The Soul's Odyssey
Keyboarded by the Snazzy Cat
A Neon Genesis Evangelion Fanfiction, with ideas and copyrights stolen wholesale from Arthur C. Clark's and Stanley Cubric's Movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey sprinkled lightly over the lot.
Die-hard fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion may notice some slight changes.
This fanfiction is dedicated to the earphones that passed away some time during the first couple of paragraphs, they will be missed.
Remember, all you lawyers and lawyerettes out there, this is not for profit so simply enjoy!
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Gendo Ikari strode swiftly across the deck of the space station's minimalist executive waiting area, his shoes heralding his presence on the slightly warmed metal.
As he got with in hearing distance of the main bar a tall, grey haired man turned his head towards him,
"You're late Ikari." Stated the, only mildly angry, voice of the tall grey haired man as Gendo stood next to him at the bar.
"I apologise for the inconvenience Professor, but my flight was delayed due to some Interesting... events." Came back Gendo's almost toneless response as he laid a small red folder onto the bar top, in the top right hand corner of the folder could be seen a small picture of a bisected figleaf.
Taking the folder Fuyutsuki began to leaf through the documents within.
"So the scroll's predictions were correct, though a bit off date wise." He mused aloud "Those old men must be quite pleased." Fuyutsuki paused for a moment, as he reread the final document contained within the folder, A look of mild astonishment flashed briefly across his face then vanished, replaced by well concealed anger as he turned to Gendo.
"Is this information Trustworthy Ikari?" Fuyutsuki Practically hissed at his companion
"Close enough for my liking Professor."
"But if this is true then..."
"Then it should add enough variables into the old men's Scenario, as I expected." Gendo interrupted as he leaned his elbows on the bar and casually laced his fingers together.
"You knew this was going to happen didn't you Ikari? Since the very beginning didn't you?" Fuyutsuki whispered with a slight tinge of awe entering his voice.
Gendo allowed a slight smirk to appear on his face as he rested his elbows on the bar top and steepled his fingers. He shot a fleeting glance towards Fuyutsuki before finally saying, in his usual almost toneless manner, though an observant listener would have heard a faint tint of mischief enter it now.
"Now professor. Would you like to remind me of whose turn to order the drinks it is."
"You're a cold bastard Ikari." Fuyutsuki replied chuckling slightly, as he attempted to get the barman's attention.
*******
The Soul's Odyssey
Chapter 1
Birth of a star/First good intention
*******
The Sun was beginning to set on the artificial wonder of glass, Alloys and concrete that was Tokyo 3. This was the time of day young couples would often meet apon various elevated position within and without the city to gain a truly breath taking view of the surrounding country. The orange glow from the sun giving the surrounding forests an eerily content atmosphere as though it was welcoming the onrushing night and the eventual dawn and dew that it preceded.
For a few brief moments they could allow themselves to relax and let the feelings of contentment just wash over them without worries, even though they knew at the back of their minds that this bliss of the moment would end eventually.
However, on this day However they didn't know the manner in which that bliss would end would be a bit more dramatic than a simple matter of waking up the next morning starting their day.
Not that a certain redheaded german girl who was currently sitting apon a bench in front of the tokyo-3 central train station Car park cared for such matters.
The elite second Child, Asuka Langley Sohryu, was getting fed up.
Fed up of sitting here, outside the Tokyo-3 Central train station.
Fed up of waiting for some NERV nobody to show up and take her to NERV headquarters in Tokyo-3.
'What sort of organisation leaves their best pilot sitting alone by the side of the road out side a train station? These Japanese have no...'
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted though, by the screeching of tires as a blue Sports car pulled to a halt less than a foot away from where she was sitting.
"Are you Asuka Langley?" asked the busty shades wearing woman in the driving seat.
"Err...Yeah?" came back Asuka's startled reply.
"Hop in. I'm Captain Katsuragi Misato, I'm here to pick you up." said the Shades wearing Woman with a grin as she flashed her NERV Identity badge at.
"Well it's about time you showed up." Asuka huffed while stuffing her luggage into the back seat of Misato's car.
"What took you so long anyway? What kind of person leaves, what could have easily been a poor defenceless little girl, all alone waiting at a train station where any kind of pervert could have snatched me away?!" Asuka shouted at Misato.
"I'm sorry Asuka, some work came up at the last minute which took a bit longer than I expected" Misato said as she started the car off.
"I STILL don't understand why I couldn't have just rode here with my Unit-02."
"Well the freight train it had to be carried on wasn't exactly designed for commuting Passengers." Misato looked thoughtful for a second. "Or even Evas for that matter."
"Well, It's still stupid that I didn't get a PROPER escort" Asuka shot back.
"Sorry about that, Section 2 has been kinda busy lately, and it simply didn't have any men spare." stated Misato as she swerved to avoid another pedestrian.
"Why? What's happening that might require the whole of section 2?" Inquired Asuka, her Curiosity peaked.
"It's kind of... complex, I'll be able to explain better once we reach headquarters." Came back Misato's calm reply.
"Fine" Asuka stated as she sat down in the passenger seat and the car went on its way.
*******
"Wow, your Japanese is amazing considering you just came from Germany, can barely even hear a hint of accent." A wistful look descended apon Misato's features as she continued "Wish I could take my next vacation in Germany, might visit my Old University, see how it's shaping up with old age." Misato blathered on as the two women walked down one of the many faceless corridors situated insides NERV headquarters.
"Well Germany is a beautiful country." Asuka stated as she read through the NERV Security manual.
"That Manual is probably a bit out of date, a lot of the routines have been either changed completely or increased over the last couple of days, I'll see if I can get you a more up to date one tomorrow." Misato said as she double-checked the nearby halls markings to make sure she was heading in the right direction. "Where did you learn your Japanese?" She added.
"Munich central University and Library." Asuka said as she tossed the NERV Manual into a passing dustbin.
"Huh!? You mean you've got a degree in Japanese?" Misato asked.
"Well, I had to do something in between Synch tests and training sessions you know." Asuka replied in her most Modest tone of voice, which, being Asuka, wasn't very.
"And that Psych degree barely kept me awake, same with the physics and Biology and..." she added ticking off each subject and point on her fingers.
"The sciences always did that to me anyway, I was always more partial to philosophising and deep, introspective courses..." Misato stated to say as her mind boggled at the new information Asuka's mouth was supplying. 'She's grown up so much, so quickly. That can't be healthy for anyone, doubly so for an Eva pilot...' Misato thought as the two stepped onto the command bridge.
"Yes, but in the real world, what use is there really for a degree in drinking and lechery Misato?" The tall smiling blond woman in the lab coat greeted them with as Misato and Asuka walked onto the main bridge of NERV headquarters. "Hello there Asuka, I'm Dr Akagi, Chief Scientist and head of project E. I see you've grown quite a bit since last I saw you."
"Hey! Drama wasn't JUST drinking and sex you know!" Misato burst out, a slight smile appearing on her face.
"Excuse me Dr Akagi, but have we met before?" Asuka asked from around the smiling Captain.
"A long time ago. You probably can't remember me." The blond doctor said in a non-committal tone as she turned to examine something on one of the nearby computer screens before marking something down on the clipboard she was holding.
"What's the current status on the anomalies Ritsuko?" Misato inquired as she stepped closer to get a better look at the screen Ritsuko had just examined.
"What the hell?! Where'd all these other ones come from?!"
The doctor's expression didn't change after Misato's outburst.
"We think they might have been joined together somehow, or they might just be parts of a larger whole. Though as there isn't any real hard evidence to base either hypothesis on we can only speculate for the moment."
The Captain frowned and hugged her self as she gave the monitor one last glance.
"And wild speculation never helped win battles. If only we knew what their plans and objectives were..."
