The helicopter landed in the gathering snowstorm. Gendo hugged his parka and pushed towards the station. A flock of penguins watched in formal wear from a distance. Perhaps they waited for scraps, perhaps they sensed what lay inside.
Gendo flashed his Gehirn ID at the armed guards. The weather made the guns redundant – not opening the door would have been fatal enough. The temperature inside was little better, but at least the wind howled only on the outside. He moved to the round platform and initiated the diagonal descent.
The platform lights barely lit the rushing tunnel walls, which soon fell behind. Gendo was surrounded by the dark cold. The track screeched, but no longer echoed. Back into the womb. He felt weightless, at one with the shadow. Some staff avoided riding the platform alone. Gendo savored it.
The soft breeze and the dot of light below made him focus. GeoFront 01. They had come a long way since that grainy black-and-white picture. And now it was time.
#
Gendo played with his second cup of tea, engulfing bacteria in the golden tsunami. It had gone cold untouched. He felt foolish for having come: conspiracy theories and secret societies were a younger man's fantasies. And yet.
He was interrupted by a portly man sitting down opposite him. His hair had seen darker days. Kyoto was overcast, but the sunglasses stayed on. "Mr. Rokubungi," said the suit. It wasn't a question.
"Correct," said Gendo," Mr…?"
"You may call me Mr. L for now."
Gendo smirked. "Of course. And what is it you would like to discuss, Mr. L?"
"There were giants in the earth in those days, and the angels went to the daughters of men and they bare children to them. Genesis 6:4."
"I am not a religious man, Mr. L."
"Neither was I, Mr. Rokubungi. Until we found one." He slid a manila folder across the table.
Gendo looked at the satellite imagery. It took him a second to register the scale.
"Is this a mistake?"
"Nor is it a hoax," said Mr. L, answering the unasked question. "Almost fourteen kilometers in diameter. Even with modern technology, you can imagine the difficulty of construction at such a remote location at sub-zero temperatures."
Mr. L's face returned nothing but Gendo's dark reflection. Can it be true?
"You found a Yeti, " Gendo stalled.
"Please, Mr. Rokubungi, I pride myself in being a good judge of character. Tell me I haven't wasted my time."
Gendo sipped cold tea as he looked around. The man in the brown jacket and the lady in the armchair hurriedly looked away. This is real. Which doesn't mean he's being completely truthful.
"Why me?"
"For one, you have problems." He slid a second folder. "Problems we can help with."
Gendo didn't need to open it to see the police reports.
Mr. L leaned forward, dissecting his eyes.
"More importantly, you're willing to do what it takes. As you showed with Ms. Ikari."
"She has nothing to do with this," Gendo replied angrily. What we have is real. Isn't it?
"Of course not."
#
Mr. L. SEELE. Bastards.
The platform approached the research base. Floodlights bled into the permanent night like candles, never touching the icy dome above.
Two shadows waited at the docking port. "Management comes to visit the lab rats. Should we be honored or afraid?"
"I, for one," said Gendo, "am honored you would leave your hamster wheel this long, Dr. Katsuragi."
They hugged.
"Allow me to introduce my daughter, Misato." Misato bowed politely.
Gendo bowed in return. "My wife and I are expecting a son, Misato. We may need a babysitter in the future."
Misato smiled and nodded.
Inside, the facility was utilitarian and not much warmer than outside. Misato excused herself.
"Still too cheap for heating?" asked Gendo.
"It keeps the managers away," replied Katsuragi. "Maybe if you approved our full budget requests…"
"You'd spend it all in equipment," said Gendo.
"You know me too well," said Katsuragi. "The living quarters and labs are heated, but we don't want to interfere more than we have to with the big guy. Come, I'm sure you want to say hello."
Gendo dodged equipment and wiring as they walked down the narrow hallways . Lab workers avoided them. Avoided him. They sought knowledge for its own sake; he sought to use it, and by extension use them – perhaps it was as simple as that.
They walked outside and stopped, staring into the night. Gendo had done this several times now, but still enjoyed the show. Katsuragi hit the lights. The god towered above them, impaled in a shaft as miraculous as itself. Arrogant man and his flimsy spire to heaven.
"Now," said Katsuragi, "what is this really about?"
"The Second Angel has been found," said Gendo, "as per the Prophecy."
"Prophecy?" said Katsuragi. "Don't tell me you believe the lies the old men spin."
"The Scrolls were right about Adam," said Gendo.
Katsuragi hit the railing. "The Scrolls are information, not destiny! They can be a tool for the strong or a torment for the superstitious."
"Or a deathtrap for the foolish," said Gendo.
"In that case we are all doomed," said Katsuragi.
"Gehirn is relocating to Hakone," said Gendo, "your team included. Lilith is the new priority under the Scenario. The Lance will be extracted and Adam will be kept dormant until it is needed."
"We… we can't," said Katsuragi. "We've come so far, learned so much…"
"It seems the Tree of Knowledge gives not knowledge itself, but an insatiable hunger for it," said Gendo.
"It is a hunger for power," said Katsuragi. "I will use my own DNA for the Contact Experiment. SEELE's Scenario is mass murder. We must write our own!"
"This is heresy!" cried Gendo. "They will destroy you, Hakase. Forget this madness and join me in Hakone."
"Which is the worse madness, Gendo, to see too much or too little?" asked Katsuragi. "Join me."
"I cannot," said Gendo.
"Nor can I," said Katsuragi. "Will you shoot me now?"
"That was not my mission," said Gendo. "I was only to copy the databases."
"Go ahead, I keep the important things here." Katsuragi tapped his forehead. "SEELE will be set back years. If they stop me, they will not be ready when the Angels come."
"The Scenario will have to be adjusted," said Gendo. "I pray you will not destroy us all."
"As do I."
#
Gendo stared out the window as the helicopter braved the blizzard.
That the first among us should rebel… Will SEELE strike him now that the databases are safe? Why wasn't I given instructions? Is this part of the Scenario, do they want the experiment to take place? What more aren't they telling me? No, down that path lies paranoia. Yui believes in the Scenario, that is enough. We are together, that is enough.