Prologue: From the Beginning…

0500 hours (GMT), July 30, 2547 (Military Calendar)
[Location Redacted]

- - - O - - -

I have walked the edge of the Abyss.
And I have stared back, unblinking.

I have governed the unwilling.
And they bow to me as to a god.

I have witnessed countless empires break before me.
Only to be built up again in my image.

I have seen the most courageous soldiers fall away in fear.
Fear that is inhuman in nature.

[I was there with the Angel at the Tomb]
[I am the Sword that guards the entrance to Eden]

I have seen your future,
And I have learned.
I have seen your past,
And how you run from me.

But I have begun to sense rumblings of a worse fate yet to come.
Learn from your mistakes well, for the time shall once again be upon you.

I've had the strangest dreams lately – raging seas, howling beasts, a Demon folded in black clouds.
The greater whole of your individual parts pales in comparison.

I can recall a sun – black, but shining – and the creatures that inched along its fiery tracks.
Many shall come, and many shall fall.

I am so close – you cannot imagine what it is truly like to hold eternity in your grasp!
You fail, and yet still you try, though doomed to failure from the start.

Will there be no more Sadness? No more Anger? No more Envy?
Will there be no more Fear? No more Love? No more Desire?

And what of the Giants who formed this world?
We shall return from whence we came, once our job is completed.

So much to tell you, but so many more important things to do.
Time runs short, and there is still much to be done.

Oh, and your poet Elliot had it all wrong,
You never saw it coming,
THIS is the way the world ends:

- - - O - - -

A light clicked on in the darkness. In the center of the newly illuminated circle stood a man dressed in the gray-green service uniform of the UNSC Army. His shoulders bore the silver eagles of a colonel, and his right breast pocket displaying the black-and-white pyramid of the Office of Naval Intelligence. A green officer's cap sat atop the man's head, hiding the receding widow's peak in the colonel's short brown hair. The man's posture was proud, almost arrogant, as the shapes materialized on the edge of the darkness around him.

Twelve black rectangular monoliths appeared, the holograms protecting the identities of the members of this shadowy council. On the surfaces facing the colonel, each monolith displayed the emblem of SEELE, the number of each individual member, and the mostly unnecessary "Sound Only," as if it wasn't already clear that the members of the organization wouldn't show their faces unless it was necessary. The colonel wasn't even sure if they were all actually human, or if some of them were AI's. Not that it mattered, in the end.

"Your report, Colonel," the deep voice of the Chairman of SEELE boomed from the monolith marked "01," directly ahead of said colonel.

"Production of the Units is continuing on schedule, as is the training of the pilots," he reported. "We'll likely be performing the contact experiments for the Evangelions within the next two months."

"You plan to conduct the contact experiments ahead of schedule then," SEELE-10, directly to the colonel's left, observed, her voice a neutral tone with a hint of what he suspected to be a Boston accent.

"More pertinently, why would you commence with the contact experiments so early on, when the Mass Production series will clearly not be completed for at least another nine months?" SEELE-04, situated opposite Ten, stepped in, slight irritation in his voice.

"Given the nature of the pilots, it is necessary to perform all the contact experiments at the exact same time," the colonel explained. "By conducting them now, I'm also giving the pilots a longer time to train properly with the Evangelions they will be using in combat, even if it is only for simulation. I'll admit that this way takes far longer than the original plan, but I felt it would be pertinent to put all my available pilots to work."

"It's your fault for insisting on the construction of the additional twelve units, Colonel," SEELE-12, the military representative situated just to the left of the chairman, jabbed at him. Her voice was more distinctly masked by distortion filters than most of the other members, but not so much that the caustic nature the colonel had experienced before could hide with it.

"Only to ensure that no one will be able to interfere when you plan to carry out the complementation ceremony, especially-"

"Your excess is putting a very noticeable drain on resources, Colonel," Twelve spat back at him, her ire clear even through the distortion that made her voice unrecognizable. The colonel could almost swear that the seven eyes on the SEELE logo that adorned her monolith were all glaring at him. "And given the details of your so-called 'success' with the first iteration of your first secret project, I remain rather skeptical that it will be of benefit. On top of that," she continued, not giving the colonel a chance to interrupt, "Attempting to create twenty-one Units all at once is using up an even more important resource, and that is time. We are the designated inheritors of this galaxy, and if we are to step up to our rightful place, then we must be ready to seize the opportunity as soon as possible.

"As the UNSC military's direct representative to this council, I am revoking my share of the funding for the Mass Production Evangelion series. It will instead go to the continuation of the Combat Production line."

"I agree with Twelve," SEELE-07 replied almost immediately. "As Reach's representative to this council, I am also revoking my share of the funding, unless the deadline for the completion of the Units can be improved."

The others were slower to respond, but none of them cut funding, until it came down to the Chairman once again.

"Continue production of all Units until they are ready for the contact experiments. Then focus your efforts on completing the nine we need for the ceremony. You may complete the others on your own time."

"Remember, Ackerson," Twelve said calmly, though her digitized voice was still full of malice. "This isn't a game. Mankind has precious little time left to ascend to its rightful place in this galaxy. Don't let your ongoing feud with Halsey compromise this project."

The connection terminated after Twelve's last remark, the monoliths disappearing as the lights turned back on and banished the darkness, revealing the green-tinted walls and floor of the holographic conference room. Ackerson sighed as he headed for the door. As bad as the progress reports he had to deliver to SEELE were, it could never unnerve him as much as the pilots he had to train.

Not for the first time since taking on the project, he wondered if he had finally managed to get in over his head.

- - - O - - -