"AND JUST WHAT, may I ask, is so interesting about a map of the solar system?"
The German girl said after she barged in front of Misato so she could see the screen in question.
"Are those asteroids you're tracking or something?" She said, pointing at the small yellow dots overlaid on a map of the solar system that the screen was showing.
A disturbing thought crossed Asuka's mind, and it's presence made itself felt across her face.
"It's not is it? You haven't dragged the undefeatable Asuka Langley Sohryu all the way to Tokyo-3 just to play catch with a giant snowball?"
"Those 'asteroids' as you call them have been designated 'Angels' by the way, and if Second impact is any indication then they are on their way to destroy humanity."
"How long till they attack?" Asuka asked her face taking on a serious look as she looked at Ritsuko's face.
"Well thankfully you and the other Evas will only be facing one of the things today, the others split off and are heading towards Mars and Jupiter as we speak. The remaining one is estimated to reach a lunar orbit within 6 hours if it's velocity doesn't change."
"Just enough time to get prepared down here but not enough to get the Eva's rigged up on the space lifts, not that the UN would let us deploy in space yet anyway." Misato said as she rubbed her temples.
"Or that we've got all the kinks ironed out of the type D equipment either." Ritsuko added, before looking up at the Captain.
"You feeling a bit stressed Misato?" She asked, concern evident in her voice.
"Not really just had a bad night is all, I'll go show Asuka the rec' room before the activation test begins and get us some drinks and eats, that should sort me out for the time being at least." The Captain said, her voice gaining a slightly forced sounding chipper tone.
"I hate to interrupt your carefully laid plans, but I did the activation test with my unit Two back in Germany months ago." The german girl stated with a shrug.
"Unit Zero." Ritsuko stated without looking up from her clipboard.
"What about unit Zero?"
"We're doing the activation test with Unit Zero, not Unit Two."
Another puzzled look came over Asuka's face
"The prototype!? You're just NOW doing the activation test!? Mein Gott!"
"We did the first activation test several years ago actually, but there were...unforeseen Reactions from the Unit and it's taken us this long just to get most of them sorted out." The doctor tilted her head back and rubbed the bridge of her nose before continuing. "We're still trying to fix some of the less serious glitches," she turned her attention fully onto Asuka.
"Come on Asuka, I can see the early warning signs of an imminent eruption of Mt Akagi, and take my word on this you don't want to be around to be caught in the explosion." Misato joked giving a quick wink to Asuka. "Not to mention I'm starting to get really hungry here, and I bet you didn't get anything good to eat on the flight over here."
"You know airline food..." Asuka started saying as she and Misato strolled off in the direction of the Rec' room, though Ritsuko wasn't listening, her mind being more focused on her friend's behaviour.
'Either Misato didn't drink enough this morning or she's started having those dreams again...' Ritsuko thought as she stared after Misato's retreating form.
She paused in her thoughts, as eyed up the Tracking map of the "Angels" briefly. 'It's not like her to be late for anything important like picking up the Second, she may be absent minded at times but she's never irresponsible when it comes to her duty. I'd better have a talk with her after I get these tests completed, just to make sure she's alright.'
*******
"The activation test will begin in 30 minutes," Ritsuko said to the surrounding technicians. "Check everything over once more, I don't want any mistakes this time."
The 3rd Pribnow box was a buzz of activity as technicians ran back and forth rechecking circuitry and making final adjustments to some of the sensor relays connecting the box to Eva 00. Misato and Ritsuko were standing just in front of the glass window separating them and the technicians from the giant padded room in which Eva unit 00 and it's pilot silently waited.
Turning aside to the technician's seat nearest her "how are you coping Maya? Any major fluctuations in the sync harmonics yet?" she asked, putting a hand on the technicians shoulder.
"The harmonics are well within the normal limits sempai." The young tech answered, her slight blush going unnoticed by the rest of the crew.
"How goes the Activation test Dr Akagi?" A flat toned voice said as its originator walked into the Pribnow box
"The Eva-Intuitive Code seems to be having the desired effect, Random connection Feedbacks, and the subsequent breathing difficulties they cause have been completely nullified. As far as we can tell Unit zero is operating at optimum efficiency so far." The chief Scientist reported, while staring Gendo straight in the eyes, or at least what could be seen of them behind his tinted glasses.
"And Rei?" The commander said in his normal flat tone as he diverted his attention to nearby readouts and display consoles.
"The first child hasn't mentioned any abnormalities so far," Ritsuko said, this caused Gendo to focus his full attention on the scientist. "And her synchro graph is reading normal, no signs of pain or other feedback errors since we synchronised the Eva's auto and semiautonomous systems..."
"How are you feeling Rei?" The Commander asked, interrupting Ritsuko, his tone changing subtly to a more normal questioning lilt. Ritsuko frowned and glared slightly at the commander's back as he strode forward to get a better view of Unit 00.
"I can feel a faint...impression of someone else." A faint, monotone voice said over the com system.
"Anything else, Rei?" The commander asked again in that unusual tone of voice, at least, unusual for him.
"No." The quiet monotone voice answered.
"Very well then. Dr Akagi, when can the full activation test begin?" The commander asked his voice back to it's normal toneless quality. His stare never leaving the face of the silent beast that stood before him.
"We're going over the last safety checks as we speak, as long as they don't turn up anything unusual we should be ready to begin activation" the doctor stated, her expression set into a neutral mask.
"Are you expecting anything unusual?"
"Well no, but it's would be safer to go through everything one more time before..."
"The UN will attack the Angel designated Rogziel as soon as it enters Lunar orbit in five hours Doctor. I would prefer that there were three working Evangelions, ready for when their attack fails. Begin the activation test as soon as possible"
As the Commander finished saying this the whole Pribnow box fell silent as they all tried to digest this information. Finally, after a second that seemed like hours, everyone began to work faster to get the systems necessary for the activation test fully operational
"But, COMMANDER, we don't have any way to pilot Unit one yet, so getting it prepared for combat right now is a waste of resources. We should focus on getting Unit zero operational..." The doctor tried to argue with Gendo, but his impassive stare caused her argument to stutter and die down.
Gendo then paused, before turning his gaze back towards the hulking Unit 00.
"The Marduk Institute has found the third child." He said, pushed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose with one hand. "He should be arriving as we speak." He turned his gaze back to Ritsuko before finishing "If you still think that this is foolish then I'm sure that Your assistant, Lieutenant Ibuki, can handle most of your duties till we can find an adequate replacement...do you have anymore objections Dr Akagi?"
Ritsuko merely nodded before starting to overseer the technician's last minute checks.
'Funny how they just happen to "find" the third Child just in time the Angel attack' Misato, who was being largely ignored by the surrounding people, thought as she mulled over the information she had just gained.
"I presume that the third child is, as yet untrained?" Misato asked the Commander, as she went into full 'Katsuragi battle mode'.
"Yes. He will be used only when the other two evangelion fail." He handed Misato a small manila folder. "You are not needed here, I suggest you examine his file before you meet him." Gendo, having lost interest in her, turned back to the large Orange Evangelion.
Unnoticed to the Chief NERV Officers, Asuka stood to the side of the side of the box, and pondered the information she had just heard, one phrase kept repeating in her head over and over though;
"...When the other two Evangelion fail..." She felt a brief swell of fear at the absolute fact the commander's voice had seemed to carry. 'Shut up!' She thought to herself as she dragged her focus back to the present.
"Asuka, it might be useful if you came with me to meet the Third Child, help him adjust to it all." Misato said as she paused at the box's doorway and looked towards Asuka.
"Huh? Oh yeah, sure, it's not like anything interesting is going to happen here."
*******
"All Connections are green, approaching absolute borderline...Passed absolute borderline! No errors...wait some kind of external interference..."
