Author: Acidbuk.
Title: Future Imperfect
Summary: Life in Tokyo 3 after third impact went on, people lived and died, loved and lost but for one man this wasn't how things were meant to be, one man believed he could change the fate of the world
Rating: the rating formally known as PG-13 now known as T…do I actually write happy stories anymore?
Disclaimer: You should know this by now but guess what? I don't own Eva be thankful.
Future Imperfect
It was late, very late but that didn't matter to either occupant of Laboratory they were sat in, the glare of the computer screens the only light source in the large room filled with electronic equipment, pulled wiring, components and computers that reached from floor to ceiling.
The MAGI had survived third impact, though survived might not be the correct word for it, even though they had no real life force the organic components within them had turned to LCL when Lilith, the mother of life had called all souls to her. The very essence of the machines that being the pseudo soul Naoko Akagi was taken from them so they now lay dormant and done for 20 years, eventually being replaced by the 8 huge super computers that stood in the room.
Kensuke Aida entered the large lab complex and depressed a wall switch; electrical current flew through the old wiring within mere milliseconds bringing the overhead fluorescent lights to life with a short flicker.
"Did you find her?" Said one of the two people working at a desk without looking up from whatever he was doing.
"I found her", Kensuke replied feeling almost sick to his stomach that it had to be him to go find her, they never were and never would be friends even after all that had happened she was still the most stubborn, arrogant and annoying person he had ever the misfortune to meet.
"Good, Will she do it?" replied the second person, again not stopping to look around as she furiously typed away at her keyboard mumbling something incoherent about a fractal wave form to her co-worker.
"She said she'll help, but really it wasn't easy. Your lucky we're friends Shinji, or I wouldn't have gone to talk to her", Kensuke answered the now much older Ikari who finally turned to face him. His hair had grown out from how it was when he was a teenager to look more like his fathers and he eyes while still cobalt blue were empty inside, Kensuke wondered just how much of his friend was left after Third Impact. He guessed not much as the boy had grown up, had been forced to grow up the moment the survival of the world was put on his shoulders and that weight had never really been taken away.
"Thank you Kensuke, you know I appreciate it", he said with a small smile turning back to his work. It must have been the first time in months he'd seen Shinji smile, Kensuke looked over to the other occupant of the room. Maya Ibu…no Ikari, Kensuke mentally corrected himself he'd never really got used to the idea of his best friend and Maya being a couple. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but it was just a case of he'd never seen in coming let alone lasting this long and Marriage had been way out there.
She was still the same Maya, he thought absently remembering the first time he met the then much younger technician after nearly costing Shinji his life with the fourth angel. Yes, still the same Maya with the same "Boyish" haircut and carefree attitude, maybe that's what attracted her to Shinji.
To Shinji she was most definitely his rock, his grounding place; perhaps the only stable thing in his life, he loved her dearly for everything she was to him and more and to Maya, Shinji was the loving caring person she always wanted. He was still the same Shinji he had been 21 years ago, caring and kind but only around her, only for her and never aloud.
Maya couldn't help the rose tint that appeared on her cheeks as she noticed Kensuke looking at her; he had grown so much too. His hair though longer was the same style and his rounded glasses had been replaced with a pair of shaded ones hiding his eyes, the blue shirt and black trousers he wore went well with his black leather jacket.
It was then that the Lab door opened once again this time though it was a woman entering into the Lab. Her red trench coat came just down to below her knees, left arm entirely silver obviously a prosthetic, wearing sunglasses to cover her eyes and although it only now came to just below her chin, she still had the same fiery orange hair.
"Really Shinji, I don't know why you want her to go with you, I'm quite capable you know", Kensuke chimed off deliberately trying to annoy the red headed woman.
Shinji knew what he was trying to do and thought it best to silence his friend before any kind of incident happened in his lab, after all it was filled with delicate equipment.
"She doesn't have a son to worry about or a wife to grow old with Kensuke", Shinji replied simply. Kensuke nodded knowing his long time friend spoke the truth he did indeed have a beautiful wife and son but one thought seemed to jump to his mind and he found himself opening his mouth and words coming out without stopping at his brain first.
"But…if your successful, they might not even exist", Kensuke had said and the face of his friend instantly changed, Shinji turned back to his work not bothering to reply to the statement.
Asuka said nothing and simply watched the exchange of words and glances between the two, "So when do we go? Should I pack?" she finally asked not sure exactly what was going to happen, while her mother had been the scientist, Asuka had instead embraced her more primal fighting side.
"We go, as soon as we have enough power", Shinji stated not looking up from the documents in front of him and not seeing fit to give her a further explanation.
"So…it doesn't work?" Asuka asked still unclear on the situation.
Shinji sighed deciding it was easier to show her than tell her as actions with Asuka undoubtedly spoke louder and more clearer that words one glance at Maya and she knew what he was planing, saving what she was working on she began start-up procedure.
