriting of the culprit behind the signature on the orders of Gendo.
"Since the consent form was within NERV HQ, we can narrow down the suspects to everyone with access to the Geo-Front," Ritsuko responded, and the MAGI supercomputer system came up with possible suspects for the signature. "Oh, great."
"What?"
"With Casper not helping, the list of suspects in the forged signature has been isolated to three-hundred-seventy-seven people with handwriting similar to Commander Ikari's."
The faux-blond showed her a list of the suspects, displeasing her to see that her name was on the list, among most of the women with similar handwriting to Gendo Ikari. Another few names to pop up were Maya Ibuki, Makoto Hyuga, Shigeru Aoba, Motoko Mikagi, Sakura Yami, and even Fuma Myoga. But there was very little chance of any of them being the culprit.
"What about a motive?" Misato asked Ritsuko. "There's always a motive."
"Getting the Third Child medical aid is a motive, since it was becoming common knowledge that his father hadn't signed the consent form. Another motive is taking away the commander's right to consent, removing whatever power he had over his son's current state."
"Wait a minute. The consent form, was it still in his office?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Not many people have access to his office. Who has access to his office?"
"Only Three people: You, myself…and Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki."
"The Sub-Commander? Could he have done it?"
"I wouldn't put it below him, but why would he do something like this to Commander Ikari?"
-x-
Fuyutsuki knew he was going to pay dearly for this, but it was a risk he was willing to take, just as he stood outside the Medical Angel Tokyo-3 facility Shinji had been transferred to. He had called the medical team assigned to Shinji and asked how progress was going in the goal to help him. The response was that he should come see for himself, of course. So, he showed up, but got cold feet.
"Lord, forgive me," he sighed, and stepped into the building.
He walked up to the front desk and saw the receptionist, a young woman with blue hair and glasses.
"Hello, may I help you?" She greeted him.
"Uh, yes, I'm Kozo Fuyutsuki, here to see the medical team in charge of Shinji Ikari," he explained his visit here.
"Wait one moment," she told him and then checked the building's schedule for visitors. "Oh, yes, they're expecting you. Take the elevator to the seventh floor and look for Room 74-MRC."
"Thank you," he praised her and left to the elevator for the seventh floor.
-x-
"So, you suspect that Fuyutsuki was behind this forged signature?" Gendo asked Ritsuko and Misato, who relayed their discovery.
"He's the only other individual with access to this room," Ritsuko explained, "and he hasn't been seen since the previous day. It's the only explanation."
If Gendo was furious by this revelation, he put on a good mask to hide it.
-x-
"…The nanomachines have already repaired his blood circulation and the nerve endings to his damaged eye have adapted to the bionic replacement," a medical technician explained to Fuyutsuki, showing him holographics of the progress they were making to Shinji's maimed state. "He's been prepped for surgery to affix the bionic arm and legs to his body. We've been keeping him sedated to alleviate the degree of pain he might go through, but other than what I've explained to you, he's expected to make a full recovery once he awakens."
The first holograms showed tiny machines working around the damaged areas of the body, while the secondary holograms showed a detailed way of how the bionic limbs were to be attached to the stumps where the original ones once resided.
"Uh, will he be able to move his arms and legs like before?" He asked the young man, curious as to how the cybernetic limbs would be just like the original ones.
"With time and therapy, he can wiggle his toes like a child and flex his fingers like before," the technician expressed. "Would you like to see him before he goes to have his new limbs attached?"
"Yes, please," he told him.
The technician led him to an operating theater's observatory environment, where the patient in question was being wheeled in for his major surgery. The patient, Shinji Ikari, looked paler than he had the day he arrived to the city, his face looking a little better from the aftermath, with the scarring healed up completely. But the rest of his body, a torso with just one hand, looked like it had been recently fitted with mechanical fixtures that were incomplete, but the flesh around them looked staunched and unhealed after being treated.
As the surgeons began operating on the boy, they started with a cybernetic right arm that looked real enough to be an actual limb.
"Is that a cybernetic arm?" Fuyutsuki asked.
"Yeah," the technician responded. "Through the months of trial and error, we can actually create artificial limbs that rarely need to be surgically replaced. Medical Angel has managed to create a bio-metal that can simulate living cells within a person."
"Medical Angel had also mentioned a decrease in metal toxicity?"
"Oh, yes. It's a necessity. Prolonged exposure to heavy metals can hinder the immune system and compromise the individual's life. Detoxifying metals before infusing them into bio-metals reduces the risks involved in surgeries."
As the operation continued, Fuyutsuki noticed that Shinji's eyelids were fluttering, indicating that he was dreaming.
Whatever he's dreaming of in there, he thought, I hope it's peaceful.
"…When people become desperate to save the life of another person they barely know," they turned around and saw a man far older than Fuyutsuki himself was, walking in the room with a cane, "they'll do whatever it takes to save them, knowing that might be consequences to pay for later on."
"I'm sorry, and you are?" Fuyutsuki questioned him.
"Masamune," the elder introduced himself. "Masamune Kusanagi. I represent Medical Angel's Tokyo-3 branch. You must be Kozo Fuyutsuki, the man responsible for the young Ikari getting the medical attention he needs."
Fuyutsuki sighed and bowed his head.
"I apologize if my carelessness for concern over him has caused your company any trouble," he expressed, being sincere.
"Trouble's relative," Masamune responded, approaching the windows and looking down at the young boy that was being helped. "Whether a signature's real or forged, if an innocent life needs medical aid beyond what's available in a local hospital, we do what we can to help them see old age. At least he has somebody that cares enough to do what you did for him."
Fuyutsuki looked back down at the boy again, seeing that the surgeons were now attempting to attach his new left leg to his body.
"I thank you for all that you've done for him," he told the elder.
To be continued…
A/N: After careful consideration, I'll have to break this story into separate chapters. As some of you have probably read My Special Keeper (or looked at The One), you're aware of the whole multiverse concept. How you can exist in one universe as you are currently, and how you exist in another universe, like where you live, where you work, who you're friends with, who you're married to, etc. I hope to have some of the characters I've created in previous stories be encountered in this one someday, but for now, I'll leave it until I get back to it. Do look at it and let me know what you think of it. Maybe you can figure out what inspired it.