"Oh MY GOD! The connection's reversing!?"
"Cut the Circuits!"
"No Response!"
"Eject the entry plug and shut off the Eva's power supply!"
"WHAT THE!? It's emitting a focused EMP!"
"Entry Plug and Power cable have been safely ejected."
"Battery Down to Ten Seconds of Charge!"
"Open the access routes to the EVA NOW! Lieutenant!"
"Yes Sir!"
"Commander you shouldn't! It's too dangerous!"
"Commander!"
"Medic!"
*******
"The Suit seems to be a little...uh...Baggy." A Squeaky voice asked from the other side of the cloth partition in the (mixed) changing room.
"Gott en Himmel, just Press the button on the suit's wrist marked 'Shrink' dumkopf." Asuka answered rolling her eyes as she too got suited up for her Eva.
The sound of the Suit's fabric suddenly conforming to a person's skin is heard from the "men's" side of the changing room followed by a small "eep" noise from the suit's inhabitant.
"Uh...thank you, interesting feeling he he...so err...What's it like in side one of those giant robots?"
"More than you can handle Third Child. When we're up on the surface just try to stay out of my way, I don't need to have to look after you as well as dealing with a hideous monster from outer space, so just stay back and let me do all the work." Asuka warned as she too shrank her Plug Suit to size.
"Um... Okay then." Came the much quieter reply from the other side of the partition.
"Just 'okay then.' No Argument, nothing?" Asuka asked, one of her eyebrows raising slightly. "Such a boring little boy...I'll be waiting outside when you're ready to go to the cages." She added as she walked out of the changing room.
"Sorry." Shinji added quietly after she had left, his face turning downcast as he made the last few adjustments to the suit before he too exited the changing room.
*******
"Okay Asuka, we're launching you into the outskirts of Tokyo three. Something went wrong with Unit zero's activation test and the Magi believe that Rogziel was involved somehow, so if you feel anything wrong with your Eva, anything at all, report it 'k?" Misato Explained to Asuka a she was launched.
"Yes Sir." Asuka Responded, barely listening to Misato, her mind occupied with psyching herself up for the coming battle.
'You can do this, it doesn't matter what other people think, You are the best! No one can withstand the might of Asuka Langley Sohryu!'
'I CAN do this!'
'I must do this!'
'So the whole world can finally know how great I truly am!'
'I WILL DEFEAT THE ANGEL!'
"I will succeed, I will." She mumbled under her breath
Misato's image paused for second in its briefing talk.
"What was that Asuka?"
"Huh? Oh nothing...Is that all?" Asuka asked, Misato's question breaking her out of her mild trance.
"Pretty much, just that Shinji is ready in Unit One, so you should have some back up, in case you need it." Misato smiled at Asuka. "Good luck out there, we're all counting on you."
"I know."
"Approaching surface...Now!"
And with that Asuka's world changed from a view of speeding concrete walls to the early night sky and a beautiful view of Tokyo 3.
The sun had just set for the night but Asuka found that she was bathed in the glow of myriad signs and lights from nearby buildings.
"Power to all nonessential buildings will be shut off in 3...2...1..." The Eva pilot heard a member of the bridge say, and soon after her world was plunged into total blackness. Well, total blackness if she saw the world through merely human eyes.
"Can you see ok up there Asuka?" Misato's voice asked over the com.
"Perfectly." Asuka stated, as she looked around for the Infrared Paint that marked out a supply building.
"Remember try to get as much information about its capabilities before you finish it. But don't be too risky, if you get a chance to. Kill it."
Misato's image looked at something off screen before turning back to face the camera.
"It's approaching from the east, bearing..."
"107 degrees south by south east, got it." She pre-empted, grabbing a palette rifle in one hand and some ammo in the other from the nearest supply building.
The image of Misato looked puzzled for a second, looked off screen again and then stating:
"...109 degrees, actually. Close though. How'd you guess that?"
"My gyro is pointing straight for it, it must be producing a huge magnetic field." 'And my Eva can seem to sense it's approach, of course' she added silently, unconsciously gritting her teeth.
"Ok then. It's supposed to be travelling at about mach five so it should reach near your position within a minute."
As Misato spoke those words Asuka noticed a small glowing object far away in the distance, and as she watched she could both see and feel its rapid approach towards Tokyo-3.
As it got closer she found herself more and more entranced by the glowing object, something about it just disturbed her on an unconscious level, like a feeling of déjà vu as someone walked over her grave. She shook her head in an attempt to dislodge the strange feeling, not realising that her Eva mimicked the action.
Finally it arrived with in a mile of Tokyo 3, though it appeared as a mere ball of flame in the night sky due to the Creature's huge speed and subsequent friction with the air around it.
Asuka tracked it with her rifle as it rushed forward, seemingly straight for her. As it finally came within the city it's speed was too great for Asuka to keep track of it, so she decided to just let it pass over head and open fire when it finally stopped.
It Rushed past right over head, without making a single noise and then simply stopped dead, a large cloud of steam or smoke obscuring Asuka's view of the creature as it hung silently a few hundred meters away.
A few split seconds passed.
And then the shock wave hit. Glass from the buildings It had flown over shattered and cascaded into the streets around Asuka, the tops of several of the taller buildings were completely blown apart causing dust and debris to be blown further into the city. Asuka dug her Eva's fingers and feet into the concrete to stop it from being blown over while never letting the entity known as Rogziel leave her sight.
And then the shock wave finally receded, leaving nothing but a deathly silence and the Huge Black monolith hanging calmly in mid air.
Asuka sat in her unit 02, rifle trained on the shadow's cuboid form, Totally Transfixed by its appearance. And then she realised that there wasn't complete silence.
As she watched, unmoving, she could begin to hear the sound of a song sang by a thousand different voices, and yet, was almost inaudible at the same time.
She listened to it carefully, as it seemed to almost cause the LCL to hum with its strange melody, the actually song becoming easier to hear as she listened on.
It was totally fascinating, as though someone had managed to pen raw emotion into musical notes, and then had a thousand people sing those pure notes in perfect harmony. There was no words or lyrics or chorus, merely the song itself, sung in a Language of raw human emotion. It reminded Asuka of a primitive African tribal song with its inherent simplicity, but with an undertone of vast deepness and complexity. It sang to her of joy and triumph and hope and fear and the same inherent wrongness that seemed to be Rogziel's trademark.
Round after round poured out of her Rifle's muzzle, the rhythmic kickback of the rifle into Unit 02's shoulder seeming almost reassuring compared to the rhythm of the song.
The noise from the giant rifle was immense, but still wasn't enough to block the song from Asuka's head. She let loose a low guttural scream of anger and hatred as she poured more rounds into the Angel.
*Click*
She threw the rifle away from her as she heard the familiar sound of her gun trying to empty an already empty clip. She reached up to her Unit's knee joint and quickly retrieved her progressive knife from its niche before rushing forward towards the cloud that her rifle's explosive shells had created around the creature.
The song seemed to practically roar in her ears now.
As she came within arm reach of the slowly dissipating cloud she saw a faint swirling and then the Creature emerged, moving towards her out of the cloud. Acting on trained instincts she stabbed at it underhand with the progressive knife and grabbed the side of it with her other hand.
The knife seemed to sink into impossibly dark surface with practically no resistance. She didn't ponder on this though as she slammed it into a nearby building hoping to stun it slightly.
As the two behemoths collided into the building, Asuka noticed the creature shrink slightly and then felt a strange warmness envelop the hand holding the progressive knife.
She looked down and could see that a part of the creature had engulfed her Eva's lower arm entirely and could faintly hear Misato yelling for her to retreat while Dr Akagi was asking whether it was trying to merge with her Eva in the background. Though she was far beyond the point of caring. She suddenly felt a searing pain rush through her arm and up to her head. She screwed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth in a vain effort to block out the pain.
