Slowly, stiffly Ruri pulled herself to her feet, the muscles in her legs and back protesting as she did so.
A hand clumsily brushed the welt on her apparently bare arm and memory sluggishly returned, she'd been drugged, but why and by whom?
Her 'cell' was a simple room; beige walls, and a bed. it might have been her quarters on the Nadesico save for the absence of her fish-mobile and the Nano-pads.
Another search found her watch to be missing and a flicker of will confirmed her suspicions; someone had cut her off from Omoikane, an empty space in the back of her mind a testament to her solitude.
Why was she here? Where was here? Everything felt fuzzy…
Even in her confusion Ruri's thoguths were ablaze, she knew that they way she was handling the situation was abnormal. Was it shock? Or was it another effect of all those drugs and tests conducted on her in her 'childhood' how strange she mused, that a girl no older then eleven would use the world childhood, inverted comma's and all.
"Ahhh Miss Ruri, so glad to see you awake." She turned at the voice; slick and self-assured, condescending in that it didn't talk down to you, it simply didn't need to.
"Mr Akatsuki." She replied with a curt nod. Panic would do her no good here.
The chairman of NERGAL was exactly as she remembered him; shoulder length hair, open shirt and lady-killer smile containing a ego only exceeded by his cunning.
"I do apologise for the rudeness of your…invitation but I'm afraid we really couldn't take no for an answer."
Ruri didn't reply, simply staring up at him with her large golden eyes, noting how Akutsuki didn't draw back as most did when she looked at them like that, like she was processing them idly.
Apparently enjoying his little monologue Akutsuki continued unabashed.
"You have no need to worry about the young captain or Tenkawa, they are completely unharmed and back on the Nadesico. In fact I don't think they have even noticed that you are missing."
Ruri filed that away, Akutsuki wasn't one for threats but still…
"Why am I here?" her voice was as cold and calm as she could make it. Now wasn't the time for emotion, now was the time for logic, for programming.
"To the point, I like that. Well I'm sure that a smart young thing like you is familiar with mars third moon?"
"The black sphere?"
"That's the one!" crowed Akatsuki with a smirk. "As I'm sure you know there have been rumours about that hunk of rock floating around for the last 100 years, so we at Nergal decided to have a little look-see and you won't believe what we've found."
A gesture brought swarms of vid-screens into grainy life behind him showing images of the moons surface and a number bizarrely shaped monoliths. One image in particular caught Ruri's eye; scarred and pitted with age as it was, a few words were still legible beneath the smear of red, human words "God is….heaven…right…the world." Repeated Ruri.
It sounded like a prayer? The words suggested piety but…she couldn't explain it but that somehow wasn't right.
"Astounding isn't it? This is proof that humanity colonised space far earlier then history states!"
It was an astounding find, one for the history books, but she wasn't about to tell Akutsuki that.
"Why bring me here for a base?" is what I'm sure is going through that brilliant brain of yours?"
Ruri nodded.
"Well that base wasn't all we found." Said Akutsuki, gesturing to bring a new vid-screen to the fore.
It was huge, easily half again the size of a Jovian Goliath and coloured a deep purple with splashes of green. It looked like some form of demonic styled mecha, yet the curving lines and stooped posture were far too fluid… almost organic…
"Stunning isn't it? From what we've been able to pull from the core records it's called an 'Evangelion'"
several more screens appeared depicting another giant, this one a the colour of dried blood, as the view panned back Ruri saw that the mech was incomplete or badly damaged; its armour was cracked and pitted revealing wires and what looked like a power converter.
"This still doesn't explain what this has to do with me." Interrupted Ruri flatly.
"These 'Evangelions' use a direct thought interface decades ahead of anything we've ever accomplished, unfortunately none of our pilots seem to be able to activate them."
"Then would not Mr Tenkawa have been a better choice?"
"You'd think so wouldn't you? Tenkawa's amazing aptitude at combat certainly hints at some hidden talent, but this time I'm afraid he's no use. You see, according to the records these 'EVA's' were piloted by children. Apparently there's something about an adults brain chemistry that prevents a sufficient sub-conscious link or something like that." Akutsuki smirked coolly "And how many children do we know with the strength of will and experience necessary to operate such a machine"
As he finished speaking Ruri staggered forward; hand flying to the sudden sting in her neck.
"Just a precaution my dear." Smirked Akutsuki, winking at her drowsy glare. "Can't give the game away so soon."
And with that Ruri's world dissolved into blackness.
Dunno if anyone's interested in this but here it is anyway. To my knowledge no one's ever written a Nadesico/Evangelion crossover so it's original at least.
If you want it continued tell me what you think.