"Initiating stage 1 start-up", Maya Spoke; "unlocking all inhibitors and increasing reactor output"
"Bringing computer systems online" Shinji replied as all the controls and lights on the device at the very front of the lab came to life as did the 8 Super computers behind him.
"Initiating stage 2", Maya stated "Calculating Tachyon stream and co-ordinates for temporal insertion"
"I have a temporal lock, target date, 2015AD, Tokyo 3"; Shinji shot back a second later.
"Confirmed, Tachyon stream is stable, bringing reactor to full power for Final stage"
"Confirmed, reading reactor at 100 capacity, all systems are green across the board"
"Initiating final stage, removing final safety locks"
"Roger, temporal insertion in, five…four…three...two…one"
As the count down reached zero there was a loud crack like a sonic boom in the lab as the ring like device with all the hoses wiring and computers coming off it in the far end of the lab glowed bright red. Then in its centre a whirlpool of black and white light started to form then a second later it was gone as every computer, light and electrical device shut down and restarted at least thirty seconds later.
Asuka watched in stunned silence for this was her first time witnessing the event, or any such event like this for that matter but as the shock wore off one question seemed to sit on her mind.
"So it doesn't work?" Asuka repeated.
Shinji and Maya sighed in unison,
"It works just fine" Shinji began; "we just don't have enough power" Maya finished.
"But I thought this place was powered by its own nuclear reactor", Asuka spoke, recalling some of the facts she had been forced to learn about the formally NERV operated facility
"All the reactors in Japan wouldn't be enough", they once again both said in perfect unison.
"That's…creepy" Asuka stated at the way Shinji and Maya did that; "They're in Love, what can you do", Kensuke replied Asuka simply nodded.
"So…" Asuka began getting back to the subject at hand; "what can we use to power it?" she asked fearing the insanely geeky reply she would get.
"Maybe an artificial quasar or quantum singularity" Shinji stated.
"Or…an artificial sun", Maya tagged on.
Asuka it seemed was getting frustrated with the two removing her sunglasses to rub one of her now mismatched eyes obviously her left was now a prosthetic having had it taken from her by one of the Mass Produced Eva units.
"Well why don't we just go down to the local supermarket and pick one of those up" she said sarcastically. "Jeez you two I wish Ritsuko was here, she may have been a pain in the arse but she managed to power the Eva's I'm sure SHE could figure this out".
Shinji and Maya looked thunderstruck by Asuka's words as if she had just told them she was the virgin mother of Christ, they both looked at each other with a suddenly broad grin; "An S2 ENGINE!" they yelled.
They both ran out of the lab barely stopping for the door to open neither of them explaining what was happening.
"Any ideas stooge?" Asuka asked to Kensuke.
"Not one Red", he replied.
(0 0 0)
Asuka rubbed her temples as she looked over the notes Shinji and Maya had put together on the latest plan, it wasn't that she was stupid or dumb she was actually quite an astute and smart woman. However this was very much Shinji and Maya's child and she couldn't say she understood a word of the notes, she looked over to Kensuke who seemed to be having the same problem.
"…So as you can see from diagram A, an S2 Engine will give almost limitless power for the insertion field…" Maya had spoken but out of the entire sentence Asuka picked out two words that seemed to jump at her as she remembered something from almost 20 years ago.
"Didn't the second NERV branch explode because they were playing with an S2 Engine? And where exactly are we going to get one anyway, I mean all the angels are dead and with Eva gone..." Asuka trailed off leaving the question to hang in the air.
Silence descended onto the room for several minutes with neither Shinji nor Maya saying a word but it was Shinji who eventually broke the silence; "well, second branch didn't really explode as such…and the angels aren't technically dead…"
Asuka interrupted Shinji "come on Shinji, admit it, we kicked their arse?" she stated with a grin and Shinji himself couldn't help but chuckle…how long had it been since he did that…he wondered.
With Shinji lost in thought, Maya jumped in – "we'll use Second branch's S2 Engine".
A look of 'Huh?' appeared on everyone's face, Shinji's included he had no idea how she was planning to do that as the second Branch was indeed lost, all 2000 men and women at the facility also presumed dead.
"An Anti-AT field" Maya clarified, Shinji pondered this for a moment and then nodded in understanding Asuka and Kensuke still looked confused.
"An AT field have you lost your minds? The only thing that can generate one is an Angel or an Eva, Unit 00 blew itself up, Unit02 was ripped apart by Mass Produced Eva units…" Asuka paused at that rather painful memory absently rubbing her prosthetic arm; "and unit01 disintegrated into…nothingness" she finished.
Maya and Shinji nodded, Maya opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Shinji before she could start "That's…not entirely it Asuka, unit 01…wasn't completely destroyed"
He let this news settle in before continuing; "five years ago, we found…part of unit 01, just some of the torso and its head, the rest had been vaporised and its S2 Engine was inoperable but...it's core was intact Asuka…my mother"
Asuka nodded in understanding knowing if she had the chance to save her mother, she would have done exactly the same as Shinji.