She felt a strange sensation, like something in her brain she didn't know existed suddenly turned itself on and then the pain vanished. So she opened her eyes.
And found her gaze met by the sterile white hospital corridor she was now standing in. up ahead of her were rows apon rows of doors to equally sterile white hospital rooms.
She noticed a hand had dropped onto her shoulder and turned her head to look at the scruffy, unshaven man who it belonged to.
"You aren't supposed to be here yet." She stated, her own voice sounding hollow to her ears. "You shouldn't be here."
"I am not him." Said an unfamiliar voice emanating from Kaji's throat.
"Oh." She said simply, as she resumed peering down the seemingly endless hallway. "Why am I here?"
"Because I am curious, and I found a question I did not know the answer to." The strange voice said. "Turn around."
Asuka turned. She began to hear the sound of running feet echoing faintly down the hospital corridor and could see a small blond girl running towards her.
Asuka noticed the small girl had a look of pure joy etched onto her face, with just that dash of innocence that all children's faces had.
The girl promptly rushed past Asuka and Kaji paying them no heed and the two observers turned to keep her within their vision.
Suddenly the child spoke "Mommy! Mommy! I did a test and they told me I had a high Sink-cro-nization and they told me I would be an elite evan-ge-lion pilot!" before she open one of the doors and rushed inside.
"You always keep that door locked, I would like to know why." The not-Kaji voice asked the girl standing next to him. He tilted his head down to look at her face as she looked up at him, trying to discern some emotion on his emotionless face.
"What is in that room?" Non-Kaji asked.
"I do not know." She stated turning to look at the open door in the corridor, no longer able to stare the non-Kaji in his face.
"What is in that room?" It asked again, sterner this time.
"I do not remember." She answered; her gaze transfixed apon the open door way.
"What is in that room?" It asked one more time, sterner even than the first two times.
"I don't want to remember." She answered with a faint twinge of emotion finally seeping into her voice, unable to tear her gaze away from the door the little girl had gone through no matter how hard she tried.
"You cannot run away from your self forever." And with that said the non-Kaji started walking forward. "Even God is answerable to himself one day."
Asuka felt herself begin to follow him even though every ounce of her being strained to stop.
Suddenly Asuka felt a strange disconnection in her head as she saw the non-Kaji look around as though searching for something.
Asuka closed her eyes as another wave of pain shot through her head and then opened them only to find herself back in the entry plug of Unit 02.
"Asuka please respond! Asuka, we're sending up Unit one to give you assistance. Hang in there!" Misato's voice sounded over the com.
Asuka shook her head slightly; to dislodge some of the fuzziness still lodged in her head.
"Unit two responding, what's happening?" she asked slightly groggily, as though she had just woken up.
"ASUKA!? Thank god! We're sending Unit one up to distract the angel, so when you get a chance make a break for it." Misato said hurriedly.
"Roger, ugh." Asuka said, strain showing on her face, "Unit two's not moving!"
"Ritsuko! What the hells going on?" The Captain shouted, while turning to look at something off screen that Asuka couldn't see.
"I don't understand it, all the nerve connections are working fi...Maya, double check the I.O. sensors for Unit two!" Asuka Heard the Doctor command.
"Putting it on the main projector now doctor." The young technician was heard to say.
Asuka heard a collective gasp from the people on the Command Bridge.
"WHAT!? What is it!?" Asuka shouted.
"Sir, Unit one has reached the surface." Asuka heard Maya Stated over her com.
"Good. Shinji, I need you to go to the Weapon depot on your left, the building with the flashing light on top, copy?
"Erm...on my way, sir, I mean ma'am!" A squeaky little voice said over the speakers.
"What's going on Misato! What has that THING done to my Unit two!?" Asuka yelled at the captain.
"Wait a sec Asuka. You got the rifle Shinji? Good. Now just centre the Angel in the cross hairs and pull the trigger." Misato replied calmly.
"O...Ok" The shy little voice said.
After a short pause Asuka heard the loud repeated crack of the rifle's discharge outside her Eva, followed by the sound of multiple hits on several different surfaces.
"MISATO! I demand you tell me what's going on!" Asuka yelled, extra loudly over the gunfire outside.
"Status on the Angel Doctor?" Misato asked Ritsuko, ignoring the german girl entirely.
"It emitted some slight EM Radiation but otherwise, no change."
"Damn."
"MISATO!" Asuka yelled again, her face turning an interesting shade of purple.
"Asuka! Try to deploy your AT field..." However Asuka's found her ability to pay attention disappear as she heard a series of snaps through her Evas external pickups. Then her eyes went wide as she felt a split second of numbness before quite possibly the largest amount of pain she had ever experienced washed over her like a tidal wave.
She Screamed.
She noted briefly that her Eva had been thrown through the air by the Angel and landed awkwardly on its back in the middle of the street, though through the pain she found it hard to focus on things outside her Eva.
Suddenly the pain disappeared, leaving behind a faint numbness and the sensation of pins and needles in her arms and legs.
"Oww..." she added lamely, A feeling of exhaustion sweeping over her before she blacked out completely. The last thing she would remember seeing as she let her eyelids droop finally that day would the image of the unnaturally black Cuboid squaring off against the Equally disconcerting Unit 01, and the way the Eva's eyes seemed to glow...
...Black.
*******
Asuka sat upright suddenly and looked around the unfamiliar room.
She paid close attention to its immaculately clean blue and white tiled floor with its sterile white walls and its bluish white ceiling tiles.
"Hospital." She declared before she laid herself back down into the soft hospital bed and just stared up at the ceiling for a while, her arms and legs spread-eagled about her.
She turned her head as she heard the door to her smallish room open and saw the head of Captain Katsuragi Peek around the side.
"You shouldn't be here you know." Asuka stated flatly.
"I wanted to check up on you. You still feeling groggy?" She said quietly.
"Slightly." Asuka returned her gaze back towards the ceiling tiles. "Did we win?"
"Barely." Misato said as she walked into Asuka's room, closing the door behind her. "Mind if I sit down?"
Asuka didn't respond, instead taking a great interest in the pattern of tiles above her. Misato, assuming the lack of a negative reply was just as good as a positive one, took the chair beside the Asuka's and sat down on it.
"Units One and Two are heavily damaged from the sortie with the first Angel, the damage to Unit two is the greatest and..." Misato Started saying before Asuka Decided to interrupt her.
"What happened out there? To me and Unit two?" her voice betrayed her emotions more than her face which had yet to leave the direction of the ceiling tiles.
"We...Ritsuko thinks that when your Eva's hand sunk into the Angel it tried to gain control of the Eva and you as well. For a second or two there your synchro graph went wild and the sensors in the plug registered a negative Synchronisation with the Eva before it simply stopped at zero percent." Misato paused for second, looking away from the bed and licking her lips slightly to moisten them some before she continued. "No one knows how exactly, but just as your synch rating started to return to normal the Angel managed to break both your Eva's arms and legs simultaneously." Another pause, as Misato licked her lips once again.
"They...Ritsuko and the Commander believe there is a slight chance of mental contamination from the battle...They wanted to lock you up in a cell for observation, but I managed to persuade them to let me give you another option."
"What? What is my other 'Option'?" Asuka asked, her head turned towards Misato so that she was looking her directly in the eyes.
"Well...You can either stay in a cell for observation or... you can stay with me in my apartment, under my care until the Commander is sure you aren't contaminated."
She pauses again returning Asuka's look with a more relaxed one.
"After that you're free to move to another apartment in the Geo front or whatever you want. So which do you want Asuka?"
------
End of Chapter 1
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Keyboarded by the Snazzy Cat
A Neon Genesis Evangelion Fanfiction, with ideas and copyrights stolen wholesale from Arthur C. Clark's and Stanley Cubric's Movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey sprinkled lightly over the lot.
Die-hard fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion may notice some slight changes.
This fanfiction is dedicated to the earphones that passed away some time during the first couple of paragraphs, they will be missed.
Remember, all you lawyers and lawyerettes out there, this is not for profit so simply enjoy!
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Gendo Ikari strode swiftly across the deck of the space station's minimalist executive waiting area, his shoes heralding his presence on the slightly warmed metal.
As he got with in hearing distance of the main bar a tall, grey haired man turned his head towards him,
"You're late Ikari." Stated the, only mildly angry, voice of the tall grey haired man as Gendo stood next to him at the bar.
"I apologise for the inconvenience Professor, but my flight was delayed due to some Interesting... events." Came back Gendo's almost toneless response as he laid a small red folder onto the bar top, in the top right hand corner of the folder could be seen a small picture of a bisected figleaf.
Taking the folder Fuyutsuki began to leaf through the documents within.
"So the scroll's predictions were correct, though a bit off date wise." He mused aloud "Those old men must be quite pleased." Fuyutsuki paused for a moment, as he reread the final document contained within the folder, A look of mild astonishment flashed briefly across his face then vanished, replaced by well concealed anger as he turned to Gendo.
"Is this information Trustworthy Ikari?" Fuyutsuki Practically hissed at his companion
"Close enough for my liking Professor."
"But if this is true then..."
"Then it should add enough variables into the old men's Scenario, as I expected." Gendo interrupted as he leaned his elbows on the bar and casually laced his fingers together.
"You knew this was going to happen didn't you Ikari? Since the very beginning didn't you?" Fuyutsuki whispered with a slight tinge of awe entering his voice.
Gendo allowed a slight smirk to appear on his face as he rested his elbows on the bar top and steepled his fingers. He shot a fleeting glance towards Fuyutsuki before finally saying, in his usual almost toneless manner, though an observant listener would have heard a faint tint of mischief enter it now.
"Now professor. Would you like to remind me of whose turn to order the drinks it is."
"You're a cold bastard Ikari." Fuyutsuki replied chuckling slightly, as he attempted to get the barman's attention.
*******
The Soul's Odyssey
Chapter 1
Birth of a star/First good intention
*******
The Sun was beginning to set on the artificial wonder of glass, Alloys and concrete that was Tokyo 3. This was the time of day young couples would often meet apon various elevated position within and without the city to gain a truly breath taking view of the surrounding country. The orange glow from the sun giving the surrounding forests an eerily content atmosphere as though it was welcoming the onrushing night and the eventual dawn and dew that it preceded.
For a few brief moments they could allow themselves to relax and let the feelings of contentment just wash over them without worries, even though they knew at the back of their minds that this bliss of the moment would end eventually.
However, on this day However they didn't know the manner in which that bliss would end would be a bit more dramatic than a simple matter of waking up the next morning starting their day.
Not that a certain redheaded german girl who was currently sitting apon a bench in front of the tokyo-3 central train station Car park cared for such matters.
The elite second Child, Asuka Langley Sohryu, was getting fed up.
Fed up of sitting here, outside the Tokyo-3 Central train station.
Fed up of waiting for some NERV nobody to show up and take her to NERV headquarters in Tokyo-3.
'What sort of organisation leaves their best pilot sitting alone by the side of the road out side a train station? These Japanese have no...'
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted though, by the screeching of tires as a blue Sports car pulled to a halt less than a foot away from where she was sitting.
"Are you Asuka Langley?" asked the busty shades wearing woman in the driving seat.
"Err...Yeah?" came back Asuka's startled reply.
"Hop in. I'm Captain Katsuragi Misato, I'm here to pick you up." said the Shades wearing Woman with a grin as she flashed her NERV Identity badge at.
"Well it's about time you showed up." Asuka huffed while stuffing her luggage into the back seat of Misato's car.
"What took you so long anyway? What kind of person leaves, what could have easily been a poor defenceless little girl, all alone waiting at a train station where any kind of pervert could have snatched me away?!" Asuka shouted at Misato.
"I'm sorry Asuka, some work came up at the last minute which took a bit longer than I expected" Misato said as she started the car off.
"I STILL don't understand why I couldn't have just rode here with my Unit-02."
"Well the freight train it had to be carried on wasn't exactly designed for commuting Passengers." Misato looked thoughtful for a second. "Or even Evas for that matter."
"Well, It's still stupid that I didn't get a PROPER escort" Asuka shot back.
"Sorry about that, Section 2 has been kinda busy lately, and it simply didn't have any men spare." stated Misato as she swerved to avoid another pedestrian.
"Why? What's happening that might require the whole of section 2?" Inquired Asuka, her Curiosity peaked.
"It's kind of... complex, I'll be able to explain better once we reach headquarters." Came back Misato's calm reply.
"Fine" Asuka stated as she sat down in the passenger seat and the car went on its way.
*******
"Wow, your Japanese is amazing considering you just came from Germany, can barely even hear a hint of accent." A wistful look descended apon Misato's features as she continued "Wish I could take my next vacation in Germany, might visit my Old University, see how it's shaping up with old age." Misato blathered on as the two women walked down one of the many faceless corridors situated insides NERV headquarters.
"Well Germany is a beautiful country." Asuka stated as she read through the NERV Security manual.
"That Manual is probably a bit out of date, a lot of the routines have been either changed completely or increased over the last couple of days, I'll see if I can get you a more up to date one tomorrow." Misato said as she double-checked the nearby halls markings to make sure she was heading in the right direction. "Where did you learn your Japanese?" She added.
"Munich central University and Library." Asuka said as she tossed the NERV Manual into a passing dustbin.
"Huh!? You mean you've got a degree in Japanese?" Misato asked.
"Well, I had to do something in between Synch tests and training sessions you know." Asuka replied in her most Modest tone of voice, which, being Asuka, wasn't very.
"And that Psych degree barely kept me awake, same with the physics and Biology and..." she added ticking off each subject and point on her fingers.
"The sciences always did that to me anyway, I was always more partial to philosophising and deep, introspective courses..." Misato stated to say as her mind boggled at the new information Asuka's mouth was supplying. 'She's grown up so much, so quickly. That can't be healthy for anyone, doubly so for an Eva pilot...' Misato thought as the two stepped onto the command bridge.
"Yes, but in the real world, what use is there really for a degree in drinking and lechery Misato?" The tall smiling blond woman in the lab coat greeted them with as Misato and Asuka walked onto the main bridge of NERV headquarters. "Hello there Asuka, I'm Dr Akagi, Chief Scientist and head of project E. I see you've grown quite a bit since last I saw you."
"Hey! Drama wasn't JUST drinking and sex you know!" Misato burst out, a slight smile appearing on her face.
"Excuse me Dr Akagi, but have we met before?" Asuka asked from around the smiling Captain.
"A long time ago. You probably can't remember me." The blond doctor said in a non-committal tone as she turned to examine something on one of the nearby computer screens before marking something down on the clipboard she was holding.
"What's the current status on the anomalies Ritsuko?" Misato inquired as she stepped closer to get a better look at the screen Ritsuko had just examined.
"What the hell?! Where'd all these other ones come from?!"
The doctor's expression didn't change after Misato's outburst.
"We think they might have been joined together somehow, or they might just be parts of a larger whole. Though as there isn't any real hard evidence to base either hypothesis on we can only speculate for the moment."
The Captain frowned and hugged her self as she gave the monitor one last glance.
"And wild speculation never helped win battles. If only we knew what their plans and objectives were..."