"So, we use Unit01's AT field to neutralise the…sea of Dirac?" Asuka asked remembering the term Maya had used both nodding in reply. The plan now outlined, all that remained was to execute it.
(0 0 0)
The break room was sparse by anyone standards, its walls were white and grey, while the chairs and tables were simple steel not built for comfort and several vending machines lined the walls. Asuka sat there starting at the ceiling as if her look would some how make it distort and give her the answers she needed.
Asuka remembered when she woke up after third impact, on the beach that day the sky red as blood, the decaying body of a giant Rei Ayanami floating in a sea of LCL as the green crosses ascended to the heavens. Shinji had tried to kill her that day and she knew she deserved it, welcoming his wrath with open arms she did not put up a fight against the young man as he wrapped his hands around her throat and squeezed.
She could clearly see the hatred and anger burning in his eyes and she knew it was her fault but she found more recently she preferred those dark eyes filled with rage to the currently empty ones he has. She could tell by looking into those empty eyes that Shinji was like a body that had lost its soul so long ago, only the mind hadn't caught up yet.
I should be dead, she told herself, I should be dead, he should have finished it, I don't deserve to be here but at least now I have a chance to make things right, it just took me 20 years to realise it.
She never noticed the door quietly open and Shinji step inside quietly watching her, "How's the prosthetics?" he asked.
"Better than the real thing, I'm stronger and I can see better than most normal humans but I wish you'd got my eye the right colour", she said absently still staring at the ceiling as if it would herald some kind of epiphany. She understood now why Shinji would spend countless hours doing this in his youth, wondering why it took her 20 years to reach this place.
"I'm sorry, just did what I could with what I had", Shinji apologised.
"I know", Asuka replied simply.
Seeing she was not in the mood to talk Shinji headed to the door to leave but turned one more time to speak to Asuka; "We fly to Nevada first thing tomorrow, you ok with that?" he asked.
"Yeah" was her only response and with that, he left.
Asuka's thoughts once again returned to just after Third impact, she had passed out for three days, waking up she was being dragged on something. It was like long board she assumed was a stretcher that had two long cables running off and over Shinji's shoulders he was pulling her along.
It was incredible; Shinji was incredible for hours he pulled her along not stopping for anything, he was relentless refusing to let his body give up. The protector and protected, the strong and the weak had reversed rolls, Asuka was now the one being protected by Shinji and for the first time in her life she didn't find that totally disgusting.
Shinji was no longer the weak coward she teased just days before, he was a sorrowful man, angry at the world and with determination she had only seen in his father.
Her thoughts turned to Maya, she couldn't say she had paid much thought to the brown haired 'bridge bunny' until after third impact. They had found her cowering under a desk on what was once the command bridge in NERV HQ muttering over and over something incoherent about 'sempai' who Asuka assumed was Ritsuko, it had taken weeks to get her to stop and slowly come back to reality. It was shock she guessed that in any normal situation she would have been committed but third impact was far from normal.
Maya and Shinji had quickly become friends and she seemed to stick to him like glue going where ever he did as if scared that somehow it was all a dream and we would just vanish if he left her sight. It was slightly creepy when she thought about it, Maya even followed him to the bathroom, she enjoyed Asuka's company also but it had been Shinji who brought the woman out of her self so they shared a special bond.
It was hardly surprising to Asuka when she found out they were in a relationship but somehow it hurt just as much as if she didn't expect it at all.
"You had your chance Asuka, you screwed it up" she said to herself as her thoughts turned towards the stooge, Kensuke. He had grown a lot too and with each passing year his personality changed from geeky high school kid into something that was akin to Kaji, in fact the brown-haired stooge was more like Kaji now than Asuka cared to think about.
"I need some sleep," Asuka said as she stood to exit the break room pushing all thoughts out of her mind about the three people she had come to call her closest friends and thoughts of her past and her mistakes. Heading to her room where she would sleep soundly till morning for the first time in years.
(0 0 0)
Shinji and Maya regarded each other in the pale moonlight of their room, the clouds still had a red haze to them even now, only the left side of there respective faces was lit, the rest cast in shadow. Even now though much older and a little greyer Shinji believed she was truly the most beautiful woman in the world.
Their lips touched softly and soundlessly, passion flowing from them like wine at a banquet; they bathed in each other's aura and unbridled love for each other. A love that could not be broken by time or matched by any other force in the universe not even by the gods themselves, losing themselves in the passion, the moment, the very essence of life and in each other. That night Maya and Shinji made love like it was the last time they ever would and in all likely hood it would be…
Continued.
Notes: Pre-read was done by Buzz who is a god among men and says "well that was rather good" I thank you. There will be more to this of course though Red sky and Suzuka's secrets are top priority right now. I have found a new paragraph separator that I hope quick edit likes a line of dashes don't seen to be acceptable, thank you quick edit.