"AND JUST WHAT, may I ask, is so interesting about a map of the solar system?"
The German girl said after she barged in front of Misato so she could see the screen in question.
"Are those asteroids you're tracking or something?" She said, pointing at the small yellow dots overlaid on a map of the solar system that the screen was showing.
A disturbing thought crossed Asuka's mind, and it's presence made itself felt across her face.
"It's not is it? You haven't dragged the undefeatable Asuka Langley Sohryu all the way to Tokyo-3 just to play catch with a giant snowball?"
"Those 'asteroids' as you call them have been designated 'Angels' by the way, and if Second impact is any indication then they are on their way to destroy humanity."
"How long till they attack?" Asuka asked her face taking on a serious look as she looked at Ritsuko's face.
"Well thankfully you and the other Evas will only be facing one of the things today, the others split off and are heading towards Mars and Jupiter as we speak. The remaining one is estimated to reach a lunar orbit within 6 hours if it's velocity doesn't change."
"Just enough time to get prepared down here but not enough to get the Eva's rigged up on the space lifts, not that the UN would let us deploy in space yet anyway." Misato said as she rubbed her temples.
"Or that we've got all the kinks ironed out of the type D equipment either." Ritsuko added, before looking up at the Captain.
"You feeling a bit stressed Misato?" She asked, concern evident in her voice.
"Not really just had a bad night is all, I'll go show Asuka the rec' room before the activation test begins and get us some drinks and eats, that should sort me out for the time being at least." The Captain said, her voice gaining a slightly forced sounding chipper tone.
"I hate to interrupt your carefully laid plans, but I did the activation test with my unit Two back in Germany months ago." The german girl stated with a shrug.
"Unit Zero." Ritsuko stated without looking up from her clipboard.
"What about unit Zero?"
"We're doing the activation test with Unit Zero, not Unit Two."
Another puzzled look came over Asuka's face
"The prototype!? You're just NOW doing the activation test!? Mein Gott!"
"We did the first activation test several years ago actually, but there were...unforeseen Reactions from the Unit and it's taken us this long just to get most of them sorted out." The doctor tilted her head back and rubbed the bridge of her nose before continuing. "We're still trying to fix some of the less serious glitches," she turned her attention fully onto Asuka.
"Come on Asuka, I can see the early warning signs of an imminent eruption of Mt Akagi, and take my word on this you don't want to be around to be caught in the explosion." Misato joked giving a quick wink to Asuka. "Not to mention I'm starting to get really hungry here, and I bet you didn't get anything good to eat on the flight over here."
"You know airline food..." Asuka started saying as she and Misato strolled off in the direction of the Rec' room, though Ritsuko wasn't listening, her mind being more focused on her friend's behaviour.
'Either Misato didn't drink enough this morning or she's started having those dreams again...' Ritsuko thought as she stared after Misato's retreating form.
She paused in her thoughts, as eyed up the Tracking map of the "Angels" briefly. 'It's not like her to be late for anything important like picking up the Second, she may be absent minded at times but she's never irresponsible when it comes to her duty. I'd better have a talk with her after I get these tests completed, just to make sure she's alright.'
*******
"The activation test will begin in 30 minutes," Ritsuko said to the surrounding technicians. "Check everything over once more, I don't want any mistakes this time."
The 3rd Pribnow box was a buzz of activity as technicians ran back and forth rechecking circuitry and making final adjustments to some of the sensor relays connecting the box to Eva 00. Misato and Ritsuko were standing just in front of the glass window separating them and the technicians from the giant padded room in which Eva unit 00 and it's pilot silently waited.
Turning aside to the technician's seat nearest her "how are you coping Maya? Any major fluctuations in the sync harmonics yet?" she asked, putting a hand on the technicians shoulder.
"The harmonics are well within the normal limits sempai." The young tech answered, her slight blush going unnoticed by the rest of the crew.
"How goes the Activation test Dr Akagi?" A flat toned voice said as its originator walked into the Pribnow box
"The Eva-Intuitive Code seems to be having the desired effect, Random connection Feedbacks, and the subsequent breathing difficulties they cause have been completely nullified. As far as we can tell Unit zero is operating at optimum efficiency so far." The chief Scientist reported, while staring Gendo straight in the eyes, or at least what could be seen of them behind his tinted glasses.
"And Rei?" The commander said in his normal flat tone as he diverted his attention to nearby readouts and display consoles.
"The first child hasn't mentioned any abnormalities so far," Ritsuko said, this caused Gendo to focus his full attention on the scientist. "And her synchro graph is reading normal, no signs of pain or other feedback errors since we synchronised the Eva's auto and semiautonomous systems..."
"How are you feeling Rei?" The Commander asked, interrupting Ritsuko, his tone changing subtly to a more normal questioning lilt. Ritsuko frowned and glared slightly at the commander's back as he strode forward to get a better view of Unit 00.
"I can feel a faint...impression of someone else." A faint, monotone voice said over the com system.
"Anything else, Rei?" The commander asked again in that unusual tone of voice, at least, unusual for him.
"No." The quiet monotone voice answered.
"Very well then. Dr Akagi, when can the full activation test begin?" The commander asked his voice back to it's normal toneless quality. His stare never leaving the face of the silent beast that stood before him.
"We're going over the last safety checks as we speak, as long as they don't turn up anything unusual we should be ready to begin activation" the doctor stated, her expression set into a neutral mask.
"Are you expecting anything unusual?"
"Well no, but it's would be safer to go through everything one more time before..."
"The UN will attack the Angel designated Rogziel as soon as it enters Lunar orbit in five hours Doctor. I would prefer that there were three working Evangelions, ready for when their attack fails. Begin the activation test as soon as possible"
As the Commander finished saying this the whole Pribnow box fell silent as they all tried to digest this information. Finally, after a second that seemed like hours, everyone began to work faster to get the systems necessary for the activation test fully operational
"But, COMMANDER, we don't have any way to pilot Unit one yet, so getting it prepared for combat right now is a waste of resources. We should focus on getting Unit zero operational..." The doctor tried to argue with Gendo, but his impassive stare caused her argument to stutter and die down.
Gendo then paused, before turning his gaze back towards the hulking Unit 00.
"The Marduk Institute has found the third child." He said, pushed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose with one hand. "He should be arriving as we speak." He turned his gaze back to Ritsuko before finishing "If you still think that this is foolish then I'm sure that Your assistant, Lieutenant Ibuki, can handle most of your duties till we can find an adequate replacement...do you have anymore objections Dr Akagi?"
Ritsuko merely nodded before starting to overseer the technician's last minute checks.
'Funny how they just happen to "find" the third Child just in time the Angel attack' Misato, who was being largely ignored by the surrounding people, thought as she mulled over the information she had just gained.
"I presume that the third child is, as yet untrained?" Misato asked the Commander, as she went into full 'Katsuragi battle mode'.
"Yes. He will be used only when the other two evangelion fail." He handed Misato a small manila folder. "You are not needed here, I suggest you examine his file before you meet him." Gendo, having lost interest in her, turned back to the large Orange Evangelion.
Unnoticed to the Chief NERV Officers, Asuka stood to the side of the side of the box, and pondered the information she had just heard, one phrase kept repeating in her head over and over though;
"...When the other two Evangelion fail..." She felt a brief swell of fear at the absolute fact the commander's voice had seemed to carry. 'Shut up!' She thought to herself as she dragged her focus back to the present.
"Asuka, it might be useful if you came with me to meet the Third Child, help him adjust to it all." Misato said as she paused at the box's doorway and looked towards Asuka.
"Huh? Oh yeah, sure, it's not like anything interesting is going to happen here."
*******
"All Connections are green, approaching absolute borderline...Passed absolute borderline! No errors...wait some kind of external interference..."
"Oh MY GOD! The connection's reversing!?"
"Cut the Circuits!"
"No Response!"
"Eject the entry plug and shut off the Eva's power supply!"
"WHAT THE!? It's emitting a focused EMP!"
"Entry Plug and Power cable have been safely ejected."
"Battery Down to Ten Seconds of Charge!"
"Open the access routes to the EVA NOW! Lieutenant!"
"Yes Sir!"
"Commander you shouldn't! It's too dangerous!"
"Commander!"
"Medic!"
*******
"The Suit seems to be a little...uh...Baggy." A Squeaky voice asked from the other side of the cloth partition in the (mixed) changing room.
"Gott en Himmel, just Press the button on the suit's wrist marked 'Shrink' dumkopf." Asuka answered rolling her eyes as she too got suited up for her Eva.
The sound of the Suit's fabric suddenly conforming to a person's skin is heard from the "men's" side of the changing room followed by a small "eep" noise from the suit's inhabitant.
"Uh...thank you, interesting feeling he he...so err...What's it like in side one of those giant robots?"
"More than you can handle Third Child. When we're up on the surface just try to stay out of my way, I don't need to have to look after you as well as dealing with a hideous monster from outer space, so just stay back and let me do all the work." Asuka warned as she too shrank her Plug Suit to size.
"Um... Okay then." Came the much quieter reply from the other side of the partition.
"Just 'okay then.' No Argument, nothing?" Asuka asked, one of her eyebrows raising slightly. "Such a boring little boy...I'll be waiting outside when you're ready to go to the cages." She added as she walked out of the changing room.
"Sorry." Shinji added quietly after she had left, his face turning downcast as he made the last few adjustments to the suit before he too exited the changing room.
*******
"Okay Asuka, we're launching you into the outskirts of Tokyo three. Something went wrong with Unit zero's activation test and the Magi believe that Rogziel was involved somehow, so if you feel anything wrong with your Eva, anything at all, report it 'k?" Misato Explained to Asuka a she was launched.
"Yes Sir." Asuka Responded, barely listening to Misato, her mind occupied with psyching herself up for the coming battle.
'You can do this, it doesn't matter what other people think, You are the best! No one can withstand the might of Asuka Langley Sohryu!'
'I CAN do this!'
'I must do this!'
'So the whole world can finally know how great I truly am!'
'I WILL DEFEAT THE ANGEL!'
"I will succeed, I will." She mumbled under her breath
Misato's image paused for second in its briefing talk.
"What was that Asuka?"
"Huh? Oh nothing...Is that all?" Asuka asked, Misato's question breaking her out of her mild trance.
"Pretty much, just that Shinji is ready in Unit One, so you should have some back up, in case you need it." Misato smiled at Asuka. "Good luck out there, we're all counting on you."
"I know."
"Approaching surface...Now!"
And with that Asuka's world changed from a view of speeding concrete walls to the early night sky and a beautiful view of Tokyo 3.
The sun had just set for the night but Asuka found that she was bathed in the glow of myriad signs and lights from nearby buildings.
"Power to all nonessential buildings will be shut off in 3...2...1..." The Eva pilot heard a member of the bridge say, and soon after her world was plunged into total blackness. Well, total blackness if she saw the world through merely human eyes.
"Can you see ok up there Asuka?" Misato's voice asked over the com.
"Perfectly." Asuka stated, as she looked around for the Infrared Paint that marked out a supply building.
"Remember try to get as much information about its capabilities before you finish it. But don't be too risky, if you get a chance to. Kill it."
Misato's image looked at something off screen before turning back to face the camera.
"It's approaching from the east, bearing..."
"107 degrees south by south east, got it." She pre-empted, grabbing a palette rifle in one hand and some ammo in the other from the nearest supply building.
The image of Misato looked puzzled for a second, looked off screen again and then stating:
"...109 degrees, actually. Close though. How'd you guess that?"
"My gyro is pointing straight for it, it must be producing a huge magnetic field." 'And my Eva can seem to sense it's approach, of course' she added silently, unconsciously gritting her teeth.
"Ok then. It's supposed to be travelling at about mach five so it should reach near your position within a minute."
As Misato spoke those words Asuka noticed a small glowing object far away in the distance, and as she watched she could both see and feel its rapid approach towards Tokyo-3.
As it got closer she found herself more and more entranced by the glowing object, something about it just disturbed her on an unconscious level, like a feeling of déjà vu as someone walked over her grave. She shook her head in an attempt to dislodge the strange feeling, not realising that her Eva mimicked the action.
Finally it arrived with in a mile of Tokyo 3, though it appeared as a mere ball of flame in the night sky due to the Creature's huge speed and subsequent friction with the air around it.
Asuka tracked it with her rifle as it rushed forward, seemingly straight for her. As it finally came within the city it's speed was too great for Asuka to keep track of it, so she decided to just let it pass over head and open fire when it finally stopped.
It Rushed past right over head, without making a single noise and then simply stopped dead, a large cloud of steam or smoke obscuring Asuka's view of the creature as it hung silently a few hundred meters away.
A few split seconds passed.
And then the shock wave hit. Glass from the buildings It had flown over shattered and cascaded into the streets around Asuka, the tops of several of the taller buildings were completely blown apart causing dust and debris to be blown further into the city. Asuka dug her Eva's fingers and feet into the concrete to stop it from being blown over while never letting the entity known as Rogziel leave her sight.
And then the shock wave finally receded, leaving nothing but a deathly silence and the Huge Black monolith hanging calmly in mid air.
Asuka sat in her unit 02, rifle trained on the shadow's cuboid form, Totally Transfixed by its appearance. And then she realised that there wasn't complete silence.
As she watched, unmoving, she could begin to hear the sound of a song sang by a thousand different voices, and yet, was almost inaudible at the same time.
She listened to it carefully, as it seemed to almost cause the LCL to hum with its strange melody, the actually song becoming easier to hear as she listened on.
It was totally fascinating, as though someone had managed to pen raw emotion into musical notes, and then had a thousand people sing those pure notes in perfect harmony. There was no words or lyrics or chorus, merely the song itself, sung in a Language of raw human emotion. It reminded Asuka of a primitive African tribal song with its inherent simplicity, but with an undertone of vast deepness and complexity. It sang to her of joy and triumph and hope and fear and the same inherent wrongness that seemed to be Rogziel's trademark.
Round after round poured out of her Rifle's muzzle, the rhythmic kickback of the rifle into Unit 02's shoulder seeming almost reassuring compared to the rhythm of the song.
The noise from the giant rifle was immense, but still wasn't enough to block the song from Asuka's head. She let loose a low guttural scream of anger and hatred as she poured more rounds into the Angel.
*Click*
She threw the rifle away from her as she heard the familiar sound of her gun trying to empty an already empty clip. She reached up to her Unit's knee joint and quickly retrieved her progressive knife from its niche before rushing forward towards the cloud that her rifle's explosive shells had created around the creature.
The song seemed to practically roar in her ears now.
As she came within arm reach of the slowly dissipating cloud she saw a faint swirling and then the Creature emerged, moving towards her out of the cloud. Acting on trained instincts she stabbed at it underhand with the progressive knife and grabbed the side of it with her other hand.
The knife seemed to sink into impossibly dark surface with practically no resistance. She didn't ponder on this though as she slammed it into a nearby building hoping to stun it slightly.
As the two behemoths collided into the building, Asuka noticed the creature shrink slightly and then felt a strange warmness envelop the hand holding the progressive knife.
She looked down and could see that a part of the creature had engulfed her Eva's lower arm entirely and could faintly hear Misato yelling for her to retreat while Dr Akagi was asking whether it was trying to merge with her Eva in the background. Though she was far beyond the point of caring. She suddenly felt a searing pain rush through her arm and up to her head. She screwed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth in a vain effort to block out the pain.
She felt a strange sensation, like something in her brain she didn't know existed suddenly turned itself on and then the pain vanished. So she opened her eyes.
And found her gaze met by the sterile white hospital corridor she was now standing in. up ahead of her were rows apon rows of doors to equally sterile white hospital rooms.
She noticed a hand had dropped onto her shoulder and turned her head to look at the scruffy, unshaven man who it belonged to.
"You aren't supposed to be here yet." She stated, her own voice sounding hollow to her ears. "You shouldn't be here."
"I am not him." Said an unfamiliar voice emanating from Kaji's throat.
"Oh." She said simply, as she resumed peering down the seemingly endless hallway. "Why am I here?"
"Because I am curious, and I found a question I did not know the answer to." The strange voice said. "Turn around."
Asuka turned. She began to hear the sound of running feet echoing faintly down the hospital corridor and could see a small blond girl running towards her.
Asuka noticed the small girl had a look of pure joy etched onto her face, with just that dash of innocence that all children's faces had.
The girl promptly rushed past Asuka and Kaji paying them no heed and the two observers turned to keep her within their vision.
Suddenly the child spoke "Mommy! Mommy! I did a test and they told me I had a high Sink-cro-nization and they told me I would be an elite evan-ge-lion pilot!" before she open one of the doors and rushed inside.
"You always keep that door locked, I would like to know why." The not-Kaji voice asked the girl standing next to him. He tilted his head down to look at her face as she looked up at him, trying to discern some emotion on his emotionless face.
"What is in that room?" Non-Kaji asked.
"I do not know." She stated turning to look at the open door in the corridor, no longer able to stare the non-Kaji in his face.
"What is in that room?" It asked again, sterner this time.
"I do not remember." She answered; her gaze transfixed apon the open door way.
"What is in that room?" It asked one more time, sterner even than the first two times.
"I don't want to remember." She answered with a faint twinge of emotion finally seeping into her voice, unable to tear her gaze away from the door the little girl had gone through no matter how hard she tried.
"You cannot run away from your self forever." And with that said the non-Kaji started walking forward. "Even God is answerable to himself one day."
Asuka felt herself begin to follow him even though every ounce of her being strained to stop.
Suddenly Asuka felt a strange disconnection in her head as she saw the non-Kaji look around as though searching for something.
Asuka closed her eyes as another wave of pain shot through her head and then opened them only to find herself back in the entry plug of Unit 02.
"Asuka please respond! Asuka, we're sending up Unit one to give you assistance. Hang in there!" Misato's voice sounded over the com.
Asuka shook her head slightly; to dislodge some of the fuzziness still lodged in her head.
"Unit two responding, what's happening?" she asked slightly groggily, as though she had just woken up.
"ASUKA!? Thank god! We're sending Unit one up to distract the angel, so when you get a chance make a break for it." Misato said hurriedly.
"Roger, ugh." Asuka said, strain showing on her face, "Unit two's not moving!"
"Ritsuko! What the hells going on?" The Captain shouted, while turning to look at something off screen that Asuka couldn't see.
"I don't understand it, all the nerve connections are working fi...Maya, double check the I.O. sensors for Unit two!" Asuka Heard the Doctor command.
"Putting it on the main projector now doctor." The young technician was heard to say.
Asuka heard a collective gasp from the people on the Command Bridge.
"WHAT!? What is it!?" Asuka shouted.
"Sir, Unit one has reached the surface." Asuka heard Maya Stated over her com.
"Good. Shinji, I need you to go to the Weapon depot on your left, the building with the flashing light on top, copy?
"Erm...on my way, sir, I mean ma'am!" A squeaky little voice said over the speakers.
"What's going on Misato! What has that THING done to my Unit two!?" Asuka yelled at the captain.
"Wait a sec Asuka. You got the rifle Shinji? Good. Now just centre the Angel in the cross hairs and pull the trigger." Misato replied calmly.
"O...Ok" The shy little voice said.
After a short pause Asuka heard the loud repeated crack of the rifle's discharge outside her Eva, followed by the sound of multiple hits on several different surfaces.
"MISATO! I demand you tell me what's going on!" Asuka yelled, extra loudly over the gunfire outside.
"Status on the Angel Doctor?" Misato asked Ritsuko, ignoring the german girl entirely.
"It emitted some slight EM Radiation but otherwise, no change."
"Damn."
"MISATO!" Asuka yelled again, her face turning an interesting shade of purple.
"Asuka! Try to deploy your AT field..." However Asuka's found her ability to pay attention disappear as she heard a series of snaps through her Evas external pickups. Then her eyes went wide as she felt a split second of numbness before quite possibly the largest amount of pain she had ever experienced washed over her like a tidal wave.
She Screamed.
She noted briefly that her Eva had been thrown through the air by the Angel and landed awkwardly on its back in the middle of the street, though through the pain she found it hard to focus on things outside her Eva.
Suddenly the pain disappeared, leaving behind a faint numbness and the sensation of pins and needles in her arms and legs.
"Oww..." she added lamely, A feeling of exhaustion sweeping over her before she blacked out completely. The last thing she would remember seeing as she let her eyelids droop finally that day would the image of the unnaturally black Cuboid squaring off against the Equally disconcerting Unit 01, and the way the Eva's eyes seemed to glow...
...Black.
*******
Asuka sat upright suddenly and looked around the unfamiliar room.
She paid close attention to its immaculately clean blue and white tiled floor with its sterile white walls and its bluish white ceiling tiles.
"Hospital." She declared before she laid herself back down into the soft hospital bed and just stared up at the ceiling for a while, her arms and legs spread-eagled about her.
She turned her head as she heard the door to her smallish room open and saw the head of Captain Katsuragi Peek around the side.
"You shouldn't be here you know." Asuka stated flatly.
"I wanted to check up on you. You still feeling groggy?" She said quietly.
"Slightly." Asuka returned her gaze back towards the ceiling tiles. "Did we win?"
"Barely." Misato said as she walked into Asuka's room, closing the door behind her. "Mind if I sit down?"
Asuka didn't respond, instead taking a great interest in the pattern of tiles above her. Misato, assuming the lack of a negative reply was just as good as a positive one, took the chair beside the Asuka's and sat down on it.
"Units One and Two are heavily damaged from the sortie with the first Angel, the damage to Unit two is the greatest and..." Misato Started saying before Asuka Decided to interrupt her.
"What happened out there? To me and Unit two?" her voice betrayed her emotions more than her face which had yet to leave the direction of the ceiling tiles.
"We...Ritsuko thinks that when your Eva's hand sunk into the Angel it tried to gain control of the Eva and you as well. For a second or two there your synchro graph went wild and the sensors in the plug registered a negative Synchronisation with the Eva before it simply stopped at zero percent." Misato paused for second, looking away from the bed and licking her lips slightly to moisten them some before she continued. "No one knows how exactly, but just as your synch rating started to return to normal the Angel managed to break both your Eva's arms and legs simultaneously." Another pause, as Misato licked her lips once again.
"They...Ritsuko and the Commander believe there is a slight chance of mental contamination from the battle...They wanted to lock you up in a cell for observation, but I managed to persuade them to let me give you another option."
"What? What is my other 'Option'?" Asuka asked, her head turned towards Misato so that she was looking her directly in the eyes.
"Well...You can either stay in a cell for observation or... you can stay with me in my apartment, under my care until the Commander is sure you aren't contaminated."
She pauses again returning Asuka's look with a more relaxed one.
"After that you're free to move to another apartment in the Geo front or whatever you want. So which do you want Asuka?"
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End of Chapter 1
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